UN to hold emergency meeting on crash of MH17

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the crash of a Malaysian airliner in eastern Ukraine.

The urgent talks will begin at 10:00 am (1400 GMT), said the Rwandan chair of the 15-member council.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling for a "full, transparent and international investigation" of the crash of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in rebel-held eastern Ukraine.

US officials said the plane carrying nearly 300 people from Amsterdam en route to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by a surface-to-air missile but it was unclear who fired the weapon.

Britain, which requested the urgent talks at the Security Council, is calling for a UN-led investigation.