Mining Bosses Arrested After Turkish Tragedy

Police have detained 18 people, including mining company executives, as part of an investigation into Turkey's mine disaster.

A preliminary report on the accident, which was obtained by the Milliyet newspaper, pointed to safety violations in the mine, including a shortage of carbon monoxide detectors and support beams made of wood instead of metal.

The tragedy occurred in Soma, 300 miles south-west of Istanbul, on Tuesday when a fire sent deadly carbon monoxide through the mine, operated by Soma Komur.

Bosses deny any negligence.

"We have all worked very hard," said general director Akin Celik. "I have not seen such an incident in 20 years."

Relatives mourn beside a grave in Soma

The Dogan news agency says Mr Celik was among those detained, along with general manager Ramazan Dogru.

Two final bodies were carried out of the mine on Saturday as the rescue operation ended, taking the number of dead to 301.

The tragedy triggered protests across the country about poor industry safety procedures.

Riot police used tear gas and water cannon on protesters in Soma on Friday as several thousands gathered amid intensifying anger with the government.

Officers then set up checkpoints and arrested dozens on Saturday to try to enforce a ban on protests. Security remained tight on Sunday.

Families dispute the death toll and have accused the government of a cover-up to hide the true scale of the disaster.

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North Korea Apology After Apartments Collapse

An apartment building housing around 90 families has collapsed in North Korea, potentially killing hundreds of people.

State officials offered a rare public apology after the collapse, saying the accident was "serious" and had upset leader Kim Jong-Un.

A report from North Korea's Central News Agency said the apartment block was under construction in capital Pyongyang when the collapse happened on Tuesday but gave no details of the numbers killed or injured.

A North Korea official salutes in front of residents at the site

The report said it occurred in the Phyongchon district on Tuesday "as the construction of an apartment house was not done properly and officials supervised and controlled it in an irresponsible manner".

In South Korea a government official speaking on condition of anonymity said the 23-story apartment building was presumed to have housed 92 families.

That could mean that the casualties could run into hundreds because a typical North Korean family has four members.

It is not unusual for people to start living in apartments before the construction is complete.

According to state media, the rescue operation ended on Saturday and officials apologised to bereaved families and district residents.

The report cited one official as saying Kim Jong-Un "sat up all night, feeling painful after being told about the accident".

The authoritarian regime's tightly-controlled media rarely report news that might be considered negative.

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Train Loaded With Cars In Dramatic Derailing

A major clear-up operation is underway after a freight train loaded with cars derailed in Indiana.

Aerial shots show the train zig-zagged across the tracks in the town of Scottsburg.

All those on board escaped injury when the train came off the rails on Saturday.

The derailing occurred on Saturday

The accident has been blamed on a mechanical malfunction.

Officials say the cars being transported will be towed away from the scene over the coming days.

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Evacuations After Violent Anti-China Protests

Beijing has evacuated more than 3,000 of its citizens from Vietnam amid violent anti-China protests triggered by a flare-up over disputed land.

Chartered flights and ships have been used to get the nationals home, while 16 critically injured people were evacuated separately on a medical flight.

Vietnam's communist rulers have vowed to clamp down on the violence, and several arrests have been made in the capital Hanoi and commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City.

The protests were triggered after Chinese state energy firm CNOOC deployed dozens of ships two weeks ago and towed a $1bn (£590m) oil rig to a location 150 miles off Vietnam's coast in an area both counties claim.

Some 3,000 Chinese nationals have been transported home

That part of the South China Sea bed is believed to contain billions of barrels of oil.

US officials in Washington have described China's action as provocative, and said Beijing's fraught relations with neighbours could potentially strain ties with the US.

Protests involving hundreds of people were allowed to go ahead in Vietnamese cities a week ago, a rare move in a state that usually suppresses them.

However, the protests quickly escalated into looting, arson and destruction.

Fighting between Vietnamese and Chinese workers broke out in central Ha Tinh province on Wednesday killing two people and wounding 140, the government said.

However, a doctor and an eyewitness said they saw between 13 and 21 dead bodies, mostly Chinese, on the night of the unrest.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry updated its travel advice for Vietnam on Sunday, telling Chinese citizens "not to go for the time being".

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Paul McCartney: Gigs Cancelled Due To Illness

Sir Paul McCartney has been forced to cancel two gigs in Japan after doctors told him he was too ill to perform.

The star, 71, cancelled a performance on Saturday due to a virus, but said he hoped to be well enough to perform on Sunday and Monday.

But a message posted to his Twitter page on Sunday said his condition had not improved overnight and he was "disappointed" to be letting fans down.

The cancellation was announced in a tweet

The statement said: "Doctors have ordered Paul complete rest and he has been doing all he can to get better.

"Paul has only ever had to reschedule a handful of shows in his entire career and is so upset about this situation, he hates to let people down.

"This morning he told his staff he was going to try and perform tonight against doctors orders, but his team, along with the doctors, wouldn't allow it."

It added he had been "very moved" by the fans in Japan, and rescheduling options were being explored.

Sir Paul said: "Unfortunately my condition has not improved overnight.

"I was really hoping that I'd be feeling better today. I'm so disappointed and sorry to be letting my fans down."

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Body Found Thought To Be Missing Nine-Year-Old

Police believe a body found by fishermen in Florida is that of missing nine-year-old Felecia Williams.

The little girl vanished on Friday evening from Doral Oaks Apartments in Temple Terrace.

Police have interviewed several people over Felecia's disappearance

A family friend picked Felecia up from her mother's house in Ybor City and stopped at Doral Oaks to take a shower.

When she returned, the youngster was missing.

Felecia's sister Shakelia Givens told Fox News: "She wouldn't leave. She would never, ever wander off. She doesn't have a reason to."

Temple Terrace Police said a body was found in mangroves near Courtney Campbell Causeway, in Pinellas County, on Saturday afternoon.

They are waiting for a post-mortem examination to be carried out before they confirm whether it is the nine-year-old.

Officers have interviewed several people in connection with the Edison Elementary School student's disappearance.

Temple Terrace police spokesman Michael Dunn said: "We don't know what occurred here yet. That is still under investigation."

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Balkans: Worst Floods In A Century Kill 44

The worst floods to hit the Balkans in more than a century have killed at least 44 people, and there are fears that number could rise further as water recedes from deluged towns and cities.

Tens of thousands have fled their homes in Bosnia and Serbia after three months of rain fell on the region in just three days.

Hundreds have also been evacuated in Croatia, where one person has died.

There are conflicting reports on the death toll. The AFP news agency is reporting 44 people have been killed, while Reuters puts the figure at 37.

People receive food in the flooded town of Obrenovac

Boats and helicopters have been used to evacuate those affected by floodwaters, which reached the second floor of homes in some parts of Bosnia.

Security Ministry spokesman Admir Malagic said approximately a million people, more than a quarter of the population, live in the affected area.

Bakir Izetbegovic, the chairman of Bosnia's three-man presidency, said the country was facing a "horrible catastrophe".

In the eastern town of Bijeljina, around 100,000 people were evacuated on Saturday after flood defences were unable to hold back the rain-swollen Sava River.

Boats and helicopters are being used to rescue people

Mayor Mico Micic said: "We need everything, we are under water."

The rain has also caused almost 300 landslides, burying dozens of houses and cars.

Many have lost homes they have only just finished rebuilding after the 1992-95 war which killed 100,000 people and devastated the country.

Mines from that conflict litter Bosnia's mountains, and many warning signs have been swept away, increasing the risk of deadly accidents.

Many people have lost homes rebuilt after the 1992-95 war

More than 15,000 people have been evacuated in Serbia.    

Most of those who have fled their homes have found shelter in schools and sports halls.

Soldiers and emergency crews are using boats and helicopters to rescue thousands of people trapped in the town of Obrenovac, near the capital, Belgrade.              

The flooding there is threatening the country's biggest power plant, Nikola Tesla.

A man peers over at the high level of the Sava river in Sremska Mitrovica

Capacity at the plant has already been cut after a coal mine nearby was submerged.

Residents of the nearby town of Baric have also been ordered to leave immediately, with many leaving on buses and military trucks.

There was a slight respite for some parts of the country on Saturday when the rain eased, but Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic warned a new flood wave on the Sava will hit on Sunday evening.

"Our primary concern is to protect the power plant," he said.

"We are doing all we can."

People build a dam of sandbags by the Sava river

Thousands of volunteers have been bused in from all over the country after responding to a government appeal to help build flood defences along the river.

Residents have used social media to help collect food, blankets and clothes for crisis-hit areas.

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic has appealed for people to help. He wrote on his Twitter account: "Support for everyone! Let's help the endangered! Join the aid action!"

Both countries have appealed for international help and many European Union countries have sent equipment and emergency crews.

A Russian team has joined the rescue effort and a team from the UK was expected to arrive by the end of the day.

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Nigeria Kidnappings: British Jet Deployed

The RAF has sent a state-of-the-art reconnaissance aircraft to help find the 200 kidnapped schoolgirls in Nigeria.

The Sentinel aircraft has a crew of five and is capable of flying for long periods at high altitude.

It is fitted with radar able to locate moving targets and offer radar imagery.

Departing from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, the plane is initially bound for the Ghanaian capital of Accra, west of Nigeria where Islamist terror group Boko Haram and their captives are in hiding.

The jet will then join US aircraft in attempting to locate the girls, who were seized from a school dormitory in the north-east of the country on April 15.

Rich Barrow, RAF Waddington's station commander, said: "The Sentinel with its wide area search capability and long endurance is perfect for this task.

"UK personnel will help to analyse the information gathered to improve the intelligence picture for the Nigerian authorities."

Foreign Secretary William Hague urged west African nations to come together to defeat Boko Haram during international crisis talks in Paris on Saturday.

And he said that in the long term, the UK and other countries would need to do more to support development in areas where Boko Haram is active.

"More will need to be done in the north of Nigeria in terms of clean water, healthcare, education and so on," he said.

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Libya: Rogue General Launches Parliament Attack

Gunmen loyal to a rogue general have stormed the Libyan parliament after bombarding the building with rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft weapons.

Heavy smoke was seen coming from the building in the country's capital Tripoli. There have been no reports of casualties.

A spokesman for General Khalifa Haftar, a former rebel in the war against Muammar Gaddafi, said his forces were responsible for the raid.

Mohammed al Hegazi told TV channel Alahrar it was carried out in order to arrest Islamists.

He called parliament the "heart of the crisis" in Libya, and added: "This parliament is what supports these extremist Islamist entities.

"The aim was to arrest these Islamist bodies who wear the cloak of politics."

MP Omar Bushah told Reuters news agency gunmen stormed offices in the General National Congress and set it on fire.

A security official said the gunmen also shelled a nearby military base controlled by an Islamist militia.

Roads leading to parliament have been sealed off and residents were seen rushing home.

Gen Haftar's forces have been fighting militants in Benghazi

One resident told Reuters the attackers have left and armed locals are now patrolling the area.

Another said gunmen had kidnapped two people from the parliament building.

A spokesman for the Libyan Revolution Operation room, a group of militias who answer to the interim government and are responsible for security in Tripoli, said fighters had engaged the attackers.

The Al Qaaqaa and Sawaaq militias are both based near parliament, and the spokesman said the attackers are thought to be members of the two groups.

They operate under the government's mandate but support non-Islamist political forces.

Libya's parliament is split between Islamist and non-Islamist forces who have argued over choosing a new government and holding fresh elections.

General Hafter is waging an offensive against militants in Libya's second largest city, Benghazi. Fighting there on Friday left 70 dead.

Authorities have accused him of carrying out a coup, but General Hafter has said they have no mandate and has vowed to continue.

Libya's government and army have struggled to impose authority over armed brigades of former rebels and militias since the fall of Gaddafi in 2011.

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Four British Yachtsmen Feared Dead In Atlantic

Four Britons are thought to have died after the yacht they were sailing from the Caribbean to the UK capsized in the mid-Atlantic Ocean.

The crew was returning from Antigua Sailing Week in a 40ft performance racer cruiser when it ran into difficulties 620 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts on Thursday.

Missing: Andrew Bridge (L) and Steve Warren

Contact with Andrew Bridge, 21, James Male, 23, Steve Warren, 52, and Paul Goslin, 56, was lost in the early hours of Friday while they were diverting to the Azores.

US and Canadian aircraft as well as merchant vessels carried out a search on Friday and Saturday, but now the operation has been called off.

The Britons had been sailing the boat, called the Cheeki Rafiki, back from Antigua for yacht training and charter company Stormforce Coaching when they went missing.

Director Doug Innes said the vessel had first started taking on water on Thursday.

James Male (L) and Paul Goslin have also disappeared

But he said the company had been in contact with the skipper at that time, and the crew were keeping the situation stable.

He said it was possible the crew took to a life raft after contact was lost.

Mr Innes added: "Although the search efforts co-ordinated ... were exceptional we are devastated that the search has now been called off so soon."

A US Coastguard spokesman two US and one Canadian aircraft had been helped by three commercial vessels until the search  ended at 5am local time.

The yacht reportedly capsized on the way back from the Caribbean

He said: "We searched with multiple assets over 4,000 square miles for pings from the vessel's personal locator beacons.

"After receiving no more transmissions we believe that we would have found them by now if we were going to find them.

"These beacons are small devices and the ones being used have a very short battery life."

Mr Bridge, who is from Farnham in Surrey, was being paid by Stormforce for his role on the yacht, a spokeswoman for the firm said.

But Mr Goslin, from West Camel, Somerset, Mr Warren, from Bridgwater, Somerset, and Mr Male, from Southampton, were also described as "very experienced offshore yachtsmen".

Antigua Week is regarded as one of the world's top regattas.

Stormforce, which was acting as the managing agent for the Cheeki Rafiki, is based in Southampton.

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