EU set to widen Russia sanctions

29 July 2014 Last updated at 12:53

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Tom Burridge on the fighting near the MH17 crash site

The European Union is set to agree new sanctions against Russia, targeting its finance, energy and defence sectors over the conflict in Ukraine.

Top Russian individuals and entities are already subject to EU sanctions for their alleged role in Ukraine's crisis.

Calls for the EU to act have been fuelled by the downing of flight MH17.

An international team has again failed to access the crash site in eastern Ukraine, amid heavy fighting between government forces and rebels there.

This is the third time in as many days that the team, which includes Dutch and Australian police officers, has had to abandon attempts to reach the site. Many of the 298 people travelling aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 were Dutch or Australian.

Earlier on Tuesday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte asked Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to "halt hostilities" around the crash site, according to a spokesman for Mr Rutte, quoted by AFP news agency.

Ukraine's military has been on the offensive, seeking to encircle the pro-Russian separatist rebels in Donetsk region. In the latest developments:

• Several shells are said to have struck buildings in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk city
• Ukraine says its troops have entered the towns of Shakhtarsk and Torez in Donetsk region, and Lutuhyne in Luhansk region
• Ten Ukrainian soldiers and at least 22 civilians have reportedly been killed in the last 24 hours
• The dead civilians are said to include three children and five people at a home for the elderly
• A group of hackers sympathetic to the rebels says it has disabled the website of the Ukrainian president.

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Families of MH17 victims are waiting to hear which bodies have been identified, as Anna Holligan reports

Analysis by the BBC's Gavin Hewitt

Europe's leaders did not want to move to economic sanctions but they were moved by two considerations: the outrage at the way investigators have been blocked from access to the crash site of the downed plane and, secondly, the fact that Russia, since the incident, has been allowing heavy weapons across the border into Ukraine.

The calculation in Europe is that it had to act for its own credibility and that it may have to go further to ensure that President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle understand that their actions carry consequences.

How will Russia respond? Hard to say, although Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia would not retaliate or "fall into hysterics".

But - if all goes as expected - the EU will today take a significant step; that it has to risk some damage to its own economic interests in order to put pressure on President Putin and Russia.

Ukraine conflict: EU squeezes Russia

'Further costs'

EU ambassadors in Brussels are taking part in a meeting that is expected to lead to fresh sanctions. The meeting ends on Tuesday afternoon.

The fresh measures under discussion include restrictions on Russian banks accessing European markets, an arms embargo and curbs on dealings with the energy sector.

The leaders of France, Germany, Britain and the US already discussed possible sanctions in a conference call on Monday.

A spokeswoman for UK Prime Minister David Cameron later said that he and fellow European leaders had agreed to "impose further costs on Russia" for supporting the rebels in Ukraine.

Western nations have accused Russia of equipping the uprising in Ukraine with heavy weapons - including the missile that brought down flight MH17.

Russia has denied the charge. Russia and the rebels blame Ukrainian government forces for the attack on the airliner.

Any new EU sanctions could come into force within 24 hours of a deal being reached between the bloc's 28 member states.

Sanctions warning

Last weekend, the EU subjected a further 15 Russian individuals and 18 entities to asset freezes and visa bans for their alleged involvement in the Ukraine conflict.

The list of 87 targets of EU sanctions now includes the heads of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and foreign intelligence, the president of Chechnya, as well as two Crimean energy firms.

However, UK company British Petroleum, which owns nearly 20% of Russian state oil giant Rosneft, has warned that further sanctions against Russia could "adversely impact" its performance.

Meanwhile, Russia's foreign ministry has dismissed the latest UN human rights report on the Ukraine conflict as "unobjective and even hypocritical".

The UN's human rights chief warned on Monday that the downing of MH17 may be a "war crime".

According to the UN, at least 1,129 people have been killed and 3,442 wounded in the fighting in Ukraine since mid-April. The violence has displaced more than 200,000 people, many of them fleeing east to neighbouring Russia.

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Diesels face £10 pollution charge

29 July 2014 Last updated at 12:40

Plans to charge drivers of diesel cars about £10 to drive into central London are being considered.

The levy would be on top of the current £11.50 congestion charge for driving into the centre of the capital.

London Mayor Boris Johnson wants the new Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to be introduced by 2020.

The Times newspaper says he will lobby the government to increase vehicle excise duty on diesel cars to encourage motorists to move to cleaner vehicles.

Only diesel vehicles meeting the Euro 6 emissions standard will be exempt, while petrol cars registered before 2006 will also have to pay.

All new cars sold from 1 January 2015 must meet the Euro 6 emissions standard, a stringent European Union directive to cut exhaust pollutants which targets a cut in nitrogen dioxide, seen as an air pollutant.

A spokesman for the mayor said the plans will be subject to a full consultation and any levy on cars not meeting the Euro 6 emissions standard would be "likely to be a similar amount to the congestion charge".

The mayor's environment adviser, Matthew Pencharz, said: "Over recent years the Euro diesel engine standards have not delivered the emission savings expected, yet governments have been incentivising us to buy them.

"This has left us with a generation of dirty diesels."

The RAC foundation has said incentives, such as putting diesel cars in lower vehicle excise duty bands, was to blame.

Foundation director Professor Stephen Glaister said: "This isn't quite a mis-selling scandal, but for years ministers took their eye off the ball and encouraged drivers to buy diesels to help fight climate change.

Continue reading the main story

Many politicians argue that the root cause of London's poor air quality is Europe.

EU attempts to improve diesel engines in cars have focused on reducing carbon dioxide, but emissions of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) weren't restricted.

Many governments, not just in Britain, gave incentives to motorists to turn to diesel as a way of meeting EU climate change targets. So NO2 levels soared.

Mayor Boris Johnson will give more details about his plans to curb emissions of nitrogen dioxide in a speech to mark 60 years since the first London-specific Clean Air Act was passed, stopping the burning of coal in some areas of the city.

Campaigners now believe the mayor should take a note of the history and announce a complete ban on the dirtiest diesels.

"That has come at a cost: local air pollution. Today 10 million cars in Britain are powered by diesel engines - a third of the total.

"Part of the problem is regulation. In laboratory conditions diesel cars have met strict test criteria. Unfortunately that performance hasn't been matched on the road and now we have a significant health issue because of the dash for diesel."

The initiatives are being considered to help meet European regulations on clean air and avoid the threat of heavy fines for breaching them.

'Backward step'

But AA president Edmund King said the vehicles with the most impact on air quality were buses, taxis and trucks.

"Very few cars enter central London so these measures will have more effect on the growing numbers of small businesses and service vehicles on whom London's economy relies.

"They will have to plan ahead to change their vehicles if they are to stay in business."

Simon Birkett, from Clean Air in London, said: "In February last year Boris was planning to ban older diesel vehicles from the congestion charging area from 2020.

"What he's now announcing is a backward step. It will be a charge for some diesel vehicles 10 years after a city like Berlin actually banned the oldest diesels.

"It's like allowing rich people to pay ten quid a day to smoke cigars in pubs and schools."

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said that unless action was taken, London, Birmingham and Leeds would face dangerous levels of pollution from vehicle exhausts by 2030.

Government figures show long-term exposure to air pollution contributed to more than 28,000 deaths across the UK in 2010.

And in February, it was reported that pollution near Buckingham Palace was the worst in the UK and almost four times the EU legal limit.

Jenny Jones, from the Green Party on the London Assembly, told BBC London 94.9: "I back Boris on this but he is making a lot of promises that a future mayor will have to implement.

"He should show some political bravery and bring the Ultra Low Emission Zone forward - what is he waiting for?"

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Migration changes 'to put UK first'

29 July 2014 Last updated at 12:25

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David Cameron in Slough to see immigration officers at work

The UK is to halve to three months the time EU migrants without realistic job prospects can claim benefits.

David Cameron said the "magnetic pull" of UK benefits had to be addressed so people came for the right reasons and the rules "put Britain first".

The prime minister also warned people in the UK illegally: "We will find you, we will send you home."

Labour said the PM's rhetoric masked a record of "failure" on immigration and "firm action" was needed.

On a visit to see immigration officers at work, Mr Cameron said: "We want an immigration system that puts Britain first so if you come here illegally... we will make it harder for you to have a home, to get a car, to get a job, to get a bank account and when we find you - and we will find you - we'll make sure you are sent back from the country you came from."

Driving licences

He unveiled details of the plans to curb the rights to claim some benefits for some EU nationals who are legally in the UK in a Daily Telegraph article on Tuesday.

He said the last Labour government presided over a "no-questions-asked" welfare system that "drew migrants to the country for the wrong reasons".

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Norman Smith: It's about the message, not money

He cited other measures recently coming into force to tackle abuses - such as new powers revoking the driving licences of those not entitled to be in the country - as evidence that the government was building "an immigration system that puts Britain first".

"We are making sure that people come for the right reasons - which has meant addressing the magnetic pull of Britain's benefits system," he said.

"We change the rules so that no-one can come to this country and expect to get out-of-work benefits immediately - they must wait at least three months.

"And we are announcing today that we are cutting the time people can claim these benefits for. It used to be that European jobseekers could claim JSA or child benefit for a maximum of six months before their benefits would be cut off, unless they had very clear job prospects.

"We will be reducing that cut-off point to three months, saying very clearly you cannot expect to come to Britain and get something for nothing."

The government has been steadily tightening the criteria for which EU migrants are eligible to claim benefits after coming under political pressure.

In January, it announced that EU migrants would not be able to claim out-of-work benefits until three months after arriving in the UK and would only be eligible for jobseeker's allowance for six months unless they have genuine prospects of finding work.

Mr Cameron announced that this time limit - which also applies to child tax credit and child benefit - will be halved to three months from November.

He has said his party's target of reducing net migration to below 100,000 by the time of the next election, from its current level of more than 200,000, is still achievable.

Analysis, By Robin Brant

With his scars still healing after UKIP's big win in May's European elections David Cameron is trying, again, to tackle those two most contentious issues - immigration and welfare.

It's the latest in a series of measures aimed at making the UK less attractive to foreigners who don't want to work. It's not clear though how many will be affected. A report last year claimed 600,000 out-of-work migrants were here.

The EU said the number claiming Jobseekers Allowance was far lower, at around 60,000. The measure could save money but this is about trying to show voters that the government, and the Tories in particular, are addressing that most vexatious of issues that has helped swell Nigel Farage's support.

Labour says the reality is the government is nowhere near achieving its target of getting net migration down from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the government had failed to take "firm action" to address the issue.

"Behind the rhetoric the true picture of this government on immigration is one of failure, with net migration going up, despite David Cameron's promise to get it down to the tens of thousands," she said.

"The government should get a grip and finally implement Labour's proposals to stop the undercutting of wages and jobs for local workers by the exploitation of low-skilled migrant labour, including banning recruitment agencies that only hire foreign workers and pressing for stronger controls in Europe."

	A8 country* migrants		Native population
*Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Poland. Note: Employment rate refers to % of working-age population. Source:Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration
	Men	Women	Men	Women
Employment rate	90.4%	74.2%	78.3%	71.1%
Claiming benefits or tax credits	12.4%	23.7%	24.2%	55%
In social housing	6.5%	7.7%	15.9%	18.3%

The UK Independence Party's migration spokesman Steven Woolfe called the PM's announcement "a cynical and vacuous attempt to fool the British public".

He said: "Britain is crying out for an Australian-style points system for migration, so that we can judge potential migrants from all over the world on the same basis: whether they can make a positive contribution to life in our already-overcrowded country.

"We will never be able to introduce such a system while we are locked in the EU."

Latest analysis by the Migration Advisory Committee, which advises ministers, suggested the impact of low-skilled immigration on GDP, productivity and prices since 1997 has been "very modest" and there had been virtually no effect on the overall employment rate of UK-born workers.

But it concluded that low-skilled migration had had a "small" negative impact on the wages of low-paid British workers while there had been knock-on effects on the availability of housing and school places in areas of the country with disproportionately high level of incomers.

What is your reaction to this policy? Are you an EU migrant? If so, what do you think about this change? You can send us your views and experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject line "migrant benefits".

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China investigates ex-security chief

29 July 2014 Last updated at 12:55

China's former security chief Zhou Yongkang is being investigated for suspected "serious disciplinary violation", state media say.

The news confirms rumours about the hugely powerful former minister, who has not been seen in public for months.

Mr Zhou headed China's Ministry of Public Security and was a member of the top decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee.

The move to target him will send shockwaves through the political elite.

He is the most senior Chinese official to be investigated since the Gang of Four - which included the wife of late leader Mao Zedong - in the early 1980s.

Zhou Yongkang retired in late 2012, as Xi Jinping took over from Hu Jintao as the Communist Party leader and China's president.

Since the transition, Mr Xi has introduced a wide-ranging crackdown on corruption within the party, warning graft could threaten the organisation's very survival.

Bo Xilai ally

In a brief statement, state-run Xinhua news agency said the investigation would be conducted by the Communist Party's corruption watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

No timescale was given for the probe, which has been widely expected.

Several individuals believed to have had close ties to Mr Zhou have also been targeted in corruption investigations in recent months.

Carrie Gracie, BBC China editor

Since taking power in 2012, it's been clear that President Xi Jinping was determined to consolidate his own power and remove opponents to economic reform.

But he also wanted to clean up the image of a ruling party which conceded that rampant corruption was the greatest threat to survival.

An anti-corruption drive has served all three objectives and conveniently boosted Mr Xi's public popularity.

But he always said he was targeting the tigers as well as the flies and it was important to demonstrate that he could defeat resistance at the very top.

Which makes today's long-awaited announcement about the disgrace and downfall of Zhou Yongkang an important signal of Mr Xi's supremacy but a blow to the reputation of the party he leads.

Mr Zhou's career saw him head both the ministry charged with overseeing domestic security and China's largest energy company, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

He was also the party's top official in Sichuan province.

Allies of his from all three areas are now the subject of various investigations.

Only a handful of people serve on the Politburo Standing Committee (in Mr Zhou's time nine, currently the number is seven) and they are seen as the most powerful individuals in China.

Zhou Yongkang was also an ally of Bo Xilai, the one-time high-flying former Chongqing party chief who was jailed last year.

In initial reactions observed on Weibo, China's Twitter-like micro-blogging platform, netizens appeared to praise the announcement.

Thumbs-up emoticons, "Got him!" and "Good job!" were just some of the more popular responses.

Many also made reference to "tigers", a reference to Mr Xi's promise to include high-ranking officials in his anti-corruption campaign.

"Now that is what I call an old tiger. Good job Mr Xi," said one user. "This is just one tiger out of many, to catch tigers one must have determination, don't stop now!" said another.

It was not clear to what extent officials were censoring negative comments, as has been done in the past.

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Israel steps up bombardment of Gaza

29 July 2014 Last updated at 12:58

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A fuel depot supplying Gaza's only power station has been hit, as Martin Patience and Chris Morris report

More than 100 Palestinians are said to have been killed after Israel intensified its bombardment of Gaza and warned of a long conflict ahead.

Gaza's only power plant caught fire as Israel carried out 60 air strikes, targeting sites associated with Hamas, the Islamist group which controls Gaza.

UN staff members are said to be among those killed.

An Israeli military spokesman said the strikes signalled a "gradual increase in the pressure" on Hamas.

In a televised address on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed the need to destroy tunnels dug under the Gaza-Israel border, to prevent militants infiltrating Israel.

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Israeli soldiers evacuate a "brother in arms" from Operation Protective Edge, as Orla Guerin reports

Palestinian officials say 1,115 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the fighting since 8 July while Israel has lost 53 soldiers and three civilians - two Israelis and a Thai worker.

UN Relief and Works Agency spokesman Chris Gunness said in a tweet that a number of staff members had reportedly been killed. The UN is currently caring for 182,604 Palestinians in its 82 shelters in Gaza, he said.

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An Israeli airstrike hit the house of former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh overnight, as Nick Childs reports

In another development, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused Israel of acting like a "rabid dog" and called on Muslims to arm Palestinians to enable them to fight back against "genocide".

'Humanitarian plant'

A huge plume of smoke rose over the strip's only power plant after one of its fuel tanks was reportedly set alight by Israeli tank shells, and the plant was forced to shut down.

For the past three weeks, most Gazans have been living with just a few hours of electrical supplies and now the situation will almost certainly get worse, the BBC's Martin Patience reports from Gaza.

Gaza also receives some power supplies from Israel and Egypt.

Fifty-five houses were destroyed in the bombing, with people buried under rubble in at least three of them, Palestinian security sources told the BBC.

The unoccupied house of former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh was destroyed.

"The destruction of stones will not break our will and we will continue our resistance until we gain freedom." he was quoted as saying on a Hamas website afterwards.

A neighbour, Um Hani Abu Ryalah, told AP news agency the experience had terrified her family: "Our children were so scared and they were screaming. Now they can't hear because of the loud explosions and they are shaking."

Israeli fire is also said to have damaged the Hamas TV and radio stations, three mosques, four factories and government buildings which included the finance ministry and a compound belonging to the interior ministry.

Gaza's port was also destroyed, Palestinian security sources told the BBC, and two schools and a kindergarten were on fire after being hit.

Among the 100 people killed on Tuesday were seven families, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Targeting tunnels

Rockets fired from Gaza continued to hit Israel on Tuesday.

Lt-Col Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, told AP pressure was being increased on Hamas.

"Israel is determined to strike this organisation and relieve us of this threat," he said.

On Monday, five Israeli soldiers were killed when militants infiltrated the border, while a mortar bomb killed four earlier and a tenth died in a clash in southern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

In his address on Monday night, Mr Netanyahu said Gaza had to be demilitarised in order to protect Israel.

"We will not finish the operation without neutralising the tunnels, which have the sole purpose of destroying our citizens, killing our children," he said.

Israel's Operation Protective Edge began on 8 July after a surge in militant rocket attacks.

A rally in support of the operation is planned for Tuesday evening in Tel Aviv.

Are you in Israel or Gaza? How are you affected by the situation? Email your experiences to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject 'Israel Gaza'.

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UK says EU sanctions deal 'closer'

28 July 2014 Last updated at 12:35

EU talks on tougher sanctions against Russia over Ukraine are "moving in the right direction", No 10 has said.

Prime Minister David Cameron's official spokeswoman said their focus was on securing agreement so sanctions could come in "as quickly as possible".

The spokeswoman said the EU was looking at sanctions in the financial, defence and high-tech energy sector.

She added that there may be "some pain to be had here in the UK" if sanctions were imposed in the financial sector.

EU ambassadors are meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. Any new sanctions could come into force within 24 hours of a deal being reached.

EU targets

The crash of a Malaysia Airlines jet in rebel-held eastern Ukraine earlier this month - believed to have been caused by a rebel missile strike - fuelled calls for tougher EU action.

Russia has denied allegations by Ukraine and Western leaders that it has supplied heavy weapons to the rebels. And the rebels denied shooting down the plane, instead blaming Ukrainian forces.

At the weekend, the EU added 15 individuals and 18 entities to its sanctions list targeting Russians linked to the separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine.

They included the Federal Security Service (FSB) and foreign intelligence heads, and the president of Chechnya.

The number of Russians subject to EU asset freezes and travel bans is now 87. Two Crimean energy firms were joined on the list by 18 other entities.

Western leaders accuse Russia of arming the pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine.

The EU says it is targeting those who "actively support or are benefiting from Russian decision makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea or the destabilisation of eastern Ukraine".

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Bidding starts for fracking licences

28 July 2014 Last updated at 11:51

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The BBC's David Shukman explains how fracking works

The government has opened the bidding process for new licences to extract shale gas, using the controversial fracking process.

About half the UK is open to exploration, but tightened rules cover areas of outstanding beauty.

Companies granted a licence to begin test drilling will also need planning permission and environmental permits.

The coalition sees shale gas as a major potential energy source. Critics of fracking warn of environmental dangers.

Fracking involves blasting water, chemicals and sand at high pressure into shale rock formations to release the gas held inside.

In announcing the so-called 14th onshore licensing round, Business and Energy Minister Matthew Hancock said: "Unlocking shale gas in Britain has the potential to provide us with greater energy security, jobs and growth."

"We must act carefully, minimising risks, to explore how much of our large resource can be recovered to give the UK a new home-grown source of energy."

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Energy Minister Matthew Hancock: "Some kind of recompense is very reasonable"

It is the first time in six years firms have had the opportunity to secure new licences.

"Of course there is local opposition in some places," Mr Hancock told the BBC.

"But broadly there is also public support for the argument that we need energy security."

However he was unable to immediately name a community which is welcoming fracking.

Drill down

Robert Gatliff, Science Editor at the British Geological Survey told the BBC it would still be some time before full scale drilling would start.

"The first stage, you'd review all the data you've got. Then you'd want to drill one or two exploration holes and then take samples of the shale and see exactly what the content is and see which have got the most in and which bits are likely to fracture best to get the most oil out."

An agreement to proceed with drilling would still be subject to planning permission and permits from the Environment Agency.

He said that although surveys suggest there is between 820 and 2000 trillion cubic feet of gas embedded under the UK, "there's no way we'd get all that out."

"If you look at what happens in the US, and that's where you've got to look because that's where they've drilled thousands of holes, they're not getting more than 5%," Mr Gatliff said.

"In Britain we're so crowded and we've got these beautiful areas, that reduces the amount we can get out as well."

Analysis

By Norman Smith, chief political correspondent, BBC News Channel

Government sources have dismissed claims that new restrictions on fracking are designed to head off protests in Tory seats in the south of England.

The government has today announced new curbs on fracking in areas of outstanding beauty and has also given the environment secretary more power to intervene where there are disputes over drilling.

However sources deny that the announcement by the Energy Minister, Matthew Hancock, is designed to assuage anger from Tory voters in the south - where fracking has been threatened in areas such as Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent.

Sources say that Mr Hancock is "a countryside man" with a genuine desire to protect areas of natural beauty.

However he acknowledges there is a need to re-assure voters about the impact of drilling for natural gas.

They stress that the new restrictions will apply to National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Beauty across the UK and not just in the south of England.

It's understood the first gas from fracking is likely to be extracted early next year.

About half the UK is open for licensing, including parts of National Parks. But applications there will only be accepted in "exceptional circumstances and in the public interest", said the government.

The same rules apply for the Broads, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and World Heritage Sites.

"Proposals for such development must recognise the importance of these sites," Communities Minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon said.

Tom Greatrex MP, Labour's Shadow Energy Minister, said: "With 80% of our heating coming from gas and declining North Sea reserves, shale and other unconventional gas may have the potential to form a part of our future energy mix."

But he added: "There are legitimate environmental concerns that must be addressed before extraction is permitted. Robust regulation and comprehensive monitoring are vital to ensure the public acceptability test is met."

The industry itself rejects these criticisms, arguing that, if regulated properly, fracking is a safe way to unlock huge resources of gas, which is a cleaner source of energy than coal.

In the UK test drilling has taken place in Lancashire and in the West Sussex town of Balcombe where last summer more than 1,000 people protested at a site operated by energy company Cuadrilla.

The north of England is the largest area identified as containing shale reserves.

The British Geological Survey has also pinpointed south east Scotland as containing significant shale resources.

Access rights

The government is keen to promote fracking in the UK, and has already announced a number of incentives to help kick-start the industry, including tax breaks, payments of £100,000 per site plus a 1% share of revenue to local communities.

It argues that shale gas could be an important bridge to help secure energy supplies until renewable energy capacity is increased.

Others argue that while it may be cleaner than coal, it is still a hydrocarbon that emits CO2 linked to global warming.

The BBC's Environment Analyst Roger Harrabin said: "If environmentalists succeed in stopping fracking in the UK by stirring up local objections they will actually make the greenhouse effect worse in the short term."

"This is because Britain will continue to use gas for heating and as a backup to capricious wind and solar electricity. If the industry can't get British gas it will import liquefied gas - and the energy needed to turn gas liquid makes it worse for the climate than home-produced gas."

In the US, shale gas has caused energy costs to tumble, but questions remain about whether the American shale revolution can be replicated in the UK and elsewhere.

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MH17 downing 'may be war crime'

28 July 2014 Last updated at 12:26

The downing of the Malaysia Airlines jet in eastern Ukraine may constitute a "war crime," the UN's Navi Pillay says.

Pro-Russia Ukrainian rebels and the Ukrainian authorities have accused each other of shooting down flight MH17.

A Ukrainian official said on Monday that MH17's data recorders show it came down due to "massive explosive decompression" caused by a rocket.

Meanwhile, heavy fighting has again prevented an international police force from reaching the crash site.

The Ukrainian military said it was battling separatists for control of several towns near the site in eastern Ukraine.

All 298 people on board the airliner - mostly Dutch - died on 17 July.

'War crime'

International police want to help secure the huge site so that plane wreckage and human remains can be examined by international crash experts.

Most of the bodies have been removed, many of them repatriated to the Netherlands.

"This violation of international law, given the prevailing circumstances, may amount to a war crime," Ms Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said of the downing of MH17.

"Every effort will be made to ensure that anyone committing serious violations of international law including war crimes will be brought to justice, no matter who they are," Ms Pillay said.

Ms Pillay spoke as the latest UN report on Ukraine suggested at least 1,129 people have been killed and 3,442 wounded in the Ukraine conflict since mid-April.

The conflict has displaced more than 200,000 people, many of whom have fled east to neighbouring Russia.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian security spokesman Andriy Lysenko told reporters on Monday that recovered flight data showed the aircraft crashed due to a massive, explosive loss of pressure after being punctured multiple times by shrapnel.

Flight MH17's two black boxes are currently being analysed by aviation experts in the UK.

Shelling

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he hoped monitors from the OSCE international security body would be able to deploy on the Ukraine-Russia border in the next few days.

In a statement on Monday, the Ukrainian military said it had "entered" the towns of Shakhtarsk and Torez and was working to seize control of Pervomaysk and Snizhne - all close to the crash site of MH17.

A team of Australian and Dutch police and forensic experts abandoned attempts to reach the site on Monday due to the security situation in the area. It was the second failed attempt in as many days.

The army is also trying to take control of two main roads in eastern Ukraine, which the government in Kiev believes to be vital supply lines from Russia for rebel forces in Donetsk.

In the past 24 hours there has been heavy artillery fire at the city of Horlivka, where several civilians were killed.

In the city of Donetsk at least three people died in shelling too, the municipal authorities say. And there are reports of civilian casualties as a result of the shelling of Luhansk, which is also held by the rebels.

Last week, the US-based Human Rights Watch said both sides in the conflict were using unguided Grad rockets against civilian areas, in violation of human rights norms, and urged them to stop doing so. It documented several attacks in which, it said, the rockets were apparently fired by government forces.

The US has produced what it calls satellite evidence that rockets have been fired at Ukrainian forces from Russian soil.

Russia denies that any of its forces are helping the rebels.

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Rain, hail and lightning cause chaos

28 July 2014 Last updated at 12:29

Lightning strikes, hail, torrential rain and flash flooding have caused major travel problems across east and south-east England.

There have been problems on the roads in Sussex, Essex and London.

London Fire Brigade said it was helping people trapped in their cars across parts of the capital.

Southern Water said "torrential rain fell across Sussex" leading to some sewers becoming "overwhelmed by the sheer volume of water".

Electrical supply problems caused by a lightning strike had led to disruption on Southern railways, although a Network Rail spokesman said services were returning to normal, subject to some residual delays.

Southern said it was running normal services in the region, apart from trains to Brighton which are not stopping at Worthing because of flooding in the station subway.

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Footage from Worthing shows roads filling with rain

The lightning hit an electricity sub-station, causing power to the coastal rail route to be cut, although the main line to London was running normally, according to a Network Rail spokeswoman.

In Essex, a road in the village of Thaxted collapsed and several homes were left flooded as a result of the heavy rain.

Five people in the village were taken to safety by fire crews and the boiler house at the village primary school in Bardfield Road was flooded.

The A40 Western Avenue in Uxbridge has also been closed because of flooding, according to BBC Travel.

In north-west London, two women had to be rescued from a car stranded in flash-flooding outside South Ruislip station.

London Fire Brigade said it was also dealing with two stranded cars on Eastcote Road in Harrow.

At one stage the AA's Special Operations Response Team said six cars were stuck in floodwater in Uxbridge, West London.

Fifty properties have been flooded on Bedford Road in Ruislip, while Tube services have been affected, with no service currently on the Metropolitan Line between Ruislip and Rayners Lane.

Jamie Davis, 17, of Ickenham, west London said the downpours, with flashing lightning and strong sounds of thunder, began at 09.00 BST and lasted for at least 45 minutes.

"My back garden is completely flooded. The drains are bubbling up and we can't flush the toilet," he said.

Sussex residents said the storm there started at 05.30.

Writing on Twitter Laurence Hill wrote: "Used to be roads. Now rivers of hail. Never seen anything like it."

Brighton and Hove Police posted: "Localised flooding in Hove and Portslade, some roads not passable. Please do not enter flood water on foot or in cars."

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Amateur video shows torrential rain and storms across Sussex

PC Andy Huggett, of Sussex Police, said: "Heavy rain after a long warm spell invariably leads to slippery roads and drivers need to immediately adjust to the new conditions.

"Along with the surface conditions, there are the added hazards of very heavy rain, flash flooding and poor visibility and it is essential that drivers make allowances."

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said its Brighton crews had dealt with a large number of weather-related emergency calls which had included flooding, lightning strikes "and false alarms caused by the weather".

Brighton and Hove City Council said essential services were being maintained across the city, and drains would start to carry away the water once the rain subsided.

"City Clean are working with East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service to clear roadside gullies.

"The refuse and recycling service is operating normally but might be a bit slower due to the weather," a spokesman said.

The council said its offices in Kings House were currently closed due to flooding in the basement which was threatening some of the main electrical panels.

It said staff were relocating to other buildings, and there would be some disruption to services.

Are you in Sussex, Essex or London? How have you been affected by the bad weather? How are you dealing with the flooding? Please share your experiences, photos and videos, including contact details by contacting yourpics@bbc.co.uk or tweet us @bbc_haveyoursay

Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

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Uneasy calm in Gaza after UN call

28 July 2014 Last updated at 12:45

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Martin Patience in Gaza: "Many Palestinians will think there isn't a great deal to celebrate"

Sporadic attacks by both Israel and Palestinian militants have punctuated a lull in fighting after the quietest night in the 21-day conflict.

There were no Israeli air strikes overnight though they resumed in the morning after a rocket hit the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon.

Earlier the UN Security Council urged a halt to hostilities to coincide with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

Israel launched its offensive three weeks ago after a surge in rocket fire.

More than 1,030 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 43 Israeli soldiers and two Israeli civilians have been killed. A Thai national in Israel has also died.

The Security Council called on Sunday night for an "immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire" in Gaza over and beyond the holiday period.

Both the Palestinian and Israeli envoys to the UN criticised the statement, for different reasons.

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Ian Pannell reports on the intense bombardment in Gaza

At the scene: Martin Patience, BBC News, Gaza

I think the big hope here is that the patchwork of ceasefires we have seen in the past couple of days will become more sustainable and durable, that through international pressure we will see the ceasefires hold and hostilities end.

This was perhaps the quietest night in the Gaza Strip that we've seen in the three weeks since this operation began. Today marks the start of Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, and it is a festival which is supposed to last three days, so people here will certainly welcome the quiet.

But the reality is that there is not a great deal to celebrate in Gaza. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting, most of them civilians. More than 100,000 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes. So people will welcome this respite but there is still uncertainty.

'Night of prayers'

Israel's military launched three air strikes on rocket sites after the rocket attack on Ashkelon.

A boy aged four was killed in one of the strikes, Gaza's health ministry said.

Rockets were also fired at the Sdot Negev and Eshkol districts of Israel, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reports.

An Israeli soldier was wounded in northern Gaza where the military wing of Hamas, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said it had "clashed" with Israeli infantry.

Gazans have been praying and visiting the graves of relatives and friends killed during the 21-day conflict.

"Eid here is limited to religious activities, some of the displaced people have returned to inspect their destroyed homes," the BBC's Rushdi Abualouf in Gaza said in a tweet. On a normal Eid, he added, "Palestinians visit their relatives, kids play in the streets".

Traffic on Gaza's roads and foot traffic in its markets was sparse, Haaretz reports. "Those that weren't hit and still left their homes only looked for basic needs, perhaps for their children, all we did tonight was pray for a lull in the fighting and pray for better days," a Gaza resident told the paper.

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Orla Guerin reports on Israel's response to rocket attacks

"The situation now is an unlimited truce," Israel's chief military spokesman, Brig Gen Motti Almoz, told Israel Radio. "The IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] is free to attack after any fire if there is any."

The UN Security Council called for a "durable" truce based on an Egyptian initiative, under which a pause in hostilities would lead to substantive talks on the future of Gaza, including the opening of Gaza's border crossings.

The Palestinian representative at the UN, Riyad Mansour, said the statement did not go far enough and that a formal resolution was needed demanding that Israel withdraw its forces from Gaza.

Israel's ambassador Ron Prosor accused the Security Council statement of bias for not mentioning Hamas and the firing of rockets at Israel.

Opinion polls published at the weekend suggest there is still widespread support among Israelis for the military operation.

At the scene: Bethany Bell, BBC News, Jerusalem

While Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing increasing international pressure for a long-term ceasefire with Hamas, at home there is strong public support for the army's offensive in Gaza. A poll published by Israel's Channel 10 television on Sunday suggested 87% of Israelis were in favour of continuing the Gaza operation - and just 7% wanted a full ceasefire.

There are concerns about the rising number of casualties among Israeli soldiers but people here want the rocket fire on Israel to stop. The sound of sirens over central and southern Israel has become part of everyday life. And many are very concerned about the new threat posed by the network of cross-border tunnels from Gaza.

At her home on a kibbutz close to the Gaza border, one woman said she was afraid. Rockets can be intercepted by Iron Dome, she told me, referring to Israel's missile defence system. "But there's no Iron Dome protection against Hamas fighters coming up through the tunnels to kidnap and kill us," she added.

Pressure on Obama

US President Barack Obama called for an immediate, unconditional humanitarian ceasefire in a phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

A long-term solution, he added, would have to allow "Palestinians in Gaza to lead normal lives" and "must ensure the disarmament of terrorist groups and the demilitarisation of Gaza".

Israel launched its military offensive on 8 July with the declared objective of stopping Hamas, the Islamist group which controls Gaza, firing rockets from Gaza into Israel.

On 18 July, it extended operations with a ground offensive, saying it was necessary to destroy tunnels dug by militants to infiltrate Israel.

Are you in Israel or Gaza? How are you affected by the situation? Email your experiences to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject 'Israel Gaza'.

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