World Briefs

TORONTO -The Canadian auto parts sector will shed 36,000 jobs in 2009 as companies respond to the sharp decline in vehicle production, the Conference Board of Canada said on Thursday in its twice yearly outlook for the industry.

The companies are also expected to lose C$173 million ($153 million) this year as production drops 39 percent. In 2008, they posted a C$109 loss, the board said.

Canada's parts makers will cut costs by 34 percent this year, which will include reducing staffing by one-third, in response to the weaker volumes as the global recession slashes sales of cars and light trucks.

"Conditions will be undeniably difficult in 2009" Sabrina Browarski, a Conference Board economist, said in a release.

MEXICO CITY – The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the tropical depression was centered about 645 kilometers south southwest of the Mexican city of Mazatlan around midday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 45 kph. Forecasters say it could strengthen to a tropical storm before nearing the Mexican coast by Friday night or Saturday.

WASHINGTON – The United States has positioned more missile defenses around Hawaii as a precaution against a possible North Korean launch across the Pacific, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.

Gates told reporters at the Pentagon he has sent the military's ground-based mobile missile system to Hawaii, and positioned a radar system nearby. Together the systems could detect and shoot down a missile if it came to that.

BRATISLAVA - Slovak police detained nine people on Thursday after activists protesting over human rights in China clashed with supporters of the country's leadership during a visit by President Hu Jintao.

Police broke into the crowd when hundreds of activists from both sides gathered around the Slovak presidential palace in downtown Bratislava just before Hu was scheduled to meet President Ivan Gasparovic.

LONDON – Britons won the chance on Thursday to see the lawmaker expenses claims that sparked a political scandal — but found the most outrageous details hidden by the thick black strokes of a censor's pen. Items blacked out include addresses of lawmakers' second homes, destinations on train tickets, and more. The heavy deletion marks make it impossible to determine what many of the claims are — or whether there was an attempt to manipulate Parliament's rules.