Protests in Ukraine's Crimea...Storms to hit NCal...Hezbollah says will retaliate for Israeli airstrike

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Police in Ukraine's largely pro-Russian Crimea region are struggling to keep apart rival groups holding competing rallies. One protester says, "We are ready to fight for Ukraine and our European future." Another says only Russia "can defend us from fascists in Kiev and from Islamic radicals in Crimea." The regional parliament plans to hold a crisis session on the turmoil that has gripped the country.

GLENDORA, Calif. (AP) — People in fire-scarred neighborhoods in Northern California have been sandbagging their homes in anticipation of the first significant storms in the state in months. This morning's expected storm promises much-needed rain to the drought-stricken state but also the threat of mudslides and flooding. A potentially stronger storm moving in late Thursday could dump up to 2 inches of rain in central and southern valleys, 2 to 4 inches in the foothills and up to 6 inches in some mountain spots.

BEIRUT (AP) — A United Nations official is asking warring sides in Syria to allow aid workers to resume distribution of food and medicine in the besieged Palestinian district of Damascus called Yarmouk. Yarmouk has seen some of the worst fighting in the capital, leading to severe food shortages and widespread hunger.

BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah is vowing to retaliate for an airstrike it says was carried out by Israel Monday night. The attack, which Israel has not acknowledged, is the Jewish state's first reported air attack inside Lebanese territory since the start of the Syrian conflict three years ago. Hezbollah says the airstrike caused material damage, but no casualties. Hezbollah has been battling alongside troops of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Regulators in North Carolina say they may force Duke Energy to move two leaky coal ash dumps, more than three weeks after a massive spill coated 70 miles of the Dan River in toxic gray sludge. The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources says it plans to reopen Duke's wastewater discharge permit and consider changes that would require the company to remove its remaining coal ash from the site near the Virginia line to a lined landfill away from the river.

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