Written By Unknown on Selasa, 10 Maret 2015 | 16.15
By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent
An Islamic State defector claims militants routinely subjected foreign hostages to mock executions and gave them Arabic names before they were killed.
Speaking exclusively to Sky News, "Saleh" said he was employed by a Turkish man in the the group to reassure hostages their lives were not in danger - yet he says he always knew they would be killed.
Saleh said the execution rehearsals took place so that when the moment of death finally came the hostages were not expecting to be killed and were relaxed to appeal for their release on camera.
He said: "He would say to me 'say to them, no problem, only video, we don't kill you, we want from your government [to] stop attacking Syria. We don't have any problem with you; you are only our visitors'.
"So they don't worry. Always I say to them 'don't worry, doesn't matter, nothing dangerous for you'. But at the end I was sure [they would die].
Video:IS Defector: John The 'Big Boss'
"Maybe they [the captors] raise their voice, but without hitting. All the time he say to him 'it's a rehearsal, don't [be] afraid'.
"I will explain. He want, when he will kill you really… [it] don't enter his [hostage's] head. Exactly, of course, you [hostages] should say this message: 'I'm living in ISIS and will stay and continue'."
Saleh worked as a translator before he was employed by IS. He fled across the border to Turkey to escape the group and claims to have looked after a hostage with an English accent.
He said: "This man from England, or Netherlands, I don't know. He was speaking English so nice. Sometimes I don't understand what he say.
"He was with mask. All questions around gun, around job in Syria. 'Who send you to Syria? Who is your partner there? When you came into Syria? Where you stayed in Idlib? In Aleppo?' All thing [the time he] give answer. 'No, I'm press, I'm press'.
"So after that he said to me, the Turkish man, 'don't worry, don't worry'. After that he was so afraid."
Saleh claimed hostages were given Arabic names to convince them they were amongst friends in order to calm them down. He says Kenji Goto was given the name "Abu Saad".
"ISIS gave the hostages an idea; 'You should be Muslim and come with us'. When I went to the rehearsal he said to [Kenji] Goto 'Abu Saad'. Maybe I was thinking to myself 'maybe they try [find] this name so hard, 'Kenji Goto'.
"Maybe they could not say [Kenji Goto] so [they say] Abu Saad. But when I noticed Goto, when they said Abu Saad to Goto, direct [he] relax."
"Saleh" said Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John, is employed as the chief killer of foreign hostages for Islamic State's media wing and that his murderous influence among the group is feared and respected.
Sky News has spoken to a former member of Islamic State, who claims he witnessed the man known as Jihadi John murder Japanese hostage Kenji Goto.
The former translator said that the masked man in the video was indeed Mohammed Emwazi, the 26-year-old Londoner who has become the face of the world's most notorious terrorist organisation.
"Saleh" said Emwazi is employed as the chief killer of foreign hostages for Islamic State's media wing and that his murderous influence among the group is feared and respected.
Kenji Goto, 47, was killed by Islamic State earlier this year
Speaking from Turkey, where he fled to escape IS, Saleh explained in broken English how he was employed by the group to convince foreign hostages they were safe. He is the only person to admit seeing Emwazi kill.
He said: "When he killed Kenji Goto I live showed this [saw this] but not near, from a little [distance].
Video:Kuwaiti Ambassador On 'Jihadi John'
"After he was killed him, three or four person come and take over the body and put in a car. After that, John went on a different road.
"The big boss was there with them. Turkish man say 'put this camera there, change place there' but John [was] the big boss. All time, all time say to all 'fastly, fastly, fastly, we should finish'. So respect him. Only he talks orders – others do."
Saleh suggested Emwazi commanded such respect within the group because of his willingness to murder foreigners.
Video:Audio Recording Of Mohammed Emwazi
"Maybe because he use the knife," he said. "I cannot understand why he is so strong. One man can kill and all people will respect. A Syrian man anyone [in IS] can kill. But strangers [foreigners], only John."
Saleh claims foreign hostages captured and murdered by the group were subjected to numerous mock executions until the procedure became normal. It could explain why many hostages appeared calm in execution videos published online by the group.
He said: "He would say to me 'say to them, no problem, only video, we don't kill you, we want from your government [to] stop attacking Syria. We don't have any problem with you; you are only our visitors'.
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Gallery: Jihadi John's email exhanges with Cage and a reporter
This email Mohammed Emwazi sent to a Mail On Sunday reporter in 2010 revealed his first encounter and his fear of MI5
He later made contact with the campaign group Cage and told them about clashes with border control officers
Two French Olympians were among 10 people killed after two helicopters apparently collided during filming for a reality TV show in northern Argentina.
Camille Muffat, who won an Olympic gold medal in swimming at the London 2012 games, Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine, and champion sailor Florence Arthaud were taking part in the French series Dropped.
They were in two helicopters flying over mountains near Villa Castelli, in La Rioja province.
Photographs showed the burning wreckage of the aircraft in dry scrubland with people gathered nearby.
Police said eight French nationals and their two Argentine pilots were killed.
The crash happened in La Rioja province
A statement from La Rioja's government confirmed the identities of the three athletes.
Ms Arthaud, 57, was considered one of the best sailors in the world and had won the 1990 Route du Rhum.
Ms Muffat, 25, won gold in the 400-metre freestyle in 2012, along with two other medals.
Mr Vastine, 28, won a bronze medal at the Beijing games in 2008 in the light welterweight category.
Cesar Angulo, secretary of security for the province, told TN television: "An explosion occurred and it's believed that they must have collided.
"Aeronautical experts will have to determine that."
The statement from La Rioja's provincial government added: "The helicopter from La Rioja was a Eurocopter with a capacity to hold six people.
"It appears to have brushed against the other helicopter from Santiago del Estero shortly after take-off."
French President Francois Hollande said: "The brutal demise of our compatriots is an immense sadness."
Former Arsenal footballer Sylvain Wiltord, who is reportedly one of the show's contestants but was not in either helicopter, tweeted: "I'm sad for my friends, I'm trembling, I'm horrified, I have no words, I don't want to say anything."
Olympic swimmer Becky Adlington tweeted: "So sad and shocked to wake up to hear the tragic death of Camille Muffat. She was an amazing sportswoman, competitor and lovely person.
"My thoughts go out to not only all her friends and family but to all the family and friends of all the 10 victims."
The show they were making involves sports stars being put into inhospitable environments and trying to survive by foraging for food.
Production company Adventure Line Productions (ADL) said: "All the ADL teams are devastated and share the deep pain of the families and loved ones they are in contact with.
"We are in contact with the production teams on site (and) with the French and Argentine authorities. We will give more information as soon as possible."
A cast and crew of around 80 people were in the area to film the series.
Shooting began in February in Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Argentina, before moving north to La Rioja, a remote area on the edge of the Andes mountain range that separates Argentina and Chile.
Police and firefighters were still working to recover bodies from the wreckage of both helicopters.
An official at the scene said: "It's been four hours since the collision and (the wreckage) is still on fire. There's smoke rising from the helicopters."
Written By Unknown on Senin, 09 Maret 2015 | 16.15
Cycling officials turned a blind eye to doping so Lance Armstrong could cheat his way to becoming the sport's much needed superstar, according to a scathing report.
Although the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) report found no evidence to sustain allegations Armstrong paid the International Cycling Union (UCI) to cover up a positive doping test, it revealed it acted favourably towards "cycling's pop star".
The cyclist was among 174 witnesses in the sport interviewed for the study
The UCI is criticised in the study for its lethargic attitude towards Armstrong and other riders in an era "infested" with the use of the blood-boosting hormone EPO.
"UCI saw Lance Armstrong as the perfect choice to lead the sport's renaissance," the report said, adding: "The fact that he was American opened up a new continent for the sport."
Video:2012 - Armstrong Banned For Life
The investigation concluded: "Going after the cheaters was perceived as a witch-hunt that would be detrimental to the image of cycling."
In 2012 Armstrong's use of performance enhancing drugs was exposed by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and he admitted he used blood transfusions during all seven of his Tour de France wins.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, the 41-year-old said it was "not possible" to win the gruelling race so many times without doping. He subsequently had his Tour wins taken away and was banned from the sport for life by the USADA.
Although the year-long probe by the CIRC turned up no major revelations it suggested doping is still rife in top-level road cycling.
"One respected cycling professional felt that even today, 90 per cent of the peloton was doping," the report said.
Video:Oct 2013: Armstrong Movie Screened
The UCI hopes publishing the findings will help turn the page on the doping era, prove it is serious about stamping out cheating, and instil confidence in the sport.
"I am grateful to CIRC for seeking the truth and allowing me to assist in that search," Armstrong said, adding he was "deeply sorry for many things I have done".
The cyclist was among 174 witnesses from across the sport interviewed by the panel chaired by Dick Marty, a Swiss politician who formerly investigated the CIA's use of secret interrogation prisons in Europe.
"No rider came forward to voluntarily admit an anti-doping rule violation," the report said.
Though Armstrong wants to reduce his lifetime ban imposed by the USADA the report did not include such a recommendation.
Two men have been charged with the murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.
Zaur Dadayev and Anzor Gubashev, both of Chechen origin, are accused of shooting Mr Nemtsov, 55, near the Kremlin in Moscow on 27 February.
A judge said Dadayev has admitted involvement in the killing and will be held in custody until 28 April.
Dadayev was a deputy commander for a battalion attached to the Chechen interior ministry, while Gubashev worked for a private security company in Moscow, RIA Novosti news agency said.
Three suspects hide their faces as they appear in court in Moscow
Three other suspects also appeared with them in Moscow's Basmanny court on Sunday.
Court officials said the three men - Gubashev's younger brother Shagid Gubashev, and two others named only as Bakhayev and Eskerkhanov - have not been charged, and their case will be handled by a separate judge.
Video:Does Dashcam Show Nemtsov Scene?
Mr Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and long-time critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was shot four times in the back as he walked with his girlfriend along a bridge in the heart of the capital.
No information has emerged as to the possible motive of the suspects.
Mr Nemtsov's allies believe his assassination was ordered by the Russian government to silence dissenters.
The allegation has been strenuously denied by the Kremlin.
Video:Thousands Mourn Boris Nemtsov
The killing sent shockwaves through the country's opposition and sparked international condemnation.
Investigators have suggested the killers wanted to destabilise Russia, which is facing its worst stand-off with the West since the Cold War.
They are investigating several motives, including possible connections to Islamic extremism and Mr Nemtsov's personal life.
The chief witness to the killing was Mr Nemtsov's Ukrainian girlfriend, Anna Duritskaya, who has now left Russia.
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Gallery: Boris Nemtsov: Funeral Of Murdered Putin Opponent Held In Moscow
People stand in line at a memorial service before the funeral of leading Russian opposition figure Boris Nemtsov in Moscow
Several hundred Russians, many carrying red carnations, queued to pay their respects. Mr Nemtsov was shot dead by an unknown gunman last week as he walked with his girlfriend
The world's first all-electric transatlantic flight has taken off from Abu Dhabi on a round-the-globe trip.
Solar Impulse 2 is expected to spend the next five months navigating the world in the hands of Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg in a demonstration of technology they believe could revolutionise the future of air travel.
Technicians at the control centre for Solar Impulse 2 in Monaco
The 12-leg journey will see the plane heading to Oman, then over India, into China, then across the pacific and the US before crossing the Atlantic into Europe before finally landing back in Abu Dhabi.
The first leg of the journey will see the craft fly for 400km (249 miles).
The 2.3 tonne plane has a top speed of 87mph, some 527mph slower than Boeing's commercial 747.
It can carry just one passenger compared with Boeing's capacity to carry 524, but whereas the 747 pumps out 101kg of CO2 emissions every 1,000 kilometres, the Solar Impulse 2 emits precisely zero.
That will excite climate campaigners.
The plane's wingspan is 72 metres - some 3.5m wider than the 747 – but this allows it to sport 17,000 solar panels which produces enough electricity to power the flight and to charge the 633Kg lithium batteries which account for a quarter of its total weight.
Despite its large size, the pilot's cabin is smaller than that of a car. The flight requires intense concentration throughout the five to six-day maximum flight time.
Long sleeps are out of the question with both men having to take 20 minute power naps every two to four hours, and both are restricted to their multifunctional flight chairs which act as a seat, a bed and a lavatory.
The Swiss pilots say their aim is to create awareness about replacing "old polluting technologies with clean and efficient technologies".
It's slow, it's uncomfortable and for commercial purposes it's entirely impractical, but the Solar Impulse 2's pilots will hope that its green credentials and cutting edge technology will prompt the aviation industry to pay attention to its potential for the future.
Written By Unknown on Minggu, 08 Maret 2015 | 16.15
Obama: US Racial History 'Casts Long Shadow'
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Video:Selma 'Decided America's Destiny'
Barack Obama has said that America's racial history "still casts its long shadow" upon the nation despite 50 years of progress.
Speaking on the anniversary of the 'Bloody Sunday' march in Selma, Alabama, the President praised civil rights activists who struggled for equal voting rights.
"We just need to open our eyes, and ears, and hearts, to know that this nation's racial history still casts its long shadow upon us," Mr Obama said.
"We know the march is not yet over, the race is not yet won, and that reaching that blessed destination where we are judged by the content of our character requires admitting as much."
Thousands gathered in the riverside town of Selma for commemorations to mark the civil rights protests of 7 March, 1965.
1/6
Gallery: Selma: Thousands Remember Civil Rights Landmark
Thousands have been gathering in Selma, Alabama, to mark the 50th anniversary of a landmark event in the civil rights movement
President Barack Obama will make a speech in the town of roughly 20,000, where in 1965 police attacked marchers demonstrating for voting rights
]]>
'Bloody Sunday' is seen as building momentum for congressional approval of the Voting Rights Act later that year
]]>
On that day 50 years ago the marchers tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the way to Montgomery, and the Obama family will take part in a ceremonial walk across it
]]>
On the way to Selma, President Obama signed a resolution to grant the Congressional Gold Medal to the 'foot soldiers' who participated in the 1965 march
]]>
The event 50 years ago became the first of three marches which saw activists attempt to walk to Montgomery to demand an end to discrimination against black voters.
The marchers were attacked with tear gas and clubs by state troopers.
Violent scenes broadcast on national television shocked the nation and emboldened leaders in Washington to pass the Voting Rights Act five months later.
Mr Obama described the activists as "warriors of justice" who strove to usher in an era of equality in America.
Video:50 Years On From Selma
"So much of our turbulent history - the stain of slavery and anguish of civil war, the yoke of segregation and tyranny of Jim Crow, the death of four little girls in Birmingham, and the dream of a Baptist preacher - met on this bridge," he said.
"It was not a clash of armies, but a clash of wills - a contest to determine the meaning of America."
Mr Obama spoke after Georgia Representative John Lewis, a leader of the Selma march who was severely beaten by police in 1965.
"There's still work left to be done," Mr Lewis told the crowd.
Video:Brown Family To Launch Civil Case
"Get out there and push and pull until we redeem the soul of America."
Selma has been propelled into the global spotlight with the release of a Hollywood film bearing the city's name and the controversy over its shortage of Oscar nominations.
The anniversary comes with America digesting the report from the Department of Justice detailing racial bias in Ferguson, a city which saw violent protests over the killing of an unarmed black man by a white police officer last summer.
Speaking ahead of the event in Selma, Mr Obama labelled what happened in Ferguson as "oppressive and abusive".
Video:Ferguson Racism Report Explained
"What we saw was that the Ferguson Police Department, in conjunction with the municipality, saw traffic stops, arrests, tickets as a revenue generator, as opposed to serving the community, and that it systematically was biased against African-Americans in that city who were stopped, harassed, mistreated, abused, called names, fined," he said.
Mr Obama added that Ferguson must now make a decision about how to move forward.
"Are they going to enter into some sort of agreement with the Justice Department to fix what is clearly a broken and racially biased system?" Mr Obama said.
"Or, if they don't, then the Justice Department has the capacity to sue the city for violations of the rights of the people of Ferguson."
Video:Selma Still Stirs Strong Emotions
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Obama: US Racial History 'Casts Long Shadow'
We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.
Video:Selma 'Decided America's Destiny'
Barack Obama has said that America's racial history "still casts its long shadow" upon the nation despite 50 years of progress.
Speaking on the anniversary of the 'Bloody Sunday' march in Selma, Alabama, the President praised civil rights activists who struggled for equal voting rights.
"We just need to open our eyes, and ears, and hearts, to know that this nation's racial history still casts its long shadow upon us," Mr Obama said.
"We know the march is not yet over, the race is not yet won, and that reaching that blessed destination where we are judged by the content of our character requires admitting as much."
Thousands gathered in the riverside town of Selma for commemorations to mark the civil rights protests of 7 March, 1965.
1/6
Gallery: Selma: Thousands Remember Civil Rights Landmark
Thousands have been gathering in Selma, Alabama, to mark the 50th anniversary of a landmark event in the civil rights movement
President Barack Obama will make a speech in the town of roughly 20,000, where in 1965 police attacked marchers demonstrating for voting rights
]]>
'Bloody Sunday' is seen as building momentum for congressional approval of the Voting Rights Act later that year
]]>
On that day 50 years ago the marchers tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the way to Montgomery, and the Obama family will take part in a ceremonial walk across it
]]>
On the way to Selma, President Obama signed a resolution to grant the Congressional Gold Medal to the 'foot soldiers' who participated in the 1965 march
]]>
The event 50 years ago became the first of three marches which saw activists attempt to walk to Montgomery to demand an end to discrimination against black voters.
The marchers were attacked with tear gas and clubs by state troopers.
Violent scenes broadcast on national television shocked the nation and emboldened leaders in Washington to pass the Voting Rights Act five months later.
Mr Obama described the activists as "warriors of justice" who strove to usher in an era of equality in America.
Video:50 Years On From Selma
"So much of our turbulent history - the stain of slavery and anguish of civil war, the yoke of segregation and tyranny of Jim Crow, the death of four little girls in Birmingham, and the dream of a Baptist preacher - met on this bridge," he said.
"It was not a clash of armies, but a clash of wills - a contest to determine the meaning of America."
Mr Obama spoke after Georgia Representative John Lewis, a leader of the Selma march who was severely beaten by police in 1965.
"There's still work left to be done," Mr Lewis told the crowd.
Video:Brown Family To Launch Civil Case
"Get out there and push and pull until we redeem the soul of America."
Selma has been propelled into the global spotlight with the release of a Hollywood film bearing the city's name and the controversy over its shortage of Oscar nominations.
The anniversary comes with America digesting the report from the Department of Justice detailing racial bias in Ferguson, a city which saw violent protests over the killing of an unarmed black man by a white police officer last summer.
Speaking ahead of the event in Selma, Mr Obama labelled what happened in Ferguson as "oppressive and abusive".
Video:Ferguson Racism Report Explained
"What we saw was that the Ferguson Police Department, in conjunction with the municipality, saw traffic stops, arrests, tickets as a revenue generator, as opposed to serving the community, and that it systematically was biased against African-Americans in that city who were stopped, harassed, mistreated, abused, called names, fined," he said.
Mr Obama added that Ferguson must now make a decision about how to move forward.
"Are they going to enter into some sort of agreement with the Justice Department to fix what is clearly a broken and racially biased system?" Mr Obama said.
"Or, if they don't, then the Justice Department has the capacity to sue the city for violations of the rights of the people of Ferguson."
Nigerian militant group Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to Islamic State in an audio statement, according to SITE.
The monitoring group said part of the message, which has been translated from Arabic, read: "We announce our allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims Ibrahim ibn Awad ibn Ibrahim al Husseini al Qurashi and will hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity.
"We call upon Muslims everywhere to pledge allegiance to the Caliph."
The pledge of allegiance has been attributed to Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, and was released through the group's Twitter account.
Ibrahim ibn Awad ibn Ibrahim al Husseini al Qurashi - better known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - is the leader of Islamic State.
Video:Fighting Boko Haram
He has already accepted pledges of allegiance from other jihadist groups in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and north Africa.
Boko Haram has staged a military campaign to establish its own Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria over the last six years.
Shekau was not pictured, but did identify himself in the recording.
The group has begun releasing videos in recent months which resemble those made by IS in Iraq and Syria where hostages, including British aid workers Alan Henning and David Haines, were murdered.
This month, it released footage purporting to show two men being beheaded.
Nigerian government spokesman Mike Omeri said: "(The audio) is confirming what we always thought. It's sad, it's bad.
Video:On Front Line Of Boko Haram Battle
"It's why we are appealing to the international community... hopefully the world will wake up to the disaster unfolding here."
Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence Group, said: "Boko Haram is now being elevated from a local jihadi group to an important arm of the Islamic State.
"With Boko Haram's wide network in North Africa, the Islamic State's projection of creating an Islamic Caliphate is gaining headway.
"Furthermore, Islamic State's infrastructure, resources and military capabilities will enable Boko Haram to expand its operations and control even faster in North Africa."
On Saturday, four bomb blasts killed at least 50 people in the city of Maiduguri in some of the worst attacks since Boko Haram militants tried to capture the town in two major assaults earlier this year.
The man in charge of the search for missing flight MH370 has told Sky News that he is "expecting but not guaranteeing" that the aircraft will be found.
Martin Dolan, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Board (ATSB), the organisation coordinating the search in the Southern Ocean, told Sky News that while he was once "cautiously optimistic" he is now "less cautious and more optimistic".
His comments came on the first anniversary of the loss of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane disappeared shortly after take-off with 239 passengers and crew on board.
An interim report into the plane's disappearance says it travelled in a southerly direction until it ran out of fuel in the Indian Ocean, west of Australia.
"I am confident that if the aircraft is in the area we are searching, we will find it, and I have a high degree of confidence but not certainty about the satellite data and the calculations that an international group of experts has come to," Mr Dolan told Sky News.
Video:Experts Will Find Missing MH370
"I have said previously that I am 'cautiously optimistic'. Because we now know the capacity of our search teams... and we haven't been able to see any flaws in our analysis, I am less cautious than I was; more optimistic but again, I can't guarantee we will get an outcome although we are confident that is the case.
"We have got a priority search area, a large one. Within that there are no relative priorities; each space within that search area is of equal probability.
"So at this stage, with a bit over 40% [of the 60,000 km sq area] covered, we are not feeling that there is any problem.
"We have planned to cover that entire area thoroughly and we are expecting but not guaranteeing that we will find the aircraft during the course of that."
Main points from the report:
Video:Flight MH370: What We Do Know
:: The underwater locator beacon battery had expired in December 2012, a year before the plane disappeared. The significance of this was not apparent but it would mean that searchers may have a lesser chance of finding the plane, even if they were in its vicinity. However, the report adds: "There is some extra margin in the design to account for battery life variability and ensure that the unit will meet the minimum requirement."
"However, once beyond the expiry date, the (battery's) effectiveness decreases so it may operate, for a reduced time period until it finally discharges," the report said. While it is possible the battery will operate past the expiry date, "it is not guaranteed that it will work or that it would meet the 30-day minimum requirement," said the report.
:: There was nothing unusual or concerning in the health, financial affairs or behaviour of the pilots and crew
:: The plane's right wing had been damaged in Shanghai in 2012 and repaired by Boeing. It had gained its most recent certificate of airworthiness in May 2013, when a flaperon inboard seal needed to be replaced. There were no other issues.
:: There were no significant clouds at the last civil radar point, no lightning, no significant weather phenomena
Video:Family's Heartache A Year On
:: The report has details of the consignment of batteries being carried onboard the plane - Motorola batteries made in Malaysia. The report says that, while they were inspected, they didn't go through additional security screening. The batteries are allowed on flights.
Painstaking analysis of satellite data from British company Inmarsat has concluded that the plane had flown south for up to eight hours before coming down in the Southern Ocean off Perth in Western Australia.
The focus is an extremely challenging search of the sea bed within a 'priority search area' determined by further satellite analysis.
Currently, four ships from the Dutch firm Fugro are scanning a mountainous 60,000 sq km seabed.
Mr Dolan said: "We are certainly confident. We are not certain, of course, because there is a limit to the satellite data and analysis but we have been reviewing that data and analysis continually ever since we took over the search back in April, and we have got as much out of that as we can, and it doesn't give us a guarantee of location just a very high probability."
Video:'Comes Back To Us Like A Tornado'
The search is being jointly funded by the Malaysian and Australian governments who have pledged continued support until it is completed in May.
Mr Dolan gave a remarkably upbeat assessment of one of the most challenging search operations ever mounted.
"If that [satellite] data is reliable, and we think it most likely is then we know that we will cover the search area thoroughly; if the aircraft is there, we will find it," he said.
Each of the four ships in the search area has a crew of about 30.
Three of the vessels are dragging sophisticated sonar devices just above the seabed, scanning for wreckage. This represents a significant challenge because of the rugged mountainous nature of the seabed.
Video:How Events Unfolded
The fourth vessel is using a remote-controlled unmanned submarine which can manoeuvre more easily along the seabed.
Unlike the towed devices, the submarine cannot send back real-time data so it must be hauled to the surface every few days.
"We have got quite elaborate quality assurance system in place to make sure that we are not missing anything with that sonar data and we are very comfortable that we will see things down there," Mr Dolan said.
"We have already found shipping containers and various other things that clearly fell off vessels over the course of storms and so on so we are getting the resolution necessary [to spot the plane]."
Mr Dolan praised the work of the teams on board the vessels.
1/5
Gallery: Vigils Take Place To Remember Missing Flight MH370 One Year After Disappearance
A Chinese relative of passengers on board the airliner attends a gathering to mark the one-year anniversary of the disappearance in Kuala Lumpur
A child is comforted by her mother during a vigil to remember the victims
Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 07 Maret 2015 | 16.15
By Greg Milam, US Correspondent
Barack Obama has labelled what happened in the Missouri city of Ferguson as "oppressive and abusive", on the eve of a visit to the one of the civil rights movement's most historic landmarks.
The US President will speak in Selma, Alabama, later to mark the 50th anniversary of the marches that took place to protest against the lack of voting rights.
The anniversary comes with America digesting the report from the Department of Justice detailing racial bias in Ferguson, a city which saw violent protests over the killing of an unarmed black man by a white police officer last summer.
"What we saw was that the Ferguson Police Department in conjunction with the municipality saw traffic stops, arrests, tickets as a revenue generator, as opposed to serving the community, and that it systematically was biased against African-Americans in that city who were stopped, harassed, mistreated, abused, called names, fined," Mr Obama said at a town hall-style meeting in Columbia, South Carolina.
He said Ferguson must now make a decision about how to move forward.
Video:50 Years On From Selma
"Are they going to enter into some sort of agreement with the Justice Department to fix what is clearly a broken and racially biased system?" Mr Obama said.
"Or, if they don't, then the Justice Department has the capacity to sue the city for violations of the rights of the people of Ferguson."
Mr Obama will later be joined in Selma by the first family and former president George W Bush.
Video:Ferguson Racism Report Explained
"Selma is not just about commemorating the past, it's about honouring the legends who helped change this country through your actions today, in the here and now," Mr Obama said at the South Carolina meeting.
"Selma is now."
The city has been propelled into the global spotlight again this year with the release of the movie Selma and the controversy over its shortage of Oscar nominations.
Video:Brown Family To Launch Civil Case
In March 1965, the city saw police beat back crowds attempting to march to the state capital Montgomery to protest over the inability of black people to register to vote.
The violent images broadcast on national television helped lead to passage of the Voting Rights Act after protesters were joined by Dr Martin Luther King.
Dr F D Reese, who invited Dr King to Selma to lead the protests, says some of the legacy has been wasted.
Video:Selma Still Stirs Strong Emotions
He told Sky News: "The civil rights movement still has more to do because when you deal with human beings, people have opportunities to do great things but then after doing great things, they fail to do certain things that they should do in the future."
The anniversary events will be focussed on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. A unity march of leaders from all faiths will be staged over the weekend.
Dr Jerry Light, leader of the First Baptist Church, said: "1965 was a horrible time for Selma but it was a horrible time for all of the South and, just like many of the other cities, we have overcome. We are not where we want to be but we are working in that direction."
Video:Selma Trailer
Selma, which sits on the Alabama River, grew as a cotton port but its economy has suffered with the loss of a major military base.
Some in the city say it suffers a stigma from its association with such a notorious chapter in American history and has struggled to attract investment, but the mayor denies that.
George Evans told Sky News: "I think there is still a lot of room for improvement when it comes to race relations.
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Gallery: Nov 25 - Protests Turn Ugly In Missouri
A man watches a burning building after a grand jury returned no indictment in the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri
Lesley McSpadden, mother of Michael Brown, reacts to hearing the grand jury decision over the death of the 18-year-old unarmed black teenager, shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri
