Final Moments Of Air France Crash Revealed

The pilots of Air France flight AF447, which plunged into the Atlantic killing 228 people, saw conflicting speeds on their instruments as the Airbus A330 stalled.

That is one of the findings of France's BEA aviation safety agency which has analysed the black box flight recorder for the 2009 accident.

"We have no valid indications," one pilot of the Rio to Paris flight was quoted as saying as the aircraft dropped towards the sea, three minutes before it hit the water.

The 58-year-old captain, who had left the cockpit to take a routine rest, returned but did not retake control of the plane.

"There was an inconsistency between the speeds displayed on the left side and the integrated standby instrument system," BEA said in a statement following its study of the recovered flight data recorders.

The investigating authority said it was too early to give the cause of the crash

"This lasted for less than one minute."

According to the chronology of the flight provided by BEA, the two co-pilots decided at two hours and eight minutes into the flight to turn slightly to the left to avoid an area of turbulence.

Two minutes later the autopilot disengaged, the instruments began showing that the speed had slowed dramatically and the engine stall warning began to sound.

"During the following seconds, all of the recorded speeds became invalid and the stall warning stopped," said the BAE preliminary report.

All 228 people on board the Air France airbus died in the crash

"So, we've lost the speeds," it quoted the second of the two co-pilots as saying. The responses by the co-pilot flying the aircraft "were mainly nose-up" and "the airplane climbed to 38,000ft".

BEA said: "The descent lasted 3 min 30, during which the airplane remained stalled. The engines were operating and always responded to crew commands."

The last data on the recorder showed that plane's nose was up at a sharp angle as it plunged at 10,912ft (3,300m) per minute.

BEA director Jean-Paul Troadec said: "These are so far just observations, not an understanding of the events."

A fuller report into the cause of the tragedy is expected to be released in a few months time.

Mladic Tested For Fitness To Stand Trial

Former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic will undergo a medical evaluation later to see if he is fit enough to appear in court.

The process to extradite Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague is expected to continue today, after his poor health cut short questioning on Thursday.

Mladic is accused of masterminding appalling acts of violence against Muslims during the Bosnian conflict of the early 1990s.

The 69-year-old was arrested in the early hours of Thursday, ending a 16-year long manhunt.

Photos of Mladic in 1995 and after his arrest

But his first appearance before a Serbian court was cut short after his lawyer said he was unable to communicate.

"The investigative judge tried to question Ratko Mladic but he failed because he (Mladic) is in a difficult psychological and physical condition," his lawyer Milos Saljic told reporters.

"He is aware that he is under arrest, he knows where he is, and he said he does not recognise The Hague tribunal."

Mr Saljic added that Mladic needs medical care and "should not be moved in such a state".

Mladic appeared in a Serbian court looking frail and haggard

Doctors will report later as to whether Mladic is capable of appearing in court again.

The Serb was indicted for war crimes in 1995 and became Europe's most wanted man.

He is accused of masterminding the massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995.

He is also thought to be behind the 44-month siege of Sarajevo that left 10,000 people dead in the same year.

Judge Fouad Riad of the UN tribunal said there was evidence against Mladic of "unimaginable savagery".

A woman walks past a graffiti portrait of Mladic in Belgrade

The former general was found in a village 50 miles (80km) north of the Serbian capital Belgrade and was reportedly using the assumed name Milorad Komodic - an anagram of his true identity.

Serbian interior minister Ivica Dacic said Mladic had been armed with two guns "but he did not have the time to use them".

The international community has welcomed the news with Prime Minister David Cameron saying: "We should remember why the international community has been pursuing this man.

"He is accused of the most appalling crimes in both Srebrenica and Sarajevo."

The Bosnian-Serb wartime political leader Radovan Karadzic, Mladic's mentor was "sorry for General Mladic’s loss of freedom," his lawyer said.

Karadzic was captured in July 2008 and is himself fighting charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in The Hague.

100 Followers Reached

I would like to thank all of you for following me during the first month of this blog, I promise to keep it updated and alive!

Here's a "funny" pic for the commemoration:

G8 Talks: Bid To Help 'Arab Spring' Nations

Barack Obama and David Cameron travel to a two-day G8 gathering in France today where uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East are likely to top the agenda.

The Prime Minister and US President are expected to put forward plans to give more financial and political backing to countries experiencing an "Arab Spring".

On Wednesday the two leaders repeated their calls for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to step down.

Nato continued to bombard Tripoli in its campaign against Colonel Gaddafi and his forces.

Mr Cameron and Mr Obama reiterated their determination to keep up the military pressure on the Libyan regime.

But Nato's campaign in the country could cause tensions among the G8 leaders meeting in Deauville, as Russia has expressed concerns about the extent of the airstrikes.

There is also significant scope for friction over Syria, with Moscow resisting efforts to take action on the regime's brutal repression of protests.

Mr Obama and Mr Cameron again called for Muammar Gaddafi to stand down

A resolution is due to go before the United Nations Security Council later.

The US and UK are expected to urge counterparts to provide more concrete financial support for fledgling democracies.

Washington has been calling for "debt swaps", where wealthier nations agree to convert sums they are owed by countries that are implementing change - such as Egypt - into investments.

The G8 - made up of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and America - is also due to be briefed by the recently-installed prime ministers of Egypt and Tunisia, Essam Sharaf and Beji Caid el Sebsi.

The summit will begin with a session on nuclear safety in the wake of the crisis created by the earthquake in Japan.

Protests like those in Egypt earlier this year will be discussed

But discussions between the world leaders are also due to cover the situation in Afghanistan, global economic development and reform, nuclear safety and internet regulation.

And French president Nicolas Sarkozy has insisted he wants the internet to be at the heart of the summit.

A delegation of executives, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google chairman Eric Schmidt, are due to address the world leaders.

Although no Twitter representatives are thought to be on the guest list, the session could provide an opportunity for Mr Cameron to take the temperature on international internet regulation.

Mubarak To Face Trial Over Protester Killings

Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak is to be put on trial on charges of corruption and conspiracy to kill protesters who called for him to step down earlier this year.

The country's prosecutor general said Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for three decades, would face a criminal court.

The announcement was made following a demand from Egyptians who have threatened a second revolution amid growing concerns about the slow pace of change under the country's new military rulers.

Adel el-Said, spokesman for the prosecutor general, said the charges could carry the death sentence.

Mubarak was forced to step down after an 18-day revolt by anti-government protesters that was met by a brutal security crackdown.

Over 800 people are believed to have been killed and thousands more injured.

Pro and anti-Mubarak protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square

But the prosecution of the 83-year old remained a sore point under the new leadership, which took control on 11 February.

Demonstrators demanded that Mubarak face justice, taking to the streets a number of times and criticising the military for stalling.

The statement from prosecutor general Mahmoud Abdel-Meguid, who also served under Mubarak, came ahead of a planned Friday protest that was to have focused on calls for him to be put on trial and for remnants of his regime to be uprooted.

It would be the first time in modern history an Arab leader is sent to trial solely by his people.

Police fire tear gas at demonstrators

"It is the first time that a living president is going to face victims of his abuse before an ordinary court in the region", said Hossam Bahgat, a human rights activist.

"It is precisely because of this unique and unprecedented nature that we need for this trial to be as credible as possible."

The charge sheet against Mubarak said he conspired with the former security chief and other senior police officers, already on trial in a criminal court, to commit premeditated murder, along with attempted murder of those who participated in the peaceful protests around Egypt.

Mubarak and his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, were charged with abusing power to amass wealth, enriching associates and accepting bribes, the prosecutor-general's office said.

The ousted leader's sons are being detained in a Cairo prison.

Earlier this month, Tunisia's toppled president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali was charged along with his wife of inciting violence in the bloody crackdown on the popular uprising there.

Ben Ali has fled to Saudi Arabia, which has not answered a Tunisian request to extradite him.

Airlines Facing Chaos As Ash Cloud Moves In

There will be widespread disruption to flights to and from Scotland today as ash from an Icelandic volcano reaches Britain.

Eurocontrol, the European air traffic control agency, said a total of 252 flights - mostly affecting Scottish airports - have been cancelled to date.

British Airways have suspended all flights between London and Scotland until at least 2pm.

Budget airlines have also made cancellations - Easyjet have suspended services going in and out of Glasgow, Inverness, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Flybe have cancelled 11 flights to and from Aberdeen and Inverness.

Met Office prediction of ash concentration by 6pm today

Meanwhile RyanAir have expressed its anger at having to cancel all services to and from Glasgow, Prestwick, Edinburgh and Aberdeen until 1pm today.

What may rile the airline a little more is that while BMI have made cancellations to their route to Aberdeen, they are still flying to and from Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Elsewhere, KLM and Eastern Airways have made cancellations to and from some airports in Scotland and Newcastle.

Aer Lingus has also cancelled 12 flights on various routes in and out of Scotland.

Arrivals board at Glasgow Airport shows a number of flight cancellations

Logan Air have also stopped flights until at least 1pm, although trips to and from Orkney are still operating.

Passengers have been advised to check with their airlines before travelling to airports.

The drifting ash cloud from Iceland's Grimsvotn volcano forcedUS President Barack Obama to alter his travel plans, arriving in London early for his state visit.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said Britons "have got to learn" to live with chaos caused by volcanic activity in Iceland.

"My understanding is that we have gone through an unusually quiet period for volcanic eruptions in Iceland over the last 20-odd years and we are moving into a period when there is likely to be significantly more volcanic activity."

But he insisted there were now "much more robust systems" to "minimise the disruptive effect".

Last April hundreds of thousands of flights were cancelled and millions of people were either left stranded or forced to cancel their travel plans altogether when the Eyjafjallajokul volcanic erupted.

In addition, scientists in Norway have developed equipment that enables pilots to be able to 'see' ash particles up to 100km away and avoid them.

Mr Hammond said the authorities have since gained a "much better understanding" of the risk from ash clouds and are better able to assess the thickness of different patches as well as the possibility of flying over or below a cloud.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) all British aircraft can fly in medium density ash.

However, Met Office charts show that the levels are higher than this below 35,000ft, meaning planes could have to navigate around the plume.

A CAA spokesman said the cloud, as it is now, could "potentially" cause serious disruption.

Met Office prediction shows lower level of the cloud (in red) at midnight on Tuesday

But he said: "We are in a totally different world as far as procedures go now compared with last year.

"If we have the same level of ash as we did last year, there will not be the same problem.

"Airspace will not be closed and we will notify airlines when the Met Office predicts there are medium or high levels of ash present."

Yemen Peace Deal Fails As Saleh Backs Out

Ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council have suspended mediation efforts in Yemen, after the country's president failed to sign a transition deal for him to leave office.

They made the decision after President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to sign an agreement to step down, the third time such a deal has fallen through.

Mr Saleh said al Qaeda militants could fill a political and security vacuum if he is forced out and blamed the opposition for the deal's collapse.

Yemeni state TV showed several top figures from the country's ruling party signing the accord as the president and American ambassador watched.

But Mr Saleh said he would not sign unless opposition leaders came to the palace and signed it as well in public, not "behind closed doors".

"If (Yemen) is engulfed in a civil war, they will be responsible for it and the bloodshed," he said in a televised speech.

The deal would have given Mr Saleh immunity from prosecution, ensuring a dignified exit after nearly 33 years in power.

If he had signed it, he would have become the third Arab leader ousted by popular protests since January.

Hundreds of thousands of people have defied a bloody crackdown and called for the president to quit.

Anti-government protesters in the capital Sanaa

The US and Saudi Arabia, both targets of foiled attacks by al Qaeda's Yemen-based regional wing, are keen to end the Yemeni stalemate and avert a spread of anarchy that could give the global militant network more room to operate.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) bloc of Yemen's oil-rich neighbours and Western powers have exerted intense diplomatic efforts to secure a deal and end the violence in which more than 170 Yemeni demonstrators have been killed.

Last week President Barack Obama said that Mr Saleh needed to "follow through on his commitment to transfer power". European diplomats have also leaned on both sides to agree on a deal.

But in a move likely to infuriate the Gulf and Western countries, gunmen loyal to Mr Saleh surrounded the United Arab Emirates embassy on Sunday, trapping inside Gulf and Western ambassadors working to resolve the crisis and preventing them from going to the presidential palace to see the president.

The UAE urged Yemeni authorities to secure its embassy, and the diplomats were later reported to have been taken to the palace by helicopter.

Elections Kick Off In Spain Amid Protests

Spaniards have gone to the polls following a wave of pre-election protests across the country.

Tens of thousands of Spaniards spent the week leading up to the elections demonstrating about high unemployment rates in the country.

Demonstrators filled the country's city squares in a wave of outrage over government austerity measures, marking a shift after years of patience over a long economic slump.

Witnesses said at least 20,000 people packed the Puerta del Sol plaza in the heart of Madrid on Friday night.

The Spanish prime minister and his wife cast their vote in Madrid

They were challenging a law against political events on the eve of elections, which went into effect at midnight.

The demonstrations continued on Saturday night and when the clock struck midnight signalling election day, the crowd gathered at the Puerta del Sol plaza erupted into chants of "This is how Madrid votes".

Police did not clamp down on the demonstrations despite the legislation which has been upheld by the supreme and constitutional courts.

Inma Moreno, 25, was among the protesters who gathered in the capital's main square.

"I'm protesting because I've got no job future in Spain even though I've finished my degree in tourism," she said.

"This should make the political classes aware that something is not right."

Analysts said that police action against the peaceful demonstrations would be disastrous for the Socialists.

Madrid's main square was packed on the eve of the elections

Prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who has failed to contain the highest unemployment in the European Union at 21.3%, said he respected the protesters, also signalling an unwillingness to crack down on the movement.

More than 34 million people are eligible to vote with the Spaniards electing 8,116 city councils and 13 out of 17 regional governments when they go to the polls.

Protesters called on people not to vote for the two main parties, the Socialists and the centre-right opposition Popular Party.

Demonstrators have camped out in Madrid all week

The Socialists are expected to suffer major losses.

In the past year, Spain has struggled to emerge from a recession.

The collapse of the construction sector and a decline in consumer spending have hit the young particularly hard with 45% of 18 to 25-year-olds being unemployed.

IMF Agrees 26 Billion Euro Portugal Bail-Out

The International Monetary Fund has approved a 26 billion euro bail-out loan for Portugal to help the struggling eurozone member recover from its debt crisis.

The International Monetary Fund headquarters in Washington DC

The IMF, whose boss has quit amid a sex scandal, said it would immediately disburse 6.1 billion euros to ease investor concerns over the country's financial problems.

The organisation said total fiscal support to Portugal in 2011 will include about 12.6 billion euros from the IMF and another 25.2 billion euros from the European Union.

The funding is part of a 78 billion euro bail-out package by the IMF and European Union.

The Portugal deal follows a 110 billion euro package for Greece last May and an 85 billion euro programme for Ireland in November.

IMF managing director Strauss-Kahn resigned this week after being accused of sexual assault and attempted rape in a New York hotel.

"The financing package is designed to allow Portugal some breathing space from borrowing in the markets while it demonstrates implementation of the policy steps needed to get the economy back on track," an IMF statement read.

According to the agreement, Lisbon will have to make deep spending cuts, raise taxes, reform its labour and justice systems, and embark on an ambitious privatisation scheme.

"The Portuguese authorities have put forward a program that is economically well-balanced and has growth and job creation at its centre," IMF acting managing director John Lipsky said.

"It addresses the fundamental problem in Portugal - low growth - with a policy mix based on restoring competitiveness through structural reforms, ensuring a balanced fiscal consolidation path, and stabilising the financial sector."

John Lipsky, the IMF acting managing director

The leader of Portugal's opposition Social Democrats, Pedro Passos Coelho, warned earlier this week that the country has no room for failure in meeting the austerity conditions of the programme.

The austerity measures included in the bail-out are expected to contribute to a contraction in the Portuguese economy of 2% both this year and next.

Mr Lipsky said the support from Portugal's main political parties for objectives and policies under the programme indicates a "resolve to tackle the Portugal's long standing problems".

Israeli PM Rejects Obama '1967 Borders' Speech

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls from the US president for a Palestinian state based on the borders of 1967 - ahead of a highly anticipated meeting between the two leaders.

Mr Obama said in a major speech on Thursday that he supported the Palestinians' demand that their eventual state be based on borders that existed before the Six Day War, when Israeli forces occupied east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

It is the first time he has publicly endorsed such a policy.

But Mr Netanyahu criticised the comments ahead of his trip to Washington, saying it would leave Israel "indefensible".

He said he appreciated Mr Obama's "commitment to peace", but added: "The viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of Israel's existence.

"Those commitments relate to Israel not having to withdraw to the 1967 lines."

The leader said he expected Washington to let Israel keep major settlements beyond the 1967 lines in the occupied West Bank under any peace deal with the Palestinians.

Pressure is growing on the pair to answer the demands of the Palestinian people, after protests at Israel's borders this week in which at least 15 people were killed.

In his speech, Mr Obama expressed his frustration at the peace effort in the region and showed he is running out of patience and reasons to be subtle.

"The international community is tired of an endless process that never produces an outcome.

There have been clashes along the Israeli border in recent days

"At a time when the people of the Middle East and North Africa are casting off the burdens of the past, the drive for a lasting peace that ends the conflict and resolves all claims is more urgent than ever.

Palestinians, meanwhile, refuse to negotiate while Israel continues to expand Jewish enclaves in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want to be part of an eventual state.

Israel refuses to freeze settlement construction, saying the matter should be resolved through negotiations.

With talks at a standstill, the Palestinians are planning to take their bid for statehood to the United Nations in September, a step Mr Obama rejected in his speech.