A Qantas flight travelling from New Zealand to Sydney issued a mayday call over the ocean Wednesday, and emergency services were responding.

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has sought "serious" and "sincere" talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for the resolution of the "burning" issues, including on Kashmir, and said the UAE could play an important role in facilitating the resumption of dialogue between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

China has announced its first overall population decline in recent years amid an aging society and plunging birthrate.

Eyewitnesses of the Nepalese passenger plane crash have said that they had a close shave as the Yeti Airlines plane, with 72 onboard, including five Indians, crashed near their settlement and a bomb-like blast was heard.

The black boxes of the Yeti Airlines aircraft have been recovered from the accident site on Monday, officials said, a day after the plane with 72 people, including five Indians, crashed into a river gorge while landing at the newly-opened airport in the resort city of Pokhara, killing at least 68 people onboard.

The richest 1 per cent have bagged nearly twice as much wealth as the rest of the world population put together over the past two years, a new report said on Monday.

Nepalese rescuers resumed their search on Monday for four persons still missing after a passenger plane with 72 people, including five Indians, crashed into a river gorge while landing at the newly-opened airport in the resort city of Pokhara, killing at least 68 people onboard.