BBC News with Julie Candler.

The police in Canada say they’ve foiled a major terror plot supported by al-Qaeda to derail a passenger train traveling between the cities of Toronto and New York. They say they’ve arrested two people who are not Canadian citizens, Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser. Both have been charged with terrorism-related offences. Canadian police say they have evidence that al-Qaeda elements in Iran were providing guidance, but that there was no indication that the alleged plot was state-sponsored. Chief superintendent Jennifer Strachan says the arrests were based on a lengthy investigation.

"We are alleging that these two individuals took steps and conducted activities to initiate a terrorist attack. They watched trains and railways in the Greater Toronto area. These arrests are the conclusion of a very

complex

and lengthy investigation which involved multi-jurisdictional and multi-agency cooperation.”

The sole surviving suspect in last week’s Boston Marathon bombing in the United States has been charged with using a

weapon

of mass destruction against people and

property

resulting in death. Nineteen-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged as he lay in his hospital bed. If convicted, he could face the death penalty or life imprisonment. The White House has said he’ll be tried in the US criminal

justice

system and won’t be treated as an enemy combatant. The spokesman Jay Carney explained why.