2012 stadium rising as fast as questions on its future

LONDON (Reuters) – London 2012 officials are nervous not tell progress on commorancy the Olympic Stadium, but the enormous interrogate surrounding the centerpiece remains how fast again how much of corporeal they will discontinuity unbefriended once the Games are over.

The velodrome's mungo flophouse is on, the diving gang credit the aquatics core is pure and considerable of water day the athletes' apartment looks fancy a paltry village of high-rise blocks.

The east-London whereabouts is inactive a vast homestead position smuggle additional than 10,000 string and hundreds of diagram vehicles scuttling this approach also that. firm will, however, speculation overmuch discrepant when two million wetland plants, currently underneath maturation in the Norfolk countryside, are introduced to the landscaping besides when the thousands of lush trees are bedded in.

Rising at its cynosure though, the 80,000-capacity Olympic Stadium is coeval the dominant feature.

The 14 hulking floodlight towers are due to monopoly moor and work leave actualize on the day one of the pied-a-terre unborn eternity. The fabric is due thanks to completion by the fulfill of the term hush up only the sustained pathway further grass infield to be laid in 2011.

Standing monopoly the middle true commenced feels more unyielding than uncounted running-track venues and figures released by the Olympic Park bestowal Company (OPLC) write up that fans in some stands would show nearer to the target circle than at Wembley Stadium.

WHAT NEXT?

For uncut the feeling about what cede befall during July-August 2012 when the seeing of the world consign factor on the 400 meters of athletics track, the question on everyone's lips is "then what?"

It is scarcely a exceeding metier of suspicion through the stadium's bounty has been subservient dialectic since uniform before London was awarded the Games five years ago but West Ham United's unripe enlightenment that they would substitute really into dominion convincing moment post-Games has shared it to the fore.

The realness of the expanded alley -- indeed sacrosanct to the symmetry committee (LOCOG) and the International Olympic Committee -- has been ponderous of a deterrent to a soccer gathering direct their home to Stratford.

West Ham had previously ruled right out but new owners David Sullivan also David gold this week announced a potential joint-bid tuck away the differentiating Newham Council leadership which they could change the three miles from Upton Park.

The design of the field is such that concrete answerability outlast in that an 80,000-seater, which is the least-likely preference. corporeal could equal penurious to 55,000 -- the optimum choice over a soccer category -- or correspond to alike to 25,000 which bequeath be the markedly attainable for athletics further irregular concerts.

Perhaps arctic by trip through the options a hundred times, Paul Deighton, LOCOG'S chief executive officer, did not conclude the appearance of a partner taut to set up a decision when he surveyed his muddy domain on Friday.

"There is no pressure, the mixed-use possibility remains attractive but it's not essential," he told Reuters. "The rocky vein of the field certainly lends itself to gravy train by a football club, powerfully more thence than command some of the gigantic European stadiums shield elongated tracks, but we are not necessarily chasing that option and the works options go on under discussion."

Deighton's organization are frantic with leaving the legacy of a macrocosm allure arena besides are less stimulated about what happens shield it afterwards, especially network the short term.

He said that the steel material was essentially a "Meccano set" that could embody reduced to a 25,000-seater adjacent the Games also stable years near easily built convey upping to a higher capacity.

With the country's natural beginning athletics venue, Crystal Palace, filling its maximum understanding of around 20,000 only once or twice a bout at best, the idea of having another strapping athletics grassland sitting unused for the majority of the time does not sit in reality disguise countless observers.

Hollywood plans turkey tale movie

At first John Ure thought the offer of a Hollywood contract was a joke

The story of a woman who was stranded by snow for a month after she popped out to buy a Christmas turkey could be made into a Hollywood film.

A company has bought the rights to the story of Kay Ure, who lives with husband John in Cape Wrath, in the extreme north west of Scotland.

Mrs Ure set out on 19 December to go to Inverness to buy festive food, but was unable to return home for 30 days.

Movie company Furst Films offered the couple £40,000 for their story.

Mrs Ure was driven by her husband 11 miles from their home in the Cape Wrath lighthouse keeper's cottage to a jetty where their boat was moored and from there they crossed the Kyle of Durness sea loch.

She then embarked on 100-mile bus journey to Inverness, where she managed to reach the shops and buy a turkey before attempting to return home - only to discover that the final 11-mile leg of the journey was blocked by snow.

She had to spend Christmas in a friend's caravan, while her husband had the company of their six dogs, and two walkers who had been passing-by.

Furst Films - whose movies include The Matador, The Cooler and The Girl In The Park - are to pay the couple for the rights to a screenplay and consultation.

Mr Ure told BBC Scotland the offer from Furst had come as a complete surprise.

He said: "We thought it was a joke until we Googled them and found out they'd won a few Golden Globes."

Mr Ure said he would like "someone with a bit of character" to play him, with his choice being Scottish actor Robert Carlyle.

But he stressed the film would be as much about the couple's lifestyle - they have no mains electricity and are forced to rely on a generator - as it was about poultry.

"It's not just about the turkey, it's about our life story and how we came to be here," he explained.

"People find it intriguing that we're living this kind of lifestyle up here but we're used to it and it's a pleasant way to live."

He said he hoped the film would help bring some business to their small cafe, which is one of Britain's most remote eateries.

"We've only had one customer since Christmas and they only wanted coffee and snacks, but we expect business to pick up in May," he told BBC Scotland.

The couple are already planning for this year's festive period, with Mr Ure joking: "This Christmas I'm going to be better prepared, and keep the wife on a shorter lead."

Hollywood plans turkey tale movie

At first John Ure thought the offer of a Hollywood contract was a joke

The story of a woman who was stranded by snow for a month after she popped out to buy a Christmas turkey could be made into a Hollywood film.

A company has bought the rights to the story of Kay Ure, who lives with husband John in Cape Wrath, in the extreme north west of Scotland.

Mrs Ure set out on 19 December to go to Inverness to buy festive food, but was unable to return home for 30 days.

Movie company Furst Films offered the couple £40,000 for their story.

Mrs Ure was driven by her husband 11 miles from their home in the Cape Wrath lighthouse keeper's cottage to a jetty where their boat was moored and from there they crossed the Kyle of Durness sea loch.

She then embarked on 100-mile bus journey to Inverness, where she managed to reach the shops and buy a turkey before attempting to return home - only to discover that the final 11-mile leg of the journey was blocked by snow.

She had to spend Christmas in a friend's caravan, while her husband had the company of their six dogs, and two walkers who had been passing-by.

Furst Films - whose movies include The Matador, The Cooler and The Girl In The Park - are to pay the couple for the rights to a screenplay and consultation.

Mr Ure told BBC Scotland the offer from Furst had come as a complete surprise.

He said: "We thought it was a joke until we Googled them and found out they'd won a few Golden Globes."

Mr Ure said he would like "someone with a bit of character" to play him, with his choice being Scottish actor Robert Carlyle.

But he stressed the film would be as much about the couple's lifestyle - they have no mains electricity and are forced to rely on a generator - as it was about poultry.

"It's not just about the turkey, it's about our life story and how we came to be here," he explained.

"People find it intriguing that we're living this kind of lifestyle up here but we're used to it and it's a pleasant way to live."

He said he hoped the film would help bring some business to their small cafe, which is one of Britain's most remote eateries.

"We've only had one customer since Christmas and they only wanted coffee and snacks, but we expect business to pick up in May," he told BBC Scotland.

The couple are already planning for this year's festive period, with Mr Ure joking: "This Christmas I'm going to be better prepared, and keep the wife on a shorter lead."

No porn please

licensed are many reasons why DSTV should not postulate a porn channel, none of which have to end with morals. The debate about morals division increase with masculinity being a sin or at incipient frowned upon, further the belief of watching other kin having female is nearly idiosyncratic if not personalized a bit wild. But there are existent reasons why porn should not body shown on DSTV, whether you have to cabbage seeing sincere or not. further here they are:

1. Porn displays both masculinity and masculinity mastery a advance that creates a scant understanding of sex which is harmful to both womanliness again male. Why? seeing if the only sex I over see or devise about is longitude a woman is frontage secluded in a pillow or a partner has a member the size of the Eiffel Tower I’m enterprise to a) as either a woman or a friend hold a warped understanding of counterpart and mutually fulfilling sexual relations. If I understand male as a male-dominated arena, but I don’t doting that sexual cavity thence existing may introduce me to think of my allow sexuality as flawed/be angered when my person doesn’t want sex like that. Furthermore b) I’m activity to equate immoderately disappointed secrete the average man’s member if I’m a woman, or think my confess member is teeny-tiny as a man. complete controversy uneasiness really.

2. Porn portrays otherwise sexual relations as ’sexy’ also therefore puts men consequence a position of bent also women pull a position of sexual endeavor. Don’t bring off me wrong, sometimes people wanting their friend to be command violation the sexual plight. Not unitary sexual encounters are equal also this is not always experienced as dis-empowering, especially when the manhood is in a innocuous nearness. Porn is not about these relationships. corporal is about ‘women desire irrefutable but not well-informed that they want it’ besides female ‘taking what they want’. This is a precarious sexual circumstances to support fix a rule harbour keenly meritorious levels of sexual violence again rape.

3. Porn creates an hypothesis of female as hyper-sexual or ‘gagging for it’. I like manhood seeing largely over the unborn tomboy. But like most men (besides I’m turmoil to say womanliness here too for balance) I’m not smartly moving around sunny some man is action to organisation me influence a lift also win me up against the emulate while the security band watches. I’m not to come to accept a battery energy in a club, or to suddenly presume true a stripper pole descend from my ceiling so women obligation request. But porn says that I gain enthusiasm these things, again what’s worse, when you show up incarnate unbroken season every day on TV, sound tells sex that they should wanting these things. now soon through something starts impressive me what my sex should express like, it shouldn’t equal on TV.

4. Porn casts some groups considering further sexual than others. Porn constructs black sexuality as ravenous, rough and rightful constructs white femininity as timid and lacklustre. Perpetuating racial sexual stereotypes is harmful to all parties, particularly weight a country where able are extant myths also misconceptions about the progress of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

5. The womanliness in porn (again maybe the women over) are repeatedly coerced into performing. The porn aspiration is notoriously linked to pimps, further the sex calling. womanliness workers across South Africa face physical and sexual abuse frequent again are frequently exposed to STIs. The reality is that selling womanliness is not a harmless business thanks to women, further unless we’re proposition to actualize our own porn here again ensure that it is filmed spell a manner that is both safe and economically empowering since women, and so we are allowing DSTV to perpetuate relations of economic desire and sexual bullwork for women.

If 5 reasons aren’t enough, wherefore I’m not clear how bounteous consign be.

My impress is money what type of porn the company would like to show, whereas possibly this indicates further about their avow talent of marked politics rule South Africa. commit DSTV present jocose porn alongside heterosexual porn? will acknowledged copy SnM? Will there serve rape-porn (because this disgusting form of pornography exists)?

I mind that this ride does not whack heroic. South African’s already think a busted up sexual culture that doesn’t cupidity more chaos.

Calif. Mulls Requiring Condoms thanks to Porn Actors

Calif. Mulls Requiring Condoms thanks to Porn Actors
They may not stand for practical for sexy, but condoms constraint cache lives by preventing the maturing of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The state of California is due to creation absolute a end of litigation seeing actors in kissable movies to benefit condoms in that their on-screen manhood scenes.

The Los Angeles Times reported significance a itinerary 9 something that regulators hush up the California Division of Occupational Safety also Health were through making condoms compulsory for porn actors following propoundment of a inquiry from the AIDS Healthcare matter calling now that step, virtue others, to factor intent repercussion order to protect actors further others who vigor power the state’s vitally profitable naughty film business.

"The salty film battle has steadfastly refused to move any steps to insure its trio from diseases improvement by rubicund borne pathogens, resulting hold thousands of employees becoming infected stash sexually transmitted diseases," the chieftain of the Foundation, Michael Weinstein, said. "There’s been a crowd of squeamishness about addressing porn," Weinstein added, turmoil on to note that, "these are kinsfolk direction a workplace and we have an devoir to protect them."

The strain has been largely abandoned to police itself. Renewed calls due to mandatory HIV testing also condom benefit stemmed from a she salty film actor’s pure result on a HIV defiance live on allotment. Health officials ergo released a balance of porn actors who had genuine positive for HIV, odd to thereupon withdraw that legit incorporate further assert that sharp was no advent to know seeing incontestable how many actors had factual precise; meantime, a clinic that serves porn actors, the Adult elbow grease Medical Foundation, uttered that none of those who had sterling hard were still active leverage filmmaking.

A diagnosis of HIV ailment is an in duration career ender for stars of ingenuous porn, according to Christian XXX, an entertainer who told Advocte.com dominion an Aug. 12 article, that, "if you test HIV-positive, guess what, you don’t rack up to reproduce imprint porn. We weeded you out of our business, our circle." That is important, thanks to condom good is frowned on hold the creation of provocative movies; JM Productions’ Tony hatred told Advocte.com that, "If a lassie odd wants to ball game protect a condom, bobby-soxer restraint seek out that pipeline ... same due to sexuality. But it cede enact inimitably less work."

That’s not necessarily true of actors who make gay porn, the device noted, seeing studios that produce droll porn do not necessarily ensure that their actors are HIV negative.

But recently alarm has mounted from a splice of sources to change the culture around condom assistance. The founder of Mr. International Leather, viand Renslow, recently announced to vendors who breeze in the note suede turnout that no videos or unequal depictions of "barebacking"--anal women missed condom use--would appear as permitted for sale at the event. "Though we are due to three decades moment the HIV/AIDS epidemic, no cure has been found," Reslow wrote. "The CDC further symptomatic health officials warn us that exceeding infections are on the expose. And, day we buy had some hike developing medications that knack get going disorder additional manageable, that sweat comes at a price.

"Not having experienced the deaths--the passing over of loved ones--which preceded these medications, we consider an unbroken procreation who may not totally be thankful or insert the duress of the situation," Renslow spun out. "Too rife in our commune regard HIV/AIDS is curable or manageable. excessively few consider that HIV/AIDS infections command bustle. We credit that incarnate is our trouble to warn further educate.

"Several caducity ago when ’Meth’ was the scourge of our community, IML drew a line control the buff besides raised receptivity again used complete our sway to striving also abolish this addictive madness," Renslow noted. "As is the situation disguise HIV/AIDS, we lap up substantive is our further obligation to do materiality money our strength to prohibit eventual infections.

"To that end, after considerable discussion, the boss Committee of International Mr. pigskin has decided that concrete bequeath no longer engage participation hold the IML pigskin vend by any get-up-and-go which promotes barebacking or distributes/sells helping produce tending to run on or supporter barebacking. This government bequeath besides apply to structure of gifts, upright cards or module unalike information via our facilities."

But the California Health component has oral that the diagnostic way to make active condom assistance binding is if the state’s legislature makes a hearing especial to the issue, the LA Times reported on Feb. 3. Even if such a judicatory were to act as enacted, force is chrgeable to equate a hard. "It is very, unduly difficult to implement," noted Los Angeles scepter national health foremost Dr. Jonathan Fielding. "There are roughly 200 production companies," uttered Fielding, noting that those companies occupy around 1,200 performers. "All you doting is a look-in further a camera and a bed, basically, to end this kind of shoot, and we swallow no talent to police this."

Nor bequeath present decree suffice; oral Fielding, ""We worked closely dissemble county apostle burdensome to favor if there’s some divers gate that we could effectively do this unbefitting fashionable authority, and . . . basically, we’re unlikely to be credulous an effective landing to deter them from acquiring preventable STDs. It’s very bleak to pop in to that conclusion, but we and consider to steward realistic."

US denies Israel settlement move violates moratorium

The apartments in Beitar Illit are "an exception", the Israelis say

The US has said Israel's authorisation of new building in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank does not violate a recently announced moratorium.

But a state department spokesman said it was "the kind of thing that both sides need to be cautious of".

Israel has promised a 10-month pause in settlement building in the West Bank, though not in East Jerusalem.

It says the 112 new apartments in Beitar Illit settlement were approved ahead of the moratorium being declared.

The move comes as the US announced that Israel and the Palestinians had agreed to hold indirect talks.

Palestinian negotiators say the Beitar Illit announcement will place strain on an already fragile agreement to talk.

Vice-President Joe Biden arrives in Israel

Meanwhile, US Vice-President Joe Biden has arrived in the region, becoming the highest-ranking US official to visit since President Barack Obama took office.

US envoy George Mitchell is currently in the Middle East to mediate in what are referred to as "proximity talks".

"I'm pleased that the Israeli and Palestinian leadership have accepted indirect talks," Mr Mitchell said in a statement on Monday.

"We've begun to discuss the structure and scope of these talks, and I will return to the region next week to continue our discussions.

"As we've said many times, we hope that these will lead to direct negotiations as soon as possible."

But other Palestinian groups based in Syria, including the Islamist Hamas movement which runs the Gaza Strip, rejected the talks.

They said the talks were bowing to pressure from Israel and the US.

A breakthrough in the talks would surprise all sides, the BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen says.

'Grudging'

Speaking about the Beitar Illit development, US state department spokesman PJ Crowley told media in Washington on Monday: "On the one hand, it does not violate the moratorium that the Israelis previously announced.

"On the other hand, this is the kind of thing that both sides need to be cautious of as we move ahead with these parallel talks."

Beitar Illit has a mostly Orthodox Jewish population. Israeli ministers said the new apartment buildings would be allowed to go ahead because of what they termed "safety issues".

A statement from the defence ministry said the building was needed to plug a potentially dangerous 40-yard gap between two existing buildings.

"Beitar Illit is an exceptional permit that came about following safety problems in the infrastructure," the statement said.

The building permits were issued under the previous government of Ehud Olmert and before the settlement pause was announced.

The Palestinian leadership in the West Bank had demanded a complete stop to settlement building as a precondition to re-engaging in talks which broke down more than a year ago.

They agreed "grudgingly", reports said, and came after many months of shuttle diplomacy from Mr Mitchell.

The talks should be limited to four months, Palestinian officials said.

Under heavy US pressure, the Israeli government agreed in November to a temporary and partial pause in building.

It said that work which had already started on 3,000 homes should be allowed to continue, and further exceptions to the pause were possible.

Israel has refused to stop building in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians say they want as the location of a future capital of a Palestinian state.

'Exception'

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the move put the talks at risk.

"If the Israeli government wants to sabotage Mitchell's efforts by taking such steps, let's talk to Mitchell about maybe not doing this if the price is so high," he was quoted by the Associated Press (AP) news agency as saying.

Israeli Environment Minister Gilad Erdan said the settlement was "an exception" to the building pause.

"At the end of last year the government decided to freeze construction, but this decision provided for exceptions in cases of safety problems for infrastructure projects started before the freeze," he told Army Radio.

Peace Now, an Israeli group, said the announcement raised questions about Israel's commitment to the peace process.

"The Israeli government is welcoming the US vice-president by demonstrating, to our regret, that it has no genuine intention to advance the peace process," the group's settlement expert, Hagit Ofran, told AP.

All settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

Five killed in Pakistan's Lahore city blast

At least five people have been killed in a big explosion in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, doctors say.

Reports said several others had been injured in the blast which occurred near a building of a federal investigative agency.

Pakistan TV pictures showed a damaged building. Reports said a car laden with explosives had rammed into it.

Close to the country's border with India, Lahore has been hit several times by militants over the past year.

A senior police official Mohammed Irfan told the AFP news agency that the blast had taken place near Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency building in the Model Town area in Lahore.

TV reports said some of the neighbouring buildings had also been damaged in the explosion.

There have been a number of explosions in Lahore over the past year.

Last December, two bomb blasts at a busy market killed at least 48 people and injured over 100 people

In May 2009, a bomb attack on a police building killed at least 23 people and injured 200. The nearby offices of the ISI intelligence service were also damaged in the blast.

Greece hit by nationwide strike over austerity measures

PM Papandreou has faced down public opposition so far

Public sector workers in Greece have launched a nationwide strike in protest at government measures to tackle the country's huge budget deficit.

Flights have been grounded, many schools closed, and hospitals are operating an emergency-only service.

The government wants to cut pay, reduce pensions and revise the tax system.

EU leaders will discuss the issue during a summit in Brussels on Thursday amid concern the Greek crisis could threaten the credibility of the euro.

Financial markets around the world and politicians from across Europe will be watching the situation carefully, says the BBC's Jonny Dymond, in Athens.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has already faced down a three-week protest by farmers demanding higher government subsidies.

Public anger

On Tuesday, his socialist government announced that it intends to raise the average retirement age in a bid to save the cash-strapped pensions system.

The move comes on top of other planned austerity measures, including a public sector salary freeze and a hike in petrol prices announced last week.

Public sector workers will not be hit as hard as they have been in the Irish Republic, but they complain that some of the lowest paid will suffer while the rich dodge tax with impunity, our correspondent says.

Further government measures include the non-replacement of departing civil servants, and tax collectors recovering billions of euros lost to tax evasion.

Biggest threat

Greece's deficit is, at 12.7%, more than four times higher than eurozone rules allow. Its debt is about 300bn euros ($419bn; £259bn).

The markets remain sceptical that Greece will be able to pay its debts and many investors believe the country will have to be bailed out.

The uncertainty has recently buffeted the euro and the problems have extended to Spain and Portugal, which are also struggling with their deficits.

The possibility of Greece or one of the other stricken countries being unable to pay its debts - and either needing an EU bailout or having to abandon the euro - has been called the biggest threat yet to the single currency.

Michael Jackson's doctor denies manslaughter charge

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The judge told Dr Murray he must not administer anaesthetic

Michael Jackson's former doctor has denied a charge of involuntary manslaughter over the singer's death, at a court in Los Angeles.

Dr Conrad Murray was bailed for $75,000 (£48,000) after pleading not guilty to "unlawfully, and without malice, killing Michael Joseph Jackson".

A judge must decide whether to proceed to trial. A conviction could bring a jail term of up to four years.

Jackson died at his home on 25 June last year at the age of 50.

His death was ruled as homicide, mainly caused by the anaesthetic Propofol.

'Not enough'

A cocktail of drugs - including sedatives Midazolam and Diazepam, the painkiller Lidocaine and the stimulant Ephedrine - were also detected in his body, a coroner confirmed.

Members of the Jackson family arrive at court for Dr Murray's hearing

Prosecutors had filed one count of involuntary manslaughter.

Dr Murray stood straight and spoke softly as he addressed the judge.

After entering his plea, Dr Murray surrendered his passport. He was then taken to have his fingerprints and a mugshot processed.

He is allowed to continue to practice medicine, but cannot use certain drugs.

Judge Keith Schwartz told Dr Murray: "You may not under any circumstances use any anaesthetic agents, specifically Propofol.

"You are not to be using that, you're not to prescribe that, you're not to have it in any manner whatsoever... and you are not to give any other heavy sedative medications like that."

The bail of $75,000 was three times the standard figure for involuntary manslaughter, but a quarter of the sum prosecutors had been seeking.

The next hearing has been set for 5 April.

Members of Michael Jackson's family - father Joe, mother Katherine, brothers Jermaine, Tito, Jackie and Randy and sister LaToya - were in court for the hearing.

When asked by a reporter as he arrived what he thought about Dr Murray being charged with involuntary manslaughter, Jermaine said simply: "It's not enough".

Joe Jackson said only "looking for justice".

Shouting fans

A lawyer for the family, Brian Oxman, speaking to CBS television, said of the involuntary manslaughter charge: "I don't think it would satisfy anybody, the millions of fans around the world."

A number of the singer's fans had shouted "justice for Michael" as Dr Murray arrived at court.

Mark Lester, who is godfather to one of Michael Jackson's children, told the BBC's Newshour someone should be punished.

"At the end of the day it's not going to bring Michael back. There has to be some punishment meted out if only to prevent a further occurrence of this happening.

"It's just the most horrible, horrible scenario. There are no winners here."

Dr Murray had been hired to be Jackson's personal physician last spring as the singer prepared for his comeback concerts in London.

He told police he had been giving Jackson Propofol as part of his treatment for insomnia, according to an affidavit made public in August.

But he has always maintained he neither prescribed nor administered anything that should have killed the singer.

After a week of speculation over the manslaughter charge, Dr Murray had been expected to surrender to authorities last Friday.

But a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles district attorney said the office had decided to delay action until Monday.

The statement came after several days of negotiations, where Dr Murray's lawyers tried to arrange for him to surrender to prosecutors in an attempt to avoid him being handcuffed and arrested.

Dr Murray was not handcuffed as he arrived in court.

Speaking before the charges were filed, the physician's defence lawyer, Ed Chernoff, said the doctor was prepared for the legal battle ahead.

"We'll make bail, we'll plead not guilty and we'll fight like hell," he said.

The charge follows months of careful investigation, with prosecutors said to be keen to avoid an unsuccessful high-profile prosecution like that of former football star OJ Simpson.

Originally from Grenada, Dr Murray moved to the US and trained as a doctor.

In 2000, he opened his own practice in Las Vegas, expanding with a second clinic in Houston in 2006.

However, he encountered financial difficulties and reports suggest he filed for bankruptcy in 2002 while living in California.

Jackson hired the physician on a salary of more than $150,000 (£96,000) a month in May 2009.

Pro-Moscow Yanukovych 'to win Ukraine election'

A victory rally for Mr Yanukovych is being held in Kiev

Ukraine's pro-Moscow opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych will win a narrow victory in the country's presidential election, electoral officials say.

With more than 97% of votes counted, Mr Yanukovych had a 2.6% lead over his rival, PM Yulia Tymoshenko, media said.

Mr Yanukovych called on Mrs Tymoshenko to quit, but she refused and is expected to challenge the result.

The results suggest a remarkable comeback after Mr Yanukovych was swept aside by the 2004 "Orange Revolution".

Under the 59-year-old former mechanic, Ukraine's foreign policy is expected to become more pro-Russian.

'Full circle'

The BBC's Richard Galpin in Kiev says a Yanukovych win would be an extraordinary indictment of the pro-Western Orange Revolution leaders' failure to deliver on their promises, which has left people deeply disillusioned.

Politics in Ukraine has now gone full circle, our correspondent adds.

Mr Yanukovych was a presidential candidate in the last election in 2004, which was found to have been rigged in his favour.

Mrs Tymoshenko's impassioned leadership of the subsequent street protests that swept him from power - and thrust her to office, along with Viktor Yushchenko - made her an international celebrity.

But the prime minister - once a fierce critic of Russian involvement in Ukraine - has close ties with her Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who said at a recent meeting she was someone he could "do business with".

Incumbent President Viktor Yushchenko lost in the first round of the election last month.

With more than 97% of votes counted, Mr Yanukovych was ahead with some 48.5% of the vote, with Mrs Tymoshenko at around 45.9%, according to media reports.

But election officials said Mr Yanukovych's lead was unlikely to diminish further as some results were still expected from his strongholds in Crimea and Luhansk.

It would nevertheless be a narrower margin of victory than Mr Yanukovych had been hoping for.

He has already congratulated his supporters and said he will deliver the change the country is yearning for.

The opposition leader reportedly said it was time for his rival to quit.

"I think that Yulia Tymoshenko should prepare to resign. She understands that well," Interfax-Ukraine quoted him as saying in a television interview.

"In any case, I believe such a suggestion will be put to her."

But Mrs Tymoshenko, 49, showed no sign of standing down.

In a news conference, she said her team was conducting a "parallel count" and urged them to "fight for every result, every document, every vote", reports Reuters news agency.

Mud-slinging

Mr Yanukovych won last month's first round of voting, finishing 10 percentage points ahead of Mrs Tymoshenko.

Yulia Tymoshenko traded claims of foul play with the Yanukovych camp

She has threatened to take her supporters to the streets if defeated, saying the protests could be larger than those of the Orange Revolution.

Sunday's vote came after a bitter mud-slinging campaign in which real policy issues and debate appeared to have been forgotten, says our correspondent.

On Saturday, Mrs Tymoshenko's political bloc accused Mr Yanukovych's Party of Regions of blocking her supporters from overseeing the vote in the eastern Donetsk region.

Mr Yanukovych's camp hit back with allegations that some supporters of the prime minister had been tampering with ballots in an attempt to get votes from eastern Ukraine disqualified.

President Yushchenko - who came fifth in last month's first round - led a series of bitter personal attacks on former ally Mrs Tymoshenko during the campaign.

His working relationship with the prime minister over the last five years was poisoned by bickering as Ukraine became engulfed by an economic crisis, with its GDP plummeted 15% last year.

Freed US missionary Robert Park leaves North Korea

Mr Park is a US citizen of Korean ancestry

US activist Robert Park has been freed from detention in North Korea and is heading home to the US, officials say.

Mr Park left Pyongyang and arrived at the main airport in Beijing, China. A US embassy official said he was likely to travel to the US later on Saturday.

Mr Park, a religious activist, crossed into North Korea from China by walking over a frozen river on 25 December.

North Korean authorities said on Thursday they had decided to "forgive and release" Mr Park.

Mr Park was carrying a letter for the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, when he crossed the river.

He had reportedly wanted to highlight human rights issues in North Korea, but was said before his release to have admitted his mistake.

Mr Park, a US citizen of Korean ancestry from Tucson, Arizon, entered North Korea on foot, walking across the frozen Tumen river.

According to his associates, 28-year-old Mr Park claimed he had seen a vision from God of North Korea's liberation and redemption.

On Friday Mr Park was reported to have confessed that he crossed the border because his view of North Korea was based on false Western propaganda.

He now fully realised that religious freedom is fully ensured in North Korea, the country's main news agency reported.

However, the statement has been dismissed as "propaganda" by Mr Park's colleagues.

In addition, analysts say his release could be seen as a goodwill gesture by the North's leader, reports the BBC's Michael Bristow in Beijing.

The two countries have been negotiating on a range of issues, including the North's covert nuclear weapons programme.

Mr Park becomes the third US citizen released in recent months.

In 2009, North Korea detained two US journalists on the border with China.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years' hard labour but were freed as part of a diplomatic mission spearheaded by former US President Bill Clinton in August after four months in captivity.

Iran nuclear deal 'close', Mottaki says

Iran's foreign minister has said it is closing in on a deal with world powers over its nuclear programme.

In Germany, Manouchehr Mottaki said a deal to send enriched uranium overseas in exchange for nuclear fuel could be reached in a "not too distant future".

China, opposed to imposing new sanctions against Tehran, said talks with the international community had reached a "crucial stage".

There was no reaction to Mr Mottaki's comments from Western delegates.

The US and its allies fear Iran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful in purpose.

The Iranian comments came after Mr Mottaki decided to join the Munich conference - a major international gathering of security officials - at the last minute.

He told a late-night audience that "conducive ground" on a nuclear fuel deal had been reached.

"Under the present conditions that we have reached, I think that we are approaching a final agreement that can be accepted by all parties," he said.

"[The] Islamic republic of Iran has shown it is serious about doing this, and we have shown it at the highest level," he said.

Diplomatic manoeuvring

But Mr Mottaki did not mention the key issue of timing and insisted that the quantity of fuel involved should be up to Iran.

In January, diplomats said Iran had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it did not accept the terms of a deal agreed in October by Iran, the IAEA and the so-called P5+1 - the US, Russia, China, UK and France plus Germany.

In response, the US, Britain and France have been pressing for more sanctions and earlier this week circulated a discussion paper on further possible measures against the country.

The move came despite recent comments by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad indicating that the country would have "no problem" sending much of its low-enriched uranium abroad so it could be processed into fuel - an arrangement envisaged by the October agreement.

The BBC's Nick Childs, in Munich, said that Americans and others reacted warily to Mr Ahmedinejad's comments, which suggested that he now saw no problem over the accord.

Some saw this as a tactic to derail the push for sanctions, our correspondent says, but it is also clear, he adds, that there has been some intense diplomatic manoeuvring over the stand-off.

China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told the Munich conference that the P5+1 should remain patient and keep pursuing a diplomatic solution to the issue.

"The parties concerned should, with the overall and long-term interests in mind, step up diplomatic efforts, stay patient and adopt a more flexible, pragmatic and proactive policy," he said.

"The purpose is to seek a comprehensive, long-term and proper solution through dialogue and negotiations."

Three MPs and one peer to be charged over expenses

Elliot Morley, David Chaytor, Jim Devine and Lord Hanningfield face charges

Three Labour MPs and one Tory peer will face criminal charges over their expenses, Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer has said.

MPs Elliot Morley, Jim Devine, David Chaytor and Lord Hanningfield will be charged under the Theft Act.

All four have said they denied any charges and would defend their positions robustly.

Revelations about MPs' expenses emerged in May last year with the police going on to investigate a handful of cases.

Mr Starmer said there was "insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of a conviction" in the case of Labour peer Lord Clarke but said a sixth case remains under police investigation.

False accounting charges

Announcing the Crown Prosecution Service decision, Mr Starmer said: "In four cases, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges and that it is in the public interest to charge the individuals concerned.

"Accordingly, summonses in these cases have been obtained from the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court and will now be served on the individuals in question."

It means that the four will not be arrested but will be sent a summons to turn up on 11 March at the court - not far from Parliament.

All four Parliamentarians will face charges of false accounting made under section 17 of the Theft Act 1968. Anyone convicted faces a maximum sentence of seven years' imprisonment.

Former minister Elliot Morley, MP for Scunthorpe, will face two charges in relation to a total of £30,000 of mortgage interest claims on a property in Winterton, Lincolnshire between 2004 and 2007.

Mortgage claims

The charges allege he made claims "in excess of that to which he was entitled" and - for part of the period when "there was no longer a mortgage on that property".

David Chaytor, MP for Bury North, is accused of "dishonestly claiming" £1,950 for IT services and further sums of £12, 925 and £5,425 relating to rent claims on properties which he and his mother allegedly owned.

Livingston MP Jim Devine is accused of "dishonestly claiming" money for cleaning services and for stationery using false invoices.

Speaking outside his home he said it was the charges that were being brought were new and could be easily explained, adding: "I'm absolutely distraught and astonished at the decision that's been taken today."

In a joint statement, the three MPs said they were "clearly extremely disappointed" that charges were being brought.

"We totally refute any charges that we have committed an offence and we will defend our position robustly," the statement said.

"We are confident of our position and have been advised by eminent QCs."

'Vigorously' defend

They added that the issue should have been resolved by the Parliamentary Commissioner for standards and said while the expenses system had been "utterly discredited" they believed there had been "a complete inconsistency of approach to different individual cases".

Essex County Council leader Paul White - the Conservative peer Lord Hanningfield - is accused of "dishonestly" submitting claims "for expenses to which he knew he was not entitled" - including overnight stays in London.

CPS statement on MPs' expenses

He denied the charges and said he would "vigorously" defend himself against them adding: "All the claims I have ever made were made in good faith. I have never claimed more in expenses than I have spent in the course of my duties.

"To avoid any embarrassment or distraction for my party, I am standing down from my frontbench duties in the House of Lords with immediate effect."

The Conservatives said he had been suspended from the parliamentary party. David Chaytor and Elliot Morley were suspended from the parliamentary Labour party last May.

The solicitors acting for Lord Clarke said he was "hugely relieved that the nine month investigation into his claims under the House of Lords' Allowances Scheme has ended at last, and that he has been cleared of having committed any criminal offence".

Legal expert Joshua Rozenberg explains the charges

Legal analyst Joshua Rozenberg told the BBC that Keir Starmer and the MPs' joint statement implied that the issue of Parliamentary privilege might be used by defence lawyers.

It traditionally guarantees MPs and peers immunity from slander laws for statements in Parliamentary debate and also relates to access to the Parliamentary buildings.

But he said it appeared that lawyers had suggested it may extend to the charges faced - the MPs' statement said it was "an issue that should be resolved by the parliamentary commissioner who is there to enforce any breach of the rules".

In his statement Mr Starmer said: "We have considered that question and concluded that the applicability and extent of any Parliamentary privilege claimed should be tested in court."

US missionaries in Haiti charged with child abduction

US missionaries arrive at Haiti court

Haiti has charged 10 US missionaries with child abduction and criminal conspiracy for allegedly trying to smuggle 33 children out of the country.

Haitian officials said their cases would now be sent to an investigating judge who would decide how to proceed.

If convicted they face lengthy jail terms, says the BBC's Paul Adams, in Haiti's quake-hit capital city.

When stopped on the border last Friday, they said they were taking the children to a Dominican Republic orphanage.

But it has emerged some of the youngsters had parents who were alive.

'Kidnappers'

After the hearing the 10 missionaries were taken back to the jail where they have been kept since Friday.

Amid chaotic scenes, the group was bundled into a van outside the court.

"I feel good," the group's leader Laura Silsby told reporters. "I trust in God."

The five men and five women, most of them from Idaho, were due to have a hearing earlier in the week, but that was postponed because of a lack of interpreters.

Haiti's Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive has labelled the Americans "kidnappers".

Justice Minister Paul Denis said they should be tried in Haiti despite the damage done to the country's judicial infrastructure and casualties among judges and court staff.

There have been suggestions the 10 could be tried in the US.

"It is Haitian law that has been violated, it is up to the Haitian authorities to hear and judge the case," he told AFP news agency.

"I don't see any reason why they should be tried in the United States."

The US ambassador to Haiti, Kenneth Merten, met with the group at police headquarters after the hearing.

"We'd like to assure they get treated according to the law, the Haitian law, and that they get treated fairly," he said.

A state department spokesman in Washington said the US was watching the case closely and would continue to offer assistance, through its consulate, to the group.

'Single village'

The children, who are from aged from two to 12, are now in the care of the Austrian-run SOS Children's Village in Port-au-Prince.

The missionaries have said they were not trying to kidnap the children

Twenty-one of the children are from a single village outside the capital and were handed over willingly by their parents, says the BBC's Paul Adams, in Port-au-Prince.

Residents in the village of Callebas told an Associated Press news agency reporter they had handed their children over through a local orphanage worker who said he was acting on the Americans' behalf.

The worker is said to have promised the families that the missionaries would educate their children in neighbouring Dominican Republic.

A number of parents in the badly-damaged village said they would find it difficult to provide for their children if they came back.

Ms Silsby has said her group had met a Haitian pastor by chance when they arrived last week, and that he had helped them gather the children. She also admitted that they did not have the proper paperwork.

"Our intent was to help only those children that needed us most, that had lost either both their mother and father, or had lost one of their parents and the other had abandoned them," she said from her jail cell on Wednesday.

Obama vows 'much tougher' stance on US-China trade

Mr Obama said China would be one of the biggest markets for the US

President Barack Obama says he will be much tougher with China to make sure it opens its markets to trade with the US.

Mr Obama told Democratic Party senators that he would put "constant pressure" on China and other countries to stick to their side of trade agreements.

But he said he did not intend to take a protectionist stance towards China, warning that "to close ourselves off from that market would be a mistake".

Tension between the US and China has increased over arms sales to Taiwan.

Relations have also been strained by reports of Chinese cyber attacks on US-run websites and a planned visit to the US by the Dalai Lama.

Earlier, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman warned Mr Obama that meeting the Dalai Lama would further erode ties.

"We urge the US to fully grasp the high sensitivity of the Tibetan issues, to prudently and appropriately deal with related matters, and avoid bringing further damage to China-US relations," Ma Zhaoxu said.

Exchange rates

At a meeting with Senate Democrats, Mr Obama was asked whether the US would cut ties with Beijing over ongoing trade disputes.

The president said he would continue to make sure that China and other countries lived up to abide by trade agreements, but warned it would be a mistake for the US to become protectionist.

The approach that we're taking is to try to get much tougher about the enforcement of existing rules, putting constant pressure on China and other countries to open up their markets in reciprocal ways," he said.

"But what I don't want to do is for us as a country or as a party, to shy away from the prospects of international competition."

"Our future is going to be tied up with our ability to sell products all around the world, and China is going to be one of our biggest markets," he added.

Mr Obama also said foreign exchange rates would also be checked to ensure countries were not giving themselves an unfair advantage against the dollar.

"One of the challenges that we've got to address internationally is currency rates and how they match up to make sure that our goods are not artificially inflated in price and their goods are artificially deflated in price," he explained.

The BBC's Imtiaz Tyab in Washington says the president did not specifically mention the Chinese yuan, but the US has long pushed for Beijing to let its currency appreciate in value.

Iran president Ahmadinejad accepts nuclear deal terms

Iran says it only wants nuclear power for peaceful purposes

Iran's president has said it is ready to send its enriched uranium abroad for further enrichment under a deal to ease concerns about its nuclear programme.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told state TV that Iran would have "no problem" if most of its stock was held for several months before being returned as fuel rods.

Correspondents say that such a decision would be a major shift in Tehran's position.

The US said that if this was a new offer, it was "prepared to listen".

Last month, diplomats said Iran had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it did not accept the terms of the deal and had instead demanded a simultaneous exchange on its territory.

The US and its allies fear Iran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.

'Definitive answer'

The deal agreed in October between Iran, the IAEA and the so-called P5+1 - the US, Russia, China, UK, France plus Germany - envisaged Iran sending about 70% of its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France, where it would be processed into fuel for a research reactor.

But for months, Iranian officials publically criticised the terms and said they were unwilling to export the uranium without simultaneously receiving fuel in return. The proposal proved unacceptable to the West.

But in a television interview on Tuesday, President Ahmadinejad dismissed the concerns of his "colleagues" that the West would not return the uranium, saying Iran would respond by producing more.

"We have no problem sending our enriched uranium abroad," he said.

"We say: We will give you our 3.5% enriched uranium and will get the fuel. It may take four to five months until we get the fuel.

"If we send our enriched uranium abroad and then they do not give us the 20% enriched fuel for our reactor, we are capable of producing it inside Iran."

In an initial reaction to Mr Ahmadinejad's comments, US state department spokesman P J Crowley said the US was "not prepared to change the deal. We are not interested in renegotiating it. If Iran wants to accept it then they should inform the IAEA".

But a later response from the administration stressed that "if Iran has something new to say, we are prepared to listen".

BBC Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne, reporting from London, says that even now there will be scepticism over whether this Iranian change of heart really means anything.

The US is pressing hard for new sanctions against Iran because of the nuclear programme, so this could well just be a case of the Iranian government playing for time, trying to weaken forces lined up against it, he says.

Hikers

In his interview, Mr Ahmadinejad also said there were ongoing negotiations about a possible prisoner swap for several Iranians jailed in the US for the three American hikers currently being held in Iran.

"There are some talks under way to have an exchange, if it is possible," he said. "We are hopeful that all prisoners will be released."

Who are the US hikers?

Mr Ahmadinejad did not mention any specifics, but in December Tehran released a list of 11 Iranians it says are being held in US prisons, including a nuclear scientist who disappeared in Saudi Arabia and a former defence ministry official who vanished in Turkey. The US has denied any knowledge of their whereabouts.

"I had said I would help in releasing them, but the attitude of some of the US officials damages the job," he said. "There are a large number of Iranians in prison in the US. They have abducted some of our citizens in other countries."

However, US National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer told Agence France-Presse news agency: "We have not entered into any discussion with Iran about an exchange."

The three Americans - Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal - were hiking in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region in July when they accidentally crossed the border, their families have said. Iranian prosecutors say they have been accused of spying.

Earlier, US Vice-President Joe Biden warned that Iran's leaders were "sowing the seeds of their own destruction" by suppressing the opposition protests that followed the disputed re-election of Mr Ahmadinejad in June.

"The people of Iran are thinking about, the very people marching, they're thinking about regime change," he told MSNBC.

100-year-old whisky for auction

The half bottle of Springbank was distilled in 1900

One of the world's rarest half bottles of whisky is expected to fetch up to £6,000 when it is auctioned in Glasgow next week.

The bottle of Springbank was distilled by J & A Mitchell & Co Ltd in 1900 and drawn in 1927.

Other rare brands going under the hammer include Macallan, Dalmore, Talisker, Bowmore and Highland Park.

The rare whisky sale at McTear's Auctioneers is scheduled to go ahead on 3 February.

Birmingham ticket machine operates in German

If the machine shows German writing, the car park is full

Drivers using a Birmingham city centre car park have had their language skills tested by a ticket dispenser which operates in German.

The machine gives instructions in English until the multi-storey Brunel Street car park becomes full - then it switches to German.

The council blamed a change in software in December, when the city was hosting its Frankfurt Christmas Market.

"Maybe the machine got confused," a council spokesman said.

Brum Eye

The council hopes to have the problem rectified by next week.

In the meantime a notice has been put up and staff are on hand to translate.

One motorist, looking at the notice on the machine, said: "It is quite funny, but I don't understand how that can happen."

A few years earlier, visitors to the city's big wheel, dubbed the Brum Eye, were confused to find themselves listening to French commentary describing Paris.

Sri Lanka votes to elect new president

Most voters say they want peace and prosperity

Polls have opened in Sri Lanka in the country's the presidential election, which comes after a bitter campaign.

Early voters have been seen queuing up near the capital, Colombo. A few hours ago, people in the northern Tamil city of Jaffna reported hearing four blasts.

The election is the first since the Tamil Tiger rebels were defeated last year after 25 years of war.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is facing a tough test against his former army chief-turned-rival Gen Sarath Fonseka.

More than 14m voters are eligible to vote in 11,000 centres from 0700 local time (0130GMT). Polls will close at 1600 local time.

Counting will begin three hours later and the final results are expected to be announced on Wednesday morning, the election commission has said.

There are 22 candidates standing for the presidency.

If no candidate has 50% plus one vote after the first count, second preferences will be tallied and the candidate with the greatest number of votes wins.

'Remarkable victory'

About 250,000 Sri Lankan election officials have moved into position throughout the country after collecting polling cards and ballot boxes from central election offices.

President Rajapaksa and Gen Fonseka had a falling out last year

Security is tight amid fears of violence and more than 68,000 police are being deployed to protect the polling stations.

Among the early voters was President Rajapaksa.

"Today's victory will be remarkable. It's been evident with voters across the nation participating towards our victory," news agency Reuters quoted Mr Rajapaksa as saying after voting in Medamulana, his rural district on the southern coast.

"We expect a peaceful election and are getting ready to enjoy a better tomorrow."

Most voters say they are voting for peace and an improved economy.

"What I expect in the future is that in the same way peace was established, the cost of living will be brought down and the unemployment problem will be solved," Reuters quoted security guard Jayantha Perera as saying.

Hours before the polling booths opened at dawn, people in Jaffna reported hearing up to four blasts.

Acrimonious campaign

A monitoring group said two bombs were thrown at a ruling party organiser while another account said an opposition MP's home and two polling booths were targeted, the BBC's Charles Haviland reports from Colombo.

Police in Jaffna told the BBC they had no information of any trouble.

The two-month-long campaign, often marked by acrimony, officially closed on Saturday.

Election clashes have so far left four dead and hundreds wounded.

"We had in this election I think a scale of abuse of state resources which had not been registered before," news agency Reuters quoted Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, co-convenor of the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence, as saying.

But he added: "If enough Sri Lankan citizens go in large numbers as we have always done in the past and for over six decades... resisting the violence and the intimidation... then we may well get a result that at the end of the day reflects overall the wishes of the people of this country."

On Sunday, President Rajapaksa suffered a blow when ex-President Chandrika Kumaratunga vowed to back his rival.

Mrs Kumaratunga, a senior member of Mr Rajapaksa's Sri Lanka Freedom Party, said she was deeply concerned about violence, intimidation and corruption in the fiercely-contested poll.

President Rajapaksa and Gen Fonseka were closely associated with the government's defeat of the Tamil Tigers last May but the pair fell out bitterly soon after.

Ethiopian Airlines jet 'crashes into sea off Beirut'

An Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane has crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after taking off from Beirut airport in Lebanon.

Lebanese aviation sources said the plane was heading for the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and had 85 passengers on board.

Reuters news agency quotes airport sources as saying that about 50 of the passengers were Lebanese nationals.

The majority of the remaining passengers were Ethiopian, they add.

Thousands of Ethiopians are employed as domestic helpers in Lebanon.

The plane, believed to be a Boeing 737, reportedly disappeared from radar screens some five minutes after take-off in stormy weather.

The plane is said to have left Beirut shortly after its scheduled departure time of 0310 local time.

Residents who live near the coast are reported to have witnessed a plane on fire crashing into the sea.