Good morning folks, and welcome to the Morning Mail – sign up here to get it straight to your inbox every weekday morning.
Germanwings plane crash
Voices heard on recorder from cockpit of Germanwings plane crash
German school students nearly missed doomed Germanwings flight
Germanwings crash calls attention to Airbus safety history
Latest live blog on the Germanwings crash.
Full coverage of the crash of Germanwings flight 4U9525
NSW election
The NSW election winner seems clear, but fear, anxiety and nerves take hold: No one expects anyone except Mike Baird to be premier on Saturday night, but there is still plenty to play for in the final days of the campaign
Indigenous issues largely ignored in NSW election campaign, say community
Labor demands Mike Baird disclose discussions he had with Chinese about their interest in NSW electricity network sale
The Undercurrent asks: What’s the difference between a political donation and a mafia bribe? – video
First Dog on the Moon: NSW is full of wasps and weird birds and why won’t they leave me alone?
NSW election video: Newtown is a Greens v Labor clash for state’s ‘most progressive seat’
Follow our full coverage of the NSW election here.
Australian news and politics
Farmers urge Coalition to restore emissions trading scheme: Failure to acknowledge the problem is ‘doing the industry a disservice’ and harming Australia’s international standing, says farming group
Metadata legislation heads to final vote – politics live: In the final parliamentary sitting day before the May budget, the senate is expected to pass the Abbott government’s controversial metadata laws. All the developments from Canberra, live
Abbott government likely to ask for deadline extension on disability wage: Government to ask Human Rights Commission for extra time to come up with a new system to determine fair pay for intellectually disabled workers
Greens to question Foreign Investment Review Board over Adani coal venture: Senate hearings to question alleged links between firm behind Queensland’s Abbot Point coal port, a Cayman Islands company and a $1bn rorts investigation
Around the world
Jeremy Clarkson dropped by BBC after damning report into attack on producer: Presenter could face police investigation after corporation’s inquiry describes ‘unprovoked physical and verbal attack’
Zayn Malik has left One Direction, band confirms. Social media falls apart.
UK police continued spying on Labour activists after their election as MPs
Bowe Bergdahl faces life in prison after being charged with desertion
Raffaele Sollecito to seek separate retrial from Amanda Knox during ruling
Invisible army: the Russian soldier sent to fight in Ukraine
One last thing
“I’ve been voted one of Australia’s 50 national treasures. I’ve even had my face on an Australian stamp ... It’s so, so … unreasonable.” Russell Crowe is not pleased about having been twice denied Australian citizenship.
Have an excellent day – and if you spot something I’ve missed, let me know in the comments here or on Twitter @earleyedition.
Sign up
Get the Morning Mail direct to your inbox first thing every weekday by signing up here.
