Churches have opened their doors in the wake of Tuesday's Germanwings Airbus crash in the French Alps, which killed all 150 people on board. Sixteen of those who died were teenagers on a Spanish exchange programme from Joseph-Koenig school in Germany. Two of their teachers were also on the plane. The local Catholic Church in Haltern, St Sixtus, was reportedly open all night for mourners. Hundreds of people visited the church after the news broke yesterday to light candles and write messages of condolence to the families of those who died. At the school just 1.5km away, residents covered the entrance with flowers and red and white candles. Deputy Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Sylvia Loehrmann, told reporters on Wednesday: ‘We can only share that pain and maybe some comfort can grow from that sharing. All of Germany is mourning with us and the whole world is sending us messages.’ At least three Britons were also killed.

Part of a statement released at the 28th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on the 13 March said, ’The Middle East is living in a situation of instability and conflict. The consequences are disastrous for the entire population of the region. The existence of many religious communities is seriously threatened. Christians are now especially affected. These days even their survival is in question. Efforts to build a better future for all are frustrated. We witness a situation where violence, religious and ethnic hatred, fundamentalist radicalism, extremism, intolerance, exclusion, destruction of the social fabric of whole societies and communities are becoming the features of a non-viable political and social model, endangering the very existence of many communities, the Christian community in particular. We are confident that, all civic and religious leaders in the Middle East, will join us in addressing this alarming situation by building together a culture of peaceful coexistence. In our globalised world, pluralism is an enrichment.

At the moment Turkey is supporting forces forming to retake Mosul from IS by assisting America to train and equip Syrian rebel forces in Turkey, strengthening border security and upgrading discussions with the international coalition. Turkey also has influence among the Sunni Arab tribes of Mosul and other Sunnis, which allows it to collect human intelligence. A Turkish security official requesting anonymity said, ‘1.3 million people live in Mosul, at least 300,000 people will escape toward the Turkish border. We have to get ready for this potentially massive wave of immigration. Sadly Turkey is not at all ready for this serious issue.’ Another Turkish intelligence official said that Turkey is the only country with considerable influence with all Mosul tribes and other Sunni Arabs; and Turkey could easily be an intermediary, talking to all the parties and potentially achieving results with minimum bloodshed.

Both Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed rebels have pulled back most of their heavy artillery from the front line in accordance with a February ceasefire deal, Ukraine’s president said late Monday, amid reports of fresh clashes in the east. However Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko told a state broadcaster that some heavy weaponry remains in place at the airport in the rebel-held city of Donetsk. World leaders hope the withdrawal of heavy weapons as agreed at high-level peace talks last month will help bring a definitive end to the conflict, which the UN estimates has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced almost 1.8 million. The pullback is being overseen by hundreds of monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which has in the past cited a lack of cooperation on both sides. Poroshenko said in his interview that exchanges of artillery and rocket fire have largely stopped along the 485-kilometre (300-mile) front.