MEXICO CITY — Mexican leader Felipe Calderon got a head start today on opponents trying to block his inauguration, taking charge of the presidential residence and swearing in some of his staff in an unusual midnight ceremony.

Calderon said nobody was going to stop him from taking office later today. Lawmakers who backed Calderon's rival in the disputed presidential election, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, have occupied the podium where Calderon is to be sworn in.

Lopez Obrador, a leftist, claims Calderon, a conservative, used fraud to win the election and asked supporters to gather in Mexico City's main square to protest. Congress is ringed by police and presidential guards.

In a live broadcast from the presidential residence of Los Pinos, Calderon called on Mexicans to leave behind the divisions that have dogged him and the country since the July 2 vote. He takes over from Vicente Fox, who handed over his presidential sash during the closed-door ceremony.

MANILA, Philippines — The fourth major typhoon to hit the Philippines in four months killed 198 people and left 260 others missing, officials said today.Typhoon Durian caused flash floods and sent walls of muddy volcanic ash and red-hot boulders crashing down on several villages, the officials said.The national Office of Civil Defense reported 198 people were killed and 260 were missing. Fernando Gonzalez, governor of worst-hit Albay province, said the figures included 109 people who died in mudslides on the slopes of the Mayon volcano that also injured 130."The disaster covered almost every corner of this province — rampaging floods, falling trees, damaged houses," Gonzalez said.With power and phone lines downed by powerful winds, helicopters were carrying out aerial surveillance of cutoff areas. Officials estimated that the storm affected some 22,000 people.