Hot Air Balloon Crash Caught On Camera

A hot air balloon carrying 11 people has crashed into a lake in the Netherlands, injuring two people.

Dramatic footage taken by a passerby shows the aircraft coming down in Lake Gooi, near the city of Almere, and its basket being dragged along until it hits the shore.

The basket remains on its side in the water while the edge of the balloon dips and comes down on a road alongside the lake in front of a travelling car.

Witnesses can be seen rushing to help the passengers in the stricken balloon.

Dutch emergency services, including two coastguard boats, police, firefighters and ambulances, were alerted to the accident and attended the scene.

The two people hurt were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

The cause of the crash, which happened at around 9.40pm on Tuesday, is unknown. It is being investigated by police and the Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ETI).

Almere is situated in central Flevoland province, east of Amsterdam.

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Bulgarian Police Rescue Besieged MPs

Violent clashes broke out after hundreds of protesters barricaded Bulgaria's politicians inside the parliament building as demonstrations in the country intensified.

Protesters build barricades outside the parliament building

Nearly 10 people had to be taken to hospital to be treated for injuries, including two police officers, after 2,000 people took to the streets of the capital of Sofia.

Police armed with shields and batons had to rescue 100 lawmakers who had been trapped inside the besieged building for more than eight hours.

Officers attempt to escort the politicians to safety

Officers tried to escort the politicians out by bus but anti-corruption protesters, shouting  "mafia" and "resign", hurled plastic bottles at the bus.

Thousands of Bulgarians have taken to the streets of the capital every day for 40 days since the government announced the appointment of a powerful media magnate as security chief.

Protesters outside the building in the capital of Sofia

The protesters see the move as an increasing example of private interests controlling state institutions.

The government's withdrawal of the appointment last month failed to quell public discontent in the EU's poorest country and protesters are now calling for the cabinet's resignation.

A woman faces down riot police

Interior minister Tsvetlin Yovchev: "Police reacted very adequately, policemen did their job perfectly although protesters behaved extremely aggressively.

"We will try to find those who threw stones at police and deputies."

Violent clashes break out between protesters and police

Authorities say seven protesters had to be treated for head injuries and two police officers were also hurt.

The president, Rosen Plevneliev, has appealed to protesters and police to keep the demonstrations peaceful.

More peaceful demonstrators play the piano

In a statement he said: "I appeal to the protesters to keep the protest the way it was and the way it impressed all Europe - peaceful, civilised and aimed at achieving the values of a democratic society."

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School Meal Deaths: Headteacher Surrenders

The headmistress of a school where 23 children died in a food poisoning outbreak has handed herself in to the police.

Meena Devi was taken into police custody in the eastern state of Bihar.

Police have been searching for the headmistress for nine days since children at her school began vomiting and suffering stomach cramps after eating a meal contaminated with a pesticide that is banned in many countries.

The principal surrendered ... and we have arrested her for questioning," Sujeet Kumar, police chief of Saran district, said.

"We need to talk to her first before framing charges."

Thirty children who became seriously ill after eating the free school lunch, provided as part of the world's largest free school feeding programme, on July 16 are still in hospital.

Police reportedly raided the headteacher's home - where the ingredients for the meal of lentil, potatoes and rice were being kept - earlier in the week.

Results of tests of blood samples taken from four children still in a critical condition indicated "acute poisoning".

A forensic report showed the oil that the food was cooked in contained the pesticide monocrotophos at very high levels.

An unnamed government official said: "The poisonous substance was more than five times the commercial preparation available on the market."

The World Health Organisation revealed it had asked India to ban the toxic substance as far back as 2009.

It also warned that pesticide containers were not being disposed of properly in India and were being used by the poor to store water and food.

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Snowden 'Allowed To Leave Moscow Airport'

Edward Snowden has been given a document that allows him to leave a Moscow airport, according to Russia's state news agency.

The document also confirms that Russian authorities are considering his application for temporary asylum.

Snowden has been holed up at Sheremetyevo airport's transit area for a month.

The whistleblower is wanted by the US for leaking information about government surveillance programmes.

It is understood that the Snowden will be able to show the document to passport control officials and leave the airport, says Sky News' Moscow correspondent Katie Stallard.

From there, he could move into Moscow city centre while his asylum application is considered.

That process could take up to three months, according to his Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena.

The 30-year-old had been considering going to South America but has put that move on hold.

Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua have all said they would grant him political asylum but none is reachable by direct commercial flight from Moscow.

Snowden leaked details of top-secret US surveillance programmes - giving details of the monitoring of phone calls and internet data from companies such as Google and Facebook - to The Guardian and Washington Post.

He now faces espionage charges in America.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, mindful of the country's strained relations with the US, has said Snowden can only be granted asylum if he stops leaking secrets.

More follows...

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LaGuardia Plane Crash: Ten People Injured

Ten people have been injured after a plane's landing gear collapsed as it touched down at an airport in New York.

The accident left the Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 with its nose resting on the runway at LaGuardia.

It forced the temporary closure of the airport, which mostly handles flights to and from other US cities.

Some 150 people were on board at the time.

The airline confirmed the emergency services had helped with the evacuation of the passengers and crew of Flight 345 from Nashville.

Thomas Bosco, the acting director of aviation at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said the nose gear of the plane collapsed when it landed at 5.40pm.

Investigators are examining the potential cause of the crash

"The aircraft skidded down the runway on its nose and then veered off and came to rest in the grass area," he said, adding that there was no advance warning of any possible problem before the landing.

Television images showed the plane with its nose angled down to the ground and its evacuation slides out. The fuselage was surrounded by emergency vehicles.

Passengers on board the plane saw sparks flying as the nose scraped along the runway, according to accounts given to waiting relatives and friends.

One passenger, Anniebell Hanna, said the flight had been delayed leaving Nashville. Passengers had heard an announcement saying "something was wrong with a tyre".

She said of the landing at LaGuardia: "When we got ready to land, we nosedived. I hit my head against the seat in front of me."

The 43-year-old was among the first to get off the plane, and could smell something burning when she slid down the chute to the tarmac.

Planes scheduled to fly to LaGuardia were held at their origin airports, while those already en route were diverted to New York's other hubs, Newark and JFK, contributing to long delays.

All take-offs were suspended for more than two hours after the accident, but the airport's two runways were fully functional on Tuesday.

The incident came 16 days after Asiana Flight 214 crash-landed at San Francisco's international airport. Three Chinese teenagers died as a result of the Boeing 777 crash, with dozens more people injured.

AskthePilot.com's Patrick Smith said landing gear incidents are not high on the list of worries for pilots.

"It doesn't happen very often, but I need to emphasise just how comparatively minor this is and how far, far down the hierarchy it is," he said.

"From a pilot's perspective, this is nearly a non-issue. They make for good television, but this is far down the list of nightmares for pilots."

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Royal Baby: Reaction From Around The World

New grandparents the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have popped the bubbly as world leaders and celebrities toast the birth of the new Royal baby.

The pair were met by cheering crowds of well-wishers on a visit to the village of Bugthorpe in East Yorkshire.

Prince Charles said he was "thrilled and very excited" after the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a baby boy and told how he had celebrated the news.

One resident in the flag and bunting-draped village told Charles: "We popped a bottle of bubbly last night at our house. I hope you did too."

The Prince replied: "Yes. But just a little bit."

The US leader said the prince had been born in a time of new opportunity

Messages of congratulations have been sent from around the world, with Barack Obama saying the new prince had been born "at a time of promise and opportunity" between Britain and America.

The US President said he and First Lady Michelle Obama wished Prince William and his wife "all the happiness and blessings parenthood brings".

US entertainer Ellen DeGeneres added her congratulations

US talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who was recently informed by the New England Genealogical Society that she is a distant relative of the Duchess, tweeted her congratulations.

"It's a boy! So happy for my cousin Kate and the future King of England," she wrote.

Other celebrities also offered their best wishes on Twitter.

Comedian Joan Rivers said: "Congratulations to Kate & William on the birth of their baby boy! So relieved that his name won't include the words Ivy or Apple."

Actor Stephen Fry poked fun at how news of the Royal baby was announced outside Buckingham Palace, tweeting: "The official easel. We really are a marvellously bonkers country."

Cheryl Cole said she was delighted at the news

TV star Cheryl Cole wrote: "Congratulations to William and Kate!! So happy they have a healthy baby and everyone is good. Can't wait to see him now."

In the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Parliament Hill was illuminated with blue lights - as were the country's famous Niagara Falls.

Canada's Governor General was among the first international dignitaries to congratulate the couple as their first day of parenting began.

He used Twitter to send a message to Clarence House, saying: "Wonderful news!"

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the arrival of a future sovereign of Canada was a "highly anticipated moment for Canadians given the special and warm relationship that we share with our Royal Family".

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also offered his congratulations, saying: "This is bright and and wonderful news for both England and the world."

Australian PM Kevin Rudd welcomed the Royal "bub" in a statement

A spokesman for the Russian President said: "Vladimir Putin congratulated the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Elizabeth II on the birth of her grandson and wished her good health of the newborn, the Duchess of Cambridge and all the members of the Royal Family."

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said: "I think all Australians at the bottom of their hearts wish the Royal bub all the best, and certainly wish the new parents all the best as well.

"When a new bub comes into the world, any old day, any part of the world, it is frankly a time for rejoicing."

He also announced the country's quirky gift to the baby prince - a research project examining the bilby, an Australian marsupial.

"In terms of cute and cuddly toys, it'll be a cute and cuddly bilby," he said.

The story led many of the US news networks' bulletins

Royalist group Monarchy New Zealand said it had organised a lightshow, with 40 buildings lit up in blue, including Sky Tower in Auckland, and the airport in Christchurch.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said: "It's a fabulous day for the young couple. They'll be very excited as new parents as indeed I think New Zealanders will be very excited on their behalf.

"I mean, this is a future king of New Zealand. I think it's a moment to stay for them and we'll be celebrating alongside them as they bring their new one into the world."

Residents in Jamaica and Barbados, both members of the Commonwealth, also congratulated the couple.

"Well it's good to know that a baby is born and it's of royalty. It means a lot to us, not only to me, but I guess to most of the Jamaican people," said Kingston resident Pauline Wilson.

Media outlets around the world have been gripped by the arrival of the Royal baby.

Britain's biggest selling newspaper changed its name in honour

The story has featured highly on most foreign news channels and websites, with many focusing on the image of a town crier announcing the birth in London.

It also sparked a frenzy of excitement on Twitter which spread rapidly across the world.

There have been more than two million mentions of the baby's arrival on the site, with the hashtag #RoyalBaby being used more than 900,000 times.

A spike in conversation on Twitter came at 8.37pm, in the minutes following the initial announcement, with more than 25,300 tweets per minute.

Andy Murray's historic win beat Royal baby news on Twitter

But it failed to generate the same flurry of activity as Andy Murray's historic Wimbledon victory, which amassed 120,000 tweets per minute, or the election of Pope Francis, which sparked a massive 132,000 tweets per minute.

A Twitter spokesman said the Royal baby reaction may not yet have reached its peak, with a surge expected when the Duke and Duchess show their son to the world and announce his name.

The topic is also dominating social media in China, with 185,000 comments posted on the country's Twitter-style Sina Weibo site.

According to social media monitoring firm Synthesio, the royal birth is currently the most talked about foreign topic in the country.

It has also created an "online buzz" in areas as far away as Antarctica, Kiribati, Burkina Faso, Azerbaijan and Aruba, Synthesio added.

Meanwhile in India, the dabbawalas of Mumbai are celebrating the birth with the Indian tradition of handing out sweets.

The baby may become the head of state of 16 countries, including Britain, Australia and Canada, and possibly the head of the Commonwealth, which covers 54 nations.

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Pope In Brazil: Thousands Mob Pontiff's Car

Thousands of Brazilians mobbed the Pope's car after his driver went the wrong way down a street in Rio de Janeiro.

Rio transportation secretary Carlos Osorio said the Fiat that Francis was riding in from the airport to the city centre turned into the wrong side of the 12-lane Avenida Presidente Vargas.

Instead of taking the left lanes that were free of traffic, the car turned into the right lanes cluttered with buses and taxis, forcing the pontiff's car to stop, he said.

Thousands who had lined the streets then rushed the car, reaching into the Pope's open window, many taking photos of him.

His secretary was not happy during the incident

Vatican spokesman the Reverend Federico Lombardi acknowledged that the Pope's motorcade took a wrong turn, but said the pontiff was never concerned for his safety, even if his secretary, who was sitting with him in the car, was.

"His secretary was afraid, but the Pope was happy, with his hand out the window waving," Rev Lombardi said.

"There are no concerns for security. The concerns are that the enthusiasm is so great that it's difficult to respond to so much enthusiasm for the Pope. But there is no fear and no concern."

The Pope later toured round the main streets In Rio

Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, who is on a seven-day trip to his home continent, then switched to an open-air Popemobile as he toured the main streets in central Rio.

At the official welcoming ceremony, Pope Francis said he had come "to meet young people from all over the world" attracted by the messages of Jesus.

During his stay, the 76-year-old will meet young Catholics gathering for the Church's World Youth Festival in Rio.

Police fire rubber bullets at protesters

More than one million people are expected to pack the white sands of Copacabana for ceremonies presided over by Pope Francis. He will also visit a tiny chapel in a slum and make a side trip to venerate Brazil's patron saint, Our Lady of Aparecida.

The Pope will be hoping his visit will galvanise support for the Roman Catholic Church in Brazil.

In 1970 some 90% of Brazilians identified themselves as Catholic, but a poll at the weekend suggested that number was now down to 57%, with an increasing number of people joining evangelical groups.

Pope Francis meeting Brazil president Dilma Rousseff

Police and anti-government protesters earlier clashed outside the palace hosting the Pope's welcoming ceremony.

About an hour after the Pope concluded his short speech, police began cracking down on the protests, firing rubber bullets in an effort to disperse the crowd.

The protests, the latest in a series of demonstations in Brazil over the past few weeks, focused on government corruption and the cost of Pope Francis' visit, said to be in the region of £33m.

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School Meal Deaths: 'Acute Poisoning' Blamed

By Neville Lazarus, Asia Producer

The results of tests on blood samples from four children who are in a critical condition after eating contaminated school meals indicate "acute poisoning".

The food, served at the school in Bihar as part of an Indian government scheme, contained a toxic substance, according to the tests carried out at a clinic in Mumbai.

An unnamed government official said: "The poisonous substance was more than five times the commercial preparation available on the market."

Twenty-three children died and 30 others are still recuperating in hospital after eating the free school lunch on July 16.

A forensic report earlier showed the oil that the food was cooked in contained the pesticide monocrotophos at very high levels.

Thirty children are still in hospital

The World Health Organisation said it had asked India to ban the toxic substance as far back as 2009.

It also warned that pesticide containers were not being disposed of properly in India and were being used by the poor to store water and food.

An arrest warrant has been issued for the headmistress of the school, Meena Devi, and her husband, who supplied groceries for the meal.

Their home was raided and five empty packets of insecticides were found. The couple went on the run soon after the tragedy.

Angry villagers subsequently attacked the house, which is now under police guard.

The children who died were between the ages of four and 10.

Some of them were buried near the entrance of the school, as a mark of their parents' protest.

Groceries for the meal were provided by the headmistress

State education minister PK Shahi said it was impossible to give an assurance that such an incident would not occur again.

"As a minister, how can I guarantee that in 72,000 schools across the state, there won't be any poison in the food if somebody is hell bent on doing so?" the minister said.

The tragedy has provoked a national debate on the world's largest school-feeding programme and how it is implemented.

More than 120 million children are being fed a cooked meal through the scheme, which started in the 1960s.

It has been adopted at all government schools in India as a way of enrolling more children into schools and tackling malnutrition.

India has more than twice as many malnourished children as sub-Saharan Africa.

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Barrier Reef: US Navy May Retrieve Bombs

The US Navy is considering salvaging four unarmed bombs dropped on Australia's Great Barrier Reef after a training exercise went wrong.

The two AV-8B Harrier jets launched from aircraft carrier USS Bonhomme Richard each jettisoned an inert bomb and an unarmed explosive bomb on the World Heritage site on Tuesday, the US 7th Fleet said.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the government manager of the 133,360 square mile (345,400 square km) protected zone, said in a statement that identifying options for the "rapid recovery" of the bombs so that they could pose no risk to the marine park was "a high priority".

But the authority also said the ordnances posed a "low risk to the marine environment".

"Based on where the ordnance have been dropped in a location that is in water around 164ft (50m) deep, about 19 miles (30km) from the nearest reef and 31 miles (50km)  from the shoreline, the immediate impact on the marine environment is thought to be negligible," the statement said.

US 7th Fleet spokesman Lt David Levy said on Monday that the Navy was currently reviewing the possibility of retrieving the ordnances in consultation with Australian authorities.

"If the park service and the government agencies of Australia determine that they want those recovered, then we will coordinate with them on that recovery process," he said.

The bombs were dropped from two AV-88 Harrier jets

The four bombs, weighing a total of 1.8 tons (4,000lb), were dropped into more than 164ft of water away from coral to minimise damage to the reef, the US 7th Fleet said.

The jets from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit had intended to drop them on the Townshend Island bombing range, but aborted the mission when controllers reported the area was not clear of hazards.

Both aircraft were running low on fuel and could not land with the bombs on board.

US Navy Commander William Marks told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday that the crews detected civilian vessels inside the drop zone.

"The approved area where they could do some of this live training with these 500lb bombs, it was not safe to drop the bombs," he said. "There were civilian boats right below them."

The joint Australia-US training, which began on July 15, involves 28,000 troops and Commander Marks was unable to say how civilian vessels had strayed into the Shoalwater Bay military training area.

"I don't have any more information about what they were doing and why they were there," he said.

Australian senator Larissa Waters, Greens party spokeswoman on the Great Barrier Reef, described the dumping of bombs as outrageous and said it should not be allowed.

She said: "Have we gone completely mad? Is this how we look after our World Heritage area now? Letting a foreign power drop bombs on it?"

Graeme Dunstan, who is among the environmentalists and anti-war activists protesting against the joint exercise, claimed the US military could no longer be trusted to protect the environment.

"How can they protect the environment and bomb the reef at the same time? Get real," Mr Dunstan said from the Queensland coastal town of Yepoon near where the military exercise is taking place.

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest network of coral structures rich in marine life that stretches more than 1,800 miles along the Australian northeast coast.

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China: Twin Earthquakes Leave Dozens Dead

Two earthquakes have struck in China killing at least 75 people and injuring 400, according to the local government.

Emergency workers carry the injured to safety

The twin quakes hit near the city of Dingxi in Gansu province, a region of mountains, desert and pastureland with a population of 26 million.

An official at the provincial earthquake bureau said: "More than 21,000 buildings were severely damaged and more than 1,200 have collapsed."

Some 21,000 buildings have been damaged by the quakes

The most recent figures given for the number killed and injured came from the local government in Dingxi, who posted the details on their verified social media account.

The first 5.9-magnitude quake struck at 7.45am (11.45pm GMT) in the Gansu province and the second, measuring 5.6-magnitude, hit in the same region at 9.12am, according to the US Geological Survey.

Rescue teams move in looking for people under the debris

A resident of Min county said he was at work at a medicine production plant when the tremor struck and he saw tower blocks shake "ferociously".

"I was in the workshop. I felt violent shaking and so I ran to the yard of the plant immediately," said the man, surnamed Ma.

"Our factory is only one floor. When I came to the yard, I saw an 18-storey building, the tallest in our county, shaking ferociously, especially the 18th floor."

A woman is given water as she waits to be taken to safety

Shaking was felt in the provincial capital of Lanzhou 110 miles north, and as far away as Xi'an, 250 miles to the east.

"You could see the chandeliers wobble and the windows vibrating and making noise, but there aren't any cracks in the walls," said a front desk clerk at the Wuyang Hotel in Zhang County, about 25 miles from the epicentre.

"Shop assistants all poured out onto the streets when the shaking began."

Two earthquakes his the Gansu province

The quake was shallow, which can be more destructive. The first quake was 9km deep while the second was 10km deep.

Dingxi is about 766 miles west of Beijing.

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