Vivian in US for working visit

Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan is in Washington for a working visit from today to Friday.

While in the US capital, Dr Balakrishnan will meet US National Security Adviser Susan Rice, senior administration officials and prominent American strategic thinkers, according to a statement from Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It said Dr Balakrishnan, who will be accompanied by ministry officials, will host a reception for members of the Congressional Singapore Caucus and meet key members of the US Congress. In addition, he will deliver a speech at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies on "The US' Role in the Asia-Pacific".

Two quakes off west coast of Mexico

MEXICO CITY • Two earthquakes with magnitudes of 6.2 and 5.5 struck off the west coast of Mexico, the United States Geological Survey has said.

The epicentre of the first quake yesterday morning was 93km south-west of the city of San Patricio, and the second was 91km south-west of the same city. A spokesman for the local emergency authorities in Colima state, on the Pacific coast, said there were no immediate reports of damage.

REUTERS

Gorilla's death: Boy's parents in the clear

WASHINGTON • The parents of a toddler who fell into a gorilla enclosure at a United States zoo - resulting in the animal being shot and killed - will not face charges, a prosecutor said, closing the probe into the incident.

The mother - who was watching three children in addition to the toddler - did not act "in any way where she presented this child to some harm", prosecutor Joseph Deters told a news conference on Monday. She was "attentive by all witness accounts, and the three-year-old just scampered off", he added.

"Any parent who is honest with himself or herself would have to understand how this could happen to even the most attentive parent," Mr Deters said in an accompanying statement.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE