Angus Houston, the head of a joint agency coordinating the search for the missing plane in the southern Indian Ocean, said that the Australian navy's Ocean Shield picked up the two signals on Tuesday, and that an analysis of two sounds detected in the same area last week showed they were consistent with a plane's black boxes.
"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 said at a news conference in Perth, the hub for the search operation.
The Ocean Shield first detected underwater sounds on Saturday before losing them, but managed to pick them up again on Tuesday, Houston said. The ship is equipped with a U.S. Navy towed pinger locator that is designed to detect signals from a plane's two black boxes — the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.
A data analysis of the signals heard Saturday determined they were distinct, clear and pulsed consistently — indicating they were coming from a plane's black box, Houston said.
Pinger locator still the best option in search for missing Flight 370, unmanned sub is next
PERTH, Australia (AP) — Searchers looking for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane have discovered new signals consistent with those emitted by so-called black boxes in the Indian Ocean, but they do not want to send a submersible down yet to look for the plane. For now, they will continue to use the towed pinger locator to get a better fix on the location. Here's why:
THE TOWED PINGER LOCATOR
The Australian Navy vessel Ocean Shield picked up the signals using a U.S. Navy device called a towed pinger locator. It's essentially a long cable with a listening device, or hydrophone, attached to the end. It's pulled behind the boat at a depth of 3 kilometers (1.9 miles).
The pinger locator is designed to detect signals at a range of 1.8 kilometers (1.2 miles), indicating it would need to be almost on top of the black boxes — the flight data and voice recorders — to detect them if they were on the ocean floor, which is 4.5 kilometers (3 miles) under the surface. However, the latest detections indicate the pinger locator may be effective at a longer range than designed.
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Ukraine's security service says eastern separatists allow 56 people to leave seized building
LUHANSK, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's Security Service said Wednesday that 56 people held inside the agency's local headquarters in the eastern city of Luhansk by pro-Russian separatists have been allowed to leave.
The Luhansk security services building was among several government offices seized by pro-Moscow groups Sunday in an escalation of protests against the interim government in power since the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in February.
On Tuesday, security services said separatists inside the building, armed with explosives and other weapons, were holding 60 people hostage. It was not immediately clear if the 56 allowed to leave were among that number, or how many people were still being held.
Serhiy Tyhipko, a lawmaker associated with the previous Ukraine government and who is now in opposition, said he was able to enter the seized building Tuesday night and claimed there were no hostages inside. He urged Kiev to take note of the protesters' demands.
"The authorities are not listening to the southeast. People are putting forward certain demands, but nobody hears (them) and doesn't want to react," Tyhipko was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
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Medicare paid some doctors $3 million or more apiece in 2012; one got $20.8M
WASHINGTON (AP) — Medicare paid a tiny group of doctors $3 million or more apiece in 2012. One got nearly $21 million.
Those are among the findings of an Associated Press analysis of physician data released Wednesday by the Obama administration, part of a move to open the books on health care financing.
Topping Medicare's list was Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, whose relationship with Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., made headlines last year after news broke that the lawmaker used the doctor's personal jet for trips to the Dominican Republic. Medicare paid Melgen $20.8 million.
AP's analysis found that a small sliver of the more than 825,000 individual physicians in Medicare's claims data base — just 344 physicians — took in top dollar, at least $3 million apiece for a total of nearly $1.5 billion.
AP picked the $3 million threshold because that was the figure used by the Health and Human Services inspector general in an audit last year that recommended Medicare automatically scrutinize total billings above a set level. Medicare says it's working on that recommendation.
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UConn routs Notre Dame 79-58 in battle of unbeatens, wins record 9th national championship
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Geno Auriemma and UConn reached the top of women's college basketball in unprecedented fashion. After winning a record ninth national championship — they stand alone.
The Huskies reached the pinnacle in style, routing Notre Dame in the first NCAA basketball championship game featuring undefeated teams. Auriemma and his Huskies now have one more title than Pat Summitt and Tennessee for most all-time, and they did it in the Hall of Famer's backyard.
The Huskies had struggled recently against the Irish, but not Tuesday night, cruising to a 79-58 win.
"It means we've done something no one else has ever done," Auriemma said. "Flattered and grateful and all the things that come with this kind of accomplishment. ... I'm more proud of the legacy that exists and what Connecticut basketball is as opposed to the number of championships."
Breanna Stewart, who was The Associated Press Player of the Year, scored 21 points to lead the Huskies (40-0) while Stefanie Dolson added 17 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists. Auriemma took out his senior center with a minute left and the game well in hand with the pair embracing in a long hug.
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2 national championship titles a day apart give UConn fans 2 reasons to party
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — The partying started Monday night on the UConn campus and spilled into Tuesday.
And rightly so.
It was in honor of the women's basketball team, which beat Notre Dame 79-58 in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday, capturing a record ninth national title, and the men's team, which beat Kentucky 60-54 in Arlington, Texas, about 23 hours earlier, capturing their fourth NCAA title.
"It was pretty crazy last night," 20-year-old Harrison Holzschlag, said Tuesday night. "It's going to be pretty crazy tonight as well."
Early reports from the campus police showed students mostly behaving after the Tuesday night victory, with just two arrests before midnight, basically for being rowdy. Monday's crowd wasn't as tame, with police arresting 36 people, mostly for alcohol-related offenses and minor vandalism. At one point, someone set off a firework over the crowd.
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Oscar Pistorius testifies at murder trial that girlfriend died in his arms after he shot her
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Oscar Pistorius testified at his murder trial on Wednesday that girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp died in his arms after he shot her in his home last year.
The double-amputee runner was testifying for a third day, returning to the witness stand after weeping and wailing a day earlier while describing the moments he said he realized he had fatally shot his girlfriend by mistake. He said he thought an intruder was in the house.
In early testimony Wednesday, Pistorius mostly kept his composure, though he often paused and his voice quavered in apparent distress while describing what he said were his desperate attempts to help the 29-year-old model after shooting her through a closed toilet door.
"Reeva had died while I was holding her," Pistorius, 27, said after describing how he put his fingers in her mouth to try to help her breathe and put his hand on her hip to try to stop bleeding from one of several gunshot wounds.
Pistorius said he felt "helpless," and that he wanted to take Steenkamp to a hospital, but a neighbor advised him to wait for paramedics to arrive. Police later appeared on the scene.
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Family's decision to sail with young children prompts both admiration, condemnation
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Sariah English can't imagine the stress her sister's family endured after their sailboat broke down 900 miles off the Mexican coast while their 1-year-old daughter covered in a rash was vomiting and suffering from diarrhea and a fever.
All ended well: California Air National Guard members parachuted down and reached the 36-foot sailboat to rescue the family and help them on board a Navy warship, and their baby girl quickly responded to new medication for her salmonella-like symptoms. The warship carrying the family is expected to reach San Diego on Wednesday afternoon.
But Charlotte and Eric Kaufman's decision to sail around the world with their 1-year-old daughter, Lyra, and 3-year-old daughter, Cora, has struck a chord with parents — angering some who accuse them of endangering their children and drawing admiration from others for having the courage and determination to follow their dream.
"The rescuers have to risk their own lives to help people who do these kinds of stupid things on purpose, and I don't think that's right," said Margaret Dilloway, a San Diego novelist who has three children, adding that she thinks the family should have to foot part of the bill for the rescue operation. "They'll probably go on the Today Show to talk about this, and write a book about it, do a Mini-series and get 15 minutes of fame because that's how our country tends to reward people who choose recklessly to put themselves and their children in danger."
English doesn't question their decision: Sailing is their passion. It's what defines them. The family had lived aboard the sailboat, Rebel Heart, for seven years before authorities had to sink it because it was taking in water.
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Twitter seeks to broaden appeal with Facebook-esque redesign
NEW YORK (AP) — As Twitter looks to broaden its appeal beyond its 241 million users, the company is introducing a redesign of profile pages that includes bigger photos, more user controls and a distinct resemblance to Facebook.
"Moment by moment, your Twitter profile shows the world who you are," the company wrote in a blog post Tuesday. "Starting today, it will be even easier (and, we think, more fun) to express yourself through a new and improved Web profile."
As part of changes coming in the next few weeks, users who access Twitter via the Web will notice larger photos on their profile pages. Besides profile photos on the left corner of the page, the redesign includes a large banner photo that resembles the big rectangular cover photos on Facebook pages. Users will be able to "pin" one of their tweets to the top of the page to give others an idea of the topics they like to tweet about. In addition, tweets that receive the most interest from other users will appear slightly larger.
The more visual look is an attempt to attract people who may be intimidated by Twitter's onslaught of text filled with quirky acronyms, at-symbols and hashtags. The changes come at a time when Facebook is adding features to its site that are Twitter-like, highlighting the way the two companies are jockeying for people's time and advertisers' dollars.
Is Twitter saying a picture is worth 140 characters? Perhaps not. The new profiles don't apply to Twitter's mobile app, which is a more popular way to access the service than the website. Mobile is also where Twitter earns most of its money. EMarketer expects about 77 percent of Twitter's estimated $1.1 billion in advertising revenue to come from mobile this year.
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Federal judge overseeing smartphone patents case can't get observers to turn their phones off
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — So far one of the biggest problems for a federal judge overseeing a patent battle between the world's largest smartphone makers isn't about stolen ideas. It's getting the roomful of smartphone devotees to turn off their devices.
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh has become increasingly frustrated during the first few days of the trial pitting Apple against Samsung because the many personal Wi-Fi signals interfere with a network the judge relies on for a real-time transcript of the proceedings.
The phones also ring, buzz and jingle, and can be used to take photos, a serious violation of court rules.
In the first five days of trial, Koh has interrupted testimony with a sharp "Phones off!" She's warned she might force everyone to hand over their phones. She's threatened to send everyone, except a select few, into an overflow room. And she's shamed those with phones turned on to "Stand up!" — which a few sheepishly did.
The disturbances are unusual for a federal court, which is typically a quiet space with respect for tradition and decorum. There's no snacking or chatting, no newspaper rustling or recording.
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