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Train comes off track in West Texas
2/27/08

ALPINE, Texas — Cleanup was under way in West Texas on Wednesday after nearly 90 cars from a train carrying hazardous materials derailed and prompted temporary evacuations, Union Pacific Corp. said. The train was traveling from Louisiana to California when 86 cars came off the track around 11:50 p.m. Tuesday. The two-person crew was not injured, said James Barnes, a spokesman with Omaha, Neb.-based UP.

A dozen or so homes were evacuated as a precaution, but residents returned home after officials determined no chemicals had been released, Barnes said. Some cars were carrying a solvent used in the chemical and pharmaceutical field..

The cause of the derailment was under investigation, Barnes said. Alpine is about 220 miles east of El Paso.

http://ap.amarillonet.com/pstories/state/tx/20080227/251692689.shtml

Grenade explodes prematurely in southern Philippine town, killing would-be bomber
February 28, 2008

MANILA, Philippines: A grenade exploded during a town fiesta in the southern Philippines, killing a would-be bomber and wounding four people, police said Thursday.

The police chief in General Santos city, Senior Superintendent Robert Po, said the grenade held by the bomber went off before he managed to penetrate crowds celebrating the city's foundation anniversary late Wednesday. The blast caused panic among hundreds of people, and Radio DZBB reported that police were questioning some of the injured.

Po said investigators were working to determine the bomber's identity and affiliation, but suspected he may have been linked to a notorious extortion gang, the Al-Khobar group. The group, which authorities believe has ties to Muslim extremists operating in the southern Philippines, has been blamed for at least a dozen explosions in the region targeting bus companies and business establishments.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/28/asia/AS-GEN-Philippines-Grenade-Blast.php