New Signal Found in Indian Ocean

SEARCH crews have detected a new signal from the depths of the Indian Ocean, thought to be from Flight MH370.

Former Defence chief Angus Houston, heading the Joint Agency Coordination Centre in Perth, confirmed an aircraft has detected a possible signal in the vicinity of Ocean Shield in search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.

It is understood it was detected by a RAAF P-3 Orion plane in the search zone.

The signal will be further analysed but it is potentially from a man-made source.

“The acoustic data will require further analysis overnight,” Houston said.

It brings the number of signals that have been detected so far to five.

The Associated Press said the aircraft had dropped sound-locating buoys by parachute into an area near where the sounds were last heard.

The latest development comes after the Australian Defence vessel Ocean Shield failed to detect underwater signals earlier today after positive transmissions thought to be from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 were received on Saturday and Tuesday.

“They continued the pinger operations through the night,” Houston said.

“They haven’t picked up anything. I don’t know how much longer they’ll go for because the likelihood on Day 34 is that the batteries must be getting near their use-by date.”

He said no decision had been made to send down automated underwater vessel, Bluefin 21 yet.

The two transmissions that were received on Tuesday were markedly weaker than the two sustained transmissions heard on Saturday.

Both sets of transmissions have been determined to be consistent with man-made frequencies coming from airplane black boxes.

SEARCH FOR MH370: What lies beneath the Indian Ocean

The news comes as a large number of objects were spotted by aircraft and ships during yesterday’s search, but none of the “small number” recovered were believed to be related to missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Up to 14 aircraft and 13 ships will be part of today’s effort, 2280 kilometres north west of Perth, with isolated showers predicted.

Australian ship Ocean Shield will continue its underwater search for signals to the north of the defined area, as Chinese ship Haixun 01 and HMS Echo look in the south.

Latest search zone ... this map released by AMSA shows the target of today’s search. Source: Supplied

As the search parties prepare for another day scouring the Indian Ocean, Malaysia’s Prime Minister has called on the world to unite in prayer, saying he is “more optimistic” that MH370 can be found amid the discovery of two new signals.

Najib Razak tweeted that the update from Joint Agency Coordination Centre head and retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston had provided hope.

Yesterday, Air Chief Marshal Houston said the number of transmissions detected by Ocean Shield now stood at four.

“(The) signals will assist in better defining a reduced and much more manageable search area on the ocean floor,” he said.

“The better Ocean Shield can define the area, the easier it will be for the autonomous underwater vehicle to subsequently search for aircraft wreckage.”

“I believe we are searching in the right area, but we need to visually identify aircraft wreckage before we can confirm with certainty that this is the final resting place of MH370,” Air Chief Marshal Houston said.

SEARCH: What lies beneath the surface of the Indian Ocean

Optimistic ... Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (R) bids farewell to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak after his visit to Perth.Source: AFP

The news was warmly received by Malaysia’s Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein who tweeted that Air Chief Marshal Houston was “very professional” and “seems (like) a good man.”

Air Chief Marshal Houston said data analysis of the first two detections found they were consistent with “the specification and description” of a flight data recorder.

Two signals ... The chief co-ordinator of the Joint Agency Coordination Center Retired Australian Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston.Source: AP

According to work conducted by the Australian Joint Acoustic Analysis Centre at HMAS Albatross in Nowra NSW, it was not of natural origin and was “likely sourced” from specific electronic equipment.

Defence Minister David Johnston said he was confident that there is life in the black box despite the days that have passed.

“May I say the battery life in the black box transponder has a long way to go in our opinion, certainly several days into the future,” Senator Johnston said.

A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion flying past Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield on a mission to drop sonar buoys to assist in the acoustic search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Source: AFP

Austrailia & Japan's historic trade agreement

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26917871

Vietnam jails promient blogger

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26627304


The issue comes down to how much censorship is neccessary to protect a state from conflicting interests. Phan Viet Dao, 62, was found guilty for "absuing democratic freedoms that infringe interests of the state". Mr. Dao is critical of the government, and has said that while his information was erroneous, the information he posted "was not endangering the goverment's security">

  His blog posts contained the sensitive territorial conflict with China..recently there was another man who was sent jail for nearly identical problems; the vietnamese government has been detaining writers for years.

Abusing the rights is in violation of a very vague Article 258 of Vietnam's criminal code.

Freedom of the press is definitely welcome in Vietnam, as all newspaper and media outlets are strictly regulated by the government.

Thailand to lift emergency rule

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26613069

Following weeks anti-government protests; PM Yingluck Shinawatra has declared that the emergency rule filed to handle government protests is officially in order.

  Protests started because people accused Yingluck's brother, Thaksin, of running Thailand's government.

  So far, 23 people have been killed during or in the aftermath of the protests.

  On Feb. 2nd, protesters blocked the main entrance to polling station, and blocked major road junctions, as well as government ministries. and without the backing of an army the emergency response was not efficent.

Now, despite dwindling protesters; there is of course, political tension that still has yet to be resolved.

China media: The rise of Russia

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-26660494

   There is much concern in China after Russia's victory in Crimea. The Chinese people basically are worried that......

Removing Facecover under West Australian Law --- Robert Alexander

Women may now be forced to remove their niqab under West Australian law A new law requiring Muslim women to remove a burqa or niqab to prove their identity to West Australian police has been passed by the state’s parliament.

 

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A new law requiring Muslim women to remove a burqa or niqab to prove their identity to West Australian police has been passed by the state’s parliament.

The legislation was drafted in response to public outcry about the case of mother of seven Carnita Matthews who wore a burqa, and had a conviction of knowingly making a false statement quashed.

Matthews was originally given a six-month jail sentence after being found guilty of falsely accusing a senior constable of forcibly trying to remove her burqa when she was pulled over while driving in Woodbine in Sydney’s south west in June 2010.

She was later acquitted on appeal after the prosecution could not prove she was the woman who signed the statement while wearing the garment.

The acting WA police minister, John Day, said the legislation, which was passed on Thursday, had been amended after consultation with the Muslim and Sikh communities.

“Initially, the legislation stated police would be able to require someone to remove their headwear for the purposes of identification,” Day said.

“However, following consultation with the Muslim and Sikh communities, the government agreed to change the word headwear to face covering.”

He said the change had removed “some” of the concerns of the communities, while police had advised it was acceptable.

“So I am confident a satisfactory compromise has been reached,” he said.

The new law also makes it easier for police to take DNA from suspects, with the definition of “identifying particular” expanded to permit the taking of dental impressions, hair samples and body tissues.

It also provides a process for applying to a magistrate for a warrant when samples are needed from juvenile suspects who have not been charged when there is no responsible person, or they cannot be found, or it is impracticable to make requests to them.

Indonesian Extremist Joining Fight In Syria --- Robert Alexander

Indonesian Extremists Joining Foreigners in Syria Fight Indonesian extremists joined thousands of foreign militants fighting the Syrian government, a report said on Friday.

 

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Indonesian extremists joined thousands of foreign militants fighting the Syrian government, a report said on Friday.

The report said the Indonesian militants have traveled to Syria to help extremist groups trying to create an Islamic state there.

The report by the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, based in Jakarta, said that the Syrian conflict, approaching its third anniversary in March, had “captured the imagination of Indonesian extremists in a way no foreign war has before.”

“The enthusiasm for Syria is directly linked to predictions in Islamic eschatology that the final battle at the end of time will take place in Sham, the region sometimes called Greater Syria or the Levant, encompassing Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Israel,” the report said.

Sidney Jones, the institute’s director, said the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, based on information from the Syrian government, estimated that at least 50 Indonesians had traveled to Syria via Turkey to take up arms since 2012. While she emphasized that the figure was “a guesstimate,” the report warned that the numbers could increase.

As many as 11,000 foreign fighters have poured into Syria by way of the Middle East and North Africa. The fighters include radicalized young Muslims with Western passports from Europe, North America and Australia.

Ms. Jones said Indonesian fighters could easily fly on commercial airlines to Turkey, where Ahrar al-Sham, one of the extremist groups fighting the Syrian government, helped them cross the border into Syria. Some Indonesian extremists have also been linking up with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a hard-line group linked to Al Qaeda, she said.

“There are two main concerns for Indonesia,” Ms. Jones said. “One is the return of foreign fighters and what that could mean to providing leadership to the very weak and incompetent jihadi movement here.”

“Second, the process of raising funds for Syria could strengthen the resource base of groups in Indonesia, such as Jemaah Islamiyah,” she said, referring to the Southeast Asian terrorist network linked to Al Qaeda.