Nigeria votes in presidential poll

Nigerians are going to the polls to elect a president, with incumbent Goodluck Jonathan facing a strong challenge from Muhammadu Buhari.

It is said to be the most closely fought election since independence.

The election was delayed by six weeks to allow the army to recapture territory from militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

The two main presidential candidates have pledged to prevent violence during the election and its aftermath.

Follow live updates from the election here.

Despite reports of delays in some areas, election body spokesman Kayode Idowu told the AFP news agency that polling stations have opened and that "accreditation has started".

Voters need to register first using biometric cards with their fingerprints before they can cast their vote later.

At some polling stations, card readers appear to be working slowly or not at all, BBC reporters on the ground say.

President Jonathan tried for some 50 minutes to register in his home village of Otuoke. A BBC reporter at the scene says he had to come back a second time and when the electronic registration failed again, he had to be accredited manually.

Voters have to validate their voting cards using a fingerprint reader

Problems were also reported from the north's biggest city of Kano, where thousands of voters waited for election officials and voting materials to arrive.

"We've been here since six o'clock and now it's half-past nine," Ismail Omar, a 65-year-old builder told AFP news agency.

"No-one has shown up from Inec (the Independent National Electoral Commission)... this is a deliberate attempt to sabotage the elections."

However, Gen Buhari registered in his hometown Daura without any problems and he praised the accreditation system.

"If people are allowed to vote, rigging will actually be impossible under this system," he said.

Gen Muhammadu Buhari arriving to register in his home town Daura, voting card in hand

Nigerians may have to queue for hours to be able to register

Voters standing in line in the president's home village of Otuoke

This street scene in Abuja, caught by our reporter on a mobile phone, shows how the capital is deserted

Some polling stations opened late and as the BBC's Will Ross reports from the capital Abuja, long queues are forming outside the stations.

Voters will have to be patient and are likely to spend all day to be able to cast their vote, he says.

The election comes amid heightened security, with police deployed at all polling stations.

The BBC's Africa Security correspondent Tomi Oladipo reports that gunman have launched an attack in Nafada in Gombe state.

The authorities are reported to have carried out a controlled explosion after a car bomb was discovered at a polling station in Enugu state in south-eastern Nigeria.

The People's Democratic Party (PDP) has dominated Nigerian politics since 1999, but the All Progressives Congress (APC) is viewed as a serious challenge.

Some 800 people were killed after the 2011 contest between Mr Jonathan and Gen Buhari, a former military ruler.

Voters in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja - the capital - will also elect members of the house of representatives and the senate.

On Friday, the Nigerian army said it had retaken the town of Gwoza, believed to be the headquarters of Boko Haram, one of the last places still under its control.

• Two main presidential candidates:

Muhammadu Buhari, All Progressives Congress (APC), Muslim northerner, ex-military ruler, fourth presidential bid

Goodluck Jonathan, People's Democratic Party (PDP), Christian southerner, incumbent president, second-term bid

• Years of military rule ended in 1999 and the PDP has been in power ever since

• Nigeria is Africa's largest economy and leading oil producer

• With a population of more than 170m, it is also Africa's most populous nation

Unpredictable poll

Nigeria decides 2015: Election coverage

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday: "The international community has high expectations that Nigeria will provide leadership in setting a high standard for this election."

He called on Nigerians - in Africa's most populous nation - to vote in large numbers.

He added that he hoped the presidential and parliamentary elections would be "transparent, inclusive and peaceful".

Are you voting in Nigeria's election? Tell us about your experience by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk

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Duo begin year-long space trip

Scott Kelly (L) and Mikhail Kornienko (R) will stay up for a year, while Gennady Padalka (C) will come back after six months

US astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko have docked for the start of a 12-month tour of duty on the International Space Station.

It will be the longest continuous stay anyone has had aboard the 400km-high (250 mile) orbiting platform.

The spacecraft docked successfully at 01:33 GMT on Saturday, Nasa said.

Scientists hope to get a keener idea of the effects on the human body of living in microgravity for extended periods.

The space agencies say the data will be invaluable as they plan towards eventually mounting a mission to Mars.

Mr Kelly and Mr Kornienko launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan in a Soyuz vehicle at 01:42 local time on Saturday (19:42 GMT Friday).

They were joined on the flight up by cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, but his tour will only last the normal six months.

Although Mr Kelly and Mr Kornienko will set an endurance record for this space station, some of the stays aboard the old Russian Mir platform were much longer.

Four cosmonauts lived on Mir at various times for more than a year, with Valeri Polyakov spending a mammoth 437.7 days in orbit in 1994-95.

Some cosmonauts stayed for over a year on the old Mir station

"The last time we had such a long duration flight was almost 20 years and of course all… scientific techniques are more advanced than 20 years ago,'' Mr Kornienko was quoted as saying by the AP wire service in the pre-launch press conference.

"And right now we need to test the capability of a human being to perform such long-duration flights. So this is the main objective of our flight - to test ourselves."

Mr Kelly added: "One of the differences here is that we're doing it as an international partnership, and if we're going to go beyond low-Earth orbit again, perhaps to Mars, because of the cost and the complexity it will most likely be an international mission, so we see this as a stepping stone to that."

Knowledge on how to mitigate some of the deleterious effects of living in zero-g has improved markedly since the Mir era, and the expectation is that Mr Kelly and Mr Kornienko will come back in a better shape than those early pioneers.

Programmed nutrition and exercise routines now prevent much of the bone density loss and muscle weakness that earlier astronauts used to experience.

However, there are other problems that doctors still need to study and understand. They have poor data on the effects on immune function, for example, and there is considerable concern about the damage spaceflight causes to the eyes. This is a newly recognised phenomenon, and appears to be related to the way fluid is redistributed in a weightless body.

There is particular concern about the effect spaceflight has on eyesight

Pressure is seen to build in the skull and on the optic nerve, and a large number of astronauts return to Earth complaining that their vision is not as good as when they went up.

By having Mr Kelly and Mr Kornienko onboard for a year, the agencies will be able to monitor how such complications progress beyond the normal six-month tour of duty.

Mr Kelly's situation is made more interesting by the fact that he has an identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, who was himself an astronaut before retiring from the US space agency in 2011.

The pair will be used in a comparative study: one in space, one on the ground.

Relativity theories predict that Scott Kelly should age less quickly than his brother while speeding above the Earth - but only by a few milliseconds over the year.

Mark Kelly (L) is Scott Kelly's identical twin, and was also a Nasa astronaut

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Alps co-pilot 'predicted notoriety'

The German tabloid Bild carried an interview with the ex-girlfriend of Germanwing co-pilot Andreas Lubitz (pictured)

The Germanwings co-pilot thought to have deliberately crashed his Airbus in the French Alps, killing 150 people, predicted "one day everyone will know my name", his ex-girlfriend says.

In an interview with Germany's Bild newspaper, she recalled a comment Andreas Lubitz made last year.

"One day I'm going to do something that will change the whole system, and everyone will know my name and remember," he told her.

Flight 4U 9525 crashed on Tuesday.

The woman, a 26-year-old flight attendant who flew with Mr Lubitz for five months last year, was "very shocked" when she heard the news, the paper says.

If Mr Lubitz deliberately brought down the plane, "it is because he understood that because of his health problems, his big dream of a job at Lufthansa, as captain and as a long-haul pilot was practically impossible," she told Bild.

Memorial services for those onboard flight 4U 9525 have been taking place in Germany and in Spain

The black box voice recorder indicates that Mr Lubitz locked his captain out of the cockpit on Tuesday and crashed the plane into a mountainside in what appears to have been a suicide and mass killing.

German prosecutors say they found medical documents at Mr Lubitz's house suggesting an existing illness and evidence of medical treatment. They found torn-up sick notes, one of them for the day of the crash.

They say he seems to have concealed his illness from his employers.

His former girlfriend told Bild they separated, "because it became increasingly clear that he had a problem".

She said he was plagued by nightmares and would at times wake up screaming "we're going down".

'Obsessed'

A fellow member of the flight school where Andreas Lubitz took lessons told the BBC the co-pilot had known the area of the French Alps where the plane crashed from going there on gliding holidays.

A French newspaper, Metro News, reported (in French) that Mr Lubitz had holidayed with his parents at a flying club nearby.

Andreas Lubitz running a half-marathon in Frankfurt in March 2010

Lubitz's health timeline

• 2009: Breaks off pilot training while still in his early twenties after suffering "depressions and anxiety attacks", the German tabloid Bild reports, quoting Lufthansa medical files. Resumes training after 18 months of treatment, according to Bild
• 2013: Qualifies "with flying colours" as pilot, according to Lufthansa
• 2013-2015: Medical file quoted by Bild marks him as requiring "specific regular medical examination" but no details are given
• February 2015: Undergoes diagnosis at Duesseldorf University Clinic for an unspecified illness; clinic has clarified the illness was not depression
• 10 March 2015: Again attends Duesseldorf University Clinic
• 24 March 2015:Is believed to have deliberately crashed airliner, killing himself and 149 others
• 26 March 2015: Prosecutors announce that two sick notes have been found torn up at his addresses in Germany

Unanswered questions

What drives people to murder-suicide?

Who was Andreas Lubitz?

A hospital in the German city of Duesseldorf has confirmed Mr Lubitz was a patient there recently but it denied media reports that he had been treated for depression.

The theory that a mental illness such as depression had affected the co-pilot was suggested by German media, quoting internal aviation authority documents.

They said he had suffered a serious depressive episode while training in 2009.

He reportedly went on to receive treatment for a year-and-a-half and was recommended regular psychological assessment.

Mr Lubitz's employers insisted that he had only been allowed to resume training after his suitability was "re-established".

French police say the search for passenger remains and debris on the mountain slopes could take another two weeks.

In the aftermath of the crash, the EU's aviation regulator, the European Aviation Safety Agency, has urged airlines to adopt new safety rules.

In future, it says, two crew members should be present in the cockpit at all times.

Other incidents thought to be caused by deliberate pilot action

• 29 November 2013: A flight between Mozambique and Angola crashed in Namibia, killing 33 people. Initial investigation results suggested the accident was deliberately carried out by the captain shortly after the first officer (also known as the co-pilot) had left the flight deck.
• 31 October 1999: An EgyptAir Boeing 767 went into a rapid descent 30 minutes after taking off from New York, killing 217 people. An investigation suggested that the crash was caused deliberately by the relief first officer but the evidence was not conclusive.
• 19 December 1997: More than 100 people were killed when a Boeing 737 travelling from Indonesia to Singapore crashed. The pilot - suffering from "multiple work-related difficulties" - was suspected of switching off the flight recorders and intentionally putting the plane into a dive.

Source: Aviation Safety Network

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Knox and Sollecito cleared of murder

The convictions of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of UK student Meredith Kercher have been quashed by Italy's top appeals court.

It is the final ruling in the case, following three previous court decisions over the 2007 murder.

Ms Kercher, 21, was stabbed to death in a Perugia flat she shared with Ms Knox.

American Ms Knox, 27, said she was "full of joy" after being acquitted, but the mother of Ms Kercher, who was from London, said she was "shocked".

Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito, her Italian ex-boyfriend, were initially found guilty of the murder in 2009.

They were freed in 2011 after the convictions were overturned, but they were reinstated by another court last year.

Meredith Kercher, 21, was found dead in the flat that she shared with Ms Knox

Despite being cleared of the murder charge, the guilty verdict against Ms Knox for the slander of Patrick Lumumba - a bar owner she falsely accused of the crime - has been upheld.

The presiding judge confirmed a three-year sentence would remain. That time has been served.

Ms Knox had spent four years in prison during the trial, and could seek compensation for the extra year served, BBC Europe correspondent Gavin Lee said.

'Full of joy'

Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito had always maintained their innocence and the decision by the Court of Cassation puts an end to their long legal battle.

The reasoning behind the decision will be made public in 90 days.

"I'm still absorbing the present moment," Ms Knox said, speaking outside her mother's house in Seattle.

She expressed thanks "for the justice I've received and for the support I've had from everyone".

"Meredith was my friend," she added, "she deserved so much in this life."

Analysis

Gavin Lee, BBC Europe correspondent in Rome

It has been a seven-year trial, and late on Friday night, after nine hours of discussion, five appeal court judges in Rome's supreme court stepped out to deliver a definitive acquittal of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, over the murder of Meredith Kercher.

No reason was given. A brief statement was read by the presiding judge - justification will be delivered, in writing, within 90 days, in accordance with Italian law.

Neither defendant was in court, but there were cheers from both defence teams, who spoke of their surprise - an acquittal being a rarity in Italian supreme court hearings.

Lawyer Carlo Della Vedova broke the news to Ms Knox by phone, who cried with happiness, saying she now wants to "recover from this nightmare".

The Kercher family have not been in court for this hearing, but prosecution lawyer Francesco Maresca spoke of their concern that they won't ever learn the truth about what happened to Ms Kercher eight years ago.

Prof Greg Hampikian, a friend of the Knox family who also worked on the DNA evidence for Ms Knox's defence, told BBC Radio 5 live that "everybody is very happy to see this finished, so they can get on with their lives".

"She's trying to start her life as a young woman, so hopefully this will be a really wonderful change and a new day for them and for Raffaele and his folks," he said.

"I hope the Kerchers can find peace as well. It's just been an up and down thing for everyone for so long."

The lawyer for Ms Kercher's family, Francesco Maresca, expressed his disappointment, saying: "I think that it's a defeat for the Italian justice system."

Arline Kercher, Meredith's mother, said she was "very shocked" by the court's decision.

"They have been convicted twice so it's a bit odd that it should change now," she said.

Mr Sollecito was initially arrested along with Ms Knox days after the killing

Ms Kercher, from Coulsdon in south London, was on a one-year student exchange in Perugia when her throat was cut in the flat she shared with Ms Knox.

Prosecutors claimed she was killed as part of a sex game that went wrong.

The Leeds University student's body was found under a duvet in her bedroom, which had been locked from the inside.

Days after the killing, Ms Knox and her then-boyfriend, Mr Sollecito, 31, were arrested.

They were convicted of murder in 2009 by a court in Perugia.

But in 2011, a jury cleared both defendants of the charge, after doubts were raised over the handling of DNA evidence.

Rudy Guede is serving 16 years for his part in the murder

A retrial was ordered after prosecutors argued that important evidence had been disregarded. In 2014, the guilty verdicts were reinstated.

Another man, Rudy Hermann Guede, born in Ivory Coast, was convicted of murder in a separate trial and is serving a 16-year sentence.

The court's ruling against Guede stated that he did not act alone, and the 2014 verdicts against Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito said they wielded knives, Guede held the victim down and committed a sexual assault and Ms Knox "delivered the only mortal blow".

That 2014 ruling has now been overturned, so no-one now stands convicted of acting with Guede to kill Ms Kercher.

Knox family reaction

David Willis, BBC News, Seattle

Whoops of joy erupted from the Knox family home in the sleepy Seattle suburb of Arbor Heights as the verdict was announced.

All morning family and friends had been coming and going - members of the "Friends of Amanda" campaign that has lobbied so tirelessly on her behalf.

They and many others in America's Pacific North West have long been convinced Amanda Knox is the victim of a major miscarriage of justice.

One supporter, former Judge Michael Heavey, told the BBC it had been a "modern-day witch hunt".

Amanda Knox is now free to travel outside the US, and, at the age of 27, to plan for her future - a future free of the risk of being extradited to Italy to serve out the remainder of a 28-and-a-half year sentence.

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Yemen urges swift end to air strikes

Yemen's foreign minister has said air strikes being carried out by a Saudi-led coalition against Shia Houthi rebels should end as soon as possible.

Riad Yassin told the BBC a "short, sharp" campaign was needed to weaken the rebels, who have forced President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee abroad.

Fresh overnight air raids reportedly targeted a number of Houthi positions.

Rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi has vowed not to surrender to what he called the "unjustified aggression".

Regional Shia power Iran, who Mr Yassin accused of backing the rebels, denounced the US-backed air strikes as an attempt "to foment civil war in Yemen or disintegrate the country".

Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia has said it will "do whatever it takes in order to protect the legitimate government of Yemen from falling".

Mr Hadi took refuge in the second city of Aden last month after fleeing Sanaa, where he had been under house arrest since the rebels took full control of the capital in January.

He is believed to have left Aden by boat on Wednesday after rebel fighters and allied army units loyal to ousted former President Ali Abdullah Saleh captured a nearby air base and his palace was attacked by warplanes.

Mr Hadi is expected to attend an Arab League summit at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh this weekend.

In an interview with the BBC at the summit, Mr Yassin said no-one was happy about the intervention by the Saudi-led coalition, which includes four other Gulf Arab states, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan.

But he added: "I think if they completed their mission in the coming few days or few hours it will be stopped. It is a short, sharp campaign which really we have been forced to request."

Mr Yassin said he did not know if Arab leaders would approve a ground offensive, which coalition members have said they are prepared to launch if the raids fail to halt the rebels' advance and force them to negotiate.

There was another night of heavy bombardment on Thursday, with warplanes hitting rebel positions in Sanaa and the Houthis' northern heartland of Saada province.

Military officials said some of the strikes were aimed at the Houthi leadership.

Since the air campaign began on Wednesday night, at least 39 civilians have been killed, health ministry officials say. At least six children under the age of 10 are among the dead.

People have been fleeing the capital, with long queues at petrol stations, and many shops and firms have shut.

There have been clashes between rebel fighters and militiamen loyal to President Hadi in Aden

The Houthis have been protesting against the Saudi-led campaign

In addition to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan are contributing aircraft to the coalition, while Egypt, Jordan and Sudan were ready to take part in any ground offensive, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV reported on Wednesday.

The channel also claimed that Pakistan was prepared to send troops, but on Friday the government in Islamabad said it had not decided whether to heed a request for military support.

In a defiant televised address on Thursday night, Abdul Malik al-Houthi called on all Yemenis to prepare for an invasion.

"These criminal, collaborative powers will discover that they committed a huge error with this aggression," he said.

"If any armies come to occupy, the Yemeni people will prove once again that Yemen is the graveyard of invaders."

The Houthis have said their aim is to replace Mr Hadi's government, which they accuse of being corrupt, and to implement the outcomes of the National Dialogue that was convened when Mr Saleh was forced to hand over power in 2011 following mass protests.

Yemen - who is fighting whom?

The Houthis have said their aim is to replace Mr Hadi's government, which they accuse of corruption

The Houthis: Zaidi Shia-led rebels from the north, who seized control of Sanaa last year and have since been expanding their control

President Hadi: Fled to Saudi Arabia after rebel forces advanced on his stronghold in the southern city of Aden

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula: Seen by the US as the most dangerous offshoot of al-Qaeda, AQAP opposes both the Houthis and President Hadi.

Islamic State: A Yemeni affiliate of IS has recently emerged, which seeks to eclipse AQAP

Yemen crisis: An Iranian-Saudi battleground?

Yemen: Waiting for the war

Meeting the Houthis - and their enemies

The rise of Yemen's Houthi rebels

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Buildings collapse in New York blast

At least 19 people have been injured after an explosion caused two buildings to collapse in New York City.

On Thursday afternoon, more than 200 firefighters converged to battle the resulting blaze that affected four buildings.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said there were no reports of missing persons, but noted that the situation was fluid.

Officials said they believed work was being done to the building's gas utilities before the blast.

The explosion triggered a fire in a building that housed a sushi restaurant. The blaze then quickly spread to adjacent buildings, officials said.

Emergency dispatchers started receiving calls reporting the incident around 15:17 local time (19:17 GMT) and emergency services were on the scene in about three minutes, city officials said.

The buildings on Second Avenue at East Seventh Street are near New York University and the Washington Square Park area.

Manhattan's East Village is a neighbourhood of small businesses, restaurants and apartments. Thick plumes of dark smoke could be seen across Manhattan on Thursday.

Ben Mackinnon, 28, said he was drinking coffee in a cafe when he heard an explosion from across the street.

"The explosion was big enough that the door of the cafe blew open," Mr Mackinnon told Reuters.

Outside he saw several bloodied men emerge from the sushi restaurant.

Adil Choudhury, who lives nearby, told the Associated Press that he heard "a huge boom".

"Already there was smoke everywhere" when he saw the building, he said. "The flames were coming out from the roof. The fire was coming out of every window."

Officials remain concerned about the area's air quality, and told residents to keep their windows closed.

The fire happened little over a year after a gas explosion in a building in East Harlem killed eight people and injured about 50.

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Sierra Leone in Ebola lockdown

Thousands of people in Sierra Leone have died of Ebola

The authorities in Sierra Leone are enforcing a three-day lockdown to curb the spread of Ebola, with the entire population ordered to stay at home.

There is a two-hour exemption on Friday to allow Muslim prayers and a five-hour window for Christians on Sunday.

Volunteers are going door-to-door, looking for people with signs of the disease and reminding others how to stay safe.

Dozens of new cases are still being reported in Sierra Leone every week.

The three West African countries worst affected by Ebola - Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea - have set a target of having no new cases by the middle of next month.

The outbreak has killed more than 10,000 people in the three countries over the past year.

Have you been affected by the lockdown? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your experience.

Please include a telephone number if you are willing to be contacted by a BBC journalist.

Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (international). Or you can upload here.

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Alps crash co-pilot 'had depression'

The man suspected of deliberately crashing a Germanwings A320 plane in the French Alps required treatment for depression, German media say.

Regular assessments were recommended in Andreas Lubitz's official notes after a serious episode some years ago.

The Barcelona-Duesseldorf plane crashed on Tuesday, killing 150 people.

Data from the plane's voice recorder suggest Mr Lubitz purposely started a descent as the pilot was locked out of the cockpit.

Several airlines have now pledged to change their rules to ensure at least two crew members are present in the cockpit at all times.

Police have searched two German properties used by Mr Lubitz, taking away boxes and a computer.

'Heavily depressive'

When Mr Lubitz finished training in 2009, he was diagnosed with a serious depressive episode and went on to receive treatment for a year and a half, the German news site Bild reports.

Internal documents quoted by Bild and German broadcaster ARD say a note on Mr Lubitz's aviation authority file recommended regular psychological assessment.

Andreas Lubitz: Germanwings co-pilot under scrutiny

• Started training in 2008, at Bremen and Arizona. Training was interrupted for some months - but he later passed all tests and was deemed fit to fly
• Working as co-pilot, or first officer, since 2013. Appeared pleased with his job
• Lived in town of Montabaur, near Frankfurt, reportedly with his parents. Kept a flat in Duesseldorf and had many friends
• Facebook profile suggests the active lifestyle of a keen runner, with an interest in pop music

Who was Andreas Lubitz?

Mr Lubitz's employers have confirmed that his training was interrupted for several months six years ago.

But they have not said why. Carsten Spohr - the head of Lufthansa, the German carrier that owns Germanwings - said on Thursday that Mr Lubitz was only able to resume training after his suitability was "re-established".

"He passed all the subsequent tests and checks with flying colours," Mr Spohr was quoted as saying.

German media are also reporting that investigators have found evidence of mental health problems at Mr Lubitz's Duesseldorf flat.

Earlier, another media report quoted a police spokesman as saying "a very significant clue as to what has happened" had been found during the search of the house the 27-year-old shared with his parents in Montabaur, north of Frankfurt, without specifying what.

Police said the discovery was not a suicide note.

French Prime Minister Manual Valls said the investigation was ongoing, but that "everything is pointing to a criminal, crazy, suicidal action that we cannot comprehend".

He said investigators and Lufthansa would have to "shed light on the career and profile of this pilot".

Mr Lubitz is said to have been an enthusiastic runner and is here pictured running a half-marathon in September 2009

Police have been coming and going at the home of Mr Lubitz's parents north of Frankfurt, which is also the focus of a media spotlight

Families of the crash victims visited Seyne-les-Alpes, a town close to the crash site

In the hamlet of Vernet, a "viewing tent" was set up where families could look in the direction of the crash site. Families laid flowers and photographs in memory of those lost.

Police continued to come and go at the Montabaur house throughout Thursday morning, reports the BBC's Anna Holligan who is outside.

She says there are concerns for Mr Lubitz's parents, who have suffered not just one trauma - their son dying in a crash - but the subsequent shock of finding out he may have been responsible for the tragedy.

Axe

Based on data from the recovered "black box" voice recorder, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said on Thursday that Mr Lubitz appeared to want to "destroy the plane".

The evidence suggested the pilot had left the cockpit, probably to go to the toilet, during which the door was barred. He fought unsuccessfully to get back in, he said.

Bild quotes security sources as saying that the pilot used an axe to try to break down the door.

A Germanwings spokesperson would only confirm that an emergency axe is part of the equipment on board an A320.

What happened in the final half hour?

The second "black box" - that records flight data - has still not been found.

Family members of some of the 150 passengers and crew who died have visited Seyne-les-Alpes, near the crash site, reported Reuters news agency.

They were accompanied by psychologists, paramedics and Red Cross workers, and a youth centre in the town was set up to receive them, it said.

Families are providing DNA samples to allow for identification of victims' remains.

Meanwhile, investigators continue to comb the crash site for body parts and debris three days after the plane crashed.

Flight club

Members of the Westerwald flight club, where the co-pilot was a member, expressed their shock at the revelations about Mr Lubitz's mental history.

"Andreas was a very nice young man, who did his training here. He was part of the club," Peter Reucker said.

"[He was] funny, sometimes a bit quiet, but apart from that a young man like many others that we have here. He integrated well.

"I'm absolutely speechless. I have no explanation for this," Mr Reucker added.

Crash site close-ups

Other incidents thought to be caused by deliberate pilot action

• 29 November 2013: A flight between Mozambique and Angola crashed in Namibia, killing 33 people. Initial investigation results suggested the accident was deliberately carried out by the captain shortly after the first officer (also known as the co-pilot) had left the flight deck.
• 31 October 1999: An EgyptAir Boeing 767 went into a rapid descent 30 minutes after taking off from New York, killing 217 people. An investigation suggested that the crash was caused deliberately by the relief first officer but the evidence was not conclusive.
• 19 December 1997: More than 100 people were killed when a Boeing 737 travelling from Indonesia to Singapore crashed. The pilot - suffering from "multiple work-related difficulties" - was suspected of switching off the flight recorders and intentionally putting the plane into a dive.

Source: Aviation Safety Network

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