BBC News with Ian Perdon.

The Ukraine authorities say a passenger plane has been shot down in the east of the country, in an area where pro-Russian rebels have been fighting government forces. They say all 295 people on board the Malaysia Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur were killed. Most of the passengers were Dutch nationals. Some of their relatives are waiting at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, from where Anna Holagen reports.

Ashing-faced families gathered in silence at Schiphol Airport, inside Departure 3, the same place from which they'd waved their relatives off on holiday just a few hours earlier. The senior vice-president of Malaysia Airlines said a flight tonight will take those relatives to the Ukrainian capital Kiev. From there, they'll be transported to crash sites.

The Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine bore responsibility for the downing of the Malaysian airliner. Ragini Raginaton reports on Washington's response to the crash.

We heard from Vice-president Joe Biden earlier today, he said he believes the plane was shot down, it wasn't an accident, and that it was blown out of the sky, although he conceded that he didn't have all the details to make that assertion. We are also hearing from US officials as being widely reported in the media here, the US officials believe that a surface-to-air missile brought down the Malaysia Airlines jet, but they are very careful to be cautious about who might be responsible.

The Israeli army has begun its first major ground operation in Gaza for more than five years. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the aim was to destroy tunnels used by militants to attack Israel. Backed by an air and naval forces, the army is heavily shelling the Gaza Strip. Witnesses said they saw about ten Israeli tanks and unconfirmed reports say a hospital has been hit. Of these three people are reported to have been killing in the latest fighting. July Web Pullman, who is a journalist originally from New Zealand but now living in Gaza, said the residents fear the worst.

There is a really awful situation at the end met with the skies added full of drones and eeriest things; we can hear bombs and explosions all the time, after three, five from the sea. It's really, quite frightening.

A Hamas spokesman said the operation would have dreadful consequences, but Israel said it would be limited in scope. Israeli government spokesman Rough Get, Mark Regev said the move followed the rejection of repeated offers to deescalate the situation.

The only reason that the Israeli government had to send in troops is because Hamas rejected the ceasefire proposals that were put on the table by the Egyptians; Hamas said no to a ceasefire, and now Hamas will pay the price.

World News from the BBC.

Libya has warned the United Nations Security Council that unless they gets more help to develop its security forces, the country could become a failed state with far-reaching consequences, Libya's foreign minister Mohamed Abdul-Aziz told the council his country needed expert help to train the police and defence forces to protect important infrastructure including oil fields, ports and airports.

The UN Security Council has condemned recent ballistic missile-launches by North Korea; the council described the three rounds of Scud short-range missiles fired by North Korea in June and July as a violation of Security Council resolutions. North Korea is subject to a range of international sanctions for repeated missile test since 2006.

Bolivia has lowered the legal working age for children, allowing them to work from the age of ten, as long as they also attend school and under parental supervision. The law would also permit parents to allow 12-year-olds to be contracted to work for others. Here is Leonardo Rusher.

The Bolivian vice president Alvaro Garcia said it would have been much easier for his country to pass laws in line with international conventions on child labor; that would have meant a minimum working age of 14 with no exceptions. But Mr. Garcia argued that such legislation would not be enforced within Bolivia, one of South America's poorest countries, when more than half a million children all ready to work to supplement their family income; the socialist government hopes the law will help eradicate the extreme poverty in Bolivia.

The American actress and singer Elaine Stritch has died at the age of eighty-nine. Famous for her brash humour and rich voice, she performed for more than 60 years on Broadway making her name in musicals like Call Me Madam and Pal Joey.

And that, is the BBC News.