Mexico, Central America | featured news

Police found the decapitated and dismembered bodies of 18 people near Mexico's second-largest city, Guadalajara, on Wednesday, in what appeared to be the latest atrocity by the country's most brutal drug cartel.

According to the media and Twitter frenzy, at least, the victor wasn't any candidate but a curvaceous model in a tight gown who puzzled millions by appearing on stage for less than 30 seconds during the showdown.

Mexico's presidential hopefuls square off in a televised debate on Sunday with the trailing candidates seeking to land heavy blows against hot favorite Enrique Pena Nieto to spoil his chances of victory in the July 1 election.

A moderate earthquake off the coast of Baja California is swaying buildings in Mexico City.

Claims that U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart used payoffs to speed zoning and other permits in its break-neck Mexican expansion are sparking soul-searching in Mexico, where crowded government offices are the working grounds of shadowy facilitators known as "gestores."

Forty-three people were killed and 18 injured Friday morning in a roadway crash involving a bus in the state of Veracruz, the governor's office said.

A strong earthquake struck a sparsely populated area in the mountains of western Mexico on Wednesday, and caused tall buildings to sway more than 200 miles away in Mexico City.

Tens of thousands of people gathered Sunday to attend the highlight of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to this violence-troubled country.

A Nuevo Leon state public security spokesman said the riot broke out in a high-security section of a prison in the city of Apodaca.

Two decapitated bodies were found at the entrance to one of Mexico's most luxurious shopping malls on Wednesday and prosecutors announced that more than 47,000 people have been killed in drug violence in the five years since President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown against drug cartels.