European media report mobile phone with horrific video of Germanwings crash found

A mobile phone with a nightmarish video of the final moments of Germanwings Flight 9525 was reportedly found in the wreckage, according to German newspaper Bild (website screenshot below) and France's Paris Match magazine, CNN reported, but investigators later claimed the existence of such a video was untrue.

The US cable news network, CNN, reported that Paris Match reported the mobile phone video included the sound of people crying "My God" in several languages.

The two publications said they had obtained the video from a source close to the investigation, but did neither of them posted it on their websites.

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Turkey hostage drama ends in deadly shoot-out

A senior Turkish prosecutor and his two hostage-takers were killed on Tuesday when security forces launched an operation to free the official in a bloody end to a six-hour standoff in Istanbul.

Two radical leftist militants had earlier taken the Istanbul prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz hostage in his office, putting a gun to his head and threatening to kill him if their demands were not met.

Their demands related to the investigation Kiraz was leading into the killing of teenager Berkin Elvan, who died in March last year after spending 269 days in a coma from injuries inflicted by police in anti-government protests in the summer of 2013.

The authorities initially tried negotiating with the captors on a hugely tense day in Turkey's largest city, which also suffered a major power cut. But they decided to launch an operation to free the prosecutor when gunfire was heard in their mobile phone communications with the captors.

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Photo goes viral of Syrian child who mistakes photographer's camera for a gun

A photo of a four-year-old Syrian girl who thought the photographer's camera was a gun is breaking hearts across the Internet.

The child, who has her arms raised in surrender, was snapped by Turkish photographer Osman Sagirli at the Atmen refugee camp on Syria's border with Turkey last December and went viral this week after being shared on social media.

"I'm actually weeping seeing this. We've made this planet a horrible place, haven't we?", said one commenter, as another said: "We are failing the younger generations and those still to come. SHAME ON US."

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Brief moon eclipse coming April 4, visible in Asia

A brief total eclipse of the Moon may be visible on April 4 to skywatchers in western North America, Australia and East Asia, astronomers say.

The phenomenon occurs when the Sun, Earth and Moon are lined up so that the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow.

Unlike in the case of a solar eclipse, which requires skywatchers to wear protective equipment to protect their eyes, a lunar eclipse can be observed with the naked eye, or a pair of binoculars for a better view.

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Football: It's Manchester United or no-one, says Dortmund's Hummels

Manchester United-target Mats Hummels has said if he ever transfers abroad it will only be to the Red Devils after telling Borussia Dortmund he is weighing up his future options.

Borussia's captain, 26, has a Dortmund contract until 2017, but has long been courted by United, whose current manager Louis van Gaal is looking for a defensive leader with the English giants poised to table a bid, according to UK media reports.

Germany centre-back Hummels told Monday's edition of German magazine Kicker that he "often thinks about moving abroad", but gave Tuesday's edition of German daily Bild a far stronger indication of his Manchester thoughts.

"If I was to transfer abroad at some stage, then it would only be to Manchester United," Hummels is reported to have said.

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