BBC news with Julie Candler.
German prosecutors say that the Germanwings co-pilot who is thought to have deliberately crashed a plane in the French Alps last week has been treated for suicidal tendencies for several years before becoming a pilot. Investigators have so far found no indication of a motive for crashing the plane and killing all 150 people on board. Hugh Schofield reports.
“A spokesman for the prosecutor's office said that before he got his pilot's license Andreas Lubitz was being treated by a psychotherapist for what was described in the documents as being suicidal. He said that more recently the co-pilot had continued to see doctors and as it was already known, these doctors had written notes saying he was unfit to fly. However, according to the prosecutor's office, these later medical records showed know him has been suicidal or aggressive against other people.”
Aid workers in Yemen say an airstrike at a refugee camp in the north of the country has killed at least 45 people. Yemen's foreign minister insisted the casualties at the al-Mazrak camp were caused by artillery strikes from Houthi rebels, rather than a Saudi-led coalition fight in support of the government. Saudi Arabian military authority is leading the campaign in Yemen say their naval forces are now besieging the country's ports to prevent rebel fighters coming or going or bringing in more weapons. Speaking to the BBC, the Saudi ambassador in London prince Mohammed bin Nawaf al-Saud reiterated his country's allegation that its regional rival Iran is helping the Houthis.
“In the situation in Yemen, we have proof that they have been training the Houthis. We do not believe an organization like the Houthis is capable of mugging such a military campaign without direct outside force. And this is why we had to move and we had to defend our interests.”
Britain is seeing its first day of formal political campaigning for the upcoming general election with the leaders of all main parties setting out their stalls. Opinion polls show the Conservatives and Labor neck and neck with smaller parties likely to hold the balance of power. Ben Geoghegan reports.
“After his 10-minute audience with the Queen, David Cameron said the country faced a stark choice at the general election if Ed Miliband ended up as prime minister, he said it would lead to economic chaos. Today, Ed Miliband launched his party's business manifesto and focused on the notorious plan for an EU referendum in 2017. The Labor leader described the proposal as a clear and present danger to jobs and prosperity.”
Britain and United States have expressed concern about rigging in the counting of votes after Nigeria's general election. They said they had seen disturbing indications of political interference in the collision process. Early results show the race between president Goodluck Jonathan and his main rival Muhammadu Buhari is too close to call.
World news from the BBC.
One of the most powerful figures in South African politics Zwelinzima Vavi has been sacked as head of the trade union federation COSATU. Mr. Vavi had been as general secretary since 1999. The organization is part of an alliance with the governing ANC and the South African Communist party. A BBC correspondent in Johannesburg says the outspoken union leader was a long-standing critic of President Jacob Zuma and it had been at loggerheads with him over the country's political future.
The lead prosecutor in a case in Uganda involving 13 suspected members of the Somali Islamist group al-Shabab has been shot dead. Joan Kagezi, the acting assistant director of public prosecutions in Uganda was killed by gunmen on a motor bike in Kampala on Monday evening. Police said the attackers were trailing her.
The Russian presidential spokesman has defended the decision to sack the head of the Siberian theatre because his opera production offended the Russian Orthodox Church. The culture minister dismissed the manager of Novosibirsk opera house on Sunday after senior clerics complained that the production of Wagner's Tannhaeuser desecrated the image of Jesus Christ. Delyn Newmon reports.
“The main character in the Wagner's opera Tannhaeuser has to choose between their attractions of Venus and spiritual love for Jesus Christ. In the controversial Russian production, Tannhaeuser is a film director making a film about Jesus who rejects Venus's advances and goes to his death from the cross. Some senior orthodox clerics found the production offensive, this led to a legal action and large scale street demonstrations in Novosibirsk.”
The White House announced president Barack Obama would visit Kenya, the country of his father's birth in July, said Mr. Obama would attend a global entrepreneurship summit in Nairobi. Barack Obama has not visited the east African country as president.