Cyclone strikes near Great Barrier

A powerful tropical cyclone ripped the roofs off buildings and uprooted trees in northeastern Australia, tearing across the region today with devastating winds that pinned emergency workers inside despite pleas from terrified residents.

With winds up to 180 mph, Tropical Cyclone Larry smashed into the coastal community of Innisfail, about 60 miles south of Cairns, a popular jumping-off point for the Great Barrier Reef, sending hundreds of tourists and residents fleeing for higher ground.

A Queensland state police spokeswoman at Innisfail said three people had so far been reported injured, including a woman struck by flying glass.

Queensland state Premier Peter Beattie declared a state of emergency.

The Bureau of Meteorology upgraded the cyclone to a category five – the strongest category possible – shortly before it crossed the coast today, but then lowered it to a category four after the storm hit land.

The storm passed directly over Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, but there was no immediate word on what damage the reef may have sustained.

United Nations

High-level meeting to be held on Iran

The Security Council’s five permanent members and Germany will hold a high-level meeting today in New York to try to break an impasse over the international response to the Iranian nuclear crisis.

The meeting comes as U.S. and European diplomats have failed during two weeks of negotiations to overcome Chinese and Russian objections to a Security Council statement demanding Iran stop its nuclear-enrichment activities and cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency. R. Nicholas Burns, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, and top foreign affairs officials from the five other governments are expected to attend.

U.S. and European officials say they will try to assuage Russian and Chinese fears that the adoption of the statement will inevitably lead to harsh punitive measures against Iran.

Compiled from wire reports