26/02/2013 BBC World News

You are with BBC World News. Our top stories: A hot air balloon

explodes in mid-flight near the Egyptian city of Luxor. Political

stalemate in Italy, no clear winner emerges from the general election.

The world's financial markets take fright.

French anger after video is posted online of seven members of the same

family kidnapped in Cameroon. The emblem of of a Afghanistan

womanhood, why have sales of Hello. At least 18 European and

Asian tourists have been killed after the hot air balloon caught

fire mid-flight near the ancient Egyptian town of Luxor. Officials

say the balloon exploded as it came in to land towards the end of its

dawn flight. It caught fire at an altitude of around 300 metres, then

plunged to a sugar cane field. Richard Lister has more details.

The balloon came down in fields west of Luxor, a tourist adventure

that ended in carnage. This mobile phone footage shows rescue teams

and ambulances and in the distance what appear to be bodybags, one

report says those who survived had jumped from the basket as it

plummeted to the ground. A photographer on another flight from

the same departure point took these photos as they took off this

morning, he was in front of the balloon that crashed. We were

approaching the end of our flight. It was more what we heard. A loud

explosion, and then a lot of smoke behind us. Our first feeling was it

couldn't be a balloon, but it turned out actually to be

unfortunately this tragic accident. Dawn balloon rides over some of

Egypt's most famous sites are still a popular tourist attraction. This

This footage was shot by a passenger last year after stringent

new safety controls were put into place following a string of

accidents. But other passengers have spoken of their concerns about

the safety of these flights. There was a limited amount of explanation

as to what was going on at the time. We were going fairly close to

pylons, for example, close to trees below us and that made it a nervous

experience for those in the basket. Investigations at the crash site

are continuing. It's thought a gas cylinder may have exploded.

Whatever the cause, it's one more blow to Egypt's tourist industry

and a lasting tragedy for the families of the dead.

You heard there Christopher Michael, he was the photographer in a

balloon which was landing ahead of the balloon which then had the

accident. These are pictures he took just before the flight at the

take-off point. He says he heard a loud explosion

from the balloon behind his as he landed and he saw smoke. I spoke to

him by telephone from the scene. Well, we were approaching the end

of our balloon flight heading in to Luxor and it was more of what we

heard, a loud explosion and our first feeling was it couldn't be a

balloon, it turned out actually to be, unfortunately, this tragic

accident. Any estimate of the height at which

it was flying at that time? It's difficult to say.

We were travelling about three minutes behind, maybe five minutes

from landing. A couple of hundred feet. What were you were you able

to see particularly of the basket where all the tourists were,

because there are reports of an explosion. We heard an explosion

and I saw smoke but I didn't actually see the basket.

Tell us about the security and safety briefing that you had before

you got on board your flight. that's a great question, I just

flew in a balloon in Burma and we had an English pilot and it was

excellent safety and one of the things that surprised me when we

went out to the balloon was how chaotic it was before we took off.

Yesterday I cancelled a flight, there was an argument between it

looked like airport officials and the balloon people, we decided not

to fly. We went today. No safety briefing. Basically everyone

climbed aboard the balloon. We took off, and the only thing he really

said around safety was to look forward just before landing and

that was just about 30 seconds after we heard the explosion. I was

surprised to see kind of what I perceived to be a lack of

professionalism,... I flew with a different company. There were about

eight or nine balloons, it looked like each one was its own company.

The reason I am asking you this is because there was a very bad

accident in 2009 and balloons were grounded for a long time to improve

the training of those who were flying them.

Yes, I read about it. Our balloon flight seemed fine, the condition

was just OK, it wasn't the same quality I have seen in Burma.

Finally, what is the situation where you are at the moment after

the accident? Interestingly enough the balloon set down right where I

was staying and I asked a lot of questions from our pilot who was

saying nothing and we heard lots of sirens, I went back to the hotel.

For probably the next hour lots and lots of sirens. They seem to be

coming over a long period of time, I don't know if there was a lack of

availability of resources, but it seemed like this was taking

sometime. Photographer Christopher Michael

there in Luxor. No clear winner - but stalemate and

weeks, maybe months, of uncertainty and political manoeuvring. Those

are the results of Italy's general election. The centre-left coalition

did win the vote for the lower house, but could not get a majority

in the Senate. The right-wing bloc, led by the former prime minister,

Silvio Berlusconi, says it's open to an alliance with the centre-left,

but not with the outgoing Prime Minister, Mario Monti. There are

fears the deadlock will cause instability not only for the

Italian economy, but for all countries using the euro. Katya

Adler is following the implications of the election in Rome and I asked

her what are the prospects for any Government soon? Definitely no

prospect of an immediate Government. The word on the streets, including

here in Rome's central flower market, is ungovernable. We do have

a narrow majority for the centre- left in the lower House, but in

Italy the upish House -- upper House carries equal weight and

there, there is deadlock. What can we expect? The financial markets

are watching, as well. Joining us now is a political columnist at a

newspaper. Now you went to bed last night there were two versions of

your newspaper, how unclear the result would be. Yes, it is unclear

today, as well, because there is an official victor but we don't know

if it will mean we can form a kpwoft. -- Government. There is a

question mark on the future of Italy. You say there is a victor

but in the Senate it's not that clear, is it? There appears to have

been - very little in it between centre-left and centre-right? Yes,

no party got more than 25% of the vote. There is no possibility to

form a majority, because the parties are very much in conflict

against each other. I think that the most important thing is a

correct reading of these elections, but the outcome is still very

difficult to understand. That's a disaster for Italy, but also surely

the eurozone, this is the third largest economy in the eurozone. We

have already seen the financial markets acting rather spooked. What

can they expect now in the coming weeks? I wouldn't like to say that

it is a disaster, but actually I am afraid it is. I think that what we

must hope for is a unity Government in Italy, but I don't think...

Including centre-left and centre- right? Yes, but of course your

question implies that it's very difficult, so we don't know

actually what is going to happen. I think that they'll have a tough job.

Overall, Euro-scepticism and lack of confidence towards democracy

might be the first outcome, so a bad signal for the whole of Europe.

If we look at at Mario Monti, he will remain as caretaker, he was

slammed at the polls. Italians said a big no. Yes, that's the very

outcome. Italy say no no to European measures of austerity and

that means that populism has won in Italy and that's a very bad signal

for the rest of Europe but I would say for Italy, as well, because as

we are seeing this morning the spread is growing very fast, very

quickly. Monti will stay there, but of course we are going to a

different season. The second Republic is over. We don't know

what will be the next. Absolutely. Another big unknown is Beppe Grillo

the comedian who did so well in these elections. His politicians

are complete unknowns, nobody knows how they will act in parliament,

either. Stay with us, lots more coming up:

Iran says it has new proposals as Is this really beef? Or is it

horse? A question attached to ready meals supplied by many household

names caught up in Europe's horsemeat scandal. European

agriculture ministers are meeting to try to come up with a solution

to the problem. That could mean better testing of meat products to

find out what they actually are. Anna Holligan has been to a

laboratory in the Netherlands to find out what that process involves.

Horsemeat, or beef? That is what these are designed to determine.

The Netherlands relies on trade with Europe for 80% of its exports

so it's in this country's economic interests to show that the meat

that's coming from the Netherlands is free from horse DNA. Here, Reece

is testing meat tape from super-- taken from supermarkets to

slaughterhouses. They all have a unique number. Two types of tests

are being conducted across the 27EU member states. The first is for the

presence of horse DNA. The second, for the horse painkiller, bute.

Scientists tell us they're going beyond European requirements.

Because we don't want to miss out anything we have looked at what are

common used drugs for racing horses. When you think of risk of food

safety, you think of meat that is usually not allowed in food chain.

This is the part where they do the final testing for the horse DNA.

The meat has been cut up downstairs. It's ground and put into these tiny

trays which are put inside the machines and they're then able to

electronically assess the results and determine whether or not the

meat contains horse DNA. Out of the 203 samples assessed so far no new

horse DNA has been dedetectived in the -- detected in the Netherlands.

There are still more samples waiting to be chopped, but these

initial results will be reassuring for an industry still struggling to

calculate the real costs and convince customers it's safe to put

This is BBC World News. The latest headlines:

At least 18 foreign tourists have been killed in Egypt, when their

hot-air balloon exploded in mid- flight. Italy faces political

deadlock following a general election which has delivered no

clear overall winner. Apparently towards nuclear weapons. Iran's

nuclear ambitions are the subject of more talks, a fourth round, that

are happening now in Kazakhstan. The new US secretary of state John

Kerry has warned of terrible consequences if they fail to stop

Iran's progress towards nuclear weapons. Our chief international

correspondent, Lyse Doucet, is in Almaty in Kazakhstan. I spoke to

her when those talks started. The talks have just got under way. They

are said to have started in a good atmosphere but we're getting no

details yet from inside the discussions which are certain to be

a long and difficult. They are saying that they will go beyond a

first day as these spokes people said they will talk as long as they

need to talk. An Iranian official has been briefing Iranian media

here and the liner would come out of his comments is that Iran's

delegation has brought a number of proposals to these talks. And

depending, they say, on what is presented from the summit, Iran

will respond with its own proposals but they are making it clear Iran

has a right to enriched uranium and it will not verge from this.

spokesperson has said no one expects a fully done deal, as he

put it. What kind of progress might therefore be seen as something

which is, at least, a positive direction? Western officials say

it's a marathon, not a sprint. I think they are taking it one small

step at a time. The talks have begun for the first time in eight

months, I think if they ended it tomorrow with an agreement to meet

Again, and if, as they have indicated, to meet again more often,

to have technical experts meeting to establish what is being

described as a momentum, they will consider that to have been a

success. The international community is very much aware there

are two elections although Western officials say the leader of Iran is

not going anywhere so they think they can have some decisions here.

And, of course, you can follow Lyse John Kerry, the new US Secretary of

State, is meeting the Russian Foreign Minister today, with

relations between to the two countries at their lowest since

President Obama came to power. There are severe disagreements over

Syria. And the Russians accuse America of interfering in their

domestic politics. And, as our Moscow Correspondent Daniel

Sandford reports, the latest flashpoint was the recent death of

a young boy who was adopted from Russia to America.

This is the three-year-old boy whose death the Russians said it

would be a key issue in today's talks with the new American

secretary of state. A tragedy which the USA accuses Moscow of

sensationally exploiting. The young boy, who came from Russia, lived in

Texas with his adoptive mother and father. But last month, he died.

It's not yet clear why. There was some bruising, in various places.

Whether they had anything to do with his cause of death, we won't

know until we get the autopsy report back. Despite investigations

caution, Russia's outspoken children's commissioner led a

government propaganda charge, saying outright that the adoptive

mother had murdered him. We went to see the children's home in north-

west Russia that he was adopted from Thorpe Bay said his original

name. He had a chaotic start to us live with narcotic mother who

neglected him. This was his final home in Russia before he set off to

America. To a new family and a new life. His death was seized on by

the Russian government as a justification for its recent ban on

adoptions to the USA. One senior politician even said Russian

children were going to certain death in America. The natural

mother was paid to appear on state TV, saying she wanted his brother

to be brought back to Russia. But we tracked her down. People told us

she has a terrible reputation for drinking and, despite her putter

stations to us, they said she has not stopped. If he comes back, what

were you do to change your life and become a good mother?

TRANSLATION: I will change everything in my life, do

everything for him. I have already stopped drinking and I'm looking

for work. Everyone agrees it's a tragedy that a young boy who left

neglect and poverty in Russia for a new life in America then died

within months. But US diplomats say they are troubled by the way his

death has been used by Moscow. More now on the balloon accident. The

Governor of Luxor has banned hot- air balloon flights. That's after

18 European and Asian tourists were killed when their hot-air balloon

caught fire, and exploded mid- flight. Let's get a view from an

expert. He joins me now from Bristol in the south-west. The

details are critical because time matters but what are you reading

into the way this has happened? Well, of course, we don't really

have sufficient details yet, to make any firm judgement about what

might have happened but a fire in a balloon is certainly the most life-

threatening element of any kind of balloon accident. What has been

reported as well is an explosion which suggests there could have

been a problem with the gas canisters. Well, that's a

possibility but equipment failure is quite rare in the balloons, very

rare, so probably something calls that failure -- calls to that

failure, which is external, but we don't know that at the moment. It's

probably more than just exploding spontaneously. There was an

incident in 2009 and a large number of balloon companies were grounded.

What is your reading of what has been done on safety in Egypt since

then? Well, following that accident and the subsequent grounding, I was

asked by the Egyptian government and the Civil Aviation Authority to

review safety procedures. I flew with 36 different commercial pilots,

in Egypt, and made assessments of their capabilities and of the

oversight structure which existed at that time. The outcome of that

report I made is unclear, so I'm not quite sure how much of it was

taken into account. What did you say about safety? Did they added

two basic principles of balloon safety? I think there were rules in

place but they weren't necessarily appropriate rules. They were rules

that perhaps were more appropriate to fixed-wing aviation helicopters,

and hadn't been modified in a way to take account of the specific

behaviour of balloons and the best way in which to oversee their

safety. It's a very popular thing for a large number of people now.

They turn up at the hotel desk and say they want to go ballooning. Are

you comfortable with the level of Balloon flights for tourism? Yes,

this many places in the world where you can take a balloon flight for

tourism, the UK, Egypt, Turkey, but most of them are very well

regulated and the levels of safety are extremely high, so ballooning

is a safe activity, but, as with any form of transport, there are

occasional accidents and this tragedy is terrible, but not

symptomatic of the flat balloons are not safe. What should and

member of the public know when they turn up just before dawn it and

want to ride over these macabre this and ancient sites in a place

like Egypt? -- magnificent. They should get a comprehensive briefing

on the procedures for entering the basket, for landing, things like

smoking, telephones, all these things which need to be addressed

prior to the flight. I think one of the biggest problems I came across

was that, whilst the Egyptians to this, this spoken English is not

necessarily Clare and a lot of the customers who travel with them are

not English speakers, native English speakers, so it may be

difficult for them to understand fully the implications of the

briefings. Philip, thanks for joining me from Bristol in the West

of England. France says it will not negotiate with the gunmen who have

posted images online of a French family kidnapped in Cameroon. The

video shows the family, including four children, surrounded by masked

men. The gang say they belong to the Nigerian Islamist group, Boko

Haram. Tim Allman reports. Video post on the internet

appearing to show the French family kidnapped last week in Cameroon.

Their faces obscured. A male hostage identify his pick it up as

by the Arabic name for the Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

A hostage says the group is calling for the release of its members

detained in Cameroon and Nigeria. The four children, aged between

five and 12, sit silently as gunmen stand by. The family live in the

Cameroon capital where the father worked for a French gas group. They

had been returning from a visit to a national park when they were

kidnapped by men on motorbikes last Tuesday. French authorities believe

they have been taken over the border into Nigeria.

TRANSLATION: We have information Boko Haram is claiming the

detention of the hostages who are probably being held in Nigeria. The

video that you know what is currently being analysed by our

services, examining the nature of the claims. The French authorities

are in tight, permanent and intimate contact with the Nigerian

and Cameroon in authorities. This kidnappers highlighted the risk to

French citizens in North Africa. The decision by Paris to send

troops into Mali has prompted threats of retaliatory action by

Miller test groups. Boko Haram has caused havoc in Nigeria, Africa's

most populous country, with a wave of bombings. It promotes a version

of Islam which makes it forbidden for Muslims to take part in any

political or social activity associated with Western society.

Those with knowledge of the region say a way must be found to

negotiate with the kidnappers. were to advise the French

government, it would be to talk, talk and then more talk. To try to

find in direct dialogue going. Securing the release of hostages is

always a high risk, high pressure task. With young children involved,

the French authorities will be acutely aware that an urgent

resolution is now paramount. At least 19 tourists have died in

Egypt when their hot-air balloon exploded in mid-flight. The head of