23/07/2014 BBC News at One

The bodies of the first victims of the Malaysian Airlines crash

have left Ukraine bound for the Netherlands.

Victims of the disaster began their long journey home after a ceremony

For each of the bodies there are grieving families and friends. And a

life that has been needlessly lost. The Netherlands holds a national day

of mourning - two-thirds of those We'll speak to our correspondents

in Ukraine and the Netherlands. US Secretary of State John Kerry

arrives in Israel to try to The death of Peaches Geldof was

drugs related, I'm here in Glasgow for the

Commonwealth Games where Scotland's biggest ever sporting party is about

to begin. The Queen will formally open the

Games tonight in Glasgow in front of an expected crowd of 40,000 people

at Celtic Park - and a TV audience Putting Londoners at risk -

the Mayor's feasibility study that will look at locking out striking

firefighters. Forcing landowners to build homes -

a call for more powers to build houses on empty sites to ease

the housing crisis. Good afternoon

and welcome to the BBC News at One. The first planes carrying the bodies

of victims of the Malaysian Airlines crash has left Kharkiv in Ukraine

bound for the Netherlands. A ceremony attended by ambassadors

and officials was held at the airport intended to give the

victims, in the words of one, the In the Netherlands,

there's a national day of mourning The Dutch prime minister will meet

the planes when they land The bodies will then be taken away

for identification, In a moment we'll hear from

our correspondents in Eindhoven, but first this report from

Daniel Sandford who's in Kharkiv. The journey began at the rundown

flat jury where the bodies were stored overnight. -- factory. The

Dutch and Ukrainian governments were determined that the flight home

should happen with as much inanity is possible. 16 simple wooden

coffins were taken to a Dutch military plane and noted for the

flight to the Netherlands. For coffins were kept behind for a

simple ceremony. It is an attempt by the Ukrainians to give some dignity

to the departure of the victims of the flight whose lives were cut

short in a war that had nothing to do with them. For the bodies in all

will be flown to date to the Netherlands for identification.

It will still be a long journey. We have a painful identification

process to go through which will take time. The Dutch government

wants to assure family members of those concerns that we want to do

the identifications as quickly as possible with full respect for human

dignity. Then there was a minute's silence.

And the last coffins were loaded. At present nobody knows whose relatives

are in them. They could be Dutch, Malaysian, Australian, Indonesian or

British. They could be from Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada or

New Zealand. They could be passengers or crew.

We need to remember that for each of these bodies are grieving and

friends and for each of those bodies there is a life that has been

needlessly lost. By the end of the day, 40 V Dems

should be in the Netherlands. By the end of the week it should be over

200. -- victims. But dozens, no one quite sure how many, are still

missing in the charred fields of Ukraine. And the bodies are being

flown back. But it has not been an easy task to get to this stage? It

has been a difficult operation. Here in Kharkiv is a big international

team that had been working on this. Where the plane came down is a good

five Hours Drive from here and it is in the middle of territory

controlled by unpredictable gunman who feel that the West are against

them put up so anyone going there is immediately subject to suspicion.

The bodies were scattered over a wide area, some badly damaged. It

has been difficult first of all to find the bodies and the

international team have had to rely a lot on people in the rebel

territories to do that for them. It has been difficult then to get the

train which brought them out of the rebel territory, negotiated across

what effectively is the front-line in a pretty nasty civil war. So it

has been a tough operation and even here in Kharkiv they have to work in

a tank factory because that is the most appropriate place where they

can prepare the bodies and put most appropriate place where they

can prepare the bodies and them in those simple wooden coffins to be

sent to the Netherlands for identification. This is just the

beginning. We have we think around 200 bodies here in Kharkiv. It is

not known quite how many are missing in the field of eastern Ukraine or

how many there are waiting a second train. But we are still hoping they

had got most people out of here, certainly by the end of the week.

In the Netherlands, relatives are waiting at the airport

for the first of the planes carrying the victims' bodies to arrive.

A shrine at Schiphol airport now marks the point from which the

passengers departed. Tributes from across the world, a reflection of

the international nature of this catastrophe. The flowers are already

appearing here. One card reads, why did this have to happen? Is the

military aircraft come into land bells will chime across the country.

The families of the passengers on board that Malaysian airlines flight

will be waiting but none will no if their loved ones are inside those

wooden coffins. The Netherlands is a reserved

nation. Mourning the loss of innocent people caught up in someone

else's's battle. We have been waiting for a couple of days and now

it is an important day for the people here and in the whole

country. We see it on everybody's faces. They want their children

back. In the rural village here a family

of six, their deaths have left a hole in the heart of this

community, now united by grief. And elsewhere, a photo in the window

reminding us of this family's loss. The coffins accompanied by a police

escort will be driven to a military facility about an hour away from

Eindhoven. Behind these barriers is where the process of identifying the

bodies will begin. Daniel Boettcher is in Eindhoven

where the plane carrying There is still the process of

identification to happen. So some relief for some families today but a

grim task ahead. There has been a sense of anger at the long delay in

being able to recover the bodies from the crash site. Today the

family is at least know that somebody's will be brought to the

Netherlands here. 40 of them on those transport planes. But they

have not been identified. That will start after a ceremony here when the

coffins are taken to a different military facility. But the Dutch

Prime Minister said he believed the process could take weeks or even

months to complete. Dutch authorities have been speaking to

relatives, each family is a specially trained police liaison

officer and they have been gathering information from families and were

possible collect ting DNA samples to help in the identification process.

But the awful truth is families still do not know when their loved

ones will be returned to them or when bodies can be repatriated here

from the Netherlands to other countries including Britain.

It's emerged that licences to sell British arms worth millions

of pounds to Russia remain in place despite fears that Moscow

A committee of MPs said more than 200 licences for the sale of arms,

including components for anti-aircraft guns, remained in

force - and that only 31 had been revoked or suspended since March.

Downing Street insists that Britain is presently sending no military

Our security correspondent Frank Gardner is here.

Who is right, the MPs or the government?

I think you have two drill down into who says what. What these committees

of MPs are saying is that the licences are still in place in 251

cases. That does not mean to say that they have been activated and

exports have been made. There is a gap between that. But I think there

are a couple of issues. One is the global security issue. What are

these licenses are doing in place, authorising in theory the sale of

items like sniper rifles, small arms ammunition, body armour and

communications equipment, to Russia at a time like this, when Russia is

accused of arming and supporting the rebels in eastern Ukraine. The

second issue is of hypocrisy because written has been at the forefront of

imploring and criticising European nations for exporting arms to Russia

especially France which has got a billion-dollar plus order to supply

helicopter carriers to Russia. David Cameron does not want them to do

that. The French have rounded on Britain and said this is hypocrisy.

It does not look good. They will have to drill down into exactly

which of these licences they are going to keep in place and which

will be revoked. Only 31 have so far been revoked.

Labour are writing to the Prime Minister to demand he

justifies a ?160,000 donation to the Conservative party from the wife

The Prime Minister is under pressure on the issue of the arms export

licences and also this donation of ?160,000 to the Conservative Party.

This is money that was paid by the wife of a Russian oligarch at the

party fund-raising event for the chance to play tennis with the Prime

Minister and with Boris Johnson, the London mayor. Boris Johnson has

already said he's prepared to reconsider but no of any such

contrition when the Prime Minister. Conservative Party spokesman has

said that a nation is legitimate and all within the rules and there is no

reason for them to reconsider the donation or pay the money back as

Labour is asking. Nonetheless it was make it awkward for the Prime

Minister as he is seeking to claim the moral high ground on the

international stage and get agreement across the EU on tougher

sanctions against Russia. And you can watch the developments

at Eindhoven Airport in the Netherlands throughout the

afternoon on the BBC News Channel. The American Secretary of State,

John Kerry, has arrived in Israel to try to negotiate a ceasefire between

both sides in the conflict in Gaza. He's due to meet the president

of the Palestinian Authority Earlier Israel criticised a decision

by all American airlines - and some European ones - to suspend

flights to Tel Aviv for 24 hours. Our correspondent Bethany Bell

reports from Ben Gurion Airport Overnight the Israeli army said it

carried out 200 air strikes. This house in southern Gaza was hit. The

death toll continues to rise. Over 600 Palestinians have been killed in

the past two weeks. Hamas militants have fired more rockets into Israel.

Yesterday one hit this house close to the main airport. As result US

airlines and a number of European carriers have suspended their

flights to Tel Aviv. Officials at the airport say that traffic is down

about 50%. A number of flights are still

operating in and out of Tel Aviv. Other has not been this must

disruption at the airport since the first Gulf War in 1991. This is a

major transport hub. Many Israelis are concerned that the decision to

suspend flights gives Hamas a symbolic victory. Israel's leaders

say the airport is safe. They are putting pressure on the United

States for flights to resume. We regret that airlines have

suspended flights. The real answer to the danger of flying is not to

stop the flights but to stop the rockets. If any softness or

understanding is shown to those who fired the rockets it is in my

judgement endangering air traffic in the entire world. One claim that did

arrive today was carrying the US Secretary of State John Kerry. He is

holding talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to try to help

negotiate a cease-fire. In Israel and other soldier is laid to rest.

So far over 30 Israelis have been killed in this conflict and there is

little sign that the fighting is about to end.

Our middle east correspondent Yolande Knell is in Gaza.

Has there been any reaction from Hamas about the suspension of

flights? The Hamas run TV channel here has been picking up on those

develop mats at Tel Aviv airport, as you may expect, portraying them as a

big achievement for the militants. Very often the rockets fired from

Gaza intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome defence system, land in open

areas in Israel, and so the militants here feel this could

strengthen their hand as these international efforts go on to try

to get some sort of cease-fire deal. The only other thing I have found

out talking to people in the market is the different Palestinian

factions have come up with a more united position of what they want

from an Egyptian proposed deal. We expect their leaders to go to Cairo

to continue these discussions in the coming days. Chief among the

conditions for a truce is the very tight border restrictions that are

imposed both by Israel and Egypt should be eased. Thank you for

joining us. The time is just after 1:15pm.

The bodies of the first victims of the Malaysian Airlines crash have

left Ukraine bound for the Netherlands.

The death of Peaches Geldof was drugs related,

From horses to elephants - we'll meet the team behind the big blue

elephant making a move to the West End.

The cyclist who broke his back riding across Europe

- he's retracing his journey for charity and this time peddling with

It's all eyes on Glasgow today ahead of tonight's opening ceremony

The Queen will declare the games open for what's being

described as Scotland's biggest ever sporting party.

Around 4,500 athletes from 71 nations and territories will

compete in 17 sports over the next 11 days - and there's a real

Jane Hill is in our Commonwealth Games studio in Glasgow.

Hello and welcome to Glasgow to our studio

It is fair to say there is a lot of excitement in the city in the run-up

to this evening's opening ceremony at Celtic Park, helped by this

glorious weather, I have to say. The opening ceremony is almost sold out,

40,000 people will be in the stadium at Celtic Park and anything up to 1

billion people could be tuning in to watch it all across the globe. The

anticipation is being felt across the whole country, not just in

Glasgow. Big screens will showcase the action for anyone who has not

got a ticket. This is the scene on Glasgow Green where one of the big

screens will be set up for people to watch throughout the games. There is

still a hunt for tickets amongst some as you mentioned, and the

athletes who have arrived over the last few days, perhaps some of them

are finding their bearings around the city. Lorna Gordon has our first

report. Counting down to the games. The clock has been ticking for

almost seven years. It is now in its final hours. Glasgow's big moment is

almost here and the city is bursting with both locals and visitors in a

last-minute dash for seats. The queue for tickets is growing and

some people have already been waiting here for a good couple of

hours. Some people are picking up tickets. Others have heard that some

sports still have seats available, and that there are even tickets

remaining for the opening ceremony itself. Right now today going

tonight I can't wait, it is worth every penny of ?720. I can't believe

it! I could have gone to be be Hamas! Opening ceremony and 100

meter finals. They must be considered golden tickets, opening

ceremony and 100 metre final. I hope my daughter appreciates it. In the

centre we found the cycling team from Swaziland finding their

benefits. There is Glasgow Green and we are somewhere over here coming up

to St Vincent Street. What is the street called? This is Cannon

Street. Cannon Street. Trying to work out the route? We are a bit

lost. Some of those who tasted success in London looking for more

in Glasgow. We had a bit of disappointment when it was in Delhi

and we are focused on this and my season has been based all about it

and I will do my best. Security at the venues themselves is now tight.

The Games will get underway at Celtic Park. It is quiet now but

this evening it will be packed for the opening ceremony where up to 1

billion people will be watching worldwide. We are going to try to be

the Commonwealth Games in our Glasgow and do it our own way and we

are confident that we are going to really impress some people and it

will be a very distinct and authentic event. This morning that

you cant that is of rough visited one of the game's venues and enjoy

the flavour of the action to come. For the last 40 days the Queen's

Baton relay has journey through much of Scotland. Today it reached the

athletes village. The message contains from the Queen to the

Commonwealth will tonight be read out as the 20th Commonwealth Games

commences. In terms of the host nations

Scotland's athletes are hoping to make a lasting impression on the

medal table. Team Scotland is the largest team ever in its history.

310 competitors all eyeing a medal, as Chris McLaughlin now reports.

Sir Chris Hoy handing over the Team Scotland flag and with it the

Whenever you represent your nation it is a moment of pride and

You want to do your absolute best for your country.

When it is at home it is an even bigger deal.

I have fought in some big events in Scotland before.

And then when it is a home multi-sport Games,

when it is a Commonwealth Games, that is the pinnacle.

As Team Scotland's flag bearer heroics of the past were played out

A reminder, if one was needed, of what is expected on home soil.

Before the action the Carnival of sport was kick-started when

Here at the Athletes' Village Team Scotland are providing a warm

welcome to the other 17 nations and territories of the Commonwealth.

But they know when the battle for medals begins

on Thursday home advantage could make all the difference.

Stars like Michael Jamieson will be part of the biggest ever Scotland

Gold medals in double figures the dream.

He is the poster boy, but after the big build-up there is

Apart from these kind of photos being up everywhere

and the billboards being up I feel a sense of responsibility being one

Coming up with some good results in the past couple of years

I do want to try my best to take on that mantle really, and to try,

The Games will leave their mark on Glasgow.

Now it is down to Scotland's athletes to leave their mark

With me here is Lord Smith of Kelvin, the chairman of Glasgow

2014. Welcome. What will success look like for you? Full stadium,

pretty good result for Team Scotland, but that is special

pleading. I just think people enjoying themselves and records

broken and so on. We are going to have pretty full stadium right

across the piece. That in terms of the 11 days of competition. What

about after that? How confident are you that a legacy will be left? I'm

actually very confident because the legacy is already effectively there.

Our venues have been open for at least a year in every case and some

of a new venues we have had children and Championships taking place

there. We have had sporting clubs set up and expanded and augmented

and we have more coaching certificates than we have ever had

in our history in Scotland. People are actually engaged even before the

heroes started arriving a few days ago. I was in the athletes city in

the East End of the city. That is a particular area that was targeted

for regeneration. Are you confident when this has moved on that that

will be something positive for local people in the East End? Yes it will.

Some of the housing conditions were very bad and there are 700 houses

across the banks of the Clyde and more than half of those will be

available as affordable housing and just under half available for owner

occupation. It has completely changed the East End of Glasgow.

East End of Glasgow was not a great place but it certainly is a great

place now. Lord Smith of Kelvin enjoy the competitions and thank you

for being with us. Much more from here to come. Back to you, Rita.

The coroner at the inquest into the death of the television

presenter Peaches Geldof has said that her death was drugs related.

There was no indication of any third party involvement.

Duncan Kennedy is at Gravesend Coroners court.

Today we learned of the detail surrounding the death of Peaches

Geldof, this young actress and socialite, and of a life spent

struggling to cope with addiction. We learned she was an addict, came

of it and then went back on it in the weeks and months before her

death. And it was heroin that finally killed her. Her widowed

husband Tom was the one who found Peaches Geldof dead and he came to

the inquest to relive her final months and to tell of her fight to

control her drug abuse. There is no way I'm going to beat this. The

hearing heard that Peaches Geldof had been a heroin addict for many

years but had appeared to be trying to come off it. She was found dead

surrounded by the kit used to inject heroin. Its purity was twice that of

regular street heroin. Worth somewhere between ?350 and ?550. In

the inquest her husband Tom was asked if Peaches Geldof was a heroin

addict. Yes, he replied. He was then asked whether Peaches Geldof had

lied to him about drugs test she was taking. The coroner said:

Yes, he replied. The lead detective in the case said there was no

indication that Peaches Geldof intended to kill herself and that

she had appeared normal after her death. Peaches Geldof was found at

her house in Kent in April two months after going back on heroin.

Police say they found 34 syringes here and that she had once flushed

Shem heroin down the toilet after her husband had confronted her about

drugs. -- flushed some syringes. Her father was not at the hearing but

spoke recently about the profound sense of loss he continues to feel.

I'm walking down the road and suddenly out of the blue there is an

awareness of her. And I buckle. The coroner concluded her death was

drugs related. Peaches Geldof was 25 years old. The coroner also asked if

this was a case of history repeating itself, a reference to Peaches

Geldof's mother Paula Yates who died from a heroin overdose in the year

2000. He said this was not really like that because Peaches Geldof had

sought treatment and he said we will therefore never know why she went

back on heroin. The drug, that did eventually kill her. Thank you for

joining us. The pharmaceuticals giant,

GlaxoSmithkline has reported The company has been hit

by a fall in sales and the strong pound which reduces

the impact of overseas profits. It's also embroiled

in a bribery scandal in China. Our business editor Kamal Ahmed is

here. Sales are down and still problems in

China. It feels like GS K is fighting several battles. Absolutely

and DSK is one of our biggest businesses and employs 10,000 --

tens of thousands of people around the world. Good for their problems

in three distinct parts. First, China, where the corruption probe

continues. I've been on a call with the chief executive of Glaxo Smith

Klein who says the company is still committed to that country and

obviously it is a big drugs market for them. The second issue is price

pressure and the government says we want to pay less for the drugs you

give us. Struggling with austerity. And the third, their biggest drug,

the asthma inhaler drug which is seeing a lot of competition from

other drugs, a fit of the revenues they make. They say they are

diversifying into heart disease and HIV treatments and vaccines, and

they will get better in the rest of this year. Thank you for joining us.

A zoo in Leicestershire is celebrating the birth of two

Amur Leopards - one of the rarest species of big cat in the world.

It's thought there are about 50 of them left in China

Breeding them in captivity in zoos like Twycross in thought to

be critical to the survival of the species.

The weather is looking pretty good for most of us at the moment and it

is turning into a decent summer. The story goes on through today, very

warm with sunny spells almost across the board. It is not quite the story

everywhere as often happens at this time of year. The North Sea, at

least the northern part, full of mist and low cloud which is

gradually melting back to the coast but it will plague some of these

coasts through the afternoon. A bit more cloud developing further south

across southern counties of England. We might see one or two showers

popping up later in the afternoon. They have been hit and miss and most

places will miss them and hang the warm sunshine through to the end of

day. We are seeing highs of around mid to high 20s quite widely liked

the last couple of days except the North Sea coasts where the mist and

hill fog will keep things down to the low to mid teens. Across western

Scotland and Northern Ireland the weather is putting on a great show

at the moment ahead of the spectacular show that we will see

this evening bash the opening of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. At

the moment it looks like the weather will stay fine, just a tiny chance

of a shower but it would only be a passing affair anyway if it turns

up. Later in the evening mist and low cloud will tend to spread

westwards through the central belt of Scotland developing anywhere to

the east of the Pennines down through into the Midlands. One or

two showers brushing across southwestern parts possibly but most

places will miss those and temperatures will be similar to

recent nights so may be uncomfortable for sleeping in

central and western areas. Tomorrow we do it all again, mist and low

cloud melting away as the sunshine gets to work, lingering around those

coasts. Greater chance of getting one of those showers in south-west

England tomorrow and there could be some thunder in the mix but in

between those once again those temperatures are set to soar,

picking up quickly through the day, except near the north-east coasts

where it will stay on the cool side. Nothing really to change the weather

pattern even for Friday. Today at the next couple of days very much

the same, plenty of sunshine and foremost the mist and low cloud

across north-eastern parts but tending to clear. This front moving

from the North Atlantic will tend to change conditions. We will get at

least one fine day at the weekend. There will be some sunshine but

watch out for a scattering of showers and some on the heavy side

but it will turn cool and fresh as the weekend goes on. Thank you very

much, Peter. That