Today's Story Line

Rescue workers are performing heroic acts to save victims of Turkey's earthquake - the worst since 1939. Some 19 countries have sent workers and aid to help in the rescue efforts.

Quote of note: "This is the right time for the West to demonstrate its solidarity with Turkey.... The Turks have always been good to us." - a Western diplomat in Turkey.

A trend in Latin America away from extremism and toward coalition rule may reach Mexico. But uniting may be difficult - that would require high-profile leaders of two parties to team up. That might be a bit like Pat Buchanan and Ted Kennedy joining forces to run for the White House.

- Faye Bowers, Deputy world editor

CULTURAL SNAPSHOT

*ON THE MEDIA: Correspondent Howard LaFranchi says the latest TV ad for Roberto Madrazo, the bad-boy candidate for the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party's nomination, is causing a minor uproar in Mexico City. In the ad, Mr. Madrazo says Mexico's crime problem must be solved "today, not in three years," and then he tells the viewer, "You know what it takes to solve this problem - and I have them," referring to certain male body parts. Noted Mexican writer Carlos Monsivais, condemning Mexico's hypermachismo, writes that Madrazo's spot sends "once more" the old message that "politics is the stuff of real men ... Women, abstain." The ad may work with some sectors of Mexican society, Howard says, but he also notes what one analyst told him: "Mexicans like a certain amount of solemnity in their president, so at some point Madrazo has to become more statesmanlike."

UPDATE ON MONITOR STORY

*Merelene Ottey, a Jamaican track legend, withdrew from the World Track and Field Championships, scheduled to begin today in Seville, Spain, after testing positive for steroid use in a first test. If a second test turns out positive, she may be suspended for two years, effectively ending her outstanding career. (See Aug. 12 Monitor story on drug use in sports).

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