Saturday, July 19, 2014

MAS : Kemalangan Kapalterbang Boeing 777 MH 17 di Ukraine

Kemalangan berlaku pada 17 Julai 2014 bagi Kapalterbang Boeing 777 MH 17 setelah 133 hari berlaku kehilangan MH 370 yang belum di temui sehingga kini.

Connecting The Dots - Zionists & 911 : Zionists & MH 370 


Setelah 4 bulan berlalu dengan kejadian MH 370.

Firman Allah maksudnya :

Oleh itu hendaklah kamu (hai kaum musyrik) bergerak di muka bumi (dengan bebasnya) selama empat bulan, dan ketahuilah bahawa kamu tidak terlepas dari (azab seksa) Allah. Dan (ingatlah) sesungguhnya Allah akan menghina orang-orang yang kafir (dengan bala bencana di dunia dan azab seksa di akhirat).

(Surah 9 : 2 )

Berlaku kemalangan kapalterbang MH 17 pada 17 Julai 2014 bersamaan dengan 19 Ramadhan 1435 adalah telah di atur oleh Allah Yang Maha Mengatur dan Maha Berkuasa.

Peristiwa yang telah berlaku itu, ada yang tersurat dan tersirat untuk kita jadikan satu pengajaran di mana untuk kita setiap detik dan saat menghubungkan hati ini dengan Allah dan Rasul.

Hati sebagai raja mempunyai bala tenteranya yang tersendiri bagi menggerakkan kehidupan manusia. Tentera-tentera hati ini terbahagi kepada dua iaitu pasukan lahiriah dan batin. Pasukan lahiriah ialah semua anggota zahir manusia manakala pasukan batin merangkumi pancaindera seperti syahwat dan amarah yang merupakan motif atau penggerak-penggerak serta deria lain yang dapat memberi persepsi seperti pendengaran, penglihatan, sentuhan dan sebagainya.

Di samping itu, hati manusia mempunyai hubungan yang rapat dengan alam ghaib dan melaluinya manusia dapat menerima maklumat-maklumat berhubung dengan alam ghaib dan diberi ilham atau intuisi tertentu. Di sini hati ibarat sebuah cermin yang cerah dan bersih, yang dapat memberi ilham kepada manusia tentang hakikat diri dan Allah s.w.t.

Sebagai kesimpulan, hati merupakan elemen yang mempunyai peranan yang besar dalam kehidupan manusia. Hatilah yang banyak mempengaruhi tingkahlaku dan melalui hati, manusia mampu mendekati Allah s.w.t berdasarkan penggerak-penggerak hati sehingga dapat mengetahui urusan dunia dan akhirat. Maka mereka yang memiliki mata hati nurani ini, atau erti yang lain telah berjaya mensucikan hatinya maka mereka adalah orang roh yang berjaya menjadikan Tuhan adalah segala-galanya.

ORANG ROH MENJADIKAN TUHAN SEGALA-GALANYA.

Surah At-Takwiir


[1]
Apabila matahari dilingkari cahayanya (dan hilang lenyap);
[2]
Dan apabila bintang-bintang gugur berselerak;
[3]
Dan apabila gunung-ganang di terbangkan ke angkasa (setelah dihancurkan menjadi debu);
[4]
Dan apabila unta-unta yang bunting terbiar;
[5]
Dan apabila binatang-binatang liar dihimpunkan;
[6]
Dan apabila lautan meluap-luap bercampur-baur;
[7]
Dan apabila tiap-tiap diri disatukan dengan pasangannya;
[8]
Dan apabila anak perempuan yang ditanam hidup-hidup: ditanya, -
[9]
Dengan dosa apakah ia dibunuh?
[10]
Dan apabila surat-surat amal dibentangkan;
[11]
Dan apabila langit ditanggalkan dari tempatnya;
[12]
Dan apabila neraka dinyalakan menjulang;
[13]
Dan apabila Syurga didekatkan;
[14]
(Setelah semuanya itu berlaku), tiap-tiap orang akan mengetahui tentang amal yang telah dibawanya.
[15]
Oleh itu, Aku bersumpah dengan bintang-bintang yang tenggelam timbul;
[16]
Yang beredar, juga yang tetap pada tempatnya;
[17]
Dan malam, apabila ia hampir habis,
[18]
Dan siang, apabila ia mulai terang;
[19]
Sebenarnya Al-Quran itu, sungguh-sungguh Kalamullah (yang disampaikan oleh Jibril) Utusan yang mulia,
[20]
Yang kuat gagah, lagi berkedudukan tinggi di sisi Allah yang mempunyai Arasy,
[21]
Yang ditaati di sana (dalam kalangan malaikat), lagi dipercayai.
[22]
Dan sebenarnya sahabat kamu (Nabi Muhammad) itu (wahai golongan yang menentang Islam), bukanlah ia seorang gila (seperti yang kamu tuduh);
[23]
Dan (Nabi Muhammad yakin bahawa yang disampaikan kepadanya ialah wahyu dari Tuhan, kerana) demi sesungguhnya! Nabi Muhammad telah mengenal dan melihat Jibril di kaki langit yang nyata.
[24]
Dan bukanlah Nabi Muhammad seorang yang boleh dituduh dan disangka buruk, terhadap penyampaiannya mengenai perkara-perkara yang ghaib.
[25]
Dan sebenarnya Al-Quran itu bukanlah perkataan Syaitan yang kena rejam.
[26]
(Dengan yang demikian) maka ke manakah kamu hendak pergi (kiranya kamu masih menyeleweng dari jalan Al-Quran)?
[27]
Al-Quran itu tidak lain hanyalah peringatan bagi seluruh penduduk alam:
[28]
Iaitu bagi sesiapa dari kamu yang mahu tetap teguh di atas jalan (Islam) yang betul.
[29]
Dan kamu tidak dapat menentukan kemahuan kamu (mengenai sesuatupun), kecuali dengan cara yang diatur oleh Allah,  yang memelihara dan mentadbirkan seluruh alam.
TIBA MASANYA ISLAM AKAN MENANG DAN TAK AKAN KALAH-KALAH LAGI.

Firman Allah maksudnya :
Ia menurunkan air (hujan) dari langit, lalu membanjiri tanah-tanah lembah (dengan airnya) menurut kadarnya yang ditetapkan Tuhan untuk faedah makhlukNya, kemudian banjir itu membawa buih yang terapung-apung. Dan dari benda-benda yang dibakar di dalam api untuk dijadikan barang perhiasan atau perkakas yang diperlukan, juga timbul buih seperti itu. Demikianlah Allah memberi misal perbandingan tentang perkara yang benar dan yang salah. Adapun buih itu maka akan hilang lenyaplah ia hanyut terbuang, manakala benda-benda yang berfaedah kepada manusia maka ia tetap tinggal di bumi. Demikianlah Allah menerangkan misal-misal perbandingan.

(Surah 13 :17)

 Kisah MH 370 bagaimana seluruh dunia bersatu untuk mencari kehilangan pesawat sehingga ke lautan Hindi.

Kisah MH 17 bagaimana seluruh dunia saksikan bagaimana api yang menjulang membakar pesawat dan mengorbankan semua penumpang yang terlibat.

Segala perancangan manusia yang terlibat dalam kejadian ke dua-dua pesawat tersebut dalam pengetahuan Allah.  Allah Maha Bijaksana dan Maha Berkuasa.  Kini seluruh penduduk di dunia saaksikan peristiwa yang mana begitu menyentuh hati dan Allah Maha Berkuasa menundukkan segala makhluk-makhlukNya termasuk bayang-bayang.  

Rangkaian yang telah dibentuk sedunia oleh iblis dan zionist begitu rapuh sekali seumpama sarang labah-labah yang akan berterbangan bila di tiup angin.   

 Ledakan terhebat teknologi IT kini, membuatkan berita-berita sedunia begitu pantas dan cepat, maka akhirnya kebenaran dapat di ketahui oleh semua.  Tangan-tangan Ghaib yang bersekongkol dengan iblis kini yang memerintah dunia melalui agenda New World Order akhirnya kini sudah menjadi haru-biru dan bila kebenaran datang maka kebatilan akan jatuh dan musnah.



BERIKUT ADALAH ISU-ISU PENTING UNTUK RENUNGAN :





Rentetan Peristiwa Kemalangan MH 17

Today's best video


Welcome to our continuing coverage of the aftermath of the apparent shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines plane with 298 people on board. 
Here's a roundup of the latest developments:
  • World governments have responded with shock, sadness and anger at the incident. The United Nations security council has scheduled a meeting for Friday morning.
  • Australian prime minister Tony Abbott said it appeared the plane was shot down by Russian-backed rebels and joined world leaders in demanding a multinational impartial investigation.He said Australia would vote for a UN security council resolution enabling an inquiry.
  • Russian president Vladimir Putin has reportedly ordered Russian military and civilian agencies to co-operate with any investigation, but he also said Ukraine has to take responsibility for the incident. Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko is negotiating with pro-Russian separatists who control the area around the crash site to establish a humanitarian corridor.
  • Air safety experts have criticised Malaysia Airlines for flying over Ukraine airspace but the company maintains that the flight path was deemed safe to travel by civil aviation authorities.
Britain's prime minister David Cameron is set to chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee Cobra in response to the crash, Sky News reports.
Live coverage of the aftermath of the crash will continue here. You can see how events unfolded overnight and in the immediate aftermath of the crash here. 
According to the post, the first response of the Russian ambassador when summoned by the Australian foreign minister was to blame Ukraine for the plane disaster, which was "deeply, deeply unsatisfactory", according to the Australian prime minister.
Ukraine's ambassador to Nato, Ihor Dolhov said intercepted phone calls between separatists and Moscow confirmed that separatists were responsible for bringing down the plane.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he insisted that Russian separatists do not have access to Ukrainian missile launchers, and confirmed that Ukraine believes the plane was downed with a Russian weapon.
He said Ukrainian rescue workers had recovered the bodies of 121 victims of the crash. But he added that the crash site is controlled by “armed illegal groups”. He said: “We will try to secure access to the ground.”






Updated 
Malaysia Airlines has designated a specific "family friend and reception centre" at Kuala Lumpur International Airport for the relatives and friends of passengers killed in crash, writes Kate Hodal at the airport.
A bevy of foreign and local journalists crowded around Indonesia's counsellor for consular affairs Dino Nurwahyudin, who was sharing what information he had about the 12 Indonesians, including one infant, reportedly on board MH17 when it crashed near Donetsk.
"Our foreign ministry are still trying to confirm that they were on the flight," he said.
A press conference with fuller details regarding the crash is expected at 4pm Kuala Lumpur time.
When pressed what kind of impact the crash might have on Indonesian-Russian relations, Dino refused to comment, and added: "We are still focused on identifying the passengers.... Our leader [President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] has already had contact with all the concerned leaders regarding this accident."
Susilo – or SBY as he is better known – told reporters earlier Friday that he demanded a full investigation into the crash and said: "If it is true that the civilian aircraft fell because it was shot by a military weapon, that is a violation of international law, and the laws of war."
He added that he had advised all Indonesian airlines to refrain from flying over both the Ukraine and Gaza Strip in light of Thursday's tragedy.






A man whose family was onboard Malaysia Airlines MH17, consoles another man who had just arrived with his wife to receive confirmation that their daughter's family was onboard the plane, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
A man whose family was onboard Malaysia Airlines MH17, consoles another man who had just arrived with his wife to receive confirmation that their daughter's family was onboard the plane, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters
A number of the passengers were on their way to an international Aids conference in Melbourne, Australia.
The International AIDS Society said one of the passengers has been named as its former president Joep Lange, a Dutch pioneer of research into the disease. 
In a statement it said: 
The International AIDS Society today expresses its sincere sadness at receiving news that colleagues and friends en route to attend the 20th International AIDS Conference taking place in Melbourne, Australia, were on board the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight that has crashed over Ukraine earlier today.

The IAS has also heard reports that among the passengers was a former IAS President Joep Lange and if that is the case then the HIV/AIDS movement has truly lost a giant.
Friends and colleagues of Lange took to social media to pay tributes.
They included US medical professor Seema Yasmin:














Malaysia's transport minister Liow Tiong Lai said if the plane was shot down "it is an outrage against human decency". 
Speaking at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur he announced that Malaysia is sending a team of 62 people to Ukraine. He also defended the route of the plane, pointing out that 15 out of 16 Asia-Pacific airlines fly over Ukraine.
There are mixed reports about MH17's flight recorders.
Ukraine's separatist rebels say they have found "most" of the recording devices, according to AP.
An assistant to the insurgency's military commander, Igor Girkin, said that eight out of the plane's 12 recording devices had been located. He did not elaborate.
He said Girkin was still considering whether to give international crash investigators access to the sprawling crash site. Any investigators would need specific permission from the rebel leadership before they could safely film or take photos at the scene.

Ukraine denies its missiles were involved

Ukraine’s foreign minister says there is no chance that the missile apparently used to shoot down a Malaysia Airlines jet over the east of the country was of Ukrainian military origin, writes Shaun Walker in Kiev.
Pavlo Klimkin told the Guardian on Friday morning that the Ukrainian army has no such missiles in the area, and also insisted that none have been seized by separatist fighters in recent weeks.
“We are absolutely sure and we checked yesterday that no missiles have been taken from the Ukrainian army,” said Klimkin.
Separatist fighters in the region have shot down a number of Ukrainian planes and helicopters in recent days, and a video has surfaced from several days ago in which a well-known Kremlin cheerleader, Sergei Kurginyan, said after a visit to Donetsk in recent days that the rebels had seized a Ukrainian “Buk” missile system.
Kurginyan said in the video that specialists from Russia had travelled to the region to fix the missile system, “as a friendly gesture to a brotherly nation”.
Additionally, a news item on Russian state television from late June announced that the rebels had taken control of a Ukrainian Buk system. However, Klimkin was adamant that this was not the case.
“Our military forces don’t use any sort of anti-air missile in the region of anti-terror operation, so there could be no even theoretical possibility of taking this kind of missile,” he told the Guardian.

Klimkin insisted that recordings released by Ukraine’s SBU security services on Thursday of separatist fighters admitting they had downed a passenger liner were “absolutely genuine”.
Ukraine's foreign minister said he had spoken overnight to a number of his western counterparts, including the new foreign secretary Philip Hammond, who offered UK assistance and support.
Klimkin said a video-conference had taken place on Thursday evening between the separatists and the Ukrainian president’s representative, former president Leonid Kuchma, which included mediation from the OSCE and the Russian ambassador to Ukraine.
“They negotiated access to the location” for the OSCE and Ukrainian officials, said Klimkin, who declined to give details of what kind of delegation would travel to the crash site and when, citing security issues.
The Donetsk region contains a number of different militias whose actions are not always coordinated, and an aide to top commander Igor Strelkov told Associated Press on Thursday that his boss had not yet decided whether to allow investigators access to the site.
The rebels have claimed that the plane was down by the Ukrainian government.
The Organization for the Security and Co-operation in Europe, which is monitoring the crisis in Ukraine, is to hold an emergency meeting after being granted access to the crash site by Russian separatists.












The OSCE said a "contact group" of senior representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE had held a video conference with the separatists, who pledged to cooperate with Ukrainian authorities in the investigation.
Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, has added his tribute to the Dutch Aids researcher Joep Lange who is reported to have been killed in the crash together with his wife Jacqueline van Tongeren.
Farrar said:
Joep was a great clinical scientist, and a great friend of the Wellcome Trust who has long been a valued adviser. He was also a personal friend. He is a great loss to global health research. The thoughts and sympathies of all of us at the Trust are with his family and other families who have lost loved ones in this tragedy.
Malaysia's transport minister Liow has provided a new breakdown of the nationalities of those known to have been on board MH17, writes Kate Hodal in Kuala Lumpur. 
Some 21 passengers are accounted for, another 20 still have as yet to be verified as they were transit passengers, he said:
The latest breakdown of known nationalities of those on board is as follows:
  • 173 from the Netherlands
  • 44 Malaysians
  • 27 Australians
  • 12 Indonesians
  • 9 from the United Kingdom
  • 4 Germans
  • 4 Belgians
  • 3 Filipinos
  • 1 Canadian
  • 1 New Zealander
Once all passengers have been identified, Malaysia Airlines will release the full passenger manifest.
Australia's prime minister, Tony Abbott has ratcheted up his criticism of Russia over the Malaysia Airlines disaster, writes Daniel Hurst in Canberra.
He warned that Russia would lose “any international standing” if it blocked an impartial investigation into the deaths of the 298 people on board, who included 27 Australians.
The Australian prime minister said Russia’s denial of any responsibility “frankly does not stand up to any serious scrutiny”, emphasising that the Boeing 777 was shot down in eastern Ukraine “over territory controlled by Russian-backed rebels” and “by a missile which seems to have been launched by Russian-backed rebels”.
Ahead of a United Nations security council meeting on Friday to discuss the incident, Abbott warned Russia against using its veto to obstruct an extensive investigation into the circumstances that led to flight MH17 coming down near the village of Grabovo on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
“It’s very important that we don’t allow Russia to prevent an absolutely comprehensive investigation so we can find out exactly what happened here,” Abbott said on Friday after confirming the number of known Australian deaths had risen from 27 to 28.
“This is not an accident, it is a crime. I stress it is not an accident, it is a crime, and criminals should not be allowed to get away with what they've done.”
Malaysia's transport minister Liow Tiong Lai stressed that MH17 was following "the right route on the right path", writes Kate Hodal in Kuala Lumpur. 
Liow faced a barrage of questions from local and foreign reporters as to why Malaysia Airlines would have chosen to fly over a warzone.
"It is many years that we have taken the same route and many other countries take the same route," he said. He stressed that some 15 of 16 Asia-Pacific Airlines fly "this route over Ukraine" and added: "European airlines also use the same route, and traverse the same airspace. In the hours before the incident, a number of other passenger aircraft from different carriers used the same route."
He also said that there had been "no last-minute instructions" given to the MH17 pilots to change the route.
The aircraft had a clean record and all systems were functioning normally, Liow added, stressing that both ACARS and the transponders were functioning normally – two systems that had mysteriously been shut down on the MH370 flight from KL-Beijing on 8 March.
When questioned as to whether or not the lack of a mayday signal gave any clues as to in what manner or just how quickly the plane may have been shot down, Liow said there was no information as yet but reiterated that "there was no distress call".

Two Britons named

Two Newcastle United fans travelling to see their team play in New Zealand are feared to be among the victims, PA reports.
The fans' website NUFC.com reported that John Alder and Liam Sweeney were on board flight MH17, which was shot down over Ukraine yesterday.
Alder, believed to be in his 60s, and Mr Sweeney, 28, were flying to New Zealand to watch their team play in a pre-season tour.
A tribute on the website said: "Both were well known to away followers, particularly John, whose usual match day attire led to the affectionate nickname of 'The Undertaker'.

"Both were in attendance at Oldham on Tuesday, doing what they loved. Our thoughts are with their friends, families and the many fans who knew them by sight.
"Watching Newcastle will never be the same again."

There has been no official confirmation of the names of any of the nine British passengers on board the Boeing 777.
Malaysia's prime minister Najib Razak is thought to have had a relative on board MH17, according to Malaysia's Star.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s step-grandmother Puan Sri Siti Amirah was one of the 43 Malaysians who are believed to have perished when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in Ukraine.
According to a family spokeswoman, Siti was travelling alone on her way back to Jogjakarta, Indonesia from Amsterdam and intended to transit at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
She was 83 years old, and was once married to Tan Sri Mohammad Noah Omar as his second wife. Noah, who passed away in 1990, was Najib's grandfather.
"She was a very, very nice lady. A kind-hearted, beautiful woman. She was a homemaker who looked after my grandfather very well. We called her 'ibu' (mother)," family spokeswoman Datin Dr Faridah Abdullah told The Star over the phone on Friday.






Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak attends a press conference at a hotel at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak attends a press conference at a hotel at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Photograph: Xinhua/Landov/Barcroft Media
Britain's political leaders have expressed their condolences.
David Cameron said he had talked to his Dutch counterpart, ahead of chairing a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee. 






Updated 
Malaysia's transport minister Liow said he had still not received any official information from the Ukraine authorities regarding the black box flight recorder, writes Kate Hodal.
But he said the foreign minister in Kuala Lumpur had contacted his Ukrainian counterpart and had been assured Malaysia would have a "safe corridor" to investigate the site and that it would be kept "intact and protected".
He also declined to comment whether Malaysia considered MH17's crash an act of terrorism, as Ukraine claims. 

Third Briton named

A third Briton has been named as Glenn Thomas, a former BBC journalist who worked as a spokesman for the World Health Organisation.






World Health Organization spokesman Glenn Thomas, who is understood to be on the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 that crashed in eastern Ukraine.
World Health Organization spokesman Glenn Thomas, who is understood to be on the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 that crashed in eastern Ukraine. Photograph: United Nations/EPA

Two Newcastle United fans, John Alder and Liam Sweeney, were also reported to be on board. 
Updated 
Australia is to send 11 officials to Ukraine, its department for foreign affairs and trade said.
In a statement it said: 
Eleven DFAT officials are being deployed to Ukraine, including the Australian ambassador in Warsaw who is accredited to Ukraine, a regional consular officer, and a five member Emergency Response Team. Their role will be to liaise with Ukrainian authorities concerning the recovery, identification and repatriation of Australians.
The identification and repatriation process is expected to be complex and to take time; it is important not to speculate about how quickly these processes might be undertaken, given the challenges of the site.






A piece of the wreckage of a Malaysia Airlines plane at the site of its crash.
A piece of the wreckage of a Malaysia Airlines plane at the site of its crash. Photograph: Dzhavakhadze Zurab/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis
People walk amongst the debris.
People walk amongst the debris. Photograph: Dmitry Lovetsky/Corbis
Ukrainian coal miners assist in the search of the site.
Ukrainian coal miners assist in the search of the site. Photograph: Dmitry Lovetsky/AP
Ukraine's prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has demanded that Russia be held to account for supporting the "terrorists" who he said downed the plane.
He also suggested that Ukrainian troops would force their way to the crash site, if stopped by Russian separatists controlling the areas. 
In angry TV statement he described the downing of the plane as an "international crime" and called for the "bastards" responsilbe to be bought justice. 
Everyone is to be accountable and responsible, I'm mean everyone who supports these terrorists, including the Russian Federation, and the Russian regime.
He added: "The Ukrainian authorities are still not allowed to get to the crash site. But together with the security forces we will provide a corridor and Ukrainian experts and international experts will be allowed to hold a vast international investigation.
"This is a crime against humanity. All red lines have been crossed," he said. 
Yatsenyuk also called for emergency meeting of the UN security council.






Newcastle United's manager Alan Pardew has paid tribute to John Alder and Liam Sweeney, the club's fans who died in the crash.
Myself and all the players are deeply shocked and saddened by this terrible news.
We all knew how passionately John and Liam supported the team and the Club.
They were with us just earlier this week for our first pre-season friendly against Oldham and their dedication to travel all the way around the world to support us in New Zealand tells you all you need to know about the passion they had for Newcastle United.
Our hearts go out to their families and friends.
David Cameron has called for all governments, including Russia's, to cooperate with the investigation into how MH17 was bought down.
Speaking to reporters after chairing a meeting of the government's Cobra committee, he said:
If as seems possible this [plane] was bought down then those responsible must be held to account ...
What is absolutely necessary is to get governments to cooperate in every way they can to get to the bottom of what happened, to make sure this site can be properly investigated ...
All governments, the Russian government, the Ukrainian government, all of them must do every thing they can so that we can get to the bottom of what happened in this absolutely dreadful loss of life. 






Fourth British victim named

A fourth British victim has named as Richard Mayne, a student from Leeds, according to the Independent.
Friends commenting on Twitter and Facebook said he was a maths and finance graduate at the university and had previously studied at The Dixie Grammar School in Market Bosworth.
Writing on Facebook, one friend said: “Words fail me, why do the worst possible things happen to the nicest most kind caring people. Richard Mayne you re an inspiration and will be much loved forever and always xx”
Another wrote: “Richard was a fantastic, friendly, inspirational and very much loved student at The Dixie, words cannot express my sadness.
“The world is missing a very special young man, my thoughts go out to his family and all who will miss him so much.”
A Queensland family, which has been affected by both Malaysia Airline disasters, has requested privacy to deal with their latest loss, the Sydney Morning Herald reports citing the Brisbane Times. 
Kaylene Mann lost her brother Rod Burrows and her sister-in-law Mary when MH370 mysteriously disappeared in March this year.
Her step-daughter Maree Rizk and her husband Albert, from Sunbury near Melbourne, were among the Australians on flight MH17.
The Burrows family has requested privacy on behalf of Ms Mann and her husband John.
Meanwhile, in Kuala Lumpur passengers are still checking onto Malaysia Airline flights, Kate Hodal reports. 
Hannis Hanarbek, a construction management student on a course at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia, was waiting with her brother in the main departures area and feeling calm about her flight back to Melbourne later tonight. "I'm a little scared, but I think it'll be ok," she added. "Maybe it's God's fate."
Experts claim the plane may have been bought down by a vehicle-mounted Russian built Buk missile system, Ewen MacAksill reports. 






Summary

Death toll

Authorities have updated the death toll to 298 people killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, near the Russian border, to include three infants not counted earlier.
That number includes people from: Netherlands 173, Malaysia 44, Australia 27, Indonesia 12 (including 1 infant), United Kingdom 9, Germany 4, Belgium 4, Philippines 3, Canada 1, New Zealand 1. There are still 20 unverified nationalities.
A number of the passengers were on their way to an international Aids conference in Melbourne, Australia. Names have not been confirmed but it is believed leading HIV/Aids researchers are among the dead. Malaysia Airlines is still contacting the next of kin of the deceased passengers but said in statement it would release the passenger manifest when it had finished.

British victims

Four British men have been named as victims of the crash. 
Glenn Thomas, a media officer with the World Health Organisation, was described as a "wonderful person and a great professional" by colleagues.
John Alder and Liam Sweeney were on their way to watch Newcastle United play in a pre-season tour in New Zealand, according to fans site NUFC.com
A fourth British victim was named as Richard Mayne, a student from Leeds.

World reaction

The United States stopped short of directly blaming Russia for the plane’s destruction but criticised Russian arming of rebels in Ukraine and called for an immediate ceasefire. A US official said intelligence authorities believed the plane was brought down by a surface-to-air missile and were still working on whether it came from the Russian or Ukrainian side of the border.
The former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton however went further and said there were indications Russian-backed militia were to blame. TheAustralian prime minister, Tony Abbott, said it appeared the plane was shot down by Russian-backed rebels.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said Ukraine bore responsibility for the crash, according to a Kremlin statement issued early on Friday, but he did not accuse Ukraine of shooting the plane down. "This tragedy would not have happened if there were peace on this land, if the military actions had not been renewed in south-east Ukraine. And, certainly, the state over whose territory this occurred bears responsibility for this awful tragedy."
Ukraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko, called the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, to express his condolences and to invite Dutch experts to assist in the investigation. The Malaysian PM, Najib Razak, said the government of Ukraine had pledged to him a full and independent investigation. He called it “a tragic day in what has already been a tragic year for Malaysia”, referring to the earlier disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
The United Nations security council is to hold an emergency meeting on the Ukraine crisis. A UK-drafted statement calls for “a full, thorough and independent international investigation” into what caused the crash and stresses the need for “all parties to grant immediate access by investigators to the crash site to determine the cause of the incident".
The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, earlier expressed his condolences and said there was “clearly a need for a full and transparent international investigation”.

Crash site

Ukrainian emergency workers have found the plane's black box flight recorder, AFP has reported. It was earlier believed the recorder had been taken by pro-Russia separatists in the area.
Rescue workers, police officers and even off-duty coal miners are combing a sprawling area in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border.
Harriet Salem at the crash site in Grabovo described it as "even more horrific in daylight. Firefighters fan out across fields marking sites of body parts with poles & white ribbons." Immediately after the crash, she said,
A strong smell of aviation fuel and burnt rubber hung in the air as dozens of pro-Russia separatist fighters milled around to control access to the area in which workers from the emergency services were sifting through the wreckage. Some 10 fire engines remained on the scene as night fell after rushing there to extinguish the many blazes sparked by the crash.

Airspace

Air safety experts have criticised Malaysia Airlines for flying over Ukraine airspace but the company maintains that the flight path was deemed safe to travel by civil aviation authorities.
The plane was traveling 1,000ft above the no-fly zone. Other airlines have said they either began avoiding the airspace above the troubled region several months ago, or have now joined Malaysia Airlines in diverting all aircraft away from it.
Many airlines avoided Ukraine immediately after the crash, as the flight data map shows below, and Ukraine on Friday closed airspace over the east of the country.

Audio footage

Audio was being circulated on social media, apparently released by Ukrainian security services, purporting to be an intercepted conversation of pro-Russia rebels confirming they had shot down a civilian jet.
The conversation is apparently between a group leader and his superior and suggests that they initially thought they had brought down a military aircraft but later realised their error.
The group leader, "Demon", tells his boss: "A plane has just been shot down. [It was] 'Miner's' group. It crashed outside Enakievo. Our men went to search for and photograph it. It's smouldering."
After his men apparently inspected the crash site, Demon reports back. "Cossacks from the Chernunkhino checkpoint shot down the plane. The plane disintegrated in mid-air … they found the first body. It's a civilian."
He carries on: "I mean. It's definitely a civilian aircraft."
Updated 

Dutch politician named as victim

A Dutch politician has been named as one of the 298 victims.
The Dutch Senate said one of its members, Willem Witteveen, a former law academic was killed in the crash.
Relatives of the missing passengers and crew from MH370, who are presumed dead after the flight disappeared from radar on 8 March, "shared the pain and grief" of those who lost friends and family on MH17, writes Kate Hodal in Kuala Lumpur.
The relatives said the news of the crash had reopened little-healed wounds.
"It's quite difficult to explain, it's very heavy -- after a while, everything simmers down a bit, but all the pain just came back again last night," said Rachel Sta Maria, whose cousin, Patrick Francis Gomes, was the inflight supervisor on MH370.
"I'm quite devastated, it's like, just shock ... it's made me reflect back on what happened [with MH370], I just feel grief."
Sta Maria said she had spent the day crying but ascribed no anger or frustration with Malaysia Airlines itself.
"It's not their fault," she said, breaking up. "We're just victims of circumstances."






A man looks at a screen displaying 'Pray for MH17'' at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang outside Kuala Lumpur.
A man looks at a screen displaying 'Pray for MH17'' at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang outside Kuala Lumpur. Photograph: Ahmad Yusni/EPA






A police officer ties a white ribbon to a stake to mark where human remains have been found.
A police officer ties a white ribbon to a stake to mark where human remains have been found. Photograph: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images
Men look at the wreckage of the plane.
Men look at the wreckage of the plane. Photograph: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images
Arthur Laumann holds a floral tribute and photograph of family friend Wayan Sujana of Bali, believed to have been on Air Malaysia flight MH17.
Arthur Laumann holds a floral tribute and photograph of family friend Wayan Sujana of Bali, believed to have been on Air Malaysia flight MH17. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has dismissed Ukraine's claims of Russian involvement in the downing of the plane, writes Shaun Walker. 
Speaking on Russian TV, he said: "As for the things they are saying in Kiev, basically accusing us of doing it, over the past months, I have pretty much never heard a truthful statement coming out of Kiev."
He also said that if it was proven that shelling of Russian territory from Ukraine is deliberate, Russia could carry out strikes against the sources, however he did say that currently it appears to be due to "unprofessional" Ukrainian operations and accidental. 
Ukraine's army has not deployed missiles during fighting with pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine and the Malaysian airliner that was brought down there was out of range of the systems it uses, Ukrainian officials told Reuters.
"All missiles that are in our armoury, not one of them has been used," Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for Ukraine's Security Council, said.
Bohdan Senyk, a spokesman for the Defence Ministry, said the airliner was out of range of the Ukrainian army's anti-aircraft missile systems: "Anti-aircraft missiles have not been deployed during the anti-terrorist operation ... they are all in place."

Summary

Here's a summary of the latest developments:
  • Four Britons on board the flight have been named. They are John Alder and Liam Sweeney two Newcastle United fans travelling to a game in New Zealand; Glenn Thomas, a spokesman for the World Health Organisation, and Richard Mayne a student from Leeds. 
  • World governments have responded with shock, sadness and anger at the incident. The United Nations security council has scheduled a meeting for Friday morning.
  • Russian president Vladimir Putin has reportedly ordered Russian military and civilian agencies to co-operate with any investigation, but he also said Ukraine has to take responsibility for the incident. Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko is negotiating with pro-Russian separatists who control the area around the crash site to establish a humanitarian corridor.
  • Audio was being circulated apparently released by Ukrainian security services, purporting to be an intercepted conversation of pro-Russia rebels confirming they had shot down a civilian jet.
    The conversation is apparently between a group leader and his superior and suggests that they initially thought they had brought down a military aircraft but later realised their error.
The downing of MH17 was the main story on the front pages of most of most newspapers around the world on Friday, but not Russia, writesShaun Walker.
The state-run Rossiiskaya Gazeta led with a story about the eating habits of Russians, relegating the 298 deaths aboard MH17 to the bottom of the front page.

Other Russian newspapers led with stories about US sanctions on Russia, including the respected Vedomosti, in what was either a strange editorial decision or a conscious plan to play down an attack that much of the world was already linking to Russia.

State television reported the incident, but claimed that it was Ukrainian army missiles that shot down the plane. 
Channel One on Friday said the Russian Defence Ministry had spotted missile radar activity in Ukraine on Thursday. 
More outlandish theories, such as the idea that the plane’s red-white-blue colouring had meant that the Ukrainians mistook it for Vladimir Putin’s presidential jet and thus shot it out of the sky, were jetisonned after an initial airing.

The Russian Twittersphere was awash with conspiracy theories about Ukrainian or even US involvement in the downing of the plane. The boss of the Kremlin’s English-language television channel, Russia Today, wrote on Twitter that she despaired of people jumping to conclusions about what had really happened, shortly after retweeting an opinion saying that Ukrainian “freaks” were behind the attack but would attempt to blame pro-Russian rebels.
However, one of the channel’s British reporters, Sara Firth, appeared to go off message with a series of disparaging tweets in which she said the channel’s reporters were engaged in “lies”.
In comments that are likely to embarrass the channel, Firth wrote:
“We do work for Putin. We are asked on a daily basis if not to totally ignore then to obscure the truth”.












The crisis in Ukraine has polarised opinion in Russia, and many people were angry as the Friday front pages of British newspapers began to circulate on Twitter.
Gay rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev, in response to the Sun’s “Putin’s Missile” headline, wrote: “Today’s headline of The Sun once again proves how narrow minded people live in the UK. They are better with tits on the cover.”






Updated 
Simon Mayne, the father of Richard Mayne one of nine British victims of the crash, has been speaking to the press. The Mirror quoted him saying: 
[Richard] was on his way to Perth. When we were looking at flights together, there was this one that stopped in Amsterdam and we thought it would be perfect.
He was diabetic so we thought it would be a good chance for him to do whatever he needed to do and maybe even go out and have a ride on the bikes and see Amsterdam. He was really looking forward to it.
I took him to the airport at 3am myself, to fly to Amsterdam.
When I first saw it on the news, my heart dropped. I just thought, oh god, oh god – I couldn't believe it.
We were hoping and praying he had fallen asleep at Amsterdam and missed his flight.
You think you've got problems and them something like this happens and it all just takes over. I can't even bring myself to look at a photograph of him.
We are beyond devastated. It is such a beautiful sunny day but our lives have been torn apart.

Separatists firmly in charge of crash site

Separatist rebels are clearly in charge of the clear up and investigation, writes Guardian reporter Oksana Grytsenko from Grabovo. 
About 20 rescue workers from Ukraine’s Ministry of Emergency Situations have arrived at the crash scene.
“Our task is only the detection of dead bodies,” their chief Oleksiy Mergin said. 
“They are the ones who are in charge of everything here,” he added pointing at a group of armed rebels in camouflage standing nearby.
Surrounded by four Kalashnikov armed bodyguards Pavel Gubarev, so called People’s Governor and one of the rebel’s leaders, came from Donetsk to see the scene of crash and promised to allow access to representatives of all the interested parties.
But no investigators have been seen at the site so far. Gubarev couldn't say what happened to the black boxes of the plane, one of which was reportedly already found by the rebels.
“International, European and even Kiev experts will be allowed here to receive all the information they need,” Gubarev said.
“I wouldn’t like this case to provoke any further escalation (of conflict),” he added.






At the site of the crash of a Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
At the site of the crash of a Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Photograph: Dzhavakhadze Zurab/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis
Updated 

Separatists grant access to crash site

Pro-Russian separatists have just announced that they will allow OSCE and Ukrainian experts access to the crash site, according to Reuters.






The search for bodies near the site of Thursday's Malaysia Airlines plane crash near Grabovo, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
The search for bodies near the site of Thursday's Malaysia Airlines plane crash near Grabovo, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Photograph: Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters

Led by rescue workers about a dozen miners are marching with long wooden sticks in a grim search, writes Oksana Grytsenko from the crash site.
Their task is to mark the places, where they find pieces of dead bodies. Now there are several dozens of these sticks with white stripes placed all over the large field near Grabovo village in the Donetsk region, where the passenger plane came down with no survivors.
Pieces of dead bodies as well as parts of plane are visible from the road. A smell of wild flowers mixes the with suffocating stench of corpses. Some of those searching cover their faces with handkerchiefs.
There is a pile of burned plane debris and dead bodies lying just by the road. Some belongings of the passengers of the flight MH17 remained intact. They include a small staffed monkey lying in grass.
The sounds of explosions are heard every half an hour or so, as Ukrainian troops and rebels shell each other near the town of Snizhne, about 30km away.
The plane came down after two explosions, locals say. 
“It fell down it pieces,” said Zhenia, 21-year-old miner, standing by his motorbike and pointing at the place in the sky where it happened.
“The dead bodies were falling everywhere, even in the village,” said his friend Kolia, 25, also a miner.
“Initially I thought it was a paratrooper descending from the plane but then realized that there were people falling from the sky in passenger seats,” said one of the rebels – Vladimir, 45, holding a Kalashnikov in his hands and standing at one of the checkpoints organized by separatists on the way to plane’s crash.
The rebels claim that it was a fighter aircraft that hit the passenger plane. 
“We have nothing except hand grenades to hit the plane,” Vladimir added.






Crash site details
Crash site details Photograph: /Guim
Updated 
Many relatives of those on board MH17 were too distraught to speak to reporters, writes Kate Hodal in Kuala Lumpur.
They explained that their grief was too great, with security ramped up along the roads and in the lobbies of the hotels where many of the friends and family of the victims have been put up.
"He was really such a nice person, so intelligent, and we miss him so much," said one woman of a friend who had been studying in the Netherlands and was on his way back home to Malaysia for the holidays.
"The loss is just so deep, so deep inside, how do you explain it? Not many people can understand it."
Malaysia has released a new breakdown of the nationalities of the passengers on board. Here are the details: 
  • Netherlands: 189
  • Malaysia: 44 (including 15 crew and two infants)
  • Australia: 28
  • Indonesia: 12 (including one infant)
  • United Kingdom: 9
  • Germany: 4
  • Belgium: 4
  • Philippines: 3
  • Canada: 1
  • New Zealand: 1
  • Hong Kong: 1
  • Unconfirmed nationalities: 18
Malaysia Airlines has stressed that MH17 had a"clean maintenance record". Its last maintenance check was on 11 July, according to Huib Gorter, the airline's boss in Europe.
The Boeing 777 had 17 years of service, he told a press conference at Amsterdam's Schipol airport.
All the communication systems were functioning normally before it came down, he added. 
Gorter also defended the MH17 route over a warzone. Many other airlines have used the same airspace, he said, and that it had been declared safe. 
"It is a tragic incident and could have happened to any of us," Gorter said. But he confirmed that Malaysia Airlines is now avoiding the route. 












A new statement from Malaysia Airlines says:
MH17’s flight plan was approved by Eurocontrol, who are solely responsible for determining civil aircraft flight paths over European airspace. Eurocontrol is the air navigation service provider for Europe and is governed under ICAO rules.
The route over Ukrainian airspace where the incident occurred is commonly used for Europe to Asia flights. A flight from a different carrier was on the same route at the time of the MH17 incident, as were a number of other flights from other carriers in the days and weeks before. Eurocontrol maintains records of all flights across European airspace, including those across Ukraine.
In April, the International Civil Aviation Organization identified an area over the Crimean peninsula as risky. At no point did MH17 fly into, or request to fly into, this area. At all times, MH17 was in airspace approved by the ICAO.
MH17 had apparently requested to fly at an altitude of 35,000 feet but upon entering Ukraine airspace had been directed by air traffic control to lower to 33,000, writes Kate Hodal. 
Updated 
David Cameron has been in touch with the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, to discuss the need for an international investigation.






Pro-Russian separatists will welcome experts from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and from Ukraine's government to the crash site of the Malaysian airliner, one of their leaders confirmed to Reuters.

"Today 17 new workers and four official experts from Kiev arrived in Donetsk. Soon they are due to arrive at the site of the tragedy. We support the maximum number of experts possible," Sergei Kavtaradze said. 
The OSCE confirmed that it had dispatched a team of monitors to the site. It has yet to say whether they have been granted access. 
BBC Bristol has named a fifth British passenger on the plane as Ben Pocock.












Putin calls for ceasefire in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for separatist rebels to lay down their arms and engage in talks with Kiev, the Guardian's Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) reports.
In a meeting with Russian Orthodox Church leaders, reported by RIA Novosti, he said: "All sides in the conflict should immediately cease fighting and move to peaceful talks."
"Direct contact on the ground in Ukraine should be established as soon as possible. between the opposing sides must be established as soon as possible."
"We are watching what is happening in eastern Ukraine with great concern and sadness. It's terrible, it's a tragedy."
Updated 

Summary

Here's a summary of the latest developments:
  • Five Britons on board the flight have been named. They are John Alder and Liam Sweeney two Newcastle United fans travelling to a game in New Zealand; Glenn Thomas, a spokesman for the World Health Organisation; Richard Mayne a student from Leeds; and Ben Pocock from Bristol.
  • World governments have responded with shock, sadness and anger at the incident. The United Nations security council has scheduled a meeting for Friday morning.
  • Russian president Vladimir Putin has reportedly ordered Russian military and civilian agencies to co-operate with any investigation, but he also said Ukraine has to take responsibility for the incident. Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko is negotiating with pro-Russian separatists who control the area around the crash site to establish a humanitarian corridor.
  • Audio was being circulated apparently released by Ukrainian security services, purporting to be an intercepted conversation of pro-Russia rebels confirming they had shot down a civilian jet.
    The conversation is apparently between a group leader and his superior and suggests that they initially thought they had brought down a military aircraft but later realised their error.
Updated 






People lay flowers and light candles in front of the Dutch Embassy in Kiev.
People lay flowers and light candles in front of the Dutch embassy in Kiev. Photograph: Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images
Belongings of passengers are scattered around the crash site.
Belongings of passengers are scattered around the crash site. Photograph: Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images
A piece of wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
A piece of wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. Photograph: Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images
The UN Security Council has called for a "full, thorough and transparent investigation", and is in session to discuss MH17 and the crisis in east Ukraine.
Under secretary-general Jeffrey Feltman says the secretary general "strongly condemns" this seemingly deliberate and "horrifying incident". He says the crash is a "stark reminder of how dire" the crisis has become.
"As the secretary general has reiterated on countless occasions, armed groups need to disengage … at the same time we urge the Ukrainian authorities to act with restraint … to protect civilians … According to the UN … there have been at least 500 casualties … and displaced thousands of people."
"This is a dark moment for the international community," Britain's ambassador to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant, says. "The violence unleashed by separatists has reached monstrous proportions."
"The UK will provided whatever assistance is necessary for this investigation."
"Investigators must be able to operate unhindered and in security … There must be no interference with the evidence. Armed separatist groups must allow such access.
He says that "despite assurances", this has not yet happened, and that the UK calls "on Russia to use its influence with these groups to insure that this happens".
He says that "armed separatists took credit for, indeed, gloated publicly" over shooting down a military jet earlier this year, and that "we have to ask searching questions about why we are now confronting this tragic situation."
"We know that the three leading figures of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic are Russian citizens, [and that separatists have received material support] including up to 100 Manpads, 15-25 battle tanks, not to mention … rocket launchers and other armoured vehicles."
Lyall also calls on Russia to deliver "clear and unequivocal condemnation … These people do not represent the people of Ukraine. Without Russian support, they would wither."
"The perpetrators must be brought to justice they must not be sheltered by any member state of the United Nations", says American ambassador to the UN Samantha Power.
"We now all know that the letter I stands for infant. To the family and friends of the victims it is impossible to find words to express our condolences. A full, credible and unimpeded international investigation must begin immediately."






samantha power at the un
Ambassador Samantha Power at the UN. Photograph: John Minchillo/AP
Updated 

US ambassador to UN: MH17 likely downed by missile

Power details some of what the US knows, including of surface-to-air missiles capabilities of the separatists.
"We assess Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 … was likely downed by a surface-to-air [Sam] missile, [likely] an SA-11, operated from a separatist location in eastern Ukraine."
She says its speed, altitude, route, flight plan and tracking were all ordinary: "there was nothing frightening or provocative about MH17."
"Of the operational Sam systems, only the SA-11, SA-20 and SA-22 are capable of hitting an aircraft at this altitude. We can rule out shorter range Sams including SA-8 and SA-13 systems not capable of hitting an aircraft at this altitude."
"Because of the technical complexity of the SA-11, it is unlikely that separatists could operate it [without technical assistance] … We cannot rule out technical assistance from the Russians."
She says the US is "not aware of any [Ukrainian military ] SA-11 systems in the area" of the crash, and that Ukrainian military has not fired a single anti-aircraft missile since the crisis began.
Updated 
"Russia can end this war. Russia must end this war," Power continues.
"Separatists and their backers would have good reason to cover up evidence of their crimes. Thus it is [that investigation] must begin immediately."
She calls for investigators to granted "immediate and full access" and an "immediate ceasefire".
She says any evidence obtained by "Russian-backed separatists operating in the area should be promptly returned and handed over. Russia … must help make this happen."
Power says MH17 was shot down because Russia "did not rein in what it unleashed".
"Time after time Putin has made commitments [to working] for peace. … Time after time he has broken those commitments."
Power goes on to detail what the US and Ukraine say amounts to Russian complicity in rebels' activities, including "recruiting efforts … expanding inside Russia … Russia has allowed officials from the [so-called] Donetsk People's Republic to open an office in Moscow."
"Ukrainian pilot Nadya Savchenkov is now being held in prison in Russia. … Russia continues to [bring] forces near the border."
"The message is unified and clear … if President Putin continues to choose escalation over de-escalation," sanctions and costs will increase, she says.
"This war can be ended. Russia can end this war. Russia must end this war."
"As we sit here, the remains of nearly 300 people, of innocents … are strewn across a blackened landscape. We must stop at nothing to bring those responsible to justice."
"We insist Russia immediately take concrete steps to de-escalate the situation, and support a sustainable ceasefire."
Updated 
"Our priority is to establish fact," Chinese ambassador Liu Jieyi says, calling for restraint not only on the ground but between members of the UN
"Prior to [the investigation's conclusions], we must not jump to any conclusions … or make accusations."

OSCE observers arrive in Grabovo

Our reporter on the scene in Grabovo, Harriet Salem (@HarrietSalem), says around 20 OSCE observers have arrived in a convoy of five cars to try and establish the facts behind the crash.
Rebel gunmen, however, have called superiors to ask whether observers should be given free rein to comb over the devastation.






mh17 malaysia ukraine grabovo wreckage
Burnt out wreckage near Grabovo and Rassypnoye. Photograph: Itar-Tass/Barcroft Media
Updated 
BBC producer Kevin Bishop is also at the crash site, confirming Harriet Salem's report that separatist soldiers control access to OSCE observers and journalists.






Updated 
"We place all blame on the powers in Kiev," Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the UN, says, adding: "Pressure should not be brought on this investigation, trying to prejudge its outcome with broad statements and insinuations that are unjustified in such a difficult situation."
"We think it right to bring an international commission to … investigate not only the disaster but into the extent the Ukrainian aviation authorities carried out their obligations. Why did the Ukrainian aviation dispatcher send a flight to … an area [where strikes were being carried out]?"
About Kiev's decision to close airspace over east Ukraine, he asked "why couldn't this have been done earlier, rather than waiting for hundreds of victims to be incurred?"
He then denounces the Ukrainian military's "storming, air strikes, artillery, tanks, and volleys, indiscriminate in nature."






Vitaly Churkin, ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United Nations.
Vitaly Churkin, ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United Nations. Photograph: Andrew Gombert/EPA

"The punitive operation is increasingly full-scale, and a disaster for civilians and infrastructure. Dozens of civilians have been killed, transport systems destroyed, community and medical centers targeted."
"There's been no evacuation in these areas by Kiev. People have to leave by themselves, risking their lives. There are many reports that people fleeing war, in particular seeking refuge in Russia, are increasingly targeted by the Ukrainian armed forces. Russia has hosted more than 10,000 refugees from eastern Ukraine."
"Artillery and mortar shelling by Ukrainian armed forces has become regular, the targets border crossings and civilians. We see these provocations as aggressive acts
"Kiev's government has decided to stamp out dissenters after the February uprising, calling them 'bandits or terrorists, some sort of insects or non-humans'", describing a commercial in which Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko "stamps" on insects.
"We place all blame on the powers in Kiev and call on the Ukrainian side to take strong measures. … Negotiations for the crisis are still possible, but the right choice must be made."
Updated 
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has invited British and German experts to join the crash investigation team, Reuters reports.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday about the international team investigating the circumstances of Malaysian airliner tragedy, his press service said.
"The president stressed that the black boxes from the aircraft should remain with international experts and not be passed to a third country by terrorists," his press service said in a statement. "He invited German and British experts to get involved in the work."






Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at a security council meeting in Kiev.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at a security council meeting in Kiev. Photograph: Mykola Lazarenko/AP
Yuriy Sergeyev, Ukraine's ambassador to the UN, in turn blames Russia, saying "if Russia did not support the terrorists, and if they did not provide sophisticated weapons systems", then MH17 would not have crashed.
"We believe that an international investigation will bring the truth to light and bring the perpetrators to justice."
He then mentions an "intercepted, recorded conversations" between men alleged to be rebels with Russian links, as well as the alleged social network post of Igor Girkin aka Strelkov, a separatist leader. He alludes to "photos and confessions, including of two recently detained Russian citizens who were going to join terrorists as experts, [who] said the Buk system had recently arrived from Russia."
"Russia has never called on its citizens to refrain from joining armed groups in Ukraine. This fact alone should speak for itself. … "We call on Russia to cease provocations."






Ukraine's Ambassador to the United Nations Yuriy Sergeyev during a moment of silence.
Ukraine's Ambassador to the United Nations Yuriy Sergeyev during a moment of silence. Photograph: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images

Obama: MH17 disaster 'an outrage of unspeakable proportions'

"Innocent lives were taken," he says. "Men, women, children, infants, who had nothing to do with the crisis in Ukraine. Their deaths are a outrage of unspeakable proportions."
"We know at least one american citizen, Quinn Lucas Schansman, was killed. My thoughts and prayers are with his family."
"Yesterday I spoke with leaders of Ukraine, Malaysia and the Netherlands. Later today i'll be speaking with prime minister Abbott of Austrialia. …
“We stand with you shoulder to shoulder.”






President Obama delivers a statement on the Malaysia Airlines crash over eastern Ukraine.
President Obama delivers a statement on the Malaysia Airlines crash over eastern Ukraine. Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Updated 
MH17 was brought down by a "surface-to-air missile that was launched from an area that was controlled by Russian-backed separatists inside of Ukraine," Obama says.
"We also know that this is not the first time that a plane has been shot down in eastern Ukraine."
He cites a Ukrainian transport plane and a Ukrainian helicopter, and reminds us that "claimed responsibility for shooting down a Ukrainian fighter jet."
He calls the even "a global tragedy" and calls for an international investigation.
"In order to facilitate that investigation, Russia, pro-Russian separatists, and Ukraine must agree to an immediate ceasefire."
Updated 
"In the following days we'll stay in contact with leaders with around the world … investigating exactly what happened and putting forward the facts," the US president says.
"There will likely be misinformation as well. It's important for people to sift through what is factually based and what is speculation. … We're going to make sure that the truth is out.
"More broadly, it's important for us to recognize that this outrageous event underlines that it's time for peace and security to return to Ukraine.
"Time and again Russia has refused to take the concrete steps to de-escalate the situation. … We want Russia to take the path that would result in peace in Ukraine, but so far Russia has refused to take that path.
"Russia has continued to support violent separatists. … Now is a somber and appropriate time for all of us to take a step back and look at what happened. Russia, the separatists, all have the capacity to put an end to the fighting.
"Meanwhile, the US is going to continue to … stand up for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."
Updated 
Of the victims, Obama says it's "time for us to lift them up",mentioning that some of whom were travelling to an Aids conference.
"On board there were reportedly researchers, advocates on their way to Australia, men and women who dedicated their own lives to saving the lives of others.
"In this world today we shouldn't forget that in the midst of conflict and killing there are people like these, people who are focusing on what can be built rather than what can be destroyed, people who want to help people they've never met.
"It's time for us to lift them up.
"People have the right to live as they choose, and nations have the right to determine their own destiny, and when terrible events like this occur, the international community stands on the side of justice."






President Barack Obama speaking about Ukraine.
President Barack Obama speaking about Ukraine. Photograph: Larry Downing/Reuters
Updated 
Obama begins to take questions from reporters.
Asked if it changes his calculus in regards to Russia and Ukraine, he says:
"I think it's too early to tell what the intentions of those who might've launched the surface-to-air missile might've had. The investigation is going to be ongoing, and we'll see additional information over the … next 72 hours, next week, the next month.
"What we have confidence in saying is that a surface to air missile was fired, and that's what brought the jet down. It's important for ust to make sure we don't get out ahead of the facts."
"How it came about, those are things that are still subject to additional information that we're going to be gather. … We're working with the international community to establish what is going on.
"There's been a lot of misinformation established in east Ukraine … this should snap everyone to attention immediately.
Asked about reprisals, he says:
"We've already ratcheted up sanctions against Russia, and the concern of not just Russian officials is the market, the impact on the Russian economy is there for all to see.
"Our preferred path is diplomatic. that means that [Putin and his advisers] have to make a strategic decision.
"There has been some improved language at times over the past month, coming from the Kremlin and coming from president Putin, but what we have not seen at this time are … different actions … we will continue to make clear that as Russia engages in efforts that are supporting the separatists, then we have the capacity to increase the costs that we impose on them.
He says he does not anticipate involving the US military in the region.
Obama has reiterated his reluctance to draw definitive conclusions, saying "I don't want to get out ahead of the facts."
"We don't know exactly what happened yet … What we do know is we have seen a ticking up [of violence] in eastern Ukraine, that despite the efforts of the Ukrainian government to abide by a ceasefire."
He does however blame Russia for supporting separatists, saying the rebels "are heavily armed, they are well trained, and that's not an accident. It's because they have support."
"It's not possible for these separatists to function as they have been functioning. It's not possible for a group of separatists to claim to shoot down a Ukrainian fighter jet, [without support].
"There are only certain types of anti-aircraft missiles that can reach 30,000ft."
He says separatists' actions "are facilitated in large part because of Russian support, and [Russia has] the ability to move those separatists in a different direction."
"If Mr Putin makes a decision that [Russia is] not going to allow heavy armaments over the border … then [we will see changes]. He has the most control over that situation, and so far he has not exercised it."
The crash and crisis "brings home the degree to which the stakes are high to Europe", Obama says.
"What we've seen here is just in one country alone, our great allies, the Dutch, 150 or more of their citizens being killed … I think sadly that brings home the degree to which the stakes are high to Europe, and not simply the Ukrainian people. We have to be firm in our resolve in supporting Ukraine [and] to bringing about a sustainable ceasefire on the way to a political solution."
Of whether there were any more Americans on the plane, he says it's still unclear.
"We have been pretty methodical over the last 24 hours in working through the flight manifest, and identifying which passengers might've had a US passport.
"At this point the individual I mentioned was the only person we can definitively say was a US or dual citizen. Becuase events are moving so quickly, I don't want to say with absolute certainty [whether] there might be additional Americans.
"At this point, in contact with the Malaysian government that processed the passports … this is our best assessment. Obviously that does nothing to lessen our outrage, regardless of nationalities."






President Obama pauses while delivering a statement on the Malaysia Airlines crash.
President Obama pauses while delivering a statement on the Malaysia Airlines crash. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Updated 

Rebels turn away OSCE observers

Rebels have turned away the OSCE team at the crash site, Harriet Salem (@HarrietSalem) reports for the Guardian in Grabovo.
She says the OSCE delegation has been turned away without being able to inspect the site. A unit of heavily armed rebels blocked the 30-strong team, cordoning off a large part of the crash site. The inspectors retreated after an hour-long stand-off.
“We will keep coming back tomorrow and the next day and the next day,” said spokesman Michael Bociurkiw. “Tomorrow will be a crunch day. There are a lot of experts from the Netherlands and Malaysia gathering in Kiev as well as relatives.
“The bodies are starting to bloat and decay. An expert team is clearly needed. There is a lot to be done in a short amount of time.”
A small group of aviation inspectors from Kiev were allowed free access to the site.






Wreckage of a Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 near Grabovo and Rassypnoye. ukraine
Wreckage of a Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 near Grabovo and Rassypnoye. Photograph: ITAR-TASS/Barcroft Media
Updated 
An delivered an updated list of victims' nationalities has been announced by Malaysia's ambassador to the UN, HE Datuk; the list is as follows, with 298 people killed in all:
Holland: 189
Malaysia: 44
Australia: 27
Indonesia: 12
Britain: 9
Germany: 4
Belgium: 4
Philippines: 3
Canada: 1
New Zealand: 1
Datuk said there were "four passengers' nationalities have yet to be verified", but President Obama said one American was on board the plane.
Obama called the crisis "a wake-up call" for Europe, Dan Roberts in Washington reports a few more details of the statement on Ukraine:
Obama also made a veiled criticism of the lack of European support for US-led economic sanctions against Russia, saying the loss of so many European lives should serve as a “wake-up call” for Europe.
“Now is a sombre and appropriate time for us all of step back and take a look at what has happened – violence and conflict inevitably lead to unforseen consequences,” said the president.
About misinformation coming out of the region, he said: "We don't have time for propaganda. We don't have time for games.”
Britain's foreign office has confirmed 10 UK nationals were on MH17.






Gunfire ended the standoff between OSCE observers and rebel gunmen, Harriet Salem (@HarrietSalem) reports from the crash scene in Grabovo.
The commander of the rebel unit, a man called Ilya who is known as Commander Glum, expressed annoyance as the OSCE team stood its ground, keen to access the scenes of carnage.
"OSCE came here without negotiating," he shouted, as they prepared to leave. "Now there are none of our bosses here who can be in charge of making a decision, so go away, and when you negotiate this come back.
"We didn’t agree to meet the OSCE here, go away," he added, firing a warning shot.
The five-strong convoy departed rapidly.






OSCE monitors speak with a pro-Russian separatist at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.ukraine
OSCE monitors speak with a pro-Russian separatist at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. Photograph: Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters
Updated 

Summary

Here's a summary of the latest developments:
• Rebels controlling the crash site turned away an OSCE teamwith a gun shot, despite previously claiming they would grant access to international investigators. Confusion surrounds the fate of the flight recorders, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he would negotiate with separatists for a "humanitarian corridor" to the site.
• President Barack Obama called the crash "an outrage of unspeakable proportion", and said that one American was on board the flight. He said the US could at this point only confirm that a surface-to-air missile had shot down MH17 from territory controlled by separatists. He called on Russia to stop supporting rebels, and joined UK Prime Minister David Cameron in calling for cooperation with the investigation.
• An emergency UN Security Council meeting featured ambassadors trading accusations, as ambassador Samantha Power said the US "cannot rule out technical assistance from Russia", ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Russia "places all blame on Kiev", and Ukraine's ambassador said Russia "supported terrorists".
• Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an immediate ceasefire, and said he had asked his country's government and military to assist. Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed claims of Russian involvement.
• An almost complete list of the passengers' nationalities has been assembled, including 189 from Holland, 27 Australians, 10 Britons, one American, and three infants. Many of the Dutch passengers, including researcher Joep Lange, were travelling to an Aids conference in Melbourne .
• Eyewitnesses at the crash site have been describing seeing bodies fall from the sky. Rescue workers have been retrieving body parts and debris from the site.
Updated 
"The world and the Aids field will miss these brilliant doctors, advocates, researchers and friends," A Dutch Aids advocate tells the Guardian's Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7).
Murdo Bijl, a Dutch Aids advocate who knew many of those on board MH17, sent this message: "Truly beautiful, inspiring, committed, smart and compassionate people have been brutally taken away from us. he world and the Aids field will miss these brilliant doctors, advocates, researchers and friends."






Tributes are left at the gates of the Dutch Embassy in London.
Tributes are left at the gates of the Dutch Embassy in London. Photograph: REX
One of the most visible leaders of the Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, has resigned his post during a visit to Moscow, Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) reports, citing Russian agencies. No reason for the decision was given
According to Interfax, Pushilin is in Moscow and sent a letter of resignation from his position as speaker of the DPR's parliamentary body.






Denis Pushilin in front of a flag of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in Donetsk.
Denis Pushilin in front of a flag of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in Donetsk. Photograph: ITAR-TASS/Barcroft Media
OSCE monitors "did not have the kind of access that they expected" to the crash site, Reuters reports, quoting the organization's chairman.
"They did not have the kind of access that they expected. They did not have the freedom of movement that they need to do their job. The crash site is not sealed off," Thomas Greminger told Reuters by telephone.
"In the current circumstances, they were not able to help securing this corridor that would allow access for those that would want to investigate," he said.
Greminger said a team of 17 OSCE monitors had stayed at the crash site for about 75 minutes and was now returning to Donetsk. He said the team would try again on Saturday.






Separatists watch as OSCE monitors arrive at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
Separatists watch OSCE monitors at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. Photograph: Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters
Updated 






Pro-Russian separatists watch as OSCE monitors arrive at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, near the settlement of Grabovo ukraine
Pro-Russian separatists watch the arriving OSCE monitors. Photograph: Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters
A part of Malaysia Airlines MH17 near Grabovo, Ukraine
A part of Malaysia Airlines MH17 near Grabovo, Ukraine Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
OSCE monitors and pro-Russian separatists stand at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
OSCE monitors and pro-Russian separatists stand at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. Photograph: Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters
Updated 
"Pieces of human flesh are mixed with personal belongings … and parts of the plane," says freelance photographer Petr Shelomovskiy.
Shelomovskiy, who's worked extensively in some of east Ukraine's more dangerous locations the past few months, has tweeted descriptions of agrim scene at the crash site.
"Bodies from MH17 flight are scattered over a large area. I saw several on [a] sunflower field near Shakhtarsk. Pieces of human flesh are mixed with personal belongings, parcels, parts of [the] plane and electronics boxes. Armed men ordered us to leave. Locals are talking about[it being] 'clearly [a] civilian flight' and lots of wreckage in the area."






Miners scour fields looking for bodies and wreckage parts near the crash site. ukraine mh17
Miners scour fields looking for bodies and wreckage parts near the crash site. Photograph: ITAR-TASS/Barcroft Media
Dutch citizens' reaction to the tragedy has been "remarkably restrained", writes Philip Oltermann (@philipoltermann) for the Guardian.
On Friday morning at 8am, passengers were queuing up to check into another Malaysian Airways flight bound for Kuala Lumpur. One couple in their 20s, who didn't want to give their names, said they felt "sad" about what had happened, and admitted they were a little bit scared about boarding their flight. But they were determined not to give up on their holiday, a trip around Indonesia and Sumatra.
Erik Elsenaar, an IT consultant waiting at Schiphol for his midday flight to Kuala Lumpur, told the Guardian he was feeling very calm: "This is something that never, never happens, and it's unlikely to happen again. It is a tragedy, but it doesn't look like the attack was either directed at Holland or Malaysia Airlines. You can see here that they've already doubled the security at check-in. They will probably triple the checks for bombs. It's definitely safer to travel now than it was to travel the day before yesterday."
You can read the full piece here.
"The bodies are starting to bloat," according to OSCE spokesman Michael Bociurkiw, per Philip Oltermann (@philipoltermann) in Amsterdam.
OSCE inspectors retreated after an hour-long standoff, having been unable to gain access. They were sent on their way by warning shots fired by the rebel unit commander.
"We will keep coming back tomorrow and the next day and the next day," said spokesman Michael Bociurkiw. "Tomorrow will be a crunch day. There are a lot of experts from the Netherlands and Malaysia gathering in Kiev as well as relatives. The bodies are starting to bloat and decay. An expert team is clearly needed. There is a lot to be done in a short amount of time."
You can read the full piece, which covers a wide breadth of the story,here.
The Pentagon is reviewing Ukraine's long-standing request for military aid, Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) reports for the Guardian.
A day after the shootdown of MH17, the Pentagon said it was continuing to review Ukraine's request for military aid.
But it was not considering providing the Ukrainians with weaponry, said Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary.
"The focus of our assistance to fate has been and remains on the non-lethal" items, Kirby told reporters Friday.
Since Russia began the conflict in Ukraine, the US has provided the fledgling Ukrainian government with approximately $33m in military equipment, but nothing that could affect the disproportionate military balance favoring Russian-backed separatists. That equipment includes radios, body armor, meals-ready-to-eat, sleeping mats and uniform items. In the pipeline are heavier equipment such as night vision goggles and explosive ordnance disposal robots.
The Pentagon stopped short of accusing Russia of providing anti-aircraft missile systems to separatist rebels, Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) reports for the Guardian.
Spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said that the Russians continue to provide their Ukrainian proxies with heavy weaponry, financing and transportation access to eastern Ukraine, but would not say the Pentagon knew for certain it had provided the separatists with the Buk anti-aircraft missiles that the US on Friday said had most likely shot down the plane.
On 30 June, the US air force general serving as Nato military commander, Philip Breedlove, told reporters at the Pentagon that he had seen indications that the Russians had trained Ukrainian separatists on "vehicle-borne" air defense systems. The Buk is such a system.
"We have not seen any of the air defense vehicles across the border yet, but we've seen them training in the western part of Russia, et cetera. So I think that there are several types and capabilities of heavy weaponry that are moving across that border," Breedlove said last month.
"Efforts to arrange procedures … are being impeded by the terrorists," reads a statement from Ukraine's Foreign Ministry to the relatives of MH17's victims. It reads in part as follows:
As of today, the first meeting of the governmental commission on investigating the causes of the Boeing 777-200 crash took place today in the morning. The state commission adopted the following:
• bodies of the perished are to be transported to Kharkiv, where a special laboratory and coordination unit are being deployed;
• arranging hotel accommodation free of charge in Kyiv and Kharkiv for 300 rooms for the relatives in each of the cities;
• ensuring that relatives, arriving to Kyiv and Kharkiv, are met and escorted;
• for those who need entry visas – visas will be issued in Kyiv and Kharkiv.
In regard of the relatives we expect their data to be sent to MFA of Ukraine response unit in advance.
Coordination unit in Kharkiv is in charge of all technical and organizational issues, including psychological help for the relatives, can be contacted by phone 057 7666692 or e-mail khshb777@ukr.net.
Situation on the place of the catastrophe is in its dynamic. Our efforts to arrange the procedures in a proper way are being impeded by the terrorists.
A second meeting of the Governmental Commission is scheduled for today, where we are going to propose to hold a coordination meeting with your representatives with participation of all authorities involved.
Updated 
The foreign correspondent of Ukraine's Channel Five has tweeted a tribute from Kiev.






The relative of six victims has pleaded for "the dignity of a proper burial", Kate Hodal (@katehodal) reports from Malaysia.
Zul Rusdi, an economic lecturer at a local college in Kuala Lumpur, told the Guardian that he had lost six members of his family on MH17: his cousin Ariza Ghazalee, 46, her husband Tambi Jiee, 49, and their four children, aged 13-19.
The family had been living and working in Kazakhstan for the past three years as Shell employees and had been transferred back to Malaysia. They'd decided to take a holiday in Amsterdam to celebrate the transfer and were due to continue on back to their homebase in Kuching after the scheduled landing in Kuala Lumpur at 6am this morning.
"They loved being in a foreign country, the cultural differences, all of it, but they were very excited to be coming back to Malaysia after such a long time away," said Zul, who had last seen the family last March when they paid visit to his sickly mother, who was in hospital in Kuala Lumpur.
Zul had been planning to see the family again once they returned to their home in Sarawak, only to receive a phone call from his sister early this morning breaking the tragic news.
"I couldn't believe it when I switched on the TV this morning – I was looking at [Prime Minister] Najib making his press statement and I was so confused, 'Is this MH17 or MH370? What plane is this?' I couldn't believe it, I was shocked.
"It's made us very scared – it seems like something is not right. I'm not going to accuse the government but … Is it a conspiracy of some foreign elements who are [trying] to attack Malaysia? What does it mean? It's all very tragic."
The most worrying aspect regarding the whole matter, Zul said, was the separatists' supposed involvement in the crash and what it would mean for the victims' burial rites. "We don't care if there is a war going on there – let them have it – but for us, for Muslims, for anyone in the world of all religions, really – it is so important that we have the remains of the bodies.
"How can we get the remains if the separatists are blocking the area? How can we ensure that our loved ones will have a proper burial? This is what hurts the most. I can handle the death. But please, let them have the dignity of a proper burial."
Updated 
"Separatist groups in eastern Ukraine are hastily covering up all links to the Buk missile battery," Ewen MacAskill (@ewenmacaskill) and Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) report.
There is confusion over the black boxes and other devices apparently salvaged from the downed plane. A rebel military commander initially said he was considering what to do with them, while another rebel leader, Aleksandr Borodai, contradicting his colleague, said the rebels had no black boxes or any other devices.
The Ukrainian interior ministry added to fears of a cover-up when it released video purportedly taken by police showing a truck carrying a a Buk missile launcher with one of its four missiles apparently missing, rolling towards the Russian border at dawn on Friday. The video could not be indepenedently verified.






A still taken from a video made available by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, purportedly showing a truck carrying a Buk missile launcher.
A still taken from a video made available by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, purportedly showing a truck carrying a Buk missile launcher. Photograph: AP

Spencer and Ewen go on to report on further on deletions, including social media boasts:
Other material on rebel social media sites was being deleted, including pictures showing the alleged capture of Buk missile vehicles by rebels from a Ukrainian air base last month.
The rebels say one boast was put up "by a sympathiser who mistakenly assumed it was a Ukrainian military plane that had been shot down. But, in a separate posting, a rebel leader also claimed that a plane had been brought down. "We warned you - do not fly in 'our sky'," he said. That too was removed."






strelkov VKontakte page attributed girkin ukraine mh17
The post attributed to Igor Girkin, aka Strelkov, now deleted, which reads in part 'do not fly in 'our sky''. Photograph: /VKontakte

You can read the full piece here.
Updated 
It's possible a missile system "automatically fired, or some aggressive, itchy operator fired, not wanting to miss an opportunity", a US military expert tells the Guardian in a report by Ewen MacAskill (@ewenmacaskill) and Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman).
Ukrainian intelligence has published a tape claimed to be a recording between rebels and Russian intelligence in which they realised there had been a catastrophic blunder.
Retired major general Bob Latiff, a former US weapons developer for the air force and the CIA and now a professor at Notre Dame University, said he leaned towards a belief that it was a case of mistaken identity on the part of those who pressed the button.
"A radar return from an airplane like this would look very similar to that from a cargo plane, as was initially claimed by the separatists. … All airliners emit identification signals which identify the aircraft and provide other information like altitude and speed. They also operate on known communications frequencies. It doesn't sound like the separatists were using any of this, or tried for that matter."






A recording which the Ukrainian government alleges constitutes proof of separatists' culpability.

Latiff says "My guess is the system's radar saw a return from a big 'cargo' plane flying at 30,000 feet or so and either automatically fired, or some aggressive, itchy operator fired, not wanting to miss an opportunity."
Igor Sutyagin, a Russian military specialist at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said he regarded as genuine the tape recordings as well as postings on social media pointing the finger at Russian separatists or Russia itself.
He said it might prove difficult to get the necessary evidence. "It is very hard. A decision has been made on the Russian side to hide their tracks. It will be hard to find the battery." Satellites might have been able to catch something, but the trail from the missile would have been very short, Sutyagin said.
You can read the full piece here.






Cars drive past the remains of a destroyed pro-Russian separatist tank near a Ukrainian army checkpoint just outside the eastern Ukrainian town of Kramatorsk.
Cars drive past the remains of a destroyed pro-Russian separatist tank near a Ukrainian army checkpoint just outside the eastern Ukrainian town of Kramatorsk. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
OSCE observers visit the crash site of a Malaysia Airlines MH17.
OSCE observers visit the crash site of a Malaysia Airlines MH17. Photograph: ITAR-TASS/Barcroft Media
"Some [rebels] looked slightly intoxicated," Buzzfeed's Moscow correspondent Max Seddon tweets from the OSCE press conference on its attempt to access the crash site today.






A senior Russian official blames the US for "stirring up political instability", and some Russian-language media and websites are speculating on unothrodox theories, report Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) in Kiev and Harriet Salem (@HarrietSalem) in Grabovo.
Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, accused Americans of having made their minds up without studying the facts, and insisted that it was in fact the US who was to blame. Washington, said Ryabkov, was responsible for "stirring up political instability, provoking an anti-constitutional seizure of power and supporting anti-Russian politicians … The US should think about the consequences of its actions".
Russia's state-controlled media suggested that a Ukrainian jet or missile system had shot down the plane … and other more fanciful conspiracy theories were floated, including the idea that the attack was carried out by the Ukrainian army in error, thinking it was Putin's plane.
Rebel websites suggested that the bodies discovered at the crash site were "long dead" and speculated the plane could have been MH370, which went missing earlier this year, hidden and then re-used to stage a "provocation".
Talks on Thursday evening between separatists and the Ukrainian president's representative,with mediation from the OSCE and a Russian ambassador, agreed that the separatists would grant access to the crash site for international investigators.
However, Friday's standoff with the OSCE shows that unfettered access could be tricky to achieve, and the logistics of issues such as retrieving and properly storing bodies, as well as sifting through the evidence, remain unclear.
You can read the full piece here.
Our graphics team has provided a new map depicting some major points of the crisis.






Rebels "do not allow representatives of the Ukrainian side to properly do their work", according to a Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman. He also said "bodies will be transferred to Kharkiv", in line with a previous ministry statement.
Andrii Sybiga explained that the eastern city will be the hub of operations for recovery efforts and victims' families. He said "Ukrainian experts are working in close cooperation with international specialists," and that diplomats, psychologists and state emergency services are all working to assist the recovery.
"This territory where this plane crashed regrettably is under the control of armed terrorists who do not allow representatives of the Ukrainian side to properly do their work. And at the same time representatives of terrorist groups are armed."
He could not confirm the status of the flight recorders, saying "I do not have this information."
You can watch Sybiga's statement, with English translation, here.






Andrii Sygib's statement on the recover operation.
Updated 

Summary

Here's a summary of the latest developments:
• Rebels allowed an OSCE team limited access to the crash site, before turning them away with a warning shot. A Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman said rebels "do not allow" Kiev's recovery teams to "properly do their work". Monitors expressed concerns about decomposing bodies and tampering at the site. Rebels had previouslysaid they would grant access to international investigators.
• President Barack Obama called the crash "an outrage of unspeakable proportion", and said that one American was on board the flight. The Pentagon confirmed a surface-to-air missile had shot down MH17 from territory controlled by separatists, but stopped short of accusing Russia with supplying the weapon.
• Ambassadors traded accusations at a charged UN security council meeting. Ambassador Samantha Power demanded that "Russia stop this war" and said the US "cannot rule out technical assistance from Russia"; ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Russia "places all blame on Kiev"; and Ukraine's ambassador said Russia "supported terrorists".
• Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an immediate ceasefire between rebels and Ukraine. Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed claims of Russian involvement, and his deputy said Washington was "stirring up political instability".
• Ukraine's President Poroshenko invited international cooperation to investigate the crash, and prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk suggested Ukrainian troops could force their way to the crash site, if necessary.
• A nearly complete list of the passengers' nationalities has been assembled, including 189 from Holland, 27 Australians, 10 Britons, one American, and three infants. Some passengers, including researcher Joep Lange, were travelling to an Aids conference in Melbourne .
• Eyewitnesses at the crash site described seeing bodies fall from the sky. Rescue workers have been retrieving body parts and debris from the site, and the US, UN, OSCE and others have all called for no one to interfere with the crash site or tamper with evidence.
Updated 
Fewer passengers on MH17 were Aids researchers than previously thought, my colleague Chris Johnston reports, as details about victims are slowly confirmed.
Chris Beyrer, the incoming president of the International AIDS Society, said the body had been trying to confirm exactly how many delegates were on the plane. "We think the actual number is much smaller," he told the Washington Post.
As the airline has not released a passenger manifest, organisers have tried to obtain details from sources in various countries. Although there may have been some delegates on the flight whom they were unaware of, Beyrer said it appeared that the total was "smaller than what has been reported".
You can read the full piece here.
"Each stake with a strip of white cotton marks a victim, or at least a body part. There are a lot of stakes," reports Harriet Salem (@HarrietSalem), who is on the ground in Grabovo reporting for the Guardian.
For miles around, you can see them, strips of white cotton attached to wooden stakes in the fields of eastern Ukraine. Each stake marks a victim from flight MH17, or at least a body part. There are a lot of stakes.
But then there is a lot of debris, a vast wash of metal, charred remnants, and the surreal paraphernalia of international long-haul travel, smeared over a ruined 15-square mile area. Handbags. Footwear. Passports amid the sunflowers.
You can tell some of the passengers had been on holiday. Scattered across the crash site was the unmistakable jetsam of vacation: sunhats and suntan lotion, summer clothing, duty free shopping, the occasional poolside novel. You could also tell that children were here from the unopened packets of Haribo sweets, the fistful of playing cards, a first-year drawing scrawled in a notebook, a small black-and-white stuffed monkey abandoned in the grass.






A stick with a white piece of cloth makrs the spot where a body lays. mh17 ukraine malaysia
A stick with a white piece of cloth marks the spot where a body lays. Photograph: Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images

Some of the bodies are perfectly intact, some ruined beyond recognition, some partly disrobed by the G-force of falling to earth. One woman lies partly burned, a hand raised above her head, stripped of all but her undergarments.
You can read the full piece here, with additional reporting by Oksana Grytsenko.
Time has interviewed one of the first photographers to reach the crash, and published a photo essay, but readers should be warned that many of the images are extremely graphic.
"An unlikely menagerie of dead pets lay strewn across the grass," continues the report from Grabovo by Harriet Salem (@HarrietSalem).
A bright blue and yellow macaws, a cockatoo, a random giant St Bernard dog curled peacefully where he fell.
The sticky Ukrainian summer will not be kind to the bodies. Warm sunshine gave way to rain and humidity on Friday. By late afternoon, the sharp tang of kerosene had been overpowered by something altogether more macabre: the cloying smell of death.






Personal belongings of MH17 passengers
Personal belongings of MH17 passengers. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/EPA

"Initially I thought it was a paratrooper descending from the plane but then realized that there were people falling from the sky in the passenger seats," one of the rebels told the Guardian.
Rescue workers were overwhelmed by the scene. Volunteer miners combed the long grass for bodies; some of the first emergency workers on the scene bizarrely happened to be a unit trained in scuba diving search and rescue.
"This isn't our area of expertise," said Boris, 41, an experienced diver who drove his unit to the scene in a Soviet-era Gaz military vehicle. "We have no idea where anything is, we have a huge task ahead of us. We've not experienced anything like this, nothing on this scale."
You can read the full piece here, with additional reporting by Oksana Grytsenko.
Interpol will send a team in the next 48 hours to help identify victims, AFP reports.
Experts from Interpol's disaster identification squad and missing people's units will be deployed to the site, where 298 died after the apparent downing of the airliner in the rebel-held region.
"International cooperation is essential in ensuring their accurate, dignified and speedy recovery and identification," said Secretary General Ronald Noble in a statement.
"Having spoken with Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, Arsen Avakov, I have assured him of our continued assistance for as long as it is required."
Interpol agents join some 30 OSCE monitors, and the US has said it will send a FBI agent and a NTSB agent to assist the investigation.
The UN civil aviation body disowns responsibility for warnings of potential dangers, such as military conflicts, Reuters reports.
Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) rejected suggestions it should have issued a warning about the potential dangers of flying over the area.
"ICAO does not declare airspace safe or unsafe or undertake any other direct operational responsibilities with respect to civilian air services," said spokesman Anthony Philbin.
"It is always the responsibility of our sovereign member states to advise other states of potential safety hazards."
Asked whether ICAO would ever issue warnings about the dangers of missiles, he replied: "It's not our job."
ICAO did issue a warning to airlines in April about flying over Crimea in the wake of the Russian invasion but it cited potential problems with conflicting air traffic controllers, not the risk of violence.
The warning was not an order but rather said "consideration should be given to measures to avoid the airspace".

Summary

A summary of the day's developments as recovery efforts and negotiations slow overnight:
• Rebels allowed an OSCE team limited access to the crash site, before turning them away with a warning shot. A Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman said rebels are not allowing Kiev's recovery teams to "properly do their work". Rebels had previously agreed to grant international investigators access. Monitors expressed concerns about decomposing bodies and tampering at the site.
• President Barack Obama called the crash "an outrage of unspeakable proportion", and named one American who was on board the flight. The Pentagon confirmed a surface-to-air missile shot down MH17 from territory controlled by separatists, but stopped short of accusing Russia with supplying the weapon.
• Ambassadors traded accusations at a charged UN security council meeting. Samantha Power described perceived Russian complicity and said the US "cannot rule out technical assistance from Russia"; Vitaly Churkin said Russia "places all blame on Kiev"; and Ukraine's ambassador said Russia "supported terrorists".
• Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an immediate ceasefire between rebels and Ukraine. Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed claims of Russian involvement, and his deputy said Washington was "stirring up political instability".
• Ukraine's President Poroshenko invited international cooperation to investigate the crash, and its prime minister suggested Ukrainian troops could force their way to the crash site, if necessary. Interpol and two US agents will join the investigating teamtrying to reach the crash site.
• A nearly complete list of the passengers' nationalities has been assembled, including 189 from Holland, 27 Australians, 10 Britons, one American, and three infants. Some passengers, including researcher Joep Lange, were travelling to an Aids conference in Melbourne.
• Eyewitnesses described seeing bodies fall from the sky, and theGuardian was at the site as workers sifted through debris and remains. The US, UN, OSCE and others have all called for no one to interfere with the crash site or tamper with evidence. A UN aviation body disowned responsibility for warnings of conflict dangers.
Posted by White Dragon at Saturday, July 19, 2014
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