Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz declared 'unfit to work,' officials say
Updated 0010 GMT (0810 HKT) March 28, 2015
Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was hiding an illness from his employers and had been declared "unfit to work" by a doctor, according to German authorities investigating what could have prompted the seemingly competent and stable pilot to steer his jetliner into a French mountain.
Investigators found a letter in the waste bin of his Dusseldorf, Germany, apartment saying that Lubitz, 27, wasn't fit to do his job, city prosecutor Christoph Kumpa said Friday. The note, Kumpa said, had been "slashed."
Just what was ailing Lubitz hasn't been revealed. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Friday that Lubitz suffered from mental illness and kept his diagnosis concealed from his employer.Saudis evacuate diplomats from Yemen as Houthis gain ground
Saudi Arabia's military has begun evacuating diplomats from Yemen's southern port of Aden. The move comes as Houthi rebels continued to advance on the city despite Saudi-led airstrikes.
The news of the evacuation effort was first reported by Saudi Arabia's state broadcaster on Saturday.
"The Saudi Royal Navy implemented an operation called 'Hurricane' to evacuate dozens of diplomats, including Saudis, from Aden," read a news ticker on the television news station.
This came as Shiite Muslim Houthi fighters continued to gain ground in the south and east of Yemen. The Reuters news agency cited local residents who said that the rebels had established their first foothold on the country's Gulf of Aden coast on Friday, seizing the port of Shaqra, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Aden.
This came despite a second day of Saudi-led airstrikes against the Houthi forces in several parts of the country, including the capital, Sanaa, which the rebels control, as well as their northern stronghold of Saada.
Living with a bomb: life after the Gaza war
March 28, 2015 - 3:47PM
Ruth Pollard
Middle East Correspondent
Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip: Half a dozen carefully placed pieces of wood cover the hole in the floor shattered by the one-tonne bomb that for seven months lay beneath Fadel Nasser's family home in the devastated Gaza town of Beit Hanoun.
It crashed through the roof and all three storeys and sat, unexploded and buried in the earth, the most dangerous reminder of Israel's 50-day war with Gaza last year.
The extended family of 20 - including Nasser's wife and children, his brother's family and their father - were forced to live above the missile, terrified that at any moment it might explode.
"We cannot afford to live anywhere else, so we must live with the bomb instead," Nasser said as he introduced Fairfax Media to the second team of experts who had begun the delicate, dangerous mission of finding and disposing of the explosive.
For families of missing Mexican students, answers remain elusive
What really happened in Iguala six months ago when 43 students disappeared? Many in Mexico are still determined to find out, despite government calls to move on.
MEXICO CITY — Six months after the grisly disappearance of 43 teachers' college students in the troubled Mexican state of Guerrero, friends and family of the missing SPREAD
out across the United States and Mexicoto remind the world that the search isn’t over.
out across the United States and Mexicoto remind the world that the search isn’t over.
Marches took place throughout Mexico, and three caravans made up of the family and friends of the students and activists are traveling to at least 30 US cities to raise awareness about the case and ongoing disappearances here.
“Nothing will change if we stop fighting,” says Omar Garcia, who was with his classmates in Iguala before they disappeared on Sept. 26.
With big projects, Ethiopia shedding famine stereotype
By ELIAS MESERET15 hours ago
Ethiopia's planned new airport on the outskirts of the capital is still years from becoming a reality but Tewodros Dawit can already envision how grand it will look.
"The airport we are planning to build is going to be huge. Very huge," Tewodros said one recent afternoon as he examined project plans in his office in Addis Ababa. "It will be one of the biggest airports in the world. I don't know what other countries are planning in this regard for the future but no country has created this much capacity so far in Africa."
Ethiopia, once known for epic famines that sparked global appeals for help, has a booming economy and big plans these days. The planned airport is one of several muscular, forward-looking infrastructure projects undertaken by the government that have fueled talk of this East African country as a rising African giant.
Polls open in Nigeria presidential elections
Voters head to polls in election held against a backdrop of violent attacks by armed group Boko Haram in the north east.
Kano, Nigeria – Polling stations have opened in Nigeria, the electoral commission said, as voters prepare to elect a new president in what is being seen as the closest contest in the country's history.
"Polling stations have opened. Accreditation has started," INDEPENDENT National Electoral Commission spokesman Kayode Idowu said, despite reports of delays to the 8am (0700 GMT) start.
The process had not started at some locations in Kano, Lagos and Abuja because of delays in the arrival of INEC officials and election materials, reported the AFP news agency. Voting proper is due to start at 1:30pm.
National Electoral Commission spokesman Kayode Idowu said, despite reports of delays to the 8am (0700 GMT) start.The process had not started at some locations in Kano, Lagos and Abuja because of delays in the arrival of INEC officials and election materials, reported the AFP news agency. Voting proper is due to start at 1:30pm.
Saturday's election, delayed for six weeks while security forces attempted to subdue the armed group Boko Haram in the country's northeast, will be the fifth since Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999.
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