BOGOTA, Colombia
Militiamen kidnap six mayors in Colombia to protest peace efforts
Associated Press
A right-wing militia announced yesterday it was holding six mayors hostage to protest their attempts to reach grassroots peace agreements with leftist guerrillas in Colombia.
Police confirmed that several mayors from war-riven northwest Antioquia state have been reported missing since Sunday. Top officials in Bogota, including Attorney General Luis Osorio, condemned the abductions and demanded the mayors be freed.
In a communique, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, said it would free the mayors if they acknowledge their contacts with rebels pose a ''high risk for the country.''
The mayors are part of a larger group who held discussions recently with the leftist National Liberation Army, or ELN, Colombia's second-largest guerrilla faction.
The ELN and a larger insurgency, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, are battling government security forces and the AUC in the South American country's 37-year war.
The mayors have asked the government to withdraw police posts from their towns in order to reduce the chances of civilians being caught in rebel attacks. But critics, including the government, say the mayors are bowing to guerrilla pressures and have no business engaging in direct talks with the rebels.
MIAMI
Coast Guard searches for missing speedboat
Associated Press
The Coast Guard searched the stormy Florida Straits between Cuba and Florida yesterday for a speedboat believed to be carrying 30 Cubans on a clandestine trip to the United States.
Relatives of people in the group told the Coast Guard that the boat left Cuba on Friday and was supposed to have arrived Saturday, Petty Officer Gene Smith said.
The Coast Guard and pilots from the Cuban exile volunteer group Brothers to the Rescue started their search on Sunday.
Weather in the Florida Straits was poor, with 25-knot wind and seas running up to 8 feet, Smith said.
Hundreds of Cuban migrants have arrived in the Florida Keys this year. Officials have said many of them paid Florida-based operators of high-speed boats to smuggle them across the straits. Hundreds more have been intercepted at sea and returned to Cuba.
The Coast Guard did not say if smuggling was suspected in the case of the missing boat.
PHOENIX
Many stores failing UPC scanner accuracy testing
Associated Press
Arizona shoppers are being urged to make a list of their purchases and check the prices twice after a state audit found many UPC scanners were inaccurate.
According to the 2001 UPC Pricing Accuracy Report released by the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures, 60 percent of the 2,255 retailers inspected between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31 failed to scan items correctly.
That's an increase of eight percentage points over the same period in 2000 when stores failed 52 percent of the inspections.
An inspection consists of checking the prices of 25 or 50 items depending on the amount of products the store offers. To pass, a store cannot have more than one error on scanned prices.
Most of the errors discovered by the audit were undercharges in favor of consumers. The dollar value of the mistakes was almost three to one in customers' favor.
Even so, the Department of Weights and Measures said the mistakes are not a good deal for shoppers.
''When scanning errors occur, it means that retailers are making mistakes. You may benefit from that mistake during one shopping trip but not the next,'' Director Sandy Williams said. ''To make sure you're not overcharged, consumers are strongly urged to write down the shelf prices, watch the register display and check the receipt before leaving the store.''
