Germanwings co-pilot admitted to suffering depression
The co-pilot accused of deliberately crashing a Germanwings plane in the French Alps had reportedly informed his employer he had suffered from a “previous episode of severe depression”. Lufthansa confirmed 27-year-old Andreas Lubitz told the company in 2009 about his illness after interrupting his flight training. The chief executives of Lufthansa and Germanwings will travel to the crash area on Wednesday. French President Francois Hollande said identifying the 150 people onboard Flight 4U9525 would help allow the families to grieve. “There are no more bodies at the site. Military climbers will tomorrow go to the crash site with teams to recover the personal effects,” Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Marc Menechini said.
Istanbul hostage situation results in three dead
A hostage situation in Istanbul has ended in a shootout leaving three people dead, including a prosecutor. He died of gunshot wounds after security forces stormed the building where a far-left Turkish group held him and two others hostage on Tuesday. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that victim Mehmet Selim Kiraz had died in emergency surgery after he was shot three times in the head and twice in the body. The Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party Front (DHKP-C) had posted a picture of Kiraz with a gun to his head, stating he would be shot if their demands were not met. Kiraz was directing the investigation into the death of 15-year-old Berkin Elvan, who died after nine months of being in a coma from injuries sustained during an anti-government protest. Deputy chief prosecutor Orhan Kapici confirmed the incident was related to Mr Kiraz’s investigation.
Former military leader wins Nigerian election
Opposition candidate and former military leader Muhammadu Buhari has won the Nigerian election by a landslide, defeating Goodluck Jonathan by 2.7 million votes. Mr Jonathan phoned General Buhari on Tuesday night to congratulate him. General Buhari is the first opposition candidate to win a presidential election in Nigeria. “We must see this as a triumphant show of democracy, a change for the better,” General Buhari’s wife Aisha said on Twitter. Mr Jonathan’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had been losing popularity due to a series of corruption scandals and the rise of Boko Haram’s Islamist insurgency in the northeast. PDP had been in power since the end of army rule in 1999.
Nelson Mandela’s grandson convicted of assault
Nelson Mandela’s grandson Mandla Mandela has been found guilty of assault during a 2013 road rage incident. Mthatha Magistrates Court found Mandela guilty of beating up a man who had crashed his car into a friend’s vehicle in the Eastern Cape. After the incident, the complainant, Mlami Ngudie, insulted Mandela by using derogatory terms towards his mother. Mandela, a South African parliament member, then headed to the back of his car where he grabbed a firearm. Ngudie told the court that since the alleged attack, his speech has been affected and his doctor had put him on leave in November. Mandela will be sentenced at a later date.
Anne Frank time of death questioned
The Anne Frank House museum said it is likely the Jewish diarist died of typhus in a Nazi concentration camp a month prior to the official recorded date of her death. It is yet to be confirmed that Anne died at age 15 at the Bergen-Belsen camp in February 1945 instead of March, which was the date given by Dutch officials. The change in date will only change the story that Anne and her sister, Margot, died two weeks before their camp was liberated.
Son of US billionaire found dead
Andrew Getty, the son of one of the richest men in the United State, was found dead at his Hollywood Hills home on Tuesday. Police were called to his home just after 2pm, where the 47-year-old was found in his bathroom. The death of Mr Getty, an heir to the US Getty oil company, worth $US2.1 billion, is being treated as suspicious. – Compiled from web sources by Kayla Burke and Keisha Miller
Top screenshot from The Wall Street Journal’s youtube video.
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