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Friday, 25 February 2011
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Plane crash kills 14 in Honduras
All passengers, including senior government official and union chief, killed after plane crashes in town of Las Mesitas.
Two government officials were lucky to have missed the doomed flight that killed 14 people [Reuters]
Fourteen people, including a senior government official and a union leader, have been killed after a small plane crashed in Honduras.
The Central American Airlines (CAA) plane was flying to the Toncontin international airport in the capital Tegucigalpa when it crashed in the town of Las Mesitas on Monday.
All those on board died in the crash, with the plane coming down about 5km short of the airport.
The passenger list included Rodolfo Robelo, the deputy minister of public works, Carlos Chain, a former government minister and Israel Salinas, a union leader.
The government has declared three days of national mourning in honour of those killed.
Three US citizens were also among the passengers, according to Gustavo Castaneda, director of Central American Airways.
Two other government ministers scheduled to be on the plane missed their flight.
"Thanks to fate and to God we did not board, and God has given us a new life," said Cesar Ham, the minister of the National Agrarian Institute.
'Tragic vision'
Tincontin airport is considered one of the most dangerous airports in the world because of its short runway, old navigation equipment and surrounding hills.
The National Service of Civil Aviation said the accident happened a little after 8am EST (1300GMT), minutes after air traffic controllers instructed the pilots to land. There was fog in the area at the time of the crash.
Jorge Deras, mayor of the town of Santa Ana, near Las Mesitas, said he heard an explosion and ran to the crash site. "We found many ... bodies strewn about,'' said Deras. "It's a tragic vision.''
At least 10 planes have crashed in and around the Toncontin airport since October 1989, when a Honduran commercial jet went down, killing 131 people.
It was built on the southern edge of hilly Tegucigalpa in 1948 with a runway less than 1,600m long.
The cause of the crash is being investigated
Two government officials were lucky to have missed the doomed flight that killed 14 people [Reuters]
Fourteen people, including a senior government official and a union leader, have been killed after a small plane crashed in Honduras.
The Central American Airlines (CAA) plane was flying to the Toncontin international airport in the capital Tegucigalpa when it crashed in the town of Las Mesitas on Monday.
All those on board died in the crash, with the plane coming down about 5km short of the airport.
The passenger list included Rodolfo Robelo, the deputy minister of public works, Carlos Chain, a former government minister and Israel Salinas, a union leader.
The government has declared three days of national mourning in honour of those killed.
Three US citizens were also among the passengers, according to Gustavo Castaneda, director of Central American Airways.
Two other government ministers scheduled to be on the plane missed their flight.
"Thanks to fate and to God we did not board, and God has given us a new life," said Cesar Ham, the minister of the National Agrarian Institute.
'Tragic vision'
Tincontin airport is considered one of the most dangerous airports in the world because of its short runway, old navigation equipment and surrounding hills.
The National Service of Civil Aviation said the accident happened a little after 8am EST (1300GMT), minutes after air traffic controllers instructed the pilots to land. There was fog in the area at the time of the crash.
Jorge Deras, mayor of the town of Santa Ana, near Las Mesitas, said he heard an explosion and ran to the crash site. "We found many ... bodies strewn about,'' said Deras. "It's a tragic vision.''
At least 10 planes have crashed in and around the Toncontin airport since October 1989, when a Honduran commercial jet went down, killing 131 people.
It was built on the southern edge of hilly Tegucigalpa in 1948 with a runway less than 1,600m long.
The cause of the crash is being investigated
Chevron fined $8.6bn for pollution
Ecuador court asks US oil giant to pay damages for contaminating Amazon river while drilling for oil.
Residents said faulty drilling practices harmed environment and indigenous people [GALLO/GETTY]
A court in Ecuador has told oil giant Chevron Corp to pay $8.6bn in environmental damages, but the US company has termed the court order as "illegitimate and unenforceable" and said it would appeal.
An Ecuadorean judge ruled on Monday that Chevron was responsible for oil drilling contamination and also asked it to pay a legally mandated 10 per cent reparations fee.
The amount - $8.6bn plus the legally mandated 10 per cent reparations fee - is far below the $27.3bn award recommended by a court-appointed expert, but appeared to be the highest damage award ever issued in an environmental lawsuit.
"We plan to appeal that and every other aspect of this illegitimate verdict and see to it that the perpetrators of this fraud are brought to justice," James Craig, a Chevron spokesman, told the Reuters news agency.
In case Chevron appeals, the lawsuit, which dates from drilling in the Andean nation during the 1970s and 1980s, could drag on.
"This ruling is an intermediate step. The appeals could go on for many years," John van Schaik, an oil analyst at Medley Global Advisors in New York, said.
"But the fact that the Lago Agrio court ruled in favour of the plaintiffs sends a signal to oil companies that, more than ever, they need to be good corporate citizens," he added.
Chevron has long contended it could never get a fair trial in Ecuador and has removed all assets from the country, whose leftist president, Rafael Correa, had voiced support for the plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs disappointed
The plaintiffs were disappointed by the $8.6bn figure and gathered to discuss whether they would push for more money.
"Given the insignificance of the economic figure, we are going to analyse, discuss and decide if we will appeal this decision or not," Pablo Fajardo, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an emailed statement.
The plaintiffs, including indigenous groups, say their hunting and fishing grounds in Amazon river headwaters were decimated by toxic wastewater that also raised the cancer rate.
Residents of Ecuador's Amazon region have said faulty drilling practices by Texaco, which was bought by Chevron in 2001, caused damage to wide areas of jungle and harmed indigenous people in the 1970s and 1980s.
Chevron's shares traded 1.3 per cent higher to close at $96.95 as investors shrugged off news of the court ruling. The stock had been lifted by gains in crude oil, and analysts said a final verdict in the court case was likely years away.
Order hailed
Monday's ruling was hailed by the environmentalist groups, Amazon Watch and Rainforest Action Network, as "proving overwhelmingly that the oil giant is responsible for billions gallons of highly toxic waste sludge deliberately dumped into local streams and rivers, which thousands depend on for drinking, bathing, and fishing".
"It is time Chevron clean up its disastrous mess in Ecuador," they said in a joint statement.
If upheld and enforced, Monday's award would substantially exceed the $5bn originally awarded to victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound. That jury award was later cut down to $507.5m by the US Supreme Court.
Other major environmental damage payments include the $470m paid by Union Carbide in 1989 to India's government for the lethal gas leak five years earlier in Bhopal that killed an estimated 15,000 people.
BP set up a $20bn oil spill compensation fund after last year's massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, of which about $3.4bn has been paid out
Residents said faulty drilling practices harmed environment and indigenous people [GALLO/GETTY]
A court in Ecuador has told oil giant Chevron Corp to pay $8.6bn in environmental damages, but the US company has termed the court order as "illegitimate and unenforceable" and said it would appeal.
An Ecuadorean judge ruled on Monday that Chevron was responsible for oil drilling contamination and also asked it to pay a legally mandated 10 per cent reparations fee.
The amount - $8.6bn plus the legally mandated 10 per cent reparations fee - is far below the $27.3bn award recommended by a court-appointed expert, but appeared to be the highest damage award ever issued in an environmental lawsuit.
"We plan to appeal that and every other aspect of this illegitimate verdict and see to it that the perpetrators of this fraud are brought to justice," James Craig, a Chevron spokesman, told the Reuters news agency.
In case Chevron appeals, the lawsuit, which dates from drilling in the Andean nation during the 1970s and 1980s, could drag on.
"This ruling is an intermediate step. The appeals could go on for many years," John van Schaik, an oil analyst at Medley Global Advisors in New York, said.
"But the fact that the Lago Agrio court ruled in favour of the plaintiffs sends a signal to oil companies that, more than ever, they need to be good corporate citizens," he added.
Chevron has long contended it could never get a fair trial in Ecuador and has removed all assets from the country, whose leftist president, Rafael Correa, had voiced support for the plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs disappointed
The plaintiffs were disappointed by the $8.6bn figure and gathered to discuss whether they would push for more money.
"Given the insignificance of the economic figure, we are going to analyse, discuss and decide if we will appeal this decision or not," Pablo Fajardo, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an emailed statement.
The plaintiffs, including indigenous groups, say their hunting and fishing grounds in Amazon river headwaters were decimated by toxic wastewater that also raised the cancer rate.
Residents of Ecuador's Amazon region have said faulty drilling practices by Texaco, which was bought by Chevron in 2001, caused damage to wide areas of jungle and harmed indigenous people in the 1970s and 1980s.
Chevron's shares traded 1.3 per cent higher to close at $96.95 as investors shrugged off news of the court ruling. The stock had been lifted by gains in crude oil, and analysts said a final verdict in the court case was likely years away.
Order hailed
Monday's ruling was hailed by the environmentalist groups, Amazon Watch and Rainforest Action Network, as "proving overwhelmingly that the oil giant is responsible for billions gallons of highly toxic waste sludge deliberately dumped into local streams and rivers, which thousands depend on for drinking, bathing, and fishing".
"It is time Chevron clean up its disastrous mess in Ecuador," they said in a joint statement.
If upheld and enforced, Monday's award would substantially exceed the $5bn originally awarded to victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound. That jury award was later cut down to $507.5m by the US Supreme Court.
Other major environmental damage payments include the $470m paid by Union Carbide in 1989 to India's government for the lethal gas leak five years earlier in Bhopal that killed an estimated 15,000 people.
BP set up a $20bn oil spill compensation fund after last year's massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, of which about $3.4bn has been paid out
US charges men over 'Taliban links'
Seven men, including two US citizens, accused of aiding Afghan fighters by selling them weapons and dealing in drugs.
Seven men, including two US citizens, have been charged in New York with selling drugs and weapons in an alleged effort to help the Taliban fight American troops overseas.
In meetings in Benin, Romania, Ghana and the Ukraine, the men are alleged to have agreed to transport and sell heroin for informants posing as members of the Taliban, which is deemed a terrorist group by the US.
The men also agreed to sell the informants surface-to-air missiles for use in Afghanistan, authorities said.
Charges were filed against Maroun Saade, Walid Nasir, Francis Sourou Ahissou, Corneille Dato, Martin Raouf Bouraima, Oded Orbach and Alwar Pouryan.
Saade and Nasr are Lebanese, Bouraima and Dato are from Benin, and Ahissou is Togolese, prosecutors said.
The two US citizens, Orbach and Pouryan, were arrested in Romania last week and are being held there while they await extradition home.
The others were arrested last week in Liberia, where they are in US custody. All are expected to be prosecuted in New York.
Anti-aircraft missiles
The supposed Taliban representatives told the men that the drugs would be sold to help finance Taliban operations against the US, court documents said.
"Saade responded that it would please him to support the Taliban's cause,'' prosecutors wrote in the indictment.
As the drug relationship blossomed, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) also began negotiating to buy anti-aircraft missiles and automatic weapons, prosecutors said.
Those inquiries led the DEA to the two US citizens, who discussed selling anti-tank missiles, grenade launchers and other weapons to the Taliban.
"This alleged effort to arm and enrich the Taliban is the latest example of the dangers of an interconnected world in which terrorists and drug runners can link up across continents to harm Americans," US attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
Prosecutors said they believe the men were working with a co-conspirator in Lebanon. The co-conspirator was not named.
Seven men, including two US citizens, have been charged in New York with selling drugs and weapons in an alleged effort to help the Taliban fight American troops overseas.
In meetings in Benin, Romania, Ghana and the Ukraine, the men are alleged to have agreed to transport and sell heroin for informants posing as members of the Taliban, which is deemed a terrorist group by the US.
The men also agreed to sell the informants surface-to-air missiles for use in Afghanistan, authorities said.
Charges were filed against Maroun Saade, Walid Nasir, Francis Sourou Ahissou, Corneille Dato, Martin Raouf Bouraima, Oded Orbach and Alwar Pouryan.
Saade and Nasr are Lebanese, Bouraima and Dato are from Benin, and Ahissou is Togolese, prosecutors said.
The two US citizens, Orbach and Pouryan, were arrested in Romania last week and are being held there while they await extradition home.
The others were arrested last week in Liberia, where they are in US custody. All are expected to be prosecuted in New York.
Anti-aircraft missiles
The supposed Taliban representatives told the men that the drugs would be sold to help finance Taliban operations against the US, court documents said.
"Saade responded that it would please him to support the Taliban's cause,'' prosecutors wrote in the indictment.
As the drug relationship blossomed, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) also began negotiating to buy anti-aircraft missiles and automatic weapons, prosecutors said.
Those inquiries led the DEA to the two US citizens, who discussed selling anti-tank missiles, grenade launchers and other weapons to the Taliban.
"This alleged effort to arm and enrich the Taliban is the latest example of the dangers of an interconnected world in which terrorists and drug runners can link up across continents to harm Americans," US attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
Prosecutors said they believe the men were working with a co-conspirator in Lebanon. The co-conspirator was not named.
Obama vows to tackle US deficit
US president says steps he is taking are going to be "difficult" and require Democrats and Republicans to work together.
Obama faces a fight over the budget with Republicans, who say his spending cuts are not deep enough [GETTY]
Barack Obama has said he is determined to curb the US budget deficit, a day after he unveiled an ambitious austerity plan.
Speaking in Washington DC on Tuesday, the US president said: "When I took office I pledged to cut the deficit by half by the end of my first term. Our budget needs that. The budget requires to make some tough choices."
He said medicare and medical aid were the "single-biggest contributor to the deficit", and cautioned that the steps he was taking "are going to be difficult and that's why they require Democrats, Republicans and independents to work together".
"We'll not be adding more to the national debt," Obama said.
"We'll not be running up the credit card any more. We're going to make some key investments in areas like education. Medicare and medical aid are huge problems and that's why we have started with that in a serious way."
Obama released on Monday a $3.73tn budget for 2012 that calls for spending cuts and investment in areas such as education and energy efficiency.
He faces a fight over the budget with congressional Republicans, who say his spending cuts are not deep enough to attack the US deficit, which will hit an all-time high of $1.65tn this year.
Investment strategist Ashraf Laidi talks to Al Jazeera about the upcoming bitter US budget battle
But it is expected to drop sharply to $1.1tn in 2012, with an expected improvement in the economy and as reductions in Social Security withholding and business taxes expire.
Obama's 2012 budget would actually add $8bn to the projected deficit for that year because the bulk of the savings he will achieve through a freeze in many domestic programmes would be devoted to increased spending in areas the president considers priorities, such as education, clean energy and high-speed rail.
"We have more work to do to live up to our promise by repairing the damage this brutal recession has inflicted on our people," he said on Monday.
Republicans, who took control of the House in the November elections and picked up seats in the senate in part because of voter anger over the soaring deficit, called Obama's efforts too timid.
The legislators are set to begin debating on Tuesday $61bn in cuts for the remaining seven months of fiscal 2011.
"Presidents are elected to lead and address big challenges," Paul Ryan, the chairman of the Republican House budget committee of Wisconsin, said.
"The big challenge facing our economy today and our country tomorrow is the debt crisis. He's making it worse, not better."
Obama faces a fight over the budget with Republicans, who say his spending cuts are not deep enough [GETTY]
Barack Obama has said he is determined to curb the US budget deficit, a day after he unveiled an ambitious austerity plan.
Speaking in Washington DC on Tuesday, the US president said: "When I took office I pledged to cut the deficit by half by the end of my first term. Our budget needs that. The budget requires to make some tough choices."
He said medicare and medical aid were the "single-biggest contributor to the deficit", and cautioned that the steps he was taking "are going to be difficult and that's why they require Democrats, Republicans and independents to work together".
"We'll not be adding more to the national debt," Obama said.
"We'll not be running up the credit card any more. We're going to make some key investments in areas like education. Medicare and medical aid are huge problems and that's why we have started with that in a serious way."
Obama released on Monday a $3.73tn budget for 2012 that calls for spending cuts and investment in areas such as education and energy efficiency.
He faces a fight over the budget with congressional Republicans, who say his spending cuts are not deep enough to attack the US deficit, which will hit an all-time high of $1.65tn this year.
Investment strategist Ashraf Laidi talks to Al Jazeera about the upcoming bitter US budget battle
But it is expected to drop sharply to $1.1tn in 2012, with an expected improvement in the economy and as reductions in Social Security withholding and business taxes expire.
Obama's 2012 budget would actually add $8bn to the projected deficit for that year because the bulk of the savings he will achieve through a freeze in many domestic programmes would be devoted to increased spending in areas the president considers priorities, such as education, clean energy and high-speed rail.
"We have more work to do to live up to our promise by repairing the damage this brutal recession has inflicted on our people," he said on Monday.
Republicans, who took control of the House in the November elections and picked up seats in the senate in part because of voter anger over the soaring deficit, called Obama's efforts too timid.
The legislators are set to begin debating on Tuesday $61bn in cuts for the remaining seven months of fiscal 2011.
"Presidents are elected to lead and address big challenges," Paul Ryan, the chairman of the Republican House budget committee of Wisconsin, said.
"The big challenge facing our economy today and our country tomorrow is the debt crisis. He's making it worse, not better."
Obama half-brother arrested
The half-brother of the US president is accused of possessing marijuana.
The president has described his half-brother as "a handsome, roundheaded boy" [Files: EPA]
The youngest half-brother of Barack Obama, the US president, has been arrested for alleged possession of marijuana near his home in a Nairobi shantytown, police have said.
George Obama, 26, who barely knows the US president, was arrested on Saturday with one joint of marijuana, Joshua Omokulongolo, the police chief in the area, said.
"He is not a drug peddler," Omokulongolo told the Associated Press news agency.
"But it's illegal, it's a banned substance."
George Obama has a court appearance scheduled on Monday.
George told reporters from his jail cell: "They took me from my home. I don’t know why they are charging me."
He and the president have the same father, who died in a car crash in 1982.
The White House declined to comment on the case on Saturday.
Several of president Obama's Kenyan relatives went to Washington DC for his inauguration, but George was not among them. He lives in Huruma with extended family.
Media reports about him surfaced over the summer, after a magazine article said he lived in a shack and earned a dollar a day.
George Obama has called the reports insulting.
"I'm proud of how I live," he told the Associated Press news agency in an interview over the summer. "[The media] are tarnishing the family name."
He also said he was studying to be a mechanic and works with a local youth group in Huruma.
In president Obama's book "Dreams From My Father," he describes George Obama as "a handsome, roundheaded boy with a wary gaze."
The president has described his half-brother as "a handsome, roundheaded boy" [Files: EPA]
The youngest half-brother of Barack Obama, the US president, has been arrested for alleged possession of marijuana near his home in a Nairobi shantytown, police have said.
George Obama, 26, who barely knows the US president, was arrested on Saturday with one joint of marijuana, Joshua Omokulongolo, the police chief in the area, said.
"He is not a drug peddler," Omokulongolo told the Associated Press news agency.
"But it's illegal, it's a banned substance."
George Obama has a court appearance scheduled on Monday.
George told reporters from his jail cell: "They took me from my home. I don’t know why they are charging me."
He and the president have the same father, who died in a car crash in 1982.
The White House declined to comment on the case on Saturday.
Several of president Obama's Kenyan relatives went to Washington DC for his inauguration, but George was not among them. He lives in Huruma with extended family.
Media reports about him surfaced over the summer, after a magazine article said he lived in a shack and earned a dollar a day.
George Obama has called the reports insulting.
"I'm proud of how I live," he told the Associated Press news agency in an interview over the summer. "[The media] are tarnishing the family name."
He also said he was studying to be a mechanic and works with a local youth group in Huruma.
In president Obama's book "Dreams From My Father," he describes George Obama as "a handsome, roundheaded boy with a wary gaze."
Obama vows to tackle US deficit
US president says steps he is taking are going to be "difficult" and require Democrats and Republicans to work together.
Obama faces a fight over the budget with Republicans, who say his spending cuts are not deep enough [GETTY]
Barack Obama has said he is determined to curb the US budget deficit, a day after he unveiled an ambitious austerity plan.
Speaking in Washington DC on Tuesday, the US president said: "When I took office I pledged to cut the deficit by half by the end of my first term. Our budget needs that. The budget requires to make some tough choices."
He said medicare and medical aid were the "single-biggest contributor to the deficit", and cautioned that the steps he was taking "are going to be difficult and that's why they require Democrats, Republicans and independents to work together".
"We'll not be adding more to the national debt," Obama said.
"We'll not be running up the credit card any more. We're going to make some key investments in areas like education. Medicare and medical aid are huge problems and that's why we have started with that in a serious way."
Obama released on Monday a $3.73tn budget for 2012 that calls for spending cuts and investment in areas such as education and energy efficiency.
He faces a fight over the budget with congressional Republicans, who say his spending cuts are not deep enough to attack the US deficit, which will hit an all-time high of $1.65tn this year.
Investment strategist Ashraf Laidi talks to Al Jazeera about the upcoming bitter US budget battle
But it is expected to drop sharply to $1.1tn in 2012, with an expected improvement in the economy and as reductions in Social Security withholding and business taxes expire.
Obama's 2012 budget would actually add $8bn to the projected deficit for that year because the bulk of the savings he will achieve through a freeze in many domestic programmes would be devoted to increased spending in areas the president considers priorities, such as education, clean energy and high-speed rail.
"We have more work to do to live up to our promise by repairing the damage this brutal recession has inflicted on our people," he said on Monday.
Republicans, who took control of the House in the November elections and picked up seats in the senate in part because of voter anger over the soaring deficit, called Obama's efforts too timid.
The legislators are set to begin debating on Tuesday $61bn in cuts for the remaining seven months of fiscal 2011.
"Presidents are elected to lead and address big challenges," Paul Ryan, the chairman of the Republican House budget committee of Wisconsin, said.
"The big challenge facing our economy today and our country tomorrow is the debt crisis. He's making it worse, not better."
Obama faces a fight over the budget with Republicans, who say his spending cuts are not deep enough [GETTY]
Barack Obama has said he is determined to curb the US budget deficit, a day after he unveiled an ambitious austerity plan.
Speaking in Washington DC on Tuesday, the US president said: "When I took office I pledged to cut the deficit by half by the end of my first term. Our budget needs that. The budget requires to make some tough choices."
He said medicare and medical aid were the "single-biggest contributor to the deficit", and cautioned that the steps he was taking "are going to be difficult and that's why they require Democrats, Republicans and independents to work together".
"We'll not be adding more to the national debt," Obama said.
"We'll not be running up the credit card any more. We're going to make some key investments in areas like education. Medicare and medical aid are huge problems and that's why we have started with that in a serious way."
Obama released on Monday a $3.73tn budget for 2012 that calls for spending cuts and investment in areas such as education and energy efficiency.
He faces a fight over the budget with congressional Republicans, who say his spending cuts are not deep enough to attack the US deficit, which will hit an all-time high of $1.65tn this year.
Investment strategist Ashraf Laidi talks to Al Jazeera about the upcoming bitter US budget battle
But it is expected to drop sharply to $1.1tn in 2012, with an expected improvement in the economy and as reductions in Social Security withholding and business taxes expire.
Obama's 2012 budget would actually add $8bn to the projected deficit for that year because the bulk of the savings he will achieve through a freeze in many domestic programmes would be devoted to increased spending in areas the president considers priorities, such as education, clean energy and high-speed rail.
"We have more work to do to live up to our promise by repairing the damage this brutal recession has inflicted on our people," he said on Monday.
Republicans, who took control of the House in the November elections and picked up seats in the senate in part because of voter anger over the soaring deficit, called Obama's efforts too timid.
The legislators are set to begin debating on Tuesday $61bn in cuts for the remaining seven months of fiscal 2011.
"Presidents are elected to lead and address big challenges," Paul Ryan, the chairman of the Republican House budget committee of Wisconsin, said.
"The big challenge facing our economy today and our country tomorrow is the debt crisis. He's making it worse, not better."
Many dead in Mexico drug violence
Many dead in Mexico drug violence
Series of shootings in Tamaulipas claims 19 lives while body of abducted police chief is recovered in Nuevo Leon.
The murder of Nuevo Leon's police chief has dealt a blow to the government's battle against organised crime [AFP]
The turf war between rival drug gangs has left a further 19 people dead after a series of shootings and an attack on a senior police commander in northern Mexico.
The city hall, courthouse and police headquarters were all damaged during the killing spree in Padilla, where seven bodies were dumped in the main square of the town, just north of Ciudad Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas state.
A group of five people were shot dead inside their car, while one was killed during an attack on a public bus.
A further five inhabitants of the town were killed, but authorities have not yet released details.
The killings came as authorities announced on Monday that troops had arrested Juan Carlos Olivera "El Sonrics" Acosta - a suspected leader of the Zetas gang.
Officials in Nuevo Leon, which borders Texas, said the corpse of Homero Salcido Trevino, the state's police intelligence and security director, was found on Saturday night inside his burnt-out car, abandoned in central Monterrey.
Trevino had reportedly been ambushed and kidnapped as he left his home, hours before his body was found in his smouldering 4WD vehicle.
"It is still premature to tell you it was organised crime," Rodrigo Medina, Nuevo Leon's governor, said.
"What is evident is that we have a vicious fight between the cartels of organised crime, which have provoked this violence and has obligated us to redouble our efforts."
Security risks
Medina said security officials know the risks they face but vowed attacks would not "force us to back down or stand aside in this fight".
Salcido's killing is a blow to federal and state governments' efforts to re-establish control over Monterrey, Mexico's business capital, which has been wracked by increasing drug violence over the past year.
His three bodyguards and chauffeur have reportedly been interrogated.
In another development, soldiers in Nuevo Leon also announced they had captured Olivera Acosta, and said he was reponsible for attacking federal police while unsuccessfully trying to rescue five members of Los Zetas, one of the four largest gangs vying for control of drug running.
The army said Olivera Acosta, who was allegedly found bearing weapons, had led criminal activities such as drug trafficking, kidnappings, robberies and killings in the Nuevo Leon municipalities of Montemorelos, Linares, Hualahuises, Rayones, General Teran and Allende since August 2010.
He is also accused of attacking a military base on February 4, 2010.
Nationwide, almost 35,000 people have been killed since Felipe Calderon, the Mexican president, launched a military crackdown against drug trafficking in 2006.
Series of shootings in Tamaulipas claims 19 lives while body of abducted police chief is recovered in Nuevo Leon.
The turf war between rival drug gangs has left a further 19 people dead after a series of shootings and an attack on a senior police commander in northern Mexico.
The city hall, courthouse and police headquarters were all damaged during the killing spree in Padilla, where seven bodies were dumped in the main square of the town, just north of Ciudad Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas state.
A group of five people were shot dead inside their car, while one was killed during an attack on a public bus.
A further five inhabitants of the town were killed, but authorities have not yet released details.
The killings came as authorities announced on Monday that troops had arrested Juan Carlos Olivera "El Sonrics" Acosta - a suspected leader of the Zetas gang.
Officials in Nuevo Leon, which borders Texas, said the corpse of Homero Salcido Trevino, the state's police intelligence and security director, was found on Saturday night inside his burnt-out car, abandoned in central Monterrey.
Trevino had reportedly been ambushed and kidnapped as he left his home, hours before his body was found in his smouldering 4WD vehicle.
"It is still premature to tell you it was organised crime," Rodrigo Medina, Nuevo Leon's governor, said.
"What is evident is that we have a vicious fight between the cartels of organised crime, which have provoked this violence and has obligated us to redouble our efforts."
Security risks
Medina said security officials know the risks they face but vowed attacks would not "force us to back down or stand aside in this fight".
Salcido's killing is a blow to federal and state governments' efforts to re-establish control over Monterrey, Mexico's business capital, which has been wracked by increasing drug violence over the past year.
His three bodyguards and chauffeur have reportedly been interrogated.
In another development, soldiers in Nuevo Leon also announced they had captured Olivera Acosta, and said he was reponsible for attacking federal police while unsuccessfully trying to rescue five members of Los Zetas, one of the four largest gangs vying for control of drug running.
The army said Olivera Acosta, who was allegedly found bearing weapons, had led criminal activities such as drug trafficking, kidnappings, robberies and killings in the Nuevo Leon municipalities of Montemorelos, Linares, Hualahuises, Rayones, General Teran and Allende since August 2010.
He is also accused of attacking a military base on February 4, 2010.
Nationwide, almost 35,000 people have been killed since Felipe Calderon, the Mexican president, launched a military crackdown against drug trafficking in 2006.
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