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.

FELIPE Calderon became president-elect of Mexico yesterday, two months after disputed elections, when the nation’s top electoral court voted unanimously to reject allegations of fraud and certify his narrow victory.

In a move designed to win over support for US immigration reform from get-tough conservatives, President George Bush is to announce a plan to send thousands of National Guard troops to help secure the Mexican border.

Latin American leaders head for a meeting with the European Union this week amid disputes that threaten some of the Western Hemisphere’s political and trade alliances.

Today has been set aside for immigrants in the US to boycott work, school and shopping to show how much they matter to their communities. But with some growing tired of street protests, and others afraid they’ll be deported or fired for walking out, people are planning to support the effort in myriad ways.

The Mexican government promised justice for British pop singer Kirsty MacColl today the night after U2 dedicated a song to her in a concert in the Mexican city of Monterrey.

The once-huge throngs of tourists desperate to leave Mexico’s Caribbean coast have diminished in the wake of what Mexican insurance companies described as probably the country’s most costly disaster ever.

TROOPS and federal police moved in yesterday to quell looting at stores and shopping centres ripped open by Hurricane Wilma, while hunger and frustration mounted among residents and tourists stranded in one of Mexico’s most prosperous resorts.

Hurricane Wilma inched toward Florida today as winds and rain continued to whip Mexico's devastated Caribbean coast.

Punishing winds and rain pummelled the Mexican island of Cozumel early today and Cancun braced for the brunt of Wilma’s wrath as the massive hurricane inched toward Mexico’s resort-studded coastline, where thousands of stranded tourists took refuge in shelters and hotel ballrooms.

Desperate tourists, trapped after Mexico’s Cancun airport closed, shuttled from luxury hotels to emergency shelters ahead of Hurricane Wilma, which forecasters say is growing stronger.

Hurricane Wilma weakened slightly as it roared toward Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula and southern Florida today, leaving at least 12 people dead in its wake and forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands in coastal areas from Honduras to the Florida Keys.

Hurricane Emily stranded thousands of tourists along Mexico’s luxurious Mayan Riviera and left hundreds of local residents homeless yesterday, forcing many to remain in crowded, leaky shelters.

For weeks, no one came forward to apply for the Nuevo Laredo police chief job in Mexico because many saw it as a death sentence.

Eager to capitalise on Iraq’s elections, President George Bush continued to press fellow world leaders today to support the new Baghdad government being formed after Sunday’s voting.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has signed a petition condemning anti-Semitism and its resurgence and calling for the UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution denouncing anti-Jewish acts.

HUNDREDS of thousands of people have held a rally in Mexico City to protest against kidnappings and violent crime.

A flash flood swept through a northern Mexican city, killing at least 31 people caught in the path of an overflowing river, forcing hundreds into shelters, and damaging homes and cars.

THREE British cavers trapped underground by rising water since March 17 were pulled to safety last night, but a row rumbled on as the rescue continued in Mexico.

The cancellation of British Airways flight BA223 from Heathrow to Washington was caused by a “real and definite threat”, a defence expert warned today.

British Airways security officials are deciding today whether to operate its afternoon flight to Washington after cancelling yesterday’s service because of fears over security.

VICENTE RODRIGUEZ sat beside his mother’s coffin, barely noticing the crews noisily shovelling away the remains of homes levelled by an earthquake that killed at least 25 people in Mexico.

Relatives today mourned at least 25 people who died when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked western and central Mexico.

At least 19 people were killed when a strong earthquake shook west-central Mexico sending panicked residents spilling into the streets of major cities and knocking out power to many areas, officials said today.

THOUSANDS of Americans took to the streets at the weekend to oppose a war on Iraq, but the Bush administration stood firm and said it was time for the United Nations to act not debate.

With an embroidered Indian stole draped over his shoulders, a seemingly invigorated Pope John Paul II beatified two Mexican Indian martyrs and bade an emotional farewell to a nation that embraced him as an adoptive father.

Around 120 state and city police officers have been arrested in Mexico in a lightning swoop believed to be part of President Vicente Fox’s crackdown on drug smuggling and police corruption.

A judge in Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas has released six paramilitary members convicted of taking part in the 1997 massacre of 45 rebel sympathisers, sparking fear among refugees who had fled the bloodbath.

The Pentagon on Saturday dubbed the U.S. military's increased role in homeland defense and support for civil authorities "Operation Noble Eagle."

An Oklahoma state appeals court has ordered an indefinite halt to the execution of a Mexican national whose case drew appeals from Mexican President Vicente Fox.

Tony Blair has arrived in Mexico for the first state visit to the country by a British prime minister.