Friday Afternoon Headlines

MIAMI, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- North Carolina got a break from Hurricane Earl, which weakened to a Category 1 storm as it approached the Outer Banks, then veered east and stayed at sea.

Instead of hurricane conditions, the state's coastline was belted Thursday night into Friday morning by tropical storm-force winds that flooded streets, ripped siding off some buildings, tore shingles from roofs and caused spotty power outages, The Charlotte Observer said.

"I think everyone will be grateful, once they see the area after Earl has gone," hurricane chaser Mark Sudduth said Friday. "There hasn't been much damage."

Emergency management officials along North Carolina's Outer Banks reported no significant damage. The most frequent report was ocean overwash scattered along N.C. Highway 12 and on roads adjacent to Pamlico Sound, officials said. Storm surges from North Carolina to the Chesapeake Bay could raise water levels 2 to 4 feet.

Hurricane Earl, a Category 1 hurricane with top sustained winds of 85 mph, was about 175 miles northeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and about 350 miles south-southwest of Nantucket, Mass., moving north-northeast at 21 mph, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Friday in its 11 a.m. EDT advisory. The eye of the storm was expected to approach southeastern New England by Friday night.

Hurricane warnings in North Carolina were discontinued and replaced with a tropical storm warning north of Ocracoke.

The hurricane warning in Massachusetts has been reduced and is not in effect for Woods Hole eastward around Cape Cod to Sagamore Beach, including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island.

Tropical warnings and watches were posted along the East Coast from North Carolina into Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in Canada, the hurricane center said.

Earl was forecast to pass close to New Jersey Friday afternoon and to move by Cape Cod, Mass., at night as a Category 1 hurricane, CNN said. It was expected to make a direct landfall over southern Nova Scotia Saturday, still carrying a Category 1 rating.

President Barack Obama signed a disaster declaration for North Carolina and an emergency disaster declaration for Massachusetts.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate said the agency is "ready for this storm no matter what happens," CNN reported. FEMA has spent the past few days moving supplies and teams into states from North Carolina to Massachusetts in advance of Earl's arrival.

Food riots kill seven in Mozambique

MAPUTO, Mozambique, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A 30 percent rise in bread prices triggered riots in Maputo, Mozambique, that killed at least seven people and injured 228, government officials said.

The riots Wednesday and Thursday in the country's capital prompted fears that food protests could spread across poorer African countries relying on agricultural imports, similar to the riots of 2007-08, the Financial Times reported Thursday.

Wheat prices rose in reaction to Russia's extension of its grain export ban for another year, increasing the potential of more riots over food shortages, officials said.

"Bread is the key item in the basket for ordinary people," Adriano Nuvunga, a political analyst in Maputo, told the Financial Times. "People are worried that the rising costs have reached the point of no return."

The 2007-08 food crisis, when the cost of agricultural commodities hit a record high, sparked riots across many developing countries, particularly in Africa.

Details reported in alleged terror plot

TORONTO, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- An Ontario man charged in connection with an alleged terrorism plot traveled to Pakistan to receive terrorist training, investigators say.

Hiva Mohammad Alizadeh, 30, and two other men were charged in the alleged plot, and investigators believe Alizadeh went to Pakistan to receive training, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said Friday.

Information about the alleged plot was released at a police news conference last week, the report said.

Alizadeh, Misbahuddin Ahmed, 26, and Khurram Syed Sher, 28, are accused of conspiring to facilitate terrorism with others in Canada, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Dubai over the past two years, the CBC said.

Alizadeh was also charged with possession of an explosive substance with intent to harm, and with providing property or money for the benefit of a terrorist group. A search of his Ottawa apartment turned up 50 improvised bomb detonators, police said.

Investigators said Alizadeh had ties to terrorist co-conspirators in Iran, Afghanistan, Dubai and Pakistan.

The CBC said its sources tied the men to the Tehrik-e-Taliban, the group involved in a failed bombing attempt at New York City's Times Square in May.

The report did not say if the men are in custody. It said calls to Alizadeh's attorney were not returned.