World News Update, what you need to know

Vietnamese searchers have spotted possible aircraft debris after combing the sea for nearly 48 hours in search of a Malaysian passenger jet that vanished with 239 people aboard.

ELSEWHERE

KIEV - Pro-Russian activists have attacked supporters of Kiev's new leaders with clubs and whips as thousands rallied across Ukraine in rival demonstrations, while Russian President Vladimir Putin dug in his heels in the escalating standoff with the West.

BANGKOK - An Australian journalist facing criminal defamation and computer crimes brought by the Royal Thai Navy says the case is being delayed until April, raising hopes the charges may be dropped.

HILLA, Iraq - A suicide bomber has killed 37 people including two state television employees at a checkpoint near Baghdad, shortly after Iraq's premier accused Riyadh and Doha of fuelling bloodshed in the country.

TEHRAN - EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton says a final accord on Iran's nuclear programme cannot be guaranteed.

KHARTOUM - Violence has spread in Sudan's Darfur region, with a town looted and thousands more displaced on top of an estimated 40,000 who were uprooted last week.