China Manufacturing Sector Contracts Further Amid Weak Domestic Demand

An industrial area, with a power plant, south of Yangzhou's downtown, China

China's manufacturing sector continued its contraction in March with a widely observed index falling to an eight-month low, stoking fears about a loss of momentum in the world's second largest economy.

The HSBC flash manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) declined to 48.1 in March from 48.5 in February. This is for the fifth straight month the index is showing a reading below 50, indicating contraction in the manufacturing sector.

The PMI, the earliest available indicator of manufacturing sector operating conditions in China, is based on data compiled from monthly replies to questionnaires sent to purchasing executives in over 420 manufacturing companies. The flash estimate is based on about 85%–90% of total PMI survey responses each month.

Both output and new orders declined at a faster rate in March, while new export orders increased changing course from previous months. Employment in the manufacturing sector continued to deteriorate but at a slower rate.

"The HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI reading for March suggests that China's growth momentum continued to slow down," Hongbin Qu, HSBC China chief economist, said.

"Weakness is broadly-based with domestic demand softening further."

New Measures to Stabilise Growth

After having reported double-digit growth for most of the last three decades, China has witnessed a slowdown due to its increasing exposure to the global market.

Nevertheless, the country's leadership was not so keen on achieving accelerated growth because it wanted to attain sustainable growth based on domestic demand.

Analysts noted that the latest PMI figures that showed deterioration in consumption would prompt the authorities to undertake measures to tackle the situation.

"We expect Beijing to launch a series of policy measures to stabilise growth," Qu added.

"Likely options include lowering entry barriers for private investment, targeted spending on subways, air cleaning and public housing, and guiding lending rates lower."

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, earlier noted that China should have a firm destination, a clear road map and deeper global responsibility in the next phase of its "remarkable journey" that "has propelled it to the top tier of the global economy".

Rotting Corpses and Chained Kidnap Victims Found in Nigeria's 'House of Horrors'

Ibadan street scene (WikiCommons)

Nigerian police have found rotting bodies, skeletons and people bound in chains in a house in Ibadan that has been dubbed the House of Horrors.

They said that emaciated people had also been found wandering in the grounds of the property, reports AFP.

Police raided the house after a group of people looking for a missing relative, who was a motorcycle taxi driver, found the property in an undeveloped part of the Soka community and discovered there were people trapped inside.

"When we got to the abandoned building in the Soka community of Ibadan yesterday (Saturday), we saw decomposed corpses, skeletons and skulls in the building and surrounding bushes," Oyo state police spokeswoman Olabisi Ilobanafor told AFP.

"Some seven malnourished human beings looking like living skeletons were also rescued in the bushes surrounding the building. One of them died on the spot while we were there," she said.

Ilobanafor said that a murder investigation had been launched and six suspects were arrested at the scene.

Ibadan is Nigeria's third largest city, and the capital of Oyo state.

In Nigeria, kidnapping victims are often killed in black magic ritual sacrifices or for their organs or body parts, which are sold on in the southern region of the country.

Corpses are often found abandoned on roadsides near the country's cities with parts of their bodies missing, including their eyes and genitals.

Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper last year reported that three dealers in body parts and kidnapped people had revealed a "price list", where a live person could be bought for about £150, a human head for £30 and genitalia for £36.

The Nigerian Tribune newspaper reported that about 15 people were found chained up in the property in Ibadan, and six guns and several cutlasses recovered from a neighbouring house.

Containers holding clothes, shoes, mobile phones and bank cards were found inside.

The Tribune claims that a woman held as a captive had been forced to deliver a baby at the property only the previous Friday. The child was then taken away from her.

The Nation newspaper reported that bodies had been dumped in shallow graves and dry wells.

One resident quoted by the Tribune said: "When I got there, I saw people who were like mad people but on a closer look, I saw that they were not really mad, but had gone through starvation. Some of them said they had been there for two years while others said seven months."

BREAKING NEWS: Syrian Fighter Plane Shot Down Over Turkey

Smoke rises after a Syrian fighter plane is shot down over TurkeyTwitter

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has boasted that his military shot down a Syrian fighter plane which he claimed had violated Turkish airspace. Unconfirmed video footage appears to show the aftermath of the attack.

Speaking to a rally of supporters at a rally in Turkey Erdogan declared: "A Syrian plane violated our airspace. Our F-16s took off and hit this plane. Why? Because if you violate my airspace, our slap after this will be hard."

“A Syrian plane violated our airspace. Our F-16s took off and hit this plane”

Prime Minister Erdogan

Today's incident took place in an area where government forces loyal to President Assad and Syrian rebels have been battling to take control of the Kasab border crossing.

The Syrian regime claims Turkey's military is aiding rebels. Also today Syrian shells were reported to have landed near the Turkish town of Yayladagi, according to Turkey's state Anatolia news agency.

Since the civil war started in Syria in 2011 hundreds of thousands of people have fled across the 900km border it shares with its northern neighbour and occasionally the internal conflict has threatened to drag in its neighbour.

In 2012, Syrian artillery shells hit various towns including Altinozu and Reyhanli in Turkey. Turkey responded by shooting shells into Syria. In 2013, several people were killed by Syrian shells but these seem to have been regarded as accidental.

So far Turkey has shown restraint but last week an opposition politician warned Turkey would consider attacking Syria to protect the tomb of Suleyman Shah. Now Erdogan, having been criticised for "banning" Twitter, appears to be posturing in the hope of generating more positive publicity at home.

His warning to Assad's regime today seems unambiguous: "Our slap will be heavier if you violate my airspace again."

Three Killed In Terrorist Attack on Kenya Church

A police officer on patrol in KenyaReuters

Terrorists have killed three people during an attack on worshippers at a packed church near the city of Mombasa, Kenya, on Sunday.

Two gunmen opened fire on churchgoers during a prayer recital in what Kenyan police said was a terrorist attack at the church in Likoni.

One witness said the gunmen shouted out in a foreign language before shooting indiscriminately at the congregation. Blood-spattered Bibles and overturned plastic chairs lay strewn across the church's floor after the attack.

Two people were killed at the church. A doctor at Mombasa's main hospital later confirmed that a third person died in hospital. Three children are among the wounded receiving treatment.

One witness, Lilian Omondi, told Reuters news agency: "Both [the gunmen] carried big guns and began shooting all over the place. I fell to the ground and could hear screams."

No group has yet come forward to claim responsibility for the attack. Kenya's parliament has called for better coordination between the security and intelligence agencies after 67 people were killed in a terrorist siege at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in September.

The violence comes at a time of heightened warnings of Islamist attacks against the east African nation. This week Kenyan prosecutors charged two Somalis with terrorism-related offences after police seized a car packed with explosives.

The Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab and their Kenyan sympathisers have been blamed for other gun and grenade attacks, which have targeted churches before, in Mombasa, and Nairobi. Al Shabaab carried out the Westgate mall siege in the capital to avenge the deployment of international military troops in Somalia.

The Nairobi government has sent troops into neighbouring Somalia as part of an African Union force to combat the al Qaida-linked al Shabaab group.

British Tourist 'Raped' On Holiday in Sharm-el-Sheikh

Wikimedia Commons

A British holidaymaker claims she was raped in her hotel room by a security guard at the popular Egyptian resort where she was staying.

The guard had been walking with the woman back to her room in a five-star hotel in Sharm-el-Sheikh, when she alleges he pulled her into her bedroom and raped her.

The alleged victim, in her forties, was assisted by the British Consulate in the Red Sea resort.

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We are aware of an incident involving a British national. We are providing assistance."

The FCO website warns British tourists about a rise in crime. "In 2012, the FCO handled 23 cases of sexual assault and six cases of rape against British tourists while on holiday in Egypt."

The victim has since flown back to Britain and been interviewed by detectives from Hampshire Police.

The attack comes as the Foreign Office has warned of a rise in cases of sexual assault against Britons in Egypt since the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, including in hotels.

Recent figures show the number of European tourists visiting Egypt has dropped by 24%, prompting the Egyptian Government to beef up security measures in tourist regions, including Sharm-el-Sheikh, to protect tourists. The tourism industry accounts for about 10% of the country's gross domestic product.

In 2010, Egypt received 14.7 million visitors, a record high, but numbers dipped to just 10 million in 2011 before climbing to 11.5 million in 2012. The numbers of visitors in 2013 is not yet known.

There has been political unrest in Egypt since former president Hosni Mubarak was deposed in 2011. Tourist areas around the Red Sea had been considered generally safe, but in recent months German and Swiss tourist operators have changed the travel advice they give to citizens.

The German branch of Tui Travel, Europe's largest tour operator, and other companies are sending home hundreds of German tourists after the German government changed its travel advice to the region. Swiss tourists have been warned against travelling to Sharm-el-Sheikh.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: French Satellites Spot 'Debris' In Indian Ocean

A crew member from a Royal New Zealand Airforce plane scans the Indian Ocean for debris from missing Flight MH370.

Images from French satellites showing unidentified debris in the Indian Ocean have become the latest focus in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

A series of satellite images showing debris in the Indian Ocean has concentrated efforts in an area of the Indian Ocean, in a southwest corridor from the plane's last known location in the Strait of Malacca.

"This morning, Malaysia received new satellite images from the French authorities showing potential objects in the vicinity of the southern corridor," said a statement on the Malaysian Ministry of Transport's Facebook page.

"Malaysia immediately relayed these images to the Australian rescue co-ordination centre."

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said eight planes had been dispatched from Perth in western Australia on Sunday over a wider search area.

They include four civil aircraft and a US P8 Poseidon.

Two Chinese IL-76 search planes have arrived in Perth but have not yet been deployed. Japan is sending two P3 Orions.

Aircraft from New Zealand and the US are also involved in the search.

The Australian Navy's HMAS Success remains the only ship in the area involved in the search, though others from the US, UK and China are on the way.

Mike Barton, operations coordinator for Amsa, said that searchers were attempting to find a wooden cargo pallet and belts or straps spotted in the ocean, but cautioned they "could be anything".

Amsa said in a statement that today's search would focus on an area of 59,000 sq km (22,800 square miles). However, poor visibility may hamper efforts.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Pilot Used 'Emergency and Combat Scenarios' Simulator

Zaharie Ahmad Shah, pilot of missing Malaysian flight.

Investigators are poring over a state-of-the-art flight simulator built by one of the pilots of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in a search for clues about the plane's disappearance.

With the revelation last week that the plane may have been diverted thousands of miles from its scheduled flight path from Kuala Lumpar to Beijing by a skilled aviator, investigators are focusing on the backgrounds and interests of its two pilots, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27.

Last week, a state-of-the art-flight simulator was seized from Zaharie's home in an upscale neighbourhood in Kuala Lumpur, and investigators are examining the Microsoft X-plane 10 game he played, which would have allowed him to practise flying in a range of circumstances and weather conditions.

“Looking through the flight logs in these simulator games is a key part of the investigation”

investigator

"Looking through the flight logs in these simulator games is a key part of the investigation," an official close to the investigation told Reuters.

"X-plane 10 was interesting to investigators because it was the latest thing Zaharie bought. Also it is the most advanced out there and had all sorts of emergency and combat scenarios."

The software would have allowed him to practise landing at more than 33,000 airports, on aircraft carriers, oil rigs, frigates, which pitch and roll with the waves, and heli-pads atop buildings.

The simulator also had software to replicate different weather conditions, and to allow him to play with other people online.

It has a motion controller that makes the chair pitch and turn like to simulate the climbs, descents and turns of a real plane. Zaharie's set-up also included a centre pedestal, where aircraft controls sit, and overhead panel.

The Malaysian team has also asked the FBI for help recovering data deleted from a memory stick on 3 February.

In an online forum, Zaharie described his new simulator as "awesome" and declared it his "passion".

There is currently no evidence that Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, was responsible for the plane and its 227 passengers and 10 crew vanishing.

Those who helped Zaharie construct the simulator said many pilots enjoy flying so much they have a simulator at home.

"Many pilots contact me interested in making 'home' simulators. Zaharie along with some others pilots actually used my motion controllers to upgrade the realism of their simulators by building motion platforms," Thanos Kontogiannis, a California-based aviation enthusiast who helped Zaharie build the simulator, posted on his blog on Monday.

Aviation experts contacted by Reuters said that the data on the simulator may have been erased as part of regular maintenance, or to improve the simulator's performance.

However Nunez Correas, a simulation software developer using some of the same components as Zaharie, said that storage capacity was not a problem for computers running flight simulators, and there was no clear reason to delete data.

Demo from Microsoft X-Plane 9 of a landing at Kuala Lumpur Airport.

Malaysia Airlines MH370 Pilot Captain Shah Received Phone Call from Stolen Number Hours Before Take-off

Peter Chong holds a smartphone displaying a picture of himself with missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 captain Zaharie Ahmad ShahReuters

Investigators are examining the phone call made to Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the pilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, a few hours before take-off from a fake number.

The phone number, from which the phone call was made, was bought under the stolen identity of a woman, Malaysian authorities told Mail Online.

The telephone conversation, between Shah and the unidentified person before the flight, lasted for about two minutes and it was one of the last conversations.

The authorities appear to be giving much weight to the phone call as it was made from an unknown pay-as-you-go SIM card number in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the investigators are also trying to examine Shah's family including his estranged wife Faizah Khan. Though separated, she shares the same roof with Shah. She has not been approached by the police for the past two weeks, but the Malaysian authorities are increasingly under pressure from FBI officials to question her.

"Faizah has been spoken to gently by officers but she has not been questioned in detail to establish her husband's behaviour and state of mind in the days leading to the incident. This is partly for cultural reasons. It is not considered appropriate in Malaysia to subject people in situations of terrible bereavement to the stress of intensive questioning," a source told Mail.

Shah and his co-pilot have been under intense scrutiny soon after it was established that there was foul play in the mysterious disappearance of the plane.

Experts are also studying Shah's flight simulator for clues.