Mexico revises total of disappeared
MEXICO CITY – Mexico’s top security official said Friday that far fewer people disappeared during Mexico’s drug war than were feared when the government released a list of about 26,000 cases.
Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said federal and state governments are working to weed out people who have been located. He said that many of those included on the original list of 26,121 released earlier this year had left home for personal reasons or emigrated.
He says a new list will be released with a few months and “it will be much lower.”
The list was compiled by the administration of former President Felipe Calderon, and largely covers disappearance reports from his 2006-12 term.
Toronto mayor denies he smokes crack
TORONTO – Toronto Mayor Rob Ford denied Friday that he smokes crack cocaine and said he is not an addict after a video purported to show him using the drug. The mayor of Canada’s largest city did not say whether he has ever used crack.
Ford did not take questions from reporters at a news conference at City Hall held after a week of silence and after close allies released a letter urging him to address the video. The video apparently shows Ford smoking crack.
Ford had been ducking the media and his only comments before Friday about the scandal came a week ago, a day after the story broke, when he called the crack smoking allegations “ridiculous” and said the Toronto Star newspaper was out to get him.
Associated Press
