Drug-related violence in Mexico increasingly has the hallmarks of an insurgency, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.

"It's looking more and more like Colombia looked 20 years ago, when the narco-traffickers controlled certain parts of the country," she said.
Her comments were made following a major speech to US foreign policy experts in Washington.
A Mexican government spokesman rejected Mrs Clinton's analogy.
Speaking in Mexico City, Alejandro Poire said the only aspect that the Mexican and Colombian conflicts share is their root cause - a high demand for drugs in the US.
Mr Poire also denied that the presence of drug cartels was tantamount to an insurgency, insisting that "all the efforts of the Mexican state were going into fighting criminals".
He added that "the collaboration with the US is an integral part of our strategy" in tackling drug cartels.
Mr Poire was responding to remarks Mrs Clinton made after a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank. Drug cartels, she said, "are showing more and more indices of insurgencies".
America's top diplomat said Mexico needed to maintain its political will to fight the cartels.
More than 28,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon deployed the army to fight the cartels in 2006.
The US has supported Mr Calderon's strategy, mainly through financial aid and military co-operation.
The Obama administration has also ackowledged some responsibility in the conflict, in part because of the flow of guns from the US to Mexican cartels.

With Richard Daley's retirement, Rahm Emanuel could run for Chicago mayor

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has made no secret of his desire to run for mayor of Chicago one day, saying as recently as April that becoming chief executive of his home town had "always been an aspiration."

Suddenly, he has his chance.

With the surprise announcement Tuesday that Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) will not run next year for a seventh term, speculation in Washington quickly turned to whether Emanuel will seek the job. White House officials spent the afternoon informally speculating about the odds that Emanuel might leave - and pondering who would replace him if he did.
Almost universally, political strategists said they expected Emanuel, a former Illinois congressman, to seize the opening. "I'd be shocked if he didn't run," a senior White House official said.
Daley, 68, announced his retirement on the steps of City Hall, taking even some of his closest allies by surprise. Although his approval ratings have slipped over the past year, Daley said it was a "personal decision" made after more than two decades as Chicago mayor, a tenure that will surpass even that of his father, who was mayor from 1955 to 1976.
"It's time for Chicago to move on," Daley said. "I've given it my all."
A return to Chicago would bring Emanuel, 50, full circle to the city where he stuffed political pamphlets into mailboxes as a high-schooler and where his mother was a political activist. Emanuel rose to national prominence as the chief fundraiser for Daley's first mayoral campaign in 1989, working alongside another future architect of the Obama presidency, David Axelrod.

Business, Business!!

Suicides cost Japan economy $32bn

Mr Kan sees the figures as proof of an economic and emotional downturn

The government in Japan says suicides and depression cost its economy almost 2.7tn yen ($32bn; £21bn) last year.

The figures refer to lost incomes and the cost of treatment. It is the first time Japan has released such figures.
Japan has one of the world's highest suicide rates, with more than 32,000 people killing themselves last year. PM Naoto Kan sees it as proof of an economic and emotional downturn.
The government is setting up a task force to try to reduce the rate.
From Friday, it will run a video clip of a footballer from the J-league on its website, urging people to be more aware of the problem.
"Decreasing suicides would be one way to build a society with a minimum level of unhappiness”

Quote Naoto Kan Prime Minister of Japan - "Given that the number of suicides in Japan has been over 30,000 for 12 straight years, this is a problem that needs to be addressed by the entire nation," a health, labour and welfare ministry official said.

"We hope this study triggers stronger prevention measures."
The study showed that those who took their lives last year - 26,500 people in 2009 - when they were aged 15 to 69 would have earned 1.9tn yen had they worked until retirement.

Mr Kan has pointed to the suicide numbers as proof of what he believes is wrong with the country, with too many people suffering economically and emotionally.
"There are many causes of suicides. Decreasing them would be one way to build a society with a minimum level of unhappiness," he said.
But attitudes to depression in Japan arguably demand equally urgent scrutiny, correspondents say.
In a country in which stoicism and consensus are highly valued, many older people in particular view mental illness as a stigma that can be overcome simply by trying harder, they say.

BREAKING NEWS

David Westin resigning as president of ABC News


David Westin, the longest-serving network news chief, announced Monday night that he is resigning as president of ABC News after a tough year that included anchor changes on every broadcast and cutting a quarter of the staff.

Thirteen years after he succeeded Roone Arledge, Westin, 58, felt he was ready to move on to another career and told Bob Iger, chief executive of Disney, the network's parent company, that he wanted to wrap up his tenure. Westin will stay on the job until year's end to give Disney time to find a successor.

"I've always admired those few who know when it's time to move on," Westin said in a letter to the staff. "This is the right time for me."

In a series of personnel decisions that tumbled like dominos, Westin named Diane Sawyer as the anchor of "World News"; installed George Stephanopoulos in her old job as co-host of "Good Morning America"; brought in Christiane Amanpour for the Sunday program "This Week"; sent Chris Cuomo from "GMA" to "20/20," and put Bill Weir on "Nightline," replacing Martin Bashir.

"Leading you has been a great privilege and a solemn responsibility -- a responsibility that I tried to fulfill for over 13 years by doing what I believed was best for this important news organization," Westin told the staff.

At the same time, he wrote, "there are some other things I want to do professionally -- things that I cannot explore while fulfilling my responsibilities here." Westin is said to be thinking of doing some writing and speaking; he had to kill a proposed op-ed piece on the Supreme Court after his advisers told him it was too opinionated for a network news leader.

In a note to the staff, ABC President Anne Sweeney said that "David proved himself a tireless advocate for ABC News, effectively guiding the group through some of the most seismic industry, and divisional, changes imaginable" and "helped reinvent our news organization." She said she will announce a successor "in the near future."

Westin had to deal with a number of calamities during his tenure. After Peter Jennings died in 2005, Westin tapped Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas for "World News," but he was badly injured in Iraq and she became pregnant. Westin moved Vargas to "20/20" in favor of Charlie Gibson. He also had to manage the "Nightline" transition from Ted Koppel, who helped found the broadcast in 1979, to a three-anchor team.

But the layoffs -- which Westin called "a very difficult transformation made necessary by changes in our business and its economics" -- were perhaps the most wrenching set of decisions, as many veteran correspondents and producers were cut loose in an effort to shrink the network's costs.

Further landslides hit Guatemala

September 2010 Last updated at 14:03 ET
The worst landslides were on the main road linking Guatemala with Mexico. Emergency services in Guatemala say up to 100 people are feared to have been buried by landslides on the main highway linking it with Mexico.
The fire department said dozens of people were trying to dig a bus out of a mudslide when a second one engulfed them.
Across Guatemala, 36 people have been confirmed dead in floods and landslides caused by heavy rain.

President Alvaro Colom has called the situation a national tragedy. He has visited the site where rescuers are digging frantically to find people buried in thick mud. "This weekend alone we have seen damage comparable to what we experienced with Agatha", Mr Colom said, referring to a tropical storm that killed 165 people in May.
The government had already advised people to stay off the road after 12 people were killed when another bus was engulfed by a mudslide on a different stretch of the same road on Saturday.
More than 100km (65 miles) of the Inter-American highway is closed to all traffic, and many other roads have been blocked.
Days of heavy rains have saturated Guatemala's mountainous terrain, causing hillsides to collapse suddenly and without warning.
President Colom said the rains had undone all the reconstruction work completed since Tropical Storm Agatha.
On Saturday he declared a state of emergency and asked congress to approve emergency funds for rebuilding. He said he would also propose a special tax to help pay for reconstruction, saying there were not enough funds available to deal with the disaster.

Marco Rubio's father dies at 83.

MIAMI - The father of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio has died after a long bout with with emphysema and lung cancer, his campaign announced Sunday.

His family said Mario Rubio was surrounded by family and loved ones when he passed away tonight at Baptist Hospital in Miami. In addition to his wife of 61 years Orio, Rubio was surrounded by his children, Mario, Barbara, Marco and Veronica, as well as other family members.
“My father knew hard work and struggle from very early in his life. His mother died when he was only 9 years old. The day after his mother was buried he went to work with his father and did not stop working until he was 78 years old." Rubio said in a statement.
“He was by far the most unselfish person I have ever known, always focused on others, and never on his own well being. He was especially determined to provide his children opportunities he himself never had."
Rubio dropped out of a planned debate with Kendrick Meek Sunday after his father's health deterioated.
"That Marco's father could come to this country with next to nothing, raise a loving and growing family to include a son who is a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Florida, is a testament to the strength of the Rubio character and proof positive of the greatness of this nation." Meek said in a statement.
Rubio's campaign will be placed on hold while the family grieves.
In lieu of flowers, Rubio is asking for donations to the League Against Cancer.

U.S. Peace Corps volunteer fatally shot in Lesotho

Johannesburg, South Africa  -September 5, 2010 7:50 a.m. EDT - An American aid worker died from a gunshot wound suffered in the southern African nation of Lesotho, the Peace Corps said in a statement.
Peace Corps volunteer Thomas Maresco, 24, died in the country's capital, Maseru, on Friday.
"The deceased was attending a farewell function at the Maseru Sun Cabanas Hotel ... he and a female friend decided to return to the center on foot even though their vehicles were waiting outside the Hotel," Inspector Lekhotla Mojete, of the Lesotho police, told CNN in a phone interview from Maseru.
"The area the hotel is in is very safe -- with not much crime, but we think they were observed leaving the hotel on foot and when they were returning, (an) assailant was waiting outside the Hotel," Mojete said. "The stranger started making demands of them, which they didn't fully understand and (the assailant) then shot the deceased."
He said the woman accompanying Maresco rushed back into the hotel to get help, but police were unable to find the gunman when the arrived on scene.
"We believe this was a robbery," Mojete said.
A description of the attacker was provided to law enforcement officials by the woman. No arrests have been made yet and an autopsy was scheduled.
"Tom was an exceptional volunteer, leader, teacher and coach -- he was an integral part of his host community where he shared his passion for teaching, music and sports," said Aaron S. Williams, the Peace Corps' global director.
"We are deeply saddened by this tragic event, and I ask that you keep Tom's family, and our volunteers and staff in Lesotho in your thoughts and prayers."
The statement said that Maresco is from Port St. Lucie, Florida. He taught secondary education in the highlands district of Thaba-Tseka since November 2009. Maresco was scheduled to serve until January 2012.
Maresco's work also involved HIV awareness in the communities he served, according to the Peace Corps.
Peace Corps has 91 volunteers in Lesotho. More than 2,100 Americans have served as Peace Corps volunteers in the nation since 1967.
The tiny country in southern Africa is roughly the size of Belgium or the U.S. state of Maryland, according to the Peace Corps. Its border is completely surrounded by the nation of South Africa.

Nasa team advise Chile miners to start exercise regime

Scientists from the US space agency Nasa have advised the trapped Chilean miners to regulate their day and night sleep patterns.

A team of four visiting experts said the men should boost their Vitamin D intake and phase in an exercise program as their nutrition improves.
The 33 miners have been stuck in a tunnel 2,300ft (700m) below the ground for nearly a month after a rock fall.
They must now wait two to four months for engineers to drill an escape shaft.

Chile's government invited the Nasa team to the San Jose gold and copper mine to offer tips for helping the men keep physically and mentally healthy while they wait to be rescued.
Exercise regime
"One of the things that's being recommended is that there be one place, a community area, which is always lighted," said Al Holland, a Nasa psychologist, speaking at a press conference outside the mine.
"And then you have a second area which is always dark for sleep, and then you have a third area which is work, doing the mining, and the shifts can migrate through these geographic locations within the mine and, in that way, regulate the daylight cycle of the shift."

The miners lost an estimated 22lbs (10kg) each during the 17 days before they were found alive. Since then, they have been receiving food, water and medicine through three bore-holes.

Michael Duncan, the Nasa team leader, said that authorities should add an exercise regime to the miners' schedules.

"Before our astronauts go into space, we put them on exercise programs and the miners, even though they're doing some work down there, we will want to phase in some exercise programs as their nutrition improves," he added
'Plan C'

The operation to drill a rescue shaft at the mine, near Copiapo, has penetrated more than 40m (130ft) deep since it began on Monday.

Meanwhile, two alternative rescue plans are in progress, according to Andres Sougarret, the engineer in charge of the rescue.

A second, faster drill that could aid the men's rescue arrived at the site on Friday and could begin work on Sunday, said Mr Sougarret.

The T-130 excavator will be deployed initially to enlarge the supply chute to allow larger objects to be sent down to the 33 men.
"What's more, we've got a third plan, called plan C, consisting of an oil drilling machine that will require a platform the size of a football pitch," said Mr Sougarret.
"It will be working before 18 September (Chile's Independence Day)."

Toshiba recalls 41,000 computers over risk of burns

Toshiba has announced the voluntary recall of about 41,000 notebook computers worldwide at risk of overheating and burning users.


The recalled models are the Satellite T135, Satellite T135D and Satellite ProT130 notebook computers, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Consumers are asked to immediately download the latest version of a software program called BIOS. The program will detect whether a recalled notebook is overheating, and will disable the computer's external power and alert the consumer to contact Toshiba for a free repair. The software is available at http://laptops.toshiba.com/about/consumer-notices. Customers without Internet access are asked to contact the company for installation of the program.

The company has received 129 reports of the computers overheating and deforming the plastic casing around the AC adapter plug, according to the Product Safety Commission. Of those, there have been two reports of minor burns and two reports of minor property damage.

Craigslist dumps 'adult service' adverts

The online marketplace Craigslist has closed the controversial "adult services" listing in the US.


The company has not said why it took the decision, but it has faced an ongoing barrage of criticism from attorneys general and advocacy groups.

They have claimed the listing was a virtual tool for pimps and prostitutes.

The section has now been replaced with a black and white bar that reads "censored". An "erotic" service is still active outside the US.

A statement from Craigslist executives is expected in the coming days

Tropical Storm Earl hits Nova Scotia

Sat, Sep 4, 2010, 2:00 PM EDT

Category:  Tropical Storm

Wind Speed: 70 mph

Pressure: 965 mb

Latitude: 45.8° N

Longitude: 63.2° W

Movement: NE at 40 mph



STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Power outages, watery roads reported in Nova Scotia

• Severe weather conditions reported across Nova Scotia

• In Massachusetts, things should be 'back to normal soon'

• The storm is expected to cause dangerous surf conditions along East Coast

• Nova Scotia Power said that as of 1:45 p.m. nearly 196,000 customers had lost power

No deaths reported after powerful quake strikes New Zealand

• NEW: Prime minister says government will not abandon Christchurch


• Two people are being treated for serious injuries


• A 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the east coast of the South Island early Saturday


• Roads and buildings were damaged

Autoridades declaran estado de emergencia en Nueva Zelandia tras sismo

Un terremoto de 7.0 grados de magnitud sacudió Christchurch, en Nueva Zelandia:

• El movimiento se registró a las 04:35 horas de la madrugada, al sur del país
• Hasta el momento no hay informes de muertos
• Una réplica de 5.7 grados de magnitud se registró 20 minutos después del primer movimiento
• El primer ministro John Key dijo que el gobierno no abandonará a Christchurch