Pentagon grounds F-35 fleet after engine crack found

Updated 9:03 PM ET

WASHINGTON The Pentagon on Friday grounded its fleet of F-35 fighter jets after discovering a cracked engine blade in one plane.

The problem was discovered during what the Pentagon called a routine inspection at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., of an F-35A, the Air Force version of the sleek new plane. The Navy and the Marine Corps are buying other versions of the F-35, which is intended to replace older fighters like the Air Force F-16 and the Navy F/A-18.

All versions -- a total of 51 planes -- were grounded Friday pending a more in-depth evaluation of the problem discovered at Edwards. None of the planes have been fielded for combat operations; all are undergoing testing.

In a brief written statement, the Pentagon said it is too early to know the full impact of the newly discovered problem.

A watchdog group, the Project on Government Oversight, said the grounding is not likely to mean a significant delay in the effort to field the stealthy aircraft.

"The F-35 is a huge problem because of its growing, already unaffordable, cost and its gigantically disappointing performance," the group's Winslow Wheeler said. "That performance would be unacceptable even if the aircraft met its far-too-modest requirements, but it is not."

The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program at a total estimated cost of nearly $400 billion. The Pentagon envisions buying more than 2,400 F-35s, but some members of Congress are balking at the price tag.

Friday's suspension of flight operations will remain in effect until an investigation of the problem's root cause is determined.

The Pentagon said the engine in which the problem was discovered is being shipped to a Pratt & Whitney facility in Connecticut for more thorough evaluation.

Read More..

Cyberattacks Bring Attention to Security Reform

Recent accusations of a large-scale cyber crime effort by the Chinese government left many wondering what immediate steps the president and Congress are taking to prevent these attacks from happening again.

On Wednesday, the White House released the administration's Strategy on Mitigating the Theft of U.S. Trade Secrets as a follow-up to the president's executive order. The strategy did not outwardly mention China, but it implied U.S. government awareness of the problem.

"We are taking a whole of government approach to stop the theft of trade secrets by foreign competitors or foreign governments by any means -- cyber or otherwise," U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel said in a White House statement.

As of now, the administration's strategy is the first direct step in addressing cybersecurity, but in order for change to happen Congress needs to be involved. So far, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) is the most notable Congressional legislation addressing the problem, despite its past controversy.

Last April, CISPA was introduced by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md. The act would allow private companies with consumer information to voluntarily share those details with the NSA and the DOD in order to combat cyber attacks.

Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

The companies would be protected from any liabilities if the information was somehow mishandled. This portion of the act sounded alarm bells for CISPA's opponents, like the ACLU, which worried that this provision would incentivize companies to share individuals' information with disregard.

CISPA passed in the House of Representatives, despite a veto threat from the White House stemming from similar privacy concerns. The bill then died in the Senate.

This year, CISPA was reintroduced the day after the State of the Union address during which the president declared an executive order targeting similar security concerns from a government standpoint.

In contrast to CISPA, the executive order would be initiated on the end of the government, and federal agencies would share relevant information regarding threats with private industries, rather than asking businesses to supply data details. All information shared by the government would be unclassified.

At the core of both the executive order and CISPA, U.S. businesses and the government would be encouraged to work together to combat cyber threats. However, each option would clearly take a different route to collaboration. The difference seems minimal, but has been the subject of legislative debates between the president and Congress for almost a year, until now.

"My response to the president's executive order is very positive," Ruppersberger told ABC News. "[The president] brought up how important information sharing is [and] by addressing critical infrastructure, he took care of another hurdle that we do not have to deal with."

Addressing privacy roadblocks, CISPA backers said the sharing of private customer information with the government, as long as personal details are stripped, is not unprecedented.

"Think of what we do with HIPAA in the medical professions; [doctors do not need to know] the individual person, just the symptoms to diagnose a disease," Michigan Gov. John Engler testified at a House Intelligence Committee hearing in an attempt to put the problem into context.

Read More..

Synthetic llama antibodies soothe arthritis pain

ARTHRITIS may have met its match, in the form of the llama immune system. Antibodies similar to ones originally discovered in camels and llamas have helped to heal moderate to severe arthritis in a small trial.

The antibodies have inspired the design of a drug, ALX-0061, that blocks a receptor for interleukin 6. This signalling molecule amplifies inflammation, leading to sore and swollen joints. The symptoms ease once the receptor is blocked.

In the trial, 24 patients received one of three unchanging doses of ALX-0061 for six months. Another group received a placebo. Sixty-three per cent of those given the drug saw their symptoms practically vanish when measured using a standard metric, the DAS28 scale, which evaluates symptoms in 28 joints. This figure is more than twice the 30 per cent remission rate seen with the current "gold-standard" rival treatment Actemra (tocilizumab). Tocilizumab also targets interleukin 6, but it is based on a normal-sized mammalian antibody.

The remission rate was even higher – 75 per cent – for the eight patients given one of the three doses: 3 milligrams per kilogram of body weight administered once every four weeks. "These data suggest that out of every 10 patients, seven to eight could experience rapid, durable responses to their symptoms," says Josi Holz, the chief medical officer of Ablynx, in Ghent, Belgium, which released its results on 13 February.

According to Ed Moses, CEO of Ablynx, it could be the tiny size of the molecule – one-fifth the usual size – that gives it the edge over existing antibody-based treatments. "It potentially gives far faster and deeper penetration of diseased joints," he says.

Other researchers caution against over-optimism because the trial was short and small. "If the results are repeated in randomised, controlled, double-blinded studies, then they would be very impressive," says David Scott, chief medical adviser to the UK's National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society.

To take ALX-0061 forward, Ablynx is now looking for a partner to help finance such a larger, decisive trial.

This article appeared in print under the headline "Llama-inspired drug relieves arthritic pain"

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.

If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.

Read More..

Locals fill most jobs at new plant on Jurong Island

SINGAPORE: Tuas Power's Tembusu multi-utilities complex on Jurong Island has generated 150 jobs ahead of its official opening next week.

One hundred positions have been filled and the plant's looking for Singaporeans to fill 50 more vacancies.

Nine in 10 positions are currently held by locals.

The jobs are technical in nature, with Tuas Power looking out for graduates from polytechnics and the Institutes of Technical Education.

The Jurong Island facility provides steam, water and electricity to petrochemical firms.

Phase one of the plant's operations has been completed, with full completion expected no later than 2017.

By then, the plant would have generated a total of some 200 jobs.

- CNA/ck

Read More..

Prosecution is dealt blow as judge weighs bail for Pistorius

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Prosecutors say they worry Oscar Pistorius will flee, if freed on bail


• Pistorius has pledged to stay in South Africa and fight the charges


• He is accused of the premeditated murder of his model girlfriend

Pretoria, South Africa (CNN) -- A South African judge will likely decide Friday whether to release track star Oscar Pistorius following a bail hearing jolted by the revelation that the lead police investigator in the case faces attempted murder charges.

The allegations were the latest blow to a prosecution case that has suffered through several miscues during the bail hearing that began Tuesday, including admissions that police could have contaminated the crime scene and failed to properly catalog evidence.

The South African Police Service pulled Hilton Botha from the case Thursday after prosecutors reinstated seven counts of attempted murder charges against him. Botha is accused of opening fire on a minibus full of people while drunk in 2011.

Prosecutors are trying to keep Pistorius jailed pending his trial on a charge of premeditated murder in the February 14 shooting death of his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, 29.

Pistorius, 26, is accused of the premeditated murder of Steenkamp after, according to prosecutors, a heated argument in the early morning hours of Valentine's Day.

The sprinter, however, says he thought an intruder was hiding in a toilet room inside the bathroom of his Pretoria home. He says he fired into the room in a fit of terror before realizing Steenkamp was inside.

Prosecutors say they are worried Pistorius will flee the country, if he's released. Pistorius has pledged to stay in South Africa and fight the charges if released, adding that he's unlikely to escape notice as a well-known athlete who walks on prosthetic legs.

Prosecution miscues?

Court officials learned Thursday that prosecutors had restored the charges against Botha in connection with the 2011 shooting case. The charges had previously been withdrawn for additional investigation, but prosecutors decided Wednesday to proceed, said Commissioner Riah Phiyega of the South African Police Service.

Phiyega praised Botha, saying he is an experienced investigator who "has presented the case of the police well."

Botha was replaced by the department's most senior detective, Vinesh Moonoo, in a move Phiyega said positioned the department for a "long-haul" investigation of Steenkamp's killing.

During the bail hearing, being held in a dark, stuffy Pretoria courtroom, defense attorney Barry Roux hammered away at the credibility of Botha and the entire police investigation.

He argued police had missed a bullet in the toilet of the bathroom where Steenkamp was shot and may have contaminated the crime scene by failing to wear protective foot covers.

Botha told Roux that investigators didn't wear the booties because they'd run out.

Bulelwa Makeke, the spokeswoman for South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority, said before the announcement of Botha's removal that the accusations against the investigator would be little more than a "speed bump" in the Pistorius case.

Positioning the prosecution

In arguments wrapping up during Thursday's session, Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said Pistorius' defense team has failed to explain why investigators found two cell phones and the gun believed to have been used in the shooting in front of the shower.

That goes to the prosecution claim that Steenkamp didn't merely get up to relieve herself in the middle of the night, but in fact had locked herself in the bathroom with her cell phone to protect herself from Pistorius.

Roux, meanwhile, got Botha to acknowledge during the hearing that investigators had failed to collect any evidence that counters Pistorius' argument that he mistakenly shot Steenkamp.

Roux told Magistrate Desmond Nair that the prosecution's case had suffered a monumental collapse.

The defense attorney also questioned police claims that a witness who lived at least 300 meters (328 yards) from Pistorius' home had heard a raging argument coming from the home.

He also said officers had failed to properly investigate and catalog evidence found there, including ammunition and a bottle of what Botha first called testosterone before backtracking.

Roux said the substance is an herbal remedy.

Ballistic evidence

Authorities have argued that ballistic evidence shows Pistorius had to intentionally target the toilet to strike Steenkamp, and he was standing on his prosthetic legs when he shot through the bathroom door.

Pistorius said in his statement that when he shot through the door, he was feeling vulnerable to an intruder because he was not wearing his legs and had limited mobility.

When Pistorius was 11 months old, his legs were amputated below the knees because he was missing the fibulae.

He runs on special carbon fiber blades, earning the nickname "Blade Runner."

He made history last year as the first disabled athlete to compete in the able-bodied London Games. A few weeks after the Olympics, he smashed a record to win the men's 400-meter in the 2012 Paralympic Games.

Robyn Curnow reported from Pretoria, and Chelsea J. Carter reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Michael Pearson and Ben Brumfield contributed to this report.

Read More..

Georgia executes man lawyers claimed was mentally ill

JACKSON, Ga. A 38-year-old inmate convicted of killing two college students in 1995 was executed in Georgia on Thursday, apologizing to the families of both victims before being injected at a state prison.

Andrew Allen Cook was pronounced dead at 11:22 p.m., about 14 minutes after he was injected with the sedative pentobarbital. He was the first inmate to be executed since the state changed its procedure in July from a three-drug combination to a single dose.

With his last words, he apologized to the families of Mercer University students Grant Patrick Hendrickson, 22, and Michele Lee Cartagena, 19, who were shot several times as they sat in a car at Lake Juliette, which is about 75 miles south of Atlanta. He said what he did was senseless.

"I'm sorry," Cook said as he was strapped to a gurney. "I'm not going to ask you to forgive me. I can't even do it myself."

He also thanked his family for "their support, for being with me and I'm sorry I took so much from you all."

The Georgia Appeals Court on Wednesday temporarily stayed Cook's execution to consider a challenge to the state's lethal injection procedure. But the Georgia Supreme Court lifted the stay Thursday and all other appeals were exhausted.

Cook's lawyers have argued at various stages in their appeals of his death sentence that he suffered from mental illness and was being treated for depression up to the time of his death.

Mary Hendrickson, the mother of one of the victims, recently told television station WMAZ-TV in Macon she's been waiting 18 years for justice.

"I think that's what it was: the devil's work," she said. "When all that is going on, I was just thinking to myself, 'Well, the devil is not going to win. He's not going to win over my heart. He is not going to win."'

The single-drug injection began at about 11:08 p.m. Cook blinked his eyes a few times, and his eyes soon got heavy. His chest was heaving for about two or three minutes as his eyes closed. Not too long after, two doctors examined him and nodded and Carl Humphrey, warden of the state prison in Jackson, pronounced him dead.

Corrections officials said Thursday evening that Cook had received visits from family earlier in the day and ate the last meal he had requested -- steak, a baked potato, potato wedges, fried shrimp, lemon meringue pie and soda.

A jury sentenced Cook to death after he was convicted in the January 2, 1995 slayings at Lake Juliette. Cook wasn't charged until more than two years later. He confessed to his father, a Macon FBI agent who ended up testifying at his son's trial.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reached out to John Cook in December 1995 because they were interested in speaking to his son. When he called his then-22-year-old son to tell him the GBI wanted to talk to him, he had no idea the younger man was considered a suspect.

"I said, 'Andy, the GBI is looking for you concerning the Lake Juliette homicide. Do you know anything about it?"' John Cook testified at his son's trial in March 1998. "He said, 'Daddy, I can't tell you. You're one of them. ... You're a cop."'

Eventually, Andrew Cook told his father that he knew about the slayings, that he was there and that he knew who shot the couple, John Cook recalled.

"I just felt like the world was crashing in on me. But I felt maybe he was there and just saw what happened," he said. "I then asked, 'Did you shoot them?'

"After a pause on the phone, he said, 'Yes."'

As a law enforcement officer, John Cook said he was forced to call his supervisor and contacted the Monroe County sheriff.

At the trial, as he walked away from the stand, the distraught father mouthed "I'm sorry" to the victims' families who were sitting on the front row of the courtroom. Several members of both families acknowledged his apology.

Read More..

Arias Challenged On Pedophilia Claim

Accused murderer Jodi Arias was challenged today by phone records, text message records, and her own diary entries that appeared to contradict her claim that she caught her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, looking at pictures of naked boys.

Arias had said during her testimony that one afternoon in January 2008, she walked in on Alexander masturbating to pictures of naked boys. She said she fled from the home, threw up, drove around aimlessly, and ignored numerous phone calls from Alexander because she was so upset at what she had seen.

The claim was central to the defense's accusation that Alexander was a "sexual deviant" who grew angry and abusive toward Arias in the months after the incident, culminating in a violent confrontation in June that left Alexander dead.

Arias claimed she killed him in self-defense. She could face the death penalty if convicted of murder.

Catching Up on the Trial? Check Out ABC News' Jodi Arias Trial Coverage

Today, prosecutor Juan Martinez, who has been aggressive in questioning witnesses throughout the trial, volleyed questions at her about the claim of pedophilia, asking her to explain why her and Alexander's cell phone records showed five calls back and forth between the pair throughout the day she allegedly fled in horror. Some of the calls were often initiated Arias, according to phone records.

Jodi Arias Doesn't Remember Stabbing Ex-Boyfriend Watch Video

Jodi Arias Murder Trial: Testimony About Ex's Death Watch Video

Arias on Ex-Boyfriend's Death: 'I Don't Remember' Watch Video

She and Alexander also exchanged text messages throughout the afternoon and evening at a time when Arias claims the pedophilia incident occurred. In those messages they discuss logistics of exchanging one another's cars that night. Alexander sends her text messages about the car from a church social event he attended that night that she never mentioned during her testimony.

Arias stuck by her claim that she saw Alexander masturbating to the pictures, and her voice remained steady under increasingly-loud questioning by Martinez.

But Martinez also sparred with Arias on the stand over minor issues, such as when he asked Arias detailed questions about the timing and order of events from that day and Arias said she could not remember them.

"It seems you have problems with your memory. Is this a longstanding thing? Since you started testifying?" Martinez asked.

"No it goes back farther than that. I don't know even know if I'd call it a problem," Arias said.

"How far back does it go? You don't want to call them problems, are they issues? Can we call them issues? When did you start having them?" he asked in rapid succession. "You say you have memory problems, that it depends on the circumstance. Give me the factors that influence that."

"Usually when men like you or Travis are screaming at me," Arias shot back from the stand. "It affects my brain, it makes my brain scramble."

"You're saying it's Mr. Martinez's fault?" Martinez asked, referring to himself in the third person.

"Objection your honor," Arias' attorney finally shouted. "This is a stunt!"

Timeline of the Jodi Arias Trial

Martinez dwelled at one point about a journal entry where Arias wrote that she missed the Mormon baptism of her friend Lonnie because she was having kinky sex with Alexander. He drew attention to prior testimony that she and Alexander used Tootsie Pops and Pop Rocks candy as sexual props.

"You're trying to get across (in the diary entry) that this involved a sexual liaison with Mr. Alexander right?" he asked. "And you're talking about Tootsie Pops and Pop Rocks?"

"That happened also that night," Arias said.

"You were there, enjoying it, the Tootsie Pops and Pop Rocks?" he asked again, prompting a smirk from Arias.

"I enjoyed his attention," Arias said.

Read More..

Tobacco giant wants to help you quit smoking

British American Tobacco aims to turn electronic cigarettes into medicines in the UK. It's a welcome move, but leaves a bitter taste in the mouth

BACK in the 1950s, when the dangers of smoking were becoming clear and the tobacco industry was panicked, cigarette-makers came up with a wheeze: safer smokes. Filter-tipped, low-tar and "light" cigarettes were the result.

In reality, those cigarettes were not safer at all. Smokers inhaled more deeply or smoked more. And the industry knew it. Internal documents later revealed that they cynically promoted safer cigarettes to discourage people from quitting.

Given this history of smoke and mirrors, you could be forgiven for being suspicious when a tobacco company announces that it is investing in a "reduced risk" cigarette. In December, British American Tobacco (BAT) bought a company called CN Creative, which makes "electronic cigarettes". It is now planning to ask the UK authorities to recognise one of its products as a smoking-cessation medicine.

History repeating? Probably not. You could argue that aiming to profit from curing an addiction that you helped cause in the first place is pretty cynical. But credit where it is due: BAT and other tobacco companies now openly admit that smoking is a serious health risk. There is mounting evidence that e-cigarettes are safer than smoking and really can help addicts cut down or quit. They seem especially useful for hard-core smokers who have failed to quit or who don't even want to try (see "E-cigarettes may soon be sold as life-saving medicine").

There are still unanswered scientific questions, including how e-cigarettes compare with existing medicines such as nicotine patches. That will form a big part of the debate on whether to license them as a medicine.

Long-term safety is also open to question, as is whether they will serve as a "gateway" product attracting new people to smoking, and if their use in public places will renormalise smoking at a time when it is increasingly frowned upon.

But again, the evidence is pointing in the right direction. Tellingly, the anti-tobacco group Action on Smoking and Health has given a qualified backing to e-cigarettes for harm reduction. ASH sensibly points out that e-cigarettes are clearly safer than inhaling tobacco smoke, and says there is little evidence that they will attract non-smokers or make smoking acceptable again. If so, there is little reason to worry about unintended consequences.

Don't hold your breath, though. A similar argument has been made for "snus", a form of oral tobacco mainly used in Sweden. There is evidence that it can help smokers quit and that it is safer than smoking. Sweden has the lowest rates of smoking and lung cancer in Europe, which is often attributed to the use of snus. By some estimates, if Sweden's snus habit was replicated across the European Union it would prevent 92,000 lung cancer deaths a year (Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, vol 37, p 481). And yet it remains illegal everywhere in the EU but Sweden, condemned as a carcinogen and a potential gateway to smoking. The lesson? Harm reduction is a tough sell.

It may be distasteful to watch a tobacco company spearhead a campaign for cigarette harm reduction. But action is sorely needed. If the evidence stacks up, they should be given the benefit of the doubt – for now.

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.

If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.

Read More..

Australia's Fairfax up on asset sales; revenues plunge

SYDNEY: Ailing Australian media company Fairfax on Thursday unveiled a quadrupling of first-half profit to A$386.3 million (US$395.5 million) after offloading assets to guard against plunging revenues.

Fairfax, publisher of The Age and Sydney Morning Herald broadsheets and owner of radio and digital assets, said net profit for the half-year to December 31 was almost four times that of the Aus$96.7 million over the same period last year.

The profit surge was underpinned by over A$300 million in one-off gains including from the sale of a stake in major New Zealand online auction site TradeMe and United States agricultural publishing business Penton Media Inc.

Revenue continued to bleed, down 7.1 percent on the previous corresponding period, as advertisers and readers turned to other sources, but Fairfax said it had paid down some A$717 million of its debt, reducing it to A$197 million.

Underlying earnings excluding significant items slumped 22.2 percent to A$230.3 million, in line with market expectations.

"For some time we have considered it prudent to manage Fairfax Media on the basis that a significant cyclical upswing was unlikely in the near term," said CEO Greg Hywood.

"While the economic environment continues to be stressed and structural change presents (an) ongoing challenge our overall performance is in line with expectations. Our transformation is ahead of schedule."

Fairfax sent shockwaves through Australia's media sector in June by announcing it would sack 1,900 staff and put its newspapers - the only serious rival to Rupert Murdoch's vast Australian holdings - behind a paywall.

Its shares hit an all-time low in August after staggering losses of A$2.73 billion due to massive writedowns in the value of mastheads and trade names.

As well as putting content behind a paywall, Fairfax has announced it will switch to tabloid format in a bid to save money and stave off advances from the likes of mining magnate Gina Rinehart, a major shareholder.

The latest circulation data, published last week, showed a steep decline for Fairfax titles, with the Sun Herald down 23 percent in the three months to December 31 when compared with the same period last year.

The Sunday Age was down 14 percent, the Saturday editions of both newspapers lost more than 13 percent and weekday editions plunged 14.5 percent in the quarter according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

- AFP/de

Read More..

Pistorius case investigator accused of attempted murder

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: A decision in the bail hearing could come as soon as Thursday


• Charges against investigator stem from 2009 incident, spokesman says


• Botha and other officers fired at a minibus they were pursuing, he says


• The officers were allegedly drunk at the time, spokesman says

(CNN) -- The sensational case of Oscar Pistorius took a new turn Thursday when police said the lead investigator is facing seven counts of attempted murder stemming from an incident four years ago.

That investigator, Hilton Botha, and several other police officers apparently fired at a minibus they were chasing in late 2009, spokesman Neville Malila told CNN affiliate eNCA.

The officers were allegedly drunk at the time, the spokesman said.

They were arrested on seven counts of attempted murder -- for the number of occupants in the minibus, the spokesman said.

Pistorius' girlfriend dies on Valentine's Day

HIDE CAPTION

Photos: 'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

HIDE CAPTION

<<

<

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

>

>>

They were also charged with using firearms under the influence of alcohol, and all of them appeared in court.

The charges were provisionally withdrawn, but the Director of Public Prosecution reinstated them Wednesday and plans to move ahead on the charges later this year, the spokesman said.

The revelation comes as final arguments are set to begin in the bail hearing of the Olympian charged with premeditated murder in the killing of his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, in the early hours of Valentine's Day. A ruling in the hearing could come as soon as Thursday.

Pistorius has said he thought he was shooting at an intruder.

But Botha told the court Wednesday that Pistorius, 26, wasn't acting in self-defense when he shot through the door of a toilet room in the bathroom of his home and killed Steenkamp.

Botha said he believes Pistorius knew Steenkamp was on the other side of the door. He didn't explain why investigators think that but suggested Pistorius was specifically aiming to hit the toilet where Steenkamp had gone.

But he also said investigators have found no evidence that is inconsistent with Pistorius' story.

Would he run?

In a statement Thursday, Pistorius' family said he is an international icon, which makes it highly unlikely that he'd be a flight risk.

The family posted the statement on OscarPistorius.com, which it said it will use from now on to disseminate information about the case.

Botha told Magistrate Desmond Nair that investigators believe Pistorius is violent and might flee if released from jail.

He described two police encounters with Pistorius, one in which Botha said the track star asked someone else to take the blame when a gun went off at a Johannesburg restaurant.

Police said the second incident took place at a racetrack, where Pistorius allegedly threatened to assault someone.

Authorities have also said they have responded to previous domestic incidents at Pistorius' home, but have not elaborated.

In his statement Tuesday, Pistorius said he and Steenkamp were deeply in love and said he was "mortified" over her death.

Bail hearing

Prosecutors spent much of the hearing Wednesday focused on the bathroom of Pistorius' Pretoria home, where authorities say the track star shot Steenkamp three times, in the hip, elbow and ear.

Bullet trajectories show that Pistorius had to turn left and fire at an angle to aim at the toilet, Botha testified. Had he fired head-on into the door, he would have missed her, Botha said.

Defense attorney Barry Roux disputed that, saying the evidence does not show there was an effort to aim at the toilet.

Prosecutors are trying to prove Pistorius intentionally fired on Steenkamp, 29, in a premeditated attempt to kill her. Pistorius and his lawyers argue he mistook her for an intruder and killed her accidentally.

Pistorius said in a statement read Tuesday by his lawyer that he believes Steenkamp slipped into the bathroom when he got up to close the balcony door in his bedroom in the early hours of February 14.

Hearing noises and gripped with fear that someone had broken into his home, Pistorius said he grabbed his gun, yelled for the intruder to leave and shot through the toilet-room door before realizing the person inside might have been Steenkamp.

Roux said Wednesday that the defense team believes Steenkamp locked the door when she heard Pistorius yelling for the intruder to leave. He also said Steenkamp's bladder was empty, suggesting she had gone to the bathroom as Pistorius claimed.

Botha also said police believe a blood-stained cricket bat found in the bathroom was used to break down the locked door to the toilet.

Pistorius said in his statement that he used the bat to break down the door in an effort to get to Steenkamp to help her.

Botha agreed with the defense contention that, other than the bullet wounds, her body showed no sign of an assault or efforts to defend herself.

But prosecutors and Pistorius' defense battled over allegations that testosterone and needles were found at the home, as well as the quality of the police investigation.

Did investigators make errors?

Amid speculation by outsiders to the case that steroids or other drugs could have somehow played a role in the shooting, Botha testified that investigators found two boxes of testosterone and needles at Pistorius' home.

Under questioning by Roux, however, Botha said he hadn't read the full name of the substance -- which Roux said was an herbal remedy called testoconpasupium coenzyme -- when investigators took the materials into evidence. A quick Internet search on the name of the substance yielded no results.

Roux also said the defense forensics team found a bullet in the toilet that police had missed and noted police had failed to find out who owned ammunition found at the home or photograph it.

Investigators also went into Pistorius' home without wearing protective foot covers to prevent contamination of the crime scene, Roux said. Botha conceded that was true and said it was because police didn't have any more of the covers left.

Roux questioned police arguments that a witness heard sounds of an argument before the shooting. The witness, Roux said, lives 600 meters (more than a third of a mile) from Pistorius' home. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel countered that the witness lives 300 meters away.

High hurdle

Defense attorneys are trying to overcome South African law, which makes it difficult for defendants accused of premeditated murder to get out on bail. The law requires evidence of "exceptional circumstances" to justify release.

Nair upgraded the charge against Pistorius to premeditated murder Tuesday, saying he could not rule out the possibility that the track star planned Steenkamp's death. But Nair said he would consider downgrading the charge later.

In his statement Tuesday, Pistorius said he would not try to flee or influence any witnesses if he is allowed out on bail, and he said his release wouldn't be a danger to public order.

Read More..