Toddler comes face to face with escaped Bengal tiger in Miami zoo

Mother Diana Barrett says will not be renewing her family’s annual pass to the Jungle Island zoo in Miami after a tiger leapt from his enclosure to come within 10 feet of her two-year-old daughter.

Mahesh, a 230kg Bengal tiger, managed to jump over the 12-foot fence and roamed freely around the zoo for about 20 minutes.

Ms Barratt claims she walked around a corner to find her young daughter Dianita calmly staring into the eyes of the huge animal.

Miracle escape: Two-year-old Dianita Barrett was at the Jungle Island zoo in Miami when she came face-to-face with Bengal tiger Mahesh

On the prowl: Mahesh tiger is believed to have been agitated by a 'mischievous' gibbon named Watson

‘I rounded the corner and she’s standing there staring at this tiger,’ she said.

‘About 10 to 15ft away from her just standing there not moving, neither two of them were moving.’

Ms Barrat then acted quickly to remove her daughter from the potentially lethal situation.
She told MSNBC: ‘Well the tiger was very calm and I didn’t want to make it anxious at all so I took a few steps towards her [Dianita], picked her up, and walked in the other direction.’

The zoo has said it is thought a 'mischievous' gibbon named Watson was the cause of the scare, with the primate escaping from its cage and antagonising Mahesh who in turn leapt over his 12ft fence.

While the tiger’s escape is being seen as a freak accident, the gibbon’s is not and the zoo could be facing hundreds of dollars in fines over the incident.

Unharmed: Luckily despite wandering free around the zoo and coming face to face with two-year-old Dianita Barratt, no-one was hurt in the incident

Predator: The 230kg Bengali tiger's escape was described as a freak accident

Escaped: Mahesh, a Bengal tiger, roamed around Jungle Island zoo for 20 minutes having leapt over his 12ft enclosure fence

Diana Barrett: 'I rounded the corner and she's standing there staring at this tiger.'

Were Afghan schoolgirls who collapsed in classroom the victims of Taliban nerve gas attack?

Blood samples taken from Afghan schoolgirls who collapsed in an apparent mass poisoning showed traces of toxic chemicals found in nerve gas, the Health Ministry said today.

Suspicion has fallen on the Taliban, the hard-line Islamist militia that opposes education for women and prohibited girls from going to school before it was ousted in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

Poisonous levels of organophosphates were found in samples taken from girls who became sick in incidents over the last two years, ministry spokesman Dr Ghulam Sakhi Kargar said.

Poisoned: Suspicion has fallen on the Taliban after traces of toxic chemicals found in nerve gas was found in the schoolgirls' blood

Samples from more recent cases, over the weekend, have been sent to Turkey for analysis and no results have been issued.

Last month, 48 pupils and teachers at Kabul's Zabihullah Esmati High School and 60 students and teachers at the Totia Girls School were hospitalised after fainting or complaining of breathing problems, dizziness and nausea.

The youngsters said they began feeling unwell after being exposed to an unknown gas spreading through classrooms.

Most were released within hours and it remains unclear how the gas spread.

Organophosphates, which are also present in herbicides and pesticides, are the active ingredients of deadly nerve gases such as sarin and VX and even low-level exposure can damage the nervous system.

Signs of organophosphate poisoning include headache, tiredness, upset stomach and breathing trouble, all similar to the symptoms shown by the students and teachers at the Kabul schools.

Targeted? Two Afghan schoolgirls receive treatment for suspected poisoning at a Kabul hospital

Obama 'Cautiously Hopeful' About Mideast Talks - Israeli, Palestinian Leaders Look for Common Ground - Palestinians, Israelis Relaunch Talks

US forces still in fight at end of combat mission

Even as President Barack Obama was announcing the end of combat in Iraq, American soldiers were sealing off a northern village early Wednesday as their Iraqi partners raided houses and arrested dozens of suspected insurgents.

While the Obama administration has dramatically reduced the number of troops and rebranded the mission, the operation in Hawija was a reminder that U.S. forces are still engaged in hunting down and killing al-Qaida militants — and could still have to defend themselves against attacks.

That reality was front and center at a change-of-command ceremony in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces outside Baghdad that the American military now uses as its headquarters. Officials warned of a tough road ahead as the U.S. moves into the final phase of the 7 1/2-year war.


U.S. soldiers attend the United States Forces-Iraq change of command ceremony in Baghdad on Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010, as a new US military mission in Iraq was launched ending seven years of combat. U.S Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday he's confident the various factions in Iraq will form a workable coalition and bring stability to the country, now that the U.S. combat role there has ended


A soldier takes a picture of US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and some colleagues after he had dinner with troops at the Sports Oasis dining facility at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday Sept. 1, 2010. In Iraq to mark the formal close of the U.S. combat mission and the departure of the top U.S. war commander Gates said Wednesday that history will judge whether the war in Iraq was worth it.






Of paramount concern is Iraqi leaders' continued bickering, six months after parliamentary elections, over forming a new government — a political impasse that could further endanger stability and fuel a diminished but still dangerous insurgency.

"Iraq still faces a hostile enemy who is determined to hinder progress," Gen. Lloyd Austin, the newly installed commander of the just under 50,000 U.S. troops still in Iraq, told the swelling crowd that was clad in military fatigues and political suits. "Make no mistake, our military forces here and those of the Iraqi nation remain committed to ensuring that our friends in Iraq succeed."

Vice President Joe Biden presided over the gathering at al-Faw palace, Saddam's gaudy former hunting lodge replete with fake marble walls and a huge chandelier made of recycled plastic.

The remaining U.S. forces in Iraq would be "as combat ready, if need be, as any in our military," Biden said, flanked by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen for the 75-minute ceremony, which also changed the U.S. mission's name from "Operation Iraqi Freedom" to "Operation New Dawn."

Three years ago, about 170,000 U.S. troops were in Iraq. Of those who remain, fewer than 10 percent — or 4,500 — are special forces who will regularly go on raids and capture terrorists, albeit alongside Iraqi troops.

Obama ordered the end of combat missions by Aug. 31 in a step toward a full withdrawal of American forces by the end of next year that was mandated in a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement.

Violence also has declined dramatically since early 2007, when the Pentagon poured tens of thousands more troops into Iraq over a matter of months to quell a Sunni insurgency that had lured the country to the brink of civil war. Additionally, a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq and a Shiite militia cease-fire have helped tamp down attacks, although bombings and shootings across Iraq continue on a near-daily basis.

But Iraqi forces are heavily dependent on U.S. firepower, along with helicopters, spy data and other key tools for combating terrorists that they won't be able to supply on their own for years to come.

"Every soldier I have knows that fighting is not over because there are groups here that still want to hurt us," Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo, commander of U.S. troops in Iraq's volatile north, told The Associated Press recently. "But clearly combat operations is not in our mission statement."

In Hawija, once a hub for Sunni militants and Saddam's disaffected allies located 150 miles north of Baghdad, roughly 80 U.S. soldiers teamed up with more than 1,000 Iraqis to arrest about 60 terror suspects in the early morning raid Wednesday.

From checkpoints and command centers to helicopters hovering overhead, the Americans were on hand at the request of Iraqi police. But it was the Iraqis who went into houses and arrested suspected insurgents — including two considered high-value targets — while the U.S. watched the operation from afar.

Hours before the raids, Lt. Col. Andy Ulrich gave his soldiers a pep talk to counter concerns they weren't on a worthwhile mission.

"You all are combat troops not doing a combat mission, although it looks smells and feels and hurts a lot like combat," Ulrich said.

"Don't worry about what the politicians are saying because we have a mission," he added. "The bad part is, we can't go kicking the doors ourselves and get these guys. We've got to kind of convince Iraqis to do it, but the good part is, they're kind of willing to do it."

Iraqi forces across Baghdad appeared to be on heightened alert, aiming to reassure the populace and ward off insurgent attacks to coincide with the change in command.

Intelligence officials had warned al-Qaida in Iraq might use the U.S. military's shifting mission to launch suicide bombings around the capital in the days leading up to Wednesday's ceremony. However, the day was relatively quiet, except for a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad that police said killed one person.

At the Baghdad ceremony, Gen. Ray Odierno, the outgoing commander, formally ended his nearly five-year tour in Iraq on a reflective note.

"This period in Iraq's history will probably be remembered for sacrifice, resilience and change," Odierno said. "However, I remember it as a time in which the Iraqi people stood up against tyranny, terrorism and extremism, and decided to determine their own destiny as a people and as a democratic state."

Then, wistfully using his military call sign one last time, Odierno ended his remarks: "Lion 6 — out."

Obama ordered the refocusing of the U.S. mission last year to fulfill a campaign promise of ending what he once termed "a dumb war" and one that Gates acknowledged Wednesday was launched without justification. In an address Tuesday night Obama announced the end of American combat, but made clear that this was no victory celebration.

"Of course, violence will not end with our combat mission," the president said.

Defining the front lines in a war where soldiers who are attacked while delivering supplies could just as easily return fire as Marines while on a raid to round up suspected insurgents has never been easy. Some of the key ongoing threats to the safety of American forces are the same as they've always been: rockets, mortars and roadside bombs.

U.S. military officials have said Iranian-backed militias are stepping up their attacks against targets in Baghdad, trying to make it look like they're driving out the Americans. Since arriving in Iraq, the battalion taking part in the Hawija raids has been hit by rocket and grenade attacks on their patrols and on their base almost every other day.

In the western Iraqi city of Ramadi before the ceremony, Gates told reporters the U.S. would consider keeping some military forces in place past next year, if the Iraqi government requests it.

Asked whether the U.S. was still at war in Iraq, Gates answered succinctly, "I would say we are not."

He was less definitive about whether the 7 1/2-year war was worthwhile. More than 4,400 American troops and an estimated 100,000 Iraqis have been killed since the 2003 invasion, and billions of dollars have been poured into the war effort.

Claiming that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, then-President George W. Bush ordered the invasion with approval of a Congress still reeling from the 9/11 attacks. Bush's claims were based on faulty intelligence, and the weapons were never found.

"The problem with this war, I think, for many Americans, is that the premise on which we justified going to war turned out not to be valid," Gates said. "Even if the outcome is a good one from the standpoint of the United States, it'll always be clouded by how it began."


US Army Lt. Col Andy Ulrich walks with an Iraqi police general and an Iraqi Army colonel, center, after an operation by Iraqi forces supported by US troops on the first day after America ended its combat role, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 in Hawija, north of Baghdad, Iraq. The U.S. marks on Wednesday the transition to the final phase of the Iraq war, shifting the focus of the remaining 50,000 American troops from combat operations to preparing Iraqi security forces to protect the country on their own.


An Iraqi man eyes a US Army soldier from 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment during an Iraqi security sweep of Hawija, north of Baghdad, Iraq, on the first day after America ended its combat role, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010. The U.S. marks on Wednesday the transition to the final phase of the Iraq war, shifting the focus of the remaining 50,000 American troops from combat operations to preparing Iraqi security forces to protect the country on their own.


A U.S. Army soldier from A Co., 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment stands next to an armored vehicle during a joint operation with Iraqi security forces on the first day after America ended its combat role, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 in Hawija, north of Baghdad, Iraq. The U.S. marks on Wednesday the transition to the final phase of the Iraq war, shifting the focus of the remaining 50,000 American troops from combat operations to preparing Iraqi security forces to protect the country on their own




Army soldier from 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment peers through his rifle scope during a joint operation with Iraqi security forces on the first day after America ended its combat role, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 in Hawija, north of Baghdad, Iraq. The U.S. marks on Wednesday the transition to the final phase of the Iraq war, shifting the focus of the remaining 50,000 American troops from combat operations to preparing Iraqi security forces to protect the country on their own.


A US Army soldier from 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment stands with Iraqi policemen in a courtyard outside an Iraqi police station during a joint operation with Iraqi security forces on the first day after America ended its combat role, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 in Hawija, north of Baghdad, Iraq. The U.S. marks on Wednesday the transition to the final phase of the Iraq war, shifting the focus of the remaining 50,000 American troops from combat operations to preparing Iraqi security forces to protect the country on their own.


An Iraqi policeman gives directions to a motorist during a joint operation with US advise and assist forces on the first day after America ended its combat role, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 in Hawija, north of Baghdad, Iraq. The U.S. marks on Wednesday the transition to the final phase of the Iraq war, shifting the focus of the remaining 50,000 American troops from combat operations to preparing Iraqi security forces to protect the country on their own.



US Army soldiers from 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment sit in a courtyard outside an Iraqi police station during a joint operation with Iraqi security forces on the first day after America ended its combat role, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 in Hawija, north of Baghdad, Iraq. The U.S. marks on Wednesday the transition to the final phase of the Iraq war, shifting the focus of the remaining 50,000 American troops from combat operations to preparing Iraqi security forces to protect the country on their own.

Mubarak urges Netanyahu to act on peace chance

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to make good on his vow to forge peace with the Palestinians and reiterated a plea for Israel to halt settlement activity.

On the eve of Thursday's first direct Israeli-Palestinian talks in 20 months in Washington, Mubarak said the Israelis should "seize the current opportunity" and "not let it slip through your fingers."

He was speaking at a press conference at the White House to launch the negotiations alongside US President Barack Obama, Netanyahu, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and King Abdullah II of Jordan.


 
Mubarak urged Netanyahu to make good on his vow to forge peace with the Palestinians





"I urge Israel to reach out to the Arab hand extended for peace," said Mubarak. "Israel should totally halt settlement activity until the peace process comes to a conclusion."

The Palestinians say that a renewal of settlement activities after September 26, when a 10-month partial moratorium expires, would end the negotiations. The settlements house about 500,000 people on lands occupied by Israel in 1967.

Netanyahu faces pressure from his Likud party to continue settlement construction.

The Egyptian leader noted that he had met Netanyahu many times and said he looked forward to him making good on his repeated assertions that he wanted to forge a "long awaited peace" which Israelis yearned for.

Mubarak had a bilateral meeting earlier in the day with Obama, as the US president geared up his bold attempt to secure a historic Middle East peace deal within a year.

Mubarak's "main message" had been that Obama should be prepared to step directly into the dialogue between the two sides, his spokesman Soliman Awaad said.

"President Mubarak told President Obama that had (the late Egyptian president Anwar) Sadat and (the late Israeli prime minister) Menachem Begin been left all alone in Camp David, they would have never reached any peace agreement," Awaad said, referring to the landmark 1978 negotiations.

"This time also, the two parties should not be left all alone, otherwise there will be big stumbling blocks," he said.

"What is really needed is for the United States to step in, remain committed, remain engaged and lend a helping hand to the two parties in order to help bridge the gaps in the positions, sort the differences."

Mubarak wrote in Wednesday's edition of The New York Times that Egypt, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, is prepared to continue mediating between Abbas's Fatah party in the West Bank and the Islamist Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, which rejects talks with Israel.

"The Palestinians cannot make peace with a house divided. If Gaza is excluded from the framework of peace, it will remain a source of conflict, undermining any final settlement," he wrote.

Mubarak added that Arab states should make gestures to allay Israeli concerns.

"In the interim both sides must show that this dream (of a Palestinian state) is within reach. Arab nations should continue to demonstrate the seriousness of their peace initiative with steps that address the hopes and concerns of ordinary Israelis."

Washington has demanded that Arab countries take steps to normalize relations with Israel to build confidence for the negotiations. Only two Arab countries, Egypt and Jordan, have diplomatic relations with Israel.

Mubarak supported previous calls by Abbas to station international troops in a Palestinian state, writing: "I recognize that Israel has legitimate security needs, needs that can be reconciled with the Palestinians? just demand for a complete withdrawal from occupied territory."

Mubarak said the Israelis should "seize the current opportunity"

Police Kill Discovery Gunman, 3 Hostages Safe - Man Holds Hostages in Discovery Building

Police kill gunman who held 3 at Discovery Channel

A man who railed against the Discovery Channel's environmental programming for years burst into the company's headquarters with at least one explosive device strapped to his body Wednesday and took three people hostage at gunpoint before police shot him to death, officials said.

The hostages — two Discovery Communications employees and a security guard — were unhurt after the four-hour standoff. Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger said tactical officers moved in after officers monitoring the gunman on building security cameras saw him pull out a handgun and point it at a hostage.

In this image released by the Montgomery County Police, James J. Lee is seen is a booking mugshot from 2008 on disorderly conduct. Lee, 43, a gunman with what police described as "concerns" with the Discovery Channel networks took at least one person hostage in the company's Silver Spring, Md., headquarters Wednesday, Spet. 1, 2010. A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing said authorities have identified Lee as the likely suspect.


Maryland State Police troopers, walk near the Discovery Channel network building in Silver Spring, Md., Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010. Police shot and killed a man upset with the Discovery Channel network's programming who took two employees and a security officer hostage at the company's headquarters Wednesday, officials said. All three hostages escaped safely





An explosive device on the gunman's body detonated when police shot him, Manger said. Police were trying to determine whether two boxes and two backpacks the gunman had also contained explosives.

A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing said authorities had identified James J. Lee as the likely suspect. Police had not released the gunman's identity.

County Police and firefighters Wednesday night looked at a laptop screen that showed an image of a body lying face-up, surrounded by blood. Authorities also sent in a robot to disarm the explosive on the gunman's body. Police Capt. Paul Starks said the suspect had shot a gun at least once. He also said police believe the suspect was acting alone but are investigating all possibilities.

NBC News reported that after its producers called Discovery's general number, a man identifying himself as James J. Lee got on the phone and said he had a gun and several bombs.

"I have several bombs strapped to my body ready to go off. I have a device that if I drop it, if I drop it, it will ... explode," the man told NBC.

He said he built the bombs in about three weeks. "I did a lot of research. I had to experiment," he said.

Manger said the suspect held the hostages in the lobby area of the first floor. Authorities said they will methodically go through the building and identify any suspicious items.

The "building is still a crime scene," Manger said. "We still have work to do."

Manger said police spent several hours negotiating with the armed man after he entered the suburban Washington building about 1 p.m. None of the 1,900 people who work in the building were hurt, and most made it out before the standoff ended.

Lee was convicted of disorderly conduct for a protest he organized outside Discovery's offices in February 2008. According to court records, he paid homeless people to carry signs and set off a scramble when he threw fistfuls of cash into the air, calling it "just trash."

Lee served two weeks in jail after his arrest during which doctors evaluated his competency to stand trial. County State's Attorney John McCarthy said Lee was ordered to stay 500 feet away from Discovery headquarters as part of his probation, which ended two weeks ago. A magistrate ordered a doctor's evaluation, but the result was not immediately available Wednesday.

"The Discovery Channel produces many so-called 'Environmental Programs' supposedly there to save the planet," Lee said in an ad he took out in a Washington newspaper to promote the protest. "But the truth is things are getting WORSE! Their programs are causing more harm than good."

In court and online, Lee faulted the Discovery Channel for shows as varied as "Future Weapons," "It Takes a Thief" and "Planet Green."

A lengthy posting that could be seen Wednesday on a website registered to Lee said Discovery and its affiliates should stop "encouraging the birth of any more parasitic human infants," a possible reference to shows like "Kate Plus 8" and "19 Kids and Counting." Instead, he said, the network should air "programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility."

Discovery Communications Inc. operates U.S. cable and satellite networks including The Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet. Discovery shows include "Cash Cab" and "Man vs. Wild," and TLC airs "American Chopper" and "Kate Plus 8."

David Leavy, Discovery's executive vice president for corporate affairs, said all employees had been accounted for. "We're relieved that it ended without any harm to our employees," he said.

Discovery Channel executives met with some employee witnesses and at least one hostage Wednesday at the Silver Spring precinct. The officials declined to comment to the media except to say everyone was doing OK.

Melissa Shepard, 32, of Peterborough, N.H., a consultant who works in the building, said she was on the third floor with several other workers when someone announced over a loudspeaker that there was a situation in the lobby and people should stay at their desks.

After some time, they were told to move to the other end of the building. She said she was among a dozen workers who went into an office, shut the door and turned off the lights.

Then she said someone knocked on the door and told them to leave the building. She said there was some confusion as they were told to go to an upper floor or down the stairs.

"Finally, I screamed, 'Tell us where we need to go! ... I just want to get out of there,'" she said. "I was shaking. ... I was like, 'What do we do? What do we do?'"

Adam Dolan, a sales director in Discovery's education division, said that when he got to the bottom floor he saw shattered glass near the company's day-care center and suspected it was broken to get the children out. He later got an e-mail saying the children were safe and had been taken to a McDonald's.

Dolan said the company has unarmed security guards who won't let anyone into the building without a badge.

Leavy said Discovery hopes and expects to be open Thursday. "The priority is going to be nurturing and responding to employee needs over the coming days as this is a scary event," he said.

Discovery officials are familiar with the suspect and his past protest at the building, Leavy said.

At Lee's trial, he said he began working to save the planet after being laid off from his job in San Diego.

He said he was inspired by "Ishmael," a novel by environmentalist Daniel Quinn, and by former Vice President Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."

Quinn told The Associated Press from his home in Houston that he found out about the standoff in Maryland from the media. Just a few hours later, he said he was feeling "a bit ragged" after getting calls from reporters across the country.

He said he had never heard of Lee and was stunned that Lee's manifesto advocated things like human sterilization and an end to farming, ideas Quinn said he would never support.

"He wants to get more exposure ... and he thinks that he can get it ... by occupying Discovery," Quinn said. He added that if he could talk to Lee, he would tell him "he's giving a bad name to the ideas that he's trying to espouse."


Police push people back from near the front of the headquarters of the Discovery Channel networks building in Silver Spring, Md., Wednesday Sept. 1, 2010. Police say a gunman has taken at least one person hostage in the building.


An armed police officer walks across the street from Discovery Channel network building in Silver Spring, Md., Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010. Police shot and killed a man upset with the Discovery Channel network's programming who took two employees and a security officer hostage at the company's headquarters Wednesday, officials said. All three hostages escaped safely.


Authorities look at a screen that shows a live feed from a robot of James J. Lee, face up on the floor, inside the Discovery Channel network building where police shot and killed the gunman in Silver Spring, Md., Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010. Police shot and killed Lee, 43, who was upset with the Discovery Channel network's programming who took two employees and a security officer hostage at the company's headquarters Wednesday, officials said. All three hostages escaped safely


An explosives robot is prepared and sent into the Discovery Channel networks building where police shot and killed a gunman who took hostages in Silver Spring, Md., on Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010.

At least 6 killed in Mozambique price riots

Two children were shot dead and at least four more people were killed in clashes between police and rioters across Mozambique’s capital Maputo today in protests over rising prices, police and hospital sources said.

Police used teargas to disperse crowds and fired live ammunition after running out of rubber bullets, while protesters blocked roads and burned tyres, police officials said.

The violence was the worst in the impoverished southern African country since 2008.

“Two children have been killed in the suburb of Mafalala,” police spokesman Arnaldo Chefo told Reuters. Police officially said three people were killed while hospital and police sources said the death toll was at least six.

The protests appeared to have been touched off when the government boosted prices on bread by 30 per cent on Wednesday. The increase came as wheat prices have shot up around the world.

Residents of one of the world’s poorest countries say they have been hit hard by rising costs for basic necessities including bread, with soaring costs for fuel and other essentials adding to their troubles.

Mozambique also is heavily dependent on imports from South Africa, which have become more expensive in recent months as the South African rand currency has strengthened.

“I can hardly feed myself. I will join the protest because I’m outraged by this high cost of living,” Nelfa Temoteo, who lives in the capital’s densely populated Malhazine suburb, said.

Maputo police called for calm as the riots spread throughout the city of 23 million people.

“There is looting and vandalisation. Shops including banks in the Central Business District are closed,” Chefo said.

In 2008, at least six people were killed in Mozambique in protests in over high fuel prices and living costs. The government agreed to cut the price of diesel fuel for minibus taxis.

Australian PM wins Greens support in government bid

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard forged an alliance with the Greens party today to take her party closer to forming a government, but vowed not to allow the deal to change her plans for a tax on miners’ profits.

“Our election commitments are our election commitments,” the Labor Party leader told a news conference. “In the days since the election I’ve been asked will you change the Minerals Resource Rent Tax, and the answer of course is no.”

Gillard speaks at a news conference in Melbourne Aug 22, 2010.





Labor’s widely expected agreement with the influential Greens party gives Gillard 73 seats in the 150-member lower house, bringing her level with the opposition conservative coalition but still three short of the majority required to rule.

A jostle for the support of four independent lawmakers who emerged from August 21’s inconclusive election holding the balance of power could still drag into early next week.

Bookmakers shortened their odds on Labor forming a government after the Greens deal, though they were still well behind the conservatives, who have promised to scrap the mining profits tax and carbon-trading plans, and a US$38 billion (RM119 billion) broadband project that could hurt dominant telecoms provider Telstra.

Despite Gillard’s reassurances that policy would not be affected, the Greens could use their leverage to harden up her plans on both the mining tax and pricing carbon pollution.

“It does lead to some nervousness. With Greens’ control of the Senate it sets in motion less friendly business policies starting from mining tax to climate change,” said Shane Oliver, head of Investment Strategy at AMP Capital.

The conservatives, who campaigned heavily on the threat of a Labor-Greens tie-up, charged that the deal would lead to early adoption of a carbon trade scheme Gillard had promised to delay until at least 2013 and after public consultation.

“It demonstrates that the quest for power is now the only principle that the Labor Party holds dear,” opposition leader Tony Abbott told a news conference.

“What this means is there will be a carbon tax, there will be a higher mining tax. This is a party that deserves to lose, but which (Greens leader) Bob Brown has thrown a lifeline to.”

If Labor prevails, the Greens deal would commit it to tackling climate change, holding a parliamentary debate on the war in Afghanistan and consulting on economic and budget issues.

So far financial markets have not been ruffled by the political uncertainty. Investors are more focused on the risk that economic weakness in the United States and Japan could spill into Australia, undermining its relatively robust growth.

Data released today showed that Australia’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 3.3 per cent in the second quarter from the same period in 2009, well above the 2.9 per cent forecast in a Reuters poll.

As part of their agreement with Labor, which includes a future referendum on constitutional recognition of indigenous people, the Greens promised to ensure budget supply bills and back Labor in any no-confidence motions.

In return, the government agreed to a new climate change committee of politicians and experts to work out the best way forward for climate policy, with a view to putting a price on carbon emissions.

But more contentious issues, including the controversial mining tax, a price on carbon and gay marriage, were left out of the pact to avoid driving off more support for Labor from rural-based independents with conservative leanings.

The independents may take a few more days to decide whether to support Labor or the conservative coalition led by Abbott.

“I think it might be a bit optimistic to say this week, but I would be very surprised if it went beyond Monday or Tuesday,” rural-based independent Bob Katter told Australian television.

Obama: Time to turn the page in Iraq

President Barack Obama declared an end to the seven-year US combat mission in Iraq yesterday and told war-weary Americans “our central mission as a people” is to restore the US economy.

Obama said he had fulfilled a 2008 campaign pledge to end US combat operations in Iraq in a move that many Iraqis both welcome and fear, given political deadlock in Baghdad and fears of a fresh outbreak of violence.

Obama hugs the wife of a US soldier serving overseas during his visit to Fort Bliss, Texas, August 31, 2010





After seven years of war that has brought sacrifice from Americans and Iraqis, he said, “Now, it is time to turn the page.”

“Tonight, I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended. Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country,” Obama said in excerpts of a speech he was to deliver at 8pm EDT in the White House Oval Office.

Obama hailed the removal of all but 50,000 US troops and the end of the combat phase, saying: “This was my pledge to the American people as a candidate for this office.”

But Americans are also looking to Obama for leadership on boosting the sagging US economy and some analysts were questioning his foreign policy focus this week — Iraq and the Middle East — at a time of fears of a double-dip recession.

Obama sought to tie the Iraq development with his efforts to bring down a 9.5 per cent jobless rate that is endangering Democratic rule in Washington in the November 2 congressional elections.

“Today, our most urgent task is to restore our economy, and put the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs back to work,” Obama said. “This will be difficult. But in the days to come, it must be our central mission as a people, and my central responsibility as president.”

Obama earlier visited the US Army base at Fort Bliss, Texas, yesterday to celebrate the milestone but stressed his Oval Office speech should not be seen as a “victory lap.”

“It’s not going to be self-congratulatory. There’s still a lot of work that we’ve got to do to make sure that Iraq is an effective partner with us,” Obama said.