The polluted state of the earth’s oceans might be making the search for MN370 even more difficult – US and Russian Foreign Ministers look for a way out of Ukraine – France’s extreme right might make gains in the second round of elections – The ground is shaking in Southern California – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs.

Planes took off this morning from Perth to search the Indian Ocean for signs of missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370.  Ten planes are taking part, and ten ships are expected to reach the search area by the end of the today.  Yesterday, a Chinese ship cast a net and hauled up some debris:  Officials have said that it needs to be examined more closely, but Chinese state media claimed the objects were just bits of the plastic soup infesting the world’s oceans.  Before, a US military official noted they were searching for a needle in a haystack.  But there’s so much junk in the ocean, this could be like searching for a needle in s stack of similar needles.

A robot from Boston is aiding the search for MH370.  Bluefin Robotics in the Northeastern American city sent the Bluefin 21 (yeah, I know, Bluefin is yellow), which is capable of diving down a more than 3 kilometers and to about 30 meters above the ocean floor to take photos.  Bluefin 21 will be deployed once the search area has been sufficiently narrowed.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meeting in Paris today in hastily arranged talks on the Ukraine Crisis.  It comes a day after Vladimir Putin phoned Barack Obama on the matter.  Russia has reportedly vowed it is not planning on invading Ukraine, despite having thousands of troops poised just on the other side of the eastern and northern border.

Former heavyweight boxer Vitaly Klitschko pulled out of the Ukraine presidential race and is throwing his support behind confection tycoon Petro Poroshenko.  Klitschko’s withdrawal limits the serious candidates to Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko (who wants to somehow take Crimea back from Russia), and a bunch of screwballs from the fascists and former ruling Party of Regions.  Polls suggest Poroshenko has the lead in the 25 May election.

In France’s elections later today, Marine Le Pen’s extreme-right Front National (FN) party hopes to snap up as many as 15 cities and towns from the rulings Socialists.  Things are so bad for the Socialists, that they’re withdrawing candidates who have no chance of winning and telling party members to vote for whoever will beat the FN, which has a history of racism, anti-Semitism, anti-immigration, and anti-everything else that isn’t a conservative, white male.

The Vatican is offering to mediate Venezuela’s crisis, which has been dozens of people killed in anti-government protests.  President Nicolas Maduro, no stranger to the Pope, is suggesting Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who was the Holy See’s ambassador to Venezuela until last year.  It remains to be seen what the Vatican can do.  The opposition has been unable to win elections since 1999, and sees the street protests in its own neighborhoods as the way to force the elected government to step down.

Taliban militants dressed up as women and attacked Afghanistan’s election commission headquarters.  Security forces killed the four on the spot.  It comes a week before Afghanistan’s elections, which the Islamists have vowed to disrupt.

The United Nations says more than one million people have been forced from their homes in South Sudan’s civil war.  More than a quarter million fled over the borders, and just over 800,000 are displaced within the small, desert nation.  There have been sporadic battles between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar that have pierced the cease-fire signed by both men two months ago.

An Egyptian court sentenced two men to death for throwing youths from the roof of a building during protests last year.  The teens were watching supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood at a demonstration in Alexandria – shots rang out, members of the crowd chased the kids to the roof, the youths were attacked.  60 more defendants face trial for the crime.

Los Angelenos are nervous after a swarm of hundreds of aftershocks to Friday night’s magnitude 5.1 earthquake southeast of the city center.  It caused rockslides and some damage to buildings and infrastructure including walls, water mains and gas lines.  No serious injuries are reported.

It’s been one week since the massive mudslide that buried a town north of Seattle, Washington.  Recovery crews had a moment of silence before digging in and trying to find more victims.  At least 17 people died, and other bodies have been located but not recovered to add to the official tally.  Dozens more are believed to be buried under the muck and debris.