New footage of MH17 crash site ‘sickens’ viewers a year on

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Need to know:

New video of the MH17 crash site was released today, marking a year since the Malaysian airliner was downed on the outskirts of a village in Ukraine. All 298 people on board the aircraft, which was headed from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, were killed in what most people believe was an attack by Russian-backed rebels. It is important to note that Moscow has not ceded that fact, however, and as recently as last month was still deflecting blame and offering up its own (somewhat questionable) versions of the event.

This new footage (not for the faint of heart) would appear to make Moscow's stance even harder to maintain. The footage shows uniformed rebels examining the contents of backpacks and collecting phones and other items as they try to find the black box amid the wreckage. The rebels appear to be surprised that the aircraft was a commercial airliner, not a fighter jet, and can be heard saying "civilians, civilians" and "this is a passenger plane" in Russian.

The video, whose authenticity has not been independently verified, was released on Friday by News Corp Australia. Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop called the footage "sickening to watch," and said it was "deeply concerning that this footage has emerged now," a year after the crash. "It is certainly consistent with the intelligence advice that we received 12 months ago, that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 had been shot down by a surface-to-air missile," she added.

Britain has joined the chorus of governments calling for an international tribunal to prosecute those suspected of shooting down the airliner. A criminal probe by a joint investigation team consisting of Australian, Belgian, Dutch, Malaysian and Ukrainian detectives is currently underway. Those five countries have also called for a tribunal. Moscow, however, is still having none of it: On Thursday, President Vladimir Putin rejected those calls, claiming a potential tribunal would be "premature." 

In other news, the FBI has identified Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, as the gunman who killed four Marines and wounded three others in attacks on military centers in Chattanooga, Tenn., yesterday. The gunman was shot dead by police the same morning. US federal prosecutor Bill Killian said the shootings were being treated as an "act of domestic terrorism."

Want to know:

Public transportation is not easy for women in India. It hasn't been for quite some time. You may recall the horrific gang rape of a woman on a bus in December 2012. But now even safer options, like cabs and private cars, are coming under scrutiny. 

Last December, an Uber passenger was raped in Delhi. And despite Uber's efforts since then to improve its safety precautions in Delhi, another passenger said she was sexually assaulted by an Uber driver in June. On July 2, a woman in Delhi booked a cab through an app on her phone, and said the driver masturbated while taking her home.

So what happens now? Women take the wheel. Delhi-based Sakha Consulting provides cabs with female drivers that only women or men accompanying women can take. Other players, like Meru Eve and Ola Pink, are also looking to launch women-only services. Uber has made a commitment to take on 50,000 women drivers in India by 2020.

And German Chancellor Angela Merkel hasn't exactly been putting her softer side forward these days, but yesterday's video clip that went viral didn't help her image much. The clip shows Merkel crushing the asylum dreams of a young Palestinian girl. "I have goals like anyone else," the girl, Reem, told Merkel. "I want to study like them. It’s very unpleasant to see how others can enjoy life, and I can’t myself."

Merkel did not mince words in response. "Politics is sometimes hard," she told the girl. "You’re right in front of me now and you’re an extremely sympathetic person, but you also know in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon are thousands and thousands and if we were to say you can all come … we just can’t manage it.” Ouch. 

Reem started sobbing, and Merkel responded by awkwardly stroking her arm — a stroke heard round the world in the form of the mocking Twitter hashtag #MarkelStreichelt.

Of course, Merkel's rhetoric has been working in other venues. German lawmakers gave Merkel the green light Friday to resume talks on a new EU-IMF bailout deal for Greece, after Merkel passionately argued it was the last chance to prevent "chaos" in the crisis-hit country. The measure to seek a new 86-billion-euro ($94 billion) rescue package sailed through the Bundestag by 439 to 119 votes with 40 abstentions.

Addressing the chamber before the vote, Merkel argued that "we would be grossly negligent, indeed acting irresponsibly if we did not at least try this path."

Strange but true:

Nothing says anti-gay like 5,000 naked people. At least that's what one political party in Kenya is hoping.

The Republican Liberty Party has vowed to greet Obama when he visits Kenya later this month with 5,000 "totally naked" male and female protesters. They aim to express dismay over Obama's "open and aggressive" support for gay rights, and impress upon him the "difference between a man and a woman." Indeed, that is a difference Obama will no doubt be able to absorb when not shielding his eyes. 

Where will the party find 5,000 people willing to let it all hang out in the name of homophobia? According to leader Vincent Kidaha, the party will be supplementing its numbers with volunteer sex workers. He claims the sex workers have agreed to work free of charge because they are afraid they will lose work if homosexuality is legalized. The oppressive climate for gays in Kenya means those seeking intercourse with same-sex partners often resort to prostitution.

Homosexual acts are illegal in Kenya, and carry punishments of up to 14 years in prison. Homophobia runs rampant. Anti-gay groups have warned Obama not to talk about gay rights on his trip there. But the White House made it clear Obama has no intention of side-stepping the issue. That makes 5,001.

The nudie demonstration is set to take place at Freedom Corner in Nairobi's Uhuru Park on July 22 and 23.