German Train Driver Killed 10 In Crash

A freight train driver has been convicted of manslaughter after he smashed into a passenger train, killing 10 in one of Germany's worst rail crashes.

The 41-year-old missed two stop signals and drove head-on into an express train travelling in the opposite direction.

The collision, which happened in heavy fog, was so loud it was heard in a village more than four miles away.

The driver, who has not been named because of Germany's privacy laws, told a regional court in Magdeburg that he did not know why he had passed though the red light.

He was given a year's suspended sentence for manslaughter and negligent bodily harm.

The youngest to die in the crash on January 29, 2011 was a 12-year-old girl. Three women and six men were also killed and 22 others were injured.

Investigators at the scene of the crash in 2011

The freight train nearly obliterated the first carriage of the Harz-Elbe-Express in the collision in Hordorf, near Magdeburg, the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt.

At the time Holger Hoevelmann, interior minister of Saxony-Anhalt, said: "We are still speechless and shocked by the images and the level of destruction."

Almost 200 police and rescue workers rushed to the crash site around 125 miles southwest of Berlin.

The crash was Germany's worst since 2006, when 23 people were killed in Emsland in the north of the country.

It is unclear whether the driver will appeal the sentence.

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Syria: Deadly Car Bomb Blasts Rock Damascus

At least 50 people have been killed after two suspected car bombs exploded in the Syrian capital Damascus, according to UK-based opposition activists.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights added that more than 120 people were wounded in the blasts occurred early in the morning in the eastern district of Jaramana.

Addounia television broadcast footage of firefighters hosing down two vehicles. Debris from damaged buildings had crushed other cars in the area.

State TV blamed "terrorists" for the bombings - a phrase its uses to refer to the rebels battling to force the regime of President Bashar al Assad from power.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The bombs went off in a car park lot between two commercial buildings. They were detonated within five minutes of one another as groups of labourers and employees were arriving to work.

The Jaramana district is mostly home to Christians and Druze

After the first explosion, people rushed to the site to help the injured before the second bomb went off, said Ismail Zlaiaa.

"It is an area packed with rush-hour passengers," he said. "God will not forgive the criminal perpetrators."

The explosions happened as the opposition coalition was due to meet in Cairo to discuss forming a transitional government.

"The objective is to name the prime minister for a transitional government, or at least have a list of candidates ahead of the Friends of Syria meeting," said Suhair al Atassi, one of the coalition's two vice presidents.

Countries friendly to the rebels are also meeting in the Egyptian capital over the coming days.

Meanwhile, a UN committee condemned "gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms" by both the Syrian regime and government-controlled militias.

The resolution urges Syrian authorities to immediately release all detainees and calls for a prompt independent international investigation into abuses and violations of international law with a view to bringing to justice those responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity and other crimes.

It makes no mention of opposition forces but does express "grave concern at the escalation of violence" in the country.

The resolution is almost certain to be adopted by the 193-member General Assembly next month, however will not be legally binding.

More than 40,000 people are estimated to have died since the uprising against Assad's regime began 20 months ago.

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P Diddy Urged To Act Over Bangladesh Fire

Rapper Sean Combs has been urged to use his influence to improve Bangladeshi factory conditions after it emerged his clothing range was made in a workshop where 112 died in a fire.

Workers who survived the deadliest factory fire in the country's clothing industry history say that as they tried to flee they found exits at the Dhaka building locked.

They say when they started to run managers told them to return to their work and few of them had been trained to use the fire extinguishers.

Bangladeshis prepare to bury the bodies of those who died in the fire

A fire official has said had there been just one emergency exit, far fewer lives would have been lost. Of the dead, 53 bodies were burned so badly they could not be identified.

Amid the wreckage in the Tazreen Fashions building there were blue and off-white shorts from Combs' ENYCE label on the floor.

Combs, better known as P Diddy, was not the only big name linked to the factory - Wal-Mart, Disney, Sears and Teddy Smith ranges were also found inside.

The blaze has shone the spotlight on the scale of dangerous workplaces in Bangladesh and Western fashion companies are being encouraged to make sure they use safe and ethically run factories.

Liz Parker, of the Amsterdam-based Clean Clothes Campaign, said: "We are sure that Mr Combs will be as shocked as we are to find that his company is implicated in such a horrific tragedy.

Inside the burnt-out factory

"We urge him to use his influence to make sure clothing factories are safe places for people to work."

Wal-Mart had received an audit deeming the factory "high risk" last year, and said it had decided to stop doing business with Tazreen, but that a supplier subcontracted work to the factory anyway.

Calls made to The Walt Disney Company and to Sears Holdings were not immediately returned.

One factory worker, Nasima, who uses only one name, said when they tried to flee, managers told them to go back to their work stations, but they were ignored.

She said: "Everyone was screaming for help. Total chaos, panic and screaming. Everyone was trying to escape and come out. I was pulling the shirt of a man. I fainted and when I woke up I found myself lying on the road outside the factory."

A firefighter tries to bring the blaze at the factory under control

Police have arrested three factory officials suspected of locking in the workers inside the factory. The owner of the factory is not among them.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Interior Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir have said arson is suspected. Police say they have not ruled out sabotage.

Bangladesh is the world's biggest exporter of clothing after China but more than 300 workers there have died in fires since 2006.

On Monday there was another fire, in Dhaka, in which eight people were injured in a blaze at an 11-storey factory.

Since the fire some 3,000 factory workers have taken to the streets to protest against working conditions. Police used batons to disperse the protesters.

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Anti-Islam Film: Seven Face Death Sentence

A court in Egypt has sentenced to death seven Christians in absentia for taking part in an anti-Islam film released on the web.

The film, which depicted the Prophet Mohammed as a paedophile, was released in September and has prompted violent protests in many Muslim countries.

"The seven accused persons were convicted of insulting the Islamic religion through participating in producing and offering a movie that insults Islam and its prophet," Judge Saif al Nasr Soliman said.

During the trial, judges were shown clips of the low-budget film, the Innocence of Muslims, and footage of Muslim protesters outraged by its content.

Produced privately in California, it triggered anti-US attacks on Western embassies and consulates.

In Libya, Islamists killed the US ambassador Chris Stevens in an attack on the consulate in Benghazi.

The movie was made by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, also known as Sam Bacile, who is believed to be a Coptic Christian from Egypt. He now lives in the US.

Egyptian courts usually hand out the maximum punishment and send the decision to the state's top Islamic scholar to get his approval, which is always granted.

If the defendants do return to Egypt, they could get a new trial.

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BP Banned From US Government Contracts

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the US has temporarily suspended BP from new US government contracts.

The ban stemmed from the British oil giant's conduct regarding the blowout at its Deepwater Horizon rig which killed 11 workers in April 2010.

It comes after the company agreed to plead guilty to charges over its part in the largest environmental disaster in US history, and to admit lying to Congress about the amount of oil that was spilling from the Macondo well.

"EPA is taking this action due to BP's lack of business integrity as demonstrated by the company's conduct with regard to the Deepwater Horizon blowout, explosion, oil spill, and response," the agency said. 

"Suspensions are a standard practice when a responsibility question is raised by action in a criminal case."

The move prevents BP from getting new government contracts or grants "until the company can provide sufficient evidence to EPA demonstrating that it meets Federal business standards," EPA added.

Existing agreements between the company and the government are not affected.

At the end of last month, BP revealed that the disaster had cost it more than $38bn (£23.7bn) to date.

More follows...

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Jersey Bridgeman: Neighbour Arrested For Murder

Jersey Bridgeman - who was abused by her father and stepmother - was allegedly killed last week by a neighbour, investigators have said.

The six-year-old was reported missing from her home in Bentonville, 215 miles northwest of Little Rock, on the morning of November 20.

Her body was discovered minutes into a police search in an abandoned house just a few yards away.

Zachary Holly, 28, who lives next door to Jersey, is being held in the Benton County jail on charges of capital murder, kidnapping and residential burglary.

David Bridgeman is serving 18 years in jail for abusing Jersey

He is due to appear in court on Wednesday.

"Many questions related to this investigation and arrest will be answered by the affidavit of probable cause, which will be released on Wednesday," police chief John Simpson told reporters.

Police released no detail about how Jersey was killed, but police captain Justin Thompson said earlier there was "no reason ... for the community to be worried at this point".

Jersey's death came 18 months after abuse allegations were levelled against her father and stepmother.

David Bridgeman and Jana Bridgeman eventually both pleaded guilty in June 2011 to repeatedly chaining her to a dresser at their home in nearby Rogers.

The pair are serving 18 and 12 year prison sentences respectively.

Jersey's biological mother DesaRae Bridgeman has been informed of the arrest.

The child's funeral was due to take place on Tuesday afternoon.

 

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Arafat Poisoning Probe: Remains Tested

Timeline: Yasser Arafat

Updated: 9:52am UK, Tuesday 27 November 2012

Here are some of the key dates in Mr Arafat's life.

:: February 4, 1969 Mr Arafat, the fifth child of a Palestinian merchant, takes over the PLO chairmanship. He transforms it into a force that makes the Palestinian cause known worldwide.

:: June 6, 1982 Israel invades Lebanon to crush the PLO, forcing Mr Arafat and loyalists to flee Beirut.

:: October 1, 1985 Mr Arafat narrowly escapes death in an Israeli air raid on the PLO's Tunisian headquarters.

:: April 16, 1988 Khalil al Wazir, Mr Arafat's military commander, is assassinated in Tunis. Israel is blamed.

:: December 12, 1988 Mr Arafat accepts Israel's right to exist and renounces terrorism. Nearly two years later, Iraq invades Kuwait, Mr Arafat supports Saddam Hussein and the PLO is isolated.

:: November 1991 Mr Arafat marries his 28-year-old secretary, Suha Tawil. Their daughter Zahwa is born in 1995.

:: April 7, 1992 Mr Arafat is rescued after a plane crash lands in the Libyan desert during a sandstorm.

:: September 13, 1993 Israel and the PLO sign an accord on Palestinian autonomy in Oslo, Norway, giving Mr Arafat control of most of the Gaza Strip and about a quarter of the West Bank. He shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the White House lawn. The two later share the Nobel Peace Prize with Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres.

:: July 1, 1994 Returning from exile, Mr Arafat sets foot on Palestinian soil for the first time in 26 years.

:: September 28, 2000 Israel's then opposition leader Ariel Sharon visits a Jerusalem shrine holy to Jews and Muslims, leading to clashes that escalate into a Palestinian uprising.

:: December 3, 2001 After three suicide bombings, Israel destroys Mr Arafat's helicopters in Gaza City, confining him to the West Bank town of Ramallah.

:: March 2002 Israel declares Mr Arafat an "enemy" two days after a Palestinian suicide bomber kills 29 people at a Passover holiday meal, prompting an Israeli incursion into the West Bank.

:: June 24, 2002 President George W Bush calls on Palestinians to replace Mr Arafat as leader. A year later, his deputy Mahmoud Abbas becomes the first Palestinian prime minister in a move pushed for by the US and Israel to sideline Mr Arafat.

:: June 4, 2003 At the first major Israeli-Palestinian summit without Mr Arafat, Mr Sharon and Mr Bush launch "road map" peace plan, which aims to end fighting and create Palestinian state by 2005.

:: October 21, 2003 Mr Arafat is diagnosed with gallstones. Nearly a year to the day later, he collapses and is flown to hospital in France with a serious, undisclosed illness.

:: November 9, 2004 A French medical team acknowledges that Mr Arafat has been in a coma for a week. He dies two days later at the age of 75.

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Mexico: Beauty Queen Dies In Gang Gunfight

A Mexican beauty queen has been killed in a gunfight between soldiers and a suspected gang she was travelling with.

Authorities suspect that 22-year-old Maria Susana Flores Gamez, who was the Woman of Sinaloa 2012, was part of the gang and may have fired a gun in Saturday's violence.

An AK-47 assault rifle was found next to her body in the group's car.

"She was in the criminal group that clashed with army service members," Sinaloa state prosecutor Marco Antonio Higuera Gomez told a news conference.

He said a forensics test was positive for gunshot residue on her body, suggesting she fired a weapon.

Two men and two women, including Ms Gamez, and a soldier died in the gun battle in the municipality of Mocorito.

The army seized seven AK-47s, a grenade launcher, two grenades, a 40mm-calibre rifle, a handgun and around 1,000 cartridges.

Mexican media say the woman, who participated in the Miss Oriental Tourism pageant in China in May, was travelling with her boyfriend, a suspected hitman, when the shootout erupted. The boyfriend also died.

The armed group is linked to Orso Ivan Gastelum, the suspected leader of a group of hitmen working for the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel.

Families and friends held a funeral in the state capital of Culiacan on Sunday, covering Ms Gamez in a veil amid a heavy military presence.

On its Facebook page, the organisers of the Nuestra Belleza Sinaloa pageant voiced their "deepest condolences" for the death of Ms Gamez, who was a "charming and happy young woman with a great future".

Ms Gamez is not the first state beauty queen to be embroiled in a gang-related incident.

In December 2008, Laura Zuniga, the winner of the Nuestra Belleza Sinaloa pageant that year, was arrested in the western state of Jalisco along with seven suspected Juarez cartel members.

More than 60,000 people have died in drug-related violence across Mexico since President Felipe Calderon, whose six-year term ends on Saturday, launched a military offensive against cartels in 2006.

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Two And A Half Men Star Says Show Is 'Filth'

A teenage actor on Two And A Half Men has criticised the hit US television show, calling it "filth" and urging viewers not to watch it.

Angus T Jones, 19, made the comments in a recording in his production trailer.

He reportedly earns $350,000 (£218,000) an episode playing the character Jake in the show, which now stars Ashton Kutcher.

Charlie Sheen was fired last year after he criticised its producers in a series of bizarre media appearances.

Jones' video was posted by US Christian website Forerunner Chronicles on YouTube on Monday.

In it, the actor, who has been in the show since he was 10, said: "Jake from Two And A Half Men means nothing. He is a non-existent character.

"If you watch Two And A Half Men, please stop watching Two And A Half Men. I'm on Two And A Half Men, and I don't want to be on it.

"Please stop watching it. Stop filling your head with filth. Please. People say it's just entertainment.

"Do some research on the effects of television and your brain, and I promise you you'll have a decision to make when it comes to television, and especially with what you watch."

In an apparent reference to Satan, Jones said in the video: "A lot of people don't like to think about how deceptive the enemy is. He's been doing this for a lot longer than any of us have been around.

"There's no playing around when it comes to eternity."

Warner Bros, which produces the show along with CBS, has declined to comment.

Two And A Half Men is the third most popular comedy on US television with an average audience of 14.5 million per episode.

The Forerunner Chronicles' MySpace page says it is "dedicated to proclaiming the TRUTH that you need to know".

"Jesus Christ is our General," it goes on. "He gives the orders ... we put in the work! No questions asked."

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China: Scandal As Bribery Sex Tape Goes Viral

Chinese ministers are facing a new scandal with the release of a five-year-old sex tape involving an 18-year-old woman allegedly hired by developers to sleep with a city official.

Lei Zhengfu, who is in his 50s, was sacked as district party secretary of Chongqing - the city once led by fallen politician Bo Xilai - after the video, an apparent extortion attempt, went viral earlier this month.

He became the butt of numerous internet jokes and there are no signs yet of the scandal dying down, with whistle-blowing Beijing-based former journalist Zhu Ruifeng reportedly considering releasing similar tapes of more city officials soon.

The party is already reeling from the scandal that led to the political demise of Bo - his wife was convicted of murdering a British businessman, and Bo himself faces allegations of corruption and obstruction of justice in the murder case.

Disgraced politician Bo Xilai with his convicted wife, Gu Kailai

News of the sex tape, which was apparently shot in 2007 but only leaked this month, comes as China's newly installed leadership is increasing its anti-corruption efforts as it deals with a steady stream of corruption cases that it fears has undermined its authority.

The tape was uploaded to Mr Zhu's Hong Kong-registered website, an independent online clearing house for corruption allegations.

After the blackmail attempt, Lei reported the case to Chongqing officials in 2009, which led to the construction boss being jailed for a year on unrelated charges and the woman being detained for a month.

Neil Heywood was found dead in his hotel room in Chongqing last year

State news agency Xinhua revealed that Chongqing's corruption watchdog had pledged a thorough investigation of Lei, who was sacked on Friday, but added it had yet formally to receive a report about the allegations against Lei or the footage.

In an editorial, China Daily said the case showed that the "internet is worth being embraced by the country's corruption busters as a "close ally".

"Strangely, the mistress was once detained and the contractor jailed for blackmailing Lei," it said, as it called for greater transparency. "What had happened? ... These are crucial questions waiting to be answered."

While many Chinese remain cynical about recent assurances of China's newly installed leadership that the party is determined to tackle corruption, Zhu Ruifeng points out that his website has not been blocked despite its allegations.

"Possibly what we are seeing is that the new leaders are perhaps taking steps toward enforcing the constitution, a sliver of a new dawn," he said.

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