Obama urges access to Ukraine crash site
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama sternly called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to compel Kremlin-backed separatists to stop hampering the probe at the Ukraine site of a downed passenger jet and allow international investigators unfettered access.
“What exactly are they trying to hide?” Obama said Monday from the South Lawn of the White House.
He also warned Putin he could face additional economic costs if he fails to take steps to resolve the crisis in Ukraine, but officials said new American sanctions were not imminent. Instead, much of the White House’s focus was on gaining access to the crash site and shoring up European Union sanctions, which have lagged behind U.S. penalties.
Weather helping Washington firefighters
SPOKANE, Wash. – Calmer winds and cooler temperatures were allowing firefighters to go on the offensive Monday against a destructive wildfire that has charred hundreds of square miles of terrain in Washington state and is the largest in state history.
The Carlton Complex of fires in north-central Washington had burned about 379 square miles, fire spokesman Andrew Sanbri said Monday. That would make it the largest wildfire in the state since record-keeping started.
NASA renames building for Armstrong
NASA has honored one of its most famous astronauts by renaming a key building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
It now bears the name of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon when the Apollo 11 mission landed there 45 years ago.
Armstrong, who died in 2012, was remembered at a ceremony Monday as an astronaut, an aerospace engineer, a test pilot and university professor.
Associated Press
