A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the South American country of Chile, just minutes before Sebastian Pinera was sworn in as president. The tremor was centered in O'Higgins Region about 90 miles south of the city of Valparaiso where the inauguration took place. It was the largest aftershoc since February's devastating 8.8-magnitude quake. Shortly after the inauguration, the National Congress building was evacuated and a tsunami alert was issued for coastal areas.

Pinera's presidency marks the end of two decades of left-wing rule in the country. He takes over for the highly-popular Michelle Bachelet, who left office with an 84% popularity rating. As president, Pinera now faces the additional challenge of reconstruction. The February quake and resulting tsunami killed more than 500 people, and left more than 500,000 homeless.

On Sunday, Chile's president sent the army to help police battle looting in the city of Conception, which was hit hard after an earthquake and tsunami devastated cities. President Michelle Bachelet also made an appeal for international help, and announced that the death toll was now at 708 people - double the estimate from Saturday.

Bachelet also said that Chile would accept some of the offers of aid that have poured in from around the world, and said that the country needs field hospitals and temporary bridges, water purification plants and damage assessment experts, in addition to rescuers to help relief workers who have been frantically working for more than a day now.

Along several hundred miles of Chile's central and southern coast, towns have been reporting massive damage from the tsunami that came after the 8.8 magnitude quake. Maule, a region south of the capital city of Santiago, has the most confirmed deaths so far at 504.

Jacqueline van Rysselberghe, mayor of Concepcion, said that the situation in her city was getting "out of control" due to shortages of basic supplies. In the coastal towns of Pelluhue and Constitucion, 350 deaths have been reported and television images showed cars tossed atop homes and boats lifted far from the waterfront.

A powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the South American nation of Chile early this morning at around 3am local time for about one-and-a-half minutes. At least 78 fatalities have been reported thus far, and tsunami warnings have been issued for the entire Pacific region, including areas as far away as the western U.S. coast.

The earthquake that hit Chile was 64 times stronger than the one that rocked Haiti in January. However, it was a lot deeper, making it more likely that the number of causalities will be fewer than in Haiti.

The quake was less than 100 miles north from the southwest coastal city of Conception, but damage was reported as far as away as Santiago nearly 200 miles away.

The airport in Santiago was shut down, and hospitals in the area have been evacuated. Phone lines and power are out of service, while the country tries to cope with at least 13 aftershocks already that have measured 5.0 magnitude or stronger.

Unlike Haiti, Chile is more prepared to deal with a massive earthquake. Buildings in Chile are constructed to earthquake standards and can sustain more of a jolt.

Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez recommends pork as an alternative to Viagra, telling leaders of the pig farming industry of how she spent a satisfying weekend with her husband after eating barbecued pork.

Fernandez said:

"I've just been told something I didn't know; that eating pork improves your sex life ... I'd say it's a lot nicer to eat a bit of grilled pork than take Viagra."

She explained how she recently ate pork and that "things went very well that weekend, so it could well be true."

Argentines are by far the world's biggest per capita consumers of beef, and in recent years the government has been trying to promote pork as an alternative due to rising steak prices and as a way to diversify the meat industry.

In the televised speech on Wednesday, Fernandez added:

"Trying it doesn't cost anything, so let's give it a go."

Movie star Danny Glover gave a interview that many people are up in arms about. Glover blames global warming on the disaster (audio above):

"When we see what we did at the climate summit in Copenhagen, this is the response, this is what happens, you know what I'm sayin'? What happened in Haiti could happen to anywhere in the Caribbean because all these island nations are in peril because of global warming," Glover said. "When we see what we did at the climate summit in Copenhagen, this is the response, this is what happens, you know what I'm sayin'?"

If you are the slightest bit pudgy, you may want to reconsider that trip to Peru. Peruvian police have captured several members of a remote jungle gang that kills people for their fat. The fat is then reportedly sold on the black market for use in cosmetics.

One of the suspects revealed that the killers would cut off their victims' heads and limbs, remove the organs, and then suspend the torsos from hooks over candles to melt fat from the bodies.

Three suspects have confessed to killing five people for their fat. Two suspects were arrested carrying bottles of liquid fat and revealed to police that it was worth $60,000 per gallon. Police seized two bottles of amber colored fluid from the suspects, and testing later proved it was human fat.

The suspects said that the fat was sold to intermediaries in Lima. Officials suspect that the fat was sold to cosmetic companies in Europe.

Police refer to the jungle gang as the "Pishtacos" after a Peruvian myth of Incas who killed to extract human fat, quartering their victims with machetes.

Six gang members, including the leader, Hilario Cudena, 56, have thus far eluded capture. Cudena has been said to have been killing to extract fat from victims for more than three decades.

Columbian President Alvaro Uribe has come down with the swine flu, and officials in the country are now contacting other South American officials whose leaders attended a recent summit with Uribe.

Uribe began feeling symptoms on Friday, the same day he attended a meeting of South American presidents in Bariloche, Argentina. On Saturday, the 57-year-old leader was confirmed to have the H1N1 virus. He is not considered to be a high risk patient, and is not being quarantined. None of his family or close associations have experienced symptoms.

Uribe had spent the day Friday defending a plan that would give US troops access to Columbian bases as a parto f the war on drugs during a UNASUR group summit which was attended by most presidents in the region.

WHO Declares First Global Flu Pandemic in 41 Years

For the past several years we've been subjected to the warning ads in various media - radio, television, and print - that the world is overdue for a flu pandemic and that one is sure to be coming soon. The day has finally arrived. On Thursday the World Health Organization declared a swine flu pandemic, the first global flu epidemic in 41 years.

Infections around the globe, including the United States, Europe, South America, and Australia, have now climbed to nearly 30,000 cases.

The announcement of the pandemic is official scientific confirmation that a new flu virus has emerged and is quickly making its rounds globally. Now that the WHO has upgraded the situation to pandemic levels, they will begin asking drugmakers to speed up the production of a swine flu vaccine. The declaration should also prompt governments to devote additional funds towards efforts to contain the virus.

Dr. Margaret Chan made the announcement Thursday following an emergency meeting with flu experts. Chan indicated that the WHO would be moving the world up to the agency's highest alert level - phase 6. Phase 6 means that a pandemic, or global epidemic, is already under way.

It has now emerged that two passengers with names linked to Islamic terrorism were on board the Air France flight which crashed late last month, killing all 228 on the flight. French secret servicemen were able to establish the connection while working through the list of passengers who boarded the ill-fated Airbus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on May 31.

Flight AF447 crashed in the mid-Atlantic while en route to Paris during a violent storm. Investigators are positive that there were computer malfunctions, however they have not yet ruled out terrorism.

Soon after news of the crash broke, agents for the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure were dispatched to Brazil.