Report says passenger flights could take off with less fuel and retank once they reach an altitude of 10,000 metres

Refuelling planes mid-air could cut fuel use by 23%: Study

Press Trust of India

At least 45 people were killed when an air raid struck a camp for displaced people in northwest Yemen today, the International Organization for Migration said.
	"IOM is reporting 45 dead among internally displaced persons, 65 injured (and counting)," spokesman Joel Millman told AFP by email, adding that "75 IOM staff are on hand assisting" the victims.
	Earlier Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported at least 15 dead when an air strike hit Al-Mazrak camp in Hajja province.
	The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also said the camp had been hit.
	Arab coalition warplanes, led by Saudi Arabia, have been pounding rebel Huthi positions in Yemen for the past five days.
	The Al-Mazrak camp has since 2009 been housing Yemenis displaced by the conflict between northern Huthi rebels and the central government.
	The manager of the MSF programme in the Middle East, Pablo Marco, said 500 new families had arrived at the camp over the past two days.

45 dead in air strike on Yemen displaced camp: IOM

PTI Automatic

The co-pilot believed to have deliberately crashed a Germanwings plane was treated for suicidal tendencies "several years ago", before he received his pilot's licence, German prosecutors said today.
	"In the ensuing years and up until recently, he had doctors' visits and was written off sick but showed no sign of suicidal tendencies or aggression towards others," said Ralf Herrenbrueck, spokesman for the prosecutor's office in the western city of Duesseldorf.
	He said in a statement that prosecutors would "not take part in speculation about the deceased co-pilot's motives".
	Herrenbrueck said based on the evaluation of medical documents and the testimony of people who knew the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, there was still no indication that he had told anyone of his plans or left behind a suicide note.
	"Nor have particular circumstances been identified in his personal or professional environment to offer verifiable evidence about a possible motive," he said.
	Medical files did not point .

Crash pilot showed suicidal tendencies in past: prosecutors

Four South Korean tourists along with their driver were killed in a bus crash in central Nepal today, police said.
	Another South Korean and 15 others were injured in the crash, which happened as the tourists were returning to the capital Kathmandu from the popular tourist town of Pokhara, said police officer Prakash Malla.
	Their minibus was overtaking and appeared to have hit a larger vehicle coming from the opposite direction at Dhadhing, about 70 kilometres (43 miles) from Kathmandu, the officer said.
	"Three South Korean tourists and the microbus bus driver died on the spot. Two other South Koreans were injured and taken to Kathmandu, but one died while in treatment," Malla told AFP.
	"We are in contact with the South Korean embassy officials, they are heading here to receive the bodies."
	The injured South Korean is receiving medical treatment in Kathmandu along with five other other injured. The other 10 who were hurt were taken to a hospital near the scene of the ...

Four S Korean tourists killed in Nepal bus crash: police

A Thai court today lifted a ban on the latest instalment in "The Fast and the Furious" blockbuster franchise, a lawyer said, following a contract dispute with a local actor.
	"Fast and Furious 7", due to open in Thai cinemas on April 1, was blocked by a court injunction Thursday after a Thai movie studio filed a lawsuit alleging that local film star Tony Jaa was in breach of contract for appearing in the film.
	But it will now open in cinemas as scheduled on Wednesday, Suwat Apaipakdi, a lawyer for the studio Sahamongkol Film International, told AFP.
	The Civil Court of Thailand in Bangkok ruled that "the temporary banning order would affect other actors -- therefore the court has cancelled the temporary banning", he said.
	Suwat added that his client is still seeking 1.6 billion baht (USD 49 million) damages from Jaa, film studio Universal Pictures and local distributor United International Pictures (UIP) because the actor was committed to Sahamongkol in an exclusive contract until ..

Thai court lifts ban on 'Fast & Furious': lawyer

US Secretary of State John Kerry and his British counterpart Philip Hammond today voiced fears over possible political interference in Nigeria's vote count, as the country awaited the results of weekend elections.
	"We have seen no evidence of systemic manipulation of the process. But there are disturbing indications that the collation process -- where the votes are finally counted -- may be subject to deliberate political interference," the two diplomats said in a joint statement.
	Britain and the United States welcomed "the largely peaceful vote" after it was pushed into a second day due to failures in new technology designed to read biometric identity cards. The cards were introduced to combat electoral fraud.
	Kerry and Hammond warned that any attempt at fraud "would contravene the letter and spirit of the Abuja accord, to which both major parties committed themselves."
	They added that their governments "would be very concerned by any attempts to undermine the independence" of ...

US, UK fear possible interference in Nigeria vote count

A Turkish Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Morocco today after a bomb threat, Turkish television reported.
	The Boeing 777-300ER plane bound for Sao Paulo from Istanbul landed safely at Casablanca airport after a note was found warning that there was a "bomb" in one of the aircraft toilets, the NTV and CNN-Turk channels reported.
	The passengers were being evacuated and a search underway to find any explosives, they added.

Turkish plane in emergency landing after bomb threat:reports

The UN Yugoslav war crimes tribunal today revoked the provisional release of ailing accused Serb leader Vojislav Seselj after he vowed not to return to the court.
	The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) "orders the trial chamber to immediately revoke Seselj's provisional release and order his return to the United Nations Detention Unit," in The Hague, court documents said.
	The tribunal in November allowed Seselj to return home to Serbia for cancer treatment pending an ICTY verdict on alleged war crimes during the Balkan wars.
	Since his release, 60-year-old Seselj has repeatedly lashed out at the tribunal, vowing not to return for his sentencing or to serve any time, as well as resuming his poisonous nationalist rhetoric.
	Serbia now has the uncomfortable obligation of arresting the publicity-seeking Seselj and handing him over to ICTY authorities.
	"I'm certainly not going to return to The Hague of my own free will," Seselj told AFP by telephone in ...

UN tribunal orders alleged Serb war criminal back to cell

World Cup legend Zinedine Zidane says he wants to be the coach for Real Madrid or France.
     The former Juventus and Real star, who has been learning the ropes as coach of Real's reserve side Castilla, set out his ambitions on French channel Canal Plus.
     Would he take over the Real job? "Yes I would go for that," he said, while adding "there is already a coach (Carlo Ancelotti) in place who is doing a great job."
     "Do I feel ready if I was offered the first team? You are never ready, but if it happened like that I would have to say yes."
     The 42-year-old added France, with whom he won the World Cup in 1998, to his wish list in the programme late Sunday.
     "I was a player in this team and it would be good, one day (to be coach), but for the moment there is a coach (Didier Deschamps) who is doing a great job. But yes I have this target, this ambition," Zidane said.
     The former world player of the year retired from club and international football in 2006. Zidane said 

Zidane aims for Real and France hot seats

Russia has sacked the head of a Siberian theatre after its radical staging of a Richard Wagner opera angered the powerful Russian Orthodox Church and prompted street protests.
	Culture minister Vladimir Medinsky yesterday fired the head of Novosibirsk State Opera and Ballet Theatre over a controversial staging of Wagner's Tannhaeuser that senior clerics said desecrated the image of Christ.
	The sacking of the head of the acclaimed theatre, Boris Mezdrich, is the culmination of a scandal over a production featuring Jesus Christ and the cross on stage and on posters.
	The theatre has been subjected to legal action, checks into its finances and several large protests by believers.
	The Church's head of public affairs, Vsevolod Chaplin, condemned the staging as "desecration of a symbol revered by Christians".
	Wagner's 1845 opera focuses on a man torn between frolicking with the goddess of love Venus in her grotto and seeking salvation in the Church.
	The contemporary staging in ...

Russia sacks theatre chief in 'blasphemous' opera scandal

Investigators sifting through the wreckage of the doomed Germanwings plane in the French Alps were forced today to resume the hunt on foot as bad weather hampered helicopter flights.
	"The teams will get to the site via the path that is already in existence," said Yves Naffrechoux of the local mountain police.
	Authorities are hoping to identify more DNA strands from the 150 people who died in Tuesday's crash, as well as locate the jet's second black box that should provide more clues as to the circumstances of the tragedy.
	Forensic teams have isolated almost 80 distinct DNA strands from the pulverised aircraft and have described the grim task as "unprecedented" given the tricky mountain terrain and the speed at which the plane smashed into the rock.
	French officials have said that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately shut his pilot colleague out of the cockpit and then locked the Airbus A320 on a collision course with the French Alps.
	The flight, en route to Duesseldorf from ...

Hunt resumes for Alps plane crash DNA, black box

South Korea today selected Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and partner Lockheed Martin for a multi-billion-dollar contract to develop 120 "indigenous" fighter jets to replace Seoul's ageing fleet.
	The bid from KAI and the US aerospace giant, which is subject to a screening process before being officially approved, was always seen as the favourite for the 8.6 trillion won (USD 7.8 billion) deal over a rival bid by civilian carrier Korean Air (KAL) teamed with Airbus.
	The Defence Ministry also approved a separate USD 1.28 billion deal to buy Patriot PAC-3 missiles and upgrade its air defence system aimed at intercepting North Korean ballistic missiles.
	The KF-X fighter project is designed to develop and produce 120 fighter jets of a new, indigenous type to replace South Korea's ageing fleet of F-4s and F-5s.
	"We have chosen KAI as the preferred bidder based on our review of... Cost, development plans and development capabilities of the two bidders," the Defense Acquisition Program .

S Korea opts for KAI-Lockheed in USD 7.8 bn fighter deal

Thailand admitted today it "urgently" needs to improve airline safety procedures as several carriers face bans on new international flights after a UN aviation agency raised concerns.
	The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a United Nations body, reported "significant safety concerns" to Thailand's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) after an audit earlier in the year.
	In response Japan last week blocked new flights from Thailand in a move affecting charter services by budget carriers Thai AirAsia X and NokScoot as well as Asia Atlantic Airlines, the DCA said, adding existing flights would not be impacted.
	Flag carrier Thai Airways, in a statement on its Facebook page Saturday, said two charter flights scheduled to depart for Japan next month had been affected.
	Transport Minister Prajin Juntong said Thailand must quickly improve airline safety.
	"The ICAO has warned us since 2005 about our aviation management and asked us to improve our systems," he told reporters ...

Thailand admits 'urgent' need to improve aviation safety

Iran has asked Turkey's top diplomat in Tehran to explain remarks by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan heavily critical of Iran's role in Yemen and the region.
	In the absence of its ambassador, Turkey's charge d'affaires has been "invited" to respond to "the Islamic republic's objection and regret over Erdogan's inappropriate and unusual comments," foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said in a statement.
	"We demand a clear and convincing response," Afkham added amid calls for Erdogan's planned visit to Tehran next month to be cancelled.
	Turkey has expressed support for a Saudi-led coalition that is conducting air strikes against Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen.
	The coalition has vowed to keep up the raids until the rebels abandon their insurrection against President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Riyadh.
	Hadi and his backers charge that the rebels, who overran the capital last year and have since advanced across much of the country, have support from Iran.
	On ...

Iran asks Turkish envoy to explain Erdogan comments

Rival parties in Britain's election campaign have hired former strategists for US President Barack Obama in an attempt to sway one of the most unpredictable elections in years ahead of polling day on May 7.
	Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron is battling to stay in power against the main opposition leader, Labour's Ed Miliband, with their parties neck and neck in polls.
	Miliband has hired David Axelrod, 60, the mustachioed strategist behind Obama's "Yes We Can!" slogan, which helped sweep him to power in 2008.
	Cameron has Jim Messina, 46, who led Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, as well as 33-year-old Reggie Love, the president's former personal aide.
	Axelrod explained that he joined Miliband's team last year because of his ideas and the "strength of his vision".
	It's a view of the Labour leader that has been under constant attack by his rivals, who cast Miliband as incompetent and out of touch with ordinary voters.
	Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-European Union UK ...

Obama spin doctors hired to shake up deadlocked UK vote

Eight people were killed and 10 injured today after a van drove through a stop sign and careered off a Florida highway into a canal, officials said.
	The accident happened in the southern state near Moore Haven city on a major US highway.
	Officials said the van "passed through a posted stop sign and traveled across all lanes of US 27.
	"The van then traveled into a steep partially water-filled canal," Lieutenant Gregory Bueno of Florida Highway Patrol said in a statement to AFP.
	There were 18 people in the vehicle at the time of the accident and no other cars were involved, Bueno said.
	The driver was among those killed.
	One of the 10 injured is in a serious condition in hospital. A four-year-old boy is in a stable condition.
	Florida Highway Patrol said they were investigating the accident.

Eight dead, 10 injured in Florida van accident

A man-eating crocodile that became an attraction on the Greek island of Crete last year after its mysterious appearance in a lake has died, probably of cold, an official said today.
	"The crocodile was found dead on Sunday," regional water management official Vangelis Mamangakis told AFP.
	"It will be taken to the natural history museum of Heraklion for tests," he added.
	Nickhamed Sifis -- Cretan for Joseph -- the Nile crocodile had assumed nationwide notoriety after being discovered last summer at an artificial lake.
	The fearsome two-metre reptile was last seen in mid-February, Mamangakis said, adding that an initial veterinary inspection had pointed to death from cold exposure.
	Crete was hit with a cold snap in February, with temperatures in some areas falling close to freezing.
	Crowds had flocked to the lake last summer to catch a glimpse of the animal, whose appeal only increased when it repeatedly eluded attempts to trap it.
	Local officials say the beast had likely been ...

Crete's mystery croc killed by cold snap

An Afghan policeman who shot dead a Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press photojournalist was imprisoned for 20 years over the weekend, after his death sentence was commuted, the AP's CEO said in Hong Kong today.
	The policeman killed German photographer Anja Niedringhaus and left her Canadian colleague Kathy Gannon wounded while they were covering the run-up to elections in the conflict-wracked country in April 2014.
	"Originally he was sentenced to death. He appealed, and his sentence was just finally confirmed on Saturday, two days ago. His sentence was changed to 20 years," Gary Pruitt said during an address to the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Hong Kong.
	"There is solace in knowing there was justice done in that case, and we are grateful for that."
	The police commander opened fire on the two journalists in their car after shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is Great") on April 4, 2014, witnesses told AP at the time. He then surrendered and was held for questioning.
	Niedringhaus .

Journalist's killer in Afghanistan jailed for 20 years: CEO

Leading carriers Emirates and Etihad Airways said today that their cockpits will have two crew members in at all times under new procedures introduced in response to the Germanwings disaster.
	Investigators believe co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked his captain out of the cockpit of Flight 4U 9525 and deliberately steered the Airbus A320 into a French mountainside last week, killing all 150 people onboard.
	"Although there is no international industry regulation that mandates this as a compulsory practice, Emirates has implemented a new operating policy where there would always be two crew members in the cockpit," a spokesperson for the Dubai-based carrier told AFP.
	"This is effective immediately."
	Etihad Airways made a similar announcement, saying: "We have reviewed our operating procedures and will continue to do so in the light of the disturbing and tragic news from France.
	"With immediate effect Etihad Airways will ensure there are always two crew members in the flight deck at all .

UAE carriers introduce 'rule of two' after Alps crash

Nine Indonesian men have died after consuming alcohol mixed with mosquito repellent, police said today, the latest deaths in the country linked to tainted drinks.
	The men bought the drinks on the street in the city of Prabumulih on Sumatra island on Thursday and were admitted to local hospitals after falling ill, local police spokesman Djarod Padakova told AFP.
	The first victim died on Friday, with the ninth passing away yesterday, he added. A tenth man survived.
	Padakova said the alcohol had been mixed with mosquito repellent and energy drinks. Media reports said the alcohol was a local brand of gin.
	There have been many previous cases where people have died after consuming contaminated drinks in Indonesia.
	Last year 16 people died after drinking tainted alcohol to celebrate New Year's Eve on the main island of Java.
	The small proportion of those who consume alcohol in Muslim-majority Indonesia sometimes opt for cheap drinks bought on the street, because legally produced ...

Nine Indonesians die after drinking tainted alcohol

Landslides in Burundi have killed at least 18 people with 10 more missing after torrential rains, a local governor said today.
	"It is a disaster...Dozens of houses were destroyed, crops have been washed away," said Jacques Minani, governor of the Bujumbura district, some 35 kilometres south of the capital.
	He said rescue teams are "searching the area to try to find the missing" after the landslides overnight yesterday.
	Twelve people died sheltering inside a church in the village of Rutunga, while others were killed inside their homes or simply swept away by rivers of mud, Minani added.
	Mud and rocks loosened by heavy rains were swept down steep hillsides of the rural region of the small central African nation, destroying houses in its path, he said.

AFP

AFP

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