Russia's Putin Clamps Down Amid MH17 Dissent

By Katie Stallard, Moscow Correspondent

They're laying flowers outside the Dutch embassy in Moscow, and with them they're leaving notes.

Again and again you see the words: "Please forgive us." One says: "It's our fault".

There are people here who are genuinely concerned about the direction Russia is heading under Vladimir Putin, but it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to make their voices heard.

On the same day as he promised to do everything to help the MH17 investigation, the Russian president passed a new anti-protest law, increasing the penalty for repeat breaches to up to five years forced labour or imprisonment, or a one million ruble fine.

Some Russians have asked for 'forgiveness' over the MH17 disaster

Another law targeting "extremist language" makes retweeting information deemed "offensive" punishable by up to five years in jail. 

The vast majority of people here, more than 90%, get their information from TV news - and Russian media is increasingly subject to heavy state control.

Despite international outcry, Mr Putin has overwhelming support in Russia

For the last week it has been broadcasting a steady stream of "questions Kiev must answer" and Russia's theories about the Malaysian airliner crash.

"We are always right, I mean Putin, we trust him," one middle-aged woman told us, "and whatever America or Ukraine are trying to blame him for, they are not right."

Vladimir Putin has rarely been more popular in Russia.

The latest polls put his personal approval rating at 83% - up 29% from last year, boosted by his annexation of Crimea, which was a wildly popular move at home.

His presidency has coincided with a massive increase in the price of oil, and for many a tangible increase in their standard of living, especially when compared to the chaos and economic turmoil of the 90s.

The Russian president has cracked down on protests

But despite the fast cars, huge oil and gas revenues and the perception of wealth, Russia's economy is beginning to look increasingly fragile.

The IMF has estimated Russia's growth this year will slow to 0.2% and the value of the ruble has fallen.

Capital flight for the first seven months of this year has reached $75bn (£44bn) - one and a half times the cost of the Sochi Olympics.

Russian economist Alexander Orlov explained: "Previously the growth of wages, of real income, was positive, but now that the economy is slowing down to almost zero, there is no real growth in income, in wages, but inflation is still going up."

"And with the ruble depreciation, we could see much higher inflation going forward."

Mr Putin and his supporters are concerned by Nato influence in the region

Fifteen new names and 18 entities are to be added to the EU's sanctions list this week, while German officials have warned sanctions on sectors of the Russian economy could follow by the end of the month unless Russia acts quickly to defuse the crisis in eastern Ukraine.

Russia doesn't want more sanctions, but neither is it likely to reverse its mistrust of Petro Poroshenko's government in Kiev, or "the Kiev junta" as it is known in Moscow.

Russia fears that Ukraine, under its new pro-Europe government, will move towards the EU, and maybe one day NATO.

Mr Putin said himself this week: "No matter what our foreign colleagues are saying, we see what is really going on."

"The number of Nato troops on the territory of eastern European states is being demonstratively reinforced."

For all that Mr Putin knows he needs to be seen to be co-operating with the investigation into flight MH17, that doesn't mean he will abandon his long-term ambitions in Ukraine.

15.00 | 0 komentar | Read More

Air Algerie Plane Wreckage Found In Mali

The wreckage of an Air Algerie flight which vanished from radar in West Africa has been discovered in southern Mali - but no survivors have yet been found, authorities have said.

Burkina Faso's commander in chief Gilbert Diendere said the burnt-out wreckage of flight AH5017 was found south of the Mali town of Gao.

Local Malian authorities in the nearby town of Gossi also told Reuters the wreckage had been located there.

General Diendere said the search team had gone from Burkina Faso to Mali to follow up on information they had received about the possible crash location.

Families of the 116 people onboard wait for news

He said: "The team went to meet, first of all, our informers and bring our informers on the crash site. And indeed, the mission found, on the site, pieces of the plane, this team found on the site, sadly, remains of dead bodies.

"We were not able to evaluate exactly what is the situation as night began to fall and this team has confirmed that it has seen the remains of the plane, totally burned out and scattered on the ground."

Minister of communications Alain Edouard Traore described the accident as the greatest tragedy in the country's air history.

AH5017 left Ouagadougou airport at 1.17am local time. Pic: Sputniktilt

He said President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who has declared two days of national mourning, is due to visit the crash site today.

The Air Algerie jet, which was carrying 110 passengers and six crew, was travelling from Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou to the Algerian capital Algiers when it disappeared around 50 minutes into the flight.

Earlier, France's foreign minister Laurent Fabius said authorities believed the aircraft may have encountered bad weather after the pilot requested to change direction shortly after take-off due to a storm.

However, he said no theories had been excluded.

The twin-engined MD-83 carries 168 people

Burkina Faso's transport minister Jean Bertin Ouedrago said the plane's passenger list included 51 French citizens.

Also on the jet were 27 Burkina Faso nationals, eight Lebanese, six Algerians, five Canadians, four Germans, two Luxemburg nationals, one Swiss, one Belgian, one Egyptian, one Ukrainian, one Nigerian, one Cameroonian and one Malian.

The six crew members were Spanish, according to the Spanish pilots' union.

Flight AH5017 is owned by Spanish private airline Swiftair and operated by Air Algerie.

The McDonnell Douglas MD-83 had been missing for hours before news of its disappearance was made public.

Ouagadougou is in almost a straight line south of Algiers, separated by Mali where unrest continues in the north of the country.

Airlines had been warned not to fly over Mali in recent days, Sky News understands.

However, a senior French official said it is unlikely that fighters in Mali could shoot down a plane.

They are known to have shoulder-fired weapons which could not hit an aircraft travelling at a cruising altitude of some 33,000ft.

15.00 | 0 komentar | Read More

Two Palestinians Killed In West Bank Protest

Key Dates In The Gaza-Israel Conflict

Updated: 11:43am UK, Thursday 24 July 2014

Israel's ground offensive in the Gaza Strip continues with forces attempting to destroy Hamas' weapons arsenal and rocketing-firing capabilities.

Here are the key events from the fighting that preceded and have followed Israel's operation:

July 8 - Israel launches "Operation Protective Edge" in a bid to quell near-daily militant rocket attacks in the aftermath of the abduction and killing of a Palestinian teenager in what appeared to be a revenge attack for the seizure and slaying of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank in June.

July 9 - Hamas rockets rain deep into Israel as the military pummels Palestinian targets. The military says 74 rockets landed in Israel, including in the northern city of Hadera, the deepest rocket strike ever from Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Hamas will pay a "heavy price".

July 10 - Israel intensifies its bombardment. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges an immediate ceasefire but neither side shows much interest in halting the fighting.

July 11 - Mr Netanyahu vows to press forward with a broad military offensive. The Israeli military says it has hit more than 1,100 targets, mostly rocket-launching sites, while Palestinian militants fired more than 600 rockets at Israel. The Lebanese military says militants there fired three rockets toward Israel and the Israelis retaliated with about 25 artillery shells.

July 12 - Gaza City becomes a virtual ghost town as streets empty, shops close and hundreds of thousands of people keep close to home. The death toll rises to more than 156 Palestinians after more than 1,200 Israeli air strikes.

July 13 - Israel widens its campaign, targeting civilian institutions with suspected Hamas ties, and briefly deploys ground troops inside Gaza to raid a rocket launching site. Four Israeli soldiers are hurt during the brief incursion. Egypt, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, continues to work behind the scenes.

July 14 - Israel says it's downed an unmanned drone along its southern coastline. Egypt presents a cease-fire plan that is praised by President Barack Obama at a White House dinner celebrating the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

July 15 - Israeli Cabinet accepts Egypt's truce plan, halting fire for six hours but Hamas rejects the proposal, instead unleashing more rockets at Israel and prompting Israel to resume heavy bombardment. Rocket fire kills an Israeli man delivering food to soldiers, the first Israeli fatality in the fighting. Four Gaza boys, all cousins, are killed on a beach by shells fired from a navy ship.

July 16 - Hamas fires dozens of rockets into Israel, vowing not to agree to a ceasefire until its demands are met. The Gaza Interior Ministry's website says Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of airstrikes, targeting 30 houses, including those of four senior Hamas leaders. Later, both Israel and Hamas agree to a five-hour UN brokered "humanitarian" pause to start the following day.

July 17 - Both sides trade fire in run-up to the brief truce, which Gazans use to restock on food and other supplies. Israel says it foiled an attack by 13 Gaza militants who infiltrated through a tunnel. Fierce fighting resumes after the truce expires, including an airstrike that kills three Palestinian children. After nightfall, the Israeli military launches a ground invasion into Gaza Strip.

July 18 - Eight members of the same Palestinian family - two men, two women and four children - are killed by Israeli tank fire as the ground offensive to date claims the lives of 51 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier.

July 19 - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he wants to meet both sides to try to secure a truce as Israel pledges to step up its ground offensive. Hamas says its fighters are "behind enemy lines" as security alerts are triggered in southern Israel.

July 20 - Fresh airstrikes, artillery shelling and gun battles overnight kill 12 Palestinians and two more Israeli soldiers, as Israel intensifies its ground offensive in Gaza. Israeli minister Naftali Bennett defends the ground offensive in Gaza and accuses Hamas of "self-genocide" by using women and children as human shields.

July 21 - Another airstrike kills 26 members of the same family, while seven more Israeli soldiers die in gun battles with Hamas fighters. Thirty of those wounded in the attack are reportedly medical staff.

July 22 - The Palestinian leadership proposes a ceasefire plan to mediators in Egypt which would be followed by five days of negotiations to stop the fighting which has claimed the lives of more than 600 Palestinians, many of them women and children, and 29 Israelis, including 27 soldiers.

July 23 - An international inquiry into Israel's actions in Gaza is launched, after the UN's Human Rights Commissioner says there is a "strong possibility" the country is guilty of war crimes. Several major airlines from the US, Europe and Canada suspend flights to and from Israel after a rocket fired from Gaza lands near Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion international airport.

July 24 - British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond warns Benjamin Netanyahu the West is losing sympathy for Israel amid the rising number of civilian deaths during its offensive in Gaza, as international efforts to end the conflict intensify. However, hopes of an effective ceasefire quickly diminish after Israel vows to continue hunting Palestinian cross-border tunnels under any humanitarian truce, while Hamas also rejects a truce without the lifting of Israel's eight-year blockade of Gaza.

15.00 | 0 komentar | Read More

Israel Minister Accuses Hamas Of 'Self-Genocide'

An Israeli minister has defended the ground offensive in Gaza and accused Hamas of "self-genocide" by using women and children as human shields.

Naftali Bennett, appearing on Dermot Murnaghan's programme, insisted Israel would continue to retaliate to rocket strikes from Gaza.

The Israeli economic minister said: "The only difference between us and Hamas in Gaza is that they are deliberately sending their women and children to stand next to missile launchers in order for them to get killed, and then they cry to the world that they are being killed.

"This is cynical and cowardly. Israel has all the right to defend itself.

Israel began a ground offensive in Gaza on Thursday

"They started this, they are continuing this, this can all go away the moment they disarm themselves and stop shooting us.

"Hamas is placing missiles in homes, in living rooms, in schools, in children's rooms, this is their modus operandi.

"If Hamas was shooting missiles at your home, from within a school, what would you do?

"Would you just wait for those missiles to kill you? We fight back.

"Sometimes yes in wars there is collateral damage, but I'm not going to ask forgiveness for defending my four children that had rockets shot at home this very morning.

"What Hamas is doing is effectively self-genocide."

Since the start of fighting nearly two weeks ago, 378 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 3,000 wounded, according to Gaza Health Ministry official Ashraf al Kidra.

A total of five Israeli soldiers have also been killed since the ground offensive began on Thursday. Two Israeli citizens have also been killed in rocket attacks.

14.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Israel: Kidnapped Soldier 'Rumours Are Untrue'

Israel's UN ambassador has denied claims by Hamas that an Israeli soldier was abducted during ongoing fighting in Gaza.

Ambassador Ron Prosor described the claims, which prompted celebrations in the streets of Gaza City at the weekend, as "untrue".

"There is no kidnapped Israeli soldier and those rumours are untrue," he said.

Earlier, the armed wing of the Palestinian Hamas group said it had kidnapped the soldier, saying: "We have captured a Zionist soldier and the occupation has not admitted that."

A Palestinian man holds a child while fleeing the Shuja'iya district

A televised announcement by the group revealed what they claimed was the soldier's name and ID number, which led to hundreds of Gazans taking to the streets.

The denial comes as the UN Security Council opens urgent talks on the violence in Gaza, which claimed the lives of at least 100 Palestinians and 13 Israeli troops on Sunday.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas called for the emergency session and described the situation in Gaza as "intolerable" and the Israeli attacks a "crime against humanity".

Officials said 35,000 civilians fled the fighting on Sunday

The 15-member Council met as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon held talks with leaders in the region and called on Israel to exercise "maximum restraint and do far more to protect civilians".

French Ambassador Gerard Araud said: "We have to know from the secretary-general the result of his efforts, his travels and whether there is any hope of moving forward to a ceasefire," as he headed into the Council meeting.

The UN Security Council again appealed for an immediate ceasefire at an emergency session on Sunday.

Israeli soldiers mourn during the funeral of colleague Bnaya Rubel in Holon

People fleeing Israeli shelling in the northeast Gazan neighbourhood of Shaja'iya at the weekend described it as a "massacre", with many women and children among the dead.

The bodies of 16 Palestinians were found in rubble following the continued airstrikes, according to medics.

The Israeli army said it had warned civilians to leave two days earlier.

Rubel, 20, was killed in Gaza on Saturday during Operation Protective Edge

Israeli Defence Forces spokesperson Peter Lerner claimed on Monday morning that 10 Hamas militants had been killed after gaining access to Israel through two tunnels in north Gaza.

Officials said 35,000 people fled the fighting in Gaza on Sunday as the artillery bombardment began.

"A heinous massacre has been committed against our people in the Gaza Strip this (Sunday) morning," said the Palestinian representative to the United Nations, Ryad Mansour.

Sagit Greenberg and two of her children mourn at the funeral of her husband

"There is no justification for this massacre committed against our people.

"Our people are extremely frustrated and fed up with the Security Council and the international community because they are not doing what they should be doing in order to stop this aggression against our people."

The Israeli government claimed Hamas was hiding behind the civilian population. 

Pro-Israel supporters rallied at Times Square, New York at the weekend

Spokesman Naftali Bennet said: "What Hamas is doing is effectively self genocide.

"They're, in a cowardly and cynical fashion, placing their women and children as shields, killing them, then coming to Sky News and other outlets and saying 'Israel is killing us'."

The Israeli military said it has so far hit more than 2,500 targets in Gaza, including 1,100 rocket launchers, after nearly two weeks of fighting.

Pro-Palestine supporters protested against the conflict in Los Angeles

It says around 70 militants have been killed and another 13 brought to Israel for questioning after more than 1,760 rockets were fired at Israeli cities since July 8.

Last week, Hamas rejected an Egyptian-brokered truce - saying it would only agree if Israel and Egypt significantly eased the border blockade of Gaza.

Since the start of the fighting, more than 447 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2,600 wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

14.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

MH17: 'Terrorists Blocking Train Of Bodies'

The first train containing bodies from the MH17 crash site is being blocked by "terrorists", the Ukrainian government has said.

In a statement, the government said the train, which is carrying the remains of 200 victims, is stuck at the station in the town of Torez.

Rescuers have found 251 bodies of the 298 victims in the area where the Malaysia Airlines flight came down in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, the statement went on.

Some 86 body parts have also been recovered.

The blocking of the train comes despite comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin that "we need to do everything to ensure the security and safety of the observers and the experts working at the crash site".

Sky's Katie Stallard, reporting in Moscow, said: "The Ukraine government uses the word terrorists, we would probably use the word rebels or separatists.

"If President Putin's statement was meant to move those people or indicate to them that they should now co-operate, that is plainly not happening."

Refrigerator wagons will take bodies away from the crash site

A second train with refrigerator wagons to take the remains away has arrived in the area.

The destinations of the trains is not known.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian government forces are trying to break into the rebel-held city of Donetsk, according to reports from the separatists.

Fighting is under way near the city's railway station, with reports of four government and two rebel tanks heading to the area.

More follows...

14.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Gunmen Kill 21 Egyptian Soldiers At Checkpoint

Gunmen have killed 21 Egyptian soldiers at a checkpoint near the border with Libya in one of the biggest assaults on Egypt's security forces in years.

Egyptian security officials described the attackers as "smugglers", but an army spokesman said on his Facebook page that "terrorists" - the term authorities use to describe Islamist militants - were behind the attack.

However, no one has claimed responsibility for the killings.

An ammunitions depot at the El-Farafrah post was blown up by a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) in an exchange of fire, killing the soldiers and wounding four others. Two of the gunmen died during the assault.

The military said two booby-trapped vehicles were used in the attack, and bomb experts have defused the explosives.

The attack took place in Wadi al Gadid, a desert area 390 miles (630km) west of Cairo, which borders both Libya and Sudan.

It was the second assault on the same checkpoint in less than three months.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi has repeatedly expressed concerns about militants who have stepped up attacks, mainly in the Sinai Peninsula bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip, on security forces since Islamist president Mohammed Morsi was toppled in July 2013.

Security officials claim militants operating in Libya, who have ambitions similar to the al Qaeda breakaway group ISIS that has seized large swathes of Iraq, are trying to forge ties with Sinai militants.

14.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Bodies In The Street' As Gazans Flee Shelling

At least 20 people have been killed and many more wounded after the Israeli military shelled a Gaza neighbourhood.

Thousands of Palestinians fled Shaja'iya in northeast Gaza - some by foot and others in the backs of trucks or sitting on the hoods of packed cars - as the attack began.

Sky's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Shaja'iya, said Palestinians leaving the area were describing it as a "massacre".

An Israeli military spokeswoman said: "Two days ago, residents of Shaja'iya received recorded messages to evacuate the area in order to protect their lives."

More follows...

14.59 | 0 komentar | Read More

Rebels Call For Truce To Allow MH17 Probe

Pro-Russian separatists have said they will grant monitors safe access to the Malaysia Airlines crash site if Kiev agrees a truce.

Andrei Purgin, deputy PM of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic said his troops would "guarantee the safety of international experts on the scene" as soon as a deal with Ukraine was struck on a ceasefire.

If the offer was rejected by Kiev, he warned it would suggest the government was made up of "dangerous lunatics, bloodthirsty maniacs (who are) dangerous not only for the residents of Donbass but also for the world community".

The move came as world leaders piled pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the armed Moscow-backed rebels from preventing investigators from fully accessing the MH17 crash site.

A message left among floral tributes outside the Dutch Embassy in Kiev

British Prime Minister David said Europe and the West must "fundamentally change our approach" unless Mr Putin alters his stance.

Writing in the Sunday Times Mr Cameron said: "The growing weight of evidence points to a clear conclusion: that MH17 was blown out of the sky by a surface-to-air missile fired from a rebel-held area.

"If it is the case, then we must be clear what it means: this is a direct result of Russia destabilising a sovereign state, violating its territorial integrity, backing thuggish militias, and training and arming them."

The prospect of further sanctions against Russia was raised as public anger and concerns grow over claims of looting and evidence being compromised.

The US has condemned the lack of security at the scene, while Malaysia has attacked the failure to preserve evidence as a "betrayal of the lives lost".

International monitors and journalists are confronted by armed separatists

US Secretary of State John Kerry told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov  reports that the remains of some victims and debris from the site are being tampered with or inappropriately removed from the site amounted to an an "affront to all those who lost loved ones and to the dignity the victims deserve".

Critically, investigators have been unable to speak to anyone about the whereabouts of the jet's two black box voice and data recorders.

Ukraine has said they have not been handed over to Kiev and it has no information about them, while the rebels have denied shooting down the plane, finding the black boxes, and rubbished claims they have removed bodies from the crash site.

All 298 passengers including 10 Britons and 80 children were killed when flight MH17, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was brought down near Grabovo, Donetsk, where Ukrainian forces have been battling separatists.

Kiev and Moscow have blamed each other for the disaster.

More follows...

14.59 | 0 komentar | Read More