Has the weather gone totally mad?

Here's an American tourist at Bondi Beach on Wednesday as the temperature nudged the mid 20s. She'll get an awful shock Friday or Saturday when that bitterly cold southerly hits. Pic. Phil Hillyard. Source: News Corp Australia

THE cold front has just hit Melbourne. Tullamarine Airport just plummeted from 18 degrees to 7.7 in a matter of minutes, while the Yarra river is bursting its banks.

The Yarra is not overflowing because of rain, but due to a surge caused by incredibly strong winds which have buffeted much of south east Australia today.

FROM EARLIER TODAY...

THEY call it the hairdryer.

It's a gale-force westerly wind that heats up the south east of Australia in late winter, tearing the snow off the ski slopes like paint stripper and giving east-coast residents an early, teasing taste of spring.

Then it slams the door in your face, mocking your T-shirt and shorts with an Antarctic blast that sends you scurrying for your winter woollies.

Storm chaser Hannah took this from her balcony in Docklands just as the cold front hit Melbourne this afternoon. Picture credit: Hannah Weddell Source: News Corp Australia

When we first saw this image of Melburnians on Middle Park beach, we thought the black thing was an upside down labrador which had blown off its chain. We now realise it's apparently just a jacket. Either way, it illustrates wild weather. Picture: Nicole Garmston. Source: News Corp Australia

No, the weather hasn't gone mad. It's just gotten a little extreme.

It's also gotten extremely scary in some parts of the country. Launceston Police said a person had died as a result of injuries sustained when a tree fell in high winds about 12.30pm today. Strong-to-gale-fore winds will increase across much of south east Australia in the coming 24 hours.

So what's going on?

This is actually a classic setup for the second half of winter, and we're going to borrow a few weather charts from the Bureau of Meteorology website to explain all that.

This first chart shows the current weather situation right about now.

Lunchtime Thursday July 31. Source: NewsComAu

See the big low pressure system below Tasmania? The first thing to understand is that air circulates clockwise around a low.

The wavy lines, called isobars, help show you which way the air is flowing. So as you can see, right now there's a bunch of air flowing across NSW and Victoria which has more or less come from central Australia. As you'd imagine, that air is pretty warm.

You should also know that the closer the isboars are together, the windier it is. And those isobars are really close together. Thredbo in the NSW Snowy Mountains has had gusts in excess of 100 km/h for each of the last three days. In the last hour or so before this story was published, wind speeds touched 124 km/h. Mt Hotham in Victoria just hit 113 km/h. Eek.

As mentioned, all that wind plus warmish temperatures create a real hairdryer effect. That's why the snow in the Aussie Alps has gone from this...

The Aussie snowfields a couple of weeks back Source: NewsComAu

To this...

The same scene after three days of hairdryer. Source: NewsComAu

But the cold is about to return with a vengeance. Have a look at the projcted weather map for Friday.

See what we mean? Source: NewsComAu

See how the cold front will have crossed the south east by late Friday morning? The front is the line with the black "shark fins" on it. Now the air impacting south east Australia is coming from a cold place way down in the Southern Ocean. That means good snow for the Alps, plus snowfalls to fairly low levels in NSW and Victoria. The suburbs of Hobart and Canberra may even see a few flakes Friday.

It also means your taste of spring is over. For now.

In summary, the weather has not gone mad. Cold outbreaks like this with big surges of warm air ahead of them are really common this time of year. The strong winds are common too. Be careful out there, people.

Got a wild weather pic? Tweet us at @newscomauHQ or @antsharwood and we'll upload the best ones into this story!

Gigantic waves crash into Mornington Harbour on July 31, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. Temperatures dropped and strong winds of over 100mk/h hit Melbourne this afternoon, bringing rain and hail across the state. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

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Fishermen haul in 100kg monster

Dylan Brooking and Chad Runnalls caught a 100kg grouper in Hervey Bay, Queensland. Source: Supplied

MORE than 100 people gathered to watch the amazing spectacle as two anglers reeled in a gigantic grouper on the weekend.

The massive fish, believed to weigh more than 100kg, was caught about 300km north of Brisbane at the historic Urangan Pier, Hervey Bay by two local fisherman, the Warwick Daily News reported.

Chad Runnalls and Dylan Brooking spent more than two hours fighting the fish, making the catch about 1km away from where the action started.

The fish was eventually released back into the water. Source: Supplied

"We fish every day pretty much and try and catch big mackerel and tuna, but this was a real thrill," Runnalls said.

"It was massive.

"It's a phenomenal fish — it's a big beautiful girl of a fish."

Children in the crowd pat the gigantic fish. Source: Supplied

The men eventually released the grouper back into the water, bringing about an applause from onlookers.

"There's maybe about 10 local kids there most of the time and they were all there and they all got a chance to touch it, have photos with it — it was a really a 'bringing people together' moment," added the 35-year-old Runnalls.

"We patted her a bit and had a little bit of a moment with the fish, said, 'Go on old girl,' and she took off back into the water, no problem.

"They are living legends those fish and you would never in a million years do anything (to harm them)."

In November 2013, a 310kg grouper was reportedly caught in the Spratly Islands in the south China sea.

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Why Toni should stop talking

Toni McHugh reveals more details about affair with Gerard Baden-Clay to Womens Weekly associate editor Caroline Overington.

Gerard Baden Clay's mistress Toni McHugh Source: Channel 9

THE former lover of convicted murderer, Gerard Baden-Clay has given an "exclusive tell-all interview" to The Australian Women's Weekly , but given the wave of contempt she was hit with after her recent 60 Minutes interview, you do wonder why.

There is nothing the unfortunate Ms McHugh can say to appease the tide of bitterness towards her already flowing through Australian social media and blogs.

The Weekly posted its teaser for the story on its website today, and already the poison is flowing in, with readers going so far as to suggest the magazine has brought "shame" on itself by even speaking with McHugh.

This woman is not only being punished for her role in the desperate unhappiness of Allison Baden-Clay prior to her murder, but appears to have become the focus of anger and disgust felt for marital infidelity generally.

Despite the fact she did no more or less than so many others who have engaged in extramarital affairs, McHugh is being widely held up as the universal symbol of the demon mistress.

Like the personalised and general abuse aimed at her in the early comments on The Weekly's post, the comment stream on an article by wronged wife Elizabeth Stewart on the women's website Mamamia, should have been reason enough for the former Brisbane real estate agent to have received the message it's not worth sticking your head above the parapet again.

Toni McHugh in a photoshoot for The Australian Women's Weekly. Photo: AWW. Source: Supplied

In an article headed 'Don't You Dare Tell Me To Feel Sorry For Toni McHugh', Elizabeth Stewart wrote on 22 July:

"On Sunday night I got into a fight on Facebook.

"Let's all remember Toni McHugh is not to blame for the murder of Allison Baden-Clay!!!!!" wrote one of my friends. "I feel sorry for her. She's been punished enough!"

I saw red and I said as much.

Don't you DARE ask me or any other woman whose husband has cheated on them to feel 'sorry' for the mistress.

Don't ask me to see her point of view. To hear her side of the story. Don't ask me to do anything other than despise the woman who actively chose to co-create a web of lies that would impact my kids and me.

Toni McHugh has been punished enough? Please. She's not a victim here ...

If you're reading this right now and you're having an affair with someone you know is married, let me tell you something.

Toni McHugh and Gerard Baden Clay. Source: Channel 9

Every time you 'sneak out' a lie is told at home to a waiting spouse who in turn starts to get worried or suspicious. When they express those fears, they are nearly always told by their cheating partner that they're 'imagining things' or paranoid. And so the mind games begin.

Every time you have carefree sex with the candles and the music, there is a spouse at home hanging out washing, dealing with tantrums, paying the bills and wondering what the hell to get HIS MOTHER for her birthday."

Such was vitriol hurled at McHugh in 350 comments that Mamamia, to its credit, appears to have closed access to them now. To say that post did not bring out the best in readers is 2014's greatest understatement.

That comments made it plain that such is the contempt for this woman, the only things to potentially benefit from future interviews would be would McHugh's financial bottom line and hate-click traffic numbers for the publication.

The Weekly would appear to be tapping into the prevailing sentiment about McHugh in it's write-off, published today on the its website:

"What kind of woman has an affair with a married man? It's not an easy question to answer, but Toni McHugh did it. She had an affair with Gerard Baden-Clay, who was this month convicted of the murder of his beautiful wife, Allison.

Toni McHugh and Gerard Baden Clay. Source: Channel 9

"She was planning a future with him — and with his children. She thought they'd all be able to play happy families together. This obviously isn't what Allison's children ever would have wanted. What they wanted — what they still want — is their Mum.

Still, Toni feels no responsibility for what happened to Allison."

And look, perhaps the judgmental tone is to be expected, as the magazine eagerly taps into the fashion for contempt of Toni McHugh. But is it responsible?

Toni McHugh is not the devil, nor is she alone in having lead a marital double-life. Her relationship with Baden-Clay was destructive, sure, but she is not the perpetrator of Allison Baden-Clay's awful, tragic and inexcusable demise.

She must not be chastised vicariously for the unhappiness of everyone whose partner has strayed, as seems to be happening.

She is no paragon of marital virtue, but the real contempt should be reserved for murderer Gerard Baden-Clay.

Agreed, Toni McHugh is not a victim. And neither is she a criminal. She should be left alone now to try to reconstruct a life. And she should certainly stop talking.

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Sport’s most awkward questions answered

Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova. Source: AFP

HAS an opponent's body odour ever impacted your performance in a game?

Would you plan your pregnancy around your sport's season?

Have you ever played a game with a hangover?

Nothing was off limits as the world's top athletes were asked the most awkward questions imaginable as part of ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue.

The publication anonymously asked 90 professional athletes — 50 men and 40 women from 21 different sports — the sort of questions the stars never get asked, and the results were fascinating.

One female boxer explained that fighters deliberately do not wear deodorant as a tactic to put off an opponent.

"I was fighting in Russia a few years ago, and not many fighters were wearing deodorant," the boxer said.

"I'm convinced they actually don't wear it on purpose. We got into a clinch once and instead of thinking about what I was going to do, the smell threw me off for about 10 seconds. You couldn't not smell it."

Apparently women's boxers don't wear deodorant to hinder their opponents. Source: AP

A hockey player added: "I got into a fight and he stunk so bad. I had to duck down and wait for the refs to come stop it. I thought I was going to be sick."

Fifty per cent of the women interviewed said menstrual cramps had affected their performance in a game, while 71 per cent said they would plan their pregnancy around their sport's season.

"You'll see a lot more pregnant female athletes this year because it's an off year, with no Olympics. I've seen a lot more pregnant women this year," a female Olympic track and field athlete said.

Nearly half of the male athletes surveyed said they had played a game hungover. Source: AP

Asked if they had ever had an "accident" in their pants during practice or a game, about a third of respondents admitted they had.

"I have to call timeout and go. Once you have a baby, if you've got to go, you've got to go," a female softball player said.

Forty-seven per cent of the men and 32 per cent of the women said they had played a game with a hangover.

After a night out, I'd have my best practice of the week," an NFL player said.

"My level of focus was so high because I knew I was two steps behind."

One Major League Soccer player said: "I won't have sex the night before (a game). I just don't feel like myself ... I get heavy-legged."

While an NFL player revealed the extent to which an opponent attacked his testicles.

"One guy grabbed me and twisted, and he kept grabbing and twisting. I had to come to the sideline and pop a squat and just let 'em hang.

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Earth’s 6th mass extinction is here

Cancerous growth ... Humanity's sprawl is on the verge of triggering a 6th mass extinction event, with the loss of up to 75 per cent of life on Earth. Source: ThinkStock

Astronomer Dr Alan Duffy is on the search for exoplanets in our distant universe and explains how we'll find extraterrestrial life.

It's happened before. It's happening again. Scientists are warning Earth is in the early stages of a "mass extinction" event. Source: News Corp Australia

EARTH'S sixth great extinction event has already begun. Now science is calling for urgent action to prevent life as we know it going the way of the dinosaurs.

The first five "events" destroyed more than 75 per cent of this planet's life.

Animals. Plants. Entire ecosystems. The fossil record reveals all were smashed by natural disasters such as asteroids.

It's happening again: But this time the experts say we are the cause.

Life on Earth is dying at an unprecedented rate.

The journal Science reports more than 320 animal and bird species alone have vanished since the 1500s. Most other animal populations from among the more than five million species on our planet have declined by an average 28 per cent.

RELATED: The tiny fern that saved the planet. Can it do it again?

One third of all life on Earth is now threatened or endangered.

Remember how we always predicted bugs would inherit the world?

That now looks to be wrong: Studies show these humble creepy-crawlies are among the worst affected with losses representing as much as 45 per cent of their populations in the past 35 years.

Only humanity has thrived: Our population has doubled in the same time frame.

Doomsday looms — without the comet.

What's causing it?

Eating the planet ... a fisherman drying salted fish at Kerumutan protected tropical rainforest, which is the Sumatran tiger habitat in Sumatra, Indonesia. Indonesia lost 840,000 hectares of natural forest in 2012 compared to 460,000 hectares in Brazil. Source: Getty Images

Wars. Pollution. Hunting. Fishing. Farming.

And climate-change induced natural disasters.

The new all-of-science review by international biologists and palaeoecologists warns all are seriously undermining the ecological health of the planet.

And our struggling ecosystems will increasingly start to hurt humans.

Already the effects are increasingly obvious: The current Ebola outbreak is just one example.

Out of Africa ... Bats evicted from their natural habitat are believed to be behind the worst outbreak of the devastating Ebola virus currently being experienced in western Africa. Source: AFP

WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?

Bats. Birds. Monkeys. Even mice.

All are among species being forced out of their habitats and into ever-expanding human territory.

Some even thrive amid the rubbish or under the eaves of our sprawling suburbs.

With them come previously unencountered — or at least rare — forms of disease.

Beetles. Butterflies. Worms.

All are vital for the health — and reproduction — of plants.

Not just a food source ... caterpillars for sale in a street market in the Ngaba district of Kinshasa — crushed, boiled or fried. It's easy to overlook their importance in maintaining the food chain. Source: AFP

Insects are responsible for the pollination of 75 per cent of the world's food crops — yet they are the target of intense insecticide spraying and habitat-changing activities.

The loss of such small creatures is having a trickle-up effect.

EARTH 2.0: Astronomers say we'll find it within 20 years

It's not just the fertilisation of next year's wheat, barley, corn and apple crops: There's also the vital nutrient recycling and composting roles which keep soils productive.

Balanced invertebrate ecosystems are also a strong natural source of pest control. Without them, US farmers would have to spend an extra $5 billion each year on eradication programs, the study says.

Resource wars ... A Japanese fishing boat, bottom, a small Japanese pleasure boat, top centre, Japan Coast Guard vessels, third and fourth from bottom and top left, sail along with a Chinese surveillance ship near disputed islands called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China in the East China Sea. Source: AP

Then there are the wars.

As fish stocks vanish in one area, fleets need to move to another. This is already the source of increasing tensions in the South and West China Seas.

Unhealthy habitats also can unsettle streams from their paths — if they're not already dammed.

Justin Brashares warns in Science that declines in wildlife have been linked to economic and social stresses which lead to exploitative child labour practices and the proliferation of terrorism.

"Leadership must move beyond superficial reactions to elephant and rhino poaching and consider the complicated fate of the billions of people who rely on our planet's rapidly disappearing wildlife for food and income," his study concludes.

Leftovers ... The skeleton of a mammoth (Mammutus columbi) which lived in America over a million years ago exhibited in a museum. Source: AFP

SIGNS OF THE SIXTH MASS EXTINCTION

This extinction event differs from others in the long history of our planet in one major way: It's been brought about by the loss of major predators and herbivores through human interaction.

Scientists have a term for it: Anthropocene defaunation.

All previous extinctions have been driven by cataclysmic events (such as asteroid collisions or super volcanoes) or natural transformations (such as the impact of world-spanning ice ages).

The impact of this one — which is already affecting up to 33 per cent of all animals — will be equally severe.

"Where human density is high, you get high rates of defaunation, high incidence of rodents, and thus high levels of pathogens, which increases the risks of disease transmission," said Stanford University Biology Professor Rodolfo Dirzo who helped produce the review for the journal Science.

The demise of the megafauna — such as giant kangaroos, woolly mammoths and giant sloths — as recently as some 20,000 years ago may just have been the start. Many anthropologists believe such beasts were easy meals to the newly organised and armed homo sapiens (us).

Then there's the fate of the Tasmanian tiger and the passenger pigeon. One of the most recent additions to the extinct-at-human-hands list is the baiji freshwater dolphin of China.

More than 1000 species have been killed off in the past 200,000 years. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature keeps records of 20,000 more plants and animals classified as endangered.

Large animals remain at the forefront of decline: Now, it's the ever-present tale of rhinos and elephants being slaughtered for their horns, lions and leopards killed for the thrill (and dried testicles), and whales hunted for the sake of tradition.

But the greatest threat comes from loss of habitat: Less space to roam means fewer offspring, which in turn results in less viable populations.

The loss of such large animals is having a trickle-down effect.

Revitalisation ... a Zebra bolting out of an enclosure after a herd was translocated from Soysambu conservancy in the Kenyan Rift Valley in an effort to restock Kenya's famous Amboseli game reserve where indigenous species of large herbivore, particularly zebra and wilderbeast were decimated by a severe dought in 2009. Source: AFP

Kenya is cited as a case-study: After the kill-off of most of its zebras, giraffes and elephants — the nation has become overwhelmed by rodents gorging on the ungrazed terrain.

Professor Dirzo states this loss of animal diversity will most likely have a very harmful future impact.

"We tend to think about extinction as loss of a species from the face of Earth, and that's very important, but there's a loss of critical ecosystem functioning in which animals play a central role that we need to pay attention to as well," Dirzo said.

Some 3.5 billion years of evolutionary experimentation is under threat and with it much of the knowledge which could improve our own futures.

After all, we still striving to unravel the secrets of spider webs, gecko toes and pigeon homing.

Uncertain future ... Two 3-month old female Cheetah cubs at the Nairobi Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. The two Cheetah cubs were abandoned by their mother due to shortages in prey. Source: AP

IS IT TOO LATE?

It can be done, they say. If we have the will.

Scientific American cites the example of the black-footed ferret. Merely seven of these little animals were still alive little more than a decade ago. Now they're back from the brink. Similar stories can be found for critically endangered animals ranging from condors to salamanders.

Philip Seddon reports in the journal Science that human efforts have saved 424 species of plants — mostly through careful cultivation and moving them to new areas away from human activity.

We've also seen — in the abandoned landscape around Chernobyl and the deliberate attempts to reforest the US eastern seaboard — that woodlands return (along with all their associated life) when farms and towns are abandoned.

Urgent action required ... Dr Mark Eldridge a Senior Research Scientist in Terrestrial Vertebrates at the Australian Museum with a preserved Eastern Quoll. The Eastern Quoll soon could be extinct. Source: News Corp Australia

But it remains a task requiring willpower from among general populations, government and industry.

There is no point saving animals without preserving the habitats within which they would live, the study says.

Reintroducing animals to unbalanced habitats is one tactic the study supports. Whether through introducing new predators to fill a vacated niche, or through genetically rebuilding lost animals, such stability has a cascade effect on the survival of other local animals, plants and trees.

How long do we have?

A study published by Nature in 2011 says we have just a century to change our ways before the "tipping point" is reached that will guarantee mass extinction.

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Did Eddie give away the answers?

Teenager Khaled El-Katateny walked away from a game show with $100,000 despite not knowing a single answer.

Poker faced ... Eddie McGuire on the Hot Seat set. Source: Supplied

MELBOURNE law student Khaled El-Katateny yesterday walked away from the game show Millionaire Hot Seat with $100,000 despite not knowing the answer to a single question.

The 19-year-old had the audience and home viewers in stitches with his comedic antics, which included asking people to follow him on Instagram and telling host Eddie McGuire he planned to buy 10 jetskis if he won.

But instead of relying on his smarts, the second-year university student claimed he used his incredible knack for being able to read body language.

Khaled El-Katateny on Millionaire Hot Seat. Source: Supplied Source: Supplied

For each of the five questions he was asked, El-Katateny said he repeated the possible answers back and scanned host Eddie McGuire's face for a reaction.

"I didn't play the game — I played the man," he explained.

"If you look at it, you see me working Eddie McGuire. I'm reading every single subtle thing about his face. I was reading the audience behind him too. That's telling me the answer."

AS MILLIONAIRE HOT SEAT celebrates its 1000th episode, do you have what it takes to win $1 million?

The footage doesn't show any readable clues or cues in McGuire's face and the larrikin teenager is looking down at his screen while repeating the options back.

There is every chance El-Katateny, much as he did during his appearance on the show, is simply taking the mickey.

Although the probability of fluking the answer to five questions from four options is low.

Whatever his trick, he has pocketed $100,000 and a couple of hundred new Instagram followers thanks to his on-air promotion of his account.

"When I got in the chair, there were five questions left to $100,000. I thought I'd make the best out of it and yell out my Instagram."

His username, which he reminded viewers repeatedly, is Kahled_ELK. His profile features a collection of selfies, pictures of his car and happy snaps with mates.

While he told McGuire he'd buy 10 jetskis for him and his mates if he won, El-Katateny has since backtracked on the cash splash.

"I'm definitely going to buy one jetski, but not 10. Look, it has struck a bit of controversy (with my mates).

"I really, really need a car charger for my phone. Every time I go somewhere, my phone dies — especially now it's blowing up."

Before planning how he'd spend the money, he offered it all to his parents but they refused the generous gesture and told him they were proud of the remarkable effort.

Just don't describe the cash as "winnings".

"I didn't win anything — I earned it."

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How criminals break out of our prisons

A 20-year-old sex offender is on the run after escaping from a country Victorian jail.

Police in WA and Victoria have been hunting escaped prisoners today. Source: Supplied

POLICE in two Australian states have been hunting prison inmates who have broken out of jail, including one who has escaped before, and a "dangerous" sex offender.

The prison breaks come after a string of similar incidents across Australia in recent months where inmates have escaped while being transported between jails and even convicted murderers have managed to evade security and run free.

In Western Australia, detectives from the Regional Investigations Unit have been searching for Brett Shannon Klimczak who fled Acacia Prison early today.

The 31-year-old was recaptured about midday, after a police pursuit, in a suburb in Perth's east. His car became bogged and he was taken into custody after being surrounded by police.

Brett Shannon Klimczak was recaptured today after escaping a WA prison — his second escape in four years. Source: Supplied

Police allege Brett Shannon Klimczak was caught after a chase where his vehicle came to a stop after being bogged. Picture: Nine News Perth Source: Supplied

Brett Shannon Klimczak is back in custody. Picture: Nine News Perth Source: Supplied

Authorities have not said how he managed to get away but he was so determined to break out he injured himself busting through two razor wires, something the WA Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis admitted was a serious concern.

Klimczak has a history of jail breaks. In December 2010 he hot-wired a prison officer's vehicle and smashed through a prison compound while he was serving time for vehicle thefts and aggravated burglary.

During three weeks on the run he stole cars, petrol, registration plates, phones cash and clothing but was eventually tracked down by police after a manhunt through the desert.

WA Police are still seeking another inmate, 20-year-old Michael James Hayward, who broke free from custody when he was being transported from a hospital back to prison a week ago.

Escapee Michael James Hayward is still evading WA Police Source: Supplied

In Victoria today police are warning people not to approach Mana Lumm, 20, who had been at a youth justice facility.

Police would not say where he was being held or even when guards last saw him, despite their warnings for the public not to approach him.

A spokeswoman told the Herald Sun they could not provide the details for "legal reasons", but refused to specify what they were.

Lumm is described as caucasian, 175cm, of solid build with brown eyes and brown hair.

An image supplied by Victoria Police of Mana Lumm, a man who escaped from a correctional facility in central Victoria early this morning and is considered dangerous. Source: Supplied

Officers have searched the area where Lumm was living but so far have not been able to find him.

Another young man escaped from a correctional facility near Shepparton, in Victoria, at the weekend but was found and returned a few hours later.

Even though prisons are supposed to be near impossible to get away from, prison breaks are a regular occurrence.

There has been renewed concerns in recent months after a spate of escapes by sex offenders who have clipped off their GPS tracking bracelets. In the most high profile example an interstate manhunt begun after Sean Carmody-Coyle, one of Victoria's worst sex offenders, cut off his bracelet and fled a correctional facility on a mountain bike.

One of the most infamous jail breaks occurred in 1999 when bank robber John Killick and his Russian lover Lucy Dudko orchestrated a helicopter escape from a Sydney prison and spent 45 days on the run.

Killick told Channel Seven's Sunday Night program how the couple devised the daring plan during her regular visits to see him.

Dudko hired a three-seater helicopter for a joy ride over the Sydney Olympic stadium that was being built at the time as a test run. A week later she hired it again and threatened pilot Tim Joyce with a gun.

John Killick famously escaped jail when his girlfriend hijacked a helicopter. Source: News Corp Australia

Joyce told the program he realised something was wrong was when Dudko asked him to "take a closer look" at the prison.

"I looked over my shoulder … and as I looked back she had pulled a pistol out of her purse and she put it to the side of my head and said "this is a hijack"," Joyce told reporter Mike Willesee.

"He got in the chopper and said, "You can either make a lot of money from 60 Minutes or you can be dead"."

Their escape may have been straight out of a Hollywood thriller but others have been just as daring.

John Killick spoke about his daring chopper escape from a Sydney prison on Channel 7's Sunday Night program. Source: Supplied

In fact, they may have got some inspiration from a similar brazen attempt at freedom that occurred in the United States in 1985.

James Rodney Leonard, 20, was serving a life sentence for murder in a maximum-security prison in South Carolina. It was supposed to be escape proof.

A friend of his, Joyce Mattox, chartered a helicopter at a nearby airstrip and as it lifted off she pulled a gun out of her purse and forced him to fly to the prison, where 200 inmates were in the yard doing their daily exercise.

Five tried to board the chopper and a fight broke out where Leonard shoved two aside with two others climbing aboard.

But it was still overloaded and only just made it over the barbed wire fence on the prison walls as guards opened fire on them.

They had only a brief taste of freedom after being quickly arrested.

Another infamous example was in 2000 when a group of inmates dubbed the "Texas 7" escaped from the John Connally Unit by pulling off an elaborate scheme involving attacking guards, removing their clothing and gagging them.

They did this to eleven prison workers in total — taking credit cards and identification from their victims. The group then impersonated prison officers on the phone and created false stories to ward off suspicion from authorities, and eventually made their way to the prison maintenance pick-up-truck which they used to escape from the prison grounds.

Despite these horror stories prison breaks in Australia are still incredibly rare with the vast majority of prisoners staying behind bars where they belong.

In most states the escapes are from minimum security prisons and Corrective Services has previously said there were spikes in escapes from time to time.

Police search for an escaped prisoner around the outskirts of Darwin after another break out earlier this year. Source: News Corp Australia

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Why Anja dumped Delta’s song

The winner of The Voice fro 2014 is Anja Nissen. Courtesy: The Voice, Nine Network.

VOICE winner Anja Nissen has revealed the real reason why her winner's single, which was co-written by Delta Goodrem, was dumped as her career suffers a shaky start.

Nissen was due to release the track titled My Girls, which was co-written by Goodrem, as her winner's single last Friday.

However it was axed for a new song recorded with will.i.am which Nissen said has yet to be finished.

"My Girls is an awesome song, a great song," Nissen said.

"It just came down to whether or not it's my style or not. Will just wasn't sure.

"We didn't have enough time. Will wanted to be part of the decision making process when it came to choosing the single. Will wasn't sure if My Girls was the right style for me. He wanted to have a few more days to think about that and start working on ideas, looking at where to go next."

Nissen said she has started working with will.i.am on new material, but would not confirm when it would be released.

MYSTERY CONTINUES: Winner's single ditched for Anja

TEN THINGS: Who is singer Anja Nissen?

Sorry Delta ... Anja Nissen's song my Girls was dumped. Picture: Luke Fuda Source: News Corp Australia

Still songless ... Anja Nissen won The Voice this year. Picture: John Appleyard Source: News Corp Australia

"We've been playing around with some ideas, but there's nothing ready to go as such."

Nissen will release her self-titled covers album on Friday, without a song to promote it on radio.

The 18 year old recorded all the remakes on the album in one day last week in order to go on The Voice Top 8 national tour.

The Voice finale ... Anja Nissen with will.i.am on stage. Picture: Adam Ward Source: News Corp Australia

However the tour kicked off and played to a reduced capacity at its first stop at Perth Arena yesterday.

Perth Now reported the "modest stage was pulled forward and half the seating closed off."

The Adelaide show this Wednesday has been downsized from the 8000 capacity Adelaide Entertainment Centre to an adjacent smaller theatre that can hold just 2500.

Just an album cover ... without a song to go with it. Source: Supplied

Insiders suggest sales for upcoming shows in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne have also been slow, with the tour launched before punters knew who would be in the final eight.

One half of the duo ZK was also absent for the first Perth show.

National tour ... Channel Nine's The Voice top eight are going around the country. The top three were (from left to right) Jackson Thomas, Anja Nissen and Johnny Rollins. Picture: Justin Benson-Cooper Source: News Corp Australia

The promoters for the tour have been approached for comment.

If The Voice Grand Final did not ignite ticket sales for the tour, it also provided no sales boost for Nissen, despite being seen by millions.

Her cover of Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing only went to No. 54 on the ARIA chart yesterday after last week's Grand Final, achieving only 2102 extra sales.

The only Voice finalist to crack the ARIA Top 50 this week after the Grand Final was Johnny Rollins, who sold 2562 copies of his cover of When A Man Loves a Woman.

On the road ... Channel Nine's The Voice is kicking off its national tour with it's top eight. Picture: Justin Benson-Cooper Source: News Corp Australia

Indeed, throughout the entire Voice run this year only three songs made the ARIA Top 30 — ZK made No. 35 with Time After Time, Sabrina with Chandelier peaked at No. 39 and Gab and Cecilia hit No. 40 with I Dreamed a Dream.

The only person who scored any major chart success from The Voice Grand Final was will.i.am, whose single It's My Birthday (performed on the show) bulleted 23 spots to No. 6 with 13,869 sales.

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‘Mum, please tell me who I am’

Steve and his partner Sammy have been together for 10 years. Source: Facebook

WHEN he was found asleep in the toilets of one of the world's busiest airports as a newborn baby, no one knew who he was, or how he came to be there.

More than 28 years later, it's still a mystery to Steven Hydes, the man known as Gary Gatwick.

The then newborn had been found abandoned in a toilet at Gatwick Airport with two baby grows (onsies) and three blankets. He was around 10 days old.

The date was April 10, 1986 and the airport, located outside London, was a hive of activity when he was found in the ladies toilets.

Now 28 and with two young children of his own, the man who became known was Gary Gatwick is desperate to find the woman who abandoned him.

And despite a search which began nine years ago and plenty of publicity overseas, the landscape gardener from West Sussex is still no closer to finding her.

But it's something that remains important to him and with Australia's large British population, Mr Hydes is hoping someone here may know something so he can fill in the missing pieces of his life.

"It's important to know my heritage as I feel like I have a missing part in my life the vast majority of people know the beginning of their lives and I would like to know mine," he said.

Mr Hyde said he's not angry at being abandoned but simply wanted to know who he was and who his mother was.

Steve Hydes, pictured with partner Sammy and their two children Alanna and Kian. Source: Facebook

"If I had the chance to find and meet my birth mother, although I would feel speechless at first I would like to thank her for coming forward and I would like her to fill in the missing pieces," he told news.com.au.

"I would want her know that I have nothing against her and what happened was in the past as life is too short and it's the future that makes it.

"I would also like to fill her in that I have had a great life and that she has two grandchildren that she is missing out on."

Mr Hydes said the search for his mother became even more important after meeting partner Sammy and having children Alanna, 7 and Kian, 2.

"So many people say my children look like me which makes me think, who do I look like?" he said.

"And where do I get my genes from that I gave to my children?"

When he was found, he was nicknamed Gary Gatwick after the airport's mascot bear.

One of the first photos taken of Steven when he was found. Source: Facebook

The media and police appealed for his mother to come forward, but unfortunately there were no leads and at six months old he was adopted by Sandra and John Hydes.

The couple thought they couldn't have children of their own and shortly after adopting their son, went on to have three daughters of their own.

They have always been supportive of his decision to find his biological mother.

"I had a great childhood where my parents were always honest with me from as early as I can remember," he said.

"They would regularly sit me down and show me the baby book that they had made up for me which has photos and newspaper clippings in so I have grown up always knowing the truth of what happened to me back in 1986."

Some of the media attention Mr Hydes has received. He keeps everything in a scrapbook. Source: Facebook

Mr Hydes still has the book and sits down with his own daughter and is open with her about his story.

His parents even kept Gary as a middle name and it's something he passed down to his own son.

"The name Gary Gatwick was the start of my life that I know of and I wanted this to carry on into my family," he said.

"I still use Gary Gatwick for media and my Fa cebook page as that is what the public knows me as."

Mr Hydes said it was entirely possible someone in Australia knew his mother or knew their story and if so appealed for them to contact him.

"There could be a chance that someone in Australia may know something of my past as I was abandoned in an airport and don't know where I came from (so) my biological family could be residing anywhere in the world," he said.

For now Mr Hydes will keep holding hope that his biological mother will contact him, or someone out there can provide a clue as to who she is.

Until that time comes, he remains focused on his own family and hopes one day he'll find the woman who left him warm, and asleep in a busy airport toilet.

Do you know who Steven Hydes is, or where his biological mother could be?

Contact him at Gary Gatwick airport baby abandoned or email garygatwick1986@hotmail.co.uk

The items found along with the baby boy known as Gary Gatwick. Source: Facebook

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Unarmed Aussie cops head to MH17

Australia has increased its number of officials on the way to the crash site of MH17. The team of 230, comprising 190 federal police and defence personnel, including medical specialists, are either in Ukraine or on the way.

Last remains ... Soldiers carry coffins of victims at Eindhoven military airport. Picture: Vincent Jannink Source: AFP

AUSTRALIAN Federal Police officers are being deployed to the MH17 crash site in Ukraine as part of a Dutch-led humanitarian mission — and they will be unarmed, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said this afternoon.

While acknowledging it will be a risky mission, Mr Abbott reiterated the message that it will be a primarily police operation, with just a small military contingent.

"Our objective is to get in, get cracking and to get out," he told reporters in Canberra.

The mission will search for unrecovered bodies and remains and conduct a forensic examination of the crash site. The team will stay as long as possible to do a professional job, but it should take no longer than two to three weeks.

"We don't want to be there any longer than is absolutely necessary," Mr Abbott said.

'Get in and get out' ... PM Tony Abbott addresses reporters this afternoon on the Australian police mission to the MH17 site. Source: News Corp Australia

The prime minister stressed the mission was slely humanitarian and had "absolutely nothing" to do with the politics of eastern Europe.

"Others can get involved if they wish ... our whole and sole purpose is to claim our dead and bring them home," he said.

So far there are 170 AFP officers in Ukraine with more on the way. Eleven officers are at the crash site now and more will be sent there in coming days, Mr Abbott said.

The cops are part of a team of 230, also comprising defence personnel and medical specialists, either in Ukraine or on the way, who have been awaiting permission from that country's parliament to enter the site.

Tragic scene ... Angela Rudhart-Dyczynski and Jerzy Dyczynsk from Australia react as they arrive at the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 to look for their late 25 years old daughter Fatima. Source: AFP

Sending armed defence personnel into a war zone has been criticised by some, with one unnamed senior defence source telling Fairfax newspapers the operation should be a civilian one.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said "a number'' of those in the operation would be armed, but she would not say how many.

``But the main focus is on having police investigators, those who are expert in body identification and those who are expert in investigations, Dutch and Australian at this stage (on the site),'' she told Network Ten.

She stressed that it remained a non-threatening operation.

"All we want to do is secure the site so that we can inspect it thoroughly and bring back any remains,'' she said.

The PM'sspecial envoy former Air Chief Marshal Houston this morning described attempts to secure the site and retrieve the remaining bodies from the Malaysia Airlines plane that crashed more than a week ago, killing 298, as a humanitarian operation.

While there had been some military involvement, the mission would be led by police, he said. "We'll be going in with ... primarily police and civilians, not military personnel,'' Mr Houston told ABC television.

Long search ... Members of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service search for bodies in a field near the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 near the village of Hrabove (Grabovo), in Donetsk region. Source: AFP

"I think it is going to be very important to posture a non-aggressive, non-threatening force so that nobody will interfere with it.''

Several other countries affected by the disaster have voiced support for an armed force and have offered resources and personnel.

Ms Bishop is pushing for the Ukrainian parliament to ratify a deployment agreement, which would allow arms for self-defence, at a special sitting on Tuesday.

She said any delay following the collapse of Ukraine's governing coalition was unacceptable.

The foreign minister was speaking in Amsterdam, near where the bodies recovered from the MH17 crash site have been taken for identification.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek said she had yet to receive a briefing from the government on the latest developments.

"We have gone out of our way, as a Labor opposition, to be supportive of the government's efforts,'' she told ABC TV.

"We think that this is a time for national unity.''

FAMILIES APPLAUD RETURN OF BODIES

The last of the MH17 bodies that were trained out of eastern Ukraine have arrived in the Netherlands to be met with quiet applause from more than 300 grieving relatives.

Thirty-eight coffins were transported from Kharkiv to Eindhoven air base on Saturday aboard an Australian C17 Globemaster and a Dutch C130 Hercules.

The same C17 had earlier carried more than 100 unarmed Australian police in the other direction. The batch of Federal Police, who had been in London, left on the C17 on the outward bound flight to Kharkiv to help secure the safety of forensic investigators at the crash site.

Memorial ... People travelling through Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, Holland, lay floral tributes to remember the victims of Flight MH17. Picture by Ben Stevens / i-Images Source: News Corp Australia

The Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop attended the final repatriation of these bodies into the Netherlands early this morning. It is believed Ms Bishop also farewelled the Australian police earlier in the day in an operation that was kept under wraps.

As has been the case for the previous three days, the final delivery of bodies was received with full military gravitas and honour, including a minutes silence and the 17 country flags flown at half mast. They were escorted by motorcycles an hour up the country to Hilversum where the forensic examinations are taking place.

FORENSIC EXPERTS WITH GRIM TASK OF SORTING REMAINS

PATRICK CARLYON: The barbarians at MH17 site

VICTORIAN FAMILY PERISHED: Grandparents living a nightmare

Sombre scene ... Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, right, and his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop. Picture: Sergey Bobok Source: AFP

The Dutch government says the first victim has been identified from the Malaysia Airlines disaster.

Details of the victim have not been released, but it was reported to be a Dutch national. Next of kin have been informed.

Some 200 forensic experts are working at a military barracks in the city of Hilversum to identify human remains recovered from the site.

The Dutch aren't sure how many bodies are now in the Netherlands, but in total 227 coffins carrying remains have arrived since the shuttle flights began on Wednesday.

An unknown number of bodies remain at the crash site in rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine.

In further developments Ms Bishop warned other parents against travelling to the crash site after bereaved Australian parents Angela and George Dyczynski arrived at the Ukrainian war zone to find the remains of their only child, Fatima.

Crash site ... Flowers left by parents of an victim of the crash laid on a piece of MH17, near the village of Grabovo. Picture: Bulent Kilic Source: AFP

"It would be ill advised for people to go to the site," Ms Bishop said.

"It is still in the middle of a war zone, there are heavily armed separatists who are engaged in conflict with the Ukraine military and the separatists are around the crash site."

The Perth parents undertook an exhausting and arduous three day multi-country expedition defying government warnings.

MH17: Shot down plane exposes Ukraine's heartbreaking plight

MH17: Tony Abbott increases Australian personnel in Ukraine

FORENSIC EXPERTS DEPLOYED

This comes as a team of forensic experts from seven nations prepares to depart Kharkiv after completing the first traumatic stage of sorting bodies and human remains.

The bodies and remains were earlier removed in shambolic fashion from the crash site by separatists and volunteers and put on a train with four coldroom carriages in the nearby conflict city of Donetsk before being taken north to Kharkiv.

Since Wednesday, a forensic team of Dutch, British, Malaysian, American, German, Swiss and seven Australians has been emptying each carriage in turn and taking them to a factory in a deserted industrial complex on the outskirts of the city.

Sad procession ... A convoy of hearses carry bodies in Boxtel, Netherlands. Picture: Peter Macdiarmid Source: Getty Images

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Burger King’s boss is ridiculously young

Burger King introduced a new burger: the Proud Whopper. What made this burger different? People were surprised. Courtesy: Burger King

The global President of Burger King is just 33 years old, with an exec team that is mostly under 50. Pic: AFP/Robyn Beck Source: AFP

NOW here's a fact that will make you feel old.

The global CEO of Burger King — a $4 billion company with more than 13,000 outlets around the world is just 33 years old — and is working in his first fast-food job.

Daniel Schwartz took the reigns in June last year and has been at the company since 2010.

He earned more than $5 million in compensation in 2013 due to a combination of salary and bonuses, according to Bloomberg who dubbed the firm the "company run by children" in a recent profile.

Mr Schwartz is credited with helping turn around the company that debuted The Whopper in 1957 but has struggled with strong competition from the likes of McDonald's and Wendy's. He previously worked for investment firm 3G, who bought Burger King, and he was installed as deputy chief financial officer.

Daniel Schwartz talks to CNBC when the company listed on the NYSE. Pic: Screengrab CNBC. Source: Supplied

Burger King's bacon sundae on offer in June 2012. Pic: AP/Burger King. Source: AP

After being appointed CEO in 2013 he spent his first months working the counters and cleaning toilets in store, and has since cut back on executive perks and increased the number of franchisees around the world, Bloomberg reports.

He's also not the only baby faced executive in the building.

Chief financial officer and executive vice president Joshua Kobza is 27 years old and started at the company in April last year, while North America's President Alexandre Macedo is 36.

The company's global head of marketing Axel Schwan is 40 and others on the executive team are a relatively ancient 44 and 47 years old.

Read the full Bloomberg article here.

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The man with the world’s toughest job

Malaysia Airlines chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya has the tough job of steering the company through two tragedies in four months. Source: Getty Images

HE'S a 59-year old chief executive at the helm of a multi-billion dollar business who should be riding a career high.

But instead, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya has been dealt two huge blows to his professional life. The chief executive of Malaysia Airlines has been faced with the enormous challenge of keeping afloat a business that has suffered the almost statistically impossible situation of losing two airliners in the span of four months.

You can only imagine a scene in which the chief executive received the phone call to inform him of the downing of MH17 by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine on Friday morning and the loss of hundreds of lives. After a rough few months followed by three years of monetary losses, Malaysia Airlines was staring down the barrel of potential bankruptcy. In 2013, the company posted a $392 million loss.

By Sunday, Mr Ahmad Jauhari had flown to the Netherlands and signed a condolence book at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.

MH17 wreckage lies in a field near the crash site. Source: Getty Images

According to academic and economist Tim Harcourt, Mr Ahmad Jauhari is likely to have spent the days since the disaster in one crisis management meeting after another, as well as high level talks with the Malaysian government, giving the state's investment in the airline.

He may even have been ringing the relatives of the victims. Mr Harcourt said a good airline boss would personally ring the victims' families. He said: "former Qantas chief James Strong always called the families of anyone who had a medical emergency on board a Qantas flight."

He had already come under attack after the disappearance of MH370 in March for the airline's mishandling of communications in the wake of the tragic event. An "insensitive" text message sent to relatives informing them of their loved ones' fates resulted in calls for his resignation. Addressing a press conference soon after, he said whether he resigned or not would be a personal decision he would take later.

So who is the man behind the title?

A sea of flowers at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, where MH17 took off. Source: AP

Mr Ahmad Jauhari has been with Malaysia Airlines since September 2011, after decades in the energy industry. He's western-educated with an honours degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Nottingham University in the UK.

He spent almost two decades with Malakoff, Malaysia's largest independent power producer, ending his tenure as chief executive after the company had been delisted from the stock market.

He is also a triathlete and iron man, which suggests commitment, resolve and discipline runs in his veins, which could steer him well in the challenges ahead.

According to Singapore's My Paper, Mr Ahmad Jauhari had considered leaving Malaysia Airlines in 2012 but had been persuaded to stay by Prime Minister Najib Razak. It's a decision he may now regret.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak is said to have persuaded Mr Ahmad Jauhari to stay with the airline when he considered leaving earlier. Source: AFP

Mr Ahmad Jauhari's yearly salary for 2013 was MYR1.92 million ($640,000), which looks paltry compared to the millions other CEOs rake in for their roles but compares very favourably with the median monthly Malaysian household income of MYR5000 (roughly $20,000 a year). But he made more in 2012 when his remuneration was MYR2.63 million ($878,000).

Even before the dual tragedies this year, the company had already embarked on a cost cutting drive to improve the bottom line. Unfortunately, that means the company is in a weak position to handle the customer cancellation, potentially low booking rates and brand damage that will follow the latest episode. It's also under threat from intense competition from low cost airlines such as Air Asia.

In its 2013 financial statement, the airline revealed it had MYR3.8 billion ($1.26 billion) in its cash reserves. That leaves little money to carry out fancy initiatives to woo customers back such as upgrades to new planes such as the Airbus A380 (list price $466 million each).

Mr Harcourt said there were a few choices for Mr Ahmad Jauhari. He said: "He could try to rebuild the company through a major restructure or he could concentrate entirely on crisis management and tell that narrative for the rest of his career."

A candlelight vigil to remember delegates who lost their lives onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 en route to the AIDS Conference 2014 in Melbourne. Source: AFP

When asked about Mr Ahmad Jauhari's lack of aviation experience, Mr Harcourt said he found that most longer-term executives tend to have aviation in their blood. He said: "They use to call most of those people aerosexuals or plane spotters. They sniffed jet fuel every day."

Mr Harcourt said that even though Malaysia Airlines is also a victim in MH17 crash, customers will find it hard to draw a line between MH370, which remains a mystery, and MH17, whose fate could have befallen any number of airlines which flew the route over Ukraine.

Before MH17, but after MH370, Mr Ahmad Jauhari had signalled the airline would undergo sweeping changes but didn't reveal any details. The good news for Malaysia Airlines is that while its share price dropped as much as 18 per cent in the first hours of trading on the stock exchange after MH17 crashed, it has rebounded since then to stabilise at pre-MH17 levels.

It's also well-placed to try to capitalise on the growth in travel in Asia Pacific. In 2011, Asia Pacific accounted for 30 per cent of all global passengers, ahead of North America and Europe, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Mr Ahmad Jauhari has said the company is facing its most challenging time. Source: Getty Images

In the company's latest annual report, he wrote: "This is the most challenging time for our airline. In all our 41 years of operations as Malaysia Airlines, never before have we felt such a profound loss. [ ...] The future continues to look challenging with intensifying competition, continued high fuel costs, and a weak foreign exchange position. [ ...] It is a challenge, but one that we will take in our stride to maintain Malaysia Airline's position as a highly relevant player in a growth market."

Whether Mr Ahmad Jauhari decides to stay in the role or not is still up in the air. He has a history of sticking around with one company but he may, understandably, decide that the challenge is just too great.

Last year, Malaysia Airlines flew 20 million passengers globally and had 19,577 employees.

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League star’s dad tapped for $1 million US gig

Greg Foran in his Woolies days. Source: News Corp Australia

FORMER Woolworths Supermarkets boss Greg Foran has scored the lucrative but challenging position of Walmart US chief executive.

Mr Foran left Woolworths in 2011 when he was passed over for the group chief role. He will now head up all of Walmart's American operations, which includes more than 4000 stores. Its sales account for 60 per cent of Walmart's revenues which totalled almost $500 billion last year.

The Australian reported his salary will be $1 million. But if performance targets are met, he could be in line for shares valued at $13.8 million up to 2017.

Mr Foran is the father of Manly Sea Eagles player Kieran Foran, who also plays international games for New Zealand.

Greg Foran's son Kieran Foran plays for the Manly Sea Eagles. Source: News Corp Australia

He replaces Bill Simon who will be "transitioning out of the company". Walmart US has had declining same-store sales in recent quarters.

Mr Foran joined the Walmart family in 2011 after leaving Woolworths and is currently head of Walmart Asia. He starts the new role on August 9, reporting to Walmart chief executive Doug McMillon.

"Greg is one of the most talented retailers I've ever met. His depth of knowledge and global experience will bring a fresh perspective to our business," Mr McMillon said.

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Just how safe is it to fly?

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was not the first plane to be shot out of Ukraine's skies. The countrys civil unrest between pro-Russian and pro-Ukraine forces has caused many more this month alone. The WSJs Ramy Inocencio reports.

The arrival of the first bodies of flight MH17 to Netherlands. Source: News Corp Australia

WITH three fatal aviation disasters in just seven days, you can't blame people for asking the question: Just how safe is it to fly?

The number of lives lost in our skies this year has reached a staggering 719 after all the 116 people on board the Air Algerie plane that crashed in Mali overnight perished.

This is well above the annual global average of 517, calculated over the past five years.

The Air Algerie plane came down in a rainstorm just a day after TransAsia Airways flight GE222 crashed in Taiwan, killing 48 people, and a week after 298 people lost their lives on the downed Malaysia Airlines MH17 plane.

There were two other plane tragedies this year, with 239 people killed on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 and 18 fatalities on Nepal Airlines flight RA-183.

So how does this compare to previous years?

More than three billion passengers travelled on 36 million flights last year, according to the aviation safety body International Air Transport Association (IATA). There were 81 accidents resulting in 210 deaths overall.

It was a much safer year compared to 2012 where there was 414 deaths recorded, 490 in 2011, 786 in 2010 and 685 in 2009.

The worst year in the history of air travel was 1972, when more than 2300 people died, according to the Aviation Safety Network.

The MH17 crash scene. Source: Getty Images

IATA spokesman Albert Tjoeng told news.com.au that the aviation industry would seek to learn from the tragedies: "Our heart goes out to the passengers and crew of MH17 and GE222. Every accident and every life lost is one too many, and the industry is determined to continuously improve our safety performance."

Australian aviation accident investigator Geoff Dell, a former safety manager for Qantas, said the industry must adapt.

"Some of the aviation disasters that have happened this year are repeats of earlier failures," he said.

"For example, with MH17, it's not the first time airliners have been shot down by accident and probably won't be the last.

The tail section of TransAsia Airways flight GE222. Source: AFP

"The industry needs to respond to these aviation disasters and take action to prevent occurrences, and there's already evidence they're doing that with the fact many airlines have pulled out of Tel Aviv (as conflict escalates in the region). By and large it's all about managing risk."

Mr Dell said it was important to remember just how safe it was to fly.

"If you compare the likelihood of being in a car accident you're much less likely to be involved in one of these (aviation) events. Millions of flights are operated safety."

He said even if overall aviation standards remained the same, there would be more accidents simply because more people are flying.

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‘He was abused, it affects you forever’

Abused by his mother? Hillary Clinton says her husband is scarred. AFP PHOTO / ESTHER LIM Source: AFP

A YEAR after Bill Clinton's presidency was rocked by the Monica Lewinsky scandal, his wife Hillary blamed his sex addiction on abuse suffered at the hands of his mother.

The comments were not published at the time but as Mr Clinton faces yet more claims of an affair, this time with a "buxom blonde" mistress nicknamed Energiser, the remarks have finally emerged.

According to a new book that quotes Ms Clinton from a 1999 interview, the former president's flamboyant mother Virginia Clinton Kelley was a "doozy".

Bill Clinton with his mother: Photo credit: Barbara Kinney, William J. Clinton Presidential Library Facebook. Source: News Corp Australia

Mrs Kelley was married four times including to Mr Clinton's father, who was killed in a car accident before he was born.

Mr Clinton has spoken of the challenges of living with an alcoholic stepfather who was both verbally and physically abusive. He has also acknowledged how he got much of his resilience and perseverance from his mother.

"I got that stamina from my mother," Mr Clinton reportedly said of his mum, who survived the deaths of three husbands before passing away in 1994 aged 70. Before this, Mrs Kelley was a strident defender of Mr Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal and her son's biggest fan.

However, new comments now seem to reveal another facet of their relationship, which suggests his mother ruined his childhood.

CNN TV video still from 1996 of former White House intern Monica Lewinsky greeting Mr Clinton at time of their alleged affair. Source: News Corp Australia

While not explaining the nature of the abuse, Ms Clinton suggests that it was the source of her husband's philandering.

"He was abused. When a mother does what she does, it affects you forever," Mrs Clinton told Pultizer Prize-winning journalist Lucinda Franks during an interview in 1999.

According to the New York Daily News, who has obtained galleys of the memoir Timeless: Love, Morgenthau and Me, Ms Franks admits to watering down Ms Clinton's comments at the time.

She reveals that she only published part of her interview with Ms Clinton and focused on the conflict between the president's mother and grandmother rather than the abuse.

"He was so young, barely 4, when he was scarred by abuse and he can't even take it out and look at it," Ms Clinton was quoted as saying in Talk magazine.

Hillary Clinton gets a kiss from her husband in 2012. AP Photo/Mark Lennihan Source: AP

Bill and Hillary Clinton at a Halloween/birthday party in 1993. Source: William J. Clinton Presidential Library Facebook. Source: Supplied

"There was terrible conflict between his mother and grandmother. A psychologist once told me that for a boy, being in the middle of a conflict between two women is the worst possible situation. There is always a desire to please each one," she said.

Ms Franks has now decided to reveal more of Ms Clinton's comments, which places the blame more directly on her husband's mother.

"I am not going into it, but I'll say that when this happens in children, it scars you," Ms Clinton reportedly says. "You keep looking in all the wrong places for the parent who abused you."

The account seems to be at odds with the public perception of Mr Clinton's relationship with his mother.

One of Mr Clinton's high school classmates said: "I know Bill showed more affection toward his mom than any of us showed toward our moms.

Bill Clinton with his mum and brother. Source: William J. Clinton Presidential Library Facebook Source: Supplied

"You could tell they were close and drew on each other and they both loved to be around people," Phil Jamison said.

Mrs Kelley describes her son as being protective: "Bill protected me and took responsibility at such an early age," she said. "There is no way I can describe to you what he has meant to me."

She also seemed to be the picture of a doting mother, recording his successes on a home movie camera and telling friends she thought he would be president one day.

When he delivered the benediction at his high school graduation she wrote to her mother:

"His voice was magnificent as it sounded over the microphone in the football stadium.

"Of course, I was so proud of him I nearly died. He was truly in all his glory that night."

President Bill Clinton is sworn in for his 2nd term in 1997. AP Photo/J. Scott/Applewhite Source: AP

For his part Mr Clinton seemed to be both inspired and motivated to please her.

According to the New York Times, family friends said Mrs Kelley's resilience influenced her oldest son, who became known for his own perseverance in the bruising New Hampshire primary.

They were also very alike, with Ms Clinton once saying: "Bill and his mother always see the glass as half full".

Friend David Leopoulos said: "People don't understand ... what she did with her two hands and desire, she accomplished far more than most people do with everything material in the world".

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Dutch fury at Putin’s daughter

The Netherlands observes a national day of mourning as bodies from the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crash are flown to the country today. WSJ's Matina Stevis is in Amsterdam and joins Simon Constable on the News Hub with the latest details. Photo: Getty

RUSSIAN President Vladmir Putin's daughter is living with a Dutch boyfriend in the Netherlands as the country reels from MH17, which has been widely blamed on pro-Russian rebels.

Outrage over Maria Putin's presence in the grief-stricken country — which lost 193 citizens aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 — is fuelling calls for her deportation, The New York Post reported.

Ukrainians living in the Netherlands are also planning a protest outside Maria's apartment in the wealthy suburb of Voorschoten, outside The Hague, according to De Telegraaf newspaper.

Pieter Broertjes, mayor of the city of Hilversum, demanded the ouster of Maria, 29, during a radio interview Wednesday, as the country held a day of mourning and church bells tolled to announce the arrival of the first bodies from Thursday's plane crash.

Maria Putin is living in the wealthy suburb of Voorschoten, just outside The Hague, much to the disgust of many Dutch. PHOTO: Australscope Source: Supplied

Anger is so strong towards Russian President Vladmir Putin that it is spreading to his children. There have even been calls for his daughter Maria Putin to be deported from her home in Holland. Source: Supplied

Broertjes later apologised on Twitter, saying his comments were "unwise" and stemmed from a "feeling of helplessness that many will recognise".

The Guardian has reported "persistent rumours" linking Maria to Jorrit Faassen, who's held top jobs at Russia's state-owned Gazprom energy company and Stroytransgaz, a pipeline manufacturer.

It has been reported that Putin had visited the couple in the Netherlands last year, although his spokesman denied the trip.

The Russian president has zealously tried to shield Maria and younger daughter Yekaterina from media scrutiny, and there are no official portraits of them as adults.

But a photo of Maria recently popped up on Facebook, where it was grabbed by a Ukrainian news website that re-posted it — infuriating Putin, according to the Central European News photo agency.

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The cold-blooded truth about meerkats

'I've got my eye on you'. Picture: Tony Gough Source: News Corp Australia

THEY might look cute but don't be deceived by their furry, little faces, these are cold-blooded killers.

A group of British scientists followed 12 groups of meerkats in the Kalahari Desert and found that they will do just about anything to survive, including killing their own children and grandchildren.

Most animals will do just about anything to survive, you say. Sure, but according to the study which was published in the journal of Nature Communications, meerkats take it to a whole other level.

The University of Edinburgh's Dr Matthew Bell, who led the study, said: "The meerkat way of life is a paradox, in which alpha females will attack their daughters, banish them from the group and infanticise their offspring.

"Our study reveals dominant animals are worse off when subordinates in their group try to breed - explaining why they brutally suppress others much of the time. We expected this result, but its impact exceeded our expectations."

"Brutally suppress other much of the time" - that's some strong language from Dr Bell but it's well deserved. The females in this sinister species often attack each other to ensure they remain the alpha reproducers in the group and with most meerkat groups sitting at around 20 to 50 members, that can mean an awful lot of violence.

They also breastfeed each other's babies and often banish members from the group who then suffer considerable stress, weight loss and reduced survival.

It should be noted that other animals such as rodents, bees and ants are also known to attack their young but then they don't pretend to be all cuddly and stuff.

That's not a cuddle, that's actually a well disguised choke hold. Source: Getty Images

Yeah, we're onto you. That cute face isn't fooling anyone. Source: Getty Images

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Latest updates: MH17 disaster

UK air accident investigators will examine data from the black boxes of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

The Grabove main crash site of flight MH17. Picture: Ella Pellegrini Source: News Corp Australia

A GROUND steward at Amsterdam airport who reportedly checked-in all the passengers on flight MH17 has shared her final farewells with the crew and passengers.

Renuka Manisha Virangna Birbal posted on her Facebook page overnight and has since been shared more than 8,000 times.

In her story, she describes her conversations and interactions with the passengers and crew in devastating detail, reports Dutch's largest daily morning newspaper, De Telegraaf.

Translated from Dutch, here's what she said:

A smile, a hug, a happy face…

I work at the transfer desk and one of the two soccer fans has checked-in and the other has not.

"Could you please check me in love?"

They couldn't be seated next to each other, "Would you like to sit together Sir"?

A bit of hesitation and one joked that he preferred to have a few hours of peace and quiet. "Cheers".

A lovely family of six with 10 pieces of baggage that need to be checked in. "After long time we're returning home."

It was busy at the check-in so I went to the check-in counter to assist my colleagues.

A child is smiling and waving goodbye.

They say,"Thank You" for my help getting them seated next to each other. Excited children are saying, "Mom when will we see our suitcase again?"

The crew is waving and signalling to me that they are ready to drop their luggage.

Another man is about to start a new live in Malaysia.

A family is sent off by their grandparents, the kids will have their first holiday overseas. Grandma is quickly taking photos of her children and grandchildren checking-in. I don't mind this time to be in these photos too.

A young man arrives at the gate and asks if he has time to buy something. "Of course sir, as long as you're back before 11.30 am."

My colleagues support an elderly lady to get onboard and get to her seat on row 21. She can't walk very well and is travelling alone.

The lady had almost the same name as the son of my colleague (one letter difference) and said she would remember the name of her son.

I announce that everyone should consider a bathroom break before lining up for boarding, as there are currently no bathroom facilities at gate G03.

A few passengers are leaving the queue.

A woman travelling with her spouse and mother asks her mum if she needs to go to the ladies as the elderly lady has pelvic floor problems. I said she could stay outside the gate a bit longer and board through the priority lane.

Newlyweds are on their way to their honeymoon.

A beautiful little girl was lifted by her mother, her father behind them pushing the pram. What a gorgeous child with big beautiful eyes. She is smiling at me.

Another man who just made it on the flight to attend his mother's funeral.

The grandchildren who are travelling with their grandparents.

Then I see a familiar face, it is my colleague of the MH ticket desk.

The proud man is introducing me to his son, wife and daughter.He has a big smile when he waves goodbye. "See you soon."

A woman wants to leave the gate for a toilet break but unfortunately we have started boarding and no-one is allowed to leave the gate. "Can I go first when we are on-board?" But of course.

I quickly walk with the last two passengers that were finally able to join this flight , and they were so pleased.

A last farewell to the crew, till next time!

And then the bridge disconnected.

Passengers on their way for business, on their way home, on their way to family, on their way to their holiday destination, on their way to a new beginning …

Groups travelling, families, couples, singles, babies, children, granddads, grandmums, fathers, sons, daughters, partners, uncles, aunties, colleagues.

I have seen and talked to them last, and wished them a good journey, those passengers of flight MH017 at the 17th of July 2014.

A last smile, a last goodbye, a happy face.

Rest in Peace sweet passengers and crew.

On behalf of the ground handling agents of flight MH017 on Thursday 17-07-2014

TODAY:

• Australian families offered to travel home with the bodies of victims

• 'Woe is me': Gabi Grecko in MH17 catfight

• Operation Bring Them Home swings into action

• Where are the rest of the bodies?

• Was Putin right all along? MH17 'shot down by mistake'

• Black boxes handed to British investigators

LIVE UPDATES:

4.30pm

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has told a media conference it is still unclear how many bodies have been recovered from the MH17 crash site.

"Based on early inspection we don't know how many bodies we have."

Mr Abbott said it was "quite possible" there were other bodies, or body parts, still left in a wide area around where the plane crashed in a field and were still exposed to the "ravages" of the European summer and animals.

Parts of the aircraft was strewn through other fields and a nearby village which was adding to the problem of recovering all the victims.

So far it appeared the recovery operation had been "unprofessional" - which was why the Government was now drawing up its own plans, with international partners, to secure the site.

"[The] Australian government is looking at creating safe environment at the crash site...We will be talking to our partners in grief and others..."

He said it was "utterly speculative" thousands of well-armed troops would be needed to secure the site but would not discuss how it could be done.

Mr Abbott said more work was needed to "make it a reality that we do in fact bring them all home''.

The UN resolution passed this week made clear the site needed to be safe and secure and investigators allowed to work unrestrained.

The Prime Minister intended to ensure that measure was "a reality not just an aspiration". To do that he had canvassed the best way to do that with other world leaders. However, he wanted to "stress" Australia would work to achieve that with other countries and within the UN resolution.

"But we will bring them home , bring all of them home..My fear is unless we do more or prepare futher possible measures some of them will never come home."

That outcome would be "compeletly unaccepatable" for grieving families.

3.50pm

While anger has been directed at the rebels in eastern Ukraine, and the Russian forces who allegedly supplied them with the missile that downed MH17, attention is also on who makes decisions about where aircraft can fly.

Sky News reports global leadership from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) was urgently needed in all operations in or near areas of hostility.

Pro-Russia rebels guard the area around the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 during monitoring by investigators. Source: Getty Images

3.20pm

Despite the MH370 and MH17 tragedies Malaysia Airlines claims there hasn't been a massive surge in cancellations or requests for refunds. Yet.

After the loss of MH17 they had offered passengers full refunds on flights booked for the rest of the year.

However, the Wall Street Journal reports Malaysia Airlines has been cancelling flights - although the airline insists that is normal for this time of year.

2.45pm

Anger is continuing to grow around the world at the alleged Russian involvement -and response -to the MH17 disaster

2.20pm

The Dutch Government has placed major advertisements in newspapers listing the almost 200 Dutch victims of the MH17 tragedy.

The country's Prime Minister Mark Rutte has declared today a national day of mourning.

2.00pm

As if anymore proof was needed the MH17 crash scene was in a state of absolute chaos, News Corp's Charles Miranda reports local emergency workers have been seen using angle grinders to cut up parts of the cockpit and front fuselage section.

Afterwards they used their van with a steel cable on a tow bar to drag the jet apart, possibly destroying evidence.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister says there has been evidence of "industrial" size tampering of the MH17 wreckage. Today people could be seen using angle grinders to cut up part of the cockpit. Source: Getty Images

1:40pm

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has given a late-night speech in Kuala Lumpur.

1:30pm

Former US President Bill Clinton has paid tribute to the six AIDS researchers lost on flight MH17 while en route to the Melbourne AIDS 2014 conference.

"The loss of our colleagues and 290 others in what appears to have been a deliberate act is a stark reflection of the negative forces of our interdependence. People who don't want a future of inclusive economics, inclusive governments, inclusive communities," he said.

"Those who shot them down represent the other side in our struggle to define interdependence. The open hand against the clenched fist. Cooperation against control. Life against death. It matters not that the murder was meant to be committed against other people."

1:15pm

12.50pm

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has had a lot to say about Russia's handling of the MH17 disaster and lashed France for selling weapons to Russia, who is accused of supplying the deadly MH17 missile to separatists in eastern Ukraine.

But a just-released parliamentary report reveals Britain is still exporting arms and military equipment to Moscow - despite promising to stop in March.

12:20pm

It will be cold comfort to family and friends of MH17 passengers but Australian forensic experts believe they wouldn't have suffered during their final moments in the air.

University of Canberra adjunct professor David Royds said if the initial blast did not kill the passengers, a rapid decompression and freezing temperatures at 33,000 feet would have caused instant death.

"Flying at more than 10km above the ground, the midair explosion would have caused the cabin temperature to drop to minus 50C with a sudden drop of air pressure and loss of oxygen," he said. "That extremely cold environment would have rendered the passengers unconscious within seconds ... It's very unlikely the passengers would have suffered, there would have been no time to worry."

11:30am

11:15am

If you're a regular on Twitter, you might be wondering why Tony Abbott has been noticeably quiet on the social media platform?

While the Australian Prime Minister hasn't posted for six days on Twitter, it's a different story on Facebook. This came just two hours ago ...

Twitter, though? Different story.

Call on our Prime Minister. Hello? Source: Twitter

11:05am

Australian families affected by the MH17 tragedy will be offered the opportunity to go to the Netherlands to travel home with the bodies of victims, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said today.

At least 37 of those who died when the Malaysia Airlines jet was apparently shot down over Ukraine last week — killing all 298 on-board — called Australia home.

"By its very nature, it may take some weeks before we can honour the dead by returning them to those they loved and those that loved them. But we will bring them home," Abbott said in a statement.

"Once the Australian victims of MH17 have been identified, the government will transport their families to the Netherlands, should they wish, so they can accompany their loved ones home."

A woman awaits passengers of a plane from Amsterdam at Boryspil International Airport, some 30km east of Kiev. Picture: Anatolii Stepanov Source: AFP

11:00am

10:55am

10:30am

A woman weeps after visiting the crash site of MH17 yesterday. So sad ...

Picture: Rob Stothard Source: Getty Images

9.55am

Tony Abbott has sent Governor-General Peter Cosgrove to the Netherlands to receive the bodies of the Australians killed in the MH17 disaster.

A train carrying the remains of the victims recovered from the downed Malaysia Airlines plane reached the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv overnight.

The bodies will soon be transferred to the Netherlands for identification and eventual repatriation.

"It is important for the families and for our nation that our people be received by one of our own," Mr Abbott said in a statement.

A grim-looking PM Tony Abbott with Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove after signing an MH17 condolence book in Canberra yesterday. Source: News Corp Australia

9:25am

Poor Gabi Grecko is at it again.

The on-again, off-again girlfriend of eccentric millionaire Geoffrey Edelsten felt compelled to do some good for the world yesterday.

And by good, she meant dressing in clothing that didn't reveal her cleavage (lesson learned?) and releasing balloons in honour the 37 Australian victims of the MH17 tragedy.

But backlash against the "model" for using the tragedy as an apparent "PR stunt" compelled Grecko to take to Twitter.

Our advice? Keep it classy, Grecko.

Gabi Grecko releases a small amount of red balloons at Federation Square in Melbourne, to honour the victims of the MH17 disaster. Source: Splash News Australia

For once, Grecko dressed the part. Source: Splash News Australia

9.15am

Kremlin-backed news channel Russia Today has accused the US and UK mainstream media of biased reporting of the MH17 disaster.

Upon learning that it could be investigated for breaching broadcasting rules of accuracy and impartiality over the its MH17 reports, the channel hit back at the "impartiality and factuality of the mainstream media", BuzzFeed reports.

"It is sad that the news media of the US and the UK, which has always prided itself on its commitment to asking hard questions of its own government when it comes to domestic politics, in this particular situation is readily swallowing up the party line of the Department of State and the Foreign Office, demanding no proof of their claims," channel spokeswoman Anna Belinka said.

The comments follow the resignation of Russia Today reporter Sara Firth last week, who said the channel had "total disregard to the facts" over MH17.

9am

Russia has always denied its involvement in the downing of MH17 and now a senior US official has confirmed that the most likely explanation for the MH17 disaster is that it was shot down by mistake.

The official said the US had no evidence that the Russian Government was directly involved with shooting the plane down, Associated Press reports.

"The most plausible explanation … was that it was a mistake," and that the missile was fired by "an ill-trained crew" using a system that requires some skill and training, the official said.

Evidence gathered so far suggests separatists launched the SA-11 surface-to-air missile that blew up the Malaysian airliner, but it remains unclear "who pulled the trigger" and why, said a senior intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

US satellite and other "technical" intelligence confirmed the airliner with 298 people on board was hit by an SA-11 surface-to-air missile from an area controlled by the pro-Russian rebels.

"It's a solid case that it's a SA-11 that was fired from eastern Ukraine under conditions the Russians helped create," the senior official said.

Was Russian President Vladimir Putin right all along? Source: Supplied

It appeared those who fired the SA-11 missile were relying on a lone radar that is part of a missile battery and not a larger network of radar that would give a more complete picture of air traffic, officials said.

The SA-11 is designed to be used in an "integrated air defence system" but with only one narrow radar beam, the missile launchers have "a much more fuzzy picture," said a second intelligence official.

Russian operatives have been spotted on the ground in eastern Ukraine but the US intelligence community had no explicit proof that Russians were with the SA-11 unit that fired on the airliner, officials said.

8:50am

The Wall Street Journal have published this comprehensive infograph, well worth a look.

8.40am

8.30am

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says Australia's resolution to the United Nations Security Council is already taking effect, with investigators finally gaining full access to the MH17 crash site.

Speaking to Sky News this morning, Ms Bishop said Russia had "gravely misread the international furore about the way this matter has been handled", but that there was a change in the country's attitude once Australia's resolution gained support.

"This is what President Putin should have done from the outset," she said.

8:25am

A Boeing C-17 of the Australian air force stands at the Eindhoven Airbase in The Netherlands. The aircraft will, together with aircraft of the Dutch air force, repatriate from Kharkiv to Eindhoven the bodies of those killed in the crash of MH17.

Picture: Jerry Lampen Source: AFP

8:20am

A group of elderly women from a nearby village shelter from the rain after visiting the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Grabove yesterday. Picture: Rob Stothard Source: Getty Images

8:10am

8:00am

"Mo, you will always be my friend."

These touching words, etched across a bear, were just one of a number of heartfelt notes left by Scotch College classmates of Mo Maslin, who was on flight MH17 with his siblings Evie and Otis and grandfather Nick Norris when it was shot down.

Tributes to Scotch College student Mo Maslin, who was a victim of the MH17 tragedy. Source: News Corp Australia

Sitting among the dozens of flowers at the makeshift memorial at the Swanbourne school in Perth is another. This time on a packet of Starburst — a sign of a gesture in return.

"Your favourite," it says. "Thank you for sharing Mo."

SOB.

"Your favourite." Source: News Corp Australia

7.55am

7.45am

One of MH17's two black boxes. Picture: AFP Photo/AFPTV/Damien Simonart Source: AFP

MH17's black boxes will be handed to British experts for analysis.

Britain's Prime Minster, David Cameron, announced overnight that its Air Accidents Investigation Branch would take charge of retrieving data from the flight recorders, after a request from the Dutch.

Pro-Russian separatists from eastern Ukraine handed the two black boxes to Malaysian investigators in Donetsk yesterday.

7:25am

7:15am

7.10am

There is confusion about the location of all 298 bodies of MH17 victims, with Dutch investigators saying not all of the remains have been removed from the crash site.

Jan Tuinder is leading the team of international experts that is preparing the bodies to be transported to Holland from today.

"As far as we know at this moment we are talking about 200 victims, which means there are probably remains left in the area where this disaster took place," he said.

"I know that we do have to go back to sweep the (crash) area."

7am

A priority air corridor between Kharkiv in Ukraine and Eindhoven in The Netherlands will begin today as Operation Bring Them Home swings into action, reports Jacquelin Magnay in Amsterdam.

The remains of Australia's 37 victims and the remaining passengers and crew of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 were prepared in Kharkiv overnight as Dutch investigators led the process of organising transport into the Dutch military base near Eindhoven.

The first of the bodies will be flown into Holland sometime around lunchtime AEST.

"Recovery of our people remains our first priority,'' Mr Rutte said. "We will continue until all the victims are at home."

The bodies will be transported using an Australian plane, a Boeing C-17 as well as a Dutch C-130.

6.50am

An Australian expert in Russian foreign policy and security says justice for the victims of MH17 may prove elusive.

Matthew Sussex from the University of Tasmania said the inter­national investigation into the downing plane would be unlikely to get a satisfying result, he told the Mercury .

Even if an individual perpetrator could be discovered, responsibility would be diff­icult to prove.

"(The USA) may go as far as arming Ukraine but personally I think the conflict will sputter along because both states will go on blaming one another," Dr Sussex said.

6.31am

A pro-Russian rebel touches the MH17 wreckage at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines fight 17, near the village of Grabove, eastern Ukraine. Picture: AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda Source: AP

There is more evidence that the wreckage of MH17 in eastern Ukraine has been tampered with.

International investigators finally received full access to the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines flight overnight, but discovered that the Boeing 777's cockpit has been inexplicably sawn in half while under the control of pro-Russian separatists, USA Today reports.

The monitors said large parts of the cockpit and every part of the fuselage had been tampered with.

"The rear part of the aircraft, one of the biggest intact pieces, has definitely been hacked into," said Michael Bociurkiw, spokesman for the group of international monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

6.30am

Stay up to date with the latest developments in the MH17 disaster with our live blog, which will be updated throughout the morning.

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