Girl with dentist phobia starved to death

An eight-year-old girl starved to death after developing such a fear of dentists that she refused to eat, an inquest heard. Sophie Waller had a phobia about her teeth which caused her to keep her mouth clamped shut.

She wouldn't eat, drink or speak and weighed less than four stone when she died.

The girl died 11 days after being released from hospital after an operation to remove her milk teeth, and despite her parents' attempts to obtain help from the National Health Service, the inquest heard.

Her mother Janet Waller, 34, a nursery teacher, told an inquest she asked to take her daughter back to the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, four days before she died, but was refused.

She was referred to a child psychologist, Kerry Davidson, who, she said, told her Sophie would be all right because she had sucked a water melon.

She carried on ringing Dr Davidson as Sophie got weaker and was allegedly told she would be alright if she was eating anything.

The psychologist did not see the child after she left hospital and had arranged an appointment for the next week, four days after Sophie died.

Australian bush fires: fears death toll from 'Black Saturday' could rise to 300

The toll from the Australian bushfires could rise as high as 300 as the full horror of the infernos that swept through Victoria on 'Black Saturday' becomes clear.

Authorities have warned the country to brace for more bad news and the discovery of more dead bodies as rescue teams move in to more fire-ravaged towns. The toll currently stands at 173.

Police have set up a special squad to investigate the fires and said they are closing in on the arsonists suspected of lighting several of the deadly fires.

News of the mounting number of dead comes as some residents from the badly-hit Kinglake area were finally allowed back up the mountain to see what remained of their homes and communities. Police and fire service workers have begun to escort convoys of locals from Whittlesea to Kinglake. Water and food was also trucked up the hill to aid the scores of people who had remained in the town as the fires raged through. Residents, who have not had access to television since they evacuated on Saturday will see the blackened hills, incinerated homes and burned out cars for the first time. Many have lost friends or relatives to the chaos and heat.

The fourth day after the infernos also brought more stories of loss and miraculous survival. One woman told of her neighbour who had lost both her daughters and another two people who had perished while sheltering in a storm drain.

Madagascar police shoot up to 25 protestors dead in new island clashes

Police in Madagascar have opened fire during an opposition rally, killing up to 25 people in the latest bloodshed of a two-week battle for power on the Indian Ocean island.

Protestors supporting Andry Rajoelina, the former mayor of the capital Antananarivo who is challenging the president for control of the country, were barred by security forces from marching on the presidential compound.

As the demonstrators surged towards the Ambohitsorohitra Palace, police fired with live bullets, killing at least seven. One police report put the death toll as high as 25. At least 100 have died since the rebellion broke out.

"The crowd was walking peacefully, then all of a sudden the military opened fire," said Jocelyn Ratolojanahary at the Ravoahangy Andrianavalona Hospital, nursing a bandaged hand. She said she saw several bodies lying back at the palace.

Mr Rajoelina, 34, accuses President Marc Ravalomanana of being a dictator whose government has ignored the plight of the country's 20 million people, 70 per cent of whom live on less than $1 (70p) a day.

The opposition leader yesterday named a new prime minister whom he said should head the government. But Mr Ravalomanana, 59, has largely ignored the protests, insisting that he is the legitimate leader and will not stand down.

More than 40 feared dead in Australia's 'worst ever' bushfires

Australia has suffered one of its most devastating days of bushfires in living memory after blazes sweeping across the south-eastern state of Victoria killed at least 14 people.

Confirmation of the deaths came as more than 3,000 firefighters and hundreds more volunteers battled overnight to contain nine savage fires and police warned that the death toll could rise to 40.

The ferocious fires, fuelled by a combination of high temperatures, hot winds and bone-dry leaf litter, were burning on more than 10 fronts and had razed at least 100 homes.

In some places the infernos were so intense that weather forecasters said they were changing the weather - creating thunderstorms through a process known as pyrocumulus, in which enormous quantities of rising ash cause convection.

A woman called Denise, who phoned Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio, said her mother-in-law's house in Kinglake had been overcome by fire in just 15 minutes.