Afternoon roundup: The latest on Ukraine, Israel and Mike Duffy

Here are five of the top stories making headlines this afternoon:

Train car carrying bodies of Malaysia Airlines crash victims leaves station in Ukraine. There seems to be at least a sliver of good news today in the story of the ongoing investigation into the downed Malaysia Airlines plane. A refrigerated train car carrying the bodies of some of the victims has been permitted to leave the station where it was being held in a town in eastern Ukraine under the control of Russian rebels. The Ukrainian government said the train is heading to Kharkiv—a government-controlled city in the eastern part of the country. Also on Monday, the UN passed a resolution calling for international access to the crash site to facilitate an investigation. Since the plane was shot down last week, killing all 298 passengers, rebels have hindered an investigation and there are fears that the site has already been contaminated. Ukraine is pointing the finger at Russian rebels for downing the plane, while Russia denies any involvement.

Israel’s invasion of Gaza continues, with reports of Israeli shell hitting hospital. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon are on their way to the Middle East today to work on brokering a ceasefire, but immediate success is doubtful as Israel’s defence minister vowed to continue the war against Hamas for “as long as necessary” on Monday. Also on Monday, there were reports that a Israeli shell hit a hospital in Gaza, killing six and injuring dozens more. Hamas fired back, sending at least 50 rockets into Israel.

Newly released court documents give new info on charges against Mike Duffy. Sen. Duffy charged taxpayers for travel to personal funerals and he gave money to three individuals for a fake consulting contract, police allege in newly released court documents. The funeral claims, in particular, were part of eight expense claims that police allege Duffy filed for personal or partisan travel. Also, the documents allege Duffy gave money to a close friend who he said was a consultant. On Friday, police announced the suspended senator was being charged with 31 criminal charges, including fraud, breach of trust and bribery. More on the Mike Duffy file: the Peruvian woman who says Duffy is her father told her story in a Spanish-language television documentary that aired over the weekend in Peru. For anyone who speaks Spanish, here’s ‘Mi Padre El Senador’ (also included, a brief synopsis for those who don’t).

May and June of this year were the hottest on record. Ever. The average global temperature for the month of June was 16.2 Celsius—the hottest on record ever, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday. May 2014 also set a new high-temperature record. Both temperature records were influenced by hotter-than-normal ocean temperatures. “This is what global warming looks like,” said University of Arizona climate scientist Jonathan Overpeck.

Kanye West announces new album is dropping in September. Kanye’s new album will be released in September, he told GQ in an extensive interview published on the magazine’s website today. Or maybe October or November… “But I think most likely September,” he concluded. In the interview, Kanye West also talks about his love for wife Kim Kardashian, compares himself to a blowfish and gives a shout out to Drake—saying Toronto’s homegrown rapper is the most popular man in rap these days and noting that he owned the summer of 2013.