Belgium: One Dies In 'Toxic Train' Crash Fire

One person has died and 17 others have been injured after a train carrying highly toxic chemicals derailed in Belgium, causing a major fire.

The blaze erupted and spread along a drainage ditch

The accident and blaze prompted authorities to evacuate nearly 300 people from their homes.

Jan Briers, governor of eastern Flanders, had earlier said there were two dead and 14 injured, but late Saturday authorities announced that 17 injured people have been hospitalised and officials were investigating the cause of one fatality.

Flammable liquid caught alight and explosions occurred

Some of the injured were people living well away from the scene of the accident. Interior Minister Joelle Milquet blamed toxic fumes from the highly flammable liquid chemicals.

The accident happened at around 2am local time, between the towns of Schellebelle and Wetteren, on the Belgian railway network.

Once daylight arrived the extent of damage could be seen

Six of the train's 13 cars derailed and two were thrown on to their side by the force of derailment. The blaze led to a series of explosions in the railway cars.

Fire then spread over hundreds of yards, prompting authorities to evacuate residents living more than 500 yards from the site of the accident.

The train crash, near Ghent, occurred near a set of track crossing points

But Ms Milquet said toxic fumes reached much further through the drainage system.

"There is a problem of poisoning linked to the smoke," she said.

"But there is also another reaction, since some of the chemical product went into the drains and caused a kind of chemical reaction with gases that are toxic and escaped into certain streets beyond the perimeter that had already been evacuated due to the fire."

Smoke and fumes were subdued by spraying water across the scene

Firefighters decided to let the cars burn out in a controlled manner as water could have released further toxic chemicals.

The causes of the accident remained unclear. The cars derailed as the train changed tracks and observers said it might have been travelling too fast.

The train came from the Netherlands and was bound for Ghent's seaport, Gent-Zeehaven.

Officials said the tracks would be shut for days

Train services were disrupted and problems were expected for several days, with buses laid on to transport passengers.

Two similar accidents involving trains carrying tanks of toxic products occurred in Belgium in May 2012.

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Palestinian TV Show To Find Would-Be President

By Sam Kiley, Middle East Correspondent In Ramallah

Palestinians have been gulping down a dose of reality - reality television with a political twist.

The hit show, called simply The President, has grown out of widespread frustration among Palestinians at their own moribund politics in the real world.

The current president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, remains in office four years after his mandate expired.

His party, Fatah, rules over the West Bank while in Gaza, Hamas, the Islamist movement labelled a terrorist organisation by many countries in the West, reigns - also years beyond the mandate it won in 2006.

The Palestinian assembly hasn't met for many months. The roster of leaders hasn't changed for decades.

Part Apprentice part X-Factor, viewers are gripped by a show in which they get to chose who should be their next president.

The show is proving a hit with Palestinian TV audiences

Enter Raed Othman, the director general of the Ma'an broadcast network.

"I thought of this programme because we have to show that the Palestinian people understand and want real democracy. We want elections - real elections. But if we cannot have them then we can do our own," he said backstage during the filming of the latest episode of his show which has whittled 1,200 potential presidents to 16.

He added:  "There are a lot of people who say we don't have leaders, so we need to prove to them that there are a lot of leaders in Palestine. We want to teach the people that democracy is possible whenever we want".

Contestants are filmed taking on tasks - being an ambassador to a European country for a day, running a major corporation, taking questions from foreign and local journalists, even how to inspect guards of honour.

They are then put through the ringer by a panel of judges, among them leading politicians like Hannan Ashrawi, a former spokeswoman for the Arab League. Viewers combine votes sent in by text message with the judges' marks in early rounds.

The show's judges include leading politicians

The winner will be chosen entirely by the public by text.

He, or she, won't be rewarded with high office, just a modest family car. But the real prize is the opportunity to break into the Palestinian political scene.

"This programme will give me the chance, me and the other competitors, my colleagues, to get inside this procedure without needing at least 20 or 30 years of step-by-step involvement in the political situation," said Baha'a al Khateeb, an adult education manager, as he prepared to step on set - a conference room in a Ramallah hotel.

He is careful not to criticise the current Palestinian leadership. Not because he fears reprisals, Palestinians enjoy freedom of speech, but because he has spent several weeks presenting himself as a unifying figure.

Baha'a al Khateeb battles for the coveted title of 'President'

Fatah and Hamas remain bitterly opposed to each other and fought a bloody civil war in Gaza in 2007.

These divisions have weakened the ability of Palestinian leaders to negotiate an end to the occupation on the West Bank and the siege of Gaza by Israel.

Mr Khateeb, like most of the contestants, favours uniting the factions, stepping up non-violent actions and civil disobedience against the Jewish State. Plus a boycott of all Israeli products by Palestinian shoppers.

There is no immediate prospect of Palestinian elections - but by using his media exposure to call for a boycott, Mr Khateeb may have found a platform which can transform an idea into a political reality.

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'Israel Rocket Strike' On Syria Military Site

Israeli missiles have struck a military research centre near the capital Damascus, setting off explosions, Syrian state television has said.

The rockets were said to have struck a military research centre in Jamraya on the outskirts of the capital in the early hours of this morning.

The building was the target of an earlier Israeli strike in January.

Israel has declined to comment on the latest attack, but a Western intelligence source said "stores of Fateh-110 missiles that were in transit from Iran to Hizbollah" were the target of the strike.

Video footage uploaded online by activists claims to show a huge ball of fire rising into the night sky.

More of the unverified footage uploaded by activists

Meanwhile, hundreds of families are fleeing a Syrian coastal area where activists say government troops have massacred nearly 200, many of whom were women and children.

The opponents of Bashar al Assad's regime say that fighters loyal to the President carried out two massacres last night and on Thursday in a Sunni Muslim area driving by a policy of ethnic cleansing.

Activists posted a video online of the bodies of 10 people it said were killed in Ras al Nabaa, in the city of Banias, in an attack overnight.

Half of them were children.

Activists said that the number of dead could be as high as 60.

It comes just two days after pro-Assad militias are alleged to have killed as many as 100 Sunnis in the nearby village of Baida.

Protests in Banias at the beginning of the uprising in 2011

Amateur video showed a man and at least three children dead inside a room.

A baby had burned legs and a body stained with blood. Next to him was a young girl whose face had been deformed after apparently being hit with sharp metal.

Other footage from activists showed entire families killed in their beds, a dead mother cradling her child in her arms, two toddlers lying next to them.

The videos have not been independently verified.

Syria's crisis, that began in March 2011 with pro-democracy protests and later turned into a civil war that has killed an estimated 70,000 people, has largely broken along sectarian lines.

The Sunni majority forms the backbone of the rebellion, while Mr Assad's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, anchors the regime's security services and the military's officer corps.

Syria's crisis has claimed the lives of an estimated 70,000 people

Other minorities, such as Christians, largely support Mr Assad or stand on the sidelines, worried that the regime's fall would bring about a more Islamist rule.

It has been estimated as many as 4,000 people are fleeing from the predominantly Sunni southern parts of the Mediterranean city of Banias amid fears of further large-scale killings.

The US has condemned the May 2 attack. State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said: "We strongly condemn atrocities against the civilian population and reinforce our solidarity with the Syrian people."

Her statement added: "The United States is appalled by horrific reports that more than 100 people were killed May 2 in gruesome attacks on the coastal town of Bayda, Syria.

"Regime and Shabiha forces reportedly destroyed the area with mortar fire then stormed the town and executed entire families, including women and children."

It came as Israeli officials confirmed the country's air force carried out a strike against Syria, saying it targeted a shipment of advanced missiles bound for the Lebanese militant group Hizbollah.

The violence in the coastal region shows the sectarian nature of the two-year conflict that has killed tens of thousands and sent more than a million Syrians as refugees to neighbouring countries.

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Kenya: 'Criminal' President Invited To UK

Britian has invited a world leader who is indicted by the International Criminal Court to a conference in London next week.

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has been asked to attend a conference on Somalia on Tuesday - co-hosted by both Britain and Somalia.

Mr Kenyatta, who won elections for the Kenyan presidency on March 4, is due to go on trial in July at The Hague for crimes against humanity.

He stands accused of orchestrating violence in Kenya after the last presidential elections in 2007 and 2008 during which up to 1,500 died.

Britain has said it has a policy of only "essential contact" with anyone charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

A Whitehall source said that having Mr Kenyatta at the conference "is seen as essential".

A spokesman for Kenya's High Commission in Nairobi said the High Commissioner had delivered a letter to Mr Kenyatta.

The commission said in a statement: "Kenya plays a vital role on Somalia, having nearly 5,000 troops in Somalia, and hosting more Somali refugees than any other nation."

January 2008: Violence broke out in the wake of the election

The statement said Mr Kenyatta and High Commissioner Christian Turner also "discussed how the two countries would work together not only on the shared agendas of regional security and stability, but also prosperity and development".

It added that London wanted to support Nairobi in its aims to double UK-Kenya trade.

Mr Kenyatta's election was predicted to pose problems for European countries and America, which are nervous about dealing with alleged criminals against humanity.

Until recently, Kenya had been considered the West's ally in the war against Islamic extremism centred in Somalia.

Recent gains have been made in pushing back the al Shabaab militant group, which had come to control parts of Somalia after the US withdrawal in the late 1990s led to a power vacuum.

Military victories against al Shabaab have in-part been spearheaded from Kenya, where the US has a base.  Ethiopia has also played a major role.

Britain is also believed to be keen to keep Kenya on side in the fight against international terrorism.

In 2012, The British Army Training Unit in Kenya (BATUK) built a new base just outside the town of Nanyuki, about 80 miles north of Nairobi.

The London conference will be the first trip outside Africa for Mr Kenyatta since his election, which was held to be fraudulent by the losing candidate Raila Odinga.

Uhuru, meaning freedom, is the son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, who was put on trial by the ruling British colonial powers for inciting rebellion and kept in jail for seven years.

After independence and Kenya being declared a republic, Jomo was promoted from interim prime minister to president.

Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto, who also faces trial at the ICC, have both said they will co-operate fully with the ICC. They deny the charges against them.

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Italy: Baggage Handlers In Airport Bust

Italian police have arrested 29 baggage handlers from Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport after an investigation into the theft of valuable objects from passengers' luggage.

Those arrested are accused of stealing items including cameras and mobile phones from passengers' bags.

The arrests took place after hidden cameras were installed in airplane cargo holds to capture footage of the alleged thefts.

Images from the cameras released by Italian authorities show baggage handlers rifling through people's possessions and stealing a number of items including cash.

Police captured footage of the alleged thefts on hidden cameras

Italian national carrier Alitalia said it cooperated with police at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport and in Lamezia Terme, where the investigation began in 2011 and spread to a half-dozen airports across the country.

Lamezia Terme airport deputy police chief Ferruccio Martucci said investigators were stumped as to where the loot was being stolen and theorised that the only place where handlers could be assured of secrecy was in the cargo holds.

He said police installed temperature and pressure-resistant cameras in the holds and identified the thieves.

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US Officials: Israel Launches Airstrike Into Syria

US officials say Israel has launched an airstrike into Syria, apparently targeting a suspected weapons site.

They believe the strike hit a warehouse, but it does not appear that a chemical weapons site was targeted.

CNN said the strike took place overnight on Thursday into Friday, just as Israel was flying many warplanes over Lebanon.

But the US does not believe Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace to conduct the strikes, the TV news station added.

Israel has targeted weapons in the past that it believes are being delivered to the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah.

Earlier this month, Israel admitted carrying out a January airstrike on a weapons convoy in Syria thought to be en route to Hezbollah.

Israeli Embassy spokesman Aaron Sagui said he could not comment on the report, but said Israel is determined to prevent the transfer of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime to terrorists.

Mr Obama, on a trip to Costa Rica, rules out US 'boots' on Syrian ground

The reports came hours after Barack Obama refused to rule out options in dealing with the crisis in Syria but said he did not foresee sending in US ground troops.

Speaking during a visit to Costa Rica, the President said: "As a general rule, I don't rule things out as commander-in-chief because circumstances change and you want to make sure that I always have the full power of the United States at our disposal to meet American national security interests.

"Having said that, I do not foresee a scenario in which boots on the ground in Syria, American boots on the ground in Syria, would not only be good for America but also would be good for Syria."

Mr Obama said there was evidence that chemical weapons had been used in Syria, but that "we don't know when, where or how they were used".

But if "strong evidence" is found of such weapons being used by the regime of President Bashar al Assad, then "that is a game changer for us" because "there is a possibility that it lands in the hands of organisations like Hezbollah", Mr Obama said.

Mr Obama said if use of chemical weapons in Syria is confirmed, the US will present that evidence to the international community, because it concerns the entire world.

But he called for caution to avoid unintended consequences, saying: It's important for us to do it right."

There have been reports of a 'large-scale massacre' in Baida

Meanwhile, warnings of a new "large-scale massacre" in Syria have emerged following reports President Assad's troops bombarded Sunni areas near the city of Bania.

The opposition National Coalition accused the regime of "war crimes and genocide", citing witness reports of civilians being stabbed to death.

"The Coalition calls on the Arab League and the United Nations to act rapidly to save the civilians of Baida, Banias and other villages across Syria," it said in a statement.

"Several sources in the village say at least 50 people were killed in summary executions and shelling in Baida village,"Rami Abdel Rahman, of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP news agency.

Syria's official Sana news agency said troops killed "terrorists" and seized arms in an operation targeting rebels.

Regular forces were supported by pro-regime "shabiha" militiamen, said the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground for its information.

The Banias region is predominantly Alawite, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam and the sect of President Assad, while the insurgents battling to topple his regime are mainly Sunni Muslims.

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'Massacre By Syrian Forces Kills At Least 50'

Forces loyal to Syria's leader have stormed a village in a "massacre" that has left at least 50 people dead, reports say.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said President Bashar al Assad's troops and militias raided the coastal village of Baida, killing many with gunfire or knives.

Women and children were among the victims and some bodies were found burned, the group said.

The British-based Observatory said the final toll was expected to exceed 100 dead. It earlier reported fighting around Baida that killed at least six government troops.

The village has previously witnessed mass arrests of men after residents joined protests challenging Mr Assad's regime, according to human rights activists.

The reports emerged as the US confirmed it was taking a fresh look at whether to provide weapons to Syria's rebels, having rejected doing so in the past.

A protest against the Assad regime in Baida in 2011

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said "Yes" when asked at a Pentagon news conference with his British counterpart Philip Hammond whether the US government was rethinking its opposition to the idea.

Mr Hammond said Britain had not yet provided arms, but would not rule it out.

He told Sky News: "We've never removed from the table the possibility of providing lethal support to the opposition forces.

"We haven't done so yet - we've drawn a very clear line - but we've made it clear to the Assad regime that every option remains on the table if they consider to massacre their population.

"The reports coming in of another massacre, if they turn out to be true, will turn out to be yet another shocking chapter in this regime's book."

Asked why the West was not doing more to assist the rebels, Mr Hammond said Britain was "strongly supportive" of the opposition.

He said the disjoined nature of the opposition forces and their extremist elements were "complicated factors", and an international consensus was needed.

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California Wildfire Forces Evacuation Of Homes

By Sky News US Team, In Los Angeles

A wildfire fanned by gusty winds and soaring temperatures is raging along the fringes of several southern California communities, forcing schools and neighbourhoods to evacuate.

The blaze erupted during the morning rush hour along the US 101 motorway in Camarillo, some 50 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

More than 6,500 acres had been engulfed by midday on Thursday as temperatures soared to 35C (95F), said Ventura County Fire spokeswoman Myrna Pinon.

Several recreational vehicles were destroyed

Winds gusting to 30mph quickly spread the blaze through the bone-dry canyonlands.

The fire forced the evacuation of the campus of California State University, Channel Islands, which is attended by about 5,000 students.

Several vehicles in a car park were destroyed as flames moved close to a mobile home park.

Just before 1pm, police closed the Pacific Coast Highway as the fire approached the busy road.

The fire is sending off thick smoke

More than 200 firefighters, with help from aircraft dropping water and retardant, worked to protect dozens of homes around Camarillo Springs Golf Course and in a section of adjacent Thousand Oaks.

Shifting winds were increasing the challenge but were expected to die down later in the day.

Meanwhile, fire officials said a hazardous materials team has been dispatched to deal with a highly toxic pesticides fire caught up in the wildfires.

Fire crews evacuate people from a Ventury County neighbourhood

The pesticides were stored at a farm in Ventura County, near the campus of California State University.

Nearby residents were warned to stay out of the smoke which officials said is making air quality very poor throughout the area.

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Bhutto Assassination Case Prosecutor Shot Dead

A leading Pakistani prosecutor working on the Benazir Bhutto murder case has been shot dead in the capital Islamabad.

State prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar was shot multiple times by gunmen who intercepted his vehicle in a busy street in the capital.

His bodyguard was also wounded and a woman passer-by killed during the attack.

Police officer Mohammad Yousuf said: "Chaudhry Zulfiqar was driving his car. He lost control and the car crushed a woman passer-by.

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007

"Zulfiqar was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries."

The gunmen fled and a massive search has been launched.

The prosecutor was on his way to the anti-terrorism court hearing the Bhutto case in the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi.

Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was this week placed under two-week house arrest over charges that he conspired to murder Ms Bhutto.

Mr Zulfiqar had been given extra government security last year after police investigators working on the case received threats which also named him.

Former Pakistan ruler Pervez Musharraf has been placed under house arrest

He was also the government's lead prosecutor in a case related to the 2008 terrorist attack on the Indian city of Mumbai, in which 166 people were killed.

It is not yet clear who is responsible for the shooting, which comes days before Pakistan holds general elections.

No one has ever been convicted for Ms Bhutto's assassination after a campaign rally in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007.

Mr Musharraf's government blamed the killing on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement. He was killed in a US drone attack in 2009.

He returned to Pakistan in March after four years in self-imposed exile to make a political comeback, but was barred from running in the parliamentary election because of investigations into his rule between 1999 and 2008.

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Benghazi Attack: FBI Seeks Three Men At Scene

The FBI is seeking information on three people who were in the grounds of the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, when it was attacked on September 11.

The bureau has published photographs of the trio and said they may be able to provide information as officials continue to investigate the events of that night.

The blurry CCTV images show three different men walking the consulate grounds and carrying assault weapons.

"We need your help to solve this crime," the FBI said.

Heavily armed militants stormed the consulate last summer, killing US ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

In a posting on the FBI's website, the agency urges anyone with information related to the men to come forward or report it confidentially.

Four Americans were killed in the attack

Eight months later Republican lawmakers continue to question the Obama administration about the attack.

A Congressional report released in January was highly critical of the State Department's handling of security at the mission, and its failure to ramp up protection after threats were made ahead of the attack.

The White House's response to the incident has also been called into question. The administration first classified it as a spontaneous protest instead of the deliberate attack it was later found to have been.

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