Fiji ex-PM convicted for tax evasion

Suva, April 4

The leader of one of Fiji's main opposition parties, former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry, was convicted on tax charges today, ruling him out of this year's election in the coup-plagued Pacific nation.

Chaudhry, who became Fiji's first ethnic Indian prime minister in 1999 but was ousted in a coup a year later, was found guilty on three counts of giving false information to tax authorities about bank accounts in Australia.

The conviction means the Fiji Labour Party leader cannot run in Fiji's general election in September, the first to be held in the country since acting prime minister Frank Bainimarama seized power in a bloodless coup in 2006. Under Fiji's constitution, anyone who has been convicted of a criminal offence in the past eight years cannot stand in the election. 

OBAMA nominates Indian-American to key post

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has nominated Sunil Sabharwal, an independent Indian-American investor, to a key administration post as Alternate Executive Director at the IMF. Sabharwal has been nominated as the US Alternate Executive Director, International Monetary Fund, the White House said. 

Underwater search begins to locate MH370 black box

Perth, April 4 - The arduous hunt for the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 today entered a new phase with two hi-tech ships scouring a large area in the Indian Ocean for the black box of the jet before pings from it fall silent.

Two naval ships with locator capabilities are searching a 240 km underwater path, in the hope of recovering the plane's data recorder that could help investigators unravel the mystery of what happened on March 8, the day the Beijing-bound plane dropped off radar.

Up to 14 planes and nine ships are participating in today's search for the Boeing 777-200. The British Royal Navy survey ship HMS Echo and the Australian naval supply ship Ocean Shield began searching the ocean's depths today, said retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, the head of the Perth-based Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), said. The Ocean Shield is equipped with high-tech gear borrowed from the United States: the TPL-25, a giant underwater microphone that will listen for the pings from the flight data recorders, and the Bluefin-21, an underwater robot that can scour the ocean bed for signs of wreckage. The HMS Echo also has advanced sensor equipment.

But the area of the southern Indian Ocean where British and Australian naval ships are deploying sophisticated listening technology remains nothing more than a guess at where the plane may have hit the water, the CNN said.

Time is running out in the efforts to detect the pings as the batteries that power the recorders' beacons are expected to expire in the next four days.

Nearly four weeks have passed since the jetliner vanished with 239 persons, including five Indians on board. Investigators are still stumped by the case as there are no signs of debris. The area chosen for the search operation is based on the analysis of radar, satellite and other data that led the investigators to conclude that the flight ended in the southern Indian Ocean. "The area of highest probability as to where the aircraft might have entered the water is the area where the underwater search will commence," Houston said at a news conference.

"It's on the basis of data that arrived only recently, and it's the best data that is available." "On best advice, the locator beacon will last about a month before it ceases its transmissions, so we're now getting pretty close to the time when it might expire," he said. Until searchers can find a confirmed piece of debris from the plane, which would give them a clearer idea of where the main bits of wreckage might be located, there is no certainty of finding the black box.

Afghan cop kills AP photographer

Kabul, April 4 - A veteran Associated Press (AP) photographer was killed and an AP reporter was wounded today when an Afghan policeman opened fire while they were sitting in their car in eastern Afghanistan.

Anja Niedringhaus, 48, an internationally acclaimed German photographer, was killed instantly, according to an AP Television News freelancer who witnessed the shooting.

Kathy Gannon, the AP correspondent who for many years was the news organisation's Afghanistan bureau chief and more recently was a senior writer for the region, was shot twice and is receiving medical attention. She was described as being in stable condition and talking to medical personnel.

"Anja and Kathy together have spent years in Afghanistan covering the conflict and the people there. Anja was a vibrant, dynamic journalist well-loved for her insightful photographs, her warm heart and joy for life. We are heartbroken at her loss," said AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll, speaking in New York.

The two were travelling in a convoy of election workers delivering ballots from the centre of Khost city to the outskirts, in Tani district. The convoy was protected by the Afghan National Army and Afghan police. They were in their own car with a freelancer and a driver.

According to the freelancer, they had arrived in the heavily guarded district compound shortly before the incident.

As they were sitting in the car waiting for the convoy to move, a unit commander named Naqibullah walked up to the car, opened fire on them in the back seat with his AK-47. He then surrendered to the other police and was arrested.

Medical officials in Khost confirmed that Niedringhaus died.