MEXICO: The Mexican government has announced that it will not allow maverick politician Jorge Castaneda to run in next year's presidential election as the country's first independent candidate.
The decision appeared to end a seven-month crusade in which Mr Castaneda pleaded his case before the Supreme Court, the Federal Electoral Institute and finally the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Once Mexico's foreign secretary, Mr Castaneda announced last March his decision to run for president as an independent citizen. - (LA Times-Washington Post service)