Max Clifford: Model Claims He Exposed Himself

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent

A former model has accused Max Clifford of twice exposing himself to her in his office.

The woman, who was 19 at the time, says she had gone to the meeting in 1979 or 1980 to discuss a role in an upcoming film.

She told Southwark Crown Court how she showed him a portfolio of modelling pictures and then said: "He undid his flies and took it out and held it and talked about it."

The woman, who cannot be named, then stood out of the witness box and demonstrated to the jury how she says Mr Clifford had done it.

She told the court she was embarrassed and said Mr Clifford then went on to make more lewd comments.

She said: "I didn't stand up for myself, I was a very silly girl.

"When I was young I had no confidence, no voice, you have no idea how people could treat me and get away with it at the time."

Clifford is standing trial on 11 counts of indecent assault between 1966 and 1984 on seven girls and women. Friday was the sixth day of evidence.

The former model went on to claim that she received phone calls from a man who said he was an Italian film director who made more lewd comments about Mr Clifford's penis.

She said: "I just heard his voice through the accent. I said: 'It's you isn't it Max?'"

The prosecution case is that Max Clifford repeatedly made bogus phone calls to young women.

Richard Horwell QC, defending, challenged the witness about her account and said the indecent exposure had never happened.

The woman insisted that it had and said: "I saw it, I'm not lying, I'm not lying."

Mr Clifford denies all the charges he faces and is due to give evidence later in the trial, which continues.

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Missing Plane 'Flown Towards Andaman Islands'

Missing Plane: 13 Things You Need To Know

Updated: 7:33am UK, Thursday 13 March 2014

As the search for Flight MH370 continues, we answer 13 questions about the disappearance and what could have happened.

When did the plane disappear?

Flight MH370 vanished from radars early on Saturday local time, an hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. When it last made contact, the jet was cruising at 35,000 feet over the South China Sea.

There are reports that the plane tried to turn around, but this would give rise to the question why didn't the pilot communicate this decision to air traffic control? Meanwhile, at an undisclosed time a relative reportedly managed to call one of the passengers. Investigators have repeatedly tried to call the same number without success.

Who was on board?

The plane's manifest contained 12 crew members from Malaysia and 227 passengers from 14 different countries.

There were 153 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four French, three Americans, two each from Iran (both travelling on fake passports), New Zealand, Ukraine and Canada, and one each from Russia, Taiwan and The Netherlands.

Among the passengers was a 19-strong group of prominent artists returning from an exhibition in Malaysia. Five children - aged two to four - were on board. The oldest person on the plane was 79.

What are the main theories?

Mechanical error remains the most likely explanation. Poor conditions and strong turbulence always have to be considered, but weather conditions were good in this instance. Four areas of investigation are focused on the possibility of human involvement: hijacking, sabotage, psychological problems or personal problems with passengers or crew.

Could there have been a mechanical error?

Inquiries into Air France Flight 447 that dived into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 en route from Brazil to Paris, killing 228 people, blamed both technical and human error.

However, in the event of engine failure, a plane such as the Boeing 777-200 could glide for 80-90 miles (128-145km), giving the pilot time to issue a distress signal. The descent would also have been traced by radars. The lack of any Mayday call makes an explosion a possibility.

Could the plane have broken up in the air?

The apparent lack of wreckage from MH370 does point to a high-altitude disaster. In such an event the debris would be spread far and wide, making it difficult to find.

A smaller debris field would indicate the plane probably fell intact, breaking up on impact with the water. In the event of a sudden loss of pressure due to a window blowing out the crew would dive the plane in order to lose altitude - but this would not cause the plane to disintegrate.

How about the plane's safety record?

Sudden, accidental, structural failures are considered extremely unlikely in today's passenger aircraft. This is especially so with the Boeing 777-200, which has one of the best safety records of any jet.

One of the missing plane's wingtips was clipped in an incident while taxiing in 2012, but it was repaired and certified as safe.

Could it have been a terrorist attack or hijacking?

In the event of a hijacker trying to enter the cockpit, a pilot can send a secret distress code - something that wasn't done on Flight MH370.

The profiles of all 239 passengers are being checked against databases worldwide, but the terrorism theory was weakened on Tuesday when Malaysian police confirmed it had identified the two passengers who were travelling on fake passports. Both were said to be seeking asylum in Europe.

In the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, claims of responsibility came soon after the disaster - but no one has come forward to claim the Malaysia incident as their attack.

Human error?

The 53-year-old pilot was experienced, having amassed more than 18,000 flying hours since being employed by the airline in 1981.

However, in Indonesia in 2007, Adam Air Flight 574 disappeared with 102 passengers during a domestic flight, where the authorities found the pilots lost control after becoming preoccupied with malfunctioning navigational equipment.

Former naval pilot Dr Simon Mitchell told Sky News: "We've expended billions of dollars on developing very sophisticated aids to make the life of the pilot safer and more straightforward, but there are still opportunities whereby mistakes can be made."

Why was there no distress signal?

One explanation is that the plane fell into a communications black spot. Former Boeing 777 instructor and United Airlines captain Ross Aimer explained: "These are very sophisticated (items of) equipment that should have been working under any conditions - in the water, in the jungle, after a fire, after an explosion - and none of them have talked to the outside world yet.

"There are spots in the world, however, that are called blind spots, where you cannot communicate for some reason. Unfortunately, that area near Vietnam, over the Gulf of Thailand, those are some of the black spots."

Where is the search taking place?

A number of aircraft and ships have been taking part in the search in the seas off Vietnam and Malaysia. Search teams from Australia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, New Zealand and the US are assisting.

Officials said on Tuesday that the search was being conducted on both sides of Vietnam's Ca Mau peninsula. The search area has been expanded from 50 nautical miles from where the plane disappeared - over waters between Malaysia and Vietnam - to 100 nautical miles (115 miles; 185km).

This expansion was a result of a new report from the Malaysian military, which said it tracked the plane in the Strait of Malacca - a long distance from where it last made contact - in the hours following its disappearance.

Why has no wreckage been found?

Whatever caused the apparent crash, there would be some debris - but it could take a while to find. It took two years to find the main wreckage of Air France Flight 447 in 2009.

In 2007, in the case of the Adam Air flight, it was a week before an Indonesian naval vessel detected metal on the ocean floor. It was a further two weeks before the US Navy picked up signals from the flight data and cockpit recorders and seven months for the recorder to be recovered.

If the plane had crashed on land, chances are the wreckage would have been found by now. At sea, much of the plane would have sunk, but some debris should remain on the surface. But the longer the search takes the harder it becomes as the wind and tide spread any debris further from the initial crash zone.

Could the flight data recorder provide answers?

As well as wreckage, search teams are looking for the aircraft's emergency locator transmitter (ELT) - though these do not always work if a plane hits water. However, attached to the plane's "black box" is a device known as a pinger. This can emit radio signals deep underwater for up to 30 days - or 40 days in warm water.

Has a plane ever simply vanished?

Since the start of the jet age in the 1950s, nearly every major aircraft that disappeared was found - eventually - and the rare exceptions did not involve passengers.

In September 1990, a Boeing 727 plunged into the North Atlantic after running out of fuel. The accident was attributed to poor pilot planning and the wreck was never recovered.

Another Boeing 727 transporting diesel to diamond mines in Africa took off without clearance and with its transponder turned off. It is believed to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Photo Shows Oscar Pistorius Drenched In Blood

Pistorius Trial: Evidence Summary

Updated: 1:39pm UK, Friday 14 March 2014

A summary of the evidence heard in the first 10 days of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial.

:: Day 10

Photographs of Oscar Pistorius taken after Reeva Steenkamp's death are seen in court, showing him drenched in blood from the waist down.

An image of his girlfriend's injuries was again shown by mistake, forcing television screens in the courtroom to be blacked out.

Evidence from retired police colonel Schoombie van Rensburg dominated the day's proceedings.

He repeatedly denied tampering with evidence but admitted a white iPhone which was obscured by a towel when he first entered the room appeared to have been moved for a later photo, showing the handset lying in clear view on the bathroom floor.

During cross-examination by defence lawyer Barry Roux, he also failed to spot a door in Pistorius' home had been sealed in different ways in two photographs.

:: Day Nine

There were gasps in court as images of Ms Steenkamp's body, including close-ups of her various injuries, were accidentally shown.

Ms van Rensburg, who went to Pistorius' home after the shooting, used photographs to outline the route he took through the house.

The court was shown images of the blood-soaked bathroom where Ms Steenkamp was shot, as well as blood-stained towels and pools of blood on the floor.

Mr Roux grilled South African police forensic expert Johannes Vermuelen about missing splinters from Pistorius' bathroom door, through which he shot Ms Steenkamp.

He said he asked a colleague about the missing splinters but repeatedly said he "couldn't remember" who he spoke to.

:: Day Eight

Mr Vermuelen knelt down in court and swung Pistorius' cricket bat at the door as part of a reconstruction of the night in question.

He said the angle of the marks on the door suggest they could only have been made by someone much shorter than him.

It appeared to contradict his earlier affidavit in which he stated he had put on his prostheses before smashing down the door.

Mr Vermuelen said: "The marks on the door are actually consistent with him not having his legs on and I suspect they must be similar to the height that he was when he fired the shots."

But Mr Roux suggested that even with his legs on, Pistorius would not be swinging a bat at the same height as an able-bodied person.

:: Day Seven

Friend Darren Fresco told the court Pistorius "laughed" after firing his gun through the sunroof of a car.

Mr Fresco said he asked Pistorius if he was "******* mad".

"He just laughed about what had happened," he said, referring to the episode in late 2012. "It felt as if my ear was bleeding."

The court was told the athlete had a "big love for weapons" and Mr Fresco also recalled an occasion when Pistorius asked him to pass him his gun at Tasha's restaurant in Johannesburg on January 13 last year.

He said he warned Pistorius his Glock pistol was "one-up" - meaning it had a bullet in the chamber - and that he thought he saw the runner remove it.

The gun went off under the table, followed by a "deafening hush" and Pistorius "instantly" passed the weapon back to him and asked him to "take the rap for it" because there was "too much media hype" around him, Mr Fresco said.

Pathologist Gert Saymaan, who conducted a post-mortem examination on Ms Steenkamp, also finished giving his evidence as a court ban on tweeting during his account was lifted by Judge Thokozile Masipa.

The court heard the amount of urine in Ms Steenkamp's bladder at the time of her death amounted to the rough equivalent of a teaspoon, and that the model's last meal was consumed no more than two hours before her death.

Ms Steenkamp was shot after 3am, which means she must have eaten after 1am. Pistorius had said the couple were in the bedroom by 10pm.

Prof Saayman admitted he was not "an expert in this field" but his conclusions were based on scientific probability.

:: Day Six

Pistorius threw up in court as details of the post-mortem examination of Ms Steenkamp were read out.

A live video feed of the trial was cut while a pathologist gave "graphic" evidence of his examination.

Professor Gert Saayman said Ms Steenkamp had bullet wounds to her head, right hip and right arm.

He said the Ranger-branded bullets used were designed to "expand and mushroom" and cause substantial damage.

Prof Saayman said the head wound would have been incapacitating but added Ms Steenkamp may not have died straight away.

Earlier in the day, a security guard finished giving his evidence.

Pieter Baba says Pistorius told him all was fine when he called after receiving reports from other residents of gunshots.

But Mr Roux insisted to him it was Pistorius who phoned the security guard, rather than the other way round.

Mr Baba denied this.

:: Day Five

Prosecution witness Samantha Taylor, the ex-girlfriend of Pistorius, broke down in court as she told how the athlete cheated on her with Reeva Steenkamp.

Miss Taylor also told the court how Pistorius once fired a gun out of the sunroof of a car after being stopped by police.

The star's ex-lover described how Pistorius would sometimes "scream at her" and often carried a gun with him.

The court was told how Pistorius once woke Ms Taylor fearing there was an intruder in the house and got up to investigate with his gun.

Security guard Pieter Baba described the moment he saw a distressed Pistorius carrying Reeva down the stairs.

The guard said Pistorius assured him everything was "fine" after shots were reported. 

More evidence from Ms Taylor suggested Pistorius once feared he was being followed and waved his gun at the suspect car until it drove off near his home.

:: Day Four

Prosecution witness Dr Johan Stipp told the court how he went to Pistorius' residence after hearing shots fired on the night Ms Steenkamp was killed.

He said he saw her lying on her back and Pistorius by her side, frantically trying to resuscitate her.

It was clear Ms Steenkamp was mortally wounded, he said, and Pistorius was crying and praying she would survive.

During his evidence, Pistorius broke down in the dock, sobbing as he held his head in his hands.

Earlier, Pistorius' defence team said it would have been "impossible" for neighbours to hear screams on the night Ms Steenkamp died.

Mr Roux said neighbour Charl Peter Johnson's claim that he heard gunshots followed by a woman screaming was incorrect.

"You cannot hear it inside your house," he said. "At any distance, she was in a locked bathroom."

Mr Johnson also claimed to have heard five or six shots on the night of the killing.

But Mr Roux pointed out that in his initial notes he wrote he "did not count the number of shots fired".

:: Day Three

Mr Johnson was repeatedly challenged by Mr Roux, who at one point said: "You are saying all the evidence that your wife gave us yesterday."

He replied it was not unusual for two people to use the same words when describing an incident.

He mentioned some notes he had taken after the shooting, which are on his laptop and iPad. He was asked to end his evidence for the day and come back the next day, so the defence team had the opportunity to view his notes.

Pistorius' friend Kevin Lerena was then called and described an incident in January last year in which Pistorius allegedly discharged a firearm by mistake while eating with friends in a restaurant.

He said the athlete then asked Mr Fresco to take the blame.

The owner of the restaurant, Jason Loupis, and his wife, Maria, later confirmed the incident after taking the stand.

Mrs Loupis said there was a child nearby when Pistorius' gun went off in the restaurant.

:: Day Two

The evidence of Ms Burger continued.

Mr Roux said her evidence had been influenced by media coverage of the shooting but she denied this.

Mr Roux said evidence later in the trial would show Ms Steenkamp would not have been able to scream after the final shot hit her in the head.

Ms Burger stood by her initial statement, which said she heard Ms Steenkamp after the final shot.

Another neighbour then took the stand for a short time before Ms Burger's husband gave his evidence.

He told how he thought Pistorius and Ms Steenkamp were being held up in their house and said he looked at additional security measures for his own home the next day.

He backed up his wife's evidence, saying he heard screams after the final shot.

:: Day One

The first witness, university lecturer Michelle Burger, took the stand.

She says she woke on the night of the killing to the sound of gunshots and a woman screaming.

She described hearing "bloodcurdling screams" and four shots.

She is a key witness for the prosecution, as her evidence would appear to contradict Pistorius' claims that he thought he was shooting at an intruder.

The defence argued she is unreliable due to alleged discrepancies between her police statement and court testimony.

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Searching For Malaysian Jet: 'We Never Give Up'

Missing Plane: 13 Things You Need To Know

Updated: 7:33am UK, Thursday 13 March 2014

As the search for Flight MH370 continues, we answer 13 questions about the disappearance and what could have happened.

When did the plane disappear?

Flight MH370 vanished from radars early on Saturday local time, an hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. When it last made contact, the jet was cruising at 35,000 feet over the South China Sea.

There are reports that the plane tried to turn around, but this would give rise to the question why didn't the pilot communicate this decision to air traffic control? Meanwhile, at an undisclosed time a relative reportedly managed to call one of the passengers. Investigators have repeatedly tried to call the same number without success.

Who was on board?

The plane's manifest contained 12 crew members from Malaysia and 227 passengers from 14 different countries.

There were 153 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four French, three Americans, two each from Iran (both travelling on fake passports), New Zealand, Ukraine and Canada, and one each from Russia, Taiwan and The Netherlands.

Among the passengers was a 19-strong group of prominent artists returning from an exhibition in Malaysia. Five children - aged two to four - were on board. The oldest person on the plane was 79.

What are the main theories?

Mechanical error remains the most likely explanation. Poor conditions and strong turbulence always have to be considered, but weather conditions were good in this instance. Four areas of investigation are focused on the possibility of human involvement: hijacking, sabotage, psychological problems or personal problems with passengers or crew.

Could there have been a mechanical error?

Inquiries into Air France Flight 447 that dived into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 en route from Brazil to Paris, killing 228 people, blamed both technical and human error.

However, in the event of engine failure, a plane such as the Boeing 777-200 could glide for 80-90 miles (128-145km), giving the pilot time to issue a distress signal. The descent would also have been traced by radars. The lack of any Mayday call makes an explosion a possibility.

Could the plane have broken up in the air?

The apparent lack of wreckage from MH370 does point to a high-altitude disaster. In such an event the debris would be spread far and wide, making it difficult to find.

A smaller debris field would indicate the plane probably fell intact, breaking up on impact with the water. In the event of a sudden loss of pressure due to a window blowing out the crew would dive the plane in order to lose altitude - but this would not cause the plane to disintegrate.

How about the plane's safety record?

Sudden, accidental, structural failures are considered extremely unlikely in today's passenger aircraft. This is especially so with the Boeing 777-200, which has one of the best safety records of any jet.

One of the missing plane's wingtips was clipped in an incident while taxiing in 2012, but it was repaired and certified as safe.

Could it have been a terrorist attack or hijacking?

In the event of a hijacker trying to enter the cockpit, a pilot can send a secret distress code - something that wasn't done on Flight MH370.

The profiles of all 239 passengers are being checked against databases worldwide, but the terrorism theory was weakened on Tuesday when Malaysian police confirmed it had identified the two passengers who were travelling on fake passports. Both were said to be seeking asylum in Europe.

In the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, claims of responsibility came soon after the disaster - but no one has come forward to claim the Malaysia incident as their attack.

Human error?

The 53-year-old pilot was experienced, having amassed more than 18,000 flying hours since being employed by the airline in 1981.

However, in Indonesia in 2007, Adam Air Flight 574 disappeared with 102 passengers during a domestic flight, where the authorities found the pilots lost control after becoming preoccupied with malfunctioning navigational equipment.

Former naval pilot Dr Simon Mitchell told Sky News: "We've expended billions of dollars on developing very sophisticated aids to make the life of the pilot safer and more straightforward, but there are still opportunities whereby mistakes can be made."

Why was there no distress signal?

One explanation is that the plane fell into a communications black spot. Former Boeing 777 instructor and United Airlines captain Ross Aimer explained: "These are very sophisticated (items of) equipment that should have been working under any conditions - in the water, in the jungle, after a fire, after an explosion - and none of them have talked to the outside world yet.

"There are spots in the world, however, that are called blind spots, where you cannot communicate for some reason. Unfortunately, that area near Vietnam, over the Gulf of Thailand, those are some of the black spots."

Where is the search taking place?

A number of aircraft and ships have been taking part in the search in the seas off Vietnam and Malaysia. Search teams from Australia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, New Zealand and the US are assisting.

Officials said on Tuesday that the search was being conducted on both sides of Vietnam's Ca Mau peninsula. The search area has been expanded from 50 nautical miles from where the plane disappeared - over waters between Malaysia and Vietnam - to 100 nautical miles (115 miles; 185km).

This expansion was a result of a new report from the Malaysian military, which said it tracked the plane in the Strait of Malacca - a long distance from where it last made contact - in the hours following its disappearance.

Why has no wreckage been found?

Whatever caused the apparent crash, there would be some debris - but it could take a while to find. It took two years to find the main wreckage of Air France Flight 447 in 2009.

In 2007, in the case of the Adam Air flight, it was a week before an Indonesian naval vessel detected metal on the ocean floor. It was a further two weeks before the US Navy picked up signals from the flight data and cockpit recorders and seven months for the recorder to be recovered.

If the plane had crashed on land, chances are the wreckage would have been found by now. At sea, much of the plane would have sunk, but some debris should remain on the surface. But the longer the search takes the harder it becomes as the wind and tide spread any debris further from the initial crash zone.

Could the flight data recorder provide answers?

As well as wreckage, search teams are looking for the aircraft's emergency locator transmitter (ELT) - though these do not always work if a plane hits water. However, attached to the plane's "black box" is a device known as a pinger. This can emit radio signals deep underwater for up to 30 days - or 40 days in warm water.

Has a plane ever simply vanished?

Since the start of the jet age in the 1950s, nearly every major aircraft that disappeared was found - eventually - and the rare exceptions did not involve passengers.

In September 1990, a Boeing 727 plunged into the North Atlantic after running out of fuel. The accident was attributed to poor pilot planning and the wreck was never recovered.

Another Boeing 727 transporting diesel to diamond mines in Africa took off without clearance and with its transponder turned off. It is believed to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Malaysia Airlines Plane: What Has Happened?

The missing Malaysia Airlines flight may be proving so hard to find because it could have vanished in an aviation "black spot", an expert has told Sky News.

Former Boeing 777 instructor and United Airlines captain Ross Aimer said it was "disturbing" that there had been no distress call from flight MH370's cockpit and that the plane's emergency locator transmitters had not sent any signals.

He said: "These are very sophisticated equipment that should have been working under any condition - in the water, in the jungle, after a fire, after an explosion - and none of them have talked to the outside world yet.

"There are spots in the world, however, that are called blind spots, where you can not communicate for some reason.

"Unfortunately, that area near Vietnam, over the Gulf of Thailand, those are some of the black spots, so perhaps at that time there was no data transmission between the aircraft and the airline."

Flight MH370 vanished from radar screens early on Saturday about one hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

When it last made contact, the Malaysia Airlines jet was at cruising altitude, 11km (35,000 feet) above sea level, largely considered the safest part of a flight.

Wreckage of Air France flight 447 is discovered after the crash

While there is still no confirmation that the Boeing 777-200 crashed, aviation experts have put forward possible causes of its disappearance including a terrorist attack, extreme turbulence, human error or even suicide.

The failure of the pilots to send a distress signal has given rise to speculation there was a sudden catastrophe - possibly caused by a mechanical failure or an explosion.

Former Navy pilot Dr Simon Mitchell has told Sky News that despite flying becoming safer over the years, mistakes are still made.

"We've expended billions of dollars on developing very sophisticated aids to make the life of the pilot safer and more straightforward, but there are still opportunities whereby mistakes can be made," he said.

Investigations into Air France flight 447 that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing 228 people, eventually concluded that both technical and human error were to blame for the disaster.

Authorities have extended the search area for the plane

Closer to the area where MH370 vanished, Adam Air flight 574 with 102 people on board disappeared in January 2007, also at its cruise phase, during a domestic flight in Indonesia.

Authorities found the pilots lost control after becoming preoccupied with malfunctioning navigational equipment.

The lack of wreckage from MH370 also suggests a high-altitude disaster which spread debris across an area too wide to be easily detected.

Aviation experts say the size of the debris field will be one of the first indicators of what happened.

A smaller field would indicate the plane probably fell intact, breaking up upon impact with the water.

A large, widespread field would signal the plane probably broke apart at a high elevation, perhaps because of a bomb or a massive airframe failure.

Authorities are now searching a 100-nautical mile area

But sudden, accidental structural failures are considered extremely unlikely in today's passenger aircraft.

This is especially so with the Boeing 777-200, which has one of the best safety records of any jet.

Authorities have not ruled out terrorism or hijacking, though, with suspicions over two of the passengers found to be travelling on stolen passports.

"There are two categories of people who use these (stolen passports) - criminals and terrorists," Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, said.

In the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, there was substantial wreckage despite it being a mid-air explosion, and claims of responsibility came soon after the disaster.

The Lockerbie bombing killed 270 people, including 11 on the ground

But no-one has come forward to claim the Malaysia incident as their attack.

Whatever caused the apparent crash, there would be some debris - but it could take a while to find.

It took two years to find the main wreckage of the Air France plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing 228 people.

An Indonesian navy ship detected metal on the ocean floor a week after the Adam Air flight disappeared in 2007.

It was a further two weeks before the US Navy picked up signals from the flight data and cockpit recorders, and seven months for the recorder to be recovered.

An Indonesian fisherman holds up part of the Adam Air aircraft

The Malaysian jet could have made a U-turn shortly before it vanished, officials say, adding one more level of uncertainty to the effort to find it.

It is thought the plane could be hundreds of miles from where it was last detected, and the search has been widened in the hope of finding the plane.

Just about every major jet to disappear in the modern era has eventually been found. The rare exceptions did not involve passengers.

In September 1990, a Boeing 727 owned by the Peruvian Faucett Airlines ditched into the North Atlantic after running out of fuel on its way to Miami.

The accident was attributed to poor pilot planning and the wreck was never recovered.

More mysterious was the disappearance of another Boeing 727 being used to transport diesel fuel to diamond mines in Africa.

The owners had numerous financial problems and the plane took off without clearance and with its transponder turned off. It is believed to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

One theory, never proven, is that it was stolen so the owner could collect insurance.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Flight MH370: 13 Things You Need To Know

As the search for Flight MH370 continues, we answer 13 questions about the disappearance and what could have happened.

When did the plane disappear?

Flight MH370 vanished from radars early on Saturday, an hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. When it last made contact, the jet was cruising at 35,000 feet over the South China Sea. There are reports that the plane tried to turn around but this would give rise to the question: why didn't the pilot communicate this decision to air traffic control? Meanwhile, at an undisclosed time a relative reportedly managed to call one of the passengers. Investigators have repeatedly tried to call the same number without success.

:: Sky News will be showing a 12-minute special report on the story so far of the missing flight MH370 at 4.30pm, 6.30pm, and 8.30pm.

The route the plane took

Who was on board?

The plane's manifest contained 12 crew from Malaysia and 227 passengers from 14 different countries: 153 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four French, three Americans, two each from Iran (both travelling on fake passports), New Zealand, Ukraine and Canada, and 1 each from Russia, Taiwan and Netherlands. Among the passengers was a 19-strong group of prominent artists returning from an exhibition in Malaysia. It is also known that five children - aged two to four - were on board. The oldest person on the plane was 79.

What are the main theories?

Mechanical error remains the most likely explanation. Poor conditions and strong turbulence always have to be considered, but weather conditions were good in this instance. Four areas of investigation are focused on the possibility of human involvement: hijacking, sabotage, psychological problems or personal problems with passengers or crew.

Could there have been a mechanical error?

Inquiries into Air France flight 447 that dived into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 en route from Brazil to Paris, killing 228 people, blamed both technical and human error. However, in the event of engine failure, a plane such as the Boeing 777-200 could glide for 80-90 miles (128-145km), giving the pilot time to issue a distress signal. The descent would also have been traced by radars. The lack of any Mayday makes an explosion is a possibility.

Could the plane have broken up in the air?

The apparent lack of wreckage from MH370 does point to a high-altitude disaster. In such an event the debris would be spread far and wide, making it difficult to find. A smaller field would indicate the plane probably fell intact, breaking up on impact with the water. In the event of a sudden loss of pressure due to a window blowing out the crew would dive the plane in order to lose altitude - but this would not cause the plane to disintegrate.

The Boeing 777-200 has an excellent safety record

The plane's safety record?

Sudden, accidental, structural failures are considered extremely unlikely in today's passenger aircraft. This is especially so with the Boeing 777-200, which has one of the best safety records of any jet. One of the missing plane's wingtips was clipped in an incident while taxiing in 2012 but it was repaired and certified as safe.

Could it have been a terrorist attack or hijacking?

In the event of a hijacker trying to enter the cockpit, a pilot can send a secret distress code - something that wasn't done on Flight MH370. The profiles of all 239 passengers are being checked against databases worldwide but the terrorism theory was weakened on Tuesday when Malaysian police confirmed it had identified the two passengers who were travelling on fake passports. Both were said to be seeking asylum in Europe. In the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, claims of responsibility came soon after the disaster - but no one has come forward to claim the Malaysia incident as their attack.

The two men who boarded the plane with fake passports

Human error?

The 53-year-old pilot was very experienced, having amassed more than 18,000 flying hours since being employed by the airline in 1981. However, in Indonesia in 2007, Adam Air flight 574 disappeared with 102 passengers during a domestic flight, where the authorities found the pilots lost control after becoming preoccupied with malfunctioning navigational equipment. Former Navy pilot Dr Simon Mitchell told Sky News: "We've expended billions of dollars on developing very sophisticated aids to make the life of the pilot safer and more straightforward, but there are still opportunities whereby mistakes can be made."

Why was there no distress signal?

One explanation is that the plane fell into a communications black spot. Former Boeing 777 instructor and United Airlines captain Ross Aimer explained: "These are very sophisticated (items of) equipment that should have been working under any conditions - in the water, in the jungle, after a fire, after an explosion - and none of them have talked to the outside world yet. There are spots in the world, however, that are called blind spots, where you cannot communicate for some reason. Unfortunately, that area near Vietnam, over the Gulf of Thailand, those are some of the black spots."

The search area on either side of the Ca Mau peninsula

Where is the search taking place?

Nine aircraft and 24 ships are currently taking part in the search in the seas off Vietnam and Malaysia. Search teams from Australia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, New Zealand and the US are assisting. Officials said on Tuesday that the search was being conducted on both sides of Vietnam's Ca Mau peninsula. The search area has been expanded from 50 nautical miles from where the plane disappeared - over waters between Malaysia and Vietnam - to 100 nautical miles (115 miles; 185km). This expansion was a result of a new report from the Malaysian military, who say they tracked the plane in the Strait of Malacca - a long distance from where it last made contact - in the hours following its disappearance.

Why has no wreckage been found?

Whatever caused the apparent crash, there would be some debris - but it could take a while to find. It took two years to find the main wreckage of Air France flight 447 in 2009.  In 2007, in the case of the Adam Air flight, it was a week before an Indonesian naval vessel detected metal on the ocean floor. It was a further two weeks before the US Navy picked up signals from the flight data and cockpit recorders and seven months for the recorder to be recovered. If the plane had crashed on land, chances are the wreckage would have been found by now. At sea, much of the plane would have sunk, but some debris should remain on the surface. Worryingly, the longer the search takes the harder it becomes as the wind and tide spread any debris further from the initial crash zone.

Search teams are looking for the 'black box'

Could the 'black box' provide answers?

As well as wreckage, search teams are looking for the aircraft's emergency locator transmitter (ELT) - though these do not always work if a plane hits water. However, attached to the plane's black box is a device known as a pinger. This can emit radio signals deep under water for up to 30 days - or 40 days in warm water.

Has a plane ever simply vanished?

Since the start of the jet age in the 1950s, nearly every major aircraft that disappeared was found - eventually - and the rare exceptions did not involve passengers. In September 1990, a Boeing 727 plunged into the North Atlantic after running out of fuel. The accident was attributed to poor pilot planning and the wreck was never recovered. Another Boeing 727 transporting diesel to diamond mines in Africa took off without clearance and with its transponder turned off. It is believed to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

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Oscar Pistorius 'Had A Big Love For Weapons'

Pistorius Trial: Evidence Summary

Updated: 2:18pm UK, Tuesday 11 March 2014

A summary of the evidence heard in the first two days of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial.

Day 7

Friend Darren Fresco told the court Oscar Pistorius "laughed" after firing his gun through the sunroof of a car.

Mr Fresco said he asked Pistorius if he was "******* mad". "He just laughed about what had happened. It felt as if my ear was bleeding," he said, referring to the episode in late 2012.

The court was told the athlete had a "big love for weapons" and Mr Fresco also recalled an occasion when Pistorius asked him to pass him his gun at Tasha's restaurant in Johannesburg on January 13 last year.

He said he warned Pistorius his Glock pistol was "one-up" - meaning it had a bullet in the chamber - and that he thought he saw the runner remove it.

The gun went off under the table, followed by a "deafening hush" - and Pistorius "instantly" passed the weapon back to him and asked him to "take the rap for it" because there was "too much media hype" around him, Mr Fresco said.

Pathologist Gert Saymaan, who conducted a post-mortem examination on Reeva Steenkamp, also finished giving his evidence as a court ban on tweeting during his evidence was lifted by Judge Thokozile Masipa.

The court heard the amount of urine in Ms Steenkamp's bladder at the time of her death amounted to the rough equivalent of a teaspoon - and that the model's last meal was consumed no more than two hours before her death.

Ms Steenkamp was shot after 3am, which means she must have eaten after 1am. Pistorius had said the couple were in the bedroom by 10pm.

Prof Saayman admitted he was not "an expert in this field" but his conclusions were based on scientific probability.

Day 6

Oscar Pistorius threw up in court as details of the post-mortem examination of Reeva Steenkamp were read out.

A live video feed of the trial was cut while a pathologist gave "graphic" evidence of his examination.

Professor Gert Saayman said Ms Steenkamp had bullet wounds to her head, right hip and right arm.

He said the Ranger branded bullets used were designed to "expand and mushroom" and cause substantial damage.

Prof Saayman said the head wound would have been incapacitating but added Ms Steenkamp may not have died straight away.

 Earlier in the day a security guard finished giving his evidence.

Chief security guard Pieter Baba says Pistorius told him all was fine when he called after receiving reports from other residents that they had heard gunshots.

 But Mr Roux insisted to him that it was Pistorius who phoned the security guard, rather than the other way round.

Mr Baba denied this.

Day Five

Prosecution witness Samantha Taylor, ex-girlfriend of Oscar Pistorius, broke down in court as she told how the athlete cheated on her with Reeva Steenkamp.

Miss Taylor also told the court how Pistorius once fired a gun out of the sunroof of a car after being stopped by police.

The star's ex-lover described how Pistorius would sometimes "scream at her" and often carried a gun with him.

The court was told how Pistorius once woke Ms Taylor fearing there was an intruder in the house and got up to investigate with his gun.

Security guard Pieter Baba described the moment he saw a distressed Pistorius carrying Reeva down the stairs.

The guard said that Pistorius assured him everything "is fine" after shots were reported. 

More evidence from Ms Taylor suggested that Pistorius once feared he was being followed and waved his gun at the suspect car until it drove off near his home.

Day Four

Prosecution witness Dr Johan Stipp told the court how he went to Oscar Pistorius' residence after hearing shots fired on the night Reeva Steenkamp was killed.

He said he saw Ms Steenkamp lying on her back and Pistorius by her side, frantically trying to resuscitate her.

It was clear Ms Steenkamp was mortally wounded, he said, and Pistorius was crying and praying that she'd survive. During his evidence, Pistorius broke down in the dock, sobbing as he held his head in his hands.

Earlier, Pistorius' defence team said it would have been "impossible" for neighbours to hear screams on the night Ms Steenkamp died.

Lawyer Barry Roux said neighbour Charl Peter Johnson's claim that he heard gunshots followed by a woman screaming was incorrect.

"You cannot hear it inside your house," he said. "At any distance, she was in a locked bathroom."

Mr Johnson also claimed to have heard five or six shots on the night of the killing. But Mr Roux pointed out that in his initial notes he wrote that he "did not count the number of shots fired".

Day Three

Mr Johnson's evidence continued, and he was repeatedly challenged by Mr Roux who at one point said: "You are saying all the evidence that your wife gave us yesterday."

Mr Johnson replied that it was not unusual for two people to use the same words when describing an incident.

He mentioned some notes that he'd taken after the shooting, which are on his laptop and iPad. He was asked to end his evidence for the day and come back the next day, so the defence team had the opportunity to view his notes.

Pistorius' friend Kevin Lerena was then called, who described an incident in January last year in which Pistorius allegedly discharged a firearm by mistake while eating with friends in a restaurant.

He said the athlete then asked his friend Darren Fresco to take the blame.

The owner of the restaurant, Jason Loupis, and his wife Maria, later confirmed the incident after taking the stand.

Mrs Loupis said there was a child nearby when Pistorius' gun went off in the restaurant.

Day Two

The evidence of Ms Burger continued.

Defence lawyer Barry Roux said her evidence had been influenced by media coverage of the shooting, but she denied this.

Mr Roux said that evidence later in the trial would show that Ms Steenkamp would not have been able to scream after the final shot hit her in the head.

Ms Burger stood by her initial statement that she heard Ms Steenkamp after the final shot.

Another neighbour then took the stand for a short time, before Ms Burger's husband gave his evidence.

He told how he thought Pistorius and Ms Steenkamp were being held up in their house and said he looked at additional security measures for his own home the next day.

He backed up his wife's evidence, saying he heard screams after the final shot.

Day One

The first witness, university lecturer Michelle Burger, took the stand.

She says she woke on the night of the killing to the sound of gunshots and a woman screaming.

She described hearing "bloodcurdling screams" and four shots.

She is a key witness for the prosecution, as her evidence would appear to contradict Pistorius' claims that he thought he was shooting at an intruder.

The defence argued she is unreliable due to alleged discrepancies between her police statement and court testimony.

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Missing Malaysia Jet Suspect 'Not Terrorist'

What Has Happened To Malaysia Airlines Plane?

Updated: 7:50am UK, Tuesday 11 March 2014

The missing Malaysia Airlines flight may be proving so hard to find because it could have vanished in an aviation "black spot", an expert has told Sky News.

Former Boeing 777 instructor and United Airlines captain Ross Aimer said it was "disturbing" that there had been no distress call from flight MH370's cockpit and that the plane's emergency locator transmitters had not sent any signals.

He said: "These are very sophisticated equipment that should have been working under any condition - in the water, in the jungle, after a fire, after an explosion - and none of them have talked to the outside world yet.

"There are spots in the world, however, that are called blind spots, where you can not communicate for some reason.

"Unfortunately, that area near Vietnam, over the Gulf of Thailand, those are some of the black spots, so perhaps at that time there was no data transmission between the aircraft and the airline."

Flight MH370 vanished from radar screens early on Saturday about one hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

When it last made contact, the Malaysia Airlines jet was at cruising altitude, 11km (35,000 feet) above sea level, largely considered the safest part of a flight.

While there is still no confirmation that the Boeing 777-200 crashed, aviation experts have put forward possible causes of its disappearance including a terrorist attack, extreme turbulence, human error or even suicide.

The failure of the pilots to send a distress signal has given rise to speculation there was a sudden catastrophe - possibly caused by a mechanical failure or an explosion.

Former Navy pilot Dr Simon Mitchell has told Sky News that despite flying becoming safer over the years, mistakes are still made.

"We've expended billions of dollars on developing very sophisticated aids to make the life of the pilot safer and more straightforward, but there are still opportunities whereby mistakes can be made," he said.

Investigations into Air France flight 447 that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing 228 people, eventually concluded that both technical and human error were to blame for the disaster.

Closer to the area where MH370 vanished, Adam Air flight 574 with 102 people on board disappeared in January 2007, also at its cruise phase, during a domestic flight in Indonesia.

Authorities found the pilots lost control after becoming preoccupied with malfunctioning navigational equipment.

The lack of wreckage from MH370 also suggests a high-altitude disaster which spread debris across an area too wide to be easily detected.

Aviation experts say the size of the debris field will be one of the first indicators of what happened.

A smaller field would indicate the plane probably fell intact, breaking up upon impact with the water.

A large, widespread field would signal the plane probably broke apart at a high elevation, perhaps because of a bomb or a massive airframe failure.

But sudden, accidental structural failures are considered extremely unlikely in today's passenger aircraft.

This is especially so with the Boeing 777-200, which has one of the best safety records of any jet.

Authorities have not ruled out terrorism or hijacking, though, with suspicions over two of the passengers found to be travelling on stolen passports.

"There are two categories of people who use these (stolen passports) - criminals and terrorists," Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, said.

In the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, there was substantial wreckage despite it being a mid-air explosion, and claims of responsibility came soon after the disaster.

But no-one has come forward to claim the Malaysia incident as their attack.

Whatever caused the apparent crash, there would be some debris - but it could take a while to find.

It took two years to find the main wreckage of the Air France plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing 228 people.

An Indonesian navy ship detected metal on the ocean floor a week after the Adam Air flight disappeared in 2007.

It was a further two weeks before the US Navy picked up signals from the flight data and cockpit recorders, and seven months for the recorder to be recovered.

The Malaysian jet could have made a U-turn shortly before it vanished, officials say, adding one more level of uncertainty to the effort to find it.

It is thought the plane could be hundreds of miles from where it was last detected, and the search has been widened in the hope of finding the plane.

Just about every major jet to disappear in the modern era has eventually been found. The rare exceptions did not involve passengers.

In September 1990, a Boeing 727 owned by the Peruvian Faucett Airlines ditched into the North Atlantic after running out of fuel on its way to Miami.

The accident was attributed to poor pilot planning and the wreck was never recovered.

More mysterious was the disappearance of another Boeing 727 being used to transport diesel fuel to diamond mines in Africa.

The owners had numerous financial problems and the plane took off without clearance and with its transponder turned off. It is believed to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

One theory, never proven, is that it was stolen so the owner could collect insurance.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Nick Clegg Attacks UKIP In Pro-Europe Speech

Farage V Clegg Debate Suits Both Parties

Updated: 2:05pm UK, Friday 21 February 2014

By Darren McCaffrey, Politics Reporter

It's on. After Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg challenged Nigel Farage to an "open debate about whether we should be in or out of the EU" the UKIP leader has responded by saying he "can hardly wait" to take part.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Farage said: "It is going to happen.

"You know, I've been an MEP for 15 years and been told by other politicians and many parts of the media that basically UKIP are mad, that our future is, of course, in the European Union and we've always argued actually that we'd be better off outside and economically, democratically, in terms of our own self-confidence,

"Now we're having that debate and I see that as big, big progress."

He went to say he would like both David Cameron and Ed Miliband to take part.

Both the Conservatives and Labour parties have effectively ruled out taking part, so it will be a head-to-head debate.

This is something the Liberal Democrats have welcomed, arguing it is only their two parties that have a clear in or out position.

Facing the possible electoral wipe-out of their 12 MEPs at the European elections in May, the Liberal Democrats are pursuing a pro-active nothing-to-lose strategy.

Nick Clegg hopes the party will attract as many of the estimated 35% of voters who consistently say they support Britain's membership of the European Union.

For UKIP, the strategy is based on the theory that all publicity can only be good. A national platform they hope - with an increasingly Eurosceptic electorate - could see them top the poll.

And that leaves the question of where you will be able to see or hear this debate.

Negotiations will take place shortly to decide what format it will take. Both parties say they are open to having it on Sky News, but no decision has been made - so watch this space.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Malaysia Airlines: 'Suspect' Passengers Probe

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent

International criminal investigation teams are trying to establish how at least two passengers got on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

It has raised serious questions for Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia Airlines and the Chinese authorities.

Officials said there were four "suspect" passengers on board, with at least two travelling on stolen passports. 

Two men listed as passengers - Luigi Maraldi and Christian Kozel - have both confirmed they were not on board and that their passports were stolen in South East Asia.

Mr Maraldi's passport was stolen last summer, while Mr Kozel's was taken in Thailand in 2012.

Malaysia Airlines plane vanished off the south coast of Vietnam

It means two men on board were travelling under assumed identities.

Authorities are reviewing CCTV from the airport in Kuala Lumpar to try to identify the two individuals. 

Malaysian Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said officials were also checking the identities of two other passengers.

"All the four names are with me," he said. "I have indicated to our intelligence agencies and I have also spoken to international intelligence agencies for assistance."

He stressed a terrorist attack was just one of the possibilities being looked at in the multi-national investigation.

The circles show the two areas the search is focusing on

"We cannot jump the gun," he added. "Our focus now is to find the plane."

Director of commercial operations at Malaysia Airlines, Hugh Dunleavy, said: "As far as we're aware, every one of the people on board that aircraft had a visa to go to China, which means those passports were in the possession of the Chinese embassy before those visas were issued."

Interpol says its database currently contains 40 million records of stolen and lost travel documents from 167 countries.

Many of those will have fallen into criminal hands, but there is currently no clear link between the stolen passport holders on flight MH370 and the aircraft's disappearance. 

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Crimea: Klitschko Condemns 'Aggressive' Russia

Ukrainians In Their Own Words

Updated: 3:20am UK, Sunday 09 March 2014

Three citizens of Ukraine write for Sky News about the sense of dread gripping ordinary people as their country slides towards conflict with its powerful neighbour.

:: Marina's story

"The course of life is the same in the capital of Ukraine. People go to work, visit cafes, cinemas and shopping centres. Public transport operates as normal. No special precautions need to be taken while on the streets.

"But there is a growing feeling that something is going to happen. Politics has become a part of daily life in Ukraine.  People discuss the latest news everywhere - in the streets, on public transport, in cafes, at home and at work. 

"Having lived through these past months, people have hardly had any time to realise what changes had taken place in the country. Hardly any time to mourn over people who perished on streets of Kiev.   

"At present we check news hourly. Everyone shares news, reposts important messages on social platforms, and leaves comments on news sites.

"Ukrainian men of all ages in Kiev and other cities and towns of their own free will are registering at military enlistment offices. The number is more than enough.

"We are facing an information war. The amount of misinformation, misinterpretation of events and barefaced lies from the Russian mass media is staggering and detrimental as the result.

"The news is presented in the most twisted way. It is so unbelievable that it becomes a farce. Ukrainians speak to their family and friends in Russia to try to explain what is really going on in Ukraine.

"Some months ago we thought that our worst enemy on the way to better life and a more prosperous country was the corrupted and vicious president and his environment - but it turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg.

"It has been about two weeks since it became known that Russian troops stepped on Crimean soil right after the transitional Ukrainian government was formed.

"It was almost impossible to get rid of the corrupt government, but such a great unity of people, speaking both Russian and Ukrainian from different regions of Ukraine got together and did it.

"It is obvious that Russia has its own interest in Ukraine with Crimea being the pretext. The goal is to destabilise our country, bring chaos and civil unrest and eventually prove to the world that Ukraine is incapable to hold its sovereignty."

:: Nastya's story

"I come from the eastern part of Ukraine, from a city called Sumy, which is 60km from the border with Russia.

"I speak both Russian and Ukrainian, and consider them both my native languages. Never in my life was I humiliated or abused because of speaking Russian. 

"We are used to being bilingual and 99% of the people I personally know support European values, no matter which language they speak.

"The issue of languages and nationalities is just a thing to manipulate us with during the election campaign and sadly now, to draw us into a terrible war which no one needs.

"Both of my grandfathers took part in the Second World War, fighting against German fascists. 

"They are probably turning in their graves because the people they were fighting with shoulder to shoulder against fascists, are now invading our beautiful land and calling us fascists for simply loving our country.

"It's like a bad divorce, when you don't recognise the person you've been living with all you life.

"This situation seems surreal. Germany is trying to convince Russia not to attack Ukraine. It's like a bad dream.

"It's like a bug in the system which prevents it from functioning correctly. It is beyond our understanding and our system of values.

"We are all very scared, too. For our children, our families, our future. We are praying to God to save Ukraine and our people. To make the people who make horrible decisions to come to their senses.

"We are asking the world to help us, because if the evil isn't stopped now, it will be next to impossible to stop it from spreading all over the world."

:: Ivan's story

"Right now the situation in Kiev has certainly cooled off and the main focus is on Crimea.

"During Maidan protests we were advised to avoid Maidan (Independence Square) and the centre of Kiev. Particularly the areas around the centre were very dangerous.

"There were a lot of reports of people just disappearing or being beaten up by 'Berkut' special forces. Former government forces showed their true attitude towards citizens.

"Thugs hired by the former government, people dressed in sports wear that were noticeably well-trained. We call them 'titushki'. Their purpose was to frighten, bully, or simply beat up the peaceful population of the city.

"They walked through police barriers without even a single question asked, while members of the public were not permitted in and did not get any answers as to why that was even allowed.

"As to the pro-Russian mood in the east of the country, people are very proud over there and do not like to be told what to do.

"Through lies and by playing on their feelings (many have families and relatives in Russia) they were duped into believing that Maidan protestors are fascist thugs who will take away their right to speak Russian, which is complete and utter rubbish.

"True, there are people who support partnership with Russia, but what they certainly do not support is Russia's military intervention. They hate the fact that Putin decided that we aren't capable of solving our own problems.

"The majority of people have changed their mindset and want our country to embrace other values, different to the values of a post Soviet bloc country.

"And that makes Putin go mad. He lost his grip on us - his puppet is no longer our president and, believe me, no one in southeast Ukraine or in Crimea is crying crocodile tears over him.

"I can assure you that people from both sides agree that Yanukovich is corrupt, incompetent and, frankly speaking, stupid."

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Malaysia Airlines: Suspected Fragments Found

Suspected fragments from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 239 people have been found off Vietnam.

The Vietnamese navy said objects, one thought to be an aircraft door, were spotted by a rescue plane off the country's south coast.

Security services are investigating whether the Boeing 777-200 was destroyed in a terror attack.

The circles show the two areas the search is focusing on

Interpol said at least two passports used on the flight were stolen and it is "examining additional suspect passports".

The international police agency said it was of "great concern" that passengers were able to board the plane using stolen passports, and no checks were made against its database.

Flight MH370 disappeared two days ago off Vietnam's south coast.

Two passengers used passports stolen from Christian Kozel and Luigi Maraldi

The search area has been widened after radar data indicated the plane may have turned back.

The FBI and Boeing have joined the investigation after it was revealed four passengers may have been travelling on false passports.

Malaysia's defence and transport minister Hishamuddin Hussein told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur: "All the four names are with me."

Prayers are said at Kuala Lumpur airport for the missing passengers

Asked whether he believes the plane was hijacked, he would only say: "We are looking at all possibilities."

It emerged on Saturday that two men boarded the plane using stolen European passports.

They bought their tickets together and paid for them in Thai baht, Sky News has learned, and were due to fly on to Europe from Beijing.

The tickets bought using the stolen passports

The plane was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it vanished around two hours into the flight.

The plane disappeared from radar at 1.30am (5.30pm UK time) on Friday, about 85 miles (135km) north of the Malaysian city of Kuala Terengganu.

A huge search involving 22 aircraft and 40 ships is continuing in the vast waters of the Gulf of Thailand, between Vietnam and Malaysia.

It concentrated around the Vietnamese island resort of Phu Quoc after Vietnamese air force jets spotted two huge oil slicks.

The parallel slicks - both between 10 miles (16km) and 12 miles (19km) long and 500 metres apart - were consistent with the kind of spills caused by fuel from a crashed airliner, a Vietnamese government statement said.

The two oil slicks seen off Vietnam

The search has now widened to the sea off Malacca, on the west coast of Malaysia, after radar data indicated the plane may have turned back before disappearing.

US federal safety officials said a team of experts are heading to Asia to help in the investigation.

The team includes accident investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, as well as technical experts from the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing.

A photo of the missing plane, seen taking off in Paris in 2011

Earlier today, Malaysia's Civil Aviation chief Azaharudin Abdul Rahman said search teams have not found any debris from the plane.

He said no other aircraft in the Malaysia Airlines fleet would be grounded and indicated there were "no abnormalities" in the data received from the flight.

Two-thirds of the jet's passengers were from China. The rest were from elsewhere in Asia, North America and Europe.

Family members have complained of a lack of information

The plane's disappearance is especially mysterious because it happened when the plane was at cruising altitude, not during the more dangerous phases of take-off or landing.

Officials are examining CCTV footage of passengers boarding the plane.

One of the passengers was listed as a 37-year-old Italian called Luigi Maraldi but he has contacted his parents to say he was not on the airliner.

He had his passport stolen in Thailand several months ago, leaving questions over who used his passport to board the plane and whether that has anything to do with the airliner's disappearance.

Malaysia's Civil Aviation chief says no wreckage has yet been found

Another passenger used a passport belonging to Austrian citizen Christian Kozel, whose passport was stolen in Thailand two years ago.

He is listed as one of the passengers although he has been confirmed as safe and well by authorities.

Relatives are still waiting anxiously at Beijing airport for news of their loved ones.

Tech firm Freescale Semiconductor said 20 of its staff were on the plane.

In a statement it said: "Twelve are from Malaysia and eight are from China. The entire Freescale Semiconductor community is deeply saddened by this news."

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