Six In The Morning Sunday July 27

27 July 2014 Last updated at 09:41

MH17 crash: Dutch experts head to eastern Ukraine site

Dutch experts are heading to the site of the downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine, officials say.

It follows an agreement between international observers and pro-Russian separatists, the Ukrainian justice ministry says.

Separately, Malaysia says it has struck a deal with the rebels to allow international police at the site.

MH17 crashed on 17 July, killing all 298 people on board. The rebels have been accused of shooting it down.

Russia has suggested the plane could have been shot down by the Ukrainian military - an allegation Ukraine denies.

PATRICK COCKBURN

Sunday 27 July 2014

Israel-Gaza conflict: The secret report that helps Israelis to hide facts

World View: The slickness of Israel's spokesmen is rooted in directions set down by pollster Frank Luntz

Israeli spokesmen have their work cut out explaining how they have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them civilians, compared with just three civilians killed in Israel by Hamas rocket and mortar fire. But on television and radio and in newspapers, Israeli government spokesmen such as Mark Regev appear slicker and less aggressive than their predecessors, who were often visibly indifferent to how many Palestinians were killed.

There is a reason for this enhancement of the PR skills of Israeli spokesmen. Going by what they say, the playbook they are using is a professional, well-researched and confidential study on how to influence the media and public opinion in America and Europe. Written by the expert Republican pollster and political strategist Dr Frank Luntz, the study was commissioned five years ago by a group called The Israel Project, with offices in the US and Israel, for use by those "who are on the front lines of fighting the media war for Israel".

The Muslims of Tromsø: Ramadan in the Land of the Midnight Sun

By Dennis Betzholz  in Tromsø, Norway

During Ramadan, Muslims fast until the sun goes down. But what if you live in a place where there is no sunset? The believers in Tromsø, Norway spent years searching for a solution to that conundrum. Now that they have found one, new problems have arisen.

The seagulls are screeching and the boss is asleep in his camper van when Ahmed Hammadan, working at the market stall set up nearby wonders aloud: Who is going to buy a Norwegian sweater on a day like today? It is a rare warm day in Tromsø, located 344 kilometers (214 miles) north of the Arctic Circle -- a day when shoppers are more likely to buy an ice cream than a wool sweater.

But Ahmed is troubled by a different, much more important question: When will the boss finally wake up? Again and again he glances through the open door into the ramshackle van, but the boss is still sleeping. Ahmed bounces from one foot to the other. He begins speaking faster, his sentences become shorter. He is eager for his shift to come to an end. In eight minutes, the afternoon prayer begins, the Asr, and it takes three minutes to get to the mosque. During Ramadan, praying is just as important as fasting, a meticulously prescribed obligation, no matter what.

China’s military muscle-flexing ensnarls air traffic

July 27, 2014 - 4:06PM

Philip Wen

China correspondent for Fairfax Media

Beijing: China will conduct a series of live-fire military training drills in the East China Sea from Tuesday, coinciding with the announcement of massive flight cancellations due to separate wide-scale military exercises on land.

Though live-fire drills in the bitterly contested East China Sea are not uncommon, the scale and sustained length of the various coordinated military exercises are unprecedented. 

The drills - which disrupt civilian airspace creating long delays for travellers - come during a period of sensitive anniversaries in the tension-filled region.

Nigeria on red alert after first Ebola death

26 JUL 2014 17:10 OLA AWONIYI

The virus has claimed its first victim in Nigeria, prompting officials to deploy health workers to all entry points and seek out suspected cases.

Nigeria was on alert against the possible spread of Ebola on Saturday, a day after the first confirmed death from the virus in Lagos, Africa’s biggest city and the country’s financial capital.

The health ministry said on Friday that a 40-year-old Liberian man had died at a private hospital in Lagos from the disease, which has now  killed more than 660 people in four West African countries since January – the deadliest outbreak in history. 

The victim, who worked for the Liberian government, collapsed at Lagos international airport after arriving on a flight from Monrovia via the Togolese capital of Lome on Tuesday, according to the Nigerian government.

The people who want to be close to a deadly tornado

By Neal RazzellOklahoma, US

Last year, three experienced storm-chasers were killed in a tornado in the US, but despite this the number of people going in search of twisters is growing. What drives them to take risks and look for danger?

The man at the wheel glanced in the rear view mirror then slowly turned around. "Don't put this in your programme," he said. His wife in the passenger seat laughed.

He lowered the window and killed the engine. The wind rushed in from the surrounding wheat field. Then, from behind, the crunch of footsteps approached on the dirt road.