The pilot of an Air France jet that crashed into the Atlantic in 2009 made a fatally flawed maneuver, the final report on the crash of Flight 447 says. The pilot nosed the plane upwards during a stall instead of downwards as he should have because of false data from sensors, the report concluded. The report also points to pilot error, families of victims who were briefed on the conclusions said, AP reports. France's BEA air accident investigation agency has spent three years investigating the incident. The plane flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris plunged into the ocean during a nighttime thunderstorm. All 228 people on board were killed in Air France's deadliest ever crash.
Bahraini court orders monitoring for 11-year old protester
A court in Bahrain has said that an 11-year old boy who was accused of taking part in an anti-government protest can remain at home, but must be monitored by a social worker for a year. The boy's lawyer said the charges, including participation in an illegal gathering, were not dropped. Ali Hasan, who was one of the youngest demonstrators taken into custody, was allowed to return home after spending a month behind bars. Bahrain has seen almost daily protests for over a year.
Russian FM says no plans to grant asylum to Assad
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has denied that Moscow has plans to provide shelter to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Foreign counterparts said they were convinced that “we will collect him [Assad] and so resolve all problems facing the Syrian people,” Lavrov said on Thursday, as cited by Interfax. He described this as “an unscrupulous attempt to mislead serious people dealing with foreign politics or failure to understand what… Russia's position is." Lavrov stressed that "only the Syrian people can decide on Syria's fate, including the fate of its leaders."
Italy frees Costa Concordia captain from house arrest
The captain of the wrecked cruise liner Costa Concordia was released from house arrest by order of Italian judges on Thursday. Francesco Schettino was ordered not to leave his hometown while the case against him continues, Reuters reports. Schettino is accused of causing the January 13 accident in which as many as 32 people died. Francesco Magistrates in the Tuscan town of Grosseto said Schettino would no longer have to remain confined to his home in Meta di Sorrento near Naples.
British police close motorway in security incident
UK armed police closed a major motorway near Birmingham, England on Thursday over an incident involving a passenger traveling on a bus from Preston to London. Both lanes on the M6 toll motorway were closed off. Megabus said that one of the company’s vehicles was involved, with 48 people booked. The company was helping police with regard to “an allegation made against a passenger.” It was not immediately clear what caused the alert, but dozens of fire trucks, police and emergency vehicles and an army bomb disposal team were on the scene, AP said. Police say they are not treating the bus situation as a counter-terrorism incident, adding that no passengers were injured.
China won’t attend Friends of Syria meeting
China said on Thursday it would not attend a forthcoming meeting of the Friends of Syria group in Paris. Beijing “at present does not consider attending the meeting,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said. The group’s member states are the US, France, Britain, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and some 60 other countries. Russia has stayed away from the Paris meeting, saying the group only supports one foreign-based faction of the Syrian opposition.
Al-Qaeda members crossing into Syria from Iraq – officials
Iraq warned on Thursday that militants loyal to Al-Qaeda were crossing from Iraq into Syria to carry out attacks. Intelligence shows that “members of Al-Qaeda terrorist networks have gone in the other direction, to Syria, to help, to liaise, to carry out terrorist attacks,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said, as cited by Reuters. The Syrian government has called a 16-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad not a popular revolt but a "terrorist" conspiracy.
South Korea to resume whaling ‘for research’
South Korea plans to resume hunting whales for research purposes, officials said Thursday. Non-whaling nations and environmental groups suspect the plans may be a cover for commercial whaling, AP said. The plan was conveyed to the International Whaling Commission during an IWC meeting this week in Panama. Seoul says the whaling would be aimed only at studying the types and amounts of fish whales eat. Fishermen reportedly complain that an increasing number of whales are consuming large amounts of fish stocks. The commercial whaling has been banned since 1986, but some exceptions allow Japan, Iceland and Norway to hunt whales.
Assad says Syrians' support saves him ‘from Shah's fate’
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said he would have been toppled long ago like the shah of Iran if his people did not support him. “Everybody was calculating that I would fall in a small amount of time,” he told the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet in an interview published on Thursday. “They all miscalculated.” He said Syria was under attack from Islamist militants sent by hostile Arab countries. Assad promised to continue the fight against militants, adding that Syria “will defeat terror.”
Swiss to freeze arms exports to UAE over Syria probe
Switzerland is freezing arms exports to the United Arab Emirates after a media report said a Swiss-made hand grenade shipped to the UAE had been found in Syria. A newspaper published a picture of a hand grenade produced by Swiss weapons manufacturer RUAG which it said had been seized in the Syrian town of Marea last month, Reuters said. Switzerland stopped arms exports to Syria in 1998. The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs has frozen all pending applications for arms exports to the UAE and demanded the return of licenses which have already been issued, the government said in a statement. Authorities from the UAE have not yet commented on the matter.
Daughter of South Korean dictator to enter presidential race
The daughter of slain South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee will launch a bid to become the country’s first female president. Park Geun-hye, 60, has a double digit lead over most of the potential opposition for the presidential poll due in December, Reuters said. She is likely to be the clear front-runner in the primary of the ruling conservative New Frontier Party. Park failed to win the conservative nomination in 2007. She currently describes her policies as “Korean Thatcherism”. She has pledged a dialogue with Pyongyang if it abandons its hostile stance and nuclear weapons.
Six arrested in Britain on suspicion of terrorism
British police say they have arrested five men and one woman in counter-terror operations. The suspects were detained on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. Those arrested range in age from 18 to 30, AP reports. Three were detained in west London and three others at a residential address in east London. Police say the arrests are not linked to the Olympic Games.
Cypriot president to seek bailout from EU, loan from Russia
The President of Cyprus Dimitris Christofias has said there is nothing wrong with simultaneously pursuing a loan from Russia that may come with better terms than a European Union bailout. He stressed that “there's no issue” with Cyprus refusing a bailout funds loan if it clinches a Russian loan. Cyprus last week became the fifth country in the eurozone to seek a bailout.
First NATO trucks cross into Afghanistan
Trucks carrying NATO supplies resumed their routes to Afghanistan via Pakistan on Thursday. The cargo will be transported to Peshawar before crossing the border into Afghanistan, AP reports. Pakistan’s cabinet on Wednesday endorsed the decision to reopen the route and end the seven-month blockade. The decision came after the US apologized for air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.
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