A Thai satellite has identified about 300 floating objects close to the spot where investigators believe Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 crashed.
The objects were spotted by the Thaichote – or Thailand Earth Observation Satellite – a representative at the Geo Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) told NBC News.
About 300 floating objects close to the spot where Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 crashed have been spotted by a Thai satellite (photo GISTDA)
GISTDA posted the images on its website, saying they had been taken on Monday – the day after a French satellite saw 122 potential objects floating in the southern Indian Ocean.
The images put the objects about 125 miles southwest of the suspected crash site, GISTDA’s executive director Anond Snidvongs told reporters in Bangkok, according to the Straits Times.
Anond Snidvongs said the images were being passed to ministers in Thailand’s interim government, who would in turn submit them to Malaysia.
GISTDA is a state-owned company that reports to Thailand’s defense ministry, its company representative told NBC News.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), which is coordinating the international air and sea search of the southern Indian Ocean, referred queries about the images to Thailand.
There was no immediate word from Malaysian investigators, who earlier cancelled their daily news briefing in Kuala Lumpur.
Two Boston firefighters were killed and at least 18 people were taken to area hospitals when a nine-alarm fire ignited the city’s Back Bay neighborhood Wednesday.
Incident Commander Chief Joseph Finn identified the victims as Lt. Ed Walsh and firefighter Mike Kennedy, both of Engine 33.
Joseph Finn said Ed Walsh, 43, was found in the basement of the building. Mike Kennedy, 33, was pulled from the building alive, but later died at the hospital, Joseph Finn said at a news conference Wednesday night.
“It’s a tremendous loss for the department,” he added.
Two Boston firefighters were killed and at least 18 people were taken to area hospitals when a nine-alarm fire ignited the city’s Back Bay neighborhood (photo NY Daily News)
Both men had been working for the department for less than 10 years.
Ed Walsh was married with three children under the age of 10 and lived in West Roxbury, officials said.
Mike Kennedy, a veteran of the Marine Corps, was single and lived in Hyde Park.
The fire appeared to have started in the basement of the four-story brick brownstone building and traveled up, officials said.
As the fire consumed the structure throughout the day, the roof eventually collapsed.
Joseph Finn noted that the fire does not appear to have spread to neighboring buildings, but added that firefighters will remain on the scene throughout the night, as parts of the structure were still burning. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
L’Wren Scott has left her entire estate to her long-term partner Mick Jagger.
According to the Daily News, papers filed in Manhattan’s Surrogate’s Court on Wednesday estimated the value of the 49-year-old designer’s personal estate at $9 million.
L’Wren Scott has left her entire estate to her long-term partner Mick Jagger
The filing said L’Wren Scott’s main asset was her Manhattan condominium worth approximately $8 million. Other items included her jewelry, clothing, household furnishings and personal automobiles.
A small and private funeral service was held for L’Wren Scott in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
L’Wren Scott committed suicide on March 17 in her New York apartment.
Former Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kim Zolciak showed off her post-baby belly after giving birth to twins just five months ago.
Kim Zolciak, 35, posted a selfie of her toned midsection on Instagram with the caption: “I think I see an ab!!!! hey after 6 kids I’ll take it!!”
Kim Zolciak showed off her post-baby belly after giving birth to twins just five months ago (photo Instagram)
She had no qualms about showing off how large her bump had grown during her pregnancy, posting a midriff-baring photo back in November 2013.
“Sooooo with all the request I finally decided to post My baby bump today! The twins will [be] here this month and we are soooo excited and I’m soooo over being pregnant! #countingdownthedays,” the mom of six wrote next to the revealing shot.
Kim Zolciak announced the birth of her babies Kane and Kaia Biermann on November 25.
Rhonda Adkins, Trace Adkins’ third wife, has filed for divorce after 16 years of marriage.
Rhonda Adkins has cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split in documents filed in Tennessee.
Trace and Rhonda Adkins wed in 1997 and have three daughters, aged from 9 to 16.
Rhonda Adkins, Trace Adkins’ third wife, has filed for divorce after 16 years of marriage
According to the divorce papers, obtained by TMZ, the country singer and his wife separated on Monday.
Rhonda Adkins is requesting primary residential custody of their three kids, child support and alimony.
The divorce news is the latest blow for Trace Adkins, who lost his father, Aaron, last month, just after he completed a rehab stint for alcoholism, days after becoming embroiled in an altercation with an impersonator onboard a country music fan cruise.
Trace Adkins, 52, had been sober for more than a decade before his relapse.
Police is investigating a blackmail case after Kris Jenner has complained that she has become the target of an extortion plot over a non-existent videotape.
Kris Jenner, 58, claims she has been bombarded with up to 300 phone calls, voice mails and text messages every day for the past few weeks from a person who claims to have obtained footage of the reality star engaged in an intimate relationship.
Kris Jenner has become the target of an extortion plot over a non-existent videotape
The mystery caller has allegedly demanded Kris Jenner pay up in a bid to keep the tape under wraps, prompting her to call in the cops.
Officers from Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department paid a visit to the family home on Tuesday to take down details about the incidents for a police report, according to TMZ.
Kris Jenner is adamant the tape does not exist, despite previously confessing to once filming herself and her estranged husband, former Olympian Bruce Jenner, making love early on in their relationship.
Bruce and Kris Jenner separated last year after 22 years of marriage.
According to a recent research, autism begins in the womb.
Patchy changes in the developing brain long before birth may cause symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), research suggests.
The study, in the New England Journal of Medicine, raises hopes that better understanding of the brain may improve the lives of children with autism.
It reinforces the need for early identification and treatment, says a University of California team.
Scientists from the University of California, San Diego and Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle analyzed post-mortem brain tissue of 22 children with and without autism, all between two and 15 years of age.
Patchy changes in the developing brain long before birth may cause symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder
They used genetic markers to look at how the outermost part of the brain, the cortex, wired up and formed layers.
Abnormalities were found in 90% of the children with autism compared with only about 10% of children without.
The changes were dotted about in brain regions involved in social and emotional communication, and language, long before birth, they say.
The researchers say their patchy nature may explain why some toddlers with autism show signs of improvement if treated early enough.
They think the plastic infant brain may have a chance of rewiring itself to compensate.
“The finding that these defects occur in patches rather than across the entirety of cortex gives hope as well as insight about the nature of autism,” said Prof. Eric Courchesne, a neuroscientist at the University of California San Diego.
Dr Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), said: “If this new report of disorganized architecture in the brains of some children with autism is replicated, we can presume this reflects a process occurring long before birth.
“This reinforces the importance of early identification and intervention.”
Egypt’s military chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has resigned in order to stand for the presidency.
In a widely expected announcement, Field Marshal Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said on state TV he was appearing “in my military uniform for the last time”.
Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, 59, led the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 after mass opposition protests.
Correspondents say he is likely to win the presidency, given his popularity and the lack of any serious rivals.
To his supporters, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi is a saviour who can end the political turmoil dogging Egypt since 2011 when a popular uprising ended Hosni Mubarak’s three decades of one-man rule.
Egypt’s military chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has resigned in order to stand for the presidency
But his opponents hold him responsible for what human rights groups say are widespread abuses, and fear that he wants a return to authoritarianism.
Abdul Fattah al-Sisi’s announcement came hours after Egypt’s interim authorities ordered the prosecution of 919 suspected Islamists and days after 528 were sentenced to death in a separate case.
The starting date of the nomination process for the presidential election will reportedly be announced on Sunday, after which no changes may be made to the electoral roll.
The government has yet to set a date for the vote, although earlier this month al-Ahram newspaper cited interim President Adly Mansour as saying that it would be completed by July 17.
Leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, who came third in the 2012 election, is the only other candidate to have declared his intention to run.
General Sedki Sobhi, the current chief-of-staff of the armed forces, is expected to be named Field Marshal Sisi’s successor.
If Abdul Fattah al-Sisi becomes president, he will be the latest in a line of Egyptian rulers drawn from the military; a line only briefly broken during President Mohamed Morsi’s year in office.
Ukraine’s interim government has decided to raise gas prices for domestic consumers by 50% in an effort to secure an International Monetary Fund (IMF) aid package.
An official at Ukraine’s Naftogaz state energy company said the price rise would take effect on May 1st, and further rises would be scheduled until 2018.
Ukrainians are accustomed to buying gas at heavily subsidized rates.
But the IMF has made subsidy reform a condition of its deal.
Ukraine currently buys more than half of its natural gas from Russia’s Gazprom, and then sells it on to consumers at below market prices.
Ukraine’s interim government has agreed to raise gas prices for domestic consumers by 50 percent
Yury Kolbushkin, budget and planning director at Naftogaz, told reporters that gas prices for district heating companies would also rise by 40% from July 1st.
IMF negotiators are still in Kiev to negotiate a package of measures worth billions of dollars to help Ukraine’s interim government plug its budget deficit and meet foreign loan repayments.
The IMF is also asking Ukraine to crack down on corruption and end central bank support for the Ukrainian currency.
On Tuesday, Ukraine’s finance minister Oleksandr Shlapak said the country was seeking $15-20 billion from the IMF.
The Financial Times has reported that a rescue package worth about $15 billion is close to being agreed, and could be announced as early as Thursday.
An agreement with the IMF is necessary to unlock further financial support from the EU and US.
Financial help is urgently required as Ukraine has been forced to plunder its foreign currency reserves, and the economy is expected to contract by 3% this year, according to the country’s finance ministry.
In the US, arguments in Congress over reforms to the IMF have held up plans to offer Ukraine $1 billion in loan guarantees.
The EU says its financial support, potentially worth 1.6 billion euros is contingent on the IMF deal being agreed.
Katheryn Deprill, who was abandoned in 1986 as a newborn in a Burger King restaurant’s bathroom, has found her birth mother after launching a social media search.
Katheryn Deprill, 27, began searching for her mother on Facebook on March 2.
Her post was shared 30,000 times and caught the attention of her unnamed birth mother, who made contact via a lawyer to arrange a meeting.
Katheryn Deprill began searching for her birth mother on Facebook on March 2 (photo AP)
Katheryn Deprill became known as the Burger King Baby after she was found, just hours old, in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
She told media she felt “pure joy” at meeting her mother for the first time on Monday.
“She is better than anything I could’ve ever imagined. She is so sweet and amazing. I’m so happy,” Katheryn Deprill told the Associated Press news agency.
The unnamed woman’s attorney, John Waldron, said his client had been raped at age 16 while travelling abroad.
She allegedly hid her pregnancy from her family and did not take her newborn daughter to the hospital in an effort to avoid answering questions.
“It was one of the most emotional, joyful, dramatic, exciting things I’ve ever seen,” John Waldron told the Associated Press of the pair’s initial meeting.
Rupert Murdoch has appointed his sons Lachlan and James to top roles at his media and entertainment empire News Corp and 21st Century Fox.
Lachlan Murdoch returns to the Murdoch empire as co-chairman of News Corp and 21st Century Fox, having previously stood back to focus on his own businesses.
Meanwhile, younger son James Murdoch was appointed co-chief operating officer at 21st Century Fox.
After the phone hacking scandal, James Murdoch quit as executive chairman of News International in 2012.
Rupert Murdoch has appointed his sons Lachlan and James to top roles at News Corp and 21st Century Fox (photo Getty Images)
News Corp is one of the world’s biggest media organizations, and owns newspaper titles The Times, Sun, and the Wall Street Journal.
News Corp split from 21st Century Fox in 2013. The business owns broadcaster Fox News in the US and British Sky Broadcasting in the UK.
Rupert Murdoch, who went through a high-profile split with wife Wendi Deng last year, said Lachlan was a “talented executive” with a “rich” knowledge of the business.
Lachlan Murdoch will report to Chase Carey, chief executive at 21st Century Fox.
Rupert Murdoch said: “I am very pleased he is returning to a leadership role at the company, where he will look closely with me, Chase, James and rest of the board of directors to drive continued growth for years to come.”
He also said he was “pleased” to promote James into the “important role”.
There is reportedly no new role for Rupert Murdoch’ third sibling, Elisabeth.
Switch off your lights on Saturday, March 29, from 20h30 to 21h30 local time and save the planet.
Switch off your lights on March 29 to celebrate Earth Hour 2014
Every year in March since 2007, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) celebrates Earth Hour, where millions of people, businesses and governments – including the European Union institutions – around the world turn off their lights for one hour, sending a powerful message for action on climate change.
Giant book Patria Amada (Beloved Motherland) explaining Brazil’s tax rules has been put on display in front of the National Congress in Brasilia, in protest against the country’s tax system bureaucracy.
The book weighs as much as an African elephant and is taller than a grown man and has 41,266 pages.
“My goal is to invite society to reflect – the country needs a new model rendering life less difficult for firms and taxpayers,’’ tax lawyer Vinicios Leoncio told AFP after unveiling the colossal work.
Giant book Patria Amada explaining Brazil’s tax rules has been put on display in front of the National Congress in Brasilia
The 7000 kilo volume lists chapter and verse the myriad fiscal rules and regulations governing life in the continent-sized nation.
According to a 183-nation study, Brazil is “the absolute world leader in terms of tax-related bureaucracy,’’ Vinicios Leoncio said.
He claimed that a Brazilian firm spends 2600 hours a year on its taxes.
“The average in Europe is 180 hours,” Vinicios Leoncio said.
“We are worse than Mozambique, Ethiopia and Sierra Leone – in Brazil we create 35 tax norms per day,” he said.
The US and EU have decided to imposed “deeper sanctions” against Russia if there are “further incursions into Ukraine”.
President Barack Obama said “energy is obviously a central focus of our efforts”, acknowledging it “will have some impact on the global economy”.
Barack Obama was speaking after talks in Brussels with EU leaders Jose Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy.
At a news conference the three men spoke of the special relationship between the transatlantic partners.
Barack Obama said: “The world is safer and more just when Europe and America stand as one.”
Herman Van Rompuy, European Council president, called it a “crucial” relationship.
Their talks at the headquarters of the 28-nation EU bloc also covered plans to finalize a transatlantic trade partnership, as well as efforts to tackle Iran’s nuclear program and Syria’s chemical weapons.
Barack Obama praised the EU for the steps it had already taken – along with the US – to penalize Russia. These have included visa bans and asset freezes against a number of Russian officials.
Barack Obama was speaking after talks in Brussels with EU leaders Jose Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy
He said those actions were taken after Russian forces moved in to annex Crimea, and they now must consider “the potential for additional, deeper sanctions” should Moscow attempt to do the same in other parts of Ukraine.
“We recognize that in order for Russia to feel the impact of these sanctions, it will have some impact on the global economy as well as on all the countries represented here today,” Barack Obama said.
Acknowledging that some EU countries are more dependent than others on Russia for energy, he said “this entire event has pointed to the need for Europe to look at how it can further diversify its energy sources”.
Barack Obama said NATO must remain a “regular presence” in those eastern European countries who are now feeling vulnerable to possible Russian intervention. He also voiced concern at the falling defense budgets of some countries.
Herman Van Rompuy called Russia’s actions in Crimea “a disgrace in the 21st century, and we will not recognize it”.
Ukraine’s southern peninsula of Crimea was annexed by Russia earlier this month after a referendum which Kiev and the West considered illegal.
It follows the ousting of Ukraine’s pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych at the end of February following months of bloody protests over his decision to seek greater ties with Moscow rather than the EU.
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine remain high. Moscow accused Ukrainian officials on Wednesday of preventing Russian commercial pilots and crew from disembarking at Kiev International Airport.
This is Barack Obama’s first official visit to the EU headquarters in Brussels.
He began his trip to Belgium with a visit to a cemetery in Flanders, where US soldiers killed in World War One are buried.
He paid tribute to fallen US soldiers at the American Cemetery and Memorial in Waregem, to mark 100 years since the start of WW1. Belgian King Philippe and Prime Minister Elio di Rupo were also in attendance.
Following his talks with Herman Van Rompuy and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Barack Obama will meet NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
An Ankara court has ordered the suspension of the controversial Twitter ban, but it could be weeks before it takes effect.
Turkish users of Twitter expected to regain access shortly after the ruling but it remained blocked.
Turkey’s telecommunication authority (TIB) has 30 days to decide whether to lift the ban.
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to “wipe out Twitter” after users spread allegations of corruption.
Twitter itself has filed a challenge to the access ban.
It said it had acted on two out of three Turkish legal orders but had concern about the third order as it was a request us to suspend an account accusing a former minister of corruption.
Turkey’s Twitter ban sparks outrage and social media mocks
“This order causes us concern,” its general counsel, Vijaya Gadde, said in a statement.
“Political speech is among the most important speech, especially when it concerns possible government corruption.”
At a rally ahead of important local elections on Sunday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying: “I don’t understand how people of good sense could defend this Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. There are all kinds of lies there.”
Twitter ban was imposed on Friday on the grounds that the social media site had failed to remove the allegations of corruption involving senior officials.
A number of complaints were filed to courts, arguing the ban was illegal and unconstitutional.
The administrative court in Ankara issued a temporary injunction on Wednesday ordering the TIB to restore access to Twitter until it could deliver its full verdict on the ban.
Turkish media reports suggested the ban would be suspended soon afterwards but a source in Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office told Reuters news agency the TIB had 30 days to implement or appeal against the court ruling.
Thirty days is a standard period in such cases.
“The millions of people in Turkey who turn to Twitter to make their voices heard are being kept from doing just that,” Vijaya Gadde said.
“There are no legal grounds for the blocking of our service in Turkey,” she added.
Users have found many ways of circumventing the prohibition, which has been widely criticized and ridiculed.
Pope Francis has formally accepted the resignation of suspended Bishop of Limburg Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, the Vatican has announced in a statement on Wednesday.
The senior German Church leader has been suspended over his alleged lavish spending.
Bishop of Limburg Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, 53, has been accused of spending more than 31 million euros ($43 million) on renovating his official residence.
The cleric, dubbed the “bishop of bling” by the media, offered to resign when the scandal broke last October.
Bishop of Limburg Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst has been accused of spending more than 31 million euros on renovating his official residence
In response, Pope Francis temporarily suspended Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst and instructed a Church commission to investigate the matter.
Pope Francis has repeatedly expressed his disapproval of senior clerics whose lifestyles seem too lavish.
On Wednesday, the Vatican said the inquiry found that the senior cleric could no longer exercise his ministry.
The Church called on the diocese of Limburg to accept the decision “with docility” and to work toward restoring a “climate of charity and reconciliation”.
The Vatican did not further elaborate on the future of Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, but said he would get a new position “at the opportune time”.
Auxiliary Bishop Manfred Grothe has been appointed to run the Limburg diocese.
Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst and his luxury lifestyle have become infamous in Germany, where many people pay a Church tax to the state. The tax raised 5.2 billion euros for Catholics and 4.6 billion euros for Protestants in 2012.
At the heart of the criticism was the refurbishment of the cleric’s official residence, originally set to cost 5.5 million euros.
German media reported that the quarters were fitted with a 15,000-euro bath, a conference table for 25,000 euros and a private chapel worth 2.9 million euros.
Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst was also under fire for a first-class flight to India to visit the poor.
New reports claim that North Korean men are now required to get the same haircut as Kim Jong-un.
The new guidelines were introduced in the capital Pyongyang about two weeks ago, media reports say. They are now being rolled out across the country – although some people have reservations about getting the look.
“Our leader’s haircut is very particular, if you will,” one source tells Radio Free Asia.
North Korean men are now required to get the same haircut as Kim Jong-un (photo Getty Images)
“It doesn’t always go with everyone since everyone has different face and head shapes.” Meanwhile, a North Korean now living in China says the look is actually unpopular at home because people think it resembles Chinese smugglers.
“Until the mid-2000s, we called it the <<Chinese smuggler haircut>>,” the Korea Times reports.
It seems that haircuts have been state-approved in North Korea for some time – until now people were only allowed to choose from 18 styles for women and 10 for men.
Earlier, North Korea’s state TV launched a campaign against long hair, called Let us trim our hair in accordance with the Socialist lifestyle.
Kim Jong-un’s father, late leader Kim Jong-il, who ruled North Korea for 17 years, sported a bouffant hairstyle, reportedly in order to look taller.
A satellite has identified further 122 objects potentially from the missing flight MH370, Malaysia’s acting transport minister has said.
The images, taken on March 23, showed objects up to 75ft in length, Hishammuddin Hussein said.
All aircraft taking part in Wednesday’s search have now left the area without identifying debris from the plane.
Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.
The objects were found in satellite images from a 250 sq miles area around 1588 miles from Perth in Western Australia, Hishammuddin Hussein said.
He said that it was not possible to tell whether the potential objects were from the missing aircraft, but called them “another new lead that will help direct the search operation”.
The images were supplied by French-based Airbus Defense and Space and were given to the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency on 25 March, Hishammuddin Hussein said.
The images were passed on to the Australian Rescue and Co-ordination Centre in Perth on Tuesday, he added.
Further 122 objects potentially from the missing Malaysian Airlines plane have been identified by satellite
The latest images are the fourth known collection of satellite pictures showing possible debris in the southern Indian Ocean. No pieces have yet been recovered in the search area, which has now been split into an east and west section.
The transport minister said Malaysia Airlines was “now taking a lead in communicating with the families” and would be conducting its own press conferences.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), co-ordinating the search, said that all aircraft involved had left the area without finding objects from the plane.
It said seven military and five civilian planes had taken part and a total of six countries were now involved – Australia, New Zealand, the US, Japan, China and the South Korea.
The commander of the Chinese search operation, Dong Yan, said his ships were still looking for an object spotted by a plane earlier on Wednesday.
“The focus is on searching for floating objects, oil slicks, floating parts of the external layer of the plane and people that may have fallen into the water,” he told Chinese television.
Australian authorities said on Wednesday that three more objects had earlier been spotted by a civilian aircraft involved in the search.
However, it could not be confirmed whether they were related to the missing aircraft.
The search for debris from the missing plane is taking place in one of the world’s remotest regions.
If debris confirmed to be from the plane is found, the search area will narrow further.
However, experts say the aircraft’s locator beacons, which will help guide ships to the wreckage, now have less than two weeks of battery life remaining.
A 10-year-old boy has been critically injured after reportedly being hit by a police tear gas canister at a rally in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir.
His father, Mehmet Ezer, said his son, also named Mehmet, had been hit at close range at the end of the rally held by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party.
A photo taken in hospital shows the child with his face covered in blood.
The death of another boy hit by a tear gas canister, after a nine-month coma, sparked protests earlier this month.
The Peace and Democracy Party has been campaigning in a mayoral election to be held in Diyarbakir, in south-west Turkey, on Sunday.
Mehmet Ezer has been critically injured after reportedly being hit by a police tear gas canister at a rally in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir
Among the party’s demands is the establishment of a regional parliament in the city as a move towards autonomy for the Kurds.
The Kurdish rebel group, the PKK, has been on ceasefire for a year.
But frustration is growing among Turkish Kurds at the slow pace of the reforms they expected in return for peace.
More than 40,000 people have died since the PKK launched its insurgency 30 years ago.
In the latest incident, Mehmet Ezer apparently ventured outside after the rally ended peacefully on Tuesday.
“We were at home with his mother,” his father said.
“Suddenly he wasn’t at home. Apparently my son went out in the street along with other kids. He was shot at from a short distance. This is what people next to him were telling me.”
Mehmet Ezer Sr. said doctors had told him his child would have to remain in intensive care for 24 hours for his condition to be assessed.
Interior Minister Efkan Ala launched an inquiry, saying action would be taken if anyone was found to be at fault.
Another boy, Berkin Elvan, was 14 when he was struck in the head by a canister during mass unrest over the redevelopment of an Istanbul district, Gezi Park, in June. He had reportedly been on his way to buy bread at the time.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has announced that three air force generals have been arrested for plotting an uprising against his government.
Nicolas Maduro said that the authorities had been tipped off by “young officers”.
The three generals, who have not been named, had links with the opposition, said Nicolas Maduro.
The arrests are the latest development in nearly two months of political unrest, which have cost the lives of at least 32 people.
Nicolas Maduro has announced that three air force generals have been arrested for plotting an uprising against his government (photo AFP)
Nicolas Maduro’s comments were made during a meeting with a delegation of foreign ministers of the UNASUR regional bloc, which was sent to Venezuela to assess the political crisis.
“The generals who have been detained have direct links with opposition sectors and were saying that this week was going to be decisive,” said Nicolas Maduro.
They were planning to create “chaos in the public services, power cuts across Venezuela,” he added.
He said the authorities had been alerted by “alarmed younger officers, generals, lieutenant colonels” who had been invited to join the coup. The generals were arrested on Monday night.
Nicolas Maduro has previously accused right-wing sectors backed by the US of stirring up trouble as part of a plot to oust him.
The opposition has accused the government of heavy-handedness in their response to the street protests, which began in the first week of February.
L’Wren Scott’s private funeral has been attended by family and friend in Los Angeles, where partner Mick Jagger led the tributes.
A family spokesperson confirmed the service at Hollywood Forever Funeral Home included “memories and words of tribute” from Mick Jagger and L’Wren Scott’s brother Randy Bambrough.
Mick Jagger’s daughters and grandchildren also gave readings.
Mick Jagger led tributes at L’Wren Scott’s private funeral in Los Angeles (photo Reuters)
L’Wren Scott, 49, committed suicide in her New York apartment on March 17.
Around 70 people are thought to have attended L’Wren Scott’s funeral, which also featured words from talent agent Justinian Kfoury, costume designer Ira M Hammons-Glass and O Magazine‘s creative director Adam Glassman.
Mick Jagger’s spokesperson said poems were shared by actress Ellen Barkin and Mick Jagger’s daughter Karis, while his daughter Jade and grandchildren Mazie and Zak read psalms.
The gospel song Will The Circle Be Unbroken was performed by singer Bernard Fowler with Dave Stewart on guitar, and L’Wren Scott’s niece Hannah Bambrough gave a reading of Shakespeare’s sonnet Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer’s Day?
L’Wren Scott had been in a relationship with Mick Jagger since 2001 and designed stage outfits for the Rolling Stones when they performed at Glastonbury Festival and Hyde Park last summer.
The bodies of two more people killed in the massive mudslide in Washington have been recovered by authorities, bringing the death toll to 16.
The officials said they thought they had located eight more bodies under the mud but were unable to retrieve them.
As many as 176 people remain unaccounted for.
A 177ft wall of mud buried the town of Oso, north of Seattle, on Saturday. Officials said the search would resume at first light.
The bodies of two more people killed in the massive mudslide in Washington have been recovered by authorities, bringing the death toll to 16 (photo NBC News)
“We haven’t lost hope that there’s a possibility that we could find somebody alive,” local fire chief Travis Hots told reporters on Tuesday night.
“We are coming to the realization that that may not be a possibility – but we are going full steam ahead.
“We are going at this hard to get everybody that’s out there that’s missing”
The sudden, catastrophic mudslide on Saturday destroyed about 30 houses, temporarily damming a river and leaving a square-mile field of muck and debris in its wake.
Survivors were last pulled alive from the mud on Saturday.
But as many as 200 search-and-rescue workers at a time – aided by dogs, helicopters, laser imaging and excavation equipment – have not let up since, pausing only when darkness made the work too dangerous, officials said.
The search-and-rescue operation was further complicated on Tuesday by heavy rain, Travis Hots said, as the workers were forced to contend with slippery mud, upturned nails, wreckage, and deep pits of water.
New reports revealed that three Secret Service agents tasked with protecting President Barack Obama in the Netherlands have been sent home for “disciplinary reasons”.
According to the Washington Post, one of the agents was found drunk and passed out in the hallway of an Amsterdam hotel.
A Secret Service spokesman declined to give details but said the three had been put on administrative leave pending an investigation.
The service has been trying to rebuild its reputation after previous scandals.
In 2013 two agents were removed from Barack Obama’s security detail amid allegations of harassment and misconduct.
Three Secret Service agents tasked with protecting President Barack Obama in the Netherlands have been sent home for disciplinary reasons (photo Reuters)
And in 2012 several agents were dismissed following allegations that they hired prostitutes while in Cartagena, Colombia.
Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said the latest incident happened before President Barack Obama’s arrival in the Netherlands on Monday for a nuclear security summit.
Ed Donovan said the three had been sent home for “disciplinary reasons” but declined to elaborate.
He added that the president’s security had not been compromised in any way.
The Washington Post reported that all three were on the Counter Assault Team – which protects the president – and that one agent was a team leader.
Citing unnamed sources familiar with the incident, the newspaper said that one agent was found drunk and unconscious by hotel staff, who reported it to the US embassy.
It is believed that the other two agents were deemed complicit because they did not intervene.
Barack Obama visited the Netherlands on the first leg of a weeklong, four-country trip. He departed for Brussels on Tuesday night.
Two medium-range ballistic missiles have been test-fired by North Korea, just hours after the US, South Korea and Japan met in the Netherlands for talks.
It is the first launch of a Nodong missile since 2009 and marks a step up from the short-range rockets Pyongyang has fired in recent weeks.
The launches also came on the fourth anniversary of the sinking of a South Korean warship.
Washington and Seoul have condemned the launch, which violates UN resolutions.
The US State Department described the launch as “a troubling and provocative escalation”.
“We urge North Korea to exercise restraint and refrain from further threatening actions,” deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement.
The South Korean defense ministry said the missiles were fired from the Suckon region north of Pyongyang and flew for about 400 miles before falling into the sea off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula.
“This missile is capable of hitting not only most of Japan but also Russia and China,” ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said.
The ministry described it as a “grave provocation”.
Two medium-range ballistic missiles have been test-fired by North Korea, just hours after the US, South Korea and Japan met in the Netherlands for talks
In recent weeks, North Korea has launched multiple short-range missiles – actions which have coincided with annual US-South Korea military exercises.
But this is the first launch of a Nodong missile – which has a range of about 1,000km – since 2009. A similar launch also took place in 2006.
Ballistic missile launches by Pyongyang are banned by the UN.
North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests, the most recent in February 2013. It is also developing a three-stage missile that experts believe could be capable of hitting parts of the US.
But it is not yet believed to have the expertise to miniaturize a nuclear weapon so it could be delivered via a missile.
The US State Department said North Korea did not issue any maritime notification warning of its latest test.
“We are closely co-ordinating with our allies and partners, including in the UN Security Council, to take the appropriate measures in response to this latest provocation and to address the threat to global security posed by the DPRK’s [North Korea’s] nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” the statement said.
The launches took place in the early hours of Wednesday, which marks four years since South Korea’s Cheonan warship sank with the loss of 46 lives near the disputed inter-Korean western maritime border.
South Korea says North Korea torpedoed the ship. North Korea denies any role in the incident.
They also came just hours after President Barack Obama met his South Korean counterpart, Park Geun-hye, and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe at the nuclear summit in The Hague for talks that focused on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
It was the first meeting between Park Geun-hye and Shinzo Abe since both took office, amid strained ties over historical and territorial issues.
Barack Obama pledged his “unwavering commitment” to Tokyo and Seoul in the face of North Korea’s nuclear program.
North Korea says its rocket tests are self-defense exercises and says the military drills by Washington and Seoul are invasion preparations.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin are to separate after more than ten years of marriage, the couple has announced in a joint statement.
Gwyneth Paltrow, 41, and Chris Martin, 37, announced the split on her blog in a post titled Conscious Uncoupling.
“It is with hearts full of sadness that we have decided to separate,” they wrote.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay singer Chris Martin, who married in December 2003, have two children – Apple, 9, and Moses, 7.
A spokeswoman for Chris Martin confirmed the split, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin are to separate after more than ten years of marriage
In the message on Gwyneth Paltrow’ blog on the website Goop.com, the couple said they had “come to the conclusion that while we love each other very much, we will remain separate”.
The couple said they had been “working hard for well over a year, some of it together, some of it separated, to see what might have been possible between us”.
“We are, however, and always will be a family, and in many ways we are closer than we have ever been,” they wrote.
“We are parents first and foremost, to two incredibly wonderful children and we ask for their and our space and privacy to be respected at this difficult time.
“We have always conducted our relationship privately, and we hope that as we consciously uncouple and co-parent, we will be able to continue in the same manner.”
Within minutes of the message being posted, the website crashed as readers attempted to visit the site.
The statement was also accompanied by a photograph of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, as well as advice on marriage, divorce and spiritualism from two doctors.
In a lengthy essay titled On Conscious Uncoupling, Dr. Habib Sadeghi and Dr. Sherry Sami wrote about divorce as “a traumatic and difficult decision for all parties involved”.
“By choosing to handle your uncoupling in a conscious way, regardless of what’s happening with your spouse, you’ll see that although it looks like everything is coming apart; it’s actually all coming back together,” they concluded.
The announcement comes after Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin moved to Los Angeles last year, having previously lived in London.
