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Germanwings co-pilot crashed plane deliberately: prosecutor
Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately locked his partner out of the cockpit in order to steer the plane into a mountain, killing all 150 people on board, French prosecutor Brice Robin said Thursday. The Airbus A320 lost contact with flight control en route to Dusseldorf from Barcelona as it descended from cruising altitude into the French Alps on Tuesday. Officials have been trying to piece together what happened ever since. The commander left the cockpit, Robin said, and was unable to gain access. According to information taken from the plane’s black box, Lubitz went silent after the commander left, and, as the plane approached the mountainside, pounding could be heard, presumably on the cockpit door, and passengers could be heard screaming. [Source: National Post]
U.S. begins air strikes against Islamic State in Tikrit
The United States of America has begun its air assault on Islamic State militants in Tikrit, Iraq, according to reports. The strike came after a plea for help from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi following a stalled ground offensive, backed by Iran. This marks the first time the U.S. air-strike campaign has gotten involved in Tikrit. An Associated Press correspondent reported hearing warplanes and multiple explosions overnight on Wednesday in Tikrit, a city military officials hope to take from IS. [Source: BBC]
Francis Bacon is a pot-bellied pig that wants to drink your beer
Francis Bacon is a four-year-old miniature pig that has free reign of the Conquering Hero, a South London pub. The thing is, Bacon, a pot-bellied pig, began accepting drinks from people. Beers and ciders were Bacon’s fancy. The pig’s plunge into debauchery and drunkenness became apparent after his owners regularly found him stumbling around butting into people. An intervention was needed for the “loveable menace.” The owners of the pub and Bacon have now asked patrons of the Conquering Hero to refrain from enabling the lush of a pig roaming the floor, seeking just one more sip. [Source: Death and Taxes]
Video: woman sees rare lynx in Ontario, calls to it
Here’s a video of a woman in Terrace Bay, Ontario encountering the rarely-seen wild lynx then calling to it as if it was a domesticated housecat.
T-rex soft tissue discovered, has Jurassic Park potential
Scientists have recovered 70 million-year-old soft tissue from a Tyrannosaurus rex, potentially giving them access, for the first time ever, to blood vessels and cells. Until now, researchers have been limited to fossilized bones. This discovery in Montana means new details of the species will emerge, and there’s a whisper that scientists may be able isolate Tyrannosaurus DNA from the tissue much like John Hammond’s team did in the 1993 film “Jurassic Park.” [Source: NBCNews]
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