13/03/2014 BBC World News

A new theory that the plane may have flown from four hours after its last

known contact. That has been rejected by the authorities.

We have not done anything which could jeopardise the search effort.

The German Chancellor warns of catastrophic consequences if Russia

continues its path on Crimea. And harsh punishments or a health

problem? Nations are divided on how to deal with drugs.

Day six of the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines passenger

jet. Still no reliable clues as to why it disappeared last Saturday en

route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. In the words of the Transportation

Minister, "the plane has vanished". China released these satellite

images from last Sunday which could have been debris. Malaysia now says

they were put out by mistake and are inaccurate. Overnight, the Wall

Street Journal reported that the plane may have flown for four hours

after its last contact at 1.30 last Sunday morning. The airline chief

executive said the usual engine transmissions stopped at 1.07 last

Saturday morning, so they have no engine data on what happened next.

Four hours, that is the length of time that it is believed the engines

could have been functioning for. Look at the time, seven minutes past

one, last Sunday morning. They have no data after that time. Responding

to suggestions that maintenance had not been correctly carried out,

which might have led to a fuselage disintegration, the airline said the

plane had a service on 23 February. That was less than two weeks ago.

The airline also said police have not searched the homes of the crew.

Let's listen to the opening statement from the Transport

Minister. News reports have suggested that the

aircraft may have continued flying for some time after last contact. As

Malaysia Airlines will confirm shortly, those reports are

inaccurate. The last transmission from the aircraft was at seven

minutes past one, which indicated everything was normal. Rolls-Royce

and Boeing teams are here in Kuala Lumpur, and have been working with

the investigations teams since Sunday. These issues have never been

raised. Whenever there are new details, they must be corroborated.

Rolls-Royce and Boeing indicate that those reports are inaccurate. A

Malaysian surveillance plane was dispatched this morning to

investigate potential daybreak shown on Chinese satellite images. We

found nothing. We have contacted the Chinese embassy, who notified us

this afternoon that the images were released by mistake and did not show

any debris from Flight MH370. The third issue I would like to clarify

is that the aircraft had been fully serviced, and was fit to fly,

according to engineering and maintenance records. Yesterday's

news briefing was quite chaotic, heated at times - the BBC's Jennifer

Pak is in Kuala Lumpur. I asked her what it was like today. Certainly,

there was not any new information. He spent most of the time denying

reports that had been surfacing, simply because there is a

frustration building up here that officials are not giving all of the

information they have at hand. You have already mentioned that I have

denied that the jet itself had been flying for hours, going undetected

somehow. But also, more damaging, is that the actual hope of finding

debris today did not turn up anything. Bizarrely, the Chinese

embassy has said that they sent out those images by mistake, of the

three objects which were supposed to be found floating just a day after

the plane disappeared. They now say that the images were sent out by

mistake, and did not give any further explanation. They did say

however that it was not connected to Flight 370. So at this point in

time, we are still no closer to finding any answer as to what

happened to the flight and to the 239 people on board. At this moment

it seems the authorities have no idea which part of the sea they

should be looking at. It is very clear from what the transportation

minister said, he said, the plane has vanished. And then he said

several times, trust me. In other words, trying to say, we do not have

any other information which we are not sharing with you? Yes. They have

been under a lot of criticism for holding back information, and part

of it may be a translation issue, part of it may be that there are

some conflicting and confusing statements coming from different

officials. For example, for a while, they were searching in the

stretch of sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, in the South China Sea.

Then they said military records indicated the plane may have tried

to turn back. They have reaffirmed that this is still the case. But

reports had suggested that perhaps it had gone so far West that it had

gone into the Straits of Malacca, which is why the search was

expanded. They say they have not tracked the plane out there yet.

However, the air force chief has said they do have an idea of the

flight path, they are just not quite willing to reveal that publicly just

yet until they can confirm it, which seems to indicate that they do have

a lot more information which they are not sharing yet. In normal

circumstances in Malaysia, that would be the end of the story,

because the government here is used to controlling the message.

Traditional media is linked direct leak or indirectly to the governing

coalition, and that would be the end of that. But in this case you have

the international media, and passengers from 14 different

nations, families of those people, pressing for information. And so,

officials have been under fire, during this period which must be

heart-wrenching for the families. Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel,

has warned of catastrophic consequences unless Russia changes

course over Crimea. Addressing the German Parliament, Mrs Merkel said

that if Russia refused to change course, EU leaders were ready to

take measures with, in her words, serious economic impact.

TRANSLATION: If Russia continues on the course it has pursued over the

past weeks, then it would not just be a catastrophe for Ukraine, and as

neighbours of Russia, we would also see it as a threat. This would not

just change the entire relationship between the European Union and

Russia, but I am convinced this will harm Russia massively, economically

as well as politically. So that was the language,

catastrophic consequences and threats... The BBC's Steve Evans is

in Berlin. I put it to him that it's particularly tough language coming

from Mrs Merkel. The first thing she said was, there will be no military

action. We should say that. She implied that there will be gradual,

step-by-step, increases in the pressure on Russia. The first step

will be to hold negotiations on trade and the movement of people

between the EU and Russia. And then she said there would be measures,

which would be economically very painful for Russia, if the course

which President Putin is set upon is not reversed. But she did not use

the word sanctions, and she did not specify what those measures might

be. So, it is tough language. She is basically saying, you can't have

business as normal if you go on in this way. She said that he is living

in the world of the Cold War, and times have moved on. It is not the

way we do things now. As she put it, you can't turn the clock back. So,

tough talk, but no specific measures, and also ruling out

military action. Is it time to declare an end to the

so-called war on drugs? Ministers gathering in Vienna today hope to

come up with a co-ordinated response to the world's narcotics problem.

But there's a growing split between nations which regard drugs primarily

as a health issue, and those which enforce very strict penalties for

users, dealers and suppliers. The BBC's Bethany Bell is in Vienna for

us now. Is there any clarity as to which way

this consensus is likely to develop in the coming hours, on criminality,

or whether this is just a health issue? Well, they say there will be

a statement that all of the countries will sign up to, which

campaigners for reform say means that the statement will be quite

weak, in terms of their demands for more of a move away from the

approach of a war against drugs. We have heard from the conference

today, from the head of the UN's office on drugs and crime, saying,

what is needed is a balanced approach. Trying to balance the

needs of health care against the questions of criminal justice. But

as you say, there are increasing divisions between countries as to

the best way to do this. Countries where the death penalty is still in

place for drug traffickers, and countries like Uruguay on the other

extreme which has voted to legalise cannabis. So, quite big divergences.

Is there a clear recommendation from the medics, and also from the

anti-crime organisations around the world, is there a consensus on that

side as well? Consensus is something I think which is increasingly

difficult for people to find. Some doctors will say, what we need is

more harm reduction, when it comes to drug problems. Other doctors will

say, the reason we do not see so many drug tests as we do from

alcohol and tobacco is that the drug conventions have worked, that these

extremely dangerous substances have been more or less successfully

controlled. So, there are very, very big differences here. This is a

debate which will not end here in Vienna, it will continue.

In other news... The Delhi High Court has confirmed the death

sentence for four men convicted of the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old

student in December 2012. The court said that the crime falls into a

rare category that allows capital punishment. One other accused in the

case committed suicide in jail and the sixth one was tried under

juvenile laws. Six people are now known to have

died in a huge gas explosion which demolished two apartment blocks in

New York. At least eight people are still unaccounted for, following the

blast in the East Harlem district of Manhattan.

Police in Hong Kong have arrested two more suspects, including a

37-year-old woman, in connection to a knife attack on a journalist.

Kevin Lau was stabbed several times on 26 February. Police say the

attack had nothing to do with his journalistic work, but Mr Lau, who

is recovering in hospital, disagrees.

Israeli military planes have bombarded the Gaza Strip after

Palestinian militants fired dozens of rockets into southern Israel. An

Israeli spokesman said 29 sites in Gaza were targeted. One strike

caused power cuts across Gaza City. There's no word on any casualties.

Hours earlier, the militant group Islamic Jihad carried out the

heaviest barrage of southern Israel for more than a year. The

Palestinian president, Mahmud Abbas, has called on Israel to end what he

described as its military escalation. With me now is Mohamed

Yehia from the BBC Arabic TV. What has provoked or encouraged, as to

fire those rockets into Israel? These rockets were fired by the

Islamic Jihad group, which is not how mass, but is thought to be

controlled by it. There are two things to consider. Firstly, last

week, the Israeli navy intercepted a ship carrying rockets, which the

Israelis say were destined for Islamic Jihad. It was alleged that

they were from Iran, which Iran denies. The other thing is that

since the military takeover in Egypt, Egypt has put Hamas under

great pressure, demolishing 1300 tunnels which were used to smuggle

goods between Egypt and Gaza, and declaring Hamas as a terrorist

organisation. So it could be that this could relieve the pressure,

from Hamas's point of view. So the rockets were being fired for

political reasons, not necessarily directly to do with Israel, on this

occasion? Well, the sequence is a tit for tat, as usual. But this is

the background, the tensions with Egypt, and even Syria could be a

factor in this. So, is Hamas and Islamic Jihad, are they trying to

make a point about their power not having been eroded? Well, they are

thought to have longer range missiles, which they have not used

in the attacks yesterday. Stay with us on BBC World News -

still to come... We'll take a look at the winners and losers at the

Oscars equivalent for the video game industry.

Three more people have died in new anti-government protests in

Venezuela. A policeman and two opposition

activists were shot dead in separate incidents in the city of Valencia.

So far, at least 25 people have been killed in a month long wave of

protests against the government of President Nicholas Maduro. He has

accused opposition leaders of attempting to mount a coup against

him. Another day of rival marches in

Caracas. The city was split into macro. On the one side the students

are in favour of the government. On the other side, those who oppose it.

They blame the President for high insurance rates -- interest rates.

The government has been clamping down on protesters. TRANSLATION: I

am obligated by my constitutional responsibility to take special

measures. I will take this to get a centre of the attack by fascists.

Nobody will bully me. Wednesday's anti-government march ended with

clashes between protesters and authorities. But in Valencia,

Venezuela's third-largest city, things were worse. Three more people

died in new clashes. A university student, and National Guard captain

and a third man were reportedly shot dead in separate incidents. Several

more were wounded. The opposition blames the government for backing

armed civilians who attacked protesters. But the government

accuses the opposition of the unrest. Wednesday's death toll is

the highest in a single day since protests started in Caracas on the

12th of February. At least 25 people have died so far.

You are with BBC World News. These are the latest headlines for you:

Chinese satellite images that show possible wreckage from the missing

airliner have been dismissed by Malaysia as inaccurate and

mistakenly released. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel

has warned of catastrophic consequences if Russia continues its

path on Crimea. It is the ninth day of the trial of

Oscar Pistorius for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Forensic scientist Colonel Johannes Vermeulen is back on the witness

stand. He yesterday disputed the athlete's evidence that he had been

on his prosthetic legs when he broke down a locked toilet door to reach

dying Reeva. Pistorius, seen here arriving at the court, denies

intentionally killing his girlfriend. Earlier I spoke to our

correspondent Milton Nkosi who is outside the court house. I began by

asking him about the defence lawyer's line of questioning of

forensic evidence. What Johannes Vermeulen has been at pains to

explain to Oscar Pistorius' senior counsel, as far as he was

concerned, Oscar Pistorius was not wearing his prosthetic legs at the

time he was wielding the act and hitting the bathroom door. Mr

Pistorius' version was he was already wearing those. Throughout

the morning we have been listening to Barry Roux trying to show some

marks on the door, alongside the bullet holes that we saw in the

pictures, that some of those marks were caused by Mr Pistorius'

proceeds is. But Johannes Vermeulen disputes that. He says Barry Roux

has punched holes in the processes how police collect their evidence.

There is an adjournment now and we will update you later. Both

yesterday and today, it is the issue once again of the credibility of

South African police processes? Very much so. There are many other issues

at play. It brings to the fore the issue of gender violence in South

Africa and as you say, the South African police processes. Also, the

legal system in South Africa is also under scrutiny through this trial.

Will Mali become a forgotten crisis? That's the fear of some of the

organisations supporting Malian refugees. In February, aid agencies

warned they needed additional funds to cover the needs of the Malian

refugees still spread across Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso.

In Burkina Faso alone, there are over 30,000 according to the UNHCR.

Almost two 000 live in the outskirts of Ouagadougou. Our correspondent

Laeila Adjovi went to there to meet with the refugees and sent this

report. It is a refugee camp 25 kilometres

outside the kina face so's capital. The UNHCR and its partners provide

them with health care, are food, shelter and education but the

refugees find it is not enough. TRANSLATION: We lack food because

what is distributed by the body weight show does not cover all our

needs. -- BWF O. Luckily, due to the camp's proximity to the city, many

Artisan is make ends meet and they go into town to sell their crafts.

This refugee camp is closest to the capital so that means more work

opportunities for the refugees. Most of these people come from the north

of Mali. Although the crisis has abated they feel they cannot go back

yet. Some of these refugees fled home because of the Islamist

militants while others left because of the angry mobs which put the

blame for the crisis on all the Tuaregs. Today, with no

reconciliation process, the refugees do not believe northern Mali has

achieved to peak -- true peace. There are still armed men so what

kind of peace we are talking about? Where is this piece? We need an

agreement to allow people from the north to really feel Mali on. If I

am Mali and, why is it each time a Tuareg takes up arms to rebel, I am

the one who was expelled from a country? What has it got to do with

me? UNHCR started discussing the repatriations of refugees with the

government. There are still a lot of need to attend to. TRANSLATION:

Unfortunately, because of the numerous conflicts in the world,

nowadays Mali and refugees tend to be forgotten. But those people are

still not back home and need the support of the international

community. The refugees also plead for more infrastructure is and basic

services in the North to allow their full integration into society. It is

also one of the key elements to finally reach peace and make it

last. The movie awards season is over for

another year, but here in London the dinner jackets and bow ties were out

again for the British Academy Games Awards. The zombie adventure The

Last Of Us scooped five prizes. Our technology reporter, Daniel Emery

was there. Welcome to central London for the

video game BAFTA awards. There are some big winners tonight including a

company called Naughty Dog. They have scooped five awards for their

game The Last Of Us. I caught up with them earlier.

You try not to think about how much money is on the line and all of

that. You cannot help but think about it sometimes. We get stressed

with previous success but all we can do is use our gut and make a game we

would want to play. We feel if we do that then other gamers will connect

with that. But the talk here tonight is not just about the games, it is

about the business. The hot subject is how to attract and retain

talent, not just within a company but within the country. I caught up

with Ian Livingstone who said tax breaks are a key element of this. We

have to have high skills and access to finance. We have managed to sort

out the skills and we have convinced Michael Gove to have competing on

the national curriculum. That is one click. The second it is we have a

level playing field with regard to investment. As well as getting

finance in from the traditional sources, we have applied to have

some credit which is going through the EU at the moment. If that comes

in, I think there will be no reason for anyone to go anywhere except the

UK. For the winners, BAFTA means

recognition into the hard work and effort that went into making their

product. Tomorrow is business as usual. While the industry has mostly

survived the financial storm, it still faces many challenges.

Now, watch this video. There was a dramatic car chase in Colorado. You

can see Ryan Stone taking over another car and pushing that woman

out. He threw her on the ground before driving off. He was forced to

abandon that vehicle after causing a multicar pile-up at an intersection.

He made a run for it and eventually gave himself up to police. A

four-year-old boy was unharmed. The main story this hour, the

mystery of what has happened to plain MH370. Apparently, satellite

images appearing to show debris did not show debris and they were

mistakenly released by China. Reports were dismissed that the

plane carried off-line after four hours. That is it from me. Thank you

for joining me.