Category: news

The managers of the Moscow airport hit by an apparent suicide bomb attack must be held responsible for “clear security breaches”, Russia’s president has said.

Russian media say the bomber detonated some 7kg (15lb) of TNT explosives at Domodedovo airport, killing 35 people and injuring more than 100.

“Someone had to try very hard to carry or bring through such a vast amount of explosives,” Dmitry Medvedev said.

Many in Russia suspect militants from the North Caucasus of the bombing.

Militants from the unsettled region are frequently blamed for terror attacks in Russia, including a double suicide bombing in March 2010 that killed 40 people on Moscow’s underground system.

That attack was blamed on female suicide bombers from Dagestan.

Unnamed officials said three suspects were being sought over Monday’s attack.

In addition, an unconfirmed report from Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency quoted one unnamed security source as saying that warnings of an attack were received a week ago.

Analysts say militant groups fighting in the Caucasus aim to undermine the idea that Russia’s president and prime minister preside over a safe and secure society.

Speaking on Russian TV, President Medvedev was clear that he believed airport managers were responsible for allowing the explosives into Domodedovo on Monday.

“Judging from the location and other indirect signs, this was a well-prepared terrorist attack [that] aimed to kill as many people as possible.

“The airport is good, and this is recognised by all. It is new and modern. However, what happened shows that, clearly, there were violations in providing security.

“Those who take decisions there, and the management of the airport itself, must answer for this,” he said.

According to RIA Novosti, Russian authorities were warned a week ago that an “act of terror” would be carried out near one of Moscow’s airport’s, adding that police were seeking three suspects.

Monday’s explosion hit the airport’s busy international arrivals hall in a public area where friends and drivers meet passengers who have passed through customs.

Eyewitnesses told Russian TV that before a bomber detonated the charge, he had shouted: “I’ll kill you all!”

Scenes of panic ensued as the area filled with smoke, with bodies strewn across the floor.

One Briton was among the dead as well as one German.

Thick drops of blood and pieces of shrapnel were scattered across the snow-covered tarmac outside the hall, and emergency workers used luggage trolleys to ferry the dead and injured from the scene to hospitals in Moscow, 40km (25 miles) to the north-west.

Many of those injured are now in a serious condition in hospital.

Mr Medvedev has ordered Russia’s prosecutor general to lead an investigation into the attack.

“After previous similar events, we passed appropriate legislation, and we have to check how it has been applied,” he said. “Because obviously there have been lapses, and we have to get to the bottom of this.”

He has admitted that poverty, corruption and conflict in the North Caucasus is Russia’s biggest internal problem.

He ordered increased security across Russia’s capital, its airports and other transport hubs.

But like Vladimir Putin before him, Mr Medvedev appears unable to find a solution that would bring stability to that region and peace to Russia, says the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg in Moscow.

Mr Putin has built much of his reputation on a tough security stance to crack down on such violence.

More generally, security authorities internationally have been concerned that – while there is been a huge effort focused on airline passenger and airliner security – keeping airports and airport terminals themselves secure remains a major challenge.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Australia has charged three Indonesian men with people smuggling offences, following the death of nearly 50 people in a shipwreck off Christmas Island.

The three men were among up to 100 people on board the flimsy boat when it smashed into rocks on 15 December.

The passengers were mostly Iranian, Iraqi and Kurdish asylum seekers making their way to Australia via Indonesia.

Coastguards rescued 42 survivors but the bodies of at least 18 people have not been found.

The three men – aged 22, 60 and 32 – were charged with “facilitating the bringing to Australia of a group of five or more persons,” police said.

They have appeared in court in Perth and face up to 20 years in prison if convicted, and a fine of up to A$220,000 (£138,000: $219,500) fine.

The three were not required to enter a plea, and the case was adjourned for three weeks.

The lawyer for one of the men said the trio were “unhappy”.

“It’s a total tragedy and they are very upset,” David McKenzie said, according to the West Australian newspaper.

Witnesses said the boat was smashed to pieces on the rocks around Christmas Island last month – witnesses said it went down within and house, leaving survivors struggling to hold on to pieces of wreckage.

It is believed the engine on the vessel failed, while island residents said the seas were the heaviest they had seen in months.

The charges come a day after an official report into the sinking found that the boat – known as SIEV 221 – had only been detected by the authorities shortly before it went down.

The report said the Customs and navy had acted appropriately in carrying out the rescue but recommended that the safety and rescue equipment be increased in the area.

Christmas Island lies in the Indian Ocean about 2,600km (1,600 miles) from the Australian mainland, but only 300km south of Indonesia.

The island is home to a detention centre housing nearly 3,000 asylum seekers who are waiting for their claims to be processed.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has said that he intends to refer News Corporation’s bid for BSkyB to the Competition Commission.

But he has given News Corp extra time to address concerns he has regarding “potential threats to media plurality”.

These concerns were identified in a report by the media watchdog Ofcom, which also recommended referring the merger to the Competition Commission.

News Corp already has a 39% stake in BSkyB and is trying to buy the rest.

It also owns UK newspapers the Sun, News of the World, the Times and Sunday Times.

The media group made an approach in June to take full control of BSkyB, but Business Secretary Vince Cable stepped in to refer the deal to Ofcom on public interest grounds.

However, the responsibility for a final ruling on the proposed merger has since passed to Mr Hunt, after Mr Cable was recorded by undercover journalists saying he had “declared war” on News Corp’s owner, Rupert Murdoch.

Mr Hunt has now published Ofcom’s report on News Corp’s bid, which had been issued to the Department for Culture Media and Sport on the last day of 2010.

He also published communications between his department, News Corporation and BSkyB, and said that he had met News Corp and Ofcom in the first two weeks of January.

“As a result of these meetings and my consideration of the Ofcom report and subsequent submissions from the parties involved I still intend to refer the merger to the Competition Commission,” Mr Hunt said in a statement.

“On the evidence available, I consider that it may be the case that the merger may operate against the public interest in media plurality.”

However, he went on to say that it was right that he should consider any actions taken to remedy the competition concerns raised by Ofcom.

“News Corporation says that it wishes me to consider undertakings in lieu which it contends could sufficiently alleviate the concerns I have such that I should accept the undertakings instead of making a reference. It is appropriate for me to consider such undertakings,” he said.

His statement did not say what these undertakings might be.

However, Steve Hewlett from BBC Radio 4’s Media Show said things News Corp might be considering could include selling some of its newspapers, selling Sky News, or perhaps more likely finding some kind of legal framework to isolate Sky News from direct editorial influence from News Corp.

He added: “I think the process is reasonably advanced because the first letter that Jeremy Hunt sent to News Corp saying that he was thinking he was going to refer it [to the Competition Commission] was on 7 January, so the meetings they’ve had since have been about trying to thrash out some undertakings to remedy Ofcom’s issues.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.