‘Russian missile brought down MH17 over Ukraine’

AN international criminal investigating body has concluded that a Russian missile brought down the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

In a report released in The Hague yesterday, investigators said they have “convincing evidence” to support their report, adding that the Russian Brigade 53 were in possession of the missile.

The Boeing 777 plane was blown up as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 passengers on board, including 193 Dutch citizens.

Data from recovered flight recorders showed the plane was punctured multiple times by shrapnel, which resulted in an explosive loss of pressure, according to Ukrainian investigators at the time.

In an interim report in 2016, investigators said the plane was brought down by a surface-to-air missile launched from a territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists. At that time, Russian-backed forces were fighting for control of eastern Ukraine. Moscow and the Ukrainian anti-government separatist groups it supports have previously denied “Shut up, you idiot, k*****!”

This is what a Grade 2 teacher in Gauteng allegedly said to a 7-year-old girl shortly after slapping her so hard that she collided with the chalkboard.

Her father, a 29-year-old businessman who lives in the Midrand area, told News24 that he and his wife arrived home at around 18:00 last Friday.

“My daughter complained about her left ear, so we gave her painkillers like we usually do when children complain.”

On Sunday, when her condition appeared to deteriorate, her parents checked the left ear and noticed that it was a bit swollen. The little girl was taken to Netcare Hospital in Waterfall. “The doctor said the ear pain was caused by an injury and not an infection. The doctor also said the eardrum was affected.”

The father of two said he and his wife tried to speak to their daughter about what had happened, but she did not open up.

“On Monday morning, she appeared terrified when we were getting her ready for school. It got worse as we got nearer to the school. She burst into tears.

“I realised whatever was troubling her had something to do with the school.”

The man devised a plan to get his daughter comfortable and pretended to know what had happened. “She told me she was slapped by her teacher on Friday during school hours. She said her teacher was trying to keep the class quiet and involvement in the incident.

In 2015, Russia vetoed a UN resolution seeking to create an international tribunal to prosecute those who shot down the plane.

Rory Challands, reporting from St Petersburg in Russia, said the new findings from the investigation team have been known for months from reports by citizens journalists.“The investigation hasn’t specifically named names, but it is clear from what they have been saying today that they are pointing the blame today at the Russian military itself,” our correspondent said.

For years, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Russia must be held accountable for the downing of the plane.

During the third anniversary of the tragedy, Poroshenko described it as a “barefaced crime”.

At the time of the incident, Russian and Ukrainian forces have been fighting after Moscow annexed Crimea.

Nearly 10 000 people were killed during the fighting that broke out between pro-Russia fighters and Ukrainian government forces. — Al Jazeera

‘Shut up, you idiot, k*****’ — teacher allegedly tells pupil (7)

then she called her to the front of the class and then slapped her so hard that she collided with the chalkboard.”

When the little girl started crying, the teacher, whom she admired, yelled at her. “Shut up, you idiot, k*****,” the woman apparently said. “My daughter quoted the teacher clearly and it was the first time hearing my daughter using the k-word. I was shocked.”

Dropping his daughter off at the school, he told her not to tell the teacher that he knew what had happened.

“When I got to work, I called the principal and told him what my daughter had said and then I went to report the matter [to] the police and gave the police the medical report from the doctor.”

On Monday afternoon, shortly before school ended, the police went to the school to arrest the teacher.

The father claims that the woman told the police that she did not slap the girl hard enough to cause damage, and that she was sorry that the father found the incident to be racial.

“I said to her, whether it was racial or not, she had no right to beat up my child. She told me that we would meet in court,” the father claimed.

He told News24 that the principal told him the teacher had resigned prior to the incident.

The principal assured the family that he would be sending a report to the department, informing it of what had happened, the father said. — Sapa