Paedophile Teacher 'One Of The Worst Predators'

Child Predator: Husband And 'Popular Teacher'

Updated: 11:44am UK, Thursday 24 April 2014

The serial child predator at the centre of an FBI investigation had a wife and two adult children and was a popular teacher among his students, officials have said.

William James Vahey travelled the world for four decades before his suicide in a Minnesota motel last March.

While teaching, he also served as coach on various school sports teams.

The FBI said he was a "popular and highly respected teacher".

"He had access to children because of his position of trust," said FBI special agent Patrick Fransen.

"He created a system that gave him the opportunity and the means to molest children."

The FBI says he may have carried out child molestation on an unprecedented scale, often drugging his victims.

Vahey told investigators he suffered molestation as a child and went on to prey on boys.

The New York native graduated from California State University, Long Beach, with a Bachelor of Arts in political science, according to a resume cited by the FBI.

He received a master's degree in curriculum development from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont.

At the time of his death, he was 64, approximately 6ft (182cm) tall, and weighed about 190 pounds (86kg).

He was teaching ninth-grade world history and geography at the American Nicaraguan School in Managua.

Vahey maintained two residences, one in London, where he had taught at an elite school, and another on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, the FBI said.

In 1969, Vahey was arrested in California on six counts of child molestation.

He pled guilty to one count of child molestation and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, followed by five years' probation.

The conviction required Vahey to register with California's sex offender registry for the rest of his life.

However, Vahey eluded that requirement.

Officials said he had not renewed his registration as a sex offender since 1970. He went on to pursue his teaching career in Nicaragua, the UK, Venezuela, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Iran, Spain, and Lebanon.

His victims are believed to be multinational as many of those schools were attended by the children of American diplomats or military personnel stationed overseas.

Vahey coached boys on middle school, varsity boys' basketball, softball, flag football, and soccer, among other things.

He also served as activities director, student council adviser, cooking club adviser and forensics adviser. 

He often accompanied students on cultural studies or sports trips, the FBI said.

Vahey killed himself two days after agents in Houston sought a warrant to search a computer thumb drive belonging to him.

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South Korea Ferry: All 15 Crew In Custody

A prosecutor investigating the South Korean ferry sinking says all 15 crew members involved in the ship's navigation are now in custody after four more were arrested.

Yang Jung-jin, of the joint investigation team, said two helmsmen and two members of the steering crew were detained this morning.

Eleven other crew members, including the captain, were previously arrested.

All the crew are accused of negligence and of failing to help passengers in need as the ferry sank on April 16.

The captain initially told passengers to stay in their rooms and took half an hour to issue an evacuation order, by which time the ship was tilting too severely for many people to get out.

Meanwhile, officials said divers searching the submerged hull of the ferry found 48 bodies in a room designed to take 38.

Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-Hye bow their heads

At least 35 rooms of the ferry's 111 rooms have been searched so far.

More than 80% of the 302 dead and missing are students from a single high school from the town of Ansan, south of Seoul.

The government has admitted some bodies had been misidentified and announced changes to prevent such mistakes from happening again.

There have been several reports in the South Korean media this week of bodies going to the wrong families, with the error sometimes being identified only after remains had been taken to a funeral home.

An "action plan" released by a government-wide emergency task force acknowledged that there had "been cases where the victims were wrongly transferred".

Divers have recovered 183 bodies so far, but 119 people remain missing feared dead in the dark rooms of the submerged vessel.

A woman at a memorial outside Danwon High School in Ansan

The ferry was on its way from the mainland to the resort island of Jeju when it went down.

President Barack Obama, who has been in South Korea as part of a state visit, offered his condolences for those who had lost their lives.

He presented President Park Geun-hye with an American flag that flew over the White House the day the ship sank.

He said: "So many were young students with their entire lives ahead of them. I can only imagine what the parents are going through at this point, the incredible heartache."

Accepting the flag, Ms Park drew a parallel between the way Americans pulled together after the 9/11 attacks and the resilience of South Koreans following one of the worst maritime disasters in their country's history.

"The Korean people draw great strength from your kindness," she said.

Prosecutors have raided and seized documents at the Korean Register of Shipping and the Korea Shipping Association, which regulates and oversees departures and arrivals of domestic passenger ships.

On Friday night, people in Ansan, where most of the victims came from, gathered to remember those who had died at a candle-lit vigil.

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Ukraine Crisis: Russia Vows To Free Observers

It Is No Longer A Game For Separatist Militia

Updated: 12:32am UK, Saturday 26 April 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor in Slavyansk

Their rifles were cocked. The safety catches off. Triggers were fingered. The car lurched to a stop.

Shrill nervous orders were barked in Russian. Men in an assortment of camouflage uniforms lay spread eagled on the roadside glaring down their sights.

A quick search followed. Then a man with a new AK74, probably nicked from the local police station, squinted, his face covered with a balaclava, perhaps attempting a faceless smile.

"Sorry for any inconvenience," he said and waved the car through.

The mixed messages of their behaviour, both aggression and politeness, both bravado and fear, point to a wider conundrum - do they really understand what they're getting in to?

One of their comrades had been shot dead that morning about a mile away on the road out of Slavyansk by an Ukrainian army patrol - probably probing the outer defences of these pro-Russian separatist militants.

Four more, the government said, had been killed in other clashes around the town.

They stand accused of kidnapping the city's elected mayor.

They have taken over city hall and are sandbagging it against an attack and yet they often appear to be no more than young or old boys playing at soldiers.

Occasionally one comes across a trained soldier. Fit and quiet they slink in the background of the occupied buildings.

They may be Russian agents, or former Ukrainian police from the disbanded Berkut who were responsible for sniper attacks on revolutionaries in Kiev.

But the ordinary militants, who are led by local politicians and allegedly funded either by Moscow or allied oligarchs, are clearly being used.

They are the teaspoons the Kremlin is using to keep the east of Ukraine swirling with dark rumours of anti-Russian ethnic cleansing.

Allegations of persecution of pro-Russian groups are entirely false.

But while the militants swagger about the streets, take over government buildings and harass their political opponents, they face a crack down from Kiev.

The nervous men at the road block feared an Ukrainian government attack on the bases in Slavyansk.

They were also facing the reality that what may have felt like a nationalistic camping trip with the added spice of gun play, may no longer be a game.

They may fold under a professional attack by Ukrainian troops.

But if they do not, there will be blood.

And if it flows from Putin's local pawns then so may Russian troops pour in from the east.

He may win, but they will not be around to see his victory.

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Russia Wants World War Three, Says Ukraine

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has accused Russia of wanting to start "a third world war".

Mr Yatseniuk said that Russia wanted to occupy Ukraine "militarily and politically", creating a conflict that would spread to the rest of Europe.

"The world has not yet forgotten World War Two, but Russia already wants to start World War Three," he said.

His comments came as Barack Obama said he would consult key European leaders later on the possibility of imposing new sanctions against Russia.

A pro-Russian separatist fills sand bags at a checkpoint in Slavyansk

Speaking in Seoul, Mr Obama said he wanted to coordinate a united approach with Western US allies.

On the ground, Ukrainian special forces launched a second phase of their "anti-terrorism" operation in the east of the country on Friday.

They mounted a full blockade of the rebel-held city of Slavyansk, an official on the presidential staff said.

Reports that pro-Russian snipers had shot at a Ukranian military helicopter in the eastern town of Kramatorsk have been treated cautiously. 

According to officials in Kiev, the helicopter exploded at a military base after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Barack Obama will consult European leaders about new sanctions

Its pilot managed to escape but was wounded, the official said. Kramatorsk is one of several under the control of pro-Kremlin gunmen.

Sky's foreign affairs editor, Sam Kiley, in Ukraine, said that the "bellicose" rhetoric between Russia and Ukraine was escalating more quickly than action on the ground.

"On the ground, there are incidents, but the level of violence has been relatively low and does not justify the type of rhetoric we have heard," Kiley said. 

Earlier, US Secretary of State John Kerry accused Russia of "deception" and "destabilisation" in Ukraine and hinted at more sanctions.

John Kerry has warned Russia of 'grave' consequences

Mr Kerry warned Moscow time was running out for it to change course.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia face a choice," he said in unusually blunt language.

"If Russia chooses the path of de-escalation ... all of us will welcome it. But if Russia does not, the world will make sure that the costs for Russia will only grow."

Mr Kerry added this would be a "grave" and "expensive mistake".

He also said the Kremlin has not honoured an agreement aimed at defusing the crisis, echoing earlier comments by Mr Obama.

A checkpoint apparently set on fire by pro-Russian separatists

The Geneva accord between Russia, Ukraine, the US and EU compelled armed groups to put down their weapons and vacate official buildings.

The US says Moscow is stoking unrest and separatist sentiment in the east of Ukraine after its annexation of Crimea.

Russia accuses Washington of encouraging a pro-Western government to adopt anti-Russian policies.

On Thursday, Ukraine's interior ministry said up to five "terrorists" had been killed during an operation to clear checkpoints in the eastern town of Slavyansk.

And seven people were injured overnight at a pro-Ukrainian checkpoint near the Black Sea port of Odessa when an explosive device blew up, police said.

A pro-Russian actvist has his head bandaged

Residents in the town have built several such checkpoints aimed at stopping pro-Russian separatists entering from Moldova's breakaway territory of Transdniestria.

Interfax news agency quoted witnesses as saying a bomb was thrown at the checkpoint from a passing car, though this was not confirmed by police.

Mr Putin has said there will be "consequences" if Kiev has used its army against the activists.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has warned the crisis is threatening to "spin out of control" and urged all sides to "refrain from violence".

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Israel: Hamas Unity Deal 'Kills Peace Process'

Is Kerry's Mid-East Peace Initiative Finished?

Updated: 9:51am UK, Friday 25 April 2014

By Tom Rayner, Middle East Reporter, Jerusalem

The goal was perhaps unattainable from the outset.

A dream more than a plan.

John Kerry's frenetic diplomatic drive aimed to get Israeli and Palestinian leaders to thrash out the foundations of a final peace deal within nine months.

The deadline was supposed to be next Monday.

Hope of that lies in tatters.

What is worse for Secretary Kerry, is that this wasn't a sudden death.

The negotiations have not experienced a fatal spasm days before a deal - they've been rotting for months.

For weeks, both sides have been waiting to see who could point the finger and say: "There, you see! They didn't want peace in the first place. It's their fault."

Wednesday's announcement of a reconciliation deal between the Fatah party of Palestinian President Abbas and Hamas, gave Benjamin Netanyahu the opportunity to jab the accusatory finger.

The Israeli leader said he will never negotiate with Hamas - the governing power in Gaza, deemed by much of the international community to be a "terrorist organisation".

Abbas had chosen Hamas over peace, Mr Netanyahu said. Talks suspended.

The retort from the Palestinians is that Mr Netanyahu killed the talks long before.

He refused to release a tranche of prisoners and continued to grant permissions for construction of settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank - this, they say, was the moment it all collapsed.

So where does this leave John Kerry?

Deflated, but according to diplomatic sources in Jerusalem, reluctant to walk away.

The reason for this lies in the "constructive ambiguity" of the statements being made by Israel.

The language is tough, but it is not final.

Israel has seen attempts at reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas come and go before.

They know this reconciliation deal could disintegrate as quickly as it emerged.

For now the door remains ajar.

The suspension, therefore, is being seen as a five week hiatus, to see if the proposed "unity government" of Fatah and Hamas ministers can actually be put together.

The hope, particularly for those in the Israeli cabinet supportive of talks, is that the lack of detail in the reconciliation deal will render it unachievable.

For Mr Kerry there is another dimension - that the reconciliation deal may have achieved more than the Palestinians are letting on.

No detail has yet emerged of what reconciliation will mean for the internal security relationship between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

No detail has emerged on whether Hamas prisoners will be freed from Fatah's jails, or on what terms.

No detail has emerged on whether a unity government including Hamas, would stick to the Quartet Principles – the recognition of Israel and renunciation of violence,  which are key to recognition of the Palestinian Authority by the international community.

The answer to whether talks can resume lies in the answers to those questions - the last in particular.

It may be unlikely that Hamas has been coaxed tentatively in from the cold, but until that is clear, Kerry's unattainable dream might have further to run.

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Ukraine No Longer A Game For Would-Be Soldiers

Their rifles were cocked. The safety catches off. Triggers were fingered. The car lurched to a stop.

Shrill nervous orders were barked in Russian. Men in an assortment of camouflage uniforms lay spread eagled on the roadside glaring down their sights.

A quick search followed. Then a man with a new AK74, probably nicked from the local police station, squinted, his face covered with a balaclava, perhaps attempting a faceless smile.

"Sorry for any inconvenience," he said and waved the car through.

The mixed messages of their behaviour, both aggression and politeness, both bravado and fear, point to a wider conundrum - do they really understand what they're getting in to?

One of their comrades had been shot dead that morning about a mile away on the road out of Slavyansk by an Ukrainian army patrol - probably probing the outer defences of these pro-Russian separatist militants.

Four more, the government said, had been killed in other clashes around the town.

They stand accused of kidnapping the city's elected mayor.

They have taken over city hall and are sandbagging it against an attack and yet they often appear to be no more than young or old boys playing at soldiers.

Occasionally one comes across a trained soldier. Fit and quiet they slink in the background of the occupied buildings.

They may be Russian agents, or former Ukrainian police from the disbanded Berkut who were responsible for sniper attacks on revolutionaries in Kiev.

But the ordinary militants, who are led by local politicians and allegedly funded either by Moscow or allied oligarchs, are clearly being used.

They are the teaspoons the Kremlin is using to keep the east of Ukraine swirling with dark rumours of anti-Russian ethnic cleansing.

Allegations of persecution of pro-Russian groups are entirely false.

But while the militants swagger about the streets, take over government buildings and harass their political opponents, they face a crack down from Kiev.

The nervous men at the road block feared an Ukrainian government attack on the bases in Slavyansk.

They were also facing the reality that what may have felt like a nationalistic camping trip with the added spice of gun play, may no longer be a game.

They may fold under a professional attack by Ukrainian troops.

But if they do not, there will be blood.

And if it flows from Putin's local pawns then so may Russian troops pour in from the east.

He may win, but they will not be around to see his victory.

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Gazprom Turns Up Heat On Kiev With $11bn Bill

Russia Has Best Hand In Ukraine Poker Game

Updated: 6:58pm UK, Tuesday 22 April 2014

By By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor in Donetsk

If the Ukrainian crisis was a poker game, Russia holds a royal flush, the Kiev government and her allies not much more than a pair. And that's for every hand played, for now.

Since the annexation of Crimea it has been Vladimir Putin's choice as to whether to fold or call or raise and with every round his pot appears to be getting richer.

In the long term, though, Russia knows it could lose heavily.

The question is: When will the Kremlin decide to cash in its winnings and celebrate a return as a world power with a hearty round of chilled vodka at the bar?

US Vice President Joe Biden, on a visit to Kiev, said "time is short" for Russia to make progress on its commitment at Geneva last week to help defuse the crisis in Ukraine by signalling to its proxy militia (and the Russian commandos alongside them) to evacuate the buildings they have seized across the east of the country.

That isn't the view from Moscow - or from the sandbagged municipal centres, where the men in balaclavas, known locally as "the green men", are reinforcing their defences, not tearing them down.

Sure, Russia faces an increase in sanctions from Europe which may bite into an economy already suffering capital flight, inflation and reduced growth.

But Mr Putin knows that more sanctions are going to cut into Europe too - possibly slowing growth and the recovery from recession that in any case is looking fragile.

Individual countries in the 28-member European Union have been conducting analyses of how damaging broad sanctions against Russia would be.

The City of London will be anxious indeed - it runs on the fuel of  "few questions asked" capital injections from oligarchs who have gouged the countries of the former Soviet Union.

"Stop talking and start acting" said the US vice president.

In Donetsk the "meh" from the Kremlin was almost audible.

"No nation should threaten its neighbours by amassing troops along the border. We call on Russia to pull these forces," he said after meeting Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk.

"We have been clear that more provocative behaviour by Russia will lead to more costs and to greater isolation."

In Moscow, once senior officials had figured out who this "Mr Biden" was - a man without portfolio - minds have already been focussed on how to face down the European sanctions which have been threatened now for weeks.

Dmitry Medvedev, the Prime Minister who channels Mr Putin as his avatar, said Russia was already looking for diversified markets for its gas, namely China, and that sanctions threats were a "bluff".

Mr Putin's popularity is soaring up to and over 90% since he grabbed Crimea amid red-faced blustering from the international community.

His generals have harnessed some of the finest chess minds in a game that has left his opponents gasping. The government now enjoys untrammelled authoritarian power.

In Russia the opposition press was silenced before the Crimean operations.

Now the media there and in the east of Ukraine pumps out lies about neo-Nazis running the Ukrainian government in league with the CIA - convincing enough people that backing the pro-Russian separatists, who now only admit to being "federalists", is an existential necessity.

Mr Yatseniuk said Russian special forces are operating in eastern Ukraine to undermine a presidential election due on May 25 and he called on Moscow to pull them out.

"Everything that is now happening in the east and which Russia is supporting is aimed at wrecking the presidential election," Mr Yatseniuk said.

And that is the Kremlin's ace.

In a month's time Ukraine will not be able to hold legitimate elections in the east of the country because the separatists and their Russian sponsors will not let them.

Instead they are threatening to hold referenda in the middle of May - just as in Crimea - which one can confidently predict will result in a huge pro-Russian majority for independence or annexation into the Russian Motherland.

By the end of the month the Kremlin will be able to step up the chaos and divisions - probably even revving the engines of tanks and mobile artillery on the borders to signal that it may rush to the "aid" of "persecuted" ethnic Russians in Ukrainian territory.

This is the point at which it will be in Russia's interests to cash in on the game it has been playing by forcing its own agenda on Kiev, and getting the West to turn its face away from Ukraine's flirtation with formal association with Nato and the EU.

The alternative will be a return to cold war and economic embargo. Ordinary Russian's won't like that – they have got used to Armani.

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FBI Hunts For UK Victims Of Paedophile Teacher

Child Predator: Husband And 'Popular Teacher'

Updated: 11:44am UK, Thursday 24 April 2014

The serial child predator at the centre of an FBI investigation had a wife and two adult children and was a popular teacher among his students, officials have said.

William James Vahey travelled the world for four decades before his suicide in a Minnesota motel last March.

While teaching, he also served as coach on various school sports teams.

The FBI said he was a "popular and highly respected teacher".

"He had access to children because of his position of trust," said FBI special agent Patrick Fransen.

"He created a system that gave him the opportunity and the means to molest children."

The FBI says he may have carried out child molestation on an unprecedented scale, often drugging his victims.

Vahey told investigators he suffered molestation as a child and went on to prey on boys.

The New York native graduated from California State University, Long Beach, with a Bachelor of Arts in political science, according to a resume cited by the FBI.

He received a master's degree in curriculum development from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont.

At the time of his death, he was 64, approximately 6ft (182cm) tall, and weighed about 190 pounds (86kg).

He was teaching ninth-grade world history and geography at the American Nicaraguan School in Managua.

Vahey maintained two residences, one in London, where he had taught at an elite school, and another on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, the FBI said.

In 1969, Vahey was arrested in California on six counts of child molestation.

He pled guilty to one count of child molestation and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, followed by five years' probation.

The conviction required Vahey to register with California's sex offender registry for the rest of his life.

However, Vahey eluded that requirement.

Officials said he had not renewed his registration as a sex offender since 1970. He went on to pursue his teaching career in Nicaragua, the UK, Venezuela, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Iran, Spain, and Lebanon.

His victims are believed to be multinational as many of those schools were attended by the children of American diplomats or military personnel stationed overseas.

Vahey coached boys on middle school, varsity boys' basketball, softball, flag football, and soccer, among other things.

He also served as activities director, student council adviser, cooking club adviser and forensics adviser. 

He often accompanied students on cultural studies or sports trips, the FBI said.

Vahey killed himself two days after agents in Houston sought a warrant to search a computer thumb drive belonging to him.

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Putin: Ukraine 'Crime' Will Have Consequences

Vladimir Putin has warned there will be "consequences" if Ukraine has used its army against pro-Russian activists in the east.

Ukraine's interior ministry said "up to five terrorists" were killed in clashes during a military operation to clear three checkpoints in the eastern town of Slavyansk on Thursday.

Reuters is reporting Ukrainian forces have now withdrawn.

The Russian President responded: "If Kiev really began to use the army against the country's population... that is a very serious crime against its own people.

Vladimir Putin has warned of consequences

"That is simply a punitive measure that will without question have consequences... including for our inter-governmental relations."

Ukraine announced on Wednesday that it was re-launching a campaign against pro-Russia insurgents occupying government buildings.

The country's military liberated a town hall in eastern Mariupol without any casualties, according to interior minister Arsen Avakov on Facebook.

He also claimed 70 people led by Russian soldiers raided a Ukrainian base at Artemivsk, wounding one soldier.

Ukrainian tanks roll into Slavyansk

Mr Putin's threat of consequences comes just hours after his foreign minister accused the West of instigating a "revolution" in Ukraine as part of a "geopolitical game" against Moscow.

Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov claimed the US and EU were behind the uprising that ousted Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Kremlin president of Ukraine, in February.

"In Ukraine, the United States and the European Union tried to stage another 'colour revolution', an operation to unconstitutionally change regime," the Interfax news agency quoted Mr Lavrov as saying.

"Our Western partners, first and foremost the United States, tried to behave as winners in the Cold War and pretend that one can ignore Russia in European affairs and undertake activities that directly damage Russian security interests."

Sergei Lavrov says the West is behind the Ukraine crisis

Mr Lavrov added that Ukraine was being used as a "pawn in geopolitical game" against Russia.

Meanwhile, Russia's Gazprom has sent an $11.4bn (£6.7bn) gas bill to Ukraine energy firm Naftogaz - five times the original amount.

Earlier on Thursday US President Barack Obama warned Moscow could face "consequences" after accusing the Kremlin of not honouring an international agreement aimed at defusing the Ukraine crisis.

The Geneva accord between Russia, Ukraine, the US and EU called for an end to violence in eastern Ukraine and compelled armed groups to surrender weapons and leave official buildings.

Mr Obama has said further sanctions were "teed up" in case Russia continued to disregard the spirit of the agreement.

"So far at least we have seen them not abide by the spirit or the letter of the agreement in Geneva," said Mr Obama.              

"Instead we continue to see malicious, armed men taking over buildings, harassing folks who are disagreeing with them, destabilising the region, and we haven't seen Russia step out and discourage it."

The West has already issued asset freezes and visa bans targeting Russian officials but has ruled out military action.

More follows...

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Battle For Control Of Net Kicks Off In Brazil

The battle for control of the internet enters a new phase today when 850 experts thrash out its future in Brazil.

Last month, the US announced it plans to give up oversight of the way net addresses are distributed.

Now hundreds of government officials, technical experts and academics are meeting at the NetMundial conference in Sao Paulo to discuss who should oversee the worldwide web in future.

China and Russia want the United Nations to have some say over how the internet is controlled, while the US and parts of Europe say it should be at arms-length from government control.

A draft outcome document has been drawn up for discussion, but the final text will not be binding.

The US currently oversees the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), but is willing to relinquish control by September 2015.

Officials from countries including China, the US and Great Britain will attend the two-day conference, which was due to be opened by Brazil president Dilma Rousseff.

Organisers say every attendee – from academics to government officials - will have an equal voice.

The goal is to agree on principles that could form the basis of later internet governance discussions.

It is expected that despite the non-binding nature of the discussions, an accord will be hard to reach.

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Missing Plane: Material Washes Ashore In Oz

Officials searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane say material has washed ashore off the coast of Western Australia.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is now examining photographs of the objects, which have been secured by police in the region, to establish whether they are linked to flight MH370.

Authorities said the images had also been passed to investigators in Malaysia.

Relatives are urging governments not to give up the search

The development came after Australia pledged to keep searching for the plane despite no sign of wreckage after almost seven weeks.

Bad weather is continuing to hamper the search with aircraft grounded for the second day due to heavy rain, low clouds and rough seas.

An undersea drone is nearing the end of its first full mission and Australian PM Tony Abbott says the search strategy may change if seabed scans taken by the US Navy drone fails to find a trace of MH370, which vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board.

The deep search covers an area where sonar equipment picked up a signal

"We may well re-think the search but we will not rest until we have done everything we can to solve this mystery," he said.

"The only way we can get to the bottom of this is to keep searching the probable impact zone until we find something or until we have searched it as thoroughly as human ingenuity allows at this time."

The Bluefin-21 drone is a key component in the search after the detection of audio signals, or "pings", believed to be from the plane's black box flight .

Relatives are asking Mr Hussein to investigate old media reports

The search co-ordination centre said the robotic submarine had so far covered more than 80% of the 120 square mile (310 square kilometres) seabed search zone off the Australian west coast, creating a three-dimensional sonar map of the ocean floor, but failing to find anything of interest.

The 2.8 mile (4.5-kilometre) deep search area is a circle 12 miles (20 km) wide around an area where sonar equipment picked up a signal on April 8 consistent with a plane's black boxes. The batteries powering those signals are now dead.

Both Australia and Malaysia are under growing pressure to show what lengths they are prepared to go to in order to give closure to the grieving families of those on board.

In a sign of the families' growing desperation for answers, a group purporting to be relatives of the missing flight's passengers wrote a letter to Malaysian defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein, urging the government to investigate old media reports that the plane landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

"It is high time that the government should start thinking out of the box by exploring and re-examining all leads, new and old," said the letter, published on Facebook on Wednesday.

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Divers Smashing Ferry Walls To Recover Bodies

S Korea Ferry: Final Contact From Doomed Vessel

Updated: 11:11am UK, Sunday 20 April 2014

A transcript of communications between the stricken Sewol ferry and the coastguard has lifted the lid on the final minutes before the order was given to abandon ship.

The conversations show panic setting in on board the vessel, with officers asking for help to "please come quickly" as it began to tilt to the left, three hours from its destination of Jeju Island.

The transcript also appears to back up claims that the evacuation order may have come too late for some passengers as officers said the ship was tilting so much it was "impossible to move" to check on them.

The communication, which begins with the first distress call made by the ferry on Wednesday morning, has been translated by The Associated Press.

It reads:

8.55am

Sewol: Harbour affairs Jeju, do you have reception of The Sewol?

Jeju Vessel Traffic Services Centre (VTS): Yes, Sewol, this is harbour affairs Jeju.

Sewol: Please notify the coastguard. Our ship is in danger. It's listing right now.

8.56am

Jeju VTS: Where's your ship? Yes, got it. We will notify the coastguard.

Sewol: This ship has listed a lot. Can't move. Please come quickly. We're next to Byeongpung Island.

Jeju VTS: Yes, we got it.

8.58am

Jeju VTS: Sewol, this is harbour affairs Jeju. Do you have reception? Sewol, harbour affairs Jeju.

8.59am

Sewol: Harbour affairs Jeju, this is Sewol.

Jeju VTS: Sewol, this is harbour affairs Jeju. Channel 21, please.

9.00am

Jeju VTS: Sewol, this is harbour affairs Jeju.

Sewol: Jeju, Sewol here.

Jeju VTS: What's the current situation?

Sewol: Currently the body of the ship has listed to the left. The containers have listed as well.

Jeju VTS: OK. Any damage of the human life?

Sewol: It's impossible to check right now. The body of the ship has tilted, and it's impossible to move.

Jeju VTS: Yes, OK. Please wear life jackets and prepare as the people might have to abandon ship. 

Sewol: It's hard for people to move.

Jeju VTS: Yes, got it.

9.05am

Sewol: Harbour affairs Jeju, do you have reception of Sewol?

Jeju VTS: Yes, this is harbour affairs Jeju, Sewol.

Sewol: What's going on with the coastguard?

Jeju VTS: Yes, we have notified the coastguard. Currently we are calling Jindo VTS and Wando VTS. Please hold for a moment.

After this, Jeju VTS notified other ships and Wando VTS.

9.24am

Sewol: If this ferry evacuates passengers, will they be rescued right away?

Jeju VTS Even if it's impossible to broadcast, please go out and let the passengers wear life jackets and put on more clothing. The rescue of human lives of Sewol ferry... the captain should make your own decision and evacuate them. We don't know the situation very well. The captain should make the final decision and decide whether you're going to evacuate passengers or not.

Sewol: I'm not talking about that. I asked, if they evacuate now, can they be rescued right away?

Jeju VTS then said patrol boats would arrive in 10 minutes, but did not mention another civilian ship had already arrived near the scene.

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Ferry Disaster: Boy Was First To Raise Alarm

The first person to raise the alarm about the sinking South Korean ferry was a child who called a fire station three minutes after the boat made its final turn.

The boy's call was forwarded to the coastguard two minutes later and was followed by another 20 messages from children on board.

A fire official said the caller's voice sounded shaky and it took a while to identify the ship as the Sewol as the boy was panicking.

"Save us! We're on a ship and I think it's sinking," Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying.

The boy who made the call is among the missing. 

Nearly 200 people are still missing

The fire station official asked him to switch the phone to the captain, and the boy replied: "Do you mean teacher?"

The pronunciation of the words for "captain" and "teacher" is similar in Korean.

Officials say the confirmed death toll has reached 104, with nearly 200 people still missing.

Of the 476 passengers and crew on board, 339 were children and teachers on a school outing to the resort island of Jeju.

Meanwhile, one of the crew members arrested over the disaster said they had tried to launch the lifeboats, but could not due to the tilt of the ship.

Lee seen in a promotional video in 2010

Media reports have also claimed crew members tried to contact officers on the bridge around half an hour after the ferry began listing to ask if they should give the order to abandon ship - but there was no reply.

Public broadcaster KBS quoted one as saying: "At the time, we could not confirm what the situation was on the bridge.

"We kept trying to find out but ... since there was no instruction coming from the bridge, the crew on the third floor followed the instructions on the manual and kept making 'stay where you are' announcements - at least three times."

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye has said the captain and some crew members of the sunken ferry committed "unforgivable, murderous acts" in the disaster.

Lee was arrested on Saturday along with a helmsman and the ship's relatively inexperienced third officer, who was in charge of the bridge when disaster struck.

He has been charged with negligence and failing to secure the safety of the passengers.

Senior prosecutor Ahn Sang-don has said four more crew members - two first mates, one second mate and a chief engineer - have been detained on allegations of failing to protect passengers and abandoning ship.

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Abu Hamza: '9/11 Made Everybody Happy'

Islamic preacher Abu Hamza said the September 11 attacks left "everybody happy", according to a tape played at his terrorism trial in New York.

In the tape, Hamza can be heard speaking casually of the attacks in the undated interview with a Canadian broadcaster.

"Everybody was happy when the planes hit the World Trade Center," he said.

"Anybody who tell you he was not happy, they are hypocrites."

At another point he says: "All Muslims are happy, even non-Muslims are happy."

He said the World Trade Center was a legitimate target because "it's the centre of evil … political and financial evil for the whole world".

Hamza likened what al Qaeda did to a hero in an American movie.

"This is what you teach your people in cowboy films when you see the aggressors being, doing bad things, and then the hero comes and gives him a couple of punches in his face," he said during the interview.

The tape was played in a Manhattan federal court after Judge Katherine Forrest turned down a request by defence lawyers to exclude it from trial on the grounds that it would unfairly prejudice their client.

Abu Hamza praying at the Finsbury Park Mosque in London in 2004

"Expressing clear and unequivocal support for terrorism is no doubt prejudicial," the judge said.

"However, the defendant is charged with just those sorts of crimes."

Hamza is accused of conspiring to support al Qaeda by trying to set up a terrorist training camp in 1999 in Oregon.

He is also accused of helping to abduct two American tourists and 14 others in Yemen in 1998. Four hostages died.

The Egyptian-born cleric, 55, has pleaded not guilty.

His lawyers have argued that Hamza, known for his fiery sermons in London, is responsible only for using inflammatory words, not for any overt criminal acts.

Hamza, who was indicted under the name Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, was extradited from the UK in 2012 at the end of a protracted legal battle.

He is expected to testify in his own defence during the trial, which began last week and is expected to last about a month.

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Biden: 'Ukraine Must Remain One Country'

Vice President Joe Biden has reiterated US support for a unified Ukraine during a meeting with MPs in Kiev.

Mr Biden addressed politicians at the Ukraine parliament in a show of support for the interim government and announced new technical support measures for the government on energy and economic reforms.

And he warned Russia against further provocative action after an agreement in Geneva last week.

He said: "There are some who are trying to pull Ukraine apart. Ukraine is in a struggle for its very future.

"Ukraine is and must remain one country - one united Ukraine.

Mr Biden also met with interim president Oleksander Turchynov

"No nation has the right to simply grab land from another nation. We will never recognise Russia's illegal occupation of Crimea and neither will the world.

"More provocative behaviour by Russia will lead to more costs and greater isolation."

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said Russian special forces were operating in eastern Ukraine and urged Russia to withdraw troops in Crimea to "turn this shameful page".

Among the new support measures was an additional $50m for political and economic reforms, and another $8m for non-lethal aid to Ukraine including vehicles and radios.

US experts will also work on reducing Ukraine's dependence on Russian gas as well as fighting corruption.

A pro-Russian separatist guards the security service building in Slovyansk

Mr Biden also called on Russia to withdraw troops from its borders with Ukraine and to "stop talking and start acting" on the surrender of militants in the east of the country.

His visit comes as pro-Russian separatists show no sign of surrendering government buildings seized in the predominantly Russian speaking east.

US and EU officials have said they will impose new economic sanctions on Moscow if the separatists do not leave the premises seized during the last two weeks.

British Prime Minister David Cameron will discuss the Ukraine crisis and EU reform during a meeting with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy later on Tuesday.

On Monday, a spokeswoman for US Secretary of State John Kerry said: "If they don't take steps in the coming days, there'll be consequences.

"Obviously, we would have to make a decision in the matter of if there are going to be consequences for inaction."

Jen Psaki also called for "separatists to vacate illegal buildings and checkpoints, accept amnesty and address their grievances politically".

But Russia hit back, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov calling for the US to "pressure Kiev to stop hotheads from provoking a bloody conflict and to encourage the Ukrainian authorities to strictly fulfil their obligations".

Visa bans and asset freezes on key Russian figures have already been imposed after Moscow's action in Ukraine last month.

On Easter Sunday, at least three people were killed at a checkpoint manned by armed separatists, with Russia blaming Ukrainian nationalist group Right Sector.

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has deployed around 100 mediators in Ukraine to monitor the situation in the east of the country.

So far the separatists have refused to relinquish control of buildings.

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Kate 'Papped' Playing With Prince George

The Duchess of Cambridge has been filmed and photographed playing with Prince George during a day off from official engagements in Australia.

The images show Kate pushing the eight-month-old in a buggy, carrying him on her shoulders and playing with him in her lap.

They were taken without Royal approval while the couple were in the grounds of Government House in Canberra.

Other photos taken show the Duke and Duchess, dressed in jeans and jumpers, walking hand-in-hand near Lake Burley Griffin.

Kate at Manly Beach in Sydney on Friday

Royal aides have asked the British media not to publish the photographs, though they have been widely used in the Australian press.

In 2012 the Duchess was photographed unawares during a holiday in France, provoking an angry response from the Royal Family.

An injunction was sought to stop the pictures - which originally appeared in Closer magazine - being republished.

The couple are on a 19-day tour of Australia and New Zealand.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana at Uluru in 1983

On Tuesday they will travel to Uluru in Central Australia - more than 30 years after Prince William's parents made a similar trip.

The trip will take in the National Indigenous Training Academy, which trains members of the indigenous community to work in the tourism and hospitality trades.

Prince George will stay in Canberra with a nanny.

Over the weekend William and Kate took the Prince to Sydney's Taronga Zoo, where he met a bilby - a rabbit-like marsupial - that was named after him.

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South Korea Ferry Tragedy 'A Murderous Act'

Timeline Of Doomed Ferry's Journey

Updated: 8:49am UK, Sunday 20 April 2014

The Sewol ferry sank in the East China Sea less than three hours after the first distress call was made to land.

Here is a timeline of the ship's voyage from Incheon:

April 15, 9pm

The Sewol leaves port in Incheon at around 9pm with 475 people and 150 vehicles on board, heading for Jeju Island.

April 16, 8.55am

First contact between vessel and land is made, with officer telling Jeju Vessel Traffic Services Centre (VTS) "our ship is in danger".

Survivors say passengers were told to remain in cabins.

April 16, 9am

Officer tells Jeju VTS ship is listing to the left and adds "it's impossible to move". Coastguard tells vessel to "wear life jackets and prepare as the people might have to abandon ship".

April 16, 9.05am

Other vessels notified as ferry continues to tilt to the side.

April 16, 9.30am

The coastguard, helicopters and other ships begin to arrive at the scene and rescue passengers who have escaped from the ferry.

April 16, 10am

Rescuers start to search for people in the overturned hull of the Sewol.

April 16, 11.20am

The ferry sinks in the East China Sea.

April 17

Text messages from people on board the ferry reveal passengers were ordered to remain in their seats and cabins as ship began listing.

Crew member Oh Yong-Seok reveals the captain waited 30 minutes before ordering the evacuation as officers tried to stabilise the vessel. By that time, the crew were unable to reach passengers because the ship was titled at such an acute angle.

April 18

Investigators reveal the ship's captain, Lee Joon-Seok, was not at the helm when the Sewol began to list. They are also examining why the ship's third mate ordered an abrupt turn around three hours before the vessel was due to arrive at Jeju Island.

Mr Lee, along with two more of the ship's crew, are arrested.

Vice-principal of Danwon High School, Kang Min-Kyu, is found dead on Jindo island. In a note found in his wallet, he described his rescue as "too painful while 200 remain unaccounted for".

April 19

Mr Lee issues a public apology for causing a "disturbance" and says he delayed the evacuation of the ferry because he thought the sea water was too cold.

Investigators reveal the third mate was steering the ship in difficult waters for the first time and in foggy conditions.

Divers trying to gain access to the ferry describe seeing bodies through its windows as the death toll officially climbs above 30.

April 20

Angry relatives clash with police on Jindo island over the speed of the recovery operation.

Divers break windows on the ferry to get inside the vessel and find more bodies, with the death toll confirmed above 50.

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Russia Accuses Kiev Of 'Violating' Geneva Deal

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused Ukraine of breaking an agreement aimed at defusing tensions in the country.

He said: "Steps are being taken - above all by those who seized power in Kiev - not only that do not fulfil, but that crudely violate the Geneva agreement."

It came as pro-Russian separatists claimed they came under attack in the eastern city of Slavyansk.

A shootout in Slavyansk threatens fragile moves to de-escalate the crisis

Mr Lavrov said the deadly firefight, which reportedly left at least three dead and others wounded, showed Kiev did not want to control "extremists".

He said: "The authorities are doing nothing, not even lifting a finger, to address the causes behind this deep internal crisis in Ukraine."

The self-declared mayor of Slovyansk has appealed to Russia's President Vladimir Putin to help residents by sending in troops.

Sergei Lavrov has accused Kiev of not wanting to control "extremists"

This will fuel fears in the West, which accuses Moscow of stoking unrest, that the violence will be used as an excuse for Russia to seize more Ukrainian territory, in a repeat of the annexation of Crimea.

And concerns will only be heightened after Mr Putin signed a law making it easier for Russian speakers across the former Soviet Union to get citizenship.

Russia has tens of thousands of troops based along Ukraine's eastern border.

The shootout, the cause of which is fiercely disputed, threatens to derail already shaky efforts to de-escalate the continuing crisis.

The deal reached between Russia, Ukraine, the US and European Union, demanded an immediate end to violence.

The Geneva accord called for illegal armed groups to disband, and for protesters to leave occupied government buildings.

But pro-Russian separatists, who have seized offices across eastern Ukraine, have shown no signs of moving on.

Mr Lavrov pointed out the authorities in Kiev had failed to remove protesters camped out in the capital.

He said: "Buildings in Kiev that were violently seized at the beginning of the Ukrainian events have not been vacated. Streets have not been cleared.

"This is absolutely unacceptable."

Western powers have warned Moscow of further sanctions if it fails to bring its influence to bear on pro-Russian activists.

US Vice President Joe Biden is due to arrive in Kiev for talks.

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Ukraine: 'Five Killed At Separatist Checkpoint'

A gunbattle at a checkpoint manned by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine has left five dead, it has been claimed.

Russia's state-run Rossiya 24 news station said the five died when gunmen attacked the post near the Ukrainian city of Slavyansk, which is under separatist control.

A separatist interviewed by Reuters at the scene said three of the dead were with the pro-Russian militia. He added that the attack had happened at 2am local time.

"We had three dead, four wounded," a fighters called Vladimir told Reuters at the checkpoint, where there were two burned-out jeeps.

Sky's Katie Stallard who is in Slavyansk says the reports from the scene are inconsistent and there is no coherent evidence to back up what the separatists are saying.

Reuters TV footage of the scene showed two bodies, one of whom appeared to have gunshot wounds to the head and face.

One of the dead was dressed in camouflage fatigues, the other in civilian clothes.

Kiev's Interior Ministry said one person had been killed and three injured in an armed clash. It said police were trying to establish more details of what happened.

The separatists claimed the attackers were members of Right Sector, a hard-right fringe group that was part of the anti-Russia movement whose protests in Kiev and western Ukraine forced the former president to leave office. 

A map showing the location of Slavyansk

Right Sector denied being involved, instead blaming Russian special forces in an indication of the claim and counter claim that has been rife during the crisis.

Russia's foreign ministry said it was outraged by the shootout, describing it as a "provocation".

Pro-Russia Separatist gunmen maintain a firm grip over a string of towns across eastern Ukraine despite an international deal signed last week demanding they leave state buildings they are occupying.

Authorities in Kiev, which have vowed to remove the separatists, said they have suspended military operations against the pro-Moscow rebels until after the Easter holidays.

Russia, the US, the European Union and Ukraine struck a deal on Thursday aiming at de-escalating the crisis, part of which involves the separatists agreeing to lay down their arms.

The deadline runs out on Monday, after which the US and the EU have said they will consider further sanctions against Russia, which is viewed as having influence over the pro-Russian militia operating in eastern Ukraine.

Earlier, Ukraine's Prime Minister accused the Russian President of Soviet Union ambitions by saying Vladimir Putin has "a dream to restore the Soviet Union".

Arseny Yatseniuk said: "I consider that the biggest disaster of this century would be the restoring of the Soviet Union under the auspices of President Putin."

Meanwhile, the heads of the Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox churches traded barbs over the crisis in the country as believers flocked to church for Easter services.

Pro-Russian protesters occupying barricades outside Donetsk's regional administrative building celebrated Easter by sharing traditional treats of pasky (baked Easter cakes) and pysanky (Easter eggs).

In western Ukraine, families had celebrated the festival on Saturday, gathering for the traditional blessing of Easter baskets laden with cakes and eggs, as well as meat, cheese and butter.

Blessing cakes on the eve of Easter is a tradition in Ukraine.

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South Korean Ferry Families Clash With Police

S Korea Ferry: Final Contact From Doomed Vessel

Updated: 11:11am UK, Sunday 20 April 2014

A transcript of communications between the stricken Sewol ferry and the coastguard has lifted the lid on the final minutes before the order was given to abandon ship.

The conversations show panic setting in on board the vessel, with officers asking for help to "please come quickly" as it began to tilt to the left, three hours from its destination of Jeju Island.

The transcript also appears to back up claims that the evacuation order may have come too late for some passengers as officers said the ship was tilting so much it was "impossible to move" to check on them.

The communication, which begins with the first distress call made by the ferry on Wednesday morning, has been translated by The Associated Press.

It reads:

8.55am

Sewol: Harbour affairs Jeju, do you have reception of The Sewol?

Jeju Vessel Traffic Services Centre (VTS): Yes, Sewol, this is harbour affairs Jeju.

Sewol: Please notify the coastguard. Our ship is in danger. It's listing right now.

8.56am

Jeju VTS: Where's your ship? Yes, got it. We will notify the coastguard.

Sewol: This ship has listed a lot. Can't move. Please come quickly. We're next to Byeongpung Island.

Jeju VTS: Yes, we got it.

8.58am

Jeju VTS: Sewol, this is harbour affairs Jeju. Do you have reception? Sewol, harbour affairs Jeju.

8.59am

Sewol: Harbour affairs Jeju, this is Sewol.

Jeju VTS: Sewol, this is harbour affairs Jeju. Channel 21, please.

9.00am

Jeju VTS: Sewol, this is harbour affairs Jeju.

Sewol: Jeju, Sewol here.

Jeju VTS: What's the current situation?

Sewol: Currently the body of the ship has listed to the left. The containers have listed as well.

Jeju VTS: OK. Any damage of the human life?

Sewol: It's impossible to check right now. The body of the ship has tilted, and it's impossible to move.

Jeju VTS: Yes, OK. Please wear life jackets and prepare as the people might have to abandon ship. 

Sewol: It's hard for people to move.

Jeju VTS: Yes, got it.

9.05am

Sewol: Harbour affairs Jeju, do you have reception of Sewol?

Jeju VTS: Yes, this is harbour affairs Jeju, Sewol.

Sewol: What's going on with the coastguard?

Jeju VTS: Yes, we have notified the coastguard. Currently we are calling Jindo VTS and Wando VTS. Please hold for a moment.

After this, Jeju VTS notified other ships and Wando VTS.

9.24am

Sewol: If this ferry evacuates passengers, will they be rescued right away?

Jeju VTS Even if it's impossible to broadcast, please go out and let the passengers wear life jackets and put on more clothing. The rescue of human lives of Sewol ferry... the captain should make your own decision and evacuate them. We don't know the situation very well. The captain should make the final decision and decide whether you're going to evacuate passengers or not.

Sewol: I'm not talking about that. I asked, if they evacuate now, can they be rescued right away?

Jeju VTS then said patrol boats would arrive in 10 minutes, but did not mention another civilian ship had already arrived near the scene.

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Prince George Goes Walkabout With Bilbies

Prince George made his first walkabout on the Australian leg of the royal tour when he met some indigenous animals at a zoo.

The youngster looked fascinated as he was shown a bilby - a rabbit-like type of marsupial.

At one point, as he was held by his father Prince William, he held out his hand to attempt to touch the creature which was being fed by a keeper who has named the animal George in his honour.

George, dressed in a blue and white striped collared t-shirt and royal blue shorts, looked a little frustrated and waved his arms as he was unable to reach the animal, which was about a third of his size when standing on its hind legs.

Just before he was brought out for the cameras, the Royal family had been shown round the nocturnal house where several of Australia's animals who are awake during darkness are housed.

Staff said George coped well and was interested in what he saw, reaching out to a feather tailed glider and staring intently at some hopping mice and an echidna.

He was later given a soft bilby toy, which he promptly threw on the floor.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who was wearing a lemon yellow Stella McCartney skater dress, were visiting Taronga Zoo in Sydney where the new bilby enclosure will be named after their son.

The Royal couple went on, without their son, to be shown a few of the zoo koalas.

The zoo keeper who showed them round the enclosure, Paul Davies, said afterwards about George: "He was brilliant. He was regal. It was amazing how he coped with the dark environment of the nocturnal house.

"They seemed comfortable feeding (the bilby). Kate let him get really close. At one point he tried to grab the bilby by the ears.

"He was like any other child. He had a short attention span and wanted to go and look at something else. It was just like meeting any family."

Earlier, thousands of well-wishers turned out to see the Duke and Duchess mark Easter Sunday by attending a traditional church service in Sydney.

The couple arrived at St Andrew's Cathedral in the centre of the city and were greeted - as they have been throughout their tour of Australia - by officials and cheering crowds.

Kate looked elegant in a stylish dove grey Alexander McQueen coat and Jane Taylor hat, while William was in a smart suit.

If a Sunday falls within a Royal tour, visiting members of the monarchy usually attend a church service joining local parishioners.

At the cathedral's steps, the Royal couple were met by the Most Reverend Dr Glenn Davies, Archbishop of Sydney, and the Very Reverend Phillip Jensen, Dean of Sydney, and chatted to the senior clerics before the service began.

The Easter service was private and the large group of media covering the event were not allowed inside.

A bilby is an endangered desert-dwelling marsupial, the name of which comes from an aboriginal language from New South Wales meaning long-nosed rat. There are only about 10,000 left in the wild.

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