Vice President Joe Biden said the incident was “not an accident” and described the Malaysia Airlines plane as having been “blown out of the sky.”Among the unanswered questions was whether the missile was launched from the Russian or Ukrainian side of the border they share, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly by name and insisted on anonymity. But the official said U.S. intelligence assessments suggest it is more likely pro-Russian separatists or the Russians rather than Ukrainian government forces shot down the plane.The U.S. has sophisticated technologies that can detect missile launches, including the identification of heat from a rocket engine.The White House late Thursday said while all the facts were not yet known, “we do know that this incident occurred in the context of a crisis in Ukraine that is fueled by Russian support for the separatists, including through arms, materiel and training.”In its statement, the White House called for a “full, credible and unimpeded international investigation as quickly as possible.””We urge all concerned — Russia, the pro-Russian separatists and Ukraine — to support an immediate cease-fire in order to ensure safe and unfettered access to the crash site for international investigators and in order to facilitate the recovery of remains.”It is vital that all potential evidence and remains be undisturbed, the White House said, offering U.S. assistance that could include the National Transportation Safety Board and the FBI.President Barack Obama, speaking during a trip to Delaware, made no mention of who might be responsible for the crash of the plane carrying 298 people, and called the incident a “terrible tragedy.”Following the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration said U.S. airlines voluntarily agreed not to operate near the Ukraine-Russia border. The agency said it was monitoring the situation to determine whether further guidance was necessary.A global air safety group said an international coalition of countries should lead the investigation of the crash. Safety experts say they’re concerned that because the plane crashed in area of Ukraine that is in dispute, political considerations could affect the investigation.View galleryPeople walk amongst the debris at the crash site of a passenger plane near the village of Grabovo, U …Kenneth Quinn of the Flight Safety Foundation said only “an independent, multinational investigation can truly get to the bottom of it without political interference.”The incident came one day after Obama levied broad economic sanctions on Russia as punishment for its threatening moves in Ukraine. Moscow is widely believed to be supporting pro-Russian separatists fomenting instability near the border, though the Kremlin denies those assertions.Obama discussed the new sanctions by phone Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The White House said reports of the downed plane surfaced during that call and Putin mentioned the incident to his American counterpart.Speaking later during a trip to Delaware, Obama said “the world is watching” the deadly incident.”It looks like it might be a terrible tragedy,” he said. “Right now we’re working to determine whether there were American citizens on board. That is our first priority.”Secretary of State John Kerry said late Thursday that authorities still were trying to determine whether any Americans had been on the plane.Obama went ahead later Thursday with a scheduled evening of fundraising for Democrats in New York, but called Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko as he traveled to the events. The White House said Obama and Poroshenko agreed that all evidence from the crash site must remain in Ukraine until international investigators were able to examine it.The president also called both Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia and Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands, where the flight originated. Officials said Obama and Rutte discussed the need for international investigators to have immediate access to the crash site.The U.S. planned to send a team of experts to Ukraine to assist with the investigation.Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said on his Facebook page that the plane was flying at an altitude of 33,000 feet when it was hit by a missile fired from a Buk launcher.U.S. officials said Russia has sent a wide range of heavy weaponry into eastern Ukraine in recent months, although it is uncertain whether that includes the Buk air defense system, which is operated by a tracked vehicle. The U.S. suspects that Russian shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons have been provided to the separatists.According to a Ukrainian state-owned import-export firm that specializes in military technology and weaponry, known as Ukroboronservice, the Ukrainian military operates the Buk-M1 system, which is designated by NATO as the SA-11 Gadfly. It is designed to shoot down military aircraft, including helicopters, as well as cruise missiles.The Russians also are believed by U.S. officials to have provided the separatists in eastern Ukraine with other heavy weaponry such as artillery, multiple-launch rocket systems, tanks and armored personnel carriers.The Federal Aviation Administration had previously warned U.S. pilots earlier this year not to fly over portions of the Ukraine in the Crimea region, according to notices posted on the agency’s website.The notices were posted on April 23. The U.N.’s International Civil Aviation Organization and the aviation authorities in most countries issue similar notices for areas where unrest or military conflict creates a risk of being shot down._Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Nedra Pickler, Robert Burns, Joan Lowy and Josh Lederman contributed to this report._Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Lolita C. Baldor at http://twitter.com/lbaldor

For Malaysia Airlines, disaster strikes twice

By CHRIS BRUMMITT 2 hours ago

View gallery HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Two Boeing 777s. Two incredibly rare aviation disasters. And one airline.Related Stories

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• Malaysia Airlines Plane Was Hit by Surface-to-Air Missile, U.S. Officials Say The Wall Street Journal

In what appears to be a mind-boggling coincidence, Malaysia is reeling from the second tragedy to hit its national airline in less than five months.On March 8, a Malaysia Airlines jetliner vanished about an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, spawning an international mystery that remains unsolved. On Thursday, the airline — and the nation — were pitched into another crisis after the same type of aircraft was reported shot down over Ukraine.Ukraine said the plane was brought down by a missile over the violence-wracked eastern part of the country. Other details were only just beginning to emerge.But what’s certain is that the struggling airline and the nation must now prepare for another agonizing encounter with grief, recriminations, international scrutiny and serious legal and diplomatic implications.”This is a tragic day in what has already been a tragic year for Malaysia,” Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said.Amid it all, a question: Just how could disaster strike the airline twice in such a short space of time?View galleryElectronic flight information board shows Malaysia Airlines flight MH 0017, after the plane crashed  …”Either one of these events has an unbelievably low probability,” said John Cox, president and CEO of Safety Operating Systems and a former airline pilot and accident investigator. “To have two in a just a few months of each other is certainly unprecedented.”The first disaster deeply scarred Malaysia and left the world dumbstruck. How could a Boeing 777-200ER, a modern jumbo jet, simply disappear? Flight 370 had veered off course during a flight to Beijing and is believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean far off the western Australian coast.The search area has changed several times, but no sign of the aircraft, or the 239 people aboard, has been found. Until then, how the plane got there is likely to remain a mystery.On Thursday, there was no mystery over the whereabouts of the Boeing 777-200ER, which went down on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 283 passengers and 15 crew members. Its wreckage was found in Ukraine, and there were no survivors.Officials said the plane was shot down at an altitude of 10,000 meters (33,000 feet.) The region has seen severe fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatists in recent days.”If it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down, we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice,” Malaysia’s prime minister said.View galleryA woman reacts after hearing about the Malaysia Airlines passenger plane crashing in eastern Ukraine …Malaysia Airlines was widely criticized for the way it handled the Flight 370 hunt and investigation. Some relatives of those on board accused the airline of engaging in a cover-up, and there have been persistent conspiracy theories over the fate of the plane, including that it might have been shot down.There was no immediate reason to think the two disasters to befall the airline were in any way linked.Najib said the plane’s flight route had been declared safe by the global civil aviation body. And Cox said that to his knowledge, there was no prohibition against flying over eastern Ukraine despite the fighting on the ground.Charles Oman, a lecturer at the department of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said it was too early to draw conclusions.”Given the military conflict in the region, one has to be concerned that identities could have been mistaken,” he said in an email.Malaysia Airlines was especially criticized for the way it handled the communications around the missing jetliner, which presented unique challenges because of the uncertainty facing the relatives of those on board. With the plane crashing Thursday over land and its wreckage already located, there will be no such uncertainty.But the investigation will be just as sensitive. There will be legal and diplomatic implications depending on who was responsible.”The airline and the Malaysian transport ministry took a lot of hits for the way they handled MH370, due to their inexperience,” Oman said. “Hopefully they will do better this time.”The accident will surely inflict more financial damage on Malaysia Airlines. Even before the March disaster, it reported a loss of $370 million in 2013 when most of the word’s other airlines were posting an average profit of 4.7 percent. After the Flight 370 disaster, passengers canceled flights, and even though the airline is insured, it faces uncertainty over payouts to the victims’ families.”They were in worse shape than any other airline in the world before even the first incident,” said Seth Kaplan, managing partner of industry newsletter Airline Weekly. “There’s little precedent for an airline going through what they have gone through let alone surviving it.”_Chris Brummitt is the AP’s Southeast Asia news editor and directed the coverage of Flight 370 disaster from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Malaysia says jetliner did not make distress call

By EILEEN NG 1 hour ago

View gallery  KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The Malaysia Airlines jetliner that went down in war-torn Ukraine did not make any distress call, Malaysia’s prime minister said Friday, adding that its flight route had been declared safe by the global civil aviation body.Related Stories

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• Ukraine: Pro-Russia rebels downed Malaysian plane Associated Press
• Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 298 people shot down in missile strike near Ukraine-Russia border: U.S. official Yahoo News
• For Malaysia Airlines, disaster strikes twice Associated Press

Najib Razak, who addressed a middle-of-the-night news conference after speaking with leaders of Ukraine and the Netherlands, and to President Barack Obama, said “no stone will be left unturned” in finding out what happened to Flight 17 and the 298 people on board.It is the second tragedy to hit Malaysia Airlines this year. Its Flight 370 disappeared March 8 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It has not been found, but the search has been concentrated in the Indian Ocean west of Australia.”This is a tragic day in what has already been a tragic year for Malaysia,” Najib said.In both tragedies, the planes were the wide-bodied Boeing 777-200.Najib said that Ukrainian authorities believe Flight 17, which was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 283 passengers and 15 crew, was shot down Thursday. Among the passengers were three infants.View galleryA woman reacts to news regarding a Malaysia Airlines plane that crashed in eastern Ukraine at Kuala  …A U.S. official said American intelligence authorities believe a surface-to-air missile took down the plane, but it is not clear who fired it. He said it appears unlikely the Ukrainian government, which has denied responsibility, shot down the plane because it doesn’t have the capabilities. Pro-Russia separatists fighting the government have also denied any responsibility.”At this stage, however, Malaysia is unable to verify the cause of this tragedy but we must, and we will, find out precisely what happened to this flight,” Najib said. “If it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice,” he said.At least 27 of the victims were Australian, and Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Friday that authorities owed it to the families of the dead to find out what happened.”As things stand, this looks less like an accident than a crime. And if so, the perpetrators must be brought to justice,” Abbott told parliament.Najib said the aircraft flight route was declared safe by the International Civil Aviation Organization. The International Air Transportation Association had also stated that the air space that the aircraft was traversing was not subject to restrictions, he said. Besides, “Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that the aircraft did not make a distress call.”View galleryA woman reacts to news regarding a Malaysia Airlines plane that crashed in eastern Ukraine at Kuala  …Still, a former head of airports security group BAA suggested that many airlines including Malaysia Airlines had continued to use the route despite warnings because it was shorter and cheaper.”It is a busy aviation route and there have been suggestions that a notice was given to aviators telling airlines to avoid that particular area,” said Norman Shanks, who is a professor of aviation security at Coventry University in England.”But Malaysia Airlines, like a number of other carriers, have been continuing to use it because it is a shorter route, which means less fuel and therefore less money,” he told The Associated Press.Hours after the disaster, Malaysia Airlines announced all European flights will henceforth take an alternative route.Najib said the Ukrainian government has promised a full and thorough investigation which will include Malaysian officials. He said they will also negotiate with rebels to “establish a humanitarian corridor to the crash site.”View galleryIn this image taken from video, Thursday July 17, 2014, showing flames rising from part of the wreck …In his conversation with Obama, Najib said they agreed that “the investigation must not be hindered in any way. An international team must have full access to the crash site. And no one must interfere with the area, or move any debris, including the black box.”Earlier, several relatives of those on board the Malaysian airliner began arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to seek news of their loved ones.A distraught Akmar Mohamad Noor said her older sister, who lives in Geneva, was on her way back to celebrate Eid with the family.The 67-year-old sister has lived in Geneva for 30 years and last visited the family in Kuala Lumpur five years ago, she said.”She was coming back from Geneva to celebrate (Eid) with us for the first time in 30 years,” Akmar said in between sobs. “She called me just before she boarded the plane and said ‘see you soon,” Akmar said.She said the family saw the news on TV and rushed to the airport to get details.Several other angry relatives were shouting and demanding to see the passenger manifest but there was no official from Malaysian Airline present, and security guards prevented them from going into the airline’s operating area.”We have been waiting for four hours. We found out the news from international media. The Facebook is more efficient than MAS. It’s so funny, they are a laughing stock,” an angry young man told reporters. He declined to give his name.

HRABOVE, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine accused pro-Russian separatists of shooting down a Malaysian jetliner with 298 people aboard, sharply escalating the crisis and threatening to draw both East and West deeper into the conflict. The rebels denied downing the aircraft.American intelligence authorities believe a surface-to-air missile brought the plane down Thursday but were still working on who fired the missile and whether it came from the Russian or Ukrainian side of the border, a U.S. official said.Bodies, debris and burning wreckage of the Boeing 777 were strewn over a field near the rebel-held village of Hrabove in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Russian border, where fighting has raged for months.U.S. Vice President Joe Biden described the plane as having been “blown out of the sky.”The aircraft appeared to have broken up before impact, and there were large pieces of the plane that bore the red, white and blue markings of Malaysia Airlines — now familiar worldwide because of the carrier’s still-missing jetliner from earlier this year.The cockpit and one of the turbines lay at a distance of one kilometer (more than a half-mile) from one another. Residents said the tail was about 10 kilometers (six miles) farther away. Rescue workers planted sticks with white flags in spots where they found human remains.There was no sign of any survivors from Flight 17, which took off shortly after noon Thursday from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 283 passengers, including three infants, and a crew of 15. Malaysia’s prime minister said there was no distress call before the plane went down and that the flight route was declared safe by the International Civil Aviation Organization.Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called it an “act of terrorism” and demanded an international investigation. He insisted his forces did not shoot down the plane.Malaysia Airlines plane brought down by missile in … Play VideoIn Kuala Lumpur, several relatives of those aboard the jet came to the international airport.A distraught Akmar Mohamad Noor, 67, said her older sister was coming to visit the family for the first time in five years. “She called me just before she boarded the plane and said, ‘See you soon,’” Akmar said.It was the second time a Malaysia Airlines plane was lost in less than six months. Flight 370 disappeared in March en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It has not been found, but the search has been concentrated in the Indian Ocean far west of Australia.”This is just too much,” said Cindy Tan, who was waiting at the airport for a friend on another flight. “I don’t know really why this happened to a MAS (Malaysia Airlines) plane again.”Ukraine’s security services produced what they said were two intercepted telephone conversations that showed rebels were responsible. In the first call, the security services said, rebel commander Igor Bezler tells a Russian military intelligence officer that rebel forces shot down a plane. In the second, two rebel fighters — one of them at the crash scene — say the rocket attack was carried out by a unit of insurgents about 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of the site.Neither recording could be independently verified.Earlier in the week, the rebels had claimed responsibility for shooting down two Ukrainian military planes.President Barack Obama called the crash a “terrible tragedy” and spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Poroshenko. Britain asked for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Ukraine.View galleryFire engines arrive at the crash site of a passenger plane near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine, as …Later, Putin said Ukraine bore responsibility for the crash, but he didn’t address the question of who might have shot it down and didn’t accuse Ukraine of doing so.”This tragedy would not have happened if there were peace on this land, if the military actions had not been renewed in southeast Ukraine,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin statement issued early Friday. “And, certainly, the state over whose territory this occurred bears responsibility for this awful tragedy.”At the United Nations, Ukrainian Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev told the AP that Russia gave the separatists a sophisticated missile system and thus Moscow bears responsibility, along with the rebels.Officials said more than half of those aboard the plane were Dutch citizens, along with passengers from Australia, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines and Canada. The home countries of nearly 50 were not confirmed.”We owe it as well to the families of the dead to find out exactly what has happened and exactly who is responsible,” Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in Parliament Friday. “As things stand, this looks less like an accident than a crime. And if so, the perpetrators must be brought to justice.”The different nationalities of the dead would bring Ukraine’s conflict to parts of the globe that were never touched by it before.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he was “horrified” by the crash, and said the United States was prepared to help with an international investigation.Ukraine’s crisis began after pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych was driven from office in February by a protest movement among citizens angry about endemic corruption and seeking closer ties with the European Union. Russia later annexed the Crimean Peninsula in southern Ukraine, and pro-Russians in the country’s eastern regions began occupying government buildings and pressing for independence. Moscow denies Western charges it is supporting the separatists or sowing unrest.MH17 Hit by Anti-Aircraft System Play VideoKenneth Quinn of the Flight Safety Foundation said an international coalition of countries should lead the investigation. Safety experts say they’re concerned that because the plane crashed in area of Ukraine that is in dispute, political considerations could affect the investigation.The RIA-Novosti agency quoted rebel leader Alexander Borodai as saying talks were underway with Ukrainian authorities on calling a short truce for humanitarian reasons. He said international organizations would be allowed into the conflict-plagued region.Some journalists trying to reach the crash site were detained briefly by rebel militiamen, who were nervous and aggressive.Aviation authorities in several countries, including the FAA in the United States, had issued warnings not to fly over parts of Ukraine prior to Thursday’s crash, but many carriers, including cash-strapped Malaysia Airlines, had continued to use the route because “it is a shorter route, which means less fuel and therefore less money,” said aviation expert Norman Shanks.Within hours of Thursday’s crash, several airlines said they were avoiding parts of Ukrainian airspace.Malaysia Airlines said Ukrainian aviation authorities told the company they had lost contact with Flight 17 at 1415 GMT (10:15 a.m. EDT) about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Tamak waypoint, which is 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border.A U.S. official said American intelligence authorities believe the plane was brought down by a surface-to-air missile but were still working to determine additional details about the crash, including who fired the missile and whether it came from the Russian or Ukraine side of the border.But American intelligence assessments suggest it is more likely pro-Russian separatists or the Russians rather than Ukrainian government forces shot down the plane, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly Malaysia Airlines chief reveals nationalities of p … Play VideoThe United States has sophisticated technologies that can detect missile launches, including the identification of heat from the rocket engine.Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said on his Facebook page the plane was flying at about 10,000 meters (33,000 feet) when it was hit by a missile from a Buk launcher, which can fire up to an altitude of 22,000 meters (72,000 feet). He said only that his information was based on “intelligence.”Igor Sutyagin, a research fellow in Russian studies at the Royal United Services Institute, said both Ukrainian and Russian forces have SA-17 missile systems — also known as Buk ground-to-air launcher systems.Rebels had bragged recently about having acquired Buk systems.Sutyagin said Russia had supplied separatists with military hardware but had seen no evidence “of the transfer of that type of system from Russia.”Earlier Thursday, AP journalists saw a launcher that looked like a Buk missile system near the eastern town of Snizhne, which is held by the rebels.Poroshenko said his country’s armed forces didn’t shoot at any airborne targets.”We do not exclude that this plane was shot down, and we stress that the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not take action against any airborne targets,” he said.The Kremlin said Putin “informed the U.S. president of the report from air traffic controllers that the Malaysian plane had crashed on Ukrainian territory” without giving further details about their call. The White House confirmed the call.Separatist leader Andrei Purgin told the AP he was certain that Ukrainian troops had shot the plane down, but gave no explanation or proof.There have been several disputes over planes being shot down over eastern Ukraine in recent days.A Ukrainian fighter jet was shot down Wednesday by an air-to-air missile from a Russian plane, Ukrainian authorities said, adding to what Kiev says is mounting evidence that Moscow is directly supporting the insurgents.Pro-Russia rebels claimed responsibility for strikes on two Ukrainian Sukhoi-25 jets Wednesday. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said the second jet was hit by a portable surface-to-air missile but the pilot landed safely._Peter Leonard reported from Kiev with contributions from an Associated Press reporter in Hrabove, Ukraine. Also contributing were AP Airlines Writer Scott Mayerowitz in New York; Jill Lawless and Matthew Knight in London; Laura Mills and Jim Heintz in Moscow; Lolita C. Baldor and Darlene Superville in Washington; Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations; Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands; and Eileen Ng and Satish Cheney in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

What Actually Happens When a Missile Strikes a Plane

By RHEANA MURRAY 2 hours ago Good Morning America

View photo What Actually Happens When a Missile Strikes a Plane (ABC News)People aboard Malaysia Airlines’ doomed MH17 flight today would have had no idea a missile was coming – and no way to prevent it, experts said.Related Stories

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• For Malaysia Airlines, disaster strikes twice Associated Press
• White House warns against removal of plane evidence AFP
• Sophisticated Surface-to-Air System Needed to Shoot Down High-Flying Jets The Wall Street Journal

The explosion captured in a video likely didn’t happen until the Boeing 777 aircraft crashed into the ground, Timothy Holt, a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University told ABC News.”In this case, it looks like most of the aircraft disintegrated upon impact [with the ground],” he said.Malaysia Airlines Plane Brought Down By Missile in Ukraine‘Bodies Are Everywhere’: WitnessLive Updates: Malaysia Airlines Plane Crashes in UkraineWhat happened to the aircraft depends on where the missile struck, he explained, saying that if it pierced the wings – where the fuel is located – the plane might have exploded mid-air.But with this explosion, “it looks like most of the gas was still contained,” Holt said.”You don’t see a fireball in the sky … you see the flame when it hits, you see the black clouds coming out.”Commercial planes like the one that was taken down today in eastern Ukraine carrying 295 people don’t have the equipment that lets crews know if a missile is tracking the aircraft. The only way a pilot might know is if he saw the missile fired from the ground.”If you had some warning in a commercial aircraft, if you see a visual, the best you could hope for is maybe doing a quick descent, taking it into a turn,” said Holt, who flew surveillance aircraft in the U.S. Navy for about 15 years. “But we’re not talking a high-performance jet that’s going to try to out-maneuver a missile. I don’t see a way pilots really could have avoided it at that point. And commercial pilots aren’t trained for missile strikes.”It’s not yet clear if passengers, whose remains are scattered in Hrabove in eastern Ukraine, died immediately when the missile struck or possibly minutes later, when the plane crashed to the ground.”A lot depends on missile type and where the missile impacts,” Holt said.A U.S. official told ABC News that a surface-to-air missile struck the Boeing 777 that went down today in Ukraine near Russia’s border. It is unclear whether the missile was fired from inside Ukrainian or Russian territory and who fired it, the official added. Debris and remains are spread across 10 miles in the area.The flight, carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew members, was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

What Weapons Could Have Brought Down MH17 – And Why

By LEE FERRAN and LUIS MARTINEZ 1 hour ago Good Morning America

View photo What Weapons Could Have Brought Down MH17 – And Why (ABC News)An American official said today that the U.S. believes a single surface-to-air missile caused the crash of an Malaysia Airlines plane in Ukraine today, potentially answering one of a host of questions about the tragedy, but leaving two big ones: If that’s true, who fired the missile, and was the plane the real target?Related Stories

• Sophisticated Surface-to-Air System Needed to Shoot Down High-Flying Jets The Wall Street Journal
• Malaysia Airlines Plane Was Hit by Surface-to-Air Missile, U.S. Officials Say The Wall Street Journal
• If Ukrainian rebels hit Malaysian plane, where’d they get the missile? Christian Science Monitor
• Malaysian airliner downed in Ukraine war zone, 298 dead Reuters
• White House warns against removal of plane evidence AFP

Ukrainian officials said that they suspected a Russian-built surface-to-air missile system was responsible for the crash and blamed Russian-trained separatists for hitting the civilian airliner.U.S. officials, including those from various intelligence agencies, said they’re still gathering information about the incident and have declined to comment about who is believed to be responsible. The U.S. official who said a single missile had been used also said it was unclear if the missile was fired from territory in Ukraine or Russia.Richard Clarke, former White House counter-terrorism advisor and ABC News consultant, said that if a Russian surface-to-air missile system was used, that wouldn’t necessarily point to who exactly pulled the trigger – whether the Ukrainian military, the Russian military or pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.Malaysia Airlines Plane Brought Down by Missile in Ukraine, US Official Says Malaysia Airlines Plane Downed in Ukraine, Witness Says ‘Bodies Everywhere’ Who Will End Up With the Malaysia Airlines Black Box?There is also more than one system to consider. A statement from the U.S. Embassy in Kiev earlier today noted that Ukrainian military analysts believe the Russian-made SA-17 Grizzly, or BUK-M2 as it’s known in Russia, may have fired the fatal shot.“If true, this represents a significant escalation,” the Embassy said. The Embassy described the SA-17 as a “sophisticated system requiring a whole suite of radar and command vehicles.”The SA-17 Grizzly is one of the more recent of the Russian BUK family of medium-range surface-to-air missile systems. Unlike shoulder-fired, MANPAD rockets, which have a limited range, the SA-17 is a large, mobile missile system fired from military vehicles that can reach tens of thousands of feet in the air – more than high enough to hit a jetliner at cruising altitude, according to an Australian industry analysis of the system.Developed by the Russians, the SA-17 system has been a point of pride in Moscow where it was featured among other weapons systems in Russian Victory Day parades through Red Square. The state-owned Russian news outlet RIA Novosti reported last year that Russian armed forces hoped to upgrade to a newer version of the missile system in 2016.Prior to the SA-17, the Russians developed the SA-11 Gadfly, or BUK-M1, which both the Russian military and the Ukrainian military operate. While less sophisticated, missiles fired from the SA-11 can still reach more than high enough to knock out an airliner at cruise altitude, according to IHS Jane’s Missiles and Rockets editor Doug Richardson.The Ukrainian military also has permanent, fixed position surface-to-air missile systems that would have “no difficulty downing a target flying at 30,000 feet,” but Richardson said operators for those would “have a good idea of the air traffic present in the surrounding area, so would be unlikely to mistake an airliner for a combat aircraft.”Ukraine has denied it was responsible, Russian President Vladimir Putin said “the state over whose territory it happened is responsible,” since the tragedy “would not have happened if there was peace on this land…” and Ukrainian Security Services released audio of what it said was intercepted conversations between pro-Russian militants that implicated them in the crash. The rebels have reportedly denied responsibility as well, their leader claiming they don’t have the weapons necessary to take down the aircraft.Last month, Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said that the Russian government had been training pro-Russian separatists inside Russia to have an “anti-aircraft capability.” That training, Breedlove said, then appeared to flow into Ukraine.“What we see in training on the east side of the border is big equipment, tanks, APCs [Armored Personnel Carriers], anti-aircraft capability, and now we see those capabilities being used on the west side of the border,” Breedlove told reporters. Breedlove said he had not seen training in the smaller MANPAD systems, but, “we have seen vehicle-borne capability being trained.”However, it’s unclear where the separatists may have actually acquired the missile launchers. A Russian news outlet reported earlier this month a group of rebels had seized one surface-to-air platform in Ukraine, but NYU professor and Russian-specialist Mark Galeotti wrote that report was “almost certainly preemptive disinformation.” Galeotti suspects the plane was brought down by a SA-11 “supplied by the Russians.” The U.S. State Department has said before Russia is supplying separatists with heavy weapons.Steve Ganyard, former Marine Corps fighter pilot and ABC News consultant, said that if the Russian missile systems were used by the rebels, the systems’ complexity could have played a role in the tragedy.“One idea, and it’s just an idea, that if this was caused a by shoot-down by the separatists themselves, they were probably given only very notional training on this very sophisticated surface-to-air missile systems. So they may not have been able to use the systems that would’ve identified this Malaysian aircraft as a civilian jetliner,” he said. “They may have just seen a target, locked on to it and said, ‘Ready, set, go, we’re going to fire.’”A senior U.S. official agreed that U.S. analysts fear relatively untrained separatists might have fired wildly, but emphasized that at this point, it’s all still just a theory.CLICK HERE to return to the ABC News Investigative Unit homepage.

Obama, Putin discuss Malaysia plane incident

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE 8 hours ago

View photo People walk amongst the debris at the crash site of a passenger plane near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine, Thursday, July 17, 2014. Ukraine said a passenger plane carrying 295 people was shot down Thursday as it flew over the country, and both the government and the pro-Russia separatists fighting in the region denied any responsibility for downing the plane. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Thursday that the passenger plane downed over Ukraine “looks like it may be a terrible tragedy” and his top priority is finding out whether American citizens were on board.Related Stories

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• Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 298 people shot down in missile strike near Ukraine-Russia border: U.S. official Yahoo News
• Obama: U.S. Will Assist Malaysia Airlines Crash Investigation The Wall Street Journal

Obama said he’s directed his aides to stay in close contact with Ukrainian officials and offer U.S. help to determine what caused the crash. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 295 people an act of terrorism.An Associated Press journalist counted at least 22 bodies at the crash site about 25 miles from the Russian border, where government and pro-Moscow separatists have been fighting.Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said on his Facebook page that the plane was flying at an altitude of 33,000 feet when it was hit by a missile fired from a Buk launcher.Obama press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama was on a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin when news of the downed plane broke. Earnest and the Kremlin said Putin mentioned those early reports in the call, but provided no details of what the two leaders said about it.”The world is watching reports of a downed passenger jet near the Russia-Ukraine border,” Obama said later as he took the stage for a speech in Delaware to discuss transportation funding. “It looks like it might be a terrible tragedy. Right now we’re working to determine whether there were American citizens on board. That is our first priority.”Shortly after Obama spoke, Earnest said Vice President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Poroshenko to offer U.S. assistance to help to determine what happened and why.The rest of the phone call between Obama and Putin was dedicated to the general situation in eastern Ukraine, and recent U.S. sanctions against Russian individuals and companies.The Federal Aviation Administration had warned U.S. pilots earlier this year not to fly over portions of the Ukraine in the Crimea region, according to notices posted on the agency’s website.The notices were posted on April 23. The U.N.’s International Civil Aviation Organization and the aviation authorities in most countries issue similar notices for areas where unrest or military conflict creates a risk of being shot down.The FAA had not issued any new warnings Thursday afternoon in the immediate aftermath of reports that a Malaysian airliner had been shot down over the Ukraine._Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap

Russia slams sanctions ‘blackmail’

By Anna Malpas with Max Delany in Kiev 12 hours ago

WSJ Live U.S. Escalates Sanctions Against Russia Over Ukraine Crisis U.S. Escalates Sanctions Against Russia Over Ukraine CrisisAirlines Now Avoid Flying Over Eastern UkraineMH17: Surface-to-Air System Needed to Shoot Down JetsU.S. Cautions on Separatist Claims of ResponsibilityU.S. Stocks Close Session Sharply LowerMalaysia Air MH17 Crash: Video From the Wreckage Moscow (AFP) – The US and EU bolstered sanctions against Russia over its alleged support of separatists in Ukraine, drawing an angry rebuke on Thursday from Moscow which said the measures amounted to “blackmail”.President Barack Obama in sanctions imposed Wednesday took his first direct swipes at the Russian economy’s finance, military and energy sectors, further escalating the worst standoff between the Kremlin and the West since the Cold War.Washington had warned last week that Moscow had to demonstrate a clean break from separatists or face the tougher sanctions.But Kiev laid new allegations against Russia Thursday, saying a Russian fighter jet on Wednesday shot down a Ukrainian warplane over its territory.The Russian foreign ministry reacted to sanctions in a furious statement: “We do not intend to tolerate blackmail and reserve the right to take retaliatory measures” against the US.Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier warned that sanctions would inflict “very serious damage” on the already tattered US-Russia relationship.”Without any doubt in this case (sanctions) are driving Russian-US relations towards a dead-end, (and) are inflicting very serious damage on them,” Putin said while on a visit to Brasilia.”And I am convinced that this will harm the national long-term interests of the American state, the American people,” Putin told reporters.View galleryA building destroyed by the Ukrainian Air Force in Snezhnoye, 80 km east of Donetsk, pictured on Jul …US sanctions like the ones imposed “have never put anyone on their knees,” added Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, predicting a “rise of anti-American attitudes”.Moscow gave a milder response to EU sanctions, with the foreign ministry saying it had “submitted to blackmail from the American administration” and should have “its own voice”.Ukraine hailed the tougher sanctions, with Western-backed President Petro Poroshenko saying he welcomed the EU moves that involve the European Investment Bank and European Bank of Reconstruction and Development halting finance for projects in Russia.”The European Council has taken an important step to support the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine,” Poroshenko said on his Facebook page.Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk praised the measures from Washington for showing “the unity of the US and EU in their dedication to the values of democracy and promotion of peace and support for Ukraine”.”Russia will pay for starting a war against Ukraine,” Yatsenyuk said at a government meeting.Western leaders say the punitive measures are designed to pressure Moscow into forcing the rebels to end their three-month insurgency that has claimed more than 600 lives.View galleryIgor Chernetsov whose wife was killed in collapsed building during airstrike gestures near his house …- Russian markets down -But the immediate pain was felt in Moscow with the two Russian market indices falling by 2.7% and 4.05% Thursday and the ruble plunging against the euro and dollar to 47.1 and 34.8, respectively.Shares in two giant oil firms now barred from US capital markets under the new sanctions fell steeply with Rosneft dropping 4.74 percent and OAO Novatek shares plummeting 7.88 percent on MICEX stock exchange at around 0900 GMT.The ruble fell sharply to 34.92 against the dollar and 47.25 against the euro by around 0930 GMT.The United States has also targeted major Russian financial institutions, Gazprombank and VEB, as well as eight Russian arms firms to try to punish Moscow for failing to halt the alleged flow of weapons across the border.- Jet ‘shot by Russia’-On the ground in eastern Ukraine fierce fighting between government forces and pro-Moscow rebels has intensified in recent days with some 55 civilians killed since the weekend alone.Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council on Thursday accused a Russian air force plane of downing its jet over Ukrainian territory the day before with a rocket strike.The fighting even forced a group of more than a dozen Ukrainian border guards to flee into Russia seeking medical help for their injuries, the Russian authorities said.Germany and France have been spearheading a push to revive talks between Kiev and the rebels over a potential ceasefire deal but attempts by mediators to hold a Skype videoconference with the insurgents fell through Tuesday.Senior separatist leaders have said they are committed to holding the Internet consultations but gave conflicting information on whether they would take place Thursday or Friday.Ukrainian forces made a string of major gains after Poroshenko tore up an unsuccessful ceasefire earlier this month, but progress has slowed since rebels retreated into two major regional centres where they have pledged to fight to the end.

Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 298 people shot down in missile strike near Ukraine-Russia border: U.S. official Obama says White House working to determine if any Americans were aboard; Ukraine reportedly tells U.S. Embassy all aboard plane are ‘believed dead’

By Dylan Stableford, Yahoo News 5 hours ago Yahoo News

View gallery   U.S. officials have confirmed to several media outlets that the Malaysia Airlines passenger plane that crashed near the Ukraine-Russia border Thursday was shot down by a surface-to-air missile.The origin of the missile remained unclear, and both government officials and pro-Russia separatists fighting in the region denied responsibility.There were 298 people on board, 283 passengers, including 3 infants, and 15 crew members. Ukrainian authorities told U.S. Embassy officials that everyone on the plane was “believed dead” and that the aircraft debris was scattered over a 10-mile swath of land, ABC News reported.Malaysia Airlines posted a list of passenger nationalities on its website for the 298 passengers and crew: 154 Dutch, 27 Australian, 43 Malaysian (including 15 crew and two infants), 12 Indonesian (including one infant), 9 British, 4 German, 4 Belgian, 3 Filipino and one Canadian. The airline said it did not yet know the nationalities of the remaining 41 passengers.An aide to Ukraine’s interior minister quoted by Interfax claimed the total number of dead in the crash was more than 300 and included 23 U.S. citizens.[Related: Biden: ‘Apparently’ Malaysian plane ‘shot down … blown out of the sky’ for post-PUB CE]President Barack Obama said the White House was working to determine whether there were U.S. citizens aboard the plane.Speaking at a conference in Detroit, Vice President Joe Biden also commented on the crash, saying the aircraft “apparently had been shot down. Shot down. Not an accident. Blown out of the sky.“We have seen reports that there may have been American citizens on board, and obviously, that’s our first concern,” he said. “We’re now working every minute to confirm those reports as I speak. This is truly a grave situation.”In an interview with Charlie Rose, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “there does seems to be some growing awareness that it had to be Russian insurgents. How we determine that will require some forensics. But then, if there is evidence pointing in that direction, the equipment had to come from Russia.”Clinton said if there is evidence linking Russia to the attack, “that should inspire the Europeans to do much more” to support Ukraine.[Related: Planes rerouted after Malaysia Airlines crash: What you need to know]Meanwhile, the head of Ukraine’s emergency services told Reuters that search efforts at the scene of the crash were being hampered by “armed terrorists.”Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, wrote on Facebook soon after the crash that the plane was flying at an altitude of 33,000 feet when it was hit by a missile fired from a Buk launcher.Separatist leader Andrei Purgin told the AP that he believed Ukrainian troops had shot the plane down, but did not say why he was certain. Witnesses quoted by Russian media outlets said they saw a plane being hit by what they thought was a rocket, according to the news service.Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Ukraine’s military was not responsible for the reported attack, which he called an “act of terror.””We do not exclude that this plane was shot down, and we stress that the Armed Forces of Ukraine did not take action against any airborne targets,” Poroshenko said. “We are sure that those who are guilty in this tragedy will be held responsible.”Malaysia Airlines earlier tweeted that it had lost contact with Flight MH17 over Ukrainian airspace:The airline later confirmed the crash, approximately 25 miles from the Russia-Ukraine border:Flight MH17 operated on a Boeing 777 departed Amsterdam at 12.15pm (Amsterdam local time) and was estimated to arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 6.10 am (Malaysia local time) the next day. The flight was carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew onboard.The plane crashed near a village called Hrabov in the Donetsk region, an area that has seen clashes between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatist rebels in recent days.On Wednesday evening, a Ukrainian fighter jet was shot down by a Russian plane, Ukrainian authorities told the AP.Prior to Thursday’s crash, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, along with several other countries, had warned pilots not to fly over parts of Ukraine.White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama directed his national security team to be “in close touch” with Ukrainian authorities.Malaysia Airlines passenger plane down in Ukraine Flight carrying 298 people was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Ukraine says the plane was shot down. Both the Ukraine government and pro-Russia separatists deny responsibility. FLIGHT 17 FLIGHT PATH

Earlier Thursday, Obama spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, at Moscow’s request, to discuss new sanctions announced by the United States and European Union. According to the White House, Obama first learned of the crash during the talk with Putin.Video uploaded to social media shows debris falling from the sky near the crash site.This is the second tragedy to hit Malaysia Airlines in recent months. The Ukraine crash comes just four months after Malaysia Airlines Flight M370 lost contact less than an hour after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur International Airport and vanished. That flight was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members.With Olivier Knox reporting from Washington.

Malaysia Airlines Plane Brought Down by Missile in Ukraine: US Official

By COLLEEN CURRY and LUIS MARTINEZ 7 minutes ago Good Morning America

ABC News VideosMalaysia Airlines Loses Contact With Plane ABC News VideosMalaysia Airlines Loses Contact With PlaneCrash Scene Eyewitness: ‘Bodies Scattered Everywhere’Obama Addresses Downed Malaysia Airlines JetCommercial Airliners Caught in the CrossfireA surface-to-air missile struck a Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 298 people that went down Thursday in Ukraine near the Russian border, a U.S. official told ABC News.Related Stories

• Malaysia says jetliner did not make distress call Associated Press
• White House warns against removal of plane evidence AFP
• Sophisticated Surface-to-Air System Needed to Shoot Down High-Flying Jets The Wall Street Journal
• For Malaysia Airlines, disaster strikes twice Associated Press
• What Weapons Could Have Brought Down MH17 – And Why ABC News

The official said U.S. intelligence and analysis of the situation determined that it was a single missile that struck the Boeing 777-200 aircraft while at cruising altitude. It is unclear whether the missile was fired from inside Ukrainian or Russian territory and who fired it, the official added.Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 283 passengers and 15 crew members. The airline had earlier said there were 280 passengers.The pro-Russian separatists who control the area where the flight crashed have agreed to allow investigators safe access to the crash site to recover bodies and gather evidence, according to a statement from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.Live Updates: Malaysia Airlines Plane Crashes in Ukraine PHOTOS: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 Downed in Eastern UkraineCrash Scene Eyewitness: ‘Bodies Scattered Ever … Play VideoMalaysia Airline Plane Downed in Ukraine, Witness Says ‘Bodies Everywhere’Speaking in Detroit, Vice President Joe Biden said the plane had “been shot down, not an accident. Blown out of the sky.””We see reports that there may have been American citizens on board,” he added. “Obviously, that’s our first concern. We’re working every minute to try to confirm those reports as I speak.”It remains unclear if Americans were on board the flight. Officials said that 154 passengers were Dutch. In addition, according to the latest numbers released by the airline, 43 were Malaysian, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, 9 British, 4 Belgians, 4 Germans, 3 Filipinos and 1 Canadian. Nationalities of 41 other passengers remain unknown at this time.Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak said the plane did not make any distress call. He said the route had been deemed safe by the International Civil Aviation Organization despite the ongoing fighting in Ukraine.View galleryMalaysia Airlines Passenger Plane Goes Down Over Ukraine, 295 Believed Dead: Officials (ABC News)”If it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down, we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice,” he added.Earlier today, Ukrainian officials said a Russian missile shot down the passenger jet. Ukrainian authorities told U.S. Embassy officials that everyone was “believed dead” and that debris was spread out over a 10-mile path near the town of Hrabove in the district of Shakhtars’k.A statement from the Foreign Ministry in Kiev claimed the plane had been “shot down.””According to the General Staff of Ukrainian Armed Forces, the airplane was shot down by the Russian Buk missile system as the liner was flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters [33,000 feet],” the statement added. “Ukraine has no long-range air defense missile systems in this area. The plane was shot down, because the Russian air defense systems was affording protection to Russian mercenaries and terrorists in this area. Ukraine will present the evidence of Russian military involvement into the Boeing crash.”Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko later added, “We are not calling it an accident, or a disaster, but an act of terrorism.”Obama Addresses Downed Malaysia Airlines Jet Play VideoThe plane had left Amsterdam at 12:15 p.m. (local time) and was estimated to arrive in Kuala Lampur International Airport on Friday at 6:10 a.m. (local time), according to Malaysia Airlines.In a tweet soon after the plane went down, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, “Condolences to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in connection with the crash of a passenger aircraft in Ukraine.”A Kremlin statement said Putin opened a meeting with his economic advisers by calling for a moment of silence over the crash.”This tragedy would not have happened if there were peace on this land, if the military actions had not been renewed in southeast Ukraine,” he said. “And, certainly, the state over whose territory this occurred bears responsibility for this awful tragedy.”President Obama, at an event in Delaware this afternoon, said, “Obviously, the world is watching reports of a downed passenger jet near the Russia-Ukraine border. And it looks like it may be a terrible tragedy. Right now, we’re working to determine whether there were American citizens on board. That is our first priority, and I’ve directed my national security team to stay in close contact with the Ukrainian government.”Obama added that the U.S. “will offer any assistance we can to help determine what happened and why. And as a country, our thoughts and prayers are with all the families of the passengers, wherever they call home.”At Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, grieving family members gathered as airline officials briefed them.Officials said family members will be flown to Kiev.This is the second Malaysia Air plane to be involved in a crash this year.On March 8, Malaysia Air Flight MH370 vanished with 239 people on board after it took off from Kuala Lampur bound for Beijing. Malaysian officials said the plane disappeared somewhere in the Southern Indian Ocean, but no wreckage has ever been recovered.Get real-time updates as this story unfolds. To start, just “star” this story in ABC News’ phone app. Download ABC News for iPhone here or ABC News for Android here.Get the Latest on the Ukraine Plane Crash at the ABC News Live BlogIf you’re on a mobile device, click here to see the live blog.Risk of earthquake increased for one-third of US

Risk of earthquake increased for one-third of US

By SETH BORENSTEIN 3 hours ago

View gallery WASHINGTON (AP) — A new federal earthquake map dials up the shaking hazard just a bit for about one-third of the United States and lowers it for one-tenth.The U.S. Geological Survey on Thursday updated its national seismic hazard maps for the first time since 2008, taking into account research from the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami off the Japanese coast and the surprise 2011 Virginia temblor.The maps are used for building codes and insurance purposes and they calculate just how much shaking an area probably will have in the biggest quake likely over a building’s lifetime.The highest risk places have a 2 percent chance of experiencing “very intense shaking” over a 50-year lifespan, USGS project chief Mark Petersen said. Those with lower hazard ratings would experience less intense swaying measured in gravitational force.”These maps are refining our views of what the actual shaking is,” Petersen said. “Almost any place in the United States can have an earthquake.”Parts of 16 states have the highest risk for earthquakes: Alaska, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois, Kentucky and South Carolina. With the update, new high-risk areas were added to some of those states.View galleryThis undated handout image provided by the US Geological Survey (USGS) shows where the earthquake ha …Also, Colorado and Oklahoma saw increased risk in some parts and moved up to the second of the seven hazard classifications, he said.There are major faults and quake hazards along the entire west coast, with an increased concern in the Cascadia region around Oregon. Southern Alaska, the big island of Hawaii, the Missouri-Tennessee-Arkansas-Illinois New Madrid fault area and Charleston round out the biggest hazard areas.But shaking hazards are nearly everywhere.Much of the country west of the Rockies, along with parts of Oklahoma and Tennessee and sections of central Arkansas, northern Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Virginia, New York and New England saw an increase in shaking hazards for small buildings like houses.At the same time much of North Carolina, the northern tip of South Carolina, patches of Texas, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York saw hazard levels lower slightly. And using a different type risk analysis for tall buildings the shaking hazard in New York City dropped ever so slightly, Petersen said.View galleryFILE – This Aug. 23, 2011 file photo shows office workers gathering on the sidewalk in downtown Wash …Petersen said the maps sidestep the issue of earthquakes created by injections of wastewater from oil and gas drilling in Oklahoma and other states, saying those extra quakes weren’t included in the analysis. So far this year, nearly 250 small to medium quakes have hit Oklahoma.Much of the research and cataloging was done by the nuclear industry in response to the quake and tsunami that crippled Japan’s Fukushima reactor. And researchers at the University of California, Berkeley came up with a better model to simulate shaking, Petersen said.”I see it as a big improvement,” said Cornell University seismologist Rowena Lohman. “They brought in more information.”_Online:USGS map: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1091/_Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears

What’s Going On Between Russia and Ukraine?

By SUSANNA KIM 2 hours ago Good Morning AmericaView photo What’s Going On Between Russia and Ukraine? (ABC News)The Ukrainian military claims Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by a Russian missile, although exactly what brought down the plane in rebel-held eastern Ukraine has not been confirmed.Related Stories

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• Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 298 people shot down in missile strike near Ukraine-Russia border: U.S. official Yahoo News

Nevertheless, the incident once again brings to the forefront the tensions in Ukraine involving the government of Ukraine, rebel forces in the country and Russia.Malaysia Airlines Passenger Plane Goes Down Over Ukraine, 295 Believed Dead: OfficialsIn Photos: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Goes Down Over Ukraine, Families ReactHere’s a refresher about what’s going on between Ukraine and Russia.1. What sparked the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia?The conflict dates back to before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalated this past February, when protests for closer Ukrainian ties to the European Union drove out Ukraine’s pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych. Back in November 2013, Yanukovych refused to sign an agreement with the EU that contributed to the political turmoil.2. How badly has the violence escalated?Fighting between pro-Russia rebels and Ukrainian troops has killed more than 400 people in eastern Ukraine in the last few months, the U.N reported, while tens of thousands have fled their homes.The Malaysia Airlines flight is the third tragic air accident in the territory after an An-26 military transport plane was shot down on July 14 and a Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet was shot down on Wednesday.3. Is Crimea related to the latest escalated violence?Crimea is more than 300 miles southwest of the rebel-held eastern part of Ukraine.In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin argued that a group of anti-Russian extremists in power in Ukraine were a threat to Russian-speaking people who lived in Crimea, which was made up of about 60 percent Russian people.Putin called the events in Ukraine an illegal coup and ordered troops into Crimea. Putin told Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel that he needed to protect ethnic Russians in Crimea from “ultranationalistic forces” in Ukraine.4. Who are the groups involved and who has control now?Pro-Russia rebels, or separatists, have been fighting with Ukrainian government troops in eastern Ukraine. Russian authorities have claimed Crimea as Russian territory while the Ukrainian government claims Crimea is still a part of its country.On March 16, a “referendum” for the integration of Crimea into the Russian Federation was held but called illegitimate by the Ukrainian government, the EU, the U.S. and the U.N. General Assembly.In elections in May, Petro Poro­shenko, a billionaire tycoon in the chocolate business who is described as pro-European, became president of Ukraine.5. How has the U.S. become involved?Soon after Putin ordered troops into Ukraine, the U.S. announced in March a $1 billion loan guarantee to help Ukraine’s bank and finance ministry with its financial affairs and help prepare the country for its national elections in May.On Wednesday, President Barack Obama announced sanctions against Russia, hoping to end the pro-Russia insurgency in eastern Ukraine. The sanctions target two major energy firms, financial institutions, eight weapons firms and four individuals.Putin: US Sanctions Hurt Bilateral Ties, US Firms

Proposed ban on Russian arms firm would hurt U.S. troops: general

 

By By David Alexander 6 hours ago

View photo U.S. President Barack Obama sits for a military briefing with U.S. Marine General Joseph Dunford (R) …By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A day after President Barack Obama slapped sanctions on several Russian arms firms over the Ukraine conflict, a top U.S. general warned that a congressional bid to bar dealings with Moscow’s main weapons exporter could be “catastrophic” for U.S. forces.Marine General Joseph Dunford, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said 88 Russian helicopters the Pentagon is buying for Afghan security forces were critical for protecting U.S. troops that remain in the country after the end of this year.Dunford’s comments to a Senate committee illustrate the fine line the U.S. government walks in imposing sanctions on Russia without compromising its interests or those of its allies. It shows the wide-ranging, and often unintended, consequences of sanctions on specific industries such as defense.His comments came on the same day as the downing of a Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine, killing all 259 people aboard. Ukraine said the plane was brought down by a heavy Soviet-era air-to-ground missile.On Wednesday, Obama imposed sanctions on some of Russia’s biggest firms for the first time, striking at the heart of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s power base by targeting companies closest to him. The ban included eight arms firms.Dunford said the 88 Russian Mi-17 transport helicopters had been purchased for the Afghan air force, with the last deliveries expected this year. Thirty of the helicopters will go to Afghan special operations forces for counterterrorism and counter-narcotics operations, he said.”Without the operational reach of the Mi-17, the Afghan forces will not be successful in providing security and stability in Afghanistan and will not be an effective counterterrorism partner,” said Dunford, who has been nominated by Obama to be the next commandant of the Marine Corps.He also said the decision to reduce the size of the U.S. force in Afghanistan to 9,800 by the end of the year was partly based on the assumption that Afghans would be equipped to provide some security to the remaining U.S. and coalition forces.”Their ability to do that would be significantly degraded without the Mi-17,” Dunford said, adding it would have a “catastrophic” effect.”The reason I used the word ‘catastrophic,’ which I don’t think is hyperbole, is because the inability of the Afghans to have the operational reach represented by the Mi-17 will seriously deteriorate their ability to take the fight to the enemy,” the general told lawmakers”Their inability to take the fight to the enemy actually will put young Americans in harm’s way in 2015 and beyond,” Dunford said.Many U.S. lawmakers, concerned about Russia’s involvement in Syria and later Ukraine, have strongly opposed the military’s decision to buy Mi-17 helicopters for the Afghan air forces from Rosoboronexport, the state-owned Russian arms exporter.Defense officials say the Mi-17 is the best choice for Afghanistan because it handles the climate and terrain well and Afghan pilots, air crews and maintenance workers have dealt with the aircraft since the 1980s.Shifting to more sophisticated U.S. helicopters would require retraining pilots and maintenance workers, delaying the effort to build Afghanistan’s air capacity by several years, officials say.Rosoboronexport has so far not been sanctioned by Washington over the Ukraine crisis, but senators who oppose the helicopter deal have included language in this year’s defense policy bill that would prevent Pentagon dealings with the firm.Dunford said that while the helicopters already had been bought, the law would make it hard to buy spare parts to maintain the aircraft. He said he had been able to find no way to maintain the helicopters without dealing with Rosoboronexport.”My assessment is that that would not be possible,” he said.(Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by David Storey)

Malaysian airliner ‘crashes in east Ukraine’: reports

10 hours ago

View galleryKiev (AFP) – A Malaysian passenger liner flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has crashed in insurgency-wracked east Ukraine, regional officials said Thursday, as Ukraine’s president said the jet may have been shot down.Related Stories

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• Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 298 people shot down in missile strike near Ukraine-Russia border: U.S. official Yahoo News
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• Malaysia Airlines Plane Was Hit by Surface-to-Air Missile, U.S. Officials Say The Wall Street Journal

Malaysia Airlines said it had “lost contact” with the Boeing passenger liner, which Ukrainian officials said had come down in a rebel-held zone in the Donetsk region.”Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam,” the airline, still reeling from the disappearance of flight MH370, said on its Twitter account.”The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace,” it said, promising more details soon.Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the jet may have been shot down.”We do not exclude that the plane was shot down and confirm that the Ukraine Armed Forces did not fire at any targets in the sky,” Poroshenko said in a statement posted on the president’s website.Regional officials in Donetsk confirmed the plane had come down near the town of Shaktarsk.”The number of dead is not yet known,” the administration said in a statement.Emergency services were rushing to the scene, a security source told Interfax-Ukraine.US stocks fell sharply following reports the Malaysia Airlines plane had been shot down, while Britain’s Foreign Office said it was “working urgently to find out what’s happened.”View galleryMalaysia Airlines airliners at Kuala Lumpur Airport in Sepang on June 17, 2014 (AFP Photo/Manan Vats …The incident comes just months after Malaysia’s Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 with 239 on board. The plane diverted from its Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flight path and its fate remains a mystery despite a massive aerial and underwater search.- Ukrainian jet ‘downed’ -The reported crash came after Kiev accused Russia of downing a Ukrainian military plane on a mission over the east of the country, stoking tensions in the growing conflict on the edges of Europe that has claimed over 600 lives.The allegation came a day after the US and EU bolstered sanctions against Russia over its perceived support of the separatist insurgency in the ex-Soviet state.Moscow condemned the punitive measures against it as “blackmail” and warned of retaliatory actions against Washington.In the first direct claim of a Russian attack on Ukrainian forces, Kiev said a Russian airforce jet shot down a Ukrainian warplane Wednesday evening – before the fresh round of Western sanctions were announced – as it was carrying out its duties.The pilot of the Su-25 plane managed to eject and was rescued by Kiev forces, Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council said.Russia’s defence ministry – which NATO claims has massed some 12,000 troops along Ukraine’s porous border – dismissed the claim as “absurd”, Russian news agencies reported.- Sanctions hit Russian stocks -The dramatic developments on the ground came alongside a major diplomatic fallout over fresh Western sanctions that Washington and Brussels hope will force Moscow to help halt the conflict.In a tough move that left the EU trailing in his wake, US President Barack Obama took a swipe at major players in Russia’s finance, military and energy sectors in sanctions imposed Wednesday.The Russian foreign ministry reacted in a furious statement: “We do not intend to tolerate blackmail and reserve the right to take retaliatory measures” against the US.Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier warned that sanctions would inflict “very serious damage” on the already tattered US-Russia relationship.- Talks promised -In eastern Ukraine fierce fighting between government forces and pro-Moscow rebels has intensified in recent days with some 55 civilians killed since the weekend.The fighting forced more than a dozen Ukrainian border guards to flee into Russia seeking medical help with one dying from his injuries, the Russian authorities said.Germany and France have been spearheading a push to revive talks between Kiev and the rebels over a potential ceasefire but attempts to hold a Skype videoconference fell through Tuesday.Ukrainian forces made a string of major gains after Poroshenko tore up an unsuccessful ceasefire earlier this month, but progress has slowed since rebels retreated into two major regional centres where they have pledged to fight to the end.

Bill Clinton warns Israel on ‘isolating itself from world opinion’

13 hours ago

View photo Smoke billows from a beach shack following an Israeli military strike, on July 16, 2014 in Gaza City which killed four children (AFP Photo/Thomas Coex)Related Stories

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New Delhi (AFP) – Former US president Bill Clinton has warned Israel about “isolating itself from world opinion” due to repeated conflicts in Gaza after four children were killed on a beach in the latest violence.More than 220 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have died during 10 days of Israeli bombing and shelling in Gaza in retaliation for over 1,200 rocket attacks from Hamas militants.”Over the long run it is not good for Israel to keep isolating itself from world opinion because of the absence of a viable peace process,” Clinton told the Indian NDTV news channel on Wednesday.”In the short to medium term, Hamas can inflict terrible public relations damage on Israel by forcing it to kill Palestinian civilians to counter Hamas,” he added.Hamas had a “strategy designed to force Israel to kill their own (Palestinian) civilians so the rest of the world will condemn them,” while Israel couldn’t “look like fools” by not responding to the heavy missile attacks.Clinton, who pushed hard while president for a comprehensive peace deal at a Camp David summit in 2000, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume serious talks.”I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu could and should make a comprehensive peace agreement with the Palestinians,” he said, adding that he believed 60 percent of Israelis would support him.The objective of all should be “a peace process that gets Israel security recognition and peace and that gets the Palestinians their state,” he said.

Japan wary as US, Europe up sanctions on Russia

By ELAINE KURTENBACH 19 hours ago

View galleryTOKYO (AP) — For Japan, the ramping up of sanctions by the West against Russia can be summed up in a familiar phrase: It’s complicated.Related Stories

• Japan PM Abe wants to hold summit with China at APEC Reuters
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• For US and Europe, divisions over Russia penalties Associated Press

The tug-of-war over Ukraine threatens to derail Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s moves toward rapprochement with Russia. Relations between Japan and Russia have suffered for decades due to a territorial dispute that has prevented the signing of a peace treaty after World War II.Yet Japan must toe the line on sanctions: It cannot spurn its main ally the U.S., nor European partners. It also has good reason to stand strong against Russia’s apparent support for pro-Russian insurgents who have destabilized swaths of eastern Ukraine, given the parallels with China’s ambitions toward disputed Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea.Japan’s chief government spokesman offered only vague support Thursday for the coordinated American and European moves targeting Russian energy firms, financial institutions, arms suppliers and four individuals.”We are watching the situation of the EU and U.S.,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a regular briefing. “Working with the international community is our stance regarding Ukraine, so we would like to take appropriate measures in line with that attitude.”His terse reply says plenty about Japan’s ambivalence over the issue._LIMITED SANCTIONSJapan has imposed sanctions on Russia, but in a very limited way. It has suspended bilateral talks on some issues, and imposed an entry visa ban on 23 individuals, whom it hasn’t publicly named.View galleryIn this Friday, July 11, 2014 photo, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga speaks durin …”Japan is really signaling to Russia that it’s not fully committed to the sanctions. It’s going along but wants to keep a balanced position,” said James D. J. Brown, a political science professor at Temple University’s Japan campus in Tokyo.The visa ban apparently doesn’t apply to Sergey Naryshkin, who as chairman of the lower house of Russia’s parliament was sanctioned by the U.S. and EU after Russia annexed Crimea. He visited Japan last month to inaugurate a cultural festival, where he delivered a message from Putin praising the event as a way of “enhancing our mutual trust.”Naryshkin also dined with former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who had been shuttling between Tokyo and Moscow as an unofficial envoy, having declared resolution of the territorial dispute his “lifelong duty.”A visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Japan planned for the fall appears to be still in the works._THE ENERGY AND CHINA FACTORS Tokyo is wary about Beijing cozying up to Moscow, said Valerie Niquet, a senior research fellow at the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris.”Tokyo remains interested in rapprochement with Russia to balance Beijing,” she said.Energy is one vital bond. Japanese and Russian companies are pushing ahead with projects, including a liquefied natural gas facility in Sakhalin to increase shipments to Japan and other Asian countries.”The Russians are not open at all to accepting a lot of investments from China including in energy, so they’ve built a strong working relationship with Japan,” Niquet said.Putin has also obliged Abe by remaining neutral on the islands in the East China Sea that are claimed by both Tokyo and Beijing.__TERRITORIAL CONUNDRUMDespite those shared interests, it is unclear if Japan and Russia can bridge their dispute over four islands just off the northern tip of Hokkaido.The Russians captured the islands at the end of World War II, but they are claimed by Japan and a pet cause of Japanese nationalists.Brown noted that, given Russia’s insistence on protecting Russian speakers in Crimea, it seems unlikely that Moscow would give up sovereignty over islands populated mostly by Russian speakers.

Erdogan accuses Israel of seeking ‘systematic genocide’ in Gaza

11 hours ago

View photo Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses MPs from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in parliament in Ankara on July 15, 2014 (AFP Photo/Adem Altan)Istanbul (AFP) – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday launched his most bitter attack yet against Israel over its air campaign in the Gaza Strip, accusing the Jewish State of seeking a “systematic genocide” of the Palestinians.Related Stories

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Erdogan, a pious Muslim who sees himself as a champion of the Palestinian cause, has in the last days intensified his rhetoric against Israel as he presents himself as a leader of the entire Islamic world ahead of August 10 elections in Turkey.But in his latest attack on Israel, he went even further in comments that could endanger attempts for a normalisation in the troubled ties between the Jewish State and Turkey.”This is not the first time we have been confronted by such situations,” Erdogan told a meeting of Islamic scholars in Istanbul to mark the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.”Since (the creation of the state of Israel) in 1948 we have been witnessing this attempt at systematic genocide every day and every month.”But above all we are witnessing this attempt at systematic genocide every Ramadan.”The violence has so far claimed the lives of 231 people in Gaza and one person in Israel, with Israel bombarding the Gaza Strip and Palestinian militant group Hamas launching rockets at Israel.”The Western world remains silent, so does the Islamic world. Because those who lost their lives are Palestinian, you can’t hear their voices,” Erdogan added.Erdogan renewed his vehement criticism of the United Nations, which he accused of having no use as well as persuing a hidden agenda.”What is the UN doing? Why has it been founded? For world peace? Does it contribute to the world peace? No. They are serving whatever their secret agenda is.”Erdogan accused other Islamic countries of being indifferent to the fate of the Palestinians, a possible reference to Sunni Gulf Arab states with whom Ankara has prickly ties.”I am asking the Islamic world? Isn’t your heart shattered? Forget about the West, If your family does not embrace you, would others do that?”NATO member Turkey was traditionally Israel’s key ally in the Islamic world but ties have nose-dived since Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted party came to power over a decade ago.Ties hit a low after Israeli marines stormed a Gaza-bound Turkish ship in 2010 while in international waters. Ten Turks died as a result of the attack.Encouraged by the United States, there had been progress toward a normalisation of ties between the former allies but Erdogan has said there can be no normalisation so long as the “massacres” continue.

Iraqi Kurds start pumping from seized oilfield: official

6 hours ago

View photo Flared gas burns at the Kirkuk oil field on June 29, 2009 (AFP Photo/Marwan Ibrahim) Related Stories

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Kirkuk (Iraq) (AFP) – Iraq’s autonomous region of Kurdistan on Thursday pumped an experimental 20,000 barrels of light crude from an oilfield recently seized from the federal authorities, an official said.It was the first time the Kurds pumped oil from Bai Hassan field – 55 kilometres (35 miles) northwest of the city Kirkuk and used to average 190,000 barrels per day – since they claimed control of it on July 11, a senior source in the Iraqi North Oil company told AFP.The Kurdistan regional government encountered some difficulties connecting Bai Hassan to the Kurdish-run Kharmala Dome oil field, but will make another attempt on Friday, the official said.The move is likely to further enrage Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has accused the Kurds of taking advantage of the chaos that erupted when jihadist-led militants swept large swathes of the country last month.The Kurds and their well-trained Peshmerga force moved into long-disputed areas – including the oil-rich region of Kirkuk – when federal forces retreated in the face of the militant onslaught.

Israel invades Gaza after Hamas rejects truce

By KARIN LAUB and IAN DEITCH 2 hours ago ABC News Videos Israel launches ‘ground phase’ in Gaza battle Israel launches ‘ground phase’ in Gaza battleHamas and Israel Resume Attacks After LullRaw: Rockets Hit Gaza As 5-hour Ceasefire EndsGAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — The heavy thud of tank shells, often just seconds apart, echoed across the Gaza Strip early Friday as thousands of Israeli soldiers launched a ground invasion, escalating a 10-day campaign of heavy air bombardments to try to destroy Hamas’ rocket-firing abilities and the tunnels militants use to infiltrate Israel.Related Stories

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Flares lit up the night sky before dawn and the wail of ambulance sirens mixed with the Muslim call to prayer from mosque loudspeakers as thick smoke rose into the air from sites where shells and missiles struck.”There is a tank shell every minute,” said an official in the Gaza security operations room, who said all of the seaside strip’s border areas were being shelled and that Hamas fighters were exchanging fire with Israeli troops near a northern Gaza town.”There is also fire from the sea toward police checkpoints.”Israel launched the offensive late Thursday after becoming increasingly exasperated with unrelenting rocket fire from Gaza on its cities, especially following Hamas’ rejection of an Egyptian cease-fire plan earlier in the week. Palestinian militants have fired more than 1,500 rockets at Israeli cities since fighting began.However, a ground offensive could quickly lead to military and political entanglements for Israel, especially if more Palestinian civilians are killed.Hamas and Israel resume attacks after lull Play VideoMore than 240 Palestinians have already died in the air campaign, including 14 children under age 12 killed over the past two days, according to Palestinian health officials. One Israeli has also died.Hamas struck a defiant tone. A spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, said Israel “will pay dearly” for the assault. “Hamas is ready for a confrontation,” he said.The Israeli operation began around 10 p.m. Thursday, with what the military said was an open-ended assault to be carried out on several fronts.”Large ground forces accompanied by massive air force support, naval forces and intelligence, are taking over targets in Gaza, operating against tunnels and terror activists and infrastructure,” said chief military spokesman Brig. Gen. Motti Almoz.He called on Gaza residents to evacuate targeted areas, warning the “military is operating there with very great force.”Rockets hit Gaza as 5-hour cease-fire ends Play VideoGaza health officials said eight Palestinians were killed in the early stage of the ground operation, including a 3-month-old boy who died after a shell hit his family’s Bedouin tent in southern Gaza. The body was evacuated on a donkey cart because ambulances couldn’t reach the area due to heavy shelling, the officials said.A resident of the northern town of Beit Lahiya, Jamal Abu Samra, said he was taking cover from the shelling by huddling on the ground floor of his home with his wife, six children and two dozen other relatives.”We don’t have power since the afternoon so we are listening to the (battery-operated) radio to hear the news,” he said.Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said the operation was focused on the tunnels dug by Hamas under the Gaza-Israel border. Earlier Thursday, 13 heavily armed Hamas militants had tried to sneak into Israel through such a tunnel, but were stopped by an airstrike at the mouth of the tunnel.”For Israel to send ground forces into Gaza is not a light decision. Ultimately we understand the risks involved both for our own soldiers and the dangers of escalation,” he said. “But we felt this was necessary … to deal with this strategic threat posed by those tunnels, which can allow terrorists to infiltrate into Israel and cause mass death.”View gallerySmoke from flares rises in the sky in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, July 17, 2014 …Regev said “Hamas closed the door to a diplomatic solution.””The people of Gaza are not our enemy. Our enemy is only those shooting rockets into Israel, trying to kill our people. In many ways the people of Gaza are also a victim of this terrible Hamas regime,” he said.Israeli officials have said the goal is to weaken Hamas militarily and have not addressed the possibility of driving the Islamic militants from power. However, Hamas has survived Israeli offensives in the past, including a major ground operation in January 2009 from which it emerged militarily weaker, but then recovered. Hamas has since assembled thousands of rockets and built a system of underground bunkers.While the ultimate scale of Israel’s ambition remained unclear, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had come under growing domestic pressure to ratchet up Israel’s response to rocket fire that 10 days of airstrikes had failed to stem.Israel has little stomach for the scale of casualties that a takeover of Gaza would likely entail, but Israeli public opinion appears to be nearly at a breaking point over the rockets.View gallery

This image made from video shows the Gaza skyline during Israeli airstrikes Thursday, July 17, 2014. …Netanyahu may also have sensed he has a degree of international backing for action after Israel accepted an Egyptian cease-fire proposal Tuesday that was essentially a return to the status quo ante — and Hamas then rejected it. Similarly, Hamas ended a “humanitarian lull” of several hours Thursday by immediately resuming rocket fire.However, the ground offensive brought swift criticism from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who said he regretted that despite his repeated urgings and “those of many regional and world leaders together, an already dangerous conflict has now escalated even further.”Both Ban and the Obama administration took Israel to task for the mounting civilian death toll in Gaza.”I urge Israel to do far more to stop civilian casualties,” said Ban. “There can be no military solution to this conflict.”Noting the deaths a day earlier of four boys who were killed on a Gaza beach by an Israeli strike, the State Department said the high civilian death toll in Gaza has been “heartbreaking.”View gallerySmoke rises after an Israeli missile strike hit the northern Gaza Strip, Thursday, July 17, 2014. Ga …Still, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki also criticized Hamas militants who continue to fire rockets and mortars into Israel, prolonging the latest round of violence.Thousands of Israeli soldiers had massed on the border with Gaza in recent days, waiting for the order to go in.Israel initially called up 48,000 reserve soldiers and later Thursday, the Cabinet authorized 18,000 more, the military said.The ground operation followed a brief truce in which Israel held fire to allow Gazans to stock up on food and other necessities after being largely holed up at home since the conflict began last month.Since July 8, Israeli strikes have hit more than 2,000 targets in Gaza and Hamas launched nearly 1,500 rockets at Israel, the Israeli military has said.Israel last carried out a major ground offensive in Gaza in January 2009.During that three-week campaign, some 1,400 Palestinians were killed, including hundreds of civilians. Thirteen Israelis also died._Deitch reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City and Yousur Alhlou in Jerusalem contributed to this report.