Missing Plane: Mini-Sub Aborts Search Mission

By Nick Martin, Sky News Correspondent, in Perth

The submarine being used to search for the wreckage of missing Malaysia flight MH370 has had to abort its first mission after reaching its top diving depth.

The multi-million dollar underwater drone, called Bluefin-21, was only designed to work at depths of around 3,500 metres and has a maximum operating depth of 4,500 metres, about the same level as the ocean floor. 

Each one of the submarine's missions will take 24 hours

A spokesman for the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) said: "After completing around six hours of its mission, Bluefin-21 exceeded its operating depth limit of 4,500 metres and its built-in safety feature returned it to the surface.

"Bluefin 21 reached a depth of 4,500m in a charted area of 4,400m. This unexpected condition resulted in an automatic mission abort.

"The Bluefin 21 can scan to depths deeper than 4,500m. However, the sonar imaging becomes less effective as the scan depth increases. 

The area of ocean being searched on Tuesday

"There are small portions of the current search area where the actual depth may exceed the charted depth. This is not uncommon in deep ocean search operations.

"The six hours of data gathered by the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle is currently being extracted and analysed."

It is a blow to the mission which is pinning all hope of finding the missing 777 jet on the success of the submersible.

Flight MH370 was carrying 239 people

If Bluefin-21 is unable to work at the correct depth it could hinder the search.

After taking two hours to reach the ocean floor it was meant to spend 16 hours searching for wreckage using sonar and a further four hours at the surface downloading the data.

Its early return to the monitoring vessel Ocean Shield will be a disappointment to search teams.

The Chief Coordinator of the Joint Agency Coordination Centre, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, told Sky News it was likely the batteries in MH370's black box had expired and that the submersible was now a "very promising lead" in the search for the plane.

"We haven't had a single detection in six days so I guess it's time to go underwater," he added.

Nine military aircraft, two civil aircraft and 11 ships are involved in today's search for any sign of the Malaysia Airlines jet, which vanished more than five weeks ago during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing carrying 239 people.

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Second Brother Held Over 'Pakistan Cannabilism'

Pakistani police have arrested a second man suspected of eating a newborn baby whose head was found at their home.

Farman Ali, 30, was detained a day after police arrested his brother, Mohammad Arif, 35, following the grisly discovery at their house in a remote district in Punjab province.

Officers were alerted after neighbours complained of a foul smell coming from the property.

Arif has admitted he and Farman cooked and ate the dead body after his brother stole the corpse from a cemetery, according to police.

Mohammed Arif and his brother live together

The pair, who live in the small town of Darya Khan in central Pakistan, around 180 miles (300km) south of the capital Islamabad, had previously served two years in jail for cannibalism in a case that shocked the country.

Police said the brothers, arrested in 2011, had dug up more than 100 corpses from the local graveyard and eaten them.

They were only released last year.

District police chief Ameer Abdullah said as he revealed news of the first arrest: "Residents informed police after a stench emanated from the house of the two brothers.

"We raided the house on Monday morning and found the head of a young boy."

Police said that the men's wives and family members had left them some years ago and both were living in the house in isolation.

The suspects will undergo psychiatric tests, the police chief said.

There is no specific law against cannibalism in Pakistan so, as in the 2011 case, Arif has been charged with desecrating a dead body and public order offences.

In the previous case, police found the body of a 24-year-old woman who had recently died of cancer at the men's house. She was without a leg, which the brothers had eaten.

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Nigeria: Militants Kidnap 100 Schoolgirls

At Least 75 Dead In Nigeria Bus Station Blast

Updated: 4:43pm UK, Tuesday 15 April 2014

An explosion has ripped through a busy commuter bus station on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital, killing dozens of people as they were travelling to work.

Police said 75 people had been confirmed dead so far, and 141 more were wounded. But the death toll is likely to go up.

Body parts and blood were strewn across the station, as rescue workers scrambled to contain the chaos that followed the attack. 

"I saw bodies taken away in open trucks," said witness Yakubu Mohammed.

"It is difficult to count them because the bodies were burnt and in pieces."

The private Channels television network showed thick black smoke rising above the bus station. 

The blast destroyed more than 30 vehicles and caused secondary explosions as their fuel tanks exploded and burned.

It hit the Nyanya Bus Park station about five miles (8km) south of Nigeria's capital, Abuja, at rush hour.

"I was waiting to get on a bus when I heard a deafening explosion then saw smoke," said Mimi Daniels, who works in Abuja.

"People were running around in panic".

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but suspicion is likely to fall on Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has waged an increasingly bloody insurgency in the northeast.

The terrorist network has been threatening to attack the capital.

Boko Haram - which means "Western education is forbidden"  - claimed a 2011 suicide bombing by two explosives-laden cars that drove into the lobby of the United Nations office building in Abuja.

The attack killed at least 21 people and wounded 60.

They have also staged attacks on schools, villages, markets, military bases and checkpoints as it has sought to force an Islamic state in Nigeria.

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US Airways Apologises Over Pornographic Tweet

US Airways has been forced to issue an apology after accidentially tweeting an obscene image in response to a customer complaint.

The picture, which showed a woman posing with a model airplane, was posted as part of an apology to a customer who had complained about a delayed flight.

It remained on the airline's Twitter feed for around an hour before it was removed, allowing enough time for the image to go viral.

In a statement the airline said an investigation had found the photo was initially posted on its Twitter feed by another user.

It said it had captured the tweet to flag it as inappropriate, but then accidently included it in a response to a customer. 

The airline said: "We deeply regret the mistake and we are currently reviewing our processes to prevent such errors in the future."

In a separate statement on Twitter US Airways said: "We apologise for an inappropriate image recently shared as a link in one of our responses. We've removed the tweet and are investigating."

The post was retweeted almost 13,000 times

Gleeful followers have since bombarded the airline with joke responses. 

One person tweeted: "US airways just fired their social media interns. All of them. Forever."

Another referred the recent discovery of the "Heartbleed" bug, which allows hackers to access private information through a flaw in a web encryption programme, saying: "Dear @USAirways, just blame it on Heartbleed. Everyone will believe you."

US Airways was not the only airline to find itself in the midst of a Twitter scandal.

A Dutch teenager was arrested on Monday after sending a tweet to American Airlines, which as recently merged with US Airways, in which she posed as a member of al Qaeda. 

The tweet posted by the 14-year-old girl said: "hello, my name's Ibrahim and I'm from Afghanistan. I'm part of Al Qaida and on June 1st I'm gonna do something really big bye".

American Airlines replied, saying it took such threats "very seriously" and that it had forwarded her IP address and details to the FBI.

The tweet reportedly earned the girl thousands of new followers.

Since then, other Twitter users have posted copycat threats to the airline.

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Russian Jet Buzzed US Warship In Black Sea

Ukraine Buildings Held By Armed Men

Updated: 11:43am UK, Monday 14 April 2014

The following buildings and strategic facilities are under control of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine as of 1000 GMT on Monday, April 14.

DONETSK, Donetsk Region (population 1 million)

Regional administration building

Regional police headquarters

MARIUPOL, Donetsk Region (480,000)

City administration

LUHANSK, Luhansk region (450,000)

Headquarters of SBU state security service

MAKIIVKA, Donetsk Region (390,000)

City administration

HORLIVKA, Donetsk Region (290,000)

City police headquarters

KRAMATORSK, Donetsk Region (200,000)

City police headquarters

City administration

SLAVIANSK, Donetsk Region (137,000)

City administration

City police headquarters

Check points on roads leading into the city

YENAKIEVO, Donetsk Region (125,000)

City administration

KHARTSYZK, Donetsk Region (65,000)

City administration

ZUHRES, Donetsk Region (20,000)

City administration

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Dublin Shooting: Man Killed In Ballymun Attack

A man has been shot dead close to a secondary school in Dublin.

The victim, who was in his 40s, was gunned down in Gateway Avenue, Ballymun, around four miles from the city centre, at about 8.45am.

He was taken to the nearby Mater Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The attack took place around four miles from the centre of Dublin

An Irish police spokesperson said the victim was shot a number of times by a lone attacker.

The shooting happened near Trinity Comprehensive Secondary School and less than a mile from Dublin City University.

Investigators have appealed for anyone with information about the shooting to contact them.

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Suspects 'Wore GPS Trackers As They Killed'

Two convicted sex offenders out on parole have raped and killed at least four women while wearing GPS trackers, police said.

Franc Cano was wearing an ankle monitor and Steven Dean Gordon was carrying a GPS device when they allegedly assaulted and killed their victims in California.

Officials did not explain how the pair were able to carry out the crimes while under supervision by law enforcement authorities.

But they did say it was data from their GPS trackers - along with cell phone records from the victims and other evidence - that led investigators to link them to the killings.

"They put a stop to a serial killing that would likely have continued beyond this point," District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said at the news conference.

Cano, 27, and Gordon, 45, have each been charged with four felony counts of special circumstances murder and four felony counts of rape.

If convicted, they could face a minimum sentence of life without parole or the death penalty. They are being held without bail.

Cano and Gordon each served time after being convicted in separate cases of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14.

While out on parole, they chose their victims from the prostitution hangouts of Orange County.

The men, who were required to check in with Anaheim police every 30 days, made their appearance to provide updated photos, fingerprints and addresses earlier this month.

They are accused of killing three women in Santa Ana last October and November and another woman in Anaheim earlier this year. All had histories of prostitution.

The murders were discovered after the naked body of Jarrae Nykkole Estepp, 21, was found on a conveyor belt at an Anaheim refuse-sorting plant in March.

The similarities between her case and three other missing persons cases led them to conclude that there links to the disappearances of Kianna Jackson, Josephine Monique Vargas and Martha Anaya.

Anaheim Police Chief Raul Quezada said authorities believed there was at least a fifth victim and perhaps more.

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Berlusconi Told To Work In Old People's Home

Silvio Berlusconi's Highs And Lows

Updated: 11:48am UK, Tuesday 15 April 2014

An Italian court's decision to uphold Silvio Berlusconi's conviction for tax fraud in August 2013 was another chapter in a political career full of ups and downs.

The 76-year-old made his fortune during a property boom in Milan in the 1960s, entered politics in January 1994 and was elected prime minister that May.

He survived in office for just eight months but bounced back in 2001, when a landslide victory saw him returned to power.

The revolution Berlusconi promised took longer than many had hoped and he lost a parliamentary election in 2006 by the narrowest margin in Italian history - only to be re-elected in 2008 after a campaign focused on law and order.

He stood down in November 2011 amid mounting market pressure for Italy to deal with its debt but the following October announced he would run for premier for a fourth time in the 2013 election. He was narrowly defeated in the inconclusive vote by Pier Luigi Bersani's Democratic Party.

Berlusconi has been acquitted numerous times after being tried for his business dealings.

He once said he had spent 400m euros (£321m) on legal fees defending himself in 100 cases. He has always denied any wrongdoing and claimed the cases were politically motivated.

In May 2009, his second wife, Veronica Lario, filed for divorce after he attended the 18th birthday party of model Noemi Letizia.

Later that year, he suffered a broken nose and two cracked teeth after he was hit in the face with a miniature replica of Milan cathedral.

In October 2012, Berlusconi was sentenced to four years in jail for tax fraud connected to his television channels.

The verdict was upheld at two subsequent appeals.

Berlusconi was handed a seven-year sentence for paying for sex with Karima El Mahroug after allegedly erotic "bunga bunga" parties at his Milan mansion in 2010.

He was also convicted of abusing his position by arranging to have her released from police custody when she was arrested on suspicion of theft.

His defence team said they planned to appeal.

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Oscar Pistorius Shot Reeva Dead 'On Purpose'

Oscar Pistorius sobbed as he read a Valentine's Card from Reeva Steenkamp - after claims he shot her despite her "blood-curdling" screams.

Ending five days of cross examination, prosecutor Gerrie Nel put it to Pistorius that he armed himself "with the sole purpose of shooting and killing" his girlfriend.

The accusation came before the Paralympian read out a Valentine's Card from Ms Steenkamp, due to be opened on the day of the killing.

Pistorius sobbed: "Roses are red, violets are blue. I think today is a good day to tell you that ... I love you."

The envelope was addressed to 'Ozzie' with "some hearts and a squiggle", while the card was signed 'Reeves' with a smiley face and three kisses.

Mr Nel again reduced Pistorius to tears as he asked him who was to blame for the bullets that "ripped through her body".

"Who should we blame for the fact that you shot her?," Mr Nel asked.

Pistorius replied: "I don't know my lady, I was scared. I believe there was a threat on my life."

Mr Nel continued: "Once again, we shouldn't blame you? Who should we blame?"

"I'm not sure," Pistorius replied.

The Valentine's Day card sent to Oscar Pistorius from Reeva

Mr Nel asked: "Should we blame Reeva? She never told you that she was going to the toilet - we should blame Reeva?"

Pistorius replied: "No, my lady."

Mr Nel pressed on: "Should we blame the government? You must be blaming someone?"

"I don't know. My lady, I believed that someone was coming to attack me," Pistorius replied.

Mr Nel ends five days of cross examination

Mr Nel then asked: "Who should we blame for the black talon rounds that ripped through her body?"

After a few seconds to compose himself, Pistorius said the ammunition was of the type required by his gun.

As he concluded cross examination Mr Nel referred to Reeva's "blood curdling screams", heard by neighbours.

He went on: "I'm putting to you that there were only two people in the house.

Oscar Pistorius arrives at the High Court today

"You killed Reeva. I'm putting it to you that your version is not only untruthful but is so improbable that it cannot reasonably be true.

"She was locked into the bathroom and you armed yourself with the sole purpose of shooting and killing her."

Pistorius said: "That's not true my lady." 

Mr Nel ended: "That's what you did. Afterwards, indeed, you were overcome by what you had done - only because it was your intention to kill her."

Pistorius sobbed as he looked at a photograph of injured Reeva Steenkamp

Pistorius said: "The opposite, my lady,"

Earlier, the athlete sobbed as he was asked to look at a photograph of Ms Steenkamp slumped on the toilet bowl.

He was asked why he didn't scream when he saw Ms Steenkamp, 27, injured in the toilet, as opposed to the moments before.

Pistorius replied: "The state of panic was not knowing - when I saw her there, it was sadness. I was broken.

"I was talking to her, I was saying 'baby please hold on'."

Mr Nel then accused Pistorius of calling security by mistake and telling them things "were ok" because he didn't want them in the apartment. 

Pistorius, 27, admits shooting his girlfriend - but says he believed that she was an intruder.

He denies premeditated murder and illegally possessing ammunition. He also denies two further counts related to shooting a gun in public on separate occasions prior to the killing.

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Shots Fired At Ukraine Airport As Troops Move In

Airborne troops have stormed an airport in the eastern city of Kramatorsk as Ukraine launches an "anti-terrorist operation" against pro-Russian separatists.

Shots rang out from inside the air base after Ukrainian troops disembarked from two military helicopters.

Russian news reports say up to 11 people have been killed in clashes at the base.

Ukraine's Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov says troops have taken control of the facility.

The Reuters news agency reported that prior to the troops landing, some of the separatists appeared to be preparing petrol bombs.

"At the moment a special operation is going on in Kramatorsk," the Ukrainian defence ministry said.

The state security service has announced that a similar operation is under way in the town of Slaviansk, some 12 miles away.

The two cities are among 10 locations in the Russian-speaking east where separatist rebellions have broken out.

It comes after Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Ukraine was on the verge of civil war.

"I will be brief: Ukraine is on the brink of civil war, it's frightening," he said.

More follows...

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