Russia 'Told Rebels To Hide MH17's Black Boxes'

Ukraine's security service has released a recording it says features pro-Russian separatists talking about trying to hide the black boxes from flight MH17 at the request of Moscow.

The claim was made as footage emerged of at least one of the flight data recorders - which are in fact orange - being picked up by a rescue worker on Friday.

In the audio clip which contains three separate conversations, a fighter who is identified as "O.Khodakovskyi" tells a second person named as "Andriy": "I have a request for you. It is not my request.

"Our friends from high above are very much interested in the fate of the 'black boxes'.

"I mean people from Moscow.

"Please, co-operate with the Ministry of Emergency. All that you find must not come into somebody else's hands.

"Try to take everything that you find so that it doesn't get into somebody else's hands. All those people that are coming, OSCE and so on."

The conversations are alleged to have taken place on Friday, the day after the Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down over eastern Ukraine.

Sky News is not able to verify whether the 30 second clip is genuine or who is speaking in it.

But Kiev claims it is proof of the "efforts of the Russian side to hide the evidence of its involvement in (a) terrorist act".

The pro-Russian separatists and Moscow have both denied having any part in the disaster, which killed 298 people.

But Ukraine has made repeated claims that pro-Russian rebels with Russian equipment blew the jet out of the sky before Moscow helped them cover it up by allowing the missile launcher blamed for the attack back across the border.

It has also been claimed that rebels tampered with evidence and bodies at the crash site.

The separatists have now acknowledged that they have what are presumed to be the flight recorders from the Boeing 777-200 in the eastern city of Donetsk.

"Some items, presumably the black boxes, were found, and they have been delivered to Donetsk and they are under our control," Aleksander Borodai, prime minister of the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic, told a news conference.

"There are no specialists among us who could pinpoint the look of the black boxes, but we brought to Donetsk some technical items which could be the black boxes of the airliner."

He said they would be handed over to the International Civil Aviation Organisation and also repeated that the rebels do not have the capability to shoot down a plane flying at 33,000ft.

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Weapon 'Moved To Russia After MH17 Shot'

A missile launcher allegedly used to shoot down flight MH17 has been moved over the border into Russia after video emerged purportedly showing it on the back of a truck, Ukrainian officials have claimed.

The video appears to show the Buk launcher with one of the four missiles it carries missing.

The film was allegedly shot by a police surveillance squad at dawn on Friday as the truck headed to the city of Krasnodon in the direction of the Russian border.

The footage, released on the Facebook page of the Ukrainian interior minister, cannot be independently verified.

Interior minister Arsen Avakov wrote on his page: "Criminals try to hide the traces of this heinous crime (but do) not succeed.

"Security Service and Interior Ministry of Ukraine has collected and collects more irrefutable facts and evidence."

In another Facebook post, Anton Gerashchenko, a senior advisor to the Ukrainian government, wrote: "The Buk installation by means of which the rocket launch was produced was moved onto the territory of the Russian Federation, where it will be most likely destroyed."

The Buk missile system of the type blamed for the attack. File pic

The footage was released as Russia and Ukraine used social media to blame each other for shooting down the flight from Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur as it passed over Grabovo, Donetsk, killing 298 people.

Russia has said Ukraine is responsible after failing to resolve the conflict in the east, while pro-Russian separatists have denied they have the capacity to bring down the aircraft.

An unnamed US official is also reported to have told Fox News that the missile launcher is believed to be back in Russia after being moved into Ukraine a few weeks ago.

The senior official told the broadcaster the missile was fired from Schnidze, a town in eastern Ukraine.

US intelligence used infrared data, measurements and electronic signals, among other methods, to calculate the missile's launch site, the official added.

Ukraine's counter-intelligence chief Vitaly Nada has said he has "compelling evidence" that Russian citizens were operating the missile battery that shot down MH17.

Sky's Katie Stallard said there was no chance of a "public mea culpa" from Vladimir Putin.

However, the Russian President's relative quietness over the downing of MH17 could mean the Kremlin is "considering whether they can continue to support the separatists", she said.

At a press conference, Alexander Borodai, the self-proclaimed prime minister of the People's Republic of Donetsk, rejected claims pro-Russian separatists had shot down the airliner.

And Ukraine's security council has claimed that 15 pieces of military equipment were brought over the border from Russia into the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine overnight into Saturday.

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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.

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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.

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'School Rape' Prompts Demonstrations In India

Thousands of Indians have marched to demand arrests in the case of a six-year-old girl allegedly raped while at school.

Two staff members at the private school in Bangalore are accused of the rape, which was reported last week.

Police said the girl was assaulted when she left her classroom to go to the bathroom on July 2.

They said she was recovering, but gave no further details.

Parents have accused school authorities of trying to "hush up the criminal act".

More than 4,000 demonstrators took to the streets.

"The school management is trying to protect the accused as it failed to register a case when the child told her class teacher," said parent Nandish Reddy.

The school, which cannot be named for legal reasons, has assured police of "full co-operation".

Protestors marched from the school to the police station in charge of the investigation.

More than 4,000 demonstrators took to the streets

Police commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar appealed to the demonstrators to "have patience and bear with us".

"I request you to have faith in us. We are going to take action against the accused," he told the crowd.

Police have been "working 24/7 over the last four days to investigate the case", he added.

A rape is reported every 21 minutes in India.

Two teenage girls were allegedly gang-raped and their bodies left hanging from a tree, in May.

Indian officials have faced growing public anger since the December 2012 fatal gang rape of a young woman on a moving bus in New Delhi.

Human Rights group Amnesty International India said Indian schools must introduce "clear policies" to prevent sexual violence against children.

"Schools must institute mechanisms that enable concrete, pre-emptive steps to prevent such acts of violence, including by carrying out sensitisation and training programmes," said Tara Rao, director the group.

India's new prime minister, Narendra Modi, has promised "zero tolerance" toward crimes against women.

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Australia Warns Russia Not To Tamper With Site

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has said he fears Russia will interfere with the MH17 crash site and that allegations of pro-Russian rebels meddling with evidence is "outrageous".

Twenty-seven victims of the doomed flight were from Australia.

After the Netherlands and Malaysia it is the country which has suffered the most number of deaths from the tragedy.

An emotional Tony Abbott told ABC: "My fear is that Russia will say the right thing, but that on the ground interference with the site, interference with investigators, interference with the dignified treatment of bodies will continue."

Australian PM Abbott with his wife Margaret at a memorial service in Sydney

Australian investigators are among those trying to access the site.

"The site is chaotic, it's absolutely chaotic," Mr Abbott said.

"The kinds of things that would normally be happening at an air crash site are not happening."

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko had invited Australia to "fully participate" in any aspect of the investigation, including body recovery.

But the PM warned it could be weeks before bodies are returned to families.

"The grim truth is that not all the bodies will be intact," he said.

Sydney nun Philomene Tiernan was among the Australian victims

He also revealed his daughters had flown the same route as the doomed airliner a few months ago on their way home from Europe.

"You look at the faces of the dead and they're your neighbours, they're your friends and they could even be your kids," he said.

His comments come as there are calls for Russian President Vladimir Putin to be banned from attending the upcoming G20 conference to be held in Brisbane in November.

Albert Rizk and his wife Maree were returning to Melbourne

Mr Abbott would not be drawn on the issue other than saying: "It's not too late for changes of heart."

The PM joined other dignitaries at a memorial service for MH17 victims at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney on Sunday.

A national day of mourning for all the Australian victims will be held in the next fortnight.

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Russia Faces Sanctions Over MH17 Crash

David Cameron, the German Chancellor and the French President have agreed the EU should be ready to impose new sanctions on Russia.

EU foreign ministers will discuss the issue when they meet on Tuesday for the first time since Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine.

All 298 people on board the Boeing 777-200, including 10 Britons, were killed when it came down near the village of Grabovo, in eastern Ukraine on Thursday.

Pro-Russian rebels have been accused of interfering with the site

A Downing Street spokesman said the Prime Minister talked about the need to secure access to the crash site with Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande in a call on Sunday morning.

"They agreed President Putin has an important role to play by persuading the separatists to grant access and to work with the international community to ensure that all that needs to be done can be done as soon as possible.

"They also agreed that the EU must reconsider its approach to Russia and that foreign ministers should be ready to impose further sanctions on Russia when they meet on Tuesday."

The Prime Minister was expected to call Russian President Vladimir Putin later.

Flowers left outside the Dutch embassy in Kiev

In a Sunday Times piece, Mr Cameron called for a "moment of action" in response to the disaster.

"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," he wrote.

"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."

Downing Street has confirmed Mr Cameron will make a statement about the plane attack in the House of Commons tomorrow.

Ukrainian government officials have accused Russia of supplying the rebels with sophisticated military equipment and have claimed the Buk missile launcher that is blamed for shooting down MH17 has been relocated across the border into Russia.

Mr Cameron had also criticised some European partners for not being willing to act against Moscow. 

"For too long, there has been a reluctance on the part of too many European countries to face up to the implications of what is happening in eastern Ukraine," he wrote.

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Dutch Mother: 'Mr Putin, Send My Children Home'

A mother left devastated by the MH17 plane crash has appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin "to send my children home".

Silene Fredriksz spoke as many left flowers at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport to remember the 193 Dutch citizens killed when the Malaysian jet was downed by a missile over Eastern Ukraine.

Anger is growing in the Netherlands that bodies have not yet been repatriated and their loved ones are apparently being denied dignity in death.

Ms Fredriksz held up a photo of her son Bryce, 23, and his 20-year-old girlfriend Daisy as she pleaded for the return of their bodies.

The Fredriksz family were left distraught by the tragedy in Ukraine

"Twenty-three and 20 years old!" she said. "They're lying there on the floor somewhere. I don't know where they are.

"I want to arrange their funeral. I can't. I don't know where they are. I want them back. I want my children back."

Clenching their picture, she added: "Look at those people. How beautiful. They have to come back.

"Mr Putin - send my children home. Send them home. Please!" 

Across the Netherlands, memorial services are being held as families and communities try to come to terms with the loss of loved ones.

Anger is growing over Russia's suspected involvement in the crash

More than half the 298 people killed on the plane were Dutch, with six members from the same family from Neerkant, a small village in Noord-Brabant province.

The initial Dutch response to the jet horror was one of muted sadness.

But with reports from the crash site suggesting pro-Russian separatists tampered with evidence and removed some of the bodies, the mood has turned to anger.

Rebels are being urged to allow unrestricted access to the crash site

Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans told Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko on Saturday that his country was "angry" and "furious" by reports of bodies being dragged around the site.

Many Dutch are pointing the finger of blame at Russia, either for its suspected support of the rebels or perhaps for firing the missile itself.

International pressure is growing on Russia for it to urge rebels in Ukraine to allow observers unrestricted access to the crash site.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte spoke on Saturday and said the European Union will have to "reconsider its approach to Russia in light of evidence that pro-Russian separatists brought down the plane."

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13 Israeli Troops Killed As Airstrikes Go On

Thirteen Israeli soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive in Gaza as artillery strikes continue to target the sites of alleged rocket attacks.

The Israeli military said the soldiers, from Golani brigade, died during the offensive on Sunday, including seven who were killed after their armoured personnel carrier was hit by an anti-tank missile.

At least 87 Palestinian people are also thought to have been killed during the day's fighting, the majority of them in Shaja'iya in northeast Gaza.

Eight were killed in an air strike on the Rimal neighbourhood of Gaza City, while a 15-year-old girl was killed in Beit Lahiya.

Thousands of Palestinians fled the fighting as the artillery bombardment began.

An injured Palestinian woman at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City

Sky's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Shaja'iya, said people fleeing the area described it as a "massacre".

She said: "We have seen hundreds upon hundreds of people leaving and they are not carrying bags packed with clothes, they are not carrying anything. They are literally running for their lives.

"They are leaving this area but of course there is nowhere safe here. You expect to see all these people flee across a border, but they can't cross a border. Gaza is completely locked off."

Gaza officials said 35,000 people had fled their homes on Sunday.

Israeli mobile artillery fires at targets inside Gaza

An Israeli military spokeswoman said residents in Shaja'iya were warned to evacuate the area two days ago through recorded messages.

Hamas accepted a proposal - secured by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - for a two-hour humanitarian ceasefire on Sunday.

But an Israeli military spokesman said the ground offensive had resumed after the temporary truce was breached by Hamas fighters within an hour.

Earlier Naftali Bennett, Israeli economic minister, told Sky News Hamas was "cynically" using women and children as human shields.

Smoke rises after air strikes in Shaja'iya, northeast Gaza

"They 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," he said.

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

The Palestinian leadership slammed the "massacre" in Shaja'iya, while the Arab League claimed Israel had committed "war crimes".

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

Nearly 90 people are thought to have been killed on Sunday alone

It has said 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.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has travelled to Qatar to try to restart ceasefire efforts.

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 425 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2,600 wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

A total of 18 Israeli military personnel have been killed and two Israeli civilians have also died in rocket attacks.

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Rebels Load MH17 Crash Bodies Onto Trains

Armed pro-Russian separatists have reportedly forced emergency workers to hand over all the bodies recovered from the Malaysia Airlines crash site.

International monitors and Ukrainian officials said victims' remains were taken away and loaded onto refrigerator wagons on trains at Torez station which were said to be headed for rebel-held Donetsk later.

Kiev's emergency officials said 196 bodies had been recovered so far, as separatists said the jet's two black box voice and data recorders had been found and taken to the eastern Ukrainian city where they would be handed over to the international aviation authority.

It comes as footage emerged showing evidence that one flight recorder had been recovered at the scene, two days ago.

In addition, Ukrainian security services released audio recordings of what they claimed were rebels talking about trying to hide the black boxes at Moscow's request.

World leaders have piled pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the armed Moscow-backed rebels from preventing investigators from fully accessing the MH17 crash site.

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

International monitors and journalists are confronted by armed separatists

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond accused Russia of "dragging its heels" on Sky's Murnaghan programme and said the country risked becoming a "pariah" state.

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

The US has condemned the lack of security at the scene as an "affront to all those who lost loved ones and to the dignity the victims deserve", while Malaysia has attacked the failure to preserve evidence as a "betrayal of the lives lost".

The Ukraine government has accused pro-Russian separatists of removing bodies from the crash scene and debris, and attempting to destroy evidence.

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

Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said the government was "angry" and "furious" over allegations bodies were being dragged around the site.

Sky presenter Colin Brazier, at the scene, said: "I've been walking around, coming across body parts all the time, many of them charred beyond recognition.

"Men, women and children, indeterminate frankly, you can't tell. Very often you are looking at charred spines, that's all that's left.

"There are flies. It is hot. There are stretchers lying by the roadside. They have not been used because many of the bodies were dismembered by the forces of the impact.

A still showing evidence that a flight recorder was found, two days ago

"It is a truly macabre, horrific situation. There is a degree of anarchy and lawlessness.

All 298 people on board, including 10 Britons and 80 children, were killed when jet was brought down near Grabovo, Donetsk, where Ukrainian forces have been battling separatists.

Kiev and Moscow have blamed each other for the air disaster.

Malaysia Airlines is retiring the flight number of the MH17 Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur route and replacing it with MH19.

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