This graphic made Wednesday, March 19, 2014 and released by Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) Thursday, March 20, 2014, shows an area in the southern Indian Ocean that the AMSA is concentrating its search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 on. AMSA response division manager John Young has identified their search will cover a massive 600,000 square kilometers (232,000 square miles) area, saying it will take weeks to search thoroughly. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot said Thursday that two objects possibly related to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight have been spotted on satellite imagery in the Indian Ocean and an air force aircraft was diverted to the area to try to locate them. (AP Photo/Australian Maritime Safety Authority)

From the editor:

Thank you for following Yahoo Malaysia's live updates on the disappearance of MH370. Please click here to view our ongoing coverage as we enter a new phase in the search for MH370.

Thank you.

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DAY 17



[10:03pm]: The Prime Minister, Najib Razak has confirmed that MAS flight MH370 ended in the Southern Indian Ocean, according to new data from INMARSAT and AAIB. Full story.

- Based on new analysis, INMARSAT and AAIB also concluded that MH370 flew along the Southern Corridor. The last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.

- No further details were furnished during the press conference, and another press conference will be called tomorrow with further details.





[6:05pm]: Highlights from today’s press conference from PWTC:



- PM Najib Razak was informed ‘a few minutes ago’ by his Australian counterpart that two objects - one circular and another rectangular- were seen. Objects could be received within the next few hours or by tomorrow morning at the latest. Full report.

- Two orange objects approximately one metre in length and one white coloured drum were sighted by search aircraft, but remain unidentified and have not been conclusively linked to MH370.

- MAS CEO: Plane carried 200kgs of lithium-ion batteries that were packaged according to international guidelines and fruits. Cargo manifest is with investigation team. Australia has to request cargo list from the investigation team.

- Minister Hishammuddin Hussein confirmed that the plane was carrying wooden pallets, but no verification that the wooden pallet found was indeed from MH370.

- Police have questioned more than 100 people including families of both pilot and co-pilot. Full story.

- On diversion of another MAS flight to Incheon, MAS CEO says it was a ‘a technical problem with the generator’. “It’s not a safety issue, but a technical one that the aircraft had”.

- Hisham: Not discounting human element in the disappearance of the plane.

- MAS says co-pilot moved from a lower fleet to a B777. He passed the first five flights and was flying on MH370 with the pilot - a B777 examiner- on his sixth flight.



















Full statement here.

[5:11pm]: A U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon, the most advanced search aircraft in the world, had been unable to find objects spotted earlier on Monday by a Chinese aircraft. Full story here.

[4.11pm]: China's Foreign Ministry said it could not confirm that objects spotted by a its military aircraft earlier today were connected to the missing jetliner. Read.



[1.10pm]:



Chinese aircrew have spotted "suspicious objects" in the southern Indian Ocean in the search for the vanished Malaysia Airlines plane the official Xinhua news agency said. Read in full.

[12.34pm]: The US Navy is sending a black box locator to the search area in the southern Indian Ocean, in a move they call a 'precautionary measure' in case the field of debris is confirmed. Full story here.



[12:13pm]



: Malaysia Airlines confirms that a separate flight - MH066 from Kuala Lumpur to Incheon on Sunday (March 23) - was diverted to Hong Kong due to an inoperative aircraft generator which supplies normal electrical power. However electrical power continued to be supplied by the Auxiliary Power Unit. The aircraft was then diverted to Hong Kong for rectification and landed uneventfully. Details.



Read the full statement.





[8.50am]: Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said in an interview with ABC Radio that the new lead in the widened hunt for MH370 was promising, but cautioned that the search in the remote icy southern Indian Ocean remained difficult. Story here.



Search teams scouring the remote Southern India Ocean for MH370 have been hampered by low visibility as cloud and fog descended over parts of the area, The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported. An Australian Air Force Lieutenant told the Australian daily that heavy cloud reduced his crew's ability, which he said was 'completely' engulfed in cloud at times, even at its lowest altitude. More here.





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What we know as of Day 16, Sunday, 23 March 2014:

Search and rescue operations:

1. South corridor:

- Pallet and belts were spotted in the Indian Ocean.

- French satellites spotted possible MH370 debris in search area.

- Chinese satellites have spotted objects floating in the southern search area.

- The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (ASMA) is planning a 'visual search'

- Three Chinese warships and an icebreaker will join the search in the southern Indian Ocean.

- Two objects possibly related to MH370 have been spotted on Australian satellite imagery. Largest object sighted is 24 metres.

- The search in the next quadrant in the Southern Corridor covers 10,500 sq nautical miles, involving 6 planes and 2 ships.

- SAR ops in the Southern Corridor will be led by Indonesia and Australia.















