Three-time NY Governor Cuomo dies

2 January 2015 Last updated at 05:15

Three-time Democratic Governor of New York Mario Cuomo has died just hours before his son Andrew was inaugurated for a second term as governor, family sources say.

Mr Cuomo, 82, refused a number of proposals to seek the US presidency during the course of a long career.

He died of heart failure at his home.

The New York Times described him as a "liberal beacon" who "commanded the attention of the country with a compelling public presence".

It said that he will be remembered for his "exhaustive ruminations about whether to run for president".

He was urged by the Democrats twice to run for the White House - in 1988 and 1992 - but on each occasion rejected their overtures.

Mr Cuomo, a renowned political orator, led New York during volatile times from 1983 to 1994 and many of his ambitious plans were stifled by recession and cash shortages.

Mr Cuomo did not attend his son's inauguration speech on Thursday because he was not well - however the current governor used the occasion to honour his father.

"He is in the heart and mind of every person who is here," Andrew Cuomo said.

"He is here and his inspiration and his legacy and his experience is what has brought this state to this point, so let's give him a round of applause.''

Mario Cuomo's moved in public prominence in 1982 when he won the Democratic nomination for governor of New York, beating Ed Koch, the mayor of New York City. He then went on to defeat conservative millionaire Republican Lewis Lehrman.

His reputation for powerful oratory began at the 1984 Democratic National Convention when he delivered his ``Tale of Two Cities'' keynote address, in which he contrasted wealthy New York with its poorer areas.

Correspondents say that the son of Italian immigrants and avid baseball fan was an unusually deep-thinking politician whose eloquence was often matched by his prickliness.

"I didn't come into this business to be bland," he said.

He won two more terms as governor in 1986 and 1990, and frequently vetoed legislation that would have restored the death penalty in New York.

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Abandoned migrant ship heads to Italy

2 January 2015 Last updated at 10:00

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Footage showed rescuers being lowered onto the ship from a helicopter

Italian authorities have taken control of a ship carrying 450 migrants, thought to be Syrian, that was abandoned by its crew off Italy coast.

The Italian coast guard said it was now heading to the port of Crotone after a rescue team managed to board the ship.

The Ezadeen, sailing under the flag of Sierra Leone, lost power in rough seas overnight off the south-east of Italy.

Almost 1,000 migrants were rescued from another ship found abandoned without any crew earlier in the week.

Italian Coast Guard Cmdr Filippo Marini told reporters that the vessel was being towed by an Icelandic ship that is part of the EU Frontex border control mission.

Children and pregnant women were among the migrants, most of who were believed to be Syrian, Mr Marini said.

He added that the 73-metre (240ft) Ezadeen was believed to have set sail from Turkey, although earlier reports suggested it was sailing from Cyprus.

The alarm was raised in a distress call from one of the migrants using the maritime radio on board, who told the Italian coast guard: "We're without crew, we're heading toward the Italian coast and we have no-one to steer."

The Ezadeen was built nearly 50 years ago and is a livestock carrier. It appears to be registered to a Lebanese company and has come under the control of human traffickers.

Analysis: Jonathan Josephs, BBC News

The Ezadeen is just the latest uncrewed ship full of would-be migrants to be left to drift to its fate in the Mediterranean Sea.

One of the ships used in its rescue, the Icelandic Coastguard's ICGV Tyr, has been involved in four other similar rescues since it was deployed to the area at the beginning of December.

People-traffickers appear to be behind the phenomenon and one source with close knowledge of the rescue operations is concerned that it "seems to be something of a new trend".

What's changed is that Italy is no longer carrying out Operation Mare Nostrum, a €9m-a-month search-and-rescue response to the migrants in trouble around its coastline.

Since November the EU's border agency Frontex has been conducting its Operation Triton over a very specific area and with limited resources.

MEP Claude Moraes chairs the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee of the European Parliament and says "Triton scares no-one".

He believes that because it doesn't have the weight of a sovereign justice system behind it people traffickers are now less afraid to operate the smuggling routes.

They charge migrants thousands of dollars for the promise of a better life in Europe and show little concern for their welfare.

Migrants and asylum in the EU

The first ship, the Blue Sky M, carrying 970 people, was abandoned and left on autopilot by its crew, believed to be people-traffickers.

Italian coast guards brought it under control and safely docked it at the Italian port of Gallipoli on Wednesday.

The migrants, believed to be mainly Syrians and Kurds, have been taken to local schools and a gymnasium.

Thirty-five of them were taken to hospital, with some treated for hypothermia, Italian Red Cross spokeswoman Mimma Antonacci said.

The Italian Red Cross had previously said that four people were found dead on the ship. It later withdrew its report, and officials now say no-one is known to have died on the ship, Reuters reports.

Migrant surge

Italy has had to deal with a massive surge in migrants - many of them from the Middle East and the Horn of Africa - setting off on boats with hopes of reaching Europe.

The Blue Sky is listed as a general cargo ship, sailing under a Moldovan flag.

The safety manager of a company hired to provide safety certification for the ship told the BBC he had withdrawn its certificate several months ago after finding it unsafe.

Greek officials were first alerted to the ship when it was near Corfu.

A man aboard is reported to have asked for food, water and blankets. The distress call to Greek emergency services prompted the navy to send a helicopter and a warship.

The Greek authorities had said no-one aboard the vessel was in danger.

The Blue Sky M was reportedly heading for the port of Rijeka in Croatia from Turkey.

According to tracking website MarineTraffic, the ship abruptly changed direction south of Othonoi on Tuesday morning, heading west towards Italy.

Weather conditions in the Ionian sea have been poor for several days, hampering the rescue of those on board the Norman Atlantic ferry which caught fire in the area, killing at least 11 people.

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AirAsia search focuses on seabed

2 January 2015 Last updated at 10:36

The search for AirAsia flight QZ8501 which crashed into the sea on Sunday has moved underwater, with the arrival of specialist equipment.

A French crash investigation team is using sensitive acoustic detection devices to try to locate the plane and its "black box" flight recorders.

The Airbus A320-200 was flying from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore with 162 people on board when it vanished.

No survivors have been found and the cause of the crash remains unknown.

Several more bodies were located on Friday, bringing the total found to 22, said officials in Pangkalan Boon, the closest town to the presumed crash site.

Four people have been identified so far.

The plane is almost certainly at the bottom of the relatively shallow Java Sea.

The head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, Bambang Soelistyo, estimated the fuselage was at a depth of about 25-30m (80-100ft).

Several pieces of debris have been recovered, including what is thought to be part of a wing flap.

But despite a massive five-day search, the fuselage is still missing. Officials say most of the passengers could still be inside.

The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Pangkalan Bun says there is a growing sense among search teams that their task is going to be harder than initially thought.

Bad weather and churning seas have dashed hopes of finding the plane visually, he says, and teams will now be relying on scans of the sea floor.

The French ship, with Singaporean and Indonesian experts on board, is carrying detection equipment, including hydrophones, to listen out for the plane's two so-called black boxes - the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder.

Locating the fuselage and the flight recorder will help answer the mystery of what happened to make the plane fall from the sky.

Mr Soelistyo said on Friday that wreckage and bodies were spread over a 5km area of the Java Sea.

The search has zoned in on an area of 1,575 nautical square miles of the Java Sea off Borneo, he told reporters.

"Divers are already on standby at the navy ship Banda Aceh to dive on that priority area to locate the body of the plane," he said. "I hope we'll get a significant result today."

'Unbelievably steep climb'

There were 137 adult passengers, 17 children and one infant, along with two pilots and five crew, on the plane. The majority of those on board were Indonesians.

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Kevin Khuana talks to the BBC about his friend Stephanie Gunawan, who was on board AirAsia QZ8501

Some investigators are reported to believe that the plane may have gone into an aerodynamic stall as the pilot climbed steeply to avoid a storm.

Officials have said the plane was travelling at 32,000ft (9,750m) when it requested to climb to 38,000ft to avoid bad weather.

When air traffic controllers consented to allow it to climb to 34,000ft a few minutes later, they got no reply.

A source quoted by Reuters said that radar data appeared to show that the aircraft's "unbelievably" steep climb may have been beyond the Airbus A320's limits.

However, the unnamed source emphasised that more information was needed before a definitive conclusion could be reached.

AirAsia previously had an excellent safety record and there were no fatal accidents involving its aircraft.

Are you, or is someone you know, affected by this story? Do you know any of the passengers on the AirAsia flight? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with any information. Please leave a telephone number if you are willing to be contacted by a BBC journalist.

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Kenya court blocks security law

2 January 2015 Last updated at 10:52

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A copy of the bill was ripped up in parliament

Kenya's High Court has suspended some parts of the controversial new security law, which was enacted two weeks ago amid fierce opposition.

The court blocked eight sections until a legal challenge mounted by the opposition and rights group is heard.

MPs exchanged blows while debating the law, which the opposition said would turn Kenya into a "police state".

The government says the measures are necessary following a wave of attacks by Somalia-based Islamist militants.

Some 500,000 Somali refugees live in Kenya and the government suspects some of them of links to al-Shabab militants.

The court suspended measures which could jail journalists who "undermine investigations or security operations relating to terrorism", and limit the number of refugees in the country.

The law still prescribes long jail terms for anyone convicted of terror-related offences, in particular anyone found with weapons inside a place of worship.

Owners of buildings or institutions, or persons in charge of public places who fail to prevent entry of weapons into such areas can also be liable to 30 years in jail.

Terror suspects can be detained for 24 hours before being presented to court. They can then be held for up to 30 days. Earlier reports had suggested suspects could be held up for up to a year.

Analysis: Emmanuel Igunza, BBC News, Nairobi

The High Court ruling is a big blow to the government, which has constantly insisted that the laws are not only good, but badly needed to counter the threat of al-Shabab.

It took less than two weeks for the amendments to be drafted and approved in a chaotic parliamentary session. This showed how urgently the government wanted the law.

The court ruling is a victory for the opposition but it is only the first step - the real test will be once the case proper begins later this month.

The judiciary will be making a ruling of huge significance to the country's constitution, which was passed only four years ago, amid huge fanfare.

It was hailed for guaranteeing human rights and liberties, which critics of the security law say will now be curtailed.

The suspended sections include:

• Allowing security agents to intercept communications for purposes of "deterring, detecting and disrupting terrorism"
• Allowing security agents to seize any equipment that can be used to commit a crime
• Banning the publication or broadcasting of "insulting, threatening, or inciting material", images of dead or injured people "likely to cause fear" and information that undermines security operations, including on social media. Punishable by a fine of $55,000, a three-year jail term or both
• Limiting number of refugees and asylum-seekers to 150,000 - those applying for refugee status are not allowed to leave camps

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More bad weather hits AirAsia search

1 January 2015 Last updated at 06:58

A short-lived break in the weather has failed to make an impact on the search for wreckage from AirAsia Flight QZ8501, which crashed en route from Indonesia to Singapore four days ago.

Skies brightened over the search area but the bad weather which has slowed salvage efforts returned within hours.

Ships and planes are scouring the Java Sea off Borneo, where the plane, carrying 162 people, came down.

Only seven bodies have been recovered as bad weather hampered the search.

A vigil has been held in the Indonesian city of Surabaya for the victims, with people observing a minute's silence.

Rough seas have stopped divers from investigating the scene of the crash.

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A candlelit vigil was held for the 162 people on board flight QZ8501, as Rupert Wingfield Hayes reports

Naval officer Siahala Alamsyah said that bad weather and high seas on Wednesday night prevented a team of about 50 Indonesian navy divers from flying out to warships at the scene of the disaster.

On Thursday morning the skies over Pangkalan Bun air base brightened and the seas calmed, increasing hopes.

But within a few hours, the weather had worsened again.

"Clouds have started to descend again... and the weather conditions will deteriorate again," said search and rescue official Tatang Zaenudin,

Search teams are hoping to locate the fuselage of the plane on the seabed and find the plane's black box recorders, which could provide clues about the cause of the crash.

"It's possible the bodies are in the fuselage," said search and rescue co-ordinator Sunarbowo Sand from his base in Pangkalan Bun on Borneo island - the closest town to the targeted area.

"It's a race now against time and weather."

Salvage efforts hindered

Flight QZ8501, carrying 162 people from Surabaya to Singapore, disappeared on Sunday. Debris from the flight was located in the sea on Tuesday.

At least seven bodies have been retrieved, but up until now weather conditions have hindered further salvage efforts.

There were 137 adult passengers, 17 children and one infant, along with two pilots and five crew, on the plane.

The majority of those on board were Indonesians.

Some investigators are reported to believe that the plane may have gone into an aerodynamic stall as the pilot climbed steeply to avoid a storm.

Officials quoted by the Reuters news agency say that the plane was travelling at 32,000ft (9,750m) when it requested to climb to 38,000ft to avoid bad weather.

When air traffic controllers consented to allow it to climb to 34,000ft a few minutes later, they did not get any reply.

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Sribudi Siswardani's 31-year-old son was on board AirAsia flight QZ8501 - on his first trip overseas

A source quoted by Reuters said that radar data appeared to show that the aircraft's "unbelievably" steep climb may have been beyond the Airbus A320's limits.

"So far, the numbers taken by the radar are unbelievably high. This rate of climb is very high, too high. It appears to be beyond the performance envelope of the aircraft," the source said, while emphasising that more information was needed before a definitive conclusion could be reached.

Bodies retrieved from the Java Sea are being taken in numbered coffins to Surabaya, where relatives of the victims have congregated to identify them and provide DNA samples to help the process.

Hundreds of people, including young children, turned out to the vigil in Surabaya on Wednesday evening.

All New Year's Eve celebrations in East Java province were cancelled.

In Jakarta, the capital, residents began new year festivities with a prayer for the victims. A number of other cities cancelled or scaled down their new year celebrations.

Earlier on Wednesday, the first two bodies from the crash were flown back to Surabaya. The bodies were in coffins numbered 001 and 002, as they had not yet been identified.

Other bodies have arrived at a harbour near the town of Pangkalan Bun in the Indonesian part of Borneo.

After three days, the first remains were found including aircraft parts, luggage and three bodies in the Karimata Strait, south-west of Pangkalan Bun.

Search teams recovered four more bodies on Wednesday, before the search was called off for the day due to adverse weather.

Malaysia, Australia and Thailand are also involved in the search, while the US destroyer USS Sampson has been sent to the zone.

AirAsia previously had an excellent safety record and there were no fatal accidents involving its aircraft.

Are you, or is someone you know, affected by this story? Do you know any of the passengers on the AirAsia flight? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with any information. Please leave a telephone number if you are willing to be contacted by a BBC journalist.

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North Korean leader proposes talks

1 January 2015 Last updated at 04:23

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has offered to hold talks at the highest level with South Korea.

President Kim was giving his new year message broadcast on state television.

He said if Pyongyang's conditions were met, he would even be prepared to hold a summit meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

On Monday, South Korea called for dialogue to resume on a number of issues, including reunions for families separated by the Korean War.

"Depending on the mood and circumstances, there is no reason not to hold a high-level summit," President Kim said.

But the BBC's Kevin Kim in Seoul says it is unclear how likely a meeting between the two Korean presidents would be, given that military tensions between the countries have been high in recent months

On Monday, South Korea's Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said that "North and South Korea should meet face to face to draw up a plan for a peaceful unification".

The North has previously seen the South's unification plans as an attempt to take it over.

Mr Ryoo said he hoped North Korea "responds positively" to the suggestion.

He offered to meet in Seoul, Pyongyang or any other South or North Korean city agreed with North Korean officials.

The last formal high-level talks were in February 2014, leading to rare reunions for Korean families separated for over 60 years since the end of 1950-53 Korean War.

More talks planned in October were dropped after North Korea accused the South of not doing enough to stop activists sending anti-Northern leaflets across the border on balloons.

The two Koreas have technically been at war since the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

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Shanghai new year crush kills 36

1 January 2015 Last updated at 07:46

A crush at New Year's Eve celebrations in Shanghai has killed 36 people and injured some 47 others, Chinese officials say.

The crush happened in Chenyi Square in Shanghai's historic Bund district overlooking the Huangpu river.

Thousands of people had gathered to see in 2015.

Social media reports suggest the stampede was triggered by people stopping to pick up fake money thrown from the balcony of a nightclub.

The Shanghai City government said the situation began to deteriorate at 23:35 local time (15:35 GMT) and that a "working group" had been set up to handle the incident.

Photos posted on social media showed people receiving first aid on the road and large numbers of police securing the area.

Many of the dead are believed to be students, with 25 of them women, state media report.

President Xi Jinping has told the Shanghai government to find the causes of the crush as soon as possible, according to state TV.

A traditional new year fireworks display on the Bund had already been cancelled due to official fears of overcrowding, the Shanghai Daily reports.

The BBC's John Sudworth in Shanghai says the investigation may focus on why so many people turned out despite the cancellation and whether there were enough police resources in place to look after them.

'Too many people'

English tourist Rebecca Thomas from Manchester told the BBC she had seen dead bodies on the ground.

"CPR was being given to 10-15 people in the street by loved ones whilst police stood by and watched.

"I asked a police officer if I could help and was told to move along. I saw a man giving his wife or girlfriend mouth-to-mouth on the floor whilst police watched," she said.

"There were really too many people!" wrote one user of Sina Weibo - a Chinese equivalent of Twitter. "Squeezed inside, you could not budge, and could only move with the crowd."

The user, called iiisay, added that traffic police had linked hands to form a human wall after the crush, but the wall was still breached several times.

US photographer Gaby Gabriel told the BBC: "Nobody seemed to be in control and people were crying. It was one of those times when you see the worst in people."

Another Sino Weibo user, Small Metal Makes Steel, said: "At the time there were lots of people, police at the scene maintained order and wouldn't let people near [the scene of the injuries]."

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China's President has promised an investigation into the cause of the stampede, as John Sudworth reports

"Lots of people spontaneously linked hands to block the crowds, so the injured had space to settle down, and to allow a clear passage for ambulances," he added.

In a statement, the Shanghai City government said that those hurt had been transferred to hospitals across the city, and that the Shanghai party secretary had visited some of the injured.

Earlier, Shanghai's police department wrote on its verified social media account that some "tourists" had "fallen over" at the Bund, and urged people to leave the area in an orderly fashion.

According to the Shanghai Daily, close to 300,000 people turned up for New Year's Eve celebrations last year, leading to traffic problems.

Were you at Chenyi Square in Shanghai for the New Year celebrations? Are you, or is someone you know, affected by this story? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with any information. Please leave a telephone number if you are willing to be contacted by a BBC journalist.

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Egypt retrial for al-Jazeera three

1 January 2015 Last updated at 11:04

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Sally Nabil in Cairo: Presidential pardon not expected pending the retrial

Egypt's top court has ordered a retrial of three al-Jazeera journalists jailed on charges of spreading false news.

The decision was made after the hearing in Cairo of an appeal by the three, Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, against their conviction.

Prosecutors acknowledged major problems with the verdict, defence lawyers said. A new trial will occur within a month but the trio must stay in custody.

Al-Jazeera called on the authorities to release its journalists quickly.

The journalists deny the charges, which included collaborating with the banned Muslim Brotherhood after the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi by the military in 2013.

They say they were simply reporting the news.

Two of them are foreign nationals - Peter Greste, a former BBC correspondent, is Australian, and his producer colleague Mohammed Fahmy holds Egyptian and Canadian citizenship.

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The fiancee of Mohamed Fahmy says she is concerned for his health

The three journalists have now spent a year in jail since they were first arrested in December 2013.

They were convicted in June - with Fahmy and Greste jailed for seven years and Mohamed for 10 years.

Judges have ruled that they should remain in custody until the new trial.

At the scene: Orla Guerin, BBC News, Cairo

The fate of the journalists, who have spent more than a year in a high security prison complex, was decided in a matter of minutes.

The media never made it inside the courtroom for the brief hearing. By the time the police let reporters into the courthouse the judge had concluded the hearing.

Defence lawyers and relatives waited for the verdict in a packed corridor. When it came Peter Greste's elderly parents, Lois and Yuris, looked stunned. Just minutes earlier Mohammed Fahmy's lawyer, Negad Al Borai, had been confidently predicting that all three defendants would be released on bail.

Outside court relatives warned that trio could face another lengthy battle, with a retrial lasting as long as a year.

Marwa Omara, fiancee of Mohamed Fahmy, said he would continue his fight for justice and for freedom of the press. Wiping away a tear, she said she and Mohammed would go ahead with their plans to marry - if necessary behind bars.

'Hoped for more'

Thursday's court session began at 09:00 local time (07:00 GMT) and lasted just 30 minutes. None of the defendants were present.

An Al-Jazeera spokesman said in a statement after the decision: "Baher, Peter and Mohammed have been unjustly in jail for over a year now.

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Defence lawyer explains a retrial will require the journalists to remain in Egypt

"The Egyptian authorities have a simple choice - free these men quickly, or continue to string this out, all the while continuing this injustice and harming the image of their own country in the eyes of the world. They should choose the former."

Reacting to the hearing, Greste's mother Lois said: "We need some time to process. It's not as positive as we had hoped."

Fahmy's brother Adel said he had "hoped for more" - that his brother would be freed, at least on bail.

But Greste's lawyer Chris Flynn described the decision as being "a positive result".

"It's not the complete vindication that we were hoping for of course," he told the BBC.

"It does, however, recognise... that the original trial processes contain some flaws... and we think overall provides an opportunity for the president to consider perhaps some other measures such as deportation without any further judicial action in Egypt.

"We trust and hope that that will be the approach that's taken."

Key dates

• 29 December 2013: Peter Greste, Bader Mohamed and Mohammed Fadel Fahmy arrested
• February 2014: Put on trial in Cairo on terrorism-related offences
• 23 June: Convicted and jailed for seven to 10 years
• 23 December: Al-Jazeera suspends its Egyptian channel
• 1 January 2015: Retrial ordered after "major problems" found in verdict

The BBC's Orla Guerin in Cairo says that the case has been hugely damaging for Egypt, and there have been indications that the authorities want to bring it to a close.

A recent thaw in relations between Egypt and Qatar - which owns the Al Jazeera channel - heightened expectations that the case would be resolved, our correspondent says.

But today's verdict means the journalists will remain behind bars at least until the first hearing of their new trial - which is expected to take place within a month. Lawyers say they will then apply for bail.

In December al-Jazeera decided to suspend its Egyptian channel, Mubasher Misr (Live Egypt), whose coverage had become a major source of tension between the two countries.

Analysts speculated that the channel's suspension might ease the way for Egypt to free the two foreign journalists in line with a recently-approved law that allows foreign citizens to be deported rather than jailed.

President Sisi has said in the past he wished the journalists had been deported rather than being put on trial.

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AirAsia bodies returned to airport

31 December 2014 Last updated at 10:57

The first two bodies from the AirAsia Flight QZ8501 crash have arrived back in the Indonesian city of Surabaya, where relatives are waiting.

Next of kin have been asked for DNA samples to help identify the victims.

The Airbus A320-200, carrying 162 people from Surabaya to Singapore, disappeared on Sunday and remains were located in the sea on Tuesday.

The authorities say seven bodies have been retrieved, but bad weather is hampering further salvage efforts.

A public memorial will be held in Surabaya on Wednesday evening local time, and the governor of East Java province has told the BBC that all New Year's Eve celebrations have been cancelled.

On board the plane were 137 adult passengers, 17 children and one infant, along with two pilots and five crew.

It is not yet clear what happened to the plane but its last communication was a request from air traffic control to climb to avoid bad weather. The pilot did not respond when given permission.

A three-day search culminated on Tuesday with the discovery of remains including aircraft parts, luggage and the bodies in the Karimata Strait, south-west of the town of Pangkalan Bun in the Indonesian part of Borneo.

AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes said it had now been narrowed, with all assets involved in the search being moved to two areas where the aircraft could be.

Wind and rain

The bodies were flown to Surabaya's Juanda airport on Wednesday afternoon from a hospital in Pangkalan Bun, where they had been sent from the crash site.

Another five bodies are reported to be on board a ship on their way to a harbour near Pangkalan Bun.

Four of the seven bodies are male and three female, one of them a flight attendant.

One search and rescue agency official, Tatang Zaenudin, said one of the bodies was wearing a life jacket but this has not been confirmed.

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Pilot's friend: "He was very professional and experienced and a humble man"

But strong winds and 2m waves have slowed down the recovery of bodies and debris, with helicopters mostly grounded and divers prevented from searching the waters.

Ships already in place are continuing the search. Mr Fernandes said they were expecting to operate round the clock.

The weather is forecast to deteriorate further, with heavy rains until Friday.

Next of kin of passengers and crew have been asked for DNA samples to help identify the bodies when they come in.

The BBC's Alice Budisatrijo in Surabaya says concerns are growing that the remains will be too difficult to identify after more than three days in the water.

Officials in Surabaya said a public announcement would be made as soon as any remains were identified.

On Tuesday Indonesian President Joko Widodo promised a "massive search by the ships and helicopters" with the focus on recovering the bodies.

The call came hours after the first debris was spotted in the sea, along with a shadow under the water.

However, Mr Fernandes described reports that a large object had been detected by sonar as speculation.

"[The searchers] feel more comfortable that they are beginning to know where it is, but there is no confirmation... no sonar... some visual identification, but nothing confirmed," he said.

The Associated Press news agency quoted one official as saying the bodies of victims could end up being washed up on beaches.

"It seems all the wreckage found has drifted more than 50km from yesterday's location," Vice Air Marshal Sunarbowo Sandi said.

Pictures of debris and bodies were shown on Indonesian TV to distraught relatives waiting at Surabaya's Juanda international airport.

Those watching the pictures were visibly shocked, with some collapsing.

The search is being led by Indonesia but is a multinational effort. Singapore has sent ships equipped with sensors to detect pings that may be emitted from the plane's black boxes.

Malaysia, Australia and Thailand are also involved, while the US destroyer USS Sampson has been sent to the zone.

AirAsia previously had an excellent safety record and there were no fatal accidents involving its aircraft.

Are you, or is someone you know, affected by this story? Do you know any of the passengers on the AirAsia flight? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with any information. Please leave a telephone number if you are willing to be contacted by a BBC journalist.

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Eight dead in Canadian 'mass murder'

31 December 2014 Last updated at 05:15

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As Ben Bland reports, police say the handgun was legally owned, but reported stolen

Seven adults and two children have been found dead in the Canadian city of Edmonton after a man carried out what police called a "senseless mass murder" linked to "extreme domestic violence".

The gunman is believed to have killed himself after the murders. Police are not looking for any other suspects.

The incident unfolded in three different locations in Edmonton, in the western province of Alberta.

Seven bodies were found in the same house, police chief Rod Knecht said.

Two "very young" children are among the dead, Mr Knecht said.

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Edmonton City Police Chief Rod Knecht: "It is a tragic day for Edmonton... as we all come to terms with the senseless mass murder of eight people''

He said it was the worst mass killing in Edmonton since six people were killed in 1956.

"It appears to be an extreme case of domestic violence gone awry," he told a press conference, describing the killings as "planned and deliberate".

"This series of events are not believed to be random acts, and there is no risk to the broader public. These events do not appear to be gang-related, but rather tragic incidents of domestic violence."

Police say that the gunman used a stolen 9mm handgun and later killed himself at a restaurant north of Edmonton. They have only released the names of one of the victims and have not detailed the relationship between the shooter and his victims.

Mr Knecht said that the man who committed suicide had a criminal record going back to 1987.

'Depressed man'

Police discovered the body of a woman, Cyndi Duong, 37, at a house in south Edmonton at 18:00 local time on Monday (01:00 GMT Tuesday), he said.

They later responded to reports of a despondent and depressed man at an address in north Edmonton at around 20:30 but were unable to find him.

But when they returned at about midnight after receiving new information they found seven bodies - three women, two men and two children.

Mr Knecht said that the house where the seven bodies were discovered presented his officers with a "horrific and chaotic" scene - the worst crime he had dealt with in 39 years of policing.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, they found a body matching the description of the suicidal male at a restaurant 25 miles (40km) north-east of Edmonton.

He said police would not be releasing the names of all the victims or the killer yet.

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