We're feeling a bit calmer about the swine flu today. Planes are flying empty to Mexico and 30,000 restaurants lie quiet across the Mexican capital. But as the first week of swine flu hysteria draws to a close, the Mexican death toll appears to have stabilized and fears of a mounting global apocalypse have yet to materialize.

We're more prone now to heed the words of pandemic skeptics, like virologists that contend the swine flu mortality rate is likely to be not far off the typical seasonal flu death rate. We are also swayed by histories of the epic false alarm that was the last swine flu outbreak in 1976.

Still, for panic-watchers we do note the beta launch of Google Flu Trends for up-to-date tracking of swine flu spread across Mexico. And for those who opt to don a face mask when venturing out of home, recognize that a mask can fast become porous as it absorbs humidity.

Does the arrival of swine flu constitute real reason for alarm? Or like SARS and the avian flu before it, is this more a minor local than major global tragedy?

Watch the Global Pulse episode on swine flu here.

Beheadings, assassinations, gun battles on the street - Mexico is ground zero in the global war on drugs. U.S. media focuses on the spread of violence north of the border, as drug cartels spread fear and intimidation south of it. What will it take for Mexico to beat the drug lords?

Sources: Once Noticias, Mexico; TeleSur, Venezuela; TVE, Spain; Galavision, Mexico; Al Jazeera English, Qatar; NBC, U.S.; CNN, U.S.; Fox News, U.S.; BBC News Online, U.K.; Stratfor Global Intelligence, U.S.

This week, Global Pulse examines rising drug-related violence in northern Mexico that threatens to spread across the U.S.-Mexico region. Is U.S. anti-drug policy contributing to this new crime wave? And what options do Mexican and U.S. authorities have to limit drug warfare at the border?

In the Wall Street Journal, former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo co-authors an editorial calling for a drastic re-evaluation of anti-drug policies in the U.S. and Latin America. "The war on drugs has failed," Zedillo's editorial states, imploring President Obama to work with current Latin American heads of state to remake drug policies in the interest of public health. At the RAND Corporation, Brian Michael Jenkins similarly calls for treating drug consumption as a public health issue.

But the bloody standoff in recent weeks between elected officials of Ciudad Juarez in northern Mexico and local drug cartels has escalated fears that Mexican and U.S. leaders will fail to intervene appropriately to end the cycle of violence. At the Huffington Post for instance, Sandy Goodman notes the "prospect of this uncontrolled violence crossing the border" in spite of law enforcement efforts.

Can effective government intervention put an end to the Mexican drug wars? Watch the Global Pulse video and let us know your thoughts in the comments section above.