Wildfires in Texas destroy hundreds of homes

6 September 2011 Last updated at 00:58 GMT Help

Firefighters in the US state of Texas are struggling to contain a huge wildfire that has already destroyed nearly 500 homes.

Forestry officials say the fire is moving so quickly that it can't be tackled from the ground and aircraft are being scrambled to drop water onto it.

Texas Governor Rick Perry has urged people to heed evacuation orders and not to stay in their homes if they had lost power.

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Haiti anger over alleged Uruguay UN rape

Haitian President Michel Martelly has condemned the alleged abuse of an 18-year-old man by Uruguayan peacekeepers, and demanded a full investigation.

Mr Martelly said the Haitian man had been subjected to a "collective rape".

Five Uruguayan marines were detained after a video clip of the alleged abuse appeared on the internet, and their commanding officer was sacked.

The Uruguayan government has said it will open a criminal case against the marines in a Uruguayan court.

The UN mission in Haiti (Minustah) and the Haitian authorities are also investigating.
Revulsion

The case has provoked widespread public anger in Haiti, and there have been protests outside the UN base.

"The presidency vigorously condemns this act, which revolts the conscience of the nation, and awaits a detailed report establishing the facts," Mr Martelly's office said in a statement.

The alleged victim and his mother have told Haitian radio stations that he was raped by the Uruguayan marines in the UN base at Port Salut.

They have also given evidence to Haitian police and a local judge.

The UN mission in Haiti said it was taking the allegations "very seriously".

"For now, we cannot say whether it was a case of rape or not," Minustah spokesperson Eliane Nabaa told Reuters news agency.

"Only the investigation will determine that and the investigation is still underway," she said.

In Uruguay, presidential spokesman Alberto Breccia said a criminal case would be brought by a Uruguayan court.

"All cases of apparent crime by Uruguayan troops must be judged by national courts," he said.

Uruguayan Defence Minister Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro was due to brief parliament on the case on Tuesday.

The video clip of the alleged incident, shot on a mobile phone, has been widely shown on Uruguayan television.
Controversy

Uruguay is one of the main contributors to the 12,000-strong UN force, which first arrived in Haiti in 2004.

The peacekeepers were brought in to restore order following the overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and its mandate was extended after the devastating earthquake in January 2010.

But Minustah has also drawn controversy, including allegations of excessive use of force.

Last year there were widespread protests after Nepalese peacekeepers were accused of being the source of a cholera epidemic which has killed more than 6,000 Haitians.

President Martelly has acknowledged that Haiti still needs the peacekeepers, but wants their security role reduced and eventually replaced by a Haitian force.

He is still struggling to form a government, five months after winning power in a UN-backed election.

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Al-Qaeda chief Younis al-Mauritani held, says Pakistan

Pakistan's army says it has arrested a man it describes as a senior al-Qaeda leader and two of his accomplices.

Younis al-Mauritani planned and executed international operations for the global terror network, the military said in a statement.

The White House praised the capture - reportedly the result of co-operation between US and Pakistani intelligence.

The army said the men were seized in the suburbs of the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta.

It did not say when the arrests were made.

"Mauritani was tasked personally by Osama Bin Laden to focus on hitting targets of economical importance in United States of America, Europe and Australia," said the Pakistani statement.

The two other men arrested were named as Abdul Ghaffar al-Shami and Messara al-Shami.

"This operation was planned and conducted with technical assistance of United State Intelligence agencies with whom Inter-Services Intelligence has a strong, historic intelligence relationship," said the statement.

Mr Mauritani does not feature on the FBI's list of most wanted terrorists. But an unnamed Western intelligence official told the AFP news agency: "If it's confirmed, it's a good catch."

Nevertheless, analysts say there may be some issues around verifying his identity and his position within al-Qaeda and some say that he is not well-known within Pakistan as a militant figure.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest later told journalists in Washington: "We applaud the actions of Pakistan's intelligence and security services that led to the capture of a senior al-Qaeda operative who was involved in planning attacks against the interests of the United States and many other countries."

The report comes one week after US officials claimed to have killed senior al-Qaeda operative Atiyah Abd al-Rahman in a drone strike near the Afghan border in Pakistan. But Pakistani officials have said there is no confirmation of his death.

Relations between Pakistan and the US have been on a downward spiral ever since the killing of Osama Bin Laden by US special forces in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad in early May.

The increasing US drone attacks on militants inside Pakistan along the Afghan border is also a continuing source of antagonism.

In early July the US announced plans to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of military aid to Pakistan.

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Texas fires: Bastrop blaze prompts Rick Perry warning

Dozens of other wildfires are burning in Texas, which has had its worst drought in half a century
Firefighters in drought-stricken Texas are struggling to contain a 16-mile-wide (26-km) wildfire that has destroyed almost 500 homes.

Officials said the fire had "grown considerably" on Monday and was now burning on 25,000 acres (10,000 ha).

Texas Governor Rick Perry cut short presidential campaigning, and said the next 48 to 72 hours would be "crucial".

Scores of fires are burning across Texas, which has been hit by high winds generated by Tropical Storm Lee.Recent fires across Texas have burned 3.5 million acres, Mr Perry said, adding: "That's roughly the size of Connecticut."

He urged people to heed evacuation orders and not to stay in their homes if they had lost power.

"I understand that losing your home or lifetime possessions is incredibly difficult, but do not put your life in jeopardy," Mr Perry said.

A blaze in east Texas killed a 20-year-old woman and her baby daughter on Sunday before it was extinguished.
Storm-fanned flames

An estimated 5,000 people have been forced to leave their homes because of the Bastrop fire, which is about 30 miles (50km) south-east of Austin and moving away from the state capital.

Earlier, Jan Amen of the Texas Forest Service described the central Texas blaze as "a monster" that had been "zero percent contained".

The fire is the largest of dozens of wildfires burning throughout the state, including more than 60 that started on Sunday.

Powerful winds from Tropical Storm Lee, hundreds of miles to the east, have fanned the flames.

"We have about 16 miles long at this time and about six miles wide," Bastrop County Fire Chief Ronnie McDonald said, referring to the size of the biggest blaze.

It has devoured almost half of the Bastrop State Park.

Gov Perry said in a statement: "I urge Texans to take extreme caution as we continue to see the devastating effects of sweeping wildfires impacting both rural and urban areas of the state."

He has cancelled an appearance at the presidential forum in South Carolina and a trip to California.

Texas has been suffering its worst drought since the 1950s.

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