Brazil: Child Dies After Water Main Bursts

A child has died and 17 people have been injured after a burst water main flooded a residential area near Rio de Janeiro.

Three-year-old Isabela Severo dos Santos was taken to the hospital but did not survive after swallowing large amounts of water. 

Firefighters wade across the water dragging a dinghy

According to Brazilian authorities seven people remain in hospital.

Local television showed images of a giant fountain of water crashing down on buildings, destroying homes and sweeping away cars in the ensuing current.

Water crashed down onto nearby homes and swept away cars

People could be seen wading through the floodwaters trying to climb on to a roof.

Some 20 houses were destroyed in the resulting floods

The burst pipeline, operated by State Company for Water and Wastewater, has now been shut down but large volumes of water are still leaking and continue to flood the neighbourhood.

The cause of the accident is still unknown. Firefighters are using boats to rescue residents who have been trapped by the flooding.

Officials say some people are still missing and suspect some may have been buried or submerged by the high pressure water as it burst out of the ruptured pipeline.

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Zimbabwe Presidential Election: Voting Begins

Voting has begun in Zimbabwe's election as Robert Mugabe looks to extend his 33-year-rule amid suspicions of vote rigging.

The 89-year-old has said he will stand down as president if he loses and claims the army will respect any victory for his main rival, Morgan Tsvangirai.

But many have dismissed the president's words and Mr Tsvangirai himself has said he takes the promise "with a pinch of salt".

Fresh suspicions of vote rigging were sparked by a Research and Advocacy Unit study which said the electoral roll includes one million dead voters or people who have emigrated.

Voters appear keen to have their say, with some queuing up wrapped in blankets fours hours before polling stations opened.

Several hundred people waited to vote in green tents in Mbare, the oldest township in the capital, Harare.

"I am happy to have cast my vote," said  Ellen Zhakata, 66.

Queues formed as Zimbabweans waited for the polls to open

"I just want an end to the problems in our country.

"All my children are outside the country because of the economic troubles here. I am so lonely. How I wish they could be working here."

Zimbabwe's economic problems have seen millions leave the country to find work in recent years.

Hyperinflation reached 231,000,000% five years ago but a scarcity of US dollars - now the country's main currency - means the economy has stabilised and inflation is back in single digits.

Violence marred the last election in 2008, with Morgan Tsvangirai pulling out of a second round run-off against Mr Mugabe after 200 of his supporters were killed.

Mr Tsvangirai has based his latest campaign on a plan to lure back foreign investors, create a million jobs in five years and improve public services.

Mr Mugabe has focused his promises on expanding the redistribution of wealth to poor black Zimbabweans, as well as making threats of violence against homosexuals.

Some 6.4 million people are eligible to vote before polling stations close at 7pm local time on Wednesday. Final results are expected in about five days.

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Israeli-Palestinian Talks Set Nine-Month Goal

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have set a nine-month goal for reaching a so-far elusive peace deal.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden met with the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the sides agreed to meet again within two weeks to continue negotiations on reaching a pact.

Speaking as the two sides wrapped up an initial round of talks on Tuesday, Mr Kerry said they were committed to "sustained, continuous and substantive negotiations on the core issues" that divided them.

Mr Kerry opposite Tzipi Livni and her Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erekat

He said the next round of negotiations would take place in either Israel or the Palestinian territories.

"The parties have agreed here today that all of the final status issues, all of the core issues and all other issues are all on the table for negotiation," Mr Kerry said.

"And they are on the table with one simple goal - a view to ending the conflict. Our objective will be to achieve a final status agreement over the course of the next nine months."

Shuafat refugee camp is seen behind the Israeli barrier in the West Bank

Earlier, President Barack Obama invited the negotiators to the White House to give a boost to his administration's third bid to relaunch the stalled Middle East peace talks.

Mr Kerry said he was aware of the deep scepticism surrounding the new push for peace and acknowledged the road ahead would be difficult.

However, he said he was hopeful an agreement could be reached.

Refugee camps are a key area of contention - this one is in the Gaza Strip

"While I understand the scepticism, I don't share it. And I don't think we have time for it," he said.

Mr Kerry said the negotiations, to be mediated on a day-to-day basis by his new Middle East peace envoy Martin Indyk, would be cloaked in secrecy and the parties had agreed he would be the only person to comment on them.

Israel and the Palestinians remain deeply divided over so-called "final status issues" - such as the fate of Jerusalem, claimed by both as a capital, the right of return for Palestinian refugees and the borders of a future Palestinian state complicated by dozens of Jewish settlements scattered across the occupied West Bank.

At the State Department ceremony, Mr Kerry was flanked Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat, who each spoke briefly about the need to resolve the long-standing conflict.

"It's time for the Palestinian people to have an independent sovereign state of their own," said Mr Erekat, who spoke first.

"It's time for the Palestinians to live in peace, freedom and dignity within their own independent, sovereign state."

Ms Livni allowed that she and Mr Erekat had been involved in failed negotiations before, notably the Annapolis Process that former president George W Bush initiated in 2008, but she said this time could be different.

"You know, Saeb," she said to Mr Erekat, "we all spent some time in the negotiations room ... but we didn't complete our mission.

"And this is something that we need to do now, in these negotiations that we will launch today. And the opportunity has been created for us, for all of us, and we cannot afford to waste it.

"I believe that history is not made by cynics; it is made by realists who are not afraid to dream. Let us be these people."

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David Tebbutt: Death Sentence Over Kenya Murder

A Kenyan who led a gang of pirates to a holiday resort where they murdered a British tourist has been sentenced to death for his part in the attack.

Ali Babitu Kololo was found guilty of robbery with violence, two years after the gang burst into David Tebbutt's villa in the remote Kiwayu Safari Village, shooting him dead before kidnapping his wife Judith.

She was held hostage in Somalia for more than six months before eventually being released.

Kololo, who was sacked from his job at the resort several months before Mr Tebbutt was killed, was convicted following an investigation by the Kenyan authorities and SO15, the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command.

In addition to the death penalty, Kololo was given seven years in jail for his part in Mrs Tebbutt's abduction.

"I am innocent," he said after the sentence was announced. "Let the court do what it wants to do. I have been victimised in this, since I was also kidnapped."

Judith Tebbutt was staying with her husband David in a grass-woven hut

Commander Richard Walton, head of SO15, said: "Kololo played a key role in this murder and kidnap, bringing the attackers to the resort and helping them search for victims.

"The Kenyan investigation remains ongoing and we are committed to helping them bring David's killers and those who put Judith through such a long ordeal to justice.

"I'd like to pay tribute to Judith, her son Oliver and their family who have all shown extraordinary courage and dignity.

"The investigation team have also shown great skill and tenacity in assisting this Kenyan investigation."

The Tebbutts, from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, travelled to Kiwayu Safari Village after visiting the Masai Mara game reserve in September 2011.

The beach at Kiwayu Safari Village resort where Mr Tebbutt was killed

Mrs Tebbutt, who is believed to have been freed after her family paid an £800,000 ransom, is said to have felt nervous about security after arriving to find no other guests were staying at the resort.

She was allegedly forced to run along the beach and was hit on the back of the head with a rifle before being bundled into a boat.

She was only told of her husband's death two weeks after she was kidnapped.

Kenya has not carried out the death penalty for 26 years and most sentences for death row prisoners are commuted to life imprisonment.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We welcome efforts by the Kenyan authorities to bring those responsible for the kidnap of Judith Tebbutt and the murder of her husband, David, to justice.

"Today's news that Ali Babitu Kololo has been found guilty of robbery with violence is a positive development, but the wider Kenya investigations continue."

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Switzerland Crash: Driver's Body Recovered

A driver's body has been recovered following a train crash in Switzerland that left at least 35 passengers injured.

The Swiss accident investigation authority has launched an investigation

Five of the injured are in a serious condition following the head-on collision just outside a station in Vaud canton, western Switzerland.

Pictures showed the two trains still on the tracks with the cabs crumpled into each other and broken glass on the floor of the carriages.

The injured are taken away from the crash site

Ambulances, fire engines and a helicopter are on the scene of the crash at Granges-pres-Marnand, around 31 miles southwest of the capital, Bern.

The helicopter and ambulances took the five seriously injured to a hospital in the nearby town of Payerne and south to the city of Lausanne.

The collision happened at Granges-pres-Marnand

Their injuries were not life-threatening however, police said.

Rescue teams deployed a heavy-lifting crane to remove the rest of the wreckage and clear the line.

As night fell on Monday, they set up arc-lights to help operations continue.

Rescue teams work into the night

The collision happened around 100m from a station at 7pm (local time) when one train bound for Lausanne left the station as another, travelling from Lausanne, arrived.

Police said the northbound train was from the faster regional service, which generally stops at fewer destinations than the slower service that covers more local communities along the line.

Heavy lifting equipment was used to clear the tracks

Police experts, along with members of the Swiss accident investigation authority SESA, have launched an investigation into the likely cause of the crash, officials said.

A CFF spokeswoman said the two trains should have crossed at the station, thanks to a track system that allows them to pass one another.

Switzerland's rail system is considered among the safest in the world

It was not clear whether the collision could have been sparked by a delay to one of the trains, or one of them setting off too soon.

Switzerland's rail system is considered among the safest in the world, but three years ago the Glacier Express tourist train derailed in the Alps, killing one person and injuring 42.

Seventy-nine people were killed in a train crash in Spain last Thursday, one of the worst in decades.

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Florida Gas Plant Explosions: Workers Found

All workers at a gas plant rocked by explosions have been accounted for after officials initially feared as many as 15 people had been killed.

At least 24 people were working the night shift at the plant in Tavares, Lake County, when a series of blasts happened just before 11pm local time.

The missing employees were found hours later as firefighters began to contain the flames. Details of any of their injuries are not yet known.

The roof was blown off the plant. Pic: Tyler Mackenzie Photography

Seven workers had initially been taken to hospital, some in a critical condition, after emergency crews were called to the Blue Rhino propane processing plant.

The explosions were strong enough to blow the roof off and were felt by residents living up to 10 miles away from the scene, although no neighbours were injured.

Firefighters' efforts were hampered when more fuel containers exploded as the flames spread. They are starting to contain the flames and the cause of the explosions is being investigated.

"I heard a loud bomb sound," resident Lisa Garner told the Orlando Sentinel.

Residents, many of them elderly, were evacuated

Local businessman Jim Mamula told Sky News: "We could see the flames and the initial explosion knocked us off our feet. We could see the heat from the flames and it was light like daytime."

"There were two short explosions larger than anything we've seen since. The secondary explosions immediately followed.

"There are at least three large holding tanks about 30,000 gallons each of propane. They're intact and only about 40ft from the flames. The heat is pretty intense."

Resident Norman Hope said: "We're a retirement area mainly and a lot of people have difficulty breathing."

Fox News reporter Tracy Jasem, in Tavares, told Sky News: "Everybody thought there would be fatalities - it was such a massive fire.

"Although there were other containers that could have exploded, it seems we've escaped that possibility."

Lake County Sheriff Department spokesman Lt John Herrell later said the evacuation zone around the scene had been reduced from a mile to half a mile.

Several of the evacuated residents were taken in by a local church.

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Spain Train Crash Driver Charged And Released

The driver of a train that crashed in northern Spain, killing 79 people, has been charged with multiple cases of negligent homicide.

Francisco Jose Garzon Amo was charged on Sunday night after appearing for two hours before Judge Luis Alaez.

The 52-year-old is suspected of driving too fast on a dangerous section of the line near the city of Santiago de Compostela.

Reports suggest the train was travelling at around 190km per hour (120mph), more than twice the 80km per hour (50mph) speed limit when it entered the bend.

Garzon, who was pictured staggering from the wreckage with blood pouring from a head wound, has refused to make a statement or answer questions about the crash.

His court appearance was closed and the judge decided to release him without bail.

The injured driver is led away from the crash site

He was not sent to jail or required to post bail as none of the parties involved felt there was a risk of him attempting to flee or destroy evidence.

Garzon will be required to appear before the court once a week and surrender his passport, and is banned from driving trains for six months, a statement from the court said.

The hearing came as the number of dead from the crash rose to 79 when an injured passenger died in hospital.

Authorities said forensic experts have identified the last three bodies among those killed when the intercity train derailed and smashed into a concrete wall.

They did not reveal the victims' names but said their families had been informed.

Investigating judge Luis Alaez questioned the train driver

A large funeral mass is planned for this afternoon, with the prime minister and members of the Spanish royal family expected to attend.

Meanwhile, a resident of the town where the train crashed has claimed Garzon admitted going fast and said he "wanted to die" in the aftermath of the crash.

In a television interview broadcast on Spain's Antena 3, Evaristo Iglesias said he and another person accompanied Garzon to a stretch of flat ground where other injured people were being laid out, waiting for emergency services to arrive.

Mr Iglesias said: "He told us that he wanted to die."

He added that Garzon said he "had been going fast" and "he said he had needed to brake but couldn't".

An American passenger, Stephen Ward, said he was watching the train's speed on a screen in the carriage, which indicated it was going at 194km per hour (121mph) moments before derailing.

The train wreckage remains at the crash scene near Santiago de Compostela

Officials have so far not said how fast the train was going when it derailed and it is not clear whether the brakes failed or were never used.

The "black box" that records journey data is with the investigating judge.

All eight carriages of the train, packed with 218 passengers, careered off the track on the express route between Madrid and Ferrol on the Galician coast.

The train cut through electricity lines and leaking diesel fuel burst into flames in some carriages.

At least 130 people were taken to hospital after the crash, with 70 still in hospital and 22 remaining in a critical condition.

Five US citizens and one Briton were among the injured and one American was among the dead.

Two separate 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.

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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Egypt Violence: Government Under Pressure

Negotiations are continuing in Egypt after defiant pro-Morsi supporters vowed to sacrifice their "blood and souls" for the ousted president.

After a weekend of violence, several thousand of Mohamed Morsi's supporters marched towards Cairo's military intelligence HQ on Sunday night - despite army warnings to stay away.

They chanted "Our blood and souls we sacrifice for Morsi" as they made their way towards the military HQ from the site of a peaceful vigil outside a mosque in northern Cairo.

Eventually the group turned back, but the march raises fears over what will happen next in the stand-off between the army and members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Protesters from the Anti-Coup Alliance of Islamist groups, which has organised the protests, has now called for a "million-person march" on Tuesday. They also called for marches on "security administration buildings" on Monday night.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has flown into Egypt for talks as international pressure increases on the new regime over the weekend's bloodshed, which claimed more than 80 lives.

More than 70 died in street killings of Morsi supporters during a demonstration on Saturday, which followed a day of rival mass rallies. Government officials have rejected witness accounts that police fired on crowds and an investigation is under way. 

A Morsi supporter runs from tear gas

There were further deaths on Sunday, including a 17-year-old who was killed in fighting between pro and anti-Morsi groups.

The country's new rulers warned they would take "decisive and firm" action against protesters if they went beyond their right to peaceful demonstration.

Egypt's vice presidency said Ms Ashton would meet interim president Adly Mansour and Mohamed ElBaradei, who is vice president for international affairs. Mr ElBaradei has denounced the "excessive use of force" against protesters.

State news agency Mena said Ms Ashton would also hold talks with members of the deposed president's Muslim Brotherhood and the Tamarod group, which organised protests that led to Mr Morsi being overthrown by the army.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon warned Egypt's interim leadership on Sunday that every death made it harder to drag the country out of its crisis.

Mr Ban "expressed his profound concern about the direction in which the transition in Egypt is moving" and condemned the heightened violence, said UN spokeswoman Morana Song.

But tensions remained high after Saturday's killings, the bloodiest incident since Mr Morsi was overthrown on July 3.

Mr Mansour's adviser Moustafa Hegazy told reporters the deaths were "saddening", but he dubbed the protest area where the deaths occurred a "terror-originating spot" and said: "We cannot decouple this from context of terrorism."

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Italy Coach Crash: 38 People Dead After Fall

At least 38 people have been killed in southern Italy after a coach plunged 100ft off a motorway flyover and split in half.

The tour bus hit several cars that were slowed by heavy traffic before smashing through a guardrail and concrete barriers.

Witnesses said that the coach, which crashed near Avellino, appeared to suddenly lose control before smashing into the cars.

Many of the dead were discovered lying outside of the vehicle, while others were found inside the mangled wreckage.

Two people later died in hospital. A number of children were also on the coach but so far they are not believed to be among the dead.

The wreckage was recovered from site on Monday morning

An investigation into possible manslaughter charges has begun, according to Italian media.

Rescuers with electric saws had worked through the night to cut through the twisted metal of the coach, stopping occasionally to listen for any cries for help.

The bodies of the dead were laid out on the roadside, covered in white sheets as emergency crews attended to the injured.

A number of wooden coffins were also brought to the scene.

It is not known if anyone in the cars was injured

The coach had been warned of heavy traffic ahead near Avellino, outside Naples, along a stretch of the A116 motorway, highway officials said.

Flashing signs near the flyover also warned vehicles to slow down.

Officials said the driver, for reasons not yet clear, appeared to have lost control of his vehicle.

Some witnesses told local media the coach was travelling at "normal speed" before suddenly veering off course, and describe hearing a noise as if the vehicle had blown a tyre.

However, journalist Tom Kington, who is at the scene, said there were some conflicting repots.

Coffins were lined up at the scene of the crash

"Others are talking about it arriving on the flyover way too fast," said Kington.

"There were signs apparently warning vehicles to slow down, there was thick traffic on the flyover.

"Some have said the bus came in too fast, didn't have enough time to slow down, hence the smashing into the other vehicles."

It is understood the driver of the coach is among the dead, a fire service spokesman said.

Reports said as many as 49 people had been aboard the coach when it ripped through barriers and fell 100ft (30m) into a ravine near a wooded area.

Despite the carnage, some passengers managed to walk away from the crash, said members of the emergency services.

The coach crashed in a rural area anout 30 miles inland from Naples

"They're talking also about the miraculous escape of 10 people from the wreckage of this bus," said Tom Kington at  the scene.

"They're saying 'we can't explain it'.

"People just got up and walked out of the wreckage, including, miraculously, a whole family of four."

One car involved in the incident had its rear completely crumpled, while another was smashed on its side. It was not immediately known if anyone in those cars had been injured.

The A116 highway links western and eastern Italy across the south.

Early reports said the passengers had spent the day in Puglia, an area near the Adriatic on the east coast famed for religious shrines.

But later it was reported that the coach had been bringing the passengers home after an outing to a thermal spa near the town of Benevento, not far from Avellino.

Most of the passengers were from the Campania area around Naples, the Italian news agency ANSA said.

The coach came off the highway in a largely agricultural area about 30 miles inland from Naples and 150 miles south of Rome.

A local magistrate has arrived at the crash scene to begin an investigation into the cause of the crash.

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One Thousand Inmates Escape From Libya Prison

Inmates have staged a major jailbreak at a prison in the east Libyan city of Benghazi as the facility was also attacked from the outside.

Security official Mohammed Hejazi said the prisoners staged a riot inside Koyfiya prison as an attack took place outside the facility.

Gunmen fired into the air outside the prison as inmates began setting fires inside, suggesting the escape was pre-planned.

Special forces later arrested 18 of those who escaped, while other returned on their own, according to security officials.

It was unclear if the jailbreak was part of protests taking place at the offices of Islamist-allied parties in Libya's main cities.

Those who escaped either face or had been convicted of serious charges.

Protesters have massed across the country angry over the killing of an activist critical of the country's Muslim Brotherhood group.

Hundreds gathered in the capital Tripoli to denounce the shooting of Abdul Salam al Musmari, setting fire to tyres and demanding the dissolution of Islamist parties.

Al Musmari, who publicly criticised the Brotherhood, was killed by unknown attackers in a drive-by shooting in Benghazi.

Benghazi's security situation is among the most precarious in post-revolution Libya.

Last year, the US ambassador and three other Americans were killed in an attack there.

Libyan prime minister Ali Zeidan said he would reshuffle the cabinet and reorganise the government to cope with the "urgent" situation.

He added: "What is happening is an attempt to obstruct the state's progression."

The country's government is struggling to assert its authority over armed groups that helped topple Colonel Gaddafi in 2011 during the Arab Spring uprisings.

It comes after Iraq's prime minister Nouri al Maliki ordered the detention of several senior security officials in connection with a major jailbreak that saw hundreds of inmates escape from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad.

A statement from his office said those detained included the chief of staff of the federal police's fourth division.

Al Qaeda's Iraq branch claimed responsibility for the attack and a simultaneous raid on Taji prison. Members of the terror organisation were among the prisoners thought to have escaped.

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