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the split in a referendum that the United States, European Union and others say violates the Ukrainian constitution and international law and took place in the strategic peninsula under duress of Russian military intervention. Putin maintained that the vote was legal and consistent with the right of self-determination, according to the Kremlin.
• But the White House said Obama reminded Putin that the U.S. and its allies in Europe would impose sanctions against Russia should it annex Crimea.
• During the call, which came amid a heightened exchange of decidedly Cold War-style rhetoric between East and West, Obama urged Putin to pursue a diplomatic de-escalation of the crisis, support the Ukraine government's plans for political reform, return its troops in Crimea to their bases, and halt advances into Ukrainian territory and military build-ups along Ukraine's borders.
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• LAZARO CARDENAS, Mexico (AP) -- Forget crystal meth. The pseudo-religious Knights Templar drug cartel in western Mexico has diversified to the point that drug trafficking doesn't even rank among its top sources of income.
• The cartel counts illegal mining, logging and extortion as its biggest moneymakers, said Alfredo Castillo, the Mexican government's special envoy sent to restore the rule of law in Michoacan, the state controlled by the Knights Templar the last several years.
• Iron ore "is their principle source of income," Castillo told The Associated Press. "They're charging $15 (a metric ton) for the process, from extraction to transport, processing, storage, permits and finally export." The ore itself doesn't go for that price; the cartel skims $15 for every ton arriving in port. While it's long been known that Mexican cartels engage in other types of criminal activity, including trafficking of people and pirated goods, this is the government's first official acknowledgement that a major organized crime group has moved beyond drugs. The Knights Templar and its predecessor, La Familia, started out as major producers and transporters of methamphetamine.
• The implications are enormous that organized crime in general in Mexico stands to diversify and become even more entrenched.
• "It's a criminal organization like the mafia," said Antonio Mazzitelli, the Mexico and Central America representative to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. "La Fa

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