Michael Jackson Xscape Album Due Out In May

A new Michael Jackson album is to be released in May featuring eight original tracks which have never been heard before.

Xscape was executive-produced by Epic Records' chief executive LA Reid, who was granted access to the King of Pop's archives and estate which contained four decades of material.

He used tracks where the vocals had been completed and set about what he calls "contemporising" them with lead producer Timbaland.

Jackson died in June 2009

"Michael left behind some musical performances that we take great pride in presenting through the vision of music producers that he either worked directly with or expressed strong desire to work with.

"We are extremely proud and honoured to present this music to the world."

Additional work on the album was carried out by Rodney Jerkins, Stargate, Jerome "Jroc" Harmon and John McClain.

The title track was written by Jackson and Jerkins.

A deluxe edition of the album will be available which will include all of the sourced recordings in their original form.

Xscape will be released on May 13 with iTunes pre-orders available from April 1.

Jackson, 50, died on June 25, 2009, from a cardiac arrest.

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Govt Rules Out U-Turn On Student's Deportation

The Home Office says it will not reconsider a deportation order on Mauritian student Yashika Bageerathi despite a huge campaign to keep her in the UK.

The 19-year-old was due to sit her A-level exams in May, and an online petition calling for her deportation order to be overturned has now received more than 170,000 signatures.

David Hanson, the shadow immigration minister, asked Home Office immigration minister James Brokenshire an Urgent Question in the Commons calling for the student to remain in the country.

He asked the Government to show some "common sense and compassion" and order her release from Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre, near Bedford, where she has been held since March 19.

Mr Brokenshire said Miss Bageerathi's case had been "considered carefully" and had gone through the "proper legal process".

Around 40 people protested in London at the weekend

He confirmed the Home Office would not be stepping in to prevent her deportation.

At the weekend, Miss Bageerathi told Sky News about her despair, as investigators probed the death of a fellow immigration centre detainee.

Miss Bageerathi said she feared she could be deported at any time despite being given another last-minute reprieve.

Her supporters believe she was spared the journey because an airline - Air Mauritius - refused to take her back to Mauritius as expected.

Lynne Dawes, the principal of Oasis Academy Hadley school in north London, which Miss Bageerathi attends, told Sky News: "We believe now that Air Mauritius refused to fly her."

It comes after British Airways appeared to refuse to allow her to board a flight from Gatwick Airport last week.

Miss Bageerathi came to the UK in 2011 with her mother and two younger siblings to escape alleged physical abuse by a relative, and claimed asylum in the summer of 2013.

At school she was described as a first-class student, until she was detained at Yarl's Wood on March 19.

The Home Office is investigating the "sudden" and "unexplained" death of a 40-year-old woman at Yarl's Wood on Sunday.

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Police Shooting Video Sparks Violent Protests

Officers in riot gear have clashed with demonstrators in Albuquerque after video emerged of police shooting dead a homeless man.

Police fired tear gas, charged at protesters and made several arrests after the 10-hour demonstration in the New Mexico city on Sunday. 

Albuquerque's mayor, Richard Berry, said the protest had turned from peaceful into "mayhem".

Scores of protesters were arrested

"We respected their rights to protest obviously," Mr Berry said, "but what it appears we have at this time is individuals who weren't connected necessarily with the original protest.

"They've taken it far beyond a normal protest."

The protesters blocked traffic, tried to get on freeways and shouted anti-police slogans.

Gas canisters were thrown outside police headquarters, while rocks were hurled at officers, with at least one injured, according to news reports.

The mayor said the demonstration turned into 'mayhem'

People are angry over Albuquerque police's involvement in 37 shootings, 23 of them fatal, since 2010.

The US Justice Department has been investigating the police department for more than a year amid complaints of civil rights violations and excessive use of force.

One of the protesters, 23-year-old Alexander Siderits, said he was "fed up" with how police treat citizens.

He said: "It has reached a boiling point, and people just can't take it anymore."

The protest began during the day and lasted for about 10 hours

One shooting in particular, that of homeless camper James Boyd in the city's foothills, has outraged citizens.

The March 16 incident was captured on video and followed a long stand-off.

Police released the video, taken from a helmet camera, and insisted the shooting was justified.

They said they wanted Mr Boyd to move and stop illegally camping in an open space, but he refused to comply and threatened police.

The FBI is investigating the shooting.

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North Korea's Actions 'Dangerous, Provocative'

The US has warned North Korea its actions are "dangerous and provocative" and it risks isolating itself further after following through its threat of carrying out live drills.

The White House's comments come after South Korea said it had fired shells into North Korean waters in response to live fire drills carried out by Pyongyang.

Residents of South Korean islands on the front line were evacuated as both countries exchanged fire across their disputed western maritime border.

The South said the North fired more than 500 rounds during a three-hour long drill - 100 of which landed in its waters.

Seoul fired back some 300 rounds from its K-9 self-propelled howitzer batteries and scrambled F-15s on its side of the border in response to what it described as a "premeditated provocation".

South Korea and the US conduct a military exercise in Pohang on Monday

Kim Min-seok, a defence ministry spokesman, said: "If the North takes issue with our legitimate returning of fire and uses it to make yet another provocation towards our sea and islands, we will make a resolute retaliation."

The de facto maritime border between the two countries - the Northern Limit Line - is not recognised by Pyongyang. 

Anxious residents sought refuge in shelters on Yeonpyeong island, where North Korean artillery killed four South Koreans in 2010.

One islander, Kang Myeong-sung, said he did not see any fighter jets but could hear the boom of the shells.

North Korea had announced it was going to conduct some military drills.

Sky's Asia Correspondent Mark Stone said: "These are worrying developments ... but no one has been injured, no one has been killed and indeed none of these rockets or missiles landed on any military installations or any land, so this is effectively both sides showing their strength."

A South Korean Marine

It comes a day after North Korea warned it had not ruled out a fourth test of its nuclear deterrent in retaliation for the US conducting "madcap nuclear war" exercises in South Korea this month.

Every year the US and South Korea conduct joint battle exercises involving some 12,500 US and as many as 200,000 South Korean troops.

Operation Key Resolve is a computer-simulated drill which plays out war-time scenarios that could result from a North Korean invasion of the South, while Operation Foal Eagle is a two-month air, sea and land field-training exercise.

The annual drills are regularly condemned by the North as preludes to a US invasion, though Washington insists the exercises are defensive.

China called for calm, while Russia said it was "worried" by Pyongyang's declaration it may conduct a further nuclear test.

Tensions in the area remain high after North Korea tested two missiles capable of hitting Japan last Wednesday.

The Korean War in the early 1950s did not end with a peace treaty, but an armistice, so technically both sides are still in a state of war.

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Climate Change: Our Way Of Life 'In Jeopardy'

The impact of climate change is likely to be "irreversible" and could lead to wars as extreme weather and poverty cause social unrest, a major UN report has found.

The health, homes, food supply and safety of people in rich and poor countries alike will be affected by global warming, according to a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The report said the impact was already being felt and would increase with every additional degree that temperatures rose.

The world is in "an era of man-made climate change" and has already seen impacts of global warming on every continent and across the oceans, the report said.

The report - commissioned by the governments of 195 countries - concludes that flooding, droughts, heatwaves and wildfires will pose a massive threat to humans as climate change worsens.

Greenland is threatened by melting Arctic ice

IPCC chair Rajendra Pachauri said: "Nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impacts of climate change."

Experts are warning that in many cases, people are ill-prepared to cope with the risks of a changing climate.

Climate change could massively impact on world food production. Source: WRI

The document, unveiled in Yokohama in Japan after a five-day meeting, gives the starkest warning yet by the IPCC of extreme consequences from climate change, and delves into greater detail than ever before into the impact at regional level.

The White House said it is taking the report as a call for action.

Secretary of State John Kerry said: "Read this report and you can't deny the reality: Unless we act dramatically and quickly, science tells us our climate and our way of life are literally in jeopardy."

Air pollution in Beijing

Food security will be hit by reduced yields in wheat, rice and maize crops, while climate change will also exacerbate existing health problems, and lead to more heatwave-related deaths, malnutrition and disease, the report said.

Increasing numbers of people are set to be displaced by extreme weather events, and the impacts of rising temperatures could contribute to a greater risk of violent conflicts by worsening problems such as poverty.

The report's publication has renewed calls from scientists and campaigners for action to cut greenhouse gases and to help vulnerable people adapt to "already-unavoidable impacts of climate change".

Risk of coastal and inland flooding in UK 'is set to increase'

Vicente Barros, co-chair of the IPCC study, from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, said: "We live in an era of man-made climate change.

"In many cases, we are not prepared for the climate-related risks that we already face. Investments in better preparation can pay dividends both for the present and for the future."

Princeton University professor Michael Oppenheimer, one of the main authors of the 32-volume report, warned: "We're all sitting ducks."

Wildfires are projected to be an even bigger threat

Professor Sam Fankhauser, of the London School of Economics, who is a contributing author to the report, said: "In the UK and the rest of northern Europe, we will need to cope with increasing risks from coastal and inland flooding, heatwaves and droughts.

"The UK and all rich countries must also provide significant support to help poor countries, which are particularly vulnerable, to cope with the impacts of climate change."

The report is the second chapter of the fifth assessment by the IPCC, set up in 1988 to provide neutral, science-based guidance to governments.

The last overview, published in 2007, unleashed a wave of political action that strived but failed to forge a worldwide treaty on climate change in Copenhagen in 2009.

The latest report builds on previous IPCC forecasts that global temperatures will rise 0.3-4.8C (0.5-8.6F) this century, on top of roughly 0.7C since the Industrial Revolution.

Seas will rise by 26-82cm (10-32in) by 2100, it is predicted.

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Puente Hills Fault Quake 'Could Cause Disaster'

Experts have warned that a strong earthquake along the little-known Puente Hills thrust fault in California could be more damaging that one along the more famous San Andreas.

The Puente Hills thrust fault brought a 5.1 magnitude quake on Friday night, and some 100 aftershocks.

The quake was centred outside La Habra, around 20 miles (32km) east of downtown Los Angeles.

It caused some structural damage but only minor injuries were reported.

However, experts say that a 7.5 magnitude earthquake along that fault could prove more catastrophic than one along the San Andreas.

Friday's quake caused rockslides and cut power to some 2,000 people

The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that such a quake along the Puente Hills fault could kill 3,000 to 18,000 people and cause up to $250bn (£150bn) in damage.

In contrast, a larger 8 magnitude quake along the San Andreas would cause an estimated 1,800 deaths.

The greater risk of potential damage is due to the fault line running near many vulnerable older buildings, many made of concrete, in downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood.

It was the second quake in California in a month

Seismologists also say an earthquake along the fault could be particularly hazardous because it is a horizontal fault, which means more intense shaking could be felt over a larger area than vertical faults.

The San Andreas fault runs along the outskirts of metropolitan southern California.

The shaking from a 7.5 quake in the centre of urban Los Angeles could be so intense it would lift heavy objects in the air, USGS seismologist Lucy Jones told the Los Angeles Times.

"That's the type of shaking that will hit all of downtown. And everywhere from La Habra to Hollywood," Ms Jones said.

Seismologists say a huge earthquake causing widespread devastation, referred to as The Big One, is 99% certain to hit the state within the next 30 years.

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Missing Malaysia Plane: 'Truth Will Prevail'

Learning Lessons From Missing Flight MH370

Updated: 9:23am UK, Saturday 29 March 2014

By Ian Woods, Senior Correspondent

The small consolation that should come with every airline crash is that the knowledge gained from the tragedy should help prevent it happening again.

But if that were true, we might already know more about what happened to flight MH370.

After the Air France accident of 2009, in which 228 people died when their flight from Brazil plunged into the Atlantic, 120 representatives of the international aviation industry got together to recommend ways to make it easier to find aircraft which crash into the sea. 

None has been implemented.

They suggested that the flight data recorders - the black boxes - should have larger batteries so they would carry on transmitting a beacon for 90 rather than 30 days. 

But bigger batteries mean extra weight and extra cost for the airlines to install them.

They also suggested the recorders should be designed to break away and float to the surface, rather than sink to the sea floor along with the rest of the fuselage.

And that the frequency of the transmission should be altered to boost how far away it can be heard, beyond its current 2,000 metre maximum.

Salvage expert David Mearns, from Blue Water Recoveries, told Sky News: "If you reduce that frequency, the lower the frequency, the greater the range. 

"You go from 37.5khz , to say, 8.8khz as recommended, I think that would increase the range to over 10,000 metres.

"So that's a five times increase in your detectable range and that would help the teams out there now looking for these black boxes."

As for why the recommendations weren't acted upon? 

"It's a very big industry. It's an international industry," said Mr Mears.

"It takes a lot of time for these things to work themselves through the regulations; how they would operate, how the pilots would be trained to use them; they have to be implemented on the aircraft, so it takes years for these things to be done."

In an age when we can all track most passenger aircraft on our smartphones and computers, how can a plane still go missing? 

Most, but not all, areas of the world are now covered by the Acars ADS-B system, allowing them to be constantly tracked. Although smaller, older aircraft are not equipped.

There are new regulations being introduced around the world compelling airlines to fit them in all passenger aircraft. 

But in some places the deadline is 2020.  

Mikael Robertsson, the founder of Flightradar24.com, told Sky: "Maybe authorities in these countries don't want to rush or I guess it costs quite a lot of money for airlines to upgrade their equipment on board."

In any case, it appears the system on MH370 was switched off. 

One current 777 pilot told Sky he could not think of a good reason why he would do such a thing. 

And with so many flights criss-crossing vast expanses of water, knowing the plane's last position is crucial to a swift recovery. 

Mr Robertsson said: "I think this is something that should be discussed: How much pilots should be able to turn off, and how easy it should be to turn some systems off?"

The backgrounds of the pilots have been scrutinised to assess the likelihood of criminal or suicidal behaviour. 

Professor Robert Bor is a clinical psychologist who has studied those who fly, and was specifically asked to review an incident involving an American Jet Blue pilot who had a psychotic episode while flying from New York to Las Vegas.

Captain Clayton Osbon left the cockpit and screamed at passengers before being subdued by some of those on board. 

His co-pilot landed the plane safely in Texas. 

Prof Bor and others concluded there were no warning signs beforehand which could have prevented the incident.     

"Every year an airline pilot will have at least two formal medical checks which address not just their physical health but their mental health. Every time they are doing the job they are scrutinised by people."

Pilot suicide is not unheard of, and is considered the most likely explanation for the crash of an Indonesian SilkAir flight in 1997. 

The pilot was heavily in debt - 104 passengers and crew were killed.

Airlines may also be studying how Malaysia Airlines has handled the disaster from a public relations perspective. 

The families of the passengers have gone from grieving to protesting, angry at being kept waiting for news, furious about misinformation, and the final indignity - some of them were told the plane had crashed by text message. 

Crisis management expert Raine Marcus told Sky News: "The communications with the families didn't inspire trust from the beginning.

"If you don't build up trust and goodwill right from the beginning, that has a direct impact afterwards on communications with the families and also directly on your business."

In the months and years ahead, as details emerge of what happened to MH370, there will undoubtedly be calls for lessons to be learned.

And in the meantime millions of us will continue to fly, hoping that our flight will not be one of the very rare ones, which does not have a safe landing.

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Chances 'Missed' To Prevent Baby's Death

Opportunities to prevent the death of an 11-month-old boy murdered by his mother were missed, an inquiry has found.

A serious case review has concluded Callum Wilson, who suffered broken bones, was blinded and sustained a brain injury, was let down by authorities. He died in March, 2011.

His mother, Emma Wilson, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 14 years in January for his murder.

The report found professionals missed many opportunities to intervene, and could have prevented his death.

The catalogue of failings identified included not sharing key information with other professionals, and not recognising the "potential significance" of bruising and scratching on a baby.

Donald McPhail, chairman of Windsor and Maidenhead Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB), expressed "collective regret" the risks to Callum were not identified and action taken to protect him.

A joint statement issued by Windsor and Maidenhead Council and health agencies, said: "Little Callum Wilson's death in March 2011 was a terrible tragedy and all the agencies involved express our sincere sympathy to those who loved him during his very short life.

"Changes have been made to strengthen our policies and procedures, for example formal reporting of bruising in very young children and a new policy on concealed pregnancies.

"In the years since Callum's death we have continued to strengthen our procedures beyond the recommendations of the report as we work in partnership to protect children.

"We can never guarantee the total safely of every child who comes into our care or seeks our help. However, we can work to ensure that, as far as possible, the mistakes made in Callum's case will not be repeated and that staff are given all the necessary support, training and guidance to enable them to deliver the service that every child deserves."

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Man Held After Woman And Girl Found Dead

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder over the deaths of a woman and 23-month-old girl who were found dead in east London.

Scotland Yard said police were called to an address in Oswald Mead, Hackney, shortly after 9.10am after receiving reports that three people had been injured.

The woman, 43, and the girl were pronounced dead at the scene.

The man was taken to an east London hospital for treatment and was later arrested.

His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

Police have not yet formally identified the victims.

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Engaged? Johnny Depp Shows Off 'Chick's Ring'

Johnny Depp appears to have confirmed rumours of an engagement after flaunting a "chick's ring" on his finger while promoting his new film in China.

When asked whether he will tie the knot with actress Amber Heard the 50-year-old said: "The fact that I'm wearing a chick's ring on my finger is probably a dead giveaway. Not very subtle."

He then laughed and lifted his left hand to show off a single diamond on a band around his finger.

His comments follow months of unconfirmed reports of his engagement to Heard, who starred alongside Kevin Costner in 3 Days to Kill.

The 27-year-old has also been spotted wearing a large diamond ring but has remained coy about what it signifies. The couple met when filming The Rum Diary in 2010.

In 2012, Depp split with his partner of 14 years, French model-singer Vanessa Paradis. They have two children.

Depp and Heard are very private about their relationship

He said he wasn't sure when he will be walking down the aisle.

"I think that I would be better at making women's shoes than I would be at wedding planning, I can't plan anything. I'm really bad at that stuff," he said.

The star was in Beijing to promote his new movie Transcendence where he plays a terminally ill scientist who downloads his mind into a computer.

It also stars Rebecca Hall as Depp's wife, and Morgan Freeman.

Depp said: "The technology that exists within the film, what I find most fascinating is that a lot of it exists already and by all accounts from scholars and professors and scientists that species of technology is not far away, that kind of artificial intelligence."

China is the only international stop Depp is making as part of the movie's promotion tour, illustrating the growing attention Hollywood is paying to the country that now has the world's second-biggest box office after the US.

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