Air Algerie: Briton Among Plane Crash Victims

A British man who died on an Air Algerie flight which crashed in northern Mali has been named as David Morgan.

He was among 118 people, including 54 French nationals, killed when flight AH5017 came down in the remote Gossi region, close to the border with Burkina Faso on Thursday.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali has said its experts have found the plane's second black box as investigators try to establish what happened to the jet which encountered bad weather.

A 10-year-old girl perished along with her entire family in the tragedy

The first photos have emerged of the crash site. Debris from the plane, which was flying from  Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to Algiers, Algeria, could be seen scattered over an area of desert south of Gao.

Burnt-out wreckage and parts of the fuselage could be made out against the charred sand.

A statement from the Foreign Office said: "It is with deep regret that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirms the death of a British man onboard Air Algerie flight AH5017.

Flight AH5017 had been heading to Algiers when it crashed in southern Mali

"We are providing consular support to his family at this tragic time, and we ask that the media respect the privacy of those grieving."

Meanwhile, a 10-year-old French girl is reported to have spoken of her fears before the flight.

The girl, called Chloe, perished in the tragedy along with her parents, Bruno Cailleret and Caroline Boisnard, as well as her elder brother and grandmother.

French President Francois Hollande said no one survived the crash

The loss of the entire family in the disaster has left the small town of Menet in central France "devastated", according to Denise Labbe of the town hall.

The five had been returning from a trip to Burkina Faso, where Ms Boisnard's uncle lived.

They had been due to land in the southern city of Marseille after flying via Algiers, which is where the doomed aircraft was heading.

The plane was owned by Spanish private airline Swiftair and operated by Air Algerie.

It vanished from radar over West Africa and no one survived the crash, French President Francois Hollande said.

Ms Labbe said: "Everyone is devastated in the town. We all know the family, who live in front of the town hall.

"No one can quite believe it. It's like having a bad dream."

Chloe had been excited about the trip to Burkina Faso, she said, adding: "She had confided in her teacher before leaving about her fear of taking the plane, which she was doing for the first time".

Ms Boisnard's brother had gone to meet them at the airport and became aware of the tragedy when the family failed to appear at the arrivals gate.

A family of 10, including four children, from the Rhone-Alpes region of France were also killed in the crash.

The number of people killed was increased from 116 to 118 after the final passenger manifest was released.

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Bodies 'Still Remain' At MH17 Crash Site

Human remains are still at the site of the Malaysia Airlines crash in eastern Ukraine more than a week after the aircraft came down, says Australia's Prime Minister.

Tony Abbott is sending 190 police officers along with a small number of its defence forces to try to help secure the area which is currently controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

The Australians will join 40 plain-clothes military police from the Netherlands who are set to begin escorting forensic experts to the vast crash site.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will travel to the Netherlands on Wednesday to discuss the downed jet with his Dutch counterpart where they will discuss how to get investigators full access to the area.

A section of the plane's fuselage

Some 227 bodies out of a total of 298 people killed in the flight MH17 disaster have been handed over to Dutch authorities, but many more remains lie under the sweltering heat at the scene.

"Plainly there are unrecovered body remains in the area. And it's the presence of unrecovered remains that makes it more important than ever that an international team be dispatched to the site," said Mr Abbott, stressing it was a humanitarian mission.

"Every day the site remains unsecured, there is more interference and the remains are subject to the ravages of the European summer, animals, disturbance."

Two cargo planes have flown 38 more coffins carrying victims out of Ukraine to Holland where they will be taken to a forensic centre for identification and investigation.

Debris is spread over a large area

The White House has said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "culpable" in the downing of MH17.

In his strongest comments yet since the plane was shot down, White House spokesman Josh Earnest linked the crash to Russia, which the US has criticised for providing arms to Ukrainian separatists.

Mr Earnest also confirmed reports that Russian troops are firing heavy artillery on Ukrainian military across the border, describing it as an escalation of the conflict.

A plane carrying Dutch military police leaves for Ukraine

The US has previously accused Russia of providing arms to Ukrainian pro-Russian separatists.

Russia, however, has called the latest US accusations of Moscow's involvement in the Ukrainian conflict a baseless "smear campaign".

Meanwhile, European Union ambassadors have reached a preliminary deal on stepped-up sanctions against Russia, targeting its defence and technology sectors and its access to European capital.

Hearses take victims' bodies to a forensic centre in Holland

EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said EU member states must decide whether the measures need to be approved by a summit meeting of the trade bloc's 28 member countries to go into effect.

The ambassadors also ordered asset freezes and travel bans against more Russians and pro-Russian Ukrainians accused of undermining Ukraine.

The US has accused Russia of arming Ukrainian separatists

Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB, and Mikhail Fradkov, head of the foreign intelligence service, were among 15 Russians and Ukrainians, and 18 companies and other organisations named in the latest sanctions list published in the EU's Official Journal.

The Russian foreign ministry said the additional sanctions would hamper co-operation over international and regional security issues.

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US Evacuates Libya Embassy Amid Militia Strife

The United States has evacuated its embassy in Libya and warned all Americans in the country to "depart immediately", as fighting between militias in the capital Tripoli intensifies.

The mission staff were driven safely overland to neighbouring Tunisia, escorted by the US military. 

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement: "Securing our facilities and ensuring the safety of our personnel are top department priorities, and we did not make this decision lightly. 

"Security has to come first. Regrettably, we had to take this step because the location of our embassy is in very close proximity to intense fighting and ongoing violence between armed Libyan factions."

Smoke in Tripoli after heavy fighting between rival militias on Friday

American personnel at the Libyan embassy, which was already operating with limited staffing, left the capital at around dawn on Saturday, said Ms Harf. 

Speaking during a visit to Paris, Secretary of State John Kerry said they had decided to temporarily suspend diplomatic operations in Tripoli because "freewheeling militia violence" posed a "real risk" to its personnel.

US officials are taking no chances after the deadly 2012 attack on its mission in the eastern city of Benghazi, when Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans died.

Tripoli has been engulfed for weeks in bloodshed between militias

The State Department has also issued a travel warning against travel to Libya, urging all Americans already in the country to get out.

The statement cautioned that "the security situation in Libya remains unpredictable and unstable".

It also warned that the country is awash with military-grade arms, including "antiaircraft weapons that may be used against civilian aviation".

An aircraft damaged by shelling at Tripoli International Airport last week

Tripoli has been engulfed for weeks in bloodshed between militias that has killed and wounded dozens, with fighting especially intense around the city's airport.

The last time the US suspended operations at its Tripoli embassy was in February 2011, during the revolution that toppled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The mission reopened a few months later.

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MH17: Victim's Parents Visit Crash Scene

The parents of one of the victims of the Malaysia Airlines plane disaster in eastern Ukraine have travelled from Australia to the crash site to honour their daughter.

Fatima Dyczynski, 25, was among 298 people on board flight MH17 when it came down on July 17 while travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

She had been making her way to Australia to see her parents.

Jerzy Dyczynski and Angela Rudhart-Dyczynski crossed territory held by pro-Russian rebels to reach the area where the wreckage came down in fields outside the village of Hrabove.

The couple appeared emotional at the crash scene

The couple, appearing emotional, walked among the debris and scorched earth and laid a large bouquet of flowers.

Mr Dyczynski, who wore a white T-shirt with a portrait of Fatima, said: "We are for peace. She (Fatima) was for peace, she is for peace and she will be forever for peace."

His wife said: "We have promised our daughter we will come here. We should have come here the minute it happened."

She added: "She was full of life," adding her daughter, an aerospace engineering student, used to want to be a pilot.

They last spoke to their daughter shortly before she boarded the doomed flight, where there were no survivors.

A section of the plane's fuselage

The couple, from Perth, had arrived on a minibus at the rebel-held zone, ignoring their government's safety warnings.

Some 28 Australians were killed in the tragedy, which has been blamed on separatists shooting down the airliner, mistaking it for a Ukrainian plane. The rebels denied they were responsible.

Investigators are still trying to get full access to the site as Dutch and Australian police head to the area to try to secure it.

Human remains are still at the scene more than a week after the aircraft came down, says Australia's Prime Minister.

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Truce In Force As Gaza Death Toll Tops 1,000

Israel has agreed to extend a "humanitarian" truce in Gaza until midnight as the Palestinian death toll reached 1,000.

The four-hour extension - reported by an unnamed Israeli government source - comes as world leaders continue their attempt to thrash out a wider ceasefire in Paris. 

Parts of Gaza came under heavy bombardment minutes before the break in hostilities at 8am (6am UK time), with Israeli shells killing 18 members of a Palestinian family, according to the Gaza health ministry.

The Al Najar family had apparently been trapped in their house in Khuzaa village for two days when the shells hit.

A Palestinian woman stands outside destroyed homes in Shejaia, Gaza

Doctors in Gaza said 85 bodies have been pulled from rubble since the ceasefire started, taking the number of Palestinians killed in 19 days of violence to more than 1,000.

Three Israeli soldiers were also killed in combat prior to the ceasefire, meaning 40 military personnel have died since their operation began on July 8. A total of three civilians have been killed by rocket fire into Israel.

Israel is reportedly continuing its search of Hamas tunnels during the truce - though both sides have so far observed a break in fire.

Gaza's northern district of Beit Hanun photographed during the ceasefire

On the four-hour extension, the unnamed Israeli official said: "As far as Israel is concerned, there is no reason to prevent Gaza's people from stocking up on supplies, so long as the military can continue its work against the tunnels. Our war is not against the population."

US Secretary of State John Kerry remains "confident progress can be made" on a seven-day truce that would "bring people together to create a more durable plan".

However, on Friday evening Israel's defence minister told troops: "You need to be ready for the possibility that very soon we will instruct the military to significantly broaden the ground operation in Gaza."

Mr Kerry is in Paris for talks with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and other counterparts from Europe, Turkey and Qatar.

John Kerry and his counterparts are in Paris for talks

Mr Hammond said the focus was to negotiate an extension to the 12-hour ceasefire before trying to find a long-term solution to the crisis.

Earlier, Mr Kerry told a news conference in Cairo a "fundamental framework" for peace was in place and that it would "ultimately succeed".

"The world is watching tragic moment after tragic moment unfold and is wondering when everybody is going to come to their senses," said Mr Kerry.

An unnamed source from the Israeli government said they were seeking modifications as the truce proposal "leans too much towards Hamas demands".

A map showing the areas of conflict and violence

In London, anti-war protesters marched from the Israeli embassy to the Houses of Parliament today.

Similar protests are taking place in France and Germany.

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DNA Test Clears Convicted Rapist 24 Years On

A man who served 12 years in prison for a rape he did not commit is set to have his name cleared after DNA testing identified another man as the culprit.

Michael Phillips pleaded guilty to the 1990 rape of a 16-year-old girl because his lawyer advised him to avoid going to a trial.

On Friday, a Texas district court judge ruled that Mr Phillips' conviction should be vacated.

The case now heads to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, though it was not immediately clear when it would make a ruling.

"I never imagined I would live to see my name cleared," said Mr Phillips, who suffers from sickle cell anaemia and uses a wheelchair.

"Six of my siblings died from the same disease, so I thank God for sustaining me in prison," he said in a news release from the district attorney's office.

"I always told everyone I was innocent and now people will finally believe me."

Mr Phillips said his lawyer at the time told him not to go to trial because a jury would likely not side with a black man accused in the rape of a white girl.

Furthermore, the victim had picked him out of a photo line-up.

Mr Phillips' reversal of fortune is due to an ongoing project by Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, who is testing old rape kits.

"This is a great day for Mr Phillips but a terrible day for our justice system," Mr Watkins said on Friday. 

The district attorney said there was no DNA from Mr Phillips to compare to the profile from the semen in the rape kit.

But when the semen was put into the FBI's database, another person was identified as the culprit.

Mr Phillips, 57, was released in 2002 but his failure to register as a sex offender later landed him back in jail for six months.

He now lives in a nursing home.

The statute of limitations has expired on the crime and the perpetrator who was identified remains free, a district attorney's office spokeswoman said.

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Plane Survivor Crawls Out Of Fiery Wreckage

A woman escaped from the fiery wreckage of the TransAsia Airways plane by clambering through a hole in the fuselage - and then phoned her father to come and pick her up.

Hung Yu-ting was one of only 10 survivors when the aircraft crashed into houses near a runway on Taiwan's Penghu islands on Wednesday.

"She called me on the phone to say the plane had crashed and exploded but that she had already crawled out and I should come right away to get her," said Hung Yu-ting's father, who lives a few hundred metres from the crash site.

"When I was halfway there the fire was still really big, but it was smaller when I arrived on the scene," Mr Hung told reporters.

The plane ploughed into houses while trying to land in bad weather

"There were two other injured outside and the first ambulance had already taken away three, including my daughter."

Hung Chang-ming helped rescuers put out the fire and dragged more people from the wrecked plane before later being reunited with his 34-year-old daughter.

She suffered burns to her arms, leg and back during her escape and is recovering in hospital.

Forty-eight people were killed when the twin propeller ATR-72, which had taken off from Taipei, crashed while trying to land in stormy conditions and low visibility.

Forty-eight people died in the incident on Taiwan's Penghu islands

The effects of a typhoon had cancelled around 200 flights earlier in the day, but aviation officials insisted conditions in the area were acceptable to fly.

Investigators are set to focus on a four-minute timeframe when visibility around Magong airport is said to have reduced by half.

Several children were among the dead, which included a family of six and a family of four.

Buddhist monks conduct a ritual at the crash site

TransAsia chairman Vincent Lin appeared at the funeral hall on Friday and said the crash was an "unpredictable tragedy".

He apologised, kneeled and bowed to the mother of one victim, who screamed back: "Give me back my son, he is only 27 years old.

"He is still young, but now he is lying there at the morgue. I want my son back."

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No Survivors On Air Algerie Flight AH5017

No one survived an Air Algerie flight which crashed in southern Mali, French President Francois Hollande has said.

The burnt-out wreckage of the plane carrying 116 people, including 51 French nationals, which vanished from radar in West Africa has been discovered south of Gao.

Mr Hollande said the jet's black box flight recorder had also been recovered by the French military and was being taken to the town.

"French soldiers who are on the ground have started the first investigations. Sadly there are no survivors," he said.

Families of the 116 people onboard wait for news

"The plane's debris is concentrated in a small area, but it is too early to draw conclusions."

He said bad weather was the likely cause of the crash, but added: "I'm not excluding any theory."

Burkina Faso's commander in chief, Gilbert Diendere, said a search team had gone from Burkina Faso to Mali to follow up on information they had received about the possible crash location.

He said: "This team has confirmed that it has seen the remains of the plane, totally burnt-out and scattered on the ground."

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

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

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

The Air Algerie jet was travelling from Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou to Algerian capital Algiers when it disappeared around 50 minutes into the flight, following a request from the pilot to change course due to poor weather.

The twin-engined MD-83 carries 168 people

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Five Palestinians Killed Amid Prayer Lockdown

Five Palestinians have reportedly been killed in the West Bank - four shot by Israeli troops and the other by a female settler.

Israeli soldiers shot dead three Palestinians in the village of Beit Ummar, near Hebron, medics said.

In a separate shooting, Israeli settlers fired on a group of Palestinians near the northern city of Nablus, killing 18-year-old Khaled Oudeh and wounding four others after they threw stones at their car, security officials said.

The shot was fired by a woman, Israeli army radio reported.

A map showing the areas of conflict and violence

Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene and their gunfire killed a fifth man, 22-year-old Tayyib Oudeh, the officials added. 

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed there had been "confrontations" between troops and Palestinians near Nablus "in which settlers were involved", but gave no further details on the Beit Ummar shooting.

Israel has also said that a missing soldier whom Hamas claimed to have abducted was actually killed in battle.

The latest deaths came as Israeli riot police charged down skirmishes near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, as fears of more trouble in the area sparked a lockdown on Friday prayers.

Only men aged over-50 are being allowed into Al Aqsa mosque after a massive protest in the West Bank last night resulted in the deaths of two Palestinians.

Friday prayers are being held at the Al Aqsa mosque

Israeli security forces have been put on heightened alert and deployed in and around Jerusalem's Old City after Palestinians declared today a "day of rage" following the violent and deadly clashes.

Sky's David Bowden, in east Jerusalem, said: "Riot police charged down the road a short time ago towards a group of youths who were protesting, throwing rocks.

"The riot police fired baton rounds and they arrested at least one protester who was dragged away with his hands behind his back.

"A water cannon followed the police down, and actually they had set fire to a couple of massive tyres, and they used the water cannon to put that fire out.

"I don't want to over-egg this. It wasn't a great conflagration, but it gives you an idea of the tension here already."

At least 150 people were injured in the mass protest

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Sky News: "Once we receive clear indications that there are going to be disturbances on the Temple Mount it is necessary for an implementation of age limits in and around the Old City.

"We are taking all of these measures in order to prevent people from being injured or possibly killed around this area."

Amid the growing tensions, US Secretary of State and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pressed for a ceasefire as the Palestinian death toll rose to 815.

Hamas attempted to attack Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv with three rockets - two of which were destroyed mid-air by the Israelis.

A pregnant woman was among this morning's casualties in Gaza following a fresh wave of Israeli airstrikes.

Surgeons managed to save the 23-year-old's unborn child, but a 12-year-old and 15-year-old were said to be among those killed in the strike on the southern city of Rafah, health officials said.

More than 140,000 people have fled the conflict, while some 33 Israeli soldiers have been killed, and three civilians have died in Israel from rocket fire.

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Air Algerie: First Images From Crash Site

The first photos have emerged of the site in Mali where an Air Algerie flight crashed, killing all 116 people on board, including 51 French nationals.

It comes as a 10-year-old French girl is reported to have spoken of her fears before the flight.

The 10-year-old perished along with her entire family in the tragedy

The girl, called Chloe, perished in the tragedy along with her parents, Bruno Cailleret and Caroline Boisnard, as well as her elder brother and grandmother.

The loss of the entire family in the disaster has left the small town of Menet in central France "devastated", according to Denise Labbe of the town hall.

Flight AH5017 had been heading to Algiers when it crashed in southern Mali

The five had been returning from a trip to Burkina Faso, where Ms Boisnard's uncle lived.

They had been due to land in the southern city of Marseille after flying via Algiers, which is where doomed flight AH5017 was heading when it crashed in southern Mali.

French President Francois Hollande said no one survived the crash

The plane was owned by Spanish private airline Swiftair and operated by Air Algerie.

The burnt-out wreckage of the passenger aircraft - which vanished from radar in West Africa - has been discovered south of Gao.

No one survived the crash, French President Francois Hollande has said.

Ms Labbe said: "Everyone is devastated in the town. We all know the family, who live in front of the town hall. No one can quite believe it, it's like having a bad dream."

Chloe had been excited about the trip to Burkina Faso said Ms Labbe but added she "had confided in her teacher before leaving about her fear of taking the plane, which she was doing for the first time".

Ms Boisnard's brother had gone to meet them at the airport and became aware of the tragedy when the family failed to appear at the arrivals gate.

A family of 10, including four grandchildren, from the Rhone-Alpes region of France were also killed in the crash.

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MH17: Ukraine Workers 'Chased Off Crash Site'

The head of Ukraine's emergency services has said his workers have been chased away from the MH17 crash site by pro-Russian rebels.

Speaking to journalists at a press conference in Kharkiv, Serhiy Bochkovskiy said emergency services personnel also had some of their equipment confiscated by armed rebels.

Mr Bochkoskiy added his workers did not open any body bags when they prepared them to be removed and that the transportation of victims' remains was done in "a very proper way".

When asked how difficult the work was, he replied: "We are human beings, we are made of flesh and blood, not of steel and stone. So when we work with those remains, the remains of human beings, we are both sad and angry."

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MH17 Parents Living In 'Hell Beyond Hell'

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

The parents of three children who were killed in the MH17 attack have described how they are living in a "hell beyond hell" in a heartbreaking statement.

Anthony Maslin and mother Marite Norris from Perth in Western Australia also released a photograph of their three smiling children, Mo Maslin, 12, his 10-year-old sister Evie, and eight-year-old brother Otis.

The children's father directed the statement at soldiers in Ukraine, politicians, the media, and friends and family.

"Our pain is intense and relentless. We live in a hell beyond hell," he said.

The bodies of 40 victims returned to the Netherlands on Wednesday

"Our babies are not here with us - we need to live with this act of horror, every day and every moment for the rest of our lives.

"No one deserves what we are going through.

"Not even the people who shot our whole family out of the sky."

The crash also claimed the life of the children's grandfather Nick Norris, who was travelling back to Australia after a holiday with them.

They were among 27 Australian citizens and residents killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17.

Australian PM Tony Abbott at a memorial service for victims in Sydney

Mr and Mrs Maslin, who were speaking as investigators prepared to examine a second black box from the airliner, went on: "No hate in the world is as strong as the love we have for each other.

"This is a revelation that gives up some comfort."

They thanked family and friends for support and urged the media to respect their privacy.

An international team in Hampshire has already begun to analyse the cockpit voice recorder, which would reveal if pilots knew a missile was heading toward the Kuala Lumpur-bound Boeing 777-200.

The separate flight data recorder should indicate any differences in the speed and pitch of the jet after the explosion in the air.

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Passenger Plane Carrying 116 People Crashes

A passenger jet which vanished from radar over northern Mali in West Africa has "probably crashed", France's foreign minister has said.

Two French fighter jets are searching for the Air Algerie plane, which was carrying 110 passengers and six crew.

French foreign minister Laurent Fabius contradicted reports the jets had found wreckage in an inaccessible area of desert, halfway between Gao and Kidal.

"Despite intensive searches, no trace of the plane has been found as we speak," he said.

"The plane has probably crashed. The searches are focusing at this stage on a vast strip of Malian territory around the region of Gao."

The plane was travelling from Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou to the Algerian capital Algiers when it vanished around 50 minutes into the flight.

Missing Algeria Passenger Plane: Live Updates

The pilot asked for permission to change route because of a sand storm around 20 minutes into the flight, said Burkina Faso Transport Minister Jean Bertin Ouedrago.

He said the plane's passenger list included 51 French citizens.

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

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

The twin-engined MD-83 is 45 metres long and carries 168 people

While he listed no Cubans among the passengers, Ouagadougou Airport's official website said Mariela Castro, daughter of Cuban president Raul Castro and niece of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, was on the plane.

A French army spokesman said: "Two Mirage 2000 jets based in Africa were dispatched to try to locate the Air Algerie plane.

"They will search an area from its last known location along its probable route."

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

Swiftair said the aircraft took off from Burkina Faso at 1.17am local time and was supposed to land in Algiers at 5.10am local time but never reached its destination.

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

AH5017 took off from Ouagadougou airport. Pic: Sputniktilt

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

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

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

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

The plane was near Gao international airport in Mali when it dropped off radar.

Sky's Alistair Bunkall said there are reports in the Algerian media that the plane crashed after running out of fuel.

But given the plane was 50 minutes - or about 300 miles - into its four-hour journey that is unlikely to be a cause, he said.

"A source is telling me that air traffic control asked the aircraft to divert near the Algerian border because of bad weather and to avoid another aircraft," Bunkall said.

"If true, I assume it didn't collide with the other aircraft otherwise we'd have reports of a second missing plane."

It is believed 15 passengers were ultimately headed to Roissy-Charles-De-Gaulle airport outside Paris, and another seven were due to be travelling to Marseille.

Swiftair has a fleet of more than 30 planes flying in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

AH5017's disappearance comes less than six months after Algeria's worst air disaster in a decade.

Some 77 people were killed when a military transport plane carrying members of the Algerian armed forces and their relatives hit a mountain and crashed near the village of Ouled Gacem in the east of the country.

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Hammond: West 'Losing Sympathy For Israel'

Key Dates In The Gaza-Israel Conflict

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Israeli Tank Shells Gaza School: 15 Dead

Key Dates In The Gaza-Israel Conflict

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Major Airlines Suspend Flights To Israel

Major airlines from the US, Europe and Canada are refusing to fly to and from Israel after a rocket fired from Gaza landed near Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion international airport.

Delta and United Airlines suspended services between the US and Israel, while the UK's easyJet, Germany's Lufthansa, and Air France also grounded flights.

Delta Air Lines' chief executive said on CNBC on Wednesday its service into Israel would remain cancelled for now.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is meanwhile preparing to announce if its 24-hour ban on flights to Tel Aviv will be renewed.

The cancellations began on Tuesday after a Delta Air Lines flight to Tel Aviv was diverted to Paris because a rocket fired from Gaza landed near Israel's busiest air hub.

An Israeli military excavator searches for tunnels on the border with Gaza

The FAA cited in its ban the "potentially hazardous situation" caused by the ongoing conflict in the region.

The European Aviation Safety Agency then recommended all European airlines avoid Tel Aviv "until further notice".

Israel's Transportation Ministry insisted the airport was safe and the flight ban would "hand terror a prize".

Defiant former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he would fly into Tel Aviv with Israeli airline El Al on Tuesday night.

He said the FAA ban would deliver "Hamas an undeserved victory".

Not all airlines heeded the ban - British Airways said its twice-daily service to Tel Aviv would continue.

Despite the advisory, Secretary of State John Kerry flew into Israel's main airport to continue the push for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

He is meeting Israel's prime minister, the Palestinian Authority's president and the United Nations chief in a day-long visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah.

United Airlines planes seen at Newark International Airport

The Palestinian leadership says it has proposed a truce to mediators aimed at halting the violence.

The flight cancellations came as Israel continued its offensive in Gaza.

Israel launched a major offensive on July 8 in Gaza to stop Hamas militants firing rockets over the border.

Palestinian militants have fired more than 2,000 missiles at Israel, but many have been intercepted by its US-funded Iron Dome defence system.

More than 650 Palestinians, many of them women and children, as well as 29 Israeli soldiers and two civilians, have been killed in the conflict.

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Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Starts Last Voyage

The wreck of the Costa Concordia is being towed away from the Italian island of Giglio, more than two and half years after it capsized killing 32 people on board.

The cruise liner, twice the size of the Titanic, has started its journey to a scrapyard in the port of Genoa where it will be broken up.

The ship began its final voyage after salvage crews refloated it with giant air tanks in a $2bn (£1.17bn) operation that was one of the biggest of its kind ever carried out.

The 114,500-tonne vessel is being towed from Giglio by two tugs, with another 12 boats sailing in convoy alongside, carrying divers, engineers and environmental experts.

Giant air tanks were used to refloat the 114,500-tonne vessel

South African salvage master Nick Sloane, who described removing the ship as the "biggest challenge" of his career, said he was ready to "wave goodbye to Giglio".

A 17-strong team of salvage workers are on Concordia for its journey.

Sensors attached to the sides of the ship will monitor for possible cracks in the crippled hull, while underwater cameras will watch for debris being washed out of the vessel amid fears toxic waste could spill into the sea.

Mr Rebello, second left, is the only victim whose body is still missing

Objects floating free such as suitcases, clothes and furniture will be caught in a huge net, while infrared sensors will be used to detect possible oil leaks at night.

The doomed vessel hit rocks off the Italian island in January 2012, tearing a massive gash in the ship's 290-metre-long hull and causing it to keel over.

Video footage shot by divers and released by police earlier this month showed twisted metalwork, broken furniture and discarded belongings left by the 4,200 people who were on board the ship when it crashed.

The ship's captain Francesco Schettino is accused of fleeing the vessel

The body of Indian waiter Russel Rebello is still missing and there will be a search for his remains when the ship is dismantled.

Francesco Schettino, the ship's captain, is on trial on several counts, including manslaughter.

The 53-year-old, who is fighting the charges, is accused of deliberately altering the course of the Concordia in order to carry out a sail-by salute of the island to impress local residents and passengers.

Schettino, who was allegedly on the bridge with his Moldovan lover Domnica Cemortan, claimed it was ''too dark to see anything'' and told investigators he had not fled but had ''tripped and fell into a lifeboat".

He was dubbed "Captain Coward" by some tabloid newspapers after reportedly refusing orders from the coastguard to return to the ship to help with the rescue operation.

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Israel 'Could Be Guilty Of Gaza War Crimes'

There is a "strong possibility" Israel is violating international law in Gaza, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights has said.

Opening an emergency debate at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Navanethem Pillay said Israel's punitive house demolitions and killing of Palestinians raised serious concerns of excessive use of force by the Jewish state.

Ms Pillay also condemned the indiscriminate firing of rockets and mortars by Hamas into Israel.

Ms Pillay: 'Every one of these incidents must be investigated'

"Once again, the principles of distinction and precaution are clearly not being observed during such indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups," she said.

"Every one of these incidents must be properly and independently investigated." 

More than 650 Palestinians have been killed as well as 29 Israeli soldiers and two civilians as two weeks of airstrikes and rocket attacks were followed by an Israeli ground offensive inside Gaza.

On Wednesday, hundreds of people reportedly fled Khan Younis amid heavy fighting between Israeli troops and members of the armed wing of Hamas.

The Red Crescent said Hamas fighters were using rocket propelled grenades and light weapons, including machine guns, against the Israelis.

The Israeli military was said to be firing tank shells and missiles from drones into the area.

Ms Pillay's comments came as US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Tel Aviv to push for ceasefire talks.

Mr Kerry said he was making "some steps forward" in the search for a cessation to the fighting but declined to provide any details.

A Palestinian doctor inspects a shell-damaged hospital in Gaza

Israel's UN representative said the debate was a knee-jerk reaction, adding that Israel's duty to defend itself was enshrined in International law and that it was Hamas that was committing war crimes.

Israel's ambassador also said Israel would destroy Hamas' military infrastructure, but added that Gaza residents themselves were "not our enemy".

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki claimed Israel was committing "a crime against humanity" and he urged world powers to end what he called Israel's impunity, adding: "Israel must be held accountable for its crimes." 

The Geneva rights forum convened the special one-day session at the request of the Palestinians, Egypt and Pakistan.

Israel, which accuses the council of bias, boycotted the Geneva forum for 20 months, resuming co-operation in October.

The United States, a member state, has also said Israel was being unfairly singled out.

Today's debate comes as major airlines from the US, Europe and Canada announced they are refusing to fly to and from Israel after a rocket fired from Gaza landed near Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion international airport.

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Taiwan Plane Crash Leaves 47 Feared Dead

A plane crashed outside an airport in Taiwan as it tried to land in stormy weather, leaving 47 people trapped and feared dead.

The TransAsia aircraft came down near the airport in Xixi village, in the island of Penghu, off the western coast of Taiwan.

Yeh Kuang-shih, the country's transport minister, was quoted by the government's Central News Agency as saying another 11 people were injured after the plane crashed and caught fire while making a second landing attempt.

The agency had earlier reported, citing a local fire brigade chief, that 51 people had been killed.

Flight GE 222 was flying a domestic route in stormy weather from the capital Taipei to the Penghu Islands, halfway between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

Reports said the pilot failed to land the ATR-72 aircraft at the first attempt, before he requested another attempt and air-traffic control lost contact with the plane.

Pictures on Taiwan television showed emergency services searching through twisted wreckage at the crash site.

Taiwan was battered by Typhoon Matmo early Tuesday morning, and the Central Weather Bureau was advising of heavy rain through the evening, even though the center of the storm was in mainland China.

Penghu is a lightly populated island that averages around two flights a day from Taiwan's capital, Taipei.

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MH17 Victims' Bodies Arrive In The Netherlands

The bodies of some of the first victims recovered from downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 have been brought to the Netherlands from the crash site in eastern Ukraine.

Two military aircraft - one Dutch and the other Australian - left Kharkiv Airport in northeastern Ukraine earlier carrying the bodies of 40 victims between them in wooden coffins.

They arrived at Eindhoven airport in the Netherlands where they were met by relatives, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and members of the Dutch royal family.

Bells were sounded across the country and the Last Post played at the airport as an eerie silence fell across the airbase.

A coffin of one victim is carried from a plane to a hearse

The coffins are now being carried off the planes by military personnel and each one put in a hearse.

Sky's Ian Woods, at the airport, said: "Around 1,000 relatives are watching from behind a screen, including members of two British families, even though they don't know if their loved ones are on board the planes."

A minute's silence will be held before a motorcade takes the bodies to the Korporaal Van Oudheusdenkazerne military barracks in Hilversum, where the long process of identifying the remains will begin using DNA, dental records and finger prints.

Jean Fransman, a spokesman for the ministry of security in the Netherlands, told Sky News: "We have chosen this location because these facilities have everything that's needed to carry out the identification process as quickly as possible with respect and discretion."

A total of 40 hearses are at the airbase to take away the wooden coffins

The Dutch Prime Minister has warned it could take weeks or even months to formally identify the victims before their bodies are released for repatriation.

A team of nine disaster victim identification (DVI) personnel from Britain, including six police officers, a crime scene manager and forensic photographer, will assist the Dutch authorities.

A national day of mourning has been declared in the Netherlands for the 298 people killed, including 193 Dutch, and will include a silent march in Amsterdam this evening.

The bodies are the first of some 200 victims which are expected to be flown out of Ukraine during the course of this week.

A congregation at Eindhoven Airport gather for a sombre ceremony

It is thought more than 80 bodies still remain at the scene.

However, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has cast doubt over the numbers that have been recovered and handed over by pro-Russian separatists, and warned it is unclear how many bodies may have arrived in Kharkiv and been left behind.

"It's quite possible that many bodies are still out there in the open, in the European summer, subject to interference and subject to the ravages of heat and animals," he said.

Meanwhile, the black boxes from MH17 have now arrived in the UK, where they will be examined at the headquarters of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch in Farnborough, Hampshire.

Investigators say it will take 24 hours to download the data from each machine before sending it to the Dutch for analysis.

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MH17: Rebels 'Calm' As Search For Clues Begins

Russia Only Needs To Create Doubt Over MH17

Updated: 12:50pm UK, Tuesday 22 July 2014

By Katie Stallard, Moscow Correspondent

From a cavernous situation room inside the Russian Ministry of Defence, the Lieutenant-General set out Russia's version of events.

The briefing was carried live on Russian state TV and handed out on DVDs by Russia's ambassador to Malaysia.

They claim to have detected a Ukrainian military aircraft within 3-5km of the Malaysian Airliner on Thursday.

"The SU-25 fighter jet can gain an altitude of 10km, according to its specification," Lt Gen Kartopolov explained (which happens to be the exact altitude at which MH17 was flying).

"It's equipped with air-to-air R-60 missile that can hit a target at a distance up to 12km, up to 5km for sure.

"We would like to get an explanation as to why the military jet was flying along a civil aviation corridor at almost the same time and at the same level as a passenger plane."

They also claim to have detected an unusual increase in Ukrainian radar activity leading up to the incident, and that the airliner came down "within the operating zone" of Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile defences.

He showed satellite images of a Ukrainian base close to Donetsk, pointing out that its surface-to-air missile units were missing on the day of the crash.

He then appeared to claim that one of the units had moved into rebel-controlled territory on the morning of the crash.

Finally, Russia categorically denied supplying the rebels with Buk surface-to-air missile systems, or indeed any other weaponry.

Now, firstly, it's worth saying there is a propaganda war in both directions here, which has been going on for several months, and that both sides are pursuing interests beyond the immediate tragedy of MH17.

But the questions Russia presents "that Kiev must answer" raise a few questions themselves.

The SU-25 "fighter jet" Russia claims to have identified close to the airliner is a ground attack aircraft - according to its manufacturer its maximum service height, without weapons, is 7,000m - 3km short of MH17.

As Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer pointed out, it's also too slow: "They should have at least claimed it was an SU-27," he said.

And if the rebels don't have the Buk missile system, or indeed any other Russian-supplied weaponry - how did they target the dozen Ukrainian military aircraft they have previously boasted of shooting down?

This included an Antonov-26 transport aircraft, flying at an altitude of 6,500m last week.

It is possible of course that the rebels have acquired weapons from Ukrainian military bases, although the government in Kiev insists it can account for all of its missile systems.

And what exactly is the case Russia is setting out? Is it suggesting the Ukrainian SU-25 (despite its technical limitations) shot down the passenger jet in mid-air?

And why? The plane would seem to have been travelling in the wrong direction for Ukrainian forces to have perceived it as a hostile aircraft coming from Russia, and the rebels don't have an air force.

So are they seriously suggesting the Ukrainians deliberately moved their missiles on to rebel-held territory and shot the airliner down as part of some sort of nefarious plan to frame the rebels and turn world opinion against them?

But then Russia doesn't need to prove its case - all it needs is to create one, to insist that there are different versions of events, that there is credible claim and counter-claim.

In much the same manner as a criminal defence barrister, Russia doesn't have to demonstrate that its alleged client is innocent - just to establish enough doubt in the minds of the jury - in this case the international community - that they can't be completely sure.

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Ferry Sinking: Fugitive Billionaire Found Dead

Police have discovered the body of a fugitive billionaire who had been wanted in connection with a ferry disaster in South Korea.

They began a large manhunt for Yoo Byung-eun following the sinking of the Sewol vessel in April, in which more than 300 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed.

The 73-year-old businessman, whose family own ferry operator Chonghaejin Marine Co, went on the run after the tragedy.

A heavily decomposed body found last month by police matched the DNA of his older brother.

More than 300 people were killed in the disaster

Authorities say they have now confirmed the corpse was that of Yoo, who was wanted for questioning on possible charges of embezzlement and criminal negligence.

Suncheon police chief Woo Hyung-Ho said the body was too decomposed to determine the cause of death, adding that several empty bottles of alcohol were found at the scene.

"We do not know yet whether it was a homicide or a suicide," Mr Woo said.

"We are hoping that more detailed forensic analysis will shed light on this and on the exact time of death."

The Yonhap news agency said the body was discovered on June 12 in a plum field in Suncheon, a city about 180 miles south of Seoul.

The corpse was lying face up and was clothed in a winter jacket and hat.

Prosecutors are investigating to what extent the disaster was caused by a lack of safety standards and regulatory violations.

Many of his Yoo's family members were arrested following the tragedy, among them his wife and his brother.

A daughter is fighting an extradition bid from Paris and his eldest son is still on the run.

The captain and 14 crew members are currently on trial for murder after the ship sank on a trip from the port on Incheon to the holiday island of Jeju on April 16. There were 172 survivors.

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Pregnant Woman And Child Among Airstrike Dead

A four-year-old girl and three women, one of them pregnant, were among those killed in the latest Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, according to medics.

It comes as the Israeli military confirmed one of its soldiers was missing, presumed dead, and diplomatic efforts were stepped up aimed at securing a ceasefire in the bloody conflict.

At least six people were killed in three separate aerial attacks in Bureij and Al-Maghazi in central Gaza, and Rafah in the south.

A Palestinian medic inspects damage at a hospital in Gaza

The missing Israeli soldier was one of seven personnel who had been inside an armoured vehicle hit by an anti-tank missile on Sunday.

The military has only been able to identify six of the dead, but a spokesman denied any possibility the unaccounted for soldier was still alive.

It follows claims by Hamas that it had captured a soldier, which was denied at the time by Israel's ambassador to the UN.

Israel is continuing its offensive to stop attacks by Hamas militants

Militants displayed a photo ID and army serial number raising fears they had seized his remains, which could be used to exchange for prisoners.

More than 600 Palestinians, many of them women and children, and 29 Israelis, including 27 soldiers, have been killed in the 15-day conflict as Israel tries to stop rockets being fired from Gaza.

The continued violence comes as diplomatic efforts intensify in Cairo, where US Secretary of State John Kerry has met Egyptian leaders including the country's president Abdel Fattah al Sisi.

As Mr Kerry arrived in Cairo, the US confirmed it would provide $47m (£27m) in humanitarian aid for Gaza.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is in Cairo to try and broker a ceasefire

He has urged Hamas to seek peace talks based on an Egyptian truce proposal, that the group has rejected.

Meanwhile, UN chief Ban Ki-Moon has held talks in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and was also due to meet Palestinian officials in the West Bank.

Mr Netanyahu said the international community should hold Hamas accountable, accusing the militant group of rejecting ceasefire moves, and comparing it to other terror organisations including Isis, al Qaeda, and Boko Haram.

The funeral of an Israeli soldier near Tel Aviv

He insisted Israel was targeting "terrorist targets" in Gaza, and accused the fighters of hiding behind civilians.

"We will do what we need to do to defend ourselves," Mr Netanyahu said.

Mr Ban said: "We condemn strongly the rocket attacks. They must stop immediately."

The bombardment of Gaza has led to an exodus of more than 100,000 civilians

He also condemned the use of civilian sites by Hamas militants.

He called on both sides to "stop fighting, start talking".

And Mr Ban also urged Israel to exercise restraint.

Israel's aerial bombardment has so far resulted in an exodus of more than 100,000 Palestinian civilians, according to the United Nations.

:: Delta Airlines and US Airways have cancelled all flights to Israel indefinitely amid reports of a rocket near Tel Aviv airport.

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