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The fourth annual Running of the Chihuahuas parade – in pictures
Texas shooting: Two gunmen shot dead outside Muhammad exhibition – rolling coverage
Indigenous Amazonians fear eviction from Lima, their home for three decades
The insider's cultural guide to Thimphu: Chilli, cheese, alcohol, music, archery
UN climate chief says the science is clear: there is no space for new coal
Texas shooting: the group behind the Muhammad cartoon contest
Polar meltdown sees us on an icy road to disaster
Texas 'draw the prophet' shootings' aftermath – audio
Current carbon pledges won't stop dangerous global warming, says Lord Stern
Two dead after gunmen attack 'draw the prophet' anti-Islam art show in Texas - video
AFP officer asked to be taken off Bali Nine case because of death penalty risk
Climate change threatens major building projects, says Chinese expert
Chinese factory activity slumps to lowest for a year as demand slows
We don't want to see WA Indigenous people have the struggle we've had, Melbourne protesters say - video
WorleyParsons cuts 2,000 workers and blames falling commodity prices
Australia forced to work with neighbours with the death penalty, AFP commissioner says - video
Facebook blocked on Nauru due to 'paranoia' about media scrutiny, says former president
Timor-Leste welcomes Australia's return of spying documents seized by Asio
Suspicious package at Indonesian embassy in Canberra sent for analysis
Saving Rangoon: the battle for Burma's ancient and colonial heritage

The fourth annual Running of the Chihuahuas parade – in pictures

Posted: 04 May 2015 01:30 AM PDT

The annual chihuahua event is held each year in Washington DC in the runup to the Mexican Cinco de Mayo (5 May) holiday

Texas shooting: Two gunmen shot dead outside Muhammad exhibition – rolling coverage

Posted: 04 May 2015 01:25 AM PDT

Two shot dead and security guard injured in Dallas suburb of Garland
Bomb squad called in after reports of an incendiary device
Exhibition and contest showcased depictions of the prophet Muhammad
Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders spoke at the event

6.15pm AEST

Attention is focusing on a tweet sent 15 minutes before the first reports of the shooting from a now-suspended account with the username "Shariah is Life", in which an individual indicates he his preparing to make an attack. It includes the hashtag #texasattack.

The writer pledges allegiance (bay'ah) to Amirul Mu'mineen, Arabic for "Commander of the Faithful", before adding: "May Allah accept us mujahideen".

5.33pm AEST

Here's a short summary of events as they stand at the moment:

4.42pm AEST

This audio is a brief excerpt from the immediate aftermath of the shooting inside the American Freedom Defense Initiative event in Garland, Texas.

4.03pm AEST

It appears that police are still attempting to determine whether any explosive devices are inside the car of the two gunmen.

Journalists and members of the public have been evacuated from the area, so information from the scene remains scant.

3.45pm AEST

Here's a short video from Reuters with an update on the current situation:

3.44pm AEST

The Dallas Fort Worth scanner site aggregates information from the radio feeds of emergency services across Texas. The site has created this map with rolling updates of information.

NOW #GarlandShooting Law enforcement is investigating a shooting at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland off Naaman… https://t.co/5x3xmGgLas

Update #GarlandShooting Perimeter has been requested. Please avoid this area. https://t.co/5x3xmGgLas

Update #GarlandShooting Businesses in the general area will be shut down. https://t.co/5x3xmGgLas

Update #GarlandShooting Evacuation ordered for the Walmart near the Curtis Culwell Center. Avoid this area! https://t.co/5x3xmGgLas

3.37pm AEST

My colleague Bridie Jabour has just filed this explainer on the American Freedom Defense Initiative:

A co-founder of the group behind the contest to award $10,000 for the best cartoon depiction of Mohammed, is a New Yorker who runs a blog that campaigns to stop the "Islamification" of America.

Pamela Geller, used her blog Atlas Shrugs to declare "this is war" in the hours after the shooting of two gunmen at the contest, which had been organised by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, a group co-founded by Geller and Robert Spencer in 2010.

3.35pm AEST

Dutch politician Geert Wilders also posted this image shortly after the shooting.

Picture taken just before #garlandshooting . Thank God the heroes of SWAT-team prevented the worst. pic.twitter.com/BBaQNJir9b

3.33pm AEST

The contest depicting the prophet Muhammad was organised by the American Freedom Defense Initiative. Here is some prior background to the group and their activities in the US in the Washington Post:

New Yorkers are used to aggressive advertising. Banners for breast implants. Billboards for condoms. But a federal judge's ruling has opened the door for far more controversial posters on buses and subways across the city.

"Killing Jews is Worship that draws us close to Allah," reads one such ad next to the image of a young man in a checkered headscarf. "That's His Jihad. What's yours?"

3.25pm AEST

Dutch politician Geert Wilders was also attending the event in Garland. He also posted this update on twitter shortly after the shooting:

Shots fired at Garland Mohammed cartoon free speech event. I just left the building after speeching. #garlandshooting

3.22pm AEST

At the moment the bomb squad is now assessing the car driven by the two gunmen. There are reports from reporters at the scene of explosions that have been heard coming from the location.

BREAKING: Explosion heard as bomb teams worked around the vehicle police say was driven by two gunmen @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/HN4zTb9zMR

Police can't tell us about what happened yet but we heard an explosion. Can't see much activity from our vantage point n parking lot @NBCDFW

3.20pm AEST

Nor do we know identity of the shooters or the motivation for the attack. However, the shooting occurred outside a centre where the American Freedom Defense Initiative was hosting an exhibition and contest for cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.

One of the organisers of the event, Pamela Geller, has directly linked the shooting to the event, and said it was an attack on free speech:

This is a war. This is war on free speech. What are we going to do? Are we going to surrender to these monsters?

Two men with rifles and backpacks attacked police outside our event. A cop was shot; his injuries are not life-threatening, thank Gd. Please keep him in your prayers.

3.15pm AEST

At this point in time we still don't have a full account of the circumstances of the shootings. A number of Texas officials have now provided some updates on the event.

This account from Douglas Athas, the mayor of Garland, is the most detailed account we have at the moment:

Two men in a car tried to drive into the parking lot, jumped out with automatic rifles. Started firing at an unarmed schools security officer who was hit in the leg. He was transported to the hospital.

The first suspect was shot immediately. The second was shot and wounded, reached for his backback and, of course, officers not knowing any idea what was in the back pack, shot him again and he was killed.

3.10pm AEST

Garland Police are also warning people to avoid the Culwell Event Centre and surrounding area.

Garland Police are asking people to avoid the area of the Culwell Event Center in North Garland.

3.08pm AEST

The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott has released this statement on the shooting:

Texas officials are actively investigating to determine the cause and scope of the senseless attack in Garland, Texas. This is a crime that was quickly ended thanks to the swift action by Garland law enforcement. Our thoughts and prayers remain with all those affected tonight.

3.06pm AEST

Here's a statement on the shooting released on the Garland Independent School District website:

Earlier this evening, during an event at the Curtis Culwell Center, two men exited a vehicle and began shooting at Garland ISD Security Officer Bruce Joiner. Garland Police, who were on scene, returned fire at the two men, killing both. Officer Joiner was shot in the ankle. He was transported to a local hospital, treated and released. Our thoughts are with him and his family.

Garland Police have secured the area around the Cuwlell Center and Naaman Forest High School. The district is working with Garland PD and will keep you informed as information becomes available.

3.01pm AEST

On Sunday evening in Texas two male gunmen were shot dead outside an exhibition at the Curtis Culwell Centre in Dallas, Texas.

We'll be delivering rolling updates of events as they unfold throughout the night in the US. Here's a summary of events so far:

Indigenous Amazonians fear eviction from Lima, their home for three decades

Posted: 04 May 2015 01:00 AM PDT

The Shipibo-Konibo people's promised relocation has been blocked by the city's new mayor, with the future of their Cantagallo community cast into doubt

The insider's cultural guide to Thimphu: Chilli, cheese, alcohol, music, archery

Posted: 04 May 2015 12:00 AM PDT

From chilli cheese to Buddha, football glory to alcohol-free Tuesdays, Namgay Zam takes us on a cultural tour of Bhutan's capital city

UN climate chief says the science is clear: there is no space for new coal

Posted: 03 May 2015 11:54 PM PDT

Christiana Figueres says Australia needs a national consensus to achieve maximum effort in fight to avoid dangerous climate change

Texas shooting: the group behind the Muhammad cartoon contest

Posted: 03 May 2015 11:32 PM PDT

Pamela Geller is the co-founder and prolific blogger for the American Freedom Defense Initiative which rails at the 'Islamification' of America

Polar meltdown sees us on an icy road to disaster

Posted: 03 May 2015 11:30 PM PDT

The Antarctic's glaciers are in retreat, risking a catastrophic rise in sea levels. Glacier expert Andy Smith is one of the team trying to prevent a meltdown by braving this frozen wasteland

Texas 'draw the prophet' shootings' aftermath – audio

Posted: 03 May 2015 11:05 PM PDT

A recording has been released purportedly of the immediate aftermath of the shootings at a 'draw the prophet' Muhammad event in Garland, Texas. Police relay details of the shootings and tell conference attendees to listen to their instructions. 'Were the suspects Muslim?' one man asks. 'I have no idea,' a man who seems to be a police officer answers Continue reading...

Current carbon pledges won't stop dangerous global warming, says Lord Stern

Posted: 03 May 2015 10:01 PM PDT

Commitments already made by world governments to cut carbon emissions aren't enough to keep global warming below the crucial 2C target – but a strong deal is still possible in Paris, says economist

Two dead after gunmen attack 'draw the prophet' anti-Islam art show in Texas - video

Posted: 03 May 2015 09:39 PM PDT

Two men have been shot dead at a 'draw the prophet' Muhammad contest near Dallas, Texas. A security officer was reportedly also injured after he shot at the men, who drove up to the event and shot at a guard, authorities said. Police shot and killed the men, authorities also said. The American Freedom Defense Initiative had been hosting the exhibition and competition Continue reading...

AFP officer asked to be taken off Bali Nine case because of death penalty risk

Posted: 03 May 2015 09:23 PM PDT

An AFP deputy commissioner, Mike Phelan, says unnamed officer asked to be shifted because he was uncomfortable with 'a death penalty situation'

Climate change threatens major building projects, says Chinese expert

Posted: 03 May 2015 08:57 PM PDT

China's top meteorologist also warns the country's rate of warming is higher than the global average

Climate change threatens some of China's most important infrastructure projects, China's top meteorologist has warned, and added that its rate of warming was higher than the global average.

Zheng Guoguang, head of China's meteorological administration, told Monday's issue of state newspaper the Study Times that the increase in recent weather disasters such as floods, typhoons, droughts and heat waves had a "big connection" to climate change.

Chinese factory activity slumps to lowest for a year as demand slows

Posted: 03 May 2015 08:43 PM PDT

An index complied by HSBC shows the manufacturing sector contracted in April, with layoffs and a cutback in procurement indicating further challenges ahead

We don't want to see WA Indigenous people have the struggle we've had, Melbourne protesters say - video

Posted: 03 May 2015 08:40 PM PDT

Indigenous protesters in Victoria say they're backing the right of Western Australian Indigenous communities to stay on their traditional homelands – because they don't want them to lose the connection they've fought to get back. Tens of thousands of people across Australia have protested against the WA government's decision to stop providing services to remote Indigenous communities . In Victoria, Indigenous people were forced from their land generations ago – and some people have spent years trying to rebuild the culture that was damaged when the link was severed Continue reading...

WorleyParsons cuts 2,000 workers and blames falling commodity prices

Posted: 03 May 2015 08:30 PM PDT

Engineering giant says its earnings for second half of 2014-15 likely to be 50% less than first half

Australia forced to work with neighbours with the death penalty, AFP commissioner says - video

Posted: 03 May 2015 07:48 PM PDT

The Australian federal police commissioner, Andrew Colvin, says although Australia sometimes withholds information about suspects to countries that have the death penalty, Australia must still work with its neighbours in the Asia Pacific region.

Occasionally the guidelines in place 'hamper' the AFP's ability to collaborate, but Australia must continue to cooperate with those countries. 'We are in a region that is surrounded by countries that have the death penalty,' Colvin says Continue reading...

Facebook blocked on Nauru due to 'paranoia' about media scrutiny, says former president

Posted: 03 May 2015 07:11 PM PDT

The government says restricting sites was necessary to crack down on pornography, although it did not directly mention the block on Facebook

Timor-Leste welcomes Australia's return of spying documents seized by Asio

Posted: 03 May 2015 07:09 PM PDT

Australia will give up documents detailing espionage activities in Timor-Leste during negotiations over a contentious Timor Sea oil and gas treaty

Suspicious package at Indonesian embassy in Canberra sent for analysis

Posted: 03 May 2015 07:03 PM PDT

Police, fire and a hazardous materials team send package which sparked embassy lockdown to ACT pathology at Canberra hospital

Saving Rangoon: the battle for Burma's ancient and colonial heritage

Posted: 03 May 2015 07:00 PM PDT

After an estimated 35% of Burma's largest city was destroyed to make way for new development projects, Moe Moe Lwin is looking to preserve its heritage