Missing MH370: How Do You Sue When There's No Wreckage?
BY ALASTAIR JAMIESON
A U.S. law firm claiming to represent several of the Flight 370 families said Thursday that it hopes to prove that the Boeing 777 fleet has a design defect – even as investigators struggle to locate a single piece of wreckage.
Monica Kelly, head of global aviation litigation at Ribbeck Law, told NBC News she was meeting families in Beijing “at their request,” hours after the firm filed a petition at a Chicago court against Boeing, seeking evidence of possible design and manufacturing defects that it believes will form the basis of a lawsuit.
The move has raised eyebrows, even among seasoned observers of litigation specialists who approach the victims of air disasters. It has also prompted some to ask how it is even possible to start forming a lawsuit on behalf of families before a single victim has been found.
Turkey blocks YouTube amid 'national security' concerns
Turkish PM's office claim voice recordings posted to YouTube created 'national security issue' leading to website block one week after restricting access to Twitter
The Turkish government reinforced its heavily criticised clampdown on social media on Thursday, blocking YouTube a week after it restricted access to the micro-blogging platform Twitter. The latest curbs came hours after an audio recording of a high-level security meeting was leaked on the video-sharing website.
According to Turkish media reports, the decision to block YouTube was taken by Turkey’s telecommunications authority (TİB) as a “precautionary administrative measure.” In February, Turkey passed a much criticised new internet law that allows the telecommunications regulator to block websites without a court order. Turkey previously banned YouTube in 2007, but lifted the ban three years later.
Social media users in Turkey were able to access the site using "virtual private networks" (VPNs) – which allow an anonymous connection to the web – or by changing the domain name settings (DNS) on computers and mobile devices.
Spanish historians claim to have found Holy Grail
Research suggests chalice from which Christ supposedly drunk is in León’s basilica of Saint Isidore
Guy Hedgecoe
It has been the subject of theological and historical argument for centuries, but Spanish historians now claim to have tracked down the Holy Chalice, the cup from which Christ was supposed to have drunk during his last supper. They believe the 2,000-year-old vessel is in a church in León, in northern Spain.
Margarita Torres and José Ortega del Río have spent three years researching the history of the chalice and, on Wednesday, presented in León a co-written book, Los Reyes del Grial (The Kings of the Grail), containing their findings.
The onyx chalice itself, they explain, is contained within another, antique cup known as the Chalice of Doña Urruca, which sits in León’s basilica of Saint Isidore. The historians say it has been there since the 11th century.
Philippines, Muslim rebels sign peace pact to end 45-year conflict
March 28, 2014 - 3:22PM
The Philippines and its largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, have signed a final peace pact, ending about 45 years of conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people in the country's south.
Under the pact, Muslim rebels agreed to disband guerrilla forces, surrender weapons, and rebuild their communities while the government gives them self-rule with wider powers to control their economy and culture.
But potential threats to lasting peace remain, ranging from a small breakaway Moro Islamic Liberation Front faction to criminal gangs, Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda and feuding clans.
Escape for trapped Muslims
The UN yesterday ramped up efforts to relocate 20000 Muslims trapped in enclaves in the Central African Republic facing massacre and starvation.
UN humanitarian head Abdou Dieng said yesterday 500 Muslims trapped in Bossangoa would be killed if they were not relocated urgently.
"Bossangoa was the epicentre of the crisis. There are only 500 out of 7000 Muslims left, and they are being attacked and killed every day," he said. "These are the anti-balaka extremists who are now attacking the Misca peacekeepers. It is really getting out of hand."
The relocation was to take place from Thursday next week.
"But we are still running into problems with the local population, who don't want Muslims there and fear they will attract the anti-balaka," he said.
Protest over Myanmar census brings ethnic tensions to the fore
Anti-census protesters attacked an international NGO office on Wednesday. The census allows ethnic minorities to self-identify in a country wracked by ethnic and religious divisions.
The last time a national census was held in Myanmar, the country was an isolated military dictatorship known as Burma. Then, Daw San San was a 28-year-old primary school teacher tasked with counting heads in this rural rice-growing region in the Ayeyarwady river delta.
Now 59 and retired, Ms. San San is helping to oversee the country’s first census in 31 years, this time held under a civilian-led government. The new administration took power three years ago and has cracked open the door to international donors who are underwriting the $60 million census, which begins March 30.
Now, as then, authorities face a common challenge: earning the trust of people wary of how the census data is used, particularly when it comes to ethnicity and religion in a country scarred by decades of inter-ethnic conflict and political repression.
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