NEW YORK CITY: US stocks Tuesday closed solidly higher for the fourth straight day as investors ignored the International Monetary Fund's lowered growth forecasts for the US and global economies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 75.65 (0.50 per cent) to 15,300.34.
The broad-based S&P 500 added 11.86 (0.72 per cent) to 1,652.32, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 19.43 (0.56 per cent) to 3,504.26.
The International Monetary Fund trimmed its world economic growth expectations for 2013 to 3.1 per cent from the April forecast of 3.3 per cent.
China and other emerging economic powers now face new risks, the IMF warned, "including the possibility of a longer growth slowdown."
But some analysts said investors were cheered by slightly better-than-expected earnings from Dow component Alcoa, which kicked off the earnings season late Monday, and were increasingly comfortable with the prospect that the Federal Reserve will soon begin tapering its stimulus program
"People have started to realise in the last week that even though the Fed may be tapering, the only way it is going to happen is if there is economic improvement, "said Michael James, managing director of equity trading and Wedbush Morgan Securities.
Blue chips scored solid gains: Bank of America was up 1.9 per cent and Morgan Stanley added 2.3 per cent; Caterpillar gained 2.6 per cent). Networking giant Cisco gained 2.2 per cent.
Package delivery firm FedEx rose 4.4 per cent amid speculation that Bill Ackman, head of hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, had put his sights on the company.
Apple rose 1.8 per cent after a US court dismissed a lawsuit with Amazon over use of the "app store" name after Apple decided to stop pursuing the case. Amazon increased 0.3 per cent.
IBM shed 1.9 per cent after Goldman Sachs cut its rating to "neutral" from "buy," citing pressures on IBM's growth markets and higher-margin revenue streams, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
Netflix surged 6.1 per cent after it announced an extension of a streaming content contract with CBS. CBS rose 0.9 per cent.
Book retailer Barnes & Noble shot up 5.4 per cent after announcing that chief executive William Lynch would step down. The company's Nook tablet business has struggled in recent months. - AFP
Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight broke their public silence in the 3-minute, 30-second video posted on YouTube. The women were held captive in a Cleveland home for a decade.
The three young women held captive in a Cleveland home for almost a decade are thanking the public for its support in their first public statements since their rescue in May.
Smiling and appearing upbeat, Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus speak separately in a three-minute, 30-second video released on YouTube.
"I may have been through hell and back, but I am strong enough to walk through hell with a smile on my face and my head held high," Knight says, reading from a statement. "I will not let the situation define who I am. I will define the situation. I don't want to be consumed by hatred."
The 32-year-old Knight, who was 21 when she disappeared, says she is building a "brand new life."
The video was filmed July 2 and released by a public relations agency on the women's behalf with the cooperation of their lawyers.
The three were still in their teens when they disappeared at different times from 2002 to 2004.
Ariel Castro, a 52-year-old former school bus driver, has been charged with kidnapping the girls off the streets of the city and holding them captive in his two-story home.
Castro, who has pleaded not guilty, was deemed mentally fit last week to stand trial. It is scheduled to begin Aug. 5.
The young women have not appeared in public since Berry broke through a door at the home while Castro was briefly away and shouted to neighbors for help. Police quickly freed the women, along with Berry's 6-year-old daughter, who was fathered by Castro.
"I want everyone to know how happy I am to be home with my family and friends," says Berry, who sports short hair with a blond streak. "It has been unbelievable.
"I am getting stronger each day and I having my privacy has helped immensely," she says.
The 27-year-old Berry, whose face as a missing 16-year-old was plastered on Cleveland streets after her disappearance, calls on the public to "give us time to have a normal life."
DeJesus, who is 23 and was 14 when she was reported missing, briefly offered thanks to the public. Her mother, Nancy Ruiz, also appears on the video and urges anyone with a missing child to "please count on your neighbors. Don't be afraid to ask for their help, because help is available."
Kathy Joseph, Knight's attorney, says in a statement that the three women wanted to "say thank you to people from Cleveland and across the world, now that two months have passed."
Joseph says the women are being recognized in public and "decided to put voices and faces to their heartfelt messages."
A general view of the Taliban Afghanistan Political Office in Doha June 18, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Mohammed Dabbous
By Regan Doherty
DOHA | Tue Jul 9, 2013 11:43am EDT
(Reuters) - Despite a row over the Taliban's office in Qatar, talks on their future role in Afghanistan are eventually likely to resume in what is expected to be a difficult and unpredictable peace process, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.
They were responding to reports that the Taliban had closed their office in Doha, the Qatari capital, after Afghan President Hamid Karzai objected to their raising a flag and giving it a nameplate that suggested they wanted to set up a government-in-exile.
"Because of the arguments around the office, it hasn't really been used, but people are still willing to find a way forward," said one western diplomat.
Another diplomat said it was reasonable to assume that those involved in the talks process were still keen to make progress despite the row over the office, which opened just last month.
"It has never been used. That's not to say people don't talk," the western diplomat added.
The office is meant to allow the Taliban to negotiate a political settlement with the Afghan government, though the insurgents say they would rather talk directly to the United States who they see as the main power broker in Afghanistan.
Supported by Pakistan, the talks with the Taliban are part of a much broader process to seek peace in Afghanistan as the United States and its allies prepare to pull out most combat troops by the end of 2014.
That process also includes: diplomatic efforts to ease tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan; preparations for next year's presidential election in Afghanistan; and talks between Washington and Kabul on retaining some U.S. troops after 2014.
The New York Times this week quoted U.S. and European officials as saying President Barack Obama was also considering a "zero option" under which no U.S. troops would be left behind in Afghanistan after the end of 2014.
ENGAGING WITH THE INSURGENTS
The talks with the Taliban - held intermittently behind-the-scenes for several years by various countries including the United States - are meant to find a way of bringing the insurgents back into the Afghan political process.
Believed to have the endorsement of the Taliban leadership, they were expected to pave the way for an exchange of prisoners as an initial confidence-building measure, according to diplomats. Among those would be five Taliban prisoners held by the United States at its prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Three senior members of the Afghan Taliban told Reuters they had not closed their office in Qatar but suspended talks and removed their flag from the building after differences emerged between the U.S. and the Afghan government over the proposed negotiations.
"We wanted direct talks with the U.S. whereas the Afghan government has been planning to hold negotiation with us, which is not acceptable to us," a senior Taliban commander said.
Pakistani and Afghan officials had no immediate comment on newspaper reports that Pakistan and Afghanistan were preparing to resume talks after a bitter row over the Doha office.
Afghanistan has long accused Pakistan of backing the Taliban; in turn Pakistani officials complain that Karzai is impeding the peace process for fear of losing his authority.
Pakistani newspapers have reported that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's adviser on foreign affairs and national security, Sartaj Aziz, would soon visit Kabul, though dates have yet to be fixed.
The western diplomat said it was a positive sign that the two neighbors were planning talks.
(Additional reporting and writing by Myra MacDonald in London and Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
NEW YORK CITY: US stocks Monday ended higher as investors looked forward to the kickoff of earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 88.85 (0.59 percent) to 15,224.69.
The broad-based S&P 500 increased 8.57(0.53 percent) to 1,640.46, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 5.45 (0.16 percent) to 3,484.83.
Investors were not expecting especially impressive earnings for the second quarter.
Current forecasts suggest profit growth of just 0.8 percent and revenue growth of only 1.2 percent from S&P 500 companies, said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
However, investors will focus more on what companies say about the rest of the year, analysts said. The hope is that Friday's strong jobs report and other recent indicators of economic improvement will translate into better earnings in the second half of 2013.
"Investors realize we did not have blockbuster growth in the first half, but they are focused on the quarters ahead," said Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer at Cornerstone Wealth Management. "The stock market is forward-looking."
Leading banks scored outsized gains, including Citigroup (up 2.0 percent) Wells Fargo (up 1.8 percent) and Bank of America (up 1.7 percent). The gains followed a bullish report from Raymond James, which sees stronger asset quality fueling earnings growth in the sector, according to Barrons.com.
Retail giant Walmart also had a good day, rising 2 percent.
Dow component Intel dropped 3.6 percent following a downcast note from Citigroup that predicted weak profits in light of the declining personal computer market.
Alcoa, traditionally first to report quarterly earnings, rose 11 cents (1.4 percent) to US$7.92 during the day and was flat after releasing its second quarter figures, which came in with earnings of 7 cents per share, one cent above expectations. Profits fell from the first quarter due to lower aluminum prices.
Computer company Dell jumped 3.1 percent to US$13.34 after the closely-watched Institutional Shareholders Services advisory group endorsed a proposed transaction led by Dell founder Michael Dell to take the company private. The offer would pay US$13.65 per share.
Thomson Reuters rose 0.2 percent after announcing that it would suspend the early release of key economic data to high-speed traders. The move comes in response to an investigation by the New York state attorney general on whether the release of the data gives an unfair advantage to buyers of the high-priced service. -- AFP
The National Transportation Safety Board released dramatic, up-close pictures of the plane that crashed in San Franciso on Saturday. Two people died out of more than 300 on board. (July 8)
SAN FRANCISCO — Asiana Airlines says the pilot of the ill-fated Boeing 777 that crashed here Saturday had little experience flying the aircraft and was landing one for the first time when it slammed into the runway, killing two passengers and injuring more than half the 307 aboard.
Airlines spokeswoman Lee Hyomin said Monday that Lee Gang-guk, who was at the controls of Saturday's nearly 10 1/2 hour flight from Seoul as it arrived at SFO, had nearly 10,000 hours flying other planes but only 43 in the 777, a plane she said he still was getting used to flying.
"It was Lee Gang-kuk's maiden flight to the airport with the jet," the spokeswoman said, according to the Associated Press.
The pilot had flown Boeing 747 jets into San Francisco's airport previously, she said, and was assisted on this flight by deputy pilot, Lee Jeong-min. South Korean transport official said the deputy had about 12,390 hours of flying experience, including 3,220 on the 777.
Two other pilots were aboard the plane, rotating at the controls during the long flight.
South Korea and U.S investigators have wrapped up interviews with the four pilots. Korean officials say pinpointing an exact cause of the crash may take months, or years. "We cannot conclude the accident was caused by a pilot mistake. Whether there was a pilot mistake can be confirmed after all related data are analyzed and inspected," said Choi Jeong-ho, the head of South Korea's transport ministry aviation policy bureau.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman said Sunday that Flight 214 was traveling well below its target speed for landing when it crashed short of the runway Saturday. "The speed was significantly below 137 knots, and we're not talking a few knots," she said.
After the initial impact, the plane's tail section was ripped off, coming to rest hundreds of feet from the main body of the aircraft, which burst into flames.
Remarkably, 305 of 307 passengers and crew survived and more than a third didn't even require hospitalization. At least 168 people were treated for injuries. Eight remained in critical condition Monday.
The flight, which originated in Shanghai before stopping in Seoul en route to San Francisco, carried 61 U.S. citizens, 77 South Koreans and 141 Chinese.
It was the first fatal crash of a commercial airline in the USA since February 2009.
San Mateo County coroner Robert Foucrault said his office was investigating whether one of the two Chinese teenage girls killed in the crash had been run over on the runway by a rescue vehicle. An autopsy was to be completed Monday.
Hersman said investigators will look at all possibilities for the cause of the crash, including pilot error. "Everything is on the table," she said.
She provided details of what investigators found in their initial review of the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders: "The approach proceeds normally as they descend. There is no discussion of any aircraft anomalies or concerns with the approach. A call from one of the crewmembers to increase speed was made approximately seven seconds prior to impact."
The "stick shaker," which gives an audible and motion signal warning that the plane is flying too slowly and is about to stall, sounds "approximately four seconds prior to impact."
The pilot requested a "go-around" — to abort the landing, fly around the airport and try again, Hersman said.
"A call to initiate a go-around occurred 1.5 seconds before impact," she said.
Cabin manager Lee Yoon-hye, 40, said she has nearly 20 years' experience with Asiana and knew seconds before impact that something was wrong with the plane.
"Right before touchdown, I felt like the plane was trying to take off. I was thinking, 'What's happening?' and then I felt a bang," Lee said. "That bang felt harder than a normal landing. It was a very big shock. Afterward, there was another shock and the plane swayed to the right and to the left."
Lee, who was apparently the last person to leave the burning plane, said crewmembers deflated the slides with axes to rescue their colleagues, one of whom seemed to be choking beneath the weight of a slide.
One flight attendant put a scared elementary schoolboy on her back and slid down a slide,Lee said. A pilot helped another injured flight attendant off the plane after passengers escaped.
Lee, who suffered a broken tailbone, told reporters she worked to put out fires and usher passengers to safety in the harrowing moments after the plane went down.
Lee said she tried to approach the back of the aircraft before she left to doublecheck that no one was left inside. But a cloud of black, toxic smoke made it impossible. "It looked like the ceiling had fallen down," she said.
The two teen girls who died are Ye Mengyuan and Wang Linjia, from China's eastern Zhejiang province, according to China Central TV. They were among a group of 29 middle-school students and five teachers heading for a summer camp in the USA. Their bodies were found outside the plane, which had come to rest between runways.
They were headed to a three-week stay in Los Angeles at a church school in the San Fernando Valley, West Valley Christian School administrator Derek Swales said.
Vedpal Singh, who was sitting in the middle of the aircraft and survived the crash with his family, said there was no warning from the pilot or any crewmembers before the plane touched down hard and he heard a loud sound.
"We knew something was horrible wrong," said Singh, who suffered a fractured collarbone and had his arm in a sling. "It's miraculous we survived."
Passenger Benjamin Levy, 39, said it looked to him as though the plane was flying too low and too close to the bay as it approached the runway. Levy, who was sitting in an emergency exit row, said he felt the pilot try to lift the jet up before it crashed and thinks the maneuver might have saved some lives.
"Everybody was screaming. I was trying to usher them out," he recalled of the first seconds after the landing. "I said, 'Stay calm, stop screaming, help each other out, don't push.' "
Welch reported from Los Angeles and Stanglin from McLean, Va. Contributing: Gary Strauss in McLean, Va., Calum MacLeod in Beijing, Nancy Blair and Scott Martin in San Francisco, and Nancy Blair, USA TODAY; Associated Press
CAIRO – At least 50 people were killed and more than 300 injured Monday in clashes outside a military building in Cairo, according to Egypt's head of emergency services.
Reuters is reporting that as many as 435 people have been injured as a result of the violence.
Eyewitnesses tell Fox News that Muslim Brotherhood supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi were fired upon with birdshot and rounds from automatic weapons at around 5:30 a.m. local time, during morning prayers. Fox News sources who were at the scene shortly after the shooting described seeing Muslim Brotherhood supporters with large chest wounds and fatal gunshot wounds in their backs.
The Muslim Brotherhood have blamed the attacks on the Egyptian military who were standing guard over the demonstration near to the Raba El Adwyia mosque.
Monday's fighting caused the highest death toll since massive protests forced Morsi's government from power last week and established an interim civilian administration.
The interim administration issued a statement on the state news agency Monday expressing regret for the bloodshed in Cairo, according to Reuters. The statement said the violence was the result of an attempt by protesters to attack the Republican Guard building and asked protesters not to approach any military "or other vital installations." Transitional administration officials also said they formed a judicial committee to investigate the incident.
There were conflicting reports on how the fighting began, with Morsi's supporters saying it was an unprovoked attack and the military saying they came under assault first.
A source tells Fox News that one army officer was killed and 40 soldiers were injured when armed personnel tried to break into the Republican Guard Headquarters—where the source claims former President Mohammed Morsi is not being held.
The source also denied that pro-Morsi protesters were staging the sit-in nearby and said the army will release a full version of events later on Monday.
The military are blaming the attacks on so-called "terrorist" groups. Late Sunday night military helicopters dropped leaflets on pro-Morsi protesters in the Cairo university area calling on Morsi followers and terrorists to end their protests.
A presidency spokesman said Monday's violence will not derail efforts to form a new interim government. "What happened will not stop steps to form a government, or the (political) roadmap," said Ahmed Elmoslmany, according to a Reuters report.
Al Nour, Egypt's second-most prominent Islamist party after the Muslim Brotherhood, has said it will withdraw from negotiations with the interim government and the Muslim Brotherhood has called for its supporters to "rise up" against those who want to steal the revolution.
The military-- which effectively supported the anti-Morsi movement-- now may face pressure to impose stricter security measures to try to keep unrest from spilling out of control. It will also have to produce compelling evidence to support its version of events or otherwise suffer what is already shaping to be a Brotherhood media blitz to portray the military as a brutal institution with little regard for human life or democratic values.
In a move that is likely to further inflame the situation, the Freedom and Justice party, the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, called on Egyptians to rise up against the army. Morsi has been a longtime leader of the Brotherhood.
Liberal politician Mohamed ElBaradei expressed dismay at the bloodshed, sending a message on Twitter that read "Violence begets violence and should be strongly condemned. Independent Investigation a must. Peaceful transition is only way."
Satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera showed footage from a nearby field hospital of at least six dead bodies laid out on the ground, some with severe wounds. A medic from the area, Hesham Agami, said ambulances were unable to transport more than 200 wounded to hospitals because the military had blocked off the roads.
Al-Shaimaa Younes, who was at the sit-in, said military troops and police forces opened fire on the protesters during early morning prayers. "They opened fire with live ammunition and lobbed tear gas," she said by telephone. "There was panic and people started running. I saw people fall."
Women and children had been among the protesters, she said.
Morsi supporters have been holding rallies and a sit-in outside the Republican Guard building since the military deposed Morsi last week during massive protests against him. The military chief replaced Morsi with an interim president, until presidential elections are held. But Morsi's supporters refuse to recognize the change in leadership and insist Morsi be reinstated. Besides the Republican Guard sit-in, they are also holding thousands-strong daily rallies at a nearby mosque.
Morsi's opponents are also holding rival rallies. They say the former president lost his legitimacy by mismanaging the country and not ruling democratically, leading to a mass revolt that called on the army to push him from office.
Military spokesman Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali said initial information indicates that gunmen affiliated with the Brotherhood tried to storm the Republican Guard building shortly after dawn, firing live ammunition and throwing firebombs from a nearby mosque and rooftops. One police officer on the scene was killed, he said. Another military spokesman, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to brief reporters, said five from the Brotherhood side were killed.
A statement by the armed forces published on the state news agency said "an armed terrorist group" tried to storm the Republican Guard building, killing one officer and seriously injuring six. The statement said the forces arrested 200 attackers, armed with guns and ammunition.
After declaring the ouster of Morsi last Wednesday, the Defense Minister Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi replaced him with Egypt's chief justice and suspended the constitution until new presidential elections.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Share prices were higher in early trade today in line with Wall Street which posted gains last Friday driven by optimistic economic expectations, dealers said.
At 9am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) opened 0.6 point to 1,772.87 and rose 1.63 points to 1,773.9 at 9.23am.
HwangDBS Vickers Research said the leading US equity bellwethers rose one per cent at the closing bell as investors cast aside a possible scaling back of the quantitative easing programme by the Federal Reserve.
"This may pave the way for our Malaysian bourse to extend its recovery today," it said.
The benchmark FBM KLCI -– after losing momentum last Friday afternoon –- could rebound and stage an upward bias towards the immediate resistance level of 1,785 ahead, the research house said.
On the scoreboard, the Finance Index added 24.711 points to 17,018.91 and the Industrial Index rose 0.52 point to 3,000.89.
The Plantation Index increased 8.47 points to 8,421.1 and the FBM Ace Index went up 13.62 points to 4,788.43.
Gainers led losers 216 to 86, while 145 counters were unchanged, 1,122 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Volume stood at 205.3 million shares worth RM121.2 million.
Among actives, Scomi Energy slipped eight sen to 90 sen, Tanjung Offshore added two sen to 64 sen and TH Heavy Engineering rose three sen to 81.5 sen.
As for heavyweights, Maybank increased four sen to RM10.42, CIMB gained six sen to RM8.33 and Sime Darby slipped one sen to RM9.45.-- Bernama
Air traffic control recordings reveal what pilots on a nearby plane saw after Asiana Flight 214 crashed at San Francisco International Airport.
Federal crash investigators are eager to interview the pilots and review the flight-data recorders that were recovered Saturday from the Asiana crash in San Francisco.
The cockpit voice recorder and the flight-data recorder were each recovered hours after the crash and flown to Washington for examination by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Deborah Hersman, the board chairman who traveled to the accident scene, said the recorders will provide hundreds of pieces of information about the flight in the moments and hours before the crash.
"I am confident in the ability of our investigators to get to the bottom of this," Hersman said on NBC's Today show. "We need to take a look at it and see what it tells us."
Federal law-enforcement officials had initial conversations with the pilot, but the Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB still expect to speak with him within days, Hersman said.
"There are a lot of systems to help support the pilots as they come into airports, especially busy commercial airports like this one in San Francisco," Hersman told CNN's State of the Union.
"It's also about the pilots' recognition of the circumstances and what's going on, and so for them to be able to assess what's happening and make the right inputs to make sure they're in a safe situation," Hersman said. "That's what we expect from pilots. We want to understand what happened in this situation."
The tail of the Boeing 777 struck the end of the runway and fell off as it was landing, and the plane struck the ground and spun around before coming to rest and burning. Two passengers died and 187 were injured, but 307 were on the plane.
"What you can't see if the damage internally, and that is really striking," Hersman told CNN after visiting the plane. "And so I think when we look at this accident, we're very thankful that we didn't have more fatalities and serious injuries and we had so many survivors."
The president of Asiana, Yoon Young-doo, said at a televised news conference that it will take time to determine the cause of the crash. But when asked about the possibility of engine or mechanical problems, he said he doesn't believe they could have been the cause.
Hersman said investigators needed to study the plane, the recorders and crew to learn what happened.
"We really prefer to base statements on facts, and we've got to review the flight data recorder, the cockpit voice recorder, and document the scene before we draw any conclusions," Hersman told ABC's This Week.
Eyewitnesses say the streets "were filled with fire"
Police have said they expect more people to be found dead after a runaway train carrying light crude oil exploded in the Canadian town of Lac-Megantic.
The blast sent a fireball and black smoke into the air, killing one and forcing the evacuation of 1,000 people.
Dozens of buildings were destroyed in the town, about 250km (155 miles) east of Montreal.
They include a bar full of customers. Police are trying to account for dozens of missing people.
The train's cars reportedly uncoupled from a parked engine and derailed early on Saturday.
Rail company officials said the train had been immobilised in a neighbouring village before a scheduled crew change, but for an unknown reason had then started rolling downhill into Lac-Megantic.
Eyewitnesses said that by the time the driverless train reached the town it was travelling at considerable speed.
'Like a movie'
The search for more bodies is expected to continue at dawn.
Local media have reported up to 100 people missing.
"We have already confirmed one death and we expect there will be others," said police spokesman Guy Lapointe.
"We also expect that the number of people reported missing will be greater than the final death toll."
He said some people had been reported missing several times by different family members.
Some 120 firefighters have been fighting the blaze, which has continued for more than 24 hours.
Firefighters from across the border in the US are assisting.
Eyewitnesses reported that the town centre - where there are a number of bars - was crowded at the time of the blast, and that "chaos" ensued.
Firefighters fought the blaze for more than 24 hours
Bernard Theberge, who was on the patio of the Musi-Cafe at the time, said he was lucky to escape and feared for those inside the bar.
"It was like a movie," he said, quoted by the Associated Press news agency. "Explosions as if it were scripted - but this was live."
A woman described how close she was to one of the wagons.
"There were some sparks, and the car lifted and came to lie on its side in front of me, but I turned around and ran without stopping," she told the CBC TV.
Brakes 'tight'
The Montreal, Maine & Atlantic train had five locomotive engines and 73 cars filled with light crude oil, and was parked in the village of Nantes - about 7km (four miles) from Lac-Megantic - during an overnight driver shift-change, a company spokesman told Canada's La Presse newspaper.
The railway's chairman, Edward Burhardt, quoted by CBC, said an engineer had parked the train and put the brakes on "properly" before going to a local hotel for the night.
The cars filled with fuel somehow became uncoupled, causing them to roll downhill into the town and derail, said the spokesman, Joe McGonigle.
Canadian PM Stephen Harper: "What has happened is shocking and truly devastating"
"It seems that the brakes were tight on locomotives," Mr McGonigle told La Presse. "We found the locomotives higher up, half a mile (800m) away."
Some of the cars exploded, creating a massive fireball and setting fire to nearby homes and businesses.
A one-kilometre exclusion zone was set up amid fears of more pressurised containers exploding.
"When you see the centre of your town almost destroyed, you'll understand that we're asking ourselves how we are going to get through this event," an emotional Mayor Colette Roy-Laroche told a televised news briefing.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement: "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of those affected by this morning's tragic train derailment and subsequent fires in Lac-Megantic, Quebec.
Some of the train's cargo spilled into the nearby Chaudiere river, said Environment Quebec spokesman Christian Blanchette, adding that communities downstream of Lac-Megantic had been warned to take care if using river water.
A mobile laboratory had been set up to monitor the quality of the air, he added.
The train was carrying the crude oil from the Bakken Field in North Dakota. Montreal, Maine & Atlantic owns more than 800km (500 miles) of track serving Maine, Vermont, Quebec and New Brunswick.
A lakeside town that is home to some 6,000 people, Lac-Megantic is close to the US border with Vermont and 210 km (130 miles) north of Maine's capital, Augusta.
Are you in the area? Have you been affected? Send us your comments using the form below.
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Former intelligence worker Edward Snowden, 29, revealed himself as the source of documents outlining a massive effort by the NSA to track cell phone calls and monitor the e-mail and Internet traffic of virtually all Americans. He says he just wanted the public to know what the government was doing. "Even if you're not doing anything wrong, you're being watched and recorded," he said. While he has not been charged, the FBI is conducting an investigation into the leaks.
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Bolivian president offers asylum to Edward Snowden
Head of Russia's DUMA says Snowden moving to Venezuela is best solution
Nicaragua's president says he would also grant asylum, circumstances permitting
Bolivia's president criticizes the U.S. over a plane incident involving Snowden
(CNN) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has offered asylum to Edward Snowden, the state-run AVN news agency reported Friday, without offering details.
And Bolivia "is willing to give asylum" to the U.S. intelligence leaker, President Evo Morales said Saturday, according to a government statement.
The reports came shortly after Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said he would grant Snowden asylum in his country "if the circumstances permit." Ortega didn't elaborate on his announcement, made during a speech in Managua, except to say his country is "open and respectful to the right of asylum."
"It's clear that that if the circumstances permit it we will gladly receive Snowden and will grant him asylum here in Nicaragua," Ortega said.
Alexei Pushkov, head of the lower Russian legislative body DUMA, recommended Snowden leave Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, where he has been holed up since June 23, when he arrived from Hong Kong.
"Sanctuary for Snowden in Venezuela would be the best solution," Pushkov tweeted Saturday. "He can't live in at Sheremetyevo."
Meanwhile, an Icelandic lawmaker said Snowden would not get citizenship there, as he had requested, because Iceland's parliament refused to vote on an asylum proposal before ending its current session.
Birgitta Jonsdottir was among a handful of lawmakers who put forward a bill Thursday urging Parliament to process Snowden's request. She said Friday that the speaker of the house refused to put the bill on the agenda and the majority in parliament refused to allow a voice vote on it.
"So it is with great grief I have to announce that Snowden will not be getting any form of shelter in Iceland because the current government doesn't even have enough spine for the Parliament to discuss Snowden's request," Jonsdottir wrote on her blog.
She praised Snowden, who has acknowledged leaking classified documents about U.S. surveillance programs and faces espionage charges in the United States. Besides Iceland, he has applied for asylum in 20 other countries.
"I and many others regard him as a hero and have deep respect for him for he has taken great personal risk in order to inform the rest of us about how those in power have lost control of their powerlust and violated their own constitutions against their own citizens," Jonsdottir wrote.
"Mr. Snowden your courage has been noted and there are millions of people from all backgrounds who honor the risks you have taken for us and we will stand tall with you."
Several European countries refused to allow President Evo Morales' plane through their airspace Tuesday because of suspicions Snowden was aboard. With no clear path home available, the flight crew made an emergency landing in Vienna, Austria, where authorities confirmed Snowden was not a passenger.
Bolivia's asylum offer is a "fair protest" to the incident, which involved Portugal, Italy, France and Spain, Morales said. Spain has said it did not restrict its airspace during that flight.
He put the blame squarely on the United States for the incident.
"Message to the Americans: The empire and its servants will never be able to intimidate or scare us," Morales told supporters at El Alto International Airport outside La Paz, where he arrived late Wednesday. "European countries need to liberate themselves from the imperialism of the Americans."
Morales said officials should analyze whether to shut the U.S. Embassy in his country.
"Without the United States," he said, "we are better politically and democratically."
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa joined Morales in criticizing the United States' role in the situation, and Venezuela's Maduro blamed the CIA for pressuring the European governments to refuse to grant the plane passage.
WIMBLEDON -- Marion Bartoli of France overpowered a nervous Sabine Lisicki in the first set and rode out a challenge from her ponytailed German opponent in the second set to win her first Wimbledon title in her second appearance in the final.
Bartoli, seeded 15th, prevailed over No. 23 Lisicki, 6-1, 6-4, on a sunny day on Centre Court. Bartoli became the first French woman to win the Wimbledon singles title since Amelie Mauresmo -- Bartoli's coach -- triumphed here in 2006.
"Dreams come true," Bartoli said while still celebrating her victory on the court.
Because of a series of upsets that rocked the tournament in the first week, Bartoli had a relatively easy path to the final and didn't have to face a player seeded in the top 10. The highest-seeded players Bartoli faced were No. 17 Sloane Stephens of the U.S. in the quarterfinals and No. 20 Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium in the semifinals.
Lisicki, who was born in Germany but lives in Bradenton, Fla., had the harder road to the final. She had to beat Grand Slam champions Sam Stosur (No. 14) in third round, Serena Willams (No. 1) in round of 16, and No. 4 Agnieska Radwanska of Poland in the semifinals.
"I still love this tournament so much. I still love this court so much," Lisicki said, her voice breaking with emotion.
She asked if she could thank her team of supporters, and broke down in mid-sentence. "We've been through so much, so many ups and downs," she said. "This was my first Grand Slam final. I hope we get this chance one more time."
Bartoli, a gracious winner, assured Lisicki that she would have another chance. "You will be here one more time. I have no doubt about it," Bartoli said.
Bartoli, 28, set an unofficial record of sorts by competing in the most Grand Slams before winning a Grand Slam title. This was her 47th Grand Slam appearance. The previous record was held by Jana Novotna, who won at Wimbledon in her 45th slam appearance, in 1998.
Bartoli became the first player ranked outside the top 10 to win the Wimbledon women's title since Venus Williams, who was ranked No. 31 in 2007. Bartoli lost to Williams that day and had not returned to the final since.
Bartoli lost her serve in the first game of the match but roared back to win the next six games. Lisicki, nicknamed "Boom Boom" for her trademark big serve, wasn't getting anything from that serve and was visibly nervous. As the first set progressed, Lisicki, the crowd favorite, became teary-eyed in frustration as she couldn't handle the punishing, two-handed strokes that Bartoli hit from both sides.
The first set took only 29 minutes and ended when Lisicki hit a forehand into the net on Bartoli's first set point.
Lisicki held serve for the first time in the first game of the second set and had four break points in the second game but Bartoli held and then broke Lisicki's serve again for a 2-1 lead. That lead became 4-1 after Bartoli held serve and broke Lisicki again, and it ballooned to 5-1 when Bartoli held serve at love.
The crowd voiced its support for Lisicki as she prepared to serve in the seventh game, and that appeared to give Lisicki new strength. She saved three match points and held serve, then broke Bartoli in the eighth game. Lisicki then held service, as the crowd began buzzing about possibly seeing another comeback from Lisicki, who had been down 0-3 in the third set against Williams and Radwanska but battled back to win.
But Bartoli -- who hadn't won a title since 2011 -- wasn't about to let this slip away. She served for the match and won at love, finishing it off with an ace.
She then ran toward the stands and climbed up to the players' box to hug her entourage that included her father, Walter, who coached her for many years before a split that left Bartoli off-kilter for quite a while. The most perilous part of her day was climbing back down to the court to receive the Venus Rosewater Dish awarded to the winner.
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