Malaysia's transport minister vowed Saturday to continue the search for "possible survivors" from a missing passenger plane, three weeks after it crashed in the remote Indian Ocean.

"No matter how remote the odds, we will pray, hope against hope, and continue to search for possible survivors," Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters during a condolence visit to relatives of Malaysian passengers and crew.

North Korea said Saturday its relations with South Korea had been driven into a "catastrophic" phase again, warning the South's scattering of anti-Pyongyang leaflets could spark a war.

The statement came hours after Pyongyang's foreign ministry said the North would bolster its "war deterrent", accusing the United States of deliberately escalating tension through ongoing joint military drills with the South.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called his American counterpart Barack Obama Friday to discuss a U.S. proposal for a diplomatic end to the Ukraine crisis while insisting to the United Nations that Moscow had "no intention" of further military action.

The White House said Putin phoned Obama following a bid presented to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry earlier this week.

The U.N.'s top rights body Friday called on the Security Council to act against officials responsible for a litany of crimes against humanity in North Korea.

The 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted a resolution condemning the "ongoing systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations" in the isolated Asian nation.

A shallow 5.1-magnitude earthquake rocked the Los Angeles area Friday causing power cuts, gas leaks and bursting water mains, and stopping rides at Disneyland.

While no injuries were reported, objects fell from shelves and furniture toppled over, according to photos posted on social media, while TV pictures showed a car flipped over by a rockslide.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez shared their amazement and joy upon the triumphal return to power of the late Venezuelan leader after a brief coup in 2002, an exchange vividly captured in a transcript released Friday.

"You have to make a movie about it," a delighted Castro told Chavez in a lengthy telephone conversation shortly after the Venezuelan president was welcomed back to presidential palace in Caracas by cheering masses.

Wary of their powerful neighbor Russia, the Baltic states of Lithuania and Latvia plan to double defense spending while Estonia will maintain its strong level after watching Moscow take over Crimea.

The three countries of 6.3 million people will mark on Saturday a decade since joining the NATO military alliance, a move seen as a bulwark against unwanted Russian overtures.

Slovaks return to the polls on Saturday to choose their president in a fractious and tight run-off between Prime Minister Robert Fico and political newcomer and philanthropist, Andrej Kiska.

In round one, on March 15, Social Democrat Fico polled 28 percent finishing narrowly ahead of centrist Kiska, who scored 24 percent.

Pope Francis went to confession on Friday in St Peter's Basilica, leading by example in a Catholic Church initiative to get believers to admit their sins to a priest and do penance before Easter celebrations.

The leader of the world's Catholics was seen kneeling for a few minutes in front a priest and then himself took confessions during the service in which he emphasized the importance of "reconciliation with God".

China appears to have decided to stop accepting lists of prisoners whom foreign governments want released, a prominent human rights advocate said Friday.

John Kamm, a U.S. businessman turned activist who has helped win clemency for numerous Chinese prisoners, predicted that Beijing may move to end its regular human rights dialogues with Western nations and Japan.