Obama, Calderon discuss trade, drug war
GUADALAJARA, Mexico, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. and Mexican heads of state differed over trade and human rights issues during bilateral meetings in advance of a North American summit in Mexico.
U.S. President Barack Obama, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper were to meet jointly Monday to discuss responding to the any new outbreaks of the H1N1 flu and economic strategies, the Voice of America reported.
A senior White House official described Sunday's meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, between Obama and Calderon as "cordial."
While Obama has expressed strong support for Calderon's drug-fighting effort, Calderon said the United States was slow to send Mexico a promised $1.4 billion -- spread over three years -- to combat organized crime. About $100 million of the money is being held up by U.S. lawmakers who have expressed concern about human rights abuse allegations against the Mexican army, VOA said.
Calderon and Obama also discussed the thorny issue of Mexican truck driving on U.S. highways. Obama had promised to restore a program allowing Mexican truckers into the United States, but eventually signed a bill that included a ban on program funding. In response, Mexico implemented tariffs on dozens of U.S. products.
Obama told Calderon he would "try to move forward" on the issue, adding Congress has "legitimate safety concerns" about Mexican trucks, VOA reported.
Health officials brace for H1N1 2nd wave
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- The United States and other Northern Hemisphere countries are racing to get ready for a second wave of H1N1 flu virus that could be weeks away, officials said.
The pandemic that has spread in the Southern Hemisphere, which is currently in mid-winter, has struck especially harshly in the poorest parts of the world, international health officials told The Washington Post.
A second wave of the first influenza pandemic in 41 years could reach the Northern Hemisphere within weeks, U.S. and international health officials told the newspaper. There is a possibility it could disrupt schools, workplaces and hospitals but its course is unpredictable, the officials said.
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine influenza expert William Schaffner told the Post the H1N1 virus, commonly known as the swine flu virus, is "still around and ready to explode."
"We're potentially looking at a very big mess," he said.
There is also a possibility of a typical U.S. flu season this winter, with around 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths, the newspaper said. However, many specialists think the second H1N1 wave could be more severe because the virus is new and relatively few people are immune to it.
Blasts kill 45; destroy Iraqi village
BAGHDAD, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Bomb attacks in Baghdad killed at least 45 people, injured hundreds of others and destroyed a village near Mosul in northern Iraq Monday, officials said.
An Interior Ministry official said two truck bombs exploded simultaneously, wiping out the Shiite village of Khazna, about 10 miles east of Mosul, The New York Times reported.
Police in Mosul said preliminary estimates included 23 dead, 30 homes destroyed and 128 people wounded. The bombs were in trucks parked overnight in the village.
CNN reported 25 died and 75 people were wounded in the twin blasts.
George Kako, a resident and contractor in the nearby town of Bartella, told the Times many people in Khazna were trapped in collapsed buildings.
"It is a horrifying and disgusting scene," Kako said. "Those who did it are not human."
In Baghdad, two blasts targeted people looking for jobs as day laborers in the El Amal and Shorta districts, both Shiite areas, officials said.
Military officials said the El Amal blast killed seven and wounded 46 while the Shorta explosion killed nine and wounded 35. Officials said the explosives were in cars parked in the areas for extended periods of time, the Times reported.
Afghan plane denied landing in China
URUMQI, China, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- An Afghan plane bound for Urumqi returned to Kandahar after being denied landing in China because of a bomb threat, Chinese authorities said.
The Kam Airlines plane, which had left Kabul Sunday for Urumqi, was suspected of being threatened by a bomb and forced to return to Kandahar, Xinhua said.
The Boeing 767 plane carried more than 200 passengers, including five Chinese, Xinhua said. Chinese aviation authorities ordered the Urumqi airport to deny landing permission to the plane, the report said.
Urumqi is the capital of China's northwest Xinjiang-Uighur region and the scene of deadly July 5 ethnic riots between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese in which 197 people died and more than 1,600 were injured.
The Xinhua report said armed police sources in Xinjiang had earlier said the plane had been hijacked.
The Xinhua report carried pictures showing armored vehicles at the Urumqi airport in response to the emergency.
Dorm destroyed, 55 inmates injured in riot
CHINO, Calif., Aug. 10 (UPI) -- A dormitory was burned and 55 inmates hospitalized in a riot involving Latino and black inmates of a prison in Chino, Calif, authorities said.
The riot in a 1,300-man unit of the medium-security California Institution for Men erupted Saturday and was put down Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
State corrections officials Monday were to reconsider their decision to lock down 10 prisons in Southern California as a result of the Chino facility violence, CNN reported.
More than 250 inmates suffered injuries, ranging from small cuts to head trauma, corrections Lt. Mark Hargrove said. Of the 55 inmates requiring hospitalization, 17 inmates remained hospitalized Sunday.
Prison officials said prisoners ripped pieces of metal from lockers, destroyed beds and used pipes as weapons. A fire broke out in one dormitory, making it uninhabitable
The fighting broke out in one barracks and spread to six others.
"When you start rioting 200 in a unit, everyone knows it," Hargrove said.
Officials said at least 80 corrections officers were involved in quelling the riot, the Times reported.
Some inmates were moved to other units within the Chino facility, which houses 5,911 prisoners while others were housed in makeshift quarters, such as tents, at the prison, officials said.
