15/03/2014 BBC Weekend News

Good afternoon. The Malaysian Airlines passenger plane that's been

missing for more than a week had its communications deliberately switched

off, and then turned away from its planned course. The announcement was

made by the country's Prime Minister, who said the plane could

have travelled as far as Kazakhstan to the north, or the southern Indian

Ocean. Police have begun searching the home of the pilot. Our

correspondent, Jonah Fisher, reports from Kuala Lumpur. After a week with

little sign of progress, the Malaysians said they have now

reached some definitive conclusions. The Prime Minister says he is now

convinced that flight MH370 did not crash into the South China Sea, and

was instead diverted west into the Indian Ocean. Not by some mechanical

error but by human hand. Up until the point at which it left

militarily radar coverage, these movements are consistent with

deliberate action by someone on the plane. The plane took off from Kuala

Lumpur found the Beijing with 239 people on board. At 12:21am last

Saturday morning. We now know that shortly afterwards, two of the

aircraft's communication systems were disabled in sequence, as it

crossed the east coast of Malaysia. An hour into the flight, the plane

had gone silent. But its maintenance system continued trying to contact a

satellite. Now the investigators say they are convinced it turned back

and passed over Malaysia, then headed to the north-west. They've

identified two new search areas. One leads south into the Indian Ocean,

while the other, intriguingly, heads inland, making China and even

Central Asia a possibility. Seven hours after the plane disappeared

from radar, the last signal was received. Its location is still

unclear. In the light of this new information, the huge search

operation in the South China Sea has been halted and efforts shifted west

into the Indian Ocean. Countries across South Asia are being

contacted and asked to look at their radar data to see if the plane might

have passed overhead. There were more than 150 Chinese passengers on

board this flight and for them and the other relatives, it has been a

week of mounting frustration at what many see as the slow pace of the

Malaysian investigation. Today's announcement only deepens the

mystery as to where their loved ones are now. Jonah Fisher, BBC News,

Kuala Lumpur. And Jonah Fisher joins us now from Kuala Lumpur. The

authorities are avoiding saying the word hijack, but they are sure that

someone did this deliberately and they knew what they were doing.

That's right. They've avoided saying the word hijack, but it's pretty

clear that they believe somebody took control of that plane, disabled

the transponder and the location sensitive devices that have been

transmitting where the plane was and then steered it, with some expertise

they believe, west across the Malaysian peninsula and out towards

the Indian Ocean. The crucial piece of data which they've been looking

at, which has enabled them to get some sense of where the plane was

seven hours later, is from a satellite in the Indian Ocean that

continued communicating with some of the maintenance equipment on board

the plane. Briefly, what more can you tell us about the search of the

pilot's home? Inevitably, the focus has now returned on the people

inside the plane because they firmly believe that one of them must have

been involved in changing the course of the plane. So, yes, the pilot's

home here in Kuala Lumpur has been visited by the police, looking for

any sort of clue or pointer that he might somehow have been involved in

the change of direction and the disappearance of this plane. There

have been violent clashes in eastern Ukraine, the day before a referendum

in Crimea on whether the region should remain part of Ukraine or

join Russia. The UN Security Council is due to vote on a US-backed

resolution, which describes the referendum as illegal. Our world

affairs correspondent, Nick Childs, reports. More deadly trouble

overnight between pro-and anti-Russian activists in eastern

Ukraine, as political and diplomatic tensions mount ahead of Sunday's

referendum in Crimea, to the south, and whether it will break away from

Ukraine and even join Russia. A new pro-Russian rally in the eastern

Ukrainian city of Donetsk, another hotbed of tensions. A last-minute

meeting in London between the top US and Russian diplomats to try to

defuse this crisis got nowhere. Now, from the new Ukrainian government,

another offer to talk about greater Crimean autonomy. We are ready to

discuss this in the dialogue. Sitting on the table, around the

table. But not talking to... Which on the streets of the Crimean

cities. In Crimea it self, preparations continue for Sunday's

referendum. The West says it's a legitimate, Moscow says it will

respect the result. Just how Russia response and how far the West will

go in carrying out its threat to impose sanctions will dictate what

is already the most serious east West will go in carrying out its

threat to impose sanctions will dictate what is already the most

serious east-west stand-off since the Cold War unfolds. In Moscow,

too, they have been rival demonstrations for and against

Russia's actions, but no hint in a shift in the Kremlin's position. The

UN Security Council is expected to vote later on US revolution, saying

the referendum has no validity. Russia is expected veto it. Nick

Childs, BBC News. Police in West Belfast escaped serious injury last

night after an explosive device was thrown at their car. It happened on

the Falls Road close to the City Cemetery. Nobody has yet admitted

carrying out the attack. A family was also caught up in the attack as

their car was hit by shrapnel. National lottery organisers say they

have the champagne on ice, ready for a ticket holder who's won nearly

?108 million on the EuroMillions straw. No one has yet come forward

to claim the prize. It has not been disclosed where in the UK the ticket

was bought. It is a huge day for Rugby Union. The closest Six Nations

rugby championships in recent years ends today. Brian O'Driscoll is

playing in his final match. It will be his 141st cap. Ireland should win

if they beat France in Paris, but England, who step onto the pitch in

about half hour's time, could overtake them with a large victory

against