Search for Malaysia Airlines flight continue
The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight continues days before its batteries are set to die.
Ten planes and eight ships scanned the search area in the southern Indian Ocean on Sunday, in the most intensive day of searching so far during the operation.
Australian authorities say several objects were spotted by its aircraft. Some have already been ruled out but there remains at least four objects of interest.
An Australian vessel carrying a sophisticated U.S. black box locator and an underwater drone is expected to join the search in the coming days.
The flight recorder's batteries are expected to run out in about a week's time.
Today's search will resume subject to weather conditions.
Strong gales are forecast in the next two days with big waves and low visibility in the search site west of Australia.
Xi Jinping in Belgium
Chinese President Xi Jinping has observed the opening of a new panda exhibit at a zoo in Belgium.
The president is on the final leg of his four-nation European tour.
The pandas were sent to Belgium from Sichuan province last month, as part of a joint research project involving scientists from both countries.
The move is seen as a display of friendship between the two countries.
Hao Hao, the female, and Xing Hui, the male, are both four years old. They will stay in the country for the next 15 years.
Pandas are considered envoys of friendship, and President Xi says their arrival in Belgium has demonstrated the Chinese people's deep feelings for the Belgian people.
Xi Jinping's visit to Belgium is the first by a Chinese head-of-state in 27 years.
China insists on bilateral talks on disputes on South China Sea
China is again urging the Philippines to stick to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and return to the path of bilateral talks in resolving disputes.
The statement comes after the Philippines filed a formal plea to an international tribunal regarding a territorial dispute over the Nansha Islands.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei says in a written statement that China will not accept the international arbitration filed by the Philippines.
He says China holds a clear and consistent stance that it has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and adjacent waters.
Hong says China has always adhered to direct bilateral negotiations with relevant countries to solve disputes regarding sovereignty over islands and maritime demarcation.
He says the position is in line with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea signed by China and ASEAN nations as well as the consensus reached by China and the Philippines in a series of documents.
North threatens "new form" of nuclear test
North Korea says it will not rule out a new form of nuclear test to bolster its nuclear deterrence.
The statement, released by the Foreign Ministry and read out on state television, says the Korean People's Army will take part in new drills which will involve more diversified nuclear deterrence.
"Now that the US is staging ceaseless nuclear war exercises by mobilising all types of nuclear strike means aimed at 'occupying Pyongyang' while describing the exercises as 'annual ones,' the Korean People's Army drills will involve various forms of exercises in which more diversified nuclear deterrence will be used for hitting various medium and long-range targets with a variety of striking power."
Earlier, the United Nations Security Council said North Korea violated UN resolutions after launching two medium-range ballistic missiles off the east coast of the country.
The missile launch comes as U.S. and South Korean troops start annual military drills.
Turkey's ruling party takes lead in local elections
Turkey's ruling Justice and Development party, or AKP, has reportedly taken a strong lead in the country's municipal election.
Voting was held on Sunday.
Turkish media report that with around 35 percent of the votes counted, the AKP stands at nearly 48 percent, while the main opposition Republican People's Party holds 28 percent.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"Our people will tell the truth above anything else. And beyond what's talked about in the public squares, what will be decisive, is what the people will say. In my opinion, what the people say goes. The people's decision is respected. Anything outside of this, one way or another, will be recorded only in history, once the results from the polls are in tonight.."
The elections come as the ruling AKP government has faced corruption allegations.
Four ministers have resigned following anti-corruption raids in December targeting businessmen close to Erdogan and sons of ministers.
Erdogan has called the raids as a campaign of espionage to topple him.
Official results are due to be out later today.
21 people killed in Tanzania road crash
A road crash in southern Tanzania has claimed 21 lives.
The accident on Saturday night also injured 9 people. Local police say a mini-bus rammed into a lorry. It was a head-on collision.
This crash follows the deaths of 12 women less than 24 hours earlier in another accident.
Roads in Tanzania claim thousands of lives every year, and most of the accidents are caused by what police term as reckless driving and bad road conditions. |