Everything you need to stay up to date around the globe
'OBJECTS’ SEEN IN SEARCH FOR PLANE
Four military search planes were dispatched to try to determine whether two large objects bobbing in a remote part of the Indian Ocean were debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.
One of the objects spotted by satellite imagery had a dimension of 25 metres (82 feet) and the other one was smaller.
There could be other objects in waters nearby in the area that is a four-hour flight from Australia’s coast, said John Young, manager of Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s emergency response division.
ROW OVER ’PATRONISING’ BUDGET AD
A coalition row over a “patronising” Budget advert has been triggered by Tory attempts to highlight the cuts to beer and bingo duty announced by George Osborne.
Conservative chairman Grant Shapps used his Twitter feed to unveil the party’s advert, which claimed the measures would “help hard-working people do more of the things they enjoy”.
The image was widely mocked on the social network and Liberal Democrat Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander described it as “extraordinary”.
EU LEADERS DISCUSS RUSSIA SANCTIONS
European Union leaders are likely to extend asset freezes and travel bans on key members of the Russian regime, as they meet in Brussels to discuss tougher sanctions in response to the annexation of Crimea.
David Cameron will urge the 28-nation bloc to put down a “clear warning” to Moscow, cautioning that the international community will “pay a very high price” if it fails to take firm action over the Ukraine crisis.
In a two-day summit, the EU is also expected to reaffirm its support for the new administration in Kiev by signing political elements of an association agreement with Ukraine.
MISSING CHEF POLICE HUNT TWO MEN
Detectives investigating the disappearance of Claudia Lawrence are seeking to trace two men and two vehicles seen near her home.
Senior officers have been announcing new lines of inquiry on the fifth anniversary of the day she failed to turn up for work at York University in 2009.
They have already said that a new forensic examination of her house has uncovered the fingerprints of people who have not yet come forward.
SCOTT KILLED HERSELF, CORONER RULES
Sir Mick Jagger’s fashion designer girlfriend L’Wren Scott killed herself by hanging, a New York coroner has ruled.
A post-mortem found that the 49-year-old died after hanging herself in her Manhattan apartment on Monday.
The Rolling Stones cancelled their seven-date tour of Australia and New Zealand after the celebrity stylist’s death.
TEBBIT ATTACKS CHILDCARE POLICY
Former Tory chairman Lord Tebbit has criticised the coalition’s flagship childcare policy, saying mothers or fathers should be encouraged to stay at home to raise their children.
He said helping parents to stay at home would help save taxpayers’ money because it could reduce the cost of coping with family break-ups.
Lord Tebbit, who claimed the coalition was “past its sell-by date” and should split, said he was not “terribly impressed” with the policy of offering working parents a tax break of up to £2,000 to help with the costs of childcare.
AIDING SUICIDE CONVICTION REVERSED
The mother of a man who killed himself following encouragement from an American nurse has reacted to the news that his conviction has been reversed by a US judge.
William Melchert-Dinkel was ordered to serve a year in prison in 2011 after he was found guilty of aiding the suicide of Mark Drybrough, 32, from Coventry.
Mr Drybrough hanged himself in 2005 after Melchert-Dinkel, of Faribault, Minnesota, posed as a suicidal female nurse on the internet to befriend him.
AFGHAN ACADEMY ’A FITTING TRIBUTE’
A new training academy dubbed “Sandhurst in the sand” for Afghanistan’s future army officers will be a “fitting tribute” to the UK lives lost during the conflict, its most senior British mentor said.
The Afghan National Army’s officer training academy is based on the historic British army institution and will be the UK’s main military commitment beyond 2014.
According to current plans, Britain has committed to being involved in the academy until 2023 - at a cost of £75 million.
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