Arab Al Qaeda Cell Is Arrested In UAE

Arab members of an al Qaeda cell allegedly plotting attacks in the United Arab Emirates have been arrested.

Authorities in the Gulf State said the seven were various Arab nationalities and had been recruiting, financing and providing logistical support to the terror organisation.

State news agency WAM also reported that the group had sought to expand their activities to other countries in the region.            

"The cell was planning actions that would target the country's security and the safety of its citizens and residents, and was carrying out recruitment, and promoting the actions of al Qaeda," WAM said.            

"It was also supplying it [al Qaeda] with money and providing logistical support and seeking to expand its activities to some regional countries."  

The gang will be questioned and put on trial, the statement added.

The US-allied UAE is a federation of seven emirates and a major trading hub that has supported Western efforts to counter militancy in the region.

Its population, estimated at over eight million, comprises nearly 90% foreigners lured by work opportunities in the wealthy country.

Dubai is the largest city in the United Arab Emirates

It has been spared any attack by al Qaeda and other insurgency groups but some of its emirates have seen a rise in Islamist sentiment in recent years.

In December, the UAE said it had arrested a cell of UAE and Saudi Arabian members of a "deviant group" which was planning to carry out militant attacks in both countries and other states.

The phrase "the deviant group" is often used by authorities in Saudi Arabia to describe al Qaeda members.      

Diplomats in the region have said the December arrests were related mostly to Islamist activity in Yemen.            

There was no immediate word whether they were related to the arrests on Thursday.     

In 2010, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a merger of al Qaeda's Yemeni and Saudi branches, said it was behind a plot to send two parcel bombs to the US.

The bombs were intercepted in Britain and the UAE emirate of Dubai.            

The US has poured aid into Yemen to stem the threat of attacks from AQAP and to try to prevent any spillover of violence into Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter.            

In August 2012, Saudi authorities arrested a group of suspected al Qaeda-linked militants - mostly Yemeni nationals - in Riyadh.       

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Texas Explosion: Witnesses Describe Aftermath

A woman whose home was destroyed by the Texas fertiliser plant gas explosion has described the moment the blast happened.

Cheryl Marich said: "It knocked me down, it knocked me back. It was like the whole road just picked up."

One firefighter said: "I've never seen anything like this. It's part of the job, sometimes it makes you nervous, but you just have to overcome it for those less fortunate."

Dr George Smith was among those injured

Debby Marak said the blast was like being "in a tornado", adding that "stuff was flying everywhere."

Dr George Smith said: "There was just a major, major explosion. The windows came in on me, the roof came in on me, the ceiling came in.

"I worked my way up to go get some more help, of course we lost all communication because the power went out."

The remains of the fertiliser plant burn after an explosion

Jason Shelton told the Dallas Morning News: "It exploded just like the Oklahoma City bomb.

"I live about a thousand feet from it and it blew my screen door off and my back windows. There's houses levelled that were right next to it."

Julie Zhhirnik told how she helped clean the blood from local residents after a fertiliser plant explosion rocked a Texas town.

Residents from a nearby nursing home are triaged in a car park

"I just hurt so much, and just seeing everything that I saw … it's unexplainable. It's just horrifying for everyone.

"I cared for a lot, I do home help and I care and I helped and cleaned a lot of residents' blood and gave them blankets. I just tried to be there."

Erick Perez, 21, was playing basketball at a nearby school when the fire started. He and his friends thought nothing of it at first, but about half an hour later, the smoke changed colour.

Firefighters check a destroyed apartment complex

The blast threw him, his nephew and others to the ground, and showered the area with hot embers, shrapnel and debris.

"The explosion was like nothing I've ever seen before," he said. "This town is hurt really bad."

Another witness, Bill Bohannan, told the Waco Tribune-Herald: "It knocked us into the car... Every house within about four blocks is blown apart."

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Greece: Migrants Shot Following Pay Dispute

Some 20 strawberry pickers from Bangladesh have been shot and wounded in Greece after their foreman opened fire following a dispute about their pay.

The shooting occurred close to the village of Manolada, near the Ionian Sea and about 260km (161 miles) west of Athens.

Police Captain Haralambos Sfetsos said the Greek foreman responded with a shotgun after around 200 workers, who were demanding six months of unpaid wages, "moved threateningly" towards him and two colleagues.

"The injured have been taken to various nearby hospitals. We have been informed that none of the injuries are life-threatening," Captain Sfetsos said.

Two men have reportedly been arrested while police are still looking for a third. They are understood to be Greek.

The owner of the farm, who was not present at the time, has also been arrested for questioning.

The workers are all understood to be of Bangladeshi origin

Pictures showed some of the workers on stretchers at a medical centre in Varda, with their clothes torn and bloodied.

Greece's Syriza opposition party have condemned the incident as a "criminal, racist act".

Meanwhile, Greece's Communist Party (KKE) have said the strawberry trade in Greece is similar to a "modern-day slave trade".

Manolada has previously been at the centre of cases involving violence against migrants. In 2012, two Greek men were arrested for beating a 30-year-old Egyptian worker.

In 2008, migrants working on farms in Manolada went on a four-day strike in protest at what they claimed were poor wages and squalid living conditions.

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North Korea States Conditions For Nuclear Talks

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

North Korea has announced conditions it says would lead to negotiations with America and the subsequent denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

Just a week after it threatened 'all out war' with its southern neighbour, the regime in North Korea said that talks about denuclearisation could start if the United States first removed its nuclear weapons from the region.

Standing firm: Kim Jong Un says sanctions must also be removed

Listing their conditions, the statement from the country's National Defence Commission said: "First, [the Americans and South Koreans] should immediately stop all their provocative acts against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and apologise for all of them.

"Second, they should give formal assurances before the world that they would not stage again such nuclear war drills to threaten or blackmail the DPRK.

"Third, they should make a decision to withdraw all nuclear war means from South Korea and its vicinity and give up their attempt to reintroduce them as their immediate duty.

"If the US and the southern enemies genuinely want dialogue and negotiation, they should take these steps."

The United States and South Korea are yet to respond to the conditions. Even if they are considered to be unacceptable, they at least suggest a willingness to negotiate on the behalf of the North.

North Korea had previously repeatedly said that any talks would only begin once it had been accepted by America as a nuclear state. The latest statement hints at a softening of that stance.

"The de-nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula can begin with the removal of the nuclear war tools dragged in by the US and it can lead to global nuclear disarmament," the North's National Defence Commission said in the statement released by the official KCNA news agency.

"Dialogue and war cannot co-exist. If the United States and the puppet South have the slightest desire to avoid the sledge-hammer blow of our army and the people ... and truly wish dialogue and negotiations, they must make the resolute decision," the statement said.

Crucially, the statement also called for the removal of United Nations sanctions against the country.

John Kerry has offered talks, but with conditions the North has rejected

"The sanctions resolutions by the UN Security Council that were fabricated with unjust reasons must be withdrawn," the North's top military body said in its statement.

The American Secretary of State, John Kerry, was in the region last weekend. He offered talks with the North but only on the pre-condition they abandon their nuclear weapon ambitions.

An anticipated missile test by North Korea has not yet materialised though it is believed that at least two medium to long range missiles remain primed and fuelled on launch pads in the country's North East.

The threat of a missile test was the culmination of weeks of alarming rhetoric from the North, robust military posturing from America and a genuine fear of a military clash between the two.

Joint South Korean and American military exercises on the peninsula are due to end this month, which is likely to reduce the tensions.

The latest round of United Nations sanctions were imposed on North Korea following its successful rocket launch in December and subsequent nuclear test in February.

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New Zealand MP's Gay Marriage Speech Goes Viral

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

An MP's hilarious yet touching speech in New Zealand's parliament about legislation that legalised same-sex marriage in the country has become an internet hit.

MP Maurice Williamson poked fun at those who opposed the legislation - which was approved on Wednesday - leaving colleagues in fits of giggles.

"I've had a reverend in my local electorate say, 'The gay onslaught will start the day this law is passed,'" Mr Williamson said.

"Well, we are struggling to know what the gay onslaught will look like. We don't know whether it will come down the Pakuranga Highway as a series of troops or whether it will be a gas that flows in over the electorate that blocks us all in."

He continued: "I also had a Catholic priest tell me I was supporting an unnatural act. I found that quite interesting coming from someone who has taken an oath of celibacy for his whole life.

"I haven't done it so I don't know what it's about."

The speech came after Parliament voted 77 to 44 in favour of the gay-marriage bill on its third and final reading on Wednesday night.

As soon as the result was announced, people watching from the public gallery and some MPs started singing the New Zealand love song "Pokarekare Ana" in the indigenous Maori language.

New Zealand is the 13th nation to legalise gay marriage

Mr Williamson, who has three adopted children of his own, joked: "I also had a leader telling me I would burn in the fires of hell for eternity, and that was a bad mistake, because I've got a degree in physics."

"I will last 2.1 seconds - it's hardly eternity".

After Mr Williamson cracked joke after joke, his speech took a more serious turn.

"All we are doing with this bill is allowing two people who love each other to have that love recognised by way of marriage," he told parliament.

"We are not declaring nuclear war on a foreign state; we are not bringing a virus in that could wipe out our agriculture sector forever."

On Twitter he underlined the message by posting a picture of a rainbow outside his window.

Many people in New Zealand remain vehemently opposed to gay marriage.

Some 50,000 people signed an anti-legislation petition that was presented to parliament last year by lobbying group Family First. Another 25,000 people have since added their signatures to that petition.

Mr Williamson's address - which American website Gawker called "a speech for the ages" - has been posted on numerous blogs and is being spread via social media sites.

It has more than 50,000 hits on YouTube.

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TV Chef Comments Spark International Outrage

A television chef in Russia has apologised after he compared the way he chopped fresh herbs to the slaughter of Ukrainian villagers by Bolshevik forces.

Ivan Urgant's comments on the show 'Smak' provoked an angry protest by the Ukranian Foreign Ministry and saw protesters take to the street outside the Russian embassy in Kiev. 

"I chopped these greens like a red commissar did the residents of a Ukrainian village," Urgant said on the show, aired on Saturday.

"You have cleaned my blade," he then told guest Alexander Adabashyan, a screenwriter.

"I am just shaking off the villagers' remains," Adabashyan replied. 

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry immediately demanded an investigation into the incident.

Urgant's comments sparked official Ukrainian protests

"In the modern, civilised world, such jokes are considered bad taste and disrespectful toward the millions of victims of a totalitarian regime," it said in a statement.

Urgant took to the television on Wednesday to apologise for his comments.

It followed an apology on Twitter in which he promised to give his son a Ukrainian name and cook only Ukrainian dishes on his show.

He said: "I just said a stupid thing without thinking. Believe me, I don't embrace the monstrous and chauvinistic notions that some people have seen in this stupid phrase.

"Indeed, I never imagined that this would cause an international scandal."

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Rhino Heads Stolen By Gang From Irish Museum

Four stuffed rhinoceros heads complete with horns have been stolen from a museum storeroom in Ireland.

The artefacts are about 100 years old, National Museum of Ireland officials said, and are worth about 500,000 euros (£428,000).

Three men raided a warehouse in Swords, north of Dublin, on Wednesday night and tied up the lone security guard.

The man, who was not injured, later freed himself and raised the alarm.

The heads had been removed from display last year and put into storage to safeguard them from thieves.

The storage facility of the National Museum of Ireland

"We've never had to deal with something like that in our history, as far as I'm aware," said Nigel Monaghan, a keeper in the natural history division of the museum.

The heads and horns were originally trophies dating back to the early 1900s and preserved and mounted by taxidermists.

They included three black rhinos and one white rhino, all from Africa.

Based on their weight and black-market prices, the horns could be worth a total of 500,000 euros, museum officials said.

In East Asia rhino horn is believed to have healing properties

A museum spokesman said the horns "have probably been taken to supply the illegal trade in powdered horn that is used in traditional medicines in the Far East".

Some species of rhino are being hunted to the verge of extinction because their horns, in  powdered form, command high prices for use in traditional Asian medicine.

The horns are regarded as being worth more than their weight in gold on the black market.

This month, Officials at South Africa's national parks told Sky News that they were "under siege" from rhino poachers and that the animal risks extinction within decades if the killings go on at the current rate.

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Sinkhole Swallows Up Three Cars In Chicago

A rainstorm pummelling the Chicago area has ripped open a sinkhole large enough to swallow three cars.

One driver was so badly injured he had to be taken to hospital.

Chicago Police Department spokesman Mike Sullivan said the gaping hole opened up in a street on the city's South Side, near Lake Michigan.

He said the injured man was driving when the road buckled and caved in.

He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, but his injuries are not life-threatening.

The owner of one of the two parked cars that fell in was about to leave for work and watched it slide into the pit.

Ola Oni told The Chicago Tribune: "It could have happened to me, I am lucky, I'm happy.

"Look at this, this neighbourhood is in danger."

Flooding has also forced authorities to close sections of several major roads around Chicago.

Schools have been closed for the day, and several hundred flights were scrapped at O'Hare International Airport.

Thursday's storm has dumped more than five inches of rain in some areas.

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Texas Explosion: Looters Target Town Of West

As many as 15 people are believed to have been killed and over 160 injured after an explosion ripped through a fertiliser plant in Texas.

More than half of the town of West, near Waco, has been evacuated and people are still being pulled from damaged buildings following the blast.

It comes as looters began targeting parts of the town, and police warned those with no need to be in the area to stay away.

A victim from the West fertilizer plant explosion is wheeled into hospital

"There has been a small amount of looting to my understanding," said Sergeant William Swanton, from Waco Police Department.

"I can't tell you the number of looters, or whether they've been caught … but this is a significant concern to us."

The force of the explosion had a 2.1 magnitude, according to the US Geological Survey, equivalent to a minor earthquake.

An elderly woman is taken into a hospital in Waco, Texas

Paul Earle from the organisation told Sky News the blast would have felt much bigger than 2.1 because the explosion was on the surface unlike an earthquake which happens underground.

And a lot of energy would have been released/lost into the air.

The blast was so powerful that a nearby block of flats was destroyed and 130 residents of a local nursing home were injured.

US Geological Survey graphic shows blast ground waves (L) and sound waves

Firefighters were tackling a blaze at the plant when the explosion happened in West, which has a population of about 2,800 people. A small group of firefighters are among those missing.

Sergeant Swanton said the death toll was "anywhere from five to 15 at this point" but could rise.

Hundreds of people were injured by the explosion

He said there were scenes of "extreme devastation", adding: "We're going house to house, business to business, and we're seeing quite a bit of devastation in the area of the plant".

"They're still pulling victims out, still bringing victims to triage. There may be firefighters that are unaccounted for and potentially a law enforcement officer as well."

He went on to say locals "are going to be in a state of recovery for a very long time".

Firefighters check a destroyed apartment complex near the plant

He also said that a helicopter which was helping with the rescue operation was damaged.

The blast damaged as many as 75 homes, as well as a local school.

A number of people are also suffering from "respiratory distress due to chemical inhalation".

The explosion at the West Fertiliser Company happened shortly before 8pm local time on Wednesday and could be heard as far away as 45 miles.

A man filmed the initial fire, and captured the moment of the explosion on camera.

Smoke rises as water is sprayed on the remains of the plant

His child is heard shouting: "Dad, I can't hear, let's get out of here. I can't hear anything." The dad says simply: "Oh my god."

Waco Assistant Fire Chief Don Yeager said it was an anhydrous (without water) ammonia explosion.

Anhydrous ammonia is a nitrogen-hydrogen gas widely used as a fertiliser, but it is also a key component of many explosive devices.

This image shows the initial blast Pic: KWTX-TV

West's mayor Tommy Muska, who is part of the team of local volunteer firefighters, said a number of his colleagues are unaccounted for.

He told CNN: "It's like a nuclear bomb went off."

In a statement, President Barack Obama offered the prayers of the nation to the people of West.

"A tight-knit community has been shaken, and good, hard-working people have lost their lives," he said.

And Texas Governor Rick Perry said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of West, and the first responders on the scene."

The injured are treated at a nearby sports field

Debby Marak told The Associated Press she noticed a lot of smoke coming from the area across town near the plant, which is near a nursing home.

She said she drove over to see what was happening, and when she got out of her car two boys ran towards her screaming that officials told them to leave because the plant was going to explode.

Moments later the blast happened.

"It was like being in a tornado," the 58-year-old said. "Stuff was flying everywhere. It blew out my windshield. It was like the whole earth shook."

A photo from Twitter user @TitansHomer shows a destroyed apartment complex

Police officers have reportedly been transporting the injured to local hospitals in their patrol cars.

As many as a dozen helicopters have been sent to the West High School stadium where ambulances are waiting to transport victims to hospitals.

Glenn Robinson, chief executive of Hillcrest Baptist Medical Centre, in Waco, told CNN his hospital had received 66 injured people for treatment, including 38 who were seriously hurt.

He said the injuries included blast injuries, orthopedic injuries, large wounds and a lot of lacerations and cuts.

American Red Cross crews from across Texas are being sent to the site.

The number of people arriving in the town offering assistance has become a logistical problem in itself, emergency workers say.

They are also anticipating further disruption later, with heavy thunderstorms and potential tornadoes forecast in the area.

The explosion comes on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Waco siege - a deadly confrontation between federal authorities and heavily armed locals.

The Dallas Morning News said that the fertiliser company previously reported to the US Environmental Protection Agency and local public safety officials that there was no risk of fire or explosion at the plant.

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Boston Marathon Bombings: Obama At Service

President Barack Obama has sent a strong message to the Boston attackers saying "We will find you... and you will face justice".

He was speaking at a memorial service in the city for the victims of the marathon bombings, adding that everyone had been touched by the attack on their "beloved city".

Martin Richard

Some 1,700 people packed Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross for the inter-faith service - three days after the twin explosions in which three people were killed and about 180 injured. Hundreds more gathered outside.

Lu Lingzi

Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who lost to Mr Obama in the presidential election last year, was also at the cathedral along with Michelle Obama, city leaders and rescuers and survivors from the blast.

Krystle Campbell

The bombs were made from pressure cookers hidden inside duffel bags packed with nails, shards of metal and ball bearings, placed on the ground near the finish line of the race.

Those who died were eight-year-old Martin Richard, who was watching with his family at the finish line; restaurant manager Krystle Campbell, 29, and Chinese graduate student Lu Lingzi, who was studying at Boston University.

More follows...

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