Criminal probe under way in Malaysia plane drama

KUALA LUMPUR: The multi-nation search for a missing Malaysian airliner focused on two vast, and vastly contrasting, areas Sunday after Malaysia said it believed the aircraft was deliberately diverted, triggering a full-blown criminal investigation.

Saturday’s startling revelations that the Boeing 777’s communications systems had been manually switched off before the jet veered westward and flew on for hours raised more perplexing and deeply troubling questions about the fate of the plane and its 239 passengers and crew.