Authorities Cast Doubt on Signal in Jet Search

The Australian authorities searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane said Friday that the latest potential signal was probably not from the flight recorders, despite hopes raised the previous day. A sensor dropped into the sea by a Royal Australian Air Force plane had detected an acoustic signal in the same area of the ocean where a search vessel had earlier detected signals that might have come from flight recorders of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the Australian search authorities said Thursday. The latest potential clue to the whereabouts of the aircraft came in the same seas off Western Australia where the Ocean Shield, an Australian ship, had already collected four sets of signals — two on Saturday, two on Tuesday — that could have come from beacons attached to the plane’s two flight recorders. Yet Angus Houston, the retired air chief marshal overseeing the search in the southern Indian Ocean, said in an emailed statement on Friday that “an initial assessment of the possible signal detected by a R.A.A.F. AP-3C Orion aircraft yesterday afternoon has been determined as not related to an aircraft underwater locator beacon.” He discounted expectations of an impending announcement on the recorders, which are crucial to determining what caused the plane to disappear on March 8. “On the information I have available to me, there has been no major breakthrough in the search,” Mr. Houston said. The Ocean Shield, he added, would continue seeking to "locate further signals that may be related to the aircraft’s black boxes.” “It is vital to glean as much information as possible while the batteries on the underwater locator beacons may still be active,” he said.

Gruesome Picture Displayed at Pistorious Trial

Oscar Pistorius refused to look Wednesday, as prosecutors in his murder trial displayed graphic photographs of his girlfriend’s corpse Wednesday. The 27-year-old South African elite runner who stands accused of pre-meditated murder in the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, 29, on Valentine’s Day 2013. Pistorius admits he shot Steenkamp but insists it was an accident. “I will not look at a picture where I’m tormented by what I saw and felt that night,” Pistorius said, sobbing and diverting his eyes. According to the Associated Press, there were audible gasps in the courtroom, including from Steenkamp’s mother, as images of the dead woman’s head, blonde hair drenched in blood and tissue protruding out at bullet wound in the back, flashed on multiple TV screens. “As I picked Reeva up, my fingers touched her head. I remember. I don’t have to look at a picture. I was there,” Pistorius said. “It’s time that you look at it,” chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel said in response.

Ukraine crisis: Ukraine in bid to retake buildings

The Ukraine authorities say they have seized back control of the regional administration building in the eastern city of Kharkiv from pro-Russia separatists. They say they hope buildings in Luhansk and Donetsk will be freed shortly as well. On Monday, pro-Russia demonstrators seized government buildings in the three cities. Russia recently annexed the peninsula of Crimea following a referendum. Kiev and the West say the referendum in the territory, where the majority of people are Russian speakers, was illegal. Moscow has thousands of troops massed along its border with eastern Ukraine. Although it insists it has no intention of invading Ukraine, it says it reserves the right to defend ethnic Russians in the country. nterim President Oleksandr Turchynov says several Ukrainian policemen have been injured in the operation to free the Kharkiv regional state administration. Some 70 people were held without shots being fired, Ukraine's interior ministry said in a statement. Mr Turchynov said those who seized the buildings would be treated as "terrorists and criminals" who would be prosecuted with the full force of the law. Rebels occupying Donetsk's regional government building on Monday declared a "people's republic" and called for a referendum on secession from Ukraine to be held by 11 May. There have been talks overnight in Donetsk between the authorities and pro-Russian activists who had occupied the regional administration building. On Tuesday, Russia warned Ukraine to stop any military preparations, with the Russian foreign ministry saying in a statement that such preparations risked causing a civil war. Russia is refusing to recognise the new authorities in Kiev who took power after pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February.

MH370: Second pulse detected in hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines plane

A Chinese ship searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has detected a pulse signal for a second time, Australian co-ordinators say. Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston called the discovery in the southern Indian Ocean an "important and encouraging lead" but warned that there was no confirmation of a link to flight MH370. He told reporters that the second signal was monitored for about 90 seconds and was detected less than 2 km (1.2 miles) from the original. Phil Mercer reports from Sydney.

Japan issues order to intercept DPRK missile

TOKYO, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera has issued an order to the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to intercept any missile launched by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), according to local media Saturday. An Aegis-equipped SDF destroyer Kirishima has been deployed to the Sea of Japan carrying long-range SM-3 interceptor missiles in line with the order, which was issued Thursday without disclosing, reported Japan's Kyodo News, citing an unnamed government source. The order was issued based on the assumption that the DPRK, which launched Rodong medium-range ballistic missiles on March 26 toward the Sea of Japan, might fire more missiles, said Kyodo The order, which was likely stay in effect until April 25, the anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army, was kept secret to avoid revealing Japan's missile detection capabilities, said the report.

Journalist Killed by Afghan Police Officer

KABUL, Afghanistan — A Pulitzer-prize winning photographer for The Associated Press was killed and a reporter from the news agency was wounded by a police officer in eastern Afghanistan on Friday. Anja Niedringhaus, 48, a photographer who had covered numerous conflicts, and Kathy Gannon, 60, a reporter, were shot in Khost Province in eastern Afghanistan where they had traveled to cover preparations for the country’s presidential election on Saturday. Both had spent many years covering the war in Afghanistan and knew the country well. Ms. Gannon, who was shot twice, was receiving treatment at a hospital in the city of Khost, the provincial capital. The A.P. said that she was in stable condition and talking to medical personnel. An official from the American-led coalition later said that Ms. Gannon was being evacuated by foreign forces to one of the main NATO bases in the country, where there is a hospital equipped to handle severe battlefield traumas. “Anja and Kathy together have spent years in Afghanistan covering the conflict and the people there,” said Kathleen Carroll, the executive editor of the news agency. “Anja was a vibrant, dynamic journalist, well loved for her insightful photographs, her warm heart and joy for life. We are heartbroken at her loss.”

Shooter Kills Three, Injures 16 at Fort Hood

KILLEEN, Texas—For the second time in five years, an active-duty soldier is believed to have gone on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, killing three people Wednesday at the U.S. Army post here and wounding 16 others before turning the gun on himself, officials said. The incident comes even as emotions remain raw from a 2009 shooting at the post that ended with 13 dead and more than 30 injured. Wednesday's rampage also marks the third time in the past seven months there has been a shooting at a U.S. military base. "There is no indication this incident is related to terrorism," Lt. Gen. Mark A. Milley said at a news conference Wednesday night. He added that the suspect had served four months in Iraq in 2011 and had arrived at Fort Hood in February. Gen. Milley said the suspected shooter had exhibited symptoms of depression and anxiety, and was in the process of being diagnosed by military officials for potential post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms before the shooting. Officials didn't publicly name the suspect pending notice to next of kin, but people familiar with the situation identified him as Ivan Lopez, a soldier who worked as a truck driver. The shooting occurred in a motor-pool area of the base where vehicles are stored and repaired and in a medical administration building, said officials briefed on the matter. Gen. Milley said the shooting occurred shortly after 4 p.m. local time, and that "there are some initial reports that there had been an argument." He said a suspect opened fire with a handgun in a building on the base, then got into a car and drove to another building, where he fired more shots. The attack lasted about 15 minutes before military police and local responders arrived, exchanging fire with the suspect, who then shot himself, Gen. Milley said. The suspect was assigned to the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), nicknamed the "Lucky 13th"—a unit that assists troops in combat areas with supplies and services. He allegedly fired at fellow military personnel in an area of the post holding members of the 1st Medical Brigade, or "Silver Knights," who provide medical support. He was armed with a recently purchased .45-caliber Smith & Wesson semiautomatic firearm, Gen. Milley said, which he hadn't registered to carry on the base. All of those wounded were members of the military, the general said. Law-enforcement officers responded to the shooting swiftly, Gen. Milley said. As the shooter walked toward a Military Police officer in a parking lot, he put his hands up, then reached into his jacket and pulled out his gun. The officer then pulled out her weapon, according to Gen. Milley. "Then he put the weapon to his head, and died of a self-inflicted gun wound," Gen. Milley said, adding that the Military Police officer demonstrated considerable courage. A lockdown at Fort Hood was lifted Wednesday evening after several hours. Sirens were sounding at the base at about 8:50 p.m. local time, and cars were streaming in and out of the facility as people stuck inside were finally able to leave.

Release of Israeli spy

The potential release by the United States of a convicted Israeli spy could become the linchpin for a broader deal that would keep Israeli-Palestinian peace talks underway at least through 2015, breaking a stalemate that has threatened to derail negotiations overseen by Secretary of State John F. Kerry. An official familiar with the talks said negotiators are discussing in broad outline a plan that would require Israel to slow settlement construction and release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The Palestinians would in turn agree not to pursue recognition of a Palestinian state or other redress through the United Nations in order to keep alive the hope for a solution negotiated between the two sides. Britain's Queen Elizabeth (2nd L) and Rosemary Ussher, chair of the Windsor Greys Jubilee Appeal, look on during the unveiling of the Windsor Greys statue in Windsor, southern England March 31, 2014. The statue marks sixty years of Queen Elizabeth's Coronation in 2013 and the important role played by Windsor Greys horses in the ceremonial life of Britain's royal family. U.S. is considering release of Israeli spy as a means to keep Israeli-Palestinian peace talks going. Kerry is scheduled to return to Israel on Wednesday to continue the discussions. An official familiar with some of the details of the proposal said that under one scenario, Jonathan Pollard could be released in time for the Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins in two weeks, and that Israel would in the same time frame release 26 Palestinian prisoners serving extensive sentences, including for murdering Israelis.