Charges laid in MH-17 disaster
Three Russians and a Ukrainian will face murder charges for the deaths of 298 people aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 that was shot down over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
A part of the Buk Telar rocket that was fired on the MH17 Photo: AFP
The charges follow an international investigation into the incident.
MH17 was shot out of the sky over territory held by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Everyone aboard died.
The Dutch-led international team tasked with assigning criminal responsibility for the plane's destruction named the four suspects as Russians Sergey Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Igor Girkin, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko. It said international arrest warrants for the four had been issued.
The suspects are likely to be tried in absentia in proceedings set to start in the Netherlands next March. Dutch authorities said Russia has not cooperated with the inquiry and is not expected to surrender defendants, who are protected from extradition by the constitution
"These suspects are seen to have played an important role in the death of 298 innocent civilians," Dutch Chief Prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said. "Although they did not push the button themselves, we suspect them of close cooperation to get the (missile launcher) where it was, with the aim to shoot down an airplane."
Prosecutors have said the missile system that brought down the airliner came from the Russian 53rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade, based in the western Russian city of Kursk.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that it regretted the findings of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash investigation and called murder charges against Russian suspects groundless.
- Reuters
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Saudi's MBS implicated in Khashoggi murder
The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other senior officials should be investigated over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi given credible evidence against them, a UN rights investigator says.
Khashoggi's death stirred widespread disgust and hurt the image of the prince, previously admired in the West for pushing to end the kingdom's oil dependence and easing social restrictions including by allowing women to drive.
After a six-month investigation, the 100-page report by the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Agnes Callamard, accused Saudi Arabia of a "deliberate, premeditated execution".
"There is sufficient credible evidence regarding the responsibility of the crown prince demanding further investigation," Callamard said.
The Saudi government has pushed back on accusations made in the report.
Saudi Arabia's minister of state for foreign affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, rejected claims made in the report.
"Nothing new ... the rapporteur in the human rights council repeats in her non-binding report what has been published and circulated in the media," he tweeted, "contains clear contradictions and baseless allegations which challenge its credibility".
- Reuters
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Australian legal ruling could 'start the boats' - Peter Dutton
Australia's Home Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton Photo: AFP PHOTO / SEAN DAVEY
A fight over border protection is heating up across the Tasman, with the Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton claiming boat arrivals are much more likely, following a recent federal court decision on the so-called medevac legislation.
The Federal Court recently ruled that doctors don't need an appointment with patients before deciding if they need treatment in Australia
The Labor Party said it supported the so-called "medevac law", and would not support the Morrison government's efforts to repeal it.
Mr Dutton said he feared the court's ruling would make travelling to Australia by boat more attractive for potential asylum seekers and he was pushing ahead with plans to scrap the legislation when Parliament resumes next month.
The ruling only applies to those on Nauru, where medical consultations via teleconference have been banned.
"The fact that two doctors who haven't had any interaction with the patient could make a decision that that person should come to Australia is a completely outrageous arrangement," Mr Dutton said.
Under the medevac laws, two Australian doctors must assess a person before making a recommendation for a transfer.
- ABC
UK leadership race tightens
Conservative MPs are due to choose the two men who will contest the final stage of their leadership race on Friday (New Zealand time).
The remaining field of four candidates will initially be whittled down to three in another secret ballot.
There will then be a further vote to select the final two, one of whom will be elected leader by party members.
Boris Johnson topped the third ballot with 143 votes, ahead of Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove and Sajid Javid.
International Development Secretary Rory Stewart was knocked out of the contest earlier, after he secured the backing of just 27 Tory MPs.
Mr Johnson is almost certain to make the run-off of 160,000 or so Conservative members who will elect the next Tory leader - and prime minister - in a postal ballot, starting next week.
But the race to join the former foreign secretary in the final two remains too close to call.
- BBC
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Xi Jinping visits North Korea
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (left) shaking hands with China's President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in January, 2019. Photo: KCNA via KNS / AFP
Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Pyongyang accompanied by a clutch of senior officials, as Beijing looks to bolster North Korea a week before Xi and US President Donald Trump are due to meet amid a bitter trade dispute.
Xi, whose entourage includes the head of China's state economic planner, will be in North Korea for two days, becoming the first Chinese leader to visit the reclusive country in 14 years, and could bring fresh support measures for its floundering, sanctions-bound economy.
Neighbour China is the North's only major ally, and the visit comes amid renewed tension on the Korean peninsula as the United States seeks to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
The trip is also an assertion of a key leverage point that China has in its deteriorating relationship with the United States, diplomats say.
"Comrade Xi Jinping is visiting...in the face of crucial and grave tasks due to complex international relations, which clearly shows the Chinese party and the government place high significance on the friendship," the North's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said.
The trip highlights two-way ties that "never waver despite any headwinds," and strengthens "blood ties" between the two peoples, it added in a front page commentary.
Xi will hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, attend a welcoming banquet and then see a mass gymnastic performance on his first day, according to Chinese state media.
- Reuters
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US cult leader guilty
A New York man accused of running a cult-like group in which women were kept on starvation diets, branded with his initials and ordered to have sex with him, has been found guilty of all charges.
Keith Raniere, who founded the group Nxivm was charged with crimes including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and possession of child pornography.
The 58-year old faces a possible sentence of life in prison.
After the verdict was read, a group of former Nxivm members gave the prosecution team a round of applause.
Raniere will be sentenced in September.
- Reuters
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