Mexican authorities are recounting more than half the ballot boxes used in the presidential election after finding inconsistencies in the vote tallies.

FIREFIGHTERS are dealing with record numbers of water-related rescues, a major conference was told yesterday.

Mexico’s ruling party’s Felipe Calderon had an insurmountable lead in today’s presidential vote count, but his leftist rival vowed to challenge the results in court, setting the stage for a long battle over who will lead the nation’s young democracy.