@Bearfoil
IMHO the suggested catastrophic failure of the THS is over-reaching. Such a failure of control surface would result in well documented "smoking gun" errors. Furthermore the a/c response to control inputs appears to have been reasonable considering the stall condition and weather. For a brief description of THS check out Section 5 the A330 brochure
here.
@Wallybird7
Thunder and lightning comments are IMHO of less merit. The primary threat here is convection (up/down draft, shearing resulting in excessive strain to the airframe and disruption to flight path/attitude) and precipitation (causing icing on the airframe and affecting thrust). Lightning can occur many miles away from the convective storm and can be independent event. Lightning strike on a/c is a very rare and generally benign event.