you're watching bbc news. i'm tim willcox live in seynes-les-alps, close to the scene of tuesday's fatal plane crash. our headlines -- investigators reportedly find evidence that the man thought to have crashed his plane in the alps killing 150 people may have suffered from mental illness. as police seize a number of andreas lubitz's possessions, several airlines plan to change

their rules over leaving one person alone in the cockpit. and i'm david eades here in london. also in the program, were planes from a saudi-led coalition carry out another night of bombing against houthi rebels in yemen. also italy's highest appeals court is to decide whether to uphold the guilty verdict against mapd knox and raffaele sollecito, for the murder of the british student, meredith kercher. hello. german media say that pilots who apparently crashed an airliner into a mountain deliberately have been recommended for regular psychological assessment. a german broadcaster claims a note on a federal aviation authority file of andreas lubitz referred to an episode of mental illness. another unconfirmed report says

he'd scene a six-month break from flight training because of depression. police have seized some of his possessions. among them a computer. german transport minister has welcomed an agreement to introduce new safety measures including a provision that two crew members should be in the cockpit at all times. let's go over to the french alps now and join my colleague, tim willcox. >> reporter: joining me live in seynes-les-alps. this the helicopter command center, just a five-mile distance away from the actual crash scene itself. and although the focus of the world's attention hadss now shifted to germany and in particular what drove andreas lubitz -- >> well i'm sorry about that a slight problem there for tim, unfortunately. tim willcox, who's out in seynes-les-alps, where the recovery effort to bring back

not just debris but sadly, bodies as well for the relative who gathered down there in particular, around 300 relatives and friends of the victims are waiting for news for details. some have even provided their own dna, so that matches can be made to trace their loved ones. let's look at a picture from the -- effectively, the helicopter site really their main ops center very much a makeshift one, a few kilometers from the crash scene itself. as for the co-pilot andreas lubitz, of course a huge amount of activity taking place by police in the northern german town where he lives. anana holligan has been there throughout the night and the day and again through the night as police have come and gone. >> reporter: there still is significant police presence here

in this quiet cul-de-sac in montabauer. police reported a significant discovery at andreas lubitz' dusseldorf flat. they didn't go into detail but did say it was not a suicide note. investigators have uncovered indications of mental health problems. and that was reported on the front page here showing andrews lubitz. he used to jog around these streets. they refer to him as a mass murderer. that, of course is the suspicion referred to by the prosecutor in marseille. they also talk about a history of panic and anxiety attacks, depression, a history of mental illness and they say that he had psychological help weeks before the crash. another report here from the german broadcaster, reporting there was a note on andreas

lubitz' federal aviation authority file referring to an episode of mental illness, and this note reportedly recommends regular psychological assessment. and just one final report coming from the dutch telegraf today, that andreas lubitz crashed the plane into the same alpine mountainside where he loved to go gliding, where he'd been going gliding since he was 12 years old. all of these reports at the moment unconfirmed. the one piece of information we do have for sure is from andrews lubitz, the 27-year-old co-pilot's bosses at lufthansa. they say six years ago, he did, indeed, take time off their training and that was for a period of some time. they haven't given anymore details, but they say after that period, he returned to service. he underwent the required technical and psychological tests, and he was seen fit to get behind the controls once again of that aircraft. >> anna holligan there.

let's just have a look at some pictures we've got now. this is obviously close to where the plane crashed. that small town you see behind you, seynes-les-alps, these still pictures. just giving you a sense to the difficulty with which those rescue workers are having to cope. and a huge amount of debris still to be gathered up. they're winched down as you can see, effectively, from that picture, into the ravine. they then scour the area sorry to say, for body parts as much as anything else at the moment. still no sign of course as far as we understand, of the flight data recorder. the other black box, we know all about the voice recording and what that has unearthed to us how much of the story that has told. but it will be important for the investigators to be able to match that up with the flight data recorder, which they're still trying to locate.

they seem to be quite confident they will nonetheless, get that in due course. many questions to be answered about the co-pilot himself, of course, andreas lubitz and the word is coming through, filtering through from various different directions now, about the possibility of his own psychiatric problems and suggestions of depression a few years ago. one media report described it as possible burnout, when he stopped his training for a while. well a bit earlier, we were hearing from the aviation psychologist, professor robert moore. he spoke about the relationship that exists between pilots and co-pilots. >> when they first join an airline, they will have obviously, qualified as a pilot, and for at least a year they would have been flying with one other pilot, who would have been closely watching watching them in all of their maneuvers, watching their moves, getting to

know them understanding their temperament and so on. when they apply to an airline, they will go through a number of tests, these will be wide-ranging, to see how they react in certain situations mental awareness, spatial awareness and so on. and for some there will also be some tests around mental stability and psychological problems. and of course we must remember that airline pilots every day that they are at work they are sitting literally shoulder to shoulder with another pilot who's very closely watching all of their behavior all of their reactions, noticing if they're deviating in any way at all. and of course there are other people on the flight as well including before it departs the dispatcher sometimes even passengers who will notice the pilots as well. and the pilots are also subject to random drug and alcohol tests and so on. so scrutiny is at a very high

level. as we say, these are such rare events the likelihood of being able to detect incredibly rare events is very very small. i suspect that in the coming days, and i suspect that for those people who are already going over the personal life of this gentleman already have some ideas about what has gone on in his life. they will be poring over his e-mails, his texts, they will be interviewing people about his relationships. they'll be looking at his financial records, his health records, his aviation health records, and so much more about him. and through all of that they will be able to piece together a picture of what might have gone wrong here. however, you know, we need to be clear that in these very rare circumstances, there may always be great difficulty in being able to predict whether somebody the going to act in such a violent and destructive way. >> the views there of professor

robert bor. there's another story here that does relate to the airline industry, but in a completely different direction. a severe power outage in the dutch capital, amsterdam, has outages for schipol airport. the power loss was caused by failure at a high voltage power station just outside amsterdam. but the impact on schipol was considerable. all flights had to be grounded for a while. flights due to come in were being diverted to other airports as well. well the power has come back so flights are once again getting back to normal. italy east's highest appeals court is due to decide whether to uphold the conviction verdict

against amanda knox for the murder of meredith kercher. if uphold a lengthy extradition battle will begin for knox, who was allowed to return back to her home in seattle. well, gavin lee is in rome and he says the defendants are hoping that today's court ruling really will mark the end of the case for them. >> both amanda knox and raffaele sollecito are awaiting their fate today. we're told by lawyers of amanda knox, who's in the u.s. since she was acquitted four years ago, remember this case? the twists and turns since the first of november 2007 where meredith kercher was found dead in her house, her flat in perugia. she was sharing a house with amanda knox at the time. since then beth she and her former lover, raffaele sollecito have been convicted, acquitted, convicted again last year. on the one side we're told that amanda knox's lawyer does expect a ruling today. she's extremely apprehensive.

the appellate judges behind me this is the supreme court we've just seen the lawyers for raffaele sollecito arrive. he's arrived in court, the back way to avoid the press. the judges will have to decide are they happy are the reestablished verdict last year? if they are, that will be case closed. the ruling will be upheld. raffaele sollecito will be taken into custody. amanda knox we expect within a few weeks, there will be a request for her extradition from the u.s. if it goes the other way, if the judges are unhappy and there is questionable forensic evidence in this case which has led them to go back and forth, there could be another trial. >> wow, well it looks pretty clear for mr. sollecito, if they do uphold the case we know where that stands. as for talk of an extradition process, what chance gavin -- i mean, how likely are the united states going to be cooperating? >> well there is an agreement which goes back to the '80s and there's talk of certainly from

amanda knox's lawyers of a double jeopardy ruling affecting any attempt at extradition. the fact that you can't be tried twice in the u.s. actually, when you agree to an overriding agreement like this you apply italy's system which says, this is the same trial. regardless of verdict, you have to wait for a definitive ruling. ultimately, it will be an application from the ministry of justice here to the u.s. secretary of state because all the way to the obama administration. we've had a comment already from john kerry, secretary of state in recent weeks, saying he will do his duty. he will look at this if the conviction is upheld but not before then. >> yes, breaking news for you from nigeria. in fact, just ahead, the presidential elections and parliamentary there, but we've heard that this is coming from the nigerian defense department which says its military has recaptured the town of goza and that's the headquarters of the boca haram militant organization, we're told. a lot of terrorists as they

call them were killed according to a tweet by the defense headquarters mopping up operations, they describe them as going on at the moment. and you'll remember the 200 chibok schoolgirls who were taken by boca haram. it's understood they were held in goza but not clear if they were held up to the point where this attack had taken place or been moved from there at some point. but no mention of their whereabouts at the moment. well do stay with us here on bb world news because coming up shortly, we'll be reintroducing you to a man who's been around a while now, 15 years in power. vladimir pew tiputinputin, what keeps him so popular at home. so we go cheap. you know, because we're never gonna need it. until one day, we do. now that cut-rate policy is costing us big. makes you wonder if there's something better out there . see car insurance in a whole new

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book the hotel you want with the flight you want and we'll find the savings to get you there. this is bbc world eased. thanks for being with us. i'm david eades. reports from germany say that andreas lubitz the co-pilot believed to have deliberately crashed the passenger plane in

the french alps, has been recommended for regular psychological assessment. european airlines begin introducing new safety measures. among them a rule that two members of crew should be in the cockpit at all times. let's stay on this story. tim willcox is in seynes-les-alps, covering -- essentially, you're at the recovery end of things. i just wonder what are the relatives who have gathered what are they doing hour by hour? do they come back up as close as possible, to the site and just wait? >> reporter: well we've heard in the last hour a lot of them who came yesterday, there were some 300 yesterday, after touring the site having a service of remembrance for their family members who died in the crash, the majority of them went back to marseille last night, either to stay in marseille or

to go back to their home countries. we thought and we were told that more flights were being made available today for the victims' families to come but i've just been speaking to the deputy mayor of seynes-les-alps, and he said as far as he was aware, only four colombians were coming today to see the sight of the plane crash, to remember the colombian victims onboard. so that seems to be the process at the moment. but as far as the relatives who came yesterday, as i say, they came, some of them came here, to this helicopter command center. there was a small service. there were religious denominations represented there, including imams, catholic protestant, and other religious denominations as well. they prayed for a little. they spoke to the investigators. some of them gave dna samples. then they drove somewhere else for another service, listened to the german ambassador who apparently was very tearful as she explained the details about

what had happened this that crash on tuesday and then they left. and actually as far as they are concerned, having seen the crash site, there's not really very much more for them to do. if they'd given their dna samples, they know unfortunately, that this whole process is going to take many weeks. and the helicopters, which are landing here we are told are not bringing entire bodies, unfortunately, because of the force of the impact they are bringing human remains. this plane crashed into the mountainside 500 miles an hour. there's very little left of plane or indeed the passengers. >> i imagine the relatives really don't know what to do with themselves at this stage. tim, thank you very much, indeed. saudi arabia has carried out a second wave of air strikes in yemen against houthi rebels. we've just received more pictures. these are of a video released by the saudi press agency on their instagram account and it shows a saudi military jet bombing

yemen's rahaba airport. it comes as the saudi-led coalition forces carry on with their job, as they see it of softening up i suppose, the iranian-backed houthi rebels. joining me now from cairo is sally nabil, who was in yemen earlier in the month. the pictures tell their own stories, sally. obviously they're coming from the saudis but some direct hits they know what they're targeting. >> actually, there are mill targets for this air strike campaign but there are also some civilian targets. i don't mean by that, that the saudis are persistently targeting civilians, but there is collateral damage. there are concerns that civilian lives are being lost because of this air strike. what we understand is that some of the residents in sanaa have already fled and they went to nearby villages seeking a safer shelter. yes, the saudis are targeting the military bases of the houthi

shia rebels but they have also hit some residential buildings, which resulted in some civilian casualties. and so far, the saudis seem to be very determined to carry on with their air strikes, at least to try to curb the advance of the houthis. perhaps these air strikes will not close from the result of the current crisis from a military perspective, was perhaps it can advise the houthis to go back to dialogue. >> that's an interesting point, isn't it? president hadi of the saudis say, president hadi requested the military assistance. he's not in the country, we understand. he's in riyadh. any prospect of him returning, do we know? >> reporter: actually he's in riyadh pretending took to the egyptian resort of charmalsheik.

they're aware clashes between the houthi rebels and some few military units who are loyal and two support president hadi. so the fact that the president might be able to go back to his country is highly doubted at the moment. >> sally, thank you very much. sally nabil in cairo. now, heavy rains, and i mean heavy, have brought torrential floods and mud slides to parts of peru and chile, including the atacama desert one of the dryingest regions of the world. take a look at these pictures they are pretty grim. several people have been killed homes have been washed away thousands of people have no electricity or even clean water. and the whole cleanup is being hampered quite simply by the

scale of the destruction. i mean that shows how much water is in the streets, but absolute torrents and mud slides as well in the area. it was 15 years ago that vladimir putin came to power, confirmed as the president of russia after boras yeltsin's resignation and elections. this week russia's main polling agency measured his support rating, 85%. that's after 15 years. sarah rainsford has more. >> reporter: a powerful image of a leader still strong after 15 years. when vladimir putin first became president, this pair were too young to vote, but now they're among his biggest fans. their design headquarters looks like an internet start-up or a pr firm but the brand they're promoting here is president putin. so fashionable, they say, people even want to wear him.

>> translator: it's because he's a strong leader. i would say the strongest in the world. with yeltsin, i was ashamed he ran my country. but putin represents strength. that's important. i'm not ashamed anymore. >> vladimir putin cut a very different figure than his ailing predecessor. the ex-spy was cast as a matchcho man of action from the very start. stunts like this helped his support ratings soar over 80%. but it's driven by policy, too. like the annexation of crimea from ukraine, condemned as an illegal takeover by the west, here it's seen as a triumph. 15 years after he first came to power here, vladimir putin remains so popular, that young designers actually choose to print his face on clothes like this. the reason that many russians give for mr. putin's enduring appeal is the fact that he's given them back a sense of national pride. so even chocolates are political

these days. mocking western sanctions of ukraine and encouraging buyers to eat the heads of state behind them. a long economic slump could well reduce support for mr. putin, but so far, many blame the west for that and not their president. >> well, of course we earn less, but we don't care, since it's a question of our world country. >> state tv plays a major role shaping those views. dmitry is a rare critic on the airways these days. he argues that's key to mr. putin's popularity. people just don't see any alternative. >> 90% of russian receive information mainly from the tv shows. about 55% of russians receive information only from television. >> reporter: and so vladimir putin's reign continues and here

they told me they'd be quite happy to see him running russia for another 15 years. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. time to remind you of our breaking news this bulletin. nigerian military say they've destroyed the boko haram headquarters, killing several extremists. thanks for watching bbc world news.

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hello. i'm david eades with bbc world news. our top stories. reports from germany say andreas lubitz, the co-pilot believed to have deliberately crashed a passenger plane in the french alps suffered from psychological illness. european airlines began introducing new safety measures including a rule that two crew members should be in the cockpit at all times. war planes from a saudi-led coalition have carried out another night of heavy bombing against houthi rebels in yemen. and italy's highest appeals court is to decide whether to uphold the guilty verdict

against amanda knox and raffaele sollecito for the murder of the british student, meredith kercher, in 2007. hello and thanks for joining us. german media say the pilot who apparently crashed an airliner into a mountain deliberately had been recommended for regular psychological assessment. the german broadcaster says that a note on his file refers to an episode of mental illness. another unconfirmed report says he had taken a six-month break from flight training because of depression. police have seized some of his possessions, including a computer. in france a major recovery operation continues at the crash

site near the town of seance seynes-les-alps seynes-les-alps. the grim task of recovering the 150 bodies is underway. search teams are still looking for the second black box flight data recorder as andy moore reports. >> investigators say they now know why the plane crashed, but what was inside the mind of the co-pilot, andreas lubitz, remains a mystery. there are reports about depression, about a broken relationship, but nothing has been confirmed. in germany, police have been searching the home he shared with his parents. they took away computer equipment and other items. it's reported they made a significant discovery, but it's not known what that might be. at his flat in dusseldorf, another search with more items taken away. >> translator: the french authorities have issued a request for an investigation into the dusseldorf prosecutor to ask the police to search the pilot's apartment. that means that we have with five investigators searched the flat for clues as to why the

pilot could have done this. >> captain, here is your water. >> reporter: in america, there's a so-called rule of two regulation. if one pilot leaves the cockpit, a flight attendant must step in to make sure the other pilot is never left alone. in europe, there are no overarching rules. some airlines already have a two-person policy. they include ryan air, flybe, and jet2. other airlines such as easyjet, monarch, and thomas cook say thaw will implement one as soon as possible. initially, lufthansa, the parent company of germanwings, says there was no need to review its security measures. but the german airline regulator is meeting today and change may be forced on the company. andy moore, bbc news. >> well the german transport minister has welcomed an agreement to introduce new safety measures. among them a provision that two members of crew should be in the cockpit at any given time. that's already standard

procedure in the united states and by some airlines we should say. the crash itself raising serious issues about safety on passenger aircraft and also about the vetting of air crews. our transport correspondent, richard westkoth reports on the investigation and the questions now perping the industry. >> the bulletproof door brought in after 9/11 to stop terrorists from getting out kept a passenger from getting in. it's a scenario no one wants to even think about, a pilot deliberately crashing a plane. but how can it be in the space of ten minutes, the captain of this flight was unable to stop his colleague, apparently flying this aircraft into the ground. trapped on the wrong side, the captain or cabin crew can use a keypad to buzz the cockpit. in an emergency, there is a way to override the system, but it's all useless if whoever's inside wants to keep you out.

the man at the controls andreas lubitz, had been vetted with a psychological test. clearly it didn't work. having flown together earlier that morning, even his experienced colleague saw nothing wrong. >> i flew in that sector that morning from dusseldorf to barcelona. so the pilot would have felt fairly comfortable and felt competent enough to leave the flight deck. >> reporter: we spent decades making the plane safe now one pilot's union says we should concentrate on the crew. >> we need to understand the human being better how they're selected, how they're trained, how the reporting culture in aviation works. if anyone is showing signs or are worrying they can be reported to the authorities. >> reporter: easyjet virgin and thomas cook are among many airlines changing their rules tonight, so that two people are in the cockpit all the time.

luf luft luf hans a might join them. >> i repeated in english without any doubt, my firm confidence in the selection of our pilots in the training of our pilots, and in the qualification of our pilots and the work of our pilots has not been touched by this single tragedy. >> reporter: the french authorities seem convinced they know what happened on this mountainside. they may never know why. richard wescott, bbc news. i just want to bring you some breaking news the very latest on the lubitz case if i can call it that. this is coming from the associated press news agency quoting german prosecutors as saying that there are indications that the germanwings co-pilot in other words, andreas lubitz hid his illness from employers.

we had heard earlier that there was a medical condition noted in his pilot's certificate, but that the latest here from german prosecutors would suggest that lubitz had been hiding his illness from employers. we don't have that confirmed yet, but it is the latest sign and it's attributed to german prosecutors. we'll keep across that for you, of course. there's been a second night of air strikes by saudi-led coalition against houthi rebels in yemen. the raids targeted rebel military positions in urban centers in the east of the country. in an interview with the bbc's olick guerin the foreign minister has said that air strikes by this saudi-led coalition should come to an end as soon as possible. >> it's only things which we have been forced to request. because of what happens

happening on the ground when the houthi rebels are using the airplanes to attack agents so the air strikes, i think if they can in the coming few days it will be stop. >> so you see this being a short campaign rather than a prolonged one. >> yeah, a short sharp campaign. it's not something we really happy about. nobody's happy about that. that's what the institution is. but do you think you can succeed without troops on the ground? can you really stop this houthi advance from the air? >> yes, i think, somehow, if they -- i mean understand, the meaning of this strike and the ability to realize that they should come for negotiation and not to be alone in yemen and

overtaking everything in yemen, then i think things will be much more regional. >> iraqi forces are continuing their battle against islamic state militants in the northern iraqi city of tikrit as part of the final phase of an offensive aimed at recapturing what is saddam hussein's hometown from the extremists. raker helicopters as well as soldiers topped several vehicles. the same machine guns and rocket launches towards targets in the city. on wednesday, the u.s. began air strikes in tikrit supporting what it calls a stalled iraqi ground offensive to retake the city. the bombing itself marking a significant expansion of america's military role in iraq. i just want to recap that breaking news we brought you a moment ago. and that is the associated press news agency quoting german

prosecutors, saying there were indications that the germanwings co-pilot andreas lubitz hid his illness from employers. they also added, according to ap there was no inside note found or a claim of responsibility, but those are the latest lines coming out of germany. south korea has called on the north to release two of its citizens detained by pyongyang, on suspicion of spying. the two men appeared to have confessed to spying dur inging during a north korean news conference. well, state media say the men have been are upping an underground church. officials in south korea demand their immediate return. >> reporter: it's impossible to know exactly when these men were aced. it seems in the case of one of them, it may have been back in december. they have both been now been produced in this press conference in pyongyang. they both confessed to being spies for south korea, though it's impossible to verify the

circumstances in which those confessions were made. a spokesman for north korea say they were enemies of the people and in the service of the united states and the puppet's traitoroustrait traitorous regime by which they mean the regime of south korea in seoul. these two men seem to have gone into north korea through the border with china. this northern border of north korea is now becoming a big problem for the authorities in pyongyang. south korea denies vehemently that they were spies for the authorities here though they did admit that they were citizens of south korea. either way, these captured men now add another level of tension between relations between north and south. on top of the ongoing development of nuclear weapons in pyongyang, there is also the

issue at the moment of joint military exercises here in the south, involving south korean troops and american troops. maneuvers which north korea says amount to preparations for an invasion. now, here in britain -- are both claiming victory after david cameron and ed miliband appeared in the first of a series of tv election programs. the labor opposition leader insisted he was tough and shouldn't be underestimated while the prime minister said he had got the economy growing and under his government though he admitted he hadn't achieved everything he set out to. russ hawkins has more. >> there was something of a prize fighter entrance for them both. waiting inside a veteran skaper, and ed miliband who came to play the hard band. >> am i tough enough? hell yes, i'm tough enough.

>> reporter: it became a rather personal battle about him and his critics. >> they see you as a north london geek. >> who cares? who cares? who does? >> reporter: personal questions, too, in front of an audience about the brother who he beat to the labor leadership. >> in what way is it hard? >> it was bruising. i mean, you know, it was bruising for me it was bruising for david. it's healed or healing, i would say. >> you promised the last election -- >> for the prime minister a different challenge. a record to defend. >> there are 700,000 people on zero hours contract. could you live on one? >> i -- look, as i said -- >> could you live on one? >> i want to create a country where more people have the opportunity of the full-time work that they want. >> reporter: the government had changed the law on zero hours contracts, he said. >> the question is -- >> reporter: after the debate comes the spin where the politicians try to convince the

journalists somewhere in that huddle that they won. you go past the politicians, past the journalists, past the spin doctors, you go past the moderator of the space, and just over there, williams hayes from the government spinning on the conservative side as well. >> if there are organizations -- >> reporter: a poll on their performance forput david cameron ahead by eight points. the scrutiny of ed miliband's character and the prime minister's record far from complete. >> and plenty of scrutiny still to come of course. do stay with us here on bbc world news. coming up in a moment i want to bridge you some amazing pictures of heavy rain torrential floods mud slides. this is peru and chile. we'll explain more about this. i have a wandering eye. i mean, come on. national gives me the control to choose any car in the aisle i want. i could choose you... or i could choose her if i like her more.

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you're watching bbc world news. i'm david eades. the latest headlines. police in germany are analyzing possessions taken from the homes of andreas lubitz the pilot who it's thought deliberately crashed the passenger jet into the french alps, germanwings plane. european airlines have begun introducing new safety measures including a rule that two crew members should be in the cockpit at any given time. nigerian military says it has recaptured the town of goza and that's believed to be the headquarters of the infamous group, boca harper. it has been suggested that the 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from chibok had been kept there, but there's been no indication of their fate following this military operation. defense hq is due to brief shortly with more on that story, but we can get the latest from

the nigerian capital. bozeman suleman joins us. so can we be sure this has actually happened? >> well i think we can be sure it has happened because the information was released by the nigerian defense headquarters through their twitter account. and they're said they have recaptured the town of gwoza this morning. in the process, they have killed many of the militants and captured some of -- some others. now, it is believed that the 200 or over 200 missing the girls that were abducted in the town of chibok almost a year ago have been held in the town of gwoza. gwoza is the headquarters of the boko haram militants. but still there is no word from the militants on the whereabouts of these abducted chibok girls. >> i just wonder how significant this is in terms of a breakthrough. because, obviously, on the surface of it this is a big

deal. >> i think it is a very big -- i mean it has very big significance in the war here in nigeria. over the last six weeks, the military have launched an offensive, and during that offensive, they seem to have recaptured a vast number of areas that have been captured by boko haram. and gwoza is one of the three main areas that remain to be captured. gwoza being the headquarters of the militant groups where we believe a number of the leaders of boko haram are living i think it's significant if the military has recaptured this town, and we believe that through the information they have released because that's how they have to release the information to the public. that this town has now been recaptured by the military. if you remember the nigerian president, goodluck jonathan said a couple of days ago, that he believes that gwoza will be captured today, friday morning, and now the military has confirmed that it has recaptured

gwoza. >> mansour, it will escape nobody's attentions that the elections are, what a day away? >> the elections are a day away indeed. today the the eve of the elections, and all campaigns have stopped and the various leaders, for parties, the ruling people the democratic party, and the old progressive congress party are all now heading back to their towns and villages in order to cast their votes tomorrow. and many nigerians official live in abuja where they have now registered are heading back home to cast their votes. >> thank you so much for the latest on that breaking news. heavy rains have brought some torrential floods and mud slides to parts of peru and kill ly chile, including the atacama desert, one of the driest regions of the world. several people have been killed in this latest flooding. homes have been washed away.

thousands are without electricity or water. bill hayden reports. >> reporter: the scale of the flooding has been difficult to believe in southwestern peru it almost submerged in bridge. further north, the rain brought down this landslide, right in front of emergency workers, the country's president has declared a state of emergency here with roads blocked, communities are cut off and supplies is are running low. further south in neighboring chile, the rain is still causing trouble. the capital of the atacama region normally one of the driest places on earth. it normally gets about a centimeter of rain a year. not this year. it's taken the authorities completely by surprise. >> since yesterday morning, until today, we've been calling, calling, calling, there is no chance of help from anyone. we don't see even any vehicle on the road. so right now, i'm surrounded by

mud. >> some help is getting through, so helicopters are the only way to get around and they're overwhelmed. here they rescue people trapped in a collapsing house. this water should have fallen as snow, high up in the mountains. instead, because the weather is unusually warm it's falling as rain. the storms have been the heaviest for at least 80 years. meanwhile, other parts of chile are suffering from drought. the chaotic weather is testing the country's resilience and forecasters say it could get even worse in the next few months. >> that's pretty frightening stuff as well. with me is the bbc weather presenter, darren bet. can you explain a little bit on why it's so wet here? >> if we take peru first of all, the main reason for the heavy rain here is the south american convergence zone. that's where winds from the north meet winds from the south. the only way tech go is up as

it condenses and forms clouds and produces very heavy rain. this convergence zone moves north and south across the continent, a bit like it does across africa. but for the atacama, which the rain here is much more unusual, much more extreme. and what we have here we have some warm, moist air that was drawn down from the tropics. up aloft, you have some cold air. so that's a recipe again for instability, for the air to rise to produce some big showers, because there's nothing to move these showers on what they were doing, they were backbuilding. so you get a shower forming, as it decayed, it formed another one just behind it. so you had a succession of showers, falling in roughly the same area for a long length of time producing the pictures that we're seeing here. >> which as you point out, is something exceptionally, extraordinary, in a desert area. why normally is it so dry? >> it's the driest desert in the world. it's 150 times drier than death

valley. >> not today it isn't. >> no. not today. it's virtually lyly lyly lyly rainless. there are some places that have never recorded any rain. we don't get rain there normally. no moisture comes from either of the two oceans which is why it's -- what we're seeing now is the heaviest rain for 80 years. >> and we see this as a one-off and we'll return to desperately arid normal? >> yes, there are still some showers around on friday but then things are getting back to normal and you would expect to see no rain at all. >> darren thanks very much indeed. a severe power outage in the dutch capital of amsterdam -- that's not the capital, it's the main city not the hague, but nevertheless, it has severely disrupted flights in and out of the main airport, schipol airport, the fifth largest in europe. the electricity administrator says the power loss affected the last part of north holland province, was caused by failure

and a high-voltage power station in the town of demon outside amster dan. but this is where so much of the trouble emerged. flights having to be grounded for those wanting to get away and those coming in had to be diverted to other airports. we know now that power has been returned to the airport, flights are beginning to get back to normal. we've got time to bring you right up to date with the breaking news on the situation regarding the germanwings flight and in particular the co-pilot andreas lubitz. we've heard in the last few minutes, german prosecutors are quoted as saying that there were certainly indications that lubitz was hiding an illness from his employer. no sign of a suicide note or claim of responsibility, but in reference to hiding his illness, it seems that there was a sick note in his apartment that had been found, that had been found torn up, and it was a sick note which would have given him leave

of absence on the day of that flight. that's come from our correspondent in germany, jenny hill. those are the latest details. the german transport muensterinister has been speaking as well. >> >> i think the idea is basically a correct one. this will make sure that a situation of the pilot being locked out will not be that simple. we are in intensive talks with the airlines also at european levels with further measures to be taken. i think it's right that the airlines themselves come up with their proposals and tell us what they want to change. that's the right way to go forward. >> that's the bigger picture. just to remind you, in terms of the detail about andreas lubitz prosecutors making it clear that they found a sick note in his

apartment, there was a sick note for an absence on the day of the flight, we understand. that note has been torn up. hence, prosecutors saying there are indications that lubitz was hiding an illness from his employer. thanks for watching bbc world news.

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picard: captain's log, stardate 46682.4. the enterprise is docked at the remmler array where it will undergo a routine procedure to eliminate accumulated baryon particles.