and like aljazeera america on facebook for more stories, more access, more conversations. so you don't just stay on top of the news, go deeper and get more perspectives on every issue. al jazeera america. new evidenceinvestigators uncover the reason why the german pilot crashed the plane into the french alps. >> who's in line to be the next minority leader, harry reid is retiring. and wrongfully convicted.

>> this is a happy time because in reason, you know, it's great to be free. >> freedom after 40 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. good evening i'm randall pinkston in for antonio mora. this is al jazeera america. new details are emerging at this time about the co-pilot who crashed that germanwings plane into the french alps. investigators believe andreas lubitz was suffering from clinical depression. ahalf dozen carriers will require at least two pilots inside a cockpit at all times. john terret is here. john how did investigators uncover lubitz's depression? >> they found evidence while searching his home.

meanwhile up in the french alps the grim task for searching for human remains continues. >> for the second day in a row investigators search the home that andreas lubitz shared with his parents. adding a new twist to the story of downed flight 9525. evidence that lubitz was hiding an illness one that could should have seen him grounded. he was suffering from depression. >> translator: the fact that there were torn up sick notes among the things at a were found, recent and even the day of the crime based on preliminary investigation. >> the office confirmed no suicide note or confession was found nor any evidence of political or religious motives.

meantime in the small town of hallhaltern,. >> i came out of that church amidst people who had lost the most precious things to them, a child. i wanted to mourn with them. >> reporter: in the french alps, the families of some victims have left their tribute at the spot where their loved ones died. at the crash site itself wrkers areworkers are going through debris. identifying and notifying is a slow process and then there's a sense of liability and compensation. >> the airline is liable and the insurance that it took out for such cases will step in. but it can refuse to step in if

it was found that the employee acted for one thing and the airline could have prevented that. >> the focus is on germanwings and the parent lufthansa. what if anything did they know and when did they know it? >> and late today lufthansa said it would pay $54,000 to the family of each victim. to pay for funeral expenses but not to do with the other settlement that is likely to come. >> thank you john. officials say armed men detonated a bomb then raided a mogadishu hotel hours after the attack security officials stormed the hotel and killed the

men. al shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack. i.s.i.l. positions in the city the iraqis asked for the u.s. for help retaking tikrit but u.s. air strikes asked for several iranian backed shia groups to pull out. pilots forced were eject from their fighter jet but it's not clear why. also tonight saudi arabia and egyptian ships entered the suez canal heading to the city of aden a possible entry point from for ground troops. as john siegenthaler reports the air strikes are not slowing the rebels. >> reporter: another day of air strikes has not stopped the onslaught of houthi fighters.

they've taken more territory in the city of adeb, the latest stronghold of president hadi who fled earlier in the week. >> translator: i want to compare the operation the main objective is to protect the government in aden. >> reporter: the air assaults have forced many in the capital city of sanaa a houthi stronghold, to flee for safer ground. houthi fighters remain defiant. arab leaders are meeting for a summit in egypt this weekend to talk about the situation. yemen's foreign minister says a peaceful solution is still possible. >> there is always a chance for that. we have also stressed that dialogue is a necessity. but that dialogue that is required is one that is under the auspices of the legitimacy of the president and the republic and not the coup or the

militias that are seizing all state's abilities and are legalizing everything for iran's takeover. >> on one side of this conflict is president hadi, the u.s. backed leader is receiving supports from sunni allies like saudi arabia. on the other side are houthi shia rebels linked to iran. >> the reason yemen is so important is historically it has not been a sectarian country. and the iranian position which has grown in the past weeks or months is much stronger and a threat to the sunni states in the region. >> only providing humanitarian aid iran says. >> we have condemned them, we believe they will only cause loss of human life. they have to stop and everybody has to encourage dialogue and national reconciliation in yemen rather than making it more difficult for the yemenis to

come together. >> john siegenthaler, al jazeera. >> nigeria's army is claiming a big victory against boko haram the army says it captured the north even town of gwoza. several boko haram fighters were killed. the news comes just one day before nigerian voters head to the polls in a tight presidential election. incumbent president goodluck jonathan is faig facing a strong challenge from former military leader muhammedu buhari. it is a three die lock down is in sierra leone. the west african nation has been dealing with the worst ebola outbreak in the world. almost 12,000 people have been

infected last year. 33 new cases were reported there last week. officials say they put the curfew in place to fight complacency. for more than three decades harry reid has been a mainstay on capitol hill. but the senator says that is going to change. as libby casey says, the nevada democrat says he plans to retire in 2016. >> we've got to be more concerned about the country the senate, the state of nevada than us and as a result of that i'm not going to run for reelection. going >> reporter: a big announcement, delivered by a members of congress on social media. the tiny coal town called searchlight, nevada, to the united states senate. harry reid loss the majority leader position when the

republicans took that position from him. an exercise accident that damaged the left of his face and eye. >> we need to make sure that the democrats take control of the senate again and i feel it's inappropriate for me to soak up all those resources on me, when i could be investing those resource he on the caucus which i intend to do. >> reporter: the 75-year-old says his work isn't over yet and has a direct message for his republican counterpart in the senate. >> my court participant senator mcconnell. don't be complacent. i'm going to be doing the same thing i've done since i came to the senate. >> reid's retirement, his distinctive grit and determined focus nevertheless saw him through many challenges. they continue to make him a

formed dabble opponent today. the white house praised reid an ally in many battles including the president's signature health care law. >> so much of what the president has accomplished in congress particularly during his first two years in congress would not have been possible without the skilled leadership of harry reid. >> democrats are already looking at who will fill reid's shoes. she's he's endorsing new york's chuck schumer. and nevada's senate seat for a political climate where every race counts. libby casey, al jazeera. the congressional probe investigating benghazi, said the former secretary of state deleted all the e-mail on her

server. she admitted to deleting about 30,000 e-mails messages she described as personal. indiana's governor mike pence has signed into law a measure as jonathan betz explains, critics say it's meant to chip away at the rights of gay people. >> a long and heated debate ended quietly in indiana. governor pence signed into law the religious freedom restoration act. it louse business owners to refuse service to anyone if the owner feels it violates their religious beliefs. >> this bill is not about discrimination. if i thought it was about discrimination i would have vetoed it. >> that's exactly what many are calling it.

worried that it will allow businesses to openly discriminate against gays and lesbians. >> if this is about discrimination prove it. they haven't proven it. >> worried it will heart business in indiana. indianapolis is preparing to host the final 4 next week. newarkensuring student-athletes. >> employees or customers to indiana. its ceo tweeting, outrage saying he doesn't want his staff to travel to indiana to face discrimination. >> gender discrimination in silicon valley. the verdict of a closely watched lawsuit involving awoman who claims she was the victim of

bias in the workplace. plus tracking the agers of a racist fraternity chat. why the national chapter of sigma alpha epsilon may be to blame.

>> after eight years vindication tonight for amanda knox. citing a lack of evidence, the italian appeals court overturned her conviction. her boyfriend was also vindicated. >> i'm incredibly grateful for what has happened for the justice i've received for the support that i've had from everyone from my family, from my friends, to strangers to people like you. i'm so grateful to have my life back! >> in 2011 both knox and her boyfriend were acquitted on appeal. two years later she was convicted again in absentia.

today's ruling puts an end to the case. the jury has reached its decision in what could be a landmark case for the venture capital case. the jury found that kleiner perkins did not district against ellen pao. melissa chan reports. >> yes randall. part of the reason why is the track record, when it comes in front of a jury often there's very little sympathy for the female plaintiff so ellen pao must have felt particularly aggrieved to pursue this lawsuit so far. ellen pao believed it was because she was a woman that she never got an a promotion.

evidence of male colleagues who underperformed but still received promotions but she did not. >> i'm grateful for my legally teamlegalteam reaching out for support in many different ways and for telling me my story is their story too and their gratefulness for me telling their story. >> but the jury did not buy it. handing the court a sweeping victory. >> she was very driven. you can tell by the e-mails the times they were coming out the consistency of the e-mails she was probably someone who wouldn't take no for an answer. >> only two jurors had sympathy for pao. >> not disappointed because i think the 12 of us did the best

job that we could. >> after the verdict pao spoke briefly about what the trial meant to her. >> i have told my story and thousands of people have heard it. if i've helped to level the playing field for women and minorities in venture capital then the battle was worth it. >> kleiner perkins released a story. there is no question gender diversity in the workplace is an important issue. kpcb remains committed to diversity within our industry. but with only 6% of women in venture capital being women it's hard to see that silicon valley will actually change. >> the pace of progress has been very slow in this world. but whether it's the public works of a book like "lean in"

which got a lot of attention in silicon valley or a kind of case like this with a large price tag associated with it, it's going to cause companies to take a harder look. >> just to add a little bit more, i mentioned that 6% figure. 6% of partners are women in venture capital firms. if you look at the greater silicon valley tech companies 20% are women. there is still a very, very long way to go, i can't emphasize that enough. >> thank you melissa chan, in san francisco. some sigma alpha epsilon fraternity members could have learned the chance from their leaders. the chant was learned during a leadership crews four years ago. referring to lynching and

expelling black members from their university. forced to fight. jail guards accused of making inmates brawl and even betting on the outcome. plus this: >> life is life, wherever you live it you got to live it to the fullest. >> 40 years in prison for a crime did he not commit. the program that helped set him free.

>> in san francisco, inmates in a county jail say guards made them take part in a brutal fight club. ricardo garcia blew the whistle on sheriffs, they forced him to brawl with a 350 pound inmate. they threatened to shock him with a taser if he refused to fight. the sheriff is asking the department of justice to step in. >> i do not accept any kind of culture within our county jail system that would resort i think to such barbaric or unlawful

activity. >> inmates say the deputies also placed bets on the fights. for more we bring in jeff adache, the district attorney for san francisco. you say they were forced to fight gladiator style. is there any doubt this happened? >> it is unbelievable. that's my first reaction when i heard this story. we immediately sent the investigator in to talk to the young man who was involved in this fight. he's 150 pounds in his early 20s 20s, 5'nine" he was 5'9" he was forced to fight another inmate, 350 pounds. we learned this group of deputies in the san francisco county jail these are the deputies who are entrusted to protect the prisoners were actually forcing them to fight

and betting money on them. >> as you indicated at least one of those inmates was seriously injured. how were the deputies able to get away with this? presumably the inmate received some sort of medical attention. wouldn't there have been a report indicating the cause of those injuries and who was present at the time? >> these deputies were very smart. they told the inmates in advance that they had -- first of all not to hit each other in anyplace that would be visible. so avoid the face. but again these were violent fights where people were hit very hard and injured. and they also told them that if there were any injuries whatsoever they could not report them to medical. because if you're injured in the county jail you have a right to medical attention. they told them specifically not to do them and threatened them with violence if they did. so this was a very, very scary situation because you are powerless when you are in jail you are about as vulnerable as you can be because you don't have any control over what's

going to happen and the deputies took advantage of this. >> what's happened to the deputies, where are they now and what potential charges could they face? >> well yesterday we gave the reports to the sheriff. and we announced our findings. and they were immediately placed on what's called administrative leave meaning that they're taken off the job they still get paid but they are not in contact with any prisoners. >> we understand that an attorney retained by some of those deputies has denied the charges. and that the sheriff has invited federal investigation. >> well, i agree that if we can bring in the federal government, there needs to be an independent investigation. you know, in terms of what their lawyer has said he called it horseplay. i would doubt very much he would feel that way if it was his son or daughter that was in custody and suffered a cracked rib and

forced to fight. again this is for the deputies' own sadistic entertainment. this is something right out of the game of thrones and has no place in the county jail. they treated these inmates just like it was odogfight but these were human beings. >> jeff adache. district attorney from san franciscan, thanksanfrancisco, thank you. helped set him free, sledge who is now 70 years old told our robert ray that getting used to his freedom is taking some time. >> yeah! >> reporter: two months ago joe sledge became the eighth person exonerated after north carolina set up the innocence inquiry commission in 2007. the first state are run agency

of its kind. >> life is life, whatever you do you have to do with its fullest. >> coping with the loss of time and reflecting on his past. >> joe, it's hard for me to be in jail for 40 years and come out to the world what's it like now? >> it's a shocker. every day you waking up, you're wondering what you going to do, how you going to think? who are you going to meet? because all the folks i met all the folks i've known a lot of them dead, and a lot of them still living. andists hardand it's hard to recognize people after 40 years incarceration. >> the 40 year world that joe has stepped back into is barely recognizable. >> time has changed and as well as technology, science that's a

big plus. for the civilization. i'm slow, i've got a lot of catching up to do. >> yes sir. good old guy. >> since he left prison joe has been living here with his younger brother edward in his modest home near downtown assassin. savannah. >> he's my brother. he made me feel good, i got company. >> now to his own admission joe slej wassledge was no saint. in a nearby town, joe had escaped from a prison work farm where he was serving two years for larceny. he was an easy target for conviction. >> i thought the jury got it right. >> reporter: now the north carolina prosecutor has given

recompense. >> is this a sad time or happy time? >> it's a happy time. in reason, it's great to be free. if you lay in prison, spend the rest of your time in prison and then die you know, the better part is being in the world and living life to the fullest. >> while joe soaks in peace and fishes with his brother almost every morning he has bigger plans. soon he will work with troubled youth to help guide them to a better life. a life that joe is only now discovering. robert ray, al jazeera savannah georgia. >> just over an hour ago american astronaut scott kelly docked with the international space station. >> the one year crew has

arrived. >> kelly and two cosmo nawts cost cosmonauts blasted off for the space station and will stay there for a year. "inside story" is next. >> now that we know the crash of the germanwings jet was no coincidence, later on america's paper money it features presidents, war heroes, buildings, historical events, what have w