World

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – The discovery in Mexico of almost $2 million cash in the luggage of a state government official has triggered a round of mud-slinging in the run-up to the presidential election in July.

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Bollywood stars better watch out. Movie fans in India are handing out their own version of the Razzies, the annual Oscars spoof that spotlights Hollywood’s worst performances.

PORT SAID, Egypt, (Reuters) – Seventy-four people were killed and at least 1,000 injured yesterday when Egyptian soccer fans staged a pitch invasion in the city of Port Said, the deadliest incident since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak from power.

KABUL, (Reuters) – The U.S. military said in a secret report that the Taliban, backed by Pakistan, are set to retake control of Afghanistan after NATO-led forces withdraw, raising the prospect of a major failure of Western policy after a costly war.

FREETOWN, (Reuters) – A vessel seized by Sierra Leone authorities for illegally fishing off the West African nation’s coast received funds from a British government development agency through an investment fund, officials said.

HOUSTON, (Reuters) – Allen Stanford funneled $2 billion of investor money from his offshore bank to pay operating expenses at his other companies, including money-losing airlines and his cricket concerns, a former Stanford Financial Group accountant said yesterday.

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Mexicans have been overcharged $13.4 billion a year for phone and internet services as the industry dominated by billionaire Carlos Slim gouges customers and keeps the economy from growing, a study released yesterday said.

AMMAN/UNITED NATIONS – Syrian government forces reasserted control of Damascus suburbs yesterday after beating back rebels at the capital’s gates, ahead of a push at the United Nations for a resolution calling for President Bashar al-Assad to give up powers.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United States and other Western countries called on the UN Security Council yesterday to end its “neglect” of the violence raging in Syria and rapidly endorse an Arab League plan for a political transition there.

LONDON (Reuters) – The world is running out of time to make sure there is enough food, water and energy to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population and to avoid sending up to 3 billion people into poverty, a U.N.

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan will press Pakistan for access to Taliban leaders during a one-day visit to Kabul by Pakistan’s foreign minister, with Afghan officials hoping to ease cross-border strains and lay the ground for peace negotiations with the insurgents.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Several American citizens have taken refuge in the US Embassy in Cairo amid a sharpening dispute between Washington and Egypt over US-funded pro-democracy groups in the country, the State Department said yesterday.

BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania’s top court gave former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase a two-year jail sentence for corruption yesterday, a landmark conviction in the graft-prone European Union country that has prosecuted few senior officials.

ROME (Reuters) – Hours after the Costa Concordia‘s captain had abandoned ship, and after helping dozens of passengers to safety, Carlos Garrone stripped off his clothes and plunged into the freezing waters off Giglio island and rescued a drowning fellow crew member.

HAVANA, (Reuters) – President Raul Castro defended Cuba’s one-party political system as a bulwark against U.S.

HIALEAH, Fla., (Reuters) – Republican Newt Gingrich struggled to halt surging rival Mitt Romney’s momentum on Sunday, accusing him of launching false attacks as polls showed Romney widening his lead two days before Florida’s presidential primary.

DAWEI, Myanmar,  (Reuters) – Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi called yesterday for changes to the military-drafted constitution, on her first political trip since ending a boycott of the country’s political system last year and announcing plans to run for parliament.

AMMAN, (Reuters) – Troops seized eastern suburbs of Damascus from rebels late yesterday, opposition activists said, after two days of fighting only a few kilometres from the centre of power of President Bashar al-Assad.

(Reuters) – Three members of an Afghan Canadian family were found guilty of the “honour killing” of three siblings and a fourth relative yesterday after a high-profile trial that has fascinated Canadians.

CAIRO/BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Arab League suspended its monitoring mission in Syria yesterday because of worsening violence, a move Damascus said was an attempt to draw foreign intervention as it struggles to quell a 10-month revolt against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.