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GOP speakers skewer Obama

ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Republicans blistered Barack Obama Wednesday, as speakers to GOP delegates in St. Paul, Minn., panned much of the Democratic presidential nominee's platform.

Jobs for U.S. citizens, is "the main thing for John McCain," said Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota. "He would rather spend his time creating 200,000 jobs in America than speaking to 200,000 Germans in Berlin," referring to the Democratic Illinois senator's fact-finding mission to the Middle East and Europe.

Meg Whitman, eBay's former president and chief executive, called McCain and Sarah Palin, poised to be nominated the GOP's presidential and vice presidential candidates, "the real agents of change."

Another speaker, California state Sen. Abel Maldonado, suggested his father, a share-cropper, could teach Obama about economics.

McCain doesn't "just talk about problems," Coleman said, "but will actually do something to solve them."

Michael Williams, Texas railroad commission chairman, said "change is just a slogan when the ideas are old," coming from the post-Great Society era of Democrats Sen. Eugene McCarthy, Sen. George McGovern, former President Jimmy Carter and former Vice President Walter Mondale.

"We have a proven leader with a record of reform," Williams said. "That is why John McCain will be my president."

Nagin re-opens New Orleans early

NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- New Orleans residents are free to return to their homes after Mayor Ray Nagin lifted checkpoints, officials said Wednesday.

The mayor had planned to keep the city closed for Hurricane Gustav repairs until 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, but a flood of homesick residents arrived in city suburbs, The Times-Picayune reported.

By 9 a.m., Nagin had lifted all police checkpoints entering New Orleans despite power outages and other infrastructure problems, the New Orleans newspaper reported.

"No one will be turned back if you have an identification card that you live in this area," Nagin said in a radio interview "This is not the best time for them to return, but so be it."

The city's unexpected re-opening caused some confusion among motorists and local law enforcement agencies, the newspaper reported.

The New York Times reported New Orleans was mostly spared by Hurricane Gustav. The newspaper said Tuesday that power remained off at nearly 80,000 homes in New Orleans and tree limbs cluttered city streets.

Deadly brush fires hit South Africa

PRETORIA, South Africa, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- At least 32 people have been killed in wind-driven brush fires in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal.

Thousands of animals have also died, the South African Broadcasting Corp. reported Wednesday.

More deaths were reported in Swaziland and Mozambique, the BBC said.

KwaZulu-Natal, on the northeast coast of South Africa, was the region hit hardest by the fires. In addition to the toll in human life, the fires have cost millions of dollars for firefighting, relief and damage to buildings and farms.

Phumlani Lodge, a hotel that had been turned over to land claimants, was one of the casualties, SABC reported. An artist living near Nelspruit lost his house and 30 oil paintings stored inside.

An official told the BBC that in one area in the province 179 houses had been destroyed.

14 African migrants found dead

MADRID, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- More than a dozen migrants from Africa were found dead Wednesday on a boat afloat off the coast of the Canary Islands.

A total of 14 migrants were found dead both in the boat and surrounding waters. There were 46 survivors, El Pais newspaper reported online.

Survivors said the boat's passengers ran out of supplies during their voyage from southern Mauritania on western coast of Africa, El Pais said.

Every year, thousands of Africans attempt to make the dangerous Atlantic crossing toward Spanish territory.