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Fresh explosions rock Mumbai

MUMBAI, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Authorities say fires and explosions rocked Mumbai Thursday, nearly 24 hours after terrorist assaults left at least 125 people dead and hundreds wounded.

New gunfire and explosions were reported at the Oberoi and Taj Mahal hotels and a Jewish center in Mumbai, reported CNN, noting 10 hostages reportedly had been freed from the Oberoi despite a major fire.

At least 30 people remained trapped inside the Oberoi, where gunshots and an explosion were heard late Thursday, CNN-IBN reported.

Teams of masked men Wednesday launched simultaneous assaults on hotels and other "soft" targets in Mumbai's southern financial district and a building housing members of an Orthodox Jewish group.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the group that staged attacks is based outside outside the country.

"It is evident that the group, which carried out these attacks, based outside the country, had come with single-minded determination to create havoc in the financial capital of the country," Singh told reporters, suggesting the attackers had "external linkages."

Iraq approves U.S. security agreement

BAGHDAD, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Iraq's parliament Thursday approved the embattled U.S. Status of Forces Agreements that allows U.S. troops to remain in Iraq for another three years.

The pact sets June 30, 2009, as the deadline for U.S. combat troops to withdraw from Iraqi cities and towns and sets the date for all U.S. troops to leave Iraq on Dec. 31, 2011.

The parliamentary passage on the agreement known as SOFA means it will now go to Iraq's three-member presidency council and requires unanimous approval, CNN reported.

For nearly a year, the agreement has been debated and modified to appease Sunni Muslims who claimed it placed too much power in Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's hands.

The agreement has an escape clause in which the Iraqi prime minister can request U.S. troops to remain longer if the country's national security requires it, the International Herald Tribune said.

Brazil flood death toll hits 97

RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- The death toll from massive flooding in southern Brazil reached 97 Thursday with about 20 people still missing, officials said.

After flying over some of the flooded areas, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called the disaster one of the worst in the country's history, CNN said.

"I've never seen anything like this," he said.

The rains, which started five days ago, have hit the state of Santa Catarina the hardest, affecting a reported 1.5 million people -- one-fourth of the population. More than 54,000 residents are reported homeless, civil defense officials said.

Weather forecasters said the rain should be lessening in Santa Catarina until the weekend but issued an alert for other Brazilian states such as Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Espirito Santo.

Prison nurse charged in escape plot

WALPOLE, Mass., Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Prosecutors allege a prison nurse in Walpole, Mass., smuggled a saw to a serial rapist and prepared a disguise to help him escape from maximum security.

"It was a serious, well-developed plan," said Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating. "Friday was the discussed time to have the escape occur."

Deborah Girouard, 44, was ordered held without bail Wednesday after being charged with delivering contraband and plotting the escape of Che Blake Sosa, 39, who still has 80 years to serve on his sentence, The Boston Globe reported Thursday.

Girouard allegedly confessed to authorities after Sosa threatened to kill her if she did not follow through with the plan, said Keating, adding Girouard was involved in a "relationship" with Sousa. Girouard allegedly smuggled Sosa a saw and hid a correction officer's uniform in her locker for Sosa, Keating said.

Girouard has pleaded not guilty and disputes the allegations, said her attorney, Thomas Lovieno, calling his client upset, distressed and despondent.

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