A Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 298 people has exploded and crashed in eastern Ukraine, killing everyone on board. U.S. and Ukrainian officials say the Boeing 777 was shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile, but it is unclear who shot the missile. The plane was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with passengers from at least 10 countries on board, including 173 Dutch nationals, 44 Malaysians and 27 Australians. As of this broadcast, the nationalities of 20 people have not been verified, and it is unclear if any U.S. citizens were on board. The disaster may have dealt a lasting blow to the fight against HIV/AIDS. As many as 100 of the world’s leading AIDS researchers and advocates were reportedly on the plane en route to a conference in Australia, including the pioneering researcher and former president of the International AIDS Society, Joep Lange. The area where the plane crashed is controlled by pro-Russian separatists, who have recently claimed credit for downing Ukrainian military planes. Ukraine has blamed the rebels for the attack, and the Ukrainian intelligence agency has released audio of what it claims are intercepted phone calls between rebels and Russian military intelligence officers, where the rebels admit to shooting down a passenger jet. The crash came a day after the United States hit Russia with a new round of sanctions over its handling of the crisis in Ukraine. We will have more on this story later in the broadcast.