BREAKING NEWS: Malaysia Airlines MH370: Australia Detects Distress Signal in Southern Indian Ocean

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) co-pilot, Flight Lieutenant Thomas Hofbrucker, looks out from the cockpit of a AP-3C Orion as part of the RAAF No 11 Squadron's search over the southern Indian Ocean for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370Reuters

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has said it has detected a distress signal in the southern Indian Ocean near Antarctica amid the ongoing search measures to find the debris of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

The emergency beacon activation emerged from a fishing vessel and the nature of the distress call is still unknown.

AMSA said: "The beacon is located about 3,241 kilometres south west of Perth and 648 kilometres north of the Antarctic mainland."

Two aircraft have been deployed to the area from where the signal had come and it will take at least five hours for the planes to reach the location.

Australia has sent a P3 Orion, which is part of the ongoing search for the MH370 jetliner, to the location and the aircraft is capable of dropping survival equipment.

The search for the missing Malaysian jetliner has entered the fourth week as aircraft and naval vessels press ahead with combing operations in the southern Indian Ocean.

Malaysia Airlines MH370: China Plans 50 Satellites for Global Surveillance

A view from a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion aircraft as it searches for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 over the southern Indian OceanReuters

China is said to be planning to build dozens of satellites in order to set up a global monitoring network following the mystery surrounding the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

With more than two-thirds of the passengers on board the missing plane being Chinese citizens, Beijing remains one of the key players in the ongoing multi-national efforts to trace the aircraft.

To prevent such incidents in the future, China is said to be mulling deployment of nearly 50 orbiting probes so that the country can monitor the entire planet.

"We would have a much greater chance of finding MH370 and tracing it to its final position. The plan is being drafted to expand our regional monitoring capability to global coverage," Professor Chi Tianhe, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, told the Hong Kong-based daily, South China Morning Post.

If China presses ahead with the latest satellite proposal, which is estimated to cost about 20 billion yuan (£2bn), it will put China's global surveillance capability on par with the US or even greater than it.

Noting that this will prove a game changer in placing China ahead of other nations in its surveillance capabilities, remote-sensing expert at Peking University's school of earth and space sciences Liu Yu, told the daily: "China's ability to carry out observation from space would be altered tremendously. International earth-observation services today are dominated by the US and Europe, but if China launches more than 50 satellites for this purpose, the whole landscape will be changed. The more Chinese satellites there are in space, the easier our work becomes."

As the search for the Malaysian airliner enters the fourth week, China is increasingly frustrated over Kuala Lumpur's handling of the entire episode. Beijing's state-owned media have been ridiculing Malaysia's inability to manage the crisis.

Relatives of the Chinese passengers have also criticised Malaysian authorities for being unable to satisfactorily answer their queries.

Of the 227 passengers on board the missing airliner, 153 are Chinese nationals. In the latest development, about 50 family members of the missing Chinese passengers have flown to Kuala Lumpurto seek answers directly from the Malaysian prime minister and the transport minister.

African Company Beats Apple to Release First Black Emojis

The Oju Africa emojis.

An African company has released the world's first set of black emojis, following complaints that different races are not represented in the current set used on mobile devices and computers worldwide.

Oju Africa, a division of African mobile company Mi-Fone, launched the collection of 15 emojis this week in face of growing criticism of Apple, which introduced much of the current set to the US market.

Oju translates as "face" in the Yoruba language of Nigeria. The emojis are available now for Android (search for "oju emoticon app" in Play Store), and will be released soon for iOS.

"We follow global trends but we are differentiated by our authentic African voice. So as a brand we wanted to do something that only Africa could pull off, something that could become so iconic that it would have the world talking. I believe what we have created will ensure that every African on the planet won't be able to help but love it!" said Creative director Eserick Fouché.

The announcement comes after a petition was launched for Apple to scrap its list of 800 emojis, of which only two appear to be non-white: "man with gua-pi-mao" and "man with turban".

The list is regulated by the Unicode Consortium to ensure consistency, and though also used across Google and Microsoft platforms, Apple has been the focus of protests as it pioneered their use, and first enabled colour emojis to be used.

"There's a white boy, girl, man, woman, elderly man, elderly woman, blonde boy, blonde girl and, we're pretty sure, Princess Peach. But when it comes to faces outside of yellow smileys, there's a staggering lack of minority representation," says the petition.

One of the first campaigners on the issue was, perhaps surprisingly, pop star Miley Cyrus, who first tweeted about the need for an "emoji ethnicity in update" in 2012.

Miley Cyrus and her over-exposed tongueReuters

Apple has shown signs of responding to the pressure, and a spokeswoman recently said: "There needs to be more diversity in the emoji character set, and we have been working closely with the Unicode Consortium in an effort to update the standard."

Indian Men Kidnapped and Forced to Marry at Gunpoint

A couple exchange vows in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad.

There has been a surge in the number of men kidnapped in rural India and forced to marry at gunpoint.

According to official figures, there were 2,529 cases of akadwa shaadi, or "groom kidnapping", in the impoverished Bihar region, up from 1,337 in 2009.

The practice is unofficially sanctioned, with the cost of bridal dowries often financially crippling for impoverished families.

Anand Kumar Singh, the police chief of Madhepura district, told Al Jazeera that groom kidnappings remained common: "It is mainly prevalent among Bhumihar and Yadava castes," he said.

The cost of a dowry for a woman marrying, for example, a doctor from a wealthier family can be up to 400,000 rupees, or £4,000, while the dowry for a marriage into a lower caste Yadava family can be 100,000 rupees.

In the village of Khotiya, which is dominated by the Yadava caste, it is believed that half of all grooms were forced into marriage at gunpoint.

Dharmendra Kumar, 16, was celebrating exam results with friends in Khagaria on 26 December when he was kidnapped.

"I was drinking liquor with some relatives. After I'd had a few, they drugged me, stuck a pistol into my ribs and forced me into a jeep," he told the Times.

He said that he was taken to a village 40 miles away and introduced to a girl.

"They put us together for a few days and … we slept together," he said. The two were then forced to marry six days later, with some of those attending carrying guns.

Kumar and the girl remained married, and the two families are currently negotiating a dowry.

Journalist Kanhaiya Bhelari told the paper that the practice started in the 1970s, when an impoverished farmer struggling to find a dowry kidnapped a man to marry his daughter. Later, criminal gangs became involved, offering targeted kidnapping of grooms in exchange for money.

Neeraj, 36, was kidnapped when travelling to a friend's marriage and forced to marry a girl he had never met at gunpoint.

He managed to escape, after telling the girl's family that he was going to his parents to tell them he had found a wife.

He said he was still in contact with the girl.

"She's an intelligent girl and I like her but I don't want to be forced into marrying her like that," he said.

Egyptian Government Accused of Widespread Torture

Allegations of torture have emerged from protesters as Egypt's military-backed government brutally cracks down on dissent.Reuters

The Egyptian government is torturing detainees as part of a brutal crackdown on dissent.

Up to 20,000 people have been held by Egyptian authorities since last July, when former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was deposed, and many are emerging from state custody telling of brutal beatings, electric shocks and sexual abuse.

Scores of personal stories tell of brutal torture techniques used on detainees, including teenage children, by the military-backed interim government as part of its sweeping clampdown.

Ahmed Abdel Fattah, 15, spoke of 34 days of torture at a local police station after he was handed over to authorities by thugs when he refused to give up a mobile phone he had been using to film an Islamist protest.

"They electrocuted me in sensitive places like my spine and here on my arms, and in sensitive areas like between my legs," he told the BBC.

"When they electrocuted me I used to fall down on the ground and I could not stand up. At the same time they were beating me, and sometimes they would throw water to increase the voltage."

Egyptian army soldiers violently arrest a female protester during clashes in Tahiri Square in Cairo.Reuters

Fattah said his ordeal was made worse because the authorities suspected him of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood.

"They wanted me to be afraid," he said. "They thought I would have a lot to confess to. Of course I am not from the Brotherhood at all. They were saying: 'So-and-so is getting outside financing and you are getting weapons from them. They said you had Molotov Cocktails on you and you hit an officer'. I told him I could not hit an ant."

Democracy campaigner Yassin Mohammed, 19, also spoke of being electrocuted while under detention.

“They harassed us in a very, very humiliating way, and the aim was to break our spirits. I don't dare to explain more.”

Protester Ayat Hamada, 19

"I was surprised when they took off my trousers and put the wires on me," he said. "I was screaming and shouting." His account of being sexually assaulted is too disturbing to print.

Mohammed was arrested at a protest calling for the release of several detainees, including 19-year-old student Ayat Hamada, who also spoke of sexual abuse.

"It was physical," she told the BBC. "I don't dare to explain more. But they harassed us in a very, very humiliating way, and the aim was to break our spirits."

The testimonies tally with evidence gathered by Amnesty International, which found that supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi have been systematically captured, beaten and tortured since mass rival rallies erupted last summer.

Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said: "Allegations that torture is being carried out by individuals are extremely serious and must be investigated as a matter of urgency.

"The apparent use of torture for reprisal attacks is unacceptable. Political leaders have a responsibility to condemn these criminal acts and call on their supporters to renounce such human rights abuses."

Oil Futures Rise Amid Ukraine Tensions and Easing Cushing Glut

Oil rig pumpjacks, or thirsty birds, extract crude from the Wilmington oil field near Long Beach, California.Reuters

Crude oil futures inched up on 28 March, and finished higher for the week as a whole, as traders digested news about falling stockpiles at a key US storage hub amid the ongoing tensions between Russia and the West.

May US crude contract inched up 39 cents, or 0.4%, at $101.67 a barrel on 28 March.

US prices gained 2.2% for the week.

May Brent contract added 24 cents, or 0.2%, at $108.07 a barrel on 28 March.

Brent gained 1.1% for the week.

Cushing to Gulf Coast

A storage glut in Cushing, Oklahoma, has been easing, with a pipeline opened in January transporting crude out of the storage hub to the US Gulf Coast.

Supplies in Cushing fell for the eighth consecutive week last week, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on 26 March.

However, some analysts said the focus on Cushing supplies was deceptive, because oil was just moving out of Cushing and entering storage on the Gulf Coast. Supplies on the Gulf Coast struck a historic high last week, EIA data showed.

Ukraine Crisis

Meanwhile, geopolitical concerns also supported prices. Traders were reluctant to bet on lower prices in case tensions between Russia and the West worsened over the weekend.

US President Barack Obama has asked Moscow to withdraw troops from Crimea and start negotiations with Kiev.

The US and its allies have imposed sanctions on Russian and Ukrainian officials, but the measures have not hit Russian oil and natural-gas exports.

"It's basically just shifting around the country," said Tariq Zahir, managing member of Tyche Capital Advisors, referring to shifting US crude stockpiles.

Given how quickly the [Ukraine] situation could escalate, "why would you want to go short over the weekend?" Zahir added.

Commerzbank Corporates & Markets said in a 28 March note to clients: "Brent climbed [on 27 March] on the back of renewed protests in Libya and is trading this morning at just short of $108 per barrel. WTI achieved a three-week high of $101.7 per barrel overnight, continuing to profit from the decline in oil stocks at Cushing. As we stressed [on 27 March], the oversupply is merely being shifted from the Midwest to the US Gulf Coast, where stocks have meanwhile reached a record level.

"The reduction in Cushing stocks is thus overshadowing the fact that the US market is still amply supplied with crude oil. This is also evident from the fact that Light Louisiana Sweet (LLS) is trading at a $4 discount as compared with Brent and that the price differential between LLS and WTI has narrowed to $2.5 per barrel."

"A price gap this narrow means it is no longer profitable to transport oil from Cushing to the US Gulf Coast by pipeline, so it is no doubt merely contractual delivery obligations that are keeping the transport going. Crude oil stocks at the US Gulf Coast are likely to grow further in the coming weeks because refineries will be carrying out maintenance work now that the winter is over and will thus be processing less crude oil.

"Data from consultant firm Oil Movements also confirm that the period of low demand is fast approaching: they suggest that OPEC shipments in the four weeks to 12 April will decline by 620,000 barrels per day. Oil Movements attributes this to weaker seasonal demand from refineries in Asia," Commerzbank added.

Thai Protesters March across Bangkok Demanding Yingluck Shinawatra's Resignation

Anti-government protesters react as their leader Suthep Thaugsuban leads thousands marching through Bangkok. Tens of thousands of Thai anti-government protesters rallied across Bangkok in their latest bid to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, a day before a crucial vote to elect a new Senate.Reuters

In a fresh revival of anti-government demonstrations in Bangkok, about 30,000 protestors marched across the city demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, a day before senate elections.

The elections to the upper house of parliament can potentially decide Yingluck's political future.

She has to appear before the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to defend herself against negligence and oversight charges in her flagship rice subsidy scheme that incurred huge losses.

If the charges are upheld, she would have to face an impeachment vote in the senate. Sunday's elections will decide 77 out of 150 seats in the upper house.

The remaining unelected senators are appointed by institutions, which the government perceives as anti-Thaksin.

The protesters marched to the city's old quarter and a group of about 500 demonstrators broke into Government House, lying empty since the protests targeted state buildings.

"We think the crowd will swell to 50,000 people. Protesters are still trickling in from outside the capital and we have 8,000 police on standby if violence takes place but, overall, we're not expecting anything to happen," Paradorn Pattanathabutr, a security adviser to the prime minister, told Reuters.

"We will no longer accept this oppressive regime. They, Thaksin and Yingluck, are no longer welcome in Thailand," said protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, while the protesters shouted "Yingluck, get out!".

Governance in Thailand is almost paralysed as Yingluck heads a caretaker government with limited powers.

The opposition is trying to install a temporary unelected government to oversee electoral reforms before fresh elections are announced.

"We will show our power to the government -- people will not accept elections without immediate reforms first," Suthep said at the rally.

Thailand has been grappling with instability since Yingluck's brother and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a 2006 coup, later forcing him into self-exile.

The violent protests in the last few months have claimed 23 lives and hundreds of others have been wounded in shootings and sporadic grenade attacks.

The country is torn between urban anti-government opponents and rural supporters of the Thaksin regime.

"I have come out to preserve democracy," protester Jirapa Tantingarmkasem told AFP.

"I ask everyone to come out to protest. Fight! Fight!"

The pro-Thaksin "red shirts" are not willing to step back either. The new leader of the party has reportedly vowed to "fight tooth and nail" for Yingluck. A massive red-shirt rally is scheduled for 5 April.

Gold Prices to Continue Exhibiting Weakness

Gold prices are set to drop next week.Reuters

Gold prices are set to drop next week with several analysts expecting the precious metal to continue exhibiting weakness after two weeks of muted values.

As many as 12 of 22 analysts polled in a Kitco Gold Survey said they expected gold prices to drop next week, while six predicted that prices would rise and four forecast prices to remain unchanged.

Lower prices could now boost physical demand.

Phillip Streible, senior market strategist at RJO Futures, said: "Gold futures should remain under pressure as long as the issues with Russia and the Ukraine fade and investors remain focused on the thoughts of tapering (stimulus) and rising interest rates,".

Kevin Grady of Phoenix Gold Futures and Options, said: "I still believe that the physical market is directing our underlying price.... In the gold forward rates we noticed that the physical tightness dropped off as we approached the $1,400 level. This situation put the shorts in control.

"We have noted that the rates have gotten tighter as we broke the $1,300 level. It appears that the price-sensitive buyers are back. We need to hold our major support level of $1,270 for gold to rebound."

Commerzbank Corporates & Markets said in a 28 March note to clients: "Gold not only dipped under the $1,300 per troy ounce mark [on 27 March] but also fell below the technically important 200-day moving average.

"Although the price closed beneath the 200-day moving average, there has been no technical follow-up selling so far. Gold ETFs recorded slight inflows again [on 27 March], holdings having been reduced in the two previous days.

"In other words, speculative financial investors are likely to have been mainly to blame for the price slide."

Gold Ends Lower

US Gold Futures for delivery in June finished 50 cents lower at $1,294.30 an ounce on 28 March.

Prices lost 3.1% for the week as a whole.

Earlier, spot gold inched up 0.2% to $1,293 an ounce.

Gold prices are down $100 from their price peak two weeks ago. Prices ended near six-week lows on 28 March, logging a second consecutive weekly loss.

Improving US economic outlook has supported the US dollar and has boosted the global appetite for risk, denting gold's safe-haven investment status.

China, The Sleeping Lion has Woken Up, Says Xi Jinping

Chinese president Xi Jinping says China, the sleeping lion has woken upReuters

"Today, the lion has woken up. But it is peaceful, pleasant and civilised," said Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Addressing a meeting in Paris to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations with France, Xi said: "According to history, realising the Chinese dream would bring opportunities rather than threats, peace rather than turmoil to the world. It will help the world make progress in various aspects."

"Napoleon Bonaparte once said that China 'is a sleeping lion and when China wakes up, the world will shake'. In fact, the lion of China has awoken, but what the world sees now, is a peaceful, amiable, civilised lion."

Historians, nonetheless, dispute the authenticity of attributing the original quote to the French leader.

French president François Hollande was also present on the occasion. The two heads of state later held talks on boosting bilateral ties.

The lion metaphor cited by Xi is seen as a pointer to a more hawkish Chinese foreign policy in the coming years.

"Have you ever seen a peaceful, civilised and not aggressive lion? A lion is a big, wild and predatory animal, very much like China in its relations with other countries," Jean-Pierre Cabestan, the chief of the political science department at the Hong Kong Baptist University, told the South China Morning Post.

Since Xi's takeover late last year, there have been frequent territorial disputes with China's neighbouring countries as well as a perceptible shift in Beijing's relations with other countries including the US.

Jin Canrong, professor of international studies at Renmin University, said: "I am surprised by [Xi's] remarks. Xi is basically admitting that China is powerful, and that he is aware that some countries will be nervous about it, but they have to get used to China's status."

Xi is on his first-ever state visit to Europe and is currently in Berlin marking the third leg of his tour.

Following his two-day trip in Germany, Xi is due to visit the European Union's headquarters in Belgium which is widely seen as an attempt to boost economic ties with the 28-member bloc.

Sahara Group Staff Offer to Collect $835m for Subrata Roy's Release

Sahara group chairman Subrata Roy at the Supreme Court in New Delhi on 4 March, 2014.Reuters

A few employees of India's troubled Sahara Group have offered to collect 50bn rupees, from over one million salaried and field workers employed by the Group, to help get their boss Subrata Roy out of jail.

Directors of a unit of the group, Sahara's e-Multipurpose Society, and the group's "associates" have sought a minimum contribution of 100,000 rupees (£1,003) per head towards Roy's bail bond of 100bn rupees ($1.67bn), reported the Press Trust of India.

In return, contributors would receive shares in e-Multipurpose Society.

Pursued by the news agency, an unnamed senior Sahara official clarified that the letter had not been issued by Roy or by the management and that "it is only an emotional initiative from people in reaction to [the] prevailing situation."

$1.67bn Bail Bond

Earlier in the week, India's highest court said Roy, held in a Delhi jail since 4 March, would be granted interim bail once Sahara deposits 50bn rupees ($835m, £501m, €607m) in cash with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and provide bank guarantees for another 50bn rupees.

Roy, whose company began accepting daily deposits of as little as 30 cents in 1978 and went on to build an $11bn business empire, is fighting allegations that his group failed to abide by a court order to repay 240bn rupees ($4bn) to depositors.

Roy, 65, has not been charged with a crime. He surrendered to police on 28 February after the court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant two days earlier for failing to heed its summons.

Roy, who calls himself "Sahara Sri", operates within the $670bn shadow-banking industry, which refers to the provision of capital by loans or investments between companies outside the formal banking system. It includes hedge funds, private-equity funds and insurance companies.

Sahara is the owner of properties such as London's Grosvenor House, New York's Plaza Hotel, and at least 120 companies, including television stations, a hospital, a dairy farm and retail shops selling everything from detergents to diamonds, alongside a stake in India's lone Formula One racing team.

Sahara also claims to own 14,600 hectares (36,000 acres) of land, an area slightly bigger than the city of Cambridge.

Roy is often described in media reports as a billionaire, although he claims to only have assets worth about 50 million rupees ($835,600).

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370's Disappearance: Interpol Pours Scorn on Kuala Lumpur over Stolen Passports

A policeman holds up photos of the two men who they believe were travelling onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 on stolen passportsReuters

Interpol has hit back at the Malaysian authorities for claiming that it is too cumbersome to check through the passport database of the international police agency, in the backdrop of the controversies surrounding the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

The organisation said Malaysian officials are solely responsible for any security mishap involved in the crisis.

The France-based agency said: "If there is any responsibility or blame for this failure, it rests solely with Malaysia's Immigration Department. Had Malaysia consulted Interpol's database, the fact that both passengers were using stolen passports would have been discovered almost instantaneously."

Interpol's rebuttal had come following the remarks made by Malaysia's Interior Minister Zahid Hamidi during a parliament session in which he criticised the passport database of Interpol as being too huge. Any cross-checking would be time consuming eventually leading to severe airport delays, he had said.

However, the police agency, which has a database of about 40 million stolen passports or lost travel documents, shot back saying it would take, "just seconds to reveal whether a passport is listed, with recent tests providing results in 0.2 seconds."

"The truth is that in 2014 prior to the tragic disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, Malaysia's Immigration Department did not conduct a single check of passengers' passports against Interpol's databases," a statement on Interpol's website added.

The storm over the stolen passports erupted after it was revealed that two Iranian passengers on board the vanished airliner were flying under fake identities prompting concerns of a terror attack. However, the two men were believed to be heading to Europe in order to seek asylum.

Meanwhile, the search for the jetliner, which remains missing for three weeks, presses ahead in the southern Indian Ocean as authorities are hoping for a breakthrough in finding its debris.