Weekly Report - 12 July 2005

Last week it was the Mexican authorities' turn to look silly over the stamp issue commemorating Memí­n Pinguí­n, the country's best-loved cartoon character, decried as racist and unacceptable by the White House and even the US National Security adviser [WR-05-26]. The postal service decided to assuage US feelings and limit distribution of the stamp to collectors only - but the public reacted and snapped up the entire issue within less than a week. The publishers of the comic are racing to keep up with demand.