Britain has said the Russian airline which crashed in Egypt on Saturday may well have been brought down by an explosive device. The British foreign secretary Phillip Hammond said the assessment followed examination of intelligence information from a range of sources. We have concluded that there is a significant possibility of that crash was caused by an explosive device on board the aircraft. Earlier this evening, we delayed the return to the UK of British bound flights that we are on the ground of Sharm el-Sheikh while we conducted a review of security at the airport. Britain has also suspended all flights to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh from which the Russian plane took off. US officials echoed the bomb theory, but stressed that this was not a definitive conclusion. One US official said Islamic State militants who have claimed the attack may have been behind it.
Egypt has expressed anger and disappointment of the British warning. Lyse Doucet is in Cairo. I've just got off the telephone with Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry, and he is absolutely furious. He said Britain has jumped to conclusions with what he called an unwarranted statement before the investigations into the crash were even completed. He says that will be catastrophic for the millions of Egyptians who earn their living to tourism. Our defense correspondent Frank Gardener examines what prompted the British decision. What's changing this time was new intelligence, fresh intelligence that arrived today. I think we got assumed probably come from Britain's intelligence agencies either MI6 or GCHQ. And it'll be something to do with terrorism activity in the Sinai. It's already home to a very active branch of so-called Islamic State. They've been battling the Egyptian government. They got surface to air missiles, but small ones, not ones that can bring down anaircraft of that height. But they would have invested interest in doing something like this.
The Pentagon says members of a recently formed Syrian opposition group called the Syrian Arab Coalition have captured an area of 200 sq km in a battle with Islamic State militants in the northeast of the country. It's said the battle near the town of al-Hawl involved about 1000 opposition fighters backed by aircraft from the US led coalition.
A major rescue operation is underway in the Pakistani city of Lahore where a 4-story factory which is under construction has collapsed killing at least 18 people. Officials said more than 70 people had been rescued, but over 100 more were feared trapped beneath the rubble. Emergency teams have brought in heavy machinery to help free them. It's not clear what caused the building to collapse though labors working on the site have said it was damaged during last month's earthquake. You're listening to world news from the BBC.
The credit rating's agency Moody's has down graded the credit score of the car company Volkswagen following the emissions scandal, Andrew walker reports. The risk of Volkswagen behind Moody's decisions comes from the company's announcement about fuel efficiency in carbon dioxide emissions. VW said it had found what it called irregularities in its stated emissions and fuel consumption figures that affected up to 800,000 vehicles. The crisis which erupted in September involved nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel cars. The company’s latest statement indicated wider problems with issues about other types of emission, and implied these some petrol vehicles are also affected. Andrew Walker.
The US authorities temporarily stopped aircraft landing at Santiago airport while they dealt with the gunman under the flight path. Police said a man involved in a domestic dispute had fired shots from a high-powered rifle when police arrived at his apartment building. He later surrendered.
The Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has questioned the arrest of a number of journalists on Tuesday. The intelligence service of the revolutionary guards detained several members of what described as infiltration network linked to hostile western governments.
Mexico Supreme Court had voted in favor of allowing a group of activists to grow and distribute Marijuana for their personal use. The ruling only applies to the four people who brought the case, but expert say it could pave the way for legalizing the recreational use of Marijuana in the future. Kitty Watson reports. In a country that faces drug violence on a massive scale, this is a significant ruling. It was based on the freedom of citizens to be able to choose what they consume. This is just the first step. The ruling doesn't replace existing drug laws. In order for the law to change, the supreme court would have to vote the same way four more times on very similar cases, but activists still seeing this as a huge victory. And that’s the BBC news.