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MORELIA, Mexico (AP) — Three major political parties are campaigning in the Mexican president’s home state, but it’s the groups that aren’t on Sunday’s ballot that have everyone worried: the drug cartels.

In hilly, rural Michoacan, a state known for its avocados, marijuana and meth, the mobsters are putting Mexico’s halting democracy to a test, using violence and bribes to influence elections for governor, the legislature and all 113 mayors.

While many other Mexican states have been penetrated by narco-politics, nowhere is that influence as overt as in Michoacan, where the electoral season so far has featured the kidnapping of nine pollsters, the gunning down of a mayor, and the withdrawal of at least a dozen candidates frightened off the campaign trail by organized crime.

Zurich, one of the world’s leading insurance groups, has been named “Reinsurer of the Year” at the 2011 Insurex Awards.

Held under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance and Industry, the Insurex Awards recognises excellence in the insurance industry across the Middle East.

Maroun Mourad, CEO of Zurich’s general insurance business in the Middle East, said: “When we began reinsurance operations in the Middle East, we had a single goal – to be the leading reinsurer region. Through our world-class talent, efficient operating model and customer-centric approach, I am proud to say that within just two years we have been able to achieve that goal.”

Closed-door consultations requested after human rights groups says attack by Syrian forces on Hama leaves at least 80 people dead.
UNITED NATIONS – Germany has requested that the UN Security Council meet on Monday to discuss the worsening violence in Syria, a spokesman for the German mission at the United Nations said.



The request came after human rights groups said 80 people had been killed in the Syrian city of Hama when government troops stormed in on Sunday to crush protests amid a five-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad.



Germany holds the rotating Security Council presidency until midnight on Sunday, then India takes over for the month of August.



German spokesman Alexander Eberl said his mission had asked the Indian mission to schedule closed-door council consultations for Monday and it was likely to take place in the afternoon, New York time.



Italy also reportedly called on Sunday night for an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Syria, urging European envoys in Damascus to meet Monday.



“We request that the United Nations Security Council hold an urgent meeting and adopt a very firm position,” Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini was quoted by AFP as saying in an interview to public broadcaster RAI.

Swiss lenders’ investment-banking business poses “large risks” to the economy and tougher capital rules will lead to change, Peter Siegenthaler, who heads a government-appointed panel on the new regulations for large banks, said in an interview with NZZ am Sonntag.

The rules have “created an incentive that should lead to changes in the business models” of UBS AG (UBSN) and Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN), Siegenthaler told the Zurich-based newspaper in the interview published today. “If not, the involved risks mean that one has to impose even tougher regulation.”

Investment banking practices before 2008 do not have an “added value for our economy,” he said. “I’m convinced that this manner of investment banking is posing large risks that can’t be passed on to the state.”

Swiss stocks declined, posting their biggest quarterly in more than a year, as reports on Chinese manufacturing and German retail sales added to concern the global economy is slowing.

Watchmakers led losses as Swatch Group AG (UHR) and Cie. Financiere Richemont SA tumbled more than 5 percent. Panalpina Welttransport Holding AG (PWTN), the freight-forwarding company, slumped 6.1 percent as Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock. Tecan Group AG (TECN), a maker of laboratory equipment, plunged the most in seven weeks.

Closed-door consultations requested after human rights groups says attack by Syrian forces on Hama leaves at least 80 people dead.
UNITED NATIONS – Germany has requested that the UN Security Council meet on Monday to discuss the worsening violence in Syria, a spokesman for the German mission at the United Nations said.



The request came after human rights groups said 80 people had been killed in the Syrian city of Hama when government troops stormed in on Sunday to crush protests amid a five-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad.



Germany holds the rotating Security Council presidency until midnight on Sunday, then India takes over for the month of August.



German spokesman Alexander Eberl said his mission had asked the Indian mission to schedule closed-door council consultations for Monday and it was likely to take place in the afternoon, New York time.



Italy also reportedly called on Sunday night for an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Syria, urging European envoys in Damascus to meet Monday.



“We request that the United Nations Security Council hold an urgent meeting and adopt a very firm position,” Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini was quoted by AFP as saying in an interview to public broadcaster RAI.



Practical council action on Syria has been paralyzed for weeks by disagr...

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) — Pakistan’s army said it arrested a senior al-Qaeda leader, Younis al-Mauritani, responsible for the militant group’s international operations, with help from U.S. intelligence agencies.

The Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate captured Al- Mauritani and two other al-Qaeda operatives, Abdul Ghaffar al- Shami and Messara al-Shami in the southwestern city of Quetta, the military’s press office said in an e-mailed statement. The arrest, which follows months of U.S.-Pakistani tension over counter-terrorism cooperation, is part of “a strong, historic intelligence relationship” between the agency known as ISI and U.S. intelligence agencies, the statement said.

“Al-Mauritani was tasked personally by Osama bin Laden to focus on hitting targets of economical importance in the United States of America, Europe and Australia” and envisioned attacks on “gas/oil pipelines, power-generating dams” and oil tankers or other ships, the army statement said.

The announcement comes two weeks after U.S. officials say an American missile killed Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, who had become al-Qaeda’s deputy leader following the killing in May of Osama bin Laden by U.S. Navy Seals in Pakistan.

While Abd al-Rahman was a well-known figure, described by the U.S. government as a central al-Qaeda leader, al-Mauritani hasn’t been prominent in analysts’ accounts of its leadership and has not previously been named as...

SAN FRANCISCO, May 27 (Xinhua) — Google on Friday said it will defend itself against allegations by PayPal that the Internet search giant and two of its executives stole trade secrets to develop its mobile payment system.

PayPal’s lawsuit came on Thursday, hours after Google announced its mobile payment system Google Wallet and laid out plans to bring together all parts of retail experience on smartphones.

“We respect trade secrets and will defend ourselves against these claims,” said Google in a statement sent to media here.

The two executives named in the PayPal lawsuit are Osama Bedier and Stephanie Tilenius, two ex-PayPal executives who now directly oversee Google’s mobile payment initiative. Both were on stage in Thursday’s introduction event held in New York.

PayPal said Bedier, who left the company in January, discussed a job with Google while simultaneously leading negotiations to make PayPal a payment option on Google’s Android-based smartphones.

Bedier is alleged to have transferred the information about PayPal’s mobile payment strategy to his computer before leaving the company.

Tilenius, who left eBay, PayPal’s mother company in 2009, was under contract not to recruit PayPal employees. She is alleged to give advices to Bedier on a Google offering through Facebook messages, e-mails and text messages.

“Silicon Valley was built on the ability of indiv...

SAN FRANCISCO, May 27 (Xinhua) — Google on Friday said it will defend itself against allegations by PayPal that the Internet search giant and two of its executives stole trade secrets to develop its mobile payment system.

PayPal’s lawsuit came on Thursday, hours after Google announced its mobile payment system Google Wallet and laid out plans to bring together all parts of retail experience on smartphones.

“We respect trade secrets and will defend ourselves against these claims,” said Google in a statement sent to media here.

The two executives named in the PayPal lawsuit are Osama Bedier and Stephanie Tilenius, two ex-PayPal executives who now directly oversee Google’s mobile payment initiative. Both were on stage in Thursday’s introduction event held in New York.

PayPal said Bedier, who left the company in January, discussed a job with Google while simultaneously leading negotiations to make PayPal a payment option on Google’s Android-based smartphones.

Bedier is alleged to have transferred the information about PayPal’s mobile payment strategy to his computer before leaving the company.

Tilenius, who left eBay, PayPal’s mother company in 2009, was under contract not to recruit PayPal employees. She is alleged to give advices to Bedier on a Google offering through Facebook messages, e-mails and text messages.

“Silicon Valley was built on the ability of indiv...

Geneva is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland after Zürich and is the most populous city of the French-speaking part of the country. The city is divided by the River Rhone into the rive gauche and rive droite. The rive gauche holds most of the sights with visitor interest.

The city is situated on the banks of the Lake Leman and looks onto the snow-capped peaks of the Alps and Jura mountains jutting out of the deep forests and mystical countryside.

Geneva is a global city, an important financial centre and a worldwide centre for diplomacy. Many of the agencies of the United Nations and the Red Cross have their headquarter in Geneva.

Geneva has been described as the third European financial centre after London and Zurich and the world’s eighth most important financial centre by the Global Financial Centres Index.

The Peace Capital, as it was named, is a cultural destination with over 30 museums, theaters, galleries, and even an opera house. The visitors have the opportunity to join into the world-famous skiing and numerous golf clubs in and around the Lake Geneva Region.

The city’s proximity to France and Italy add to its appeal for travelers trying to make the most of their European vacation.