Poland air crash probe: Remains of ex-president mixed up

Polish investigators say remains of two other people have been found in the coffin of ex-President Lech Kaczynski, who died with dozens of other top officials in a plane crash in 2010.

Twenty-seven exhumations have been carried out so far since Poland started a new crash investigation last year.

The disaster happened near Smolensk in western Russia, as the government plane was coming in to land in thick fog.

Victims' remains were mixed up in 11 other coffins, investigators say.

The crash of the Soviet-built Tu-154 jet killed 96 people - the worst such disaster for Poland since World War Two.

Senior state and military officials had been on their way to a ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, in which more than 20,000 Polish officers were murdered by the Soviet secret police.

Russian and Polish investigations concluded that the crash was mainly caused by pilot error.

But the nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS), led by Lech Kaczynski's twin brother Jaroslaw, swept to power in October 2015 elections, and launched a new investigation.

Some PiS members believe the plane was brought down by an explosion. Some also claim that the Russian air traffic controllers deliberately misled the crew. 

• Polish late president's body exhumed
• Smolensk tragedy continues to haunt Poland

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  The shadow of the tragedy continues to darken Polish-Russian relations.
  Poland started the exhumations last year after errors were allegedly found in Russian forensic documents. In all, 83 exhumations are planned.

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  No evidence of conspiracy: By Adam Easton, BBC News, Warsaw

  What this painful and shameful discovery shows is that the autopsies on the victims' remains, carried out in Russia in the days after the crash, were inadequate, rushed and flawed. Correctly identifying the victims of a plane crash is difficult. Experts reckon it can take up to a month, due to the massive impact and extent of injuries. In this case, dozens of sealed coffins returned to Poland within five days of the disaster.
  The mix-up reflects poorly on Donald Tusk's Polish government at the time. What it doesn't do is bolster the theory promoted by the current PiS government that the plane was brought down by a bomb.
  The previous Russian and Polish investigations concluded that the pilots had ignored electronic warnings to "pull up" in dense fog, as they tried to get a sighting of the runway. The current investigation, which has been working for 18 months, has failed to produce any credible evidence to support the assassination theory. Nor have the prosecutors, presiding over the exhumations.

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  In a statement on Thursday, Polish Deputy Prosecutor General Marek Pasionek said that in two cases remains had been swapped, while nine other coffins were found to contain various mixed-up remains.
  According to Mr Pasionek, citing the results of DNA tests:
• Gen Bronislaw Kwiatkowski's coffin contained 14 body parts belonging to seven different people
• Gen Wlodzimierz Potasinski's contained six body parts belonging to four other people
• Archbishop Miron Chodakowski's coffin contained his body from the waist up and the body of Gen Tadeusz Ploski from the waist down
• Only half of Gen Ploski's body was found in his coffin.

Magdalena Merta, widow of ex-culture ministry official Tomasz Merta, said the Russian post-mortems showed "nonchalance in the best case and ill-will in the worst case". She accused Russia of "a filthy attitude towards our dead".

Nine post-mortems conducted by Poland before 2016 revealed that six bodies had been wrongly identified.

BBC NEWS

South Thanet Tory candidate Craig Mackinlay charged over expenses

The Conservative candidate for South Thanet has been charged with allegedly overspending in the 2015 General Election campaign.

Craig Mackinlay, who is running again on 8 June, stands accused under the Representation of the People Act 1983, alongside his election agent Nathan Gray and party activist Marion Little.

He said he had done nothing wrong and questioned the timing of the decision.

Other Tory candidates were investigated but no charges were brought.

Prime Minister Theresa May said: "The Conservative Party continues to believe that these allegations are unfounded.

"Craig Mackinlay is innocent until proven guilty and he remains our candidate."

• See the BBC's election live page for more updates
• Candidates standing in South Thanet

If found guilty, Mr Mackinlay could face a maximum sentence of one year in prison, BBC Home Affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said.

Police forces have been investigating whether MPs' agents should have filed costs for battle bus visits to constituencies under local expenses.

The Conservative Party said they had been campaigning "across the country for the return of a Conservative government" and, as a result, associated costs were regarded as national and not local expenditure.

It added that election laws were confused and unclear and the party was committed to strengthening future electoral laws.

Mr Mackinlay, who is 50, his agent Nathan Gray, 28, and Marion Little, a party activist, 62, have each been charged with offences under the Representation of the People Act 1983 and are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 4 July 2017.

In May the CPS announced that no criminal charges would be brought against more than 20 Conservative MPs in connection with the national party's failure to declare expenses for its battle bus campaigns.

Complex election spending rules require parties to disclose national spending separately from the funds used to promote candidates, and separate national and local spending limits apply.

In explaining its decision in May, the CPS said: "Although there is evidence to suggest the returns may have been inaccurate, there is insufficient evidence to prove to the criminal standard that any candidate or agent was dishonest."

A statement on Mr Mackinlay's Facebook page said: "My candidature in South Thanet is entirely unaffected and my campaign continues as before."
"I have done nothing wrong and acted honestly and properly whilst a candidate in 2015, as all candidates do, [and] acted upon advice throughout."
Mr Mackinlay said it was a "shocking decision" by the CPS.
He said: "I am very disappointed with the way this has been handled by the CPS and Kent Police and I must question the timing of this decision given that Kent Police confirmed on 18 April that their file had been sent to the CPS to review and make their decision: Why leave this until a few days before the election?"

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Analysis: Helen Catt, BBC South East Today Political Editor

It may feel like a curve ball this close to polling day, but in electoral terms the decision to charge Craig Mackinlay means no change.

Postal ballots have already been sent out, the deadline for withdrawing nominations has passed, so there is no choice for the Conservatives to make, even if they wanted to: Craig Mackinlay will be the party's candidate on the ballot paper in South Thanet.

If he were to win, he would also be able to take his seat like any other MP; being charged with a criminal offence does not preclude that.

The Conservative Party could always decide to withdraw the whip, leaving him as an Independent, but that is unlikely in this case.

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Nick Vamos, CPS head of special crime, said Kent Police had handed a file of evidence to it on 18 April and the CPS had asked for further investigation "in advance of the 11 June statutory time limit by when any charges needed to be authorised".

He added: "We have concluded there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to authorise charges against three people."

The 2015 election saw Mr Mackinlay elected as MP for South Thanet beating Nigel Farage, then UKIP leader, into second place.
Commenting on the CPS decision, Mr Farage said he was pleased someone had been charged and he predicted the Conservative vote in South Thanet would collapse.
He said: "I think that constituency will now be a straight fight between UKIP and the Labour Party."
Mr Farage also said: "Once again, it is bad judgement from Theresa May.
"Why on earth would you allow someone to go ahead as General Election candidate when this cloud was clearly hanging over him?"
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Tories' decision to comment on the case could be seen as "interference" in an independent process.
He said: "Nobody should be commenting on the details of an ongoing case, the police must be allowed to act independently, to investigate on the basis of any evidence they've got and the Crown Prosecution Service must be allowed to make its decision on whether to proceed on a case.
"I think it is a very bad road when democratically elected politicians start offering a running commentary on independent judicial processes. We have to have total separation of political and judicial powers in this country."

BBC NEWS

The company will wield even more power than it already does

Google has confirmed it is adding an ad blocker to Chrome in early 2018.

The controversial plans have been rumoured for weeks, and the company has now shared concrete details about them.

Google makes the vast majority of its revenue from advertising, and there has been concern that the company will take great care to protect its own interests.  

 

However, Google says its technology will penalise non-compliant ads even if they’re “owned or served” by Google itself. The company, of course, will ensure its ads don't fall foul of the rules.

“It's far too common that people encounter annoying, intrusive ads on the web – like the kind that blare music unexpectedly, or force you to wait 10 seconds before you can see the content on the page,” wrote Sridhar Ramaswamy, Google’s senior vice president of ads and commerce, in a blog post. 

“These frustrating experiences can lead some people to block all ads – taking a big toll on the content creators, journalists, web developers and videographers who depend on ads to fund their content creation.”

Google’s ad blocker will only target adverts that the Coalition for Better Ads – a group Google is a member of – considers to be “unacceptable”. 

For mobile users, the Coalition for Better Ads says pop-up ads, prestitial ads (those that block the content you actually want to access by loading first), pages with more than 30 per cent ad density, flashing animations, poststitial ads that require a countdown to dismiss, full-screen rollover ads, large sticky ads and auto-playing videos with sound are “least preferred”.

On desktop, the “least preferred” list includes cut to pop-up ads, auto-playing videos with sound, prestitial ads with a countdown and large sticky ads.

Publishers can find out if their ads are compliant by using the Ad Experience Report, which is designed to help them spot and fix issues.

Chrome is the world’s most popular browser, and the introduction of a Google-built ad blocker will give the company an immense amount of power over the web.

However, blocking irritating ads will definitely improve the user experience, and should also help web pages load faster.

“We believe these changes will ensure all content creators, big and small, can continue to have a sustainable way to fund their work with online advertising,” added Mr Ramaswamy. 

 

 North Korea releases first pictures of latest nuclear missile test

Kim Jong-un said missile 'valuable victory' makes US and South Korea 'worried and dispirited' Korean Central News Agency

The first pictures of North Korea's latest ballistic missile test have been released, a reminder of the third show of military aggression in three weeks.

The Scud-type missile reached an altitude of 75 miles and fell into the water, about 200 nautical miles off the western coast of Japan. 

North Korean officials said they launched the weapon to counter what they describe as US military threats and are seeking to build a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile that can reach the US mainland.

North Koreans said their missile test was a success and had fallen within a few metres of their target.

“The ballistic rocket flew toward the east sky where the day broke and correctly hit a planned target point with deviation of seven meters after flying over the middle shooting range,” the state-run news agency KCNA said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was quoted as saying, "Whenever news of our valuable victory is broadcast... the Yankees would be very much worried about it and the gangsters of the South Korean

The UN Security Council vowed to encourage all countries to tighten sanctions on the country.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida urged his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, to call on China to do more in dealing with Pyongyang after the missile entered Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone.

puppet army would be dispirited more and more."

The vast majority of North Korea’s trade is with China. Chinese officials have pleaded for dialogue with North Korea, rather than sanctions, while the US said it would not enter talks before the missile tests stopped.

US President Donald Trump has condemned the latest test. 

BBC NEWS

Resorts World Manila: At least 36 bodies found at casino complex

At least 36 bodies have been recovered from a casino and hotel complex in the Philippine capital, Manila, where a lone gunman opened fire overnight.

Most of the dead suffocated in thick toxic smoke after the man set fire to casino tables, officials told the BBC.
The gunman, whose nationality is not yet known, began shooting in the casino in Resorts World Manila in the early hours of Friday morning.
Police said he later killed himself by setting himself on fire.
The incident sparked a security lockdown. Authorities initially said there were no casualties, but appear to have only found the bodies while sweeping the complex after the gunman's body was recovered.

Officials insisted that the incident was a robbery attempt, and was not terrorism-related despite an apparent claim by the so-called Islamic State (IS) group.

How did the attack unfold?

The man, who has yet to be named, entered the casino shortly after midnight and began firing an assault rifle, sparking widespread panic.
'People running and screaming' at Manila casino
He fired into the air, not at people, but it caused fear, Southern Police District Superintendent Tomas Apolinario told the BBC.
"We have some injured people and we have some dead as well, but none of them have gunshot wounds," he said.

The gunman also set gaming tables on fire and filled a backpack with gambling chips worth 113m Philippine pesos (£1.7m, $2.3m).
The man later fled to the hotel section of the complex, leaving behind the backpack, and entered a hotel room.
"He lay down on the bed, covered himself with a thick blanket, apparently poured petrol on the blanket and burned himself," national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa said on Friday.
The shooting sparked a security lockdown and a manhunt in the complex, which ended when the gunman's body was found.
Resorts World Manila said in a statement that the man also shot himself after setting himself on fire, and that he was found dead around 07:00 local time (23:00 Thursday GMT).

Who was the gunman?

Police released CCTV images of the man, showing him dressed in black and carrying his rifle.
There has been some speculation on the part of local media and some officials that the gunman could have been a foreigner on the basis that he spoke English well. Early reports said he appeared to resemble a Caucasian.

But Superintendent Apolinario told the BBC the police had not confirmed his nationality.
Authorities have also told reporters that the man appeared to be "mentally disturbed". Resorts World Manila has called the casino shooting a "cowardly act of a deranged mind".
Police say the gunman was acting alone, unconnected to any Islamist group. Over the last week militants allied to IS have been engaged in street battles in the far south of the Philippines.

How did so many people die?

Police said the suspect poured petrol over the furniture and rugs, causing them to catch fire immediately. Although the fire was not large, thick smoke caused the deaths.
Those who escaped the casino have said they saw smoke filling the complex.
One woman told AFP that she had received a call from her daughter as the attack happened. "Our daughter called us past midnight saying she was in the VIP section of the casino and there was smoke and they were suffocating," Gil Yongco said.
Resorts World Manila chief operating officer Stephen Reilly has told reporters that fire safety equipment worked, and that there was "proper ventilation".
More than 50 people have been sent to a hospital to be treated for injuries, including fractures.

BBC NEWS

ViaSat-2: Satellite goliath goes into orbit

The most powerful commercial broadband satellite ever built has just gone into orbit on an Ariane rocket.

ViaSat-2, which is to be stationed above the Americas, has a total throughput capacity of about 300 gigabits per second.

The spacecraft was part of a dual payload on the Ariane flight. It was joined by Eutelsat 172B, a UK/French-built platform to go over the Pacific.

Both satellites will be chasing the rampant market for wi-fi on aeroplanes.

Airlines are currently in a headlong rush to equip their fleets with connections that will allow passengers to use their mobile devices in mid-air.

More than 6,000 commercial aircraft worldwide were offering an onboard wi-fi service in 2016; it is expected more than 17,000 will be doing so by 2021.

In-flight internet has traditionally had a terrible reputation, but there is a feeling now that the latest technology really can give passengers a meaningful slice of bandwidth and at a competitive price.

Inmarsat rides SpaceX Falcon

Intelsat rolls out next-gen system

The Ariane left the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana at 20:45 local time, Thursday (23:45 GMT), ejecting the satellites into their transfer orbits about half an hour later.

Both must now get themselves into their final positions. Noteworthy is the fact that ViaSat-2 and 172B will be using electric engines to do this.

These work by accelerating and expelling ions at high speed. The process provides less thrust than a standard chemical engine, but saves substantially on propellant mass.

Image copyrightAIRBUS DS

Image captionEutelsat-172B is the first satellite from Airbus to use all-electric propulsion for orbit-raising and station-keeping

That saving can be traded to get either a lower-priced launch ticket, or to pack even greater capacity into the satellite's communications payload for no additional weight.

The US, Boeing-built ViaSat-2 uses a mix of chemical and electric propulsion, but Eutelsat's platform is all-electric - the first such design to come from Europe's biggest space manufacturer, Airbus.

ViaSat-2 will be providing broadband services to fixed customers across North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and a portion of northern South America.

But the satellite is also configured to service planes and ships, and in particular it is looking to grab a significant share of business out over the Atlantic.

The aviation sector currently is a key battleground for satellite operators; it is where they are seeing double-digit growth.

In the US, working with airlines such as JetBlue, ViaSat has already found success through its existing high-throughput ViaSat-1 spacecraft.

With the extra capacity on ViaSat-2, it aims to do better still.

"We think people want to use their devices in the air the way they do on the ground; that's the bet we've made," said ViaSat Chief Operating Officer Rick Baldridge.

"JetBlue delayed their in-flight wi-fi offering, waiting for us, and now they're giving it away for free and we're providing 12 megabits per second to every seat, including streaming video," he told BBC News.

ViaSat-2's "footprint" touches the western coast of Europe, but aeroplanes travelling further east will be handed seamlessly to a better-positioned Eutelsat spacecraft, which should enable passengers to stay connected all the way across to Turkey if needs be.

This is one of the benefits of the strategic alliance that the two satellite companies have formed. And in time this will see the pair operate a ViaSat-3 platform together over Europe. This spacecraft is being built to have a total throughput capacity of one terabit per second.

From its position very close to the International Date Line, Eutelsat's 172B spacecraft is going to target - amongst other business - the flight corridors of the Asia-Pacific region. And it has some very smart British technology to do this in the form of a multi port amplifier.

This can flexibly switch power between the satellite's 11 spot beams to make sure the available bandwidth is always focused where it is needed most - whether that be on the planes moving east-west from Japan to California, say, or when they go in the other direction as a cluster at a different time of day.

"To oversimplify, in-flight connectivity has mostly been restricted to the US. But now it is expanding into the Asia-Pacific region and it's also coming to Europe," said Rodolphe Belmer, Eutelsat's chief executive officer.

"We see spontaneous demand from airlines and it's booming. It's true the technology hasn't always delivered, but you will see with the introduction of very high throughput satellites in the next few years that we will be able to… bring a massive quantity of bandwidth onboard the plane, meaning you can stream Netflix in HD. That's a game-changer."

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

Image captionIn-flight connectivity is a key battleground for the satellite operators

Euroconsult is one of the world's leading analyst groups following the satellite industry. Its research confirms the rapid growth now taking place, and says this will only accelerate.

Euroconsult's recent report on in-flight-connectivity (IFC) predicted nearly half of all commercial planes would be enabled by 2021, pushing revenues for the suppliers of onboard services from $1bn to $6.5bn inside 10 years. But Euroconsult's CEO, Pacôme Revillon, said there will be winners and losers in this IFC race and this would likely be decided in the very near future.

"Going to 2020, approximately 50% of aircraft could have opted for their chosen connectivity solutions, and certainly all of the major airlines will have made that choice. By that stage the market share could decide who are the winners and losers, and we anticipate seeing some consolidation in this sector, with two to three companies coming to dominate the market," he told BBC News.

  Resorts World Manila: Gunman sparks       panic at Philippines hotel

Police in the Philippines have taken control of a hotel and entertainment complex in Manila after it was stormed by a masked gunman.

The gunman is dead, officials said, although it is not clear how he died. It is believed he acted alone and was staging a robbery, police said.

Resorts World Manila was in lockdown after the incident, which happened after midnight local time (16:00 GMT).

Several people were reported injured as they fled the hotel in panic.

Philippines police chief Ronald dela Rosa said a lone gunman had entered the gaming area at Resorts World, fired at a television and set some gambling tables on fire.

Gunshots were fired, he said, but were not aimed at people in the room.

The police chief told local radio station DAM the gunman had filled a bag with casino gambling chips.

But he warned that Islamist militants might falsely claim to be behind it to further their propaganda.

The Philippine military is currently battling militants allied to so-called Islamic State on the southern island of Mindanao.

"We cannot say this is an act of terror... he [the gunman] did not hurt anyone," the police chief said. "If you are a terrorist you will sow terror."

He added that no visitors to the casino had been shot and that the only injuries were from smoke inhalation, or the stampede that formed as people tried to escape.

Resorts World Manila features multiple hotels and bars, as well as a shopping centre and casino.

Many witnesses took the incident for a militant assault.

Marcel Navaro, a Resorts World employee, told DZMM radio he had returned from his break to find people fleeing in panic.

"Guests were screaming. We went to the basement locker room and hid there. People were screaming, guests and employees were in panic.

"When we smelled smoke, we decided to go for the exit in the car park. That's where we got out. Before we exited, we heard two gunshots and there was thick smoke on the ground floor."

Eyewitness Hessa Isabelle filmed the scene from a nearby balcony and described seeing "people screaming and running out of the building".

As the situation unfolded, the US state department tweeted a warning to citizens, stating: "Reports of explosions/gunfire at Resorts World Manila, near the Manila Intl Airport. Avoid area & monitor local news."

Ninoy Aquino International Airport, which is around a mile (1.6km) from the resort, was placed on lockdown.

President Donald Trump labelled the incident a terror attack, and offered his "thoughts and prayers" to those affected.

The incident comes as the Philippines army is fighting militants linked to the so-called Islamic State group for control of the city of Marawi on the southern island of Mindanao.