Drug-related violence in Mexico has claimed 50,000 lives in six years.

Prime Minister David Cameron called on Iran today to return to the negotiating table ready to talk seriously about international concerns over its nuclear programme.

Pope Benedict XVI called for a fight against the “evil” of drug gangs in violence-plagued Mexico and “new models” in communist Cuba on his first trip to Spanish-speaking Latin America.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is hosting leaders from across the Americas at a two-day summit.

Mexican authorities have fired nearly 1,000 police officers to weed out corruption from the violence-ravaged Gulf coast state of Veracruz.

A former police officer who allegedly admits ordering 1,500 killings during a campaign of terror as a drug gang chieftain along the US border has been captured in northern Mexico, federal officials said.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has compared today's battles against drug cartels to the country's fight against the French invasion nearly 150 years ago.

MEXICAN drug gangs branching out into new criminal activity are earning a steady stream of cash from the mass kidnapping of migrants, making the already arduous journey to the United States even more lethal.

Barack Obama insisted he was considering every intervention option in Libya, including military might, along with America's allies.

MEXICO said that more than 30,000 people have been killed in drug violence since president Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown against cartels in late 2006.

IN response to Ryle Dwyer’s column headlined ‘El Chapo – the Mexican drugs czar whose influence we should all fear’ (September 4), it should be noted that drugs did not spawn Mexico’s organised crime networks.

ALTHOUGH we should learn from our mistakes and the mistakes of others, we persist in following the failed tactics of the US in relation to drugs. Our drug problems, which began in Dublin, have gradually spread throughout the country.

MEXICO’S Jimena Navarrete was crowned Miss Universe in an upset victory that stunned a pageant world which had predicted the winner would come from Ireland’s Rozanna Purcell, Miss Venezuela or Miss United States.

The 19th edition of the FIFA World Cup was today opened by a spectacular ceremony in Johannesburg, albeit in front of a less than capacity Soccer City.

Torrential rains brought by the first tropical storm of the 2010 season pounded Guatemala and southern Mexico, triggering deadly landslides and killing at least 12.

Latin American and Caribbean nations backed Argentina’s claim of sovereignty to the Falkland Islands in a growing dispute with Britain over plans to drill for oil off the islands in the Atlantic.

Swine flu will top the agenda at a lightning-quick, three-way summit in Guadalajara, Mexico, between Mexico, the US and Canada.

The swine flu epidemic has spread deeper into the United States, Europe and Latin America, experts said today.

Mexico’s health secretary said today the swine flu epidemic in his country “is in its declining phase” even as the disease extended its reach through Europe and Latin America with at least five countries reporting new cases.

Mexico said a swine flu epidemic appears to be easing, but today urged citizens not to let their guard down against a virus that has killed 19 people and is spreading across Asia and Europe.

World health experts were today accused of initially ignoring the dangers of swine flu.

THE World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed swine flu cases rose to 257 worldwide yesterday and announced it would stop using the term “swine flu” to avoid confusion over the danger posed by pigs.

Mexico was on the brink of a virtual country-wide shutdown today as it tried to deal with the swine flu epidemic.

FEARS of a global swine flu pandemic grew with new infections in the US and Canada yesterday and millions of Mexicans hid indoors to avoid a virus that has killed up to 81 people.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown sounded a confident note over the chances of securing a global deal at this week’s G20 summit today as he began a final round of diplomatic arm-twisting.

US President-elect Barack Obama spoke with seven world leaders by phone yesterday, as he continues to prepare for taking office January 20.

MEXICAN police seized at least $150 million in cash — believed to be the proceeds of drug smuggling — found inside a mansion in a luxurious residential area in the capital, local media reported yesterday.

US President George Bush sent a long-distance message to Congress from the south-east tip of Mexico: The future of US relations south of the border hinges on immigration reform.

Mexico’s newly sworn-in president sent more than 6,500 soldiers, sailors and federal police to violence-plagued Michoacan state to crack down on drug turf wars that have left hundreds dead in a wave of execution-style killings and beheadings.

Leftist Mexican presidential candidate Manuel Andres Lopez Obrador HAS said he will never recognise a victory by ruling-party candidate Felipe Calderon and will declare himself as the alternative president.

MEXICO’S top electoral court began a marathon session yesterday to rule on challenges to the July 2 presidential election, which have sparked weeks of protests and threatened the country’s stability.

HUNDREDS of Mexican riot police in body armour sealed Congress on yesterday after violent clashes with leftist protesters and legislators who say last month’s presidential election was stolen.

Leftist activists blockaded bank headquarters and called for a march on the offices of federal prosecutors, as officials recounted some of the ballots from Mexico’s disputed presidential election.

THOUSANDS of protesters caused commuter chaos by closing off Mexico City’s business district to traffic yesterday, pressing the main leftist candidate’s demand for a vote recount in a presidential election he claims was stolen from him.

THE battle for Mexico’s presidency has turned from a nasty campaign of mudslinging into a tense tug of war in court.

MEXICAN leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has asked the courts to order a ballot-by-ballot recount in the presidential election.

Lawyers for Mexico’s leading leftist presidential candidate were preparing their case yesterday for a ballot-by-ballot recount, alleging that the July 2 election – Mexico’s closest presidential race ever – was marred by fraud and a dirty campaign.

Mexico’s main leftist candidate plans to challenge the presidential vote tally at tens of thousands of polling places, and also will allege that attack ads by the apparently victorious conservative were illegally harsh, a top adviser said today.

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

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.

MEXICO’S leftist party demanded yesterday that electoral officials recount every vote cast in the country’s closest presidential race ever, claiming the balloting was manipulated and renewing fears that its fiery candidate, Mr Lopez Obrador, could launch massive street protests.

Ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon declared victory in Mexico’s closest presidential race ever, saying today that his 370,000-vote lead was insurmountable.

Mexico’s presidential election was too close to call today, with voters bitterly divided between a left-wing offering himself as a saviour to the poor and a conservative free-trader both declaring themselves the winner.

MEXICANS were flocking to the polls yesterday to decide whether to elect a free-spending leftist who pledges to put the poor first or a conservative career politician who says private investment and free markets are the road to prosperity.