In the first of a three-part investigation, Rory Carroll reports from the gateway to America, at the centre of drug cartel violence that has claimed 28,000 lives

The events which have no name scythe through the valley like invisible reapers. They slice east to west, west to east, a homicidal pendulum. No one sees anything.

The pair of human heads left in a coolbox on the corner of the plaza? A mystery. The 18 houses burnt in a single night? An enigma. The doctor and his family who disappeared? ...

Quake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale hits west of Christchurch, with residents reporting collapsed buildings

A powerful earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale struck New Zealand's South Island tonight.

The quake hit 19 miles west of Christchurch, on the south of the island, at 4.35am local time. It shook a wide area with some residents reporting collapsed buildings, bridges and power cuts.

Christchurch, which has a population of around 400,000 people, was also rocked with a series of ...

President Hamid Karzai's brother calls for US to guarantee deposits amid fears collapse would threaten police and army salaries

Officials in Afghanistan are resisting US pressure for a wide-ranging clean-up of Kabul Bank, which is mired in allegations of corruption that have engulfed some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the country.

The stand-off came as the bank's third-biggest shareholder, Mahmoud Karzai ? the elder brother of President Hamid Karzai ? called for a US bailout of ...

Iranian woman facing death for adultery to be whipped despite Times apologising for using picture of another person

Iran has reportedly sentenced Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani ? the 43-year-old Iranian woman who faces execution after being convicted of adultery ? to 99 lashes in prison for "spreading corruption and indecency" after allowing an unveiled picture of herself to be published in a British newspaper.

The claim, which could not be confirmed, comes from her family and a lawyer representing...

Delhi wants China to keep out of Kashmiri affairs, but it should focus on a deal that sees troops all on sides withdrawing

The claim that more than 7,000 Chinese troops have been handed "de facto control" of Gilgit-Baltistan, a northern part of Kashmir, by Islamabad, has set alarm bells ringing in Delhi. India ? which, like its nuclear-armed rival Pakistan, claims the entire state ? has long been worried that the People's Liberation Army was working on roads and railway projects in the Karakor...

Former prime minister attacked by anti-war protesters in Dublin as he promotes memoirs

Skirmishes broke out between protesters and police at the first public signing for Tony Blair's memoirs, with shoes and eggs hurled at the former prime minister.

Four men were arrested and charged with public order offences for their part in the protest this morning outside Eason's bookshop on O'Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland, which involved anti-war demonstrators and the Continuity IRA-aligned Republican ...

Photographs from the Guardian Eyewitness series

City's 400,000 residents told to stay indoors overnight to avoid danger of aftershocks after 7.1-magnitude quake

New Zealand police have imposed an overnight curfew in Christchurch following the powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck the country's South Island last night.

Police said the curfew was intended to protect the city's 400,000 people from falling debris, as the quake caused widespread damage to buildings, although there were few injuries reported.

City mayor Bob Parker declared ...

The White House is floating a new stimulus, though the Fed chief seemed to rule it out. But does he have any other tools?

Everyone was pretty glum about US GDP growth between March and June, when it was thought to be 2.4%. But due to the wonders of statistical revision, it now turns out that it was only 1.6%. Of course, those out of work do not care what the statistics say because they know exactly what the economy feels like to them now. All the same, these numbers are no doubt confirming peo...

We bring you a selection of the best images from around the world from the last 24 hours

? Khan: They should pull out until their names are cleared
? Pakistan's people feel 'extremely humiliated and angry'

Pakistan's former cricket captain Imran Khan has supported the International Cricket Council's decision to suspend the three players accused of taking part in a betting scam, and said he had never seen Pakistani people "so demoralised" by the events of recent weeks.

But he said if the players were found to be involved in betting on the timing of no balls rather than match-fixing t...

If Stephen Hawking was a boy again, what questions would he ask, and what would be the answer?

Imagine Stephen Hawking is reincarnated, and this time round his father is a philosopher. One day, when little Stephen is about five years old, they're sitting in the summer house with Fido, their pet dog. And Stephen asks one of those questions children love to repeat.

Daddy. Yes Stephen? Why is Fido? Well, Stephen, Fido had a mummy and daddy like you.

Yeah but, why is Fido? Err, you mean why is he a ...

Group to seek full inquest into 2003 death of scientist who cast doubt on government's claims over Iraq weapons

A group of doctors is making a fresh bid to force an inquest into the death of the weapons inspector David Kelly.

Legal papers are expected to be submitted to the attorney general, Dominic Grieve, by the end of next week, requesting his authorisation for the five doctors to go to the high court to seek a full inquest into the 2003 death of the scientist.

If Grieve refuses to grant the ...

As Turkey gets ready to vote on amendments, political wrangling means that the constitution will remain undemocratic at heart

On 12 September, Turks will vote on a set of constitutional amendments proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has been in power for eight years. Since the vote falls on the 30th anniversary of the 1980 military coup, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, is portraying the referendum as an opportunity to reject the military regime's legacy....

British man among victims after aircraft crashes on takeoff from Fox Glacier airport in South Island

Nine people, including a British man, have died in a aircraft crash in New Zealand.

The aircraft, carrying a party of skydivers and tourists, crashed and burst into flames shortly after takeoff from Fox Glacier airport on the west coast of the South Island, police said today.

A police spokesman said five New Zealanders were killed, including the pilot, and individuals from Australia, Ireland, Ger...

New Zealand quake injures 2
Chimneys and walls crumbled to the ground, roads cracked in half and residents were knocked off their feet as a powerful magnitude-7.1 earthquake rocked New Zealand's South Island early Saturday. The prime minister said it was a miracle no one was killed.
4 Sep 2010 at 8:23am

Weakened Earl hits Massachusetts
A weakened Earl has hit southeastern New England, bringing heavy rain and high winds to Cape Cod, Nantucket Island and Martha's Vineyard.
4 Sep 2010 at 12:05am

French protesters deride Roma crackdown
Thousands of people protest in Paris against new government security measures that include a crackdown on undocumented Roma migrants in France.
4 Sep 2010 at 11:26am

UPS cargo plane crashes near Dubai
A UPS cargo plane with two crew members on board crashed Friday outside Dubai, officials said, and there was no immediate word on casualties.
3 Sep 2010 at 3:19pm

Pakistani cricketers deny knowledge of match-fixing
The three Pakistani players suspended over allegations of fixing have denied they knew about any wrongdoing by the businessman at the centre of the scandal, according to the Pakistan Cricket Board's legal adviser.
4 Sep 2010 at 8:37am

BP removes Gulf well blowout preventer
The broken blowout preventer whose failure allowed millions of litres of crude oil to spew freely into the Gulf of Mexico has been removed from a well on the ocean floor.
3 Sep 2010 at 2:55pm

Castro's speech warns of nuclear danger
Former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has warned thousands of students at the historic University of Havana of what he believes is the world's looming nuclear threat.
3 Sep 2010 at 12:43pm

6 guilty in Portuguese child sex abuse case
A Portuguese court has found six men guilty of crimes relating to child sex abuse in a major trial that lasted nearly six years, a prosecution lawyer says.
3 Sep 2010 at 10:21pm

Pakistan suicide bombing kills 43
A suicide bombing at a Shia procession in the southwestern Pakistan city of Quetta kills at least 43 people.
3 Sep 2010 at 10:48am

Philippine bus hostage probe opens
The Philippine president took control of the national police Friday as disgraced senior officials acknowledged that serious lapses had led to the deaths of eight Hong Kong tourists who were taken hostage on a hijacked bus last week.
3 Sep 2010 at 5:31am

Mexican soldiers kill 25 in cartel raid
Mexican soldiers kill at least 25 suspected drug cartel members in a raid and gun battle in a Mexican state near the U.S. border that has become one of the most dangerous battlegrounds in the country's drug war.
3 Sep 2010 at 7:17am

Acid-throwing woman sought in Wash.
Police in Vancouver, Wash., are on the hunt for a woman who threw acid in the face of another woman outside a local Starbucks coffee shop on Monday.
3 Sep 2010 at 9:35pm

Netanyahu, Abbas return home to criticism
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from the resumption of Mideast negotiations in Washington to confront internal opposition, just as his Palestinian counterpart faced harsh criticism for agreeing to the talks at all.
3 Sep 2010 at 9:28am

Scientist released after Miami airport scare
A 70-year-old scientist detained after a metal canister was found in his luggage at Miami International Airport has been released without charges, a U.S. security official says.
3 Sep 2010 at 12:45pm

Russian wildfires kill 5
Five people have been killed and 400 houses set ablaze in the latest wave of the forest fires plaguing Russia, the Emergencies Ministry says.
3 Sep 2010 at 9:12am