U.S. ambassador to Mexico resigns after public spat

The U.S. ambassador to Mexico has resigned after a public dispute with President Felipe Calderon over the handling of the war against Mexico's powerful drug gangs.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Saturday that she and President Barack Obama had accepted Ambassador Carlos Pascual's resignation "with great reluctance."

The announcement came as a surprise just as Obama began a five-day trip to Latin America, where he is visiting El Salvador, Brazil and Chile, to shore up ties with the region.

The United States and Mexico have long lauded their close economic ties and cooperation on security issues, with more than $1 billion in U.S. aid being funneled to Mexican forces to battle the drug cartels.

But a diplomatic fight erupted after State Department documents published by WikiLeaks showed Pascual criticizing Mexican authorities' lack of coordination in operations targeting cartel leaders.

Calderon lashed out in an unusually critical newspaper interview on February 22, saying Pascual had shown "ignorance" and distorted what was happening in the country.

He also said U.S. security forces failed to coordinate their own efforts and saw each other as "rivals."

Japanese Economy fell to 3rd place behind China

According to some recent reports, Japanese flag Japan's "lost decade" has left a lasting impact.

The country has lost its place as the world's second-biggest economy to China, figures out later is expected to show.

During the period of last three months of the last year and the complete year gross domestic product figures will be revealed by Japan at 0850 in Tokyo on Monday (2350 GMT Sunday).

However, the country's economy has been tasted a drop in exports as well as consumer demand, while China has enjoyed a manufacturing boom.

At its present rate of growth, analysts see China is all set to over take the United States as the world's top economy in about a decade.

While talking to media, Tom Miller of GK Dragonomics, a Beijing-based economic consultancy said, “It's realistic to say that within 10 years China will be roughly the same size as the US economy.”