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By Helen Murphy BOGOTA (Reuters) - The leftist mayor of Colombia's capital was removed from his post on Monday for the mismanagement of garbage collection and banned from holding office for 15 years, a blow to the nation's left as peace talks continue with Marxist FARC rebels. The inspector general ruled that former guerrilla Gustavo Petro, who as Bogota mayor held Colombia's second-most powerful political post, badly handled changes to waste management in the city of 8 million people, creating a health hazard as rubbish piled up on the streets last year. The ruling is a setback for the political left in Colombia just as progress is being made in peace talks with the FARC to end five decades of war in the Andean nation, and it came five months before presidential elections. The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, reached agreement with the government last month on how they would be incorporated into the political system.

A deadly winter storm kept a tight grip on much of the United States on Monday as cold, snow and ice spread across the East Coast, snarling traffic and knocking out power to thousands. As much as 5 inches of snow were forecast for Monday night into Tuesday and much of the area from Virginia to coastal New England were under winter weather advisories, the National Weather Service (NWS) said in a forecast. Bitter Arctic air in the upper Great Plains and Rocky Mountains is expected to persist through Wednesday, with the coldest weather extending from the Nevada-Utah region into Minnesota, the NWS said. "I don't think things are going to warm up any time soon," said Bruce Sullivan, an NWS meteorologist.