NEWS IN BRIEF
BERLIN (Reuters) - Survivors of German victims of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 downed over Ukraine plan to sue the country and its president for manslaughter by negligence in 298 cases, the lawyer representing them said on Sunday.
Professor of aviation law Elmar Giemulla, who is representing three families of German victims, said that under international law Ukraine should have closed its air space if it could not guarantee the safety of flights.
"Each state is responsible for the security of its air space," Giemulla said in a statement emailed to Reuters. "If it is not able to do so temporarily, it must close its air space. As that did not happen, Ukraine is liable for the damage."
Bild am Sonntag Sunday mass newspaper quoted Giemulla as saying that by not closing its airspace, Ukraine had accepted that the lives of hundreds of innocent people would be "annihilated" and this was a violation of human rights.
The jetliner crashed in Ukraine in pro-Russian rebel-held territory on July 17, killing 298 people, two-thirds of them from the Netherlands. Four Germans died in the crash.
Ukraine and Western countries have accused the rebels of shooting the plane down with an advanced, Russian-made missile. Russia has rejected accusations that it supplied the rebels with SA-11 Buk anti-aircraft missile systems.
Giemulla planned to hand his case to the European Court of Human Rights in about two weeks, accusing Ukraine and its President Petro Poroshenko of manslaughter by negligence in 298 cases. He would also push for compensation of up to one million euros ($1.3 million) per victim, Bild am Sonntag reported.
So far, the airline has offered survivors of each victim $5,000 in financial assistance but has said that would not be taken off final compensation or affect families' legal rights to claim.
EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Alex Salmond, the defeated leader of Scotland's nationalists, on Sunday accused Prime Minister David Cameron and other London politicians of tricking Scottish voters out of independence by making a false "vow" about granting them new powers.
Salmond, who is stepping down as leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) after spearheading a failed campaign for Scotland to leave the United Kingdom, said Britain's three main political parties had won last Thursday's referendum vote by 55-45 percent by deception.
"I think the vow was something cooked up in desperation for the last few days of the campaign and I think everyone in Scotland now realizes that," said Salmond, referring to a pledge made by Cameron and other leaders two days before the referendum to rapidly expand Scottish autonomy in the event of a "No" vote.
Though Cameron has said he is determined to deliver the new settlement he has since linked new powers for Scotland to agreeing new constitutional arrangements for the rest of Britain, including England, at the same time.
But the opposition Labour party has rejected the linkage, raising the possibility that political squabbling could delay a new deal for Scotland.
"It is the people who were persuaded to vote no (in the referendum) who were misled, who were gulled, who were tricked effectively," Salmond told BBC TV. "They are the ones who are really angry."
CAIRO (Press TV) – A roadside bomb explosion near the Foreign Ministry in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, has claimed the lives of at least two policemen.
According to unnamed security officials, the explosion targeted a police checkpoint near the back entrance of the Nile-side ministry building, on Sunday.
Several more people were injured in the attack.
The attack comes days after a bomb explosion in the Sinai Peninsula killed about seven policemen and injured two others.
The government says around 500, almost all of them police forces and soldiers, have been killed in militant attacks since July 3 last year.
Professor of aviation law Elmar Giemulla, who is representing three families of German victims, said that under international law Ukraine should have closed its air space if it could not guarantee the safety of flights.
"Each state is responsible for the security of its air space," Giemulla said in a statement emailed to Reuters. "If it is not able to do so temporarily, it must close its air space. As that did not happen, Ukraine is liable for the damage."
Bild am Sonntag Sunday mass newspaper quoted Giemulla as saying that by not closing its airspace, Ukraine had accepted that the lives of hundreds of innocent people would be "annihilated" and this was a violation of human rights.
The jetliner crashed in Ukraine in pro-Russian rebel-held territory on July 17, killing 298 people, two-thirds of them from the Netherlands. Four Germans died in the crash.
Ukraine and Western countries have accused the rebels of shooting the plane down with an advanced, Russian-made missile. Russia has rejected accusations that it supplied the rebels with SA-11 Buk anti-aircraft missile systems.
Giemulla planned to hand his case to the European Court of Human Rights in about two weeks, accusing Ukraine and its President Petro Poroshenko of manslaughter by negligence in 298 cases. He would also push for compensation of up to one million euros ($1.3 million) per victim, Bild am Sonntag reported.
So far, the airline has offered survivors of each victim $5,000 in financial assistance but has said that would not be taken off final compensation or affect families' legal rights to claim.
EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Alex Salmond, the defeated leader of Scotland's nationalists, on Sunday accused Prime Minister David Cameron and other London politicians of tricking Scottish voters out of independence by making a false "vow" about granting them new powers.
Salmond, who is stepping down as leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) after spearheading a failed campaign for Scotland to leave the United Kingdom, said Britain's three main political parties had won last Thursday's referendum vote by 55-45 percent by deception.
"I think the vow was something cooked up in desperation for the last few days of the campaign and I think everyone in Scotland now realizes that," said Salmond, referring to a pledge made by Cameron and other leaders two days before the referendum to rapidly expand Scottish autonomy in the event of a "No" vote.
Though Cameron has said he is determined to deliver the new settlement he has since linked new powers for Scotland to agreeing new constitutional arrangements for the rest of Britain, including England, at the same time.
But the opposition Labour party has rejected the linkage, raising the possibility that political squabbling could delay a new deal for Scotland.
"It is the people who were persuaded to vote no (in the referendum) who were misled, who were gulled, who were tricked effectively," Salmond told BBC TV. "They are the ones who are really angry."
CAIRO (Press TV) – A roadside bomb explosion near the Foreign Ministry in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, has claimed the lives of at least two policemen.
According to unnamed security officials, the explosion targeted a police checkpoint near the back entrance of the Nile-side ministry building, on Sunday.
Several more people were injured in the attack.
The attack comes days after a bomb explosion in the Sinai Peninsula killed about seven policemen and injured two others.
The government says around 500, almost all of them police forces and soldiers, have been killed in militant attacks since July 3 last year.