text: "Yet again, we're devastated by a similar tragedy," he said. "It's going to be a very sombre mood at the conference in Melbourne, especially for those of us who have been coming to these conferences for many years." Organisers of the International AIDS Conference, due to begin in Melbourne on Sunday , have not released numbers, but did confirm expected attendees were among the dead. "A number of colleagues and friends en route to attend the 20th International AIDS Conference taking place in Melbourne, Australia, were on board the Malaysia Airlines MH17 flight that has crashed over Ukraine," Michael Kessler of the International AIDS Society (IAS) said in a statement. "At this incredibly sad and sensitive time the IAS stands with our international family and sends condolences to the loved ones of those who have been lost to this tragedy." The passenger plane had been flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down, killing all 298 people on board. It was due to connect with another Malaysia Airlines flight scheduled to arrive in Melbourne on Friday night. Many medical researchers have expressed sympathy online upon hearing that both World Health Organisation (WHO) staff and well-known HIV researchers had died in the crash. 
   
   Friends and colleagues of Dutch HIV researcher Dr Joep Lange took to social media to express shock that he was among the victims. Dr Lange had been researching HIV for 30 years. ‘‘He was a kind man and a true humanitarian,’’ US medical professor Seema Yasmin wrote in a series of tweets dedicated to him. ‘‘How do we measure how much a person has done for humanity? People like Joep change the course of epidemics.’’ Dr Yasmin could not be immediately contacted. Also believed to be among the victims was Glenn Thomas, a WHO media adviser. Several of his colleagues have expressed shock over his death on Twitter. UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe said he was saddened to hear so many AIDS conference attendees died in the crash. 
   
   ‘‘My thoughts & prayers to families of those tragically lost on flight #MH17,’’ he tweeted. President-elect of the International AIDS Society, Chris Beyrer, expressed "sincere sadness" at the news that "colleagues and friends" were on board the flight on the way to the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne. "The IAS is hearing unconfirmed reports that some of our friends and colleagues were on board the flight and if that is the case this is a truly sad day." "The IAS has also heard reports that among the passengers was a former IAS president Joep Lange and if that is the case then the HIV/AIDS movement has truly lost a giant." Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she understood a number of the victims were heading to the AIDS conference, but she had no further details. 
   
   Greens Senator Christine Milne expressed her shock at such a loss to the HIV-AIDS community. ‘‘The ramifications go to all the people who are at that conference this weekend and no doubt as more details emerge this tragedy will touch many, many Australians,’’ she told the Senate. Victorian Premier Denis Napthine said MH17 was to connect with MH129 arriving in Melbourne on Friday evening. "Unfortunately, I can now confirm that a number of Victorians are among those who have been killed, although we are not yet in a position to say how many," he said in a statement. "This is a sad and tragic day, not just for Victorians, but for all people and all nations. The shooting down of a passenger aircraft full of innocent civilians is an unspeakable act that will forever leave a dark stain on our history." 
   
   He said his office had been in contact with the AIDS conference organisers and the government had offered to co-operate with DFAT to provide assistance to any delegates who require support. Emails sent to several WHO staff prompted out-of-office replies stating they were en route to Melbourne for the AIDS conference. Representatives from WHO could not be immediately contacted. Mark Gettleson, a London-based campaigner, tweeted that AIDS activists were also heading from Europe to Melbourne. ‘‘Several on #MH17 flight were @STOPAIDS activists en route to #AIDS2014 conference in Melbourne, fighting to save lives. Tragic,’’ he wrote. The International AIDS Conference is now in its 20th year and has attracted major speakers, including former US president Bill Clinton, Sir Bob Geldof and Indonesian Health Minister Nafsiam Mboi. 
   
   - with Richard Willingham and Timna Jacks CORRECTION: It has since been determined that six conference delegates were aboard MH17. ||||| • MH17 plane crash: latest news • Foreign ministers agree more 'forceful' sanctions • Hollande aide: UK 'hypocrite' to call for French sanctions • British investigators to retrieve data from plane's black boxes • Train carrying remains of 282 people arrives in Kharkiv 
   
   00.00 Thanks for joining us. Follow the latest updates back here tomorrow morning 
   
   21.20 The euro fell to its lowest point this year against the dollar amid fear the downing of the jet will further damage EU-Russia relations, AP reports. 
   
   21.12 French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius let slip his irritation with Britain, pointing out that the British capital was full of "Russian oligarchs", AFP reports. 
   
   When asked on French television about the controversy surrounding the contract, Fabius responded with a strong dose of sarcasm. 
   
   "The British in particular were very pleasant when they said 'we would never have done that'," he said. 
   
   "Dear British friends, let's also talk about finance. I was led to believe that there were quite a few Russian oligarchs in London." 
   
   Asked by the interviewer whether he was inviting the British to put their own house in order before making comments, Fabius said, "Exactly." 
   
   21.00 Representatives to the U.N. civil aviation body are considering whether the agency should expand its role and issue safety advisories after a Malaysian airliner was shot down last week, two sources told Reuters. 
   
   But the sources said there was no guarantee the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) would decide to take on more responsibility. 
   
   ICAO, composed of 191 signatory states, as well as global industry and aviation organizations, has a limited role. It cannot open or close air routes and does not warn airlines to avoid regions because of conflict. 
   
   Some in the aviation industry now want ICAO to do more after Malaysian Airlines flight MH-17 was downed by a missile over eastern Ukraine last week, killing 298 people. Malaysia has said it was flying an ICAO-approved route, a misreading of the agency's role. 
   
   No one global body has overall responsibility for keeping the skies safe for civil aviation. 
   
   20.43 Harriet Alexander reports that there will be an 11am (local time) departure ceremony at Kharkiv. 
   
   At 4pm in Netherlands (3pm London) there will be a ceremony to mark the first plane touching down in Eindhoven. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima will be there, as well as Dutch PM Mark Rutte and many from cabinet. 
   
   There will be a one minute silence for the arrival and after bells will ring out across country. It's a national day of mourning - first since death of Queen Wilhemina in 1962. 
   
   Bodies will then travel by road the 100km to Hilversum. 
   
   20.19 The delivery of French Mistral-class warships to Russia would be "completely inappropriate" given the West's misgivings about Moscow's role in Ukraine, the United States said, AFP reports. 
   
   "We don't think anyone should be providing arms to Russia," deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters, adding US officials had voiced their concern over the deal in recent days to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. 
   
   In the wake of the downing of a Malaysian airliner last week, blamed by the United States on a Russian missile system which it says was given to Ukrainian pro-Moscow separatists, EU foreign ministers agreed on Tuesday to strengthen sanctions against Russia. 
   
   But they remained divided as to how far to go, with British-led calls for an arms embargo putting France on the spot. 
   
   Paris has a deal worth 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion) to supply Russia with two Mistral warships. 
   
   French President Francois Hollande on Monday said the agreement was still in place, but added that delivery of the second Mistral ship would "depend on Russia's attitude." 
   
   20.04 The real work will only start once the bodies have been transported from Eindhoven to a military base in the town of Hilversum, near Amsterdam, reports Reuters. 
   
   There, forensic examiners will compare the remains with material gathered from family members. 
   
   "Since last Saturday, for three days already, we have 80 family detectives on the way to the relatives, who collect all the information about the missing people," said Ed Krasziewski, a spokesman for the national forensic investigation team. 
   
   That information includes personal identifying marks, from tattoos to scars. Detectives have sought out dental records, fingerprints and DNA material where it is available, and assembled it all into a so-called ante-mortem file that is available to compare with the remains stored in Hilversum. 
   
   "There are many victims," Krasziewski said. "We don't know the state of the victims; we have to look at what they bring us tomorrow, and then we will see." 
   
   19.47 The United States will release intelligence backing its assertion the Malaysian airliner that crashed in Ukraine was brought down by a missile fired from the separatist-controlled area, the State Department told Reuters. 
   
   Spokesman Marie Harf told reporters the intelligence community would later in the day "be further declassifying information and will be putting out additional information that supports what we have said." 
   
   Harf repeated the U.S. belief that the plane, with nearly 300 people on board, was shot down by a Russian-made SA-11 ground-to-air missile fired from an area controlled by separatists close to the Russian border in eastern Ukraine. 
   
   19.25 The delivery of French Mistral-class warships to Russia would be "completely inappropriate" given the West's misgivings about Moscow's role in Ukraine, the United States said according to AFP. 
   
   We don't think anyone should be providing arms to Russia," deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters, adding that US officials had voiced their concern over the deal in recent days to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. 
   
   19.22 Michael Bociurkiw told Reuters all recovery efforts seem to have ended but that at the site his group saw a plastic bag with some human remains left behind while Malaysian experts noticed a strong smell indicating the likely presence of more remains in another spot. 
   
   "We've never really seen that intensive combing over the site - people arm in arm going over the fields," Bociurkiw said, adding there was effectively no security at the site and that so far only a small number of international experts visited it. 
   
   19.06 According to BuzzFeed, Russia Today, the Kremlin-backed news channel, is to be investigated for violating broadcasting regulations on accuracy and impartiality during its coverage of the MH17 air crash. 
   
   Ofcom told the news organisation it was considering whether to investigate the matter further after getting complaints from viewers about RT's tone. 
   
   Anna Belkina, head of communications at Russia Today told BuzzFeed: “While we would love to provide the details of our communication with Ofcom and the facts and arguments that RT had presented to the regulator in support of our position, we cannot do so as it would violate the regulator’s rules. 
   
   “It is sad that the news media of the US and the UK, which has always prided itself on its commitment to asking hard questions of its own government when it comes to domestic politics, in this particular situation is readily swallowing up the ‘party line’ of the Department of State and the Foreign Office, demanding no proof of their claims." 
   
   It comes after Sara Firth resigned from the channel last week in protest against the way the channel covered the crash. 
   
   18.57 The twin sister of a British man who was killed in the Malaysia Airlines tragedy on Thursday has said she does not feel bitter towards those who caused his death, Nick Collins reports. 
   
   Tracey Withers, 49, said she did not want to become “bitter or twisted” over the loss of her brother Glenn Thomas, a media officer for the World Health Organisation. 
   
   She told the BBC she had not been thinking about who was responsible for bringing down flight MH17 over Ukraine, amid the widespread belief it was shot down by a missile. 
   
   “I’m trying not to get too involved in how I feel about what they’ve done because I don’t want it to eat me up inside,” she said. 
   
   “I just want to grieve and carry on the way my brother would want our family to carry on as he was such a big personality.” 
   
   She said her family had stayed positive after the recent loss of her father, and that Mr Thomas would have wanted them to do the same after his death. 
   
   However, she added that her brother’s partner was feeling “lost” and that her family would fly to Geneva on Wednesday to support him. 
   
   18.54 Kiev has launched a criminal investigation against Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and a shadowy Muscovite millionaire for organising and financing "illegal armed groups" in Ukraine, AFP reports. 
   
   The investigation comes just over a month after Russia launched an investigation of its own against Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and a billionaire local governor over the killings of civilians and journalists in conflict-torn east Ukraine. 
   
   Avakov, who announced the move against the two Russians, said in a statement that Shoigu is suspected of having organised the "illegal armed groups on Ukrainian territory". 
   
   Avakov added that insurgents "commanded by Russian citizens, systematically carried out armed attacks against" Ukrainian authorities, "causing loss of life, destruction and other serious consequences." 
   
   Russian nationalist Konstantin Malofeev - an enigmatic investment banker with ties to some of the leading rebels fighting in Ukraine - was accused of having financed the pro-Moscow militias. 
   
   18.44 Dutch PM Mr Rutte declares Wednesday a national day of mourning, Dutch media is saying, reports Harriet Alexander. 
   
   Tomorrow when the bodies arrive at Eindhoven, those attending will include Dutch King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima, PM Rutte, Deputy PM Asscher, and representatives of countries. 
   
   According to Michael van Poppel, MH17 victims are expected to arrive at Eindhoven Airport at around 4 p.m. local time and before their arrival, there will be a nationwide 5-minute bell ringing. 
   
   When they arrive, it will be marked by bugle call, followed by a minute of silence. 
   
   Twitter: Michael van Poppel - Declaration of national day of mourning in the Netherlands is the first since 1962, when former Queen Wilhelmina died 
   
   Twitter: Michael van Poppel - As part of the day of national mourning, Dutch PM Rutte has instructed flags to be flown at half mast throughout the country 
   
   18.36 OSCE has told Reuters human remains can be still be seen at the crash site as recovery efforts appear halted. 
   
   "We observed the presence of smaller body parts at the site," an OSCE spokesman, Michael Bociurkiw, told a briefing in Ukraine's eastern city of Donetsk after his group inspected the site earlier in the day. 
   
   "We did not observe any recovery activity in place." 
   
   18.34 Alexei Kudrin, a former Russian finance minister and loyal ally of President Vladimir Putin, warned anti-Western rhetoric during the Ukrainian crisis could isolate the nation and derail its modernisation, Reuters reports. 
   
   In rare high-level criticism of growing Kremlin conservatism, Kudrin said Moscow should not intervene militarily in the rebellion in eastern Ukraine and expressed dismay that Russians were as once again becoming adversaries of the West. 
   
   Kudrin, who repaired state finances after the chaos of the 1990s, told ITAR-TASS news agency that Russia risked taking a dangerous path internationally. 
   
   18.32 The president of the former Soviet republic of Lithuania, now an EU member, has accused France of pursuing a policy akin to the 1930s appeasement of Nazi Germany over its decision to go ahead with the delivery of a helicopter carrier to Moscow, Reuters said. 
   
   18.29 Turkish Airlines said via Twitter Dnepropetrovsk flights were cancelled until July 24. 
   
   Twitter: Turkish Airlines - Our Dnepropetrovsk flights have been cancelled until July 24th due to current conditions affecting Ukrainian airspace. 
   
   18.23 When Obama visited the Dutch embassy in Washington, Raf Sanchez reports he left the following message in a book of condolences: 
   
   On behalf of the American people, I extend our deepest condolences to the people of the Netherlands as they mourn the loss of so many family and friends. 
   
   No words can adequately express the sorrow the world feels over this loss. It is made more acute by the deep ties of friendship between our two countries. 
   
   Bound by that friendship, we will not rest until we are certain that justice is done. 
   
   God Bless, Barack Obama 
   
   18.13 Nick Collins has more information about the black box and the British investigators who will retrieve the data. 
   
   Officials would not confirm when they expected to receive the black box and voice recorder but Mark Rutte, the Dutch Prime Minister, said they had been on board a train carrying the bodies of victims which arrived in Kharkiv, which is controlled by the Ukrainian government, at 10.30am on Tuesday. 
   
   Britain was asked to retrieve the data because Farnborough is one of only two facilities in Europe with the capability to do so, sources said. 
   
   David Barry, an air accident investigation expert at Cranfield University, said the complexity of the process would depend on how much damage the two data recorders had sustained, although images suggest they are in good condition. 
   
   “They look reasonably intact so I would certainly expect [investigators] to be able to get data off them,” he said. “They do not look like they have been stuck in fire for 12 hours.” 
   
   In the best case scenario the recorders can simply be plugged into a computer and their data downloaded in binary form, before being converted by software into meaningful readings on the aircraft’s speed, altitude and other variables, he explained. 
   
   If the recorders have sustained damage experts will have to open them up and retrieve the circuit boards inside. If these are intact the data can be retrieved without too much difficulty, but if they too are compromised each memory chip will need to be individually examined – a process which could take weeks or even months. 
   
   It remains possible that separatists could have downloaded data from the recorders since recovering them several days ago, but any tampering would be immediately obvious, he added. 
   
   18.09 The National Forensic Investigation Team (LTFO) will be in charge of identification, with 150 experts from defence, police, firefighters and dentists, forensic anthropologists and detection experts, Ben Farmer in Donetsk and Harriet Alexander in Amsterdam report. 
   
   Family members had also all been asked to give DNA samples to assist in the identification of the bodies. 
   
   Hundreds of people are expected to join a candlelit procession through central Amsterdam, described as a “Silent Walk,” to remember the victims tonight. 
   
   Peter van Lent, who organised the march, said he wanted people to wear something white and join the procession. 
   
   “It’s in memory of those who died,” he said. “And to support their relatives at this terrible time.” 
   
   17.49 The verdict in Washington on the statement by EU foreign ministers on the MH17 crisis is basically a reserved judgment, Peter Foster says. 
   
   While the actual measures outlined by the EU are described as "feeble" by a senior official, the White House is taking some encouragement in the EU's promise to look at "capital markets, defence, dual use goods, and sensitive technologies, including in the energy sector". 
   
   If the EU did adopt these kinds of measures, this would bring Europe much more closely into line with the sanctions announced in by the Obama administration on Wednesday last week, a day before MH17 was shot down. 
   
   The question is whether what one senior US official called "genuine European outrage" over the downing of MH17 will translate into real action on Europe's part. "Right now, we think it's a coin flip," according to my source. 
   
   Meanwhile the US is continuing to debate the merits of tightening its own sanctions further, but imminent developments are not expected on that front, at least until European intentions have become clearer. 
   
   17.46 The United States says it is preparing to present data from the U.S. intelligence community laying out what's known about the Malaysia Airlines plane that was shot down in Ukraine, AP reports. 
   
   White House spokesman Josh Earnest says the intelligence community will have some additional data to present. No additional details about what would be released were available. 
   
   Earnest said the U.S. welcomes the news that most of the remains of the 298 killed have been handed over to authorities and the black boxes were transferred to Dutch and Malaysian authorities. 
   
   But he says the U.S. still hasn't seen the level of cooperation from Russia and pro-Russian separatists that it wants to see. Earnest says international investigators led by the Dutch still need full and immediate access to the crash site. 
   
   Keyword BC-US--United States-Ukraine-Evidence 
   
   17.38 The airport at Eindhoven is preparing for the arrival of the first bodies from Ukraine - although there is no sign yet that any planes have left Ukraine, Harriet Alexander reports. 
   
   Plane spotters and journalists are positioned on the roof of the parking lot. Since this morning, television crews from Reuters and AP have also been there. 
   
   Albert Bos, a Dutch journalist, tweeted this picture of himself at the airport, with the caption (translated): "Live at half past seven from Eindhoven, where tomorrow victims of the plane crash will begin in stages to arrive back." 
   
   Twitter: Albert Bos - Om half 7 live vanaf vliegbasis Eindhoven waar vanaf morgen de slachtoffers van vliegramp in fases terugkomen. #OB http://t.co/8pUF9XkD6P 
   
   17.32 Aviation expert David Barry explains how a black box works after a Telegraph video team filmed at Cranfield University today. 
   
   17.26 An Interpol team has now begun identifying victims of Flight MH17, Reuters reports. 
   
   17.22 The latest EU demands say Russia must: stop the flow of weapons to eastern Ukraine; withdraw its "additional troops" from the Ukrainian border, use its influence on pro-Russian separatists to grant international investigators full access to the crash site of flight MH17; and fully co-operate with the probe, Martin Banks reports. 
   
   According to the ministers’ conclusions, the EU "remains ready to introduce without delay a package of further significant restrictive measures, if full and and immediate co-operation on the above mentioned demands fails to materialise." 
   
   The Brussels based news website EUObserver reported the exact proposals are to be tabled at a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels on Thursday. 
   
   17.19 EU foreign ministers have given Russia a few days to stop arming Ukrainian rebels or face sanctions on its financial, high-tech and defence industries, Martin Banks reports. 
   
   At a highly-charged meeting on Tuesday, they also decided to add more names and companies to an existing blacklist, which are to be agreed by the end of July. 
   
   Speaking after the ministerial meeting in Brussels, Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans said: "This [the new EU threat] is a logical consequence ... of the lack of progress that we have seen on the Russian side" since a previous ultimatum ran out at the end of June." 
   
   He said he was happy for the solidarity expressed by his colleagues and that the "decision was reached unanimously." 
   
   17.12 Britain wants to impose sanctions on the friends and allies of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin to pressure Russia to stop meddling in Ukraine, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said. 
   
   Mr Hammond said EU foreign ministers had agreed to look at an embargo on new arms sales to Russia and to look at the possibility of restricting Russian access to capital markets, financial services and to high-technology equipment used in the energy sector. 
   
   "The word is 'cronies': the cronies of Mr Putin and his clique in the Kremlin are the people who have to bear the pressure. If the financial interests of the group around the leadership are affected, the leadership will know about it. 
   
   "We are looking at individuals who contribute to, in one way or another, the regime in the Kremlin and its interference in Ukraine and Crimea or who have benefited from the decisions and actions of that regime. 
   
   17.08 More from the White House spokesman Josh Earnest who said international investigators still need "immediate and full access" to the site of the Malaysia Airlines plane crash in eastern Ukraine, Reuters reports. 
   
   He said the United States welcomed news victims' remains were being transferred to the Netherlands but said: "I don't think we've seen yet the level of cooperation with international investigators that we'd like to see." 
   
   President Barack Obama visited the Netherlands Embassy today to sign a condolence book honoring victims of last Thursday's crash. 
   
   He said he wanted to "assure the Dutch people we will work with them to ensure that loved ones are recovered, that a proper investigation is conducted and that ultimately justice is done." 
   
   17.04 The Kremlin has said that Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Dutch PM Mark Rutte in a statement, Harriet Alexander reports. 
   
   The discussion focussed on the practical implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2166, adopted on July 21 in support of efforts to arrange a comprehensive, thorough and independent international investigation of the accident with the Malaysian airlines jet that took place on July 17 in Donetsk region. 
   
   17.03 The Red Cross has made a confidential legal assessment that Ukraine is officially in a war, Western diplomats and officials say, opening the door to possible war crimes prosecutions, including over the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH-17. 
   
   "Clearly it's an internal conflict and therefore this is most probably a war crime," one Western diplomat in Geneva told Reuters. 
   
   It comes after Dutch prosecutors opened an investigation into the crash on suspicion of murder, war crimes and intentionally downing an airliner. 
   
   17.00 Meanwhile Reuters say the United States is continuing to review its sanctions on Russia amid the conflict in Ukraine, including the downed Malaysian airliner shot down last week, and is willing to consider additional costs, the White House said. 
   
   The United States also would welcome additional steps to impose costs on Russia, particularly from Europe, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. 
   
   "Our willingness to consider adding additional costs is something that continues to be a live option," Earnest said. 
   
   16.59 Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the UK wanted 'cronies' around Putin to bear the pressure of sanctions, according to Reuters. 
   
   16.55 The full conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels today can be read here. 
   
   But they are not likely to satisfy not the United States and more hawkish members of the EU, including Poland and the Baltic states, who lobbied for tough sanctions against the Russian economy. 
   
   In their conclusions, the ministers said they would only ask the 28-nation bloc's executive arm to prepare for more forceful economic sanctions - including targeting the arms, energy and financial sectors. 
   
   16.38 It was revealed by Cameron that air accident investigators in Farnborough will retrieve data from the black boxes and we have more updates from our transport correspondent, Nick Collins via Twitter. 
   
   Twitter: Nick Collins - AAIB experts at Farnborough will receive black box from #MH17 and could produce results within 24 hours of receipt, DfT says 
   
   Twitter: Nick Collins - Experts who have seen images of the #MH17 black box say it looks reasonably intact and high hopes data will be recoverable 
   
   They will not publish their findings but will pass them on to Dutch authorities, who will then decide what information can be released, AP reports. 
   
   16.33 According to the BBC, Mr Timmermans said the list of Russian individuals and groups covered by EU sanctions will be broadened and a new list drawn up by EU ambassadors by Thursday at the latest. 
   
   16.30 AP report that German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said: "Russia has not done enough to contribute to a de-escalation of the conflict." 
   
   16.05 Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said the EU's "forceful decision" imposes visa bans and asset freezes on more officials deemed responsible for Russia's actions in Ukraine., AP reports. 
   
   He says the ministers also asked the 28-nation bloc's executive arm to prepare for more forceful economic sanctions - including targeting the arms, energy and financial sectors - if Russia fails to back down from destabilising Ukraine. 
   
   Timmerman did not specify how many officials were targeted under the latest sanctions, nor did he reveal their names. 
   
   European foreign ministers stopped short, at least for now, of more forceful sanctions that would hit full sectors of the Russian economy. 
   
   16.03 It was revealed by the press office of the European Council the foreign ministers approved a decision to send a police mission to Ukraine as part of the EU's Common Security and Defense Policy, Martin Banks in Brussels reports. 
   
   One well placed EU source said that several EU foreign ministers are believed to be also pushing for an arms embargo against Russia 
   
   Meanwhile, Briton Nick Witney, of the European Council on Foreign Relations and former chief executive of the European Defence Agency, says the Ukraine crisis is a "long-overdue wake-up call". 
   
   Writing on the Brussels-based Euractiv.com website he says Europe’s leaders have "not rushed" to respond to America’s calls for increased defence spending and would rather confront Russia as they did in the 20th century – "from under America’s protective wing." 
   
   15.58 Dutch minister says EU is imposing new sanctions on officials over Russia's actions in Ukraine, AP reports. 
   
   15.45 Maja Kocijančič, spokesman for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the EU led by High Representative/Vice-President Catherine Ashton, has said on Twitter that foreign ministers adopted "strong conclusions on Ukraine". 
   
   Twitter: Maja KocijanÄiÄ - #EU Foreign Ministers adopted strong conclusions on #Ukraine in wake of downing of #MH17. Text available soon at http://t.co/ycxrbnwAYH. 
   
   15.25 The Prime Minister, David Cameron, has tweeted air accident investigators at Farnborough will retrieve data from #MH17 black boxes for international analysis. 
   
   Twitter: David Cameron - We've agreed Dutch request for air accident investigators at Farnborough to retrieve data from #MH17 black boxes for international analysis. 
   
   The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), based in Farnborough, southern England, is part of the Department for Transport and is responsible for the investigation of civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents. 
   
   15.16 Mortar blasts rocked the outskirts of rebel stronghold Donetsk as Ukrainian soldiers clashed again with pro-Russian insurgents a day after five civilians were reported killed by shelling in the area, AFP reports. 
   
   AFP reporters heard artillery fire coming from the Ukrainian side in the village of Oktyabrsky close to the airport, which has now come under full government control. 
   
   Around 30 rebels - some in balaclavas or black pirate-style bandanas - immediately raised their Kalashnikov rifles into firing position and asked reporters to leave. 
   
   15.09 EU governments are discussing the possibility of imposing capital restrictions on Russia if it does not coopoerate on the plane crash investigation, diplomats tell Reuters. 
   
   15.07 Malaysia's Transport Minister, Liow Tiong Lai has issued a statement in response to the arrival of bodies at Kharkiv. 
   
   We are relieved that the train has safely arrived at Kharkiv about 11am local time. This is an important milestone in relation to the MH17 tragedy. 
   
   Malaysia sent 18 DVI personnel to Kharkiv to assist in the tagging and transfer of bodies to the plane, I have been briefed that the forensics team and relevant support teams will now have to undergo a process that will take a few hours prior to the remains being flown off to Amsterdam. 
   
   We still need to get to the truth of what has happened and we hope for the investigators to commence their work at the crash site to determine this. 
   
   Families are suffering across the world and once the remains are with the respective families, I am sure they will demand for justice to be served on those who have caused this horrific crime. 
   
   15.00 Diplomats have told Reuters possible new EU sanctions could include measures in the defence sector, energy technology and dual-use goods. 
   
   The news comes as Ukraine's parliament approved a presidential decree to call up more military reserves and men under 50 to fight rebels in eastern Ukraine and defend the border against a concentration of troops in Russia. 
   
   "Russia continues its policy of escalating its armed confrontation," Ukraine's top security official, Andriy Parubiy, told parliament before 232 deputies in the 450-seat parliament voted in favour of the decree. 
   
   14.50 A top security aide to Putin accused the Ukrainian authorities of being henchman who were taking orders from the West, acccording to Reuters. 
   
   "The West's henchman came to power (in February) and have now, in my opinion, lost some of their sovereignty, independence in decision-making and are acting under orders," Nikolai Patrushev told Putin. 
   
   14.44 Reuters reports Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, working through intermediaries to reach rebel leader Alexander Borodai, was a key figure in brokering the deal to get the black boxes, according to two sources in Malaysia with direct knowledge of the negotiations. 
   
   The talks were kept under tight wraps, with Mr Razak initiating the conversation and bringing only a handful of his closest confidants into the discussions. 
   
   "It was the Prime Minister's project," one of the sources said. 
   
   "He was the main player and he kept this within a very, very, very tight circle. Even some of his closest advisers were not part of this circle, and were surprised by this deal." 
   
   14.35 Tributes continue to be paid to the victims of MH17 at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport as the thick carpet of flowers keeps on growing, Harriet Alexander reports. 
   
   A little boy has just turned up with his mother - wearing an oversized pilot's hat, which dwarfed his small head. They stood and looked at the piles of sunflowers, roses and cuddly toys, hugging each other silently. 
   
   A team of airport workers have also just been to visit and lay flowers. 
   
   Many people simply stand by the railings in tears, reading the tributes. 
   
   14.23 Meanwhile ABC News reports Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe told its reporters that the wreckage from the plane had been "significantly altered". 
   
   According to Mr Bociurkiw, major pieces of the front of the plane appear to have been cut away. 
   
   The investigators also observed an individual cutting into the wreckage using power tools, ABC News reported. 
   
   14.18 European Union governments will discuss a specific list of possible new targets for Russia sanctions on Thursday, but will make no decisions at Tuesday's meeting of EU foreign ministers, diplomats told Reuters. 
   
   EU foreign ministers met in Brussels today to discuss their response to the downing of the flight, and any new sanctions to be imposed against Moscow over the crisis in the former Soviet republic. 
   
   "There will be no names for the sanction list today," one EU diplomat said. "The European Commission will propose new names for (discussion) on Thursday." 
   
   14.15 Meanwhile in France, Harriet Alexander says the website of Franceinfo television analyses how sanctions could be implemented - and what impact they would have on France. 
   
   President Francois Hollande has said that the first of two Mistral warships ordered by Russia would be delivered - because the contract was signed in 2011, the ship is almost ready to be delivered, and if France reneges on the contract they will have to reimburse Russia to the tune of over a billion euros. But on the second warship, Mr Hollande is less emphatic. 
   
   "That will depend on the attitude of Russia," he said on Monday evening. "I have stated that very clearly. But at the moment, no sanctions have been decided which would force us to renounce the deal." 
   
   A French government source told the website that sanctions which would prevent the delivery of the warship were not currently on the table. "France for now wants the sanctions to be financial, targeted and rapid," said a source close to Mr Hollande. 
   
   14.12 Dmitri Rogozine, the Russian deputy prime minister, has spoken of his doubts about whether France will have to do a u-turn on selling warships to the country, Harriet Alexander reports. 
   
   The deputy prime minister has said he doubts France will be pressured into reneging on the deal to sell warships to Russia. 
   
   "We're talking about billions of euros," he said. 
   
   "France is very practical and I doubt that the delivery will be cancelled." And he added: "The cancellation of the order would be a lot less damaging to Russia than it would be to France." 
   
   13.46 AFP reports the Ukraine interior ministry has said its forces have gained control over the strategically important town of Severodonetsk from pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. 
   
   Ukraine's security forces were in control of "all the vital facilities" in the city of around 110,000, located roughly 120 kilometres (75 miles) to the north of the key rebel stronghold of Donetsk, the ministry said in a statement. 
   
   13.43 Putin has vowed to do everything possible to influence pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and help ensure a full investigation into the crash, according to AP and Russian agencies. He told a meeting of Russia's national security council: 
   
   Russia will do everything in its power for a full, comprehensive, deep, and transparent investigation. We are asked to exert influence on the militants of the south-east (of Ukraine). Of course we will do everything in our power." 
   
   13.20 The Dutch prime minister has been giving details of the next stage in the journey of the 298 bodies to their final resting place. Harriet Alexander reports: 
   
   Mark Rutte said that the bodies, travelling in a refrigerated train from Donetsk, had arrived in Kharkiv - where Dutch Air Force planes were waiting. 
   
   The Hercules C-130 planes would, early tomorrow morning, begin flying the bodies back to Eindhoven in the Netherlands. The operation would be done in phases, he said. 
   
   And from there they would be taken to the military base at Hilversum, near Amsterdam. 
   
   But he warned not to expect immediate release of the bodies to the families. 
   
   "Identification of bodies can sometimes happen fast, but might in some cases take weeks or months," he said. 
   
   12.42 Hillary Clinton last night called for the US and Europe to work together to develop tougher sanctions against Russia. AP reports: 
   
   Clinton said in a Facebook chat from the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, that tougher sanctions would make clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin "that there is a price to pay for this kind of behavior." The former secretary of state said she agreed with Obama's comments earlier Monday urging "immediate and full access" for investigators combing through the wreckage of the downed plane. 
   
   "We should do more to ensure a thorough investigation that not only respects those who were murdered in the attack on the plane, but also tries to find answers to who is responsible," Clinton wrote during the question-and-answer session on the popular social media site. 
   
   12.32 Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, has not shown the same resolve to slap sanctions on Russia as David Cameron has, reports Harriet Alexander. 
   
   While Rutte has been outspoken about the treatment of the bodies and the urgency for them to be returned to their families, he has only suggested further retaliation if Putin blocks repatriation. 
   
   Yesterday he said in parliament that their priority was returning the bodies - skirting the sanction issue somewhat. 
   
   But the NRC newspaper here puts it more bluntly. Their front page today shows Putin and Rutte with the headline: "Time for a break?" 
   
   De Telegraaf, a leading newspaper in the Netherlands, shows King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, with the headline: "We're not letting go of each other." 
   
   Below the fold of the page, their reporter writes of "tensions over the release of the bodies" and tells of "goosebumps on seeing the crash site." 
   
   12.26 Tony Abbott, Australia’s prime minister, has called for a multinational force to be deployed to the MH17 crash site in Ukraine to put an end to an attempted cover-up and “evidence tampering on an industrial scale”. Jonathan Pearlman reports 
   
   Tony Abbott, Australia’s prime minister, has called for a multinational force to be deployed to the MH17 crash site in Ukraine to put an end to an attempted cover-up and “evidence tampering on an industrial scale”. 
   
   Condemning the disturbing scenes emerging from the debris field, Mr Abbott said the countries worst affected by the attack should have an opportunity to send troops to ensure the remains of victims and all evidence were recovered without interference. 
   
   Australia lost 37 citizens and residents on the flight, which was carrying 298 passengers from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur; the Netherlands and Malaysia were the worst-affected nations. 
   
   “After the crime, comes the cover-up,” Mr Abbott said. 
   
   “What we have seen is evidence tampering on an industrial scale and obviously that has to stop. A multinational police force, or a multinational force of some kind, is not something that can be just summonsed up in a matter of a few hours, but obviously there does need to be security at this site.” 
   
   12.14 The first bodies of MH17 victims will not arrive in the Netherlands until Wednesday, the country's prime minister has announced. 
   
   "Tomorrow the first plane [with bodies] will leave for Eindhoven," in the southern Netherlands, Mark Rutte told journalists after the bodies arrived in Ukraine's Kharkiv from rebel-held territory. 
   
   12.10 With the tacit approval of Malaysia's leaders, hundreds of protestors have gathered outside the Russian embassy in Kuala Lumpur to demand justice and action from Moscow. Tom Phillips reports from Malaysia: 
   
   Demonstrators descended on the tree-lined Russian embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday afternoon carrying banners that read: “Can we trust Russia to tell the truth?”, “President Putin, we demand justice” and “Genocide at 33,000ft”. 
   
   “We don’t want any more cover up about this matter. The whole nation wants to know the real story,” Armand Azha Abu Hanifah, one of the organisers, told The Telegraph. “What is going on?” 
   
   “I believe they are trying to hide something and that is why we are here today,” said Mohamad Kassim Ali, a 50 year-old, who was one of perhaps 300 protesters outside the embassy compound. 
   
   The organisers, members of the youth wing of Unmo, Malaysia’s ruling party, insisted their demonstration was not political. 
   
   Yet having received tacit support from Malaysia’s leaders the protest was precisely that. Black-clad demonstrators came on specially chartered coaches to send Moscow the message that Malaysia’s politicians have so far felt unable to publicly deliver themselves. 
   
   “Mr Putin should do more than just talk,” said Ibdilillah Ishak, a 38-year-old youth wing organiser. “It has taken them four days to actually do something. Are they hiding the truth? What is going on? Why are they hiding the truth?” 
   
   “To me, this is a genocide of 298 people at 33,000 feet,” Mr Ishak added. “Who will fight for them, if not the Malaysians right now?” 
   
   11.51 The EU is compromimsing its values in order to protect its trade ties with Russia, Lithuania's president has suggested, as EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels to decide whether to strengthen sanctions against Moscow over the MH17 disaster. 
   
   "We see the Mistralisation of European policy," Dalia Grybauskaite said earlier today, referring to a 1.2 billion euro ($1.6 billion) deal to supply Russia with two French Mistral warships. 
   
   Values and security are undermined for the sake of business, when 'buy and rule' is being applied... 
   
   The sale of military technology to Russia the under current circumstances cannot be tolerated... 
   
   Nazism was not stopped in the 1930s, and we now we see great-Russia chauvinism which leads to things like an attack against a civilian airliner 
   
   Those who organised, ordered and supplied weapons must be held responsible, before the Hague Tribunal 
   
   
   
   Dalia Grybauskaite, Lithuania’s President (GETTY) 
   
   11.33 Colin Brazier, the Sky News journalist who came under fire for picking up MH17 victims' luggage live on air, has apologised for his "error of judgement. 
   
   Writing in the Guardian, Mr Brazier said: 
   
   At the weekend I got things wrong. If there was someone to apologise to in person, I would. While presenting Sky's lunchtime coverage of the flight MH17 disaster, I stooped down to look at a piece of debris. It was a child's suitcase. I put my hand inside and lifted up a water bottle and a set of keys. As I did so my mental circuit-breaker finally engaged and I apologised instantly on-air for what I was doing. 
   
   Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a pink drinking flask. It looked familiar. My six-year-old daughter, Kitty, has one just like it... 
   
   Too late, I realised that I was crossing a line. 
   
   11.13 David Cameron is a hypocrite who should "start by cleaning up his own backyard" before lecturing France on selling military equipment to Russia, the head of Francois Hollande's ruling Socialist Party has said. 
   
   Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, told i>Tele television on Tuesday: 
   
   Hollande is not backing down. He is delivering the first (ship) despite the fact he is being asked not to. 
   
   This is a false debate led by hypocrites ... When you see how many (Russian) oligarchs have sought refuge in London, David Cameron should start by cleaning up his own backyard. 
   
   
   
   Catherine Ashton talks with Philip Hammond in Brussels (THIERRY CHARLIER/AFP/GETTY) 
   
   11.00 Philip Hammond, the new British foreign secretary, has arrived in Brussels for the meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss a collective response to the Ukraine crisis, as well as Gaza. He said: 
   
   This terrible incident happened in the first place because of Russia's support to the separatists in eastern Ukraine, because of the flow of heavy weapons from Russia into eastern Ukraine, and we have to address that issue. 
   
   The world has changed since the European council last week. 
   
   The events of last Thursday have changed public expectations on us and we have to send a clear signal from our meeting today that we recognise that and that we are going to go further as a consequence of what has happened. 
   
   
   
   One of the two black boxes recovered from the crash site of the MH17 jet during a press conference in Donetsk (DAMIEN SIMONART/AFP/GETTY) 
   
   10.36 Harriet Alexander is in Amsterdam, where victims' families and friends are mourning their loved ones: 
   
   There has been a steady stream of people coming to leave flowers outside Schiphol airport this morning. 
   
   This bouquet has been left with the headline from yesterday's De Telegraaf - a newspaper here in the Netherlands. It reads: "Give us our people back". 
   
   Some 193 of the 298 victims of the disaster were from Holland. 
   
   The Dutch government has yet to announce which airport the bodies will be transferred to later on today. Schipol airport, in Amsterdam, was the point of origin of MH17's final journey. 
   
   10.28 Roland Oliphant reports from Donetsk for the Telegraph on the "official" handover of the MH17 black boxes to Malaysian officials, which delayed the movement of victims' corpses from the city up to Kharkiv: 
   
   The train carrying both the bodies of the victims and the “black box” flight recorders has arrived in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. 
   
   The departure was delayed by last-minute wrangling over the handover of the black boxes, which had originally been scheduled for 9.00pm local time last night (7.00pm UK time). 
   
   After several hours of closed-door negotiations, rebel prime minister Alexander Borodai finally emerged to hand over the flight recorders to Malaysian officials at 1.00am... 
   
   It emerged during the handover ceremony that 282 bodies and 87 body parts were on the train. That leaves 16 casualties as yet unaccounted for. 
   
   It is not clear what held up the transfer, which appears to have followed intense international diplomacy on Friday. 
   
   But the rebels appear to have gone to great lengths to make the hand over as “official” as possible, summoning the international press to the headquarters of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic to witness rebel and Malaysian officials signing protocols to confirm the transaction. 
   
   The documents are of great symbolic value to the rebels because they represent the first international agreement the unrecognised “Republic” has ever signed - making it the nearest the breakaway state has ever come to official recognition. 
   
   10.18 EU foreign ministers have arrived in Brussels for a meeting in which tougher, sector-level sanctions against Russia over MH17 are expected to be top of the agenda. 
   
   On arrival, Germany's foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for tougher sanctions against the Kremlin. 
   
   Germany has traditionally been seen as softer on Russia than many of its EU allies due to close energy import and manufacturing export links, but Angela Merkel is believed to have run out of patience with Vladimir Putin in recent days. 
   
   10.05 Photographs have emerged appearing to show the arrival of the refrigerated train carriages containing 282 MH17 victims' bodies at Kharkiv. 
   
   The victims' corpses arrived at a train station in the Kiev-held industrial hub. 
   
   They are due to be airlifted to the Netherlands later today. 
   
   
   
   The train carrying the remains of the victims of Malaysia Airlines MH17 arrives in Kharkiv (Gleb Garanich/Reuters) 
   
   09.45 The French port of Saint-Nazaire is divided over the arrival of Russian sailors for training on the new warships Paris is controversially selling to the Kremlin, reports the New York Times. 
   
   09.20 A train carrying the remains of victims of a Malaysian plane downed over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine arrived in the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, Reuters reports. 
   
   Ukrainian officials say the remains will be taken to the Netherlands. Almost 300 people were killed when the Malaysian airliner went down on Thursday, most of them were Dutch. 
   
   08.48 Tributes have been laid to the victims of MH17 at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport - from which the ill-fated flight departed last Thursday. The Telegraph's Harriet Alexander reports: 
   
   Outside Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, a huge carpet of flowers has been laid in memory of the 298 victims. 
   
   Candles flickered among the countless bunches of roses, lilies and sunflowers - a tribute all the more poignant given that the plane crashed in a field of Ukrainian sunflowers. 
   
   And as a gesture to the 80 children who lost their lives, many stuffed toys and cartoon cards were among the flowers. 
   
   A queue of people lined up silently to sign a book of condolences. 
   
   One woman, a KLM air stewardess, had tears pouring down her cheek as she signed the book, and placed her flowers on the pavement. She paused, then stood quickly and went to get her flight. 
   
   
   
   Outside Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, a huge carpet of flowers has been laid in memory of the 298 victims (HARRIET ALEXANDER/THE TELEGRAPH) 
   
   One woman, a KLM air stewardess, had tears pouring down her cheek asshe signed the book, and placed her flowers on the pavement (HARRIET ALEXANDER/THE TELEGRAPH) 
   
   08.35 American anger is growing over France's arms deal with the Kremlin, reports Peter Foster, the Telegraph's US Editor. 
   
   The United States is continuing to pile pressure on France to suspend a $1.6bn (£1bn) defence contract with the Russian government amid calls for Europe to adopt meaningful sanctions against Moscow following the downing of Flight MH17. 
   
   As EU foreign ministers, including Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, meet in Brussels later today to discuss toughening sanctions, the French refusal to halt the contract to supply two helicopter carriers to the Russian navy has come under particular fire. 
   
   The fact that France is still providing training to Russian service personnel was the subject of heated contacts between US and European officials last the weekend, officials said, as months of tension over the project came to a head. 
   
   "The Americans are absolutely furious about the French still training the Russians," a Western diplomatic source told The Telegraph in Washington. "The question everyone is asking is, 'at what point does Europe draw the line?'" 
   
   08.20 Protests are taking place outside the Russian embassy in Kuala Lumpur, reports Tom Phillips. 
   
   Twitter: Tom Phillips - Protest leading shouting: 'Russia we demand an answer. 298 people have died. You killed 298 people Russia. We demand the truth.' #mh17 
   
   Earlier at the same embassy Lyudmila G Vorobyev, the Russian ambassador, gave a defiant press conference in which she said Putin is being 'demonised' over MH17 and that pro-Russian rebels are not responsible for the disaster. 
   
   07.20 Roland Oliphant is in Ukraine for the Telegraph, and reports on another delay in the movement of the MH17 victims' bodies. 
   
   The bodies train was held up in Donetsk last night while the Malaysians and the rebels haggled over the Black boxes. Ifax reports it finally left Donetsk station, carrying bodies, black boxes, and Malaysian and OSCE personnel about an hour ago... It should get to Kharkiv by about 4pm local time (2pm London), though the journey is unpredictable 
   
   05.40 China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that Beijing welcomes the recently passed UN resolution on downed Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, demanding those responsible be held to account, and called for a ceasefire in Ukraine. 
   
   Wang made the comments in Caracas while accompanying Chinese president Xi Jinping on an ongoing Latin American tour. 
   
   Wang called for the International Civil Aviation Organization to be allowed to play a key role in the investigation and said international investigators should be given full access to the crash site. 
   
   We urged all Ukrainian parties concerned to cease fire as soon as possible and conduct dialogue and consultation so as to seek a comprehensive, lasting and balanced political solution,” he said. 
   
   04.45 Australia’s consumer watchdog has warned people to be wary of scams seeking to take advantage of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 tragedy, saying false Facebook profiles had already been set up. 
   
   In an attempt to make money from the tragedy of the jet which was apparently shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 on board, fake social media profiles of some Australian victims had been created, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said. 
   
   The profiles direct people to a blog, where they are then bombarded with dubious advertisements,” the ACCC said in a statement. 
   
   “If you click on the advertisement, the scammer can make money from the advertising ‘service’ (where they receive advertising revenue for each click through to a client’s website or product).” 
   
   Scammers are well known to use major news stories – including tragedies such as missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 and the 2013 Boston marathon bombing – to seek donations for fake charities, the ACCC warned. 
   
   03.55 Malaysia Airlines has been forced to defended itself after confirming that it diverted a London to Kuala Lumpur flight over Syrian airspace, when its usual route over Ukraine was closed in the wake of MH17 being downed. 
   
   The company said in a statement that MH4’s flight path was in accordance with routes approved by the United Nations’ aviation agency International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO). 
   
   “As per the notice to airmen issued by the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority, the Syrian airspace was not subject to restrictions. At all times, MH004 was in airspace approved by ICAO,” it said. 
   
   Dozens of airlines previously flying over crisis-stricken eastern Ukraine abandoned the well-used route between Asia and Europe after MH17 went down with the loss of 298 lives. 
   
   Previous MH4 Airbus A380s have flown over Turkey, according to air traffic tracker Flightradar24. 
   
   But it posted on Twitter that Sunday’s flight flew over war-torn Syria, where the conflict is raging both on the ground and in the air. 
   
   Twitter: Flightradar24 - As far as we have seen #MH4 was the only transcontinental flight going over Syria. 
   
   02.40 The Financial Times have published a photograph they say offers clear evidence flight MH17 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. Their photograph shows a piece of the downed Boeing 777 with a large hole ripped in it, smaller holes around that and with burn marks, pointing towards a missile strike as the likely cause. 
   
   The wreckage was recovered by the people of Petropavlovka from a villager’s back yard last Thursday and moved to the roadside because it was believed to be important. 
   
   Two defence analysts in London and a former military pilot who have studied the picture corroborated the claim by a local man, who said he had served in the military, that much of the damage was consistent with a missile strike." 
   
   MH17: FT photo shows signs of damage from missile strike 
   
   02.00 To reiterate the main news of the last few hours, a train carrying the remains of 280 people killed in the Malaysian plane disaster was finally allowed to leave the rebel-held region of eastern Ukraine as the militants also declared a truce around the crash site and handed over the black boxes from the plane, five days after the tragedy happened. 
   
   Twitter: Paul Sonne - The Donetsk rebel government tweets photos of the documents it has signed with Malaysia. http://t.co/Qt1P463bU6 
   
   00.50 Hillary Clinton believes the US and Europe should work together to develop much tougher sanctions on Russia. 
   
   Clinton said in a Facebook chat that tougher sanctions would make clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin “that there is a price to pay for this kind of behaviour.” 
   
   We should do more to ensure a thorough investigation that not only respects those who were murdered in the attack on the plane, but also tries to find answers to who is responsible,” Clinton wrote during the question-and-answer session on the social media site. 
   
   00.05 Good morning and welcome to today's live coverage of the MH17 crisis. 
   
   More on the news that the MH17 black boxes have been handed over to Malaysian authorities. 
   
   A senior separatist leader, Aleksander Borodai, was the man, as ever, in charge in Donetsk. 
   
   “Here they are, the black boxes,” Borodai told a room packed with journalists at the headquarters of his self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic as an armed rebel placed the boxes on a desk. 
   
   Both sides then signed a document, which Borodai said was a protocol to finalise the procedure after lengthy talks with the Malaysians. 
   
   “I can see that the black boxes are intact, although a bit damaged. In good condition,” Colonel Mohamed Sakri of Malaysian National Security Council said in extending his thanks to “His Excellency Mr. Borodai” for passing on the recorders. 
   
   Borodai also said a train carrying the remains of the victims of the Malaysia Airlines plane catastrophe has reached Donetsk. It is on its way to Kharkiv, some 300km (186 miles) north-west. The Malaysian experts and a Dutch delegation also on site in Donetsk will travel along with it, he said. ||||| Video 
   
   Image World loses HIV expert in MH17 disaster 1:18 Play video Professor Francoise Barr-Sinousi addresses the National Press Club with words of grief and loss over colleague and HIV expert Joep Lange, amongst hundreds dead in the crash of flight MH17. 
   
   MORE than 100 AIDS activists, researchers and health workers bound for a major conference in Melbourne were on the Malaysia Airlines flight downed in the Ukraine. 
   
   It is believed that delegates to the 20th International AIDS Conference, due to begin on Sunday, will be informed today that 108 of their colleagues and family members died on MH17. 
   
   Stunned researchers, activists and development workers arriving at Melbourne Airport paid tribute to AIDS researcher Joep Lange and the other attendees believed killed aboard MH17. 
   
   Jonathan Quick, head of a not-for–profit medicine supply company working with the Global Fund and the US government in Africa and Latin America, described Professor Lange as a force for change in HIV/AIDS treatment. 
   
   “I remember meeting him back in the late 1990s. He was really driven at a time when there was not much going on in the way of treatment,” he said. 
   
   “This is a community in which individuals have moved mountains and it’s also a community that has had regular exposure to horrific loss.” 
   
   Mr Quick, who runs Management Sciences for Health, will introduce an address by former High Court judge Michael Kirby at the conference. 
   
   Activist and journalist Sean Strub, who runs the New York based POZ magazine, said the conference was shaken by the tragedy and by Professor Lange’s death. 
   
   “It’s going to be a very sombre week,” he said. “The struggle with the epidemic is bigger than any one individual but the collective loss of so many important people is one that is emotionally devastating.” 
   
   Kenyan development worker Perez Odera said she feared the tragedy would dissuade people from flying to conferences such as this. 
   
   “I just feel it is very, very unfortunate. It’s something we don’t have control over,’’ she said. 
   
   Dr Robert Grant, a researcher from the Gladstone Institute at the University of California, said that on arriving in Melbourne he had heard reports Prof Lange had died. 
   
   ‘A grim day for Australia, a grim day for the world’ 
   
   Live blog: the crash of Flight MH17 
   
   Gallery: Latest pictures from the scene 
   
   27 Australians among the dead 
   
   Tony Abbott blames Russian-backed rebels 
   
   Gallery: The faces of flight MH17 
   
   He declined to say he was speaking about Prof Lange ahead of confirmation of the death, but said a senior colleague — thought to be the Dutch researcher — appeared to have perished. 
   
   “It’s incredible. He’s been a mentor to me and an incredible leader in this field. We have published together and I have relied on him for advice and guidance,” he said. 
   
   Another delegate, Jennifer Watt, who works for a pharmaceutical company in San Francisco, talked of Prof Lange‘s work in Africa. 
   
   “I have worked very closely with him in a number of clinical research projects. He’s very well known and a very passionate person. He’s the father of AIDS research in the developing world,’’ she said. 
   
   Another attendee, Houston based community worker Moise Arrah, said the news was devastating. “People were coming here for such a noble cause and then they lose their lives in such a tragedy.” 
   
   Prof Lange was a clinical researcher specialising in HIV therapy who served as the International AIDS Society president from 2002 to 2004. 
   
   His friend Dr Seema Yasmin, from the US Centers for Disease Control, said Prof Lange was a true humanitarian. 
   
   “What a HUGE loss to the world,” she tweeted. “Just learned that dear friend, amazing father to 5 girls and veteran AIDS researcher Joep Lange was on #MH17.” 
   
   Australia’s National AIDS Trust paid tribute to Prof Lange. 
   
   “Reports Joep Lange died in Malaysian plane crash today, with other scientists on way to AIDS_conference. Desperately sad news,” it said on Twitter. 
   
   American academic and AIDS activist Gregg Gonsalves tweeted that “Lots of AIDS researchers, activists, officials on downed Malaysia Airlines flight to Melbourne for Intl AIDS Conference. 
   
   “Joep Lange was a leading AIDS researcher and clinician and an activist at heart. Lost today too soon on Malaysian flight 019. RIP.” 
   
   A Geneva-based World Health Organisation media adviser, Glenn Thomas, is also believed to be among the dead. 
   
   Dr Haileyesus Getahun, coordinator of the WHO’s Global TB program, tweeted: “Saddened to learn that my friend and @WHO staff who was traveling to @AIDS_conference to Melbourne was on flight #MH17. RIP #Glenn Thomas”. 
   
   His colleague Dr Rachel Baggaley, of the WHO’s HIV Department, told Vox: “I’m just devastated. He’s a very close colleague whom I work with on a daily basis. 
   
   “He just had his birthday, he was going to plan all sorts of celebrations.” 
   
   Nicole Schiegg, a former Senior Advisor at USAID, tweeted: “I am still stunned. So sorry & thoughts are with Glenn’s extended @WHO family at this time. 
   
   “Glenn was a great guy & will be missed.” 
   
   Jennifer Yang, global health reporter at the Toronto Star, tweeted: “So saddened to hear about lovely, funny, whip-smart Glenn.” 
   
   Delegates Lucie van Mens, Martine de Schutter, Pim de Kuijer and Jacqueline van Tongeren were also reportedly on the flight. 
   
   Dr Van Mens, director of program development and support at the Female Health Company, had been involved in public health, focusing on prevention of STIs and HIV/AIDS, since 1995. 
   
   Ms Van Tongeren had worked in the field of HIV/Aids since 1986, and coordinated many HIV/AIDS- and health-related projects. She ran an art gallery in Amsterdam in the 1970s and 1980s and worked closely with Prof Lange. 
   
   Organisers of the AIDS 2014 conference in Melbourne are awaiting confirmation of how many delegates were aboard the Malaysian Airlines flight shot down over eastern Ukraine. 
   
   International Aids Society president-elect Chris Beyrer issued a brief statement outside the Melbourne Convention Centre, where the world’s leading HIV researchers and scientists, former US president Bill Clinton and philanthropist Bob Geldolf will gather for next week’s conference. 
   
   “The International AIDS Society today expressed its sincere sadness at receiving news that colleagues and friends en route to attend the 20th International AIDS Conference taking place in Melbourne, Australia, were on board the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight that has crashed over Ukraine earlier today,” Mr Beyrer said. 
   
   “At this incredibly said and sensitive time the IAS stands with our international family and sends condolences to the loved ones of those who have been lost to this tragedy. 
   
   “The IAS is hearing unconfirmed reports that some of our friends and colleagues were on board the flight and if that is the case this is a truly sad day. 
   
   “The IAS has also heard reports that among the passengers was a former IAS President Joep Lange and if that is the case then the HIV/AIDS movement has truly lost a giant.” 
   
   UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe tweeted: “My thoughts & prayers to families of those tragically lost on flight #MH17. Many passengers were enroute to #AIDS2014 here in #Melbourne.” 
   
   The IAS released a statement today confirming the death of a number of attendees to the 20th Annual AIDS Conference. 
   
   “The International AIDS Society (IAS) today expresses its sincere sadness at receiving news that a number of colleagues and friends en route to attend the 20th International AIDS Conference taking place in Melbourne, Australia, were on board the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight that has crashed over Ukraine earlier today,’’ it said. 
   
   “At this incredibly sad and sensitive time the IAS stands with our international family and sends condolences to the loved ones of those who have been lost to this tragedy.” 
   
   Bill Clinton, Bob Geldof, Michel Sidibe, the executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Mark Dybul, Indonesian Health Minister Nafsiam Mboi and Swedish Ambassador for Global Health Anders Nordstrom are down as speakers at the conference. 
   
   US Ambassador John Berry, who is in Melbourne for the conference, said he was struggling to comprehend the news. 
   
   “This tragic, senseless loss is being felt around the world,” he said in a statement on Facebook. “Our deepest sympathies go out to the families and loved ones of the all the passengers. 
   
   “Here in Australia, we are particularly struck by the loss of 27 Australians and others who were coming here to Melbourne to attend the International AIDS conference — activists, medical researchers, and global health policy experts working to make the world a better place by ridding it of HIV and AIDS.”
target: – As many as 108 of the 298 people killed on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 were researchers, activists, and health workers bound for a major AIDS conference in Melbourne, delegates have been told. Among them was Dutch researcher Joep Lange, one of the world's top HIV experts. He had been researching the disease for more than 30 years; one conference delegate tells the Australian he was "the father of AIDS research in the developing world." Another expert tells the Guardian that "there were some serious HIV leaders on that plane" and that the crash "will have ramifications globally" on research. At the 20th International AIDS Conference, "it's going to be a very somber week," American HIV activist Sean Strub says. "The struggle with the epidemic is bigger than any one individual, but the collective loss of so many important people is one that is emotionally devastating." The premier of the state of Victoria says the doomed plane flying from Amsterdam was supposed to connect with a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. "The shooting down of a passenger aircraft full of innocent civilians is an unspeakable act that will forever leave a dark stain on our history," he says. The Telegraph reports that out of the passengers and crew whose nationalities have been verified, there were 154 Dutch citizens, 27 Australians, 23 Malaysians, 11 Indonesians, six British citizens, four Belgians, four Germans, three Filipinos, and one Canadian.