Mr Tsokos admitted that Lubitz's remains were among those which had been found and said DNA testing had confirmed the body parts were his. | In 2009, Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg himself made a shocking assertion that Facebook is in essence a platform for harvesting data and conducting surveillance.
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- Forensic experts painstakingly trying to identify 600 body parts of victims
- Remains will be photographed and scanned in 3D before placed in morgue
- It is hoped up to 95 per cent will be identified within the next three weeks
- Leading forensic expert said: 'These images will never go out of my head'
- Guards continue to keep a 24-hour watch at crash site in the French Alps
Published: 04:08 EST, 29 March 2015 | Updated: 05:21 EST, 29 March 2015
A leading professor who is helping to identify the 600 body parts belonging to the victims of the doomed Germanwings flight says he will be haunted forever by the grim task - as it was revealed the remains of killer co-pilot Andreas Lubitz have already been found.
Professor Michael Tsokos, Germany's most prestigious forensic scientist, said experts are working around the clock to identify the remains of the 150 passengers and crew who were killed when Lubitz deliberately flew the Airbus A320 into the French Alps.
Investigators at the Germanwings crash site have retrieved about 600 body parts - but have not found a single intact body.
Mr Tsokos admitted that Lubitz's remains were among those which had been found and said DNA testing had confirmed the body parts were his.
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Professor Michael Tsokos, Germany's most prestigious forensic scientist, said he will be haunted forever by the grim task that he and the forensic experts have of identifying the remains of those killed in the crash
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Investigators at the Germanwings crash site have retrieved about 600 body parts - but have not found a single intact body. Experts are now photographing and scanning in 3D each part to try and identify the remains
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Forensic experts confirmed they have found the remains of co-pilot Andreas Lubitz (pictured), who deliberately flew the Germanwings Airbus A320 into the mountainside in the French Alps on Tuesday
Scientists are now continuing the grim and gruelling task of identifying the rest of the remains which involves photographing and 3D scanning each and every body part.
Police have asked friends and families of the deceased to provide DNA samples and experts hope to match them against the remains and material objects found at the crash site.
Items with vital traces of DNA, such as toothbrushes, razors, jewellery and hair have been collected from the scene and given to scientists at a laboratory in Barcelona. Forensic officers have also been testing samples at a mobile laboratory in Seyne-les-Alpes - the nearest town to the crash site.
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It is hoped the findings will provide some clues which will help identify the victims.
Families are also being asked if they can remember what clothes their loved ones were wearing when they boarded the ill-fated flight, in the hope the details could help with the identification process.
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Professor Michael Tsokos, a leading forensic scientist (pictured), said he will be haunted forever by the grim task of identifying the victims' remains
They have also been asked about any distinctive marks, such as tattoos, their loves ones might have as well as their dental status and whether they wore dentures.
Mr Tsokos, director of the Institute of legal medicine and forensic sciences, said it is hoped such findings will help identify the remains which will then be cross-examined with the flight's passenger list.
He said each body part would be photographed and scanned in 3D before being placed in a morgue. Once the body has been identified it will be placed in a closed coffin ready for a funeral.
He told German newspaper Bild: 'Radiologists with mobile devices will take CT images of body parts, so as to recognise for example, medically-implanted foreign bodies such as a pacemaker or artificial hip joints.
'Specially trained forensic scientists take [samples] of fingers and palms fingerprints and everything is photographed.
'Every little piece of fabric will be tested on the DNA so that it can be assigned to a particular person.'
He said that within the next three weeks, up to 95 per cent of all victims should be identified.
But, he added that it was a haunting task for experts, saying: 'These images will never go out of my head.'
And he said the bodies will strictly be kept in closed coffins because the 'sight of battered corpses can inflict on anyone'.
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Recovery teams have been removing body parts from the scene and teams of French guards have been keeping 24-hour watch at the crash site (pictured). They said: 'We sleep next to a cemetery for 150 people'
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Lubitz deliberately crashed the Germanwings Flight 4U9525 into the mountains on Tuesday after locking his captain out of the cockpit. He is said to have remained calm as he drove the plane directly into the ground
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Families have been asked to submit DNA samples from items regularly used by their loved ones who died in the crash. Pictured: An expert carries out tests on samples retrieved from the crash site in the French Alps
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Forensic officers have been taking evidence from the crash site into a makeshift DNA testing centre nearby
It comes as guards continue to keep 24-hour watch at the crash site, with teams sleeping on the mountainside overnight. The guards have been on standby at the scene in the province in the southern French Alps since the flight crashed on Tuesday.
Philippe Thomy, deputy chief of the High Mountain Gendarmerie, said: 'We sleep next to a cemetery for 150 people.'
Yesterday, it emerged that co-pilot Lubitz was suffering vision problems prior to the crash and had sought medical help in the weeks leading up to the disaster.
The 27-year-old was suffering a 'serious psychosomatic disorder', according to police, and had sick-notes signing him off work for the day of the crash.
Police also found a 'small mountain of drugs' used to treat mental illness at his Germany flat and Dusseldorf University Hospital confirmed he had been a patient there over the past two months.
It adds to the belief that Lubitz deliberately downed the Germanwings Flight 4U9525 because he was severely depressed and feared his pilot's licence may be taken away from him over medical concerns.
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German investigators removed dozens of boxes from the Dusseldorf apartment Lubitz shared with his girlfriend, before later revealing they had found sick-notes signing him off work the day of the air crash
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Investigators also found a 'small mountain' of medicine at his flat and said he was suffering a 'severe psychosomatic disorder'. He is said to have been receiving treatment in the weeks leading up to the disaster
However, Lubitz – who had notched up more than 600 flying hours - had been deemed '100 per cent' fit to fly after passing regular medical tests.
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said all pilots undergo annual medical checks, but not special psychiatric assessments beyond training.
He added: 'He passed all medical exams, all checks. He was 100 per cent fit to fly without any restrictions.'
A spokesman for Germanwings told MailOnline that under German employment law it was the responsibility of an employee to inform an employer if they were deemed unfit to work and stressed that it was unaware of any medical notes from Lubitz.
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Several people on board an Air Canada flight were injured today when the plane experienced a hard landing at the Halifax international airport.
The plane incoming from Toronto skidded off the runway upon landing early Sunday local time, said Halifax Stanfield International Airport spokesman Peter Spurway. He said the pilots were in control of the plane up until the hard landing.
Spurway said there was snow on the runway but it hadn't yet been determined if it was a factor in the hard landing. The airport also suffered a power interruption around the same time of the incident, but it was unclear if the two events were related.
Mike Magnus/AP Photo
Fire trucks and an airport shuttle are on the scene at the Halifax International Airport early Sunday March 29, 2015 after an Air Canada flight from Toronto made an abrupt landing and left the runway in bad weather.
As of 6:45 a.m. ET, 18 of the 23 transported to the hospital had been released, according to Air Canada.
The airport was closed to all air traffic for several hours before reopening.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police said its General Investigation Section, along with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, opened a joint investigation to determine if anything criminal occurred.
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- One passenger reports that on landing one engine 'popped off'
- Airbus A320 had flown in from Toronto Pearson International Airport
- Halifax region is currently under heavy snowfall that could have caused reduced visibility
Published: 04:30 EST, 29 March 2015 | Updated: 06:41 EST, 29 March 2015
Twenty-five people have been hospitalised after an Air Canada flight made a crash landing at Halifax Stanfield International Airport earlier this morning.
It has been reported the Airbus A320 crashed into a power line on landing, and then skidded off the runway.
The airline said a preliminary count showed Flight AC624 from Toronto had 132 passengers and five crew members, and had set out from Toronto Pearson International Airport.
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This photo shows the impact the crash landing had on the nose of the plane at Halifax Airport
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The Air Canada flight is believed to have crashed through a power line on landing at Halifax Airport
A passenger on the plane, Treasure Addison-Mills, speaking to NBC News said there were 'people with bloody faces', and that it 'took a long time being stranded on the runway with snow coming down.'
'We are thankful no serious injuries have been reported,' Halifax Stanfield International Airport tweeted. The airport said its airfield remained closed.
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Another passenger on the flight Mike Magnus, a businessman, said the plane was at the 'furthest tip of the airport' when it stopped. He says he heard that the plane may have clipped a power line that caused the power outage at the airport.
'It was so chaotic at the time. I'm pretty sure the landing gear broke on it. The engine on my side popped off,' the 60-year-old from Halifax.
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One passenger reported how he saw one of the engines 'pop out' and was certain the landing gear 'broke'
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Passengers Randy Hall, left, and Lianne Clark, from Mount Uniacke, Canada stand waiting at an airport hotel after Air Canada flight 624 left the runway
Magnus believes at least one engine was torn off the Airbus A320. He says the nose of the plane was sheared off and he believes the wings were damaged too.
He added that the snow that covered the runway likely deadened any sparks that may have caused a fire and engulfed the plane.
'The snow caused it and the snow saved it,' he said.
Magnus was released from hospital after being treated for minor injuries to his shoulder and jaw.
'I'm safe and that's all that matters. I'm going to have a glass of wine,' he said.
Airport spokesman Peter Spurway said the aircraft touched down in stormy conditions.
'It came down pretty hard and then skidded off the runway,' Spurway said. He said he didn't know whether runway conditions played a role.
How Air Canada reported the information originally - since then 25 people are reported to have gone to hospital
Worried friends and family of passengers kept a close eye on the latest developments
The Halifax region is currently under a snowfall warning, with an Environment Canada alert stating that 'visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow.'
Power went off at the airport, which meant an emergency response centre had to be moved to a nearby hotel.
The cause of the outage was not clear, but Nova Scotia Power said they had since restored service.
Flight tracking site Flightradar24 listed several cancelled flights at the airport Sunday morning.
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It won’t be hard for military lawyers to argue that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl violated military regulations when he slipped out of a remote outpost in Afghanistan in 2009 and became a Taliban prisoner for five years.
They would have a tougher time explaining why it’s worthwhile to prosecute a soldier the Army recruited despite significant concerns about his psychological state and who endured years of torture and privation during his captivity. As a general matter, the American military has good reason to punish service members who desert. However, it should exercise discretion in extraordinary cases. Sergeant Bergdahl’s is certainly one.
Sergeant Bergdahl, who joined the Army in 2008, was among the legion of recruits who were granted eligibility waivers to join the military during a period when it was struggling to attract applicants because of the multiple lengthy deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan that were common. His attempt in 2006 to join the Coast Guard was short-lived; he was discharged 26 days into basic training because of concerns about his psychological state. Before Sergeant Bergdahl walked out of his base in Paktika Province on June 30, 2009, it was clear to some of his family members back home, and some of his comrades in Afghanistan, that he was emotionally distressed and at times delusional. Citing an Army investigative report, his lawyer, in a letter to the military, describes his client as “naïve and at times unrealistic.”
In a statement about the conditions of his detention, released by his lawyer on Wednesday after the Army’s announcement that it had filed charges, Sergeant Bergdahl says he was chained to a bed, locked in a cage, shackled and at times beaten. He had sores from his shackles and became skeletal as a result of poor nutrition and chronic ailments.
When Sergeant Bergdahl returned home last summer after the Obama administration agreed to release five Taliban prisoners in exchange for his freedom, it soon became clear that many people in the military harbored deep animosity toward him. Some called him a coward and argued that he put troops in Afghanistan in harm’s way as they devoted significant resources and energy to searching for him. This anger is understandable.
But trying him for desertion and misbehaving before the enemy — for allegedly engaging in misconduct that endangered his unit — stands to accomplish little at this point. A conviction would most likely deprive a traumatized veteran of benefits, including medical care, which he will probably need for years. A dishonorable discharge would make it harder to rebuild his life as a civilian.
A trial would publicly raise important questions about how Sergeant Bergdahl was allowed into the Army and whether there were missed opportunities to avert the crisis his capture created. Those questions, however, should be addressed outside of a courtroom.
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Story highlights
- French mayor describes Lubitz's father as "a man in deep distress"
- Reports say investigators found antidepressants in Andreas Lubitz's apartment
- Officials: Ripped medical-leave notes found at his home indicate he hid an illness
(CNN)German investigators found antidepressants in the apartment of Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz this week, according to news reports.
Die Welt, a German newspaper, cited an unidentified senior investigator who said that Lubitz suffered from a severe "psychosomatic illness" and that German police seized prescription drugs that treat the condition. Lubitz suffered from a "severe subjective burnout syndrome" and from severe depression, the source told Die Welt.
The New York Times also reported that antidepressants were found during the search of his apartment. CNN has not been able to confirm the reports.
French authorities have said that Lubitz appeared to have deliberately crashed Germanwings Flight 9525 into the Alps on Tuesday as it flew from Barcelona toward Dusseldorf, Germany, with 150 people on board.
'Unfit to work'
Investigators continued to work Saturday to piece together the secret life of Lubitz, who officials say was hiding an illness from his employers. He had been declared "unfit to work" by a doctor.
They were expected to question his relatives, friends and co-workers as they try to pin down what could have prompted the seemingly competent and stable co-pilot to steer a jetliner full of people into a mountainside.
As their efforts continued, dozens of people attended a remembrance ceremony for the victims of the crash at a church in a nearby town, Digne-les-Bains. Most of the people on the plane were from Germany and Spain.
Relatives of the victims and local residents also gathered Saturday afternoon by a simple stone memorial set up near the crash site, in the village of Le Vernet. Flowers have been laid there, in the shadow of the snow-covered peaks of the French Alps.
The mayor of one local community said he had seen Lubitz's father on Thursday evening, describing him as "a man in deep distress."
"We get the impression that that man is bearing the whole weight of the disaster on his shoulders," Bernard Bartolini, the mayor of Prads-Haute-Bleone, said Saturday.
"I can tell that this is a man whose life is totally broken," Bartolini said. "He had so much emotion in him."
Mental health speculation
Much attention has focused on Lubitz's state of mind, with suggestions that he may have had mental health issues.
Investigators found a letter in the waste bin of his Dusseldorf, Germany, apartment saying that Lubitz, 27, wasn't fit to do his job, city prosecutor Christoph Kumpa said Friday. The note, Kumpa said, had been "slashed."
Just what was ailing Lubitz hasn't been revealed. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Friday that Lubitz suffered from mental illness and kept his diagnosis concealed from his employer.
A subsequent New York Times report on Saturday, citing two officials with knowledge of the investigation, said Lubitz sought treatment before the crash for vision problems that might have put his career at risk.
According to those unnamed officials, Lubitz also was being treated for psychological issues. Other media reports indicate he was treated for depression.
Lubitz had a girlfriend, a teacher at a school in Dusseldorf not far from his apartment, according to German media.
Ripped up medical notes
Lubitz passed his annual pilot recertification medical examination in summer 2014, a German aviation source told CNN.
An official with Lufthansa, which owns Germanwings, said that the exam only tests physical health, not psychological health, and that if Lubitz had vision problems, that would have been discovered during the tests.
The official also said that the company was never given any indication Lubitz was depressed, and that if he went to a doctor on his own, he would have been required to self-report if deemed unfit to fly.
A Dusseldorf clinic said he'd gone there twice, most recently on March 10, "concerning a diagnosis." But the University Clinic said it had not treated Lubitz for depression.
German investigators said they still have interviews and other work to do before they can reveal what they gleaned from the records found in the apartment and at his parents' home in the town of Montabaur.
But the fact that investigators found "ripped, recent medical leave notes, including for the day of the offense, leads to the preliminary conclusion that the deceased kept his illness secret from his employer and his professional environment," prosecutors said.
Germanwings corroborated that assertion, saying it had never received a sick note from Lubitz.
No scenario ruled out
Jean Pierre Michel, lead investigator for the French inquiry, said on Saturday that he could not yet address reports of Lubitz's possible mental illness.
But Michel also said investigators weren't ruling any scenario out at this point.
Lubitz is believed to have locked the pilot of Flight 9525 out of the cockpit before putting the plane on a rapid descent into the mountains, French authorities have said.
Although search teams have recovered the cockpit voice recorder, the flight data recorder remains missing. That device could reveal crucial details about what happened during the final moments of the flight.
CNN's Jethro Mullen, Lynn Franco and Tim Lister contributed to this report.
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Бывший подчиненный генерал-майора КГБ Олега Калугина, с 1995 года живущего в США, полковник Владимир Меднис передал на Радио Свобода свои воспоминания. Калугин согласился прокомментировать заявления Медниса, а также ответил на вопросы нашего корреспондента, связанные с деятельностью спецслужб и выходцев из них в СССР и России, а также поделился известной ему информацией о работе в специальных службах нынешнего президента России Владимира Путина
Бывшему резиденту в Канаде (он работал под прикрытием должности советского консула в Монреале) Владимиру Меднису – 84 года. Он живет в обычной квартире на юго-западе Москвы. На встречу со мной он пришел с советской авоськой, чем-то напоминая приговоренного к смерти агента КГБ Владимира Ветрова из основанного на реальных событиях боевика "Дело Farewell" (в российском прокате "Прощальное дело"), основанном на реальных событиях. Владимир Меднис был предшественником Ветрова на том же посту резидента в Монреале.
Фальшивый консул
Меднис сокрушается по поводу того, что в 2010 году провалилась российский агент Анна Чапман: "Она даже не спросила пароля у того, кто пришел на встречу, – как же так можно". Меднис любит рассказывать о трудностях работы разведки в советские годы. В частности о том, что "работа по прикрытию, консулом, отнимала много времени", а тут еще и канадская конная полиция усердствовала и как-то раз, "в нарушение всех дипломатических конвенций", подстроила ему автомобильную аварию в Монреале с целью обыска машины. Критический момент в его карьере, рассказывает Меднис, наступил в 1972 году, когда он получил информацию о работе на разведку одной из западных стран высокопоставленного лица в СССР и доложил об этом своему прямому начальнику Олегу Калугину. К удивлению Медниса, реакции не последовало. Благодаря члену Политбюро Арвиду Пельше Меднису якобы удалось достучаться до самого Юрия Андропова, но и тогда реакции не было, более того – Медниса отстранили от оперативной работы и отправили заниматься архивами.
По словам моего собеседника, начальник североамериканского направления внешней контрразведки Олег Калугин, непосредственный начальник, показал Меднису свидетельство о его же собственной смерти:
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Владимир Меднис в Канаде. Фото 1970-х лет
– Что-то его взбесило (а я в тот период больше никому не жаловался, ничего не делал по поводу, условно говоря, "упыря"). Калугин вызывает меня и с такой яростью, злобой говорит: "Куда бы вы ни писали, все это попадет ко мне. Теперь садитесь и пишите, что вы больше ни к кому никогда не будете обращаться". Я говорю: "А если я не напишу?" – "Ну, тогда мы вас уберем". – "Как, говорю, уберете? Физически?" – "Да, физически". Открывает сейф, достает бумагу. Вижу – в то время были такие траурные рамки, свидетельства о смерти. Там моя фамилия, печать стояла, все было. Но многое еще не было заполнено – когда я умер и причина смерти... Насколько мне известно, свидетельство о смерти было использовано для похорон погибшего во время спецоперации КГБ от передозировки хлоформа нашего моряка Николая Артамонова – его похоронили на Донском кладбище под латышской фамилией.
Генерал-майор КГБ, уже два десятилетия живущий в США, Олег Калугин заявил в разговоре со мной, что "хорошо помнит Володю Медниса" и помог защитить его от неминуемой расправы – поскольку самого Медниса заподозрили в работе на врагов. Впрочем, в том же самом тогдашний председатель КГБ СССР Владимир Крючков заподозрил и самого Калугина.
– Итак, версия Владимира Медниса такова: он получил информацию о работе на западную разведку то ли члена Политбюро, то ли человека из окружения Андропова, но руководство КГБ не только к этому не прислушалось…
– Ну, это Александра Яковлева он имел в виду, члена Политбюро.
– Фамилию подозреваемого Меднис называть отказывается, говорит "этот упырь". Якобы, когда он написал рапорт, его угрожали убрать физически, и делали это вы...
– Чушь абсолютная! Я никогда никому убийством не угрожал, и вообще, убийцы обычно этого не делают, они просто убивают. У меня о Меднисе сохранилось впечатление как об инициативном работнике, вполне пригодном для оперативной работы… Он просто обижен на меня. Это его заподозрили в работе на иностранную разведку. Я говорил Андропову, что он не виновен, а Андропов говорил: если мы отпустим его обратно (в Канаду), черт его знает, что будет. Пусть он дома и сидит.
Укол зонтиком
– Справедливо ли суждение Медниса о том, что верхушку КГБ в 1980-х поразила коррупция и это было начало конца всей советской системы?
– Ну нет… Андропов был человек безукоризненный во многих отношениях. Он был образцовым работником, пришедшим из партийных органов и ставшим начальником КГБ. Он изучил систему и руководил ей с большой ответственностью. Причем, не прибегая к старым кагэбэшным методам насилия, всяким пыткам и прочему. Я помню такой эпизод. Я присутствовал у Андропова в кабинете, поскольку к нему имел прямой доступ. Обсуждалась просьба болгарского руководства о том, чтобы ликвидировать бывшего любовника дочери болгарского президента. Тогда Крючков был начальником разведки, а я был начальником внешней контрразведки. И вот в 1978 году мы вдвоем пришли к Андропову в связи с просьбой руководящих болгарских товарищей, КГБ болгарского – чтобы мы помогли уничтожить этого человека, Георгий Марков его имя и фамилия. Он был любовником дочери президента, а потом от нее сбежал куда-то…
– Георгий Марков вообще-то писателем и диссидентом был...
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Открытие памятника Георгию Маркову в Софии. Ноябрь 2014 года
– Ну, писателем. Когда мы с Крючковым пришли к Андропову и изложили просьбу болгарских товарищей, Андропов сказал: "Я против политических убийств". А Крючков сказал: ну как же, Юрий Владимирович, обратившийся с просьбой болгарский товарищ – председатель тамошнего КГБ, если мы ему откажем, то болгарский президент посчитает, что у нас болгары не пользуются доверием, его уберут, и мы лишимся своего человека в Софии. Андропов сказал: "Ну хорошо, дайте им то, что необходимо для ликвидации этого человека, но никакого личного участия не принимайте, я запрещаю". Через лабораторию КГБ передали болгарам яд, который потом был использован в зонтике. Кстати, у нас здесь в музее (Международный музей шпионажа, Вашингтон. – РС) этот зонтик лежит. Там буквально миллиграмм яда, рицина, был, маленькая капелька, прицепленная в капсуле на кончике зонтика. И когда зонтик открывается, эта штука отскакивает и летит на расстояние трех-пяти метров, а этого достаточно, чтобы уколоть человека. Вот так и случилось. Проходил в Лондоне убийца, открыл зонтик, Марков чуть дернулся и пошел дальше. А через два дня скончался.
– В 2013 году дело по убийству Маркова было закрыто в Лондоне, никто не наказан. А все-таки КГБ в этой операции там участвовал.
Это Путин меня назвал предателем, я его – военным преступником
– КГБ, во-первых, предоставил яд и, во-вторых, давал советы. Меня, кстати, однажды арестовали в Лондоне по делу Маркова и посадили в тюрьму. И я тогда сказал, что не буду ни на один вопрос отвечать, а сделаю заявление: "Я не убивал, я просто знал, как это убийство готовилось, и об этом я сказал публично. Вот за это вы меня хотите посадить?" Англичане продержали меня сутки в тюрьме, а на следующий день я объявил голодовку. Пришел представитель советского посольства, меня освободили, я выехал тогда в Россию и с тех пор в Великобритании не был. И не поеду, хотя приглашали, по делу Литвиненко.
– Меднис утверждает, что яд для Маркова испытывали на собаке: "И вот в тот самый день, когда Калугин показывал мне свидетельство о моей смерти, они там с Андроповым устроили испытание яда, который хотели на Маркове применять. Собаке вкололи. Собака долго не помирала – все поразились, что яд не действует..."
– Этого я не знаю, не в курсе. Я был большим начальником и не должен был знать все подробности. Мое дело было давать указания и искать способы решения проблем.
– Зонтик был один или их был целый склад?
– Зонтик был один. Самый обычный. Хранится теперь в музее с надписью "Этот зонтик был использован для убийства Маркова". Образец советских… ну, не массовых, а выборочных убийств. Кстати, Степана Бандеру тоже отравили в 1959 году похожим образом. Ну, а полоний – более современный способ.
"...Подполковником он не стал"
– Вы упомянули, что в Лондон вас приглашали свидетелем по делу Литвиненко?
– Да, меня вызывали в качестве свидетеля, но я отказался. Я беседовал с Би-би-си и сказал, что уже был в Лондоне, но меня посадили там в тюрьму и по этой причине в Англию больше не собираюсь. Я принимал в Вашингтоне Марину Литвиненко, мы устраивали встречу с общественностью. Саша Литвиненко поступал вместе с Путиным на работу в КГБ и знал о нем много. Писал в интернете о нем. Я звонил ему, когда он был в Лондоне, говорил: "Ты зря такие вещи пишешь о личной жизни". Ну, а потом его не стало, мое предупреждение поздно пришло.
– Думаете, с ним расправились как с предателем?
– Как с человеком, который разгласил непристойные стороны личной жизни Путина. Когда мне задают такие вопросы о Путине, я отвечаю – спросите у его жены, он прожил с ней 30 лет.
– А сейчас лаборатория ядов в ФСБ существует?
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Владимир Путин в Ленинграде. Фото 1990 года
– В КГБ была полониевая лаборатория №217, по-моему. Но я в России не был уже двадцать лет, точно не знаю. Я приехал в США в 1995 году и с тех пор не возвращался. Причем, я и не собирался здесь оставаться, это Путин меня назвал предателем, я его – военным преступником. Я сказал: "Как вы можете меня называть предателем без судебного разбирательства и процесса? Вы же юрист вроде. И какой вы юрист? Вы полный авантюрист и кроме того – военный преступник. И за то, что вы наделали в Чечне, вас когда-нибудь международный суд будет судить". Вот такой у нас был публичный обмен мнениями.
– Поскольку Путин – выходец из известного ведомства…
– Да-да, но он был майором всего лишь.
– Не подполковником?
– Нет, он был майором, и его максимальный потолок был – подполковник. То есть он мог бы получить подполковника приблизительно через год, но он им не стал.
– Почему же Путин говорит, что он подполковник?
– Потому что потенциально мог быть подполковником. Так же как я мог потенциально быть генерал-лейтенантом, но не стал.
– Есть версия, что Московское управление КГБ в 1990-е более или менее "приструнили", в отличие от Ленинградского, выходцы из которого в итоге пришли к руководству страной...
– Это правда. Был такой Виктор Алидин в московском управлении – наглый, самонадеянный, выход имел на Брежнева напрямую, и все думали, как его убрать. Я уж не помню, как и что произошло, но сумели от него избавиться. Он и по поводу Андропова рассуждал: "Мало ли что Андропов сказал". Ленинградское управление при этом, в общем, не трогали, потому что оно было довольно чистое. Вот, например, нынешний руководитель ФСБ Александр Бортников – ленинградский. Я его даже помню, он производил на меня впечатление серьезного порядочного человека. А Николай Патрушев, например, это был мой бывший помощник. Причем, он был помощником не в написании документов, а так – адъютант Его Превосходительства. Устраивал мне рыбалки, поездки, сопровождал везде. Был хорошим бюрократом-помощником. А сейчас вот секретарь Совета безопасности.
– В 1998 году в одной петербургской газете вышла статья под заголовком "Путин возглавил ФСБ незаконно". Журналистов вызвали на профилактическую беседу – якобы недовольны были качеством фото. Правда ли, что, как написала газета, по штатному расписанию и традициям ФСБ это ведомство может возглавить только генерал, а не подполковник?
– В общем-то, да, в принципе по-иному не бывает. Вы знаете, Ельцина незадолго до кончины журналисты спросили, какие он совершил ошибки, о которых больше всего жалеет? Ельцин ответил: "Первая – война в Чечне, вторая – выбор преемника".
– Но известно же, что Путин обеспечил Ельцину защиту от уголовного преследования.
– Из-за семьи, да. Ельцин был благодарен Путину за то, что тот не дал хода распутыванию его семейной драмы. Генерального прокурора Юрия Скуратова, расследовавшего дело о коррупции вслед за швейцарской прокуратурой, вывели из игры, подставили его с девочками. Это была специальная операция спецслужб по дискредитации должностного лица с помощью пленки с "человеком, похожим на генпрокурора".
– КГБ специализировался на таких операциях с участием "девочек" или "мальчиков".
– Ну, не только КГБ, но КГБ традиционно этим занимался. Кстати, еще до Октябрьской революции российская разведка была одной из самых сильных в мире. Сейчас она в худшем положении, потому что в свое время идеологические сторонники типа Кима Филби или Джорджа Блэйка работали за идею, а не за деньги.
– Правда ли, что Ельцин какое-то время думал над тем, чтобы КГБ распустить совсем, но потом предпочел реформу?
– Это была моя идея и Вадима Бакатина, у которого я был главным консультантом по реорганизации КГБ. Вот тогда мы КГБ и развалили, потому что разбили ведомство по американскому образцу на пять частей – разведка, контрразведка, погранвойска, личная охрана, архивы и прочее. И это причина, по которой многие из "бывших" меня ненавидят. Тогда, в переходный период, сохраняясь в едином кулаке, КГБ был опасен для процесса демократизации страны, и его нужно было как-то расчленить, в этом был смысл. Попытки снова объединить были уже при Ельцине, а потом Путин стал руководителем страны – и уже дальше ехать некуда.
Из шпионов в политики
– Вы утверждаете, что в 1990-е симпатизировали демократическим идеям. Как получилось, что демократизация в России так быстро закончилась?
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Олег Калугин. Фото конца 1980-х годов
– Я даже был народным депутатом СССР от Краснодарского края. Люди обо мне даже не слышали – за полгода до того, как я вышел на публичную арену, и вдруг за меня 60 с чем-то процентов граждан проголосовало при наличии еще восемнадцати кандидатов! Как раз в 1989 году меня вызывали в Главную военную прокуратуру, где я должен был отвечать на обвинения в разглашении государственной тайны. И вот в день, когда я должен был появиться в прокуратуре, меня зарегистрировали в качестве кандидата в народные депутаты, и я получил иммунитет. С того момента началась моя публичная карьера. Это была идея Крючкова: выступая в прессе, я якобы разглашаю гостайну. Ну, я действительно выступал, рассказывал о КГБ. Особой тайны, может быть, и не было, но формально, как сотрудник КГБ, я подлежал изоляции за разглашения служебной и государственной тайны. Когда СССР развалился, я перестал быть депутатом, но тогда и Крючкова не стало, поскольку он был одним из организаторов путча и его посадили.
Крючков меня ненавидел. Почему? Потому что я был близок к Андропову, Андропов мне симпатизировал, и у нас с ним было что-то общее. Крючков был начальником разведки и ревновал – почему Андропов звонит мне лично, а не через него... Андропов снимал трубку, говорил: "Олег, зайди ко мне. Ты хочешь виски или чего? Давай поговорим за жизнь".
– Правда ли, что в 1990-1991 годах сотрудники КГБ сожгли многие документы своего ведомства? Геннадий Гудков вспоминал, как в Балашихинском лесу сжигали документы, утверждает, что сам входил в состав такой группы.
– Тогда можно было делать что угодно, в 1991 году был полный развал.
– Сотрудники КГБ участвовали в демократическом движении в начале 1990-х годов. С целью саботажа или по другим причинам?
Люди, которые хотят что-то поменять, улучшить, – ими-то КГБ и занимался, вместо того чтобы заниматься шпионами
– Ну, кто как. Я, например, принимал участие совершенно искренне. Я был в ту пору первым заместителем начальника Ленинградского управления – довольно высокая должность, но для меня это была фактически ссылка. Послал меня туда Крючков, считая, что я вместе с Яковлевым завербован ЦРУ. Яковлева послали послом в Канаду, потому что одним из главных источников советской разведки там был высокопоставленный сотрудник Канадской конной полиции. Крючков рассчитывал, что этот человек даст материалы на Яковлева, и тогда Яковлева отзовут, а потом посадят и расстреляют. Но ничего не получилось, а меня послали в Ленинград первым заместителем начальника управления. В Ленинграде я родился, но, тем не менее, это провинция. И вот работая в этой провинции впервые не по иностранцам, а по советским гражданам, я впервые осознал, что советскую систему надо менять, что вся она нацелена на выявление людей с реформаторскими настроениями. Люди, которые хотят что-то поменять, улучшить, – ими-то КГБ и занимался, вместо того чтобы заниматься шпионами. Интеллигенция была главным источником информации. Рабочий класс – ширма, серп и молот – эмблема, а информаторами была интеллигенция, студенчество в частности. Вот так я в Ленинграде познал суть Советской власти, и она изменила мое отношение к системе. Это я-то, который добровольно пришел в КГБ с юных лет, чтобы защищать, укреплять, расширять и прочее! Мой папа (когда-то он был в НКВД младшим сотрудником), когда узнал, что я хочу работать в КГБ, сказал: "Ты что, это же грязная работа". Я говорю: "Папа, но ты же там проработал 25 лет!"
– Вы публично назвали Владимира Жириновского агентом КГБ.
– Да, и после этого как-то Жириновский ко мне подошел на приеме с кулаками – я думал, что он хочет меня ударить, а он говорит: "Спасибо, что ты об этом сказал. Я горжусь этим, теперь я очень рад, что это известно публично". Он был не сотрудником, а агентом КГБ. Сотрудник – лицо официальное. Агент – тот, кто выполняет задачи КГБ, работая где угодно, но не в КГБ. Его партийная деятельность тоже контролировалась КГБ, у нас вся партийная деятельность после того развала СССР контролировалась КГБ. Горбачев привнес первую свежую струю в эту систему, Ельцин в какой-то мере продолжил, но он был другим человеком по натуре. А Горбачев был... таких, высоких идеалов.
– С 1990-х так повелось, что выходцы из КГБ двинулись в бизнес. Почему так случилось?
– Это еще при мне началось. Мы должны были появившийся частный бизнес использовать в качестве источника информации, для проникновения на Запад, для того чтобы красть оттуда технологии, документы. Одно время это имело даже преимущественное значение, потому что политика стала сходить на "нет" с развалом СССР, а в технологиях мы сильно от западных стран отставали (и до сих пор отстаем), поэтому научно-техническая разведка вышла на первое место с точки зрения важности.
– Есть примеры, когда успешно что-то украли?
– О да! Не говоря уже о ядерном оружии, которое мы в свое время тоже, как говорят, "сильно приобрели". Кстати, когда я еще работал в Москве, одной из моих позиций были доклады министру электронной промышленности СССР каких-то новейших информационных данных с Запада – в чем Запад ушел вперед, где мы отстаем. И когда он ко мне привык, то однажды доверился, вытащил какой-то журнал на английском языке и говорит: "Знаешь что, ты ко мне приходишь, показываешь разные бумаги – а ведь это все написано в этом американском журнале. Ваши ребята сдувают все это и шлют в качестве секретных материалов". Ну, я извинился. А ускорение прогресса России в области высоких технологий – это до сих задача номер один, потому что мы неконкурентоспособная страна.
– Вы помните дело Ветрова-Farewell, связанное с кражей технологий в конце 1970-х – начале 1980-х годов и высылкой советских дипломатов?По этому поводу Томас Рид, бывший член Совета национальной безопасности США в своей книге пишет, что Советы украли программное обеспечение для компрессорных станций газопроводов через канадскую фирму, но ЦРУ внедрило туда "троян", "вирус". Такое возможно?
– В принципе, моя сфера деятельности в области разведки не имела отношения к технологиям. Я был специалистом по политической разведке, по идеологии, по мероприятиям дезинформации. А все эти высокие технологии... Мне просто так повезло в жизни, что мой первый очень серьезный источник, который во многом способствовал моей карьере оперативника, был американцем, которого я встретил в 1958 году будучи студентом Колумбийского университета. Причем, случайно: он там преподавал, был постарше меня. Он был сталинистом, ненавидел Хрущева, и мне удалось сыграть на этом. Я говорю: "Да, мы вернемся к настоящему социализму, но ты понимаешь, нам нужно догнать Соединенные Штаты, это сейчас проблема номер один, и если ты поможешь, то поможешь и политической реконструкции СССР". В ходе одной нашей доверительной беседы выяснилось, что он имеет доступ к совсекретным материалам, исследованиям и даже образцам твердого топлива для ракет, а тогда было самое время расцвета этих технологий. Я в Москву, конечно, сразу же сообщил об этом, но мне сказали – это подстава ФБР: "Вы молодой человек, вас сейчас прихватят, и кто вас спасет, непонятно, поскольку вас посадят и обменять вас будет невозможно". Но у меня уже была назначена встреча. Короче, я пошел на эту встречу и получил образцы того, о чем мне этот американец рассказывал, включая даже образец твердого топлива для ракет. Послали это в Москву, в Москве сначала меня опять обругали, а потом повысили, и я сразу стал героем. Это была моя первая интересная вербовка, хотя я в этой области ничего не понимаю – ни в ракетах, ни в топливе.
Этот американец потом много лет работал на советскую разведку, пока его не заложил один из беглецов, советских разведчиков, который работал как раз в области научно-технической разведки. Он сообщил американцам: есть такой источник, не знал фамилии, но дал приблизительное направление. И он на всякий случай сбежал и приехал в Россию. А в России его посчитали за двойного агента и посадили в тюрьму. Когда его посадили в тюрьму, Андропов сказал мне: "Пойди поговори с ним, это же твой человек. Пусть он признается, и тогда мы его простим. Я пришел к нему в тюрьму в Москве, он бросился на меня чуть ли не с с кулаками: "Я такой идиот, что вам поверил!" – и ударился в слезы. Я пришел к Андропову, говорю: "Юрий Владимирович, вы напрасно его подозреваете, он честный человек". Я даже предложил ему поучаствовать в выборах, поскольку и сам уже был общественным деятелем, но он отказался. Его фамилия была Котлобай. Американец украинского происхождения, славянского, возможно, поэтому он нам и сочувствовал.
С нами Бог!
– Расскажите, пожалуйста, о завербованных деятелях церкви в России.
– Я был в очень дружеских отношениях с Алексием. Началось все с того, что я публично назвал Алексия агентом КГБ – в порыве, накануне выборов в Верховный совет. Я сказал: "Кто у нас реально независим? Никто! Церковь – одно из подразделений КГБ. И все патриархи, включая Алексия, – это все "свои". Через пару дней звонит помощник патриарха Алексия и приглашает меня к нему вечером, адрес в центре города. Я был удивлен, не понимал, чего это вдруг. А он, как и должно быть в церкви, сказал: "Я вас пригласил, потому что вы публично обозвали меня агентом КГБ. Так вот, молодой человек, вы, наверное, плохо знаете историю. Когда большевики пришли к власти в России, церковь была одним из главных противников системы, потому что атеисты были у власти. Начался мощный разлад – приблизительно треть священников РПЦ уехала за границу, одна треть попала в тюрьмы, НКВД и там скончалась. А еще одна треть, и я в том числе, чтобы сохранить христианство и веру в Бога, приспособились к этой власти. И вот я вам должен сказать, что мне это удалось". Я ответил ему: "Вы знаете, если бы вы это сказали публично, то я бы вас не стал называть агентом КГБ". "Ну что же, с КГБ я сотрудничал, да, но именно для того, чтобы сохранить православную церковь". Вот так мы с ним стали друзьями.
– Раз вас назвали в Москве предателем, за себя в Вашингтоне не боитесь, что пришлют "гонцов"?
– Нет, моя дочь и внук живут и работают в Москве, и никто их не трогает. У меня очень много близких друзей в окружении Путина, в этом и секрет, – говорит Олег Калугин.
К нам подошел директор Музея шпионажа в Вашингтоне (в котором Калугин является членом совета директоров), Питер Эрнст: "Очень ценный собеседник. Но он никогда мне ничего не рассказывает!"
На прощание я спросила у Калугина, что он думает о французском фильме "Дело Farewell". Реальная подоплека сценария вкратце такова: в конце 1970-х годов подполковник Владимир Ветров рассказал французской разведке о разработанной КГБ масштабной операции промышленного шпионажа и передал список агентов, занимавшихся таким шпионажем под дипломатическим прикрытием. Президент Франсуа Миттеран сообщил об этом Рональду Рейгану, и это привело к массовой высылке советских дипломатов в 1982 году из западных стран. Среди 47 дипломатов, высланных из Франции из-за предательства Ветрова, значился и первый секретарь посольства Александр Авдеев, будущий министр культуры РФ. Несмотря на то что история произошла давно, министерство культуры (в 2011 году, как раз при Авдееве) не разрешило съемки в Москве. В итоге обошлись без русских, главную роль сыграл Эмир Кустурица, а станцию метро "Новослободская" снимали в киевском метро.
В конце фильма агента Ветрова торжественно расстреливают по приговору советского суда. Олег Калугин говорит, что фильм не совсем верен и что Ветрова казнили иначе – его якобы на ходу выбросили из машины.
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- Andreas Lubitz had long-term relationship with teacher Kathrin Goldbach
- Reports that she is pregnant with his child, learning news just weeks ago
- She recently called time on his increasingly erratic behaviour, it is claimed
- He tried to tell her what to wear and who she could speak to, friends said
- His insecurity led him to cheat on Kathrin with a Germanwings stewardess
- Claims came as it emerged police found 'small mountain of pills' in his flat
- Also emerged plane's captain pleaded with Lubitz in moments before crash
By Ian Gallagher and Allan Hall In Montabaur, Germany For The Mail On Sunday and Stephanie Linning and Emma Glanfield for MailOnline
Published: 20:41 EST, 28 March 2015 | Updated: 05:25 EST, 29 March 2015
The girlfriend of killer co-pilot Andreas Lubitz who he once planned to marry may be pregnant with his child, it has emerged.
The woman, named for the first time as teacher Kathrin Goldbach, is understood to have discovered she was expecting just a matter of weeks ago.
The pair, who are said to have had an on/off relationship for the last seven years, were still letting the pregnancy news sink in when Lubitz crashed a Germanwings flight into the French Alps, according to German newspaper Bild.
No further details about the supposed pregnancy have yet come to light, but the news comes as it was revealed Miss Goldback apparently broke off her relationship with Lubitz because his Jekyll and Hyde personality left her fearing for her safety.
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Controlling: Killer pilot Andreas Lubitz (pictured) once planned to marry his long-term girlfriend but she broke off the relationship because his Jekyll and Hyde personality left her fearing for her safety, it was claimed
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Investigation: Reports emerged that police searching the pilot's flat had found a 'small mountain of pills' and he had apparently been refusing to take his antidepressants medication. Above, Lubitz in 2013
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Fears: There were also claims that officers recovered Lubitz's diary, in which he allegedly wrote that he expected to be 'found out' and lose his job over health issues. Above, the pilot in San Francisco
It was claimed that she called time on Lubitz's increasingly erratic and controlling behaviour just weeks before he downed the Germanwings Flight 4U9525.
Reports emerged that police searching the pilot's flat had found a 'small mountain of pills' and he had apparently been refusing to take his antidepressants medication.
There were also claims that officers recovered Lubitz's diary, in which he allegedly wrote that he expected to be 'found out' and lose his job over health issues.
Miss Goldbach still lived with Lubitz, 27, but it is understood she was on the lookout for a flat after being driven away by his need to be in charge. He even tried to tell her what to wear, friends said.
While outwardly confident, his hidden insecurity demanded constant attention – which led him to betray Kathrin with a five-month fling with a Germanwings stewardess conducted in cheap hotels.
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But she, too, is believed to have ended her relationship after growing fearful of the 'tormented and erratic' Lubitz.
The claims surrounding Lubitz's complicated personal life came as dramatic recordings from the flight’s black box revealed the captain’s desperate attempts to break into the cockpit to regain control of the plane.
According to transcripts published in today’s edition of the German newspaper Bild, captain Patrick Sondheimer screamed ‘Open the goddamn door!’ as his co-pilot deliberately flew the aircraft into an Alpine ravine.
Yesterday, it was revealed that Lubitz was living 'on the edge' because he feared that his deteriorating blurred vision would cost him his pilot's licence.
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Moving on: Miss Goldbach still lived with Lubitz, 27, but it is understood she was on the lookout for a flat. Above, the flat in Dusseldorf where the couple are believed to have lived together
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Recovery: Rescue helicopters continued to search the French Alps today for further signs of wreckage
Investigators believe his eyesight problems – coupled with a breakdown in his relationship with Miss Goldbach – triggered the ‘madness’ that ended in mass murder.
Lubitz masked his true condition – described by police as ‘severe burnout syndrome’ – from his employers and was aided by German confidentiality laws which forbade his doctors from revealing just how mentally ill he really was.
But police still don’t know whether his vision problems, which are understood to have begun several years ago, were caused by his psychological condition or whether, as one officer said, he was in fact ‘slowly going blind’.
It is understood Miss Goldbach, 26, had grown fearful of her own safety during Lubitz's rages and had felt suffocated by his increasingly controlling behaviour.
One friend said: ‘He tried to order her what to wear, what men she could speak to, even the length of her skirts. He was a control freak of the highest order.’
Another friend added: ‘She said he was very kind and attentive, but that he had problems with mood swings. And I think we sensed that she became more fearful over time.’
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Prayer: A special Mass was held today in Dignes (pictured) to honour the victims and support their families
'LAST MORNING WITH MY LOVE': HEARTBREAKING TRIBUTE TO VICTIM
The grief-stricken girlfriend of a British student killed in the Alps plane tragedy has revealed a poignant last photo of the young couple together.
Anneli Tiirik took to Facebook to post the image of her final morning with Paul Bramley, 28. Alongside, she wrote: ‘Last morning with my love, my best friend, my protector, my prince.’
The photo emerged as Mr Bramley’s father made an emotional appeal for the 150 dead not to be forgotten and demanded airlines be more ‘transparent’.
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Anneli Tiirik posted the image of her final morning with Paul Bramley on Facebook. Alongside, she wrote: ‘Last morning with my love, my best friend, my protector, my prince'. Above, the couple in a previous photo
Yesterday, a distraught Philip Bramley visited the momument erected close to where the Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed. His son was one of three Britons who lost their lives.
Fighting back tears in Digne, close to where his son perished on Tuesday, Mr Bramley said: ‘What is relevant, is that it should never happen again; my son and everyone on that plane should not be forgotten, ever. I don’t want it to be forgotten, ever.’
He added: ‘I believe the airlines should be more transparent and our finest pilots looked after properly. We put our lives and our children’s lives in their hands. I want to see this cloud over this town lifted and the natural beauty be restored and not to be remembered by the action of a single person.’
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Emotional appeal: Philip Bramley, whose 28-year-old son Paul (seen in the photograph) was one of three Britons on board the ill-fated Airbus A320, said the 150 who lost their lives should 'not be forgotten'
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Grief: Speaking at a memorial near the crash site in the French Alps, Mr Bramley (centre) fought back his tears as he talked about his son, who was returning from a short holiday in Barcelona on the doomed flight
Many people took to Facebook to offer Ms Tiirik condolences in response to the photo she posted, with one friend saying ‘he was the best guy you could ever meet’.
Ms Tiirik, who is from Estonia, replied: ‘Thank you! He was. It is a big loss for everyone. How it can [sic] be that the most lively and positive person there ever was can be taken from us in this way... I just don’t understand.’
Mr Bramley, from Hull, was studying hospitality and hotel management in Lucerne, Switzerland, where he was about to start an internship after travelling with Ms Tiirik. He had been to Barcelona after completing his first term of college for a few days’ holiday with friends.
Mr Bramley was flying back to the UK via Dusseldorf to see his family.
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Tribute: Paul Bramley told Sky News that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was 'ill' and his motivation for deliberately downing the plane was 'irrelevant'. Above, Mr Bramley holds a photo of his son at the victims' memorial
Frantic that he would lose her, Lubitz splashed out thousands of pounds buying two Audi cars. He took delivery of one vehicle just five days before Tuesday’s horror.
His obsessive need to be in charge extended even to fast food. Habib Hassani, who runs a pizza restaurant near Lubitz’s Dusseldorf home, said: ‘He was extremely particular about pizza toppings.
HOW LABYRINTH OF GERMAN PRIVACY LAWS AIDED LUBITZ
Lubitz masked his true condition – described by police as ‘severe burnout syndrome’ – from his employers and was aided by German confidentiality laws which forbade his doctors from revealing just how mentally ill he really was.
Unlike the UK, there is no central database of medical records in Germany. It means doctors are unable to check if a patient has retrieved treatment from another medical professional, Dr Beiderwellen, vice-president of the German Association of Aeromedical Examiners, the body responsible for administering medical tests to pilots, told MailOnline.
While doctors assessing pilots as part of annual check-ups are required to tell the airline if a pilot is unfit to fly, this does not extent to outside medical professionals.
It means the responsibility lies solely with the pilot to pass on any medical information - including sick notes - to his or her employer.
'He wasn’t interested in what was on the menu. It was often paprika, ham, onion and broccoli. He had to have it his way. He was compulsive about it.’
Yesterday, it was revealed by police that Lubitz suffered from a ‘severe psychosomatic sickness’ that required the care of several neurologists and psychologists.
Police said they took away a plethora of medicines from his apartment in Dusseldorf and from his parental home in the small Rhineland town of Montabaur.
Police have moved to seize the confidential medical records of the mass killer hitherto protected by labyrinthine privacy laws in Germany.
They particularly want to know if his blurred vision was a contributing factor to his catastrophic psychological collapse which led him to pilot his A320 Airbus into a French mountainside, killing himself and 149 innocent passengers and crew.
On Friday, it was revealed that his illness was so chronic that he had multiple sick notes from doctors, including one issued to him for the day of the disaster, discarded and ripped up in his home.
The disintegration of his eyesight, according to investigators, fuelled his chronic anxiety that his flying career – the career he lived for since he was a teenager – was coming to an end.
As the jigsaw puzzle of his complex and disturbed personality was reconstructed by investigators, the agony of his murder-suicide mission struck at the heart of his home town of Montabaur, for ever changed because of the actions of a Jekyll and Hyde figure whose warped personality made him lead two lives.
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Grief: Relatives of the victims laid flowers at a memorial in Le Vernet, south-eastern France today (left) as the family of Germanwings captain Patrick Sondheimer consoled each other in the Alps (right)
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Tributes: Relatives place flowers in the village of Le Vernet in the French Alps, close to the crash site
On the surface, he projected stability, confidence and calm: the cool pilot who turned up at his grandparents’ home wearing his crisp Germanwings uniform. He was a fanatical runner, and he liked discos, cars, cooking and music.
But his insecurity demanded constant attention – which led him to embark on a fling with a stewardess identified only as Maria, 26.
‘He was always seeking assurances about the way he looked and the way he was viewed by others,’ said the former lover.
She painted a portrait of a ‘tormented and erratic’ man who would wake up from nightmares screaming: ‘We’re going down, we’re going down!’
She added: ‘He once told me he would do something to change the whole system, that the world would know his name and remember him.’
He lived up to the macabre promise when he smashed his aircraft into a mountainside on Tuesday when the emotional volcano within him finally erupted. His mind disorders, despite treatment, could no longer be restrained.
'Open the damn door' Desperate last words of captain locked out of cockpit
Dramatic recordings from the Germanwings flight’s black box have revealed the captain’s desperate attempts to break into the cockpit to regain control of the plane.
According to transcripts published in today’s edition of the German newspaper Bild, captain Patrick Sondheimer screamed ‘Open the goddamn door!’ as his co-pilot deliberately flew the aircraft into an Alpine ravine.
The recording starts with captain Sondheimer apologising to passengers for a 26-minute delay in Barcelona, and promising to make up the time on the flight to Dusseldorf.
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The family of pilot Patrick Sondheimer, who desperately tried to re-enter the cockpit in his final moments
In the next 20 minutes, Sondheimer converses with co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who tells him he can go to the toilet at any time and he will take over the controls, noting that the pilot didn’t go to the lavatory in Barcelona. At 10.27am, the airliner reaches its cruising altitude of 38,000ft. The pilot prompts his first officer to prepare for the landing in Dusseldorf.
The French prosecutors described Lubitz’s replies as ‘laconic’, and he is heard using words such as ‘hopefully’ and ‘we’ll see’.
After the checks for landing, Lubitz says to Sondheimer again: ‘You can go now.’
The pilot lets another two minutes elapse, then he says to Lubitz: ‘You can take over.’
There is the sound of a seat being pushed back and the snap of a door.
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The Airbus A-320 is fitted with a safety system, pictured, to prevent unauthorised access to the flight deck
At 10.29am the flight radar monitors the plane descending.
At 10.30am it is down by 316ft, and just a minute later, it is down 1,800ft. At 10.32am air traffic controllers try to contact the aircraft, but get no response.
In the plane, the automatic alarm signal ‘Sink Rate’ sounds almost at the same time, according to the voice recorder.
Shortly afterwards there is a loud bang, which sounds like someone trying to enter the cockpit. Sondheimer yells: ‘For God’s sake, open the door!’
In the background, passengers can be heard screaming.
At 10.35am ‘loud, metallic banging against the cockpit door’ is heard again, according to the French authorities. The jet is still 7,000ft above the ground.
About 90 seconds later there is a new warning message – ‘Ground! Pull up! Pull up!’
The pilot is heard shouting: ‘Open the goddamn door!’
At 10.38am, with its engines racing, the aircraft is on a north-east course over the French Alps. The breathing of Lubitz can be heard in the cockpit but he says nothing.
At 10.40am the aircraft hits the mountainside with its right wing. The last sounds are more screams from passengers.
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The former girlfriend of the co-pilot suspected of “intentionally” crashing a plane into the French Alps claims he was a tormented man who would wake up from nightmares screaming “we’re going down!”.
Идеология Путина - сгусток ненависти by Радио Свобода
Идеология Путина - сгусток ненависти
Гость программы Виталия Портникова "Дороги к свободе" - политик, общественный деятель, 13-й чемпион мира по...
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Staunton, March 28 — In a democracy, it is sometimes said, anything that isn’t prohibited is permitted; in an authoritarian country, anything that isn’t permitted is prohibited; but in a totalitarian country, anything that is permitted is compulsory. By that standard, Vladimir Putin’s Russia is moving rapidly from the second to the third category.
Fresh evidence for that comes from what may strike many as an unusual source: Dmitry Dyomushkin, a Russian nationalist who heads the “Russians” ethno-political movement, who says that now one can love the powers that be only in the manner that the powers themselves want.
The Kremlin is so obsessed with control, he told two Kavkazskaya Politika interviewers, that it is now persecuting with searches and arrests even those who support it but who are not under its total and complete control, actions which in his view undermine the interests of the state and of Russia as a whole.
At the present time, Dyomushkin says, “the Kremlin simply persecutes nationalists, and the force structures threaten them independent of the position of the nationalist on any particular question [such as Ukraine]. You can even glorify Putin, but this is no guarantee that you won’t be arrested or treated illegally. One must love Putin only with permission.”
The Russian nationalist activist was recently subjected to the eighth search of his residence and person by the security agencies, one that involved 12 officers and lasted seven hours. They found nothing because “what could be found after seven earlier searches had taken place?” It was simply a form of harassment, he says.
Dyomushkin says that he has filed a complaint about this with the authorities but that he doesn’t expect any reaction. He has done so, he suggests, only because he does not want the authorities to subsequently say that he has not done so. Instead, he believes his best defense is speaking about what is going on with the media.
Obviously, the authorities would like to recruit him or other Russian nationalists as a source, and the searches are one way to put pressure on them. But now officials are stepping up their efforts and have told him that if he remains recalcitrant, they will send him to prison or the camps for ten to 15 years. In the current environment, that is hardly surprising, he says.
Asked if these threats have made him think about emigrating, Dyomushkin says that he has no plans to do so: “this is my country, my motherland, and as an Orthodox Christian, it is appropriate to suffer for one’s convictions and ideas.” Moreover, he continues, he is confident he has done nothing wrong even if they imprison or kill him.
There is “only one means” of opposing what the powers that be are doing in this regard, he says: “to be open and public,” to give interviews, because “the more I tell the media what the FSB officers are demanding,” then for some time at least they will stay away, although they “don’t like publicity.”
What the Kremlin is after is total control. It is not selective as far as which independent Russian nationalists it attacks. Both those who support what Moscow is doing in Ukraine and those who oppose it and both those who have good relations with Ramzan Kadyrov and those who don’t have been subject to official harassment, Dyomushkin says.
Indeed, it appears, he concludes, that what the authorities are most worried about it any indication that “Russian nationalists are seeking to establish relations with diasporas and republics and thus be in a position to act independently.”
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Since Occupation, Crimean Media have Undergone ‘Russianization’ in a Double Senseby paul goble (noreply@blogger.com)
Paul Goble
Staunton, March 28 – In Soviet times, Western analysts often said that Russians in the USSR were subjected to sovietization while non-Russians were subject to sovietization plus Russianization. But now, the situation in occupied Crimea over the past year suggests that Russianization under Putin now has not only a linguistic but also an ideological dimension.
In an article on Slon.ru, Sergey Mokrushin, who identifies himself as an independent journalist, says that “Crimea’s information space has changed over the past year to the point of being unrecognizable” and that the future of media there in terms of both linguistic diversity and freedom is bleak (slon.ru/posts/49742).
Not only have many Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian language outlets been closed and their journalists pushed out, but more are likely to be next week when on April 1 Russian media law kicks in with full force on the occupied peninsula. Already, Crimea has slipped 22 places to 148th (the same as Russia) according to the rating of Reporters sans Frontiers.
The Russian occupation of Crimea began with the seizure of the Crimea state radio and television company and the Radio and Television Transmission Center by armed men without any identifying marks. Transmission of the Black Sea TV and radio company was blocked, as were all all-Ukrainian channels. Their slots were handed over to Russian Federation channels.
Three months later, local cable operators were forced to drop all Ukrainian channels, and now, Mokrushin says, “those who want to watch them can do so only via the Internet or satellite.”
These institutional changes were accompanied by attacks on journalists by members of the pro-Moscow popular militia. During the first three months of the occupation, more than 100 such attacks were registered. Many journalists fled, although a few attempted to bring their writing into line with what the authorities want and have found work in pro-Moscow outlets.
As a result and clearly by the design of the authorities, people in Crimea “do not know about the numerous searches and arrests and political persecution of those who think differently” there – and neither do people in Russia itself because no journalists from Crimea are able to report about these things.
Instead, Crimean viewers are offered “bravura but all the same extremely doubtful materials” including reports about an economic boom there, “happy Crimeans,” and the doubling of the numbers of tourists, reports that even official statistics do not confirm.
The only channel which still operates according to normal journalistic standards is the Crimean Tatar language ATR. Even it has pulled its punches on some of the most sensitive issues. But in three days, it will be shut down because it has tried and failed to secure official registration, a disaster not only for the Crimean Tatars but for Crimeans in general.
The occupation authorities have been equally harsh in dealing with the Internet. They have seized the offices of the Information Press Center and the Center for Journalistic Investigations, two places that had been centers of journalistic excellence. And they have raided the homes of journalists who had been working there.
The same thing has happened with other Internet publications that have been sent a clear signal to adapt or shut down. Several have tried to adapt and hold on, but they are being pushed out as well. One that is likely to be closed soon is QHA, the Crimean News Agency, something that will hurt not only the Crimean Tatar audience but the Ukrainian and Russian one as well.
The occupation authorities have also redistributed radio frequencies in such a way that “not one radio station broadcasting [in Crimea] before 2014 is still working. And they are in the process of shuttering both the Russian-language paper “Sobytiya” and the Crimean Tatar-language “Avdet.”
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Doubly Bad News for the Kremlin – Russia Losing Out to More Technically Advanced Arms Sellersby paul goble (noreply@blogger.com)
Paul Goble
Staunton, March 28 – Moscow got some bad news this week: it is losing out to other more technologically advanced countries in the arms sales sector, something that is costing Russia money but also highlighting the reality that many of its weapons systems are no longer world class as far as potential buyers are concerned.
While it is unlikely that Russia would ever sell its most advanced weapons systems, such losses suggest that in many areas, its weapons may not be as sophisticated as the Kremlin likes to claim and as many of Russia’s neighbors fear, especially since some of those neighbors are now among those edging Russia out of parts of this market.
And consequently, while Russia remains the second largest seller of arms in the world (behind only the US), it may have trouble maintaining its current sales levels, especially of equipment that requires imported parts that may not be available because of sanctions or that uses advanced technologies Russian arms producers have not yet introduced.
This week, Aleksandr Brindikov, the head of the advisory group to Rosoboroneksport, the Russian government’s military equipment exporting arm, said that Russian producers are becoming ever less competitive on the world weapons market and have already exited some 30 of its sectors (top.rbc.ru/business/27/03/2015/55151ae19a7947285badd2a7).
The reason for that, he said, has nothing to do with marketing but rather that the products the Russian defense industry is offering cannot compete with those offered by other countries, he continued. For example, Germany, China and “even Ukraine” are getting sales in the armored area that Russia had assumed it would keep.
.Brindikov’s comments are a sharp departure from those of Vladimir Putin on January 27 when the Kremlin leader celebrated Russia’s prowess in this area, but even Putin acknowledged that the international arms market was becoming increasingly competitive, a possible indication that he is aware of these problems.
Anton Mardasov of Svobodnaya pressa queried several other Moscow experts on arms concerning Brindikov’s statements. Most were dismissive, although some did concede that Russia has problems now in the electronics area because it must produce components that it used to be able to import (svpressa.ru/war21/article/116991/).
But one of these experts, Vladimir Shvaryev, deputy director of the Moscow Center for the Analysis of the International Arms Trade, suggested that Brindikov was pointing to a problem that goes back much further than the past year. Russia has had problems in producing and selling high-tech arms, he said, but these problems are have been around for a long time.
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 RT |
Ex-Chancellor Schroeder criticizes Merkel's Russia policy
RT Schroeder, the chancellor of Germany from 1998-2005, fully recognized Russia's concerns, which are linked to the growing isolation of the country. “The Warsaw Pact ceased to exist with the end of the Soviet Union, while NATO not only survived, but also ... and more » |
Iranian Screenwriter, TV Producer Jailed In Tehranby noreply@rferl.org (RFE/RL's Radio Farda)
A former screenwriter and producer with Iran’s state-controlled television has been in jail in Tehran for the past two months.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and coalition forces conducted 18 air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Iraq during a 24-hour period, with eight strikes near militant-held Tikrit, the U.S. military said on Saturday.
Figures in letter to shadow justice secretary show increase in hostage taking and the use of specialist teams to quell rioting
Hostage incidents and disturbances across the country’s jails are rising sharply, intensifying fears that Britain’s prisons are at crisis point. The mounting unrest has seen a corresponding increase in the deployment of specialist teams sent in to the prison estate to quell riots and protests.
Figures cited in a letter from prisons minister Andrew Selous to shadow justice secretary, Sadiq Khan, deposited in the parliamentary library, reveal that in 2010, the year the coalition took power, there were 16 hostage incidents in which a prisoner held either another prisoner or a prison officer against their will.
Continue reading...
 Times of India |
Pentagon Center shopping plaza reopens after bomb threat
Washington Post The Pentagon Center shopping plaza and the roads around it are reopening after police checked out a bomb threat. No explosives were found by police dogs in a two-hour search. Arlington police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said that the complex at 1201 ... Shopping Centre Near Pentagon Given 'All-Clear' Over Bomb Threat: PoliceNDTV UPDATED: Pentagon City Center evacuated for bomb threatInside NoVA all 29 news articles » |
Hurdles Loom in Iran Nuclear Talks, U.S. Official Saysby MICHAEL R. GORDON and MATTHEW ROSENBERG
An initial accord will not be possible unless the Iranian leadership makes “tough decisions” before Tuesday’s deadline, a State Department official said.
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Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk in the Statistical Laboratory at Cambridge University compiles comprehensive review of the nations sexual habits - the most in-depth ever
Communication and body language specialist Judi James claims women are now more likely than men to flout office etiquette - with some believing men should be grateful for the attention.
 Chicago Daily News |
Police officer wounded, suspect killed in Boston shootout
MiamiHerald.com A suspect in a motor vehicle stop has opened fire on Boston police and seriously wounded an officer before being killed by authorities. An apparent bystander also has been injured. The shootout happened Friday evening in the city's Roxbury section. |
Boston cop critically hurt after Roxbury shootoutBoston Herald
all 103 news articles »
Illegal Accused of Holding Pregnant Woman Captive for Months in Rape Dungeon by The European Union Times
A man from Mexico in the US illegally is accused of holding a young woman captive in a locked room where he raped her for months and subsequently impregnated her.
Detectives with the Hidalgo County Special Investigative Group apprehended Noe Manuel Mendoza, 52, after receiving a 9-1-1 call from the Texas home where a 20-year-old woman was reportedly detained against her will after being smuggled into the US.
“The female victim was from the [sic] brought into the country illegally from Mexico and kept away from the public eye by her captors and continuously sexually assaulted,” states a news release from the San Juan police.
A person inside the home helped the woman, who is six months pregnant, by providing her a cell phone, according to the city’s police chief.
After being rescued, the woman admitted to police she had paid to be smuggled into the country seven months ago, but that Mendoza and another man kept her locked inside a residence in San Juan.
Police were able to rescue the woman Tuesday night amid a raid, and apprehended Mendoza the following day.
Mendoza, believed to be a Mexican national, according to The Monitor, is being held on a half a million dollar bond, but his family says the woman’s allegations are lies.
They also claim to have recordings that prove she’s been living with them in the US for the past three years.
Some Rio Grande Valley residents were immediately skeptical of the story, claiming that the woman may have fabricated the charges to attain permanent residency.
“So long as her information is corroborated through police investigation, she may be eligible for automatic Lawful Permanent Resident status,” said Michael Hernandez commenting onValleyCentral.com. “It does not matter if the man is actually convicted or not.”
“Her story may or may not be entirely true, but many mexican nationals have obtained residency by being victims of certain crimes in the U.S.”
A separate commenter also noted the increasingly popular tactic is “becoming a trend with Mexican nationals now who are seeking to apply for citizenship.”
Mendoza has previously faced human smuggling charges, say San Juan police, and now faces two first degree felony charges, including aggravated kidnapping and sexual assault. He may also be eligible for federal charges as well, reports The Monitor.
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For years, the agency recommended phone encryption as a defense against criminals. Now, that information has been scrubbed from public view
The FBI wants to make us all less safe. At least that’s the implication from FBI director Jim Comey’s push to ban unbreakable encryption and deliberately weaken everyone’s security. And it’s past time that the White House makes its position clear once and for all.
Comey was back before Congress this week - this time in front of the House Appropriations Committee - imploring Congressmen to pass a law that would force tech companies to create a backdoor in any phone or communications tool that uses encryption.
Continue reading...Boston police officer shot in face during traffic stop fights for survival by Associated Press in Boston
Officer John Moynihan, former
army ranger awarded at White House for response to Boston Marathon bombing, is in an induced coma
army ranger awarded at White House for response to Boston Marathon bombing, is in an induced coma
A police officer who was honored for his role in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing was in an induced coma fighting for his life early Saturday after being shot in the face during a traffic stop, authorities said.
The suspect in the shooting hopped out of the stopped car on Friday evening and opened fire on
police, striking officer John Moynihan just below his right eye and an apparent bystander in her arm,
said police Commissioner William
Evans.Continue reading...
police, striking officer John Moynihan just below his right eye and an apparent bystander in her arm,
said police Commissioner William
Evans.Continue reading...
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Convicted murderers become first gay couple to marry in prison by Martin Williams and agencies
Mikhail Gallatinov and Marc Goodwin tie the knot in
first same-sex marriage to have taken place in a prison since equal marriage act was introduced last year
first same-sex marriage to have taken place in a prison since equal marriage act was introduced last year
Two convicted murderers detained in one of Britain’s toughest
prisons have become the first gay couple to marry behind bars.
prisons have become the first gay couple to marry behind bars.
Mikhail Gallatinov, 40, and Marc Goodwin, 31, held a modest service in the top security jail’s visitor centre, the Mirror reported.
Continue reading...
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis will meet his Russian counterpart and the CEO of energy giant Gazprom in Moscow on Monday, as he hit out at the EU and Germany for tightening a 'noose' around the Greek economy.
Among new clues about co-pilot: Reports of ‘pressure,’ vision problems by Anthony Faiola, Michael Birnbaum
MONTABAUR, Germany — One year before he made the cut for Lufthansa’s elite flying school, Andreas Lubitz worked at a Burger King behind a car wash, flipping Whoppers and frying fries and talking to co-workers about his dream. Read full article >>
In the wake of American airstrikes on Islamic State positions in the city, there seemed to be little urgency to make progress on the ground.
Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot who flew Germanwings Flight 9525 into a French mountainside killing himself and the 149 other people on board, was examined for vision problems that may have affected his ability to fly, according to a person familiar with the investigation
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl told the military he left his unit in eastern Afghanistan in July 2009 intending to walk to the nearest U.S. military outpost to report wrongdoing, believing he could not trust his own commanders to deal with his concerns, according to sources familiar with the Army investigation. It is the clearest indication yet of the motive behind his decision to leave his post.
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Investigators are working to piece together the secret life of Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who officials say was hiding an illness from his employers.
Eight years on, Italy asks: so who were Meredith Kercher’s killers? by Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome and Mark Townsend
Italy’s highest court has acquitted Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito – but the mystery that has long surrounded Meredith Kercher’s death remains
The headline in Saturday’s Italian daily newspaper, La Repubblica, seemed to sum it all up: “A surprise ending to the never-ending trial, but that night remains a mystery.”
When prosecutor Mario Pinelli wrapped up his case against Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito last week, he said it was the evidence of Meredith Kercher herself – her body, which had been constrained, sexually assaulted and stabbed multiple times – that proved that three people were involved in her murder.
Continue reading... The Guardian |
Eight years on, Italy asks: so who were Meredith Kercher's killers?
The Guardian Amanda Knox speaks to the media in front of her parents' home after news of the acquittal. Photograph: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images. Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome and Mark Townsend. Saturday 28 March 2015 19.13 EDT. Share on Facebook ... Knox, ex-lover not guilty, Italy's high court rules - The Spokesman-AssessmentNew York Recorder Amanda Knox Case Latest News: Jubilation in Seattle as Knox is Acquitted of ...The Christian Times Can Amanda Knox Make It As A Writer?2paragraphs.com KCEN-TV -Gulf Today all 65 news articles » |
Western diplomats and analysts are predicting a further escalation of tensions, possibly including the placement of Russian nuclear weapons in the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
We are unlikely to ever know what was going through the mind of co-pilot Andreas Lubitz on the day he decided to bolt the cockpit door of the Germanwings passenger plane which he then deliberately crashed into a rocky ravine in the Alps, killing all 149 people on board.
European Union Attorney General, Yves Bot warned the citizens within the European Union (EU) to close their Facebook accounts if they wish to keep their private information away from the prying eyes of the US security services.
In a hearing that could have significant bearing on the future of the EU-US Safe Harbor agreement, European Commission attorney Bernhard Schima as good as admitted that the current agreement was not fit for purpose, telling attorney-general Yves Bot:
You might consider closing your Facebook account, if you have one.
Schima’s remark came during a case brought by Austrian law student Max Schrems following complaints filed against Facebook and four other US companies – Apple, Microsoft, Skype, and Yahoo – with the relevant data protection authorities in Ireland, Luxembourg and Germany.
Here are a few reasons why Facebook has been linked with NSA and snooping on its users
- In his leaks, NSA contractor, Edward Snowden had revealed details about NSA’s notorious PRISM surveillance program had provided NSA with unlimited access to a number of US tech companies and social media services, including Facebook.
- On one hand Facebook, Apple and Google have argued they had no idea the NSA was illegally snooping on customer data while, last year, Rajesh De, the NSA’s general counsel had categorically stated that all the tech companies knew about this practice.
- In 2009, Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg himself made a shocking assertion that Facebook is in essence a platform for harvesting data and conducting surveillance.
Zuckerberg told an audience at the 2009 Crunchies Awards ceremony that “People have really gotten comfortable sharing more information and different kinds,” Zuckerberg added that “sharing” data — that is, surrendering private data to the government and corporations — has become the “social norm.” Zuckerberg’s statement at that time had caused quite a stir among cyber fraternity.
In 2007, Matt Greenop had documented Facebook’s funding and the investors who seemed quite closed to the surveillance agencies.
- Facebook’s first round of venture capital funding of $500,000 came from former Paypal CEO Peter Thiel. Thiel has been on the board of radical conservative group VanguardPAC.
- The second round of funding into Facebook of around $US12.7 million came from venture capital firm Accel Partners. Its manager James Breyer was formerly chairman of the National Venture Capital Association, and served on the board with Gilman Louie, CEO of In-Q-Tel, a venture capital firm established by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1999. One of the company’s key areas of expertise are in “data mining technologies”.
Considering the above facts and the EU advisory it is not far from truth that Facebook seems to have some sort of working relationship with the United States National Security Agency and CIA.
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