Russia may be forced to take direct or indirect responsibility for loss of all aboard the Malaysian flight

Tensions are ramping up between two global super powers after a Malaysia Airlines passenger flight was shot down over Ukraine.

Scenes of horror, with crumpled corpses and body parts strewn amid the smouldering wreckage, greeted local villagers and pro-Russian rebels who were first on the crash site.

Investor sentiment was hit across the globe by rising geopolitical tension following the downing of a Malaysian airliner and the start of an Israeli offensive into Gaza.

News organisations have forever struggled with determining the line where news value ends and shock value and sensationalism begin.

If history is anything to go by, the downing of Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine could trigger a dangerous chain reaction.

Airlines were warned in April to avoid airspace over Ukraine, but experts suggest they preferred to save money on fuel.

Gold futures posted the biggest gain in four weeks after Ukraine said rebels shot down a Malaysian jet carrying 295 people near its border with Russia. Palladium extended a rally to a 13-year high.

Airlines including Deutsche Lufthansa and KLM has said they will avoid flying over eastern Ukraine after the crash of a Malaysian Airlines jet.

Everything you need to know about Malaysian Airlines MH17, which was shot down over Ukraine.

A deleted social media post by a separatist militia leader has led to accusations that pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine are to blame for the Malaysia Airlines crash.

Images of Malaysia Airlines MH17 which crashed over Ukraine.

Soviet-built BUK surface-to-air missile launcher believed to have brought down Air Malaysia flight at 33,000ft.

The deaths of 295 people aboard Flight MH17 is one of the worst post-war civilian airline incidents involving a plane brought down by a missile attack, gunfire or terrorist-related sabotage.

Prince Charles has compared Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler over Russia's actions in Ukraine.

The volunteer in charge of the polling station was candid about the sort of election he admired.

Strong local support for the rebel movement has proved a major barrier to Kiev in responding to the situation and the spate of violence.

Ukraine's Government said yesterday that the country was now at war with pro-Russia insurgents.

The men, most masked by balaclavas, many carrying baseball bats, some wearing sidearms, swarmed around the black Jeep Patriot.

The mayor of Ukraine's second-largest city was fighting for his life after a daylight assassination attempt as the country's east is dragged toward chaos.

Heavily armed pro-Russian gunmen last night seized another town in east Ukraine, storming the town hall in Kostyantynivka and setting up barricades.

Pro-Russian gunmen in Ukraine demanded a "prisoner" exchange for a team of kidnapped Western officials yesterday.

The acting Ukrainian President, Oleksandr Turchynov, said yesterday that Russia had supported the torture and murder of a local politician in the east of the country who was loyal to Kiev.

A pregnant journalist is recovering in hospital today after a pro-Kremlin political leader in Russia told two male aides to 'violently rape' her at a press conference.

Defeating grim expectations of a failure, talks on the Ukrainian crisis have led to a deal aimed at hauling the region back from the brink.

Jews have reportedly been told to "register" with pro-Russian forces in the east Ukrainian city of Donetsk, in a move condemned by the US as "grotesque and beyond unacceptable".