ICE touts $41 million cash seizure in Mexico, Colombia

Mexican and Colombian officials working with U.S. agents have seized about $41 million in cash hidden in shipping containers, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency announced Monday.

Colombian authorities seized $11.2 million in U.S. currency in Buenaventura, Colombia, on September 9.

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The U.S. agency, commonly called ICE, says the seizures were made September 9-18. It called them the largest seizure of cash ever found in shipping containers destined for Colombia and the largest for the agency since its inception.

According to ICE:

• On September 9, Colombian customs inspectors and Colombian national police, acting on intelligence reports, seized $11.2 million in U.S. currency hidden in two shipping containers. The containers were aboard a vessel that sailed from the Port of Manzanillo, Mexico, and was headed to Buenaventura, Colombia. Colombian customs inspectors said it was the most cash ever seized by police at a port in the nation.

• On September 10, a second seizure of U.S. currency estimated at $11.2 million also was made at the Buenaventura port.

• On September 11, a shipment of $11 million was discovered hidden inside two shipping containers at the Port of Manzanillo.

• On September 14, ICE special agents, along with Colombian authorities, discovered three additional shipping containers in Buenaventura containing about $5 million in $100 and $50 bills. These shipping containers also originated in Manzanillo.

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• On September 18, authorities seized $2.15 million in $100 bills concealed inside two containers aboard a vessel that arrived in Manzanillo.

"This seizure represents a bad day for organized crime," ICE Director John Morton said at a Monday news conference in Washington. "Forty-one million dollars is not a rounding error. The loss of that kind of money hurts."

All of the money was concealed in sacks of fertilizer chemicals in containers transported on commercial ships, Morton said.

"When it's packed in very large containers, it's extremely difficult to probe; it's extremely difficult to X-ray. And so it was a very good means of concealing currency," he said.

The ports of Buenaventura and Manzanillo are key points along a well-known route used for smuggling cocaine northward to Mexico and then on to the United States, and for sending cash back into Colombia, where most of the cocaine originates, ICE said in a news release.

Morton called the smugglers "very, very sophisticated," saying they were using the lawful shipping trade to send drug profits from the U.S. through Mexico to Colombia.

Morton said the money will be forfeited in accordance with the laws of the nations where it was seized, with Colombia keeping $28 million and Mexico getting $13 million.

"None of these monies will be forfeited to the United States," he said.

While large, this month's cash seizure is not a record. In March of 2007, officials in Mexico officials confiscated $207 million in cash in what was then called the largest drug-related cash seizure in history.

ICE is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, investigating financial crime, trade fraud, narcotics smuggling and cash smuggling, the agency said. ICE was established in 2003 after the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

U.S. to Honduras: End emergency decree now

The U.S. State Department is calling on Honduras' de facto president to immediately rescind an emergency decree that limits constitutional rights such as freedoms of expression, travel and public congregation.

Robert Micheletti, de facto president of Honduras, says he'll repeal an emergency decree, but not immediately.

"The freedoms inherent in the suspended rights are inalienable and cannot be limited or restricted without seriously damaging the democratic aspirations of the Honduran people," said State Department spokesman Ian Kelly in a statement late Monday night.

Earlier Monday, Roberto Micheletti announced he would repeal the law, but it would not be immediately. The decree will undergo a legal review, he said.

Still, Micheletti's announcement was an about-face. He had announced the policy less than 24 hours earlier in response to unrest that increased significantly after ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya secretly returned to Honduras on September 20 and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy.

The 45-day decree announced Sunday night forbids any unauthorized public gatherings, allows officials to make arrests without a judicial order and lets the government close down news media that threaten "peace and order."

Micheletti said he would consult with the supreme court to repeal the decree, after a meeting with the leading presidential candidates.

"This decision was made because (Zelaya) was calling for insurrection ... but I'm going to listen to the other powers of the state and we're going to make the most wise decision in the interests of Honduras," Micheletti said, according to the newspaper La Prensa.

Monday marked the three-month anniversary of Zelaya's ouster in a military-led coup on June 28.

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In the wake of Micheletti's decree, Jose Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the OAS, said the Canal 36 TV station and Radio Globo were reported closed.

The owner of Canal 36, Esdras Amado Lopez, told CNN that 60 soldiers entered his station Monday morning to shut it down. They removed all of the equipment, he said.

"They say that we offended the dignity of the president of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti," Lopez said, adding that he sees his station not as pro-Zelaya, but "pro-people."

Honduran soldiers were stationed in front of the shuttered TV and radio stations and would not allow anyone to enter.

The United Nations, the OAS and the European Union have condemned the coup and demanded that Zelaya be reinstated. Micheletti has vowed that Zelaya will never return to power and has said the deposed president will be arrested if he comes out of the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, the nation's capital.

Micheletti has accused Zelaya of using the embassy to instigate an insurrection and this weekend gave the Brazilian embassy 10 days to decide the ousted president's status. Brazil rejected the Honduran ultimatum.

On Monday night, Zelaya addressed the United Nations General Assembly via a mobile phone that his foreign minister held up at the podium.

A "serious crime is taking place when the voice of the people is silenced and when the people who are being repressed are likewise silenced," Zelaya said.

Two U.S. service members killed in the Philippines

Two U.S. service members were killed in the Philippines when their vehicle rolled over a landmine Tuesday morning, military officials said.

The service members with the Joint Special Operations Task Force were getting supplies for a school on the island of Jolo when their vehicle struck the explosive, said U.S. Navy Capt. Jeff Breslau.

Authorities were investigating the incident, Breslau said.

Jolo is one of many islands in the Southeast Asian nation.

Several Islamic militant groups, some of which have ties to al Qaeda, are active in the region and want to establish a separate state for the country's minority Muslim population, according to the U.S. State Department. Among them is Abu Sayyaf.

The government has been fighting to contain the group, which is blamed for several terror attacks in the country, including the bombing of a ferry in 2004 that left about 130 people dead.

U.N. group: Gaza acts amounted to war crimes

A United Nations group will present a scathing report Tuesday on Israel's conduct during its military offensive into Gaza that began late last year.

The U.N. Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict is headed by Richard Goldstone.

In the report, released earlier this month, the U.N. group accused Israel of committing "actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity" during its military incursion into Gaza from December 27 to January 18.

The group, called the U.N. Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, is headed by South African judge Richard Goldstone.

Goldstone is scheduled to present the 400-plus page report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva Tuesday.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights will present her own report after Goldstone.

Goldstone's report also found that Palestinian militants committed war crimes, but the overwhelming majority of the report's criticism targets Israel.

Israel did not cooperate in the investigation.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement earlier saying Israel "did not feel able to cooperate with the Fact Finding Mission because its mandate was clearly one-sided and ignored the thousands of Hamas missiles attacks on civilians in southern Israel that made the Gaza Operation necessary."

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The report claims that the Israeli Defense Forces "failed to take feasible precautions required by international law to avoid or minimize loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects."

The U.N. report also said Israel fired the chemical agent white phosphorous in civilian areas, intentionally fired upon hospitals using high-explosive artillery shells, and failed to provide effective warnings to civilians or U.N. workers before attacks. It also claims that Israel used Palestinian civilians as human shields and deliberately attacked Palestinian food supplies in Gaza.

The report recommends that the U.N. Security Council require the government of Israel to launch appropriate independent investigations into the findings of the report within three months. The findings also recommend that the alleged Israeli war crimes be explored by the International Criminal Court's prosecutor.

The findings also call on the Palestinian leadership to investigate alleged war crimes, for militants to respect humanitarian law, and for the release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit on humanitarian grounds.

U.S. to Honduras: End emergency decree now

The U.S. State Department is calling on Honduras' de facto president to immediately rescind an emergency decree that limits constitutional rights such as freedoms of expression, travel and public congregation.

Robert Micheletti, de facto president of Honduras, says he'll repeal an emergency decree, but not immediately.

"The freedoms inherent in the suspended rights are inalienable and cannot be limited or restricted without seriously damaging the democratic aspirations of the Honduran people," said State Department spokesman Ian Kelly in a statement late Monday night.

Earlier Monday, Roberto Micheletti announced he would repeal the law, but it would not be immediately. The decree will undergo a legal review, he said.

Still, Micheletti's announcement was an about-face. He had announced the policy less than 24 hours earlier in response to unrest that increased significantly after ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya secretly returned to Honduras on September 20 and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy.

The 45-day decree announced Sunday night forbids any unauthorized public gatherings, allows officials to make arrests without a judicial order and lets the government close down news media that threaten "peace and order."

Micheletti said he would consult with the supreme court to repeal the decree, after a meeting with the leading presidential candidates.

"This decision was made because (Zelaya) was calling for insurrection ... but I'm going to listen to the other powers of the state and we're going to make the most wise decision in the interests of Honduras," Micheletti said, according to the newspaper La Prensa.

Monday marked the three-month anniversary of Zelaya's ouster in a military-led coup on June 28.

Don't Miss

• Honduras revisits emergency decree
• Tensions between Honduras, Brazil
• Zelaya: Brazilian Embassy attacked with gas

In the wake of Micheletti's decree, Jose Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the OAS, said the Canal 36 TV station and Radio Globo were reported closed.

The owner of Canal 36, Esdras Amado Lopez, told CNN that 60 soldiers entered his station Monday morning to shut it down. They removed all of the equipment, he said.

"They say that we offended the dignity of the president of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti," Lopez said, adding that he sees his station not as pro-Zelaya, but "pro-people."

Honduran soldiers were stationed in front of the shuttered TV and radio stations and would not allow anyone to enter.

The United Nations, the OAS and the European Union have condemned the coup and demanded that Zelaya be reinstated. Micheletti has vowed that Zelaya will never return to power and has said the deposed president will be arrested if he comes out of the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, the nation's capital.

Micheletti has accused Zelaya of using the embassy to instigate an insurrection and this weekend gave the Brazilian embassy 10 days to decide the ousted president's status. Brazil rejected the Honduran ultimatum.

On Monday night, Zelaya addressed the United Nations General Assembly via a mobile phone that his foreign minister held up at the podium.

A "serious crime is taking place when the voice of the people is silenced and when the people who are being repressed are likewise silenced," Zelaya said.

Report: Peru's Fujimori pleads guilty in bribery case

Disgraced former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori pleaded guilty to charges of illegal wiretapping and embezzling government money to bribe politicians and journalists to support his 2000 re-election campaign, the official Andina news agency reported.

Alberto Fujimori speaks in court in Lima, Peru, in April.

Monday's criminal trial was the fourth and final that Fujimori faced since being extradited to Peru from Chile in 2007.

The government prosecutor, Jose Antonio Pelaez Bardales, has asked the court for an eight-year prison sentence and a fine of 5 million new soles (U.S. $1.7 million) to be paid to the state, and 3 million new soles (U.S. $1 million) to go to victims of the wiretapping.

Fujimori, who was president from 1990 to 2000, will be sentenced Wednesday.

Prosecutors had planned to parade about 60 witnesses, including former congressmen, authors and journalists, to testify about the bribery and wiretaps.

The witness list included former United Nations Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, author and one-time presidential candidate Mario Vargas Llosa, and Fujimori's ex-wife Susana Higushi.

But with a short "I agree" to the judges, Fujimori averted the witnesses, Andina reported.

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Fujimori is a controversial figure in Peru. He is credited with restoring economic stability to the country and defeating the Shining Path guerillas, who carried out terrorist attacks. But he had an authoritarian streak that led to accusations of human rights abuses and corruption.

According to prosecutors, in 1990, Fujimori and his then-spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, used public funds to set up surveillance centers to intercept phone conversations of people deemed a threat to his rule.

In 1999, in the run-up to a controversial campaign for a third term, Fujimori ordered Montesinos to buy a television broadcaster and a newspaper to push the party line, prosecutors said.

A third set of charges that Fujimori admitted to Monday dealt with the bribery of members of Peru's congress.

Fujimori "designed, planned and directed" a plan to recruit opposition congressmen to his party after the ruling party failed to gain a majority during midterm elections in 2000, Andina reported. Money used to bribe the legislators came from public funds, prosecutors said.

Fujimori already was handed prison sentences in other cases. In his first criminal trial, Fujimori was sentenced to six years for breaking into the home of Montesinos' wife to confiscate incriminating videos. The court upheld that ruling in 2008 after an appeal by Fujimori.

In April, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of authorizing the operation of a death squad responsible for killing civilians. That case is under appeal.

During his third trial, in July, Fujimori was sentenced to 7½ years in prison for paying Montesinos a $15 million bonus out of the government treasury.

Workers thriving at 70, 80, and even 100

Jack Borden would like you to consider working well past retirement age. As a 101-year-old attorney, he has the credibility to encourage it.

Attorney Jack Borden, 101, says he's never thought about not working. "What would I do?" he said.

Borden, who has been practicing law for the better part of 70 years, still spends about 40 hours a week at his office in Weatherford, Texas, handling estate planning, probate and real estate matters.

Retire? Not while he's able to help folks.

"As long as you are capable, you ought to use what God gave you. He left me here for a reason, and with enough of a mind to do what it is I'm supposed to be doing," said Borden, who also has been a district attorney and Weatherford's mayor.

He arrives at the practice he shares with his nephew at 6:30 a.m. He goes home for lunch at 10:45 a.m., rests in bed for 45 minutes -- doctor's orders after pneumonia a few years back -- returns to work by 12:45 p.m. and stays until at least 4.

Not everyone who works past 65 does so because they want to. In a survey completed last month, 38 percent of respondents working past the age of 62 said they may have to delay retirement even further because of the recession, according to the Pew Research Center's Social and Demographic Trends project.

But in answer to another question in the same survey, 54 percent of workers 65 or older said they're working now mainly because they want to. Seventeen percent said their main reason was money, and 27 percent said both factors motivated them.

"Some of them enjoy it, and some of them need the money. But even if they need the money, they also enjoy the work," said Cynthia Metzler, president of Experience Works, a nonprofit that helps low-income workers ages 55 and older acquire new job skills.

The group, which operates in 30 states and also uses federal funds to pay participants a minimum wage to work community service jobs while they look for other work, last month named Borden as America's Outstanding Oldest Worker -- a title it bestows annually to a worker over 100.

Last week, Borden was in Washington to participate in events the group was holding to mark National Employ Older Workers Week.

When it comes to putting off retirement out of desire, Borden is hardly alone.

Preston Brown, 70, is a police officer in Yakima, Washington. He's enjoying the challenges that come with patrolling streets full time, and the experiences are relatively fresh: The former marketing worker and real estate broker didn't join the force until he was 51.

He was attracted to law enforcement as a teen but was told he was too short. The height requirements eventually changed, and after some friends persuaded him to go on a patrol ride-along, he began a process that landed him a job with Yakima police in 1990.

Whatever is required, from report-taking to chases, he's up for it.

"From time to time there will be a physical confrontation ... and we can get involved in foot chases and vehicle chases. Usually the vast quantity is on night shift more than [my daytime shift], but still I'm involved in those," Brown said.

Nineteen years later and still in good shape, he has no plans to stop. He likes the pay but he doesn't have to work: His wife of 53 years has a pension. He could be doing other things, such as playing racquetball and motorcycling with friends, but because he gets four days off after working five roughly 11-hour days, he already has time for that.

"When I wake up and prepare to leave for work, I'm looking forward to it," he said. "It's challenging and exciting."

In Anderson, South Carolina, customers at a Chick-fil-A restaurant might see 88-year-old Frank Childers fixing a door. His wife, Gertrude Childers, 88, might be carrying a tray to a table or refreshing someone's beverage.

When Frank Childers retired from his insurance sales job in 1985, he looked forward to free time and fishing.

"I stayed retired for five years. I got tired of sitting around," he said.

Frank Childers, who had some mechanical experience before working in insurance, took some jobs to stay busy. In 1998, Jon Holmes, the owner-operator of three Anderson Chick-fil-As, asked him to lead his maintenance staff, and Childers has been working there since.

Gertrude Childers, a former mill worker, also was hired in 1998 to be a dining room hostess at one of the restaurants. She works 20 hours a week; her husband works about 30.

They each said they enjoy the work and the people they've met. They don't have to work for the money, they said, but the pay doesn't hurt.

"It's nice to have your own money, because when I want to go shopping, I don't have to ask nobody," Gertrude Childers said, laughing.

Experience Works says many low-income workers 55 and older need to find jobs but can't, in part because of the recession. It points to the age group's unemployment rate: It was 6.8 percent in August, up from 2.9 percent three years earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's still better than the rate for all age groups, 9.7 percent in August.

Lynn Dusenbery, 62, faces many more years of work out of necessity. The Ashland, Wisconsin, resident sold her floral business four years ago to cover medical bills. Once hoping to retire at 65, she now has no savings, is uninsured, and -- living in a rural area with perennially high unemployment -- still hasn't found full-time work.

"I was a florist for 40 years. I came out with no skills that would get me by in the outside world," Dusenbery said.

Dusenbery enrolled with Experience Works three years ago and has picked up computer skills and other training and part-time jobs with the group. She's looking for full-time work.

As for Borden, work is still energizing and rewarding.

"If I were to quit, I might last a year, but probably not over six months," said Borden. "I have to use a walker because of old age, so there's not much else I could do except sit in my house. Why do that when I can not only enjoy life, but help some people?"

A conversation with China's young communists

Emily Chang has been a CNN correspondent in Beijing since June 2008. Some of her work includes covering the Beijing Olympics, leading a lead poisoning investigation across China, going inside the country's swine flu lab, reporting on prostitution and HIV, and a tainted milk scandal that sickened thousands of children.

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- When we requested an interview with members of the Communist Youth League, I expected an army of suits with well-rehearsed answers. Instead, we met three students casually dressed in jeans, just 18 to 23 years old.

Christina Zhang wants to be a linguistics teacher or professor. She plans to attend graduate school.

The interview was arranged by the State Council Information Office, in advance of the upcoming 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Unlike many government-sanctioned shoots, it was not carefully choreographed or closely monitored. The students did arrive with a "minder" of sorts, but he was no older than them and didn't interrupt the conversation.

We sat down for tea at Ritan Park in downtown Beijing. My questions seemed to be more sensitive than they expected, but the students remained poised and answered every one.

All of the students are members of the Chinese Communist Party and the Communist Youth League, the same organization that launched the successful careers of Chinese President Hu Jintao and many of China's other top leaders.

"I think communism is an ideal state of society that everyone should pursue," said Natalie Chen, an 18-year-old freshman and finance major at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management. "In the communist society, everything is fair in economics, in politics, in education. Everybody has equal opportunity and that's a great society."

"Do you think everything is fair in China?" I asked Natalie.

"At present I have to say no," she said. "But, we are of course making progress towards it."

Young students like Chen are the future of the Chinese Communist Party, which now is the largest political party in the world with 75 million members. It has come a long way.

In 1949, the Communist Party was a group of mostly revolutionary farmers, who came to power on the heels of civil war.

"The party was a rag tag organization you might say," said David Shambaugh, a visiting fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and political science professor at George Washington University. "They had no experience in ruling, but a lot of experience in fighting and they were faced with a number of problems of how to set up a government and run the country."

The first three decades of Communist rule were tumultuous, marred by backward isolation and a destructive Cultural Revolution.

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However, the next 30 years transformed China from the inside out, with the implementation of new economic goals and gradual openness to the outside world. The Communist Party now is largely credited with delivering the country from isolation to economic prosperity.

Despite this achievement, perhaps the party's most astounding achievement in 60 years is, quite simply, surviving as the one and only political party in a massive country.

"To be adaptable and flexible is a path to survival," said Shambaugh. "So this has been a very adaptable, and I would argue, eclectic party, borrowing bits and pieces from different political systems all around the world and studying other political systems."

Yet, in being so adaptable, analysts say the party has run the risk of having a lot of slogans and little substance. Slogans such as "the scientific mode of development," "socialism with Chinese characteristics," and "harmonious society" often cannot be explained by the average Chinese citizen.

"These are all current slogans, but people are not really sure what they mean," Shambaugh said.

Indeed some of the party's youngest members provided vague answers when asked for what exactly the Communist Party stands.

"I think we have a goal," said 23-year-old Christina Zhang, an undergraduate in linguistics at Beijing Normal University. "That is to reach a harmonious society. That is our dream ... I believe we are sure to realize our dream."

"We discuss science, we discuss thought, we discuss everything," added Lin De-yuan, a 23-year-old first-year graduate student in Marxist studies at the Chinese Youth University of Political Sciences. He also suggested I read "the book by Karl Marx," referring to the Communist Manifesto.

China's younger generation has been criticized for caring too much about securing good jobs instead of about policy and politics. These days, it is widely regarded that many young people join the party, not because they share communist ideals, but because it looks good on their resumes.

Chen, Zhang and Lin denied joining the party for personal gain. Chen plans to become a banker or a politician, Zhang aspires to be a teacher and Lin dreams of becoming an NBA referee.

However, they do acknowledge joining the party may have some benefits and some members actively use their party credentials to achieve certain career goals.

"Admittedly, some people join the party with their own purpose of getting a good job, or getting a promotion," Chen said. "But that's why we are still having a fierce battle with corruption in the party."

In fact, corruption is one of the biggest challenges the Communist Party will face in the years ahead. Young communists like Chen, Zhang and Lin will be responsible for rising to these types of challenges and shaping the party's future.

Their generation may determine whether the Communist Party is still China's one and only ruling party 60 years from now.

In his hometown, Mao a source of pride

"Mao is very great and famous, and he saved the whole of China," exclaims an 18-year-old woman from Wuhan in Hubei province. "Both young people and old people love Mao very much!"

Mao was born in his family house in 1893. The rooms are preserved with original furnishings.

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The woman is accompanying her 75-year-old grandfather to Mao Zedong's birth town of Shaoshan in Hunan province, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the capital Changsha -- and the juxtaposition is as intriguing as it is telling: A woman born after the Tiananmen Square crackdown and a grandfather born during the Long March, joined in a pilgrimage to celebrate the founder of the 60-year-old Chinese republic.

"Great Leader," "Great Teacher," "Great Helmsman" -- the monikers for Mao may be numerous, but he alone still serves as the Chinese Communist Party's premier brand, and anyone who visits Shaoshan can still see the power of his personality cult.

The village consists of numerous Mao landmarks, and it's his house where the huge numbers of tour buses usually converge first.

Born here in 1893, Mao first lived in a large thatched-roof abode surrounded by pretty gardens and a small lake. Visitors tightly snake through the impeccably preserved rooms, marveling at the kitchen utensils and original beds that Mao and his family slept in.

There are detailed plaques throughout, outlining the family's early years and brief descriptions of his two bothers -- both of whom were killed in warfare.

Nearby is the Museum of Comrade Mao, which displays exhibits and old Communist Party photos. While visitors get a sense of the republic's history, there are glaring omissions. While Mao the heroic revolutionary is celebrated at every step, there's nothing on either the Great Leap Forward or the Cultural Revolution -- campaigns that cost the lives of tens of millions and caused massive social and political upheaval. (See Fact Boxes, left).

Fact Box

Great Leap Forward (1958-60): Mao attempts to galvanize Chinese agriculture and raise steel production through collectivization. The result is utter economic disaster. A famine ensues, resulting in the deaths of as many as 40 million Chinese.

Fact Box

Cultural Revolution (1966-76): Mao instigates a dramatic purge to rid the Chinese Communist Party of "capitalist roaders." Communist leaders at all levels are arrested; many die. Countless others are killed as parts of the country descend into factional warfare war and student Red Guards run amok.

"Yes, Mao made some mistakes," one tourist says as he studies a photo of famous revolutionary Liu Shaoqi, himself a victim of the Cultural Revolution. "But it was for the common good. Without mistakes, how does one learn?"

About 500 meters up from Mao's house, a large bronze statue of the former leader towers over a massive square, where admirers energetically bow and pay their respects. After their backs can take no more, it's back on to the bus for the last major tour stop, Dripping Water Cave.

Mao lived in this comfortable retreat briefly in 1966, swam in its nearby reservoir and "revised the political state of the world," according to one sign posted outside his bedroom. Visitors can view where the aging revolutionary slept, the sofas he sat on during important meetings, as well as his bathrooms.

The path that winds back down to the main road is filled with touts, their stalls full of miniature Mao busts, caps, key rings, copies of his obligatory Little Red Book and other paraphernalia. You can even have your photo taken and enhanced digitally with Mao smoking a cigarette, or shaking his hand.

A buzz surrounds the stalls; business is good. Though visits to Shaoshan dropped off in the 1980s following a more subdued government review of Mao's legacy, tourism is again vibrant.

"Mao is the father of modern China, but he did make some mistakes," explains a tour guide. "As the government said after his death, Mao was '70 percent right, 30 percent wrong.' So fewer visitors came during that period ... but numbers are now back to about 3 million a year."

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One of those three million enthusiastically examines the knickknacks that fill the stalls.

"My cousins back home will love this," beams the 18-year-old woman from Wuhan, as she holds up a T-shirt of Mao staring dotingly over the Chinese masses. "Everyone loves Mao!"

Philippines flood survivors count blessings

Huddled on the top floor of her home after waist-deep water inundated the lower story, Doranne Lim is bothered by the debris -- and the smell.

Residents remove mud from a home Monday as waters recede in Marikina City, suburban Manila.

"My house is super, super messy," she said, speaking from her home in the eastern Manila suburb of Pasig City. The mud left behind by receding floodwaters -- caused when the nearby river flooded its banks -- is "really smelly."

Her car won't start, probably because the engine is flooded. Her microwave and refrigerator won't function. Most of her possessions have been moved upstairs.

Still, as one of the more than 1.8 million affected by recent floods, the 28-year-old Lim is counting her blessings. Her power is back on and she believes she can salvage most of her furniture. In addition, people she knows are still searching for missing friends and relatives in the flooding. Are you there? Share your story or pictures

"My office mate, she lives in a village with actually really nice houses," Lim said. "She was sitting on her roof for 15 hours. They didn't save anything, nothing."

The floodwaters were beginning to subside in some areas Monday after a weekend that saw Manila hit with torrential rainfall caused by Typhoon Ketsana, which has since strengthened into a typhoon. Officials said the Philippine capital saw its heaviest rain in more than four decades. The water swallowed whole houses and buses. At least 240 people are dead, officials say. See incredible images of the flooding »

Lim said she is cleaning up the smelly mess, but no one she knows has begun fixing the damage -- because another typhoon could be bearing down on the island nation in several days. Tracking maps show Tropical Storm Nineteen approaching the Philippines later this week.

Lim submitted a photo to CNN's iReport site of people traveling down a flooded road -- a main thoroughfare -- in Pasig City. Some are wading through thigh-deep water; others are being pulled on rafts. Some opportunists are charging others money to pull them on rafts, she said.

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At the end of the road is a church and a market, she said. The market is not flooded, but is "really, really muddy," she said. "Most of the vendors in the market said they are going to sleep in the market tonight because they don't have any place to go."

Manila, on the island of Luzon, and the nearby province of Rizal bore the brunt of the storm. People like Lim's office mate huddled on rooftops Sunday waiting on army helicopters to pluck them to safety. Others used ropes to wade through waist-deep muddy waters. Watch how people of Manila are coping »

Power and water supply failed in some areas. Roads were rendered impassable, making rescue efforts challenging. Rescue crews were handing out food rations.

"Right now the challenge is to find out how many people have actually died and how many people we have to take care of in terms of people who've been displaced," said Richard Gordon, the chairman of the Philippines National Red Cross. He estimated up to 300,000 people have been displaced on the island of Luzon alone.

Another Pasig City resident, Arturo Fidelino, said 80 percent of his village was flooded. He counts himself lucky that his home was not inundated, but his family had to evacuate and move in with his in-laws because nearby streets were impassable. Fidelino said he and his wife have to get to work, and their 14-year-old daughter has to get to school.

Fidelino said his family was stuck in their home for two days, before a relative who owns heavy machinery was able to remove them.

"It's our first time to experience that kind of flood," he said, estimating it could take about a month for the waters to completely recede.

He said many of his neighbors remain stuck in their homes, as the homeowners' association organizes a removal effort. Other Pasig City residents were evacuated to temporary shelters set up in a municipal hall or gymnasium, he said.

Officials worried that if the rains return, they could bring more floods if reservoirs burst.

"We're hoping that there will be no more breaching of the dams," Gordon said. "That's one of the things that are very disconcerting to many people right now."

Fidelino said many Filipinos aren't sure if the flooding was caused by the typhoon or by the opening of dams. "It was so sudden," he said. "It was sort of a flash flood."

The floodwaters contained all sorts of animals as well -- snails, snakes, Lim said. Two crocodiles escaped from the zoo, she said -- "it's funny, but it's scary."

"I'm happy that I'm a lot better off than so many other people I see on TV, clinging to electric posts, electric wires, so they won't be carried away (by the water)," she said. "I have friends who are still missing their siblings, missing their dogs."

Both she and Fidelino said residents have banded together to help one another. Lim said that after her electricity was restored, she got on Facebook, where she saw numerous posts from people seeking missing friends or loved ones. Members of the media and even the government were trying to help on the social networking site, asking them to send more information.

Some people are putting together "relief bags" of food and other items to distribute to those in shelters, while others were bringing canned goods, Lim said. "Everyone is united right now to help feed everyone," she said.

Others are just trying to feed themselves. John Gonzalez, 11, has been pushing a trolley through his flooded neighborhood in Manila's Marietta Romeo village for two days.

"The flood went above the height of a man," he said. "Way above our heads. Today, the water just comes to my mouth. That's why we are out looking for food."

10 secret menu items at fast food restaurants

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to seek out covert items at fast food chains around the country.

Not all food items are always listed on restaurant menus.

Be warned, this mission includes very real dangers such as hardening arteries and skyrocketing cholesterol. We've compiled a list to get you started.

1. If you're at Starbucks and in need of just a little caffeine, don't worry -- there's a tiny option for you. It's the Short size, and they don't advertise it. It's like a little baby cup of coffee. It also comes in handy when you're scrounging for change and don't have enough for a tall (not that that has ever happened to me).

2. It's a good thing we don't have Jamba Juice here in Iowa, because I would be all over candy-based smoothies. Because it's considered a health-food chain, Jamba Juice doesn't officially list these on their in-store menus, but the Web site Mighty Foods assures us that the secret flavors exist.

The ones they confirmed with the company's headquarters include Strawberry Shortcake, White Gummy Bear, PB&J, Various flavors of Starbursts, Fruity Pebbles, Push-Up Pops, and Skittles. Other tantalizing flavors that are rumored to exist: Chocolate Gummi Bear, Apple Pie, Sourpatch Kid, Tootsie Roll, and Now and Later.

3. This one might be my favorite. At Fatburger, you can order a Hypocrite -- a veggie burger topped with crispy strips of bacon.

4. Chipotle has a whole secret menu that is limited only by your imagination -- they have a store policy that says that if they have the item available, they will make it for you. Things that have been tested include nachos, quesadillas, taco salads and single tacos. Some stores are testing out quesadillas as a regular menu item, however, so maybe someday soon you won't need a super-secret handshake to order one. Mental Floss: 7 food promotions gone horribly wrong

5. If you're at Wendy's and you're really hungry -- like, three-patties-just-won't-cut-it hungry -- go ahead and order the Grand Slam, which is four patties stacked on a bun. This option is only available at select Wendy's, and it's also known as the Meat Cube.

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6. Several places, including McDonald's and In-N-Out, will serve you the Neapolitan milkshake. It's just what it sounds like -- chocolate, vanilla and strawberry shakes layered in a cup.

7. In-N-Out Burger's "secret menu" isn't so secret these days -- in fact, they've posted it on their Web site. But in case you're not in the habit of surfing fast food Web sites, here's the skinny on their rather un-skinny items: ordering something "Animal Style" at In-N-Out means you're going to get it with lettuce, tomato, a mustard-cooked beef patty, pickles, extra spread (it's sort of Thousand-Islandy) and grilled onions. You can even get your fries Animal Style. Mental Floss: Why is it called "Thousand Island" dressing?

"Protein Style" is a burger wrapped in a lettuce leaf instead of a bun. A Grilled Cheese is two slices of American cheese, lettuce, tomato and spread on a bun (grilled onions if you so choose).

And you can get just about any combo of meat and cheese that you want if you order it like you're ordering lumber: 3×3 gets you three beef patties and three slices of cheese, 4×4 gets you four of each, and so on. According to photos posted at SuperSizedMeals.com, one gluttonous patron requested and received a 100x100 at a Las Vegas store a few years ago. One item not listed on the Web site secret menu: the Flying Dutchman, which is two slices of cheese sandwiched between two patties, hold the bun.

8. Feeling a little health-conscious at Popeye's? If you are, you really should have gone somewhere else. But there's a little hope for you -- ordering "naked chicken" will get you breading-free poultry. The word is that this is on the menu at some Popeye's, but not all of them, although it is an option at all of them.

9. Like Chipotle, Taco Bell will make you just about anything within reason as long as they have the ingredients for it. Since most of the food at Taco Bell is made out of the same basic items, that means you can probably ask for most discontinued items and get them. One "secret," though, is that they have a not-advertised green chili sauce at most locations, and apparently it's excellent.

10. Some Subways will still make you the popular pizza sub from the 1990s. Once the chain decided to make their focus healthy eating, the pizza sub disappeared from the menu in most places (the word is that Canadian and Mexican Subways still offer them on a regular basis). But if you ask, lots of places will still make it for you. Be warned, though -- Jared would not approve of the nine slices of pepperoni and copious amounts of cheese slathered in marinara sauce. Mental Floss: Brief history of dubious dieting

Secret Service investigating Facebook poll on Obama

The social networking site Facebook on Monday pulled a third-party application that allows users to create polls after a site member built a poll asking if President Obama should be killed.

There are more than 350,000 applications on Facebook. The company says it disables any that violate its terms.

The U.S. Secret Service, the agency assigned to protect the president, has launched an investigation, agency spokesman James Mackin said.

"As is usually the case, our vigilant users reported it to us first," Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt told CNN. "The USSS [Secret Service] sent us an e-mail late this morning PDT asking us to take it down. At that point, it had already been removed, and we let them know."

Schnitt said the application "was immediately suspended while the inappropriate content could be removed by the developer and until such time as the developer institutes better procedures to monitor their user-generated content."

Facebook allows third-party developers to create applications -- such as polls and quizzes -- which are then made available to Facebook users, who use the applications to create specific content. Users may choose to make their content available to the general population of Facebook or limit it only to their friends.

In this case, Schnitt said, the user made the poll asking whether Obama should be killed available to the general public.

The possible responses to the poll were "yes," "maybe," "if he cuts my health care" and "no."

Schnitt said the poll "appears to have been posted over the weekend."

Report: Peru's Fujimori pleads guilty in bribery case

Disgraced former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori pleaded guilty to charges of illegal wiretapping and embezzling government money to bribe politicians and journalists to support his 2000 re-election campaign, the official Andina news agency reported.

Alberto Fujimori speaks in court in Lima, Peru, in April.

Monday's criminal trial was the fourth and final that Fujimori faced since being extradited to Peru from Chile in 2007.

The government prosecutor, Jose Antonio Pelaez Bardales, has asked the court for an eight-year prison sentence and a fine of 5 million new soles (U.S. $1.7 million) to be paid to the state, and 3 million new soles (U.S. $1 million) to go to victims of the wiretapping.

Fujimori, who was president from 1990 to 2000, will be sentenced Wednesday.

Prosecutors had planned to parade about 60 witnesses, including former congressmen, authors and journalists, to testify about the bribery and wiretaps.

The witness list included former United Nations Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, author and one-time presidential candidate Mario Vargas Llosa, and Fujimori's ex-wife Susana Higushi.

But with a short "I agree" to the judges, Fujimori averted the witnesses, Andina reported.

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Fujimori is a controversial figure in Peru. He is credited with restoring economic stability to the country and defeating the Shining Path guerillas, who carried out terrorist attacks. But he had an authoritarian streak that led to accusations of human rights abuses and corruption.

According to prosecutors, in 1990, Fujimori and his then-spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, used public funds to set up surveillance centers to intercept phone conversations of people deemed a threat to his rule.

In 1999, in the run-up to a controversial campaign for a third term, Fujimori ordered Montesinos to buy a television broadcaster and a newspaper to push the party line, prosecutors said.

A third set of charges that Fujimori admitted to Monday dealt with the bribery of members of Peru's congress.

Fujimori "designed, planned and directed" a plan to recruit opposition congressmen to his party after the ruling party failed to gain a majority during midterm elections in 2000, Andina reported. Money used to bribe the legislators came from public funds, prosecutors said.

Fujimori already was handed prison sentences in other cases. In his first criminal trial, Fujimori was sentenced to six years for breaking into the home of Montesinos' wife to confiscate incriminating videos. The court upheld that ruling in 2008 after an appeal by Fujimori.

In April, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of authorizing the operation of a death squad responsible for killing civilians. That case is under appeal.

During his third trial, in July, Fujimori was sentenced to 7½ years in prison for paying Montesinos a $15 million bonus out of the government treasury.

Merkel eyes new coalition after victory

Re-elected German Chancellor Angela Merkel is eyeing a new coalition to replace the "grand coalition" her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party shared with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the previous parliament.

Angela Merkel has pledged to be "a Chancellor for all Germans".

If, as expected, Merkel forms a new coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FPD) it will have wide-reaching implications for Germans.

The FPD are more economically liberal than Merkel's previous partner, the SPD.

According to CNN's Fred Pleitgen, the FPD led by Guido Westerwelle will push for control of some key positions in the new government, including perhaps the finance ministry.

Pleitgen believes that economic policy is likely to change dramatically. "This means a whole lot more pro-business politics for Germany than in the past. You'll probably see tax cuts and it will probably mean smaller government than seen in the past four years," he said.

Speaking at a post-election news conference on Monday, Merkel said that the result is an opportunity to build a smaller government.

"If one looks at the majority relationships, we will be dealing with a smaller partner, the FDP," she said.

"We are happy to use this chance in very difficult economic times to secure jobs, create new ones and drive growth more decisively."

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Merkel also pledged to be "a Chancellor for all Germans".

The election was disastrous for her rival, foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the SPD who saw their vote fall 10 percent from 34.2 percent in 2005 to 23 percent. The result is the SPD's worst result since World War II.

The results leave the CDU as the strongest party in the German parliament with 27.3 percent of the popular vote -- slightly down on the 27.8 percent it achieved four years ago.

Despite being the biggest party in the Bundestag, the vote marked one of the CDU's poorest showings in an election. But its traditional coalition with the Christian Social Union -- who won 6.5 percent of the vote -- means that the CDU/CSU bloc won 33.8 percent of the vote.

The biggest winners on election night were the Free Democratic Party (FPD) whose share of the vote rose nearly five percent from 9.8 to 14.6 percent

Police search for woman bank robber who claims to have bomb

Investigators in New England are looking for a woman who they say has robbed at least six banks -- often while claiming to have a bomb.

Police released photos of a suspect in the robberies of six New England banks.

"When she goes into the banks, she gives the teller information through a note or verbally that she has a bomb," said Sgt. Jim Keeney of the Connecticut State Police. "However, there haven't been any reports of an actual bomb."

Authorities say they believe the woman has held up banks in the Connecticut towns of Middletown, Montville, East Hartford, and Windsor, as well as banks in West Springfield, Massachusetts, and Westerly, Rhode Island.

Women commit 6.2 percent of bank robberies nationwide, up from 4.9 percent in 2002, according to recent FBI figures.

The one-woman crime wave in New England apparently began September 21 at the Citizens Bank in Montville, Connecticut. State police said "a lone white female ... entered the bank with a bag in her possession. The suspect approached the teller indicated she was in possession of a bomb and demanded cash."

The woman left the bag on a counter and bolted, police said.

Four days later, a woman entered a branch of the New Alliance Bank in East Hartford, Connecticut. Investigators with the East Hartford Police Department said she "left a note indicating that she had a bomb and demanded $1,000. She fled the bank with an undisclosed amount of money."

Police suspect she struck again the next day in Windsor, Connecticut.

Sgt. Albert Costa of the Norwich Police Department said police are looking for a suspect who has lived in Norwich since 2006. He said the suspect has served time in prison for bank robbery.

Police describe the suspect as "heavy-set" with long brown hair. They say she wore dark-colored hooded jackets in several of the robberies.

Obama plans trip to Denmark to seek Olympics

President Obama will travel this week to Copenhagen, Denmark, to make a big push for holding the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Chicago, Illinois, the White House said Monday.

President Obama, center, hosts a White House event on September 16 to push Chicago's bid for the Olympics.

Obama will join other administration officials and first lady Michelle Obama in pitching Chicago to the International Olympic Committee on Friday, spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

No other U.S. president has ever attended an IOC vote.

Chicago is vying for the Summer Games against Madrid, Spain; Tokyo, Japan; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Leaders from Brazil, Spain and Japan are expected to also make in-person pitches.

The United States has hosted four Summer Olympic Games. The games were held in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1904; in Los Angeles, California, in 1932 and 1984; and in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996. The last U.S. city to host the Olympics was Salt Lake City, Utah, which was the venue for the 2002 Winter Games.

The International Olympic Committee will vote on the host city Friday in Copenhagen.

In April, the U.S. Olympic Committee chose Chicago over Los Angeles as the U.S. bid city. Earlier, three other U.S. cities were in the running: Houston, Texas; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and San Francisco, California.

Obama held an event at the White House earlier this month to rally for Chicago as the host city.

"I may live in Washington these days, but I've called Chicago home for nearly 25 years," Obama said.

"It's a city of broad shoulders, big hearts, and bold dreams. A city of legendary sports figures, legendary sports venues and legendary sports fans.

"We want these games!" Obama exclaimed, drawing applause.

While in Denmark, the president and first lady will meet with Queen Margrethe II and her husband, Prince Henrik, the White House said in a release. Obama also is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.

Obama will leave Thursday night and return Friday afternoon, the White House said.

Proposed drinking regulations for sailors make waves

Drinking alcohol out on the seas has long been a tradition among mariners.

Sailors are notorious for celebrating with alcohol on board their ships.

Now a legal proposal for recreational boaters in England threatens to end that laissez-faire life on the water, with new regulations that include breathalyzers and alcohol policies similar to the ones faced by drivers on the road.

While a broad consensus exists that drunken boat driving should be banned, the details of the new law have stirred a political controversy with some accusing the government of overreach and incompetence.

"The proposal is unworkable" said Howard Pridding, Executive Director of the British Marine Federation. "We are concerned about badly framed legislation damaging the boating market," he told CNN. Should sailors be subject to the same drinking laws as drivers? Tell us below in the SoundOff box

At issue are draft regulations proposing an exception to alcohol laws for non-professional mariners on smaller and slower boats. The regulation is based on a 2003 Railways and Safety Act that set blood-alcohol limits for professional mariners.

The argument now is over where the lines for the exceptions should be drawn, and if they should be at all.

"The limited exemption at seven meters and seven knots is designed to provide the best balance between improving safety and avoiding unnecessary regulation," a spokesperson for the department told CNN in a statement.

Many sailors and legal experts disagree though. "The bill needs a complete rethink," said Barnaby Wright, a lawyer at Hill Dickinson. Wright, who recently chaired a seminar at the Southampton Boat Show called "What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor?" told CNN that the exceptions should be pushed through into law, but that the parameters need revision.

"The measure is for boats under seven knots maximum speed by design; it should be by horsepower, because nobody knows what the design speed is," he said.

Guy Lewis of the Royal Yachting Association told CNN that "no limits" should be set and that current laws which criminalize drunken boating under the Merchant Shipping Act are sufficient.

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"The alcohol limits [in the bill] were developed to be relevant for people driving 70mph on a motorway, not for someone rowing their dinghy ashore ... No thought has been applied by the government as to whether or not that this is the right way of tackling the problem.

"We don't think there should be limits at all. It is much more important to have a general sense that if you're endangering the lives of others you are committing an offence, if you have been drinking that should aggravate the offence."

Both Lewis and Pridding also challenged the idea that the government currently had the resources to enforce the proposed legislation. Since English law states that only a uniformed policeman can administer a Breathalyzer test, effective monitoring could be a serious challenge.

"Who will actually enforce this legislation? Who will be responsible for policing it?" Pridding questioned. "If someone's out at sea who would apprehend them? ...There aren't police out there on the water ...They are going to have to give power to detain someone till a policeman arrives and there are big civil liberties problems with that."

Pridding also questioned the data which the government consultation refers to, saying it used information from both Canadian and Australian drug use reports from the 1990s.

"I don't think there's a widespread problem and there's no evidence of widespread problem," he said referring to drinking and boating accidents. "We are concerned that the national legislature will be smashing a nut with a sledgehammer, when it is only a small minority who create problems.

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The Department of Transport defended its figures in a statement saying: "Figures from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) show that alcohol was found likely to have played a role in more than quarter of leisure craft deaths reported to them from 2005 to 2007.

In total 113 deaths were reported and of those alcohol played a role in 30."

The alcohol limit being introduced for recreational mariners is the same as the drink-drive limit: 80 milligrams per 100 milliliters of blood and will apply to those persons involved in the navigation of a vessel