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(1,550 miles) southwest of Perth, Australia. Investigators had precious little information to examine otherwise because the transponder, identifying the jet to air traffic controllers, was deactivated about the same time the jet veered off course from its original destination, Beijing, early March 8.
• THE PINGS
• Even with other communications shut down, the plane automatically sent a brief signal -- a "ping" or a "handshake" -- every hour to an Inmarsat satellite. The pings did not show the jet's location, speed or heading, but an initial analysis showed the last ping came from a position along one of two vast arcs north and south from the Malaysian Peninsula.
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• THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- The thrust of his diplomatic efforts still focused on Ukraine, President Barack Obama met Tuesday with a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin as he continued his efforts to isolate Moscow over its incursion into Crimea.
• In a last minute addition to his schedule, Obama sat down with Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev in a long room at the U.S. embassy, with the two countries' flags set up behind them. U.S. officials offered no details about the meeting's agenda, but Nazarbayev is part of a Russia-centered economic bloc focused on Eurasia.
• Kazakhstan is the second largest country by territory and economy to emerge from the former Soviet Union. Nazarbayev has maneuvered between Russia and the West during more than two decades in power. Kazakhstan's energy resources and strong economy give it some independence from Moscow.
• Obama was also diving back in nuclear security summitry and further sideline overtures on Tuesday as his four-country, weeklong trip entered its second day.
• Still, as the United States redoubled efforts to pressure Russia out of its aggressive pose, the Russian annexation of Crimea began to take root and Moscow shrugged off Obama's drive to leave Putin in the cold.
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