Malaysia mystery ‘may not be solved’

2 April 2014 Last updated at 07:36

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Theories abound about what may have happened to flight MH370

Malaysia has warned that the reasons for the Malaysia Airlines plane's disappearance may never be known, as Prime Minister Najib Razak heads to Australia for talks on the search.

Malaysia's police chief said that their investigation could "go on and on".

Ten planes and nine ships will search the southern Indian Ocean on Tuesday. A UK submarine has also joined the hunt.

Flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March as it was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It was carrying 239 people.

Mr Najib will arrive in Perth, western Australia, on Wednesday evening. He will visit the new Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), where the southern Indian Ocean search is being led.

He will meet Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and retired air chief marshal Angus Houston, who is leading the JACC.

'Isolated thunderstorms'

Meanwhile, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said the criminal investigation could "go on and on and on. We have to clear every little thing."

"At the end of the investigations, we may not even know the real cause. We may not even know the reason for this incident," he said.

He added that police had "cleared" all the passengers of the four key areas being investigated: hijacking, sabotage, and psychological and personal problems, Malaysia's Bernama news agency reported.

Khalid Abu Bakar added that more than 170 interviews had been conducted with family members of the pilots and crew members, and that even cargo and food served on the plane were being investigated in case of sabotage.

Wednesday's search area is around 221,000 sq km (85,300 sq miles), but cloudy conditions, "sea fog and isolated thunderstorms" will reduce visibility for search planes, JACC said in a statement.

The British submarine HMS Tireless has also arrived in the southern Indian Ocean. It will soon be joined by Royal Navy ship HMS Echo.

The private jet of film director Peter Jackson has also joined the search.

On Tuesday, ACM Houston said it was the most challenging operation he had ever seen, and warned that search efforts "could drag on for a long time".

"The last known position [of the plane] was a long, long way from where the aircraft appears to have gone," complicating the task, he said.

Several floating objects have been found in recent days, but none is believed to belong to the missing plane.

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"Good Night Malaysian Three Seven Zero"

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PDF download Full cockpit-tower communication_[60K]

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Also on Tuesday, Malaysian authorities released the full transcript of communications between flight MH370 and Kuala Lumpur's air traffic control.

They said there was no indication of anything abnormal in the transcript, although the last words received by ground controllers are different from those previously stated.

Officials say that based on satellite data they have concluded that flight MH370 crashed into the southern Indian Ocean, but many relatives of those on board have demanded proof and expressed anger at what they perceive as a lack of information.

A closed-door briefing is being held in Kuala Lumpur for families of those on the flight.

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Disaster declared after Chile quake

2 April 2014 Last updated at 11:26

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CCTV from inside a supermarket when the tremors struck has been released

Chile has declared two northern regions hit by a 8.2 magnitude earthquake to be disaster areas.

At least six people are known to have died and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated.

The quake struck at 20:46 local time (23:46 GMT) about 86km (52 miles) north-west of the mining area of Iquique, the US Geological Survey said.

Waves of up to 2.1m (6ft) have hit some areas and there have been power cuts, fires and landslides.

Tens of aftershocks have been reported throughout the night, including a 6.2 tremor.

The government said the declaration of a disaster in the regions of Tarapaca, Arica and Parinacota was aimed at "avoiding instances of looting and disorder".

President Michelle Bachelet said the country had "faced the emergency well" and called on those in affected regions "to keep calm and follow instructions from the authorities".

She is due to visit the affected areas later on Wednesday.

Prison break

Chilean TV broadcast pictures of traffic jams as people tried to head for safer areas.

Officials said the dead included people who were crushed by collapsing walls or died of heart attacks.

The interior minister also told Chilean TV that some 300 women inmates had escaped from a prison in Iquique.

Officials later said that 26 of them had been recaptured.

Authorities say they have re-established electricity supply in 50% of the affected areas.

Iquique Governor Gonzalo Prieto told local media that in addition to those killed, several people had been seriously injured.

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Chile is one of those countries that expects to experience large quakes. It's only four years since the 8.8 event at Maule much further to the south.

The drivers are the same. Chile runs the boundary between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates. These are vast slabs of the Earth's surface that grind past each other at a rate of about 80mm per year. The Nazca plate, which makes up the Pacific Ocean floor in this region, is being pulled down and under the South American coast. It makes the region one of the most seismically active on the globe.

This particular event occurred in what seismologists refer to as the Iquique seismic gap - a segment of the plate boundary that has been relatively quiet in recent times. The last big event here was the magnitude 8.8 tremor of 1877, just to the south, which claimed more than 2,000 lives.

While the government said it had no reports of significant damage to coastal areas, a number of homes were reported destroyed in Arica.

Further damage may not be known until dawn.

The quake shook modern buildings in Peru and in Bolivia's high altitude capital of La Paz - more than 470km (290 miles) from Iquique.

The Chilean interior ministry told the BBC that one of the main roads outside Iquique was cut off because of hillside debris.

Partial landslides have also taken place between the towns of Putre and General Lagos.

The authorities are reported to have deployed a planeload of special forces to guard against looting.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (TWC) issued an initial warning for Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Panama.

However, all warnings, watches and alerts were later lifted except for Chile and Peru.

Tsunami watches - in which the danger of large waves is deemed to be less serious - had been in place for Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras.

"We have asked citizens to evacuate the entire coast," Chilean home office minister Mahmud Aleuy said.

Evacuations were also ordered in Peru, where waves 2m (6.5ft) above normal forced about 200 people to leave the seaside town of Boca del Rio near the Chilean border, police said.

'Ghost town'

A British expatriate near the northern Chilean city of Antofagasta told the BBC that there had been several tremors since the last quarter of last year.

"But this earthquake, even with the increased distance, seemed to last a lot longer," Patrick Moore said.

"I knew it was bad so I immediately went online to see what had happened and saw a tsunami warning that's been put in place which confirmed my fears that it was a big one."

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President Michelle Bachelet urged people to "do all they need to ensure they and their families stay safe"

Kurt Hertrampf, a hostel owner in Arica, told the BBC there was a big blackout in the town after the quake and he was surprised the telephone line was still working. He added: "Downtown looks like a ghost town."

The area close to the epicentre is mineral rich, but none of the major copper companies reported any break in production.

Chile is one of the most seismically active countries in the world.

Central and southern areas of the country were hit by a powerful earthquake of 8.8 magnitude followed by a tsunami that devastated scores of towns in February 2010. More than 700 people were killed.

In 1960 an area of Chile south of Concepcion was hit by a 9.5 magnitude which caused about 1,655 deaths and a tsunami in Hawaii and Japan.

The 9.0 magnitude quake that struck Japan on 11 March 2011 caused a devastating tsunami and left more than 15,000 people dead, with more than 3,200 missing.

Are you affected by the earthquake? Are you in the region where a tsunami warning has been put in place? Please email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with 'Chile' in the subject.

Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

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Hollande ex-partner Royal in cabinet

2 April 2014 Last updated at 11:51

French President Francois Hollande's former partner, Segolene Royal, has joined the government in a major reshuffle by the ruling Socialists.

She will serve as environment minister in the cabinet of the new Prime Minister, Manuel Valls.

Mr Valls was appointed to the job after the Socialists suffered a humiliating defeat at local elections.

The Finance Minister, Pierre Moscovici, has left the government, with his job now split between two ministers.

Michel Sapin takes charge of finance while Arnaud Montebourg will be in charge of industry and economy.

Laurent Fabius and Jean-Yves Le Drian keep their positions as foreign affairs and defence ministers in the new cabinet, which replaces that led by Jean-Marc Ayrault.

President Hollande is one of the most unpopular French leaders in decades, having failed to restore the economy.

It is open to question how many of the key new appointments were the choice of Mr Valls alone, the BBC's Christian Fraser reports from Paris. Mr Sapin is a long-time close friend of Mr Hollande.

His first task will be to persuade the EU that France is on track after the country again missed its deficit target, our correspondent adds.

While Mr Valls is on the right of his party, the new economy minister is most definitely to the left, having previously accused the EU of damaging growth with its demands for cuts, he says.

'Segolene's revenge'

It is said that Mr Hollande's most recent official partner, Valerie Trierweiler, had opposed Ms Royal's appointment to any position in the government.

Mr Hollande and Ms Trierweiler officially split up in January after it emerged he had been having an affair with an actress.

The French daily le Monde ran the headline "The revenge of Segolene Royal" on its web edition. One French blogger wrote on Twitter: "Sego [Segolene] nominated, break with Trierweiler complete."

The return of Ms Royal, mother of Mr Hollande's four children, to government follows a long period when she was out of the political spotlight.

She was the Socialist candidate in the 2007 presidential election, but lost to Nicolas Sarkozy.

Mr Valls served in the previous cabinet as interior minister, where he became one of few government figures popular among the wider French public.

His replacement as interior minister is Bernard Cazeneuve, who served as a junior minister responsible for the budget under Mr Ayrault.

Two Green ministers from Mr Ayrault's cabinet both resigned in protest at the appointment of Mr Valls as prime minister, because of his tough record on immigration and other issues.

However, the Socialists still enjoy an overall majority in the lower house of the parliament, the National Assembly.

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Police chief killed in Cairo bombing

2 April 2014 Last updated at 12:04

A police brigadier-general has been killed in a bomb blast near Cairo university, Egyptian state media say.

Five others were also injured in the attack, the health ministry confirmed.

Two bombs were planted next to a police post, officials at the scene said. No group has so far said it carried out the bombings.

Egypt has witnessed several attacks against government targets by militant groups, following the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood in July.

State TV named the officer as Tariq al-Mirjawi, the head of Giza's investigation department.

Reports suggest the bombs went off a few minutes apart.

"I was waiting for the bus when I heard two explosions. There was dust in the air and policemen were screaming" an eyewitness told AFP.

The explosions happened outside the university's faculty of engineering.

Crackdown

The current government has outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, declaring it a terrorist organisation.

It accuses the movement of supporting attacks against the police and army - a claim the Brotherhood strongly denies.

Since the overthrow of the Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi, more than 1,000 people have been killed and thousands of members have been detained in a crackdown by the interim authorities.

The government says militants have killed almost 500 people in the same time period, most of them policemen and soldiers.

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'No sign of Russian troop pullout'

1 April 2014 Last updated at 11:59

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Russia has reportedly withdrawn some troops, but the exact number is unclear

Nato is not seeing a Russian troop pullout from the border with Ukraine, the military alliance's chief has said.

Speaking ahead of a Nato summit, Anders Fogh Rasmussen again stressed that the best way to solve the crisis was through "a political dialogue".

Nato foreign ministers are due to discuss ways to help Ukraine and reassure allies in Eastern Europe at the meeting in Brussels.

This comes after Russia's takeover last month of Ukraine's Crimea region.

It is the first time ministers from the 28 member states of the alliance have convened since the annexation of Crimea.

Nato has also bolstered air drills to be held over the Baltic states.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Angela Merkel he had ordered a partial withdrawal of Russian troops near the eastern border of Ukraine, according to the German government.

Moscow is believed to have massed tens of thousands of soldiers there in recent days, causing alarm in Kiev and the West.

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Moscow has broken with a pattern of behaviour that has characterised diplomacy in Europe since the end of the Cold War"

End Quote

Meanwhile, Russian energy firm Gazprom is increasing the price it charges Ukraine for gas from Tuesday.

Gazprom's chief executive Alexei Miller said the price of Russian gas for Ukraine had gone up to $385.5 (£231) per 1,000 cubic metres in the second quarter of 2014 from the previous rate of $268.5.

Mr Miller added that Ukraine's unpaid gas bills to Russia stood at $1.7bn.

In other developments on Tuesday

• Ukraine's parliament ordered security services to disarm all "illegal armed groups", following Monday night's shooting in Kiev that involved a member of the radical Right Sector group
• Russia's upper house of parliament voted to pull out of a treaty with Ukraine on the Black Sea Fleet's presence in Crimea

Tensions between the Kremlin and the West rose after the overthrow of pro-Kremlin Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in February, following months of street protests.

Russia's subsequent decision to annex Crimea triggered a crisis in relations.

The US and EU have imposed sanctions on members of President Putin's inner circle and other officials. Russia has retaliated with its own sanctions on US politicians.

Rattled nerves

"Unfortunately, I cannot confirm that Russia is withdrawing its troops," Mr Rasmussen told reporters. "This is not what we are seeing."

He said Moscow had undermined the principles on which a Nato-Russia partnership was built, adding that there could be no more "business as usual".

Nato foreign ministers are expected to discuss the formal suspension of co-operation with Moscow at the Brussels meeting.

In a statement, the alliance said ministers would speak to acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia about ways to support Ukraine with its defence reforms.

They are also expected to look at options including situating permanent military bases in the Baltic states to reassure members in Eastern Europe.

Russia's actions in Ukraine have rattled nerves in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which were part of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Nato jets will take part in air patrols in the region later in a routine exercise that analysts say has taken on added significance due to the crisis.

Several Nato countries, including the UK, US and France, have offered additional warplanes.

'Crude violation'

Earlier, Ukraine condemned a visit to Crimea by Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and a delegation of government ministers.

A foreign ministry spokesman in Kiev said the highest-level trip to the Black Sea peninsula by officials from Moscow since its annexation by Russia was a "crude violation" of international rules.

Crimeans voted to leave Ukraine for Russia on 16 March, in a Moscow-backed referendum that was later condemned as illegal by the UN General Assembly.

Mr Medvedev announced that he would make Crimea a special economic zone, with tax breaks and reduced bureaucracy to attract investors.

He also vowed to quickly boost salaries and pensions, and to improve education, healthcare and local infrastructure.

However, a number of local residents have complained they have yet to see the promised reforms.

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Japan to relax arms export ban

1 April 2014 Last updated at 07:29

Japan is to ease its self-imposed arms export ban for the first time in almost 50 years.

In the past all military sales have effectively been banned, although there has been technology transfer to the US.

The new conditions would allow Japan to jointly develop arms with allies and give its defence industry access to new markets and technology.

The move is likely to be viewed with suspicion in China, which has accused Japan of increasing militarism.

Japan adopted a pacifist constitution after World War Two which prohibits going to war except in cases of self-defence.

It has for decades observed the "three principles" of not exporting arms to countries that are communist, subject to UN arms embargos and involved or likely to be involved in international conflicts.

These principles were adopted in 1967 and later evolved into a full self-imposed ban.

But Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is keen to bolster national security and also normalise some of the restrictions Japan placed on itself after World War Two.

'Joint development'

Under the policy, the restrictions on exports to countries involved in conflicts or subject to UN embargos would remain.

Exports will be allowed in cases where they contributed to global peace and served Japan's security interests, Kyodo news agency reported.

Japan would impose strict screening on exports and would be transparent about the process, it said. Japan would also not allow its exports to be sold on to third parties.

"Under the new principles, we have made the procedure for transfer of defence equipment more transparent," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

"That will contribute to peace and international co-operation from the standpoint of proactive pacifism."

"And we will participate in joint development and production of defence equipment," he added.

Earlier this year, China warned against the move.

"Against the backdrop of an intensifying swing to the right for Japanese politics, the intention behind and effect of massively loosening restrictions on the export of weapons really worries people," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in February.

Late last year, Japan's cabinet approved a new national security strategy and increased defence spending in a move widely seen as aimed at China.

Over the next five years, Japan will buy hardware including drones, stealth aircraft and amphibious vehicles.

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Senate report 'reveals CIA abuse'

1 April 2014 Last updated at 10:44

The CIA repeatedly misled the US government over the severity and effectiveness of its interrogation methods, the Washington Post reports.

A long-awaited US Senate report said that the CIA used secret "black sites" to interrogate prisoners using techniques not previously acknowledged.

These included dunking suspects in icy water and smashing a prisoner's head against a wall.

The findings stem from the time of former President George W Bush.

Officials familiar with the secret document said that the CIA's interrogation programme yielded little useful intelligence.

They also said that this intelligence had then been exaggerated so that the interrogation programme looked more effective than it actually was.

The report is the result of a wide-ranging investigation by the Senate intelligence committee into CIA activities which began in 2009.

The committee will meet on Thursday to decide on whether to send a summarised version to President Barack Obama for eventual public release.

Internal divisions

Officials at the CIA's headquarters ordered officers to continue with harsh interrogations even after they were convinced that the prisoners had no more information to give, the Washington Post said.

One official said that almost all the valuable intelligence from al-Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaida was gained before he was waterboarded 83 times.

The report also spoke of divisions within the CIA in protest at the conditions prisoners were forced to endure.

A CIA spokesman told the Post the agency had not yet seen a final version of the report and so could not officially comment on its contents.

However, current and former officials told the paper privately that the 6,300 page study contained factual errors and misguided conclusions.

Earlier in March the head of the Senate intelligence committee accused the CIA of improperly accessing Senate computers during the investigation.

Senator Dianne Feinstein said that the alleged hacking "may have undermined the constitutional framework" of government oversight.

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Plane search 'most challenging ever'

1 April 2014 Last updated at 12:03

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Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston described the search as "very complex, very demanding"

The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is the "most challenging" ever seen, the man responsible for co-ordinating the search from Australia says.

Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston also said that the search for the plane could take weeks.

The plane disappeared on 8 March as it was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It was carrying 239 people.

Search teams are scouring the southern Indian Ocean for signs of the plane.

On Tuesday, the Malaysian authorities released the full transcript of communications between flight MH370 and Kuala Lumpur's air traffic control. They said there was no indication of anything abnormal in the transcript.

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Flight MH370: Full transcript

"Good Night Malaysian Three Seven Zero"

Continue reading the main story

PDF download Full cockpit-tower communication_[60K]

Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader

Speaking on Tuesday, ACM Houston, who is heading a new Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre (JACC) managing the search, said the task was "very complex" because the teams had no hard information to work from.

Search efforts would take time, he said. "It's not something that will necessarily be resolved in the next two weeks, for example."

Ten military aircraft and nine ships were scheduled to examine Tuesday's search zone, while an Australia defence vessel with a towed pinger was en route to the area, he added.

ACM Houston explained that they had no information on how high the plane had flown once it disappeared off radar, the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Perth reports.

A relatively small change in altitude could affect both the plane's speed and fuel consumption - and over the course of seven hours dramatically alter the location of any crash site, our correspondent adds.

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The BBC's Jon Donnison in Perth explains how a "towed pinger locator" is used

Mistrust

It is now more than three weeks since flight MH370 disappeared. Malaysian authorities say that based on satellite data they have concluded that it crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.

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MH370 - Facts at a glance

• 8 March: Malaysia Airlines Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight carrying 239 people disappears
• Plane's transponder, which communicates with ground radar, was switched off as it left Malaysian airspace
• Satellite 'pings' indicate plane was still flying seven hours after satellite contact was lost
• 24 March: Based on new calculations, Malaysian PM says "beyond reasonable doubt" that plane crashed in southern Indian Ocean with no survivors

However, many relatives of the passengers on board have demanded proof that the plane has crashed, and expressed anger at what they perceive as a lack of information from the Malaysian authorities.

Dozens of relatives of some of the 153 missing Chinese passengers have travelled to Kuala Lumpur in their search for answers.

Late on Monday, Malaysian officials issued a new version of the last communication between air traffic control and the plane's cockpit.

In a statement, authorities said the last words received by ground controllers were "good night Malaysian three seven zero".

They had previously said that the last words from the plane were "all right, good night".

It is not clear why the official account has changed.

Correspondents say many family members of those on board have already been accusing officials of mishandling the search, and the latest change may add to their mistrust of the Malaysian authorities.

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Spanish journalists freed in Syria

30 March 2014 Last updated at 05:42

Two Spanish journalists kidnapped in Syria six months ago by radical Islamist rebels have been released.

Spanish newspaper El Mundo said its Middle East correspondent, Javier Espinosa, had phoned the newsroom to say that he had been freed along with photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova.

Mr Espinosa said they had been handed over to Turkish soldiers.

Scores of journalists are believed to have been kidnapped or killed by rebel fighters in Syria.

Mr Espinosa and Mr Vilanova were seized by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) near the Turkish border in September.

El Mundo said at the time the two journalists had been trying to leave Syria at the end of a two-week reporting mission when they were taken.

Four members of the Free Syrian Army - the main Western-backed rebel group - who were protecting them were also captured but later released.

High risk

The Spanish daily said the kidnapping was initially kept quiet at the request of the men's families.

Many kidnappings have been played down in the hope of aiding negotiations.

The journalists are expected back in Madrid on Sunday, the paper said.

In December, 13 major international news organisations signed a letter urging Syrian rebel groups to stop kidnapping journalists, and to free those who are currently held.

Correspondents say ISIS assumes that all foreign journalists and aid workers in Syria are spies and has issued orders to arrest them.

The high risk of kidnapping has made many rebel-held areas of Syria no-go areas for most foreign journalists.

The Free Syrian Army's political wing - the Syrian National Coalition - says it is committed to protecting journalists, and securing the release of hostages.

'Most dangerous'

Mr Espinosa has been a Middle East correspondent for El Mundo since 2002 and is based in Beirut.

Mr Vilanova has worked for various news outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post and the AFP news agency.

The group Reporters Without Borders has called Syria the most dangerous country for journalists.

It says 17 foreign journalists and more than 20 Syrian news providers are currently being held hostage by rebel groups or are missing, while about 40 Syrian professional and citizen journalists are being held by the government.

Many others have gone missing since the conflict began in March 2011.

More than 100,000 people have died since rebels took up arms against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The conflict has displaced five million inside the country and created another two million refugees.

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China sea spat captured on camera

30 March 2014 Last updated at 07:27

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The Chinese crew instructed the Filipinos to turn away

Journalists on board a Philippine ship have witnessed Chinese coast guard vessels trying to block access to a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

One of the Chinese ships radioed to demand the crew turn around, or "take full responsibility" for their actions.

But the Philippine boat, ferrying food to troops stationed on the Second Thomas Shoal, managed to slip past.

The shoal is one of many flashpoints in the area, where several countries have overlapping territorial claims.

Multiple claims

China claims a U-shaped swathe of the sea - creating multiple overlaps with areas claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Saturday's incident, which took place at Second Thomas Shoal (known as Ayungin in Manila and Ren'ai Reef in Beijing), is a rare glimpse into the tensions that routinely play out in the disputed waters.

Journalists say they saw two Chinese coast guard ships attempt to block the path of the Philippine boat, sending a radio message, in English, warning that it was entering Chinese territory: "We order you to stop immediately, stop all illegal activities and leave."

But instead of leaving, the Philippine boat managed to manoeuvre away and enter waters that were too shallow for the Chinese ships to follow.

The captain of the Philippine vessel, Ferdinand Gato, later told Reuters news agency that if they had not changed direction, they would have collided with one of the Chinese vessels.

Air-drop

Philippine troops are stationed on a beached, rusting military ship on the shoal that analysts say has become a symbol of the country marking its territory.

Two weeks ago, Manila made a formal complaint to Beijing after a similar incident when Chinese vessels succeeded in blocking a resupply mission to the shoal.

Philippine planes resorted to air-dropping food and water supplies for the soldiers stationed on board the marooned ship.

The latest confrontation was witnessed by more than a dozen journalists.

They had been invited by the Philippine military to board the government vessel to show alleged bullying by Chinese vessels in the area.

The Chinese foreign ministry condemned the Philippines for trying to "hype up" the issue, according to a statement quoted by Xinhua news agency.

The ministry accused Manila of trying to "illegally seize" the shoal.

The incident comes a day before the Philippines is due to file a case against China with the UN tribunal in The Hague, challenging its territorial claim to most of the South China Sea.

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