Goose Crashes Through Driver's Windscreen

A motorist had a lucky escape after a goose crashed through her windscreen while she was driving at around 50mph.

Shannon Jergenson "could barely see" in the "freak accident" as the screen was left shattered and mangled and her hair was covered in glass.

She said she was travelling along Highway 76 in Golden, Colorado, when she saw some birds in the distance.

The next thing she knew, one went right into the screen.

"The bird came up and just went 'bam', right into my windshield," she said.

"I turned my head and when I opened my eyes the bird was like ... its head just kind of fell over."

After the goose smashed the windshield, she turned her head to stop glass from hitting her face.

The windscreen was shattered in the freak accident

"I could barely see because the windshield was mangled," she said.

There were no drivers directly behind her and she was able to safely pull over.

Thankfully, she only suffered a small scratch despite her hair being covered by a fine dusting of glass that took her several hours to remove.

She said: "I didn't know how much glass was on me until I got home and (saw) all (my hair) was just full of glass. I took my hair down and could just hear the glass falling."

She even managed to get to work, albeit a few hours late.

Ms Jergenson added: "Freak accident, you know, complete freak accident, and I'm still (shaken) up by it. I have to now talk myself into starting my car now."

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Drug Tunnel With Rail System Found At US Border

Police have found two drug tunnels running under the US-Mexico border - one with a crude rail system.

The entrance to the first shaft - measuring one metre wide and 550 metres long - was hidden in a warehouse filled with toys in Tijuana, Mexico.

The exit hatch was concealed under a concrete floor in a warehouse in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego.

A 73-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly using the tunnel to traffick drugs and people into California, said the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.

One tunnel hatch was hidden under a concrete floor

Two days later, investigators uncovered a second, more sophisticated tunnel nearby, "equipped with a multi-tiered electric rail system and an array of ventilation equipment".

The 650-metre-long passage again connected a warehouse in Tijuana and another in San Diego.

Drug Enforcement Administration special agent William Sherman said: "Once again, we have eliminated a multi-million-dollar drug-smuggling venture and have reduced it to nothing more than a colossal waste of money on the part of the drug cartels.

The first tunnel was 20 metres deep and 550 metres long

"Our goal is to not only shut these tunnels down before they become operational, but to ensure that the cartels backing these elaborate smuggling operations are investigated and prosecuted."

The tunnels were the sixth and seventh found in the San Diego area in less than four years, ICE said.

"Here we are again, foiling cartel plans to sneak millions of dollars of illegal drugs through secret passageways that cost millions of dollars to build," US attorney Laura Duffy said in a statement.

"Going underground is not a good business plan."

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Uganda Police Raid US Project Helping Gays

Police in Uganda have raided the offices of a US-funded project which provides health advice to homosexuals.

The move came after a controversial law, condemned as draconian by the West, threatened those engaging in gay sex with life imprisonment.

The bill passed through the Ugandan parliament in December after its architects agreed to drop a death penalty clause.

The Makerere University Walter Reed Project in the capital Kampala announced it had suspended its operations after one of its Ugandan staff was briefly held by police.

In a statement it said: "We are working with police to understand the circumstances under which this person was detained.

"Until we have greater clarity as to the legal basis for the police action, the operations of the programme are temporarily suspended to ensure the safety of staff and the integrity of the programme."

Anti-gay activists in Kampala march in support of the harsh new measures

Police said they had been following the suspect after receiving reports he was involved in "gay-related activities".

Spokesman Ibn Ssekumbi said: "For some time we have been following an individual whom we learnt has been conducting promotion and training activities related to homosexuality."

A US State Department official said the health project conducts important research into Ebola, Marburg disease and HIV. One of the project's aims is to develop vaccines for these diseases.

Ugandan gay activists say many homosexuals have been forced to flee their  homes in the weeks since the law came into force, apparently to escape angry mobs.

Some are reported to have been evicted by landlords who found out they were gay.

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni says homosexuality is "criminal"

In response, the US, one of the country's biggest sources of aid and other Western donors have halted or redirected around $118m (£71m) in aid .

Despite the criticism and calls for the law to be scrapped, it is popular among many Ugandans.

President Yoweri Museveni has accused the West of seeking to impose "social imperialism" on Africa and told a rally that Uganda could live without humanitarian aid.

He said gay people deserved to be severely punished as homosexuality was "criminal" and "cruel".

Uganda now has some of the toughest anti-gay laws on a continent where 37 states ban homosexuality.

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'Rock-Throwing' Baby Accused Of Murder Bid

A baby has appeared in court in Pakistan charged with attempted murder after allegedly throwing rocks at gas workers.

Nine-month-old Mohammad Musa cried as he sat on his grandfather's shoulder in the dock in Lahore.

He could also be seen screaming as he was forced to give his fingerprints.

Police accuse the youngster and other members of his family of attacking officers, bailiffs and gas company staff when they arrived to disconnect supplies of households who had not paid their bills.

One of the team sent to complete the work in the Ahata Thanedaran neighbourhood complained the family beat him up and gave him a head injury.

However, the boy's grandfather, Muhammad Yassen, said: "He does not even know how to pick up his milk bottle properly. How can he stone the police?"

The judge in the case, Rafaqat Ali Qamar, granted Mohammad bail until April 12 and ordered Inspector Kashif Muhammad, who attended the scene and reported it as a case of attempted murder, be suspended.

However, he did not heed calls from the family's legal team to refer the case to the High Court for charges to be dropped.

Defence lawyer Chaudhry Irfan Sadi said: "This case exposes the incompetence of our police force and the way they are operating."

Feisal Naqvi, a supreme court lawyer, said it was common for criminal cases in Pakistan to feature several family members, although it was rare for the very young to be accused.

"What happens is that vendettas are going on, so everyone gets picked up and chucked in jail," he added.

The charge against Mohammad is in contradiction with Pakistan's minimum age of criminal responsibility, which is 12 except for terrorism cases.

Mr Yassen, who fed his grandson milk as he fielded questions from reporters outside court, accused police of fabricating charges in collusion with a rival party who wanted to see them evicted.

"The police and gas company officials came without any notice and started removing gas meters from houses," the 50-year-old labourer said.

"Residents started protesting and blocked the road but ended the protest when senior police officers arrived in the area and assured them that no injustice would be done.

"But later we found out cases have been filed against us."

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Train Crash Driver Who Dozed Off Is Fired

A driver whose commuter train crashed after she nodded off at the controls has been sacked.

The woman admitted dozing off before the eight-carriage service derailed, jumping off the tracks at a station and hitting the escalator.

More than 30 passengers were injured in the smash at the O'Hare International Airport station in Chicago, which was caught on CCTV.

The driver also told investigators she had also fallen asleep on the job in February, when she overshot a station platform.

The Chicago Transit Authority said it did not believe her work schedule played a part in the accident on March 24.

But it said it would be changing its scheduling guidelines to make them some of the strictest in the country.

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Xbox Security Flaw Discovered By Boy, Five

A five-year-old boy has been praised by Microsoft after he found a flaw in the Xbox security system.

Kristoffer Von Hassel, from San Diego, managed to hack into his father's Xbox Live account without having to put in the correct password.

When the login screen appeared, all Kristoffer had to do was press the space button several times.

By doing so, he managed to get in by the back door without needing to use the password.

The child's father, Robert Davies, who works in computer security, was so proud he recorded a video of the process which he sent to Microsoft.

Xbox has listed the child on its website as a "security researcher"

The security team at Microsoft quickly fixed the bug and put Kristoffer's name on the Xbox website, listing him as a "security researcher".

When he saw his name online, Kristoffer said: "I'm gonna be famous!"

It is not the first time he has outwitted technology.

When he was a one-year-old, he figured out how to unlock his father's phone by holding down the 'Home' button.

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Mafia Boss 'The Professor' Back In Court In UK

An alleged Italian mafia boss has been arrested on a fresh international warrant a week after he was told he was free to remain in the UK.

Domenico Rancadore had been told by a judge he could return to his home in Uxbridge, west London, after prosecutors withdrew their appeal against a ruling that blocked his extradition to Italy.

But he was arrested in Uxbridge on Friday night on a European Arrest Warrant by officers from Scotland Yard's extradition unit.

The 65-year-old appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Saturday morning.

Adam Harbinson, representing the Italian authorities, told the court he was "one of the heads of one of the most powerful mafia associations in Italy."

He said the latest arrest warrant is identical to the previous one, except that it provided assurances about the prison conditions he would be faced with in Italy.

The house in Uxbridge where Rancadore was arrested

Scotland Yard had earlier said in a statement: "(The warrant) alleges that he has an outstanding sentence of seven years' imprisonment to serve for participation in Mafia association between December 17, 1987 and April 13, 1995 in Palermo, Italy."

The warrant was issued in Italy and certified by the UK's National Crime Agency.

Rancadore wore a beige sweater, blue shirt and black trousers and waved to his wife, Anne, in the public gallery.

He was remanded in custody and told to appear at the same court for a bail hearing next week.

Known as "The Professor", Rancadore was arrested in Britain last August after 20 years on the run.

He had won his legal fight against extradition on March 17 on the basis that returning to Italy's overcrowded prisons would breach his human rights.

At a hearing last week, the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed they had lodged an appeal, but said it was not served within the statutory time limit and was therefore being withdrawn.

Rancadore fled to England in 1994 with his wife and two children, and lived under the false name of Marc Skinner.

Italian authorities claim he was a leading figure in the Cosa Nostra, a Sicilian mafia group controlling Trabia near Palermo.

He is one of Italy's most wanted criminals and was sentenced to seven years in prison in his absence.

Italian police claim he was involved in extortion, racketeering and drug trafficking.

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Afghanistan Goes To The Polls In Historic Vote

The Front Runners In Afghanistan's Elections

Updated: 1:29pm UK, Saturday 05 April 2014

Here is a guide to the leading contenders in the Afghan elections.

Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai

Known in Afghanistan as Doctor Ashraf Ghani, the American-trained anthropologist returned to his home country after the Taliban were ousted.

He had previously spent more than 25 years abroad during the turbulent years when Afghanistan came under Soviet control, descended into civil war and then was taken over by the Taliban.

During that period he worked for the United Nations and World Bank in the US, Denmark and in south and east Asia.

On his return he held various government posts, including finance minister.

He went on to take part in the disputed 2009 presidential election campaign when he won 4% of the vote, but was beaten by Hamid Karzai.

Mr Ghani is among the strongest backers of a disputed security deal which will keep US troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014.

But he has provoked controversy by picking ethnic Uzbek former warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum as a running mate.

Zalmai Rassoul

A relative of Afghanistan's former royal family, Zalmai Rassoul is seen as an establishment figure.

Although originally a doctor, he became involved in politics when representing the deposed king in 1998 on a body that played a key role in the future transition of the country after the end of the Soviet period.

He held roles in national security before being made Hamid Karzai's foreign minister, often accompanying the president on trips abroad.

Critics say that, if elected, Mr Rassoul would lack the strength and independence to make a break from the old administration, which many have accused of corruption.

But a number of foreign correspondents have said that despite serving for more than a decade in government, he remains untainted by the allegations that have dogged Mr Karzai's tenure in power.

He is comfortable dealing with those at home and abroad, speaking Dari, Pashto, English, French and Italian, among other languages.

He is also the only leading candidate with a woman as one of his vice-presidential running mates. 

Abdullah Abdullah

A former ophthalmologist-turned-fighter against Soviet forces in the 1980s, Mr Abdullah dropped out of a run-off against Mr Karzai in the 2009 election, saying he was concerned about electoral fraud.

He rose to take roles in government in the post-Taliban period having previously been an adviser to Ahmad Shah Masood, a leader in the Northern Alliance.

But he was abruptly dismissed from his role as Afghanistan's foreign minister in 2006 - a role he had previously held in the Northern Alliance when it fought alongside the American-led invasion of the country following the 9/11 attacks.

Mr Abdullah's base of support is the ethnic Tajik community whose rights and cause, although he is half-Pashtun, he has championed.

He spent some of the period during the Soviet-backed regime in Pakistan.

He took part in the 2009 election after registering as an independent candidate.

Other candidates are:

Abdul Rasul Sayyaf: A former warlord with ties to al Qaeda. An MP in the new parliament.

Mohammad Daud Sultanzoy: A former pilot and talk show host who is known for encouraging women to vote.

Qutbuddin Hilal: Former deputy prime minister with links to controversial mujahideen figure Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

Gul Agha Sherzai: Another former mujahideen member but later governor of two Afghan provinces during Mr Karzai's time.

Hedayat Amin Arsala: A prominent economist and politician who has held several high-ranking government posts.

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MH370: Has China Cracked 'Mission Impossible'?

Experts say Chinese search crews will have overcome an "impossible situation" if they recover the black box from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.

Chinese state media claims a signal has been discovered by the country's Haixun 01 vessel 1,000 miles northwest of Perth.

The signal is said to have a frequency of 37.5kHz per second - the same as that emitted by black-box devices.

Oceanographer Dr Simon Boxall, from Southampton University, told Sky News it would be a remarkable achievement.

"If it proves this is potentially from the pinger on the black box then we've gone from pretty much an impossible situation to locate this flight and the wreckage on the seabed to a situation where it's very feasible," he said.

"It would mean we've gone from an area of 85,000 square miles down to an area of 10 square miles.

"Because the signal is so weak on this locator, it can't be more than two or three miles away.

A black box recorder similar to that on MH370

"Even if the seabed is fairly mountainous or there are issues on the sea floor, it's within the capability of 21st century technology to recover this black box if the signal proves to be from the aircraft.

"The search area would be doable but it could take months."

Dr Boxall says the next step is to confirm the signal is from MH370.

This would be done using a combination of side scan sonar and camera equipment attached to an ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle).

If they confirm the presence of a black box, the operation will enter its recovery phase.

This could be hampered by weather, with relatively calm seas required for a whole day to allow the ROV to reach the seabed.

"You shouldn't underestimate the size of this task - it's not easy," said Dr Boxall.

"But you go to something that will happen, rather than something that may never happen.

The location of objects spotted in the southern corridor

"Possibly when they do that some of the mysteries of what happened to MH370 might be answered."

Another question is which country will lead any verification and recovery, as the signal has been found in international waters.

But Dr Boxall warns there is a long way to go before this becomes an issue.

"Without showing scepticism, it's interesting that this has happened four weeks after the event and it's happened at the point when people are saying, incorrectly, that the black box is going to run out in two hours," he said.

"The black box has a design transition of about 30 days. It could go on for longer, it could have been damaged in the crash itself.

"The ocean is full of noise. Both equipment we use as scientists or natural noises.

"The argument is that there's nothing else out there that will transit at 37.5kHz but we also know the signal was very intermittent, which we would sort of expect - but how intermittent?

"Because this is all second-hand information, then until this data has been looked at by the Australians, I'm afraid to say my scepticism will remain."

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Missing Plane: Ship Detects Signal In Ocean

A patrol ship searching for the missing Malaysian passenger jet has detected a pulse signal in the Indian Ocean, Chinese state media has reported.

Xinhua news agency said the signal discovered by Chinese vessel Haixun 01 had a frequency of 37.5kHz per second - the same as that emitted by black-box devices.

A Chinese air force plane has also spotted a number of white floating objects in the search area, according to Xinhua.

The Joint Agency Coordination Centre in Australia, where the search is being overseen, confirmed a signal had been reported, but said its origin remained unknown.

Chinese patrol ship Haixun 01

Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said: "The characteristics reported are consistent with the aircraft black box. A number of white objects were also sighted on the surface about 90 kilometres from the detection area.

"However, there is no confirmation at this stage that the signals and the objects are related to the missing aircraft."

Australian authorities are now considering sending air force crews to the area the signal was reported.

The signal was detected approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) northwest of Perth 10 hours after news channels in China reported that the three Chinese vessels looking for MH370 had relocated to a new search area north of that designated by Australian authorities.

Even if the signal is from the black box, it could take weeks to recover it according to Australian defence minister David Johnston.

Sky News understands the Malaysians were informed of the development by the Chinese government a few hours before the news emerged.

The suspected location of the black box

Radar expert Professor David Stupples told Sky News: "If there has been a signal received, it could be the black box or it could be something extraneous.

"I don't know anything (else) that puts out the 37.5kHz signal."

Prof Stupples said he would remain "sceptical" until further evidence emerged.

He added: "My worry is the range. If this is in 2,000-3,000 metres of water, the range of the pinger is one to two kilometres at best.

"My recommendation would be to move the ships with the pinger locators very much closer to this, first of all to confirm this is the signal, and then two or three ships around it to do triangulation to fix the location."

Search teams are facing a race against time to find the black box, which a month after the plane went missing is likely to be running out of battery.

It comes after Malaysia's transport minister denied "extraordinary" claims the country was complicit in the disappearance of flight MH370.

In an interview with Sky News on Friday, Mayalsia's main opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said the investigation had been "clearly suspect" and alleged "complicity by authorities on the ground".

But speaking at a news conference, acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein said: "Let me touch on some unfounded allegations made against Malaysia.

"These allegations include the extraordinary assertion that Malaysian authorities were somehow complicit in what happened to MH370.

"I would like to state for the record that these allegations are completely untrue.

"As I've said before, the search for MH370 should be above politics, and so I call on all Malaysians to unite, to stand by our armed forces as they work in difficult conditions thousands of miles from home, and to support all those who are working tirelessly in the search for MH370."

It was also revealed at the news conference that British nuclear submarine HMS Tireless had entered the search area.

HMS Tireless submarine has arrived in the search area

The vessel was expected to play a crucial role in the quest to find the plane's black box, which could hold the key to solving the mystery of what happened.

"I spoke via telephone to the British Secretary of State for Defence, Philip Hammond, regarding the nuclear submarine HMS Tireless," said Mr Hussein.

"I hereby confirm the submarine is now in the search area and helping in the search operation."

Up to 10 military planes, three civilian jets and 11 ships have been scouring more than 1,000 square miles of sea off the west coast of Australia.

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