AirAsia to do Interpol checks

BUDGET airline AirAsia says it will become the first carrier to check its passengers' passports against Interpol's database of stolen and lost travel documents.

The Kuala Lumpur-based airline said on Tuesday it will begin implementing the screening this month as part of its effort to enhance aviation security in the aftermath of the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jet on March 8.

The Interpol database had previously been available only to government immigration authorities. Interpol's I-Checkit system will be deployed across all of AirAsia's international operations, covering 600 flights daily.

Attempts to solve the mystery of what happened to the missing Malaysia Airlines plane with 239 people on board revealed that two of its passengers had travelled with stolen passports. The Austrian and Italian passports used were on Interpol's database as having been stolen in Thailand.

Ronald Noble, Interpol secretary general, said the decision of AirAsia to screen its passengers using the Interpol database "will raise the bar across the industry for passenger safety and security".

"After today, airlines will no longer have to depend solely on countries screening passports to keep passengers safe from terrorists and other criminals who use stolen passports to board flights," he said.

At present, fewer than 10 countries systematically screen passenger passports against the Interpol database.

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Hundreds trapped in Turkish coal mine

AT least one miner has been killed and 19 others hospitalised following an explosion and fire at a coal mine in western Turkey.

More than 200 others are reported trapped.

Local administrator Mehmet Bahattin Atci said 20 people were rescued from the mine in the town of Soma, in the province of Manisa, but one of them died in hospital.

He said Tuesday's explosion was caused by a power distribution unit and between 200 and 300 more workers are still inside the mine.

"Rescue efforts are underway," Atci told reporters.

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Chris Lane murder accused in US court

THE youngest teenager accused of the drive-by shooting murder of Australian baseballer Chris Lane has appeared in an Oklahoma court.

James Edwards Jr, who was 15 when Lane was shot in the back while jogging along a Duncan, Oklahoma, street last August, was scheduled to face a preliminary hearing on Tuesday.

Edwards Jr's family was hoping a plea deal would be struck, with the first degree murder count dropped and replaced with an accessory count.

However, shortly after Edwards Jr shuffled into court in handcuffs and leg irons, Judge Jerry Herberger adjourned the hearing until June 17.

No reason was given.

A court order prevents prosecutors and lawyers involved in the case from speaking to the media.

Edwards' father, James Sr, told AAP he was hoping his son would soon be released from Stephens County Jail, where he has been held since Lane was shot in the back and left to die on August 16.

District Attorney Jason Hicks revealed in February Edwards Jr had become a prosecution witness.

Edwards Jr testified for the prosecution at the preliminary hearing for co-accused, Chancey Luna, 17, and Michael Jones, 18, in February.

But instead of providing evidence to support the prosecution's case that Luna and Jones murdered the athlete, Edwards Jr told how Jones, who was driving a Ford Focus, suddenly swerved just as it approached Lane.

Edwards Jr said after the swerve, Luna, sitting in the backseat of the car, fired a .22 revolver that struck Lane as he jogged on the side of the road.

Luna's lawyers, Howard and Jim Berry, argued Edwards Jr's evidence indicated Lane's death was an accident.

Edwards Jr also testified he heard Luna say he thought the gun was loaded with blanks.

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