Hawaii Stowaway Story 'Proved' By Airport CCTV

Newly-released CCTV footage appears to back up the seemingly unbelievable story of a teenager who survived a five-and-a-half hour flight hidden in a jet's wheel well.

Hawaiian transport officials released security footage of 15-year-old Yahya Abdi hopping from the plane after stowing away on the flight from San Jose, California, to Maui.

The video largely confirms previous accounts given by FBI and airport officials of the Somali immigrant's story - that he jumped over a fence at San Jose airport and climbed into the wheel well of the closest plane.

Aviation experts had expressed disbelief the boy could have survived a flight at 35,000ft, enduring low oxygen levels and freezing temperatures.

The six minutes of security footage released by the Hawaii Department of Transportation show Abdi lowering himself from the Boeing 767 and jumping to the ground.

He sits on the concrete for 13 seconds, then gets up and slowly walks toward the front of the plane.

It is thought teenager Yahya Abdi was trying to get to Somalia

He wobbles slightly as he walks, pausing briefly a few times in the roughly 40 seconds it takes him to get under the passageway connecting the front of the plane with the terminal.

Abdi walks up to an airport worker driving a cart and remains standing as the pair talk for about three minutes before walking away together.

Caroline Sluyter, a spokeswoman for the Hawaii Department of Transportation, said the footage was released after the state attorney general's office reviewed media requests.

San Jose police spokesman Albert Morales said Abdi flew back to California over the weekend and was being cared for by Santa Clara County Child Protective Services.

He said authorities plan to work with the boy's attorney to set up an interview with him in the near future.

After the department concludes its investigation, it will consult with Santa Clara County district attorney's office and city of San Jose representatives to decide whether to file charges against him, he added.

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Russian Forces 'Withdraw From Ukraine Border'

President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia has withdrawn its forces from its border with east Ukraine.

Mr Putin also called on separatists in east Ukraine to postpone a referendum on independence for the mostly Russian-speaking region.

His call comes five days before the vote on secession is due to take place.

Several towns and cities in east Ukraine have come under the control of separatists, who are seeking independence from Kiev.

There have been reports that up to 40,000 Russian troops, complete with heavy armour and fighter planes, have been massing on the Ukrainian border.

Russia issued a series of warnings to Ukraine that any action against people living within its borders would be regarded as a 'crime'.

Ukrainian forces outside the rebel held stronghold of Slavyansk

Ukrainian forces, meanwhile, have been battling to wrestle back control of the occupied towns.

The Russian leader said: "We call on the representatives of southeastern Ukraine, the supporters of the federalisation of the country, to postpone the referendum planned for May 11.

"We're always being told that our forces on the Ukrainian border are a concern. We have withdrawn them.

"Today they are not on the Ukrainian border, they are in places where they conduct their regular tasks on training grounds."

He made his comments after talks with the head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), who said a "road map" would soon be put forward to defuse the Ukraine crisis.

The Pentagon and Nato both said they had no indication Russian military forces had withdrawn from the Ukraine border as yet. 

A flag burns outside Mariupol city hall, which is back under rebel control

Wednesday's announcement by Mr Putin was the first sign the Kremlin leader would not endorse the rebels' referendum planned for Sunday.

It was hailed as a breakthrough in what has been regarded as the worst crisis between East and West since the Cold War. 

One of the separatist leaders said they would consider the Russian leader's call.

Denis Pushilin, in Donetsk, a city of one million people which rebels have proclaimed the capital of an independent 'People's Republic', said: "We have the utmost respect for President Putin.

"If he considers that necessary, we will of course discuss it."

Foreign Secretary William Hague, who is holding talks in Kiev with the country's leaders, told Sky News the rebels' referendum was an attempt to "disrupt" national elections that are being held in Ukraine on May 25.

Nato's top military commander said earlier it may deploy troops permanently in parts of Eastern Europe due to the increased tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces withdrew from Mariupol city hall after a night of heavy fighting saw them recapture the rebel-held building.

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Deadly 'Pinocchio Rex' Dinosaur Unearthed

A new tyrannosaur dinosaur nicknamed 'Pinocchio Rex' has been discovered in a "one-in-a-million" find in China.

The long-snouted carnivore, which has an elongated skull and narrow teeth, was dug up by workmen on a construction site near the Chinese city of Ganzhou.

"It is an awesome specimen, almost a complete skeleton," said Edinburgh University's Dr Steve Brusatte, who has been examining the bones along with colleagues in China.

"This is a different breed of tyrannosaur. It has the familiar toothy grin of T-rex, but its snout was much longer and it had a row of horns on its nose.

"It might have looked a little comical, but it would have been as deadly as any other tyrannosaur, and maybe even a little faster and stealthier."

The "awesome specimen" was found in the southeast of China

Experts believe the near-adult specimen stalked the earth during the late Cretaceous period, more than 66 million years ago. The dinosaur's proper name is Qianzhousaurus sinensis.

Professor Junchang Lu, from the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, said: "Although we are only starting to learn about them, the long-snouted tyrannosaurs were apparently one of the main groups of predatory dinosaurs in Asia."

Palaeontologists had been uncertain about the existence of long-snouted tyrannosaurs until the remains were dug up.

Up until that point, just two fossilised juvenile tyrannosaurs with elongated heads had been found and scientists thought they might have been normal T-rexs during an early growth phase.

'Pinocchio Rex' lived alongside other tyrannosaurs, say experts, but would not have competed for food as they probably hunted different prey.

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Australia Shark Cull: More Than 170 Caught

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

More than 170 sharks have been caught off the coast of Western Australia as part of a controversial policy to reduce attacks on humans.

Between January 25 and April 30, 50 of the biggest sharks caught by baited lines were killed. However, none was a great white, which are thought to be responsible for the spate of human fatalities which prompted the cull.

Seven people have been killed in the last three years. The largest shark was caught in February at the popular Floreat Beach and measured four-and-a-half metres.

Western Australia's Fisheries Minister Ken Baston has called the shark mitigation policy a success, saying: "While, of course, we will never know if any of the sharks caught would have harmed a person, this government will always place greatest value on human life."

Protests earlier this year against Western Australia's shark cull

The programme is part of the WA government's $22m (£12m) shark policy, which includes aerial and jet-ski patrols, rapid-response initiatives, research, and the Surf Life Saving WA Twitter feed, a service which alerts people when tagged sharks are near popular beaches.

But the Labor opposition fisheries spokesman, Dave Kelly, told the ABC the policy was far from successful.

"The policy is very unpopular, it has hardly caught any of the sharks it was destined to catch and the Government hasn't produced any scientific evidence to say the policy is working," he said.

Figures also showed there were fewer beach closures in 2013-2014 due to shark sightings,  when it fell to 93 from 131 closures in 2012-13, the minister said.

The state government hopes to extend the programme for another three years, but activists have vowed to keep up the pressure on the scheme.

Various high-profile celebrities including Ricky Gervais have given their support to the anti-cull message.

Environmentalists believe there are better ways of reducing attacks, that the policy is cruel and that it may even cause more harm to humans, with the bait encouraging sharks to swim closer to shore.

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Killer Who Froze Body Living With Film Director

A former mortician who killed a rich widow has moved in with the Hollywood director who filmed the story of his grisly crime after being released from prison early.

Prosecutors agreed Bernie Tiede should not have to serve his full life sentence because he was sexually assaulted as a child and was in an abusive relationship with his victim, 81-year-old Marjorie Nugent.

Special Judge Diane DeVasto agreed to let Tiede live with Richard Linklater, who co-wrote and directed the 2012 black comedy Bernie, starring Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey and Shirley MacLaine.

The judge said the killer could stay in an apartment above a garage at a property in Austin, Texas, belonging to Linklater, who also directed Dazed and Confused and School of Rock.

Tiede, 55, met Nugent in 1990 at the funeral of her husband R.L. "Rod" Nugent, who made his fortune in oil and banking.

Linklater (R) with Bernie stars MacLaine, Black and McConaughey

The pair grew close and took trips around the world together, with Ms Nugent eventually signing a will, leaving her estimated $10m fortune to her younger companion.

The body of Ms Nugent, who disappeared in 1996, was found in a freezer at her Carthage home, wrapped in a sheet and surrounded by packs of frozen corn and pecans.

She had been shot in the back four times with a .22-calibre rifle.

Tiede became known around town for his generosity after Ms Nugent's death.

Local people said he started scholarships, pledged money to a church building campaign and ran a fundraising drive for Boy Scouts.

He also gave away large gifts, including several cars.

After Tiede was charged over the killing, pretrial publicity led to the case being moved to San Augustine, about 50 miles (81km) southeast of Carthage.

A jury there convicted him in 1999 and sentenced him to life behind bars.

Tiede was released on a $10,000 bond and strict conditions and will still face a theft charge for spending Ms Nugent's money after her death.

Psychiatrist Edward Gripon, who examined Tiede in January, testified that Tiede and Ms Nugent had a complex and abusive relationship.

He said those difficulties, combined with Tiede having been abused when he was younger, pushed him to kill Ms Nugent in a "brief dissociative episode".

He said: "He doesn't come across in examination at all as a person prone to violence. That set of circumstances ... is not going to recreate itself."

Nugent's granddaughter, Dallas lawyer Shanna Nugent, said her family "is pretty much in shock" over the development.

"I really wanted justice for Nanny," she said, using a pet name for her grandmother. "This doesn't really feel like justice."

District Attorney Danny Buck Davidson, who said he believes residents' opinion of Tiede has changed "180 degrees", called Tiede's release "bittersweet."

He said he had a duty, however, to act once it was clear other factors had led Tiede to kill.

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Jungle-Based Boko Haram Strikes With Impunity

To understand Boko Haram and why it has been so hard to fight one must look to the other side of Africa - to the Lord's Resistance Army.

The LRA, founded by a mystic, Alice Lakwena, in 1986 in the face of Ugandan military atrocities in the north of that country, has mutated into a vicious shadowy movement that specialised in extreme atrocities and the abduction of young women in border areas straddling four countries.

Boko Haram, Nigeria's ultra-violent extremist Islamist movement, was born about half a decade ago as the child of corruption and inefficiency in the country's mostly Muslim north.

Its name translates as "Western education is a sin".

Weapons seized from the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda in 2012

But Boko Haram was part of a retreat by large numbers of disenfranchised Muslims in the face of what they perceived to be the corruption of northern politicians by the Christian-driven south.

They believe the answer to Nigeria's inexorable collapse into poverty among the masses since independence in Britain in 1960 is to establish an Islamic state.

Led by Mohammed Yusuf, it used non-violence.

Lakwena's LRA used sticks and stones and thought themselves bulletproof.

But in the face of state crackdowns, religious conflicts in Nigeria's northern towns and encouraged by the metastasizing ideology of al Qaeda in northwest Africa, Boko Haram soon switched to violence.

The scene of a Boko Haram bomb attack in Nyanya, Nigeria

Just as the LRA took up arms - it went into a bloody paroxysm after their "prophet" gave herself up - Boko Haram's violence escalated rapidly after sheikh Yusuf died, allegedly in state custody.

Amid growing violence the two movements drifted into the wilderness, preying on the towns that gave birth to them.

The LRA has plagued Gulu in northern Uganda. Boko Haram has repeatedly laid waste to part of Madaguri and surrounding villages in Borno state.

Counter attacks meant they have set up bases in far-flung jungle hideouts. The LRA in the Central African Republic, Boko Haram in the Adamawa mountains of neighbouring Cameroon.

The West has offered help to the Nigerian authorities; the US in the form of specialist negotiators, police and military advice, while the UK already has training teams on the ground and counter-terrorist officers from Mi6 and Special Forces.

But similar resources have been used to little effect against the LRA - which continues to terrorise people across borders.

The West might help with some electronic surveillance. Perhaps a drone or two.

The LRA has abducted about 2,400 people, mostly girls, over the last six years as sex slaves, for forced breeding, and as domestic slaves.

It hides in the mountains and jungles and strikes with near impunity.

So, now, does Boko Haram.

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Thailand PM Yingluck Shinawatra Dismissed

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been dismissed from office after the country's constitutional court ruled she was guilty of abusing her power.

According to the court ruled, by transferring a senior civil servant in 2011 to another position, Ms Yingluck was carrying out a "hidden agenda" that would benefit her politically powerful family.

Therefore, the court ruled, the act violated the constitution - a claim the PM has denied.

"The judges unanimously rule that Yingluck abused her prime minister status and interfered in transferring (Thawil Pliensri) for her own benefit," said court president Charoon Intachan in a televised ruling.

May Day protests took place last week against the government

"Therefore her prime minister status has ended ... Yingluck can no longer stay in her position acting as caretaker prime minister."

Several cabinet ministers who endorsed the decision to transfer the security chief will also be stripped of their status.

The ruling means Ms Yingluck and nine members of her current caretaker Cabinet must step down from office.

Anti-government protests have been taking place in Bangkok for months

Thailand's first female prime minister has been in power for more than two years but there has been considerable opposition to her position because of her brother, former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006.

Despite becoming skilled at fighting off political opponents, Ms Yingluck has spent recent months facing mass political demonstrations in the capital, Bangkok, with the Thai people calling for her to step down.

She came under strong criticism for her government's reaction to the flooding of 2011, which threatened to overwhelm Bangkok and ruin the economy.

The new PM of the caretaker government has been named as Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan.

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China And Vietnam Ships Crash In Contested Sea

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent

Chinese and Vietnamese ships have been involved in a collision in contested waters in the South China Sea off the Vietnamese coast.

According to the Vietnamese Coast Guard, Chinese military vessels "intentionally" rammed two Vietnamese vessels, causing significant damage, on May 4.

Tran Duy Hai, a foreign ministry official and deputy head of Vietnam's national border committee, said: "Chinese ships, with air support, sought to intimidate Vietnamese vessels. Water cannon was used."

At the weekend, Chinese state-owned energy firm CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation) began operating in the waters which both countries claim as theirs.

A vast Chinese oil-drilling rig, CNOOC 981, was towed into the area and is scheduled to begin drilling work on May 10, according to Chinese media.

At the Chinese foreign ministry's daily briefing in Beijing, a spokesman said China was operating legally and well within the scope of its sovereignty.

"Vietnam's interference with the normal operations of Chinese enterprises seriously violated China's sovereignty and sovereign rights, and seriously violated international law and the fundamental principles of international relations," the spokesman said.

Vietnam and China have been co-operating over the search for flight MH370

"China cannot accept this at all."

On Tuesday, Vietnam told China it would take all necessary measures to defend its interests in the South China Sea if Beijing refused to remove the rig.

In a statement from the Vietnamese foreign ministry, it was revealed that Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh had called the Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi and said the deployment of the $1bn (£590m) deep sea rig, accompanied by military vessels, was illegal and a violation of Vietnamese sovereignty.

The statement quoted Mr Minh as saying Vietnam hoped to solve all territorial disputes with China peacefully, but it added Hanoi "will apply all necessary and suitable measures to defend its rights and legitimate interests".

China claims vast swathes of the South China Sea as its own.

Last year, Chinese passports were redesigned with a watermarked map complete with a dotted maritime border stretching in a vast u-shape towards southeast Asia.

CNOOC recently designated nine zones off the Vietnamese coast which it said were available for oil exploration.

Vietnam insists all the zones fall entirely within its own maritime economic zones.

Collectively, the nine areas cover more than 160,000 sq km (99,000 sq miles) of water.

Experts estimate the South China Sea contains as much as 50 billion tons of crude oil and 20 trillion cubic metres of natural gas.

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The £140bn Web Giant Unknown By Most In West

By Tom Cheshire, Technology Correspondent

It's the tech company whose founder doesn't really like technology - a $245bn (£144.3bn) e-commerce giant that doesn't actually sell anything.

Now, though, Alibaba has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in New York - potentially the biggest in history, even topping Facebook's $16bn (£9.4bn) flotation two years ago.

So what's the story behind the biggest company you've never heard of?

Alibaba is China's e-commerce giant - equivalent to an amalgam of Amazon and eBay.

It does not sell its own goods directly but works as a marketplace for more or less anything.

Alibaba CEO Jack Ma was rejected by Harvard 10 times

You can buy everything from lawn mowers to Prada handbags.

Categories include agriculture, automobiles, chemicals, electronics, food, minerals and mechanical parts.

The company operates mainly in China, which is why few people in Britain have heard of it.

But because there are so many internet users (and keen shoppers), Alibaba is huge.

Last year, nearly 231 million users traded £146bn worth of goods through the platform - more than Amazon and eBay put together.

Alibaba's cut meant revenues of £3.8bn for the company and a profit of £1.84bn.

Compare that with Amazon, which made £44bn in revenue but only £161m in profit.

CEO Jack Ma, a former English teacher who was rejected by Harvard 10 times, founded Alibaba in 1999 but says he does not spend much time online.

Instead he gets an assistant to download movies for him to watch on his iPad and says he prefers Tai Chi and traditional medicine.

He told a crowd at Stanford University last year: "That you don't know about technology, doesn't mean you don't respect technology."

It has certainly not held him back. In the filing, Alibaba said it "will be a company that lasts at least 102 years".

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Boko Haram 'Kill Hundreds' In Nigeria Attack

Up to 300 people are reported to have been killed in the latest attack blamed on an Islamist group that abducted more than 200 schoolgirls and threatened to sell them at market.

Borno state senator Ahmed Khalifa Zanna told Sky News hundreds of people were reported to have been killed in the northeastern Nigerian town of Gamboru Ngala by armed men believed to be from Boko Haram.

He said the suspected militants opened fire on residents, before burning down numerous shops and businesses in the town near the Cameroon border.

Mr Zanna is also reported as saying the town was left unguarded after soldiers were moved to join the hunt for the 276 girls who went missing from a boarding school in the village of Chibok in Borno state, north Nigeria, on April 14.

A further 11 girls, aged 12 to 15, were taken from the northeastern village of Warabe on Tuesday.

Most of the girls were taken from the village of Chibok

Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau claimed responsibility for the mass abduction in a video, in which he also threatened to sell the girls "on the market".

It was not immediately clear whether the video was recorded before or after reports emerged that some girls had been trafficked into neighbouring Chad and Cameroon.

Mr Zanna told Sky News he did not believe any of the girls have yet been sold, but had heard information that some have been passed to Cameroon for marriage.

Relatives and campaigners have staged regular protests and launched a successful social media appeal, under the banner "Bring Back Our Girls," which calls on the government to do more.

Abubakar Shekau threatened to sell the girls "on the market"

The British Government said it would send a small team of experts, possibly including military officers, to assist with the search.

The group will concentrate on planning, co-ordination and advice rather than taking in part in operations to free the girls on the ground. 

The US said on Tuesday it would deploy military personnel and FBI officials with expertise in hostage negotiations.

But Foreign Secretary William Hague told Sky News that, some three weeks after the abduction, search efforts could prove difficult.

"It is a desperate situation for the girls involved, it just shows the nature of this terrorist organisation Boko Haram," he said.

"It's difficult of course because this is primarily a matter for Nigeria and Britain can't just walk in there ... and do as we like.

Protesters have called on the Nigerian government to do more

"It's very frustrating when the world can't act to deal with these things promptly because the trail goes cold of course after several weeks."

Nigerian police have announced a 50m Nigerian naira (£182,000) reward for credible information leading to the location and rescue of the female students.

Meanwhile US President Barack Obama has pledged to do "everything we can" to help rescue the youngsters.

Boko Haram, whose name means 'Western education is sinful,' has fought a five-year insurgency against the Nigerian government and hopes to carve out an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

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