MH370 search: Experts investigate Indian Ocean wreckage

Malaysia has sent a team to the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion to determine whether debris which washed up there is from missing flight MH370.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board vanished without trace in March 2014.

Aviation experts have said the debris looks like a wing component from a 777, known as a flaperon.

Malaysia Airlines said it would be "premature" to speculate on its origin.

There were 227 passengers on the flight, including 153 Chinese and 38 Malaysians.

The two-metre-long (6ft) piece of wreckage washed up on the island, about 600km (370 miles) east of Madagascar, late on Wednesday.

The search efforts for MH370, led by Australia, are focussed on a broad expanse of the southern Indian Ocean - some 6,000km to the east of Reunion, which is a French region.

There have been other plane crashes much closer to Reunion, but flight MH370 is the only Boeing 777 to have disappeared in the area.

An US official told the Associated Press news agency that, based on the photos, investigators had a "high degree of confidence" that the part was a flaperon unique to a Boeing 777 wing.

A flaperon is used to both alter the lift characteristics of a wing and control the roll of an aircraft.

French authorities in Reunion are also investigating the debris and Australian investigators are reported to be in touch with manufacturers over the find.

In a statement, Australian Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss said that if the wreckage was identified as being from MH370, this "would be consistent with other analysis and modelling that the resting place of the aircraft is in the southern Indian Ocean".

Any new evidence will be used to refine search efforts, the statement added.

Analysis: BBC's transport correspondent Richard Westcott

Experts should be able to tell fairly quickly if this is a piece of MH370. Aircraft parts have individual serial numbers of them, and the airlines should have records of all those numbers.

So in theory, investigators could check them and give a positive or negative ID. If it is part of the aircraft, it's washed up thousands of miles from where search teams continue to look for debris at the bottom of the sea.

And realistically, although it would confirm the aircraft crashed and broke up, a piece of wing is unlikely to reveal much more about what actually happened on board the plane.

But these are all big "ifs" right now. It could still be yet another false alarm.

Follow Richard: @BBCwestcott

The tenacious deep-sea hunt for MH370

The Australian-led search teams have been focusing on a 60,000 sq km (23,000 sq mile) area off the coast of Western Australia, where the plane is believed to have crashed.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau Chief Commissioner Martin Dolan, who heads the operation, told AP that even if the part was proven to be from MH370 it would not change the search area, as it was "entirely possible that something could have drifted from our current search area to that island".

Confirmation the debris came from MH370 would also disprove theories that the airliner went missing somewhere in the northern hemisphere, Mr Dolan said.

Talk about pressure. Soviet scientists were desperate to catch up to Americans in the race to conquer space, and after being beaten to the moon, the next frontier was the red planet. Years of frantic, nonstop work — with no time even to test the gear — culminated in three rockets blasting off in May 1971. And against all odds, Mars 3 made history months later as humankind’s first touchdown on the fourth planet from the sun. “When we confirmed that the lander touched down successfully, those involved in the project rejoiced,” says Arnold Selivanov, one of the last surviving members of the mission.

The signal from Mars 3 lasted only 20 seconds, never to be heard from again, and only one mysterious image made it back to the control room. Experts are still debating whether the image just captured noise or the Martian landscape. Nobody knows for sure why it went dark, but bad luck probably played a part: The entire planet was covered by a never-before-seen sandstorm. But while windy gusts may have taken out the equipment, they couldn’t obliterate the Soviet Union’s victory in landing the first-ever human toy on Mars.

The scientists worked under extreme pressure from Soviet authorities.

Some 44 years later, the feat still resonates. It offered proof that the red planet was within reach while providing a treasure trove of information that has informed subsequent missions to both Mars and Venus, vastly expanding human understanding of the solar system. Those contributions, says Don McCoy, manager of European Space Agency program ExoMars, must be “recognized as bold steps in exploration.” In fact, Russia, in collaboration with the European Space Agency, will use an architecture similar to the Mars 3 to land on the slippery planet with the January 2016 launch of the Schiaparelli. As McCoy points out, if the Mars 3 designers could see today’s designs, they “would understand very well why we have this architecture.” The modern version, significantly, can weather sandstorms.

Back in the 1960s when the Soviets began targeting the planet, nobody knew what to expect of Mars, but there was speculation it held traces of a lost civilization. The Mars 3 pushed the debate forward at a high price, coming as it did after years of failed missions. The scientists worked under extreme pressure from Soviet authorities, who demanded they seize the last window to launch the orbiters and landers before the U.S. beat them to it. They toiled with little sleep, round-the-clock schedules, and the threat of being demoted, fired or shunned if things went wrong, as leading mission designer Vladimir Gennadievich Perminov would later recount to NASA.

The first rocket carrying a satellite and a radar beacon blasted off on May 5. It was supposed to relay information on the planet’s position to help guide the two other rockets carrying an orbiter and lander each. But the first rocket failed, and on May 19 and 28, Mars 2 and Mars 3 were sent aloft with a backup direction system. The Mars 2 crashed-landed on Nov. 21, technically becoming the first man-made object to hit the planet. Perminov made several excuses for the blunder, including the lack of time to test the positioning system, and said it also could have been avoided “if the first space barter in the history of human civilization would have happened one year earlier.” Soviets exchanged data they had on Venus for what the Americans had on Mars, but it came too late. With it, they could have corrected the trajectory and perhaps enjoyed greater success. On Dec. 2, Mars 3 landed, transmitted briefly and then fell silent.

The mission, including from the orbiter and lander before it stopped transmitting, delivered information about the planet’s surface, atmosphere, soil density and more. “We later capitalized on this experience in our Venusian missions,” Selivanov, now 80, tells OZY. He was involved in developing cameras and video gadgets on the lander and orbiter and is now head of an expert council in Russian Space Systems. But the biggest accomplishment, said Perminov, was proving that “the scientifically and technically intricate problem of a soft landing on the Martian surface was solved.” The Soviets sent four more missions in 1973, all of which failed, and in 1975, the U.S. sent two Viking probes, each successfully landing and operating on Mars. Since then, five more missions — all American — have successfully landed on Mars.

With next year’s launch, Russia will try again with a vastly updated version of the Mars 3. But the legacy of the 1971 mission wasn’t just technological advance. It was also a better understanding of the the hostile, out-of-this world environment that many hope will one day bring us closer to finding alien life.

Police: Teen suspect lured girl to home before killing

An 8-year-old Northern California girl was lured into the apartment of a 15-year-old neighbor before she was killed and her body dumped in a recycling bin at their complex, Santa Cruz police said Tuesday.

The unidentified teen knew Madyson Middleton and was near the bin when a detective found her body during a second search Monday evening, Police Chief Kevin Vogel said during an emotional news conference. The boy had reportedly helped look for her.

Her body was found just before 8 p.m. PT Monday at the Tannery Arts Center, a housing development for local artists where both lived. Known as Maddy, she was last seen by a security camera at 5:05 p.m. Sunday riding her scooter in the complex.

"It's my belief she was killed before we ever got the phone call" an hour later that she was missing, Vogel said at a news conference. He did not indicate how she died or whether she was sexually assaulted. Autopsy results were pending.

Vogel said the body had been concealed "in a way that was not obvious or readily apparent. If you just opened the top of the bin, you would not have seen the body."

The boy was arrested early Tuesday. Neighbors reported that his mother screamed in agony when her son was taken into custody.

The district attorney said the teen could be charged as an adult.

Vogel said it appears Maddy, who lived in the complex with her mother, 42-year-old Laura Jordan, was "lured to the apartment willingly" and murdered there. He described them as acquaintances.

"I think she had a reasonable amount of trust in him," he said. "I don’t think she was taken against her will.”

A Tannery resident described the suspect as "the nicest kid you can imagine," theSanta Cruz Sentinel reported.

“Everyone has got to be in shock over this,” the unidentified artist said.

Mayor Don Lane called Tuesday "a day to honor Madyson and to offer our support.”

“Our hearts and our thoughts and our prayers go out to those close to Madyson who have been devastated by the loss of this very precious life,” he said at the news conference outside police headquarters.

Following Maddy's disappearance, police conducted door-to-door searches of the complex and nearby communities. Authorities searched in nearby woodlands, parks and along the San Lorenzo River. Helicopters, bicycle patrols, dogs and even boats aided the search. Middleton's father, Michael, spent much of Monday searching the streets with friends.

Jordan told the Sentinel on Monday that her daughter was waiting for a friend to finish a board game so they could play together, and rode her scooter under her friend's window. At 5:07 p.m., surveillance video shows Maddy riding near a cluster of metal mailboxes at the Tannery. It was the last time she was seen alive.

"I thought she was in the courtyard," Jordan said. "I thought she was in the bathroom, checked the art bar, then I started to going to every friend's house. Maybe she got bored waiting for her play date, maybe she found another friend. But we had no luck."

Contributing: John Bacon

Kurdish leader decries Turkey's 'safe zone' plan in Syria

A "safe zone" Turkey and the US are creating in Syria is an attempt by Ankara to stop Kurds from forming their own territory, the leader of Turkey's pro-Kurdish party has told the BBC.

HDP chairman Selahattin Demirtas said Turkey's operation against Islamic State militants across the border was a cover to target PKK Kurdish rebels.

He urged both Turkey and the PKK to return to the peace process.

Ankara earlier said PKK attacks on Turkey made peace attempts impossible.

There has been a recent series of clashes between Turkish forces and the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party).

Turkey has also been hit by attacks by by IS-linked militants - including one that left 32 dead in the border town of Suruc last week.

Turkey considers both the PKK and IS terrorist organisations.

Separately, the US earlier confirmed it was holding talks with Ankara about their joint military campaign against the IS in Syria.State Department spokesman John Kirby said "more coalition effort and energy" would now be focussed on the border area.

But he rejected suggestions that the US had sanctioned Turkey's air strike on Kurdish forces in northern Iraq.

Over the past week, analysts say, Turkey has turned its approach to the US-led coalition against IS on its head.

Previously a reluctant partner, it is now flying combat missions and making its airbases available to US jets.

The Turks sleeping in fear at border

'Seriously disturbed'

Turkey and the US have been working together to create the "safe zone" in northern Syria that would be cleared of IS militants.

Turkish soldiers have been patrolling parts of Kurd-dominated areas in the south-east after recent attacks

The area - about 90km (55 miles) long - would ostensibly be used to train moderate opposition forces, the BBC's Mark Lowen in Turkey reports.

Ankara hopes, our correspondent adds, that this will also allow some Syrian refugees in Turkey to return to the secure zone.

But Mr Demirtas, who leads the HDP (People's Democratic Party), told the BBC that Turkey's real intention was to make an incursion into Kurdish areas in Syria so as to stop Syrian Kurds from controlling contiguous territory.

"Turkey doesn't intend to target IS with this safe zone. The Turkish government was seriously disturbed by Kurds trying to create an autonomous state in Syria," Mr Demirtas said.

He added that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan"would never let this happen and that we would intervene whatever the cost".

"So, the safe zone is intended to stop the Kurds, not IS. In fact, Turkey should work with Kurdish forces to create this area. They should collaborate," Mr Demirtas said.

Earlier, President Erdogan told reporters it was "not possible to continue the peace process with those who threaten our national unity and brotherhood".

He has now travelled to China with about 100 business leaders and investors for a state visit expected to focus on their growing economic ties. T

The BBC's Beijing correspondent says Turkey's current border crisis may also give renewed impetus to its plans to buy a Chinese long-range missile system.

Tuesday also saw Nato discuss the Turkish campaigns against IS and Kurdish militants. All 28 Nato member countries met in Brussels to discuss what it called "the threats against Turkey", a key member of the alliance.

In a final communique, Nato expressed "strong solidarity" with Turkey, and sent condolences to Ankara and "the families of the victims in Suruc and other attacks against police and military officers".

However, Nato officials quoted by news agencies said alliance members use the closed-door meeting to urge Turkey not to use excessive force, and to continue peace talks with representatives of its Kurdish minority.

Kurdish acronyms:

• PKK: Kurdistan Workers' Party - Turkish Kurdish party led by Abdullah Ocalan (jailed since 1999)

• PYD: Democratic Unity Party - PKK-aligned party in Syria

• YPG: Popular Protection Units - PYD-aligned armed force in Syria
• KRG: Kurdistan Regional Government - the official governing body of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq

• KDP: Kurdistan Democratic Party - the dominant Iraqi Kurdish party, led by Massoud Barzani
• HPD: People's Democracy Party - pro-Kurdish left-wing Turkish opposition party which won over 13% of the vote in June elections

Zimbabwean officials: American man wanted in killing of Cecil the lion

(CNN)An American man is being sought in connection with a case that has drawn international attention -- the killing of Cecil the lion -- Zimbabwean officials said Tuesday.

The man suspected in Cecil's death is Walter James Palmer of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, according to Johnny Rodrigues, head of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force.

Cecil, who was 13, was a prized lion in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, where visitors reportedly sighted him frequently. A video of the animal, regal, indifferent and sleepy-eyed, has been widely disseminated.

He was a participant in a study that Oxford University in Britain was conducting, and he had been outfitted with a GPS collar.

A police official in Zimbabwe said that two Zimbabweans had been arrested in the case and that police were looking for Palmer.

Walter James Palmer, a U.S. hunter wanted for killing Cecil the lion, seen posing (on the left) with a dead ram.

An alleged $50,000 payment

The Zimbabweans, Honest Trymore Ndlovu and Theo Bronchorst, were due in court Wednesday, according to a statement from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe. Bronchorst is a professional hunter, the statement said.

Rodrigues said Palmer was an American and gave his passport number and street address, but police were more vague. Charity Charamba, a Zimbabwe police spokeswoman, said police were seeking Palmer, "who might be an American or a Spaniard."

The allegation is that the lion was killed illegally, Charamba said.

In a statement Tuesday, Palmer, who runs a dental practice, said he hired professional guides who secured proper permits.

"To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted," he said in the statement.

"I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt. I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt."

He said no authorities in Zimbabwe or the United States had contacted him but he would assist them in any inquiries.

The hunter concluded: "Again, I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion."

Palmer posing (on right) with dead Black Tailed deer. Palmer said he 'deeply' regrets killing Cecil the lion, and thought the hunt was legal.

Rodrigues said that Palmer "apparently paid $50,000 for the kill and we assume Theo Bronchorst received this money."

The incident may not be the first time Palmer has run afoul of the law while hunting.

A man by the same name and age, and from the same town, illegally killed a black bear in Wisconsin several years ago, according to court documents. That individual pleaded guilty to making a false statement

He knowingly made false statements to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and was sentenced to one year on probation and ordered to pay a fine of nearly $3,000, records show.

Attempts to contact Palmer's lawyer Tuesday about the 2006 case were unsuccessful. Jon Austin, a spokesman for Palmer, said he is aware of reports on the bear case, but had no information.

Wounded, then tracked for another 40 hours

Cecil's death was cruel, in Rodrigues' account.

On July 6, Rodrigues said, Bronchorst took Palmer to Hwange National Park.

"They went hunting at night with a spotlight, and they spotted Cecil," Rodrigues said. "They tied a dead animal to their vehicle to lure Cecil out of the park, and they scented an area about half a kilometer from the park," or about 550 yards.

Rodrigues said Palmer shot Cecil with an arrow but failed to kill him. Then the two men tracked Cecil, finding him about 40 hours later and shooting him to death with a gun, Rodrigues said.

They discovered that he had been fitted with a GPS collar and tried to destroy it, Rodrigues said.

Cecil was skinned and beheaded, Rodrigues said. Contrary to earlier reports, he said, the head has not been found.

"The saddest part of all is that, now that Cecil is dead, the next lion in the hierarchy, Jericho will most likely kill all Cecil's cubs so that he can insert his own bloodline into the females," Rodrigues said. "This is standard procedure for lions."

Conservation concerns

An animal protection group said Cecil's death was sad "not only from an animal welfare perspective, but also for conservation reasons."

African lion populations have fallen almost 60% over the past three decades, and as few as 32,000 of them remain in the wild, the International Fund for Animal Welfare said.

"As troubling as it is, the rarer these trophy hunted animals become, the more hunters are willing to pay to kill them -- like the American hunter who recently paid $350,000 to kill a critically endangered black rhino in Namibia," said Jeff Flocken, the fund's North American regional director.

China shares continue to slide after historic sell-off

Shares in mainland China continued their slide on Tuesday, after a historic sell-off the previous day.

All green across the Shanghai boards - indicating losses in China

The Shanghai Composite fell by 4.3% to 3,567.38 points in early trade, after the index on Monday saw its biggest drop in eight years with an 8% tumble.

China has tried to calm investors by reassuring it would implement prudent monetary policy to stabilise markets.

The country's central bank said it would inject 50bn yuan (£5.2bn; $8.05bn) into the money markets.

The People's Bank of China also insisted that the country's main economic indicators were steadily improving.

The dramatic drop on Monday, though, had followed weak economic data on profit at Chinese industrial firms and a disappointing private factory sector survey on Friday.

Crackdown on 'malicious trading'

The regulating authority China Securities Finance Corporation (CSFC) also said there would be a crackdown on short selling.

"Any malicious trading will be investigated and severely punished," the CSFC warned in a statement.

But analysts are hesitant to take much confidence from those measures.

Evan Lucas, market strategist with trading firm IG said in a note that "clearly the Chinese markets are unable to support themselves".

"The mountain of leverage and the risks of margin calls are hitting market stability."

In Hong Kong's, the Hang Seng index followed the mainland's lead and was down by 0.5% to 24,229.47 points in early trade.

Mers outbreak 'over'

Elsewhere in Asia, stock took the cue from the poor performance on the Chinese mainland and also traded in negative territory.

Asia's largest stock market, Japan's Nikkei 225 was 1.1% down to 20,123.70 points.

Shares in camera maker Canon were up 0.8%. The rise comes as a surprise after the firm cut its earnings outlook and reported a 16% fall in quarterly profit on Monday.

Sales are hit by consumers increasingly using their smartphones rather than compact cameras.

In South Korea, the benchmark Kospi fell 0.9% to 2,019.92 points.

Relief for stocks could come from Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn declaring the end of the deadly outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers).

36 people died out of the 186 infected by the virus, following the first diagnosis on 20 May.

The outbreak had been a major strain on the country's economy, affecting domestic consumption and tourism.

The quarantine of the last suspected patient was lifted on Monday.

Australian stocks followed the region's trend, falling 0.9% to 5,542.20 points.

China is Australia's main market and the dramatic volatility in Chinese stocks as well as the slowing growth indicators are likely dampening investor sentiment.

South Korea declares 'de facto end' to Mers virus

South Korea's Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has declared a "de facto end" to the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Virus (Mers).

The prime minister apologised for the government's response to the outbreak

Mr Hwang said that as there had been no new infections for 23 days, the public could be "can now be free from worry".

He also apologised for the government's much-criticised response to the virus, which has killed 36 people in South Korea, Yonhap news agency reports.

But the WHO said it was not yet declaring Mers officially over.

A spokeswoman in Manila said the WHO required 28 days without a new infection to make the announcement - twice the incubation period of the virus. The last case was confirmed in South Korea on 4 July.

South Korean Health Ministry official Kwon Duk-cheol said precautions, including screening at airports, would remain in place "until the situation comes to a formal end", AFP news agency reports.

"We still have many arrivals from the Middle East so there is always a possibility that new patients can come in," he added.

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers)

• Mers is caused by a coronavirus, a type of virus which includes the common cold and Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome).
• First cases emerged in the Middle East in 2012, and the first death in Saudi Arabia in June that year.
• Believed to have originated in camels, though the transmission to humans is not fully understood.
• The virus does not pass easily between humans - infections usually occur in people who have had close contact with an infected person.
• Patients have a fever, cough and breathing difficulties, but Mers can also cause pneumonia and kidney failure.
• Approximately 36% of reported patients with Mers have died - there is no vaccine or specific treatment.

Mers: The new coronavirus explained

How South Korea is coping with outbreak

'Shake off all concerns'

Speaking in Seoul Mr Hwang said that "after weighing various circumstances, the medical personnel and the government judge that the people can now be free from worry".

"I ask the public to shake off all concerns over Mers and to resume normal daily activities, including economic, cultural, leisure and school activities," the Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying.

Most South Korea infections have happened at health care centres

"I am sorry to the people for causing worries and discomfort."

Mers appeared in South Korea on 26 May, brought by a man who had visited the Middle East, where the disease was first identified in 2012.

South Korea - the only outbreak outside the Middle East - has confirmed 186 infections, with 36 deaths.

The government was accused of being slow to react to the crisis, with most of the infections happened at health centres which were not adequately prepared for a contagious disease.

The outbreak - and subsequent quarantine and restrictions on daily life - have had a disastrous effect on the economy, with tourism seeing a 40% drop in foreign visitors.

Last week, the government approved a 11.5tn won ($9.8bn; £6.3bn) package to help the struggling economy.