INTERNATIONAL

Intelligence suggests the Russian plane that crashed in Egypt killing all 224 people on board may have been brought down by a bomb, US and UK officials say. But they say they have yet to reach a formal conclusion. Britain earlier suspended flights to and from the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, from where the flight had departed. Egypt has dismissed ...

Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has resigned after some 20,000 people took to the streets to protest over a nightclub fire that killed 32 people. Friday night’s blaze in Bucharest started when a band performing at the club set off fireworks inside. Demonstrators called for Mr Ponta to step down, complaining of government corruption and poor safety supervision. “I’m handing ...

Voters in the US state of Ohio have rejected proposals to make marijuana legal, according to local media projections. The measure, known as Issue 3, would have amended the state constitution to legalise the personal and medical use of marijuana for anyone over 21. But it was defeated by nearly a two-to-one margin, the projections said. Pro-legalisation campaigners spent about ...

Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Singapore on Saturday – the first ever meeting between leaders of the two sides. Both said the talks would focus on relations across the Taiwan Straits. China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since 1949, when the Nationalist government fled to the island after defeat by the Communists. However, ...

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has described claims that militants linked to Islamic State brought down a Russian airliner as “propaganda”. He told the BBC that it was too early to say what had caused the crash. The Airbus 321 is thought to have broken up in mid-air over the Sinai peninsula on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board. ...

Pakistani forces have killed two Indian soldiers in firing along the de facto border that divides Kashmir between the two countries, India’s army has said. The incident happened in the Gurez area of Bandipora district on Monday evening, an army officer said. India and Pakistan have often accused each other of unprovoked firing along the disputed border. A ceasefire agreed ...

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has described claims that militants linked to Islamic State (IS) brought down a Russian airliner as “propaganda”. He told the BBC that it was too early to say what had caused the crash. The plane broke up over the Sinai peninsula on Saturday, killing all 224 people on board. On Monday, the airline Kogalymavia blamed ...

The Russian airline Kogalymavia has blamed “external influence” for Saturday’s Sinai plane crash which killed 224 people. A senior airline official said: “The only reasonable explanation is that it was [due to] external influence.” An investigation by aviation experts using data from the aircraft’s “black boxes” has yet to give its conclusions. The head of Russia’s Federal Aviation Agency said ...

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has won a critical parliamentary election, regaining the majority it lost in June. With almost all ballots counted, state-run Anadolu Agency said AKP had won 49.4% of the vote, with the main opposition CHP on 25.4%. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said voters had “shown that they prefer action and development to controversy”. The ...

At least eight people have been killed in a suicide attack on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu. Gunmen used a vehicle packed with explosives to blast their way into the Sahafi hotel compound before storming the building, police said. African Union troops and government forces say they have regained control of the hotel after a fierce gun battle. ...