Battle For Control Of Net Kicks Off In Brazil

The battle for control of the internet enters a new phase today when 850 experts thrash out its future in Brazil.

Last month, the US announced it plans to give up oversight of the way net addresses are distributed.

Now hundreds of government officials, technical experts and academics are meeting at the NetMundial conference in Sao Paulo to discuss who should oversee the worldwide web in future.

China and Russia want the United Nations to have some say over how the internet is controlled, while the US and parts of Europe say it should be at arm's length from government control.

A draft outcome document has been drawn up for discussion, but the final text will not be binding.

The US currently oversees the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), but is willing to relinquish control by September 2015.

Officials from countries including China, the US and Great Britain will attend the two-day conference, which was due to be opened by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

Organisers say every attendee - from academics to government officials - will have an equal voice.

The goal is to agree on principles that could form the basis of later internet governance discussions.

It is expected that despite the non-binding nature of the discussions, an accord will be hard to reach.

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Missing Plane: Material Washes Ashore In Oz

Officials searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane say material has washed ashore off the coast of Western Australia.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is now examining photographs of the objects, which have been secured by police in the region, to establish whether they are linked to flight MH370.

Authorities said the images had also been passed to investigators in Malaysia.

Relatives are urging governments not to give up the search

The development came after Australia pledged to keep searching for the plane despite no sign of wreckage after almost seven weeks.

Bad weather is continuing to hamper the search with aircraft grounded for the second day due to heavy rain, low clouds and rough seas.

An undersea drone is nearing the end of its first full mission and Australian PM Tony Abbott says the search strategy may change if seabed scans taken by the US Navy drone fails to find a trace of MH370, which vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board.

The deep search covers an area where sonar equipment picked up a signal

"We may well re-think the search but we will not rest until we have done everything we can to solve this mystery," he said.

"The only way we can get to the bottom of this is to keep searching the probable impact zone until we find something or until we have searched it as thoroughly as human ingenuity allows at this time."

The Bluefin-21 drone is a key component in the search after the detection of audio signals, or "pings", believed to be from the plane's black box flight .

Relatives are asking Mr Hussein to investigate old media reports

The search co-ordination centre said the robotic submarine had so far covered more than 80% of the 120 square mile (310 square kilometres) seabed search zone off the Australian west coast, creating a three-dimensional sonar map of the ocean floor, but failing to find anything of interest.

The 2.8 mile (4.5-kilometre) deep search area is a circle 12 miles (20 km) wide around an area where sonar equipment picked up a signal on April 8 consistent with a plane's black boxes. The batteries powering those signals are now dead.

Both Australia and Malaysia are under growing pressure to show what lengths they are prepared to go to in order to give closure to the grieving families of those on board.

In a sign of the families' growing desperation for answers, a group purporting to be relatives of the missing flight's passengers wrote a letter to Malaysian defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein, urging the government to investigate old media reports that the plane landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

"It is high time that the government should start thinking out of the box by exploring and re-examining all leads, new and old," said the letter, published on Facebook on Wednesday.

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Airport Security Codes Lost Before Obama Visit

Security codes for Tokyo's main airport had to be changed just days before President Obama arrived, after an employee dropped a memo containing the top-secret details.

The Skymark Airlines employee mislaid the list of every security code on the departure lobby floor of Haneda Airport, an official revealed.

While the details were only missing for 30 minutes, it was deemed a big enough security threat that electronic security codes were changed.

The incident took place on Sunday evening, and was revealed by Japan's transport ministry.

Security in the capital was ramped up ahead of Mr Obama's visit, with 16,000 police officers deployed.

Japanese media said additional security cameras had been installed, and bins and public lockers swept for explosives then sealed.

Mr Obama touched down just before 8pm local time, marking the beginning of the first state visit by a US president for two decades.

Access to the airport's observation deck was restricted as Air Force One landed.

The president will hold a summit with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, among other events.

He will leave Tokyo for South Korea on Friday morning.

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Divers Smashing Ferry Walls To Recover Bodies

S Korea Ferry: Final Contact From Doomed Vessel

Updated: 11:11am UK, Sunday 20 April 2014

A transcript of communications between the stricken Sewol ferry and the coastguard has lifted the lid on the final minutes before the order was given to abandon ship.

The conversations show panic setting in on board the vessel, with officers asking for help to "please come quickly" as it began to tilt to the left, three hours from its destination of Jeju Island.

The transcript also appears to back up claims that the evacuation order may have come too late for some passengers as officers said the ship was tilting so much it was "impossible to move" to check on them.

The communication, which begins with the first distress call made by the ferry on Wednesday morning, has been translated by The Associated Press.

It reads:

8.55am

Sewol: Harbour affairs Jeju, do you have reception of The Sewol?

Jeju Vessel Traffic Services Centre (VTS): Yes, Sewol, this is harbour affairs Jeju.

Sewol: Please notify the coastguard. Our ship is in danger. It's listing right now.

8.56am

Jeju VTS: Where's your ship? Yes, got it. We will notify the coastguard.

Sewol: This ship has listed a lot. Can't move. Please come quickly. We're next to Byeongpung Island.

Jeju VTS: Yes, we got it.

8.58am

Jeju VTS: Sewol, this is harbour affairs Jeju. Do you have reception? Sewol, harbour affairs Jeju.

8.59am

Sewol: Harbour affairs Jeju, this is Sewol.

Jeju VTS: Sewol, this is harbour affairs Jeju. Channel 21, please.

9.00am

Jeju VTS: Sewol, this is harbour affairs Jeju.

Sewol: Jeju, Sewol here.

Jeju VTS: What's the current situation?

Sewol: Currently the body of the ship has listed to the left. The containers have listed as well.

Jeju VTS: OK. Any damage of the human life?

Sewol: It's impossible to check right now. The body of the ship has tilted, and it's impossible to move.

Jeju VTS: Yes, OK. Please wear life jackets and prepare as the people might have to abandon ship. 

Sewol: It's hard for people to move.

Jeju VTS: Yes, got it.

9.05am

Sewol: Harbour affairs Jeju, do you have reception of Sewol?

Jeju VTS: Yes, this is harbour affairs Jeju, Sewol.

Sewol: What's going on with the coastguard?

Jeju VTS: Yes, we have notified the coastguard. Currently we are calling Jindo VTS and Wando VTS. Please hold for a moment.

After this, Jeju VTS notified other ships and Wando VTS.

9.24am

Sewol: If this ferry evacuates passengers, will they be rescued right away?

Jeju VTS Even if it's impossible to broadcast, please go out and let the passengers wear life jackets and put on more clothing. The rescue of human lives of Sewol ferry... the captain should make your own decision and evacuate them. We don't know the situation very well. The captain should make the final decision and decide whether you're going to evacuate passengers or not.

Sewol: I'm not talking about that. I asked, if they evacuate now, can they be rescued right away?

Jeju VTS then said patrol boats would arrive in 10 minutes, but did not mention another civilian ship had already arrived near the scene.

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Biden: 'Ukraine Must Remain One Country'

Vice President Joe Biden has reiterated US support for a unified Ukraine during a meeting with MPs in Kiev.

Mr Biden addressed politicians at the Ukraine parliament in a show of support for the interim government and announced new technical support measures for the government on energy and economic reforms.

He also warned Russia against further provocative action after an agreement in Geneva last week.

"There are some who are trying to pull Ukraine apart. Ukraine is in a struggle for its very future," he said.

"Ukraine is and must remain one country - one united Ukraine.

Mr Biden also met with interim president Oleksander Turchynov

"No nation has the right to simply grab land from another nation. We will never recognise Russia's illegal occupation of Crimea and neither will the world.

"More provocative behaviour by Russia will lead to more costs and greater isolation."

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said Russian special forces were operating in eastern Ukraine and urged Russia to withdraw troops in Crimea to "turn this shameful page".

Among the new support measures was an additional $50m (£39m) for political and economic reforms, and another $8m (£4.75m) for non-lethal aid to Ukraine including vehicles and radios.

US experts will also work on reducing Ukraine's dependence on Russian gas as well as fighting corruption.

A pro-Russian separatist guards the security service building in Slovyansk

Mr Biden also called on Russia to withdraw troops from its borders with Ukraine and to "stop talking and start acting" on the surrender of militants in the east of the country.

His visit comes as pro-Russian separatists show no sign of surrendering government buildings seized in the predominantly Russian speaking east.

US and EU officials have said they will impose new economic sanctions on Moscow if the separatists do not leave the premises seized during the last two weeks.

British Prime Minister David Cameron will discuss the Ukraine crisis and EU reform during a meeting with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy later on Tuesday.

On Monday, a spokeswoman for US Secretary of State John Kerry said: "If they don't take steps in the coming days, there'll be consequences.

"Obviously, we would have to make a decision in the matter of if there are going to be consequences for inaction."

Jen Psaki also called for "separatists to vacate illegal buildings and checkpoints, accept amnesty and address their grievances politically".

But Russia hit back, with foreign minister Sergei Lavrov calling for the US to "pressure Kiev to stop hotheads from provoking a bloody conflict and to encourage the Ukrainian authorities to strictly fulfil their obligations".

Visa bans and asset freezes on key Russian figures have already been imposed after Moscow's action in Ukraine last month.

On Easter Sunday, at least three people were killed at a checkpoint manned by armed separatists, with Russia blaming Ukrainian nationalist group Right Sector.

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has deployed around 100 mediators in Ukraine to monitor the situation in the east of the country.

So far the separatists have refused to relinquish control of buildings.

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Ferry Disaster: Boy Was First To Raise Alarm

The first person to raise the alarm about the sinking South Korean ferry was a child who called a fire station three minutes after the boat made its final turn.

The boy's call was forwarded to the coastguard two minutes later and was followed by another 20 messages from children on board.

A fire official said the caller's voice sounded shaky and it took a while to identify the ship as the Sewol as the boy was panicking.

"Save us! We're on a ship and I think it's sinking," Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying.

The boy who made the call is among the missing. 

Nearly 200 people are still missing

The fire station official asked him to switch the phone to the captain, and the boy replied: "Do you mean teacher?"

The pronunciation of the words for "captain" and "teacher" is similar in Korean.

Officials say the confirmed death toll has reached 104, with nearly 200 people still missing.

Of the 476 passengers and crew on board, 339 were children and teachers on a school outing to the resort island of Jeju.

Meanwhile, one of the crew members arrested over the disaster said they had tried to launch the lifeboats, but could not due to the tilt of the ship.

Lee seen in a promotional video in 2010

Media reports have also claimed crew members tried to contact officers on the bridge around half an hour after the ferry began listing to ask if they should give the order to abandon ship - but there was no reply.

Public broadcaster KBS quoted one as saying: "At the time, we could not confirm what the situation was on the bridge.

"We kept trying to find out but ... since there was no instruction coming from the bridge, the crew on the third floor followed the instructions on the manual and kept making 'stay where you are' announcements - at least three times."

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye has said the captain and some crew members of the sunken ferry committed "unforgivable, murderous acts" in the disaster.

Lee was arrested on Saturday along with a helmsman and the ship's relatively inexperienced third officer, who was in charge of the bridge when disaster struck.

He has been charged with negligence and failing to secure the safety of the passengers.

Senior prosecutor Ahn Sang-don has said four more crew members - two first mates, one second mate and a chief engineer - have been detained on allegations of failing to protect passengers and abandoning ship.

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Abu Hamza: '9/11 Made Everybody Happy'

Islamic preacher Abu Hamza said the September 11 attacks left "everybody happy", according to a tape played at his terrorism trial in New York.

In the tape, Hamza can be heard speaking casually of the attacks in the undated interview with a Canadian broadcaster.

"Everybody was happy when the planes hit the World Trade Center," he said.

"Anybody who tell you he was not happy, they are hypocrites."

At another point he says: "All Muslims are happy, even non-Muslims are happy."

He said the World Trade Center was a legitimate target because "it's the centre of evil … political and financial evil for the whole world".

Hamza likened what al Qaeda did to a hero in an American movie.

"This is what you teach your people in cowboy films when you see the aggressors being, doing bad things, and then the hero comes and gives him a couple of punches in his face," he said during the interview.

The tape was played in a Manhattan federal court after Judge Katherine Forrest turned down a request by defence lawyers to exclude it from trial on the grounds that it would unfairly prejudice their client.

Abu Hamza praying at the Finsbury Park Mosque in London in 2004

"Expressing clear and unequivocal support for terrorism is no doubt prejudicial," the judge said.

"However, the defendant is charged with just those sorts of crimes."

Hamza is accused of conspiring to support al Qaeda by trying to set up a terrorist training camp in 1999 in Oregon.

He is also accused of helping to abduct two American tourists and 14 others in Yemen in 1998. Four hostages died.

The Egyptian-born cleric, 55, has pleaded not guilty.

His lawyers have argued that Hamza, known for his fiery sermons in London, is responsible only for using inflammatory words, not for any overt criminal acts.

Hamza, who was indicted under the name Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, was extradited from the UK in 2012 at the end of a protracted legal battle.

He is expected to testify in his own defence during the trial, which began last week and is expected to last about a month.

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William and Kate Go Walkabout At Uluru

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have arrived at world famous Australian landmark Uluru, previously known as Ayers Rock.

The latest stop on the Royal couple's tour also saw them visit the nearby National Indigenous Training Academy, where they gave out certificates to students.

The Royals gave out certificates at an indigenous training academy

Kate described Uluru as "absolutely stunning" from the air, before she and William met people from the local Aboriginal community and watched some traditional song and dance.

Prince William was also given a spear as a gift.

The Royal couple then took a walk around the base of the ancient sandstone rock with two local guides.

A photo taken of the Duke and Duchess at the rock is reminiscent of the image of Prince Charles and the Princess of Wales, who visited the site in 1983.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana visited Uluru in 1983

Prince George stayed in Canberra with his nanny while his parents made the short flight to the Northern Territory.

The Royal couple are on a 19-day tour Down Under and have already visited Sydney and toured New Zealand.

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South Korea Ferry Tragedy 'A Murderous Act'

Timeline Of Doomed Ferry's Journey

Updated: 8:49am UK, Sunday 20 April 2014

The Sewol ferry sank in the East China Sea less than three hours after the first distress call was made to land.

Here is a timeline of the ship's voyage from Incheon:

April 15, 9pm

The Sewol leaves port in Incheon at around 9pm with 475 people and 150 vehicles on board, heading for Jeju Island.

April 16, 8.55am

First contact between vessel and land is made, with officer telling Jeju Vessel Traffic Services Centre (VTS) "our ship is in danger".

Survivors say passengers were told to remain in cabins.

April 16, 9am

Officer tells Jeju VTS ship is listing to the left and adds "it's impossible to move". Coastguard tells vessel to "wear life jackets and prepare as the people might have to abandon ship".

April 16, 9.05am

Other vessels notified as ferry continues to tilt to the side.

April 16, 9.30am

The coastguard, helicopters and other ships begin to arrive at the scene and rescue passengers who have escaped from the ferry.

April 16, 10am

Rescuers start to search for people in the overturned hull of the Sewol.

April 16, 11.20am

The ferry sinks in the East China Sea.

April 17

Text messages from people on board the ferry reveal passengers were ordered to remain in their seats and cabins as ship began listing.

Crew member Oh Yong-Seok reveals the captain waited 30 minutes before ordering the evacuation as officers tried to stabilise the vessel. By that time, the crew were unable to reach passengers because the ship was titled at such an acute angle.

April 18

Investigators reveal the ship's captain, Lee Joon-Seok, was not at the helm when the Sewol began to list. They are also examining why the ship's third mate ordered an abrupt turn around three hours before the vessel was due to arrive at Jeju Island.

Mr Lee, along with two more of the ship's crew, are arrested.

Vice-principal of Danwon High School, Kang Min-Kyu, is found dead on Jindo island. In a note found in his wallet, he described his rescue as "too painful while 200 remain unaccounted for".

April 19

Mr Lee issues a public apology for causing a "disturbance" and says he delayed the evacuation of the ferry because he thought the sea water was too cold.

Investigators reveal the third mate was steering the ship in difficult waters for the first time and in foggy conditions.

Divers trying to gain access to the ferry describe seeing bodies through its windows as the death toll officially climbs above 30.

April 20

Angry relatives clash with police on Jindo island over the speed of the recovery operation.

Divers break windows on the ferry to get inside the vessel and find more bodies, with the death toll confirmed above 50.

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Boston Marathon Returns One Year After Blasts

Tens of thousands of runners are preparing to take part in the Boston Marathon a year after twin bombings at the finish line killed three people and shocked the city.

The race is being held under increased police presence and new tighter security regulations.

In a show of support for the event, 36,000 of runners have registered - the second-largest field in the history of the race, which is the world's oldest annual marathon.

The cap of 27,000 was expanded to make room for more than 5,000 runners who were still on the course at the time of the explosions, for friends and relatives of the victims and scores of others.

One million people are expected to line the route.

Last year, a pair of homemade pressure-cooker bombs turned the event into a tragedy. In addition to the three people who were killed, another 260 were wounded.

On Tuesday, tributes marked the anniversary of last year's bombings

On Tuesday, the city marked the first anniversary with a day of tributes to the victims and to first responders who rushed to the scene.

But memories of last year's attack were stirred after the memorial service when a shoeless man in a black veil, shouting "Boston Strong", dropped a backpack on the street near the finish line.

The pack contained a rice cooker and the man was arrested and charged with possession of a hoax device.

The restrictions imposed on this year's event - the 118th anniversary of the race - include a ban on backpacks, bags and bulky outfits.

Unregistered runners, known as "bandits", who traditionally jump into the race at various points along the course, will be strictly prohibited this year.

More police tactical units and undercover operatives will be stationed along the 26.2-mile (42.2km) race.

The site of last year's blast off Boylston Street

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said there was an effort to provide adequate security while retaining the race's traditional atmosphere so that it does not become "a race through a militarised zone".

"So it's about striking a balance, and I think we have struck that balance," he told CBS's Face the Nation.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, is awaiting trial and faces the possibility of the death penalty on 30 federal charges, including using a weapon of mass destruction.

His brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died following a gun battle with police several days after the marathon.

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