Zimbabwe's Elections Were 'Free and Credible'

Zimbabwe's elections have been declared "free and credible" by the African Union, despite observers noting a number of practises that suggested heavy rigging.

Despite an admission by the head of the African Union mission, Olsegun Obasanjo, that his monitors noted some apparent irregularities, he said they did not constitute evidence of systematic tampering.

Officials say 89-year-old Robert Mugabe has been returned to power with a two-thirds majority.

Robert Mugabe casts his vote with wife, Grace

However, while declaring the elections to be free, the Union did not go so far as to declare them fair.

Mr Obasanjo, said: "Yes, the election is free," and he described the vote as credible unless any evidence to the contrary emerged

Significantly he asked election authorities to investigate reports that tens of thousands of eligible voters were turned away from the vote which marks an unbroken run of 33 years in power for Mr Mugabe.

Another poll monitoring group in Zimbabwe said as many as a million of the more than six million eligible voters were prevented from casting ballots.

Mr Obasanjo, a former Nigerian president, said: "If 25% were not allowed, then, yes, the election is fatally flawed."

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Mr Mugabe's main opponent in the presidential vote, has declared the election "null and void".

Official results announced by the election commission on Friday morning showed Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF capturing 54 of the 210 parliament seats and Mr Tsvangirai's party winning 19 seats so far.

Voters queue to get into polling stations

Full results on the presidential and parliament votes have been promised by Monday.

Among the irregularities, the African Union found the electoral commission printed 8.7 million ballot papers for 6.4 million voters – 35% above the number of registered voters. This is against the international standard of 5%-10%.

The late publicity on the location of voting stations just 48 hours before stations opened also contributed to the high number of voters who were turned away because they were not at correct polling sites.

Life goes on as normal as a two-thirds majority declared for Mr Mugabe

Monitors also reported a high number of disabled, elderly or other "assisted voters" being helped to cast their ballots by polling officers who may have influenced them against their free will.

Speaking from Harare, Sky's Special Correspondent Alex Crawford said: "At the moment the people we are seeing and speaking to are all very disgruntled members of the electorate who say they were unable to vote for one reason or another.

"When they turned up at the voting stations the polling stations they were told their names were not on the voting lists that they had been registered to vote in polling stations which were many, many kilometres away so they felt that they were disenfranchised."

She said she had heard evidence of dead people's names being used to vote and of a number of procedural irregularities.

Morgan Tsvangirai declares the election 'null and void'

She said the Southern African Development Community, a regional body, "were very much holding back from saying it was a fair election. They said it was definitely free, people appeared to be able to vote and it was very peaceful but they stopped short of saying it was fair or credible."

The head of the observer mission for the Southern African Development Community described the election as "very free" and "very peaceful".

He also noted that there were some violations and a full analysis was still under way.

"The question of fairness is broad and you cannot answer it within one day," said Bernard Membe, who is also Tanzania's foreign minister.

"And so be sure that within 30 days, through our main report, the question of fairness may come."

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Zawahiri Claims US Plotted Morsi's Downfall

Al Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri has accused the United States of "plotting" to overthrow Egypt's Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

In an audio recording posted to militant Islamist forums, he said the US colluded with the Egyptian military, secularists and Christians to force out Mr Morsi.

Zawahiri, himself an Egyptian, said: "Crusaders and secularists and the Americanised army have converged ... with Gulf money and American plotting to topple Mohamed Morsi's government."

He accused Egypt's Coptic Christian minority of supporting the Islamist president's ouster to attain "a Coptic state stripped from Egypt's south".

Protests have been taking place in Egypt

They are the militant leader's first public comments on Mr Morsi's ousting.

The comments came as backers of Mr Morsi staged defiant rallies after the government ordered their protest camps to be broken up.

Supporters of Mr Morsi began to march after Friday prayers, pouring out of several Cairo mosques.

The afternoon rallies passed off peacefully, with demonstrators marching along main thoroughfares in the capital.

Mohamed Morsi was ousted in a military coup

By early evening, they held several smaller demonstrations, including by Cairo's Media Production City in the city's outskirts, where security forces fired tear gas after an alleged attempt by protesters to storm the building.

Protesters reportedly tore up the pavement to make barriers as police in armoured vehicles fired barrages of tear gas.

The marches came a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry angered Morsi loyalists by saying Egypt's military had been "restoring democracy" when it deposed the Islamist leader.

In an interview he said: "The military did not take over, to the best of our judgement - so far. To run the country, there's a civilian government. In effect, they were restoring democracy."

A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood denounced the comments, accusing Washington of being "complicit" in the coup.

"Is it the job of the army to restore democracy?" asked Gehad al Haddad in a statement.

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Israeli-Palestinian Talks Set Nine-Month Goal

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have set a nine-month deadline 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," he added.

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

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

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

Yet, 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 Mideast peace envoy, Martin Indyk, would be cloaked in secrecy and that the parties had agreed that 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," Ms Livni added. "Let us be these people."

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Spain Train Crash Hearing: 'Driver On Phone'

The driver of the train that crashed in Spain killing 79 people was on a phone talking to railway officials just before it derailed, investigators say.

The train was travelling at 119mph (190kph) in the moments before it came off the tracks outside of Santiago de Compostela last Wednesday, a preliminary hearing has been told.

The court, sitting in Spain's capital city Madrid, was told the conductor activated the brakes "seconds before the crash".

But investigators working with the Court of Justice in Galicia said this only managed to slow it to 95mph (153kph) at the point when it came off the rails on a bend.

The speed limit at the spot where the train derailed was set at 50mph (80kph).

The train derailed as it entered a bend in the track

Crash investigators have been opening the black boxes which record details about the train's speed and conversations between drivers and other controllers.

Under Spanish law, the contents of the black boxes were revealed within a court environment.

The train was carrying 218 passengers when it hurtled off the tracks last Wednesday evening. It slammed into a concrete wall, causing some carriages to flip over and catch fire.

So far, 79 people have died, and at least 130 were taken to hospital. Two Americans were among the dead, while four US citizens and one Briton were among the injured.

Train driver Francisco Jose Garzon is under investigation

Dozens of passengers are still being treated for injuries.

The driver Francisco Jose Garzon Amo has been identified as the person most likely to be responsible for multiple cases of negligent homicide but is still under investigation.

He was questioned and then released on Sunday and is under court supervision.

A statement released by the court said that the conductor was talking on the phone to an official of national rail company Renfe while apparently consulting a paper document at the time of the crash.

The crash killed 79 people and dozens of injured remain in hospital

"Minutes before the train came off the tracks he received a call on his work phone to get indications on the route he had to take to get to Ferrol," it said.

"From the content of the conversation and background noise it seems that the driver consulted a map or paper document."

Investigators from the Santiago de Compostela court, forensic police experts, the Ministry of Transport and Renfe examined the contents of the two black boxes.

The Spanish railway agency has already said the brakes should have been applied 2.5 miles (4km) before the train hit the curve.

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Milan Tornado: 12 Hurt After Twister Strikes

A tornado has ripped through a suburb of Milan, injuring 12 people and damaging buildings and vehicles.

Video shot by witnesses on their mobile phones captured the twister tearing through an industrial region in Grezzago, leaving a trail of devastation as it destroyed cars, overturned trucks and uprooted telegraph poles.

"We were inside there and a lorry crashed into the wall and came through it. Then all the windows broke and we couldn't understand what was happening," said Stefano Grimoldi who was caught up the carnage.

"Look there is no more roof, no more doors, there's nothing left," he added.

"It came from over there - the next little town along in Pozzo D'Ada," explained witness Luca Mariani. "Then it came through here, Grezzago, then it went towards Trezzo," added his friend Anthony Farchica.

"It lasted, I'm not sure, the time it took, ten minutes or a quarter of an hour," they added.

Firemen, civil protection and other rescue services rushed to the scene. Although no deaths have been reported there are reports of a dozen injuries.

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Driver's Body Recovered From Swiss Train Crash

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 of the scene 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 rushed the five seriously injured to a hospital in the nearby town of Payerne and south to the city of Lausanne. Their injuries were not life-threatening however, police said.

The collision happened at Granges-pres-Marnand

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.

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.

Rescue teams work into the night

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

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.

Heavy lifting equipment was used to clear the tracks

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

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

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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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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Egypt: US Bloodshed Fears As Scores Killed

At least 120 people have been killed after security forces attacked a protest by supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi in Cairo, according to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Doctors at a field hospital said another 1,000 people had been wounded in clashes on the road to Cairo's international airport, while the Muslim Brotherhood was claiming that a total of 4,500 had been wounded.

The latest violence in Egypt has prompted condemnation from the international community.

The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, said Washington had "deep concern" about the "bloodshed and violence" in the country and added that Egyptian authorities had "a moral and legal obligation to respect the right of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression."

Protesters set off flares in a mass protest in support of the army in Cairo

The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, condemned the violence and said: "In Egypt, democracy was massacred, national aspirations were massacred, and now the nation is being massacred."

Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement that he was "deeply concerned" by the violence.

He said: "I am deeply concerned by recent events in Egypt, and condemn the use of force against protesters which has led to the loss of lives."

Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad said: "They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill," adding that demonstrators had been hit by gunshot in the head and chest.

He said the shooting started just before pre-dawn prayers at a round-the-clock sit-in staged by Morsi supporters at Rabaa al-Adawiya in east Cairo.

An Apache helicopter flies over Tahrir Square during the protests

Activists rushed blood-spattered casualties to the makeshift hospital, some carried on planks or blankets. Many had fatal head wounds.

However, the Egypt Health Ministry claimed that the number of deaths reached 65, the number of wounded 750.

Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei on Saturday strongly condemned the "excessive use of force" in Egypt after deadly clashes between supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and security forces.

"I strongly condemn the excessive use of force and the deaths, and I am working hard and in every direction to end the confrontation in a peaceful way, God protect Egypt and have mercy on the victims," he said on his Twitter account. 

However, amid claims that rooftop snipers had opened fire on the vigil, Egypt's interior minister blamed the Brotherhood for the violence.

Speaking at a news conference, Mohamed Ibrahim said the security forces would act "in a legal fashion" to disperse the protesters "as soon as possible".

Protesters stand on power lines near Cairo's presidential palace

He accused the Brotherhood of exaggerating the death toll for political ends and denied that police had opened fire.

The violence broke out as rival rallies were held across Egypt for and against the overthrow of Mr Morsi, who is under investigation for murder.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians heeded a call by army chief General Abdel Fattah al Sisi to take to the streets, while the Muslim Brotherhood mounted counter-demonstrations in Cairo.

A spokeswoman for the pro-Morsi camp said eight Brotherhood supporters had died in a clash near the Cairo vigil alone, and another said rooftop snipers had opened fire.

At least 10 people have also been killed in Egypt's second city of Alexandria, where hundreds of people fought pitched battles, with birdshot fired and men on rooftops throwing stones at crowds below.

Lasers are pointed at an army helicopter near the palace

Several of those killed were stabbed, hospital officials said, and at least one was shot in the head.

The investigation into Mr Morsi over his 2011 escape from jail has signalled a clear escalation in the military's confrontation with the deposed leader and his Islamist movement.

MENA said Mr Morsi, who has been held at an undisclosed military facility since his overthrow, had been ordered detained for 15 days pending the inquiry.

Egypt's army-installed interior minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, said month-old Cairo vigils by Mr Morsi's supporters would be "brought to an end, soon and in a legal manner".

An army official said the military had given the party a Saturday deadline to end its resistance and join a military-set roadmap to fresh elections.

But the Brotherhood says it wants nothing to do with the army's transition plan and called its own crowds out for counter-demonstrations in a "day to remove the coup".

Mr Morsi has been in military detention at an undisclosed location since he was overthrown.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon has called on the military to free Mr Morsi and other Islamic Brotherhood leaders, said deputy UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey.

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