let's go live to the pierce air force base in australia and our correspondent phil mercer. >> reporter: today has been the biggest day so far in terms of the air search of that vast area of the southern indian ocean to the southwest of perth here in western australia, a dozen aircraft from six different countries scouring that huge tract of open ocean. those planes are starting to make their way back to here, the pierce air base north of perth. we may get more information about whether they have, in fact, seen any of the debris picked up by that french satellite. so it's a very, very big day here in western australia as the international effort grows and my colleague jon donnell son reports on a vital part of the air and sea investigation involving the united states. >> reporter: this is free mantle port just outside perth. it's here that some of the recovery operation is likely to be based. we have the "success" set up from here. that's at the search scene as well as several chinese ships. perth, already one of the most remote cities in the world, and the search area is some 2500 kilo

. >> phil mercer, thanks very much. richard wescott and former british airways pilot piers applegart will answer your questions in a live twitter q and a today. tweet your question to @bbc westcott using #ask, bbcrichard. or text your questio question @bbcwestcott @bbc.co.uc plus 447624800. >> now, a court in egypt has handed down death sentences to 528 supporters of the ousted president mohamed morsi, one of the largest mass trials in the country in recent years. after being convicted of charges, including attacking police, there was reaction outside the court. security forces in cairo break up two camps. it includes leaders of the band muslim brotherhood. orla guerin says they are questioning the validity and fairness of the trial. >> the lawyers involved in this case as you say, say they have been denied justice. it was described as a black mark against the egyptian judiciary. we have had reaction from the muslim brotherhood, the verdict of a kangaroo court. as several legal experts are tell us they believe this case

let's go to phil mercer in perth. >> reporter: it's almost three weeks since flight mh-370 has vanished. there's been a significant shift. the search area has shifted more than 1,000 kilometers to the north based on new information provided by malaysian investigators. following an analysis of radar data, they believe the jet was flying faster than thought and was burning off fuel more quickly. >> this continuing analysis indicates the plane was traveling faster than was previously indicated resulting in increased fuel usage and reducing the possible distance it traveled south into the indian ocean. >> reporter: the view from space continues to find unidentified objects in the southern indian ocean. a thai satellite has detected a field of debris that could be linked to the missing airliner. >> we found the floating objects of various sizes from two meters up to 15 or 16 meters. we preliminary estimate that there may be at least 300 pieces of those out there scattered in the area of about 500 square kilometer. >> reporter: the reconnaissance mission is at the mercy of the weather which h

. >> phil mercer in perth. >>> now to the united states where the number of people confirmed dead inssive mudslide near seattle has risen to 25. rescuers expect that number to rise substantially over the next few days as they discover more bodies in the mud. 90 people are still missing. the authorities warn the bodies of some victims may never be found. david is in oso. >> as the painstaking search continues, telephone calls to the emergency services were released, revealing the panic as the mudslide tore these homes apart. >> hundreds of trees have fallen outside of my house. it sounded like an earthquake was happening. >> are there any injuries? >> yes. there's people yelling for help. >> rescuers fourth the body of a 4-month-old girl whose grandmother also died in the disaster. the search operation is taking its toll on volunteers. they've recovered more bodies than the figures indicate, but those bodies have yet to be formally identified. and in the next few days, the death toll is expected to the rise significantly. comforted by her british frequent, nicole rivera told me four o