Wednesday, May 14

Russia has officially been found responsible for downing Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over a decade ago, finally giving the families affected a chance of compensation.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, or MH17, was a flight traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down over eastern Europe in 2014. The plane, a Boeing 777-200ER, was carrying 283 passengers and 15 crew for the 12-hour flight on July 17, and all of them were killed in the deadly crash.

An international investigation into the crash was conducted in 2016, led by the Netherlands, where the flight had taken off from. The team determined that the plane was taken down by a Buk surface-to-air missile, placing the blame squarely on Russia.

However, Russia maintained that they had no involvement in the plane crash, preventing a true verdict from being released.

Since Russia refuses to recognize the International Court of Justice, the Netherlands and Australia took the court to another international body: The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization. Russia was found guilty of violating the Chicago Convention, which clearly states that member countries must avoid using any weapons against civilian aircraft in flight.

Due to this, the Council can now formally request Russia to negotiate with the Netherlands and Australia over possible compensation for the crash, as the families of the victims have still not received any sort of payment. However, the Council still has to determine how much compensation will be given-- that will be finalized after negotiations.

Fact of the Day (BBC): Soccer teams wearing red are thought to play better. A review of soccer matches in the last 55 years showed that teams wearing a red kit consistently played better in home matches than teams in any other color. The study discovered that the color red subconsciously boosts players' confidence and affects their opponents as well. However, of course, there are many studies contradicting this hypothesis as well.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): The only certainty is that nothing is certain. (Pliny the Elder)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Apotropaic (adj, ap-uh-troh-PAY-ik) - Something described as apotropaic is designed or intended to avert evil.

In a Sentence: The etchings are believed to be associated with ancient apotropaic rituals.