Dozens Burn To Death In Pakistan Bus Crash

Dozens of people have died after two buses smuggling illegal Iranian gasoline were engulfed in a fireball in a crash in southwest Pakistan.

Passengers burnt to death inside the vehicles because sealed windows and hydraulic doors meant they were unable to escape from the wreckage.

The first bus, which was bound for Karachi, hit a truck coming in the opposite direction head-on, the two vehicles were then hit by a second bus and another truck.

The police chief of Baluchistan province, Ahmed Nawaz, said both buses had been smuggling fuel and were also carrying diesel-filled canisters.

The scene of the crash

He said 25 people, including women and children, died at the scene, while 10 more victims died on the way to hospital. Some 20 people were being treated for severe burns at hospital in Karachi.

Senior administration official Amir Sultan said the dead bodies were "beyond recognition".

He said: "These passenger buses travelling between Baluchistan and Karachi have automatic hydraulic doors and their windows are sealed because the buses are air-conditioned, so most of the passengers were trapped inside."

It is common practise for inter-city buses in the province, which borders Iran, to smuggle fuel, according to a bus driver who works on the Quetta-Karachi route.

Fire ripped through the buses

Mohammad Hasan Lehri said: "It is routine, we are compelled to do this even though it is illegal and dangerous."

He claimed thousands of people were involved in the fuel trade and said a number then split the profits, suggesting even policemen were getting their share.

The accident happened near Gadani, which is 370 miles south of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.

Pakistan has one of the world's worst records for fatal traffic accidents, blamed on poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.

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Russian Special Forces Storm Crimea Base

Russian special forces have stormed a Ukrainian airforce base in Crimea, smashing through two walls, with one Ukrainian soldier reported shot.

It comes after a deadline to hand over the base to Russia expired at 12.30 GMT.

"They came through the walls in armoured personnel carriers, said Sky News Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay, at the scene.

"There have been explosions, blast bombs, one Ukrainian soldier has been shot."

"We believe they are special forces," said Ramsay. "They are all balaclaved and have slightly different uniforms to regular Russian soldiers.

"There was a lot of firing, probably into the air, it is hard to know. I've seen at least one injured soldier."

Armoured carriers smashed their way into the airbase near Sevastopol

Ramsay also heard "big explosions" which he said were probably blast bombs to disorientate the Ukrainian troops, who have now been lined up on a parade ground.

The Ukrainian commander at the Belbek base had expected the attack and told his forces to resist, instructing them they could fire warning shots before fighting back.

He has now been taken into custody by the Russians. A live camera shot of the base was also disabled after a Russian soldier climbed a mast to disable it.

Ramsay said an "air defence weapon" had earlier been loaded by the Ukrainians and the troops told to stand their ground and not surrender the base.

He said that the Ukrainians had been "massively outnumbered and outgunned" by the Russians, with just small arms and a few machine guns.

Russian troops were keeping a lookout on a hill surrounding the base

Russian soldiers had surrounded the airbase - near Sevastopol -  from a nearby hill, while militia wearing balaclavas and Cossack-type hats gathered outside the base.

At the Kremlin on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation incorporating Crimea into Russia and hailed it as a "remarkable event".

International monitors are due to arrive in Ukraine in the next 24 hours to monitor the political and security situation in the country.

Russia agreed the move - claiming it would help stop "nationalist bandits" in the country - but has barred the observers from going to Crimea.

It also hit back at the widening of sanctions, calling them "divorced from reality" and said it reserved the right to impose sanctions of its own.

The 57 member countries of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) agreed an initial deployment of 100 monitors to regions in the east, south and west of Ukraine.

They will spend six months in the country and 400 more could be added "as necessary and according to the situation", diplomats said.

Crimea's annexation was celebrated in the region's capital Simferopol

Western countries have been pushing hard for an observer mission as a way of preventing an escalation of tensions in Ukraine following Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

Russia had blocked the plan on previous occasions.

OSCE vice-chairperson Thomas Greminger welcomed the decision as a "very meaningful contribution to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine".

Moscow celebrates the annexation of Crimea with a fireworks display

But, in a statement on Saturday, Russia's Foreign Ministry made it clear Crimea is a 'no-go area' for the observers.

It said: "The mission's mandate reflects the new political and legal realities and does not apply to Crimea and Sevastopol, which became a part of Russia."

"Russia hopes that the objective and impartial work of the international observers will help to overcome the internal Ukrainian crisis, stop rampant nationalist banditry, eradicate ultra-radical tendencies."

Prime Minister David Cameron and other EU leaders have imposed travel bans and asset freezes on 12 more people to punish Moscow for its takeover of the Ukrainian territory.

Sanctions against Russia's ultra-rich are still on the table, says the PM

There are now 33 Ukrainians and Russians on the list, accused of playing some part in what Western powers say is an illegal land grab of the region.

Russia said the move was necessary to prevent oppression of Russian-speaking people on the peninsula following the Ukrainian  political crisis which saw President Viktor Yanukovych flee the country.

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Michelle Obama Tackles Human Rights In China

The US first lady has touched on human rights concerns during a visit to China, but stopped short of levelling any criticism against Beijing itself.

Michelle Obama briefly set aside her policy of 'soft diplomacy' on Saturday to give a speech advocating freedom of expression and open access to information.

She told a group of some 200 students at Beijing's prestigious Peking University that universal rights should not be dependent on a person's country of birth.

"When it comes to expressing yourself freely, and worshipping as you choose, and having open access to information - we believe those are universal rights that are the birth right of every person on this planet," she said.

"It is so important for information and ideas to flow freely over the internet and through the media.

"My husband and I are on the receiving end of plenty of questioning and criticism from our media and our fellow citizens, and it's not always easy... but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world."

The first lady said human rights are a universal birthright

Obama has generally sought to steer clear of complicated political issues during her week-long visit to China and instead focus on building goodwill through soft diplomacy.

As such she was careful to avoid calling on China directly to offer its citizens greater freedoms. 

Censorship in Chinese media and online is widespread, with the so-called Great Firewall of China blocking access to any sites which touch on sensitive topics. 

The ruling Communist Party is quick to crack down on any signs of political dissent and deletes all material it considers objectionable. 

There are also concerns over China's treatment of religious groups, with regular reports of members of "underground churches" being arrested. 

Mrs Obama was joined on a tour of Beijing's Summer Palace by her daughters

The first lady also used her speech on Saturday to offer her condolences to the friends and relatives of some of the 239 passengers on board the missing MH370 Malaysia Airlines flight, the majority of whom are Chinese.

Obama said the US was committed to offering as many resources to the search as possible.

She said: "Please know that we are keeping all of the families and loved ones of those on this flight in our thoughts and in our prayers at this very difficult time."

Obama arrived in Beijing on Thursday accompanied by her two daughters and mother.  

Their trip has already taken them to Beijing's Summer Palace and China's historic Forbidden City.

A visit to the northern city of Xi'an, home to the famed Terra Cotta Warriors Museum, and to a panda breeding facility outside Chengdu in southwestern China are also on the agenda.

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Missing Plane: New Clues As Cyclone Threatens

The Chinese government has said it has located a large object in the sea after viewing satellite imagery.

During a news conference in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein was handed a piece of paper containing details of the apparent discovery.

The object is thought to be 42ft long (13m) and 74ft wide (22.5m) and was spotted somewhere in the southern search corridor in the Indian Ocean.

China's image was taken on March 18, two days after Australia's below

China said the object was captured by its high-definition earth observation satellite, Gaofen-1, and ships have been dispatched to the area.

The image was taken on March 18, two days after an Australian satellite located objects in the water. The China image shows the object is around 75 miles south of where Australia pinpointed two objects.

The Chinese location is just to the south of the patch of ocean being combed south and west of Australia.

During Saturday's search operation a civil aircraft reported sighting a number of small objects with the naked eye, including a wooden pallet, with a radius of three miles, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

A Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion dropped a marker buoy to track the movement of the material and a merchant ship in the area has been relocated to try to identify the objects.

Relatives react angrily during a meeting with Malaysian officials in Beijng

But bad weather could affect the operation after a cyclone warning was declared for Tropical Cyclone Gillian, which is forecast to move into the southern search corridor.

Mr Hussein said: "Very strong winds and rough seas are expected there today.

Tropical Cyclone Gillian is expected to hit the Indian Ocean on Saturday

"In the area where possible objects were identified by Australian authorities, there are strong currents and rough seas. Generally, conditions in the southern corridor are very challenging."

Countries in the north search corridor, which includes China, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Laos, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, said there had been no sightings of the aircraft on their radar.

It comes after angry scenes at a meeting in Beijing when Malaysian officials attempted to leave without answering questions on the search operation from relatives of the missing passengers.

One shouted: "You can't go. You can't leave here. We are here waiting for you 14 days. We want to know what happened, what the reality is."

Another said: "We don't even know if our family members are alive or dead. We should never let them treat us like this!"

Speaking at Peking University during a week-long visit to China, US First Lady Michelle Obama said the US was committed to offering as many resources to the search as possible.

She said: "Please know that we are keeping all of the families and loved ones of those on this flight in our thoughts and in our prayers at this very difficult time."

The plane disappeared on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing two weeks ago with 239 people on board, the majority of them from China.

Authorities face a race against time to locate the plane's black box voice and data recorder, which transmits an electronic signal only for 30 days before running out of battery power.

After that it will be much harder to locate the piece of equipment that is likely to hold the key to solving the mystery of what happened to the plane.

On Saturday, India said it had found no evidence the missing jet flew through its airspace after checking its radar records.

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Missing Plane: Cockpit Conversations Revealed

A transcript of the final conversations between the crew of flight MH370 and air traffic control has been revealed two weeks after the aircraft vanished from radar.

The transcript, between the co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid and the control tower, includes conversations as the aircraft was taxiing at Kuala Lumpur airport up until the final exchange with Malaysian air traffic control at 1.19am.

It also includes a repeated message about the aircraft's altitude at the same time as the plane's Acars signalling technology sent its last transmission before it was apparently disabled.

Excerpts from the cockpit conversations

At 1.01am it reads: "MH370 remaining in flight altitude 350 (35,000ft)."

Six minutes later, the co-pilot said: "MH370 remaining in flight altitude 350."

The final conversation in the documents, published in The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mirror, was at 1.19am as the plane left Malaysian airspace, and reads: "All right, good night."

But former pilot Alastair Rosenschein told Sky News too much could be read into the repetition of the plane's altitude.

He said: "You make a radio call confirming your altitude and then a few minutes later you think 'gosh did I make that call?', you don't know, the easiest thing is to make it again.

"So no it's not suspicious, at least I don't see it as suspicious.

Relatives of missing passengers shout for answers in Beijing on Saturday

"If he wanted to hijack the aircraft then this was an ideal spot because it lies between Malay air space and Vietnamese air space. So you've got that handover - the Malaysians are no longer interested in the aircraft because it's left them, they've handed it over, and the Vietnamese don't yet expect a call.

"Quite frankly if you wanted to take an aircraft and didn't want anyone to know, you wouldn't have done it on a Beijing flight - you're covered by radar the whole way.

"You would have done it on a flight from Kuala Lumpur say to London where you've got plenty of fuel."

Peter Marosszeky, an aviation expert at the University of New South Wales in Australia, added: "I've sat through many thousands of flights myself and it's not something that would really strike me as unusual.

"Without being able to hear the inflection in the pilots' voices, it's very difficult to determine whether anything said is truly noteworthy.

"I'd love to hear the actual voice level of communication to see if there's any level of anxiety that might have been driving the pilot to say what he did."

It comes after the search for debris spotted on satellite in the south Indian Ocean resumed on Saturday for a third day.

Six aircraft took off from Perth to search seas around 1,550 miles southwest of the city after two large objects were spotted earlier this week.

More aircraft and shipping is expected to join the operation over the next few days.

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Malaysian Plane: Hope And Activity In Perth

Pearce Air Force base, just to the north of the western Australian city of Perth, has become the centre of activity and of hope in the search for the missing Malaysian airliner.

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base, which is usually used only for flight training, is now hosting highly sophisticated P3 Orion surveillance planes and their crews.

Three P3 Orions have flown up from their base in South Australia to spearhead the new focus in the search for flight MH370.

Orion pilot Russell Adams briefs reporters after a search

A long-range Bombardier Global Express jet, usually used as an executive private plane, has also been brought in to assist the search.

A fifth plane, the US Navy's brand new P8 Poseidon, has joined the search from its base in Okinawa, Japan, and is flying its own sorties from Perth International Airport.

The first RAAF P3 Orion left Pearce at about 9.15am. The journey to the search area deep in the southern Indian Ocean is 1,500 miles. It is closer to Antarctica than it is to Australia. 

The planes typically spend 10 hours in the air during each search

The second P3 Orion departed two hours later at 11.15am. Fifteen minutes later, the Bombardier jet departed, and the third P3 followed at 12.45pm.

For the ground crew, whose usual daily task is coordinating the movements of small trainer aircraft, it is a busy time.

In the searing heat, we spot the first of the P3 planes on the horizon. It is making its final approach back into Pearce after 10 hours in the air. Eight of those hours were spent travelling and just two searching.

A P3 Orion search and rescue plane returns to Pearce base

As the pilot walks towards us for a few words, it's clear he is tired but upbeat. For the whole flight crew, the work is long and tiring. As well as operating sophisticated search equipment on the planes, they are using their eyes, too.

Their radar picked up nothing on Thursday and so they have spent much of Friday flying low; at times just 50 metres above the water.

That sort of piloting is hard. It's also tough for the crews to keep their eyes focused on the water for so many hours. We discovered that much after seven hours on a search with the Royal Malaysian Air Force last week. Even small ripples in the water look like objects.

The aircraft are equipped with the world's most advanced search technology

Add to that the fact that the search zone is in one of the most remote corners of the planet. It is an ocean where currents are strong, the waves are rough and the waters are among the deepest in the world.

There is a media circus here, too. Tents are lined up next to each other, the Australian networks, who made it here first, have the plumb spots. Next to them is the Sky News spot, the BBC and then the three main American networks.

CCTV, China's main TV network, also has a big presence here. Most of those on board the missing plane are Chinese.

The sorties cease as night falls. The difficult work resumes at first light.

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Missing Malaysian Jet: Debris 'May Have Sunk'

A search for two large objects that may be from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet has concluded for the day without any sight of flight MH370.

Friday's operation involved five aircraft, including three RAAF Orions, and a US Navy P8 Poseidon which scoured a remote area in the southern Indian Ocean of 8,800 sq miles (23,000 sq km).

An Australian P3 Orion search plane arrived back at base in Perth after failing to find any evidence of debris from the missing aircraft.

HMS Echo is heading towards the region

On his return to Perth, flight lieutenant Russell Adams told waiting reporters that conditions were perfect but there was no sign of any wreckage.

"We had really good weather compared to yesterday, better than 10km visibility and there was no rain in the area," he said.

"Unfortunately the conditions back here precluded us from staying on station as long as we'd like, however there are other aircraft out there still searching.

"We've got a lot of hope. Hopefully we'll find something soon."

RAAF AP-3C Orion pilot Adams speaks to the press in Perth upon his return

But Australian deputy prime minister Warren Truss admitted the objects spotted on satellite images in the remote southern Indian Ocean may have sunk.

"Something that was floating on the sea that long ago may no longer be floating," he told reporters in Perth.

"It may have slipped to the bottom."

At a news conference in Kualar Lumpur the Malaysian authorities said they were using every possible search and rescue asset in the world to help them find the missing aircraft.

Britain's HMS Echo is on its way and David Cameron told his Malaysian counterpart that Britain stands ready to help with whatever specialist support they can offer.

Malaysia's Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein at today's briefing

"The UK has remained in close touch with Malaysian authorities since the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 on 8th March," said a government spokesman.

"The PM called PM Najib on Tuesday to offer any additional support to the AAIB assistance already in place.

"Following that, we have been in close contact with the Malaysians and have offered an additional package of support.

"We are also in close contact with the Australians and today we have confirmed that HMS Echo is already heading towards the southern Indian Ocean."

It was also revealed the plane could have been carrying lithium-ion batteries in the cargo hold.

The flammable batteries can pose a safety concern and are required to undergo stricter testing than other types of battery.

In Boeing's 787 Dreamliner's first year of service, some four aircraft experienced problems stemming from its lithium-ion batteries.

But Malaysia Airline's chief executive, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, told Sky's Kay Burley the batteries were an approved item and were not classed as dangerous goods.

Muslims perform a prayer for passengers at a mosque in Putrajaya, Malaysia

"We carry some lithium ion batteries but they are approved and not declared as dangerous goods," he said.

"Airlines do this all the time; these goods have been flown many times."

Meanwhile, Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the country was doing everything it could to find the suspected debris and to keep the families of the passengers informed of the progress.

"We owe it to the families, the friends and the loved ones of the nearly 240 people on board flight MH370 to do everything we can to resolve what is as yet an extraordinary riddle," he told a news conference.

"Because of the understandable state of anxiety they're in, we also owe it to them to give them information as soon as we get it to hand.

A message board of support at a shopping centre in Damansara, Malaysia

"We have five aircraft searching the area. We're looking for a visual that was picked up on satellite imagery and as soon as we have additional information we'll make it available."

A Norwegian merchant ship - the first vessel to reach the vicinity - has been using searchlights through the night to try to locate the objects.

They were spotted by a satellite last Sunday and could potentially be debris from flight MH370, one of which is thought to be 24 metres in length and the other about five metres.

The sightings have been deemed "credible" and a "potentially important development" by authorities - as the search for the passenger plane enters its 14th day.

Relatives of those on board wait for news at a hotel in Beijing

Australian naval vessel HMAS Success, which is capable of retrieving debris, is also en route to the search area but is some days away.

There has been no trace of the aircraft since it vanished from radar a short distance into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8.

Wider searches, including of a northern corridor from northern Thailand to Kazakhstan, are set to continue until investigators are certain they have located the plane. Some 18 ships and 29 aircraft are taking part.

Those areas were targeted after faint electronic "pings" picked up by one commercial satellite suggested flight MH370 flew on for at least six hours after it disappeared from air traffic control screens.

Satellite images show objects which may be debris from the plane

Willie Walsh, chief executive of the International Airlines Group, said he was baffled by the disappearance of the aircraft.

"My deepest sympathies to everybody associated with this, it must be truly awful for the families and friends of the passengers and crew," he told Sky's Jeff Randall Live.

"I'm baffled; I must have heard twenty, thirty, maybe even forty theories on what has happened and quite honestly, we just don't know.

"I've been in this industry 35 years and I've never seen anything like this. I'm confident that with the technology today and the fact accident investigation has progressed significantly, we will ultimately find out."

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Putin Mocks Sanctions For Russians Over Crimea

Faces Caught In The Middle Of US-Russia Spat

Updated: 8:45pm UK, Thursday 20 March 2014

The fresh wave of US sanctions against Russia include banning some of the country's richest and most influential businessmen - and President Vladimir Putin's closest friends - from entering America.

Among the individuals targeted with and travel bans and freezing of US assets are billionaire brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg.

The co-owners of SMP Bank and SGM Group, a major supplier of construction services to Russian gas giant Gazprom, were judo sparring partners with Mr Putin.

The pair - friends of Mr Putin since childhood - also made billions in Sochi Olympics-related contracts.

Financier Yuri Kovalchuk, the largest shareholder of Bank Rossiya, is a personal banker for senior Russian officials - including, reportedly, Mr Putin. He is another close friend - and a neighbour - of the president.

They have known each other since the early 1990s when Mr Kovalchuk was deputy mayor of St Petersburg.

The bank - also on the hit list - serves some of the country's wealthiest officials and controls two big insurance firms - Sogas and SK Transneft.

High-level Kremlin officials including Mr Putin's chief of staff Sergei Ivanov and deputy chief of staff Alexei Gromov are also targeted, as well as Vladimir Yakunin, chairman of the board of the Russian state-owned company Russian Railways and a close confidant of the president.

Gennady Timchenko, a prominent businessman and owner of the private investment group, Volga Group, which specialises in investments in energy, transport and infrastructure assets is also named by the US.

President Putin's spokesman said some of the names on the list caused "nothing but extreme bewilderment" - and Russia immediately responded with its own list of sanctions on American officials.

These included Obama aides Caroline Atkinson (deputy assistant and deputy national security adviser for international economics), Daniel Pfeiffer (senior adviser and assistant ), and Benjamin Rhodes (assistant and deputy national security adviser for strategic communications and speechwriting), as well as senators Mary Landrieu, John McCain and Daniel Coats.

Mr McCain, the former Republican presidential candidate, and Mr Putin have long been engaged in a bitter personal feud.

During their last war of words in September 2013, the US senator accused Mr Putin of corruption, repression and self-serving rule in an opinion piece for a Russian website in response to a letter Mr Putin wrote in The New York Times, urging America not to use military force in Syria.

In an opinion piece headlined "Russians Deserve Better Than Putin", Mr McCain also accused the president of being "a friend to tyrants and an enemy to the oppressed" for siding with Syria's President Bashar al Assad.

Back in December 2011, Mr Putin let his views be known on Mr McCain after the US politician tweeted "Dear Vlad, The #ArabSpring is coming to a neighbourhood near you" at a time of huge protests across Moscow.

When pressed about the tweet during a televised phone-in, the Russian president hit back, calling the senator "nuts".

"Mr McCain fought in Vietnam. I think he has enough blood of peaceful citizens on his hands. It must be impossible for him to live without these disgusting scenes anymore," he said.

Mr Putin added: "Mr McCain was captured and they kept him not just in prison, but in a pit for several years. Anyone [in his place] would go nuts."

Earlier this month, Speaker of the House John Boehner, also on the Russian list, called Mr Putin a "thug" over its actions in Crimea, according to The Enquirer.

The Republican told the Cincinnati newspaper it was "time to stand up to Putin", adding: "At what point do you say enough is enough? We are at that point."

He, and Senators Landrieu, McCain and Coats hailed their inclusion on the Russian list as a "badge of honour", while the White House refused to comment.

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US 'Preparing For Military Exercise In Poland'

Faces Caught In The Middle Of US-Russia Spat

Updated: 8:45pm UK, Thursday 20 March 2014

The fresh wave of US sanctions against Russia include banning some of the country's richest and most influential businessmen - and President Vladimir Putin's closest friends - from entering America.

Among the individuals targeted with and travel bans and freezing of US assets are billionaire brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg.

The co-owners of SMP Bank and SGM Group, a major supplier of construction services to Russian gas giant Gazprom, were judo sparring partners with Mr Putin.

The pair - friends of Mr Putin since childhood - also made billions in Sochi Olympics-related contracts.

Financier Yuri Kovalchuk, the largest shareholder of Bank Rossiya, is a personal banker for senior Russian officials - including, reportedly, Mr Putin. He is another close friend - and a neighbour - of the president.

They have known each other since the early 1990s when Mr Kovalchuk was deputy mayor of St Petersburg.

The bank - also on the hit list - serves some of the country's wealthiest officials and controls two big insurance firms - Sogas and SK Transneft.

High-level Kremlin officials including Mr Putin's chief of staff Sergei Ivanov and deputy chief of staff Alexei Gromov are also targeted, as well as Vladimir Yakunin, chairman of the board of the Russian state-owned company Russian Railways and a close confidant of the president.

Gennady Timchenko, a prominent businessman and owner of the private investment group, Volga Group, which specialises in investments in energy, transport and infrastructure assets is also named by the US.

President Putin's spokesman said some of the names on the list caused "nothing but extreme bewilderment" - and Russia immediately responded with its own list of sanctions on American officials.

These included Obama aides Caroline Atkinson (deputy assistant and deputy national security adviser for international economics), Daniel Pfeiffer (senior adviser and assistant ), and Benjamin Rhodes (assistant and deputy national security adviser for strategic communications and speechwriting), as well as senators Mary Landrieu, John McCain and Daniel Coats.

Mr McCain, the former Republican presidential candidate, and Mr Putin have long been engaged in a bitter personal feud.

During their last war of words in September 2013, the US senator accused Mr Putin of corruption, repression and self-serving rule in an opinion piece for a Russian website in response to a letter Mr Putin wrote in The New York Times, urging America not to use military force in Syria.

In an opinion piece headlined "Russians Deserve Better Than Putin", Mr McCain also accused the president of being "a friend to tyrants and an enemy to the oppressed" for siding with Syria's President Bashar al Assad.

Back in December 2011, Mr Putin let his views be known on Mr McCain after the US politician tweeted "Dear Vlad, The #ArabSpring is coming to a neighbourhood near you" at a time of huge protests across Moscow.

When pressed about the tweet during a televised phone-in, the Russian president hit back, calling the senator "nuts".

"Mr McCain fought in Vietnam. I think he has enough blood of peaceful citizens on his hands. It must be impossible for him to live without these disgusting scenes anymore," he said.

Mr Putin added: "Mr McCain was captured and they kept him not just in prison, but in a pit for several years. Anyone [in his place] would go nuts."

Earlier this month, Speaker of the House John Boehner, also on the Russian list, called Mr Putin a "thug" over its actions in Crimea, according to The Enquirer.

The Republican told the Cincinnati newspaper it was "time to stand up to Putin", adding: "At what point do you say enough is enough? We are at that point."

He, and Senators Landrieu, McCain and Coats hailed their inclusion on the Russian list as a "badge of honour", while the White House refused to comment.

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Missing Plane: Expert Rules Out Fire Theory

A safety expert has ruled out fire as a cause for the disappearance of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane after it emerged lithium ion batteries were being carried in its hold.

Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, chief executive of the airline, revealed the batteries - which have posed safety concerns after causing fires on board Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft - were in the cargo hold.

He said: "We carry some lithium ion batteries but they are approved and not declared as dangerous goods.

"Airlines do this all the time; these goods have been flown many times."

Dreamliner aircraft were grounded in 2013 after fires caused by batteries

One of the theories behind the plane's disappearance has focused on a fire breaking out and causing the pilots to become incapacitated.

But David Learmount, operations and safety editor of Flightglobal, said the pilots would have alerted air traffic control if a fire broke out onboard.

He told Sky News Online: "The problem if you have a lot of them (batteries) and they start reacting with each other is that they cause an enormous amount of heat and that causes fire.

"The pilots would be immediately aware because of detectors and fires in the hold can be very dangerous because you can't get into it from the aircraft.

"They would be turning for the nearest airport as fast as possible and telling air traffic control - fire on any aircraft is absolutely terrifying for everyone.

"This aircraft has not come down because of fire. The idea that a pilot would keep a fire quiet is absolutely unthinkable."

Mr Learmount said the theory that the aircraft was deliberately turned off course by someone who knew what they were doing was the most plausible explanation for its disappearance.

Malaysian authorities have said the plane turned west and travelled back over the Malay Peninsula and out into the Indian Ocean after it vanished from radar during its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8.

The last contact with the Boeing 777 was heard from the cockpit, when a person thought to be the co-pilot said "all right, good night" to Malaysian air traffic control at 1.19am.

An international search team scoured areas of the southern Indian Ocean on Friday for sign of objects spotted by a satellite which could potentially be debris.

On Wednesday, pilot Fikri Zambi told Sky News that a fire in the cabin of the aircraft could have incapacitated both pilots.

He said the pair could have changed course to find the nearest airport, but were overcome by smoke before they were able to land.

Airlines grounded their Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleets for three months last year after fires caused by lithium ion batteries. The batteries were subsequently redesigned.

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Missing Plane: Could A Fire Explain Mystery?

Both pilots on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane may have been incapacitated by a fire in the cabin, an expert has told Sky News.

The theory, which has been gathering pace within the aviation industry over recent days, suggests the tracking equipment was disabled to prevent a fire getting worse.

Experts say it would mean the pair had changed course in a bid to find an airport where they could land the stricken aircraft - but were overcome by smoke.

While officials investigating the mystery have not commented on the theory, if true, it would make the two men in control of flight MH370 heroes rather than the suspects they have become.

Pilot Fikri Zambi told Sky News: "Let's say you have an electrical problem inside the wiring and you have smoke in the cabin.

"If it is anything to do with the wiring from the transponder or ACARS that's causing the smoke, then we have to pull out the circuit breakers to make it stop."

Pilots Fariq Abdul Hamid and Zaharie Ahmad Shah may be heroes not suspects

He said the next thing the pilots would do is attempt to get the plane to the nearest airport, which would mean turning left and back to the peninsula.

Experts say the jet could have kept heading southwest because the crew were rendered unconscious by the smoke.

Under such circumstances, if the plane remained in auto-pilot mode, it would continue flying south over the vast Indian Ocean until it ran out of fuel or was overcome by the flames.

Another pilot, Chris Goodfellow, a Canadian with 20 years' flying experience, also put forward the theory of a cabin fire in a piece he posted online. 

He suggested Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah was a "smart pilot" who "just didn't have the time" to land at an airport within a reasonable distance before he was overcome by smoke from the fire.

A contributor to the Professional Pilots Rumour Network forum, under the username Aerobat77, wrote: "For me, (either this) or a similar event happened. No James Bond secret landing on a desert strip."

Others on the forum said suggestions the flight inexplicably climbed to 45,000ft - 10,000ft above its cruising altitude - could also be consistent with attempts to put out a fire.

The search operation covers massive swathes of land and sea

A number of other theories have also been put forward since flight MH370 vanished.

Hijack

Among the more common theories in circulation is the idea that the aircraft was hijacked, either by a member of the crew or one of the passengers.

This gained weight when authorities revealed tracking and communications devices had been turned off deliberately.

However, the lack of any contact or demands from supposed hijackers indicates otherwise and experts say it would be almost impossible to land on an airstrip undetected.

Theft

Similar arguments are made in response to the theory that the Boeing 777 has been stolen by persons unknown, who would use it for a terror attack or simply sell the parts.

Experts also say serial numbers on all the aircrafts components would make it very difficult to sell any.

It is also pointed out that it would be much easier for terrorists to steal one of the thousands of business jets and cargo planes that take to the skies every day and which would attract far less attention.

Flight MH370 hid below another plane

Keith Ledgerwood, who describes himself as a "hobby pilot and aviation enthusiast" said the plane may have flown "in the shadow" of Singapore Airlines flight 68 to avoid detection on its way over India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Experts say such a manoeuvre would have roused suspicion from the Singapore Airlines pilots and that the theory does not explain how MH370 eventually peeled off and landed without anyone noticing.

Pilot suicide

Despite previous air crash investigations concluding they were the result of pilot suicide, this possibility has received relatively little coverage in this case,

The efforts to disable tracking and communication systems would appear unnecessary under such circumstances and no notes have been found during searches of the pilots' home.

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Pistorius To Sell House To Cover Legal Fees

Oscar Pistorius is to sell his home - where he shot dead girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp - to cover the legal fees for his murder trial.

"It has become necessary to sell Mr Pistorius's home in the Silver Woods Country Estate in Pretoria in order for him to raise the necessary funds to cover his increasing legal costs," the 27-year-old's lawyer Brian Webber said in a statement.

"This is due to the unexpected extension of the trial beyond the initial three-week period for which it was originally set down."

The Paralympic athlete has been paying his own legal fees since he shot and killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on February 14 last year in the Pretoria property still for sale.

Pistorius' trial costs are rising

The costs of the trial - reportedly as high as £5,500 a day - are said to include at least three full-time lawyers in court, ballistics and forensics experts, and a US crime scene reconstruction company.

Since the shooting, Pistorius has been living at his uncle's house in Pretoria.

Authorities turned the runner's home in the gated community back over to him more than a year ago and he had planned to keep it sealed until the trial finished.

The property is in an expensive part of Pretoria

"He has been forced to revisit this decision," according to Mr Webber, who said the statement was meant to pre-empt media speculation about the sale.

Prosecutors have charged the double-amputee sprinter with intentionally killing Ms Steenkamp, 29, and are expected to wrap up their case early next week.

Pistorius insists he shot the model through a toilet door after mistaking her for an intruder.

The trial resumes on Monday.

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Plane Search: Objects May Be Flight 370 Debris

A major search has taken place in the southern Indian Ocean for two large objects that may be from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet.

Four long-range surveillance planes scoured a remote area of 8,800 sq miles (23,000 sq km) in an operation hampered by bad weather.

It lasted until last light and is set to resume on Friday morning.

The objects were spotted by a satellite last Sunday and could potentially be debris from flight MH370.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said they were a "reasonable size", with one around 24 metres in length and the other about five metres.

:: Live Updates: Search For Possible Debris

Two Australian Orion surveillance planes have been looking for the objects

But rain and cloud limited the visibility for the search crews, which were unable to locate the objects.

The country's prime minister Tony Abbott described the satellite sighting, around 1,550 miles (2,500km) southwest of Perth, or four hours by plane - as "credible" and a "potentially important development".

Malaysia's transport minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, called it a "credible lead".

Satellite images of the two objects

The objects were spotted in the far south of the southern air corridor that investigators have been scouring over the last few days, along with an arc further north.

Those areas were targeted after faint electronic "pings" picked up by one commercial satellite suggested the jet flew on for at least six hours after it disappeared from air traffic control screens.

Satellite images, which show the two objects floating on or just under the surface, were taken on March 16 but it has taken time to analyse the pictures, and the objects would have moved since then.

Australian pilots are briefed on the search

However, more satellites are being redirected in the hope of getting higher resolution pictures.

Two Royal Australian Air Force Orion aircraft, a New Zealand Orion and a US Navy Poseidon aircraft have been involved in the search.

"The task of locating these objects will be extremely difficult and it may turn out they are not related to the search for MH370," Mr Abbott warned.

Mr Abbott tells MPs about the sighting of two potential objects from MH370

A Norwegian merchant ship has arrived in the vicinity, and the Australian naval vessel HMAS Success, which is capable of retrieving debris, is some days away.

A British naval survey ship, HMS Echo, is also heading to the region.

The wider searches, including a northern corridor from northern Thailand to Kazakhstan, will go on until investigators are certain they have located the plane. Some 18 ships and 29 aircraft are taking part.

John Young, from the AMSA, cautioned the objects could be seaborne debris along a shipping route where containers can fall off cargo vessels, but the larger object is longer than a container.

A US Navy Poseidon is also involved in the search

The depth of the ocean in the latest search area is around 3,500-4,000 metres.

This is a similar level to where the Air France plane wreckage was found after the jet crashed in the Atlantic in 2009.

The search for the missing Boeing 777, which had 239 people on board, has been focused on the two corridors, one of which extends towards the southern reaches of the Indian Ocean.

Military planes from Australia, the US and New Zealand have been scouring the vast area, which was halved in size to 118,000 sq miles (305,000 sq km) on Wednesday.

There has been no trace of the aircraft since it vanished from radar a short distance into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing 12 days ago.

In Beijing, relatives of many of the 154 Chinese passengers waited anxiously for more news.

Sky's Jonathan Samuels, who is with the families, said: "They look exhausted. Most have slowly returned to their rooms to await developments from Australia."

HMAS Success is heading to the area but is some days away

Investigators believe two vital pieces of communication equipment were intentionally switched off and the aircraft deliberately diverted, potentially taking it thousands of miles off course.

Satellite data suggests the plane flew for at least seven hours after it was diverted west across Malaysia towards the Strait of Malacca.

Investigators are considering a number of theories about what happened to the aircraft, including hijacking, sabotage and terrorism.

However, background checks on all foreign passengers apart from three from Ukraine and Russia have yielded "no information of significance", Mr Hishammuddin said.

One theory that has gathered pace among aviation experts in recent days is that a fire in the cabin of flight MH370 may explain the mystery.

Pilot Fikri Zambi said the crew may have disabled tracking devices in response to a blaze and turned back towards the nearest airport, before being incapacitated by smoke.

The aircraft would then continue flying in auto-pilot mode, until it succumbed to the flames or ran out of fuel.

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Missing Plane Mystery: Debris Sheds New Light

Confirmation that two large objects found in the southern Indian Ocean are from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane could suggest the aircraft's pilots were incapacitated, aviation experts have told Sky News

Electrical fire, structural damage, plane malfunction, hijacking, pilot murder-suicide and theft are among the numerous ideas circulating on forums and social media.

More outlandish claims include landing the plane somewhere, to be used later in a 9/11-style attack or collision with a military aircraft.

The plane carrying 239 people disappeared 12 days ago some 40 minutes into its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The Boeing 777-200's communication equipment was turned off and it was intentionally diverted west and could have flown on either a northern or southern arc from its last known position.

Seven "pings" were picked up from the plane six hours after military radar last detected it over the Strait of Malacca.

Two objects were spotted 1,500 miles west of Australia

Former British Airways pilot Alastair Rosenschein said if the two pieces of debris, found 1,500 miles off the coast of Western Australia, are from the plane, it is most likely to point to pilot incapacitation through structural failure.

One possibility is the pilots' oxygen tanks exploded, blowing a hole in the cockpit, and causing the communication equipment to fail at the same time.

Another is the pilots may have been rendered unconscious by a fire in the cabin, and the tracking equipment was disabled to prevent the blaze getting worse.

If the pilots had fallen unconscious, the plane would have carried on along its diverted route for up to 3,500 miles before the fuel ran out.

It would then have glided and crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean.

Mr Rosenschein said this would take it into the region where the possible debris was found, especially given that sea currents could have moved the wreckage more than 1,000 miles from the crash site.

Satellite images of the possible debris

"It's no surprise they might find it there," he told Sky News.

He suspects the plane was picked up by Indonesian radar as it flew near Sumatra and this is why investigators have been searching near Australia.

He said if the debris is found to be from the plane, it is still possible the cause was hijacking or pilot suicide.

But he said these were much less likely given the location of the crash, as neither scenario would require the plane to be flown so far and for so long.

However, David Gleave, chief investigator at Aviation Safety Investigations, said authorities needed to be "very, very cautious" about assuming the debris is wreckage from the plane.

One piece is 24 metres long and if it is the front fuselage it would have filled with water and sunk to the bottom of the sea, he said.

Search for the missing plane continues

If it is a wing, it might have floated, he said, but this is unlikely.

If the debris is from the plane, he believes it would point to an "insurance job".

"What other possible motive could there be for dumping a plane in the middle of the Indian Ocean," he told Sky News.

Paul Edwards, former Chief of Staff for Army Aviation, said the debris is "the first credible lead" in the investigation.

But he stressed it needed first to be located and then identified, and should not detract from searches in the northern arc.

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Russia Retaliates To Obama's Sanctions

US President Barack Obama has announced a series of fresh sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine - prompting an immediate retaliation from Moscow.

In a speech on the White House lawn, Mr Obama said individuals linked to the Russian government would be targeted for increased sanctions.

A bank supporting those individuals will also be hit.

And the US is working with the European Union on a series of more stringent measures should the Kremlin continue in what Mr Obama described as an "illegitimate" incursion into the Crimean peninsula.

"We've been working closely with our European partners to develop more severe actions that could be taken if Russia continues to escalate the situation," said Mr Obama.

"I signed a new executive order today that gives us the authority to impose sanctions not just on individuals but on key sectors of the Russian economy."

Russian troops surround a Ukrainian base in Perevalnoe, Crimea

Russia's Foreign Ministry has responded by announcing retaliatory sanctions which it says will "hit the United States like a boomerang".

Nine US officials and lawmakers have been banned from Russia.

Mr Obama has ruled out military action but his statement comes as EU leaders meet in Brussels to discuss an expansion of its own sanctions.

Further bank account freezes and travel bans on all those linked to the crisis is on the EU's agenda, and wider trade and financial restrictions are now under consideration.

The G8 - a group of leading industrial nations, including Russia - has been suspended until the crisis is resolved.

"The EU summit today and tomorrow will make clear that we are ready at any time to introduce phase-three measures if there is a worsening of the situation," German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"As long as there is no political climate for an important format such as the G8, as is the case at the moment, the G8 no longer exists. Neither does the summit nor the format as such."

Europe's dependency on Russian gas will also be discussed by EU leaders.

Arriving at the summit, Prime Minister David Cameron revealed Ukraine would be offered closer links with the EU.

The Russian coat of arms is put up at a Ukrainian navy base

He said: "One of the things we must do at this council is sign a new agreement with Ukraine offering them a prosperous future, access to our markets and real political support."

Despite the increasing threat of economic sanctions, the Kremlin has cranked up its attempt to absorb Crimea into Russia.

Troops have seized military bases on the peninsula and on Thursday Russia's deputy defence minister Yuri Borisov said their military presence in Crimea would be bolstered to protect against "all possible encroachments" and to make it "a worthy representative of the Russian Federation".

This came as Russia's lower house of parliament overwhelmingly approved a treaty to annex Crimea from Ukraine.

There is now just one legal obstacle before Crimea is absorbed by Moscow - ratification from Russia's upper house. Little opposition is expected there.

Ukrainian troops in Crimea are currently being redeployed to the mainland by the Kiev government.

Ukrainian navy commander Serhiy Haiduk and several other hostages were detained by Crimean authorities on Wednesday but have now been released.

Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon travelled to Russia to meet Mr Putin on Thursday.

As talks started, Mr Ban said he was "deeply concerned" at the current situation.

The UN chief will fly to Kiev for talks with Ukraine's acting president and prime minister on Friday.

More follows...

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