Ethiopian Airlines crash and Baghdad bombings dominate headlines

It will take a long time in Lebanon to get over this tragedy, says the French-language Lebanese daily, l’Orient le Jour. Lebanon is a small country of just 10,000 m2. It’s likely that everyone knew at least 1 person who was on the plane.

The paper says several Lebanese pilots have cast doubt on the official explanation for the crash: bad weather. If the weather was the cause of the crash, the pilots on board would have had to make an inordinate amount of errors for the plane to go down. There are rumours that a Hezbollah member was on board the plane but no one has confirmed this.

Other stories in the today’s international papers:

International Herald Tribune: “Dozens die in three Baghdad blasts”

The Independent: “Blair’s £200,000 hedge fund pay-day”

The Guardian: Eyewitness photo of Heinz Zak,the first highliner atop Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze. The technique, unlike tightrope walking uses a slackline.
There are more photos on the Daily Mail’s website.

The Guardian: The G2 section gives a list of 25 reasons to be cheerful.

San Francisco Chronicle and D-listed: P Diddy’s son Justin Dior celebrates his 16th birthday with just a little bling.