Sunday 16 August 2015
BBC News
Indonesia passenger plane wreckage found in remote Papua - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-33951854
Tuesday 11 August 2015
MH17: Ukraine crash site 'yields Russian missile parts'
BBC News
Fragments of a suspected Russian missile system have been found at the Flight MH17 crash site in Ukraine, investigators in the Netherlands say.
They say the parts, possibly from a Buk surface-to-air system, are "of particular interest" and could help show who was behind the crash.
But they say they have not proved their "causal connection" with the crash.
MH17 crashed on land held by Russian-backed rebels in July 2014, killing all 298 on board.
It had 283 passengers on board, including 80 children, and 15 crew members.
About two-thirds of those who died were Dutch nationals, with dozens of Malaysians and Australians among the rest.
Ukraine and many Western countries have accused pro-Russian rebels of shooting down the Malaysian Airlines plane, saying they could have used a Buk missile system supplied by Russia.
Russia and the rebels deny any responsibility and say the Ukrainian military was to blame.
The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) said in a joint statement with the Dutch Safety Board that the parts had been "secured during a previous recovery mission in eastern Ukraine".
"The parts are of particular interest to the criminal investigation as they can possibly provide more information about who was involved in the crash of MH17. For that reason the JIT further investigates the origin of these parts," the statement said.
"At present the conclusion cannot be drawn that there is a causal connection between the discovered parts and the crash of flight MH17."
The investigators would now enlist the help of weapons experts and forensic specialists to examine the parts, the statement added.
Russian veto
The JIT comprises representatives of the Netherlands, Ukraine, Belgium, Malaysia and Australia.
They are meeting in The Hague to discuss a draft report on the causes of the crash, the final version of which is expected to be published by the Dutch Safety Board in October.
The statement comes two weeks after Russia vetoed a draft resolution to set up an international tribunal into the disaster, triggering widespread outrage.
Moscow described the Malaysian initiative as "premature" and "counterproductive".
The Boeing 777 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was brought down on 17 July last year in Donetsk region.
How a missile could have brought down MH17
Ukraine bans 38 Russian 'hate' books amid culture war
BBC News
Ukraine has banned 38 books published in Russia, alleging that they spread "hate ideology" and "separatism".
The ban includes works by Russian nationalists Alexander Dugin, Eduard Limonov and Sergei Glazyev.
The blacklist was published by the Ukrainian State Television and Radio Committee. It accused Russia of waging "information warfare" against Ukraine.
Ukraine and Western leaders say Russia is fomenting separatism and helping the insurgents in eastern Ukraine.
"Information war" is seen as all part of Russia's "aggression" against the pro-Western government in Kiev.
Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists exchange artillery fire daily in the Donetsk-Luhansk conflict zone.
Russia also has a blacklist of banned books and other publications, called the Federal List of Extremist Materials. It runs to more than 1,000 banned titles, and is published on the Russian Justice Ministry website.
It includes texts by jihadist groups and Jehovah's Witnesses, and Blowing Up Russia: The Return of the KGB, a book by ex-Russian intelligence agent Alexander Litvinenko, who died from radiation poisoning in London in 2006. UK authorities accuse Russian state agents of killing him.
The Russian books now banned in Ukraine include works called The Ukrainian Front - Red Stars over Maidan, Battlefield Ukraine - The Broken Trident, Forward to the USSR, Superman speaks Russian and Kiev Kaputt.
Sergei Glazyev is an economic adviser to President Vladimir Putin. A prominent Russian TV presenter, Sergei Dorenko, is also a blacklisted author now in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian committee's statement said the ban was aimed at "safeguarding Ukrainian citizens against the use of information warfare and disinformation methods, against the spread of hate ideology, fascism, xenophobia and separatism".
Criticising the ban, Sergei Dorenko said it would hardly be effective in the internet age.
Cultural boycott
The hostility between Russia and Ukraine has spread to cultural life as a whole, since Russia's March 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Ukraine has banned films seen as "glorifying" Russian security services and prevented some pro-Putin Russian celebrities from entering the country.
A Russian rapper, Timati, was prevented from performing in Odessa after he expressed support for President Vladimir Putin and made unflattering comments about Ukraine.
Shows by two Balkan star musicians - Goran Bregovic and Emir Kusturica - did not go ahead in Kiev because of their alleged "anti-Ukrainian rhetoric", BBC Monitoring reported.
In addition, last week Ukraine blacklisted 13 Russian singers and actors, as well as French-born Gerard Depardieu, saying they supported Russia's annexation of Crimea and pro-Russian separatists. Ukraine's culture ministry denounced themas a "threat to national security".
The list includes the veteran variety singer Iosif Kobzon, who is already under Western sanctions. He shot to stardom in Soviet times.
Meanwhile, Russian nationalists have lambasted two veteran Russian rock stars - Boris Grebenshchikov and Andrei Makarevich - for their allegedly pro-Ukrainian stance.
Last week Russian media reported that works by two internationally renowned British historians - John Keegan and Antony Beevor - had been banned in Russia's Yekaterinburg region. Schools were ordered to remove any copies that they found.
In a BBC Russian interview, Beevor said he had been accused of "slandering the Red Army" because he had chronicled mass rapes by Soviet soldiers in World War Two - rapes that were reported in Soviet archives. Many German women committed suicide after being raped.
Bungee death in Spain: Dutch teenager in latest tragedy
BBC News
A Dutch teenager has been killed while bungee jumping from a viaduct near Santander in northern Spain.
The 17-year-old fell some 40m (130ft) into a dry riverbed below. The teenager had been in a group from the Netherlands and Belgium staying at a nearby surf camp.
Last month, British tourist Kleyo De Abreu died in a bungee jump off a bridge in Granada, southern Spain.
She suffered fatal injuries when she hit the wall of the bridge below her.
A police spokesman told Dutch media that the latest "ghastly accident" may have been caused by carelessness, although it was unclear what had gone wrong.
The teenager had been taking part in a type of bungee jump known as "puenting", which involves diving with two cords attached, and then swinging beneath the bridge or viaduct.
Local police chief Joaquin Gonzalez said he had not known that the activity took place on the bridge, adding that it was "extremely risky".
The jump took place from the top of a bridge over the A8 road at Cabezon de la Sal in Cantabria.
Mayor Isabel Fernandez told Dutch TV that it was an enormous tragedy. "The girl was so young. We're ready to help her family as much as we can."
Libya's migrants 'treated like animals'
BBC News
As migrants continue to risk life and limb to reach Europe from Africa, Libya has become the main hub for traffickers plying their illegal trade in human cargo.
Mid migrants: Scuffles in Kos over immigration papers
BBC News
Fights have broken out on the Greek island of Kos between the immigration authorities and people who have recently arrived and are demanding official documentation.
Karen Buckley murder: Man admits 'evil' killing of Irish student in Glasgow
BBC News
A man has admitted murdering Irish student Karen Buckley, whose body was found on a farm four days after she went missing from a Glasgow nightclub.
Alexander Pacteau admitted repeatedly hitting Ms Buckley with a spanner and strangling her in his car in April.
He then hid the body of the 24-year-old, from Cork, in a barrel.
After sentence was deferred at the High Court in Glasgow, Ms Buckley's father said Pacteau was "evil" and should spend the rest of his life in prison.
John Buckley told reporters that he and his wife Marian had experienced "every parent's worst nightmare" and were "devastated".
Karen was murdered by a cowardly, vicious criminal - he is truly evil."
"The last face she saw and the last voice she heard was of that cold-blooded, cowardly murderer," he said.
Referring to Pacteau, Mr Buckley added: "He is truly evil and we hope that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars."
The court heard how 21-year-old Pacteau had met Ms Buckley outside the Sanctuary nightclub, where she had been with friends, in the early hours of Sunday 12 April.
The student told her friends that she was going to the toilet but did not return or take her jacket.
Pacteau was seen on CCTV images talking to her before they walked off to his car, which he drove to nearby Kelvin Way.
The car was parked on the street for 12 minutes, during which time Pacteau attacked and murdered her by grabbing her neck and delivering 12 or 13 blows with the spanner.
Pacteau's silver Ford Focus was seen on CCTV leaving the area and heading towards Dawsholm Park, where the following morning a member of the public found Ms Buckley's handbag near a bin.
Four days after she was reported missing, the student's body was found at High Craigton Farm, near Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire.
Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC, prosecuting, told the court that after murdering Ms Buckley, Pacteau then drove to his flat in Dorchester Avenue and took her body inside to his room.
He used his mobile phone to look up the properties of a chemical called sodium hydroxide, or caustic soda.
He then bought quantities of the chemical from B&Q and Poundstretcher along with masks and gloves.
He texted his flatmate to make sure he was out for the day, then returned to the flat and left Ms Buckley's body in the bath.
Pacteau was found cleaning the hall and stairwell when his flatmate returned home that night.
By that time he had moved Ms Buckley's body into his locked bedroom again and wrapped her remains in a duvet.
The following morning, Pacteau threw the spanner he used to kill Ms Buckley into the nearby Forth and Clyde Canal.
He then bought cleaning products at a supermarket where he asked staff to recommend products for removing blood stains.
Pacteau then made his first journey to High Craigton Farm, where he had rented a storage unit during a previous job selling fireworks.
He burned some clothes and later ordered a large blue barrel from a packaging company into which he placed Ms Buckley's body.
Pacteau later burned his mattress and other items at the farmland, before taking the barrel, with Ms Buckley's body inside, to his car.
He bought padlocks, then made his way to the farm, where he arranged to rent two storage units for a week, before moving the barrel into one of the units.
Pacteau visited a car valet on his way home and while there used his phone to create an advert to sell the Ford Focus.
Police interview
By this time Ms Buckley's disappearance had been reported and a massive police operation was under way to locate her.
That evening, when Pacteau returned home, he was visited by police who had identified him as the man seen talking to Ms Buckley on CCTV outside the nightclub.
As he opened the door, Pacteau said: "I was just coming to see you."
The officers noticed a strong smell of bleach in the flat and a tool box and other items in a bedroom. Pacteau agreed to go to the police station as a witness.
During a search, police found a Poundstretcher receipt for a series of chemicals and padlock keys in the 21-year-old's pockets.
He gave a statement saying he met Ms Buckley outside the club and they both went back to his flat where they had consensual sex.
He told police Ms Buckley had fallen and injured herself on the bed frame but said he did not notice she had been bleeding until the following morning.
Pacteau told officers that when he realised police were looking for information regarding her disappearance he panicked.
Blood found
He told them he had burned a mattress and clothes on a forest road near Drymen and he did this because he was aware he was the last person to see her alive.
The court also heard how a member of the public had contacted police and told officers about the storage unit at a farm that Pacteau had used in the past.
Police then went to High Craigton Farm where they found the blue plastic barrel containing Ms Buckley's body.
When shown an account of his earlier claims, Pacteau accepted his statements were untrue.
Defence QC John Scullion told the court that his client accepted "full responsibility" for his actions but could offer no "rational explanation".
The lawyer said: "He has instructed me to convey on his behalf an apology to Karen Buckley's family and friends but he understands that such words are unlikely to give any comfort to them."
Deferring sentence, judge Lady Rae told Pacteau: "You killed a young woman who was a stranger to you in what appears to be a motiveless, senseless, brutal attack."
Maidstone gangmaster firm sued by 'slave' workers
BBC News
Six men are suing a former gangmaster after they were trafficked to work as chicken-catchers on UK farms.
The Lithuanian nationals allege Kent-based DJ Houghton Catching Services exploited them after employing a trafficker, also from Lithuania.
The firm lost its licence after police raids in 2012 and was branded "the worst UK gangmaster ever" by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA).
The High Court is hearing the company's application to delay the case.
Lawyers Leigh Day, who are seeking compensation for the Lithuanian men, say the proceedings are a landmark modern slavery case.
'Grossly underpaid'
The men, who were aged between 19 and 58, allege they were forced to work without a bed, a shower or adequate food for days at a time, for which they were grossly underpaid.
They were employed between 2008 and 2012 to catch birds in chicken houses and load them on to trucks bound for processing plants.
The men say they were driven from farm to farm, travelling for up to seven hours before being put to work in filthy conditions without adequate protective equipment or clothing and with no system for ensuring they earned the minimum wage.
No food or drink was provided and the workers allege they were harassed and hit and kicked by their supervisors.
One man, who bred aggressive Rottweiler dogs, intimidated workers with the dogs, they allege.
'Disgraceful standards'
The men escaped to a Citizens Advice Bureau in August 2012, before the company, based in Wheelers Lane, Maidstone was raided by Kent Police in October.
The GLA revoked its licence on 30 October, saying its treatment of workers was "disgraceful by anyone's standards".
The company maintained it was blameless and appealed against the loss of the licence, but withdrew its action last year and accepted the GLA's decision.
Leigh Day said it would vehemently oppose an application to delay the case in the High Court.
The firm's director and secretary, Darrell Houghton and Jacqueline Judge, want to postpone proceedings until next year.
Kent Police said the bail for the two people arrested had expired.
"The investigation into the alleged exploitation of Lithuanian workers remains open and Kent Police will act on any further information that comes to light," it said in a statement.
"Kent Police, through its partnership with the Gangmasters Licensing Authority, has supported the victims in this case and liaised closely with them throughout the investigation."
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