:00:00. > 3:59:59much more coverage on the Malaysian Airlines crash throughout the
:00:00. > :00:13.evening on BBC News. Hello and welcome to our look
:00:14. > :00:16.ahead to what the the papers With me here in London is Oliver
:00:17. > :00:21.Wright, the Whitehall Editor of The Independent and in our Glasgow
:00:22. > :00:23.studio, Kevin McKenna, Scottish The FT leads on the passenger plane
:00:24. > :00:34.crash in Ukraine, saying pro`Russian A rescuer is pictured amid the
:00:35. > :00:40.wreckage on the front of the Metro. The Telegraph says wreckage was
:00:41. > :00:45.strewn over an area nine miles wide. The Express says the incident has
:00:46. > :00:49.sparked outrage around the world. "Murder in the Sky" is the headline
:00:50. > :00:52.on the Guardian. The Star describes what happened
:00:53. > :00:57.as "slaughter at 32,000 feet". And a stark message on the front
:00:58. > :00:59.of the Mail: there'll be hell to pay
:01:00. > :01:11.if it emerges Russia is involved. The front`pages are dominated by the
:01:12. > :01:16.Malaysian Airlines crash tonight, as you would expect. We will talk about
:01:17. > :01:21.coverage of what is happening in Gaza with the beginning of that
:01:22. > :01:26.ground offensive we have been talking about. Let's look at how the
:01:27. > :01:30.Metro is covering the crash of Flight MH17. Blasted out of the
:01:31. > :01:38.skies ` and there is a man amongst the wreckage of this plane, 295
:01:39. > :01:43.people die as missile hits jet. Kevin, we heard in the press
:01:44. > :01:46.conference earlier in Kuala Lumpur that the Malaysian Prime Minister
:01:47. > :01:50.said this is a tragic day in what has already been a tragic year,
:01:51. > :01:55.referring to the loss of Flight MH370, the flight that went down off
:01:56. > :02:01.Australia? Yes, of course. I think also it is a very tragic day for the
:02:02. > :02:06.people of Holland as well, given the numbers of casualties that were
:02:07. > :02:13.released by the UN. You mentioned the Metro. The Metro attempts a very
:02:14. > :02:18.good front`page, something approaching a poster front with a
:02:19. > :02:23.dramatic picture of a local person, it looks like, amidst the debris.
:02:24. > :02:27.Ironically, the Telegraph, which doesn't have as dramatic a front,
:02:28. > :02:31.has a more dramatic picture and I wondered if that was probably would
:02:32. > :02:35.have been a better picture for the Metro. Let's have a look at the
:02:36. > :02:41.Telegraph. It is an unusual front`page, isn't it? It is not
:02:42. > :02:46.their usual layout, certainly, with that huge photograph at the top.
:02:47. > :02:52.Airliner blown out of the sky, that is the headline. Pro`Russian
:02:53. > :02:56.separatists blamed for killing 295 people on Malaysian jet. It is a
:02:57. > :02:59.plane that appears to be in the right place, it looks like wreckage
:03:00. > :03:03.and local people say they have seen bodies? These are quite restrained
:03:04. > :03:10.images. Some of the stuff which has been on social media, that's been on
:03:11. > :03:15.some of the Russian websites today, is completely unbroadcastable and
:03:16. > :03:19.unprintable. And it is very distressing. To be honest, these
:03:20. > :03:23.images are distressing enough. It is one of those occasions when people
:03:24. > :03:27.want words to tell them what the facts are, but the enormity of it is
:03:28. > :03:32.conveyed through the pictures. The suggestion that it might have been
:03:33. > :03:37.shot down, Kevin, by mistake. We have seen a military aircraft has
:03:38. > :03:40.been shot down by rebels in the eastern Ukraine and that's the
:03:41. > :03:43.suggestion that they might have mistaken this commercial airliner,
:03:44. > :03:48.but saying we don't have the capability for this, so the
:03:49. > :03:54.investigation continues into who was responsible? Well, I think we can be
:03:55. > :04:03.in very little doubt that these rebels do have that type of kit that
:04:04. > :04:10.can bring down large airliners at high altitude. I think also that the
:04:11. > :04:16.` it is natural that you would want to look at the Ukrainian, the
:04:17. > :04:20.Russian rebels in Ukraine, they have form in this, they have already
:04:21. > :04:24.brought down a couple of military jets and the initial narrative
:04:25. > :04:29.appears to be they have mistaken this for a military jet, which, of
:04:30. > :04:33.course, puts a lot of pressure on Putin, it puts a lot of pressure on
:04:34. > :04:38.Obama as well because initial reports in America say there were 23
:04:39. > :04:42.Americans and Obama is already under criticism in his own country for
:04:43. > :04:47.perceived inaction in the latest crisis in Gaza. The suggestion,
:04:48. > :04:52.Oliver, that this could be a game changer in what is happening in
:04:53. > :04:55.eastern Ukraine, if it only brings greater international diplomatic
:04:56. > :05:00.pressure to bear. As Kevin says, there were so many nationalities on
:05:01. > :05:04.board, it brings in so many other countries? That's one key point.
:05:05. > :05:07.There was also some interesting reports about a week or two ago
:05:08. > :05:12.suggesting that some of the separatists had managed to capture
:05:13. > :05:16.something called a Buk missile system, which was an old
:05:17. > :05:20.Soviet`based missile system. That would have the capability of taking
:05:21. > :05:24.down an airliner flying at 32,000 feet. I think if it is proved that
:05:25. > :05:29.it is separatists who have carried out this attack, President Putin is
:05:30. > :05:31.going to have to very quickly disassociate himself and Russia from
:05:32. > :05:34.anything that is going on in Ukraine. As you say, so many
:05:35. > :05:40.different nationalities, I suspect there will be quite a lot of
:05:41. > :05:45.American casualties. We have got the nationalities, around 233 of those
:05:46. > :05:49.people on board, so you are looking at another 60 people, quite a lot of
:05:50. > :05:57.those are likely to be American. You have already seen these comments
:05:58. > :06:06.from Joe Biden which is the headline on the Mail ` there will be hell to
:06:07. > :06:16.pay. A different choice of photograph as well on the Daily
:06:17. > :06:21.Express, looking at emergency workers examining smouldering
:06:22. > :06:25.wreckage of the jet. While we are talking here about the who did what
:06:26. > :06:31.and when and with what capability ` there are families in many parts of
:06:32. > :06:37.the world waiting anxiously again for news of relatives and friends `
:06:38. > :06:42.and for anyone connected to the Malaysian Airlines will be thinking
:06:43. > :06:50.how could this possibly have happened again ` twice in a year?
:06:51. > :06:54.Yes, the other complicated factor is that knowing that what's been
:06:55. > :07:00.happening with regard to military jets being brought down by these
:07:01. > :07:06.rebels, there's some surprise already being expressed as to why
:07:07. > :07:10.any passenger airliner would be flying passengers anywhere near this
:07:11. > :07:16.corridor. I understand that this corridor is supposed to be
:07:17. > :07:20.international airspace. On the other hand, there have to be doubts
:07:21. > :07:27.expressed as to why, or some questions, as to why it was thought
:07:28. > :07:32.necessary to fly a civilian jet in this hotspot, this critical area of
:07:33. > :07:37.Eastern Europe. Indeed. Many airlines have chosen to divert their
:07:38. > :07:41.flights. I think that is a very good point, too little too late, planes
:07:42. > :07:46.now diverting, especially when there does appear to be evidence that some
:07:47. > :07:51.separatists did have control of weapons that could take down planes
:07:52. > :07:54.and you had a track record of planes being taken down. It is surprising,
:07:55. > :08:00.I think, that airlines were flying over that particular disputed
:08:01. > :08:06.region. The other story that does feature on page 2 of the Express,
:08:07. > :08:13.the ground offensive by Israel in the Gaza Strip. We do expect that
:08:14. > :08:22.this will probably feature in later editions. Israel PM orders troops
:08:23. > :08:27.into Gaza. This would be, Kevin, a ground offensive of artillery and
:08:28. > :08:31.naval shelling of limited scope. Very much targeting tunnels, but of
:08:32. > :08:37.course civilians too close by to be safe? Yes, this is something that
:08:38. > :08:43.Israel will always be vulnerable to in terms of criticism because of the
:08:44. > :08:47.large amount of civilians. I think this particular story says that
:08:48. > :08:53.there are now 238 Palestinians who have lost their life since this
:08:54. > :09:01.particular battle commenced and only one Israeli. Again, a cynic would
:09:02. > :09:07.say that this happens periodically with Israel, they want to go in,
:09:08. > :09:12.they want to clear out Hamas, Hamas have new leaders every few years.
:09:13. > :09:17.There is no doubt, also, that Israel were spooked by the new unity
:09:18. > :09:23.government of last year which brought Hamas and Fatah together for
:09:24. > :09:30.the first time. And, again, there can be no winners here whatsoever.
:09:31. > :09:34.The criticism from Egypt, which tried this week ` or today ` to
:09:35. > :09:39.broker this ceasefire, there was a cessation of violence for five
:09:40. > :09:43.hours. Yes. The criticism very much levelled at Hamas for pulling the
:09:44. > :09:48.plug on any prospect of a ceasefire? Yes, there's one theory which is
:09:49. > :09:53.doing the rounds, which is part of the rationale for Israel going in
:09:54. > :09:57.now is that because the regime in Egypt has changed, the Muslim
:09:58. > :10:00.Brotherhood are no longer in power, since that happened the Egyptians
:10:01. > :10:03.have closed down or made it much more difficult for the supply of
:10:04. > :10:08.weapons to come in through Egypt. At the same time, because of the Hamas'
:10:09. > :10:12.close relationship with the Brotherhood, they are not getting a
:10:13. > :10:19.supply of weapons from Syria and indeed Iran. So, part of the logic
:10:20. > :10:23.to what Israel may be doing now is to get rid of the weapons on the
:10:24. > :10:26.basis Hamas won't be able to re`supply them. This operation has
:10:27. > :10:30.been planned for some time, I suspect. I do wonder at the timing
:10:31. > :10:34.of tonight. While the world is looking in another direction, I am
:10:35. > :10:40.not saying it wouldn't have happened anyway ` I'm sure it would. It is an
:10:41. > :10:44.interesting timing. Israel could wipe out Hamas, if they so choose.
:10:45. > :10:49.Then you create a vacuum in Gaza and who knows what will grow up in its
:10:50. > :10:54.place? Well, that is a very interesting point. It was put to me
:10:55. > :11:04.a few hours ago by a foreign affairs expert up here, in Scotland, that to
:11:05. > :11:09.a certain extent Israel needs Hamas and Hamas needs Israel. And horrific
:11:10. > :11:14.though the deaths of the three young Israelis were, if it hadn't been
:11:15. > :11:21.that, it would have been something else that would Israel would have
:11:22. > :11:25.found necessary to go into Gaza. While Hamas are in charge, there is
:11:26. > :11:31.a split within Palestinian politics. You have the President who is from
:11:32. > :11:36.the Fatah side of things, who isn't in control... He is in the West
:11:37. > :11:41.Bank. There have been attempts to merge the political sides of Hamas
:11:42. > :11:45.and Fatah, which has gone down fairly badly in Israel. The
:11:46. > :11:48.interesting question is how long this goes on for and how extensive
:11:49. > :11:53.it is. There is some suggestion in the last hour or so that Israel are
:11:54. > :11:58.planning for a longer campaign. I don't know if that will prove to be
:11:59. > :12:03.accurate. Clearly, if you are on the ground, it is a deeply distressing
:12:04. > :12:07.situation and a lot of civilians are caught up in this. That is all for
:12:08. > :12:16.the moment. Oliver and Kevin, thank you very much. We will all be back
:12:17. > :12:27.again at 11.30pm for another look at the main stories.
:12:28. > :12:36.Let's stay with the Gaza conflict. Hamas said that Israel will pay a
:12:37. > :12:41.high price for this latest ground offensive. Lieutenant Colonel Peter
:12:42. > :12:42.Lerner has confirmed ground forces have been mobilised