:00:21. > :00:24.Good afternoon. Search and rescue teams from Vietnam, Malaysia and
:00:25. > :00:28.Singapore are conducting a major joint operation to try to find a
:00:29. > :00:34.missing airliner with 239 people on board. The Malaysian Airlines Boeing
:00:35. > :00:36.777 was travelling between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing when it
:00:37. > :00:43.disappeared from air traffic control radar screens two hours after taking
:00:44. > :00:54.off. It was flying over the South China Sea at the time. Jonathan Head
:00:55. > :01:01.is in Kuala Lumpur. Well, it's now been 20 hours since
:01:02. > :01:05.Flight MH370 departed from this airport en route for Beijing and
:01:06. > :01:10.then simply vanished somewhere over the South China Sea. The search
:01:11. > :01:15.operation has been ramped up through the day with many ships and planes
:01:16. > :01:19.now involved are scouring the sea. Night has fallen and it could be
:01:20. > :01:22.many hours before any good information is given to the families
:01:23. > :01:27.who are waiting for news of the fate of the plane. There is flash
:01:28. > :01:33.photography in this report. The missing plane, a Boeing 777, has
:01:34. > :01:37.an outstanding safety record. There are more than 900 in service and it
:01:38. > :01:42.is a workhorse of the airline industry. So the disappearance of
:01:43. > :01:47.this aircraft, Flight MH370, has baffled the authorities here in
:01:48. > :01:51.Malaysia. There has been a steady stream of relatives in and out of
:01:52. > :01:56.the area set aside for them at Kuala Lumpur airport, but no answers yet.
:01:57. > :02:02.It was a similarly sombre scene at Beijing airport. Most of the 227
:02:03. > :02:10.passengers on board were from China. But for hours, there was
:02:11. > :02:12.little the airline could tell them. The authorities have actively
:02:13. > :02:19.activated the search and rescue team. Our team is currently calling
:02:20. > :02:22.the next passengers through. The Malaysia Prime Minister came to
:02:23. > :02:26.offer his sympathies to the families and to let them know what the
:02:27. > :02:31.authorities are doing. Singapore and Vietnam also helping. Nine ships and
:02:32. > :02:35.70 aircraft have been involved in the search out in the South China
:02:36. > :02:42.Sea, trying to find those first vital clues to what happened.
:02:43. > :02:46.Well, in the long history of Malaysia Airlines, it's never had an
:02:47. > :02:51.accident involving a plane this big before. It's a big blow to the
:02:52. > :02:55.airline, and a big blow to Boeing, whose 777 is a very safe aircraft.
:02:56. > :02:59.They are hoping that perhaps they'll get some clues but remember, we've
:03:00. > :03:02.seen other crashes before that have happened, other accidents that have
:03:03. > :03:08.happened, over large areas of open water with no clue given as to what
:03:09. > :03:11.went wrong. It could take a very long time before they finally
:03:12. > :03:14.uncover what actually went wrong with this flight.
:03:15. > :03:17.A man and a woman from Blackpool have appeared in court charged in
:03:18. > :03:20.connection with the death of a two-year-old girl. Barry Jones and
:03:21. > :03:23.Michelle King, who were remanded in custody, are accused of causing or
:03:24. > :03:33.allowing the death of Sophie Jones, who died on Tuesday. Toxicology
:03:34. > :03:38.tests confirm the toddler had ingested methadone.
:03:39. > :03:41.A scheme which allows people to ask the police if their partner has a
:03:42. > :03:44.history of domestic violence has been extended across all forces in
:03:45. > :03:49.England and Wales. The initiative, Clare's Law, was named after Clare
:03:50. > :03:57.Wood, who was murdered by her partner in 2009. But the domestic
:03:58. > :03:59.violence charity, crew refuge says it will make little difference as
:04:00. > :04:05.most perpetrators aren't known to the police.
:04:06. > :04:08.The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, has strongly hinted
:04:09. > :04:11.that the personal tax allowance is to rise in this month's budget to
:04:12. > :04:15.?10,500. He was speaking at the Liberal Democrats' spring conference
:04:16. > :04:19.in York. Our political correspondent Vicki Young is there now. Vicki,
:04:20. > :04:22.what more can you tell us? There is a battle for ownership of this
:04:23. > :04:26.tax-cutting policy within the coalition. The Lib Dems are very
:04:27. > :04:30.keen for voters to low it was in their manifesto and was their idea.
:04:31. > :04:32.They say they've had to bring the Tories kicking and screaming to
:04:33. > :04:37.agree to this over the last few years. It comes in the context of
:04:38. > :04:40.the upcoming budget in around ten days and speaking to people
:04:41. > :04:43.privately here, it does seem that another rise, maybe ?500, of the
:04:44. > :04:49.personal allowance could be on the cards. Speaking to Tory ministers in
:04:50. > :04:52.the last few days, they say the Conservative party is well-known to
:04:53. > :04:56.be the tax-cutting party and they say they want to help workers as
:04:57. > :05:00.much as anyone to keep as much of their money as they can. The Lib
:05:01. > :05:04.Dems also say that in the longer term, in the next parliament, they
:05:05. > :05:08.would like to see the personal allowance go up to ?12,500 and,
:05:09. > :05:11.crucially, they say this would form a key part of negotiations for any
:05:12. > :05:15.future coalition so the question now is whether another party, like
:05:16. > :05:18.Labour or the Tories, would go along with that policy.
:05:19. > :05:21.The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia have both said they're open
:05:22. > :05:24.to talks over the crisis in Ukraine. But the interim government in Kiev
:05:25. > :05:27.has insisted that European observers must be allowed into Crimea - where
:05:28. > :05:30.Russian forces have taken control. The United States says it believes
:05:31. > :05:45.Moscow has 20,000 troops in the region.
:05:46. > :05:48.Britain has won its first medal of the Winter Paralympics in Sochi.
:05:49. > :05:50.Jade Etherington, with her guide Caroline Powell, took silver in the
:05:51. > :05:55.women's downhill skiing for visually-impaired athletes. From
:05:56. > :06:00.Sochi, Nick Hope reports. The downhill course in Sochi has
:06:01. > :06:01.been much criticised. A lack of snow source competitors withdraw while
:06:02. > :06:06.others described conditions as awful. So Jade Everington and her
:06:07. > :06:10.guide Caroline Powell knew the odds were stacked against them. Jade has
:06:11. > :06:14.a form of glucose work, which means you only has 7% vision. She said
:06:15. > :06:22.Woodward performed superbly throughout her run. They finished
:06:23. > :06:27.2.7 seconds behind their Slovakian opponent, who claimed gold. She took
:06:28. > :06:30.a tumble in the excitement of the moment. Luckily, she wasn't hurt and
:06:31. > :06:34.was able to celebrate her momentous achievement soon after. It hasn't
:06:35. > :06:38.really sunk in yet but hopefully, later on today when we actually get
:06:39. > :06:44.the medal, it will. I'm just really excited. I'm an official proud
:06:45. > :06:47.Paralympian now so it's a great feeling! Downhill silver for
:06:48. > :06:52.Everington was a great early birthday present for the skier, who
:06:53. > :06:55.turns 23 on Sunday. She will now want to build on the success in her
:06:56. > :06:58.next four events. That's it for now. Our next bulletin
:06:59. > :07:00.on BBC One will be at the earlier-than-usual time of 4.25pm
:07:01. > :07:01.this afternoon. Now it's