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In the World

    Inquirer
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CANADA

Toronto mayor takes leave, cites problem with alcohol

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford will take a leave of absence to seek help for alcohol, he said Wednesday, as a report surfaced about a second video of the mayor smoking what appears to be crack cocaine. Ford, who is seeking reelection in the Oct. 27 vote, said he will take an immediate leave.

"I have a problem with alcohol, and the choices I have made while under the influence. I have struggled with this for some time," Ford said in statement late Wednesday.

The Globe and Mail newspaper said it had viewed a second video of Ford smoking what appears to be crack cocaine in his sister's basement. The newspaper said two Globe reporters viewed the video from a self-professed drug dealer showing Ford taking a drag from a pipe. The newspaper said the video was taken early Saturday morning.

The video is part "of a package of three videos the dealer said was surreptitiously filmed around 1:15 a.m., and which he says he is now selling for 'at least six figures,' " the newspaper said. - AP
CANADA

Ex-worker held in shooting

A former employee opened fire at a British Columbia lumber mill on Wednesday, killing two people and injuring two others, authorities said. Police Supt. Mark Fisher said they had arrested the 47-year-old suspect, accused of shooting people in the parking lot area and then in the mill office. Two victims were pronounced dead at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, police said. The shooting occurred at a Western Forest Products sawmill in Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island. - AP
SOUTH SUDAN

Famine warning from U.N.

Famine looms in South Sudan. The planting season is already half over, with terrified farmers scattered far from home because of fighting. But the country's leaders seem unconcerned about the impending catastrophe, the United Nations' top human-rights official said Wednesday. In meetings with the leaders of feuding political camps, rights chief Navi Pillay called for a 30-day truce to allow people to plant crops. Both men, she said, offered the same lukewarm response and the same excuse: They don't trust each other. - L.A. Times

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