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Debris ‘almost certainly’ from Malaysian Airlines MH370

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Australian minister says pieces washed up in southern Africa consistent with panels from missing Malaysian Airlines jet.

A piece of debris bearing identification marks was found on the coast in Mozambique in late December [Candace Lotter via AP]

A piece of debris bearing identification marks was found on the coast in Mozambique in late December [Candace Lotter via AP]

by Al Jazeera

Australia’s transport minister has said debris found off the coast off Mozambique “almost certainly” comes from the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370.

In a statement on Thursday, Darren Chester said analysis by Malaysian investigation teams had concluded that the pieces of debris found were consistent with panels from the plane that went missing in March 2014.

“The analysis has concluded the debris is almost certainly from MH370,” Chester said.

“That such debris has been found on the east coast of Africa is consistent with drift modelling performed by CSIRO [an Australian science agency] and further affirms our search efforts in the southern Indian Ocean.”

Chester said that the search for the missing plane will continue.

“There are 25,000 square kilometres of the underwater search area still to be searched. We are focused on completing this task and remain hopeful the aircraft will be found.”

The Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777-200ER plane vanished from radar screens shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing, early on March 8, 2014, becoming one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history.

Investigators believe the plane, with 239 passengers and crew on board, was flown thousands of kilometres off course before crashing into the ocean off Australia.

Wreckage and impact information are being considered based on the discovery of a wing part, known as a flaperon, in July last year, investigators said.

The flaperon, washed up on Reunion, an island off Madagascar, had been the only confirmed piece of wreckage from the aircraft to be found up until Thursday.

Earlier this month, on the two-year anniversary of the flight, international investigators said they were yet to arrive at a conclusion over what happened to the jet.

Brussels attack suspects named as manhunt intensifies

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Police comb Belgian capital for third suspect as prosecutor says two bombers were brothers involved in organised crime.

Belgian troops search people entering a subway station following Tuesday''s bomb attacks [Francois Lenoir/Reuters]

Belgian troops search people entering a subway station following Tuesday”s bomb attacks [Francois Lenoir/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

A massive manhunt is under way for a suspect seen with two supposed suicide bombers shortly before they struck Brussels’ Zaventem Airport in the first of two attacks that also hit the city’s metro, killing 31 people and wounding 261.

Belgian Federal Prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw confirmed on Wednesday that two brothers, Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui, blew themselves up in Tuesday’s attacks.

Brahim had been identified using finger print records, Van Leeuw said, adding a third suspect remained on the run.

The prosecutor also confirmed police had raided an address associated with the attackers after a tip-off by a taxi driver who drove the attackers to the airport.

“There was five kilograms of explosives, oxidising liquid, and other materials for making explosives,” he said.

Van Leeuw spoke shortly after crowds of mourners gathered outside Maelbeek station, one of the targets of the attacks, to observe a minute of silence.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) claimed responsibility for Tuesday morning’s attacks.

“This is a day of tragedy, a black day,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said, describing the bombings as the “deadliest attacks we have ever seen in Belgium”.

But as Belgium began three days of national mourning on Wednesday, he insisted the country would not be cowed by the “blind, violent and cowardly” attacks.

Belgian authorities released pictures of two of the suspects pushing trolleys with their bombs through the terminal and said they were “actively searching” for a third man whose explosives did not go off.

Police helicopters hovered over the city late into the night on Tuesday and raids were carried out across Belgium, prosecutors said, adding that a bomb, an ISIL flag and chemicals had been found in one apartment.

Police were going door-to-door throughout Brussels searching for suspects or others planning attacks. The interior minister said 600 additional police were deployed.

Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane, reporting from Brussels, said many in the country were asking whether the attacks represented a continuing threat.

“Belgians feel this is something they’ll now have to get used to…the editor of a prominent Belgian news outlet yesterday was writing that she believed this was something that was becoming part of the system.

“[She said] this was something people have to get used to and have to explain to their children that there is a threat and life has changed.”

Kane said there was also a sense that the blasts were a calculated attack on European insitutions and the “fabric of Europe”.

On social media thousands of people shared images of beloved Belgian cartoon character Tintin in tears.

The explosions struck the heart of European officialdom where NATO headquarters is based, along with the European Union, and European Commission.

Witnesses at the airport and metro station described scenes of horror immediately after the bombings.

“When I heard the first explosion, lots of people started screaming and running,” Tom, an intern working at the airport, told Al Jazeera.

“When I heard the second explosion, which was about 30 seconds after the first one, everything got chaotic. I could see panic on everyone’s face, blood on their bodies.”

The interior ministry raised the country’s terrorism alert to the highest level after the blasts.

Belgium has been on high alert since the arrest in Brussels last week of Salah Abdeslam , a key suspect in last November’s Paris attacks that left 130 people dead.

Governments in Europe and beyond quickly responded to the Brussels attacks, calling emergency national security meetings and stepping up controls at airports and other sensitive sites.

Brussels attacks: Airport and metro hit by explosions

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Health ministry says 11 people killed at Zaventem airport, shortly before another blast kills 15 at Maelbeek station.

The explosion shattered windows at Zaventem airport [Francois Lenoir/Reuters]

The explosion shattered windows at Zaventem airport [Francois Lenoir/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Two explosions have hit Brussels’ Zaventem airport, killing 11 people and injuring 81 others, the health ministry says.

Shortly after the airport blasts on Tuesday morning, an explosion also struck the Maelbeek metro station in the centre of the Belgian capital, killing 15 people, the city transport authority said. The station is close to European Union institutions.

The Belgian federal prosecutor told state media that one of the explosions at the airport was “probably” a suicide attack.

Footage from the airport – the country’s largest – showed people running from the terminal building as plumes of smoke rose to the sky.

The powerful blasts caused parts of the ceiling to fall down and windows were shattered.

All metro lines were shut down after the attacks. Witnesses at the Maelbeek station said people with blood on their faces were seen at the scene.

Ian McCafferty, a witness at the station, said the blast happened during busy rush hour traffic.

“People started running when they saw smoke coming,” he said. “The point of these attacks is to make you live in fear, but I refuse to.”

The interior ministry raised the country’s terror alert to the highest level after the blasts and Brussels’ crisis centre told people: “Stay where you are”.

House searches were carried out in the region around Brussels after the attacks, public broadcaster RTBF said on Twitter.

The interior minister said 600 additional police had been deployed.

Reuters news agency said shots were fired before the explosions at the airport.

“When I heard the first explosion, lots of people started screaming and running,” Tom, an intern working at the airport, told Al Jazeera.

“When I heard the second explosion, which was about 30 seconds after the first one, everything got chaotic. I could see panic on everyone’s face, blood on their bodies.”

After clearing the area of passengers, police brought in sniffer dogs to search the area. Unconfirmed media reports said weapons were found inside the airport.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel called for unity as details were still emerging about the attacks.

“We are facing a difficult, challenging time and we should face up to this challenge by being united,” he said.

“What we feared has happened, we were hit by blind attacks.”

Abdeslam arrest

The country had been on high alert since the arrest in Brussels last week of Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in last November’s Paris attacks that left 130 people dead.

Belgium’s Interior Minister Jan Jambon said on Monday the country was aware of the risk of a possible revenge attack following the capture of the 26-year-old.

“We know that stopping one cell can … push others into action. We are aware of it in this case,” he told public radio.

Governments in Europe and beyond quickly responded to the Brussels attacks, calling emergency national security meetings and stepping up controls at airports and other sensitive sites.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said his country would increase border patrols at the Dutch-Belgian borders and boost security.

France also announced increased security measures. President Francois Hollande said: “We are faced with a global threat … The war against terrorism must be conducted across Europe.”

Japanese journalist missing in Syria appears in video

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Junpei Yasuda is reportedly being held by al-Nusra Front after he entered Syria from Turkey last summer.

Yasuda, a freelance journalist, was seen in the video reading a message to his family and country [Reuters]

Yasuda, a freelance journalist, was seen in the video reading a message to his family and country [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

A video has surfaced online showing a missing Japanese journalist, reportedly held by an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, reading a message to his family and country.

Dressed in a dark sweater with a scarf, Jumpei Yasuda mostly seemed calm as he spoke in English in the one-minute video, which was posted on Thursday.

Yasuda, sitting at a table in front of a white wall, said he missed his family but could not be with them.

“Hello, I am Jumpei Yasuda. Today is my birthday, 16 March,” he said.

Japanese media said Yasuda was captured by al-Nusra Front after entering Syria from Turkey in June.

Public broadcaster NHK said it had spoken by phone with the man who posted the video, who said he had received it from someone seeking Yasuda’s release.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the man in the video appeared to be Yasuda but he would not confirm the authenticity of the footage.

“The safety of Japanese citizens is one of our most important duties and we are gathering information and making all possible efforts to respond,” Suga told a news conference, declining to give details.

He added that the government was not aware that any ransom request had been made.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group beheaded two Japanese nationals – a self-styled security consultant and a veteran war reporter – early last year.

The gruesome executions captured the attention of Japan but the government said at the time it would not negotiate with the fighters for their release.

 

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came under fire for his handling of hostage cases, something he would like to avoid with an election looming this summer. Critics say his more robust security stance risks getting Japan involved in more international conflicts.

The journalist in the video did not give any information about who was holding him or any demands they had. He said “they” allowed him to say what he wanted.

After saying he wished he could hug his wife, father, mother and brother, he said: “I have to say to something to my country: When you’re sitting there, wherever you are, in a dark room, suffering with the pain, there’s still no one. No one answering. No one responding. You’re invisible.”

Yasuda, a freelance journalist since 2003, was held in Baghdad in 2004 and drew criticism for drawing the Japanese government into negotiations for his release.

North Korea threatens ‘nuclear strike’

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As the US and South Korea start their largest ever military exercises, Pyongyang warns of an “all-out offensive”.

South Korea said the exercises would be the largest ever following North Korea's fourth nuclear test [File: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters]

South Korea said the exercises would be the largest ever following North Korea’s fourth nuclear test [File: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

North Korea has pledged a “sacred war of justice for reunification” including a nuclear strike against the United States, saying joint military exercises by Seoul and Washington were being carried out to prepare for an invasion.

South Korean and United States troops began large-scale military exercises on Monday in an annual test of their defences against North Korea, which called the drills “nuclear war moves” and threatened to respond with an “all-out offensive”.

South Korea said the exercises would be the largest ever following North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch last month that triggered a United Nations Security Council resolution and tough new sanctions.

Isolated North Korea has rejected criticism of is nuclear and rocket programmes, even from old ally China, and last week leader Kim Jong-un ordered his country to be ready to use nuclear weapons in the face of what he sees as growing threats from enemies.

The joint US and South Korean military command said it had notified North Korea of “the non-provocative nature of this training” involving about 17,000 American troops and more than 300,000 South Koreans.

South Korea’s defence ministry said it had seen no sign of any unusual military activity by the North.

Still, it issued a statement on Monday warning the North that it “should immediately stop its reckless behaviour that would drive them to their own destruction”.

“If North Korea ignores our warning and conduct provocations, our military will relentlessly respond and we warn that North Korea will be held fully responsible for any situation leading to North Korea’s reckless provocation,” the statement said.

North Korea’s National Defence Commission said the North Korean army and people would “realise the greatest desire of the Korean nation through a sacred war of justice for reunification”, in response to any attack by US and South Korean forces.

Its response would include nuclear weapons and their use against the United States, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a statement on Monday. 

“We have a military operation plan of our style to liberate South Korea and strike the US mainland,” the KCNA report said, also adding a “powerful nuclear strike means targeting the US imperialist aggressor forces bases in the Asia-Pacific region”.

The North, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), as it is officially known, routinely issues threats of military action in response to the annual exercises that it sees as preparation for war against it.

The threat on Monday was in line with the usual rhetoric it uses to denounce the drills.

The latest UN sanctions imposed on North Korea were drafted by the US and China as punishment for its nuclear test and satellite launch, which the US and others say was really a test of ballistic missile technology.

South Korea and the US militaries began talks on Friday on the deployment of an advanced anti-missile Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system in South Korea.

UN registered 99 sex abuse claims against staff in 2015

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UN report says a majority of the cases involved personnel in 10 peacekeeping missions, including in CAR.

UN

by Al Jazeera

There have been 99 new allegations of sexual exploitation or sexual abuse against United Nations staff members across the UN system last year, a new report has said.

The UN report from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, released to Reuters on Thursday, came in response to a new “name and shame” policy for UN peacekeepers implemented after a series of allegations of rape and sexual abuse by international troops in Central African Republic.

In 2014, there were 80 allegations.

The majority of the allegations in 2015 involved personnel in 10 peacekeeping missions, the report said, listing 69 such cases.

The military and police personnel accused of sexual crimes while serving for the UN involved 21 countries.

Most of the allegations involved peacekeepers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, seven in all, serving in Central African Republic or CAR. There were also allegations against several European countries and Canada.

There were allegations against troops and police from Burundi, Germany, Ghana, Senegal, Madagascar, Rwanda, Congo Republic, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Tanzania, Slovakia, Niger, Moldova, Togo, South Africa, Morocco, Benin, Nigeria and Gabon.

In addition to CAR, the allegations involved peacekeeping missions in places such as Haiti, Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ivory Coast.

The report includes recommendations for member states to make it easier to identify suspected perpetrators and prosecute them.

It calls for the UN General Assembly and troop-contributing countries to allow prosecutions inside the countries where the alleged crimes took place and creation of a DNA registry of all peacekeepers.

One of the problems, human rights groups say, is that it is currently up to UN troop-contributing countries to prosecute their soldiers accused of abuse. When such prosecutions happen, the groups say, they often take place quietly and it is difficult to follow up on the results and punishments, if any.

In December an independent review panel accused the United Nations and its agencies of grossly mishandling numerous allegations of child sexual abuse by foreign troops in CAR in 2013 and 2014.

Bishops covered up sex abuse of Pennsylvania children

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Cases of sexual abuse over four-decade period by Roman Catholic priests were covered up by US bishops, jury says.

The report contains explicit details of abuse cases, naming perpetrators, many of whom have since died [File: Max Rossi/Reuters]

The report contains explicit details of abuse cases, naming perpetrators, many of whom have since died [File: Max Rossi/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Hundreds of children in the US state of Pennsylvania have been sexually abused by about 50 Roman Catholic priests over four decades while bishops covered up their actions, a grand jury report said.

Released on Tuesday, the report found that former Altoona-Johnstown Diocese Bishop James Hogan, who died in 2005, and his successor, Joseph Adamec, who retired in 2011, worked to cover paedophile priests’ tracks.

Some local law enforcement agencies also avoided investigating abuse allegations, said state Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

“The heinous crimes these children endured are absolutely unconscionable,” Kane told reporters in unveiling the report, based on a two-year investigation.

“These predators desecrated a sacred trust and preyed upon their victims in the very places where they should have felt most safe.”

Revelations that some priests had habitually sexually abused children and that bishops had systematically covered up those crimes burst onto the world stage in 2002 when the Boston Globe reported widespread abuse in the Boston Archdiocese.

That report, which won a Pulitzer Prize and was the subject of last year’s Academy Award-winning film “Spotlight,” set off a global wave of investigations that found similar patterns at dioceses around the world. They led to hefty lawsuits and seriously undermined the church’s moral authority.

No charges filed

No criminal charges will be filed because the alleged incidents are too old to be prosecuted, Kane said.

Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey, reporting from New York City, said: “Some of the victims… are just too traumatised to testify.”

Advocates for victims of sex assault have long urged lawmakers to give prosecutors more time to bring charges of sex assaults of minors, noting that particularly in the case of assaults by members of the clergy, victims can take years to come forward.

The report contains explicit details of scores of attacks, naming perpetrators, many of whom have since died.

Many of the surviving priests were still serving parishes at the time the investigation began, Kane said, but all have since been removed by the current bishop.

“This is a painful and difficult time,” current Altoona-Johnstown Bishop Mark Bartchak said in a statement. “I deeply regret any harm that has come to children.”

“We’re saddened but not the least bit surprised,” said David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“It proves what we’ve long maintained: that even now, under the guise of ‘reform,’ bishops continue to deceive parishioners and the public about their ongoing efforts to hide abuse.”

US police shoot Somali teen refugee, triggering protest

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Hundreds rally in Salt Lake City to demonstrate against the shooting, which left 17-year-old in critical condition.

Abdi Mohamed

by Al Jazeera

Hundreds of people have rallied in Salt Lake City in the US state of Utah to protest against a police shooting that left a 17-year-old Somali refugee critically wounded.

The Monday night protest in Utah – where speakers urged people to stand up to police and demand accountability – highlighted the latest flashpoint in the national discussion about police use of force, especially with minority victims.

The teenager, Abdi Mohamed, was shot twice in the torso by police on Saturday night. Officers say the incident occurred in downtown Salt Lake City when Mohamed and another person attacked somebody with metal sticks, the AP news agency reported.

Citing his family, local media reported that Mohamed is now out of a coma.

On Monday night, protesters held signs saying “Stop killer cops” as they questioned why the police had to use lethal force to combat the teenager and his offsider.

Despite calls for police to release the video from body cameras worn by the officers involved in the incident, authorities have so far withheld the footage, saying it would be prejudicial to the ongoing investigation.

“While there is body camera footage, there is currently an active and open investigation into this matter, and release of the body camera recordings could reasonably be expected to interfere with that investigation,” police said in a statement.

Civil rights groups, however, say police must release the tapes for transparency.

“Because of past unfortunate incidents of controversial police shootings nationwide, the release of the body camera video could help allay community concerns about transparency and accountability,” said Nihad Awad, the national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Aden Batar of Catholic Community Services in Salt Lake City says Mohamed’s family fled Somalia and lived for an unknown amount of time in Kenya before coming to the US in 2004.

Oscars 2016: Leonardo DiCaprio finally wins Academy Award

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Leonardo DiCaprio

by BBC

Leonardo DiCaprio has finally won his first Oscar for survival epic The Revenant, after six nominations.

He was named best actor at the 88th Academy Awards, with Brie Larson named best actress for Room.

Spotlight took home the best picture Oscar with Mad Max: Fury Road picking up the most awards of the night, with six accolades.

Mark Rylance won the best supporting actor Oscar, with fellow Briton Sam Smith winning best original song.

DiCaprio received a standing ovation as he picked up his award, after five acting nominations and one nomination as producer of best picture nominee Wolf of Wall Street.

He thanked his director and co-star Tom Hardy for his “fierce talent on screen” and “friendship off screen” before campaigning for action to combat climate change, saying making The Revenant was “about man’s relationship to the natural world”.

“Climate change is real – it is happening right now,” said DiCaprio. “It is the most urgent threat facing our species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.”

He asked the audience to “support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters or the big corporations but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people who’ll be affected by this”.

He added: “Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted.”

It is 22 years since he was first nominated for an Academy Award, having been nominated for best supporting actor for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.

Speaking to reporters after his win, DiCaprio said: “I feel very honoured, to share this has been an amazing experience, to sit there and talk about the film.

“I also got to talk about something I have been obsessed with – the environment and climate change – on a platform with hundreds of millions of people watching worldwide.”

As he accepted his award, Inarritu said it was a “great opportunity to our generation to liberate ourselves from all prejudice”, saying the colour of someone’s skin should be “as irrelevant as the length of their hair”.

It is the fourth Oscar for Inarritu, having won best director, best original screenplay (as co-writer) and best picture (as producer) for Birdman in 2015.

Kansas shooting: US gunman kills three

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Man goes on a shooting rampage in the US state before being killed in a gun battle with police.

Police search for a possible second shooter in the car park of Excel Industries in Hesston, Kansas [The Wichita Eagle via AP]

Police search for a possible second shooter in the car park of Excel Industries in Hesston, Kansas [The Wichita Eagle via AP]

by Al Jazeera

Three people were killed by a gunman and at least 14 others wounded in a series of shootings in the state of Kansas in the United States.

Sheriff T Walton said at a news conference on Thursday night there were “a number of crime scenes involved”, including the Excel Industries plant in Hesston, north of Wichita, which manufactures lawnmower products.

The suspect was fatally shot by authorities inside the Excel building where all three victims were killed.

Walton said the shooter stole a car before going on the rampage with an “assault-type” rifle.

The sheriff said a shooting also took place in the plant parking lot and two other locations nearby. He said the suspect travelled between the sites and fired from his car.

The scene at Excel Industries had been secured, he said.

“We want to get everybody identified. We’re working on that,” Walton said at the news conference.

The victims appeared to have been chosen randomly and the motive was unclear, he said, adding the man was apparently an employee of the plant.

The Kansas shooting comes less than a week after a man opened fire at several locations in Kalamazoo, Michigan, killing six people and wounding two severely.

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