Thursday, July 24, 2014

Panas: Johan As'ari Jawab Isu Bergambar Dengan Anjing

Johan As'ari perjelaskan isu dia dikatakan memegang anjing dan tidak sensitif.

PETALING JAYA: Pelakon Johan As'ari tidak melihat tindakannya mengambil gambar bersama seekor anjing pengesan sebagai satu kesalahan besar sehingga dia wajar dikecam oleh para peminatnya.

Johan, 28, berkata, tindakannya itu hanya semata-mata untuk menghargai haiwan berkenaan yang sama-sama terlibat dalam penggambaran filem terbitan Tangan Seni Sdn. Bhd. iaitu Kanang Anak Langkau: The Iban Warrior yang berakhir baru-baru ini.

"Mungkin ramai yang tidak tahu bahawa anjing pengesan juga berperanan besar dan rakan baik kepada pejuang kita dalam mengesan penjahat atau penceroboh di dalam hutan demi mempertahankan negara kita.

"Ia juga adalah pejuang dan perkara itu yang saya pelajari tentang anjing pengesan ini ketika menjalani penggambaran filem berkenaan," katanya kepada mStar Online

Johan dikecam teruk oleh peminatnya selepas memuat naik gambar berkenaan.
Johan ditemui ketika Majlis Berbuka Puasa Wirefame Bersama Anak Yatim di Kelana Jaya di sini pada malam Sabtu lalu.

Ekoran Johan memuat naik gambar berkenaan di laman sosial Instagram miliknya dia dikatakan tidak sensitif sehingga menimbulkan perbalahan di antara kalangan peminatnya.

Menjelaskan lebih lanjut mengenai perkara itu, Johan berkata, pada dasarnya dia tidak memegang anjing berkenaan biarpun dia mempunyai beberapa adegan bersama binatang itu.

Pun begitu kata Johan, setiap kali selesai penggambaran dia akan samak seluruh badannya bagi memastikan tiada sebarang keraguan timbul dalam dirinya.

"Tiada masalah jika terpegang anjing kerana kita boleh samak seperti mana di ajar dalam Islam.
Johan akan berangkat ke Krabi untuk menjalani penggambaran sebuah drama bersama Liyana Jasmay.
"Bagaimanapun bagi mengelakkan rasa was-was saya akan memastikan setiap kali habis penggambaran bersama anjing pengesan itu saya akan samak seluruh badan saya," katanya.

Sementara itu, Johan berkata, pengalaman berlakon bersama seekor anjing adalah pertama kali buatnya sepanjang bergelar pelakon dan mengakui ia bukan mudah.

"Pada mulanya saya tidak berani untuk berlakon bersama anjing tetapi selepas diberi tunjuk ajar tentang cara mendekati anjing baharulah saya jadi berani," ujarnya.

Dalam perkembangan lain, Johan berkata, pada 1 Ogos depan dia akan berangkat ke Pulau Krabi, Thailand bersama pelakon Liyana Jasmay dan Hisyam Hamid untuk penggambaran drama bersiri Cintaku Di Krabi.
Sumber: Mstar

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

#MH17 Malaysia Airlines Plane Crashes Updated/ 23July2014/1600

Latest


MH17 black boxes head to Farnborough for analysis
AAIB experts will examine chain of events using data from voice and flight recorders belonging to Malaysia Airlines plane




00.00 Thanks for joining us. Follow the latest updates back here tomorrow morning
21.20 The euro fell to its lowest point this year against the dollar amid fear the downing of the jet will further damage EU-Russia relations, APreports.
21.12 French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius let slip his irritation with Britain, pointing out that the British capital was full of "Russian oligarchs",AFP reports.
When asked on French television about the controversy surrounding the contract, Fabius responded with a strong dose of sarcasm.
"The British in particular were very pleasant when they said 'we would never have done that'," he said.
"Dear British friends, let's also talk about finance. I was led to believe that there were quite a few Russian oligarchs in London."
Asked by the interviewer whether he was inviting the British to put their own house in order before making comments, Fabius said, "Exactly."
21.00 Representatives to the U.N. civil aviation body are considering whether the agency should expand its role and issue safety advisories after a Malaysian airliner was shot down last week, two sources toldReuters.
QuoteBut the sources said there was no guarantee the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) would decide to take on more responsibility.
ICAO, composed of 191 signatory states, as well as global industry and aviation organizations, has a limited role. It cannot open or close air routes and does not warn airlines to avoid regions because of conflict.
Some in the aviation industry now want ICAO to do more after Malaysian Airlines flight MH-17 was downed by a missile over eastern Ukraine last week, killing 298 people. Malaysia has said it was flying an ICAO-approved route, a misreading of the agency's role.
No one global body has overall responsibility for keeping the skies safe for civil aviation.
20.43 Harriet Alexander reports that there will be an 11am (local time) departure ceremony at Kharkiv.
 At 4pm in Netherlands (3pm London) there will be a ceremony to mark the first plane touching down in Eindhoven. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima will be there, as well as Dutch PM Mark Rutte and many from cabinet.
There will be a one minute silence for the arrival and after bells will ring out across country. It's a national day of mourning - first since death of Queen Wilhemina in 1962.
Bodies will then travel by road the 100km to Hilversum.
20.19 The delivery of French Mistral-class warships to Russia would be "completely inappropriate" given the West's misgivings about Moscow's role in Ukraine, the United States said, AFP reports.
Quote"We don't think anyone should be providing arms to Russia," deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters, adding US officials had voiced their concern over the deal in recent days to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
In the wake of the downing of a Malaysian airliner last week, blamed by the United States on a Russian missile system which it says was given to Ukrainian pro-Moscow separatists, EU foreign ministers agreed on Tuesday to strengthen sanctions against Russia.
But they remained divided as to how far to go, with British-led calls for an arms embargo putting France on the spot.
Paris has a deal worth 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion) to supply Russia with two Mistral warships.
French President Francois Hollande on Monday said the agreement was still in place, but added that delivery of the second Mistral ship would "depend on Russia's attitude."
20.04 The real work will only start once the bodies have been transported from Eindhoven to a military base in the town of Hilversum, near Amsterdam, reports Reuters.
QuoteThere, forensic examiners will compare the remains with material gathered from family members.
"Since last Saturday, for three days already, we have 80 family detectives on the way to the relatives, who collect all the information about the missing people," said Ed Krasziewski, a spokesman for the national forensic investigation team.
That information includes personal identifying marks, from tattoos to scars. Detectives have sought out dental records, fingerprints and DNA material where it is available, and assembled it all into a so-called ante-mortem file that is available to compare with the remains stored in Hilversum.
"There are many victims," Krasziewski said. "We don't know the state of the victims; we have to look at what they bring us tomorrow, and then we will see."
19.47 The United States will release intelligence backing its assertion the Malaysian airliner that crashed in Ukraine was brought down by a missile fired from the separatist-controlled area, the State Department toldReuters.
Spokesman Marie Harf told reporters the intelligence community would later in the day "be further declassifying information and will be putting out additional information that supports what we have said."
Harf repeated the U.S. belief that the plane, with nearly 300 people on board, was shot down by a Russian-made SA-11 ground-to-air missile fired from an area controlled by separatists close to the Russian border in eastern Ukraine.
19.25 The delivery of French Mistral-class warships to Russia would be "completely inappropriate" given the West's misgivings about Moscow's role in Ukraine, the United States said according to AFP.
QuoteWe don't think anyone should be providing arms to Russia," deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters, adding that US officials had voiced their concern over the deal in recent days to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
19.22 Michael Bociurkiw told Reuters all recovery efforts seem to have ended but that at the site his group saw a plastic bag with some human remains left behind while Malaysian experts noticed a strong smell indicating the likely presence of more remains in another spot.
"We've never really seen that intensive combing over the site - people arm in arm going over the fields," Bociurkiw said, adding there was effectively no security at the site and that so far only a small number of international experts visited it.
19.06 According to BuzzFeed, Russia Today, the Kremlin-backed news channel, is to be investigated for violating broadcasting regulations on accuracy and impartiality during its coverage of the MH17 air crash.
Ofcom told the news organisation it was considering whether to investigate the matter further after getting complaints from viewers about RT's tone.
Anna Belkina, head of communications at Russia Today told BuzzFeed: “While we would love to provide the details of our communication with Ofcom and the facts and arguments that RT had presented to the regulator in support of our position, we cannot do so as it would violate the regulator’s rules.
“It is sad that the news media of the US and the UK, which has always prided itself on its commitment to asking hard questions of its own government when it comes to domestic politics, in this particular situation is readily swallowing up the ‘party line’ of the Department of State and the Foreign Office, demanding no proof of their claims."
It comes after Sara Firth resigned from the channel last week in protest against the way the channel covered the crash.
18.57 The twin sister of a British man who was killed in the Malaysia Airlines tragedy on Thursday has said she does not feel bitter towards those who caused his death, Nick Collins reports.
Tracey Withers, 49, said she did not want to become “bitter or twisted” over the loss of her brother Glenn Thomas, a media officer for the World Health Organisation.
She told the BBC she had not been thinking about who was responsible for bringing down flight MH17 over Ukraine, amid the widespread belief it was shot down by a missile.
“I’m trying not to get too involved in how I feel about what they’ve done because I don’t want it to eat me up inside,” she said.
“I just want to grieve and carry on the way my brother would want our family to carry on as he was such a big personality.”
She said her family had stayed positive after the recent loss of her father, and that Mr Thomas would have wanted them to do the same after his death.
However, she added that her brother’s partner was feeling “lost” and that her family would fly to Geneva on Wednesday to support him.
18.54 Kiev has launched a criminal investigation against Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and a shadowy Muscovite millionaire for organising and financing "illegal armed groups" in Ukraine, AFP reports.
QuoteThe investigation comes just over a month after Russia launched an investigation of its own against Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and a billionaire local governor over the killings of civilians and journalists in conflict-torn east Ukraine.
Avakov, who announced the move against the two Russians, said in a statement that Shoigu is suspected of having organised the "illegal armed groups on Ukrainian territory".
Avakov added that insurgents "commanded by Russian citizens, systematically carried out armed attacks against" Ukrainian authorities, "causing loss of life, destruction and other serious consequences."
Russian nationalist Konstantin Malofeev - an enigmatic investment banker with ties to some of the leading rebels fighting in Ukraine - was accused of having financed the pro-Moscow militias.
18.44 Dutch PM Mr Rutte declares Wednesday a national day of mourning, Dutch media is saying, reports Harriet Alexander.
 Tomorrow when the bodies arrive at Eindhoven, those attending will include Dutch King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima, PM Rutte, Deputy PM Asscher, and representatives of countries.
According to Michael van Poppel, MH17 victims are expected to arrive at Eindhoven Airport at around 4 p.m. local time and before their arrival, there will be a nationwide 5-minute bell ringing.
When they arrive, it will be marked by bugle call, followed by a minute of silence.
18.36 OSCE has told Reuters human remains can be still be seen at the crash site as recovery efforts appear halted.
Quote"We observed the presence of smaller body parts at the site," an OSCE spokesman, Michael Bociurkiw, told a briefing in Ukraine's eastern city of Donetsk after his group inspected the site earlier in the day.
"We did not observe any recovery activity in place."
18.34 Alexei Kudrin, a former Russian finance minister and loyal ally of President Vladimir Putin, warned anti-Western rhetoric during the Ukrainian crisis could isolate the nation and derail its modernisation, Reuters reports.
In rare high-level criticism of growing Kremlin conservatism, Kudrin said Moscow should not intervene militarily in the rebellion in eastern Ukraine and expressed dismay that Russians were as once again becoming adversaries of the West.
Kudrin, who repaired state finances after the chaos of the 1990s, told ITAR-TASS news agency that Russia risked taking a dangerous path internationally.
18.32 The president of the former Soviet republic of Lithuania, now an EU member, has accused France of pursuing a policy akin to the 1930s appeasement of Nazi Germany over its decision to go ahead with the delivery of a helicopter carrier to Moscow, Reuters said.
18.29 Turkish Airlines said via Twitter Dnepropetrovsk flights were cancelled until July 24.
source: telegraph.co.uk

Photo: Awal Ashaari dan Scha Al yahya dapat puteri pertama

Pengacara dan pelakon, Scha Al Yahya selamat melahirkan bayi perempuan di Hospital Prince Court, pada jam 5.50 petang semalam, 22 Julai. Suaminya, Awal Ashaari mengesahkan berita tersebut menerusi akauan Instagram miliknya.


Awal bersyukur apabila isteri dan bayinya selamat dilahirkan dengan berat 3.17 kilogram. Berikut merupakan foto dan kapsyen dimuat naik: Menerusi foto itu menunjukan bayinya sedang mengenggam jari Awal seeratnya.




Sumber: Murai


Perasaan Sukar Siti Nurhaliza Jaga Datuk K Dikongsi Dalam Lagu

Siti kongsi perasaan dalam lagu 'Jaga Dia Untukku'.

KUALA LUMPUR: Penyanyi Datuk Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin memberitahu lagu terbaharunya berjudul Jaga Dia Untukku merupakan perkongsian tentang perasaannya melalui waktu-waktu sukar ketika suaminya Datuk Seri Khalid Mohamad Jiwa atau dikenali sebagai Datuk K terlibat dalam kemalangan jalan raya tahun lalu.

Siti, 35, berkata, ia bercerita tentang pelbagai perasaan yang dipendam dan sukar untuk digambarkan ketika kejadian itu yang hanya dirasai oleh dirinya seorang.

"Lagu ini adalah tentang pengalaman setahun lalu ketika suami saya terlibat dengan kemalangan jalan raya, ia berkongsi tentang perasaan hiba, sedih dan berkecamuk ketika itu sehingga saya membuat untuk berhenti menyanyi selama empat bulan bagi menumpukan perhatian sepenuhnya mengaja dia.

"Ketika itu orang ramai tidak tahu apa yang sebenarnya terjadi, jadi saya minta Aubrey Suwito (komposer) dan kakak ipar saya, Rozi yang tahu tentang keadaan itu mencipta sebuah lagu  dan lirik tentang kejadian itu," ujarnya ketika ditemui pada majlis pelancaran album Fragmen, di Hotel Le Maridien, di sini, malam Isnin.

Album yang memuatkan sebanyak sembilan buah lagu itu turut menerima Anugerah Platinum apabila jualan album mencecah 5,000 unit dalam masa seminggu dikeluarkan.
Sementara itu, Siti turut mengakui agak kecewa dan geram apabila masyarakat memberi pelbagai spekulasi terhadap keadaan suaminya selepas kemalangan tersebut.

Bagaimanapun, dia enggan mengambil peduli tentang perkara itu dan menganggap ia sebagai satu cabaran sebagai seorang isteri yang perlu ditempuhinya.

mStar Default Image
Siti Nurhaliza lima dari kiri ketika pelancaran albumnya.

"Memang geramlah bila macam-macam cerita keluar tentang Datuk K ketika itu, tetapi saya sabar dan faham ia adalah kerana mereka tidak tahu keadaan sebenar suami saya.

"Kami tidak benarkan ramai orang datang melawat kerana Datuk K perlukan rehat dan menjalani rawatan fisioterapi setiap hari, mungkin disebabkan itu banyak spekulasi tidak betul timbul," katanya.

Dalam pada itu, Siti berkata, kejadian tersebut mempunyai hikmah tersendiri yang menguji kesabarannya sebagai seorang isteri.

Sementara itu, bercerita tentang album Fragmen ini, Siti berkata ia sarat dengan nilai kasih sayang, semangat dan juga rasa kecintaan dalam perspektif yang lebih meluas.

Tambahnya, dia mahu menerapkan nilai-nilai positif supaya album ini bukan sahaja boleh didengar muzik dan lagunya tetapi turut menghayati lirik-lirik yang ditampilkan.

Fragmen turut memuatkan lagu seperti Aku, Mula dan Akhir, Kau Sangat Bererti, Sanubari, Terbaik Bagimu, Warna Dunia dan Membunuh Benci.
Sumber: Mstar

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

#MH17 Malaysia Airlines Plane Crashes Updated/ 22July2014/2000

Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have now handed over two black boxes recovered from the crash site of the MH17 jet to Malaysian officials. All the latest details here




• Train carrying remains of 282 people arrives in Kharkiv
• Rebels hand over black boxes to Malysian authorities
• 'Truce' called by rebels in 10km around crash site
• David Cameron says tougher sanctions needed against Russia
• Watch: Wreckage offers glimpse into victims' lives

Latest

10.28 Roland Oliphant reports from Donetsk for the Telegraph on the "official" handover of the MH17 black boxes to Malaysian officials, which delayed the movement of victims' corpses from the city up to Kharkiv:
QuoteThe train carrying both the bodies of the victims and the “black box” flight recorders has arrived in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
The departure was delayed by last-minute wrangling over the handover of the black boxes, which had originally been scheduled for 9.00pm local time last night (7.00pm UK time).
After several hours of closed-door negotiations, rebel prime minister Alexander Borodai finally emerged to hand over the flight recorders to Malaysian officials at 1.00am...
It emerged during the handover ceremony that 282 bodies and 87 body parts were on the train. That leaves 16 casualties as yet unaccounted for.
It is not clear what held up the transfer, which appears to have followed intense international diplomacy on Friday.
But the rebels appear to have gone to great lengths to make the hand over as “official” as possible, summoning the international press to the headquarters of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic to witness rebel and Malaysian officials signing protocols to confirm the transaction.
The documents are of great symbolic value to the rebels because they represent the first international agreement the unrecognised “Republic” has ever signed - making it the nearest the breakaway state has ever come to official recognition.
10.18 EU foreign ministers have arrived in Brussels for a meeting in which tougher, sector-level sanctions against Russia over MH17 are expected to be top of the agenda.
On arrival, Germany's foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for tougher sanctions against the Kremlin.
Germany has traditionally been seen as softer on Russia than many of its EU allies due to close energy import and manufacturing export links, but Angela Merkel is believed to have run out of patience with Vladimir Putin in recent days.
10.05 Photographs have emerged appearing to show the arrival of the refrigerated train carriages containing 280 MH17 victims' bodies at Kharkiv.
The victims' corpses arrived at a train station in the Kiev-held industrial hub.
They are due to be airlifted to the Netherlands later today.

The train carrying the remains of the victims of Malaysia Airlines MH17 arrives in Kharkiv (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)
09.45 The French port of Saint-Nazaire is divided over the arrival of Russian sailors for training on the new warships Paris is controversially selling to the Kremlin, reports the New York Times.
09.20 A train carrying the remains of victims of a Malaysian plane downed over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine arrived in the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Ukrainian officials say the remains will be taken to the Netherlands. Almost 300 people were killed when the Malaysian airliner went down on Thursday, most of them were Dutch.
08.48 Tributes have been laid to the victims of MH17 at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport - from which the ill-fated flight departed last Thursday. The Telegraph's Harriet Alexander reports:
 Outside Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, a huge carpet of flowers has been laid in memory of the 298 victims.
Candles flickered among the countless bunches of roses, lilies and sunflowers - a tribute all the more poignant given that the plane crashed in a field of Ukrainian sunflowers.
And as a gesture to the 80 children who lost their lives, many stuffed toys and cartoon cards were among the flowers.
A queue of people lined up silently to sign a book of condolences.
One woman, a KLM air stewardess, had tears pouring down her cheek as she signed the book, and placed her flowers on the pavement. She paused, then stood quickly and went to get her flight.

Outside Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, a huge carpet of flowers has been laid in memory of the 298 victims (HARRIET ALEXANDER/THE TELEGRAPH)
One woman, a KLM air stewardess, had tears pouring down her cheek asshe signed the book, and placed her flowers on the pavement (HARRIET ALEXANDER/THE TELEGRAPH)
08.35 American anger is growing over France's arms deal with the Kremlin, reports Peter Foster, the Telegraph's US Editor.
 The United States is continuing to pile pressure on France to suspend a $1.6bn (£1bn) defence contract with the Russian government amid calls for Europe to adopt meaningful sanctions against Moscow following the downing of Flight MH17.
As EU foreign ministers, including Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, meet in Brussels later today to discuss toughening sanctions, the French refusal to halt the contract to supply two helicopter carriers to the Russian navy has come under particular fire.
The fact that France is still providing training to Russian service personnel was the subject of heated contacts between US and European officials last the weekend, officials said, as months of tension over the project came to a head.
"The Americans are absolutely furious about the French still training the Russians," a Western diplomatic source told The Telegraph in Washington. "The question everyone is asking is, 'at what point does Europe draw the line?'"

Source: telegraph.co.uk

Pengacara Baharu Melodi Tersinggung Dikritik

Sherry ambil kritikan untuk perbaiki diri.

PETALING JAYA: Pengacara Melodi yang baharu iaitu Sherry Alhadad meminta agar penonton tidak terus memberi kritikan negatif selepas dia dan Zulin Aziz terlibat megendalikan rancangan itu bersama Awal Ashaari.

Sherry, 30, berkata, mereka masih lagi mencari keserasian bersama Awal dan berusaha memastikan kehadiran mereka berjaya memenuhi selera penonton.

"Tipulah kalau saya kata tidak kecil hati dengan komen dan kritikan penonton terhadap kami, sehingga saya fikir teruk sangatkah saya mengacara?

"Bagilah kami masa dan peluang untuk memperbaiki diri, ini baru tiga minggu kami bersama dan saya yakin lama kelamaan ia akan lebih baik," ujarnya ketika dihubungimStar Online pada Isnin.
Gandingan baharu Melodi Awal Ashaari (kiri), Sherry (kanan) dan Zulin.
Sherry berkata demikian ketika diminta mengulas tentang kritikan di media sosial tentang gandingan baharu program Melodi bagi menggatikan Zizan Razak iaitu Sherry Al-Hadad dan Zulin Aziz.

Selain itu kedua-dua mereka turut bersama Awal Ashaari yang masih dikekalkan sebagai pengacara berkenaan. Gandingan ini diperkenalkan pada 6 Julai lalu.

Sementara itu, Sherry mengakui gandingan mereka memberi cabaran besar apabila negara digemparkan dengan pemergian Biduanita Datuk Sharifah Aini dan nahas pesawat Malaysian Airlines (MAS) MH17.
Katanya, episod itu memerlukan mereka sentiasa berhati-hati agar tidak terlepas cakap yang boleh menyinggung perasaan mana-mana pihak.

"Dua episod awal ini sangat mencabar apabila berhadapan situasi yang sangat sensitif, kami perlu jaga percakapan dan tidak boleh terlepas lawak yang tidak kena tempat.

"Jadi pada episod MH17 Ahad lalu, kami memang tidak banyak cakap kerana sentiasa fikir apa yang perlu dicakap yang tidak menyentuh perasaan mana-mana pihak sehingga akhirnya tidak terkeluar apa yang hendak dicakap itu.

"Nasib baik Awal banyak pengalaman tentang itu, saya tahu ada yang komen kata kami tidak banyak cakap dan tiada fungsi pada minggu itu," katanya.

Sherry berkata, dia akui seorang pengacara yang baik perlu bersedia untuk berhadapan dengan sebarang situasi sekalipun.

Katanya, biarpun agak kecewa dengan kritikan yang diberikan, namun dia mengambil perkara itu sebagai cara untuk memperbaiki diri.

"Kalau boleh saya tidak mahu baca komen mereka sebab ia beri unsur negatif  tetapi bila fikir balik, saya kena baca juga untuk saya perbaiki diri menjadi lebih baik," katanya.
Sumber: Mstar

Monday, July 21, 2014

#MH17 Malaysia Airlines Plane Crashes Updated/ 21July2014/2000

• PM tells Putin his "cronies" will face severe sanctions
• Another 27 bodies are found
• Victims' bodies loaded onto trains
• Intercepted calls purport to implicate Russia in cover-up
• Malaysia Airlines crash: everything we know so far
• Watch: Wreckage offers glimpse into victims' lives

Latest


11.30 If Moscow is proven to be behind the downing of MH17, how can he be held to account? Charles Crawford, a former British ambassador in several Eastern European missions, discusses that question in a blog for The Telegraph. He writes:
The diplomatic problem is bad, and getting worse by the hour. What if it is established beyond any doubt that officers under Moscow’s command did have a hand in the murder of all those passengers? No one wants to say. But we can be sure that if GRU operatives are implicated in this catastrophe, under Putin’s leadership Moscow will do whatever it takes to deny any responsibility. If victims and their families are denied all human decency while feverish efforts are made to hide evidence of the crime, too bad.
The hardest challenge in diplomacy? Dealing with ruthless leaders who enjoy showing defiance based on a policy of “the worse, the better”.
11.06 An image is being circulated on Twitter which appears to show a rebel removing a ring from a body at the MH17 crash site. Its authenticity has not been confirmed, but it would lend support to previous reports of separatist looting at the scene.
11.01 Our correspondent Roland Oliphant has more from the team of Dutch investigators, who have inspected the makeshift morgue at Torez train station:
The Dutch team leader, Pieter van Vliet, said: "We have looked in the wagons, we have seen the bodies. We can't count them because I would have to walk on the bodies and I think that shows no respect. I just want the train to go to a place where we can do our work, and that's in everyone's interests."
Mr van Vleit said that the team had no complaints about the conditions the bodies were being stored in, which as far as they were able to determine were satisfactory.
"As far as the recovery process is concerned, given the circumstances, it seems quite good," he said, adding that separatists had not hindered their access so far.
He said they hoped to take the bodies to a new site soon but could not confirm where that would be.
10.43 The Malaysian prime minister has abruptly cancelled his planned statement to the nation, due to be made in just a few minutes. It is unclear why at this point, but one government source has told our correspondent Tom Phillips in Kuala Lumpur that it is due to "developments on the ground" in Ukraine. He is now going to appear later tonight, it is believed.
Malaysia is deeply angry at what it perceives as the failure of Putin to allow access to the crash site; it may be that Najib Razak is waiting to see if the Dutch team heading the international investigation are able to reach it today as intended.
"They are pro-Russia, right? So why doesn't Putin just tell them to stop?" the brother-in-law of one victim told The Telegraph this afternoon. "Putin has the power, doesn't he?" There are also suggestions of a protest to be held at the Russian embassy in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.
We'll post more detail on this as we have it.
Ukrainian forces and separatist rebels have agreed a safe zone at the MH17 crash site
10.34 The downing of the Malaysian plane has further unnerved Poland, already rattled by events in its former fellow Soviet state. Our correspondent Matthew Day reports from Warsaw:
The Polish foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, said that Poles “are not, and cannot, feel safe because our neighbour was the victim of aggression”.
Mr Sikorski also called for Nato to adopt a “package of guarantees essential to our security” at its next summit, which is being held in Wales at the beginning of September.
The minister added that if the West had taken a hard line with Russia and shown solidarity with Ukraine “this escalation would not have occurred”.
10.23 We can expect more strong words for Putin at 10.45am (UK time) when the Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, is due to give a statement. The country has been enraged by the downing of MH17, a tragedy which has personally touched the Malaysian leader whose own step-grandmother was a passenger. Our correspondent Tom Phillips in Kuala Lumpur has tweeted this picture of the front page of the Malaysian Star newspaper this morning:
The front page of the Malaysian Star today
10.12 The Dutch investigative team has arrived at Torez train station, where bodies of the MH17 victims are being stored in refrigerated carriages. Our correspondent Roland Oliphant was on the scene. He said the three Dutch observers, who said they represented the "international forensic team" now in Kiev and Kharkiv, have just inspected bodies in the makeshift morgue. As the carriages were opened, a stench immediately filled the air, making it difficult to breathe. While the refrigerators are working, some of the carriages have nevertheless been sitting in baking hot sun.
The observers however said that they believed the conditions the bodies are being stored in to be "of good quality". They declined any further questions, though it is believed they hope to remove the bodies to an as yet undetermined location today in order to identify them. They are now making their way to the MH17 crash site. More to follow.
A pro-Russian rebel guards victims' bodies at Torez train station
10.04 Speaking in Kiev, Arseny Yatsenyuk has also had more strong words for President Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian prime minister said the Russian leader should understand that "it's enough already", criticising Moscow for handing weapons to rebels fighting Kiev's forces in eastern Ukraine.
"I do not expect anything from the Russian government. They supplied weapons, they sent in fighters. Putin should understand that it's enough already. This is not a conflict between Ukraine and Russia. It is an international conflict," he told reporters.
"Russia is on the dark side, on the side of the devil."
09.55 Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, has been speaking to reporters in Kiev, where he has said that his government is willing to hand over coordination of an investigation into the Malaysian airliner crash to international partners but that it is convinced the plane was taken down by "professionals".
"Ukraine is ready to hand over a coordinating role in the investigation into the tragedy to our Western partners. And the Netherlands could head that process," he said.
"At the moment, we have no doubt that the plane was shot down. The reason for it - a missile strike most likely from a BUK-M1 (SA-11 radar guided missile system). It is clear that this system could not be operated by drunk pro-Russian terrorists. There were professional people," he said, referring to Kiev's charge Moscow had a clear role in shooting down the plane.
All bodies of MH17 victims will be transferred to Holland, it was also announced.
09.50 Dutch investigators have arrived at the train station in Torez, where bodies from the MH17 crash site are being stored in refrigerated train carriages. Meanwhile workers at the scene have recovered a further 21 bodies, which were piled in black body bags near the side of the road in Hrabove on Monday morning. It was unclear when they would be transported to Torez.
Ukrainian emergency workers collect bodies from the MH17 crash site
09.45 How much of an impact could further sanctions against Putin's inner circle have? According to Bloomberg, Russia's billionaires are "increasingly frantic" that the Kremlin's actions over Ukraine could prompt punitive measures which would cripple them financially - but no one wants to say so publicly. It quoted one Russian billionaire as saying that what is happening is bad for business and bad for Russia, anonymously of course. Here's an excerpt from the report:
“The economic and business elite is just in horror,” said Igor Bunin, who heads the Center for Political Technology in Moscow. Nobody will speak out because of the implicit threat of retribution, Bunin said by phone yesterday. “Any sign of rebellion and they’ll be brought to their knees.”...
“The threat of sanctions against entire sectors of the economy is now very real and there are serious grounds for business to be afraid,” Mikhail Kasyanov, who served as Russia’s prime minister during Putin’s first term as president, from 2000 to 2004, said by phone from Jurmala, Latvia. “If there will be sanctions against the entire financial sector, the economy will collapse in six months.”
Andrey Kostin, head of state-run lender VTB Group, said last week that the sanctions already in place may tip Russia’s $2 trillion economy into a recession and turn Russia into an outcast of global capitalism.
09.26 As fighting rages in Donetsk and investigators push to reach the MH17 crash site, pressure is building on the diplomatic front for tougher sanctions against Russia. The Chancellor has said this morning that Britain is prepared to take an economic hit from further sanctions against Russia because the costs of not acting would be greater.
George Osborne said no one should doubt Britain's resolve to punish those responsible for Thursday's downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane.
"I would say ... any sanctions will have an economic impact, and we are prepared to undertake further sanctions," Mr Osborne told BBC radio's Today programme.
"But think of the economic hit ... of allowing international borders to be ignored, of allowing airlines to be shot down - that's a much greater economic hit for Britain and we're not prepared to allow that to happen."
Members of Vladimir Putin's inner circle have already been targeted with individual sanctions but critics say these have not gone far enough.
Vladimir Putin
Britain, Germany and France agreed yesterday they should be ready to ratchet up sanctions on Russia when European foreign ministers meet in Brussels tomorrow.
The EU has been under pressure from the United States and Ukraine to take a harder line against Moscow but some EU governments are wary of potential retaliation from Russia, the bloc's biggest energy supplier, if they imposed trade sanctions. Britain, with a huge amount of investment from the Russian oligarchy, could find itself particularly affected.
09.18 Heavy shelling has been reported in the area around the train station in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk. An AFP journalist at the scene says insurgent fighters have closed off the roads in the area and civilians are fleeing the fighting in minibuses and on foot.
09.05 More detail is emerging of an apparent military operation underway the rebel-held city of Donetsk this morning. Fighting is raging near the railway station, and witneses have reported plumes of smoke and loud explosions in the area.
A pro-Russian separatist leader has said Ukrainian forces are trying to break into Donetsk and a Reuters witness saw two rebel tanks heading towards the railway station, driving against a steady flow of people running away.
"Attention! There is fighting in the Krasnoarmeiskoye highway, roads Marshal Zhukov, Stratonavtov-Artyomovskaya (streets). In the square ... there is also fighting," the Donetsk city council said in a statement.
"We ask residents living in this square not to go out and not to leave their homes and apartments."
President Petro Poroshenko has vowed to retake Donetsk, the heart of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, from Kremlin-backed separatists
A spokesman for Ukraine's military operations in eastern Ukraine said the operation was in an "active phase" but could not comment on reports of troops entering Donetsk because he did not want to give away the Ukrainian strategy.
09.00 The Telegraph's Defence Correspondent Ben Farmer is in Donetsk, where Dutch investigators have been speaking ahead of their mission to retrieve the bodies of the dead from the makeshift morgue at Torez station. He reports:
Dutch forensic investigators have arrived in eastern Ukraine after the MH17 air crash and said their priority was to move a train packed with bodies to a place where they can be identified.
The three man team said they were heading to Torez station where scores of bodies retrieved from the crash scene have been packed into refrigerated wagons by separatist rebels.
The Dutch team arrived in Donetsk as separatists holding the eastern city said Ukrainian forces were using tanks and armoured personnel carriers to try to break in and fighting was underway near the railway station.
The arrival of the first international crash investigators nearly four days after the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 airliner was shot down came amid concerns from relatives of the 298 dead that the bodies are being used as a bargaining chip.
Peter van Vliet, team leader, said: “We are going to Torez to look at the train.We hope to achieve that the train can leave today to a location where identification can take place. I don’t know where. That is on a government level.”
Mr van Vliet said British investigators were also on their way, along with a Malaysian team, but they were still 400 miles away in Kiev.
Authorities in the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic have said the bodies will remain in the train until international experts arrive.
Alexander Borodai, prime minister of the breakaway republic, says his men believe they have also recovered black box recorders from the crash scene and they would only hand over the flight data boxes to the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Reports the scene has been left open to looting and the clear up has been chaotic have caused anger among nations who have lost citizens.
Australia's prime minister said he was deeply concerned the Russian-backed rebels remained in control of the crash site, saying the scene looked more like a "garden clean-up" than a forensic investigation.
Source: telegraph

Sunday, July 20, 2014

#MH17 Malaysia Airlines Plane Crashes Updated/ 20July2014/1200

• Kerry and Lavrov agree to work to stop fighting
• Final two unidentified UK victims names released
• Russia accuses US of 'geopolitical frenzy'
• Ukraine says 'compelling evidence' Russians fired missile
• Ukraine government accuses rebels of removing bodies
• Watch: Wreckage offers glimpse into victims' lives

Latest

00.25 More strong words from our Prime Minister.
Mr Cameron demanded immediate access to the crash site, with the crime scene preserved and the remains of victims treated with "proper dignity and respect".
Moscow must also stop supplying and training the rebels, he added.
If Russia did not "use this moment to find a path out of this festering, dangerous crisis" then "we must respond robustly", Mr Cameron said.
23.44 Mr Fallon added:
QuoteThere is plenty of evidence that financial sanctions are already affecting the Russian economy and the ability of their bodies to trade through London.
There's a range of other sanctions available, cutting off more links with Russia. He (Putin) needs to trade with the West and relies on the City of London.
Mr Fallon indicated that further assistance could be offered to Nato members in future:
QuoteI don't think we are at the start of World War Three, but Nato has to respond. It is clearly a threat to Nato's eastern flank and that's why we must offer as much reassurance as we can, particularly to the Baltic states - that is why we have had four Typhoons there since May.
23.30 There were even stronger words from Defence Secretary Michael Fallon who warned Vladimir Putin to "get out of east Ukraine" as diplomatic relations with Russia became increasingly strained. Mr Fallon, who took over at the Ministry of Defence in David Cameron's recent reshuffle, accused Russia of "sponsored terrorism" over its support for pro-Moscow separatists. He told the Mail on Sunday:
QuoteWe have to make it very clear if there is any more interference like this - and it turns out he was behind it - there will be repercussions. He has to be clear the West will act.
If Russia is the principal culprit, we can take further action against them and make it clear this kind of sponsored war is completely unacceptable.
It is sponsored terrorism as far as people of east Ukraine are concerned. We don't know if somebody said, 'let's bring down a civil airliner, wherever it's from', - but we need to find out.
They need to get out of east Ukraine and leave Ukraine to the Ukrainians
22.36 David Cameron says that if it were proven Ukrainian separatists were behind the downing of the plane, Russia would be to blame for having destabilised the country, and raised the prospect of further sanctions. Writing in The Sunday Times Mr Cameron said:
QuoteWe must establish the full facts of what happened. But the growing weight of evidence points to a clear conclusion: that MH17 was blown out of the sky by a surface-to-air missile fired from a rebel-held area.
If this is the case then we must be clear what it means: this is a direct result of Russia destabilising a sovereign state, violating its territorial integrity, backing thuggish militias and training and arming them.
For too long there has been a reluctance on the part of too many European countries to face up to the implications of what is happening in eastern Ukraine.
It is time to make our power, influence and resources count. Our economies are strong and growing in strength. And yet we sometimes behave as if we need Russia more than Russia needs us.
22.37 Read a full account of today's events by The Telegraph's Robert Mendick.
22.02 More on John Kerry's phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. According to the US State Department Mr Kerry told Mr Lavrov he was "very concerned" over reports that the remains of victims and debris from the site of Thursday's crash have been removed or tampered with. The US account of the phone call differs somehwat from one provided earlier by the Russians. Here's Reuters:
QuoteKerry told Lavrov the United States is "very concerned" over reports that the remains of victims and debris from the site of Thursday's crash have been removed or tampered with, the US State department said in a statement.
Kerry said Washington was also concerned over denial of "proper access" to the crash site in eastern Ukraine for international investigators and monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the statement said.
In an earlier account of the phone call, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov and Kerry had agreed that all evidence from the downed plane, including flight recorders, should be made available for international investigation and that experts should be given access to work on the site.
"They agreed on the main - it is necessary to ensure an absolutely unbiased, independent and open international investigation of the Malaysian airliner crash in eastern Ukraine on July 17," the ministry said.
21.38 As the crisis unfolds President Barack Obama is handling events from Camp David, having foregone his usual weekend round of golf at a course on a Washington DC military base. He boarded Marine One on Friday afternoon and headed 60 miles north to the heavily guarded presidential retreat int he Catoctin mountains. It is the first time he has been to Camp David in nearly a year. Earlier in his presidency he used the base much more frequently, 32 times in all. The White House said Mr Obama would be joined at Camp David by his Kerry told Lavrov the United States is "very concerned" over reports that the remains of victims and debris from the site of Thursday's crash have been removed or tampered with, the US State department said in a statement.
Kerry said Washington was also concerned over denial of "proper access" to the crash site in eastern Ukraine for international investigators and monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the statement said.
In an earlier account of the phone call, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov and Kerry had agreed that all evidence from the downed plane, including flight recorders, should be made available for international investigation and that experts should be given access to work on the site.
"They agreed on the main - it is necessary to ensure an absolutely unbiased, independent and open international investigation of the Malaysian airliner crash in eastern Ukraine on July 17," the ministry said.family in what was a pre-arranged getaway. He was joined on Marine One by his National Security Council chief of staff Brian McKeon. Mr Obama will return to the White House on Sunday.
21.22 In its response to US sanctions imposed earlier this week the Russian government has announced it is banning a dozen Americans from ever entering Russia. They include the Guantanamo Bay commander Rear Admiral Richard Butler and Lynndie England, the former soldier convicted of abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib. The others on the list were also in some way connected to either Guantanamo Bay or Abu Ghraib. They included Gladys Kessler, a judge who rejected a hunger striking Guantanamo inmate's complaint that he was being force-fed, and Jim Moran, a Democrat congressman from Virginia.
20.53 More from Kirit Radia of ABC News near the scene. There's a tank in his rear view mirror.
20.44 In the US there have been tributes to the sole American victim on the flight, Quinn Lucas Schansman, 19, a student with joint Dutch-American citizenship, who was on his way to a holiday in Bali. His grandfather Ronald Schansman, speaking in New Jersey, told NBC News:
QuoteYou go through all the phases of mourning. Of course it's anger. It didn't need to happen. A senseless thing to do. We want to know why.
20.23 ABC News Moscow correspondent Kirit Radia says:
QuoteOSCE on their visit to MH17 crash site today: "Some of the 'Donetsk People's Republic's' guards were visibly intoxicated and aggressive."
20.04 A British charity is looking after a disabled child who is thought to have lost family members in the disaster, The Press Association reports.
The Percy Hedley Foundation, based in Tyneside, is a regional education and care charity working with disabled children and adults.
A spokesman for the foundation said: "We are caring for a disabled child whose family we believe were affected by the tragedy in Ukraine and we ask that people respect the child's privacy."
The foundation did not give details such as the child's nationality or age in order to protect their identity.
19.50 Former Kremlin adviser Alexander Nekrassov, in an opinon piece for CNN, says the downing of the plane felt to some like a "Franz Ferdinand moment," referring to the eve of the First World War:
QuoteDid you have a Franz Ferdinand moment when you first heard about Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crashing in eastern Ukraine?
I am talking about the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination 100 years ago sparked World War I.
The reaction from some politicians and hacks suggested they were having such a moment, after the MH17 crash - hinting that the world would never be the same.
Maybe, just maybe, all the key players will now make a serious effort to try to stop the bloodshed there. And the Franz Ferdinand moment will just be a moment and nothing else.
19.26 Over two days since the plane was downed, we still don't know exactly by who, how or why.
Mark Thompson, writing in Time magazine, has been exploring some possible theories.
He says:
QuoteA pair of Russian batteries was just across the border. But it’s highly unlikely that a Russian unit went rogue.
There are plenty of military veterans in the region capable of operating the Buk system, U.S. officials believe, although the shoot down may have exposed just how little they really understood.
He explains why this could be. And his possible conclusion is:
QuoteThe crew of three or four may have been unable to, or never trained in, reviewing the airliner’s transponder data declaring their target to be a civilian airliner.
19.10 Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, forensic teams are collecting material that will help positively identify the remains of victims.
Associated Press has this report:
Families and friends of the dead huddled to console one another at churches, schools and sports clubs across the nation.
Altius, a small soccer club on the edge of the central city of Hilversum, was typical of scenes that played out across the Netherlands.
A couple of dozen members held a small ceremony at Altius' clubhouse to remember a family of four killed in the crash, as the team's flag fluttered at half-staff in the warm afternoon breeze.
Charles Smallenburg was a long-time volunteer at the club, his young son Werther a promising striker in the D1 youth team, club chairman Tom Verdam told The Associated Press after the brief get-together. Charles' wife Therese and daughter Carlijn also died, the club said.
As Hilversum's mayor walked away and families unlocked their bicycles behind him and cycled homeward, Verdam said the commemoration was simple, but emotional.
"We had a moment that we could each share emotions and talk about it," he said. "It's a small club, so everyone knows everyone"
The same could almost be said for this nation of 17 million people.
18.46 International monitors are now saying they have been allowed to visit more of the crash site - though gunmen still stopped them approaching some of the wreckage.
In sometimes tense scenes with pro-Russian rebels clearly uncomfortable at having observers and the press present, a top official at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said access had improved since they arrived on Friday.
Securing the site and preserving evidence is crucial for investigators to try to piece together what, and who, caused the airliner to plunge into the steppe, but some officials suggest the scene has been compromised just two days on.
Alexander Hug, deputy chief monitor of the OSCE special monitoring mission to Ukraine said:
QuoteWe have now had the possibility to see a bit more of this rather large scene. We have observed the situation here as it was presented to us.
We also had the possibility to speak to those who are in charge here, and to speak to inhabitants of a local village.
He told reporters:
QuoteAs in any job, the cooperation improves over time. We had better access today.

Alexander Hug, (2R) Deputy Chief Monitor of the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe's (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine and members of his team wait to visit the site of the crash of Malaysian airliner MH17
18.32 Our reporter Tom Brooks-Pollock has been speaking to the family of Glenn Thomas - one of the British victims.
Mr Thomas, seen below, worked for the World Health Organisation.
He writes:
QuoteThe twin sister of the World Health Organisation worker who died in the Ukraine plane crash has revealed that he was wearing their late mother's gold wedding ring when the aircraft went down.
Tracey Withers, 49, sister of Glenn Thomas, spoke of her sadness at the idea that rebels could have looted the ring from the crash site.
The ring was given by her late mother, June Thomas, to Glenn before Mrs Thomas died from cancer at the age of 53 in 1987. Glenn had worn the family heirloom on his finger ever since.
Amid reports that pro-Russian rebels are removing the bodies of the dead, Mrs Withers said: "It does make me feel sad. It's a family heirloom that means so much to the family and it would mean so much to get it back."
Asked about the possibility that the gold ring, which Glenn wore on his little finger, had been looted, saying: "I try not to think about that."
18.20 Rutte's comments were in response to early reports today of bodies being mishandled.
But these latest photos appear to show official, trained teams at work.
- but then again, look at the two characters standing behind the men in official civilian uniforms...
18.13 This is the quote from Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister.
He is talking about reports that some of the bodies were being removed unlawfully from the site, or being looted.
It means: "Shocked by images of totally disrespectful behavior, downright disgusting. Absolutely urgent now is the rapid repatriation of victims."
18.01 The New York Times has just published on its website an amazing read about the diplomactic wrangling before, during and after the crash.
OpinionFrom the start, the telephone call did not go well. Dispensing with pleasantries, President Vladimir V. Putin launched into an edgy and long-winded complaint about the new American sanctions imposed on Russia the day before.
President Obama, on the phone from the Oval Office on Thursday morning, responded that Russia was arming rebels in Ukraine — citing among other things the antiaircraft weapons that the United States believed they had been sent. “This is not something we’re making up,” Mr. Obama said, according to an American official.
Then more than halfway through the tense, hourlong call, Mr. Putin noted, almost in passing, that he had received a report of an aircraft going down in Ukraine.
Mr. Putin was vague about the details and the conversation moved on.
But in that instant, the months-long proxy war between East and West took a devastating turn, one that would shift the ground geopolitically amid the charred wreckage and broken bodies in a Ukrainian wheat field.
You can read the full version here.
17.50 The family of football fan John Alder, who was killed in the MH17 crash, have thanked well-wishers for their kindness in the aftermath of the tragedy.
The 63-year-old from Gateshead was travelling with Liam Sweeney, 28, to watch Newcastle United play in New Zealand.
The family, who live in the County Durham area, have been helped by family liaison officers from Durham Police.
In a statement issued by the force, they said:
QuoteWe would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and wishes and incredibly generous gestures, particularly those who have been able to share personal memories of John.
We are struggling to comprehend what has happened but we are touched and moved by your kind words, acts and the knowledge that so many people saw John for who he was: a kind, courteous man who was much loved as a son, brother, uncle and fan.
Newcastle United was his life and we are proud of his dedication to the team.
Our thoughts are with Liam's family and the families of the other passengers at this terrible time.

Liam Sweeney, 28, travelling to watch Newcastle United on tour, left; John Alder, 60, had missed only one Newcastle United match since 1973
17.45
17.33 More on the Dutch-Russian leaders' conversation:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has one last chance to show he is serious about helping rescuers recover the bodies of the victims of the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, the Dutch prime minister said on Saturday.
Minutes after what he described as a "very intense" conversation with the Russian leader, Mark Rutte said:
QuoteHe has one last chance to show he means to help.
He added that the leaders of Germany, Britain and Australia shared his view.
And referring to allegations that bodies of the passengers, including 193 of his countrymen, were being dragged about and allowed to rot at the scene, he said:
QuoteI was shocked at the pictures of utterly disrespectful behaviour at this tragic spot.
17.30 Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, has had a "very intense" conversation with Putin this afternoon.
17.24 REUTERS - UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT SAYS THOSE CONNECTED TO DOWNING OF MALAYSIAN AIRLINER SHOULD NOT TAKE PART IN TALKS ON CONFLICT IN EASTERN UKRAINE - PRESIDENTIAL WEBSITE
17.19 Is this the photo of the missile being shot into the sky?
Our Moscow correspondent, Tom Parfitt, has spotted this photograph just posted on the Ukrainian security service website.
The website claims:
QuoteA photo was released taken at the moment of a missile launch near Torez towards the village of Snizhne.
It distinctly depicts contrail of the missile that shot down the Boeing 777 with civilians aboard. Vitalii Naida [Ukraine's head of security] emphasized that the Service had identified a launch point in the district controlled by terrorists and Russian military.
17.00 More from Garry Kasparov's piece on Putin and Ukraine. Bear in mind that he is unashamedly and vehemently anti-Putin.
QuoteBut blaming Putin for invading Ukraine — for annexing Crimea, for giving advanced surface-to-air missiles to separatists — is like blaming the proverbial scorpion for stinging the frog. It is expected. It is his nature.
Instead of worrying about how to change the scorpion’s nature or, even worse, how best to appease it, we must focus on how the civilized world can contain the dangerous creature before more innocents die.
16.50 Emerging now that David Cameron has spoken this afternoon to Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister.
Britain and the Netherlands agreed that the European Union will have to re-evaluate its approach to Russia due to evidence that Ukrainian separatists downed a Malaysian aircraft.
Cameron and his Dutch counterpart discussed the matter over the phone on Saturday afternoon, the office of the British Prime Minister said in a statement.
QuoteThe PM and PM Rutte agreed that the EU will need to reconsider its approach to Russia in light of evidence that pro-Russian separatists brought down the plane.
Earlier, Britain's Foreign Secretary said Russia must use its influence over Ukrainian separatists to improve access to the site of the downed Malaysian aircraft, and that it had called in the country's ambassador over the disaster.
16.44 We're getting more details of the Kerry-Lavrov conversation.
(Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry agreed on Saturday that both countries will use their influence on the two sides of the Ukraine conflict to end hostilities, Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The parties also agreed that all evidence from the downed Malaysian airplane, including flight recorders, should be made available for international investigation and that experts should be given access to work on the site.
"It was stressed that the conflict in Ukraine has no military solution and can only be resolved peacefully through the elaboration of a national consensus," the ministry said of the telephone call between Kerry and Lavrov.
16.40 Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations - a US-based think tank - has the following observation:
16.31 Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion who has since become a Russian presidential candidate and outspoken Putin critic, has warned about the dangers of inaction over the crash.
Writing in Time magazine, he says:
OpinionBased on the day’s official statements and most news coverage the word “blame” is somehow forbidden and I do not understand why. Establishing responsibility and exacting accountability for these murders is more important than fretting about reaching the right tone of restraint in a press release.
Blaming Putin for these deaths is as correct and as pointless as blaming the man who pressed the button that launched the missile. Everyone has known for months that Russia arms and supports the separatists in Ukraine. Everyone has known for years that a mouse does not squeak in the Kremlin without first getting Putin’s permission. We also know very well what Putin is, a revanchist KGB thug trying to build a poor man’s USSR to replace the loss of the original he mourns so much.
Source: telegraph.co.uk