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From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm Ray Kouguell reporting. Co-pilot crashed Germanwings plane on purpose.
The co-pilot of the passenger jet that crashed in the French Alps earlier this week deliberately sent it down. Lisa Bryant reports. Marseilles prosecutor Brice Robin says German co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was alone in the cockpit when he deliberately took the Germanwings craft off autopilot and activated the descent that led to it crashing into a mountain side on Tuesday. At a press conference in Marseille, Robin said that at this point of time, the most plausible explanation was that the copilot wanted to deliberately destroy the plane. The prosecutor stressed this was a preliminary conclusion based on the last half hour of conversation between the pilot and co-pilot retrieved from the cockpit voice recorder. Lisa Bryant, for VOA news, Paris. Gulf Arab warplanes bombed Shiite Houthi rebel targets in Yemen Thursday as a Saudi Arabian-led military offensive continued. The airstrikes were focused on military sites in the rebel-held capital of Sana'a including the main airport. Houthi officials say at least 18 people were killed and 24 wounded. A Saudi military spokesman says there are no plans at this time for ground forces to cross into Yemen. Iran, which backs the Shiite Houthi rebels trying to out the president, called the operation a dangerous step that will only worsen the crisis in Yemen. In Uganda, police say they have received "credible information" that Somali militant group al-Shabab is planning an attack in the capital, Kampala. The warning Thursday follows a similar message from the U.S. embassy in Kampala a day earlier. Police say al-Shabab may target public places such as hotels, malls and markets. This is VOA news. Iraqi forces carried out operations to recapture the city of Tikrit Thursday hours after warplanes from the U.S.-led coalition launched airstrikes on Islamic State targets in the city. An Iraqi military officer told the Associated Press that clashes intensified as Iraqi troops and special forces moved toward the center of Tikrit. Nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran resumed Thursday in Switzerland, with a deadline for an agreement just days away. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said before his meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that the alternative to a deal is letting Iran "expand its nuclear program full-speed ahead." The U.S. and its partners -- Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany -- face a March 31 deadline for a framework deal with Iran. The six partners want Iran to curb its uranium enrichment program to prevent it from being able to build a nuclear weapon. In exchange, devastating economic sanctions on Iran would be lifted. New research finds Ebola progresses more quickly and is more likely to be fatal for children under the age of 5 than for adults. Lisa Schlein has details. The findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine show Ebola has affected about 4,000 children under age 16 in the epidemic raging in West Africa. This is around one fifth of the nearly 25,000 cases of the disease confirmed by the World Health Organization. Authors of the report say they do not know how many of the more than 10,300 Ebola deaths are among children. Several clinical trials of Ebola vaccines and drugs currently are underway in the three disease-stricken West African countries. Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva. Nigeria's president and his main challenger have released a statement pledging to respect the outcome of Saturday's election as long as it is "free, fair and credible." President Goodluck Jonathan and his opponent Muhammadu Buhari also called on Nigerians to refrain from violence or any acts that may jeopardize the election's credibility. The human rights group, Amnesty International, says Palestinian militants committed war crimes during last year's war in Gaza months after the agency made the same charge against Israel. Amnesty said in a report Thursday that militants including Hamas killed Israeli and Palestinian civilians by unguided rockets and mortars. Amnesty said Palestinian rockets killed six Israeli civilians including a four-year-old boy. Another rocket struck a a Palestinian refugee camp in Gaza, killing 11 children and two adults. Amnesty issued a report in November accusing Israel of war crimes by firing missiles into Gaza, killing entire families and destroying homes. I'm Ray Kouguell in Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |