News article:

An Australian ship scouring the Indian Ocean for missing flight MH370 has detected two further pings consistent with the plane's two black boxes, in a "great lead", bolstering hopes for wreckage discovery.

 The Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield, towing a US pinger locator, detected two sets of pings, on Tuesday afternoon and then again about five hours later.

 The signal detected on Tuesday afternoon was held for about five minutes and 32 seconds; followed by a second signal on Tuesday night, which was held for seven minutes.

 The Australian vessel Ocean Shield is towing a pinger locator in the search for MH370. Photo: AP

 The development came more than two days after Ocean Shield first detected the month-long search's most promising lead: two acoustic events on Saturday.

 Advertisement

 Retired air chief marshal Angus Houston, the head of the search's Joint Agency Co-ordination centre, announced the "promising" development during a press conference in Perth on Wednesday afternoon.

 It revives hope the missing Malaysia Airlines plane's black box is still transmitting data days after its batteries were due to run dead.

 Crew on the Ocean Shield deploy the towed pinger locator. Photo: AP

 Mr Houston said expert data analysis on previously detected signals had found they were not of natural origin, further boosting hopes of a breakthrough.

 Mr Houston said experts believed the signals were consistent with those of a flight data recorder.

 He said the first two pings - detected on April 5 at 4.45pm and at 9.27pm Perth time - had been analysed by the Australasian Joint Acoustic Analysis Centre, based at HMAS Albatross in Nowra, on the NSW south coast.

 "The analysis determined that a very stable, distinct and clear signal was detected at 33.331 kilohertz, and that it consistently pulsed at a 1.106-second interval," Mr Houston said.

 ''They therefore asses that the transmission was not of natural origin, and was likely sourced from specific electronic equipment. They believe the signals to be consistent with the specification and description of a flight data recorder.''

 He said two latest pings were detected on Tuesday - at 4.27pm and 10.17pm, Perth time.

 Mr Houston said up to 11 military aircraft, four civil aircraft and up to 14 ships would assist in Wednesday's search, while the Ocean Shield would also conduct a sonar voice search.

 The search area has been refined to a single zone, about 75,423 square kilometres in size, 2261 kilometres north west of Perth, which was a considerably smaller area than in previous days, he said.

 ''Based on Ocean Shield's detections, we are now searching a much more concentrated area, based on the drift predications made possible by Ocean Shield's detections,'' Mr Houston said.

 ''The smaller area has also allowed us to plan much tighter search patterns based entirely on visual search principles. In other words, we have intensified our search in the visual search area.

 "There's no second chances," he said.

 "It looks like the signals we picked up recently have been much weaker than the original signals we picked up ... we're either a long away from it or in my view more likely the batteries are starting to fade."

 Although authorities have previously said the autonomous underwater vehicle Bluefin-21 would be dropped to the ocean floor once they received a third ping, they have yet to deploy the asset.

 "By triangulating this data we will be able to come up with a much smaller search area under water," Mr Houston said.

 "Time spent on the surface, we're covering six times more area than we would be able to do when we get under water. With the batteries due to fail shortly, we need to get as much positional data as we can."

 An RAAF aircraft has been diverted to Ocean Shield to drop buoys around the field to lay a "sonar buoy pattern", which will involve underwater and floating components transmitting data back to the aircraft.

 "That will provide a range of sensors, 1000 feet down, which is 1000 feet closer to the pinger locator on the ocean floor," Commodore Leavy, the operational head of the Australian search, said.

 The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 vanished without a trace during en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8.

 Despite an extensive and costly international search operation off the West Australian coast, the effort has failed to turn up a single piece of evidence to confirm the plane's final resting place.

  ||||| Story highlights U.S. official: "We need to maintain respectful optimism and be responsible"

 Expert says refined search area manageable for underwater vessels

 Possible discovery of plane's pingers energizes search, but for how much longer?

 Agency: Up to 15 planes, 14 ships could take part in Wednesday's search

 In a sea of uncertainty, two bits of good news emerged Wednesday.

 The Australian ship Ocean Shield picked up fresh signals that officials hope are locator beacons from the data recorders of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

 The ship had first picked up the underwater pulses Saturday. But then, for the next three days, nothing.

 On Tuesday, the ship once again reacquired the signals. That's four signals in the same broad area: two on Saturday; two on Tuesday.

 Just Watched Search area narrows despite no new pings replay More Videos ... Search area narrows despite no new pings 01:16 PLAY VIDEO

 Just Watched Could the pings be from MH370? replay More Videos ... Could the pings be from MH370? 02:07 PLAY VIDEO

 Just Watched Hear possible 'ping' detected in search replay More Videos ... Hear possible 'ping' detected in search 00:40 PLAY VIDEO

 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A policewoman watches a couple whose son was on board the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 cry outside the airline's office building in Beijing after officials refused to meet with them on Wednesday, June 11. The jet has been missing since March 8. Hide Caption 1 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Members of the media scramble to speak with Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of Malaysia's Civil Aviation Department, at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday, May 27. Data from communications between satellites and missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was released Tuesday, more than two months after relatives of passengers say they requested that it be made public. Hide Caption 2 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – This photo illustration shows a journalist looking on the data communication logs from British satellite operator Inmarsat. Malaysian authorities have published the 47-page document containing hundreds of lines of communication logs between the jetliner and Inmarsat's satellite system. Hide Caption 3 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Relatives of Chinese passengers who were on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 listen to part of the audio communications between Flight 370's cockpit and air traffic controllers during a meeting with Malaysian officials Wednesday, April 30, in Beijing. Hide Caption 4 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – An autonomous underwater vehicle is brought back aboard the Australian ship Ocean Shield after a search mission for the flight Saturday, April 19, in the southern Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 5 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A Royal Malaysian Air Force plane takes off from an airbase near Perth, Australia, to help in the search on Thursday, April 17. Hide Caption 6 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Operators aboard the Australian ship Ocean Shield move Bluefin-21, the U.S. Navy's autonomous underwater vehicle, into position to search for the jet on Monday, April 14. Hide Caption 7 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks out of a window while searching for debris off the coast of western Australia on Sunday, April 13. Hide Caption 8 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – British Royal Navy sailors aboard the vessel HMS Echo take part in the search for the jet on April 13. Hide Caption 9 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Crew members aboard the Echo watch a smaller boat that's part of the British search effort on April 13. Hide Caption 10 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – The Echo moves through the waters of the southern Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 11 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A map provided Saturday, April 12, details efforts to find the missing jet. Hide Caption 12 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Chinese navy personnel head out on a boat to the Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Success on Wednesday, April 9. Hide Caption 13 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion, on a mission to drop sonar buoys to assist in the search, flies past the Australian vessel Ocean Shield on April 9. Hide Caption 14 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A relative of a missing passenger cries at a vigil in Beijing on Tuesday, April 8. Hide Caption 15 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Royal Australian Air Force walks toward a plane that just arrived in Perth on April 8. Hide Caption 16 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Australian Defense Force divers scan the water for debris Monday, April 7, in the southern Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 17 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A towed pinger locator is readied to be deployed April 7 off the deck of the Australian vessel Ocean Shield. Hide Caption 18 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Capt. Mark Matthews of the U.S. Navy talks to reporters in Perth about the search on April 7. Hide Caption 19 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the search operation points to a map outlining search areas during a news conference April 7 in Perth. Hide Caption 20 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A U.S. Navy airplane takes off from Perth to assist in the search on April 7. Hide Caption 21 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Royal New Zealand Air Force looks at a flare in the Indian Ocean during search operations on Friday, April 4. Hide Caption 22 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Members of the Royal New Zealand Air Force monitor data April 4 on board an aircraft during search operations. Hide Caption 23 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A relative of a Flight 370 passenger watches television in a Beijing hotel as he awaits new information about the missing plane on Thursday, April 3. Hide Caption 24 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Another relative of a Flight 370 passenger waits for updates in Beijing on Wednesday, April 2. Many families have criticized the Malaysian government's handling of information in the plane's disappearance. Hide Caption 25 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Japanese coast guard points to a flight position data screen while searching for debris from the missing jet on Tuesday, April 1. Hide Caption 26 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Kojiro Tanaka, head of the Japanese coast guard search mission, explains the efforts en route to the search zone April 1. Hide Caption 27 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A woman prepares for an event in honor of those aboard Flight 370 on Sunday, March 30, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Hide Caption 28 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – An underwater search-surveying vehicle sits on the wharf in Perth, ready to be fitted to a ship to aid in the search for the jet. Hide Caption 29 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A girl in Kuala Lumpur writes a note during a ceremony for the missing passengers on March 30. Hide Caption 30 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A teary-eyed woman listens from the back as other relatives of Flight 370 passengers speak to reporters March 30 in Subang Jaya, Malaysia. Dozens of anguished Chinese relatives demanded that Malaysia provide answers to the fate of those on board. Hide Caption 31 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – An object floating in the southern Indian Ocean is seen from a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion aircraft searching for the missing jet on Saturday, March 29. Ships participating in the search retrieved new debris Saturday, but no objects linked to the missing plane, according to Australian authorities. Hide Caption 32 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A Royal New Zealand Air Force member launches a GPS marker buoy over the southern Indian Ocean on March 29. Hide Caption 33 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – The sole representative for the families of Flight 370 passengers leaves a conference at a Beijing hotel on Friday, March 28, after other relatives left en masse to protest the Malaysian government's response to their questions. Hide Caption 34 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Royal Australian Air Force is silhouetted against the southern Indian Ocean during the search for the missing jet on Thursday, March 27. Hide Caption 35 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Flight Lt. Jayson Nichols looks at a map aboard a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft during a search on March 27. Hide Caption 36 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – People in Kuala Lumpur light candles during a ceremony held for the missing flight's passengers on March 27. Hide Caption 37 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Crew members of the Chinese icebreaking ship Xuelong scan the Indian Ocean during a search for the missing jet on Wednesday, March 26. Hide Caption 38 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – People work at a console at the British satellite company Inmarsat on Tuesday, March 25, in London. Hide Caption 39 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – The mother of a passenger who was on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 cries at her home in Medan, Indonesia, on March 25. Hide Caption 40 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Australian Defense Minister David Johnston speaks to the media March 25 about the search for the missing jet. Hide Caption 41 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A family member of a missing passenger reacts after hearing the latest news March 25 in Kuala Lumpur. Hide Caption 42 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Angry relatives of those aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 react in Beijing on Monday, March 24, after hearing that the plane went down over the southern Indian Ocean, according to analysis of satellite data. Hide Caption 43 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Grieving relatives of missing passengers leave a hotel in Beijing on March 24. Hide Caption 44 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, delivers a statement about the flight March 24 in Kuala Lumpur. Razak's announcement came after the airline sent a text message to relatives saying it "deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH 370 has been lost and that none of those onboard survived." Hide Caption 45 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Relatives of the missing passengers hold a candlelight vigil in Beijing on March 24. Hide Caption 46 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Royal Australian Air Force looks out an aircraft during a search for the missing jet March 24. Hide Caption 47 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A woman reads messages for missing passengers at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur on March 24. Hide Caption 48 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Flight Lt. Josh Williams of the Royal Australian Air Force operates the controls of an AP-3C Orion on Sunday, March 23, after searching the southern Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 49 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Ground crew members wave to a Japanese Maritime Defense Force patrol plane as it leaves the Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Subang, Malaysia, on Sunday, March 23. The plane was heading to Australia to join a search-and-rescue operation. Hide Caption 50 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A passenger views a weather map in the departures terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Saturday, March 22. Hide Caption 51 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A Chinese satellite captured this image, released on March 22, of a floating object in the Indian Ocean, according to China's State Administration of Science. It is a possible lead in the search for the missing plane. Surveillance planes are looking for two objects spotted by satellite imagery in remote, treacherous waters more than 1,400 miles from the west coast of Australia. Hide Caption 52 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Royal Australian Air Force looks down at the Norwegian merchant ship Hoegh St. Petersburg, which took part in search operations Friday, March 21. Hide Caption 53 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – The Royal Australian Air Force's Neville Dawson, left, goes over the search area with Brittany Sharpe aboard an AP-3C Orion some 2,500 kilometers (about 1,500 miles) southwest of Perth, Australia, over the Indian Ocean on March 21. Hide Caption 54 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Satellite imagery provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on Thursday, March 20, shows debris in the southern Indian Ocean that could be from Flight 370. The announcement by Australian officials that they had spotted something raised hopes of a breakthrough in the frustrating search.

 Hide Caption 55 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A closer look at the satellite shot of possible debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Hide Caption 56 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Another satellite shot provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority shows possible debris from the flight. Hide Caption 57 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A closer look at the satellite shot of possible debris. Hide Caption 58 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – The Australian Maritime Safety Authority's John Young speaks to the media in Canberra, Australia, on March 20 about satellite imagery. Hide Caption 59 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A distraught relative of a missing passenger breaks down while talking to reporters at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Wednesday, March 19. Hide Caption 60 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A relative of missing passengers waits for a news briefing by officials in Beijing on Tuesday, March 18. Hide Caption 61 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A relative of a missing passenger tells reporters in Beijing about a hunger strike to protest authorities' handling of information about the missing jet. Hide Caption 62 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency joins in a search for the missing plane in the Andaman

 Sea area around the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra on Monday, March 17. Hide Caption 63 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Relatives of missing passengers watch a news program about the missing plane as they await information at a hotel ballroom in Beijing on March 17. Hide Caption 64 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Malaysian Transportation Minister Hishamuddin Hussein, center, shows maps of the search area at a hotel next to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 17. Hide Caption 65 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – U.S. Navy crew members assist in search-and-rescue operations Sunday, March 16, in the Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 66 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Indonesian personnel watch over high seas during a search operation in the Andaman Sea on Saturday, March 15. Hide Caption 67 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A foam plane, which has personalized messages for the missing flight's passengers, is seen at a viewing gallery March 15 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Hide Caption 68 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Malaysian navy makes a call as his ship approaches a Chinese coast guard ship in the South China Sea on March 15. Hide Caption 69 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A Indonesian ship heads to the Andaman Sea during a search operation near the tip of Sumatra, Indonesia, on March 15. Hide Caption 70 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Elementary school students pray for the missing passengers during class in Medan, Indonesia, on March 15. Hide Caption 71 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Col. Vu Duc Long of the Vietnam air force fields reporters' questions at an air base in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, after a search operation on Friday, March 14. Hide Caption 72 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Members of the Chinese navy continue search operations on Thursday, March 13. The search area for Flight 370 has grown wider. After starting in the sea between Malaysia and Vietnam, the plane's last confirmed location, efforts are expanding west into the Indian Ocean. Hide Caption 73 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A Vietnamese military official looks out an aircraft window during search operations March 13. Hide Caption 74 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Malaysian air force members look for debris on March 13 near Kuala Lumpur. Hide Caption 75 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A relative of a missing passenger watches TV at a Beijing hotel as she waits for the latest news March 13. Hide Caption 76 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency scans the horizon in the Strait of Malacca on Wednesday, March 12. Hide Caption 77 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Relatives of missing passengers wait for the latest news at a hotel in Beijing on March 12. Hide Caption 78 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Journalists raise their hands to ask questions during a news conference in Sepang on March 12. Hide Caption 79 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Indonesian air force officers in Medan, Indonesia, examine a map of the Strait of Malacca on March 12. Hide Caption 80 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A member of the Vietnamese air force checks a map while searching for the missing plane on Tuesday, March 11. Hide Caption 81 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Iranians Pouri Nourmohammadi, second left, and Delavar Seyed Mohammad Reza, far right, were identified by Interpol as the two men who used stolen passports to board the flight. But there's no evidence to suggest either was connected to any terrorist organizations, according to Malaysian investigators. Malaysian police believe Nourmohammadi was trying to emigrate to Germany using the stolen Austrian passport. Hide Caption 82 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – An Indonesian navy crew member scans an area of the South China Sea bordering Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand on Monday, March 10. Hide Caption 83 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Vietnam air force Col. Le Huu Hanh is reflected on the navigation control panel of a plane that is part of the search operation over the South China Sea on March 10. Hide Caption 84 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Relatives of the missing flight's passengers wait in a Beijing hotel room on March 10. Hide Caption 85 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A U.S. Navy Seahawk helicopter lands aboard the USS Pinckney to change crews before returning to search for the missing plane Sunday, March 9, in the Gulf of Thailand. Hide Caption 86 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Members of the Fo Guang Shan rescue team offer a special prayer March 9 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Hide Caption 87 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A handout picture provided by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency shows personnel checking a radar screen during search-and-rescue operations March 9. Hide Caption 88 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Italian tourist Luigi Maraldi, who reported his passport stolen in August, shows his current passport during a news conference at a police station in Phuket island, Thailand, on March 9. Two passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight were reportedly traveling on stolen passports belonging to Maraldi and an Austrian citizen whose papers were stolen two years ago. Hide Caption 89 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Hugh Dunleavy, commercial director of Malaysia Airlines, speaks to journalists March 9 at a Beijing hotel where relatives and friends of the missing flight's passengers are staying. Hide Caption 90 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Vietnamese air force crew stand in front of a plane at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City on March 9 before heading out to the area between Vietnam and Malaysia where the airliner vanished. Hide Caption 91 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Buddhist monks at Kuala Lumpur International Airport offer a special prayer for the missing passengers on March 9. Hide Caption 92 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – The Chinese navy warship Jinggangshan prepares to leave Zhanjiang Port early on March 9 to assist in search-and-rescue operations for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight. The Jinggangshan, an amphibious landing ship, is loaded with lifesaving equipment, underwater detection devices and supplies of oil, water and food. Hide Caption 93 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Members of a Chinese emergency response team board a rescue vessel at the port of Sanya in China's Hainan province on March 9. The vessel is carrying 12 divers and will rendezvous with another rescue vessel on its way to the area where contact was lost with Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Hide Caption 94 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – The rescue vessel sets out from Sanya in the South China Sea. Hide Caption 95 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A family member of missing passengers is mobbed by journalists at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Saturday, March 8. Hide Caption 96 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A Vietnamese air force plane found traces of oil that authorities had suspected to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, the Vietnamese government online newspaper reported March 8. However, a sample from the slick showed it was bunker oil, typically used to power large cargo ships, Malaysia's state news agency, Bernama, reported on March 10. Hide Caption 97 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, center, arrives to meet family members of missing passengers at the reception center at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8. Hide Caption 98 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Malaysia Airlines official Joshua Law Kok Hwa, center, speaks to reporters in Beijing on March 8. Hide Caption 99 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A relative of two missing passengers reacts at their home in Kuala Lumpur on March 8. Hide Caption 100 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Wang Yue, director of marketing of Malaysia Airlines in China, reads a company statement during a news conference at the Metro Park Lido Hotel in Beijing on March 8. Hide Caption 101 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Chinese police at the Beijing airport stand beside the arrival board showing delayed Flight 370 in red on March 8. Hide Caption 102 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A woman asks a staff member at the Beijing airport for more information on the missing flight. Hide Caption 103 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – A Malaysian man who says he has relatives on board the missing plane talks to journalists at the Beijing airport on March 8. Hide Caption 104 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Passengers walk past a Malaysia Airlines sign on March 8 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Hide Caption 105 of 106 Photos: The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 106 photos The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 – Malaysia Airlines Group CEO Ahmad Juahari Yahya, front, speaks during a news conference on March 8 at a hotel in Sepang. "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts" with the jet, he said. Hide Caption 106 of 106 EXPAND GALLERY

 Just Watched What you need to know about a black box replay More Videos ... What you need to know about a black box 01:51 PLAY VIDEO

 Just Watched Up to 14 planes in search for Flight 370 replay More Videos ... Up to 14 planes in search for Flight 370 02:42 PLAY VIDEO

 Just Watched Hiding in another plane's shadow? replay More Videos ... Hiding in another plane's shadow? 03:57 PLAY VIDEO

 "I believe we are searching in the right area but we need to visually identify wreckage before we can confirm with certainty that this is the final resting place of MH370," Houston said.

 The second piece of good news? Authorities analyzed the signals picked up Saturday and determined they were not of

 natural origin and was likely sourced from specific electronic equipment.

 "They believe the signals to be consistent with the specification and description of a flight data recorder," Houston said.

 Signals getting weaker

 Wednesday is Day 33 in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which went missing March 8. It was carrying 239 people.

 Authorities haven't given up trying. Instead, they are pinning their hopes on the so-pings.

 But time is not on their side.

 The batteries powering the flight recorders' locator beacons are certified to be working for 30 days. Stored in a plane's tail, they are designed to begin sending off distinct, high-pitched signals as soon as they come in contact with water.

 "The signals are getting weaker. Which means we're either moving away from the search area or the pinger batteries are dying," Houston said.

 The first signal, at 4:45 p.m. Perth Time on Saturday, lasted 2 hours 20 minutes.

 The second, at 9:27 p.m. Saturday, lasted 13 minutes.

 The third signal was picked up Tuesday at 4:27 p.m. That lasted 5 minutes 32 seconds.

 The fourth, at 10:17 p.m. Tuesday, was 7 minutes long.

 "It's certainly encouraging that more signals have been detected," Pentagon spokesman Adm. John Kirby told CNN.

 "There is still much work to do, however."

 Four reasons to believe; six reasons to doubt

 Discovery of possible 'locator beacon' pulses gives hope

 Wednesday's search includes up to 11 military planes, four civilian aircraft as well as 14 ships -- three of which, Australia's Ocean Shield further north and the British HMS Echo and Chinese Haixun 01 to the south -- will be focusing underwater.

 All told, everyone involved will be scouring a 29,000-square-mile zone centered about 1,400 miles northwest of Perth, according to Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre. That's large and challenging, but still pales in comparison to the once nearly 3 million miles, at sea and on land, the searchers were scouring for signs of the lost aircraft a few weeks ago.

 Kevin McEvoy, a New Zealand air force commodore involved in the effort, noted that authorities once "didn't even know which haystack" to look in for the aircraft.

 "I think we have got a much clearer picture around the areas that we need to concentrate on," McEvoy told CNN's Erin Burnett from Auckland.

 Authorities greatly shrank that area after analyzing satellite data to determine Flight 370 had set off from Kuala Lumpur toward Beijing, turned around to go back over the Malay Peninsula, then ended up in the southern Indian Ocean.

 Why? No one really knows.

 The best chance to answer that question may rest wherever the plane -- and its so-called black boxes, with their trove of information about the plane and its movements -- now resides.

 Search planes dispatched day after day looking for evidence of the missing airliner -- a floating wing, a seat cushion, anything -- thus far have come up empty.

 The latest, greatest hopes have come from crews listening underwater for signs of Flight 370.

 The first such possible breakthrough came last Friday and Saturday, when a Chinese ship detected pulses that may have been from the plane. No more have been heard since.

 According to McEvoy, "the main focus" centers around the site of Saturday's discovery from Australia's Ocean Shield. It used more advanced detection gear than that aboard the Chinese vessel and was found some 375 miles away, leading Houston to believe they are separate signals.

 The first signal, detected by a towed pinger locator, persisted for more than two hours; a second went on for about 13 minutes.

 Tuesday afternoon, it lasted about 5 minutes and 32 seconds. Tuesday night, about seven minutes.

 Beyond the dwindling battery life, there's all the ocean to contend with: The Ocean Shield signals were in water about 2.6 miles deep, meaning a number of things could literally get in the way of or otherwise disrupt the pulses.

 Searchers' intent not to roil the waters any further is why air and seaborne traffic in that find area is being limited, and why there is no rush to put in underwater drones to take photos.

 "The better the Ocean Shield can define the area the easier it will be for the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle to subsequently search for aircraft wreckage," Houston said.

 Bear in mind with the Air France disaster, it took the underwater vehicle 20 days to get to the wreckage."

 What happens after the Malaysian plane's pingers die?

 And it's not as if, if more pulses are detected, they'll lead down in a straight line to the flight recorders. As is, the pings that were heard could have emanated from anywhere within a 5-mile radius, said Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

 Finding more signals could narrow the search area. Without them, authorities could then start the painstaking process of using side-scanning sonar to try to find the aircraft on the ocean's bottom.

 Meanwhile, the air search continues. As McEvoy explained, this area is "slightly different" than that being probed for pings because it is focused on surface debris, which would have shifted over the past few weeks -- thanks in part to a cyclone packing winds in excess of 160 mph that pushed through two weeks ago.

 So far, none of the aircraft that have been sent out has found anything. And even if it is narrowed, Wednesday's air search area is still roughly the size of South Carolina.

 As Wing Cmdr. Andy Scott of New Zealand stated: "It's a large task that's still ahead of us."

 Next steps in underwater search

 Pings without wreckage 'befuddling'

 The absence of wreckage near these detected signals leaves some skeptical, worried that the Chinese and Australian ship's finds could be yet another false lead in an investigation that's been full of them.

 Acknowledging "a very high-speed vertical impact" could explain the lack of aircraft remnants, CNN aviation analyst Miles O'Brien said there's reason to be cautious.

 "It's either the most extraordinary event, or those pings weren't real," O'Brien said. "It's somewhat befuddling."

 Sarah Bajc, the partner of American passenger Philip Wood, isn't convinced about anything. She told CNN's Erin Burnett she thinks the plane was hijacked. Whether that proves true, one thing she won't believe are the Malaysian officials heading the investigation.

 "All of us pretty well agree that until there's the bulk of the plane, the bulk of the bodies discovered, and a black box intact, we won't believe that it's final evidence," Bajc said early Wednesday from Beijing. "... I don't think the authorities have given us much confidence of their investigative skills so far."

 The lack of clarity makes it hard to "grieve properly and ... move on," -- something that she's not yet willing to do.

 "I want to fight to find him, in whatever form that ends up being," said Bajc, who is coordinating with other passengers' kin to press for answers. "And I think most of the families feel the same way."

 Until they get answers, women and men like Steve Wang -- whose mother was on the Malaysia Airlines plane -- are clinging to hope while trying to hold themselves together.

 "We're just going through so many kinds of emotion," said Wang. "... Desperate, sad and helpless -- something like that. Everything."

 Timeline: Leads in the hunt for Flight 370 weave drama

 Lucrative China-Malaysia relations not derailed by search for MH370

 Wife of passenger: 'I needed to know they were looking for Pauly' |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Australian officials have sounded a fresh note of confidence in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, saying they've reacquired underwater signals following a lapse into silence. Search chief Angus Houston says an Australian navy vessel detected two sets of pings yesterday in the same area that signals were detected over the weekend, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. "I'm now optimistic that we will find the aircraft, or what is left of the aircraft, in the not too distant future—but we haven't found it yet, because this is a very challenging business," Houston told reporters. The signals are getting weaker, which could be a sign that searchers are getting further away, or, more likely, a sign that the data recorder batteries are starting to fade, explained Houston. He says they have delayed deploying the autonomous underwater vehicle Bluefin-21 to search for wreckage because with time running out, they don't want anything to get in the way of the signals. In another promising development, authorities have analyzed the pings detected over the weekend and confirmed that they came from electronic equipment, with signals consistent with those of flight data recorders, CNN reports.


Photo

 For people with coronary artery disease, rapidly losing and regaining weight — or “yo-yo” dieting — may increase the risk for deadly heart attacks and strokes, a new study suggests.

 Scientists prospectively followed 9,509 men and women with stable coronary artery disease, examining them and recording their weight an average of 12 times over five years. The median body weight variation over the period was 3.8 pounds per visit.

 After adjusting for other risk factors, they found that compared with the one-fifth of people with the lowest weight variability, the one-fifth with the highest had a 78 percent higher risk of new onset diabetes, a 117 percent higher risk of heart attack, a 136 percent higher risk of stroke, and a 124 percent higher risk of death. The study, sponsored by Pfizer, is in The New England Journal of Medicine.

 “It’s important to lose weight,” said the lead author, Dr. Sripal Bangalore, an associate professor of medicine at the New York University School of Medicine, “but this data says you have to keep it off. Many times people are motivated until they lose the weight, and then they feel they can take it easy. Maybe this information can be used as motivation to keep the weight off.” ||||| Coronary artery disease develops when the major blood vessels that supply your heart with blood, oxygen and nutrients (coronary arteries) become damaged or diseased. Cholesterol-containing deposits (plaque) in your arteries and inflammation are usually to blame for coronary artery disease.

 When plaque builds up, they narrow your coronary arteries, decreasing blood flow to your heart. Eventually, the decreased blood flow may cause chest pain (angina), shortness of breath, or other coronary artery disease signs and symptoms. A complete blockage can cause a heart attack.

 Because coronary artery disease often develops over decades, you might not notice a problem until you have a significant blockage or a heart attack. But there's plenty you can do to prevent and treat coronary artery disease. A healthy lifestyle can make a big impact.

 Coronary artery disease care at Mayo Clinic ||||| Past studies have associated yo-yo dieting with increased risk of poor heart health. For individuals with pre-existing heart disease, however, new research finds that the health consequences of repeatedly losing and gaining weight may be even more severe.

 Researchers have found that yo-yo dieting may have serious health implications for people with coronary heart disease. Researchers have found that yo-yo dieting may have serious health implications for people with coronary heart disease.

 Researchers found that people with coronary heart disease who had experienced large fluctuations in weight over an average of 4.7 years were at much higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and death than people who experienced little change in body weight.

 Lead study author Dr. Sripal Bangalore, of the Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York, and colleagues recently reported their results in the New England Journal of Medicine.

 Yo-yo dieting - also known as "weight cycling" or the "yo-yo effect" - is defined as repeated cycles of weight loss and weight gain.

 A number of studies have documented the possible health risks of yo-yo dieting. One study reported by Medical News Today last year, for example, uncovered a link between weight cycling and greater risk of death from heart disease.

 The new research from Dr. Bangalore and colleagues builds on those findings, revealing how yo-yo dieting may impact the health of individuals who have pre-existing coronary heart disease.

 Coronary heart disease (CHD) - also referred to as coronary artery disease - is the most common form of heart disease among men and women in the United States. Each year, the condition kills more than 370,000 people in the country.

 CHD is characterized by atherosclerosis - the buildup of plaque in the coronary arteries, which are those that supply the heart with oxygen-rich blood. This plaque buildup may block the blood supply to the heart, which can lead to angina (severe chest pain) or heart attack.

 Largest weight fluctuations linked to 124 percent more deaths

 For their study, Dr. Bangalore and colleagues analyzed the data of 9,509 men and women with CHD aged between 35 and 75 years.

 As well as CHD, all subjects had high cholesterol levels and a history of other heart problems. Around half of the participants were undergoing intensive cholesterol-lowering therapy.

 Over a median follow-up period of 4.7 years, participants were monitored for changes in body weight, and the researchers looked at whether these changes were associated with poorer outcomes.

 Subjects with the greatest changes in body weight experienced a weight fluctuation of up to 3.9 kilograms (around 8.6 pounds) during follow-up, while those with the smallest body weight changes had weight fluctuations of 0.9 kilograms (around 2 pounds).

 The team found that for individuals who were overweight or obese at study baseline, there were 117 percent more heart attacks, 124 percent more deaths, and 136 percent more strokes among those who experienced the largest changes in body weight, compared with those who experienced the smallest body weight changes.

 Additionally, the researchers found a link between changes in body weight and increased risk of new-onset diabetes.

 These findings remained after accounting for participants' average body weight and the presence of common risk factors for heart disease, the authors note.

 Findings raise concerns about weight fluctuation in people with CHD

 Dr. Bangalore and team say that their study is only observational, so it is unable to prove cause-and-effect between yo-yo dieting and increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and death among people with CHD.

 Additionally, the authors point to a number of limitations. For example, they were unable to pinpoint precisely why subjects lost or gained weight during follow-up. As such, it is possible that pre-existing heart problems led to weight changes.

 Still, the researchers believe that their results warrant further investigation.

 "Our findings suggest that we need to be concerned about weight fluctuation in this group that is already at high risk due to coronary disease. Even though this analysis was not designed to find out the causes of increased risk with body weight fluctuations, we need to examine how we can help Americans keep weight off, rather than having it go up and down." Dr. Sripal Bangalore

 Learn how yo-yo dieting may be triggered by changes in gut microbes. |||||

Write a summary.

– Losing weight is one thing, keeping it off quite another. And now researchers are finding that among those with coronary heart disease (CHD)—which the Mayo Clinic reports develops from damaged or diseased blood vessels typically caused by blockage and inflammation—yo-yo dieting may dramatically increase the risk of stroke, heart attack, and death. Reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers say they followed nearly 10,000 men and women with CHD between the ages of 35 and 75 for about five years, monitoring changes in body weight and other health outcomes. The takeaway? "It's important to lose weight, but this data says you have to keep it off," lead researcher Dr. Sripal Bangalore at the New York University School of Medicine tells the New York Times. The highest weight fluctuation was on average 8.6 pounds over five years, while the smallest body weight changes averaged closer to two pounds, reports Medical News Today. Those who were already overweight or obese at the beginning of the study and who experienced the highest level of weight fluctuation experienced 124% more deaths, 136% more strokes, and 117% more heart attacks, meaning these CHD patients were more than twice as likely to suffer these negative outcomes in just a few years than people with CHD whose weight only fluctuated two pounds. This doesn't pinpoint a cause, as pre-existing heart problems could be the culprit, but researchers hope to study this correlation further. (Yo-yo dieting is bad for women's hearts in general.)


Write an article based on this summary:

– Smoke was detected in multiple places on EgyptAir Flight 804 moments before it plummeted into the Mediterranean, but the cause of the crash that killed all 66 on board remains unclear, the French air accident investigation agency says. Agency spokesman Sebastien Barthe tells the AP that the plane's automatic detection system sent messages indicating smoke a few minutes before the plane disappeared from radar while flying over the eastern Mediterranean early on Thursday morning. The messages, he says, "generally mean the start of a fire," but he adds: "We are drawing no conclusions from this. Everything else is pure conjecture." The aircraft had been cruising normally in clear skies early Thursday when it suddenly lurched left, then right, spun all the way around, and plummeted 38,000 feet into the sea. Aviation experts have said the erratic flight suggests a bomb blast or a struggle in the cockpit. But so far no hard evidence has emerged. Search crews found floating debris and human remains on Friday, and photos posted on the Facebook page of Egypt's chief military spokesman appear to show the remains of plane seats, life jackets, and a scrap of cloth that looks to be part of a baby's blanket. Search crews from Egypt and five other countries—Greece, Britain, France, the US, and Cyprus—are searching a wide area of the eastern Med for further wreckage.

French soldiers patrol at Charles de Gaulle airport, outside of Paris, Friday, May 20, 2016. The search continued on Friday for missing EgyptAir flight 804, which disappeared from the radar while carrying... (Associated Press)

 CAIRO (AP) — Smoke was detected in multiple places on EgyptAir flight 804 moments before it plummeted into the Mediterranean, but the cause of the crash that killed all 66 on board remains unclear, the French air accident investigation agency said on Saturday.

 Agency spokesman Sebastien Barthe told The Associated Press in Paris that the plane's automatic detection system sent messages indicating smoke a few minutes before the plane disappeared from radar while flying over the east Mediterranean early on Thursday morning.

 The messages, he explained, "generally mean the start of a fire," but he added: "We are drawing no conclusions from this. Everything else is pure conjecture."

 Looking for clues to whether terrorists may have brought down the Airbus A320, investigators have been poring over the passenger list and questioned ground crew members at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, from which the plane took off.

 The aircraft had been cruising normally in clear skies on a nighttime flight to Cairo early Thursday when it suddenly lurched left, then right, spun all the way around and plummeted 38,000 feet (11,582.4 meters) into the sea, never issuing a distress signal.

 Search crews are scouring for further wreckage of the aircraft. Experts said answers will come only with an examination of the wreckage and the plane's cockpit voice and flight data recorders, commonly known as black boxes.

 Planes and vessels from Egypt and five other countries — Greece, Britain, France, the United States and Cyprus — continued searching a wide area of the eastern Mediterranean on Saturday, a day after the Egyptian military found debris from the passenger jet in the sea 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of the Egyptian port city of Alexandria.

 The waters in the area are 8,000 to 10,000 feet deep (2,440 to 3,050 meters), and the pings from the black boxes can be detected up to a depth of 20,000 feet (6 kilometers).

 On Saturday, the Egyptian military released photographs of the debris from EgyptAir flight 804. The photos were posted on the Facebook page of the chief military spokesman. They appear to show the heavily-damaged remains of plane seats, life jackets — one of which was seemingly undamaged — and a scrap of cloth that looks to be part of a baby's purple and pink blanket or sleeping bag.

 The spokesman's Facebook page later posted a brief video that showed more debris, including what appeared to be a piece of blue carpet, seat belts, a shoe and what looked like a woman's white handbag. The short clip opened with aerial footage of an unidentified navy ship followed by a speed boat with five service members aboard heading toward floating debris.

 Egyptian authorities said they believe terrorism is a more likely explanation than equipment failure, and some aviation experts have said the erratic flight suggests a bomb blast or a struggle in the cockpit. But so far no hard evidence has emerged.

 No militant group has claimed to have brought down the aircraft. That is a contrast to the downing of a Russian jet in October over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula that killed all 224 on board. In that case, the Islamic State group's branch in Sinai issued a claim of responsibility within hours. On Friday, IS issued a statement on clashes with the Egyptian military in Sinai, but said nothing about the plane crash.

 Three European security officials said on Friday that the passenger manifest for Flight 804 contained no names on terrorism watch lists. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation. The manifest was leaked online and has not been verified by the airline.

 Further checks are being conducted on relatives of the passengers.

 French aviation investigators have begun to check and question all baggage handlers, maintenance workers, gate agents and other ground crew members at Charles de Gaulle Airport who had a direct or indirect link to the plane before it took off, according to a French judicial official. The official was not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

 Whatever caused the aircraft to crash, the tragedy will most likely deepen Egypt's difficult predicament as it struggles to revive a battered economy and contain an increasingly resilient insurgency by Islamic militants.

 In the five years since the country was first mired in turmoil caused by a popular uprising against longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, the lucrative tourism sector has been decimated, the value of the local currency has progressively fallen and domestic debt has mushroomed.

 While the latest tragedy may not reflect directly on security at Egypt's airports, as the Russian jet crash did in October, the country's association with another air disaster will impact negatively on tourism and the flow of foreign investment.

 In Paris, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Saturday that he and other officials — including representatives of Paris Aeroport, the French prosecutor, EgyptAir, and the Egyptian ambassador to Paris — had met with about 100 family members to express "our profound compassion" over the crash.

 In a statement delivered to reporters following the meeting, he said: "All the hypotheses are being examined — none are being favored."

 "In the name of France, once more, I am expressing my solidarity, but also our affection ... for all those people who learned that a loved one, or even an entire family, have drowned in the sea — and who want to know, to know to be able to grieve. It's a difficult moment, a painful moment. I wanted to say it again: We're on their side."

 ___

 Satter reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Angela Charlton and Philippe Sotto in Paris and Paisley Dodds in London contributed to this report. ||||| The January 25th Revolution Web sites collection provides access to blogs, Twitter feeds, local and regional media coverage, and other sites related to the January 25th Revolution. It is maintained by the American University in Cairo Rare Books and Special Collections Library and features Web sites suggested by AUC students, faculty, and staff as well as other contributors to the University on the Square: Documenting Egypt's 21st Century Revolution project. |||||


Write a summary based on this article:

See more of T-Bois Blues Fest on Facebook ||||| A New Orleans woman was killed and two others injured when lightning struck on or near their tent at the T-Bois Blues Festival in Larose, authorities said Sunday (March 18).

 Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre identified the dead woman as 28-year-old Jacqui Stavis, a massage therapist from New Orleans. Webre said Stavis was found unresponsive after the lightning strike occurred Friday around 10:05 p.m. Stavis was pronounced dead Saturday at a Lafourche Parish hospital, Webre said.

 Two other unidentified New Orleans women who were in the same tent were injured and hospitalized. A 30-year-old woman remained hospitalized Sunday in Larose, while a 24-year-old woman more seriously injured was transported to University Medical Center in New Orleans, officials said. Webre also said a large Labrador dog in the tent with the women was killed in the incident.

 Investigators learned the three women had retreated into a small personal tent during a thunderstorm near the festival grounds, Webre said. After the lightning strike, the sheriff said, Stavis was unresponsive and her two friends had injuries associated with electric shock.

 An attendee said festival organizers were not allowing new tents to be set up Saturday. The three-day festival, headlined by guitarist Anders Osborne, ran Thursday through Saturday. Staged at the site of an alligator farm, the festival has come to be known in recent years as the "Cajun Burning Man."

 Balloon Chain at TBoiS Posted by Jacqui Stavis on Tuesday, March 15, 2016

 It is beyond comprehension and utter sadness that one of the brightest lights in the universe is no longer shining on... Posted by Nola Bunarchy on Saturday, March 19, 2016

 I opened Facebook this morning to find tons of messages to Jacqui Stavis. I started reading them and it hit me that she... Posted by Matthew L. Crowson on Sunday, March 20, 2016 ||||| See more of Scott Plaisance on Facebook ||||| One Dead, Two Injured Following Lightning Strike at Larose Music Festival

 Sheriff Craig Webre reported one woman has died, and two others were hospitalized after a lightning strike Friday night at a Larose outdoor music festival. Jacqui Stavis (age 28) of New Orleans was pronounced dead at a local hospital on Saturday. Two other females (ages 30 and 24), also of New Orleans, were also injured in he incident.

 Shortly after 10 p.m. on Friday, March 18, deputies received a call that three people were injured after a lightning strike at the T-Bois Blues Festival grounds. Deputies, volunteer firefighters, and EMTs responded to the scene to assist and found Stavis unresponsive, along with two other females who were injured. All three were transported to the hospital for treatment. Stavis was later pronounced dead on Saturday. The 24-year-old victim was transported to University Medical Center in New Orleans while the 30-year-old victim remained at a local hospital. A large Labrador, which was with the females, also died in the incident.

 Investigators learned the three women had retreated into a small personal tent on the festival grounds during a period of severe weather. Following a lightning strike, Stavis was unresponsive, and the other two had injuries commonly associated with electric shock. ||||| New Orleans transplant killed by lightning strike: ‘She just dove into the culture' of city

 New Orleans transplant killed by lightning strike: ‘She just dove into the culture' of city

 On Saturday, Jacqui Stavis, a New Orleans massage therapist, became the nation’s first lightning fatality of 2016, according to National Weather Service records.

 Friends described Stavis, 28, as a joyful, petite sprite who loved music, art and New Orleans. She died at Lady of the Sea General Hospital in Cut Off one day after lightning struck her campsite at the T-Bois Blues Festival in Larose.

 Longtime WWOZ Radio program director Dwayne Breashears knew Stavis through a tight-knit group of New Orleanians who travel each year to the Burning Man festival in Nevada.

 “We are all just numbed by it,” Breashears said of Stavis’ death, adding that it seemed she’d been in New Orleans all of her life, though she grew up in New England, New York and Wisconsin. “She just dove into the culture of New Orleans, just became a part of it. She just wanted to do positive things here.”

 Bethany Bultman, of the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic, described Stavis as “a force for good” who had put down roots in a city she had long admired.

 More On This Topic Woman killed, 2 injured after lightning strikes campsite Friday night at Larose music festival

 Bultman, a friend of Stavis’ grandmother in Provincetown, Massachusetts, said that even as a teenager, Stavis would immediately listen to any New Orleans CD or read any New Orleans book that Bultman suggested.

 “She loved the culture of New Orleans; she couldn’t get enough,” said Bultman, who wasn’t surprised when Stavis moved here with her boyfriend, musician Jake Gold, after the couple graduated together in 2009 from Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

 A few years later, when Bultman reigned as queen of the Krewe du Vieux parade in 2013, she wasn’t surprised that Stavis was one of the first people she saw in the crowd. “Jacqui embraced everything and she participated and she was everywhere,” Bultman said.

 Friday’s lightning strike injured two other women, ages 24 and 30, who had sought shelter from a severe storm in the same small tent with Stavis. One woman was transported to University Medical Center in New Orleans, while the other remained in a hospital not far from the festival, according to a statement by Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre.

 Others who spent the night in tents on festival grounds were shaken by how hard the storm hit and described winds, rain, thunder and lightning so ferocious that people on opposite ends of the same small tent couldn’t hear each other even if they shouted.

 After receiving a call about the injuries shortly after 10 p.m. Friday, Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies, volunteer firefighters and paramedics went to the scene and found Stavis unresponsive and the other two woman suffering from electric shock. All three were taken to a hospital.

 A large Labrador dog also died during the incident, Webre reported.

 No cause of death was available for Stavis.

 However, National Weather Service alerts note that 10 percent of lightning strikes can result in death, often from cardiac arrest or irreversible brain damage. Though the chance of being hit by lightning in a given year is less than 1 in 1 million, it does happen regularly. Over the past 30 years, the United States has averaged 49 reported lightning fatalities each year.

 The low-key, three-day T-Bois event calls itself a blues festival, though it also features other types of music. It offers home-cooked Cajun food, catfish, crawfish, beer and camping for all ticket-holders and is held on an alligator and crawfish farm owned for more than a century by the family of festival producer “Alligator Mike” Falgout, who modeled the festival after large crawfish boils hosted by his family.

 Falgout did not return messages left about the incident.

 New Orleanians who have attended T-Bois describe it as a relaxed event run largely by local volunteers. Two small stages mostly feature acts who play some variation on the blues; it is closed out each year by New Orleans guitarist Anders Osborne.

 Children and families often mill through the grounds, and many people camp there overnight. The capacity is limited to 1,200, and motorized vehicles are prohibited.

 An area of the site, the Burning Village, is reserved as an arts village modeled after Burning Man. Each year, participants like Stavis create special, often large-scale art, including a giant sculpture that is burned during the last night of the festival in a controlled fire watched by local firefighters. This year’s sculpture was of a 30-foot alligator wielding a guitar.

 Stavis’ brother, Erick Yingling, recently visited her in New Orleans. He said his sister had created a broad, de facto family that went beyond actual kin to include “musicians and misfits, entrepreneurs and artists, community activists and attorneys.”

 Now, he said, that entire community was devastated by its sudden loss. “Jacqui was our heart,” he said.

 “Jacqui will be missed by many, many people, because she got along with everyone. I can’t tell you how much we’ll miss her,” said her grandmother, Barbara Rushmore, 91, of Provincetown, who said she sent love to the two women who were injured in the incident. She expressed hope that her granddaughter would be buried within visiting range of her, perhaps in the cemetery that edges the family home in Provincetown. ||||| Deputies got a call around 10:00 p.m. on Friday that three people had been hurt in a lightning strike.

 When they arrived, they found Stavis was unresponsive. Her two companions, both women, were suffering from electric shock injuries.

 The department didn’t identify the two other women, but said one was 30 and one was 24.

 The Labrador was also killed in the strike, according to authorities. |||||

– When the weather got bad at Louisiana's T-Bois Blues Festival on Friday night, Jacqui Stavis, two other women, and a Labrador retriever sought shelter in a small tent. But tragedy struck when lightning hit the tent, killing the 28-year-old and the dog and injuring the other two women, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office says in a statement picked up by BuzzFeed. The other two women, ages 30 and 24 and also from New Orleans like Stavis, were hospitalized with "injuries commonly associated with electric shock." Stavis, who grew up in New England, New York, and Wisconsin, had always been fascinated by New Orleans, and moved there in 2009, friends tell the Advocate. "She just dove into the culture of New Orleans, just became a part of it," one friend says. "The Falgout Family is deeply saddened by the tragic event that occurred this weekend at T-Bois Blues Festival," festival organizers posted on Facebook Sunday. (The festival is held on an alligator and crawfish farm owned by the Falgout family, and "Alligator Mike" Falgout produces the festival.) "Every attendee of this small festival is part of the T-Bois family, and we feel as though we lost a family member this weekend. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Stavis family and all those who love Jacqui." Another post on the page notes that Stavis changed her cover photo to a scene from the festival (it appears to be from a past year's festival) while she was in attendance this year. NOLA.com rounds up other Facebook tributes to Stavis, who worked as a massage therapist.


Write an article based on this summary:

– A rogue gray squirrel has been terrorizing a neighborhood in Vermont. One resident says he was shoveling snow when the squirrel jumped onto his back three separate times, scratching and clawing him before he finally managed to chase it away. At least two other people on the street have been attacked as well, reports the Bennington Banner. One victim is being treated for exposure to rabies, although Vermont's chief veterinarian says there's never been a case of a squirrel passing rabies to a human. He says that it's likely that the squirrel isn't rabid, but may have been kept as a pet and lost its fear of humans. The squirrel might "go ballistic" when it meets people it doesn't recognize, the vet tells the AP.

Several people in Bennington say they've been attacked by a squirrel over the last few weeks.

 Kevin McDonald tells the Bennington Banner he was shoveling snow when the squirrel jumped onto him. He says he threw the animal off, but it twice jumped back onto him. A game warden says there have been other reports, too.

 One woman is being treated for exposure to rabies, but Vermont Public Health Veterinarian Robert Johnson says there's never been a case of a squirrel passing rabies to a human.

 Johnson says it's possible the squirrel was raised as a pet and lost its fear of humans. He says the squirrel might "go ballistic" when it encounters people it doesn't recognize. ||||| Tuesday March 15, 2011

 BENNINGTON -- An East Street man said he was minding his own business and shoveling snow away from the side of his house when he was attacked.

 "All of a sudden I felt something on my back and shoulders, scratching," said Kevin McDonald, of 15 East St.

 It was a gray squirrel, said McDonald. He threw the animal off, but twice it jumped back onto his arms, delivering more scratches. Finally, it ran up a tree and McDonald retreated to his house.

 "The first thing that goes through your mind is ‘is it rabid?’" he said. After doing some research into the matter on the Internet, McDonald said he learned bites are the real concern with rabies infection, and squirrel attacks are quite rare.

 Which is why he was surprised the next day, when his wife reported hearing yelling from across the street. He said he looked to see his neighbor with a blanket and a metal pole battling a gray squirrel not unlike the one that attacked him the day before. Later, he would learn that a woman on the same street had also been attacked.

 While the incident is on the amusing side of the spectrum for him, McDonald said it was a bit eerie to have the squirrel not only jump him, but jump back onto him after being thrown off.

 "I thought it was funny until I learned of two other people being attacked; then I thought it should be taken a little more seriously," he said.

 Local Game Warden Travis Buttle said he’s spoken to two

 Advertisement

 people on East Street, but not McDonald, about the attacking squirrel. He said one woman was bitten on the back of the neck, and under advice of her doctor is undergoing a rabies vaccination series.

 He said there isn’t much he can do unless someone manages to contain the squirrel, say in a garage or a shed. To test for rabies the animal has to be captured and destroyed. Buttle advised anyone attacked by a squirrel, or any animal, to talk to their doctor and follow the advice given.

 If the squirrel was rabid, Buttle said, it would likely have died of the disease by now. The disease, which affects the brains of mammals, causes them to behave oddly and in some cases aggressively. Buttle said that normally he would try to track an animal suspected of rabies, but when he got the calls on the squirrel he was two hours away and the victims reported the animal had disappeared almost immediately.

 Buttle said these cases are unusual because the attacks appear to be unprovoked.

  |||||


Here is a news article: KISO, Japan (AP) — Five more bodies were found near the summit of a Japanese volcano on Monday, bringing the total presumed dead to 36, police said, as toxic gases and ash from the still-erupting mountain forced rescue workers to halt efforts to recover the victims.

 CORRECTS DATE - Firefighters and members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces descend Mount Ontake after they called off a search operation due to noxious fume in central Japan, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014. Mount... (Associated Press)

 CORRECTS DATE- Firefighters and members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces descend Mount Ontake after they called off a search operation due to noxious fume in central Japan, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014. Mount... (Associated Press)

 An aerial view shows rescue workers searching for missing people in the erupted Mount Ontake, central Japan, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014. Japanese soldiers managed to bring down eight more bodies by helicopter... (Associated Press)

 An aerial view shows rescue workers searching for missing people near mountain lodge with heavily damaged roof top in the erupted Mount Ontake, central Japan, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014. Japanese soldiers... (Associated Press)

 Eight more bodies were airlifted off Mount Ontake before work on the ash-blanketed peak was called off around 1:30 p.m., said Naofumi Miyairi, a spokesman for the Nagano prefecture police.

 Together with four victims brought down on Sunday, 12 bodies have now been recovered, leaving 24 near the summit. Exactly how they died remains unclear, whether from gases, suffocating ash, falling rocks or other causes.

 Police said the latest victims were found near a shrine at the summit, the same area where other victims were reportedly found.

 Japanese TV network TBS showed soldiers carrying yellow body bags one-by-one to a military helicopter that had landed in a relatively wide-open area of the now bleak landscape, its rotors still spinning.

 The bodies were flown to a nearby athletic field, the surrounding forested hills contrasting with Mount Ontake's ash-gray peak in the background, a reduced plume still emerging from its crater.

 The bodies were then taken to a small wooden elementary school in the nearby town of Kiso, where they were being examined in the gymnasium.

 Family members of the missing waited at a nearby municipal hall.

 More than 200 soldiers and firefighters, including units with gas detection equipment, were part of the search mission near the peak, said Katsunori Morimoto, an official in the village of Otaki.

 The effort was halted because of an increase in toxic gas and ash as the volcano continued to spew fumes, he said.

 "It sounds like there is enormous ash fall up there," he said.

 The rescuers reported a strong smell of sulfur, Morimoto said.

 Saturday's eruption was the first fatal one in modern times at the 3,067-meter (10,062-foot) mountain, a popular climbing destination 210 kilometers (130 miles) west of Tokyo. An eruption occurred in 1979, but no one died.

 Japanese media reported that some of the bodies were found in a lodge near the summit and that others were buried in ash up to 50 centimeters (20 inches) deep.

 The mountain erupted shortly before noon at perhaps the worst possible time, with at least 250 people taking advantage of a beautiful fall Saturday to go for a hike. The blast spewed large white plumes of gas and ash high into the sky, blotted out the midday sun and blanketed the surrounding area in ash.

 Hundreds were initially trapped on the slopes, though most made their way down by Saturday night.

 About 40 people who were stranded overnight came down on Sunday. Many were injured, and some had to be rescued by helicopters or carried down on stretchers.

 Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency tallied 40 people who were injured, including three seriously, and said it was trying to determine if any people were still missing.

 Survivors told Japanese media that they were pelted by rocks from the eruption. One man said he and others went into the basement of a lodge, fearing that the rocks would penetrate the roof. He said he covered himself with a thin mattress for protection.

 ___

 Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi and Ken Moritsugu in Tokyo contributed to this report. ||||| TOKYO At least 36 people are feared to have died after a Japanese volcano erupted without warning at the weekend, raining ash and stones on hikers, but the search for victims was abandoned on Monday because of fears of toxic gases.

 Rescuers at the peak of Mount Ontake, now an eerie moonscape under a thick layer of grey ash, on Monday found five more victims of Saturday's eruption at Japan's second-highest active volcano but authorities did not immediately confirm them as dead.

 The eruption of the 3,067-metre (10,062-foot) peak, 200 km (125 miles) west of Tokyo, took place as the hiking site was packed with climbers, including children, admiring autumn foliage under a brilliant blue sky.

 Twelve people have been confirmed dead in Japan's first fatal volcanic eruption since 1991, and 63 have been injured, some with broken bones. Eight were missing, but officials said some of them could possibly be among those who perished.

 "It's my son, my second son. We've had absolutely no contact at all," a grey-haired man told Japanese television, adding that his 26-year-old son had gone to the mountain with his girlfriend. "We're utterly exhausted."

 More than 500 rescuers had been combing the summit, ploughing through knee-deep ash and passing mountain lodges with holes punched in their roofs by rocks shot out of the volcano.

 Helicopters lifted laden stretchers one by one from the summit on Monday, before rescue efforts were abandoned. As on Sunday, the smell of sulphur strengthened at the peak, fanning fears of toxic fumes and forcing rescuers off the mountain.

 Japan is one of the world's most seismically active nations. In 1991, 43 people died in a pyroclastic flow, a superheated current of gas and rock, at Mount Unzen in the southwest.

 Ontake, Japan's second-highest active volcano, last had a minor eruption seven years ago. Its last major eruption, the first on record, was in 1979.

 Hikers said there was no warning of Saturday's eruption just before noon and hundreds were trapped for hours before descent became possible later in the day.

 "I felt a hot wind blast against my back and crouched down to the ground," a man told NTV. "I was sure I was going to die."

 It was natural that Japan's Meteorological Agency, which monitors volcanic activity, might reconsider its surveillance system, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

 "However, I believe that, given current levels of knowledge, they made the only judgment they could," he told a news conference.

 Suga also said the eruption would have no impact on the restart of the Sendai nuclear plant in southwestern Japan, an area of active volcanic sites. The plant was just cleared to restart in early September.

 Experts said it was hard to have predicted the eruption, despite tremors in the area this month, since there were no other changes in the mountain.

 Also, the eruption appears to have resulted from a steam-driven explosion of a kind that is especially hard to forecast, said Toshitsugu Fujii, a volcano expert.

 "They often occur quite suddenly and there is absolutely no guarantee that the earthquakes earlier this month were connected," he told a news conference on Sunday. "There is no guarantee of total safety when you're dealing with nature."

 (Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko and Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Robert Birsel) |||||
A summary of this is?

– The presumed death toll in the eruption of a Japanese volcano has hit 36 after five more bodies were discovered today, the AP reports. They were found near a shrine at the summit, officials say. Twelve bodies have been airlifted down the mountain, but 24 are believed to remain, and officials have paused recovery efforts amid a continuing threat from toxic gases and ash at the still-rumbling volcano. Some victims were found under 20 inches of the debris, officials say. Reuters puts the number of injured at 63, with eight missing. It was Mount Ontake's first fatal eruption in the modern era, the AP notes. A minor eruption occurred in 2007 and a major one in 1979, though there were no fatalities in that case, Reuters reports. The latest blast was particularly tough to predict, an expert says, despite recent rumblings in the area. "They often occur quite suddenly and there is absolutely no guarantee that … earthquakes earlier this month were connected," he told reporters yesterday. "There is no guarantee of total safety when you're dealing with nature."