First Gay Weddings: PM Hails 'Equal Marriage'

Prime Minister David Cameron has hailed the first gay weddings in England and Wales as sending a "powerful message" about equality in the UK.

The law changed at midnight, with a number of gay couples vying to claim the title of being among the first to be married as ceremonies took place across England and Wales.

Despite facing opposition from some in the Conservative Party about his backing for the change, Mr Cameron said the reform was necessary because "when people's love is divided by law, it is that law that needs to change".

Writing in Pink News, he said: "This weekend is an important moment for our country" because "we will at last have equal marriage in our country".

"The introduction of same-sex civil marriage says something about the sort of country we are," he added.

"It says we are a country that will continue to honour its proud traditions of respect, tolerance and equal worth. It also sends a powerful message to young people growing up who are uncertain about their sexuality.

The Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act was passed in July

"It clearly says 'you are equal' whether straight or gay. That is so important in trying to create an environment where people are no longer bullied because of their sexuality - and where they can realise their potential, whether as a great mathematician like Alan Turing, a star of stage and screen like Sir Ian McKellen or a wonderful journalist and presenter like Clare Balding."

Among the first couples set to take advantage of the legalisation were actor Andrew Wale, 49, and guesthouse owner Neil Allard, 48, who wed at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton just after midnight.

Following the ceremony in which the couple wore matching suits, Mr Wale told Sky News: "It's a wonderful feeling, it was much more emotional than I thought it was going to be and I'm just kind of happy and buzzing."

Mr Allard added: "It's exciting, it's a new step forward and it's all about love."

Andrew Wale (L) and Neil Allard said their vows in Brighton

Peter McGraith and David Cabreza, who have been together for 17 years, tied the knot at Islington Town Hall, north London, just moments after midnight struck.

Ahead of their ceremony, Mr McGraith said: "We are thrilled to be getting married. It is a mark of significant social progress in the UK that the legal distinction between gay and straight relationships has been removed.

"Very few countries afford their gay and lesbian citizens equal marriage rights and we believe that this change in law will bring hope and strength to gay men and lesbians in Nigeria, Uganda, Russia, India and elsewhere, who lack basic equality and are being criminalised for their sexual orientation."

After watching the ceremony, campaigner Peter Tatchell told Sky News there was still more to be done.

"We need to keep up the battle to insure that all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people in this country and around the world have equal human rights," he said.

Mr McGraith (L) and Mr Cabreza were wed just moments after midnight

Broadcaster Sandi Toksvig and her civil partner Debbie Toksvig will renew their vows at a public event at the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank in London later this morning.

Same-sex couples wishing to marry had initially thought they would have to wait until the summer after the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act was passed last July.

However, they were allowed to register their intention to marry from March 13, with March 29 the first day they could get hitched.

Unlike civil partnerships, same-sex marriages will give the same legal recognition as marriage across a range of areas including pensions, inheritance, child maintenance and immigration rights.

While the change will not be enforced upon religious organisations, they will be able to opt in.

Andrea Williams from Christian Concern told Sky News the reforms had gone too far.

"We have moved all the goal posts, suddenly we don't actually know what things mean, marriage once clearly meant something; a man and a woman in an exclusive promise, in a union that is life long, for the good of children," she said.

However, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has said that the Church of England would drop its opposition now the new law has come into force.

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Missing Plane: Lessons May Take 'Years'

By Ian Woods, Senior Correspondent

The small consolation that should come with every airline crash is that the knowledge gained from the tragedy should help prevent it happening again.

But if that were true, we might already know more about what happened to flight MH370.

After the Air France accident of 2009, in which 228 people died when their flight from Brazil plunged into the Atlantic, 120 representatives of the international aviation industry got together to recommend ways to make it easier to find aircraft which crash into the sea. 

None has been implemented.

They suggested that the flight data recorders - the black boxes - should have larger batteries so they would carry on transmitting a beacon for 90 rather than 30 days. 

Some have said black boxes should be made to float to the surface

But bigger batteries mean extra weight and extra cost for the airlines to install them.

They also suggested the recorders should be designed to break away and float to the surface, rather than sink to the sea floor along with the rest of the fuselage.

And that the frequency of the transmission should be altered to boost how far away it can be heard, beyond its current 2,000 metre maximum.

A new area is being searched after analysis of MH370 data

Salvage expert David Mearns, from Blue Water Recoveries, told Sky News: "If you reduce that frequency, the lower the frequency, the greater the range. 

"You go from 37.5khz , to say, 8.8khz as recommended, I think that would increase the range to over 10,000 metres.

"So that's a five times increase in your detectable range and that would help the teams out there now looking for these black boxes."

Change takes 'years' in the airline industry, says David Mears

As for why the recommendations weren't acted upon? 

"It's a very big industry. It's an international industry," said Mr Mears.

"It takes a lot of time for these things to work themselves through the regulations; how they would operate, how the pilots would be trained to use them; they have to be implemented on the aircraft, so it takes years for these things to be done."

In an age when we can all track most passenger aircraft on our smartphones and computers, how can a plane still go missing? 

Most, but not all, areas of the world are now covered by the Acars ADS-B system, allowing them to be constantly tracked. Although smaller, older aircraft are not equipped.

There are new regulations being introduced around the world compelling airlines to fit them in all passenger aircraft. 

Planes spotted two objects in the new search area

But in some places the deadline is 2020.  

Mikael Robertsson, the founder of Flightradar24.com, told Sky: "Maybe authorities in these countries don't want to rush or I guess it costs quite a lot of money for airlines to upgrade their equipment on board."

In any case, it appears the system on MH370 was switched off. 

One current 777 pilot told Sky he could not think of a good reason why he would do such a thing. 

And with so many flights criss-crossing vast expanses of water, knowing the plane's last position is crucial to a swift recovery. 

The backgrounds of the Malaysia Airlines pilots have been scrutinised

Mr Robertsson said: "I think this is something that should be discussed: How much pilots should be able to turn off, and how easy it should be to turn some systems off?"

The backgrounds of the pilots have been scrutinised to assess the likelihood of criminal or suicidal behaviour. 

Professor Robert Bor is a clinical psychologist who has studied those who fly, and was specifically asked to review an incident involving an American Jet Blue pilot who had a psychotic episode while flying from New York to Las Vegas.

Captain Clayton Osbon left the cockpit and screamed at passengers before being subdued by some of those on board. 

His co-pilot landed the plane safely in Texas. 

Prof Bor and others concluded there were no warning signs beforehand which could have prevented the incident.     

Captain Clayton Osbon had a psychotic episode in the cockpit

"Every year an airline pilot will have at least two formal medical checks which address not just their physical health but their mental health. Every time they are doing the job they are scrutinised by people."

Pilot suicide is not unheard of, and is considered the most likely explanation for the crash of an Indonesian SilkAir flight in 1997. 

The pilot was heavily in debt - 104 passengers and crew were killed.

Airlines may also be studying how Malaysia Airlines has handled the disaster from a public relations perspective. 

The families of the passengers have gone from grieving to protesting, angry at being kept waiting for news, furious about misinformation, and the final indignity - some of them were told the plane had crashed by text message. 

Pilot suicide is the suspected cause of the 1997 SilkAir flight crash

Crisis management expert Raine Marcus told Sky News: "The communications with the families didn't inspire trust from the beginning.

"If you don't build up trust and goodwill right from the beginning, that has a direct impact afterwards on communications with the families and also directly on your business."

In the months and years ahead, as details emerge of what happened to MH370, there will undoubtedly be calls for lessons to be learned.

And in the meantime millions of us will continue to fly, hoping that our flight will not be one of the very rare ones, which does not have a safe landing.

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Missing Plane Hunt: Three More Objects Spotted

Missing Plane: Lessons May Take 'Years'

Updated: 8:18am UK, Saturday 29 March 2014

By Ian Woods, Senior Correspondent

The small consolation that should come with every airline crash is that the knowledge gained from the tragedy should help prevent it happening again.

But if that were true, we might already know more about what happened to flight MH370.

After the Air France accident of 2009, in which 228 people died when their flight from Brazil plunged into the Atlantic, 120 representatives of the international aviation industry got together to recommend ways to make it easier to find aircraft which crash into the sea. 

None has been implemented.

They suggested that the flight data recorders - the black boxes - should have larger batteries so they would carry on transmitting a beacon for 90 rather than 30 days. 

But bigger batteries mean extra weight and extra cost for the airlines to install them.

They also suggested the recorders should be designed to break away and float to the surface, rather than sink to the sea floor along with the rest of the fuselage.

And that the frequency of the transmission should be altered to boost how far away it can be heard, beyond its current 2,000 metre maximum.

Salvage expert David Mearns, from Blue Water Recoveries, told Sky News: "If you reduce that frequency, the lower the frequency, the greater the range. 

"You go from 37.5khz , to say, 8.8khz as recommended, I think that would increase the range to over 10,000 metres.

"So that's a five times increase in your detectable range and that would help the teams out there now looking for these black boxes."

As for why the recommendations weren't acted upon? 

"It's a very big industry. It's an international industry," said Mr Mears.

"It takes a lot of time for these things to work themselves through the regulations; how they would operate, how the pilots would be trained to use them; they have to be implemented on the aircraft, so it takes years for these things to be done."

In an age when we can all track most passenger aircraft on our smartphones and computers, how can a plane still go missing? 

Most, but not all, areas of the world are now covered by the Acars ADS-B system, allowing them to be constantly tracked. Although smaller, older aircraft are not equipped.

There are new regulations being introduced around the world compelling airlines to fit them in all passenger aircraft. 

But in some places the deadline is 2020.  

Mikael Robertsson, the founder of Flightradar24.com, told Sky: "Maybe authorities in these countries don't want to rush or I guess it costs quite a lot of money for airlines to upgrade their equipment on board."

In any case, it appears the system on MH370 was switched off. 

One current 777 pilot told Sky he could not think of a good reason why he would do such a thing. 

And with so many flights criss-crossing vast expanses of water, knowing the plane's last position is crucial to a swift recovery. 

Mr Robertsson said: "I think this is something that should be discussed: How much pilots should be able to turn off, and how easy it should be to turn some systems off?"

The backgrounds of the pilots have been scrutinised to assess the likelihood of criminal or suicidal behaviour. 

Professor Robert Bor is a clinical psychologist who has studied those who fly, and was specifically asked to review an incident involving an American Jet Blue pilot who had a psychotic episode while flying from New York to Las Vegas.

Captain Clayton Osbon left the cockpit and screamed at passengers before being subdued by some of those on board. 

His co-pilot landed the plane safely in Texas. 

Prof Bor and others concluded there were no warning signs beforehand which could have prevented the incident.     

"Every year an airline pilot will have at least two formal medical checks which address not just their physical health but their mental health. Every time they are doing the job they are scrutinised by people."

Pilot suicide is not unheard of, and is considered the most likely explanation for the crash of an Indonesian SilkAir flight in 1997. 

The pilot was heavily in debt - 104 passengers and crew were killed.

Airlines may also be studying how Malaysia Airlines has handled the disaster from a public relations perspective. 

The families of the passengers have gone from grieving to protesting, angry at being kept waiting for news, furious about misinformation, and the final indignity - some of them were told the plane had crashed by text message. 

Crisis management expert Raine Marcus told Sky News: "The communications with the families didn't inspire trust from the beginning.

"If you don't build up trust and goodwill right from the beginning, that has a direct impact afterwards on communications with the families and also directly on your business."

In the months and years ahead, as details emerge of what happened to MH370, there will undoubtedly be calls for lessons to be learned.

And in the meantime millions of us will continue to fly, hoping that our flight will not be one of the very rare ones, which does not have a safe landing.

16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Missing Malaysia Plane Search Shifts Over Speed

The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has shifted after data suggested it was travelling faster than previously thought.

Analysis of radar from before contact with flight MH370 was lost indicated the plane was burning up fuel more quickly and may not have travelled as far south over the Indian Ocean.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau described the data as the "most credible lead to where debris may be located".

Search teams have been relocated to scour an area 685 miles northeast of the zone they had been operating in.

Some 10 aircraft, including nine military planes, are involved and six ships are being sent to the region.

Experts will also trawl through satellite images of the new search zone to identify any possible crash sites.

The development comes after images from a Thai satellite showed 300 objects ranging from two to 15 metres in size scattered in the sea about 1,700 miles southwest of Perth.

A French satellite spotted more than 120 objects floating in the ocean, while Japan is also reported to have captured aerial images of 10 items.

It is not known whether any of the objects are from the missing Boeing 777, which disappeared on March 8 as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Search teams are using 10 planes in an attempt to find missing flight MH370

The plane is thought to have crashed with the loss of all 239 people on board after flying thousands of miles off course.

Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, chief executive of Malaysia Airlines, said events of the past week, which included telling passengers' relatives the jet had crashed in the Indian Ocean, had been "difficult for everyone".

"Ever since the disappearance of flight MH370, our focus has been to comfort and support the families of those involved and support the multi-national search effort," he said.

"We will continue to do this, while we also continue to support the work of the investigating authorities."

Prayers and messages of support left on a wall at Kuala Lumpur airport

He added: "Whilst we understand there will inevitably be speculation during this period, we do ask people to bear in mind the effect this has on the families of all those on board.

"Their anguish and distress increases with each passing day, with each fresh rumour and with each false or misleading report."

The search for the missing plane resumed after it was suspended earlier this week because of poor weather off the coast of Australia.

Heavy rain, strong winds and low cloud caused reduced visibility and forced aircraft to turn back.

Distraught relatives of the 150 Chinese passengers on board the plane continue to voice their anger and frustration at the speed of the investigation.

Some Chinese insurance companies have started paying compensation to the families, according to the state news agency.

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Nurse Held Over Stepping Hill Hospital Deaths

A nurse has been rearrested in connection with a number of deaths at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport in 2011.

Victorino Chua, 48, is being held on suspicion of three counts of murder, 18 counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and offences of poisoning under Section 24 of the Offences Against the Person Act.

He was arrested last year on suspicion of tampering with medical records at the hospital.

He was due to answer bail next week but reports say he was rearrested after new evidence came to light.

The patients who died were Tracey Arden, 44, Arnold Lancaster, 71 and Alfred Derek Weaver, 83.

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Pistorius Murder Trial Adjourned Over Illness

The trial of Oscar Pistorius has been adjourned until April after one of the judge's assessors was taken ill.

The courtroom in Pretoria had been packed in anticipation of the athlete's first day in the witness box but proceedings will now continue on April 7th.

Pistorius' brother Carl and his sister Aimee were both in the public gallery expecting to hear their brother give evidence when news of the adjournment was announced.

Judge Thokozile Masipa told the court: "We cannot proceed this morning and we're also not sitting next week. One of my assessors is unwell, so this court is not properly constituted. I suggest we postpone this matter until 7 April."

The prosecution has wrapped up its case and both sides have agreed to an extension of the trial until mid-May.

Just 18 of 107 possible witnesses were heard during the first three weeks of the trial, which is being held in Pretoria.

During the prosecution's case, the court heard about text messages Ms Steenkamp sent to Pistorius, in which she wrote: "I am sometimes scared of you."

An emotional message from Ms Steenkamp sent on January 27 last year accused Pistorius of picking on her "incessantly".

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'Big Six' Energy Firms May Be Broken Up

The energy watchdog has ordered a competition inquiry into the household supply market that could lead to the so-called 'big six' firms being broken up.

Ofgem charted a quadrupling in profits between 2009 and 2012 and said it was acting to "remove uncertainty" in the sector by referring it to a full investigation by the new Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

Its State of the Market Assessment accused suppliers of "consistently setting higher prices for consumers who have not switched," suggesting households were not engaging with the market because firms were not trusted to be open and transparent.

The review also reinforced concerns about excessive profits and barriers to entry for independent suppliers.

It found that retail profits soared from £233m in 2009 to £1.1bn in 2012.

Ofgem said there was clear evidence of suppliers becoming more efficient in reducing their own costs, although further evidence would be required to determine whether firms have had the opportunity to earn excess profits.

The market investigation, Ofgem said, would conclusively determine whether there should be more separation between the largest companies' supply businesses and generation arms, in a bid to provide more clarity on profits.

One of the 'big six, SSE, confirmed on Wednesday it was to legally separate its supply and generation businesses in a bid to improve transparency as it announced a price freeze until January 2016.

Such a move could be forced on its competitors by the CMA if it decides it would be in the public interest.

While Ofgem found no evidence of collusion on pricing, the review discovered "evidence of possible tacit coordination" in the timing and size of price announcements and new evidence that prices rise faster when costs rise than they reduce when costs fall."

The regulator also confirmed that from June 1 it would substantially increase the level of penalties it imposes on energy firms who break its rules to give "sufficient focus within businesses."

Its chief executive Dermot Nolan said: "Ofgem believes a referral offers the opportunity to once and for all clear the air and decide if there are any further barriers which are preventing competition from bearing down as hard as possible on prices.

"The CMA has powers, not available to Ofgem, to address any structural barriers that would undermine competition.

"Now consumers are protected by our simpler, clearer and fairer reforms, we think a market investigation is in their long-term interests."

News of the competition investigation was welcomed by politicians, consumer groups and some the 'big six' firms.

Centrica, which owns the biggest supplier British Gas, said its was committed to "an open, transparent and competitive British energy market" and backed moves to restore trust.

But its statement rejected "any suggestion of possible tacit coordination with other market participants."

E.On's chief executive Tony Cocker said: "A full market investigation by the CMA is the only way to restore full public confidence to the energy sector and depoliticise the whole issue.

"Whilst we have already made a large number of changes such as running our businesses separately, simpler tariffs, simpler bills and further investment in levels of service, a full investigation will once and for all get to the heart of any structural issues that exist or are perceived to exist and help us to all deal with many of the myths and misinformation that surround the energy market."

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MH370 Search: Satellite Spots '300 Objects'

Thailand says satellite images show 300 objects floating in the ocean in the hunt for wreckage from flight MH370, which has been scaled back due to bad weather.

The items, ranging from two to 15 metres (6.5 to 50 feet) in size, were scattered over an area about 1,700 miles southwest of Perth, according to the country's space agency.

The latest satellite lead comes as search aircraft were recalled to Perth due to poor weather conditions, which are expected to last 24 hours.

But ships will stay in the area and attempt to continue scouring the remote southern Indian Ocean where previous satellite images showed what could be a debris field.

The operation has already been suspended once this week because of the weather.

Another weather system is moving in to the search zone. Pic: bom.gov.au

International teams set off early on Thursday morning local time to continue the search, but by early afternoon the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is coordinating the hunt, said all planes had been forced to leave the search zone due to heavy rains, strong winds, low clouds and reduced visibility.

Before the weather deteriorated, crews were trying to find signs of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 in an area around 1,550 miles (2,500 km) southwest of Perth, Western Australia, after a French satellite spotted 122 objects, suspected to be debris.

Malaysian officials said the items, between one metre and 23 metres in length, were in an area measuring around 155 square miles (400 square kilometres).

There have now been five separate satellite leads - from Australia, China, France, and now Thailand - showing what could be debris.

But it is not currently known if any of the objects are connected to MH370, which disappeared on March 8 on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

New satellite images continue to provide clues in the hunt for MH370

The plane is thought to have crashed on March 8, with the loss of all 239 people aboard after flying thousands of miles off course.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said crews had seen objects while they were searching on Wednesday, but the items were later lost.

"Three objects were spotted on Wednesday by two aircraft but were not able to be relocated despite several passes," it said.

"They were unrelated to the credible satellite imagery provided to AMSA."

The failure to zero in on any possible debris despite the visuals from crews and numerous satellite images highlights the logistical difficulties of the search area.

A Japanese P-3 Orion has been out searching for debris

It has some of the deepest and roughest waters in the world, battered by the "roaring forties" winds that sweep across the sea.

The winds are named for the area between latitude 40 degrees and 50 degrees where there is no land mass to slow down gusts which create waves higher than six metres (19ft).

"It's a nasty part of the world simply because there's no land to break up any of this swell and waves - it's uncomfortable to be there any time," marine scientist Dr Rob Beaman told Sky News.

"You really need a strong stomach to work in that area, so I really feel for the people who are out there doing the search."

Meanwhile, Chinese insurance companies have started paying compensation to the families of passengers aboard the missing plane, according to the state news agency.

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Ukraine Crisis: IMF Agrees $18bn Bailout Fund

The International Monetary Fund has agreed rescue funds of up to $18bn (£10.8bn) for Ukraine in return for strict economic reforms.

Under the conditions of the proposed deal, Ukraine's interim government has announced a 50% increase in the price of domestic gas from May 1.

The IMF has pushed for a cut in energy subsidies which accounted for 7.5% of Ukraine's GDP in 2012.

Ukraine has said it needs the bailout to avoid a possible debt default.

The so-called Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) with the IMF will not be ratified until the executive board meets next month.

Ukraine soldiers patrol near the Russia border in Kharkiv

If it is agreed, it could open Ukraine up to further financial support from the US, EU and Japan amounting to a total of $27bn (£16.3bn) over the next two years.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said on Thursday the price for Russian gas could reach $480 (£290) per 1,000 cubic metres from April 1. The current level is $268.5 (£162).

He added that if the reforms required by the IMF were not adopted, GDP could fall 10% in 2014 and the economy could default.

The country's finance minister had predicted Ukraine's economy will contract 3% this year after years of mismanagement and political turmoil.

A statement from the IMF said: "Following the intense economic and political turbulence of recent months, Ukraine has achieved some stability, but faces difficult challenges.

"The mission has reached a staff-level agreement with the authorities of Ukraine on an economic reform programme that can be supported by a two-year Stand-By Agreement (SBA) with the IMF.

"The financial support from the broader international community that the programme will unlock amounts to $27bn over the next two years.

"Of this, assistance from the IMF will range between $14-18bn, with the precise amount to be determined once all bilateral and multilateral support is accounted for."

The agreement will help Ukraine to meet debt payments after months of anti-government protests which saw President Viktor Yanukovych flee the country and Russian troops enter the Crimea region.

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Flight MH370 Debris Hunt: Day Nine At A Glance

Search teams from six countries are scouring the southern Indian Ocean for the wreckage of flight MH370.

The search area is southwest of Perth

Officials sharply narrowed the search zone based on the last satellite signals received from the Malaysia Airlines plane.

Despite being scaled down, it is still estimated to be around 1.6 million sq km (622,000 sq miles) - nearly seven times the size of Britain.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is coordinating the hunt, said much of Wednesday's focus would be on a 80,000 sq km (30,900 sq miles) swathe of the ocean.

A total of 12 planes and two ships from the US, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand are taking part.

A Chinese Ilyushin IL-76 was the first aircraft to depart for the area, leaving around 8am local time.

China has also sent the polar supply ship Xue Long, with other Chinese vessels on their way.

The US Navy is also sending a P-8 Poseidon to the remote area, which is about 1,550 miles (2,500km) southwest of Perth.

The Australian naval vessel HMAS Success will conduct a surface sweep of the region where two objects, possibly debris, were spotted this week.

Australia also sent out an AP-3 Orion this morning. It will send another out later in the day.

New Zealand's P-3 Orion left for the zone about an hour after the Chinese plane left the base.

And South Korea has joined the search for the first time, also offering up a P-3 Orion, which will head to the area later today, along with a Japanese P-3 Orion.

As well as the military planes, five civilian aircraft are scouring the ocean for any sign of the plane.

The efforts will be aided by the deployment of an American advanced sonar device to help locate the plane's "black box" flight data recorder.

Malaysia Airlines confirmed the battery which powers the black box will emit a locator signal of 30 days, once activated by contact with water, giving searchers less than two weeks to find the crash site.

Those efforts will be crucial in finding out why MH370 veered so far off its intended course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

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US Mudslide Death Toll Rises As Bodies Found

Mudslide: 911 Calls Of Scared Witnesses

Updated: 10:15pm UK, Tuesday 25 March 2014

Terrified residents of a town swept away by a devastating mudslide called 911 to report falling trees, buried cars and neighbours screaming for help.

One caller reported a house being pushed on to the road by a wall of mud and rock, while another shouted: "Houses are gone!"

The calls were released as rescue efforts continued after the mudslide north of Seattle, which has killed at least 14 people.

Another 176 people remain unaccounted for, though officials hope that at least some might have been double-counted or been slow to alert family and officials about their whereabouts.

In one of the calls, a woman is heard reporting a "big emergency".

"There has been a huge landslide, and it has pushed the house all the way across the road," she said, adding she was speaking of a house next door.

The woman said power lines were being cut, and called for help to be sent.

"I can't believe this, oh my God," she said.

"Tell them to come on up, there's a lot of work."

The mudslide smashed through the small community of Oso, around 55 miles (90km) north of Seattle, on Saturday morning.

Around 30 homes were destroyed and dozens more damaged as much of the riverside village was swept away.

Workers continued the search but hopes of finding survivors were fading. Earlier, they pulled out a four-year-old boy, but his father and siblings are missing.

In the 911 calls, a man spoke on behalf of his wife.

"She said it sounded like an earthquake was happening," the man reported.

"There is a mudslide or something, hundreds of trees have fallen right  by my house."

He added he had not been able to extract more information from his wife as she was "in a panic".

An agitated woman screamed into the phone as she called 911.

"Houses are gone!" she shouted, adding people were calling for help as they were being flooded.

"Oh my gosh," she said, breaking into tears.

Summer Raffo, 36, was driving along Route 530 in Oso when the giant landslide swept through. No-one has heard from her since.

Her brother, Dayn Brunner, doesn't hold out much hope of finding his sister alive - but he can't give up the search.

"If it were me in there, she would do the same thing," he told Sky News.

Mr Brunner has joined rescue crews picking their way through the debris in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.

"It is important to me to get in there and get her out," he said. "Knowing this is no longer a rescue mission, it is hard."

Another man, who asked not to be named, had just spoken with his son, who was searching the wreckage of the family home.

"He's found my wife and my other son. They're dead," the man told Sky News.

The family had moved to their home on Steelhead Drive, the road that took the brunt of the slide, just two years ago.

"It was beautiful. My wife had never been happier," the man added.

The towns either side of Oso have rallied to support those caught in the disaster.

The scene greeting rescue teams in Oso has been described as "unimaginable".

"It is unfathomable what kind of devastation there is. You have mounds of dirt 70ft tall by 100ft wide and 200ft long sitting in what used to be somebody's yard," said Dayn Brunner.

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MH370 Search Resumes As Weather Improves

The search operation for wreckage from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has restarted with an improvement in weather conditions off the Australian coast.

Gale-force winds, heavy rain, huge waves and low-hanging cloud had forced the international operation to be abandoned for 24 hours.

But crews were able to set off from Western Australia for the search zone in the southern Indian Ocean on Wednesday morning local time.

"Today's search is split into three areas within the same proximity covering a cumulative 80,000 sq km," said the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is coordinating the search.

Twelve aircraft and five ships are involved in the search some 1,550 miles southwest of Perth, which also involves New Zealand, the US, Japan, China and Korea.

UK satellie company Inmarsat helped narrow the search for MH370

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the search would continue until there was no hope of finding anything from the Boeing 777 passenger jet, which vanished on March 8 on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.

"We are throwing everything we have at this search. We are just going to keep on looking because we owe it to people to do everything we can to resolve this riddle," he told Channel Nine.

He later told Channel 7: "This is about the most inaccessible spot imaginable. It's thousands of kilometres from anywhere."

Australia's parliament stood in silence in remembrance of the 239 people aboard the lost Malaysian airliner, who are presumed dead.

Before the weather stopped the previous search, hopes had been high that wreckage would be found after several sightings were made of objects, including a green circular item and an orange rectangular one.

But Mark Binskin, vice chief of Australia's Defence Force, underscored the daunting size of the search zone.

Grieving relatives have expressed their anger in Beijing

"We're not trying to find a needle in a haystack, we're still trying to define where the haystack is," he told reporters.

Officials earlier announced the hunt had been narrowed to the southern tip of the southern flight corridor the plane is thought to have followed.

Recovery of wreckage could provide clues about why the plane flying from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur had diverted so far off course.

Theories range from hijacking to sabotage or a possible suicide by one of the pilots, but investigators have not ruled out technical problems.

The hunt, which at one stage involved 26 countries, was called off in the northern corridor of the Indian Ocean.

The search resumes amid heavy criticism of Malaysia and the airline from the relatives of the people on the flight.

Dozens of angry Chinese people clashed with police in a protest outside Malaysia's Embassy in Beijing. Most of the passengers were Chinese.

China has also demanded Malaysia turn over the satellite data that was used to conclude the plane crashed into the ocean.

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MH370 Teams 'Right To Call Off Operation'

Dangerous conditions have forced Australian authorities to call off the search for flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean, which is affected by volatile weather at the best of times.

The international hunt was suspended late on Tuesday (early Wednesday local time) due to six-metre (20ft) waves, 50mph (80kph) gale-force winds and low-hanging clouds.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) hopes to restart the hunt later in the day as the conditions are forecast to improve.

Marine scientist Dr Rob Beaman told Sky News that Tropical Cyclone Gillian, to the north of the search zone, has combined with a low-pressure system to cause the wild conditions in the search zone off the Western Australian coast.

Tropical Cyclone Gilian is affecting the search zone to the south

"The cyclone is a long way from the search area but unfortunately with these cyclones, they are such big beasts, they influence a vast area," said Dr Beaman, from Cairns James Cook University.

"What's happened is it's combined with a low-pressure system that's also sweeping in affecting the whole western coast of Western Australia. And it reaches far down south into the search area."

Former Royal Australian Air Force crew member Mark Ryan has extensive experience flying the AP-3C Orion aircraft being used in the search off Western Australia.

He told Sky News it was essential the search was suspended in such dangerous weather conditions.

"When the sea is so rough and you've got gale-force winds out there, mini tornadoes, or sea spouts, are whipped up," he said.

"They appear on radar as a radar contact, so the crew get excited and the crew start homing in on one of these water spouts - but you actually don't see it until the last minute."

The crew on board an Australian P3-Orion

The low-pressure system is expected to leave the area within a few days, but Cyclone Gillian, although weakening, will likely stay around for longer.

Dr Beaman said: "We can expect that once the low-pressure system that's causing the inclement weather in the search area moves to the east, behind it should be some better weather."

Surface currents are also being tracked to try and estimate the effect of the weather on the movement of any possible debris.

The region where the search zone lies is known for its huge swells and waves.

"It's a nasty part of the world simply because there's no land to break up any of this swell and waves - it's uncomfortable to be there any time," Dr Beaman said.

"You really need a strong stomach to work in that area so I really feel for the people who are out there doing the search."

Malaysian officials said they were now sure flight MH370 crashed in the remote Indian Ocean with the loss of all 239 people on board.

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Mudslide: Boy Rescued Amid Search For Missing

Rescuers have pulled a four-year-boy from the rubble of a deadly mudslide in Washington State, as relatives and friends of the 176 people missing scour the debris with chainsaws and their bare hands.

At least 14 people were killed as the mudslide smashed through the small community of Oso, about 55 miles (90km) north of Seattle on Saturday morning.

Around 30 homes were destroyed and dozens more damaged as much of the riverside village was swept away.

The number of those possibly missing has grown dramatically to include not just residents but visitors, contractors and people who might have been driving by when the wall of mud and rocks crashed through the neighbourhood.

Four-year-old Jacob Spiller was rescued and reunited with his mother, who was not at home.

Jacob Spiller was reunited with his mother

But his brother, Jovan, known as Jo-Jo, his father, and other members of his family remain unaccounted for.

Snohomish County emergency management director John Pennington stressed the list could be revised downward as some names could be duplicates.

"The 176, I believe very strongly is not a number we're going to see in fatalities. I believe it's going to drop dramatically," he said.

Jo-Jo is among the missing, along with other members of his family

The mudslide blocked a mile-long stretch of road as well as sweeping through the community.

"The situation is very grim," Snohomish County Fire District 21 Chief Travis Hots said, stressing that authorities are still in rescue mode and are holding out hope.

But he noted: "We have not found anyone alive on this pile since Saturday."

The wall of mud and rocks crashed through an entire neighbourhood

Search and rescue teams have used helicopters dogs and heavy equipment to search for any survivors.

They found a chocolate Labrador named Buddy alive, and helped pull the dog from the rubble, leading some to wonder if other survivors could be out there, desperate for help.

"If we found a dog alive yesterday afternoon that we cut out of a part of a house, doesn't that seem that maybe somebody could be stuck up under part of a house and be alive too?" asked Elaine Young, whose home survived the slide.

Cory Kuntz and several volunteers used chainsaws to cut through the roof of his uncle's house, which was swept around 137 metres from where he had sat before.

Mr Kuntz said his aunt, Linda McPherson, was killed.

"When you look at it, you just kind of go in shock, and you kind of go numb," he said.

It is believed the mudslide was caused by heavy rain that left the ground unstable.

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MH370 Protests As Airline Chief Defends Search

Malaysia Airlines' chief executive has said he will decide later whether to resign, as Chinese relatives of passengers held angry protests in Beijing.

At a news conference at Kuala Lumpur airport, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya was asked whether he would stand down over the airline's handling of the disappearance of MH370.

But he said it was a "personal decision" for later, and insisted the airline was doing its best to handle relatives with care and dignity.

"My heart breaks to think of the unimaginable pain suffered by all the families," Mr Ahmad Jauhari said.

"There are no words which can ease that pain.

Cyclone Gillian is hampering the search efforts

"Everyone in the Malaysia Airlines family is praying for the 239 souls on MH370 and for their loved ones on this dark day. We extend our prayers and sincere condolences."

He also defended the airline's decision to send text messages to relatives of passengers informing them the plane had been lost.

The messages were sent shortly before Malaysia's Prime Minister announced on Monday investigators were convinced the jet, with 239 people on board, crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.

"Our sole and only motivation last night was to ensure that in the incredibly short amount of time available to us, the families heard the tragic news before the world did," Mr Ahmad Jauhari said.

"Wherever humanly possible, we did so in person with the families or by telephone, using SMS only as an additional means of ensuring fully that the nearly 1,000 family members heard the news from us and not from the media."

But the news conference came as dozens of angry relatives of Chinese passengers clashed with police at Malaysia's embassy in Beijing.

They were shouting slogans including "the Malaysian government are murderers" and "return our relatives".

Chinese Air Force crew return to the base after the search is suspended

Scuffles broke out as uniformed security personnel attempted to block some of the relatives from reaching reporters, who were being kept in a designated area.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) earlier called off the hunt for wreckage from MH370 for the day due to gale force winds, rain and big waves.

"AMSA has undertaken a risk assessment and determined that the current weather conditions would make any air and sea search activities hazardous and pose a risk to crew," it said.

"Therefore, AMSA has suspended all sea and air search operations for today due to these weather conditions."

AMSA said the weather was expected to improve in the evening local time.

Mr Ahmad Jauhari, left, with the airline's chairman at the news conference

The Australian navy ship HMAS Success, which tried to find debris seen by a plane and satellite, headed south of the search area to get out of the rough seas.

Several satellite images of potential debris in that area had been picked up ahead of the announcement, with French, Australian, American and Chinese authorities all capturing images of possible debris.

Hopes had been high wreckage would be found after two new objects - a green circular item and an orange rectangular one - were spotted by an Australian military plane on Monday.

This followed larger "white and square" objects seen by a Chinese plane.

HMAS Success has left the search area due to rough seas

The search is a race against time as the battery life of the locator beacon in the plane's black box may run out in the next two weeks.

The US military has sent a black box locator and a robotic underwater vehicle to find it.

Malaysia's police chief, Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar, earlier reiterated all the passengers had been cleared of suspicion.

But he said the pilots and crew were still being investigated.

He would not comment on whether officials had recovered the files that were deleted a month earlier from the home flight simulator of the chief pilot.

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MH370 Search: Latest Developments At A Glance

Ten planes are searching waters of the southern Indian Ocean for any trace of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Here is a summary of the latest information in the hunt:

:: Chinese planes spot objects

A Chinese plane crew has spotted a white, square-shaped object in an area identified by satellite imagery as containing possible debris from the missing plane.

A Chinese ship had headed toward the area to investigate.

:: Black box locator

The US Pacific command said it was sending a towed pinger locator to the region.

The equipment, which is pulled behind a vessel at slow speeds, has highly sensitive listening capability that can detect pings from a plane's black box down to a depth of 20,000 feet (6,100m).

:: French satellite data

France says satellite radar data identified some debris that could be from the lost plane about 900km (550 miles) north of the spot where objects in the images released by the Chinese were located.

:: Weather conditions

Rain is forecast in the search area, about 1,550 miles (2,500km) southwest of Perth, Australia, hampering visibility.

A cyclone bearing down on the northwest coast of Australia could also stir up bad weather.

Planes must fly about four hours just to get there, severely limiting their search time before returning home.

:: Search

Australia, China, the US, Japan and New Zealand have all contributed planes or ships to the search effort.

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Malaysia Jet: 'White And Square Objects Seen'

A Chinese plane looking for missing Malaysian flight MH370 has reportedly spotted several "suspicious" floating objects.

The crew of the military Ilyushin-76 aircraft saw "white and square" objects dispersed over several kilometres in the southern Indian Ocean, according to China's official news agency.

They included two "relatively big" objects and several smaller ones, and they were seen near an area identified by satellite imagery as containing possible debris from the missing airliner.

The Chinese military plane lands after spotting the 'suspicious' objects

"The crew has reported the co-ordinates - 95.1113 degrees east and 42.5453 south - to the Australian command centre as well as Chinese icebreaker Xuelong, which is en route to the sea area," Xinhua said.

Australia said it will use other aircraft scheduled to search the area on Monday to try to also spot the objects.

There have been several sightings by planes and satellites of objects

But the Chinese foreign ministry said it was unable to confirm what they were.

Sky's Mark Stone in the city of Perth said: "It could be that those two large objects are bits of fuselage and the smaller objects are perhaps seat covers which would obviously float.

"But it could also be something entirely different - pallets that have fallen off the back of a fishing trawler or something else."

A Chinese mother writes a message to her son who was on flight MH370

A Chinese military plane had earlier set off from Perth to find "suspicious debris" captured by satellite imagery in the remote waters.

It comes as a Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 271 people from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul, South Korea was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Hong Kong this morning after a technical fault.

The southern corridor and the area of ocean being searched

Flight MH066 was diverted "due to an inoperative aircraft generator which supplies normal electrical power" on the Airbus A330-300, the airline said in a statement.

"However, electrical power continued to be supplied by the auxiliary power unit," the company added, giving no further details on the technical problem.

The US Navy has announced it is sending one of its high-tech black box detectors to the southern Indian Ocean being scoured for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

The towed pinger locator, which is pulled behind a vessel at slow speeds, has highly sensitive listening capability so that if the wreck site is located, it can hear the black box pinger down to a depth of about 20,000ft (6,100 metres).

The navy called the move a "precautionary measure" in case those sightings confirm the location of the aircraft which disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.

A Chinese satellite spotted this potential debris on Saturday

US Seventh Fleet Operations Officer Commander Chris Budde said in a statement: "If debris is found we will be able to respond as quickly as possible since the battery life of the black box's pinger is limited."

Meanwhile, Australian authorities are continuing to analyse French satellite images showing potential floating debris in the southern search area around 1,500 miles (2,500km) southwest of Perth.

It was the third possible sighting of debris in the area and occurred almost 600 miles north of an object reported by the Chinese at the weekend.

Speaking about the French sighting, Australian deputy prime minister Warren Truss said: "That's not in the area that had been identified as the most likely place where the aircraft may have entered the sea. But having said all that we've got to check out all the options."

On Saturday, the Chinese government released a satellite image showing a large floating object.

That object, measuring 74ft (22.5 metres) by 43ft (13 metres), was photographed on Tuesday just 75 miles from where two other potential pieces of debris were spotted by an Australian satellite.

None of the objects have yet been retrieved to determine if they are from MH370.

Ten aircraft and the Australian Navy ship HMAS Success are now involved in a fifth day of searching for debris.

Heavy rain is expected to hamper efforts and a cyclone bearing down on Australia's northwest coast could also stir up severe weather.

Mr Truss said "nothing of note" was found on Sunday, which he described as a "fruitless day".

More follows...

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Egypt Sentences 529 Morsi Supporters To Death

More than 500 Muslim Brotherhood supporters have been sentenced to death during a mass trial at a court in southern Egypt.

The sentence was delivered after two sessions in which the defendants' lawyers complained they had no chance to present their case.

"The court has decided to sentence to death 529 defendants and 16 were acquitted," lawyer Ahmed al Sharif said.

Only 123 of the defendants were present for the ruling. The rest were either released, out on bail or on the run.

The defendants are among more than 1,200 supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi who went on trial in Minya on Saturday.

They are accused of attacking both police and public property after security forces broke up two Cairo protest camps set up by supporters of Mr Morsi last August.

They were also accused of committing acts of violence that led to the deaths of two policemen in Minya, judicial sources said.

Supporters of ousted president Mr Morsi have faced a crackdown since he was forced from power in July.

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands arrested since the Muslim Brotherhood was banned 

More follows...

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UK Warning As Russia Tightens Grip On Crimea

Foreign Secretary William Hague has warned Russia it is not simply facing "short-term pain" of limited sanctions, but long-term "isolation and stagnation" following its decision to claim Crimea from Ukraine.

Mr Hague's comments come amid continuing tensions in Crimea, where pro-Russian forces have seized control of more Ukrainian military sites.

In an article for the Sunday Telegraph, he wrote: "The European Commission are working now on more far-reaching economic measures that will be imposed if Russia takes further steps to undermine Ukraine."

He said Britain and its allies had "never given up on diplomacy or sought a path of permanent confrontation with Russia".

"But nor should European nations run scared before bullying behaviour," he added.

Mr Hague said it was now necessary to "contemplate a new state of relations with Russia that is very different to the last 20 years".

Armed men seized the navy ship Slavutich

On Saturday, several hundred protesters raised the Russian flag after storming a Ukrainian airforce base in the western Crimean town Novofedorivka while pro-Kremlin forces watched.

In the main city of Sevastopol, armed men seized control of the Slavutich, one of the last navy ships in Crimea still flying Ukraine's flag.

Armoured carriers smashed their way into the airbase near Sevastopol

But the most dramatic episode saw Russian special forces break into the Belbek air base, near Simferopol, which has long been the pride of Ukraine's air force.

Sky News Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay was inside the sprawling compound as the attack took place.

"They came through the walls in armoured personnel carriers," he said, adding that the forces were "all balaclaved" and wore "slightly different uniforms to regular Russian soldiers".

The base is in a key strategic position on Crimea's Black Sea coast

Ramsay also heard "big explosions" which he said were probably blast bombs to disorientate the Ukrainian troops, who were then made to line up on a parade ground.

He said the Ukrainians were "massively outnumbered and outgunned" by the Russians, with just small arms and a few machine guns.

Ukraine's defence ministry later confirmed its men had left the base and said a journalist and a Ukrainian soldier had been wounded during the takeover.

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said the base was an important capture for the Russians.

The Ukrainian troops were 'outnumbered'

"It is a base that is home to a significant number, possibly a third, of the main combat aircraft of the Ukrainian air force - the MIG-29s - and their support aircraft and the structures that go with them," he said.

"If you look at that and the blockage of the Ukrainian Navy in the shared port of Sevastopol in Crimea, what you see here is the Russians doing two things.

"The first is to seize territory that they now lay claim to and the second is to cripple the Ukrainian armed forces.

"That is extremely important to them if they want to move into the Ukrainian eastern provinces where there are a predominance of Russian speakers."

The Foreign Office has extended its travel warnings and is advising against all but essential travel to Kharkiv, Donetsk and Lugansk due to increased tension in eastern Ukraine.

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'Increasing Hope' Of Solving Plane Mystery

There is "increasing hope" of finding out what happened to the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, according to Australian PM Tony Abbott.

"It's still too early to be definite, but obviously we have now had a number of very credible leads and there is increasing hope, no more than hope, no more than hope, that we might be on the road to discovering what did happen to this ill-fated aircraft," he said.

Mr Abbott said there had been three "significant" developments in the search for flight MH370, which disappeared en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur more than two weeks ago with 239 passengers.

The first was the release by the Chinese government of a new satellite image showing a large floating object in the southern Indian Ocean which could be debris from the Boeing 777.

The search in the southern Indian Ocean is entering a fourth day

The object, measuring 74ft (22.5m) by 43ft (13m), was photographed just 75 miles from where two other potential pieces of debris were spotted by a satellite. China has said further analysis is needed to determine if this is related to the plane.

Mr Abbott said this "does seem to suggest at least one large object down there consistent with the object that earlier satellite imagery discovered".

He also cited the sighting of a number of small objects in the southern Indian Ocean, including a wooden pallet, by a civilian jet on Saturday as a source of optimism.

The final development is the increased resources being deployed in the search of the zone around 2,500km (1,550 miles) southwest of Perth. Two Chinese aircraft and two planes from Japan have now joined the hunt.

The two objects spotted by satellite

"The more aircraft we have, the more ships we have, the more confident we are of recovering whatever material is down there and obviously, before we can be too specific about what it might be, we do actually need to recover some of this material," Mr Abbott added.

The "really big international" search effort was praised by the PM, who said: "It is a very important humanitarian exercise.

"We owe it to the almost 240 people on board the plane, we owe it to their grieving families, we owe it to the governments of the countries concerned, to do everything we can to discover as much as we can about the fate of MH370."

Michael Barton, of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, said: "Today's search is about a visual search, a complete change of emphasis from earlier searching using radar.

The southern corridor and the area of ocean being searched

"So we're into a more defined area based on the satellite's imagery."

The authority said the search operation had been split into two areas, with a total of eight aircraft involved in an operation that covers 22,800 sq miles (59,000 sq km).

The wing of a Boeing 777-200ER is approximately 27 metres (88ft) long and 14 metres (45ft) wide at its base, according to estimates taken from scale drawings. The fuselage is 63.7 metres (208ft) long and 6.2 metres (20ft) wide.

Tropical Cyclone Gillian

But bad weather could affect the operation, after a cyclone warning was declared for Tropical Cyclone Gillian, which is forecast to move into the southern search corridor.

A cold front is predicted to move through the region later on Sunday, which could bring clouds and wind.

Countries in the northern search corridor, which includes China, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Laos, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, said there have been no sightings of the aircraft on their radar.

The search for the plane was narrowed to these two areas based on faint signals picked up by a satellite, which also suggest the plane flew on for six hours after it disappeared from air traffic control screens in the early hours of March 8.

Investigators believe it was deliberately diverted by someone on board.

The three most plausible explanations for the plane's disappearance are: hijacking, pilot sabotage and a crisis that incapacitated the crew and caused the plane to fly on auto-pilot, run out of fuel and crash.

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