S Korea leader vows to raise Sewol

South Korea's president has promised to raise the Sewol ferry, as the nation marks a year since the disaster.

A total of 304 people, mostly school students, were killed when the ship - which was overloaded and illegally redesigned - sank off Jindo island.

The government has faced a day of anger with relatives cancelling at least one memorial service in protest.

Divers have recovered all but nine of the bodies. Relatives say the ship must be raised and their remains found.

The government says salvaging the ship will cost $110m (£74m) and has previously refused to commit to doing so.

But President Park Guen-hye, speaking at a port in Jindo, said she would take "the necessary steps to salvage the ship at the earliest possible date".

The Sewol ferry disaster left 304 people - mostly teenage students - dead or missing

South Korea's National Assembly adopted a resolution saying a speedy recovery of the ferry would help heal "the minds of the victims, survivors and bereaved families... as well as those of all the citizens".

But relatives of the missing students had said there were not convinced that the Sewol would definitely be raised, the BBC's Stephen Evans in Seoul reports.

They remain wary of the plan, and called Ms Park's announcement vague and politically motivated.

Lee Keum-hui's daughter Eun-hwa died trapped in the ferry. Her body has not been found.

Steve Evans, BBC News, Seoul:

Even as President Park gave the bereaved families what they had been asking for, she must have felt their wrath and their grief.

Dressed in the black of mourning, she stood on a windy breakwater near where the Sewol sank and announced that the vessel would be raised - just as the families had demanded.

"I have a heavy heart and my heart aches to think how painful it is," she says.

But bereaved families had left the port before she arrived, a gesture the South Korean media interpreted as a protest against what the families allege is her previous inaction over both the raising of the Sewol and fulfilling the promise of an independent enquiry.

Demands for answers go on

The ship listed and sank on 16 April 2014, capsizing over a three-hour period

Relatives blocked PM Lee Wan-koo from a memorial hall, amid ongoing anger at the government

Memorial ceremonies are being held across the country on Thursday.

But relatives cancelled a planned service in the city of Ansan in protest against Ms Park's absence from the event.

In the morning, Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo was prevented from entering the venue by relatives of those who died.

On Wednesday relatives of those who died paid their respects at the site of the disaster

This classroom at Danwon High School has been left as a memorial to the children who died

Investigators say the ferry sank after an inexperienced crew member made too fast a turn. The combination of an illegal redesign and overload meant the ship was unstable.

But some relatives say they want an independent and more thorough inquiry into the disaster, which sparked countrywide debate about regulatory failings and official incompetence.

Most of the crew of the Sewol survived.

The captain and three senior crew members have since been given long jail terms for failing to protect passengers.

Eleven other crew members were imprisoned, as was the captain of the a coast guard vessel involved in the botched rescue effort.

Separate trials were held for employees of the ferry operator, Chonghaejin Marine Co. Its owner, Yoo Byung-eun, disappeared after the disaster and was eventually found dead.

• 325 students aged between 16 and 17 from Danwon High School, south of Seoul, were on a school trip to the holiday island of Jeju when the ferry sank
• Only about 70 survived - many had obeyed orders to stay put as the ferry listed
• Several texted their family members goodbye and to tell them "I love you". One also filmed what turned out to be his last moments on his mobile phone inside the ship. The texts and footage were retrieved by parents and later broadcast on national television
• Some of the survivors later testified that they had to float out of cabins and most of the crew members did not attempt to help them
• At least three crew members died trying to evacuate passengers. They included an engaged couple, Jung Hyun-seon and Kim Ki-Woong, and the youngest crew member Park Ji-young, who gave her lifejacket to a passenger. All three have been named "martyrs" by the government

Bedrooms of the remembered

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MH370 search area could be extended

Relatives of those who died want answers from investigators on what happened

The search area for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will be doubled if nothing is found in the current search zone, officials say.

The announcement came from Australian, Malaysian and Chinese ministers meeting to discuss progress.

The plane, flying from the Malaysian capital to Beijing, disappeared on 8 March 2014 with 239 people on board.

It is believed to have crashed off Western Australia, but so far no trace has been found.

At the moment teams using sophisticated sonar equipment are scouring a 60,000 sq km (23,000 sq mile) area of seabed far west of the Australian city of Perth. About 40% of this remains to be searched.

If nothing is found, the search will be extended by another 60,000 sq km to "cover the entire highest probability area identified by expert analysis", a joint statement from the ministers said.

The additional search area could take up to a year to complete given adverse weather conditions in the upcoming winter months, the statement said.

Investigators still do not know what happened to the plane.

The search zone has been defined based on analysis of hourly "handshakes" between the plane and a communications satellite.

There is still no explanation as to why it flew so far off course - making finding the plane and its "black box" voice recorders key to understanding its fate.

"We are confident we are searching in the right area,'' Australian Transport Minister Warren Truss told journalists after the meeting.

"We are confident we have the best search equipment... if the plane is in the area we will find it.''

• Search vessels are focused on a 60,000 sq km (23,166 sq m) priority zone; more than 60% of the area has been scoured to date

• Cost of A$120m (£61m; US$93m) has been jointly funded by Australia and Malaysia

How the search is conducted

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SA march in solidarity with foreigners

Previous anti-xenophobia marches have not ended the violence

South Africa is holding a huge protest march against xenophobia in the coastal city of Durban following a wave of attacks on foreigners.

Organisers said about 10,000 people were expected. At least five people have been killed and foreign-owned shops looted in recent weeks.

The Zulu king has been accused of fuelling the violence. He denies this.

Many jobless South Africans accuse foreigners of taking jobs in a country where the unemployment rate is 24%.

President Jacob Zuma has condemned the violence and is expected to address parliament about the issue later on.

For the latest news, views and analysis see the BBC Africa Live page.

On Wednesday, Malawi said it would evacuate its nationals from South Africa while Mozambique has set up transit camps near its border with South Africa to cope with the exodus of its citizens.

Tens of thousands of foreigners, mostly from other African states and Asia, have moved to South Africa since white-minority rule ended in 1994.

At least 62 people died in xenophobic attacks that swept South Africa in 2008.

Police spokesman Thulani Zwane has vowed to provide strong security for the march, and anyone trying to disrupt it would be "dealt with".

The government-backed South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has told the BBC that it is investigating two complaints of hate speech made against Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini.

He was widely quoted as saying last month that foreigners should "go back to their countries". However, he said that his comments had been distorted.

"The king is saddened by what is happening. He never thought something of this nature could happen," his spokesman Prince Thulani Zulu told AFP news agency.

The SAHRC has the power to censure the monarch, if it finds him guilty.

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Putin defiant over Russia sanctions

It is a rare occasion for Mr Putin to speak to a huge audience of Russians directly

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country can use Western sanctions to boost economic development by becoming more self-reliant.

He is taking part in a live televised phone-in, with Russia's economic problems figuring prominently.

Mr Putin said he had told business leaders that he did not expect EU-US sanctions - imposed over Russia's actions in Ukraine - to be lifted soon.

"We need to use the situation to reach a new level of development," he said.

It is the 13th such annual phone-in - and usually they last about four hours.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Moscow says the event is highly choreographed but does reveal Russians' concerns. Russians' real incomes have fallen this year for the first time since Mr Putin came to power.

About two million people have submitted questions. Russia's ailing economy is a national preoccupation.

'Encouraging signs'

Mr Putin said the Russian economy would take about two years to bounce back, or less as the rouble's value was rising again. But industrial output may shrink further, he warned.

He said there were encouraging signs that Russian agriculture was growing and replacing imports of Western food.

However, a dairy farmer introduced as "John - a Russian citizen" grilled Mr Putin over the hardship faced by farmers.

"You say everything is going well - sorry, that's not true," the farmer said. "I have five children... I need some assurance about their future in Russia. Do you believe the statistics or are they lying?" he asked in English-accented Russian.

The farmer is reportedly John Kopiski, originally from the UK, who has lived in Vladimir region for about 15 years.

Mr Putin admitted that farmers faced difficulties over low dairy retail prices and that cheap imports of powdered milk from Belarus were part of the problem.

"I don't have reason to disbelieve the statistics," he said, adding that the government would have to increase subsidies for farmers.

Mr Putin is said to have taken two days out to prepare for the phone-in by consulting ministers and other experts. The broadcast began at 12:00 (09:00 GMT) from a studio near the Kremlin.

Russian journalists also explored some key issues with Mr Putin

Missiles for Iran

The Kremlin says there has been an increase in questions about foreign policy, including calls to give formal recognition to the two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

Later in the phone-in Mr Putin was asked about Russia's controversial plan to export S-300 air defence missiles to Iran.

He insisted that the missiles were not on the UN list of banned exports under the UN sanctions linked to Iran's nuclear programme.

He said he made the move because Iran had shown "a desire to reach compromise". The S-300 "doesn't threaten Israel at all, it's exclusively a defensive weapon", he added.

Our correspondent says the questions for Mr Putin are clearly vetted, with nothing too critical or too personal.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said about 23% of the questions submitted concerned social welfare issues, and the second biggest area of concern was housing and local services.

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UN urges action to save migrants

The UN refugee agency says not enough is being done to save the lives of the increased numbers of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

A UNHCR spokesman told the BBC around 400 migrants were still missing after their boat capsized off Libya.

Libya's coastguard says it expects more attempted crossings later this week.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants have made the perilous crossing in recent years, fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East.

Hundreds more migrants rescued from boats in the Mediterranean are due to arrive in Sicily during the day.

More than 8,000 migrants have been picked up since Friday, and more boats are heading for the Italian coast.

Italy's interior ministry has instructed officials throughout the country to be prepared to house the new arrivals, many of whom are children.

UN officials say well over 500 people have died since the start of the year, 30 times more than in the same period last year.

Over 280,000 people entered the EU illegally last year, many fleeing conflict in Syria and repression in Eritrea.

'Migration season'

The Italian coast guard rescued 144 people from the capsized boat on Monday and launched an air and sea search operation in hopes of saving others.

Nine bodies have already been recovered, but no more survivors have been found since then.

The BBC's Quentin Sommerville is at a detention centre for would-be migrants in Misrata, Libya - among them this 14-year-old from Eritrea (below). "Is this a jail? Are we refugees?" some of the migrants ask. They say they have been held there for seven months.

Clear skies spell death for migrants

Last year, 170,000 migrants crossed the Mediterranean to Italy and as many as 3,500 died while making the journey, officials say.

The Italian government's maritime rescue operation was scaled back, amid concerns that it was encouraging migrant crossings, and a more limited EU border security operation took over.

However, the latest numbers show that the EU's policy of deterring people is not working, the BBC's James Reynolds in Sicily reports.

Shots fired

Meanwhile the EU's Frontex border agency said that people smugglers had fired shots into the air to warn away another coast guard vessel rescuing migrants.

The incident on Monday happened about 60 nautical miles off Libya after an Italian vessel and an Icelandic coast guard ship had rescued most of the 250 migrants on a tugboat.

Frontex says the incident shows that traffickers are running out of boats.

EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos told the European Parliament: "The unprecedented influx of migrants at our borders, and in particular refugees, is unfortunately the new norm and we will need to adjust our responses accordingly."

Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been without a stable government allowing trafficking networks to thrive.

On Friday, humanitarian organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres announced it would operate a search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean between May and October.

Are you in the area? Are you affected by the issues in this story? You can share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk

Please leave a contact number if you are willing to speak with a BBC journalist.

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US to exhume Pearl Harbor remains

Salvage crews managed to retrieve many of the remains from the USS Oklahoma

The remains of nearly 400 US servicemen killed at Pearl Harbor are to be exhumed so they may be identified and given individual burials, the US says.

The sailors and Marines were aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma when it was struck by Japanese torpedoes in 1941.

Their remains were buried together in Hawaii. The identification effort will use advances in forensic and DNA testing, US defence officials said.

Japan's attack on the US base at Pearl Harbor drew the US into World War Two.

The Oklahoma was one of several warships targeted by Japanese submarines and aircraft in the surprise assault on 7 December 1941. More than 2,400 people were killed.

US department of defence officials said the identification effort would be aided by advances in forensic science and technology, as well as by genealogical help from family members.

Survivors of the attack return to a new memorial in Hawaii

"While not all families will receive an individual identification, we will strive to provide resolution to as many families as possible," Deputy Secretary of Defence Robert Work said in a statement.

Only the remains of 35 of the 429 sailors and Marines killed aboard the USS Oklahoma have been identified so far.

The rest of the remains - retrieved during salvage operations from 1942 to 1944 - have been buried in caskets, marked as "unknown", at a national cemetery in Hawaii.

Tom Gray told the Associated Press news agency that his family had waited more than 70 years to give a proper burial to the remains of his cousin, Edwin Hopkins, who was killed aboard the Oklahoma.

While it was an honour for his cousin to have been buried at a national cemetery, he said: "I also think a boy gives up his life at 19 years old and ends up in a comingled grave marked as 'unknown' isn't proper."

The Pearl Harbor attack drew the US into World War Two

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Nokia agrees deal with Alcatel-Lucent

Nokia says it has agreed to buy smaller French rival Alcatel-Lucent in a €15.6bn (£11.2bn) takeover deal.

Under the all-share deal, Alcatel-Lucent shareholders will own 33.5% of the new combined firm, and Nokia shareholders 66.5%.

Both firms said their boards had agreed the takeover and they expected it to go through in the first half of next year.

The merger will form a European telecoms equipment group worth more than €40bn (£29bn).

Nokia's chief executive, Rajeev Suri, said the firms' complementary technologies would give them "the scale to lead in every area in which we choose to compete".

"I firmly believe that this is the right deal, with the right logic, at the right time," he added.

Weaker players

The two firms are currently among the weakest players in the telecoms equipment industry. However, the combined firm will have a market share of 35%, making it second only to Swedish rival Ericsson, which has 40%, according to Bernstein Research.

The firms expect the merger to cut operating costs by €900m by 2019, but Nokia said it would not cut jobs beyond what Alcatel had already planned.

"No job cuts" in France was the condition under which the French government said on Tuesday that it would back the deal.

'Long and rocky road'

Alcatel-Lucent's shares fell 10% in early trading, with traders attributing the fall to shareholders' disappointment that the deal did not have a cash element.

However, Nokia's shares rose almost 5%, despite some analysts saying that the deal could take a long time to pay off.

"Nokia's risk profile will increase considerably," said analyst Mikael Rautanen from Inderes Equity Research.

"The risk is that the merger will become a long and rocky road and investors lose their patience following through the integration programme that will take years,"

But Jukka Oksaharju from Nordnet brokerage said Nokia had secured a good price.

"We know that there are risks related to France and the cost cuts, but I believe that Nokia has calculated a margin of safety to the deal price."

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EU accuses Google of search 'abuse'

Google's rivals have accused it of unfairly prioritising its own services in its results

The European Union has filed a complaint against Google over its alleged anti-competitive behaviour.

The competition commissioner said she had issued a "statement of objection", stating that the firm's promotion of its own shopping links amounted to an abuse of its dominance in search.

Margrethe Vestager said Google now had 10 weeks to respond.

The firm said it "strongly disagreed" with the allegations and looked forward to making its case.

Ms Vestager also revealed that she had launched an investigation into whether the way Google bundled apps and services for its Android operating system was unfair.

And the commissioner said the EU would continue to monitor other activities by Google that its rivals had complained about.

It follows a five-year investigation into the company and could ultimately lead to billions of euros of fines.

Google accounts for more than a 90% of EU-based web searches, something the EU described as a "dominant" position.

'Preferential treatment'

The European Commission has investigated the antitrust allegations - made by Microsoft, Tripadvisor, Streetmap and others - since 2010.

The EU has objected to the way Google promotes results from its own shopping service

Among their complaints was an objection to the fact that Google placed adverts from its Shopping service ahead of others' links in relevant searches.

Ms Vestager said the commission's preliminary findings supported the claim that Google "systematically" gave prominence to its own ads, which amounted to an abuse of its dominant position in search.

"I'm concerned that Google has artificially boosted its presence in the comparison shopping market with the result that consumers might not see what is most relevant for them, and that competitors may not get the promotion that their services deserve," she told a press conference in Brussels.

Ms Vestager said that she was not seeking a wider redesign of Google's search results or asking it to change its algorithms.

But she added that the case could set a precedent that would determine how the EU handled other complaints about Google favouring its own mapping, hotels and flights services.

Google has rejected the idea its Shopping service was distorting the market.

"While Google may be the most used search engine, people can now find and access information in numerous different ways - and allegations of harm, for consumers and competitors, have proved to be wide of the mark," wrote its search chief Amit Singhal on the firm's blog.

"It's clear that: (a) there's a ton of competition - including from Amazon and eBay, two of the biggest shopping sites in the world and (b) Google's shopping results have not the harmed the competition.

"Any economist would say that you typically do not see a ton of innovation, new entrants or investment in sectors where competition is stagnating - or dominated by one player. Yet that is exactly what's happening in our world."

Legal requirement

Many of Google's rivals have welcomed the action.

"Google's abuse of dominance distorts European markets, harms consumers, and makes it impossible for Google's rivals to compete on a level playing field," said Icomp, a lobbying group representing some of the complainants.

"We see this statement of objection as a crucial first step towards ensuring that European consumers have access to vibrant and competitive online markets."

Google could ultimately face huge fines and be ordered to reshape its business in Europe.

In recent years, the Commission has imposed antitrust penalties on other tech giants, ordering Intel to pay €1.1bn (£793m; $1.2bn) in 2009 and Microsoft €516m in 2013.

However, Ms Vestager said she was "open" to Google's response, and wanted to listen to its case before deciding how to proceed.

One independent expert said that the matter could take years to resolve.

"I can't see that this will be a fast process given the complexity of the subject matter, what's at stake and the likely level of the fine," said Paul Henty, a lawyer at Charles Russell Speechlys who has previously worked for the European Commission.

Google suggests that services including eBay ensure it does not distort the shopping search market

International inquiries

The EU's investigation is not the only one Google is facing.

Investigators at India's Competition Commission delivered a report last week after carrying out a three-year probe into claims of unfair business practices.

Their counterparts in Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Taiwan and Canada have also opened investigations.

However, the US Federal Trade Commission dropped its own probe at the start of 2013 after Google made several non-binding commitments.

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US flight worker 'trapped in hold'

An Alaska Airlines plane declared an emergency and made a priority landing in Seattle after taking off with a worker trapped in the cargo hold.

The pilot of flight 448, bound for Los Angeles, was alerted by the sound of banging "from beneath the aircraft", an Alaska Airlines statement said.

Once back on the ground, the baggage handler emerged from the pressurised hold, saying he had fallen asleep.

He "appeared OK" but went to hospital as a precaution, the airline said.

Alaska Airlines later said the worker had passed a drugs test and been released from hospital.

The Boeing 737 aircraft had taken off from Seattle with 170 passengers on board, and was airborne for 14 minutes.

According to Alaska Airlines, the worker's team leader had noticed that the man was missing before the plane took off.

The team leader had called into the cargo hold and rung the worker's mobile phone but did not get an answer.

"His co-workers believed he finished his shift and went home," the airline said.

The airline said the worker, employed by Menzies Aviation, started work at 05:00 local time and was due off at 14:30, but fell asleep in the cargo hold. The compartment was pressurised - so survivable at altitude - and was temperature-controlled.

One passenger, Marty Collins, told a local Seattle TV station that passengers had not heard the banging.

She said: "Nobody on the plane heard anything like that, nobody knew why we were turning around. They just said we were fine and we weren't in any danger."

Later, Ms Collins said passengers were told "there was someone in the cargo hold and he's been escorted off and taken away".

The flight later left for Los Angeles.

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Gun battle at Somalia ministry

A spokesman for al-Shabab was reported as saying the militant group was behind the attack

At least seven people have been killed in an attack on the higher education ministry in a busy area of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, witnesses say.

The BBC's Ibrahim Aden says a car loaded with explosives was driven into the wall surrounding the compound.

Gunmen then stormed the building, though officials now say it has been secured. There are reports that hostages have been seized.

The militant group al-Shabab said it was behind the attack.

Some reports said the attack began with twin blasts, including the car bomb.

Shooting and the wail of ambulances could be heard at the scene, and many injured people have been carried away.

Public buses have been abandoned in the street close to the walled compound, which also houses the ministry of petroleum.

Al-Shabab militants often launch attacks in the city and have previously used car bombs to initiate attacks on fortified buildings.

Last month, the al-Qaeda-linked insurgents launched a two-day siege at a hotel in Mogadishu.

The rebels oppose the country's internationally-backed government and the African Union forces supporting it.

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