Briton On Doomed MH17 Almost Missed Flight

A friend of Robert Ayley, one of the 10 British victims on board flight MH17, has revealed the father-of-two almost missed the flight.

Bill Patteson, who was travelling with the 27-year-old around Europe visiting Rottweiler breeders, has told Sky News his friend didn't make it onto the bus to take him from his hotel to Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.

But Mr Ayley, who was originally from Guildford but moved to New Zealand as a child, managed to get there in time to board the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight, which was shot down over Ukraine with almost 300 people on board.

An ex-journalist, helicopter pilot, students and Newcastle United fans are among the other British victims.

Mr Patteson, who flew back to New Zealand the day before, said: "There were so many things that came together to make Rob be on that flight.

"The stars really had to align for Robert to be on that flight, even right down to the last minute.

Six of the British victims on flight MH17

"Everyone was hoping he'd missed the flight, but Robert being the great organiser that he was managed to get on his flight."

Mr Patteson described his friend as a "really great, confident young man" who was proud of his British roots.

Mr Ayley's wife Sharlene wrote on Facebook: "Rob was our everything. We adored him and there was no one else like him. He touched so many hearts and lives.

"We are grateful to forever have him in our hearts."

The Boeing 777-200 in February. Pic: Andreas Fietz

Mr Ayley's family said he was passionate about life and his family, adding that when it came to Rob "there were no half measures".

"He found in his boys two little people he could love, understand and trust," they said.

"When they cried they were sad, when they laughed they were happy and when they hugged it was because they loved him."

The statement added: "Sharlene and Rob are soul mates. She is his 'Princess'. She changed his life and he changed hers.

"She held his heart and he held hers. Rob will live forever in his family."

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Sky 'Rained People' After Airliner Shot Down

Children have described how it was "raining people" after the shooting down of a passenger jet with 298 people on board in eastern Ukraine, reports Sky's Stuart Ramsay.

Human remains and debris from the plane are scattered everywhere, and bodies can be seen hanging from telegraph wires, he said.

Ramsay said local volunteers had been left traumatised, such was the scene of devastation.

Amid the carnage of the crash site, the sound of rockets being fired can be heard in the distance as the conflict between Ukrainians and pro-Russian separatists continues to rage.

A pro-Russian separatist at the site of the downed plane

A large number of armed militia are in control of the area, aiming to help preserve the scene for aviation investigators.

But officials face a difficult task as the situation on the ground remains volatile, and the potential for tension high.

Ramsay said: "There's fighting in a town to my west and fighting in the town to the east, and we are stuck in the middle."

Given this it was hard to see how a thorough investigation of an extensive crime scene could be carried out.

"They need to get on with it but it's going to be difficult to do this because it's so volatile," he said.

Crash investigators are yet to arrive at the scene

Ramsay said the downing of the plane had left people living nearby in a state of shock.

"Most of them saw the plane coming down. It was in bits," he said.

"Parts of bodies are absolutely everywhere.

"In some of the villages there are bodies hanging from telegraph wires and on roofs."

Children, who witnessed the plane coming down, said: "It was raining people."

Ramsay said the plane attack and horrific loss of life had affected people's attitudes to the continuing violence.

"The thing that's struck them is the pointlessness," he said.

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Rebels Accused Of Taking Bodies From Wreckage

Pro-Russian separatists have been accused of removing 38 bodies from the Malaysia Airlines crash scene and attempting to destroy evidence at the site.

The Ukraine government said "terrorists, with the help of Russia, are trying to destroy evidence of international crimes", adding it had obtained data which showed bodies had been taken to a morgue in Donetsk.

However, Sky's Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay, at the scene, said there were reports rebels had moved bodies on Friday, but body parts were now officially being removed by Ukraine emergency services.

Ukraine's Security Council said 18sq km of the 25sq km had been explored and 186 bodies found.

The fresh claims came amid discussions between the two factions over the creation of a "security zone" around the crash scene following allegations of looting and evidence being compromised, but no deal has been reached.

"Deep concerns" have been raised by Malaysia about the investigation into the disaster as a team of 30 international observers complained of being confronted by aggressive armed rebels, blocking their access to the crash site for a second consecutive day.

Ramsay said: "I know in the past shots have been fired as warnings."

Security monitors speak to a separatist at the crash scene

Critically, the monitors have been unable to speak to anyone about the whereabouts of the jet's two black box voice and data recorders.

Ukraine said they had not been handed over to Kiev and it had no information about them.

Alexander Borodai, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, denied rebels had shot down the plane, or found or moved the black boxes.

Malaysia's transport minister Liow Tiong Lai said on Saturday "the integrity of the site has been compromised and vital evidence has not been preserved".

The debris was scattered over a wide area

"Any actions that prevent us from learning the truth about what happened to MH17 cannot be tolerated. Failure to stop such interference will be a betrayal of the lives that we lost," he said.

A Malaysian disaster response team has arrived in Kiev, with six air accident investigators from Britain due in the capital later.

Reports of looting have also emerged as victims' bodies and belongings remain strewn across the area two days after the crash.

Sky's Michelle Clifford, in Donetsk, said: "These reports are gaining currency about looting, that valuables, credit cards are being taken from bags from the wreckage, and in some cases from bodies.

A children's toy lies among the passengers' possessions

"I think we should also see these reports in the context of a propaganda war. It may be part of a narrative to discredit the rebels.

"But, I have just spoken to a contact I trust and he said with his own eyes he saw the rebels taking money and valuables from luggage at the site."

Some 298 people, including 10 Britons and 80 children were killed when flight MH17, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was brought down near Grabovo, Donetsk, where Ukrainian forces have been battling separatists.

British victims Richard Mayne, Ben Pocock, Glenn Thomas and Liam Sweeney

Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for the disaster.

Reports suggested pro-Russian separatist commander Igor Strelkov had made bizarre claims bodies at the crash site had been there for days.

However, postings on his VK.com account, Russia's version of Facebook, show he actually questioned reports he has heard of the bodies at the crash site not being fresh.

"Version with a plane full of corpses, exciting, of course, but somehow can not see sense," he wrote.

:: The Foreign Office has set up a helpline for anyone concerned.  Text MH17 to +447860010026, or call 020 7008 1500. Malaysia Airlines's emergency line is 00 6 037 884 1234.

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Mystery Over Who 'Shot Down' Malaysia Plane

Russia appears to be building its case against Ukraine over the crash of a passenger plane, apparently shot down, which killed all 298 people on board.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur at an altitude of 33,000ft (10,000m) when contact was lost on Thursday afternoon in eastern Ukraine close to the border with Russia.

It came down near the village of Grabovo, Donetsk in an area where Ukrainian forces have been fighting pro-Moscow separatists.

An emergency worker at the scene of the crash

An adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry said the Boeing 777 was hit by a Buk ground-to-air missile.

Authorities in Kiev said pro-Russian separatists were to blame, as President Petro Poroshenko called it an "act of terrorism".

Glenn Thomas was among the victims of the tragedy

But the Russian defence ministry has reportedly said it picked up radar facility activity from a Ukrainian Buk missile system south of Donetsk on Thursday.

Sky's Katie Stallard said: "That doesn't correlate with the geography. This was a plane flying from west to east, flying over territory that the Ukrainian government would perceive as friendly. Territory that they control.

Flames rise from wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines jet

"It is a slightly counterintuitive suggestion that they would perceive that aircraft as a threat when it is heading away from their friendly airspace and towards the Russian border."

Separatist leader Alexander Borodai said Ukrainian government forces were responsible, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "The state over whose territory this occurred bears responsibility."

However, a US official said Washington strongly suspected it was brought down by a surface-to-air missile fired by rebels.

World leaders are demanding an international investigation in the crash.

The Netherlands suffered the biggest loss of life with at least 173 of its citizens dying. Among the other victims were nine Britons.

Flight MH17 taking off at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands

They included 49-year-old Glenn Thomas, a media officer at the World Health Organisation, who was described as a "wonderful person and a great professional".

Two Newcastle United fans John Alder and Liam Sweeney, who were travelling to see their football team play in New Zealand, also died, according to reports.

The cockpit and one of the turbines were over half a mile apart, and residents said the tail was six miles away, indicating the aircraft most likely broke up before hitting the ground.

The last known location of flight MH17

Many of the bodies strewn across the fields were largely intact – some of them were still strapped into their plane seats. People who live in the area have described seeing bodies falling through the sky.

Pro-Russian separatists said they found one of the "black box" recorders and rescue workers have recovered a second flight recorder.

Among the 283 passengers and 15 crew on board were 44 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos, one Canadian and one from New Zealand.

Armed Russian separatists inspect the wreckage

The victims included three infants, and the nationalities of 20 passengers have yet to be verified.

Britain has joined the US and other countries in calling for an international probe into the disaster. US President Barack Obama has said it should be "prompt, full, credible and unimpeded".

The wreckage was scattered over a wide area

US Vice-President Joe Biden said the jet appeared to have been deliberately "blown out of the sky".

Sky's Katie Stallard, in Moscow, said Igor Strelkov, the commander of the pro-Russian Donetsk People's Republic, appeared to have boasted about the incident on social media.

A distressed woman waits for information in Kuala Lumpur

In one deleted message recovered by Sky News, he allegedly wrote: "We warned you not to fly over our sky."

Ukraine's security service also released what it claimed was a recording of an intercepted phone call between two Russian military intelligence officers, discussing the downing of the plane.

Malaysia Airlines, still reeling from the loss of flight MH370, has said the route taken by flight MH17 had been declared safe by civil aviation authorities.

:: Malaysia Airlines has set up an emergency line for worried relatives: 00 6 037 884 1234.

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Malaysia Plane Crash: British Victims Named

Briton Glenn Thomas was one of nine UK nationals on board flight MH17 when it crashed in eastern Ukraine, colleagues said.

Two Newcastle United fans, John Alder and Liam Sweeney, who were travelling to see their football team play in New Zealand, also died in the crash, according to NUFC,com and the Newcastle Evening Chronicle.

Mr Thomas, 49, was among 100 delegates reportedly on their way to an international conference on Aids in Melbourne, Australia.

Dr Lange is believed to have been with partner Jacqueline van Tongeren

He was a media officer at the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva where friends today spoke of their shock and loss.

Fadela Chaib, a spokeswoman for WHO, said: "We have lost a wonderful person and a great professional. Our hearts are broken. We are all in shock."

Some of the great minds in the fight against HIV and Aids were on their way to the International Aids Society (IAS) summit, including, it is understood, one of its former presidents Dr Joep Lange, a well-known researcher from the Netherlands.

"If this is the case then the HIV/Aids movement has truly lost a giant," the IAS said in a statement.

Albert Rizk and his wife Maree were returning from a holiday in Europe

Among the 283 passengers and 15 Malaysia Airlines cabin crew on board were also 173 Dutch nationals, 44 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12  Indonesians, four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos, one Canadian and a New Zealander.

In a bizarre twist of fate, 41-year-old flight attendant Sajid Singh swapped flights to fly on MH17 - months after his wife swapped off the doomed MH370 which vanished flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, his his father Jijar Singh told The Malaysian Insider.

Kaylene Mann, from Queensland, Australia, who lost her brother and sister-in-law in the flight which disappeared on March 8, 2014, is now mourning the loss of her stepdaughter Maree Rizk, who together with her husband Albert, were were aboard MH17 on their way back to their Melbourne home after a month-long European holiday.

Young Dutchman Cor Pan, from Volendam, north of Amsterdam, who is also believed to have perished in the disaster, posted a picture of the jetliner on Facebook, minutes before he boarded it, writing: "If it should disappear, this is what it looks like."

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'It Was Hit By A Rocket': MH17's Final Moments

Dramatic mobile phone footage has emerged showing debris falling from the sky and a black plume of smoke moments after flight MH17 was struck by a rocket.

The footage has garnered more than 100,000 views on YouTube after it appeared on a social media account purporting to belong to senior pro-Russian separatist Igor Strelkov.

Strelkov, known to his fighters as "Igor the Terrible", is the top military commander of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.

He posted a link to the video on the Russian website VK less than an hour after flight MH17 was shot down.

Alongside the link, Strelkov appeared to take responsibility on behalf of the separatists for shooting down an aircraft.

The post, which was later deleted from the VK account, read: "We warned you, stay away from our skies."

However, the post claimed credit for shooting down an AN-26 military transport plane, not a commercial airliner.

"We just downed an AN-26 near Torez. It is down near the Progress mine," it added.

Igor Strelkov is the military commander of the Donetsk People's Republic

The confusion raises the possibility that pro-Russian separatists might have mistaken the Malaysia Airlines jet for a military aircraft, and shot it down in error.

In the video three men - who are reported to be pro-Russian rebels - are heard talking about debris falling from the sky.

"We just saw a plane being blown to pieces," one of the men says.

Another man describes the initial explosion he witnessed as "a blast" and praises the precision of those who shot the plane down.

Candles burning at the Dutch embassy in Kiev

"Wow, that was a blast," says the first man, who adds that he thinks the plane was "hit by a rocket".

Sky News has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of the footage, and it is not certain that the VK page is operated personally by Strelkov.

Strelkov is an elusive figure who is sought by Ukrainian intelligence officials as the top Russian operative in the separatist east.

He uses at least three aliases, and has vowed to "destroy" Ukrainian forces in Donetsk.

An armed pro-Russian separatist at the crash site

Kiev claims the separatist fighter is an agent of Russia's military intelligence.

Asked about Strelkov's background in May this year, separatist spokesperson Stella Khorosheva said he was an ethnic Russian and a veteran of the Soviet and Russian armies.

She gave no further details about his origins of his citizenship.

"His aides do not know if he has any other names. He has rich military experience and holds the rank of colonel," she said.

Meanwhile, the separatists have given crash investigators access to the site and journalists have been encouraged to take pictures, many of which are too graphic to show.

The names of nine British victims who were on board the plane are emerging. One was Glenn Thomas, a media officer at the World Health Organisation who was on his way to a summit in Australia on AIDS.

And one UK couple have been speaking of their shock after they were told they had to miss the flight because there were not enough seats.

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Great White Shark Chokes On Sea Lion In Australia

A great white shark has washed up dead on an Australian beach - after choking on a sea lion.

Western Australia fisheries officials were left puzzled by the case of the four-metre (13-ft) white pointer.

It had previously been seen thrashing around in the sea off Coronation Beach, 430km (270 miles) north of Perth.

Experts found the shark, which washed up earlier this week, had no sign of visible injury or disease - but they found it had a large sea lion lodged in its throat.

"This could explain why the shark was exhibiting such unusual behaviour in shallow waters off Coronation Beach," said research scientist Rory McAuley.

"It is possible that the shark was trying to dislodge the blockage.

"Such a large object may have damaged the shark's internal organs or impeded water flow into his gills, contributing to his death.

"Alternatively, the shark may have accidentally become stranded in his attempts to get rid of the obstruction."

Local man Brad Tapper described how the shark was spotted by a man walking a dog after his pet refused to go in the water.

"When we spotted it, it was about 50 metres off the shore. We thought it was a diver or something," he told the West Australian newspaper.

"It was kind of surreal, you're watching it and you don't realise how rare it is at the time until you get home and have a look at the footage."

Some people tried to tow the shark back out to sea after it beached, but the animal returned to shore.

"We went to look at it and got within three or four metres of it, but it started kicking and thrashing around again so we thought it was time to leave," Mr Tapper said.

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'Three Gaza Strikes Hit Israel During Truce'

Three mortar shells were fired from Gaza two hours into a temporary truce, Israel's military said, as video emerged of Palestinian militants tunnelling under the border.

No one claimed responsibility for the mortars which landed in the southern Israeli region of Eshkol.

There were no reports of injuries or damage, and it was unclear if Israel would retaliate.

The mouth of the Hamas tunnel spotted by Israeli forces

Sky's Chief Correspondent Stuart Ramsay, in the Israeli city of Ashkelon, said of the apparent broken ceasefire: "Israel has said once Hamas broke the original ceasefire, there's no more negotiating. What does that mean?

"Does Israel really consider going in and try to smash Hamas with a ground attack? That's very dangerous for Israel."

The attacks came after Palestinian police said three civilians were killed when Israeli tank shells landed on a house in Gaza minutes before the truce.

An Israeli cannon fires artillery shells into Gaza on Thursday morning

Fighting continued right up to the start of the fragile ceasefire which began at 10am local time (8am UK time).

A further four people were wounded in the attack on the southern Gazan town of Rafah, according to medics, while the Israeli military said 15 rockets were fired into Israel this morning.

The truce came into force hours after Israel said it had foiled an attack by 13 Palestinian gunmen who tunnelled in from Gaza.

Gaza City (foreground) and the Israeli city of Ashkelon (background)

A spokesman said the Hamas fighters were identified some 250 metres inside Israel and were struck by aircraft.

He said at least one militant was killed and the remaining fighters returned to Gaza through the tunnel, which they had been digging for some time.

They were heading towards Sufa kibbutz, a small community about a mile away, when they were spotted. 

It is the second time Palestinian fighters are reported to have infiltrated Israel from Gaza. Last week four were killed as they attempted to enter from the sea.

A dozen gunmen sneaked into Israel from Gaza

Around 230 Palestinians have been killed during 10 days of fighting, while one Israeli has died.

Both sides have been holding indirect talks in the Egyptian capital Cairo and agreed to a second ceasefire at 4am local time (2am UK time), an Israeli official said.

They agreed to halt fighting for five hours on humanitarian grounds on Thursday to allow aid to get through and for people to shop for vital provisions.

Israel said it would stand by the agreement despite the infiltration - but warned the attempted attack "could have had devastating consequences" as the Palestinian fighters were armed with "extensive weapons", including rocket-propelled grenades.

Four children were killed in an Israeli strike on a Gaza beach on Wednesday

The brief truce comes after four Palestinian children from the same family, aged nine to 11, were killed on Wednesday when a shell landed on a beach they were playing on.

Gaza's health ministry described the attack as "cowardly", while the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) promised a full investigation and said the deaths appeared to have been a "tragic outcome" of a strike aimed at Hamas militants.

Tensions in the region have been inflamed following the kidnap and murder of three Israeli teenagers and the suspected revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager.

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'Assurance Letters' Not Amnesty For Terrorists

The assurance letters sent to around 200 wanted Irish republicans did not amount to a terrorist amnesty, a review has found.

The scheme, which resulted in the collapse of the trial of the man accused over the 1982 Hyde Park bombing, was "flawed" and "unprecedented", the inquiry found, but was not "unlawful".

Lady Justice Hallett said that a letter sent to John Downing assuring him he would not be prosecuted was a mistake caused by a system "open to errors" and that two further letters had been wrongly sent.

The judge-led review into nearly 200 so-called "amnesty letters" was ordered after the collapse of the trial of Mr Downey in February after a judge ruled the letter meant he could not be prosecuted.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) sent the letter even though Mr Downey was wanted by the Metropolitan police - when they realised the mistake they did not act.

Lady Hallett said the PSNI's failure to do anything about the error was "inexplicable in law and logic".

The aftermath of the Hyde Park bombing

The case triggered a crisis in Northern Ireland leading the Democratic Unionist First Minister Peter Robinson to threaten to resign, claiming he knew nothing about the letters.

However, the review found that the deal between Tony Blair's Government and Sinn Feinn in the wake of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement was not a "secret".

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ISIS Member From Scotland 'Killed' In Iraq

The Foreign Office has said it is trying to verify reports a man brought up in Aberdeen has been killed while fighting for militant group ISIS in Iraq.

Abdul Raqib Amin, 26, was killed during fighting with government forces near Ramadi, according to social media reports.

Mr Amin, who goes by the fighter name Abu Bara al Hindi and is originally from Bangladesh, was filmed with two other UK-based men in a recruitment video for the extremist group.

The reports of his death have not been officially confirmed. It will add to his family's anguish because the ungoverned status of large parts of Iraq makes it difficult to secure confirmation.

Mr Amin appeared with two other British-based men in an ISIS video

A statement from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We are aware of reports of the death of a British national in Iraq.

"We stand ready to talk to any family who may be affected.

"The UK is deeply concerned by the growth of terrorism in Iraq and Syria, which threatens the people in the entire region and the UK.

"The UK advises against all travel to Syria and much of Iraq and anyone travelling to these areas is exposing themselves to serious risk."

A woman walks past the scene of a bomb attack in Sadr City

In the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) video, posted to YouTube, Mr Amin appeared alongside students Nasser Muthana and Reyaad Khan - both 20 and from Cardiff. They urged Westerners to join the fighting in Iraq and Syria.

It comes as Iraqi forces were forced to withdraw from the northern city of Tikrit after meeting heavy resistance.

Government troops retreated to a base two and a half miles from the city after coming under heavy mortar and sniper fire.

Tikrit was captured by ISIS militants on June 12 and a push to retake it began at the beginning of July.

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi has proclaimed a caliphate, or Islamic state, twice the size of Israel spanning Iraq and Syria.

The group began seizing territory north of Baghdad last month and has killed captured Iraqi soldiers.

Last month, Home Secretary Theresa May said the latest figures suggest the number of UK-linked individuals who have gone to fight in Syria currently stands at around 400.

She added the the Government would "need to exercise every tool that we have" to prevent them returning home and posing a threat to UK citizens.

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