The tough U.S. anti-bribery law that Wal-Mart may have violated in Mexico has ensnared leading companies from virtually every sector of the economy, as federal prosecutors increasingly punish firms for transgressions such as giving foreign officials computers and shopping bags of cash and improperly accounting for such expenditures in company records. Read full article > >

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With top firms facing investigation, wrangling over anti-bribery law rages on

Can President Obama win in Arizona this fall? It’s a question of considerable debate among top strategists for both parties. And the answer is not insignificant when it comes to the electoral map , either. Arizona will award 13 electoral votes in November, the largest prize of any of the southwestern states — including Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado — expected to be seriously contested this fall. Read full article > >

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Can Obama win Arizona and its 13 electoral votes?

It wasn’t too hard for the Fish and Wildlife Service to decide the fate of 92 freshwater snails, or 17 dragonflies or, indeed more than 500 species over the past year. But when it comes to the dunes sagebrush lizard , trouble looms. Read full article > >

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Endangered species truce hangs in the balance

MEXICO CITY — In a bold public display of the gang violence sweeping across northern Mexico, residents in the border city of Nuevo Laredo awoke at dawn Friday to find nine corpses of men and women hanging from a bridge at a busy intersection just a 10-minute drive from Texas. Read full article > >

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In Nuevo Laredo, 23 corpses found on grisly day in Mexican drug-cartel war

Fourteen decapitated bodies are discovered in Nuevo Laredo in northern Mexico, hours after nine bodies were found hanging from a bridge.

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More bodies found in Mexico town

Chefs with Issues is a platform for chefs and farmers we love, fired up for causes about which they're passionate. Patricia Jinich is chef at the Mexican Cultural Institute. She also hosts “Pati’s Mexican Table” on National Public Television and blogs at Pati's Mexican Table. I was born and raised in Mexico City, in a family where every taco happens to be, as my dad boasts, “the best taco you’ve ever had in your entire life.” That is, until you eat the next one. Living in the US, I am often dismayed at how my home country is portrayed in the media. For some, it’s easy to just write off the entire country as dangerous and riddled with cartel violence. As a former political analyst, I am not in denial about the hurdles my country faces, but the Mexico illustrated in some news reports is certainly not the Mexico I know and love – nor is it the Mexico experienced by the  22.67 million international tourists that visited last year. Cooking, eating and sharing Mexican food has helped me and my Mexican-American boys connect with our heritage. Plus, I truly believe that its warm, generous, colorful cuisine has the power to make Americans fall in love with Mexico – one bite at a time. Unlike my three older sisters, I did not join the food world early on. Labeled “the intellectual” in the family, I studied to become a political analyst and delved into Mexico’s history, leaving tacos for mealtime. It wasn’t until I was married and living in Texas that my interest in Mexican food grew beyond my plate. I became hungrier for the food and culture that nurtured my childhood. I started cooking at home; it was the best way I knew how to take care of my husband, and later my boys.  Saucy huevos rancheros on late morning weekends, steaming tamales when we had friends over, soothing caldo de pollo when they got sick, panqu é marmoleado to finish with something sweet, aguas frescas to freshen our meals. I began my hunt for Mexican ingredients, which as the years moved on, became increasingly available as the American appetite grew for a wider Mexican food experience. Eventually, I traded my policy papers for cooking pots. As a chef at the Mexican Cultural Institute , where I direct and teach a Mexican Culinary Program, I embrace the opportunity to share Mexico’s rich culture and diverse cuisine. In fact, it is so rich and unique it has UNESCO world heritage status. When my students, TV show viewers and American friends raise the inevitable questions about traveling to Mexico, I point to my own experience traveling with my young family. Each time we’ve returned to Mexico, I delightfully find the Mexico that I know. Overall and underneath, there is a country and culture that is just like its food: incredibly rich, colorful, genuine, giving and accommodating. Just like a luscious mole sauce , with subtle layers of warmth, comfort, ease and hospitality. Together, we have ridden the entire Copper Canyon route, sampling our way from Los Mochis in Sinaloa to Chihuahua, where the cook of a local restaurant drove us in the back of her wagon to the hotel as our littlest one fell asleep. We’ve eaten such tasty freshly made gorditas in the train stops that, to this day, I hear complaints about how we need to go back for those exact same ones. We almost missed the train as I chased after the fresh fruit cart man, who quickly opened sweet ripe mangoes and topped them with fresh lime juice, salt and ground pequin chile, because it is better to miss the train than to eat the mango without the whole works. In a market in Merida, we were invited into a stranger’s kitchen to learn the secret to the perfect achiote recado, the paste that has uniquely seasoned countless dishes in the Yucatan for centuries. The sweetest Purepecha cook taught the boys how to work the Michoacán black clay into the cutest mugs and cups, so that the cook's aunt could show me how to prepare corundas (similar to tamales) in her own kitchen. It’s our culture to feed the people we love, and share it with those who are interested in exploring it. As varied as the places I’ve been throughout the country, they all share an eclectic and wonderful mix of centuries-old traditions with a weaving of the new and modern. Mexicans are natural hosts – they will do everything they can to make you feel at home in their country and in their homes. We will place our own plates in front of you, if you happen to be hungry. This warmth and openness really sets Mexico apart as a tourist destination. The travel and tourism industry is crucial to Mexico. It’s the source of jobs, opportunities and tremendous pride for millions of people. When you read certain headlines, please take your margarita with more than a grain of salt; what you read in the news is not necessarily gospel. Mexico is a vast, beautiful and diverse country. The overwhelming majority of incidents have taken place in the border areas, more than a two-hour flight from popular tourist destinations like Los Cabos or the Riviera Maya – and cartel-related incidents targeted at tourists are incredibly rare, virtually unheard of. If you open your mind and your heart you will find a Mexico that is as warm, vibrant and as nurturing as the food itself. The more I savor Mexico, the more I realize how much more I have yet to taste, to travel, to see, to learn and to share. In fact, I think experiences of Mexico are just like tacos – you think you’ve had the best one ever, until you try the next.

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Chefs with Issues: The Mexico I know

Alleges bribery in Mexico.

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Calif. Pension Fund Sues Walmart

Click to watch video For more on CNN's investigation of September's historic and deadly Listeria outbreak watch “CNN Presents” this Sunday at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET on CNN. On a sunny morning early last September, Susanna Gaxiola fed her husband a healthy breakfast of fresh cantaloupe in their Albuquerque, New Mexico, home. Her husband, Rene, a Pentecostal pastor and minister, had been fighting a rare blood cancer and he was eating fresh cantaloupe and other fruit daily. Around the same time, Paul Schwarz ate fresh cantaloupe in his home in Independence, Missouri. Though 92 years old, Schwarz was still active and healthy, and ate fresh fruit often. And Dr. Mike Hauser, a podiatrist, also ate fresh cantaloupe with his family in Monument, Colorado. Hauser, 68, had been fighting myeloma, a blood cancer, but he was recovering well, even planning a bow-hunting trip in the mountains. Within days or weeks of eating the cantaloupe, all three men became horribly sick, and all eventually died painful deaths. Their deaths were directly caused by the cantaloupe, which was contaminated with the deadly bacteria Listeria, according to health officials. Read – Third-deadliest U.S. food outbreak was preventable, experts say

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Deadly Listeria outbreak was preventable

Click to watch video For more on CNN's investigation of September's historic and deadly Listeria outbreak watch “CNN Presents” this Sunday at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET on CNN. On a sunny morning early last September, Susanna Gaxiola fed her husband a healthy breakfast of fresh cantaloupe in their Albuquerque, New Mexico, home. Her husband, Rene, a Pentecostal pastor and minister, had been fighting a rare blood cancer and he was eating fresh cantaloupe and other fruit daily. Around the same time, Paul Schwarz ate fresh cantaloupe in his home in Independence, Missouri. Though 92 years old, Schwarz was still active and healthy, and ate fresh fruit often. And Dr. Mike Hauser, a podiatrist, also ate fresh cantaloupe with his family in Monument, Colorado. Hauser, 68, had been fighting myeloma, a blood cancer, but he was recovering well, even planning a bow-hunting trip in the mountains. Within days or weeks of eating the cantaloupe, all three men became horribly sick, and all eventually died painful deaths. Their deaths were directly caused by the cantaloupe, which was contaminated with the deadly bacteria Listeria, according to health officials. Read – Third-deadliest U.S. food outbreak was preventable, experts say

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Deadly Listeria outbreak was preventable

The fifth of May is once again upon us; crunch time is on the horizon. Contrary to what some people think, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day. It, instead, celebrates when a much smaller Mexican army defeated the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Since then, Americans have loosely translated said victory into a celebration of Mexican culture – and an excuse to stuff themselves like a piñata with molcajetes of guacamole and pitcher after pitcher of ice-cold margaritas. We're not going to argue with that translation – and are here to help. Shake up your fiesta with a little help from our experts: Five misconceptions about Mexican cuisine Five offbeat/unique taco fillings Don't get too schmancy with your margarita Five refreshing tequila cocktails to sip this summer Five things you should look for in a great tequila Cinco ways to spice up your Cinco de Mayo fiesta Five myths about Mexican food Out of the fryer and into the salsa bowl The inside scoop on homemade tortilla chips Micheladas across the parking lot iReport: Street food of Mexico A long-simmering rivalry in Los Angeles: mole Podcast – Out to Lunch: Tacos beyond the box and Bell Eva Longoria's guacamole

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All the fixings for a festive fiesta

A scandal involving Wal-Mart’s Mexican subsidiary is giving critics of the company new reasons to push to block its expansion into big American cities.

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Wal-Mart Bribery Scandal Complicates U.S. Expansion Plans

In 1992, the acquittal of white police officers in the Rodney King beating inflamed racial tensions in South Los Angeles, a center of black culture. Today, Latinos are the majority.

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In South Los Angeles, a Changed Complexion Since the Riots

Studies have found that corruption is a $114 billion detriment to the nation, but many accept paying off officials as the way to get things done.

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Memo From Mexico City: Bribery Tolerated Even as It Hurts Mexican Economy

Decades of increasing Mexico-US immigration have come to an end, a report says, citing tough border control and economic conditions in both nations.

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Mexico-US migration on the slide

A four-decade tidal wave of Mexican immigration to the United States has receded, causing a historic shift in migration patterns as more Mexicans appear to be leaving the United States for Mexico than the other way around, according to a report from the Pew Hispanic Center. Read full article > >

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For first time since Depression, more Mexicans leave U.S. than enter