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MADRID (AP) -- The driver of a Spanish train that derailed, killing 79 people, ignored three warnings to reduce speed in the two minutes before the train hurtled off the tracks on a treacherous curve, crash investigators said Friday.

A court statement said the driver was talking on the phone to a colleague when he received the first automatic warning in his cabin of a sharply reduced speed zone ahead. The statement said the warning was by means of an audible sound but provided no further detail.

Police forensic tests on the train's black box data recorders showed the last warning came just 250 meters (yards) before a dangerous curve where the accident occurred last week in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

At that point, the train was going 121 mph (195 kph) when the speed limit was set at 50 mph (80 kph). Four seconds later the driver applied emergency brakes.

Local woman injured in Spain train wreck diesPlay video."

By the time Francisco Jose Garzon Amo applied the brakes, the train was already beginning to lose contact with the rails, the statement said. The total derailment occurred at 111 mph (179 kph).

Garzon has admitted in court that he was traveling too fast but could not explain to an investigating judge why he didn*t slow down earlier. He was arrested shortly after the crash but was released by the judge on provisional charges relating to multiple counts of negligent homicide.

In a court statement, the judge said the phone call, which came from the train's on-board ticket inspector, had been inappropriate, but added that the accident "seems to have been caused, no doubt, by the driver's inappropriate and unpredictable driving."

Of the passengers who were injured in the accident, 54 were still in the hospital late Friday, nine in critical condition.

The investigation is expected to last several weeks before presenting its formal conclusions.

Investigators: Train driver ignored 3 warnings

Russia has given NSA secrets leaker Edward Snowden asylum for one year. Now what?

The White House has a broad array of potential diplomatic tools to craft a response — but it’s not clear which ones would send a clear message of disapproval to Russian President Vladimir Putin while not endangering areas of rare but crucial Russo-U.S. cooperation.

With the White House announcement on Thursday that President Barack Obama might scrap a summit next monthwith Putin over the asylum decision, how likely is a further escalation of tensions?

Simply put, are we heading into a new Cold War?

“No, we’re not going into another Cold War,” a senior administration official told Yahoo News, requesting anonymity to describe the thinking in Washington about the way forward.

If things escalate, the official made clear, it’s not because of Snowden — at least, "not just because" of him.

Sure, at this point, given the sweeping impact of the former NSA contractor's revelations about U.S. foreign policy and domestic spying programs, it might be tempting to divide at least the president’s second term into “BSE” and “SE” — Before Snowden Era and Snowden Era.

And there’s no mistaking how unhappy the White House is with Moscow’s decision to grant Snowden asylum.

“We will be in contact with Russian authorities, expressing our extreme disappointment in this decision,” press secretary Jay Carney declared Thursday, adding: “He’s not a dissident. He’s not a whistle-blower.”

“We are evaluating the utility of a summit in light of this and other issues,” Carney added.

“Other issues” is important here. You could almost call them preexisting conditions.

The list of Russo-U.S. disputes is long. At the top is probably Putin’s support for Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria, where a civil war has left at least 100,000 dead, according to U.N. estimates. Russia, which has a long relationship with Assad’s regime, joined China in blocking U.S. efforts to get a U.N. Security Council resolution that might have opened the way for international sanctions against Syria.

But there are other issues. American officials say Putin is behind a series of high-profile trials of critics and potential rivals, part of a crackdown on dissent and opposition as he consolidates power. Some U.S. lawmakers suspect Russia is cheating on arms control agreements.

Russia opposes U.S. missile defense plans in Europe and sharply objects to the eastward expansion of NATO, an alliance conceived to deter the Soviet Union but which has acted as something of an umbrella for former Soviet republics looking for shelter from Moscow’s frequently heavy-handed influence.

At the same time, the Obama administration’s first-term “reset” of relations with Russia has borne fruit, with the nuclear arms control START treaty ratification and the opening of the “air bridge” through Russia’s backyard to supply U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.

“But we are in a dynamic, now, with Russia, where on the balance sheet of issues on which we have progress or cooperation against the issues on which we have conflict or profound disagreements we are tilting pretty heavily to the latter,” the senior administration official said.

“There’s never been a time in post-Soviet Russia-U.S. relations when everything was perfect,” the official continued. But “these are real disagreements with a real impact.”

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W. Mark Felt, left, answers questions for reporters outside District Court in Washington, Monday, De …

So now the challenge is to find a way to send a message to Putin on those disagreements but not poison cooperation on other issues.

“I know chests across Capitol Hill are being beaten as we speak, but let’s be honest, we wouldn’t return the Russian equivalent of Edward Snowden,” former Obama national security spokesman Tommy Vietor told Yahoo News.

One American career diplomat suggested one option could be to have the U.S. ambassador to Russia, the outspoken Michael McFaul, either visit or play host to Putin critics. That carries the potential downside of marking those people targets for retaliation.

What about boycotting the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia?

“The idea of declining to participate punishes our athletes above anyone else,” said Vietor, expressing views often heard inside the White House.

The U.S. could also accelerate the pace of missile defense deployments in Europe. But that would require local allies to agree, and it’s not clear how Russia would react.

Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham have suggested giving the former Soviet Republic ofGeorgia membership in NATO — a proposal greeted with disbelief at the White House.

The problem with that idea is Article 5 of NATO's founding treaty, which considers an attack on one member of the alliance an attack on all and pledges a military response. Russia and Georgia have engaged in armed conflict in recent years, and it’s not likely that the American public has much of an appetite to send troops to fight and die for either country.

Does the U.S. want to engage in an ambiguous battle over "some rocky real estate in South Ossetia?” Vietor said, referring to a disputed region Georgia considers part of its territory but does not control.

Vietor said the U.S. should avoid an “escalatory” response, while still sending a message to Putin.

“You could dial up the statements of criticism of Russian behavior, which they dislike enormously, or Mike (McFaul) could take certain meetings with opposition leaders, or people in the legal field or others that highlight the dark underbelly of the Russian government,” he said.

But “having the president of the United States dive into the fray here and make some big public statement or symbolic gesture probably isn’t the way to lower the temperature,” Vietor added.

Canceling the summit remains the only consideration — at least publicly. Given that “other issues” had already cast doubt on the merits of the meeting, there’s a solid chance that Obama will not go to Moscow.

We’ll know more about prospects for the Obama-Putin summit next week: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry were scheduled to meet in Washington next week with their Russian counterparts. The foursome was ostensibly due to work on setting up the presidential talks.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sixty people have been removed from jobs as military recruiters, drill instructors and victims counselors as a result of screenings ordered following a jump in the number of sexual assault in the U.S. armed forces, officials said on Friday.

The Army said 55 people had been suspended from their positions since screenings ordered by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel began last month. The screenings are continuing, with the service hoping to complete 20,000 by October 1, a spokesman said.

The Navy said it had screened more than 10,000 recruiters, drill instructors and personnel responsible for assisting sexual assault victims and had removed five people from their positions.

Hagel ordered the military in May to redouble its efforts to ensure that every service member "clearly understands" they are responsible for fostering a climate where sexual assault is not tolerated. The services ordered a rescreening of people in sensitive jobs to ensure they had proper credentials.

The move came a week after the Pentagon issued an annual report showing a 37 percent jump in cases of unwanted sexual contact in the military.

The report coincided with a spate of high-profile assault cases, including some involving drill instructors and people charged with helping sexual assault victims.

The 60 people were removed from their positions for a variety of reasons, ranging from alcohol-related concerns to unwanted sexual contact to other conduct that raised questions about their suitability for the jobs, officials said.

"The leadership of this department has no higher priority than the safety and welfare of our men and women in uniform, and that includes ensuring they are free from the threat of sexual harassment and sexual assault," said Lieutenant Colonel Cathy Wilkinson, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

(Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Screenings ordered by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel prompted action against recruiters,
drill instructors, and counselors. Not finished yet

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An opponent of Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' law wears a button against handguns outside a meeting o the law in Longwood, Florida, June 12, 2012. REUTERS/David Manning

By Tom Brown

MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida lawmakers will hold hearings this fall on the state's "Stand Your Ground" self-defense law, which has become a lightning rod for criticism following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin.

The announcement on Friday by Will Weatherford, the speaker of Florida's House of Representatives, marked the biggest concession yet by the state's Republican leaders to protesters' demands for a top-to-bottom review of the law, which allows people in fear of serious injury to use deadly force to defend themselves rather than retreat.

Since Zimmerman's acquittal on July 13, Martin's grieving parents, backed by African-American civic leaders, celebrities, students and political figures, including President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, have all said the Stand Your Ground law needs to be re-examined.

Weatherford, in an opinion column published in the Tampa Tribune, said he had asked Representative Matt Gaetz, a fellow Republican who chairs the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee, to lead the hearings. Weatherford did not set a date for the hearings or say how long they would last.

"Across Florida, representatives are receiving calls, letters, visits and emails from constituents with diverse opinions on 'Stand Your Ground,'" Weatherford said. "Passions are high, but every person has the right to express their views on this matter of great importance."

"It's a critical step," said Phillip Agnew, who heads a group of young demonstrators calling themselves the Dream Defenders who have staged a nearly month-long sit-in outside Governor Rick Scott's office in a bid to change the law. "We're excited about having an open debate," he told Reuters.

Advocates of the law, the first of its kind in the country and now copied in more than 20 other states, say violent crime has fallen since it was enacted.

But critics see the self-defense law as emblematic of racial bias and unequal justice in America, since some studies have shown that defense claims made under the law are far more likely to be successful when the victim is black.

Two of the six jurors in the Zimmerman case have said the Stand Your Ground law left them with no option but to acquit him.

"Our evaluation of its (the law's) effectiveness should be guided by objective information, not by political expediency," Weatherford wrote.

"Does the law keep the innocent safer? Is it being applied fairly? Are there ways we can make this law clearer and more understandable?" he asked.

Most U.S. voters support the "Stand Your Ground" laws, although the question of whether to retreat or use deadly force in self defense divides Americans along gender, racial and political lines, a national Quinnipiac University poll found on Friday.

The poll found that a strong majority of white voters and men support the laws, while black voters generally oppose them and women are almost evenly divided.

(Reporting by Tom Brown; additional reporting by Bill Cotterell editing by Jackie Frank)

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's main opposition coalition on Saturday urged the release of a Catholic priest who disappeared earlier this week while visiting a rebel-held city in the country's northeast.

Paolo Dall'Oglio, an Italian Jesuit priest, went missing on Monday in the city of Raqqa.

Raqqa in February became the first city to fall entirely under opposition control. Since then, there have been tensions between hard-line militants linked to al-Qaida and more moderate rebel groups over how to administer the city.

Both rebels and pro-regime forces have abducted political foes, members of rival sects and wealthy families around Syria and others, including foreign journalists, to settle scores or for ransom.

The Western-backed Syrian National Coalition said it was "deeply concerned" over the disappearance of the priest.

"We urge all parties involved in the disappearance of Father Paolo to immediately come forward and release him," the coalition said in a statement.

It described the priest as a "wise man of peace and compassion" who engaged in interfaith dialogue with Muslims and forged close ties with people all over Syria.

Dall'Oglio is a critic of the regime of President Bashar Assad, which the rebels are fighting to overthrow. The government expelled him last year from Syria, where he had lived for 30 years.

Activists said Dall'Oglio went to Raqqa to meet with al-Qaida-linked militants.

Dall'Oglio is the third Christian cleric believed to have been kidnapped in northern Syria this year.

In April, two Orthodox bishops were abducted. They have not been heard of since.

Gunmen pulled Bishop Boulos Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church and Bishop John Ibrahim of the Assyrian Orthodox Church from their car and killed their driver on April 22 as the group was traveling near the northern city of Aleppo. It was not clear who abducted the priests. No group has publically claimed it is holding the clerics.