Mexico president to have surgery for 'thyroid nodule'

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto will be operated on next week to have a benign "thyroid nodule" removed, his office said. "On Wednesday July 31, President Enrique Pena Nieto will undergo surgery to have removed a thyroid nodule" the statement said, without offering more detail on the president's condition. A presidential spokesperson later emphasized that the nodule was benign "as determined by a biopsy," in Mexico City recently. A nodule is a small lump on the gland which regulates hormones. The operation should last about 90 minutes, and Pena Nieto, 47, then will take four days to recover during which he will hold only private meetings, his office said. He took office in December, returning the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) to power after 12 years on the sidelines.