The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has found that Russia was responsible for the July 17, 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine that killed all 298 people on board.

The council of ICAO voted that Russia failed to uphold its obligations under international air law which requires that States “refrain from resorting to the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight.

The case was brought by the Netherlands and Australia.

“This represents the first time in ICAO’s history that its Council has made a determination on the merits of a dispute between Member States under the Organization’s dispute settlement mechanism,” the UN agency said.

Flight MH17 was heading from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over eastern Ukraine amid the armed conflict between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian military forces.

All 283 passengers and 15 crew members were killed. They represented some 17 nationalities and included 196 Dutch citizens, 43 Malaysians and 38 Australian citizens or residents.

ICAO is the global aviation body that develops and implements global aviation strategies and technical standards and the council is its governing body.

The UN aviation agency created a special task force on risks to civil aviation arising from conflict zones in the weeks following the crash.

The Netherlands established a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) in August 2014 together with Australia, Malaysia and Belgium, as well as Ukraine.

The JIT determined that flight MH17 was shot down by a missile launched from a Buk TELAR installation that was transported from Russia to a farm field in eastern Ukraine in an area controlled by separatists.

In November 2022, a Dutch court convicted three men – two Russians and a Ukrainian – for murder.  They were tried in absentia and sentenced to life in prison. Another Russian man was acquitted.

That same year, the Netherlands and Australia launched the case with ICAO.

The case centered on allegations that Russia’s conduct in the downing of the aircraft by a surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine constituted a breach of the Convention on International Civil Aviation.

War in Ukraine had escalated since the crash following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.

More than 13,000 civilians have been killed to date and no fewer than 31,000 injured, according to the UN human rights office, OHCHR. (NAN)

 World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday said malnutrition rates are rising in Gaza and emergency treatments to counter it are running out.

It added that hunger could have a lasting impact on “an entire generation.”

Israel has blockaded supplies into the enclave since early March, when it resumed its devastating military campaign against Hamas, and a global hunger monitor on Monday warned that half a million people there faced starvation.

WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Rik Peeperkorn said he had seen children who looked years younger than their age and visited a north Gaza hospital where over 20 per cent of children screened suffered from acute malnutrition.

Peeperkorn told a press briefing by video link from Deir al-Balah that “what we see is an increasing trend in generalised acute malnutrition.

“I’ve seen a child that’s five years old, and you would say it was two-and-a-half.

“Without enough nutritious food, clean water and access to healthcare, an entire generation will be permanently affected.”

He also warned of stunting and impaired cognitive development.

The head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency Philippe Lazzarini told the BBC on Tuesday that he thought Israel was denying food and aid to civilians as a weapon of war.

Israel has repeatedly blamed Hamas for causing hunger by stealing aid meant for civilians. Hamas has denied the allegation.

Israel is pressing its own U.S.-backed plan to get aid into Gaza which it said will cut out Hamas and distribute aid directly from what it calls neutral distribution sites.

The WHO criticised it in a statement on Monday as “grossly inadequate” to meet the population’s immediate needs.

Due to the blockade, WHO only has enough stocks to treat 500 children with acute malnutrition, which is only a fraction of what is needed, Peeperkorn said.

He added that 55 children have died of acute malnutrition, citing Gaza Health Ministry figures.

Peeperkorn said he had seen many children in hospitals with illnesses such as gastroenteritis and pneumonia which, due to their reduced immunity linked to hunger, could be fatal.

“You normally don’t die from starvation. You die from the diseases associated to that,” he added. (Reuters/NAN)

 British King Charles is to host French President Emmanuel Macron on a state visit to the UK from July 8-10, Buckingham Palace has announced.

The French leader and his wife Brigitte Macron would stay at Windsor Castle and will be feted with a state banquet at the historic Berkshire royal residence.

Buckingham Palace said: “The President of the French Republic, His Excellency Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by Mrs Brigitte Macron, has accepted an invitation from His Majesty The King to pay a State Visit to the United Kingdom in July.

“The President and Mrs Macron would stay at Windsor Castle.”

The King and Queen paid a state visit to France in September 2023 and enjoy a warm rapport with the French leader and his wife.

Camilla embraced Mrs Macron when they met again in December in London to give out prizes at the Entente Litteraire Prize award ceremony, an Anglo-French initiative which celebrates books aimed at teenagers and young adults.

Ongoing refurbishments at Buckingham Palace mean state visits have been relocated to Windsor for the foreseeable future.

The invitation to Mr Macron, for what would be his first state visit to the UK, comes eight years after he took office.

The last state visit to the UK from France was in March 2008 when President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni also stayed at Windsor as the late Queen Elizabeth II’s guest.

The event would be seen as a bid by the UK Government to strengthen ties with Europe and protect its economy after the turmoil sparked by U.S. president Donald Trump’s tariffs.

It is taking place ahead of Mr Trump’s invitation to meet the King, which is reportedly being arranged for September.

The UK struck an economic deal with the American leader a earlier which cut tariffs on car exports and reduced tariffs on steel and aluminium, and kept a 10 per cent baseline tariff on most goods.

The Government is currently in talks with the EU regarding its trade and security relationship ahead of a summit later in May.

The King, who is still being treated for cancer, has a busy run of engagements in the coming weeks including an overseas visit to Canada to open the country’s parliament at the end of May. (dpa/NAN)