23/07/2014 World News Today

me, Philippa Thomas. The first victims' bodies arrive in the

Netherlands, six days after flight MH17 came down in eastern Ukraine.

Tens of thousands of people line the roads to pay their respects, as 40

coffins are transported to a military barracks to begin the

process of identifying the dead. Authorities in Ukraine say

pro-Russian rebels have today shot down two war planes - close to the

point where the Malaysian airliner crashed.

Also coming up: The UN's human rights chief says Israel's actions

in Gaza could amount to war crimes. Navi Pillay also condemned rocket

attacks by Hamas. And the Man Booker literary prize

goes global - but is that a problem if you're not American?

The first two flights carrying coffins from the Malaysia Airlines

flight MH17 landed today in Eindhoven in the Netherlands - where

they were met by members of the Dutch Royal family and the Dutch

Prime Minister, as church bells were rung across the

nation. Of the 298 victims of the flight, believed to have been shot

down by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, the majority were Dutch.

Today begins the process of repatriation, and has been

an official day of mourning in the Netherlands - where we can

As they are further Netherlands, idea of national mourning, the first

in more than half a century. From the moment that the 40 coffins were

taken from the plane, they were given a ceremony that was dignified

and afforded them the sort of dignity that families felt was

missing when they lay uncovered in eastern Ukraine. We will hear from

our Europe correspondent about the latest developments here in the

Netherlands. They died when the flight was shot out of the sky.

Today, in simple wooden coffins, the first 40 victims left Ukraine after

a brief, poignant ceremony. It is an attempt by the Ukrainians to give

some dignity to the passengers on this flight whose lives were

brutally cut short on a flight to a war which had nothing to do with

them. First, there was a minutes silence. Nobody yet knows whose

relatives are in these coffins. They could be from several countries.

They could be passengers or crew. We need to remember that for each of

those bodies, there are grieving families and grieving friends and

for each of those bodies, there is a life that has been needlessly lost.

As international investigators cautiously examined the scene of the

tragedy this afternoon at the shooting down of two Ukrainian

fighter jets just a few miles away was a reminder of the dangers of

working here. As the first bodies left for the Netherlands, it is

worth remembering that dozens are still missing in the charter fields

of eastern Ukraine. People here are waiting to see the heresies.

There is a long way to go. 40 bodies would turn today that many more are

to be brought back and, indeed, still to be recovered from the crash

site. This was a national day of mourning, led by the Dutch king and

queen and Prime Minister who were here for the ceremony earlier. Out

of a sweltering sky, they fleet back in.

This was not the return that anybody imagined. A country fell silent.

They brought them out one by one, yet to be identified. Here perhaps a

holiday-maker, once excited about their trip to distant shores. Here,

maybe somebody on a business trip. A student on a gap year. 40 coffins

and 40 body bags and so many more get to fly out of the Ukraine.

It is a very black day for people from this part of the country. So

many innocent people have been killed by political idiots. It makes

us very very angry. Then the convoy set off with full military honours.

Some may be identified quickly but with others, it could take months.

Outside the airfield, hundreds watched. Soon the grim task of going

through the remains will begin. This brings no closure, it only makes

each and every death all the more real. The depth of feeling for these

victims, whether they are Dutch or any other nationality was so evident

today, right from the time that the coffins war brought onto the tarmac

to the entrance of the airfield. We can show you the latest pictures of

the route from Eindhoven to help us with the bodies have been taken for

the remains to be identified. They arrived there just a few minutes ago

and on the route along the motorway, we saw people lining the bridges to

pay their respects and as the Hassey 's carrying the coffins, we saw

people applauding wanting to show respects.

Here in Britain, the Prime Minister, David Cameron,

has said the government will look carefully at all outstanding arms

export licences to Russia, to make sure they comply with

There have been mounting questions over why more than 250 licences are

still in place, given concerns that Moscow is supplying weapons to

From Westminster, James Landale reports.

David Cameron has said the government will look carefully

at all outstanding arms export licences to Russia,

to make sure they comply with an arms embargo announced in March.

Today David Cameron was asked why Britain is still selling arms to

and the Tories are taking cash from Russian businessmen.

Back in March the policy on selling arms was clear.

The UK will now suspend all licenses and applications for licences

Today a committee of MPs said military kit was still

More than 280 licences in things like rifles, even missiles.

The government said some was for civilian use, others for Brazilian

We have been consistent with the terms of

the arms embargo we set up, to aid Russian armed forces and the use of

But we will look carefully at all outstanding licences

But MPs said it was not good enough and have written to the

Prime Minister asking who the weapons of war.

They cannot be brushed off just for the Russian merchant navy or played

shooting and all these ridiculous things that came out this morning.

Anyone looking at that list that we publish today can come to one

conclusion only, this includes a significant amount

But David Cameron is also pressing questions about donations to

his party by wealthy Russians especially some who attended a

fundraiser here at his private club in West London earlier this month.

Top of the auction list was the chance to play tennis with

A prize won by a wealthy Russian who paid more

Her husband was once a minister in the government of President Putin

Since 2010 Russian-born businessman have given more

But Labour said Mr Cameron had questions to answer.

He had to explain what he thinks that is the right thing to do and

Otherwise people will conclude that when he attacks prison Putin he

And now to Taiwan, where a domestic plane has crashed after failing to

58 passengers and crew were onboard - emergency services are

reporting that at least 40 people have been confirmed dead, around

10 have been found alive, leaving others still unaccounted for.

The TransAsia Airways flight crashed near Magong airport

Aviation officials said flight GE-222 had aborted

The plane took off at 5.42pm, local time, from a city in southern

It was supposd to be a short 35-minute flight to

Magong City on the outlying Penghu archipelago, northwest of Taiwan.

The pilot aborted the landing and asked for a go-around about 7.16pm.

We know that shortly after that, the plane lost contact with the control

tower and shortly after that local residents said they saw the plane

As of late Wednesday, local authorities say theyhave confirmed

at least 40 people have died and only about 10 people have survived.

They are still searching through the wreckage for survivors

but it is believed that other the ten people who are injured

and taken to hospital, there are no other survivors.

Israel may be committing war crimes in Gaza by not doing enough to

protect civilians, according to the UN Human Rights Commissioner.

Navi Pillay also condemned Hamas for indiscriminate attacks on Israel.

A UN investigation into violations in Gaza has now been announced.

At least two people were killed and many injured including children

TRANSLATION: God protect us, we are dying and no one is checking on us.

In Israel, the funeral of another soldier.

He was killed in an assault against Hamas.

Israel is united in its support for the war.

Tens of thousands came to pay their respects.

And his sister remembered her brother.

I always thought the world of you and never thought I would be

standing here with this many people who understood how strong you are.

Words cannot express how proud I am of the man you became.

And Israel is counting the cost in other ways.

In the main airport there was a lot of waiting and plenty of worry.

Dozens of flights were cancelled here after a rocket attack by Hamas.

It did not hit the airport but the militants scored a huge victory.

Israel says the world is submitting to terrorism and it should be the

rockets that are grounded rather than passenger aircraft.

John Kerry's plane did manage to land in Israel to stop pushing

for a cease-fire, he is trying to unite the Arab world

In the occupied West Bank he met the Palestinian president.

We will continue to push for this cease-fire.

We will continue to work with Mahmoud Abbas and others

We have in the last 24 hours made some progress

But it seems progress to a truce is not moving fast.

The offensive in Gaza continues with terrifying force.

That was Quentin Somerville reporting from Israel,

let's listen now to what to the UN Human Rights Commissioner

147 children have been killed in Gaza in the past 16 days.

They had a right to life, just like children in any other country.

Their killings raised concerns about respect for the principles

of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack.

Israeli children and their parents and other civilians also have a

right to live without the constant fear that a rocket fired from Gaza

may land on their homes or their schools, killing or injuring them.

Joining me via webcam from Geneva is Rupert Colville.

Thank you for joining us, I want to address your concerns about both

sides of the conflict, but first, the use of the phrase war crimes,

very strong language that you are choosing. Yes, very serious offence

have taken place. At the end of the day, it is only a judge that can say

that war crimes have been committed, so this is terminology

that should end up in court, but the human rights Council has set up an

independent international investigation and they will look

very carefully at many incidents as they can to try and find out if war

crimes have been committed or even crimes you manatee. -- crimes

against humanity. What could have been done to protect civilians? An

example out of the seven little boys playing on the beach in Gaza, the

office in Gaza has done the best to investigate what happened, it seems

was an air strike that killed several of the young boys, and the

others were running away and there was a second air strike from a

ship. There was absolutely no way that these were military targets,

they were children. They were nine, ten, 11 years old. That episode

happened in front of the hotel that was filled with international

journalists. There is a lot of information, children playing on the

roofs of their houses were killed, women, disabled women in wheelchairs

killed. What went wrong? White? Words are sufficient precautions

taken? It appears not in some cases. -- where there are sufficient

precautions taken? From the Israeli side, the BBC has had some anger of

a perception of bias, and they point out that Hamas?s rockets are firing

primarily at civilians on the Israeli side. The High Commissioner

is very clear about Hamas and their rockets and she said there has been

war crimes on several occasions including today and firing in

accurate rockets in the general direction of areas filled with

civilians is most probably a war crime. It depends on the

circumstances, but when you have got 2900 rockets in the last few weeks,

that is very probably that most of those would also have been war

crimes. In northern Nigeria, the second

explosion this week in Kaduna city has hit

a crowded market. It comes two days after a suicide

bomber targeted a convoy of a prominent cleric in the same

city, killing at least 25 people. In Sierra Leone, the doctor leading

the fight against the Ebola epidemic Sheik Umar Khan was hailed as

a national hero for his efforts to control the outbreak that has killed

at least 200 people there. The biggest marine salvage operation

of all time is coming to an end. The wreck of the Costa Concordia

cruise ship is being towed away from the island of Giglio,

to be scrapped. She hit the rocks and capsized

in 2012, with the loss of 32 lives. It may be

the most important literary award in the English speaking world,

and this year, the Man Booker Prize has gone global for the first time

in its 46 year history. The ?50,000 prize is

now open not only to English language novels from the UK

and Commonwealth countries, but also Today the "longlist" was announced

and of the 13 novelists recognised, six are British, four are American,

one Irish-American, one Irish, With me is Rick Gekoski, writer,

bookseller Was a lot of anticipation, how many

people will be American, will it dominate the list? There was a fear

that there would be a tide of Americans, that has not happened. It

is a bit disappointing, there are no African writers. There were some

from Zimbabwe the last time. I have a fear that there might be some

problems for Commonwealth writers if the rules are changed. It might be

less diverse. It is famous for having brand-new voices from

different directions. Yes, it is famous for that. This is the first

year. I am pleased they opened it to Americans because there is no such

thing as the Commonwealth novel. Have you ever gone to a dinner party

and somebody said, can you recommend a Commonwealth novel? Did you not

say that, they say, did you read a good novel recently? It is not like

Americans can enter this prize, but other writers in English can enter

their prize. Maybe this open-mindedness will turn people

around. What is interesting is the divergence of judgement and taste.

The Pulitzer prize for fiction was won by a very interesting book which

did not even make the long list here. Why not? It was a very long

novel, so was the Booker prize winner last year. Is probably needed

some editing, but it was a very good writer, a lot of good writers are

left out. Do think that some people think a book again have to much

recognition. No, Abe good book can never have too much recognition. It

just did not make it. A lot of good writers are on the list as always.

Some say that this is about tapping into the US commercial market,

perhaps the biggest market for selling books. I hope that more

British writers and Commonwealth writers will be read in the US

because of the bubbly city, but the American writers coming into this

are published in the UK, it is not like they're published elsewhere, to

be eligible, the books have to be published in the UK. Thank you very

much for coming into talk to us. the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

are here. In about an hour and a half's time,

the opening ceremony will begin with the Queen reading out

a message which has been The BBC's Kevin Keane is

at the Glasgow Green Live Zone, where the ceremony will be relayed

to fans on giant screens. Give us a taste of what is to come,

how excited as Glasgow? It is hot here, which is quite unusual, and it

has been quite hot for the last week. People are here in short

sleeves, T-shirts, they are soaking up the atmosphere provided for

them. 10,000 people here at Glasgow Green, a number of fan zones that

have been set up across the city. This is for people that are not

lucky enough to be at the 40,000 people at Celtic Park. -- with the

40,000 people. There is music on the stage. This is a group of local

children from the Glasgow East End supported by Unicef, we had lots of

music and the star act tonight in the next half an hour will be the

Scottish superstar Lulu, and she will perform on the stage behind me.

Lots to get the crowd going, then a 15 minute countdown to the Opening

Ceremony itself and then when that begins at 9pm, it will be be laid on

to the big screens for people to enjoy. When we get to the athletics,

what are some of the big names competing? Quite a few names that

people will remember from the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Mo Farah,

of course, he was competing for Team GB, he will be competing here for

team England this time. Also, various others in different

competitions for the Scottish team, Michael Jamieson in the pool, here's

a medal hopeful and in the pool tomorrow, that gets underway

tomorrow, he could be one of the first medal hopefuls for the

Scottish team. And on the international stage, we anticipate

you same bolt competing in the four x 100 metre relay. -- we anticipate

you same bolt -- Usain Bolt. The bodies of some of the victims

of the downed Malaysia Airlines flight have been flown home to

the Netherlands. After a ceremony at

Eindhoven Airbase, 40 hearses left for Hilversum, where the

identification process will begin. Thank you very much for joining us

on the programme. Hello, today Scotland, Wales and

Northern Ireland all recorded their highest temperatures of the year so

far. More