An Airbus A320 airliner has crashed in the French Alps between Barcelonnette and Digne, French aviation officials and police have said. The jet belongs to the German airline Germanwings, a subsidiary of Lufthansa. The plane, flight 4U 9525, had been en route from Barcelona to Duesseldorf with 144 passengers and six crew. French President Francois Hollande said: “The conditions of the accident, which have not yet been clarified, lead us to think there are no survivors.” Mr Hollande said the crash was a tragedy, add...

Singapore’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, has died, leaving behind the unlikely nation that he and his colleagues fostered and built over five decades as his lasting legacy. Lee, who would have turned 92 this September, died at the Singapore General Hospital where he had been warded for severe pneumonia since Feb 5. A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said: “The Prime Minister is deeply grieved to announce the passing of Lee Kuan Yew, the founding Prime Minister of Singapore. Lee passed away peacefully a...

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says that progress made in nuclear talks means a final deal can be reached. “There is nothing that cannot be resolved,” although some differences still remain, Iranian state media quoted him as saying. US Secretary of State John Kerry also said that “substantial progress” had been made in the talks. Six world powers are negotiating a deal with Iran aimed at limiting its nuclear activity, with a late March deadline. Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes but world powers fear it has mil...

Suicide bombers have attacked two mosques in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, killing at least 77 people and wounding 121 others, medics say. Worshippers were attending noon prayers at the Badr and al-Hashoosh mosques when at least three attackers struck. [caption id="attachment_14086" align="alignleft" width="300"] Jihadist militant groups have targeted Houthi supporters several times in recent months[/caption] The mosques are used mainly by supporters of the Zaidi Shia-led Houthi rebel movement, which controls Sanaa. Islamic State (IS), which set up a...

US President Barack Obama told the people and leaders of Iran on Thursday that nuclear talks presented “the best opportunity in decades” for the two countries to transform long-frayed ties, but warned there was still work to do in the tortuous negotiations. It came after mixed messages emerged from the talks earlier in the day in Switzerland, where US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart hailed “progress,” but a European negotiator said Tehran and the six major powers were “pretty far from a deal.” The countdown has be...

India and Myanmar would soon start formal border trade through the northeastern state of Mizoram, a senior state government official said here on Wednesday. “India’s Minister for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman will inaugurate a land customs station (LCS) at Zokhawthar in Champhai district (in eastern Mizoram) on March 25 to start the formal border trade with Myanmar,” an official of Mizoram’s commerce and industry department said. He said: “Myanmar’s Commerce Minister U. Win Myint is expected to be present at the inaugural function as both t...