Live: A Malaysian airliner was brought down in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, killing all 298 people aboard and sharply raising the stakes in a conflict between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels that has set Russia and the West at daggers drawn.

Key points:

* Ukraine says Russian officers help rebels shoot down airliner with 295 aboard

* Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has described it as "an act of terrorism".

* U.S. VP Biden says it was "blown out of the sky"

* Rebels deny role, though have said recently they have such missiles

* Malaysia Airlines MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur

* Raises stakes in East-West confrontation over Ukraine

10:50

UK security expert says the Russia-Ukraine conflict is no longer a regional dispute, but one of global significance stretching all the way to East Asia.

"(The conflict) called into question the judgment and behavior of Russia and Ukraine and also other European governments, the European Union and NATO," said Paul Cornish, professor of Strategic Studies at The University of Exeter's Strategy and Security Institute. >>

10:10 am

Germany's Allianz SE is the lead hull and liability reinsurer covering the Malaysian airliner MH -17, Bloomberg reported, citing an email from Allianz.

London-based insurance broker Aon Plc valued the aircraft at about $97.3 million, Bloomberg said.

09:32am

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Friday it appeared that "Russian-backed rebels" were behind the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jetliner MH17.

"This is a grim day for our country and it's a grim day for our world. Malaysian airlines MH17 has been shot down over the eastern Ukraine, it seems by Russian-backed rebels," he said. (Reuters)

9:15am

Three infants were on board Flight 17, raising the death toll to 298 people(283 passengers &15 crew), Malaysia Airlines says.

The nationalities of 41 passengers are yet to be confirmed.

Malaysia Airlines statement said:

154 passengers were Dutch

43 people on the flight were Malaysian

27 aboard were Australian

12 were Indonesian

9 were British

4 were German

4 were Belgian

3 were Filipino

1 was Canadian

9:12 am

Some of the passengers on board the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight that has crashed over Ukraine were headed to the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia, Reuters reported.

9:02 am

The White House called for the crash site to be left intact. US President Barack Obama called Netherlands Prime Minister about Malaysian plane crash, saying US would support "prompt, full, credible, and unimpeded international investigation."

8:55 am

Malaysia airlines MH17 crash: 80 children feared dead in Ukraine shooting down of Boeing 777

8:41 am

Pro-Russian separatists shot down the plane :Ukraine (BBC)

8:05 am

Malaysia Airlines said on Friday the flight route taken by an airliner that came down in Ukraine had been declared safe by the U.N. aviation arm, the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

It also said the International Air Transportation Association "had stated that the airspace the aircraft was traversing was not subject to restrictions".

The airline said the plane was carrying a total 298 people, including three infants - 283 passengers and 15 crew. It earlier said it had been carrying 295 people.