08/03/2014 BBC Weekend News


08/03/2014

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Good afternoon. 239 passengers and crew are feared dead after a plane

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travelling between Malaysia and China vanished over the Pacific

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Ocean. Officials in Vietnam said two large oil slicks have been spotted

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in the sea off the country's southern coast. No distress signals

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were received. The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was travelling between

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Kuala Lumpur and Beijing when it disappeared from the radar, two

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hours into its journey. It was flying over the South China Sea at

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the time. Jonathan Head is in Kuala Lumpur.

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It has been 24 hours almost exact to lease its flight MH370 departed from

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here at Kuala Lumpur airport, 22 hours since it vanished from radar

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screens. Despite news of that oil slick and an extensive search effort

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by the Malaysian authorities, together with Vietnamese ships and

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an aircraft from Singapore, we are still no closer to knowing what

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happened to that missing plane. There is some flash photography in

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my report. What caused one of the safest airliners in the skies to

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disappear somewhere over the South China Sea?

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That is the formidable challenge now confronting the Malaysian

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authorities. So far, they are struggling to find even a trace of

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the missing Boeing 777. Fat hour after hour, family members were

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ushered in and out of the area set aside for them here at Kuala Lumpur

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airport, but there was nothing anyone could tell them. This has

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chilling echoes of an Air France flight that vanished at night over

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the Atlantic in 2009. It took three years, and a gruelling investigation

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to pinpoint the cause of that accident, a faulty speed indicator.

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It could be a long time before what happened to MH370 is known. Today's

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aeroplanes are credibly reliable, and you do not get some sudden

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structural failure in flight. It's just doesn't happen. It won't

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happen. The Malaysian prime minister came to talk to the families and let

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them know what his government is doing. The search will continue

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overnight and into tomorrow, in the hope of finding the first vital

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clues. Given the fact that this airline is

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the pride of this country, it is of enormous importance to Malaysia to

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find out what happened. It is also important to Boeing. There are

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something like 1000 aircraft of this kind in service. It has an

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impressive safety record, so everybody is pinning their hopes on

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some clues being found soon, and perhaps some of the causes behind

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the missing plane. International observers have been

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turned away from Crimea for the third day running. Warning shots

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were fired as the team approached. The interim government in Kiev has

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insisted that the observers must be allowed into Crimea, which Russian

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forces currently control. My colleague, Ben Brown, is in

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Sevastopol. Tell us more? Yes, this is a team of about 50 international

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observers from the OSCE, representing 28 countries including

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Britain. They have been trying for three days running to get into

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Crimea. Every day, armed groups of pro-Russians have stopped them. But

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today, there was an additional air of menace because warning shots were

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fired. Three bursts of automatic gunfire were fired. That is really

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alarming. It will be seen as a slap in the face for the OSCE and a slap

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in the face for the international community, and another show of

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Russian defiance in Crimea. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury,

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Danny Alexander, has strongly hinted that this month's Budget will

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include a rise in the personal tax allowance to ?10,500. He has been

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speaking at the Liberal Democrats' spring conference in New York. -- in

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York. From there, our Political Correspondent Vicki Young reports.

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Shame on you! Demonstrating against government cuts, the union said

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people are worse off as changes to benefits, but the Lib Dems insists

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they are putting money back in work diplomat gives. From next month,

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most will be able to earn ?10,000 before paying any income tax, and

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the party is desperate to claim the credit. This tax break was punished

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by the Liberal Democrats, but resisted by the Conservatives.

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Fought for by the Liberal Democrats, and people know it is being

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delivered by the Liberal Democrats. With the Budget approaching, there

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could be more treats to hand out . A further rise in the personal

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allowance is on the cards, so do staff at this chocolate shop think

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it will make a difference? Not with increasing prices and the cost of

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living and everything in general, it will not make much of a difference.

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In terms of everything that is going on, especially energy prices, I

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don't know if the consumer will feel a right impact as they are hoping.

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Fantastic. Yeah, a bit extra for me. Even the pounds add up and it

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would be great. For the future, the Lib Dems have more ambitious plans,

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announcing today that lifting the income tax threshold to ?12,500 will

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be a priority if there are coalition talks after the next election. With

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money so tight, there has been little in the way of giveaways to

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voters, so it is no surprise that there has been a huge battle within

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the coalition for ownership of this tax-cutting policy. The Lib Dems and

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the Tories want voters to thank them for the few extra pounds in their

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pocket. The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, has

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told the BBC that if his party wins the next election, Labour would

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bring in a new law making it illegal to abuse or discriminate against

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members of the armed forces, putting it on a par with hate crimes. Mr

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Miliband, who visited Afghanistan, also told British troops that the

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job there is not yet done. He said there would need to be a continuing

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commitment when combat operations cease at the end of the year.

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Britain has won its first medal at the Winter Paralympics in Sochi.

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Skier Jade Etherington, with her guide, Caroline Powell, took silver

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in the women's downhill for visually impaired athletes. It is Britain's

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first Winter Paralympic medal since 2006. From Sochi, Nick Hope reports.

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Jade Etherington and her guide, Caroline Powell, were only paired

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together last year, but their rise to the top of the sport has been

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outstanding. They won major World Cup honours for the first time in

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January. Success at the Paralympics was their next aim. Etherington, who

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suffers from glaucoma, only has 5% vision, but produced a superb run.

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Only four-time gold medallist Henrieta Farkasova, from Slovakia,

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could finish ahead. Excitement briefly turned to fear as

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Etherington lost control after crossing the line. Luckily, she

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wasn't hurt and was soon able to celebrate her momentous achievement,

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becoming the first British woman to win a Paralympic medal on the snow.

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I'm an official proud Paralympian now, so it's a great feeling, and

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good to get the flowers and just get into that movement. I'm really proud

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of me and Caroline working together today. An incredible achievement for

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Jade Etherington and her guide, Caroline Powell. They hope to bring

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that momentum now into their four other events, and potentially, it

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could be the catalyst for further success for Great Britain here in

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Sochi. Nick Hope, BBC News, at the Winter Paralympics in Russia.

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There is more throughout the evening on the BBC News Channel. We are back

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with the latest news at 10.10. Now on BBC One, time for the news where

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you are.

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