Video Shows Students Joking Before Ferry Sank

A video from the mobile phone of one of the victims of the South Korean ferry disaster has revealed students were joking about "becoming the Titanic" before the ship sank.

It shows students struggling to put on life jackets as the Sewol begins to list sharply and a member of the crew tells people "not to move" over the loudspeaker.

The footage was captured by 17-year-old Park Su-Hyeon, whose father Park Jong-Dae released it to the Associated Press news agency.

In it, an unidentified member of the crew says: "Do not move from your current location. And be prepared for a dangerous situation."

One of the students says: "Nonsense. I want to get off. I mean it."

The footage shows students remaining in their cabins as the ferry listed

Another adds: "These are the pictures we need to take as our last memories. Take a photo like this.

"Like a man against gravity."

The footage also shows some students not taking the situation seriously, as some sing the theme song of the film Titanic.

But others are beginning to panic as they try to put on life jackets and the vessel leans to one side.

One person said: "This is like Titanic."

And another adds: "Please if only I could live. Mom, Dad, I love you."

A memorial 'altar' to the school victims in Ansan

It comes after a body was recovered some distance away from the submerged vessel, sparking fears that many of those still missing will never be found.

Some 213 bodies have so far been recovered from the sunken ferry, with another 89 unaccounted for. The majority of the victims were students from one school in Ansan, south of Seoul.

A fishing boat pulled a body from the sea more than a mile away from the main recovery site near the island of Jindo.

Recovery teams put a ring of netting around the site several days ago, but there are concerns powerful currents may have pulled bodies into the open sea.

The Sewol capsized on April 16 with 476 people on board. The ship's captain Lee Joon-Seok and 14 of his crew have been arrested on suspicion of negligence and abandoning people in need.

Investigators have said a sudden sharp turn may have caused cargo on board the vessel to shift, making it list to one side before it capsized.

Prosecutors are also examining whether the ferry had stability issues caused by too much cargo being on board.

Lee has said he delayed evacuating the ferry because he was worried about passengers getting into cold water with strong currents before rescue ships were in the area.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

Narendra Modi 'Selfie' Lands Him In Trouble

By Neville Lazarus, India Producer

The politician leading the race to become India's new prime minister has been accused of flouting election rules.

Narendra Modi breached election laws by flashing his party's symbol - a Lotus - and making a political speech at a polling booth, the Election Commission said.

Officials have ordered police in Gujarat to lodge two criminal cases against the prime ministerial candidate, from the right wing Bharitya Janata party.

Mr Modi, who voted at the school, tweeted a selfie of his inked finger against the party symbol the Lotus, while at the polling station, and outside.

Narendra Modi takes another selfie outside the polling station

According to the electoral laws, politicians must not make public rallies or use media to "display to the public any election campaign materials within 48 hours of an election and also within 100m of the polling station".

Candidates have also been reminded that it is against the rules to enter a polling station with caps, shawls and clothes bearing the symbol of any political party.

The Election Commission stated that Mr Modi's address to the media and voters outside the school was "intended and calculated to influence and affect the result of elections in the constituencies going to polls today".

The politician is accused of making a political speech

If convicted Mr Modi faces a two-year jail sentence - but commentators say this is unlikely to happen.

The Election Commission order has also directed the police to carry proceedings and file cases against news channels and other electronic media which showed the footage.

Mr Modi reacted to the controversy saying: "One can understand if someone points (threatens with) a knife, a pistol or a gun (and case is registered). But do you know why (the case) was registered against me? Because I showed a lotus to the people."

The ruling Congress party was elated with the decision, however.

Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad said: "Stern action should be taken against him. Everyone in the country will know that a person who is a candidate for prime minister is violating guidelines openly and knowingly and has no respect for constitutional norms."

Thousands of people turned out to cheer the prime ministerial candidate

With 814 million eligible voters, India's general election is the world's biggest exercise in democracy.

The governing Congress party, which has ruled India for a decade, is battling the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for power.

With just over two weeks to go for the results of all voters all indications show an edge for Mr Modi, who is ahead in all of the polls.

Mr Modi is serving his fourth term as chief minister of the developed state of Gujarat.

Only two more phases of voting are left of the marathon Indian elections for 545 seats in the Indian Parliament.

Polling began on April 7 and will conclude on May 12. Votes will be counted on May 16.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

Oil Train In Fiery Derailment In Virginia

Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes after an oil train derailed and caught fire near a city centre in the US state of Virginia.

A black pall of smoke drifted over central Lynchburg after Wednesday's incident involving up to 14 carriages.

Three of them ended up in the James River and some 50,000 gallons (190,000 litres) of oil were missing from the tankers, said Lynchburg officials.

But it is unclear how much spilled into the water or burned up. Health officials said the city's drinking water would not be affected.

Firefighters decided to allow the blaze on the train, which was on its way from Chicago to an undisclosed destination, to burn out.

Train company CSX said it was "responding fully, with emergency response personnel, safety and environmental experts".

There have been a number of similar accidents in the US and Canada in the past year. Forty-seven people died when a runaway oil train derailed and exploded in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, last July.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

India Train Bomb Blasts Leave Woman Dead

By Neville Lazarus, India Producer

A woman in her 20s has died and 10 other people have been injured in two bomb blasts on a passenger train in India.

The blasts ripped through two coaches of the train minutes after it pulled into Chennai railway station.

The Guwahati express, which starts in the northeastern state of Assam and travels to the city of Bengaluru, had already travelled 1,700 miles.

The injured were rushed to hospital, with two said to be in a critical condition.

A senior railway official said: "The blasts took place at 7.15 in the morning - 10 minutes after the train had come on to platform no 9."

A suspicious bag was found abandoned on the train as police and bomb squads checked the trains for more explosive devices.

The train was allowed to continue on its way after bomb squad inspections

Local media reports that Tamil Nadu police have taken a man into custody for questioning - he was found hiding inside the train after the blasts.

A senior official said the train was running late and if it had been on time and still on the track when the blasts occurred, the damage could have been far greater.

As an investigation into the blasts continues, the train has been allowed to continue to its final destination.

The explosions come amid heightened security nationwide for India's general election, which is held in phases over several weeks.

Security alerts have been issued in Tamil Nadu and the adjoining state of Andhra Pradesh.

Earlier this week state police arrested Sri Lankan national Mohammed Zakir Hussain who is allegedly part of plot to target vital installations in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

Festivity And Fighting As World Marks May Day

Rallies have been taking place around the work to mark May Day, with some demonstrations descending into violent clashes.

To mark the day, which traditionally celebrates the coming of spring and acknowledges the world's workers, people paraded in Russia's Red Square for the first time since 1991.

Russians saw a chance for patriotism amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine

It is seen as the latest Soviet tradition to be revived in an effort to celebrate Russian patriotism, as tensions with the country's Ukrainian neighbours continue.

May Day was a key date in the Soviet calendar, with elaborate celebrations involving ranks of marching athletes, soldiers and workers on the Moscow square.

A Buddhist monk talks to police in Phnom Penh

However, recent years have seen far less spectacular events, with marches taking place locally instead of in the country's main square.

Rallies have also taken place across Asia, including in Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Taipei and Seoul, where the annual march was expected to be a more sombre affair as South Koreans remember last month's ferry disaster.

A protester throws stones at riot police in Istanbul's main square

In Turkish capital Istanbul, police fired tear gas and water cannons at protesters as tens of thousands of people tried to defy a ban on demonstrations in the city's Taksim Square.

It came on the anniversary of clashes that sparked a nationwide protest movement.

In Cambodia, security forces armed with sticks and batons forcibly dispersed dozens of May Day protesters near Phnom Penh's Freedom Park, with several people beaten, according to a news agency photographer.

Two people at a lake in Germany watch fireworks as part of a pagan festival

The park, opened by the government in 2010 to allow people to air their grievances, was sealed off with barbed wire as the authorities tried to halt protests against long-ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen.

"We are sad that we could not mark May Day properly. Workers' rights have been thwarted," said Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union.

A good-humoured protester holds up his placards in Taipei

Indonesia's workers were calling for better working condition in southeast Asia's most populous nation, although both sides were divided on how many people would attend.

In Hong Kong, union organisers said some 5,000 people were planning to join a march on government headquarters, with better working hours top of the agenda.

Morris dancers in Leicester take part in a May Day celebration

Malaysian civil society groups were expecting several thousand people at a rally in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, against government-backed price hikes.

And in Taiwan, thousands of workers were planning to march in a call for wage rises and a ban on companies hiring cheap temporary or part-time workers.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

Vet Kept 'Dying' Pet Dog As Blood Donor

A vet who allegedly used a dog for blood transfusions after telling its owners the pet needed to be euthanised has been charged with cruelty to animals.

The owners of Sid, a Leonberger, discovered following a tip-off that the family pet they believed had been put down six months earlier was being kept in a cage at the clinic in Fort Worth, Texas.

Marian and Jamie Harris say vet Millard Lucien Tierce told them last autumn that Sid was terminally ill from a degenerative spinal disorder.

But Mrs Harris says a former employee at Camp Bowie Animal Clinic called her last week and said that instead of putting the dog down, Dr Tierce had kept him as a plasma donor for other pets.

Millard Lucien Tierce says the allegations are a 'bunch of hooey'

The couple reportedly marched into the clinic and found Sid alive in a filthy backroom pen.

Mrs Harris said the freed dog was able to walk and jump in the back of her vehicle.

She said they took Sid to another vet for a check-up only to be told the dog did not have any serious health problems.

"The biggest hurt in all of this is the deception and what it means with something that means so much to you," Mrs Harris told the Star Telegram newspaper. "Our pets are family members."

Police and the state Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners raided the clinic on Tuesday and removed two other dogs.

On Wednesday afternoon, Dr Tierce, 71, told US media the allegations against him were "a bunch of hooey" and that he had kept the dog alive because he could not bear to euthanise the animal.

He turned himself in to police and has been released on bail.

Sid is now back home with the Harrises in the city of Aledo.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

Killer Shark Sighting Sees Oz Beaches Closed

A large great white shark reportedly forced the closure of several beaches in the western Australian city of Perth.

The five-metre shark was spotted off the Floreat Groyne at City Beach in the morning, said the reports quoting Surf Life Saving Western Australia (WA).

It is believed the shark was drawn into the area by a six-metre whale seen earlier near City Beach.

A jetskier riding near the shark

One witness talked of seeing the shark swimming near the whale, with both heading north.

"First of all, I saw the whale, and then I could see something following it," the witness said.

"And then people were saying: 'What's pursuing it?'. And yeah, then it was clear, it was a shark."

Another talked of her sighting: "Quite close to the shore and it was enormous, the shark."

Her friend agreed. "I've never seen anything like it. It was huge."

Surf Life Saving Western Australia told local media that it tracked the shark as it headed north.

City Beach was reopened later on Thursday, but several other beaches remained closed.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

Florida Jail Gas Blast Kills 2 And Injures 100

A gas explosion at a Florida jail has killed two people and left up to 150 inmates and corrections officers hurt.

Escambia County jail's booking facility building was almost entirely destroyed in the blast, which happened at around 11pm local time on Wednesday.

Sheriff David Morgan said not all inmates were yet accounted for, with officials waiting until the building was safe to enter. He also said it was possible some inmates had escaped.

Officials described frantic scenes following the explosion

Authorities had blocked off roads to the jail, outside which pieces of glass and brick were strewn on the ground.

County spokeswoman Kathleen Castro said at least two prisoners were killed in the explosion. Around 600 inmates were in the building at the time.

Escambia County Jail. Pic: Google street view

Ms Castro said she did not know if flooding in the area was a factor, but that the prison did suffer extensive flooding during heavy rains in the region on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The injured were taken to hospital while inmates who were unhurt were taken to jails in neighbouring counties.

Ms Castro said officials were scrambling to get people out of the building, provide medical care, and working to make sure inmates were detained and routed to other facilities.

The blast has almost completely destroyed the building

Sacred Heart Hospital and West Florida Hospital in Pensacola said the injuries they had treated were all relatively minor.

Vicki Brooks, a spokeswoman for Sacred Heart, said they treated 31 patients with mostly neck and back injuries.

Kendrick Doidge said West Florida Hospital treated 37 inmates in the emergency room and that all had been released back into the custody of the Escambia County Sheriff's Office.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ukraine: Conscription Back Amid Violent Demos

Ukraine Mine: Militia Controls Million Weapons

Updated: 11:37pm UK, Wednesday 30 April 2014

By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent, in Ukraine

At the end of a completely anonymous road on the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian town of Artemivsk is the village of Paraskoviyevka.

It has two claims to fame: one of the few still functioning salt mines in the region, and, more importantly, the largest cache of weapons in Europe - over a million of them and they are under the control of separatists.

Outside the gates of the mine, a cluster of tents mark the pro-Russian checkpoint guarding the entrance to this enormous supply of weapons.

The militia say they started guarding the mine in March when efforts were made to move some of the weapons. They say they will not allow anyone to get their hands on them.

But military experts and government sources in Kiev have warned that such a ready supply should not be guarded by groups who wish to separate from the country.

The storage facility was created in the 1950s by the Soviet Union.

About 150 metres below ground and stretching horizontally for kilometres the weapons age back to World War Two but in the 1990s huge numbers of Kalashnikov machine guns were stored in the facility as well.

The men guarding the store say the conditions underground are dry and perfect for storage.

They say that the armaments, particularly the newer ones, are in perfect working order.

"If anyone got in there they could arm everyone in Ukraine," a masked separatist told me.

He added: "There are rifles, machine guns, heavy weapons and millions and millions of rounds of ammunition. We are here to stop the forces of the west and anyone else for that matter from getting their hands on them.

"For certain the fascists from Kiev won't get them."

The real point of this is that there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to take control of the store from the pro-Russia group.

Soldiers at a nearby camp are powerless here; their authority has gone and do nothing to move the blockade outside the mine.

To a degree this is a perfect microcosm example of what is happening across the east of the country.

Government institutions and police stations in virtually all the main towns and cities have fallen to the pro-Russia militia.

It is an extremely well-organised takeover. Armed and masked men arrive and disarm police before moving to town halls and regional buildings.

At gunpoint, they impose their authority before civilian activists move in and start building barricades.

Asked who the enemy are, the usual reply is "Fascists from Kiev".

The truth is there isn't a fascist horde wending its way out here.

It is a myth that has been propagated by self-appointed regional leaders with the help of Russian media, whose reporting of events is watched by most people here.

And it is a cross between hysterical warnings of armageddon and comic manipulation of facts and events; comic if people were not dying as a result, which they are.

This is getting increasingly nasty and once again there is nothing anyone can do about it.

In Donestsk, where pro-Kiev supporters have staged rallies of support, people have been beaten senseless and in one instance knifed to death by pro-Russian thugs.

The police do nothing to stop the attacks happening and, worse, there is more than a suspicion that they are in cahoots with the mob.

I have seen riot police clad in full protective gear hugging men who minutes earlier were beating an old man.

The Kiev administration admits its forces in the east are not able to intervene or are failing to do their jobs.

But the police themselves say they are getting no orders or guidance from Kiev.

Even if they don't like what is going on here, and many admit they do, they have no intention of taking a beating, or worse, by stick-wielding groups and armed masked men.

From Kiev, they are warning of an imminent invasion by Russian forces and have put their troops on full alert.

But these soldiers are in truth utterly incapable of resistance to an army, or, as we have seen, even a militia.

Eastern Ukraine is drifting away and it seems there is nothing anyone can do to stop it - just like Crimea.

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More

MH370 Hunt Began Four Hours After Jet Vanished

The operation to find Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was not launched until four hours after the plane went off radar, according to an interim report.

The information, released by the country's government, showed it disappeared at 1.21am but Vietnamese air traffic controllers did not realise the aircraft was missing until 17 minutes later at 1.38am.

It was then more than three hours until the search and rescue operation began at 5.30am after attempts to locate the Boeing 777 had failed.

Other information released by the Malaysian government includes audio recordings of conversations between the cockpit and air traffic control, the plane's cargo manifest and its seating plan.

The air search for debris in the Indian Ocean was recently called off

The cargo manifest includes a receipt for a package containing over two tons of lithium ion batteries, noting the package "must be handled with care".

Some questions were raised in March about the batteries.

But the airline said then that they were in compliance with international requirements and classified as "non-dangerous goods".

The report also said aviation authorities should examine the benefits of standardised tracking on all commercial aircraft.

The latest findings did not contain information on the ongoing Malaysian police investigation into whether a criminal act such as terrorism was to blame.

A submarine is still being used to scour the seabed for MH370

A separate report listing the actions taken by air traffic controllers showed the Vietnamese contacted Kuala Lumpur after they failed to establish verbal contact with the pilots and the plane did not show up on their radar.

That report also showed at one point Malaysia Airlines thought the plane may have entered Cambodian airspace.

The jet vanished early on Saturday March 8 between Malaysia and Vietnam during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in China.

Military radar found the plane made a turn-back in a westerly direction across Peninsular Malaysia but took no further action because the aircraft was deemed "friendly".

Some 239 people were aboard the jet and most of the 227 passengers were Chinese.

Relatives of the passengers on MH370 have been advised to return home

Despite extensive searches from the air and in the sea, no trace of the aircraft has been found. It is likely it came down in the southern Indian Ocean.

Meanwhile, the airline has advised relatives of passengers who were aboard Flight 370 to move out of hotels and return home to wait for news on the search.

Since the jet disappeared, the airline has been putting the relatives up in hotels, where they have been briefed.

But the airline said it would close its family assistance centres around the world by May 7, and the families should receive search updates from "the comfort of their own homes".

23.31 | 0 komentar | Read More