Interpol Global Security Alert After Jailbreaks

Interpol has issued a global security alert, urging countries to be on their guard following a series of prison breaks believed linked to al Qaeda.

The international police organisation warning comes after the US State Department put out a worldwide travel alert and decided to close 21 of its embassies and consulates across the Muslim world today.

The US measure was in response to non-specific information suggesting the terror network was planning attacks during the month of August.

The Obama Administration has warned US citizens of the potential for terrorism particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.

US joint chiefs of staff chairman General Martin Dempsey said there was a "significant threat", describing it as "more specific" than previous threats.

A section of the British embassy compound in Yemen

Meanwhile, Britain is shutting the doors of its embassy in Yemen for two days starting today due to increased security concerns. France is also closing its embassy for the same reason.

Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has withdrawn a number of staff from the capital Sana'a, and British nationals have been warned against all travel to the country.

Those still in Yemen have been advised to leave immediately, as it is "extremely unlikely" their evacuation could be arranged if the security situation deteriorates.

The FCO recommended particular vigilance during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends on August 8, when "tensions could be heightened".

Interpol urged countries around the world to show "increased vigilance", following a series of prison escapes over the past month which freed hundreds of terrorists in Iraq, Libya and Pakistan.

The State Department warned US citizens of the potential for terrorism

An elaborate raid earlier this week freed 252 inmates from a prison in Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan.

Rocket-propelled grenades and bombs were used in the assault, with the Taliban claiming that two dozen newly-liberated militants had been smuggled into its tribal heartland.

Interpol said it was "asking its member countries to closely follow and swiftly process any information linked to these events and the escaped prisoners".

It added: "They are also requested to alert the relevant member country and Interpol general secretariat headquarters if any escaped terrorist is located or intelligence developed which could help prevent another terrorist attack."

Four Americans were killed in the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi

Yemen has become a stronghold of al Qaeda over recent years, with local offshoot al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula believed to have several hundred members.

This was despite efforts by the country's authorities to suppress the group and US drones killing leaders including Anwar al Awlaki.

Yemen was the source of an attempt to bomb a US-bound airliner in 2009.

There has been unrest recently after the mutiny of troops in the Republican Guard, with fighting around the presidential palace on Friday.

The latest alert by the US warned that al Qaeda or its allies may target American government or private US interests.

It cited dangers involved with public transportation systems and other prime sites for tourists, noting that previous terrorist attacks have centred on subway and rail networks as well as aircraft and boats.

The US State Department issued a major warning last year informing American diplomatic facilities across the Muslim world about potential violence connected to the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

In Benghazi, Libya, four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed in an attack on the US consulate.

The deadly assault has prompted several calls for investigations from House Republicans who have accused the Obama administration of misleading Americans about the attack.

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British Climber Thomas Jagger Missing In Peru

A British climber has been reported missing in South America, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has confirmed.

Thomas Jagger, 22, who believed to be from the Buxton area of Derbyshire, has been missing for around a week in the Ancash region of Peru.

The FCO said in a statement: "We were notified on July 27 that a British national, Thomas Jagger, has been reported missing in Huaraz, Peru.

"We are providing consular assistance to his family at this difficult time."

Ancash is a region in the northwest of Peru.

Although the west side is bordered by the Pacific Ocean it is renowned for its Andes region, and includes snow-capped peaks and glaciers.

The chief of high mountain police, Major Edgardo Colp, said that Mr Jagger disappeared while on a route that goes from Llanganuco ravine in the direction of Pisco mountain in the Cordillera Blanca range.

The FCO later issued a statement on behalf of the family and a close friend of Mr Jagger.

The statement, from Stuart, Helen, Frances and Iain Jagger and Mark, Julia and Luke Dyer said: "This is a sad time for both families.

"Tom was a much-loved son, brother and friend and we wish to be given time to come to terms with what has happened.

"This difficult period is not being helped by speculative and untruthful reports appearing in the tabloid media. We would like to be left alone to grieve privately."

Between May and July five mountain climbers have died on the range - two Peruvians, two Argentinians and a Czech.

About 8,000 tourists arrive each year to climb the Cordillera Blanca.

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Australia: Kevin Rudd Names Election Date

The Australian prime minister has called a national election as his Labor Party looks to close the gap with the conservative opposition.

Kevin Rudd was first elected prime minister in 2007, but was defeated in 2010 by his then deputy Julia Gillard in an internal leadership contest within his centre-left Labour Party.

He won back the leadership in a similar challenge on June 26 as the government faced the prospect of a record loss under Ms Gillard.

Since then, Mr Rudd has changed several key policy positions and opinion polls suggest Labor is closing the lead of the conservative opposition.

The party has been in power since 2007 and helped Australia's economy avoid recession following the 2008 global financial crisis, aided by a prolonged mining boom.

But a budget update on Friday showed Australia's economic growth is slowing as the mining investment boom ends, with rising unemployment particularly in the manufacturing sector.

In an email to supporters, Mr Rudd said: "It's on. We've got one hell of a fight on our hands.

"Australians now face a choice. And the choice couldn't be starker. I have a positive vision about the country we can be."

The election date would mean Mr Rudd missing the G20 summit in St Petersburg, even though Australia will take over as chair of the G20 for the coming year.

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Zimbabwe: 'Grave Concerns' Over Election

Zimbabwe: Mugabe's Party Claims Win

Updated: 2:28pm UK, Thursday 01 August 2013

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has dismissed the country's national elections as a "huge farce" and the results invalid because of intimidation and ballot-rigging by President Robert Mugabe's ruling party, which has claimed victory.

"In our view, that election is null and void," he said, after a senior Zanu-PF source earlier claimed a resounding victory for President Mugabe in Zimbabwe's presidential and parliamentary elections.

The unnamed senior official said the outcome was already clear and told Reuters news agency: "We've taken this election. We've buried the MDC. We never had any doubt that we were going to win."

The opposition, Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), immediately claimed the elections had been "a monumental fraud" and held an emergency meeting.

"Zimbabweans have been taken for a ride by Zanu-PF and Mugabe, we do not accept it," a senior source told Reuters.

Releasing results early is illegal, and the police had warned they would arrest anybody making premature claims before the official five days the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission had said it could take to announce the result.

Riot police took up positions outside the Zanu-PF party's headquarters in central Harare and other key locations in the capital, including an MDC office.

The party later withdrew what it said was an unauthorised message on its Twitter feed claiming a landslide win, and insisted that it was awaiting the release of the official count.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) - the country's leading domestic election monitoring agency - said the credibility of the vote was "seriously compromised" by irregularities on polling day.

It said as many as one million eligible voters were not on the electoral roll, and urban voters, who mainly favour Mr Tsvangirai, had been turned away from polling stations in their thousands.

Conversely, only a small number had been prevented from voting in the countryside, where President Mugabe has most support.

It also cast doubt on the authenticity of the voters' roll, noting that 99.97% of voters in the countryside were registered, compared to 67.9% in urban areas.

"It is not sufficient for elections to be peaceful for elections to be credible," ZESN chairman Solomon Zwana said. "They must offer all citizens ... an equal opportunity to vote."

Separate reports claimed key MDC members had lost their seats, even in the capital, and that the election was looking like a "disaster" for Mr Tsvangirai.

To win an outright victory, one of the candidates has to secure more than 50% of the vote.

Half the country's 12.9 million population was eligible to vote at the more than 9,000 polling stations nationwide.

The dispute erupted as polling stations closed and counting got under way amid fears of a repeat of the violence that marred the 2008 election.

Turnout was high, particularly in urban areas where the polling stations stayed open late into the evening to allow everyone in the queues to cast their votes.

The presidential contest pit the 89-year-old incumbent President Mugabe against his main rival Mr Tsvangirai, who his supporters believed a big turnout would favour, blunting the impact of any manipulation of the vote.

Zimbabweans voted in large numbers despite concerns about the credibility of the electoral process, and the vote was relatively peaceful compared to disputed and violent polls in 2008.

However, the fiercely contested election was dogged by claims of intimidation and vote rigging, despite assurances by official poll monitors of "a peaceful, orderly and free and fair vote".

It is the third time Mr Tsvangirai has tried to unseat President Mugabe, who denies vote rigging and said he would step down if he failed to extend his 33-year grip on power for another five years.

Sky Correspondent Emma Hurd, in South Africa, said: "Analysts inside Zimbabwe say it was going to be close anyway - that Robert Mugabe was not going to be wiped out in a landslide victory by the opposition.

"But what all independent observers seem to agree on is that there will have been some element of rigging in the process.

"The question remains how much, and whether Robert Mugabe really needed to do it in the first place to win."

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Lucky Escape After Car Door Opens On Cyclist

A woman has escaped serious injury after she was knocked off her bike when a passenger opened a car door in front of her.

The victim, whose family name is Shi, was riding home on her electric bicycle in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, when the accident took place.

A rear door of a sport utility vehicle (SUV) stopped by the roadside opened suddenly in front of her, sending her tumbling from her bike into the rear wheel of a passing truck.

The woman is thrown into the back tyre of a passing truck

She said: "There was a white thing that flashed, knocked me off my bicycle, and then I fainted."

The woman was taken to hospital, where she is reportedly in a stable condition.

Police located the SUV, which fled the accident, using CCTV footage.

She then falls to the ground after narrowly escaping going under the truck

Officer Zhou Zhengbin said: "The driver didn't control the passengers after he stopped the car. A passenger pushed the car door open just as an electric bicycle rode past.

"There is an obvious mark on the car door."

The SUV driver was taken into custody pending a further investigation.

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China Blocks NZ Milk Powder Over Botulism

Some brands of baby milk formula from New Zealand contain whey powder which could cause the food poisoning botulism, authorities have warned.

Up to 1,000 tons of dairy products - including milk powders used for sports as well as babies' formula - have been recalled from shelves in seven countries.

The move comes after the New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra announced tests had turned up a type of bacteria that can cause the illness.

China, one of the countries where the products are exported to, has responded by blocking all imports of milk powder from New Zealand, an NZ minister said Sunday.

China is New Zealand's biggest market for exported milk powder.

Demand for imported milk products has risen sharply after a series of scandals over tainted baby formula in China, leading to limits on sales of formula in other countries, including the UK.

It is not known, at this stage, whether China's import ban on New Zealand milk will have a knock-on effect on baby milk availability in the UK.

New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser said the ban was "entirely appropriate", as consuming the whey products could lead to the potentially fatal illness.

China has not officially announced a ban. It said on Saturday it had contacted New Zealand's embassy and asked it "to take measures to prevent the products in question from influencing the health of Chinese consumers".

Mr Groser said the situation with Fonterra was "very serious". As well as China, the whey protein concentrate had also been exported to Australia, China, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Vietnam.

"The authorities in China, in my opinion absolutely appropriately, have stopped all imports of New Zealand milk powders from Australia and New Zealand," Mr Groser said on Television New Zealand's Q&A programme.

"It's entirely appropriate they should have done that. It's better to do blanket protection for your people then wind it back when we, our authorities, are in a position to give them the confidence and advice that they need."

In China, several domestic brands of baby milk have been hit by scandals

The symptoms of botulism include nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, followed by paralysis, and it can be fatal if not treated.

There have been no reports of any illness linked to consumption of the affected whey protein.

The problem is believed to have been caused by unsterilised pipes at a factory in Waikato .

Fonterra's milk products managing director Gary Romano said three affected batches of whey protein weighing about 42 tons were made in May 2012, adding that Fonterra has since cleaned the pipes.

The affected batches were found to contain the toxic bacteria Clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism, but it was only discovered on July 31 this year.

New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries says the tainted product was mixed with other ingredients to form about 1,000 tons of consumer products which were then distributed worldwide.

Some of the affected product ended up being used by New Zealand company Nutricia which makes the Karicare line of formula for infants aged over six months.

Nutricia has locked down all five batches of infant formula it believed contained the tainted product but New Zealand advised parents to buy different Nutricia products or alternative brands until all tainted Nutricia products had been recalled.

Russia's Ria Novosti news agency reported that Moscow was "recalling Fonterra's products, including infant formula and advised Russian consumers not to buy the company's other products".

Dairy exports are one of New Zealand's major earners. According to government data the dairy industry contributes 2.8% to New Zealand's GDP and about 25% of its exports. It is worth NZ$10.4bn (£5.2bn) annually.

In 2008, six babies in China died and another 300,000 were sickened by infant formula that was tainted with melamine, an industrial chemical added to watered-down milk to fool tests for protein levels.

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Gran Charged With Methadone Murder Of Baby

A woman has been charged with murder after allegedly killing her one-year-old grandson by rubbing methadone on his gums.

Baltimore police said Towanda Reaves, 50, was arrested and charged over the boy's death on August 1.

She was also charged with assault after allegedly administering the drug to her infant granddaughter.

The charges date back to July 5, when officers responded to a pre-dawn call in the city's northwestern neighbourhood of Franklintown, after paramedics tried to resuscitate the baby boy.

Reaves allegedly told officers she had put the children to bed at 8pm the night before and then checked on them at 2am. She said the boy was snoring at that time.

Two hours later Reaves said she got up to turn an air conditioning unit off but noticed the boy was not breathing.

The boy's father was asleep on a living room sofa at the time, she said.

After placing an emergency call paramedics failed to revive the child, who showed no signs of physical injury, and he was pronounced dead at Sinai hospital at 4.52am.

Police said Reaves had stayed at the house to look after two other grandchildren and at 2pm on July 5 the young girl, who was three months younger than the boy, was admitted to the intensive care unit at the hospital.

Medical staff performed a toxicology test on the girl and it indicated methadone was in her bloodstream.

Methadone is a synthetic opiod which is used as an analgesic and as a prescription to help wean people off drugs such as heroin and morphine.

Detectives said Reaves had given an empty methadone bottle to medical staff and allegedly admitted rubbing methadone into the gums of the two children.

Last Wednesday, the chief medical examiner listed methadone intoxication as the boy's cause of death.

Police charged Reaves with second-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death, assault, child abuse causing serious injury and reckless endangerment.

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Switzerland: Couple Die In Cable Car Collapse

A couple died and their baby was seriously injured after an Alpine cable car they were using collapsed and fell nearly 100ft, Swiss police have said.

The family had been using a ropeway - a form of small cable car meant only for the transport of goods - downhill from the top station at Alp Baerlaui.

The wooden car came off its cable about 900 metres into its journey and dropped nearly 100ft into the forested mountainside.

Police said the 38-year-old father and 31-year-old mother were killed instantly.

Their one-year-old baby, which was being carried in a rucksack, was protected from the worst of the impact by branches and bushes which reduced the speed of the fall.

Ropeways make it easier to move supplies to and from mountain chalets and pastures, and it is illegal for them to carry people.

An investigation has been launched by police.

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Iran's New President Takes Office Amid Hope

The new Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has taken an oath of office, calling for an end to sanctions placed on the country over its nuclear stance.

Mr Rouhani was sworn in before parliament in Tehran and began naming a cabinet he said would be chosen from figures across the political spectrum.

He formally took office on Saturday at a ceremony in which he received the endorsement of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who retains the final say on all strategic issues.

During his speech to parliament he said the only way to interact with Iran was through dialogue and not sanctions, alluding to the stand-off with world powers over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Mohammad Nahavandian has been appointed as the president's chief of staff

"The only path to interact with Iran is through negotiations on equal grounds, reciprocal trust-building, mutual respect and reducing hostilities," the new president said.

His first appointment was a US-educated businessman as his chief of staff, in a move that it likely to be seen as good for relations with America and other Western powers.

The state IRNA news agency said Mr Rouhani had named Mohammad Nahavandian, a 58-year-old businessman with a doctorate in economics from George Washington University in Washington as his new right hand man.

Other appointments to his cabinet were Iran's former ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Javad Zarif as foreign minister and Bijan Zanganeh to the post of oil minister.

Mr Rouhani was elected with a wide margin over conservative rivals in June, in a win that has been interpreted as a rejection by the electorate of the Iranian regime's hardline approach.

He has pledged to pursue less confrontational policies abroad in order to ease international sanctions on Iran's economy over its disputed nuclear programme.

The Iranian economy has been suffering its worst crisis in a generation as economic sanctions placed on it by the west have cut its access to oil revenues in the midst of a worldwide slump.

Hassan Rouhani succeeds Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

He also has to try to balance the demands of hardliners who dominate parliament and the officially sidelined reformists whose support helped him win the election.

For all his rhetoric on cooperation, the new president is very much an insider in the Islamic Republic, having served in senior military and security roles since shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Mr Rouhani succeeds Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose turbulent two-term presidency was marked by frequent outbursts against Israel in particular, as well as other countries.

Mr Rouhani suggested on Friday he was not deviating from his predecessor's position when he took a swipe at the Jewish state during a rally marking the annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei casting his ballot

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out in response, saying: "The president of Iran said ... that Israel is a wound on the body of Islam. The president of Iran may have been changed but the aims of the regime there have not.

"Iran's intention is to develop a nuclear capability and nuclear weapons, with the aim of destroying the state of Israel."

Western governments suspect that Iran's nuclear programme is a cover for a drive for weapons capability. Iran insists it is for power generation and medical purposes only.

Both the United States and Israel - which has the Middle East's sole, if undeclared, nuclear arsenal - have refused to rule out a resort to military action to prevent Iran developing a weapons capability.

Saudi Arabia denied permission for a plane carrying Sudanese President Omar al Bashir to travel through its airspace on Sunday for the swearing-in of the new Iranian president. The aircraft had to turn back.

The Sudanese leader, an alleged war criminal, was travelling to attend President Hassan Rouhani's swearing-in. The prime minister of Syria and North Korea's ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong-Nam, were also invited.

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Gibraltar: The 'Party Is Over' Warns Spain

Britain's Foreign Office says it is "concerned" over comments made by Spain's foreign minister in which he warned the "party is over" when it comes to his country's policy on Gibraltar.

Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said he was considering retaliatory measures towards the British territory, including a 50 euro border crossing fee, amid a dispute over an artificial reef being created by the Gibraltans.

He told ABC newspaper the proceeds would be used to help Spanish fisherman who have lost out because of damage to fishing grounds allegedly caused by Gibraltan authorities.

Mr Garcia-Margallo added that tax investigations into thousands of Gibraltarians who own property in Spain could also be launched.

Spain is also considering closing airspace to planes heading to Gibraltar airport, he added, as well as changing rules to increase tax revenue from online gaming companies based on 'the Rock'.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We are concerned by today's comments on Gibraltar, which we are looking into further.

"As we have said, we will not compromise on our sovereignty over Gibraltar, nor our commitment to its people. We continue to use all necessary measures to safeguard British sovereignty."

The comments come after "disproportionate checks" at the border have increased tensions between Britain and Spain.

Mr Garcia-Margallo says airspace could even be closed

The Spanish ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office earlier this week to explain why people crossing the border were having to wait up to seven hours in sweltering heat.

Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire said the delays were "as a result of wholly disproportionate checks introduced by the Spanish authorities on vehicles both leaving and entering Gibraltar".

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, also called Mr Garcia-Margallo to express concern over the delays.

Britain has held sovereignty over Gibraltar for three centuries and its 2.6 square miles is home to 30,000 people, with an economy dominated by off-shore banking, internet gambling operations and tourism.

However, ownership of the territory has long been a point of contention between Spain and Britain.

The latest tensions began 10 days ago after Gibraltar boats began dumping blocks of concrete into the sea near the territory.

The British territory said it was creating an artificial reef that would foster fish populations but Spain said the reef would block its fishing boats and ramped up border checks.

Gibraltar has complained to the European Commission, saying the checks violate EU rules on free circulation.

Spain's previous government took a softer line on Gibraltar and did not discuss the issue of sovereignty but Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, elected in November 2011, has taken a harder line regarding his country's claim on the territory.

The UK Government has made clear that it will not negotiate over sovereignty as long as Gibraltar's people want to remain British.

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