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Australian investigators have delivered their final report into missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370, saying it is “almost inconceivable” the aircraft has not been found.

MH370 disappeared in 2014 while flying to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board.

The search for the jet, also involving Malaysia and China, was called off in January after 1,046 days.

Australian searchers said they “deeply regretted” it had not been found.

“It is almost inconceivable and certainly societally unacceptable in the modern aviation era with 10 million passengers boarding commercial aircraft every day, for a large commercial aircraft to be missing and for the world not to know with certainty what became of the aircraft and those on board,” the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said on Tuesday.

“Despite the extraordinary efforts of hundreds of people involved in the search from around the world, the aircraft has not been located.”

Their final report reiterated estimates from December and April that the Boeing 777 was most likely located 25,000 sq km (9,700 sq miles) to the north of the earlier search zone in the southern Indian Ocean.

• Families criticise MH370 search halt
• Missing Malaysia plane MH370: What we know

The hunt formed one of the largest surface and underwater searches in aviation history.

After the initial 52-day surface search failed, investigators trawled the sea floor and ultimately ruled out an area of more than 120,000 sq km.

In 2015 and 2016, suspected debris from MH370 washed up on islands in the Indian Ocean and the east coast of Africa.

Investigators came up with its current likely location after analysing drift modelling of debris and satellite data.

In the report, investigators said their understanding of MH370’s location was “better now than it has ever been”.

The Australian government has said only “credible” new evidence will prompt it to resume the search.

The Malaysian government is continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the disappearance.

The 2017 Nobel prize in physics has been awarded to three US scientists for the detection of gravitational waves.

Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne and Barry Barish will share the nine million kronor (£831,000) prize.

The ripples were predicted by Albert Einstein and are a fundamental consequence of his General Theory of Relativity.

The winners are members of the Ligo-Virgo observatories, which were responsible for the breakthrough.

The winners join a prestigious list of 204 other Physics laureates recognised since 1901.

Prof Weiss gets half of the prize money, while Barish and Thorne will share the other half.

Gravitational waves describe the stretching and squeezing of space-time that occurs when massive objects accelerate.

The warping of space resulting from the merger of two black holes was initially picked up by the US Ligo laboratory in 2015 – the culmination of a decades-long quest.

Three more examples have been detected since then.

• Gravitational waves quest to go into space
• Scottish gravitational waves pioneer dies
• Getting your head around Einstein’s waves
• Gravitational waves: A triumph for big science
• • Gravitational waves are a prediction of the Theory of General Relativity
  • It took decades to develop the technology to directly detect them
  • They are ripples in the fabric of space-time generated by violent events
  • Accelerating masses will produce waves that propagate at the speed of light
  • Detectable sources ought to include merging black holes and neutron stars
  • Ligo/Virgo fire lasers into long, L-shaped tunnels; the waves disturb the light
  • Detecting the waves opens up the Universe to completely new investigations

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  Speaking at a press conference, Olga Botner, from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, said: “The first ever observation of a gravitational wave was a milestone – a window on the Universe.”

  The US Ligo and European Virgo laboratories were built to detect the very subtle signal produced by these waves.

  Even though they are produced by colossal phenomena, such as black holes merging, Einstein himself thought the effect might simply be too small to register by technology.

  But the three new laureates led the development of a laser-based system that could reach the sensitivity required to bag a detection.

  The result was Ligo, a pair of widely separated facilities in North America: one observatory is based in Washington State, while the other is in Livingston, Louisiana.

  The European side of the gravitational wave collaboration is based in Pisa, Italy.

  Speaking over the phone at the Nobel announcement in Stockholm, Rainer Weiss said the discovery was the work of about 1,000 people.

  But the Nobel trio’s contribution is also regarded as fundamental.

  Weiss set out the strategy that would be needed to make a detection.

  Thorne did much of the theoretical work that underpinned the quest.

  And Barish, who took over as the second director of Ligo in 1994, is credited with driving through organisational reforms and technology choices that would ultimately prove pivotal in the mission’s success.

  Catherine O’Riordan, interim co-chief executive of the American Institute of Physics (AIP), said: “Weiss, Barish and Thorne led us to the first detection of gravitational waves and laid the foundation for the new and exciting era we officially entered on September 14, 2015 – the era of gravity wave astronomy.”

  Image copyright S.Ossokine/A.Buonanno (MPI Gravitational Physics)

  Many commentators had gravitational waves down as a dead cert to win last year, but the Nobel committee has always been fiercely independent in its choices and has made everyone wait 12 months.

  Had the prize been awarded last year, it is very likely that the Scottish physicist Ron Drever would have shared it with Weiss and Thorne.

  The trio won all the big science prizes – apart from the Nobel – in the immediate aftermath of the first detection in 2015.

  But Drever died in March this year and Nobels are generally not awarded posthumously.

  The Scotsman developed some of the early laser systems at Glasgow University before taking this knowledge to Caltech in California.

  Glasgow remains the UK hub for the big British contribution to Ligo. Its Institute for Gravitational Research designed and built the suspension system that holds the ultra-still mirrors used in the US and Italian labs.

Monarch chief executive Andrew Swaffield has said he is “absolutely devastated” at the airline’s collapse.

Mr Swaffield said the decision not to continue trading was made on Saturday night after estimating that losses for 2018 would be “well over £100m”.

He told the BBC’s Today programme that Monday was a “heartbreaking day”.

Meanwhile, the first stage of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) rescue scheme led to nearly 12,000 people being brought back to the UK on Monday.

A similar number of people are due to return to the UK on Tuesday.

Monarch Airlines ceased trading early on Monday, leading to nearly 1,900 job losses and the cancellation of all its flights and holidays.

The collapse of the 50-year old company is the largest ever for a UK airline.

‘Great family’

Mr Swaffield blamed the company’s demise on “terrorism and the closure of some markets like Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt,” which led to more competition on routes to Spain and Portugal.

“Flights were being squeezed into a smaller number of destinations and a 25% reduction in ticket prices on our routes created a massive economic challenge for our short-haul network,” he told the BBC.

• What are your rights?
• The rise and fall of Monarch
• ‘Shock and anger’ among passengers
• Four reasons why Monarch failed

He explained that it was impossible for the airline to keep on flying beyond the weekend once the decision to close had been taken.

“The UK insolvency framework doesn’t allow airlines to continue flying unlike in Germany and Italy, where we see that Air Berlin and Alitalia continued when they were in administration.

“We tried to operate a normal schedule all day Sunday so we could be ready for the CAA rescue flights on Monday morning without causing a massive backlog.”

Mr Swaffield said the staff at Monarch had been a “great family” and said every effort was being made to find new employment for the 2,000 people who had lost their jobs.

“We are doing all we can,” he said. “We are talking to our competitor airlines, trying to organise job fairs and trying to connect staff with our competitors.

“We also have hundreds of head office staff in Luton and are trying to organise the same kind of conversations with employers in Luton and Bromley.”

‘Buoyant’

CAA chair Dame Deirdre Hutton told the BBC that their programme to return holidaymakers to the UK had got off to a good start.

“Day one went really well and day two is going well so far but it is a huge undertaking and I’m sure there will be some glitches on the way,” she said.

She added that the programme would run until Sunday 15 October and that if people were not flown into their departure airport, they would be taken there by bus.

Dame Deirdre denied that the collapse of Monarch and cancellation of some winter flights by Ryanair meant that the airline industry was in trouble.

“The industry is very buoyant and during this year passenger numbers have been up, airlines have been doing very well and airports have been reporting record numbers of passengers,” she said.

The government is set to pick up the tab for flying Monarch passengers home, but is talking to credit card companies about sharing some of the cost.

Protesters are blocking major roads in Catalonia and there is little public transport because of a general strike.

Catalan trade unions called the strike to show public anger at Spanish police violence that marred the region’s independence referendum on Sunday.

At least 24 protesters’ roadblocks were reported across Catalonia, causing big traffic jams. Barcelona port was at a standstill, union sources said.

However, the city’s El Prat airport and its taxis are operating normally.

Many small businesses across Catalonia have shut for the day. Schools, universities and medical services are also closed or operating at a minimum level.

Mercabarna – Barcelona’s massive wholesale market – was left deserted as some 770 food businesses closed for the day.

The strike was called in protest at “the grave violation of rights and freedoms” seen during Sunday’s ballot. Almost 900 people were hurt as Spanish police tried to prevent voting, in a referendum declared illegal by the Madrid government.

Some police officers were seen firing rubber bullets, storming into polling stations and pulling women by their hair.

Thirty-three police officers were also injured in Sunday’s clashes, Catalan medical officials said.

However, more than 2.2m people reportedly voted in spite of this. The Catalan government says the vote in support of independence was nearly 90%, but official results have not yet been released.

Turnout was relatively low at a reported 42%, potentially weakening the position of Catalan President Carles Puigdemont.

• Spain’s biggest crisis for a generation
• The reasons for the referendum

On Monday evening the Spain national football team abandoned a training session after fans booed and whistled at defender Gerard Pique, who has strongly backed the Catalan referendum.

Guardia Civil police mingled among the crowd, as some fans waved Spanish flags and anti-Pique placards.

He plays for FC Barcelona, which announced that it had joined the strike. None of the professional teams or the youth teams at FC Barcelona will train tomorrow,” the club said on Monday evening.

Catalan rage: Separatism or populism?

By Europe Editor Katya Adler

It would be wrong to interpret the anger and anguish so palpable in Catalonia right now as an expression of political unity. Catalans are as divided as ever on the question of independence.

What unites them today is a seething fury and resentment at the heavy-handedness of the Spanish government, represented by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, with what Catalans perceive as his Madrid-centric arrogance, brutishness and disregard for the rights of individuals.

This is far less about separatism than populism. Anti-establishment, nationalist sentiment a la Catalana.

Read more from Katya: Why Catalan emotions are running high

Meanwhile, political leaders are trying to find a way forward.

President Puigdemont has said he wants a new understanding with the central government in Madrid, but the Spanish government has warned it could suspend autonomy of the wealthy north-eastern region.

• How Barcelona and Madrid viewed the vote
• The most powerful images of Catalan clashes

Given the chaotic nature of the vote, the turnout and voting figures should be taken with a pinch of salt, says the BBC’s Tom Burridge in Barcelona.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the vote made a “mockery” of democracy.

He held talks with Pedro Sánchez, the leader of the main opposition Socialist party, as well as Albert Rivera, the head of the centrist Ciudadanos party, late on Monday.

While the socialist leader urged Mr Rajoy to hold talks with the Catalan president immediately, Mr Rivera said Spain should invoke article 155 of the constitution, in effect suspending Catalonia’s autonomous powers.

Mr Puigdemont has called on the international community to help mediate between the two sides.

However, the European Commission described the crisis as “an internal matter” for Spain, that has to be dealt with in line with the constitutional order.

The world’s botanic gardens contain about a third of all known plants and help protect 40% of endangered species, a study has found.

Scientists say that with one in five of the world’s plants on the brink of extinction, botanic collections hold the key to saving rare plant life.

In the first detailed study of plants grown in botanical gardens, they recorded more than 100,000 species.

Efforts are needed to target some of our rarest plants, they say.

“This is the first time that we have carried out a global assessment to look at the wide range of plants grown, managed and conserved in botanic gardens,” said Dr Paul Smith, Secretary General of the charity Botanic Gardens Conservation International.

“So, for the first time we know what we have and, perhaps more importantly, what is missing from botanic gardens.”

Tropical plants were under-represented in the inventory of species. Meanwhile, primitive plants such as mosses were fewer in number compared with exotic specimens such as orchids and lilies.

“Botanic gardens maintain in their living collections and seed banks an astonishing array of plant diversity, ” Dr Smith explained.

“We think gardens should be making much more of what they can uniquely grow that no other garden or experts have ever grown before.”

About 500 million people visit botanic gardens each year. As well as being popular visitor attractions, they are a centre of learning and education, and conduct valuable research and conservation work.

The study, published in the journal Nature Plants, identified gaps in the botanic collections of more than 1,000 institutions.

Many botanic gardens are in the Northern Hemisphere, where tropical species are harder to maintain as they need to be grown in heated glasshouses.

Tropical plants are best grown in their country of origin, but there are far fewer facilities in the Southern Hemisphere.

Furthermore, only 10% of global collections are dedicated to threatened species, suggesting botanic gardens could do more to preserve some of the world’s most vulnerable plants.

Dr Samuel Brockington of the University of Cambridge is a curator at the university’s own botanic garden and co-researcher of the study.

He said the global network of botanic gardens was our best hope for saving some of the world’s most endangered plants.

“Currently, an estimated one-fifth of plant diversity is under threat, yet there is no technical reason why any plant species should become extinct,” he said.

“If we do not conserve our plant diversity, humanity will struggle to solve the global challenges of food and fuel security, environmental degradation, and climate change.”