World/Nation Briefs October 16, 2012

Clinton: Security breakdown was her responsibility

LIMA, Peru - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is taking responsibility for security at the U.S. consulate in Libya where an assault by extremists on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.

Pushing back against Republican criticism of the Obama administration for its handling of the situation, Clinton said Monday in Lima, Peru, that security at all of America's diplomatic missions abroad is her job, not that of the White House. She made the comments in several television interviews.

"I take responsibility," she told CNN. "I'm in charge of the State Department's 60,000-plus people all over the world (at) 275 posts. The president and the vice president wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. They're the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision."

Obama touts the economic record in campaign ad

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - With the economy showing some signs of improvement three weeks before Election Day, President Barack Obama on Monday laid down a full embrace of the economic record many Republicans say is his biggest weakness.

The president's first act in this critical campaign week was to announce a new battleground state advertisement featuring voters discussing the ways their economic conditions have improved during his term. The ad was hitting the airwaves as Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney huddled in intense preparation for their second debate as polls show a closely fought campaign.

"This race is tied," Obama said in an appeal to supporters asking them to donate at least $5 to his re-election effort. He promised to be "fighting" for the election on the debate stage tonight - something many of his supporters thought he did too little of in his first face-off with Romney.

Obama planned to vote early during a visit to his home state of Illinois next week, while Michelle Obama told a rally in Delaware, Ohio, that she dropped her absentee ballot in the mail Monday. "For me, it was Election Day," she said.

Hurricane Paul weakens to Category 2 storm

LOS CABOS, Mexico - Hurricane Paul has weakened to a Category 2 storm in the eastern Pacific but is still swirling near Mexico's western coast.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said late Monday that Paul's maximum sustained winds had decreased to 110 mph and that the storm was centered about 310 miles southwest of the Baja California peninsula's southern tip.

The Mexican government extended its hurricane warning for the west coast northward to Punta Abreojos. The hurricane center said the center of Paul should move inland along the coast by tonight and be near or over the central Baja peninsula on Wednesday. The hurricane was expected to begin weakening today, the hurricane center said.

Paul is on track to bypass the heavily populated tourist areas of Los Cabos at the tip of the peninsula, and the capital, La Paz, on the eastern Gulf of California.

Police release 21 names in Zumba prostitution case

KENNEBUNK, Maine - Police on Monday released the first round of names of more than 100 men accused of paying for sex with a Zumba instructor who's charged with turning her dance studio into a brothel in this seaside community.

The release of 21 names followed 11th-hour legal wrangling, and some residents watched the news flash on their local evening TV news.

Residents had been anxiously awaiting the release of names since 29-year-old Alexis Wright was charged this month with engaging in prostitution in her dance studio and in an office she rented across the street. Police said she kept meticulous records suggesting the sex acts generated $150,000 over 18 months.

- The Associated Press