Malaysia Airlines MH17 Victims: Pilot Cameron Dalziel Among Nine Dead Britons

A pro-Russian separatist looks at wreckage from the nose section of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane which crashed in eastern Ukraine.(Reuters)

Helicopter rescue pilot and father-of-two Cameron Dalziel is believed to be among the nine Britons killed in the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 disaster.

Dalziel, 43, who is understood to be South African but travelling on a British passport, had moved to Malaysia for work last October with his wife and their two sons, aged 14 and four.

The victim's brother-in-law told Eyewitness News in South Africa that his sister, Reine Dalziel, is so traumatised she has not been able to answer phone calls from anxious relatives.

He said: "She is basically alone there other than with new friends. So she couldn't even talk to me. Apparently three people from the company were there with her. It's crazy, the kids are going to be absolutely shattered."

Dalziel is believed to have been working for CHC Helicopter in Malaysia, but had been sent for training in the Netherlands. He was returning on yesterday's Malaysia Airlines flight when the plane was shot down over war-torn Ukraine, near the Russian border.

A spokesperson for CHC Helicopters said: "We are aware that a CHC colleague from one of our bases in Asia may have been on the Malaysia Airlines flight and are awaiting confirmation from the airline."

South African politician Stevens Mokgalapa paid tribute to Dalziel, saying: "The DA extends our deepest condolences to the family of Cameron Dalziel.

"We also extend our condolences to the friends, family and loved ones of all others who died in this horrific tragedy."

Neil Noble, an Australian helicopter paramedic, said on Twitter: "Mourning tragic loss of one of worlds best rescue helicopter pilots, Cameron Dalziel Great man, father, husband."

Pictures of the Week: Best Photos of Past Seven Days

The son of one of the members of Tayseer Al-Batsh's family, who were killed in an Israeli air strike, mourns during their funeral in Gaza City. The Israeli air strike on the family home of Al-Batsh, Gaza's police chief, killed 18 people.Reuters

Mourners carry the bodies of the four Palestinian children from the Bakr family, who were killed on a beach by a shell fired by an Israeli naval gunboat.Reuters

Israeli soldiers sleep next to armoured personnel carriers near the Israeli-Gaza border.Getty

Rockets fired from Gaza City are launched towards Israel.AFP

Free Syrian Army fighters react after firing a weapon towards forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in the southern part of Maarat Al-Nouman, Idlib.Reuters

A man who volunteered for the Ukrainian self-defence battalion Azov embraces his girlfriend in Kiev after a ceremony where he took an oath of allegiance to the country.Reuters

An injured passenger talks on his mobile phone after being rescued and treated by paramedics.AFP

Parts of of the Malaysia Airlines jet carrying 298 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur are seen near the town of Shaktarsk.AFP

Passengers' belongings are strewn at the site of the crash of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 jet near the town of Shaktarsk, in rebel-held east Ukraine.AFP

Residents look at a fallen tree which damaged four houses after Typhoon Rammasun (locally named Glenda) battered the town of Rosario, Cavite city, south of Manila.Reuters

The ancient town of Fenghuang is partially submerged by floodwater as a river overflows in Hunan province, China.Reuters

A bolt of lightning strikes the Empire State Building during a summer thunderstorm in New York.Reuters

Lightning strikes One World Trade Center in Manhattan during a summer storm.Reuters

People crowd onto 42nd Street as they take photos of the 'Manhattanhenge' phenomenon, occurring twice a year, when the setting sun aligns itself with the east-west grid of streets in Manhattan.Reuters

The Supermoon rises over houses in Olvera, in the southern Spanish province of Cadiz. Occurring when a full moon coincides with the closest approach the moon makes to the Earth, the Supermoon results in a larger-than-usual appearance of the lunar disk.Reuters

People relax in deck chairs on the beach in Brighton on the hottest day of the year so far.AFP

A man jumps from the sea wall in Brighton as the temperature soars.AFP

Parkour enthusiast Luke Webb practices a flip along the Thames on the South Bank in London.Reuters

Bengal tigers play in a pool of water at the zoo in Malabon, Metro Manila, Philippines.Reuters

A polar bear snacks on an ice block containing fruit to beat the heat at South Korea's Everland Amusement and Animal Park in Yongin.AFP

A runner is gored by a bull at Estafeta corner during the eighth running of the bulls of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona.Reuters

People feed sparrows in front of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris.AFP

A long exposure photo shows the flight paths of seagulls as they fly over the left field bleachers at AT&T Park in San Francisco.Getty

A long exposure photo shows Buddhists holding candles encircling the Wat Asokaram Temple in Samut Prakan, Thailand.Reuters

Fireworks explode around the Eiffel Tower in Paris during the annual Bastille Day celebrations.Getty

Men carry the statue of Virgen del Carmen to Puerto de la Cruz dock on the Canary island of Tenerife, Spain.Getty

Schoolchildren show their hands decorated with henna during a competition to mark World Population Day in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad.Reuters

Tourists play in the mud during the Boryeong Mud Festival at Daecheon beach in South Korea.Reuters

A 6.6 metre tall Godzilla statue is illuminated at the Midtown park in Tokyo for the promotion of the recent film.AFP

People look at at the Gulliver sculpture in the Gulliver's World amusement park in Pudagla, on the island of Usedom, Germany.AFP

An aerial view of farmer Tom Pearcy's Maze, which features giant likenesses of famous Yorkshiremen Geoffrey Boycott, Jeremy Clarkson and Brian Blessed cut into an 18-acre field of maize.Getty

David Beckham and his sons Romeo and Cruz get "slimed" as he accepts the Legend Award during the 2014 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports awards in Los Angeles.Reuters

Reese Hoffa competes in the men's shot put final at the USATF Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, California.Getty

Construction workers take pictures as Germany's 2014 World Cup squad proceed in an open-top bus through Berlin.Reuters

The Queen sits with construction workers as she opens the refurbished Reading Railway station.Getty

China's Business Sentiment Hits Seven-Month High

A man talks on a mobile phone near the Pudong financial district in Shanghai.Reuters

Business confidence among China's largest companies increased for the third straight month in July, results of a poll by research firm MNI showed.

The MNI China Business Indicator rose to 58.2 in July from 55.0 in June, logging its highest reading since December 2013.

Putting the latest reading in perspective, sentiment is now running above the 2013 average of 55.3 and not too far off the series average of 59.1 since 2007, according to MNI.

However, confidence surrounding future business prospects decreased in July, the MNI poll revealed. The Expectations Indicator dropped to 61.5 in July from 64.2 in June.

China Growth

Chinese lawmakers are determined to ensure that growth in the world's second largest economy does not slip too far below the 7.5% GDP growth target for 2014.

Premier Li Keqiang has said that his country was eyeing qualitative growth, saying a growth rate slightly higher or lower than 7.5% will be acceptable.

Business sentiment "was underpinned by a continued strong performance in new orders which rose to the highest level for seven months, alongside a surge in order backlogs to the highest for nearly three years and a further rise in inventories, with companies stockpiling at the fastest pace since September 2011", the MNI report said.

Barclays Capital said in note to clients: "We expect more easing in China; such moves are more likely to be targeted than broad-based. The property sector and exports remain key areas to watch for the growth and policy outlook.

"We believe more fiscal spending and monetary loosening or targeted measures to support investment and lower the cost of financing are needed to sustain growth momentum in H2."

"But the better data YTD, improving external demand and initial signs of a recovery in property sales and investment are complicating the policy choices, especially given the [Chinese central bank's] reluctance to implement more broad-based easing," Barclays added.

Libya Asks United Nations Security Council to Protect Oil and Airports

The inside of a damaged terminal is seen after a shelling at Tripoli International Airport(Reuters)

Libya has called on the United Nations Security Council for assistance in protecting oil facilities and airports in the country as the North African state seeks to regain a sense of order and normality.

The oil-rich country has suffered three years of political, social and economic turmoil in the wake of the ouster of Muammar Qaddafi.

Rival militias have fought a bloody battle at Tripoli International airport this week, shelling the terminal buildings and preventing all flights for five days.

Heavily armed militants have easily captured and controlled key facilities throughout the country over the past few years and Libya's Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdelaziz warned the council that his government may soon be beyond help and that urgent action is required.

He urged the council "to take the case of Libya seriously before it's too late," admitting the central government is not able to rein in the myriad militias.

"Lack of protection of oil fields and the ports through which we export our oil remain to be a serious problem," he told the council. The government has lost out on $30bn in revenues since losing control of the ports, he added.

"We are not asking for military intervention to protect the oil but we need teams – experts, trained people – to work with Libyans... so the Libyans can learn how to protect these strategic sites," he said.

"The Libyans themselves are not trained to the level that they are capable of ensuring the protection of those sites," he told the council.

"We're calling for stabilisation and institution building initiative on the part of the Security Council."

"Should Libya become the failed state, kidnapped by radical groups and warlords, the consequences will be far reaching and perhaps could be beyond control," he said.

Separatist rebels seized and occupied four major oil export ports in 2013. The militants have since returned the ports to the government but the country's exports were badly hit by the oil blockade.

Libya's oil capacity before the blockade was around 1.4 million barrels per day, but that has plunged in recent months. The OPEC member's production has recovered to around 600,000 barrels per day but remains far from achieving full capacity.

The petroleum sector accounts for almost all of Libya's export earnings and more than half of the country's gross domestic product.

Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Clerics Sanction 'Anal Jihad' for Lonely Militants Fighting Far From Their Wives

Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood clerics sanction 'anal jihad' for lonely militants who are fighting far from their wivesReuters file photo

A prominent Egyptian cleric has accused the Muslim Brotherhood of sanctioning what has been called as 'anal jihad' for Islamic militants who are fighting in places far away from their wives.

In his televised comments, which were broadcast by the al-Tahrir channel, the preacher Mazhar Shahin said the Muslim fighters are being authorised to freely practice homosexuality under the pretext of waging "jihad in the name of Allah."

Comparing the idea with 'sex jihad' - where the women are either kidnapped and forced to have intercourse or the women offer themselves to the fighters who are waging jihad – the Islamic cleric said the Muslim Brotherhood cleric's approval of homosexual acts is a "catastrophe".

According to the English translation of his remarks, carried by a report on the Middle East Media Research Institute, he said: "We have recently heard of a new kind of jihad, called 'anal jihad. Do you know what that is? They practice homosexuality with one another, thinking, wrongly, that this constitutes jihad for the sake of Allah."

He added: "The [Muslim Brotherhood] is a bunch of hopeless and desperate peddlers who have reached a state of foolishness, stupidity, filth, and so on – to the highest imaginable degree. This catastrophe – this 'anal jihad' – is proof of this. ... Now we are hearing about anal jihad, in which two men are permitted to perform this great sin – God forbid – with one another, because they are away from home and cannot have sex with their wives."

China Holding Public Trial of Peter Humphrey and Yu Yingzeng Over GSK-related Work

Peter Humphrey (left) and his former client GSK are under investigation by Chinese authorities (Reuters)

China has announced that it will publicly prosecute the British investigator Peter Humphrey and his American wife Yu Yingzeng after the two were charged with illegally obtaining private information for work related to GlaxoSmithKline.

According to state-run news agency Xinhua, citing statement from the Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court, China will allow the public to witness the high profile trial of the couple, after US and UK authorities, as well as family members, vexed concerns over being barred from attending.

"The two defendants hope their families can attend the trial," Xinhua said without adding any more information about the authorities' decision.

Previously, China's foreign ministry pledged to handle legal proceedings in accordance to the law, while US and Uk authorities pushed for a promise that the trial of the couple would be transparent and fair.

On 14 July, Humphrey and Yu were formally charged by Chinese authorities after initially being detained in China, as part of a corruption probe into foreign companies in the country's pharmaceutical sector, in August last year.

Two weeks after their arrest the pair had reportedly confessed to their illegal acts, via their company ChinaWhys, and apologised to China's government.

Chinese state television aired a public confession from British fraud investigator Peter Humphrey, who was detained along with his wife and US citizen Yu Yingzeng, though he made no mention of his former client GSK.

"The way we acquired information was sometimes illegal. I feel very regretful about it and want to apologise to the Chinese government," Humphrey said on the state television.

The couple were charged with illegally buying and selling private information by operating illegal research companies and trafficking personal info on Chinese citizens.

Allegedly, ChinaWhys sold China citizens' information to multinational companies, financial institutions, and law firms, for more than 100,000 yuan (€12,000, £10,000, $16,000) each.

However, authorities have not made a link between GSK and the case against ChinaWhys.

Beijing Home Sales Fall by One Third on Property Cooling Measures

A Chinese national flag flutters at a construction site for a new residence complex in BeijingReuters

Property sales in China's capital declined more than 30% year over year in the first half of 2013, indicating that the government measures to curb property speculation in the country are working.

Sales of residential units in the first half fell by 35.2% from last year, the South China Morning Post reported, citing figures from the Beijing municipal government.

In addition to the property cooling measures, the launching of a subsidised housing programme for first-time buyers also contributed to the decline, according to Xia Qinfang, deputy director of the Beijing Bureau of Statistic. The sales under the programme were not part of the overall residential sales figures.

Beijing has been taking online applications for ten subsidised housing projects, and construction has already begun on a number of similar housing schemes.

"Such policies have managed to stabilise the real estate market quite well," Xia said.

"Since the start of the year, growth in property prices has kept falling, which is a good sign for people's livelihoods."

The decline comes after a 30% rise in residential property sales in the first half of 2013 from the year-ago period.

The National Bureau of Statistics earlier released figures that showed a 7.8% year-on-year decline in home sales across the country for the first six months of 2014.

China's property market witnessed sky-high price levels amid rising demand. In order to cool the property market, more than 40 cities across the mainland have introduced home buying restrictions since early 2010.

However, a number of cities including Wenzhou, Zhejiang, and Haikou, Hainan have eased the restrictions later as they suffered serious revenue loss from land bids.

The property cooling measures have reduced property prices across the country. Average home prices declined 0.47% in June in 70 tracked Chinese cities, compared with a 0.15% fall in May, according to calculations by the Wall Street Journal.

Malaysia Airlines MH17: State Fund Khazanah Nasional Could Accelerate MAS Restructuring Plans

Malaysian Airlines MH17: State fund Khazanah Nasional could accelerate MAS restructuring plans.Reuters

Malaysian state investor Khazanah Nasional, which is examining various options to save the ailing flag-carrier Malaysia Airline System (MAS), may have to accelerate plans to restructure MAS as two aircraft disasters in four months could compound the firm's financial troubles.

Two aircraft crashes within the year is "psychologically damaging" for MAS's reputation, said Arvin Chia Yew Kim, the head of equity capital markets at Malaysia's Affin Investment Bank.

The markets are "quite certain that MAS will be privatised", Arvin told IBTimes UK.

Twin Disasters

Asian markets woke up to news that a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 jet was shot down in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk overnight.

Passengers have kept away from the airline following the unexplained disappearance of flight MH370 earlier in the year.

Privatising the airline, an option reportedly under consideration, could help Khazanah, which owns 69.4% of MAS, restructure it with little interference from the powerful airline union and shareholders.

The Ukraine disaster "definitely will have quite a significant impact on [MAS]...even though MH17 appears to be totally not MAS's fault, there will I'm sure be short-medium term cancellations of flights etc.

"I think Khazanah will have to speed up their plans on restructuring MAS as this disaster will accelerate the decline in business," Arvin said in his email response to queries.

Pursued by IBTimes UK, a Khazanah spokesman, Mohd Asuki Bin Abas, said: "...in the wake of this tragedy, we would like to refrain from commenting for the time being as we'd like to focus our time to support MAS in ‎its emergency efforts."

MAS Shares

While news of the jet crash has weighed down on MAS's stock price, which dropped some 18% in Kuala Lumpur in Friday morning trade, the "downside to [the MAS] stock is limited", Arvin said.

"I believe although it's still early in terms of the details as to what really happened to MH17 and depending on the news flow going forward, there may be further weakness [in MAS's stock] in the days ahead."

However, "...most of the negativity has already been priced in and also given the fact that the market is quite certain that MAS will be privatised, there will be a 'floor' to the stock price," Arvin added.

On 3 July, Khazanah, responding to speculation about the privatisation of MAS, said in a statement: "As Khazanah has stated previously, a comprehensive review of restructuring options for MAS is being undertaken and evaluated."

The aviation firm's losses reached £82.2m ($141m, €104m) in the quarter ended 31 March, 2014, almost £30m more than the same period last year and its worst loss since the quarter ended 31 December, 2011.

Passengers in Asia have taken their custom elsewhere following the MH370 event; passenger numbers were down 60% for the airline.

Malaysia Airlines MH17: Photos of Boeing 777 Plane Crash in Ukraine [GRAPHIC IMAGES]

Wreckage and bodies are scattered across the Ukrainian countryside after a Malaysian jetliner was shot from the sky.

Rescue workers, policemen and even off-duty coal miners are combing a sprawling area in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border where the Malaysian plane ended up in burning pieces, killing all 298 aboard.

Large chunks of the Boeing 777 bearing the airline's red, white and blue markings lie strewn over a field. The cockpit and one turbines lie a kilometre apart, and residents said the tail landed about 10 kilometres away, indicating the aircraft most likely broke up before hitting the ground.

About 70 coal miners have joined the rescue effort near the rebel-held village of Rozsypne. At least four bodies were seen in the streets of the village, and a journalist saw bodies and body parts strewn across a sunflower field outside Rozsypne.

An armed pro-Russian separatist stands on part of the wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane after it crashed near the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region.Reuters

Parts of of the Malaysia Airlines jet carrying 298 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur are seen near the town of Shaktarsk.AFP

Parts of the Malaysian Airlines plane are spread across an area near the town of Shaktarsk, in rebel-held east Ukraine.AFP

Armed pro-Russian separatists stand at the site of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash.Reuters

Passengers' luggage is strewn across a field.AFP

A body is seen on a seat among the wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines jet.AFP

A man wearing military fatigues stands next to the wreckage.AFP

A firefighter stands among the burning wreckage of the Malaysian airliner.AFP

Alexander Borodai, self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the pro-Russian separatist Donetsk People's Republic, arrives at the site of the crash.AFP

A body lies on the ground close to the site of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crashReuters

People search for bodies at the site of the crash of a Malaysian airliner carrying 298 people from Amsterdam to Kuala LumpurAFP

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