French mountain rescue teams and gendarmerie arrive near the site of the Germanwings plane crash near the French Alps. Photo: Getty Images
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
An Airbus operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline crashed in a remote snowy area of the French Alps on Tuesday, killing all 150 on board including 16 schoolchildren and two babies.
Two Australians, a mother and her adult son from Victoria, were on board the flight, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Wednesday morning.
Flight 4U9525 was travelling from Barcelona in Spain to Dusseldorf in Germany with 144 passengers and six crew. The accident happened in a snow-clad alpine area that is hard for rescue services to reach.
The first emergency services workers to arrive found no survivors, and fragments of the plane "the size of a car". Follow the latest news on the crash here.
- The residents of Uriarra village were celebrating the decision on Tuesday to move a planned solar farm from Uriarra to land beside the Monaro Highway at Williamsdale, But you might well look back at 18 months or more of battle between residents and the company and ask how Elementus got into such trouble in the first place and why it took so long for change to come, Kirsten Lawson writes.
- Canberrans face a chaotic and unprecedented return to work and school following the Anzac Day weekend on April 27, with all ACT public servants taking a day off on Monday and tens of thousands of students left without school buses.
- A wealthy property owner allegedly repeatedly stabbed his elderly neighbour in a drunken attempt to dispose of his body, a court has been told - Luigi Costa, 71, allegedly knocked Terrence Freebody off a chair, stomped on his face and neck, and then fatally stabbed him.
- ACT police are being called to reports of family violence on average nine times a day, and more than half of those breaking domestic violence and protection orders are getting off with a good behaviour order.
- A new 150 unit retirement village will be constructed on the former Urambi Primary School site in Kambah.
- Nearly 90 per cent of Canberra homeowners caught up in the Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos crisis have signed up to the government buyback scheme, as special arrangements are considered for elderly and vulnerable residents in affected properties.
- The ACT's long-serving Labor senator, Kate Lundy, said public servants and serving Defence personnel deserve a better deal in her farewell speech to Parliament on Tuesday evening.
- A China-Australian airline deal signed in the presence of the leaders of the two nations has been rejected by Australia's competition regulator, for reasons that are not easily addressed.
- Australians entering retirement will most likely be stopped from taking their superannuation as a lump sum and will have to access it through a structured self-funded pension, a top Treasury official says.
Grant Elliott raises his arms in triumph as Dale Steyn feels the pain of defeat. Photo: AP
South Africa-born Grant Elliott's brilliant 84 not out, capped with a stunning six off the penultimate ball, saw New Zealand to a four-wicket win over the Proteas in a cliffhanger World Cup semi-final at Auckland's Eden Park on Tuesday.
Elliott's winning hit, off injured South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn, took New Zealand into the World Cup final for the first time
- Blake Ferguson, when representing Canberra rather than preparing to play against them, was by his own admission a "ticking time bomb". As he prepares to take on the Raiders on Sunday for the first time since the club sacked him, the Roosters recruit opened up on how he has changed in the 18 months that have passed.
- World Cup winning captain Nick Farr-Jones has dismissed suggestions David Pocock's strong views on social issues would stop the ACT Brumbies flanker captaining the Wallabies again.
- The Canberra Raiders have dumped Country Origin representative Josh McCrone for Sunday's clash with the Sydney Roosters, ending his streak of 118 consecutive NRL games.
- Cricket: Johannesburg-born Grant Elliott hit a six off the penultimate ball to take New Zealand into their first World Cup final when they defeated South Africa by four wickets in a rain-hit semi-final thriller at Eden Park last night.
Fairbairn Avenue will be closed between Northcott Drive and Majura Road, and Morshead Drive will be closed to northbound traffic between Fairbairn Avenue and Pialligo Avenue from 6.30pm to 5am each night this week as work on the Majura Parkway continues.
If you are stuck in traffic or have any info, let us know: morningblog@canberratimes.com.au or tweet us @canberratimes
Federal Parliament is sitting this week.
James Turrell is adamant everyone, even the colour-blind, sees exactly the same thing when they slide into the kaleidoscopic centrepiece of his retrospective the perceptual cell. This and other mysteries behind Turrell's exhibition could be revealed tonight when art and science combine for Let's talk about Perception, a panel discussion at the National Gallery of Australia from 6pm.
The Process mercilessly dissects the immigration policies of two previous Australian governments with hilarious results, simultaneously following the plight of a Tamil refugee, at the Street Theatre from 7pm.
Follow the untold stories of our country's indigenous soldiers with Black Diggers - the opening show begins at 8pm at the Canberra Theatre Centre.
Nathan Pope has lost 32kgs in the last 12 months and is preparing to run the half marathon as part of the Canberra running festival. Photo: Rohan Thomson
Just over a year ago Nathan Pope was struggling to keep up with his young daughters, now 32 kilograms lighter the public servant is set to take on a half-marathon in the Australian Running Festival.
The kilos began creeping on for Mr Pope after the birth of his youngest daughter Violet, now 4, but it wasn't until a family holiday to Hamilton Island last January that he had the "wake-up moment".
"It was a beautiful beach... and I was struggling with getting up and down the hills and the heat," he said.
"We had some photos and I was really disappointed with how I looked and how I felt.
"I couldn't spend as much time with the kids… because I was just unfit and unhealthy.
"I made the decision then to do something about it."
Touch or click through for more David Pope
Uriarra residents Aaron Agnew, Rod Sloan, Michael Friedrich, Janice Watt with Evie, 8, and Jess Agnew celebrate an announcement that a solar farm will not be build near their town. Photo: Matt Bedford
Today: A partly cloudy day in Canberra on Wednesday with patchy fog in the early morning , a forecast minimum of 7 degrees and a top of 23 degrees.
The rest of the week: Thursday, sunny - min 7, max 19. Friday, sunny - min 3, max 21. Saturday, partly cloudy - min 3, max 23. Sunday, partly cloudy - min 7, max 26.
