Mexican President Felipe Calderon says he will continue to use the military to fight drug cartels, despite criticism from Mexico's congress and a rights group.

Scientists this week begin the final leg of a five-year, NASA-funded mission to reach the bottom of Cenote Zacatón in Mexico, the world's deepest known sinkhole.

Mexico's conservative ruling party says it will ask the Supreme Court to review Mexico City's recent decision to allow first-trimester abortions in the capital.

The head of Colombia's anti-narcotics police says his nation will work more closely with Mexico against cartels trafficking drugs between the countries.

A Florida State University anthropologist has new evidence that ancient farmers in Mexico were cultivating an early form of maize, the forerunner of modern corn, about 7,300 years ago - 1,200 years earlier than scholars previously thought.

A top Mexican official says the new government plans to take action against the country's powerful drug cartels. Deputy Attorney General Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos says the goal is to greatly reduce the power of the cartels by the end of the six-year term of President Felipe Calderon. James Blears spoke with Mr. Santiago Vasconcelos about the government's plan and filed this report from Mexico City.

The recently discovered Cave of Crystals in Naica (Chihuahua, Mexico) contains some of the largest and most fascinating natural crystals ever found: transparent gypsum beams up to 11 meters long.

Mexico's state-owned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, better known as Pemex, celebrated its 69th birthday on March 18, amid concerns that it is on the brink of insolvency and its production is falling. As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Houston, Mexico, still has plenty of oil, but internal politics prevent the investment needed to develop the resources.

Intel Corporation today announced that Intel-powered classmate PCs are shipping in volume to emerging markets.

Senators from Mexico's largest leftist party have offered a bill to legalize abortion nationwide and Mexico's Roman Catholic church vowed an expanding battle against such measures.

Illegal immigration. About the only agreement in the vitriolic debate is that illegal immigration one of America's thorniest hot-button issues and will play a pivotal role in the 2008 presidential election. But right now, politicians are tap-dancing around the topic with few solutions. So the big question remains: is there a logical and humane solution that benefits the United States and Mexico?

A leading Mexican politician says the State Petroleum Company Pemex is in crisis and urgently needs to undergo radical change and modernization. James Blears in Mexico City reports for VOA.