Ninety people were feared dead today after an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed into the sea off Lebanon in stormy weather, minutes after take-off, a government minister said.

A FRENCH navy captain said his vessel has detected the black boxes of a Yemenia Airways plane that crashed last month near the Comoros Islands.

Bad weather is believed to have been the main cause of the crash today of an Airbus A310 plane in the Indian Ocean.

A toddler was rescued alive today from the wreckage of an airliner that crashed trying to land in the Comoros islands, police said.

FRANCE’S best-known mercenary Bob Denard, who had a hand in numerous African wars and coups d’etat over 30 years, has died at the age of 78.

Former French mercenary Bob Denard and 26 others went on trial in a Paris court for a 1995 coup attempt on the Comoros Islands, which Denard ruled for 11 years.

Thousands of tourists were stranded in Kenya today as security forces hunted for a top al-Qaida suspect thought to be planning a rocket attack on an airliner.

Officials at Dublin Port have detained a tanker registered in the Comoros Islands after it was found to have 38 deficiencies, including a breakdown of the onboard International Safety Management system.

More than a dozen mysterious hooded men who invaded the smallest island in the Comoros archipelago appear to have been mercenaries.