Train Crash Driver Not Answering Questions

The driver held by police after a train derailed in northwestern Spain has refused to answer questions, authorities have confirmed.

A spokesman for the National Police said the driver "has refused to answer police authorities" and added the case will now "proceed to a judicial process as soon as possible".

Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, 52, was arrested in the hospital where he is recovering after the crash which killed 78 passengers and injured another 130.

Galicia region police chief, Jaime Iglesias, earlier said Garzon would be questioned "as a suspect for a crime linked to the cause of the accident" and said he had been arrested for "recklessness".

Francisco Jose Garzon Amo pictured after the crash

He is being guarded by police in hospital, although his condition is understood not to be serious.

Pictures and video footage have emerged of him being led away from the crash scene with his head covered in blood.

The train's black box recorder has been retrieved from the wreckage near Santiago de Compostela.

Early indications suggested the train may have been travelling at more than twice the speed limit at the time of the crash on Wednesday night.

The eight-carriage train came off the tracks on a bend, hit a wall and caught fire just outside the city - a pilgrimage destination for Roman Catholics.

The train entered the bend at 190km per hour (120mph), according to local media reports. The speed limit on the curve was 80km per hour (50mph).

Mr Garzon boasted about speeding on his Facebook page

Spanish media revealed that immediately after the derailment Garzon allegedly said to officials at the railway station 3km from the crash: "I ****** up, I want to die. So many people dead, so many people dead."

El Pais newspaper quoted him as telling rail officials: "I was going at 190! I hope no one died because it will weigh on my conscience."

He is also thought to have boasted on his Facebook page about how fast he was driving a train in March last year.

The driver posted a picture of a train speedometer at 200km per hour (124mph) on the social networking site. His Facebook page has since been blocked.

There was a second driver on the train, but it is believed Garzon was the only driver at the time.

He is understood to have taken control of the train from a second driver about 65 miles (104km) south of Santiago de Compostela.

Two investigations are being carried out into the catastrophe - one to look into possible failings by the driver and the other to examine the train's in-built speed regulation systems and see if it was a technical malfunction that meant the driver was not warned of the reduced speed limit around the bend.

A truck hauls one of the damaged carriages from the scene of the crash

Many questions remain unanswered about what went wrong, with some experts claiming that high speed alone would not explain the crash and speculation that the train's braking systems might have failed.

State train company Renfe said Garzon had been at the firm for 30 years and he had been driving trains for more than a decade.

He became an assistant driver in 2000 and a fully qualified driver in 2003.

Garzon is understood to have been on the Madrid to Ferrol service, on which the crash happened, for a year, after undergoing training specific to that line.

Medical experts are attempting to identify six of the 78 dead. DNA tests are expected to be carried out on those with catastrophic injuries.

Victims of the crash included a US citizen and a Mexican. At least one British citizen and four children were among the 130 people injured.

Some 31 of those in hospital are still critically ill.

Spanish newspaper El Pais has revealed details of a dramatic WhatsApp conversation between one of the survivors trapped in the train wreck and her husband.

At 8.45pm local time, the woman sent messages saying she had been in an accident and was "crushed".

Hospital staff hold a minute's silence

After what her husband described as "the longest five minutes of my life", she sent another message saying "I'm safe".

The 46-year-old woman escaped with minor injuries to her legs and has already been discharged from hospital. 

Video footage from a security camera showed the train, which had 247 people on board, hurtling into a concrete wall at the side of the track.

The impact was so huge one carriage flew several metres into the air and landed on the other side of a concrete barrier.

The Alvia 730 series train was travelling from Madrid to the port city of Ferrol when it crashed about 8.40pm local time - 7.40pm UK time - on Wednesday.

Gonzalo Ferre, president of the rail infrastructure company Adif, said the driver should have started slowing the train 2.5 miles before reaching a dangerous bend.

People applaud after a minute's silence in Santiago de Compostela

The crash occurred on the eve of a major Christian religious festival honouring St James, the disciple of Jesus whose remains are said to rest in a shrine.

Many of the dead or injured were believed to be Catholic pilgrims converging on the city.

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who was born in Santiago de Compostela, visited the scene of the crash on Thursday and declared three days of official mourning across the country.

King Juan Carlos also visited one of the hospitals where many passengers are being treated.

The train crash is the worst Spain has experienced since a three-train accident in a tunnel in the northern Leon province in 1944.

Due to heavy censorship at the time, the exact death toll for the Torre del Bierzo disaster has never been established. The official figure was given as 78 dead, but it is thought that as many as 250 could have been killed.

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Putin Lands Giant Pike In Fishing Trip

Vladimir Putin has landed a giant pike on a recent weekend trip to Siberia, the Kremlin said, in the latest stunt by the Russian president.

The Kremlin said Mr Putin was joined on the trip by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and both men were pictured in a relaxed mood during the weekend fishing expedition.

Mr Putin, 60, often resorts to outdoor stunts to prop up his ratings.

The recent photos showed the Russian president fishing, driving a motorboat and patting reindeers.

Earlier this month Vladimir Putin dived to the bottom of the Baltic Sea

The Kremlin said the pike weighed 21kg (46lb) and was shared with Mr Medvedev.

The two were shown in a video talk casually on a boat and smile as they drank tea together.

Some observers saw the expedition and resulting images as an attempt to prove Russia's top two remain unified despite reports of growing strains.

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Egypt: 'Dozens Killed' As Rallies Turn Violent

At least 70 people have been killed when security forces attacked a protest by supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo, according to the Muslim Brotherhood.

"They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill," said Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad said, adding that demonstrators had been hit by gunshot in the head and chest.

The violence broke as rival rallies were held across Egypt for and against the overthrow of Mr Morsi, who is under investigation for murder.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians heeded a call by army chief General Abdel Fattah al Sisi to take to the streets, while the Muslim Brotherhood mounted counter-demonstrations in Cairo.

Protesters set off flares in a mass protest in support of the army in Cairo

There were heavy exchanges of gunfire in the early hours of Saturday between security forces and supporters of Mr Morsi.

The MENA state news agency, quoting an unnamed security official, reported that nine people had been killed in the violence and at least 200 wounded.

A spokeswoman for the pro-Morsi camp said eight Brotherhood supporters had died in a clash near the Cairo vigil alone, and another said rooftop snipers had opened fire.

An Apache helicopter flies over Tahrir Square during the protests

Earlier it was reported that five people had died in Egypt's second city of Alexandria, where hundreds of people fought pitched battles, with birdshot fired and men on rooftops throwing stones at crowds below.

Several of those killed were stabbed, hospital officials said, and at least one was shot in the head.

The investigation into Mr Morsi over his 2011 escape from jail has signalled a clear escalation in the military's confrontation with the deposed leader and his Islamist movement.

Protesters stand on power lines near Cairo's presidential palace

MENA said Mr Morsi, who has been held at an undisclosed military facility since his overthrow, had been ordered detained for 15 days pending the inquiry.

Egypt's army-installed interior minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, said month-old Cairo vigils by Mr Morsi's supporters would be "brought to an end, soon and in a legal manner".

An army official said the military had given the party a Saturday deadline to end its resistance and join a military-set roadmap to fresh elections.

Lasers are pointed at an army helicopter near the palace

But the Brotherhood says it wants nothing to do with the army's transition plan and called its own crowds out for counter-demonstrations in a "day to remove the coup".

Mr Morsi has been in military detention at an undisclosed location since he was overthrown.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon has called on the military to free Mr Morsi and other Islamic Brotherhood leaders, said deputy UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey.

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At Least 47 Dead After China Earthquake

A strong earthquake has struck in China killing at least 47 people and injuring 81, according to the local government.

The quake hit near the city of Dingxi in Gansu province, a region of mountains, desert and pastureland with a population of 26 million.

That makes it one of China's more lightly populated provinces, although the Dingxi area has a greater concentration of farms and towns with a total population of about 2.7 million.

The deaths and injuries were reported in Min County and other rural southern parts of Dingxi municipality, the provincial government said in a statement posted on its official microblog.

Residents described shaking windows and swinging lights but only minor damage and little panic.

Shaking was felt in the provincial capital of Lanzhou 110 miles north, and as far away as Xi'an, 250 miles to the east.

"You could see the chandeliers wobble and the windows vibrating and making noise, but there aren't any cracks in the walls," said a front desk clerk at the Wuyang Hotel in Zhang County, about 25 miles from the epicentre.

"Shop assistants all poured out onto the streets when the shaking began."

The quake was shallow, which can be more destructive. Officials said it struck about 12.4 miles beneath the surface, while the Gansu provincial earthquake administration said it was just 3.7 miles deep.

Dingxi is about 766 miles west of Beijing.

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Woman's Disbelief At Jail Term After 'Rape'

A Norwegian woman has expressed her disbelief at a 16-month jail sentence handed down to her in Dubai after she reported she had been raped.

Marte Dalelv, 24, told police she was attacked by her male colleague, but was herself charged with extra-marital sex, drinking alcohol and filing a false statement.

The Norwegian government has condemned the verdict and talks have taken place between Norway's foreign minister Espen Barth Eide and his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The alleged incident occurred on March 6 when Ms Dalelv, who works for an interior design firm in Qatar, was on a work trip with a group of colleagues in Dubai.

On the last day of the business trip she joined them for drinks, and later asked one of her male colleagues to escort her up to her hotel room.

Speaking to Reuters she described what she alleges happened next.

"(He was) trying to convince me to come in to his room and again I said 'no' and that's when he start pulling my bag trying to drag me to his room," she said.

Dubai is known as a tourist hotspot, but the city has strict laws

"So I just thought I need to calm the situation down, so I walked in with him and I sat down and wanted to drink my bottle of water; I thought I would finish this water and find my room by myself. That's the last thing I remember.

"And the following morning I woke up on my stomach, my clothes were off and I was being raped."

Following the alleged incident, Ms Dalelv immediately went down to the hotel reception and asked them to call the police.

A group of policemen arrived and took a statement from Ms Dalelv and the alleged rapist, before they were both taken to the Bur Dubai police station.

She was then held for four days in a Dubai prison until contact was made with the Norwegian consulate and her bail was arranged. However her passport is still being held by authorities.

"If I did not call the police he (her alleged attacker) will be still free but then I also wouldn't be in this situation," said Ms Dalelv who has been staying at the Norwegian Seaman's Centre in Dubai.

She now faces three charges - sex outside of marriage, the illegal consumption of alcohol and giving a false statement to the police. She is appealing against the sentence.

Her alleged attacker has also received a sentence of a year in prison. However Ms Dalelv did not know if he has appealed.

Ms Dalelv said she was disappointed with the way the judicial system in Dubai deals with rape cases.

"I am very surprised. We have a DNA report, we have a medical report and we have a witness. It is also being clarified and it has been proved that he has been lying the whole time in court in front of the judge and still they did not believe me, that was very shocking," she said.

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Ohio Bodies: Suspect 'Fascinated' By Killer

Police investigating the discovery of three bodies wrapped in plastic bags in Ohio say there could be one or two more victims yet to be found in the case.

Convicted sex offender Michael Madison remains in custody after being questioned in relation to the bodies. The 35-year-old is set to be formally charged later on Monday.

Police Chief Ralph Spotts told volunteers checking around 40 vacant houses for further victims to be alert for smells of rotting during their searches.

He added Mr Madison had not been very specific on whether there could be more victims. 

Suspect Michael Madison is arrested by police (Pic: NBC)

"He really hasn't stated that there's any more, but he hasn't said anything that would make us think that there's not," Chief Spotts said.

During police interviews, Mr Madison also led investigators to believe he had a fascination with the serial killer Anthony Sowell.

"He said some things that led us to believe that in some way, shape, or form, Sowell might be an influence," said East Cleveland mayor Gary Norton.

Sowell is currently in prison awaiting the death penalty for murdering 11 women before hiding their remains around his Cleveland home.

Identified in press reports as the Cleveland Strangler, he has appealed for his sentence to be commuted to life in prison on the basis he did not receive a fair trial.

Anthony Sowell murdered 11 women in Cleveland

Police and volunteers spent most of Sunday searching at and around the property where the bodies of the three black females were discovered 150 metres apart. But no other remains were found.

The first body was located on Friday in a garage and two other bodies were found on Saturday - one in a backyard and the other in the basement of a vacant house.

All three are believed to have been killed in the last six to 10 days.

Mr Madison was classified as a sex offender in 2002 when he was sentenced to four years in prison for attempted rape, according to Cuyahoga County court records. He had previous convictions in 2000 and 2001 for drug-related charges.

One neighbour, Nathenia Crosby, said she was familiar with the suspect and had seen him walking through the local area, She said she had told him to stop chatting with her 19-year-old daughter.

"When I found out how old he was, I said, 'You need to move on, she's too young,'" she added.

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Trayvon: Jay Z And Beyonce At Protest Rally

The parents of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager shot dead in Florida, have joined protesters during a day of demonstrations across the United States.

The 17-year-old's mother, Sybrina Fulton, addressed the crowd in New York, backed by music stars Jay Z and Beyonce, who joined campaigners in a moment of prayer.

Protests were held in more than 100 US cities, sparked by the acquittal of Neighbourhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman.

He was found not guilty of killing Trayvon during an altercation in a gated community in February 2012, after successfully arguing he was protecting himself when he shot the youngster.

Trayvon's death has become a flashpoint in national debates over self-defence laws, guns, and race relations.

Thousands of people have joined protests across the United States

Mrs Fulton told protesters: "Trayvon may not have been perfect, but he was mine. We loved him, we supported him, we cared for him, just like you do your kids.

"Of course we're hurting, of course we're shocked and disappointed. But that just means that we have to roll up our sleeves and continue to fight."

Meanwhile, Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, spoke at a vigil in Miami.

He vowed to "fight for Trayvon until the day I die", adding: "This could be any one of our children. Our mission now is to make sure that this doesn't happen to your child."

The rallies came after President Barack Obama spoke publicly about Trayvon's death and the deep frustrations felt among African Americans over the not guilty verdict.

Trayvon Martin (L) was shot by George Zimmerman

"Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago," he told reporters.

Praising the "incredible grace and dignity" shown by Trayvon's parents, the president said "some soul-searching" on race was in order.

Although he did not comment directly on the Florida verdict, he called for a review of controversial "stand your ground" laws, which allow citizens to use lethal force - rather than retreat - if they sense their lives are at risk.

"I just ask people to consider if Trayvon Martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk?" Mr Obama asked.

"And do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr Zimmerman who had followed him in a car because he felt threatened?"

President Obama said Trayvon could have been him 35 years ago

Trayvon's parents said they were "deeply honoured and moved" by Mr Obama's comments.

"President Obama sees himself in Trayvon and identifies with him," they said in a statement. "This is a beautiful tribute to our boy."

As well as appealing for a review of the self-defence law, campaigners are pushing the US Justice Department to investigate filing federal civil rights charges against Mr Zimmerman.

Such a case would require evidence that he harboured racial animosity against Trayvon.

Mr Zimmerman's lawyers say the shooting was not driven by race but by a desire to protect his neighbourhood after a spate of burglaries.

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Australia: Fears Over New 'Stolen Generation'

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

Campaigners are asking for the law to be changed to help rescue thousands of Aboriginal children in Australia from extreme neglect.

Alcohol abuse is rife amongst indigenous communities and children are being abandoned while their parents drink.

In some rural areas it is common to see toddlers in nappies wandering around unsupervised, even begging for food or warm clothing.

Many non-indigenous families are so concerned that they have been taking children off the streets and into their homes without formal permission.

They want the law changed to make it easier for white Australians to foster or adopt Aboriginal children.

Eight-year-old Cebby, who was born to an alcoholic mother, has been surrounded by alcohol abuse and violence throughout his young life.

He told Sky News about the few simple things he thinks adults should provide.

"I want them to make me feel safe. Make me feel alright, not scared. Make me feel normal."

The community of Tennant Creek is seeing hundreds of abandoned children

Becky Healy, who runs a motel in Tennant Creek - a town in the heart of Australia's outback, is distraught at the huge numbers of Aboriginal children wandering the streets unwashed, unfed and unschooled.

Her motel has inadvertently become a refuge for neglected children.

"It's a crisis. We are now at a point of do or die and we have to do something for these kids.

"If it means taking them into our complex and feeding them and training them when we have nothing to do with the social sector, then so be it."

Children surrounded by substance abuse are even becoming addicted themselves.

Recently three girls, barely in their teens, were caught on CCTV in Tennant Creek breaking into a workshop and sniffing petrol fumes from a tractor engine.

Politicians are now considering putting neglected Aboriginal children up for adoption, until now there has been an unwillingness to act because of fears of a new "stolen generation".

The legacy of the 'stolen generation' has prevented adoptions

That was a misguided policy which only ended in the early 1970s where Aboriginal children were taken from their families and placed under foster care with white families or institutions.

The law has since stated that Aboriginal children in need must always be placed within their community, wherever possible.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles, Australia's first indigenous state or territory leader, says it is time to revisit the legislation.

"Whatever we do has to be about making parents take responsibility for their kids," he said.

"(However) we have to give those kids the best opportunity in life and where we deem it necessary we won't be afraid to make those decisions about the child's future."
                 
It is a change Yvonne Mudford and her husband Leigh Swift say can't come soon enough. Their aboriginal neighbours asked them to take their child Mikala for a few hours, then weeks and now permanently.

She still sees her natural parents but is thriving in a home free from alcohol abuse and violence.

Martina is one of thousands of children who need help

"It's just a basic right that every child is entitled to. Safety, a good home life, food, clothing and to be looked after and loved … why should these kids miss out on that?"

Critics though, whilst acknowledging something needs to be done, are concerned about removing children.

Northern Territory Stolen Generations Aboriginal Corporation spokeswomen Vicki Lee Knowles recently told the ABC: "Within an Aboriginal family ... the loss of culture, land and language has a long-term impact on the social and emotional wellbeing of those children who are removed."

Aborigines are the most disadvantaged Australians, with indigenous children twice as likely to die before their fifth birthday as other children.

While accurate data on child abuse and family violence in Aboriginal areas is scarce, the Australian government has said many children grow up in communities where violence has become "a normal and ordinary part of life".

Aborigines are believed to have numbered around one million at the time of British settlement in 1788, but there are now just 470,000 out of a total population of 23 million in Australia.

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Great Barrier Reef Hit By Four US Jet Bombs

Two American fighter jets dropped four bombs on Australia's Great Barrier Reef after a training exercise went wrong, it has emerged.

US officials said the pilots of two AV-8B Harrier jets were forced to jettison the unarmed devices on Tuesday because both aircraft were running low on fuel and could not land with the bombs on board.

The pilots intended to drop the munitions on a designated bombing range on Townshend Island but aborted the mission when controllers reported the area was not clear of hazards.

Instead, they jettisoned two bombs from each aircraft on the World Heritage-listed marine park off the coast of Queensland state.

The pilots tried to minimise the damage by releasing the devices over deep water of more than 164 feet (50 meters) and away from coral reefs, officials said.

All four bombs were inert and so did not explode. It is unclear whether any environmental damage was caused.

The bombs were dropped from two AV-88 Harrier jets

An Australian Defence Force spokesman was quoted as saying the bombs posed "minimal risk or threat to the public, the marine environment or civilian shipping transiting the reef area".

The two jets were launched from aircraft carrier USS Bonhomme Richard during a three-week joint military training exercise involving around 28,000 US and Australian personnel.

Graeme Dunstan, who is among the environmentalists and anti-war activists protesting against the joint exercise, claimed the US military could no longer be trusted to protect the environment.

"How can they protect the environment and bomb the reef at the same time? Get real," Mr Dunstan said from the Queensland coastal town of Yepoon near where the military exercise is taking place.

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest network of coral structures rich in marine life that stretches more than 1,,800 miles (3,000 kms) along the Australian northeast coast.

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