CNN 2008-09-13

Good afternoon to you, I'm Reggie Aqui from the CNN Center in Atlanta. Here's a look at what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

 We are gonna start with Hurricane Ike of course; it's packing a dangerous punch this hour even though it's still more than 200 miles from the Texas' coast. The massive Category 2 fills up most of the Gulf 1 of Mexico, as you can see from this image. It's even bigger than Hurricane Katrina. In Galveston Texas, Ike is already pushing massive amounts of water towards that area. The city's seawall, no match for the surge. For those who decided 2 to ride out the storm in the most dangerous areas, there is a dire 3 warning from the National Weather Service; it says they face certain death. One expert says the damage from Ike could rival Katrina's.

The strong waves from Ike may help ground a freighter that is floating adrift without power. The Coast Guard says the stranded 4 ship hauling a petroleum 5 byproduct and 22 passengers on board is without power in 90 miles south of Galveston. A rescue attempt would be too dangerous. The Coast Guard thinks the best thing to do now is just to let the storm push it to shallow water where it can then drop anchor.

The temperature is rising on the red-hot presidential campaign trail. The campaigns are unleashing 6 a flurry of ads and memos 7, each one of course accusing the other one of unfair attacks. Barack Obama is in Dover, New Hampshire. He is talking about tax relief for the middle class. And he has another stop in Concord 8 later today. Meanwhile John McCain is making the rounds of the daytime TV talk shows; he was on The View earlier today and also has an appearance on the Rachael Ray Show.

The US is kicking out Venezuela's ambassador. This comes after President Hugo Chavez told a group of supporters that Washington, (quote) "Yankee ambassador has 72 hours to leave Caracas". Chavez accuses the US of having backed a coup 9 plot against him. He says he is recalling his own ambassador from Washington until there is a new government there that respects Latin America. Chavez also says he is taking the action in the show of solidarity 10 with Bolivia.

 
There are some renewed fears now about China's food safety after tons of tainted 11 powder milk appeared to have sickened dozens of babies. Chinese media reports more than 50 babies suffered kidney stones and one even died after drinking milk tainted with melamine, that's the same chemical involved in last year's massive pet food recall.

 Those are your headlines this hour; please stick with us here at CNN for more on these stories and the other news of the day.