Malaysia Airlines MH17 plane crash in Ukraine LIVE UPDATES

Head of #Iran's airports org. Mohamad Ilkhani says #MH17 crash would have $50 million income due to ICAO & IATA requests 2 use Iran airspace ======== Relatives of passengers on downed Malaysian plane berate officials Airline releases partial list of passenger nationalities Huib Gorter, a senior vice president of Malaysia Airlines, released a partial list of the nationalities of the plane’s passengers. This list is incomplete, accounting for 233 of the 280 passengers that the airline said were on-board, because Malaysia Air says it does not know the nationalities of the remaining 47 passengers yet. •154 Dutch •27 Australian •23 Malaysian •11 Indonesian •6 UK •4 German •4 Belgian •3 Philippines •One Canadian Every member of the 15-person crew was Malaysian, the airline said. — Griff Witte By Anuradha Raghu KUALA LUMPUR Thu Jul 17, 2014 4:39pm EDT Our latest images from the site of the airline crash in Ukraine. Slideshow (Reuters) - Dazed and disbelieving, relatives of passengers aboard the Malaysian airliner downed in Ukraine gathered at the Kuala Lumpur airport early on Friday, demanding information about what happened and getting little response. The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 with 295 people on board was to have landed in Kuala Lumpur at 6:10 a.m. (6.10 p.m. EDT Thursday) on a flight from Amsterdam. It went down near the Ukraine-Russia border and all aboard were killed. "I saw the news on TV," said Akma Mohammad Noor, a woman whose sister, Rahimah, was traveling on the flight. "She was supposed to travel with her son but he did not want to go." Like many Malaysian Muslims, Rahimah was coming to her home country for the Eid al-Fitr festival, Islam's biggest annual celebration, marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, on July 28. "We were supposed to celebrate Raya (the festival) together," Noor said, weeping. Her sister, who has lived in Geneva for three decades, was coming home for the first time in five years, she said. Ukraine accused "terrorists" - militants fighting to unite eastern Ukraine with Russia - of shooting down the plane. The rebels denied responsibility. The loss of flight MH-17 is the second disaster for Malaysia Airlines this year, following the mysterious loss of flight MH-370. It disappeared in March with 239 passengers and crew on board on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Other relatives in Kuala Lumpur on Friday were incensed with the airline for not giving information about who was on the flight. One man was berating officials. "Is MAS stupid?" he shouted, referring to the Malaysia Airlines System, the official name of the airline. "We just want to know the name list from MAS." He said his sister, brother-in-law and a two-year-old baby were believed to be on board. "Facebook is more efficient than MAS' media network," said another man waiting with a female relative for news. "It's so funny. It's really a laughing stock. We need to know the list. The list. That is all." Malaysia Airlines said earlier air traffic controllers lost contact with the flight at 1415 GMT as it flew over eastern Ukraine towards the Russian border. Flight tracking data indicated it was at its cruising altitude of 33,000 feet when it disappeared. (Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editring by Robert Birsel) ====================== Malaysia Airlines MH17 plane crash in Ukraine LIVE UPDATES Published time: July 17, 2014 15:49 Edited time: July 17, 2014 18:17 Get short URL The site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash is seen at the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17, 2014.(Reuters / Maxim Zmeyev ) Accident, Ukraine A Malaysia Airlines plane en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has crashed in eastern Ukraine. There were 285 people and 15 crew members on board the Boeing-777 aircraft. Thursday, July 17 20:14 GMT: The Lugansk People’s Republic press service has announced that OSCE representatives in the area have set off for the crash site, to monitor the investigation. 20:13 GMT: NATO’s chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has urged an immediate international investigation into the crash of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 plane in Eastern Ukraine, RIA-Novosti news agency reports. 19:53 GMT: The plane was being guided by Ukrainian air traffic controllers before it disappeared off the radars, a Russian aviation representative told Rossiya-24 news channel. 19:33 GMT: The EU has said it is “shocked” by the crash, and called for all sides to determine who is behind it. “We call for an immediate and thorough investigation into the causes of the crash. The facts and responsibilities need to be established as quickly as possible. The European Union will continue to follow this issue very closely,” said an official communiqué published by Brussels. 19:19 GMT: Donetsk People’s Republic Prime Minister Aleksandr Boroday has called for a humanitarian ceasefire for 2 to 3 days to investigate the causes of the MH17 crash, RIA news agency reports. Boroday earlier accused Kiev of shooting down the plane to frame local militias. 19:11 GMT: Civilian airspace over eastern Ukraine has been closed until further notice, continental air traffic regulator Eurocontrol has announced. The body confirmed Ukrainian information that the traffic corridor in which the plane was brought down had been closed off at low altitudes, but open at above 10,000, where the plane was flying. 18:38 GMT: There were at least 71 Dutch citizens aboard the crashed plane, Germany's RTL channel has reported. Previous unconfirmed reports suggested that there were also 23 passengers with US identification and 9 Brits on the flight. French authorities have confirmed that four of their citizens died in the crash. 18:33 GMT: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has cleared up the confusion about whether the space in which MH17 was open to civilian planes. “Based on the information currently available it is believed that the airspace that the aircraft was traversing was not subject to restrictions,” said a statement on the IATA website. It is not unusual for civilian planes to fly over warzones, providing that they remain at an altitude at which they are unlikely to be hit by the weapons used in the conflict. 18:13 GMT: Russia’s Ministry of Emergencies has lodged an official request with the Ukrainian authorities to send its staff to work alongside local emergency workers around the crash site. 18:13 GMT: US President Barack Obama began a prescheduled address on infrastructure in Wilmington, Delaware Thursday afternoon by remarking briefly what he called a “terrible tragedy” in eastern Ukraine. “Right now we are working to determine whether there were American citizens on board. That is our first priority,” said the president. Additionally, Obama said he’s directed his national security team to reach out to the Ukrainian government, and said the US “will offer any assistance we can to help determine what happened and why.” Unverified reports have suggested that 23 Americans may have been onboard the plane, but US State Dept. spokesperson Jen Psaki said earlier in the afternoon that American authorities are still investigating those claims. ======================= Malaysian airliner crashes in east Ukraine AFPBy Max Delany and Dmitry Zaks | AFP – 4 hours ago.. Photo shows Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 taking off from Schiphol Airport in Schiphol, the Netherlands, on July 17, 2014 View Photo . AFP/ANP/AFP/File - Photo shows Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 taking off from Schiphol Airport in Schiphol, the Netherlands, on July 17, 2014 A Malaysian passenger liner flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has crashed in insurgency-wracked east Ukraine, regional officials said Thursday, as Ukraine's president said the jet may have been shot down. Malaysia Airlines said it had "lost contact" with the Boeing passenger liner, which Ukrainian officials said had come down in a rebel-held zone in the Donetsk region. "Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam," the airline, still reeling from the disappearance of flight MH370, said on its Twitter account. "The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace," it said, promising more details soon. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the jet may have been shot down. "We do not exclude that the plane was shot down and confirm that the Ukraine Armed Forces did not fire at any targets in the sky," Poroshenko said in a statement posted on the president's website. Regional officials in Donetsk confirmed the plane had come down near the town of Shaktarsk. "The number of dead is not yet known," the administration said in a statement. Emergency services were rushing to the scene, a security source told Interfax-Ukraine. US stocks fell sharply following reports the Malaysia Airlines plane had been shot down, while Britain's Foreign Office said it was "working urgently to find out what's happened." The incident comes just months after Malaysia's Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 with 239 on board. The plane diverted from its Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flight path and its fate remains a mystery despite a massive aerial and underwater search. - Ukrainian jet 'downed' - The reported crash came after Kiev accused Russia of downing a Ukrainian military plane on a mission over the east of the country, stoking tensions in the growing conflict on the edges of Europe that has claimed over 600 lives. The allegation came a day after the US and EU bolstered sanctions against Russia over its perceived support of the separatist insurgency in the ex-Soviet state. Moscow condemned the punitive measures against it as "blackmail" and warned of retaliatory actions against Washington. In the first direct claim of a Russian attack on Ukrainian forces, Kiev said a Russian airforce jet shot down a Ukrainian warplane Wednesday evening -- before the fresh round of Western sanctions were announced -- as it was carrying out its duties. The pilot of the Su-25 plane managed to eject and was rescued by Kiev forces, Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council said. Russia's defence ministry -- which NATO claims has massed some 12,000 troops along Ukraine's porous border -- dismissed the claim as "absurd", Russian news agencies reported. - Sanctions hit Russian stocks - The dramatic developments on the ground came alongside a major diplomatic fallout over fresh Western sanctions that Washington and Brussels hope will force Moscow to help halt the conflict. In a tough move that left the EU trailing in his wake, US President Barack Obama took a swipe at major players in Russia's finance, military and energy sectors in sanctions imposed Wednesday. The Russian foreign ministry reacted in a furious statement: "We do not intend to tolerate blackmail and reserve the right to take retaliatory measures" against the US. Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier warned that sanctions would inflict "very serious damage" on the already tattered US-Russia relationship. - Talks promised - In eastern Ukraine fierce fighting between government forces and pro-Moscow rebels has intensified in recent days with some 55 civilians killed since the weekend. The fighting forced more than a dozen Ukrainian border guards to flee into Russia seeking medical help with one dying from his injuries, the Russian authorities said. Germany and France have been spearheading a push to revive talks between Kiev and the rebels over a potential ceasefire but attempts to hold a Skype videoconference fell through Tuesday. Ukrainian forces made a string of major gains after Poroshenko tore up an unsuccessful ceasefire earlier this month, but progress has slowed since rebels retreated into two major regional centres where they have pledged to fight to the end. ================ 'If it disappears': Passenger posts joke photo of flight MH17 shortly before crash Published time: July 18, 2014 12:23 Get short URL Cor Pan (Image from facebook.com) Cor Pan (Image from facebook.com) 231 240 2 Tags Accident, Asia, EU, Internet, Planes, Transport, War We get a closer glimpse into the tragedy of flight MH17 on seeing a young passenger’s photo of the aircraft, joking about a nightmare scenario minutes before boarding it with his girlfriend. “Should it disappear, this is what it looks like,” it read. With the quirky caption, Pan from Volendam in North Holland, is making a joking reference to the mystery that befell Malaysia Airlines in March when flight MH370 vanished on route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The young Dutch musician Cor Pan was going on vacation with his girlfriend Neeltje Tol. The picture of the Malaysia Airlines plane, taken through a window shortly before boarding, as it refueled on the tarmac at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, could well have been his last. The plane crashed in East Ukraine, which is practically a war zone, after apparently being shot down. A total of 298 people – at least 151 of them Dutch – died in the crash. His friends and family left numerous comments on his page, wishing him and Neeltje a great trip. Screenshot from facebook.com/cor.pan.7 Screenshot from facebook.com/cor.pan.7 When visiting Pan’s (real surname Schilder) Facebook page the large number of shares and comments under the photo which appeared after the crash are heartrending. At the time of publication, there were almost 20,000 shares and 161 comments. At 11:19AM EST a friend of Pan’s broke the news of the catastrophe with a screenshot that aroused much suspicion from people, and the situation turned frantic, which the comments reflected. People discussed details about whether Pan and Tol were indeed on that plane. It shortly became clear that the young couple were amongst the ones who perished. The comments swiftly changed from doubt and disbelief to “Rest in peace”, “goose bumps” and “terribly unfair.” Now there is a community page set up in memoriam of Cor and his love of music. He was a member of the band called Vast Countenance. His girlfriend, Nelltje, was a florist. She owned a shop called Neeltje’s Flowers. It was apparent from the notice on her door that she’d open back up around August 3. Pan’s community page now has over 1,000 members. Image from facebook.com Image from facebook.com 231 240 2 Comments (19) Theon Lyreal II 18.07.2014 17:49 One should never tempt fate. Yuriy B. 18.07.2014 16:49 Bookworm Doe 18.07.2014 14:54 The hypocrisy of this all is that the USA shots a Iranian passenger plane in 1988 killing 290 on board. . The unfortunate fact is that some see lives of others less valuable than those of their own or of their people. It is sad, because life is equally important everywhere. Unfortunately it seems like when looking at where things truly began it points to an overthrow of the legitimate authority in the Ukraine. Bookworm Doe 18.07.2014 14:54 The hypocrisy of this all is that the USA shots a Iranian passenger plane in 1988 killing 290 on board. I am so sorry. Of course, I am an AMERICAN, and I have to learn about that tragedy in 1988 from YOU? Oh, how awful. ===================== Ukrainian Buk battery radar was operational when Malaysian plane downed - Moscow Published time: July 18, 2014 09:31 Edited time: July 18, 2014 11:16 Get short URL Debris is seen at the site of Thursday's Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash near the settlement of Grabovo, in the Donetsk region July 18, 2014 (Reuters / Maxim Zmeyev) Debris is seen at the site of Thursday's Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash near the settlement of Grabovo, in the Donetsk region July 18, 2014 (Reuters / Maxim Zmeyev) 4.8K 1K 1 Trends Ukraine turmoil Tags Conflict, Military, Planes, Ukraine On Thursday, when a Malaysian Airlines plane was apparently shot down over Ukraine, a Ukrainian Buk anti-aircraft missile battery was operational in the region, the Russian Defense Ministry said, contradicting Kiev’s statements. The battery was deployed at a site from which it could have fired a missile at the airliner, the ministry said in a statement. It said radiation from the battery’s radar was detected by the Russian military. “The Russian equipment detected throughout July 17 the activity of a Kupol radar, deployed as part of a Buk-M1 battery near Styla [a village some 30km south of Donetsk],” the ministry said in a statement. The ministry said the radar could be providing tracking information to another battery deployed in the region, which was at a firing distance from the plane’s flight path. Earlier Kiev said it could not have fired a missile at the passing civilian plane because it had no Buk missile launchers deployed in the region. At the same time the Ukrainians said the militias had no Buk systems in their hands, according to a statement from the country’s Prosecutor General. After the Russian ministry came out with the statement, Bogdan Senyk, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reiterated Kiev’s position, saying that "anti-aircraft missiles have not been deployed during the anti-terrorist operation ... they are all in place." (File photo) A "Buk" anti-aircraft battery launches a ground-to-air missile (Reuters) The Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 carrying almost 300 people on board crashed on Thursday as it was flying over Ukraine’s Donetsk Region. The plane was apparently shot down by a surface-to-air missile, although both Kiev and the local militias fighting against it deny responsibility. A flurry of condemnations and calls for a swift investigation followed the disaster. 4.8K 1K 1 Comments (1388) Gloves 18.07.2014 18:42 [quote name='' time='18.07.2014 18:36']So sadly pitiful that those that support Russia will NEVER accept that they are fed lies by their government & media. Very off topic, but so very typical. While the rest of the world watched only 4 rings open during the Sochi Olympics, the Russians saw FIVE open perfectly and believed EVERYTHING they saw. which word is better....MUPPETS or PUPPETS ?[/quote] L OL I remember that. The "live" opening ceremony had a little bit of the rehearsal snuck in to cover up the snafu. ALEKSANDAR 18.07.2014 18:42 deepest condolences to families ...so sad, horrible :(( nobody can tell for sure what happened before black box is investigated (hopefully an independent and honest) . many strange coincidences...2nd plane brought down over ukraine by mistake. is it mistake, a plot? uneducated s.a.m. crew? missile from the plane ? what is sure is that plane had a strange route when all considered...but nobody mentioned a possible bomb inside the plane. is there any video clip where we can see a direct missile hit? Kate Young 18.07.2014 18:41 griebels 18.07.2014 18:40 Yes , they did. But at least they later did have the decency to admit their terrible mistake... Oh, just say mistake... like in Italy, US army plane kill many tourists, and again just mistake.... ============== Sonique Wilson Mwesigwa THIS WAS A DELIBERATE ATTEMPT TO SHOOT DOWN THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENTIAL PLANE CARRYING VLADIMIR PUTIN ON HIS WAY FROM THE LATIN AMERICAN VISIT. THIS COMES ON THE HEALS OF PUTIN’S SUCCESS IN PUSHING THROUGH THE CREATION OF THE BRICS BANK AS A HEALTHY ALTERNATIVE TO THE ROTTEN US-LED IMF/WORLD BANK SYSTEM. PUTIN ALSO SIGNED VARIOUS MEGA-DEALS WITH MULTIPLE LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES. DISCUSSED WERE SECURITY AND COMMUNICATIONS DEALS THREATENING US GLOBAL DOMINANCE, INCLUDING THE RUSSIAN GLOBAL NAVIGATION GLONASS SYSTEM, TO RIVAL THE AMERICAN GPS. See my article: New Predictions! Putin Goes to Latin America: US Creates Wars – Russia Extends a Hand of Cooperation. AT THE SAME TIME, RUSSIA SUCCESSFULLY NEGOTIATED THE SOUTH STREAM CONSTRUCTION DEALS WITH VARIOUS EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, OVER A MASSIVE US RESISTANCE AND ARM TWISTING. US IS TRYING TO TIE THE EU TO ITSELF BY PUSHING ON THE EU ITS MORE EXPENSIVE AND LOW QUALITY SHALE GAS, IN LIEU OF RUSSIAN GAS. IN ASIA/SIBERIA, RUSSIA IS STARTING VARIOUS DEVELOPMENT MEGA-PROJECTS IN COOPERATION WITH CHINA, AND POSSIBLY, JAPAN. See: Russia’s NEW Ambitious Anti-Dollar Move: $150 bln Investment in Baikal-Amur Railroad ALL OF THE ABOVE PROJECTS ARE BEING FINANCED OUTSIDE OF THE DOLLAR SYSTEM. RUSSIA HAS MADE SERIOUS STRIDES IN UNDERMINING THE DOLLAR HEGEMONY. AS SUCH, PUTIN IS THE ARCH-ENEMY OF THE US and NWO. MEANWHILE IN EASTERN UKRAINE, NOVOROSSIA HAS BEEN FORMED, AND THE JOINED FORCES OF DONETSK AND LUGANSK REPUBLICS SUCCESSFULLY SURROUNDED 4 THOUSAND KIEV NAZI TROOPS IN 3 DIFFERENT LOCATIONS. KIEV IS LOSING THE WAR AGAINST DONBASS/ NOVOROSSIA ON ALL FRONTS. THIS INCLUDES THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FRONT, AS MORE AND MORE PEOPLE IN UKRAINE QUESTION THE LEGITIMACY AND INHUMANE METHODS OF THE KIEV JUNTA. MAKE NO MISTAKE – UKRAINE IS SUPER-IMPORTANT FROM THE GLOBAL GEOPOLITICAL STANDPOINT! THAT’S WHY THE US IS ALL OVER IT; AS IT IS COMING OUT, SO IS ISRAEL. US IS INCREDIBLY SCARED THAT ITS HEGEMONY IS CRUMBLING. THE BRICS BANK, RUSSIAN DEALS IN LATIN AMERICA, SIBERIA, AND SOUTH STREAM IN EUROPE, MAKE THE US LOOK WORSE AND WORSE. PUTIN HAS BEEN VILIFIED AND THREATENED, RUSSIA WAS SABOTAGED EACH STEP OF THE WAY. UKRAINE MAYHEM WAS ORCHESTRATED BY THE US TO FURTHER WEAKEN AND MALIGN RUSSIA. BUT NONE OF THIS WORKS. PUTIN STILL OUTSMARTS AND OUTPLAYS THEM EVERY TIME. PUTIN CONTINUES TO BE THE MOST POPULAR WORLD LEADER. WHILE PUTIN WAS IN BRAZIL, SIGNING CONTRACTS AND CELEBRATING THE BRICS BANK CREATION, US IMPOSED ANOTHER ROUND OF SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA. HOWEVER, RUSSIA HAS ANNOUNCED THAT IT ISN’T PHASED BY THE SANCTIONS AND WILL CONSIDER ITS OWN SANCTIONS AGAINST THE US. THE NEXT AND ONLY THING THAT REMAINS FOR THE US TO DO IS TO KILL PUTIN PHYSICALLY. THIS WAS AN ATTEMPT TO DO JUST THAT, USING THE KIEV JUNTA ROCKETS. THE IDEA WAS TO BLAME IT ON THE DONETSK REPUBLIC/NOVOROSSIA SELF-DEFENCE. EXCEPT, NOVOROSSIA DOESN’T HAVE THE ROCKETS CAPABLE OF REACHING THE ALTITUDE OF A COMMERCIAL JET. IT IS CLEAR THAT PUTIN’S PLANE WAS TARGETED. AS YOU’LL SEE BELOW, IT MAY HAVE FLOWN IN THE SAME SPACE JUST A LITTLE LATER. THE RUSSIAN SOURCES LATER DENIED THAT PUTIN’S PLANE FLEW OVER UKRAINE AIR SPACE, AND IT’S MOST LIKELY TRUE. IT IS VERY POSSIBLE THAT PUTIN’S PLANE DELIBERATELY CHANGED ITS ROUTE, OR THERE WAS ANOTHER DIVERSION. I BELIEVE UKRAINE MILITARY MISTOOK THE MALAYSIAN FLIGHT MH17 FOR THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENTIAL PLANE, AND EXECUTED THE ORDER THEY HAD RECEIVED. RUSSIAN PRESIDENTIAL PLANE AND THE MALAYSIA AIRLINES PLANE ARE VERY SIMILAR-LOOKING FROM A DISTANCE. THE INTEL AND COORDINATES FOR THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENTIAL PLANE’S ROUTE COULD HAVE ONLY COME FROM THE US SATELLITES. UKRAINE HAS NO SUCH INTEL CAPABILITY. THEY DO HAVE ROCKETS TO EXECUTE THE PLAN, BUT AS IS COMMON KNOWLEDGE, THE UKRAINE MILITARY IS VERY POORLY TRAINED, HENCE THE MISTAKE. THE LAST THING TO ADD IS THIS: I SEE THAT US, EU AND ISRAEL MSM IS ALREADY YELLING THAT IT WAS RUSSIA THAT DOWNED THE PLANE SINCE IT WAS THE RUSSIAN-MADE BUK MISSILE. BUT HERE IS THE PROBLEM: THESE OLDER MISSILES ARE NOT REALLY USED BY THE RUSSIAN ARMY ANY MORE… HOWEVER, THEY ARE USED VERY EXTENSIVELY BY THE UKRAINE ARMY, WHICH IS EQUIPPED WITH OLDER, SOVIET-STYLE WEAPONS from 1980s, AND DOES NOT HAVE THE MODERN RUSSIAN WEAPONS! MOREOVER, UKRAINE AT ONE POINT WAS THE MANUFACTURER OF THE BUK MISSILE. More about the BUK missile on Wikipedia. PRESENTLY, UKRAINE ARMY HAS 27 BUK-M1 SYSTEMS STATIONED ALONG THE NORTH-WESTERN BORDER OF DONETSK AS PART OF THE UKRAINE ARMY’S 156TH MISSILE BRIGADE. Link to the Russian army announcement on the topic. P.S. It’s worth noting that both Kiev and US are constantly trying to put Russia on the defensive. This is a proven US technology: to keep your opponent busy so he doesn’t have the time to challenge you. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes not. Another thing to note is the divide-and-conquer strategy. There were lots of Europeans on the plane, so McCain’s and MSM immediate yelling that Russia shot down the Malaysian airliner is supposed to put a rift between EU and Russia and Malaysia and Russia. Like · 247 people · Reply · 8 hours ago ================ Why were commercial planes still flying over Ukraine? AFP July 18, 2014, 4:42 pm Share Facebook Twitter G+ Pinterest Mail Why were commercial planes still flying over Ukraine? AFP Why were commercial planes still flying over Ukraine? Seoul (AFP) - The downing of a Malaysia Airlines jet over rebel-held eastern Ukraine has raised questions over why the company persisted in flying in conflict-zone airspace that many other Asian carriers had abandoned months ago. The air corridor over Ukraine has always been a crowded one for flights between Europe and Asia -- particularly Southeast Asia -- and re-routing around the airspace would mean an increase in flight time and fuel costs. Nevertheless, a number of major Asian airlines, including South Korea's Korean Air and Asiana, Australia's Qantas and Taiwan's China Airlines, said Friday that they had started avoiding the area as much as four months ago, when Russian troops moved into Crimea. "We stopped flying over Ukraine because of safety concerns," Asiana spokeswoman Lee Hyo-Min said. Korean Air moved its flight paths 250 kilometres (160 miles) south of Ukraine from March 3 "due to the political unrest in the region", an official for the carrier told AFP. A Qantas spokeswoman said its London to Dubai service used to fly over Ukraine, but the route was changed "several months ago", while Taiwan's China Airlines diverted its flights from April 3. Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific and Pakistan International Airlines said their flight paths had changed "some time" ago. Singapore Airlines said it had been using Ukrainian airspace but had "re-routed all our flights" to alternative corridors away from the region. It was not immediately clear when the route change was put into affect. - 'Safe' flight path? - Asked why Malaysia Airlines had not taken similar precautions, Prime Minister Najib Razak said international air authorities had deemed the flight path secure. "The International Air Transportation Association has stated that the airspace the aircraft was traversing was not subject to restrictions," he said. According to the European flight safety body Eurocontrol, the doomed plane was flying at a level known as "330", or approximately 10,000 metres or 33,000 feet. The route had been closed to level "320" but was cleared for those flying at the Malaysian plane's altitude. European and US airlines re-routed their flights as Kiev said flight MH17 was shot down in a "terrorist" attack, and a US official said intelligence analysts "strongly believe" it was downed by a surface-to-air missile. Analysts were divided on whether carriers like Malaysian Airlines had been negligent in opting to continue flying over Ukraine. "I just find it astonishing. I am absolutely flabbergasted," said Geoff Dell, an air safety expert from the University of Central Queensland in Australia, told Sky News. "If there's trouble spots on the globe, then you take a decision to avoid that area," Dell told Sky News. "You don't put your primary assets -- your passengers, your crew, your airplane -- at risk unnecessarily," he added. - Assessing risk - But Gerry Soejatman, a consultant with the Jakarta-based Whitesky Aviation chartered flight provider, said every airline had its own level of risk assessment. Flying above 30,000 feet is generally considered secure given the level of training and sophisticated weaponry required to shoot down a plane at that height, Soejatman said. "Ten years ago you'd be an idiot to fly over Iraq below 15,000 feet, but over 30,000 feet was very safe, so it's about the level of risk. "I think this will send a message to airlines to have a closer look at conflict zones when they choose to fly over them and gain a better understanding of what equipment is on the ground," he said. Malaysian Airlines was not the only carrier that had persisted with the corridor over Ukraine. Air India and Thai Airways said they had only decided to re-route their flights after the Malaysian crash. Air China and China Eastern Airways had a total of 28 flights a week passing over eastern Ukraine, but China's Civil Aviation Administration said Friday it had ordered all carriers to circumvent the region. Vietnam Airlines said it had suspended four long-haul flights to Europe in the immediate aftermath of the Malaysia Airlines incident. The flights resumed Friday, but on re-drawn routes that "completely avoid" eastern Ukraine, the airline said. ========= TEN QUESTIONS FOR THE UKRAINIAN AUTHORITIES According to the European flight safety body Eurocontrol, the doomed plane was flying at a level known as "330", or approximately 10,000 metres or 33,000 feet. The route had been closed to level "320" but was cleared for those flying at the Malaysian plane's altitude. - Assessing risk - But Gerry Soejatman, a consultant with the Jakarta-based Whitesky Aviation chartered flight provider, said every airline had its own level of risk assessment. Flying above 30,000 feet is generally considered secure given the level of training and sophisticated weaponry required to shoot down a plane at that height, Soejatman said. "Ten years ago you'd be an idiot to fly over Iraq below 15,000 feet, but over 30,000 feet was very safe, so it's about the level of risk. "I think this will send a message to airlines to have a closer look at conflict zones when they choose to fly over them and gain a better understanding of what equipment is on the ground," he said. 1. Immediately after the tragedy, the Ukrainian authorities, naturally, blamed it on the self-defense forces. What are these accusations based on? 2. Can Kiev explain in detail how it uses Buk missile launchers in the conflict zone? And why were these systems deployed there in the first place, seeing as the self-defense forces don’t have any planes? 3. Why are the Ukrainian authorities not doing anything to set up an international commission? When will such a commission begin its work? 4. Would the Ukrainian Armed Forces be willing to let international investigators see the inventory of their air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, including those used in SAM launchers? 5. Will the international commission have access to tracking data from reliable sources regarding the movements of Ukrainian warplanes on the day of the tragedy? 6. Why did Ukrainian air traffic controllers allow the plane to deviate from the regular route to the north, towards “the anti-terrorist operation zone”? 7. Why was airspace over the warzone not closed for civilian flights, especially since the area was not entirely covered by radar navigation systems? 8. How can official Kiev comment on reports in the social media, allegedly by a Spanish air traffic controller who works in Ukraine, that there were two Ukrainian military planes flying alongside the Boeing 777 over Ukrainian territory? 9. Why did Ukraine’s Security Service start working with the recordings of communications between Ukrainian air traffic controllers and the Boeing crew and with the data storage systems from Ukrainian radars without waiting for international investigators? 10. What lessons has Ukraine learned from a similar incident in 2001, when a Russian Tu-154 crashed into the Black Sea? Back then, the Ukrainian authorities denied any involvement on the part of Ukraine’s Armed Forces until irrefutable evidence proved official Kiev to be guilty. ========= Malaysia Airlines settles families' MH17 damages claims on two-year anniversary Deals emerge after memorials were held in Ukraine and Netherlands to remember victims of plane shot down in 2014 Local villagers lay flowers near pictures of the passengers on flight MH17 flight at a makeshift memorial in Petropavlivka village in eastern Ukraine on Sunday. Local villagers lay flowers near pictures of the passengers on flight MH17 flight at a makeshift memorial in Petropavlivka village in eastern Ukraine on Sunday. Photograph: Aleksey Filippov/AFP/Getty Images Staff and agencies Monday 18 July 2016 10.27 AEST Share on LinkedIn Share on Google+ Shares 4 Save for later Malaysia Airlines has settled damages claims for most victims of flight MH17, Dutch national broadcaster NOS reported, after families gathered on Sunday to mark two years since the flight was shot down over eastern Ukraine. Flight MH17, two years on: ‘As far as I’m concerned, Putin killed my son’ Read more NOS cited Veeru Mewa, a lawyer representing some of the 165 Dutch victims. The parties involved in the settlement have agreed to secrecy, it was reported. “Talks are still ongoing for the rest of the victims’ relatives,” Mewa, who is based in Amsterdam, said. Under the Montreal Convention, airlines must pay damages of up to €130,000 ($145,000) to victims’ families, regardless of the circumstances of a crash. Sunday marked the deadline for legal action under the convention. The Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte lays a flower on his departure from the Expo Haarlemmermeer in Vijfhuizen, Netherlands, on Sunday. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte lays a flower on his departure from the Expo Haarlemmermeer in Vijfhuizen, Netherlands, on Sunday. Photograph: Robin van Lonkhuijsen/EPA MH17 crashed in territory held by pro-Russia separatists, killing all 298 passengers and crew. Most of the passengers were Dutch. The aircraft, which was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was hit by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile, the Dutch Safety Board concluded in its final report in late 2015. On Sunday, villagers in eastern Ukraine held a vigil at the site of the plane crash, as bereaved relatives marked the anniversary with emotional memorial services. About 60 people gathered at the site in the village of Petropavlivka, carrying flowers and lighting candles at the square where some of the victims’ remains and belongings fell to the ground. Some youngsters from the village – still controlled by pro-Russian separatists fighting pro-western government forces – also carried paper planes in memory of the children who died. Village council head Natalia Voloshina said: “Some of the relatives of people who were killed phoned us and asked us to find things that were valuable for them, for example, the toys that belonged to children aboard.” Some small pieces of wreckage, not yet handed over to Dutch investigators, were stacked outside Voloshina’s office to mark the anniversary. In the small Dutch town of Vijfhuizen, close to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport where the plane had departed and where a memorial is set to be unveiled next year, hundreds of relatives gathered. There were calls for healing at the gathering, where mourners sang songs and read out poems and the names of all 298 victims. “It’s time to let the sun back in,” said Evert van Zijtvelt, who lost his 18-year-old son Robert-Jan and daughter Frederique, 19, in the tragedy. Outside, there were 298 sunflowers for the victims – a reminder of the Ukrainian sunflower field where the bodies were scattered. Ertugrul Apakan, chief monitor in Ukraine for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said on Sunday the disaster was testament to the heavy toll paid by civilians in armed conflict. “The memory of those who perished is a reminder to us all that peace is precious and life sacrosanct,” Apakan said in a statement. MH17 report identifies Russian soldiers suspected of downing plane in Ukraine Read more Ukraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko, vowed that “the perpetrators of this tragedy must be punished”. Separatist authorities deny responsibility for the disaster, saying Ukrainian forces were to blame for the attack. The European Union in early July formally extended by six months economic sanctions against Russia due to lack of progress in resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine. James Healy-Pratt, whose London-based law firm represents around 30 families, said 85% of the claims against Malaysia Airlines had been settled “on confidential terms”. Six claims remain before the Malaysian high court in Kuala Lumpur, he said. Lawsuits have also been filed against separatists and their backers. In May, reports emerged that an Australian law firm had filed a compensation claim against Russia and president Vladimir Putin in the European court of human rights on behalf of the families of victims. It reportedly seeks $10m in compensation per passenger. Twenty-eight Australians died in the disaster. Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

Ukraine mobilizes after Putin's 'declaration of war'

Mohammed Ibrahim Alwakeel > كربلاء ولايتي مات وقتل الالاف العراقيين دفاعا عن بيضه الاسلام في القرم في وقت لم يكونوا يعرفوا اين هي القرم؟؟ ولماذا يقاتلون ويقتلون من اجل القرم!!وفي وقت لم يكن هناك بلد اسمه "اوكرانيا" ولم يكن هناك بلد اسمه"العراق"بل كانت هناك روسيا القيصريه وتركيا العليه وبريطانيا العظمى وفرنسا الحره فمن نحن لنلعب مع الكبار سواء في زمن نيقولا الاول او في زمن فلاديمير بوتين!! سياسيا في العام 1854لم يكن هناك بلد اسمه العراق وكان البلد عباره عن ثلاثه ولايات البصره والموصل وبغداد وهي غير مرتبطه فيما بينها وانما مرتبطه ارتباطا مباشرا بالباب العالي في القسطنطينيه Sun, Mar 02 21:23 PM EST 1 of 13 By Natalia Zinets and Alissa de Carbonnel KIEV/BALACLAVA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Ukraine mobilized for war on Sunday and Washington threatened to isolate Russia economically after President Vladimir Putin declared he had the right to invade his neighbor in Moscow's biggest confrontation with the West since the Cold War.

"This is not a threat: this is actually the declaration of war to my country,"

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said in English. Yatsenuik heads a pro-Western government that took power in the former Soviet republic when its Moscow-backed president, Viktor Yanukovich, was ousted last week. Putin secured permission from his parliament on Saturday to use military force to protect Russian citizens in Ukraine and told U.S. President Barack Obama he had the right to defend Russian interests and nationals, spurning Western pleas not to intervene. Russian forces have already bloodlessly seized Crimea, an isolated Black Sea peninsula where Moscow has a naval base. On Sunday, they surrounded several small Ukrainian military outposts there and demanded the Ukrainian troops disarm. Some refused, leading to standoffs, although no shots were fired. As Western countries considered how to respond to the crisis, the United States said it was focused on economic, diplomatic and political measures, but made clear it was not seriously considering military action.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Kiev on Tuesday to show "strong support for Ukrainian sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and the right of the Ukrainian people to determine their own future, without outside interference or provocation," the State Department said in a statement.

MORE DEMONSTRATIONS IN EASTERN UKRAINE With Russian forces in control of majority ethnic Russian Crimea, the focus is shifting to eastern swaths of Ukraine, where most ethnic Ukrainians speak Russian as a native language. Those areas saw more demonstrations on Sunday after violent protests on Saturday, and pro-Moscow activists hoisted flags for a second day at government buildings and called for Russia to defend them. Russia has staged war games with 150,000 troops along the land border, but they have so far not crossed. Kiev said Russia had sent hundreds of its citizens across the border to stage the protests. Ukraine's security council ordered the general staff to immediately put all armed forces on highest alert. But Kiev's small and under-equipped military is seen as no match for Russia's superpower might. The Defence Ministry was ordered to stage a call-up of reserves, meaning theoretically all men up to 40 in a country with universal male conscription, though Ukraine would struggle to find extra guns or uniforms for significant numbers of them. Kerry condemned Russia for what he called an "incredible act of aggression" and brandished the threat of economic sanctions. "You just don't, in the 21st century, behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on a completely trumped-up pretext," Kerry told the CBS program "Face the Nation". He said Moscow still had a "right set of choices" to defuse the crisis. Otherwise, G8 countries and other nations were prepared to "to go to the hilt to isolate Russia". "They are prepared to isolate Russia economically. The rouble is already going down. Russia has major economic challenges," he said. He mentioned visa bans, asset freezes and trade isolation as possible steps. Obama discussed the Ukraine crisis in calls with allies, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron. Cameron said they agreed Russia would pay "significant costs" unless it changed course. Analysts said U.S. economic sanctions would likely have little impact on Russia unless they were paired with strong measures by major European nations, which have deeper trade ties with Moscow and are dependent on Russian gas. Ukraine's envoy to the United Nations said Kiev would ask for international military support if Russia expanded its military action in his country. At Kiev's Independence Square, where anti-Yanukovich protesters had camped out for months, thousands demonstrated against Russian military action. Speakers delivered rousing orations and placards read: "Putin, hands off Ukraine!" "If there is a need to protect the nation, we will go and defend the nation," said Oleh, an advertising executive cooking over an open fire at the square where he has been camped for three months. "If Putin wants to take Ukraine for himself, he will fail. We want to live freely and we will live freely." The new government announced it had fired the head of the navy and launched a treason case against him for surrendering Ukraine's naval headquarters to Russian forces in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, where Moscow has a major naval base. REACTION FROM THE WEST Obama spoke to Putin for 90 minutes by telephone on Saturday after the Russian leader declared he had the right to intervene and quickly secured unanimous approval from his parliament. The Kremlin said Putin told Obama that Russian speakers were under threat from Ukraine's new leaders, who took over after Yanukovich fled huge protests against his repression and rejection of a trade deal with the European Union. Putin reiterated that stance in a telephone call with Merkel on Sunday, the Kremlin said, adding he and Merkel agreed that Russia and Germany would continue consultations to seek the "normalization" of the situation. But in a sign of concern among Russian liberals, members of Putin's own human rights council urged him on Sunday not to invade Ukraine, saying threats faced by Russians there were not severe enough to justify sending in troops. Ukraine, which says it has no intention of threatening Russian speakers, has appealed for help to NATO, and directly to Britain and the United States, as co-signatories with Russia to a 1994 accord guaranteeing Ukraine's security. After an emergency meeting of NATO ambassadors in Brussels, the alliance called on Russia to bring its forces back to bases and refrain from interfering in Ukraine. Despite expressing "grave concern", NATO did not agree on any significant measures to apply pressure to Russia, with the West struggling to come up with a forthright response that does not risk pushing the region closer to military conflict.

"We urge both parties to immediately seek a peaceful solution through bilateral dialogue, with international facilitation ... and through the dispatch of international observers under the auspices of the United Nations Security Council or the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe," NATO said in a statement.

Washington on Saturday proposed sending monitors to Ukraine under the U.N. or OSCE flags. So far, the Western response has been largely symbolic. Obama and others suspended preparations for a G8 summit in Sochi, where Russia has just finished staging its $50 billion winter Olympic games. Some countries recalled ambassadors. Britain said its ministers would stay away from the Paralympics due next in Sochi. "Right now, I think we are focused on political, diplomatic and economic options," a senior U.S. official told reporters. "Frankly our goal is to uphold the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, not to have a military escalation," he added. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged world leaders on Sunday to work to calm the crisis and defended Russia's membership of the G8, saying it enabled the West to talk directly with Moscow. RUSSIANS IN CRIMEA Ukraine's military is ill-matched against its neighbor. Britain's International Institute of Strategic Studies estimates Kiev has fewer than 130,000 troops under arms, with planes barely ready to fly and few spare parts for a single submarine. Russia, by contrast, has spent billions under Putin to upgrade and modernize the capabilities of forces that were dilapidated after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Moscow's special units are now seen as equals of the best in the world. In Crimea, Ukraine's tiny contingent made no attempt to oppose the Russians, who bore no insignia on their uniforms but drove vehicles with Russian plates and seized government buildings, airports and other locations in the past three days. Kiev said its troops were encircled in at least three places. It pulled its coast guard vessels out of Crimean ports. Ukraine said its naval fleet's 10 ships were still in Sevastopol and remained loyal to Kiev. Scores of Russian troops with no insignia were camped outside a base of Ukrainian troops at Perevalnoye, on a road from Crimea's capital, Simferopol towards the coast. A representative of the base commander said troops on both sides had reached agreement so no blood would be shed. "We are ready to protect the grounds and our military equipment," Valery Boiko told Reuters television. "We hope for a compromise to be reached, a decision, and as the commander has said, there will be no war." Igor Mamchev, a Ukrainian navy colonel at another small base outside Simferopol, told Ukraine's Channel 5 TV that a truckload of Russian troops had arrived at his checkpoint and told his forces to lay down their arms. "I replied that, as I am a member of the armed forces of Ukraine, under orders of the Ukrainian navy, there could be no discussion of disarmament. In case of any attempt to enter the military base, we will use all means, up to lethal force." A unit of Ukrainian marines was also holed up in a base in the Crimean port of Feodosia, where they refused to disarm. Elsewhere on the occupied peninsula, the Russian troops assumed a lower profile on Sunday after the pro-Moscow Crimean leader said overnight the situation was now "normalized". Putin's justification citing the need to protect Russian citizens was the same as he used to launch a 2008 invasion of Georgia, where Russian forces seized two breakaway regions. In Russia, state-controlled media portray Yanukovich's removal as a coup by dangerous extremists funded by the West and there has been little sign of dissent with that line. In Donetsk, Yanukovich's home city, the local government building was flying the Russian flag for the second day on Sunday. The local authorities have called for a referendum on the region's status, a move Kiev says is illegal. A pro-Russian "self-defence" unit held a second day of protest, attracting about 1,000 demonstrators carrying Russian flags. (Additional reporting by Peter Graff, Sabina Zawadzki, Pavel Polityuk, Timothy Heritage and Stephen Grey in Kiev, Lina Kushch in Donetsk, Peter Apps and Guy Faulconbridge in London, Will Dunham, Arshad Mohammed and Matt Spetalnick in Washington, and Lou Charbonneau at the United Nations; Writing by Peter Graff, Paul Taylor, Frances Kerry and Peter Cooney; Editing by Philippa Fletcher, Meredith Mazzilli and Mohammad Zargham) ====================== Russian markets plunge as Putin tightens Crimea grip Mon, Mar 03 22:00 PM EST 1 of 10 By Lidia Kelly and Alissa de Carbonnel MOSCOW/PEREVALNOYE, Ukraine (Reuters) - Russia paid a heavy financial price on Monday for its military intervention in neighboring Ukraine, with stocks, bonds and the ruble plunging as President Vladimir Putin's forces tightened their grip on the Russian-speaking Crimea region. The Moscow stock market fell 10.8 percent, wiping nearly $60 billion off the value of Russian companies, more than the $51 billion Russia spent on the Winter Olympics in Sochi last month. The central bank spent as much as $12 billion of its reserves to prop up the ruble as investors reacted to tensions with the West over the former Soviet republic. Putin declared at the weekend he had the right to invade Ukraine to protect Russian interests and citizens. Moscow's U.N. envoy told a stormy meeting of the Security Council on Monday that Ukraine's ousted leader Viktor Yanukovich had sent a letter to Putin requesting he use Russia's military to restore law and order in Ukraine. The United States began spelling out its response to Russia's incursion, announcing on Monday night it had suspended all military engagements with Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, including military exercises and port visits, and had put trade and investment talks with Moscow on hold. President Barack Obama met for over two hours on Monday with his national security advisers to discuss what steps the United States and its allies could take to "further isolate" Russia, a White House official said. "Over time this will be a costly proposition for Russia. And now is the time for them to consider whether they can serve their interests in a way that resorts to diplomacy as opposed to force," Obama told reporters earlier. The State Department said the United States was preparing to impose sanctions on Russia over the intervention, although no decisions had yet been made. Members of the U.S. Congress are looking at options including sanctions on Russia's banks and freezing assets of Russian public institutions and private investors, but they said they wanted European countries to step up their involvement. Secretary of State John Kerry will propose ways in which a negotiation between Russia and Ukraine can be overseen by a multilateral organization when he goes to Kiev on Tuesday, Obama said. The European Union threatened unspecified "targeted measures" unless Russia returns its forces to their bases and opens talks with Ukraine's new government. Western leaders have sent a barrage of warnings to Putin against armed action, threatening economic and diplomatic consequences, but are not considering a military response. SHOW OF STRENGTH? In his first public appearance for nearly a week, Putin flew to watch military maneuvers in western Russia in what appeared designed as a show of strength. Russia's Black Sea fleet denied reports it had given Ukrainian forces in Crimea an ultimatum to surrender by early Tuesday or face attack, Interfax news agency said. The United States said any such threat would be a dangerous escalation. Ukraine's acting president said Russia's military presence in Crimea was growing. Ukrainian officials said Russia was building up armor on its side of the 4.5-km (2.7- mile) wide Kerch strait between the Crimean peninsula and southern Russia. Russian forces later began shipping truckloads of troops by ferry into the Crimea region after seizing the border post on the Ukrainian side, Ukraine's border guards spokesman said. A Reuters reporting crew at the ferry terminal in Crimea later on Monday saw no sign of unusual activity. Kiev's U.N. ambassador, Yuriy Sergeyev, said Russia had deployed roughly 16,000 troops to Crimea since last week. Both sides have so far avoided bloodshed, but the market turmoil highlighted damage the crisis could wreak on Russia's vulnerable economy, making it harder to balance the budget and potentially undermining business and public support for Putin. Russian Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Klepach said market "hysteria" would subside but that strains with Brussels and Washington would continue to weigh on the economy. On the ground in Perevalnoye, halfway between the Crimean capital, Simferopol, and the Black Sea, hundreds of Russian troops in trucks and armored vehicles were surrounding two military compounds. The troops, who had no national insignia on their uniforms, were confining Ukrainian soldiers, who have refused to surrender, as virtual prisoners. Ukraine called up reservists on Sunday after Putin's action provoked what British Foreign Secretary William Hague called "the biggest crisis in Europe in the twenty-first century". The U.S. Defense Department said that although it found value in military-to-military relations with Russia, "we have, in light of recent events in Ukraine, put on hold all military-to-military engagements." Rear Admiral John Kirby added that despite media speculation about possible ship movements in the region, "there has been no change to our military posture in Europe or the Mediterranean." NATO allies will hold emergency talks on the crisis on Tuesday, for the second time in three days, following a request from Poland, a neighbor of Ukraine. European Union foreign ministers held out the threat of sanctions against Russia on Monday if Moscow fails to withdraw its troops from Ukraine, while offering to mediate between the two, alongside other international bodies. EU leaders will hold an emergency summit on Thursday. But possible divisions emerged, with the BBC citing a document, inadvertently shown to a photographer, that said Britain opposes trade sanctions on Russia and does not want to shut London's financial capital to Russians in response to the Kremlin's intervention in Ukraine. A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister David Cameron's office said it did not comment on leaked documents. But she added, "The Prime Minister is clear that continuing to violate Ukraine's sovereignty will have costs and consequences." OBSERVER MISSION The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE, said it was trying to convene an international contact group to help defuse the crisis after Germany said Chancellor Angela Merkel had persuaded Putin to accept such an initiative. Switzerland, which chairs the pan-European security body, said the group could discuss sending observers to Ukraine to monitor the rights of national minorities. "There will be very, very broad consensus for that monitoring mission. We call on Russia to join that consensus, make the right choice and pull back its forces," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland told OSCE envoys in Vienna. The Russian central bank raised its key lending rate by 1.5 percentage points after the ruble fell to all-time lows. Tension over Ukraine also knocked 2 to 3 percent off European stock markets and 1 percent off Wall Street, and sent safe haven gold to a four-month high. Chicago wheat futures rose more than 5 percent and corn about 4 percent amid fears of disruption to shipments from the Black Sea, a major grain-exporting zone. Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, which supplies Europe through Ukraine, was down nearly 14 percent. Gazprom's finance chief warned Ukraine that it may raise gas prices from next month, accusing Kiev of a patchy payments record, but said gas transit to Europe was normal. Ukraine has been stocking up on gas imports in the past few days to beat a feared rise, a spokesman for its gas transit monopoly said. Ukraine's pro-Western prime minister, Arseny Yatseniuk, whose government took power when Yanukovich, a Russian ally, fled on February 21 after three months of street protests, said Putin had effectively declared war on his nation. Yatseniuk said the government planned to cut spending by 14 to 16 percent as Ukraine prepared for talks on Tuesday with the International Monetary Fund to avert the danger of default. RUSSIAN FLAGS FLYING Russian forces seized Crimea, an isolated Black Sea peninsula with an ethnic Russian majority, without firing a shot. All eyes are now on whether Russia makes a military move in predominantly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow demonstrators have marched and raised Russian flags over public buildings in several cities in the last three days. Pro-Russian protesters besieged lawmakers inside the regional government building in the eastern city of Donetsk, Yanukovich's hometown, on Monday in the latest such action. Russia has staged war games with 150,000 troops along the land border, but so far they have not crossed. Kiev says Moscow is orchestrating the protests to justify a wider invasion. At an emergency Security Council meeting, Russia's U.N. ambassador and Western envoys hurled allegations at each other for 2-1/2 hours.

"Under the influence of Western countries, there are open acts of terror and violence," Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin quoted the letter from Yanukovich as saying, brandishing a copy of it. "People are being persecuted for language and political reasons."

Churkin repeated Moscow's view that Yanukovich was Ukraine's legitimate leader, not interim President Oleksander Turchinov. U.S. envoy Samantha Power said there was no evidence ethnic Russians or Russian-speakers in Ukraine were under threat. Power said there was "no legal basis" for Russia to justify its military deployments in Ukraine through an invitation from the regional prime minister of the Crimea, adding only Ukraine's parliament could do that. Churkin shot back that Power appeared to have gotten all her information about Ukraine "from U.S. TV." A German spokesman said Merkel believed it was not too late to resolve the Ukrainian crisis by political means. The German leader, who speaks fluent Russian, has had several long telephone calls with the German-speaking Putin since the crisis erupted with mass protests in Kiev, creating a major policy dilemma for Berlin, which is heavily dependent on Russian gas and has close economic ties. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in Geneva on Monday, a Russian diplomat said. Lavrov will meet EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Madrid on Tuesday, RIA Novosti agency said. On Kiev's Independence Square, or Maidan, where anti-Yanukovich protesters manned barricades for three months, crowds were smaller than in recent days as people returned to work. "Crimea, we are with you!" read one placard. "Putin - Hitler of the 21st century," read another. (Additional reporting by Peter Graff, Sabina Zawadzki, Pavel Polityuk, Natalia Zinets, Timothy Heritage and Stephen Grey in Kiev, Lina Kushch in Donetsk, Peter Apps in London, Steve Holland, Phil Stewart, Jeff Mason, Mark Felsenthal and Patricia Zengerle in Washington, and Lou Charbonneau at the United Nations; Writing by Paul Taylor, Alistair Lyon and Peter Cooney; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Mohammad Zargham) ==================== Russia allowed to have 25,000 troops in Crimea since 1999...and other facts you didn’t know Published time: March 04, 2014 20:07 Edited time: March 05, 2014 03:33 Get short URL Ukrainian marines look at a Russian ship floating out of the Sevastopol bay on March 4, 2014 (AFP Photo / Viktor Drachev) Share on tumblrTrends Ukraine turmoil Tags Conflict, Politics, Russia, Ukraine Ukraine’s statement at the UN that 16,000 Russian soldiers have been deployed to Crimea has caused a frenzy among Western media which chooses to ignore that those troops have been there since the late 1990s in accordance with a Kiev-Moscow agreement. Western media describes the situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea as if a full-scale Russian invasion were under way, with headlines like: “Ukraine says Russia sent 16,000 troops to Crimea” and “Ukraine crisis deepens as Russia sends more troops into Crimea,” as well as “What can Obama do about Russia's invasion of Crimea?” It seems they have chosen to simply ignore the fact that those Russian troops have been stationed in Crimea for over a decade. Russia’s representative to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, reminded on Tuesday that the deal surrounding the Black Sea Fleet allows Russia to station a contingent of up to 25,000 troops in Ukraine. However, US and British media have mostly chosen to turn a deaf ear. People watch a Russian Navy ship enter the Crimean port city of Sevastopol March 2, 2014 (Reuters / Baz Ratner) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov underlined that the country’s military “strictly executes the agreements which stipulate the Russian fleet’s presence in Ukraine, and follows the stance and claims coming from the legitimate authority in Ukraine and in this case the legitimate authority of the Autonomous Republic Crimea as well.” So here are the facts, numbers, and details of this long-standing (but rarely cited) deal: 1) The Black Sea Fleet has been disputed between Russia and Ukraine since the collapse of the Soviet Union back in 1991. 2) In 1997, the sides finally managed to find common ground and signed three agreements determining the fate of the military bases and vessels in Crimea. Two years later, in 1999, the Russian and Ukrainian parliaments ratified them. Russia has received 81.7 percent of the fleet’s ships after paying the Ukrainian government a compensation of US$526.5 million. 3) Moscow also annually writes off $97.75 million of Kiev’s debt for the right to use Ukrainian waters and radio frequency resources, and for the environmental impact caused by the Black Sea Fleet’s operations. 4) According to the initial agreement, the Russian Black Sea Fleet was to stay in Crimea until 2017, but the deal was later prolonged for another 25 years. 5) The 1997 deal allows the Russian navy to have up to 25,000 troops, 24 artillery systems with a caliber smaller than 100 mm, 132 armored vehicles, and 22 military planes on Ukrainian territory. Ukrainian marines look at a Russian ship floating out of the Sevastopol bay on March 4, 2014 (AFP Photo / Viktor Drachev) 6) In compliance with those accords, there are currently five Russian naval units stationed in the port city of Sevastopol in the Crimean peninsula: - The 30th Surface Ship Division formed by the 11th Antisubmarine Ship Brigade, which includes the Black Sea Fleet’s flagship guard missile cruiser Moskva as well as Kerch, Ochakov, Smetlivy, Ladny, and Pytlivy vessels, and the 197th Landing Ship Brigade, consisting of seven large amphibious vessels; - The 41st Missile Boat Brigade, which includes the 166th Fast Attack Craft Division, consisting of Bora and Samum hovercrafts as well as small missile ships Mirazh and Shtil, and 295th missile Boat Division; - The 247th Separate Submarine Division, consisting of two diesel submarines – B-871 Alrosa and B-380 Svyatoy Knyaz Georgy; - The 68th Harbor Defense Ship Brigade formed by the 400th Antisubmarine Ship Battalion of four vessels and 418 Mine Hunting Ship Division, which consist of four ships as well; - The 422nd Separate Hydrographic Ship Division, which includes Cheleken, Stvor, Donuzlav and GS-402 survey vessels as well as a group of hydrographic boats. 7) Besides the naval units, Moscow also has two airbases in Crimea, which are situated in the towns of Kacha and Gvardeysky. 8) The Russian coastal forces in Ukraine consist of the 1096th Separate Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment in Sevastopol and the 810th Marine Brigade, which hosts around 2,000 marines. (Several other coastal units of the Black Sea Fleet are located in Russia’s Krasnodar Region, including the 11th Separate Coastal Missile Brigade in Anapa, the 382th Separate Marine Battalion, and a naval reconnaissance station in Temryuk). Last week, Russia’s Federation Council unanimously approved President Vladimir Putin’s request to send the country’s military forces to Ukraine to ensure peace and order in the region “until the socio-political situation in the country is stabilized.” However, the final say about deploying troops lies with Putin, who hasn’t yet made such a decision, stressing that deploying military force would be a last resort. Authorities in the Ukrainian Autonomous Republic of Crimea – where more than half the population is Russian – requested Moscow’s assistance after the self-proclaimed government in Kiev introduced a law abolishing the use of languages other than Ukrainian in official circumstances. People watch a Russian Navy ship enter the Crimean port city of Sevastopol March 2, 2014 (Reuters / Baz Ratner) ====================== In Ukraine's Crimea, a tense and surreal standoff Thu, Mar 06 06:16 AM EST 1 of 4 By Alissa de Carbonnel KERCH, Ukraine (Reuters) - Holed up on their bases, Ukraine's besieged servicemen and the Russians surrounding them in Crimea are locked in a standoff that at times is tense and at others surreal. Almost a week after Russian forces began their swift and bloodless takeover of the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula, there is a standoff as the two sides dig in and play a waiting game. The Russians have swatted down isolated attempts by the Ukrainian forces to claw back control but stopped short of using major force. There has been no big clash and no deaths. "Where it was possible they made a show of it ... They came and pushed the door in, but you can't come push our door," said Major Alexei Nikiforov, deputy commander of a Ukrainian marine battalion in Kerch, just across a narrow strait from Russia. Russian navy ships have blockaded the Kerch Strait linking the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, Ukrainian officials say, portraying it as part of efforts to seal off the Ukrainian servicemen and force them to surrender or change sides. Under his breath, a fellow officer of Nikiforov mumbled: "They are trying to break us." Deadlines that now seem a bluff have come and gone: ultimatums for the Ukrainian forces to surrender and swear an oath to Crimea's regional administration, now effectively under Moscow's command. Moscow has moved some 16,000 troops onto the Crimean peninsula in addition to its forces already there, the Ukrainian government says. Ukraine has fewer than 20,000 navy and other military personnel stranded on bases across Crimea. Outgunned but loyal to Kiev, they want to avoid confrontation with Russian forces with whom they have long cohabited on the Crimean peninsula, which is home to a Russian Black Sea Fleet's base. When Russian-speaking gunmen clad in black forced their way into a Ukrainian border control post in Kerch overnight on Monday, there was no battle. "The first shot fired would escalate the conflict, so we decided not to use arms to defend the base," said Captain Sergei Shamshurov, an aide to the commander of the border control post. The fathers and grandfathers of some of the men involved in this crisis fought on the same side in the Soviet armed forces before the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Many have relatives in Russia. WARNING SHOTS In Kerch, Ukrainian and Russian servicemen stand around casually, weapons unloaded, an arm's length from each other. "We are with them as with our own," said a young Ukrainian wearing a traditional fur hat and combat fatigues. Warning shots fired over the heads of Ukrainian air force pilots who tried to take back their war planes at the Belbek military airfield, on another side of the peninsula, appear to be the only shots fired so far. During negotiations at Belbek, which ended with the pilots returning to their barracks, some of the Ukrainians passed their time by playing football. The Russians simply looked on, showing no emotion. "It's like they are robots. When you try to talk to them, they only crack jokes. We gave up," said Shamshurov, who has remained at the Kerch border control post where they offered the use of their toilet to the intruders. "We still do what we did everyday and raise the flag ... We have not surrendered. We have not betrayed our oath." On Sunday, Ukraine's newly appointed navy commander publicly changed sides, and Russian state television has been touting a string of other unconfirmed defections in an effort to pile pressure on the Ukrainian troops. Some Ukrainian servicemen saw their Slavic brothers as protection - not against Ukrainian nationalists, as Russian media and officials suggest, but against pro-Russian mobs that have surrounded bases in response to inflammatory media reports. "The presence of an army from our neighboring country is irritating, but at the moment it is standing between us and our people who want some kind of radical change," Nikiforov said, choosing his words cautiously. "All decisions must be made through the ballot boxes and not with clubs." On the other side, there have also been misleading media reports of Russians overrunning bases, apparently to portray the enemy in a more negative light or perhaps to stir foreign governments in to action. Ukrainian television has aired messages from people in other parts of the country wishing the troops strength. TCH TV showed one man hugging his daughter and urging: "Don't give in to provocations." How long can the Ukrainian forces hold out and how long will the Russians' patience last is unclear. The West is pushing for Russia to return troops to barracks, and accept international monitors in Crimea. The next flashpoint could be the newly installed, pro-Russian authorities' planned referendum on Crimea's future on March 30. Until then, the waiting game could go on. "We hope our politicians put away their ambitions and don't make us shoot at one another," said Nikiforov. "At the end of the day, we are people who follow orders. Today we smile, but tomorrow we might get order to shoot." (Reporting by Timothy Heritage; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

24 dead, 13 missing in Ukraine mines

From: AFP
July 30, 2011 4:36PM

Reidar Visser said
Sunday, 3 July 2011 12:13 at 12:13

Salah, as mentioned above, there is indeed a move in parliament headed by State of Law to sack the commission, and this is the same development linked to in your story about the 114 deputies above. Hamidiyya al-Husseini used to be considered to be somewhat close to State of Law so with her gone they may have lost some influence in the commission and they will have even more incentives to get rid of it.

Faisal, I read that Wasat are terrified that their ministers will get axed in any process of making the government smaller, which resonates with what you describe above. There is an interesting headline just out at NINA but the full story isn’t available yet:

نائبة عن /العراقية/ تدعو الى ان يشمل الترشيق في اجهزة الدولة نواب رئيسي الجمهورية والوزراء

Suggesting a female Iraqiyya deputy is asking for the process of shrinking of government to include the deputy PMs and the deputy presidents!

THE death toll rose to 24 from two separate coalmining accidents on the same day in Ukraine's eastern industrial district, notorious for its poor safety standards.

The Ukrainian emergency ministry on Saturday raised the toll from 16 to 18 from an explosion early yesterday at the Sukhodolskaya-Vostochnaya coalmine in the eastern Lugansk region.

Eight miners were still missing, while two remained in hospital with serious burns after the blast, probably caused by a buildup of deadly methane gas.

The toll also rose to six after a mine headframe collapsed at the Bazhanova pit in the town of Makiyivka in neighbouring Donetsk region, while rescuers continued to search for five missing miners.

The 65-metre-high frame used for raising and lowering miners into the shaft collapsed yesterday, trapping workers underneath. The accident forced the closure of the mine and the evacuation of more than 500 miners.

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The twin disasters were the country's worst mining accidents since more than 100 miners died in a mine explosion in 2007.

President Viktor Yanukovych interrupted his holiday to travel to the scene of the Sukhodolskaya-Vostochnaya accident late yesterday and meet the relatives of victims and survivors.

He called for a government commission to investigate the disasters, calling for improved safety standards to protect miners.

Deadly accidents are frequent in Ukrainian mines, most of which are located in the country's industrial eastern region. Many of the mines are underfunded and poorly equipped, while safety violations are rife.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/dead-13-missing-in-ukraine-mines/story-e6frfku0-1226105026041#ixzz1Ta9lWBha