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Nigerian Army destroys Boko Haram headquarters

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The Nigerian town of Gwoza, home of Boko Haram's command center, has been recaptured, the military reported Friday. (Screenshot: Twitter)

The Nigerian town of Gwoza, home of Boko Haram’s command center, has been recaptured, the military reported Friday. (Screenshot: Twitter)

by Ed Adamczyk, UPI

The Nigerian town of Gwoza, home of Boko Haram’s command center, has been recaptured, the Nigerian military reported Friday.

A Twitter announcement by the Defense Headquarters said, “FLASH: Troops this morning captured Gwoza destroying the headquarters of the terrorists self-styled caliphate,” a reference to the militant organization’s expressed goal of establishing a Muslim government in western Africa.

In a later statement, military spokesman Chris Olukolade said, “These successful operations have culminated in the dislodgment of terrorists from towns and communities in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states. A massive cordon and search has commenced to locate any of the fleeing terrorists or hostages in their custody.”

Gwoza is near Chibok, where over 200 girls at a boarding school were kidnapped by Boko Haram forces in 2014, initiating an international outrage. Despite suggestions the abducted girls were hidden in Gwoza, the Nigerian military made no reference to them in its statements.

Earlier this month, Boko Haram announced its allegiance to the Islamic State (Daesh). The capture of their operations center can be regarded as a major triumph for the Nigerian army, which has worked since the start of 2015 with armies of neighboring countries to push back Boko Haram advances.

Plea to declare Taj Mahal a Shiva temple dismissed

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taj-mahal

Agra: Six lawyers in Agra had moved the Civil Court with the prayer to declare the 7th century Mughal monument, a Hindu temple.

A civil court has dismissed a lawsuit claiming that Taj Mahal was a Hindu temple and its ownership should be transferred to the community.

The petition was filed in the civil court on Wednesday by Hari Shankar Jain and five others over ownership of the 17th century Mughal monument.

Lawyer for the plaintiffs Rajesh Kulshreshtra said that the court refused to entertain the petition and dismissed it on Thursday.

“We will now approach the Allahabad High Court and we are confident our PIL will be admitted on merit there,” Kulshreshtra said.

He claimed that there was substantial evidence to prove that the Taj Mahal was a Shiva temple, dedicated to Lord Agreshwar Mahadev. The suit demanded that the monument’s ownership be transferred to Hindus and Muslims be restrained from offering prayers there.

(PTI)

Former US cop indicted on federal charge for assaulting Indian

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57-year-old Sureshbhai Patel was partially paralysed in the US when a police officer forced him on ground. Photo: Al.com

57-year-old Sureshbhai Patel was partially paralysed in the US when a police officer forced him on ground. Photo: Al.com

Washington: A US police officer, accused of using excessive force against a 57-year-old Indian leaving him partially paralysed, has been indicted on federal civil rights violation charges that carries imprisonment up to 10 years.

“A federal grand jury indicted Eric Parker, the police officer who threw Sureshbhai Patel to the ground resulting in him getting partially paralyzed, for deprivation of rights under color of law,” said Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta and US Attorney in the Northern District of Alabama Joyce Vance in a two-page indictment.

Parker’s actions deprived the victim of his right under the US Constitution to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures, which includes the right to be free from unreasonable force by someone acting under color of law, the indictment said.

“Police officers are sworn to uphold the law and protect the public. The public must be able to trust the police. Law enforcement officers who violate their oath to protect and use excessive force must be brought to justice,” Vance said.

Patel was brutally assaulted by Parker, who was in the company of two other police officers, on February 6 while he was on a walk in his neighborhood. He had arrived from India only a few days back to help his son and daughter in law with their is newly born baby.

The case was investigated by the FBI. Parker was suspended by the Madison Police days after the brutal assault on Patel. The Madison Police last month recommended that he be sacked.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley had apologized to the Indian government for the treatment of Patel, calling it a case of excessive use of force.

Patel’s attorney Hank Sherrod said Patel and his family were very pleased by the “prompt and decisive action”.

“For the public to trust police officers, it needs to know officers will be held accountable and the felony civil rights charges filed against Parker, unlike the misdemeanor assault charge being pursued in state court, more accurately reflect the seriousness of Parker’s conduct,” he said.

However, Parker’s attorney Robert Tuten expressed his surprise at the federal indictment.

“Normally these thing take a little longer than that… He feels like he’s being whaled on from all sides,” Tuten said.

Parker is also facing a third-degree assault charges. He has pleaded not guilty. The bench trial is scheduled for April 29.

“Most police officers we work with…are people who care deeply about their community,” Vance told reporters at a news conference in Alabama.

“I like to think that we’ve always been sensitive…this case is like every other case,” she said when asked if the indictment was filed because of the intense interest in India.

The indictment was welcomed by eminent Indian American attorney, Ravi Batra.

“Federal Grand Jury, made up of the good and decent citizens of Alabama, by voting a True Bill and indicting Eric Parker for his deprivation of Sureshbhai Patel’s federal civil rights have vindicated society’s right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures, especially by one acting under color of law and using unreasonable force,” he said.

Batra said the indictment enhanced public confidence in Department of Justice’s continuing role to protect vital civil rights of all Americans, “especially, when states’ prosecutorial offices fail to do so, as in this case with a mere misdemeanor charge coupled with a civil liability-evasion tactic: termination”.

“Its worthy of note, that Madison Police Department was not indicted, and unfortunately the pending amended civil suit does not seek to hold the Police Department or the City of Madison liable for such federal civil rights deprivation,” he said.

(PTI)

Teesta Setalvad releases documentary film, ‘Then They Came for Me’

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Then They Came for Me

Kozhikode: A documentary film ‘Then They Came for Me’ directed by rights activist and documentary film-maker Gopal Menon and produced by the Solidarity Youth Movement, the youth wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Kerala was premiered in the city recently.

The film based on the cases and lives of people who had been arrested from Kerala under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) was formally released by noted civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad at a formal function organized by the producers.

Prominent Malayalam critic, KEN Kunjahammed received the copy of the film. Speaking on the occasion, Ms Setalvad said she was targeted and harassed for talking for the unprivileged and voiceless.

“BJP-led Gujarat government charged six cases against me including five criminal cases. Even anticipatory bail is being denied,” she said.

She said that BJP govt is using UAPA to suppress the voice of the voiceless. Though governments are changing, such draconian laws are not dropped. The laws are tried against the dalits, backward classes, farmers and minorities of the country who stand against the government.

“This is obviously transgression over the freedom of citizens,” she said expressing lamentation over the silence of media over this issue. But, until the people refuse to remain silent, human right struggles will continue, she said.

Presiding over the meeting State president of the movement T. Mohammed Velom said that the film was also a resistance against the ongoing moves from the government to torture and silence the young and reacting minds in the pretext of crackdown on Maoists.

The film throws light on the ‘shocking’ incidents of misuse of acts such as UAPA against innocent members of marginalised sections, including Dalits and Muslims to silence and stop them from protesting against the injustices, he said. GP Ramachandran, Gopal Menon, CM Sherif and others also spoke.

(Agencies)

Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan sacked from AAP National Executive, AK fans resort to violence

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Yogendra-Yadav-Prashant-Bhushan

New Delhi: Senior leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan have been removed from the National Council of the Aam Aadmi Party.

A proposal to remove them was moved at the National Council meeting in New Delhi on Saturday and was adopted with majority. Mr. Yadav’s supporters Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha have also been removed from the National Executive.

Miscreants owing allegiance to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal created ruckus outside the meeting venue and allegedly those who raised slogans demanding internal democracy in the party.

A senior party official said the party has decided to videograph the National Council meeting as per the request of Mr. Yadav and Mr. Bhushan.

When Mr. Yadav came to the venue, some AAP volunteers raised slogans against him as he struggles to talk to reporters.

Mr. Yadav said, “I had never thought that such a day would come when the party’s volunteers would want me instead of corruption dead. I pray that God gives good sense to those against me and request our cadres to stay home instead of coming here.”

“Every MLA was given ten buses to get supporters to heckle me; what is happening to the movement is sad,” he added. “Whenever political power, money and the will to change the system collide — the latter always prevails.”

AAP leader and Chandni Chowk MLA Alka Lamba said, “We got votes on the slogan paanch saal for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Whoever is trying to hurt him should be punished.” AAP MP from Sangrur, Punjab, Bhagwant Mann said “This sea of people is a family; whoever is trying to harm it should be done away with.”

“Democracy has been murdered in the National Council meeting,” said Yadav after coming out of the meeting.

The AAP meeting was scripted and supporters of Kejriwal resorted to violence, claimed Yadav.
“Everything happened there in a planned manner. It seems that everything was scripted,” Bhushan said.

Mr. Yadav sat on a dharna at the venue of the National Executive meeting over his volunteers being denied entry for the meeting, and refused to enter the meeting which was already under way. AAP leader and founder member of the party Anand Kumar said, “Many National Council members have been barred from coming, participating in National Executive meet on flimsy grounds.”

Earlier on the day, Mr. Yadav shared a letter on Twitter from Retd. Admiral L. Ramdas, AAP-Lokpal, stating he will not be present in person at the NC meeting because he was told by the party general secretary that “only MLAs and MPs have been invited apart from authorised NC members.”

Retd. Adm. Ramdas went on state that “despite many requests as I as Lokpal be present… I have decided to honour the request by not attending the meeting.”

A report of the AAP Delhi unit questioning Mr. Yadav’s and Mr. Bhushan’s “style of functioning” was also set to be tabled at the meeting.

Heavy contingents of police and RAF have been deployed in the vicinity of the resort where NC members are being allowed inside after registering at a counter. Members who failed to show identification, mobile number, and SMS invite are being denied entry.

However, in the build-up to the meeting, the Prashant Bhushan-Yogendra Yadav camp said that it won’t be easy to remove them from the party.

“They can remove us from the National Executive but not from the party. If we have to be removed from the party, the matter has to be referred to the Lokpal or the disciplinary committee.”

Both the groups claimed to have the numbers with them, ahead of the National Council meeting.

The party’s constitution states that action cannot be taken by the party unless the member is given an opportunity to explain his stand.

The National Council, the third most important body of AAP, has over 350 members.

(Agencies)

People’s Union for Democratic Rights condemns bans on cow slaughter

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by People’s Union for Democratic Rights

REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade

REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade

On March 16th 2015, the Haryana Government unanimously passed Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Bill with main opposition parties INLD and Congress supporting the Bill. The new bill passed by the Haryana Government bans cow slaughter and sale of beef and imposes a punishment of rigorous imprisonment of not less than three years extending up to 10 years and fines ranging from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. one lakh. The Haryana Government’s move comes just days after the President’s assent to Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill 1995 early this month. Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill 1995 not only banned beef but also extended the prohibition to slaughter of bulls and oxen. There was already a ban on slaughter of cows in Maharashtra since 1976. The new amended act imposes a fine of Rs. 10,000 and a maximum prison term of five years for selling or even possessing beef.

What needs to be underlined here is that these bans on cow slaughter are not new; they were in existence in many of the states for many-many years. For example in Delhi, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, slaughter of cows and calves is totally prohibited. In Goa and Andhra Pradesh, ‘cow’ is defined to include heifer, or a male or female calf of a cow under the Goa, Daman and Diu Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act 1978 and Andhra Pradesh Prohibition of Cow Slaughter and Animal Preservation Act 1977, respectively. In some states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Madhya Pradesh slaughter of bulls, bullocks and adult buffalos is permitted on ‘fit for slaughter’ certificate if the cattle is over 12 or 15 years of age, is not likely to become economical for draught, breeding or milk. Assam and West Bengal provides for slaughter of all cattle which includes bull, bullocks, calves, cows and buffalo on ‘fit for slaughter’ certificate. Meghalaya and Nagaland have no legislation to this effect.
What, however, is new is the increase in quantum of punishment and fines being imposed in the recent legislations passed against slaughter of cows and other animals. Haryana was covered under the Punjab Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act 1955 and had a rigorous imprisonment upto five years and a fine upto Rs. 5000 or both. The new Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act increases punishment to rigorous imprisonment of three years to ten years and fines of Rs. 30,000 – Rs. 100,000. In many states like Gujarat, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka the punishment for cow slaughter is a maximum imprisonment of six months or fine upto Rs.1000 or both. The 1976 Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act also provided for similar punishment and fines. What also needs to be underlined is that in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan the burden of proof is on the accused. It shows how much importance has been attached to prevention of cow slaughter so as to have this extraordinary provision in the law. It is so ironical that the women’s movement had to struggle so hard to make this change in law in cases of rape to shift the burden of proof on the accused whereas it finds a place in these state’s laws on cow slaughter without anyone even noticing them.

That prohibition of slaughter of cows, calves and other milch and draught animals finds a place in the Directive Principles of State Policy in our Constitution and that many states in India have a law banning cow slaughter and beef is indicative of a deep seated majoritarian understanding of Indian culture. It shows that the nature of state in India is heavily tilted in a selective understanding of Indian and even Hindu tradition. This questions the whole edifice of secularism and equal respect for all religions in India. The understanding that Hindus stand against cow slaughter or that Hinduism has always shunned and continues to shun beef is a proposition which is deeply contested. It might well be that some castes or groups amongst Hindus revere the cow and find cow slaughter abominable, but this view is not true of all Hindus across India, either today or in the past.

Quite apart from the absurdity of imposing dietary preference of one privileged and powerful group over the rest, there are other compelling reasons to question the ban. The entire meat production industry, from the traditional to the modern, employs and meets livelihood needs of millions of Indians. India’s meat production ranks fifth at 6.3 million tonnes in which share of bovine meat (cow, buffalo, bull) constitutes 62%. Of this, less than a million tones is exported. Thus the rest of it goes to meet the dietary needs of millions of Indians. Thus in banning cow slaughter to appease a minority of Hindus, livelihood needs and therefore right to life of millions of Indians has been put at risk. And in the bargain, it also simultaneously removes cheap high protein diet for hundreds of millions of Indians of every denomination.

These bans which are being extended to cover other cattle as well under an expansive definition of ‘beef’ pose many kinds of problems like for poor farmers who cannot take care of an old cow and because of these bans can no longer sell it to an abattoir. It has serious livelihood ramifications for a large number of families directly and indirectly dependent on cattle trade and related industries like leather, gelatin, animal fat soap industry, pharmaceuticals and meat exports.

It is worth noticing that more than fifty percent of people engaged in meat production and related trade of skin, hides, bones etc are Hindus. And they are beef consumers. To PUDR this ban therefore, is an assault on the right to life which involves livelihood and a diet of their choice, of Hindus, in whose name it has been brought in, as much as the religious minorities. In other words, it limits the dietary preferences of a substantial section of Indian people.

With Haryana and Maharashtra Governments’ pushing cow slaughter ban, not withstanding Goa’s BJP Chief Minister ruling out a cow slaughter ban in Goa, a majoritarian agenda is being promoted. Although, most of the state laws banning cow slaughter were passed by Congress governments, RSS affiliated Hindu right-wing groups are clamoring now for an all India ban on cow slaughter and for the strictest punishment for anyone indulging in it. This opens the door for fanatics to carry out raids, effect arrests and resort to organized violence against Muslims in particular. These laws provide a social and legal sanction to such groups to harass people who transport the cattle for selling, export and other purposes. The Haryana law includes police action against drivers of vehicles transporting beef and the impounding of such vehicles. PUDR’s 2003 report on Dalit Lynching at Dulina (in Jhajjhar district of Haryana) traces the underlying tensions on the issue of cow protection and its threat to some castes traditionally associated with cow slaughter and trading.

In light of all this, PUDR condemns the recent bans on ‘cow’ slaughter, which like many bans/proscriptions on books, literature, scholarship, films can only be understood in the context of right-wing Hindu upsurge in recent times. The ban is an infringement of personal dietary choices with the state having assumed the power to criminalize some of these. It is indeed a cruel irony that the exercise of this basic freedom invites a greater prison term as punishment than a grave criminal offence like rape for which the term is 7 years; or for deaths due to criminal negligence where the prison term is two years.

While it cannot be stressed enough that a democratic strategy is required to contest the upper caste Hindu bias which is reflected in the Constitution with regard to cow slaughter, we acknowledge that issues of cruelty to animals, animal shelters, maintenance of hygienic conditions in abattoirs, effective waste disposal do need attention. The ban is a reminder that we are being served a fait accompli leaving no room for debate/s or reasoned discussion. PUDR therefore denounces the narrow sectarian construction that conceals a much more diverse and complex reality.

Megha Bahl, Sharmila Purkayastha
Secretaries

Body Count Report reveals at least 1.3 million lives lost to US-led war on terror

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Although a conservative estimate, physicians’ groups say the figure ‘is approximately 10 times greater’ than typically reported

The rubble of a home reportedly hit by a U.S.-led coalition airstrike in Kafar Daryan in Syria. (Photo: Sami Ali / AFP/Getty Images)

The rubble of a home reportedly hit by a U.S.-led coalition airstrike in Kafar Daryan in Syria. (Photo: Sami Ali / AFP/Getty Images)

by Sarah Lazare, Common Dreams

How do you calculate the human costs of the U.S.-led War on Terror?

On the 12th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, groups of physicians attempted to arrive at a partial answer to this question by counting the dead.

In their joint report— Body Count: Casualty Figures after 10 Years of the ‘War on Terror—Physicians for Social Responsibility, Physicians for Global Survival, and the Nobel Prize-winning International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War concluded that this number is staggering, with at least 1.3 million lives lost in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan alone since the onset of the war following September 11, 2001.

However, the report notes, this is a conservative estimate, and the total number killed in the three countries “could also be in excess of 2 million, whereas a figure below 1 million is extremely unlikely.”

Furthermore, the researchers do not look at other countries targeted by U.S.-led war, including Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Syria, and beyond.

Even still, the report states the figure “is approximately 10 times greater than that of which the public, experts and decision makers are aware of and propagated by the media and major NGOs.

In Iraq, at least 1 million lives have been lost during and since 2003, a figure that accounts for five percent of the nation’s total population. This does not include deaths among the estimated 3 million Iraqi refugees, many of whom were subject to dangerous conditions during this past winter.

Furthermore, an estimated 220,000 people have been killed in Afghanistan and 80,000 in Pakistan, note the researchers. The findings follow a United Nations report which finds that civilian deaths in Afghanistan in 2014 were at their highest levels since the global body began making reports in 2009.

The researchers identified direct and indirect deaths based on UN, government, and NGO data, as well as individual studies. While the specific number is difficult to peg, researchers say they hope to convey the large-scale of death and loss.

Speaking with Democracy Now! on Thursday, Dr. Robert Gould, president of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility and co-author of the forward to the report, said:

“[A]t a time when we’re contemplating at this point cutting off our removal of troops from Afghanistan and contemplating new military authorization for increasing our operations in Syria and Iraq, this insulation from the real impacts serves our government in being able to continue to conduct these wars in the name of the war on terror, with not only horrendous cost to the people in the region, but we in the United States suffer from what the budgetary costs of unending war are.”

According to Gould’s forward, co-authored with Dr. Tim Takaro, the public is purposefully kept in the dark about this toll.

“A politically useful option for U.S. political elites has been to attribute the on-going violence to internecine conflicts of various types, including historical religious animosities, as if the resurgence and brutality of such conflicts is unrelated to the destabilization cause by decades of outside military intervention,” they write. “As such, under-reporting of the human toll attributed to ongoing Western interventions, whether deliberate of through self-censorship, has been key to removing the ‘fingerprints’ of responsibility.”

UN says 2014 'devastating year' for Palestinians

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Annual Humanitarian Overview finds more Palestinian civilians were killed in 2014 than any year since the 1967 war.

'Continued occupation undermines the ability of Palestinians to live normal lives,' said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator. AFP / Abbas Momani

‘Continued occupation undermines the ability of Palestinians to live normal lives,’ said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator. AFP / Abbas Momani

by Dalia Hatuqa, Al Jazeera

Occupied West Bank: The year 2014 claimed more Palestinian civilian lives than any year since the 1967 war, the United Nations has said in a report, with a senior member of the agency dubbing it a “devastating year” for the occupied territories.

The annual Humanitarian Overview, released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Thursday, said the crisis affecting Palestinians’ lives, liberties, security movement and access stemmed from the “prolonged [Israeli] occupation…, alongside a system of policies that undermine the ability of Palestinians to live normal, self-sustaining lives”.

The report, titled “Fragmented Lives” – which is based on data cross-referenced with other UN agencies, as well as government sources, international, Palestinian and Israeli NGOs – said that if these factors were removed, Palestinians would be self-sufficient and capable of developing their own institutions and economy without the need for any humanitarian assistance.

“2014 was a devastating year for Palestinians in the [occupied territories]” said James Rawley, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the territories.

“Continued occupation undermines the ability of Palestinians to live normal lives. Were these factors removed and related policies changed, international humanitarian assistance would not be necessary here.”

Fifty-eight Palestinians were killed in the West Bank last year – the highest number of Palestinian fatalities in incidents involving Israeli forces since 2007.

More than 6,000 were injured, the report said, dubbing it the highest number of Palestinian injuries since 2005, when the OCHA began collecting data.

“A record number of 1,215 Palestinians were displaced due to home demolitions by Israeli authorities,” Rawley added.

“Settlement and settler activity continued, in contravention of international law, and contributed to humanitarian vulnerability of affected Palestinian communities.”

Approximately 1,500 civilians (550 of them children) were killed in Gaza during the July-August war. Five Israeli civilians were killed during that time, including a child.

One hundred thousand people in the Gaza Strip are still internally displaced, living in collectives centres, with host families or in makeshift shelters. Some have chosen to stay in their heavily damaged homes.

According to the report’s findings: “In 2014, Gaza witnessed the highest rate of internal displacement since 1967… Almost 500,000 people, 28 percent of the population, were internally displaced.”

Since the summer, reconstruction in Gaza has been slowed, hampered by the Israeli blockade and dwindling funds, the report explained, but highlighted that the temporary Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism put into place after last summer’s war has enabled the import of some construction material.

In the West Bank, the number of people displaced in 2014 due to demolitions is the highest recorded in a single year since the OCHA began tracking this indicator in 2008, the report said.

While the number of structures demolished in Area C – the 60 percent of the West Bank under exclusive Israeli control – declined last year, there was a 20 percent increase in people displaced, because more residential structures were targeted.

The report called on all parties to exercise constraint and for Israel to take responsibility as an occupying power.

“All parties to the conflict … must fulfil their legal obligations to conduct hostilities in accordance with international law to ensure the protection of all civilians and to ensure accountability for acts committed,” it said.

Germanwings co-pilot sought psychiatric help

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Documents released by Germany’s air transport regulator suggest Andreas Lubitz suffered from “bout of heavy depression”.

Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz appeared to have deliberately crashed the plane, killing himself and 149 others on the Airbus [AFP]

Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz appeared to have deliberately crashed the plane, killing himself and 149 others on the Airbus [AFP]

by Al Jazeera

The Germanwings co-pilot said to have deliberately crashed his Airbus with 149 others aboard into the French Alps suffered serious depression six years ago, German daily Bild reported.

Andreas Lubitz, 27, sought psychiatric help for “a bout of heavy depression” in 2009 and was still getting assistance from doctors, the mass-readership publication reported on Friday, quoting documents from Germany’s air transport regulator Luftfahrtbundesamt (LBA).

The report said LBA received the information from Lufthansa, Germanwing’s parent company.

The Airbus, with 144 passengers and six crew members on board, was flying from Barcelona, Spain, to the German city of Dusseldorf when it crashed into the French Alps.

Carsten Spohr, the CEO of Lufthansa, said that Lubitz had suspended his pilot training, which began in 2008, but did not give more details. Lubitz later continued and was able to qualify for the Airbus A320 in 2013.

“Six years ago there was a lengthy interruption in his training. After he was cleared again, he resumed training. He passed all the subsequent tests and checks with flying colours. His flying abilities were flawless,” Spohr said, according to the Reuters news agency.

Bild said that during the period of his training setback Lubitz had suffered “depressions and anxiety attacks”.

The pilot’s records were due to be examined by experts in Germany on Friday before being handed to French investigators, Bild reported.

Lubitz appeared to have locked the captain out of the cockpit, French officials said, before crashing the plane on Tuesday.

Knocks on cockpit 

The cockpit flight recorder showed that the captain repeatedly knocked and tried to get back in as the plane went into its fatal descent, French prosecutors said.

However, Bild reported on Friday that the captain also tried to use an axe to break down the cockpit’s armoured door.

This could not be immediately confirmed, but a spokesman for Germanwings confirmed to the AFP news agency that an axe was on board the aircraft.

Such a tool is “part of the safety equipment of an A320,” the spokesman told Bild.

Several airlines responded to the crash by immediately changing their rules to require a second crew member to be in the cockpit at all times. That is already compulsory in the United States but not in Europe.

Canada said it would now enforce this new measure with all its airlines. EasyJet, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Air Berlin were among other carriers that swiftly announced such policies.

Among those that did not was Lufthansa, whose CEO said he thought it was unnecessary. But the airline came under swift pressure on social media to make such a change and later said it would discuss it with others in the industry.

'Bhushan, Yadav tried to sabotage AAP': Ashish Khetan

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ashish-khetan

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday accused Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav of trying to sabotage the party before the Delhi assembly elections.

“They made efforts so that party loses… they told workers that let the party lose, it will be easy to remove Arvind,” AAP member Ashish Khetan said on Friday.

“When party was fighting an existential war, two party leaders were trying to weaken the party and malign its image. They were trying to aid formation of a BJP government,” Khetan said at a press conference, shortly after Bhushan and Yadav accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of suppressing democracy within the AAP.

Bhushan and Yadav, in a press conference on Friday, offered to resign if their demands – including transparency within and autonomy to local units – were met.

(IANS)

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