Drug possession could be legalized

MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Felipe Calderón, locked in a battle with drug cartels, wants to legalize the possession of small amounts of cocaine and marijuana, a plan that will likely irk Washington. Calderón, a conservative in power for nearly two years, sent a proposal to Congress that would also scrap penalties on carrying small amounts of heroin, methamphetamine and opium for personal use. Reviving a similar push by his predecessor, Calderon's bill aims to free up police to hunt for narcotics dealers and smugglers, but it could meet opposition in largely conservative Mexico as well as in the United States. (Reuters)

TORONTO - Public health officials in Canada announced yesterday that they are looking for 27 people who may have been exposed to tuberculosis from an infectious passenger during a bus trip in late August. The passenger may have passed the infection on by coughing while in close contact with others on the Greyhound bus ride from Toronto to Windsor, said Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams. The risk was low, but officials wanted to make sure those who may have been exposed were evaluated, he said. Authorities said 27 passengers got off the Detroit-bound bus when it reached Windsor, across the border from Detroit. (AP)

ROME - Italy's top criminal court yesterday upheld the conviction on international terrorism charges of an Egyptian jailed as one of the chief suspects in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, a lawyer said. The Court of Cassation confirmed the conviction of Rabei Osman and upheld a previous eight-year jail sentence by a Milan appeals court, said lawyer Luca D'Auria. Osman was arrested after allegedly saying in wiretapped conversations that he was the mastermind. (AP)