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Father welcomes 'Clare's Law' rollout
A father whose daughter was murdered by an ex-boyfriend with a secret violent past today said he was "absolutely delighted" women across the country have today been given the "right to know" their partner's history.
The scheme, known as Clare's Law is named after Clare Wood, 36, who was strangled and set on fire by her ex-boyfriend George Appleton at her home in Salford, Greater Manchester.
Clare's Law gives women for the first time the right to know if a partner has a history of domestic violence and is being rolled out to police forces across England and Wales following a successful pilot scheme.
Clare Wood's father, Michael Brown, a retired prison officer from Batley, West Yorkshire, who spearheaded the "right to know" campaign after his daughter's murder in 2009, said today: "I'm absolutely delighted."
"I must admit it's tinged with a bit of emotion and a bit of sadness but we have got what we were fighting for - to bring protection into the country for half the population."
Flight MH370: 152 Chinese amongst missing passengers
A missing Malaysia Airlines flight was carrying 152 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, 12 Indonesians and seven Australians, the airline said today.
There were also three US citizens, three from France, two passengers each from New Zealand, Ukraine, and Canada, and one each from Italy, Taiwan, the Netherlands and Austria, Malaysia Airlines said in a statement. There were also three infants and twelve crew members on board.
Flight MH 370 left Kuala Lumpur at 12.21 am (1621 GMT Friday) and had been expected to land in Beijing at 06:30am (22:30 GMT) the same day.
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UK tennis stars support Baltacha's cancer fight
UK tennis stars have rallied behind former British women's tennis number one Elena Baltacha after she revealed she has liver cancer.
Current British number one Laura Robson and Anne Keothavong who was at the top of British female tennis with Baltacha for many years, took to Twitter to show their support.
@elenabaltacha Sending so many positive vibes your way Bally! You've got this xx http://t.co/caPqIJzPE3
She's one of the people I most admire for her courage and determination. You'll fight through this @elenabaltacha xxx http://t.co/MGOF8A0vsw
Ukrainian-born Baltacha vowed to fight the cancer "with everything I have" after revealing her diagnosis yesterday.
More: Former tennis ace Elena Baltacha diagnosed with cancer
Strawberries bloom after mild winter
English strawberries have gone on sale in supermarkets after the very wet but mild winter helped them ripen early.
Waitrose confirmed it has native strawberries in selected stores in time for what is predicted to be the hottest day of the year tomorrow, with temperatures reaching 18C in some parts of Britain, a week earlier than last year.
'No signal' detected by Vietnamese search and rescue
Vietnamese search and rescue operations have not picked up any signal from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, a Vietnamese rescue official has said.
"We have been seeking but no signal from the plane yet," Pham Hien, director of a Vietnam maritime search and rescue coordination centre in Vung Tau, told Reuters.
Vietnamese and Chinese media had reported that a signal from the plane had been picked up. The reports did not identify what kind of signal.
"The information on local media about the signal near the Cape Ca Mau was inaccurate," Pham said.
Malaysian Airlines 'deeply saddened' by missing flight
Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that they have lost contact with flight MH370 Group CEO, Ahmad Jauhari said in a press conference today.
"we are deeply saddened this morning with the news on MH370" he said, but was quick to quell speculation that the aircraft had landed in Nanming. "We are working to verify the authenticity of the report".
"We are working with authorities who have activated their Search and Rescue team to locate the aircraft.
Our team is currently calling the next-of-kin of passengers and crew".
The flight was carrying a 239 passengers and crew, comprising 227 passengers -including 2 infants- and 12 crew members.
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Missing flight: Police direct journalists and relatives
Police at Beijing airport direct journalists and relatives of the missing passengers to an information point at the nearby Lido Hotel.
Police at Beijing airport directing journalists & relatives to Lido hotel for info on missing MH370 flight http://t.co/6psQ7g9lrG
Malaysia Airlines: 'Flight MH370 still missing'
The Malaysian Airlines aircraft that 'disappeared' en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, is "still missing" and has not landed, spokesman for the company told CNN.
Fuad Sharuji, Vice President of Operations for Malaysia Airlines, said that there had been no distress call or no indication that the aircraft was in difficulty.
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing - the US company that make the 777-200 aircraft - have tweeted their concern over the incident.
We’re closely monitoring reports on Malaysia flight MH370. Our thoughts are with everyone on board.
According to China's Xinhua News Agency, the plane lost communication over Vietnam with the control department in the Ho Chi Minh area at 1.20am local time and that radar contact also was lost.
The plane was carrying 227 passengers, including two infants, and 12 crew members.
Flight MH370: 'Chinese passengers on board'
The MH370 flight from Malaysia to Beijing has lost contact. It carries 239 people, including 12 crew members and 160 Chinese passengers
Flight MH370: 'Did not enter Chinese airspace'
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 did not not enter airspace controlled by China and did not make contact with Chinese controllers, Xinhua news agency said.
China's state news agency reported that radar contact with the flight was lost while it was in Vietnamese airspace.
It said there had not been any reports received yet about any aircraft crashed in Chinese waters.
In a further statement on their Facebook page, Malaysia Airlines said:
"The flight was carrying a total number of 239 passengers and crew – comprising 227 passengers (including 2 infants), 12 crew members. The passengers were of 13 different nationalities".
