Newlywed Who Pushed Husband Off Cliff Jailed

A bride who had doubts about her eight-day-old marriage and then killed her husband by pushing him off a cliff has been jailed for 30 years.

The judge in Missoula, Montana, told Jordan Graham she showed no remorse and "did not have the human capacity to feel the wrongfulness of what she'd done".

Graham, 22, said on the day her husband Cody Johnson died last July, the couple had driven to Glacier National Park and then walked to the cliff face.

She then told him she was not happy and "wasn't sure we should be married".

Mr Johnson, 25, then responded by grabbing her hand, she claimed, adding she thought he was going to pull her.

"I told him to let go and I pushed his hand off," Graham said.

She said she "just pushed his hand off and just pushed away", with one hand on his arm and one on his back.

Graham pictured at an earlier court hearing

The defendant had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder but then tried to withdraw her plea last December.

She claimed prosecutors were going back on an agreement by seeking a life sentence.

But US District Judge Donald Molloy denied the request. He sentenced Graham to 30 years in prison with no chance for early parole, followed by five years of supervised release.

Graham broke down in tears before sentencing as she began her address to the judge, saying she still loved the husband she killed.

"A day doesn't go by I don't think about what happened and why I didn't make different decisions," she said.

"It was a moment of complete shock and panic. I have no other explanation."

She also apologised to Mr Johnson's mother as well as her own family. But the judge indicated he had continuing doubts about her honesty.

"There's only one person in this room that knows what happened, and I don't think she's been entirely truthful about what happened," Judge Molloy said.

Graham had initially told investigators her husband left their house with unknown friends and showed police a fabricated email from a 'friend' saying he was dead and search should be called off.

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Missing Plane: Objects Seen In New Search Area

Australian authorities have said a plane involved in the search for the missing MH370 flight has spotted objects in a new search area in the Indian Ocean.

A tweet from the Australian Marine Safety Authority (AMSA) said a Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion aircraft spotted the objects on Friday.

The sightings will need to be confirmed by ship, which is not expected to take place until Saturday.

It comes after the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has shifted after data suggested it was travelling faster than previously thought.

A helicopter is unloaded from a transport plane at the air base near Perth

Analysis of radar from before contact with flight MH370 was lost indicated the plane was burning up fuel more quickly and may not have travelled as far south over the Indian Ocean.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau described the data, which came from analysis by Boeing, as the "most credible lead to where debris may be located".

Search teams have been relocated to scour an area 685 miles northeast of the zone they had been operating in.

Some 10 aircraft, including nine military planes, are involved and six ships are being sent to the region.

Experts will also trawl through satellite images of the new search zone to identify any possible crash sites.

During a news conference on Friday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian authorities said the search in the Indian Ocean could shift to a deep sea search and salvage if no sign of the missing plane was discovered before the 30-day life of its black box battery.

The search is now nearly three weeks old and the operation has had to be called off twice due to bad weather.

Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, chief executive of Malaysia Airlines, was asked about the psychological testing of pilots employed by the airline.

He said: "They do psychological tests when they take new pilots on. That is something we check yearly and six-monthly, depending on how old they are, through an interview with aviation doctors."

Hishammuddin Hussein, acting minister of transport for Malaysia, added the new search area "could still be consistent with the potential objects identified by various satellite images" because of ocean drift.

Search teams are using 10 planes in an attempt to find missing flight MH370

Professor Chris Bellamy, maritime security expert at the University of Greenwich, said it was not surprising that the search area continues to change.

He told Sky News: "In that time (since satellite images), with a current of approximately three knots the debris could have drifted that distance.

"We may be talking about a load of debris floating in the area that they have been searching just before they moved the area and an impact in the new area.

"It doesn't totally surprise me that it's taken them so long to refine the search and decide that the plane probably went in further north."

The development comes after images from a Thai satellite showed 300 objects ranging from two to 15 metres in size scattered in the sea about 1,700 miles southwest of Perth.

Prayers and messages of support left on a wall at Kuala Lumpur airport

A French satellite spotted more than 120 objects floating in the ocean, while Japan is also reported to have captured aerial images of 10 items.

It is not known whether any of the objects are from the missing Boeing 777, which disappeared on March 8 as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The plane is thought to have crashed with the loss of all 239 people on board after flying thousands of miles off course.

The search for the missing plane resumed after it was suspended earlier this week because of poor weather off the coast of Australia.

Heavy rain, strong winds and low cloud caused reduced visibility and forced aircraft to turn back.

Distraught relatives of the 150 Chinese passengers on board the plane continue to voice their anger and frustration at the speed of the investigation.

Some Chinese insurance companies have started paying compensation to the families, according to the state news agency.

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Nurse Held Over Stepping Hill Hospital Deaths

A nurse has been rearrested in connection with a number of deaths at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport in 2011.

Victorino Chua, 48, is being held on suspicion of three counts of murder, 18 counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and offences of poisoning under Section 24 of the Offences Against the Person Act.

He was arrested last year on suspicion of tampering with medical records at the hospital.

He was due to answer bail next week but reports say he was rearrested after new evidence came to light.

The deaths of Tracey Arden, 44, Arnold Lancaster, 71 and Alfred Derek Weaver, 83. are being treated as murder.

Five other people poisoned by contaminated products later died.

The deaths took place at Stepping Hill in 2011

They were: William Dickson, 82, Linda McDonagh, 60, John Beeley, 73, Beryl Hope, 70, and Mary Cartwright, 89.

The police investigation began after hospital staff noticed "unexplained" low blood sugar levels in patients.

Police later found a number of saline drips had been deliberately contaminated.

Chua was first arrested in January 2012 and later released on bail.

The father-of-two from Stockport has been rebailed on several occasions.

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Flight MH370 Debris Hunt: Day Nine At A Glance

Search teams from six countries are scouring the southern Indian Ocean for the wreckage of flight MH370.

The search area is southwest of Perth

Officials sharply narrowed the search zone based on the last satellite signals received from the Malaysia Airlines plane.

Despite being scaled down, it is still estimated to be around 1.6 million sq km (622,000 sq miles) - nearly seven times the size of Britain.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is coordinating the hunt, said much of Wednesday's focus would be on a 80,000 sq km (30,900 sq miles) swathe of the ocean.

A total of 12 planes and two ships from the US, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand are taking part.

A Chinese Ilyushin IL-76 was the first aircraft to depart for the area, leaving around 8am local time.

China has also sent the polar supply ship Xue Long, with other Chinese vessels on their way.

The US Navy is also sending a P-8 Poseidon to the remote area, which is about 1,550 miles (2,500km) southwest of Perth.

The Australian naval vessel HMAS Success will conduct a surface sweep of the region where two objects, possibly debris, were spotted this week.

Australia also sent out an AP-3 Orion this morning. It will send another out later in the day.

New Zealand's P-3 Orion left for the zone about an hour after the Chinese plane left the base.

And South Korea has joined the search for the first time, also offering up a P-3 Orion, which will head to the area later today, along with a Japanese P-3 Orion.

As well as the military planes, five civilian aircraft are scouring the ocean for any sign of the plane.

The efforts will be aided by the deployment of an American advanced sonar device to help locate the plane's "black box" flight data recorder.

Malaysia Airlines confirmed the battery which powers the black box will emit a locator signal of 30 days, once activated by contact with water, giving searchers less than two weeks to find the crash site.

Those efforts will be crucial in finding out why MH370 veered so far off its intended course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

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US Mudslide Death Toll Rises As Bodies Found

Mudslide: 911 Calls Of Scared Witnesses

Updated: 10:15pm UK, Tuesday 25 March 2014

Terrified residents of a town swept away by a devastating mudslide called 911 to report falling trees, buried cars and neighbours screaming for help.

One caller reported a house being pushed on to the road by a wall of mud and rock, while another shouted: "Houses are gone!"

The calls were released as rescue efforts continued after the mudslide north of Seattle, which has killed at least 14 people.

Another 176 people remain unaccounted for, though officials hope that at least some might have been double-counted or been slow to alert family and officials about their whereabouts.

In one of the calls, a woman is heard reporting a "big emergency".

"There has been a huge landslide, and it has pushed the house all the way across the road," she said, adding she was speaking of a house next door.

The woman said power lines were being cut, and called for help to be sent.

"I can't believe this, oh my God," she said.

"Tell them to come on up, there's a lot of work."

The mudslide smashed through the small community of Oso, around 55 miles (90km) north of Seattle, on Saturday morning.

Around 30 homes were destroyed and dozens more damaged as much of the riverside village was swept away.

Workers continued the search but hopes of finding survivors were fading. Earlier, they pulled out a four-year-old boy, but his father and siblings are missing.

In the 911 calls, a man spoke on behalf of his wife.

"She said it sounded like an earthquake was happening," the man reported.

"There is a mudslide or something, hundreds of trees have fallen right  by my house."

He added he had not been able to extract more information from his wife as she was "in a panic".

An agitated woman screamed into the phone as she called 911.

"Houses are gone!" she shouted, adding people were calling for help as they were being flooded.

"Oh my gosh," she said, breaking into tears.

Summer Raffo, 36, was driving along Route 530 in Oso when the giant landslide swept through. No-one has heard from her since.

Her brother, Dayn Brunner, doesn't hold out much hope of finding his sister alive - but he can't give up the search.

"If it were me in there, she would do the same thing," he told Sky News.

Mr Brunner has joined rescue crews picking their way through the debris in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.

"It is important to me to get in there and get her out," he said. "Knowing this is no longer a rescue mission, it is hard."

Another man, who asked not to be named, had just spoken with his son, who was searching the wreckage of the family home.

"He's found my wife and my other son. They're dead," the man told Sky News.

The family had moved to their home on Steelhead Drive, the road that took the brunt of the slide, just two years ago.

"It was beautiful. My wife had never been happier," the man added.

The towns either side of Oso have rallied to support those caught in the disaster.

The scene greeting rescue teams in Oso has been described as "unimaginable".

"It is unfathomable what kind of devastation there is. You have mounds of dirt 70ft tall by 100ft wide and 200ft long sitting in what used to be somebody's yard," said Dayn Brunner.

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Missing Plane: '122 Objects' Spotted In Ocean

A satellite has spotted 122 'potential objects' in the southern Indian Ocean in the search for the missing Malaysia Airline plane.

The objects measured between one metre and 23 metres in length and were identified about 1,500 miles off the coast of Perth in western Australia.

Some appeared to be bright, according to Malaysian officials.

The items were captured in satellite images from French company Airbus which were taken on Sunday March 23.

Malaysian investigators received the pictures on Tuesday and after analysing them, they identified 122 possible objects.

The findings were then forwarded to the Australian search command centre.

At the moment, it is not known if the objects were connected to missing flight MH370, which disappeared more than two weeks ago on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

UK satellite company Inmarsat helped narrow the search for MH370

The search area covering around 155 square miles has been split into two - west and east - with six planes from Australia, the US, New Zealand, China, Japan and South Korea, scouring each.

Malaysian officials have said they will never give up trying to find the jet and their determination "remains steadfast".

Malaysia's acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference: "It must be emphasised that we cannot tell whether the potential objects are from MH370."

But he said the latest satellite images were "the most credible lead we have".

Earlier, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said: "We are throwing everything we have at this search. We are just going to keep on looking because we owe it to people to do everything we can to resolve this riddle."

Grieving relatives have expressed their anger in Beijing

The race is now on to find the debris field, which if it turns out to be parts of the missing jet, could be used to "back-track" and help locate the point of impact.

This will be critical to finding the black box data recorders, which could hold vital clues to what happened aboard the Boeing 777.

Theories range from hijacking to sabotage or a possible suicide by one of the pilots, but investigators have not ruled out technical problems.

The search, which had to be suspended on Tuesday due to bad weather, continues amid heavy criticism of Malaysia and the airline from the relatives of the people on the flight.

Dozens of angry Chinese people clashed with police in a protest outside Malaysia's Embassy in Beijing. Most of the passengers were Chinese.

Mr Hishammuddin said he understood the feelings of those relatives, but pointed out Malaysian nationals had also been lost.

"I think history will judge us well," he said.

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Malaysia Jet: Two More Objects Sighted From Air

Missing Plane Mystery: Pilot's Simulator 'Key'

Updated: 6:11am UK, Sunday 23 March 2014

The pilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane invested vast amounts of time and money in an ultra-realistic flight simulator that is being pored over by investigators trying to solve the mystery of the jet's disappearance.

Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah spent thousands of hours in the virtual cockpit of the machine playing flying games and boosting its capabilities.

The state-of-the-art setup is a key part of the investigation into flight MH370, which has been missing for more than two weeks.

There is no evidence Mr Zaharie was responsible for the loss of the jet, and it is not uncommon for pilots to enjoy flying so much they have simulators at home.

In a post on an online message board in 2012 he posted a picture of his finished simulator, calling it "awesome" and adding it was his "passion".

The simulator was seized from the 53-year-old's home west of Kuala Lumpur by police last week, and its capabilities are extraordinary.

Mr Zaharie's simulator setup included a motion controller, which made the chair pitch and turn like in a real cockpit in order to simulate the climbs, descents and banked turns of a real plane.

There was also a centre pedestal, where aircraft controls are located, and an overhead panel.

The software would have allowed him to practise landing at more than 33,000 airports, on aircraft carriers, oil rigs, frigates and helipads on top of buildings.

Mr Zaharie would also have been able to use the internet to fly with friends and simulate "a lot of malfunctions, emergencies, go-arounds, return-to-base or divert with fairly exact procedures", said Naoya Fujiwara, a flight simulator expert from Japan.

Mr Fujiwara added he could have simulated weather conditions and even downloaded real weather, wind and temperature information from a professional server.

One thing he could not have simulated was evading radar. There has been speculation the jet could have flown as low as 5,000ft using "terrain masking" to try to avoid radar, claims Malaysian authorities have rejected.

Investigators are looking at the games he was running, including Microsoft's "Flight Simulator" series and the latest "X-plane" title.

"Looking through the flight logs in these simulator games is a key part of the investigation," an official with direct knowledge of the investigation said.

"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 authorities in the country have also asked the FBI for help with memory recovery after discovering some data was deleted from the simulator on February 3.

Given the large amount of memory computers have, it is unclear why this happened. It could have been part of a regular maintenance routine or to help improve the simulator's performance, other users say.

The exact cost of Mr Zaharie's simulator is not known, but a rough estimate puts the sum at several thousands of pounds.

Costs vary on the parts used. A replica Boeing-737 seat from Flight Simulator Centre, a website which sells simulators, costs almost £3,000 ($5,000). An overhead panel listed on another website costs £400 ($800).

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Ukrainian Forces Ordered To Leave Crimea

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry has been told to pull all its forces from Crimea, as Russian troops extend their control over the disputed territory.

Ukraine's acting president said the defence ministry was given the order on Monday as Russian troops cemented their control over one of Kiev's last remaining bases in the region.

Speaking in parliament Oleksander Turchinov said the decision was taken in the face of "threats to the lives and health of our service personnel."

He said: "The National Defence and Security Council has instructed the Defence Ministry to carry out a re-deployment of military units in Crimea and carry out the evacuation of their families."

Russian troops, backed by helicopters and armoured personnel carriers, forced their way into the base in Feodosia in the early hours of Monday morning.

Ukrainian defence ministry spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov said: "The invading troops were using stun grenades and also firing automatic weapons ... The interior of the compound is full of Russian troops."

Monday's seizure came two days after Russian troops stormed the Belbek base

In a statement on his Facebook page, Mr Seleznyov added that paratroopers descended into the base from four helicopters hovering above. 

He said three Russian vehicles were then seen leaving the base with Ukrainian marines whose hands had been tied up. 

Ukrainian army officer, First Lieutenant Anatoly Mozgovoy, confirmed shots were fired at unarmed Ukrainian soldiers during the seizure, however there are currently no reports of any injuries.

The Feodosia base had been one of the last few military facilities still flying Ukrainian flags after Russia's annexation of Crimea. 

Those flags have now reportedly been removed.

Russian troops violently flushed out other remaining pockets of Ukrainian military influence in Crimea on Saturday, smashing armoured vehicles through the walls of Belbek air force base in a swift takeover.

President Obama will hold crisis talks with G7 leaders later on Monday

Speaking in Amsterdam on Monday US President Barack Obama said Europe and the United States are united in their support for the Ukrainian interim government. 

He said both the EU and US were prepared to "impose a cost" on Russia for its actions so far.

Later on Monday the president will head a crisis meeting on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit in The Hague, attended by G7 leaders.

The meeting will likely discuss concerns that Russia could be looking to extend its control beyond Crimea.

Nato's top commander in Europe, General Philip Breedlove, has warned that Russia's military force massing on Ukraine's border was "very, very sizeable and very, very ready".

He said he was worried the Russian military could make a move for Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region.

General Breedlove is concerned about the size of Russia's troop build-up

"There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transdniestria if the decision was made to do that and that is very worrisome," he said.

Transdniestria, a narrow strip of land to Ukraine's southwest, already has a Russian military presence and most people there favour a union with the country.

White House deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken echoed the suggestion that President Putin could be plotting further action.

"It's deeply concerning to see the Russian troop build-up on the border," he told CNN.

"It creates the potential for incidents, for instability. It's likely that what they're trying to do is intimidate the Ukrainians. It's possible that they're preparing to move in."

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week signed papers making Crimea part of Russia, saying it was complying with international agreements and had no plans to invade.

There are fears Russian forces are eyeing Ukraine's Transdniestria region

It has also called the soldiers who took over Ukrainian bases in Crimea "self-defence forces".

Most experts agree there is no way of winning back Crimea from Russia.

The US and European Union have already targeted some of Mr Putin's closest political and business allies with personal sanctions and have threatened broader economic sanctions if his forces encroach on other parts of Ukraine with large Russian-speaking populations.

Germany, which has close trade ties with Moscow, said the EU was united in its readiness to impose sanctions on Russia if necessary.

"None of us wants to escalate, but if Russia changes things unilaterally, then it must know that we won't accept it and that relations will be bad," German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.

Crimea landgrab 'cannot be won back', say experts

Prime Minister David Cameron has even suggested that Russia could be expelled from the G8 bloc of nations.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia, accepted that Crimea was now "de facto" a part of Russia, but said the annexation set a "bad precedent".

Speaking to Sky News, Ukraine's Ambassador to the UK, Volodymyr Khandogiy, said European powers had not done enough to help his country.

"The US is more resolute in their actions and words. We appreciate what Europe is doing (but) we would have liked a more aggressive approach," said Mr Khandogiy.

"If I'm asked if Europe has done enough, I would say no."

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Charity Cyclist Death: Second Person Arrested

A second person has been arrested over the death of a cyclist during a 24-hour charity ride.

More than £50,000 has been pledged in memory of Christian Smith, who was killed in a collision with a Peugeot 206 at around 4am on Saturday morning.

Mr Smith, who would have turned 39 next week, was riding 248 miles in 24 hours for the mental health charity Mind.

Police have arrested a 19-year-old man from the Herne Bay area in Kent on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. He has been bailed until July 27.

It comes after an 18-year-old woman from the same area was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving and causing death by dangerous driving and released on police bail.

Mr Smith, from Boughton Aulph, Kent, was killed on the A2990 Old Thanet Way, near Chestfield, and leaves behind a wife and three children.

He had hoped to raise £1,000 - promising to cycle naked around Wye if he made it.

So far there have been more than 3,700 donations to his JustGiving page.

Mind said it is 'devastated' by the cyclist's death

Jane Barnes wrote: "RIP Christian. I've never met you but you've touched my heart. With great respect to you and my thoughts are with your family xxx."

Another who gave, Wendy Lambert, left the message: "How sad, the world needs more people like you not less, those who get up and do stuff. Rest in Peace Christian."

Explaining his motivation for doing the "Kent Epic" for Mind, Mr Smith had written on JustGiving: "I have had my own misfortune to suffer from a spate of poor mental health, which was unexpected and has been a real 'game changer' in how I now view the future.

"It has been a tough road to get to this point but I have been fortunate enough to have the support of my family and friends.

"There are those who are not so fortunate to have the same level of support and understanding. They suffer in silence and are alone. This challenge is for those people."

Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, said the charity was "devastated" to hear the news and thanked the public for their continued donations.

PC Jamie Woodhams, of Kent Police's Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: "Information has come to light regarding a taxi, which is believed to have passed the scene shortly after the collision travelling from the Chestfield/ Swalecliffe roundabout towards Whitstable.

"I do not believe this driver was involved in the collision but I believe he or she could hold valuable information for us and I'd urge the driver to contact me as soon as possible."

:: Anyone with information should call PC Woodhams on 01622 798538.

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Plane Mystery: Pilot's Simulator 'Key'

The pilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane invested vast amounts of time and money in an ultra-realistic flight simulator that is being pored over by investigators trying to solve the mystery of the jet's disappearance.

Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah spent thousands of hours in the virtual cockpit of the machine playing flying games and boosting its capabilities.

The state-of-the-art setup is a key part of the investigation into flight MH370, which has been missing for more than two weeks.

Flight MH370 pilots Fariq Abdul Hamid and Zaharie Ahmad Shah

There is no evidence Mr Zaharie was responsible for the loss of the jet, and it is not uncommon for pilots to enjoy flying so much they have simulators at home.

In a post on an online message board in 2012 he posted a picture of his finished simulator, calling it "awesome" and adding it was his "passion".

The simulator was seized from the 53-year-old's home west of Kuala Lumpur by police last week, and its capabilities are extraordinary.

Mr Zaharie's simulator setup included a motion controller, which made the chair pitch and turn like in a real cockpit in order to simulate the climbs, descents and banked turns of a real plane.

There was also a centre pedestal, where aircraft controls are located, and an overhead panel.

The pair pass through airport security before the flight

The software would have allowed him to practise landing at more than 33,000 airports, on aircraft carriers, oil rigs, frigates and helipads on top of buildings.

Mr Zaharie would also have been able to use the internet to fly with friends and simulate "a lot of malfunctions, emergencies, go-arounds, return-to-base or divert with fairly exact procedures", said Naoya Fujiwara, a flight simulator expert from Japan.

Mr Fujiwara added he could have simulated weather conditions and even downloaded real weather, wind and temperature information from a professional server.

One thing he could not have simulated was evading radar. There has been speculation the jet could have flown as low as 5,000ft using "terrain masking" to try to avoid radar, claims Malaysian authorities have rejected.

Mr Zaharie's home in Kuala Lumpur

Investigators are looking at the games he was running, including Microsoft's "Flight Simulator" series and the latest "X-plane" title.

"Looking through the flight logs in these simulator games is a key part of the investigation," an official with direct knowledge of the investigation said.

"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."

A family photo of Malaysia Airlines pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah

The authorities in the country have also asked the FBI for help with memory recovery after discovering some data was deleted from the simulator on February 3.

Given the large amount of memory computers have, it is unclear why this happened. It could have been part of a regular maintenance routine or to help improve the simulator's performance, other users say.

The exact cost of Mr Zaharie's simulator is not known, but a rough estimate puts the sum at several thousands of pounds.

Costs vary on the parts used. A replica Boeing-737 seat from Flight Simulator Centre, a website which sells simulators, costs almost £3,000 ($5,000). An overhead panel listed on another website costs £400 ($800).

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UK Warning As Russia Tightens Grip On Crimea

Foreign Secretary William Hague has warned Russia it is not simply facing "short-term pain" of limited sanctions, but long-term "isolation and stagnation" following its decision to claim Crimea from Ukraine.

Mr Hague's comments come amid continuing tensions in Crimea, where pro-Russian forces have seized control of more Ukrainian military sites.

In an article for the Sunday Telegraph, he wrote: "The European Commission are working now on more far-reaching economic measures that will be imposed if Russia takes further steps to undermine Ukraine."

He said Britain and its allies had "never given up on diplomacy or sought a path of permanent confrontation with Russia".

"But nor should European nations run scared before bullying behaviour," he added.

Mr Hague said it was now necessary to "contemplate a new state of relations with Russia that is very different to the last 20 years".

Armed men seized the navy ship Slavutich

On Saturday, several hundred protesters raised the Russian flag after storming a Ukrainian airforce base in the western Crimean town Novofedorivka while pro-Kremlin forces watched.

In the city of Sevastopol armed men seized control of the Slavutich, one of the last navy ships in Crimea still flying Ukraine's flag.

Armoured carriers smashed their way into the airbase near Sevastopol

But the most dramatic episode saw Russian special forces break into the nearby Belbek air base, which has long been the pride of Ukraine's air force.

Sky News Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay was inside the sprawling compound as the attack took place.

"They came through the walls in armoured personnel carriers," he said, adding that the forces were "all balaclaved" and wore "slightly different uniforms to regular Russian soldiers".

The base is in a key strategic position on Crimea's Black Sea coast

Ramsay also heard "big explosions" which he said were probably blast bombs to disorientate the Ukrainian troops, who were then made to line up on a parade ground.

He said the Ukrainians were "massively outnumbered and outgunned" by the Russians, with just small arms and a few machine guns.

Ukraine's defence ministry later confirmed its men had left the base and said a journalist and a Ukrainian soldier had been wounded during the takeover.

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said the base was an important capture for the Russians.

The Ukrainian troops were 'outnumbered'

"It is a base that is home to a significant number, possibly a third, of the main combat aircraft of the Ukrainian air force - the MIG-29s - and their support aircraft and the structures that go with them," he said.

"If you look at that and the blockage of the Ukrainian Navy in the shared port of Sevastopol in Crimea, what you see here is the Russians doing two things.

"The first is to seize territory that they now lay claim to and the second is to cripple the Ukrainian armed forces.

"That is extremely important to them if they want to move into the Ukrainian eastern provinces where there are a predominance of Russian speakers."

The Foreign Office has extended its travel warnings and is advising against all but essential travel to Kharkiv, Donetsk and Lugansk due to increased tension in eastern Ukraine.

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Missing Plane: French Satellite Spots 'Debris'

A French satellite has spotted potential objects floating in the sea in the southern search corridor of the Indian Ocean.

The images were immediately relayed to the rescue co-ordination centre in Australia, where civilian and military aircraft have been carrying out sweeps of the area looking for signs of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.

It is the third possible sighting of debris in the area. On Saturday, the Chinese government released a satellite image showing a large floating object.

The search in the southern Indian Ocean is entering a fourth day

That object, measuring 74ft (22.5m) by 43ft (13m), was photographed on Tuesday just 75 miles from where two other potential pieces of debris were spotted by an Australian satellite.

China has said further analysis is needed to determine if this is related to the plane.

A statement from Malaysia's acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein said: "This morning, Malaysia received new satellite images from the French authorities showing potential objects in the vicinity of the southern corridor.

A Chinese satellite spotted this potential debris on Saturday

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

"Australia, China and France have now released satellite images that show potential objects, which may be related to MH370, in the vicinity of the southern corridor.

"All this information has been forwarded to Australia, as the lead country in the area of concern."

Eight aircraft, based at an air base north of Perth in Australia, were involved in a fruitless fourth day of searching for the debris on Sunday in a zone around 1,550 miles southwest of the coast..

Two objects spotted by an Australian satellite last Sunday

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott had earlier spoke of the "increasing hope" of finding out what happened to MH370.

He said: "It's still too early to be definite, but obviously we have now had a number of very credible leads and there is increasing hope, no more than hope, no more than hope, that we might be on the road to discovering what did happen to this ill-fated aircraft."

Michael Barton, of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, said: "Today's search is about a visual search, a complete change of emphasis from earlier searching using radar.

The southern corridor and the area of ocean being searched

"So we're into a more defined area based on the satellite's imagery."

The authority said the search operation had been split into two areas, with a total of eight aircraft involved in an operation that covers 22,800 sq miles (59,000 sq km).

The wing of a Boeing 777-200ER is approximately 88ft (27m) long and 45ft (14m) wide at its base, according to estimates taken from scale drawings.

The fuselage is 208ft (63.7m) long and 20ft (6.2m) wide.

Malaysian authorities held a six-hour briefing in Beijing with relatives of passengers on board the flight.

Bad weather has threatened the operation after a cyclone warning was declared for Tropical Cyclone Gillian, which is forecast to move into the southern search corridor.

A cold front is also predicted to move through the region later on Sunday, which could bring clouds and wind.

The Malaysia Airline flight disappeared from air traffic control screens in the early hours of March 8 with 239 people on board.

Investigators believe it was deliberately diverted by someone on board shortly after leaving Malaysian air space.

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