The Russian Foreign Ministry will summon the Dutch ambassador in Moscow on Oct. 3 to explain Russia's reasons for not accepting the findings of an investigation into the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, the ministry said on Friday. A team of international investigators on Wednesday presented findings showing that the missile launcher used to shoot down MH17 over Eastern Ukraine in 2014 came from Russia and was returned there afterwards - despite Russian denials of involvement in the conflict in Ukraine. The Dutch Foreign Ministry summoned Russia's ambassador in The Hague for a diplomatic rebuke on Friday after Moscow made remarks critical of the MH17 investigation The ministry said that Moscow will explain its reasoning for not accepting the methods of the international investigation, which took the probe "in a wrong direction".<br/>
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The Netherlands summoned Russia's ambassador Friday to complain about Russian criticism of the Dutch public prosecutor's office over the probe into the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. The Russian ambassador was called to the foreign ministry in The Hague over statements that the Dutch say question the office's "professionalism, integrity and independence." The international criminal investigation concluded that a missile which destroyed the Malaysian passenger jet over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people aboard, was fired from rebel-controlled territory by a mobile launcher trucked in from Russia and hastily returned there. Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said "given the convincing nature of the evidence, Russia should respect the results that have been presented, rather than impugning the investigation and sowing doubt." Asked about the ambassador, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov sought to portray it as a positive development. "This is certainly good news, the head of our mission in the Netherlands will relay our thoughts on the subject," Peskov told reporters Friday. "Dialogue is always a good thing."<br/>
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Sunday the names of those responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 might be confirmed by the end of the year. "By the end of the year, maybe early next year, the list of those that we believe should be held accountable will be confirmed and then there must be a prosecution," Bishop said. International investigators said Wednesday the passenger plane was downed by a Russian-made missile fired from a pro-Russian rebel village in eastern Ukraine. The findings counter Moscow's suggestion that the flight, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in July 2014, was brought down by Ukraine's military rather than the separatists. All 298 people on board, including 28 Australians, were killed. Bishop said the culprits could face an international tribunal, similar to the one used to prosecute those responsible for the 1988 bombing of a PanAm flight over Lockerbie, Scotland.<br/>
American Airlines, which over the weekend surmounted a major information-technology challenge, said Sunday it was “really pleased” with the transition but isn’t “declaring mission accomplished yet.” The nation’s largest airline by traffic moved all of its pilots and planes onto a single “flight operating system” on Friday night into Saturday. The cutover, which brought merger partner’s US Airways pilots onto the American IT platform, was the latest step in integrating the two companies, which merged in late 2013. An American spokeswoman said there were no cancellations or disruptions of flights over the weekend because of the IT shift. That hadn’t been anticipated since this transition was internal, having to do with the way American schedules planes and pilots across the merged company. Until now, the US Airways pilots and the planes from the former subsidiary were scheduled separately. The Allied Pilots Association, the union that represents the 15,000 pilots at the combined airline, said Sunday that the transition was a success in terms of “passengers getting to their destinations on time, and safely,” a spokesman said. But the IT switch also gave rise to some pilot-scheduling errors that ran afoul of the union’s contract and FAA rules, he said.<br/>