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Families of 43 missing Mexican students have led mass protests in Mexico City demanding action from the government to find them.

The families from Guerrero State arrived in Mexico City after touring the country.

The students, all trainee teachers, went missing after attending a protest in Iguala, Guerrero State.

Many remain unconvinced by the official explanation that the students were murdered by a drugs gang.

Forensic tests are being carried out on bodies found in mass graves in the state.

The mayor of Iguala Jose Luis Abarca has been arrested facing accusations that he ordered police to confront the students on the day of their disappearance on September 26.

In the past decade, more than 100,000 people have been killed and 27,000 have disappeared in Mexico in the last decade.

Thousands of people took part in three protest marches in the capital, which started at 17:00 local time.

Many thousands converged on Mexico City’s main square, or Zocalo.

Several hundred protesters gathered near the presidential palace, where police tried to push them back using water cannon.

The protest itself was peaceful with only small groups of protesters throwing bottles and fireworks at the presidential palace.

In violence near Mexico City’s international airport before the marches began, some 200 hooded protesters threw rocks and petrol bombs at police officers who had been trying to disperse them.

Demonstrators have also called for a nationwide strike. Protests also took place in other parts of Mexico and abroad.

The abduction has galvanized opposition to rampant political corruption and violence.

President Enrique Pena Nieto has accused some of the protesters of trying to “destabilize” the state.

Analysts say the issue is the biggest challenge Enrique Pena Nieto has faced in his two years of office.

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A 6.4-magnitude earthquake has hit Mexico, causing buildings to sway in the capital, Mexico City.

According to the US Geological Survey, the earthquake was centered near the town of Tecpan de Galeana in southern Guerrero state, about 190 miles south-west of Mexico City.

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake has hit Mexico, causing buildings to sway in the capital

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake has hit Mexico, causing buildings to sway in the capital

The earthquake was also felt in the resort city of Acapulco, the Associated Press says.

There are no reports of any damage or injuries but frightened office workers ran into the streets in the capital.

Mexico lies on top of three continental plates and is regularly shaken by tremors.

Finance Minister Luis Videgaray was mid-speech at the National Palace in Mexico City when the latest quake struck, Reuters reports.

“I think we’d better take a pause if you don’t mind,” the news agency quoted him as saying.

The quake had a depth of 15 miles.

The US Geological Survey downgraded the magnitude from an earlier figure of 6.8.

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A 7.2-magnitude earthquake has hit Mexico City, shaking buildings for at least 30 seconds and causing widespread panic.

The quake was registered at a depth of 15 miles, according to the US Geological Survey.

Its epicenter was in the western state of Guerrero, near the seaside resort of Acapulco.

A 7.2-magnitude earthquake has hit Mexico City, shaking buildings for at least 30 seconds and causing widespread panic

A 7.2-magnitude earthquake has hit Mexico City, shaking buildings for at least 30 seconds and causing widespread panic (photo AP)

There are no reports of casualties or significant damage, but frightened residents across the Mexican capital fled their homes as the tremor began.

The earthquake was felt in several southern and western Mexican states at 09:27 local time.

Windows were broken and trees fell in Chilpancingo, capital of Guerrero.

In Acapulco, where many tourists were enjoying the Easter holiday, there were scenes of panic.

Mexico lies on top of three continental plates and is regularly shaken by tremors.

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Gabriel Garcia Marquez has left a Mexico City hospital after being treated for a lung and urinary tract infection.

The winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature, who is 87, was admitted to hospital on March 31.

A spokeswoman there said Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s health remained fragile because of his age.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is considered one of the greatest Spanish-language authors of all time, best known for his masterpiece of magic realism, A Hundred Years of Solitude.

The 1967 novel has sold more than 30 million copies around the world.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is considered one of the greatest Spanish-language authors of all time

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is considered one of the greatest Spanish-language authors of all time

“His condition is delicate due to his age. He will recover at home,” said Jaqueline Pineda, spokeswoman of the National Medical Sciences and Nutrition Institute where the author was being treated.

The Colombian writer, who has lived in Mexico for more than 30 years, made few public appearances in recent years.

Two years ago, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s younger brother admitted publicly for the first time that the author was suffering from dementia and had stopped writing.

Jaime Garcia Marquez said that Gabo, as his brother is affectionately known, often phoned to ask basic questions.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s other novels include Love in the Time of Cholera, Chronicle of a Death Foretold and the The General in His Labyrinth.

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Riot police have clashed with striking teachers during an operation to clear an occupied Mexico City square.

The police used tear gas and water cannons to remove the protesters from the city’s main square, the Zocalo.

Striking teachers had been camped out there for weeks. Some responded with petrol bombs as police moved in after a government deadline passed.

The teachers have been demanding changes to education reforms approved by President Enrique Pena Nieto.

The authorities said they wanted to clear the Zocalo for the Independence Day celebrations at the weekend.

Riot police have clashed with striking teachers during an operation to clear occupied Mexico City’s Zocalo Square

Riot police have clashed with striking teachers during an operation to clear occupied Mexico City’s Zocalo Square

Most of the protesters left peacefully by Friday’s deadline. But some stayed on, and police backed by armored vehicles and helicopters clashed with missile-throwing protesters on the square and in nearby streets.

Officers tore down the teachers’ temporary shelters and put out small fires started by the demonstrators and made a number of arrests.

Some of the demonstrators were thought to be radical anti-government activists who were not necessarily associated with the teachers union.

The educations reforms introduced by the government include performance-related tests for teachers.

Critics accuse Mexico’s teachers’ unions of being corrupt and having too much control over job allocation.

Last week, thousands of its members protested outside the Senate in an attempt to disrupt the passing of the bill, which had already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies.

The government has argued that union control over teaching jobs has contributed to corruption, which has seen poorly trained teachers promoted over more qualified colleagues.

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At least 25 people were killed by a blast in Mexico City at the headquarters of the state oil company, Pemex, the interior minister has said.

Another 100 people were injured and an unknown number are trapped in rubble at the base of the 54-storey tower. The search for survivors continues.

The cause of the blast is under investigation, Pemex says.

Last September, 30 people died in an explosion at a Pemex gas plant in northern Mexico.

Thursday’s explosion in the lower floors of the building happened as shifts were changing in the afternoon, making the area particularly crowded.

Television pictures showed debris from the blast spread out on to the street in front of the building, and Red Cross ambulances on the scene attending to the injured.

Hundreds of rescuers helped by dogs are searching the building for around 30 people thought to be trapped inside.

Police have cordoned off the streets around the building, which is located in a busy commercial area of Mexico City.

Pemex says its operations will continue to run normally – and commercial and financial obligations will continue to be met – despite the blast.

The company’s chief executive, Emilio Lozoya Austin, cut short a business trip to Asia and was on his way back to Mexico, a Pemex statement said.

At least 25 people were killed by a blast in Mexico City at the headquarters of the state oil company, Pemex

At least 25 people were killed by a blast in Mexico City at the headquarters of the state oil company, Pemex

Relatives of employees have gathered outside the building in search of information about their loved ones, local media report. Some are said to have tried to reach employees on their mobile phones but have had no reply.

“The place shook, we lost power and suddenly there was debris everywhere. Colleagues were helping us out of the building,” eyewitness Cristian Obele said.

“We were talking and all of sudden we heard an explosion with white smoke and glass falling from the windows,” another witness said.

“People started running from the building covered in dust. A lot of pieces were flying.”

Images of the blast posted on Twitter revealed large clouds of smoke billowing from the building. TV footage showed people being transported from the scene by helicopters.

President Enrique Pena Nieto and Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera headed to the scene of the blast.

Enrique Pena Nieto said Pemex rescue and security teams were working alongside city authorities to help the injured.

“I am deeply sorry for the deaths of our fellow workers at Pemex. My condolences to their relatives,” President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Twitter.

“At the moment, the priority is to help the injured and protect the physical safety of those who work there.”

The president said he has ordered an investigation into the causes of the blast.

Earlier on Thursday, Pemex had reported problems with the electricity in the building in a message on Twitter.

It later confirmed that an explosion had taken place “in the B2 building of the administrative centre”.

Plaster had fallen from the ceiling of the basement and the situation was “delicate”, a spokesman for local emergency services was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.

Pemex has experienced a number of fatal accidents in recent years.

Last September’s deadly blast at a gas plant near the northern town of Reynosa is thought to have been caused by a build-up of gas.

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Tens of thousands of people in Mexico City are marching against the result of the presidential election, which was won by Enrique Pena Nieto.

The demonstrators, who are not necessarily linked to any particular party, say the vote was not fair.

They accuse Enrique Pena Nieto’s party, the PRI, of buying votes; some carried banners saying “Not another fraud”.

Enrique Pena Nieto, who was declared the winner after a recount of nearly half the votes, denies the allegation.

The second-placed candidate in Mexico’s presidential election, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has said he will mount a legal challenge to the result.

Tens of thousands of people in Mexico City are marching against the result of the presidential election, which was won by Enrique Pena Nieto

Tens of thousands of people in Mexico City are marching against the result of the presidential election, which was won by Enrique Pena Nieto

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would prove that illicit money was used to buy votes in the 1 July poll and secure the victory of centrist candidate Enrique Pena Nieto, who denies this.

Six years ago, after losing the presidential election by a narrow margin, the left-wing Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador led weeks of protests that caused disruption in central areas of Mexico City.

Enrique Pena Nieto was confirmed the winner on Friday after a final recount, with 38.21% to Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s 31.59%.

Third-placed Josefina Vazquez Mota, from the right-wing National Action Party, has admitted defeat.

There is a broad spread of people, not necessarily from the left, who feel that votes in their parts of Mexico were tampered with.

But Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, of the Party of the Democratic Revolution, said the election had been fraudulent and that he would file an appeal next week.

He accuses the party of Enrique Pena Nieto, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, of paying for votes using gift cards for a supermarket chain.

Numerous videos have emerged of people claiming they received credit in exchange for voting for the PRI.

The party governed Mexico for 71 years until it was defeated in the 2000 presidential poll.

 

A large earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 struck near Acapulco on Mexico’s Pacific coast on Tuesday, sending terrified workers and residents running into the streets and damaging an estimated 800 homes.

According to United States Geological Survey (USGS), the quake had a magnitude of 7.4 and put the epicentre at 15 miles (25 km) east of Ometepec, in Guerrero state.

Witnesses in the capital, Mexico City, said the tremor sent office workers rushing out onto the streets.

An estimated of 800 houses were damaged in Guerrero and Oaxaca states.

Guerrero’s governer Angel Aguirre told Milenio television that so far there were no casualties in Guerrero state or nearby Oaxaca state, adding that authorities were checking schools and public buildings near Ometepec.

The director of the country’s seismological service, Carlos Valdes Gonzalez, said that there had already been some six aftershocks and further ones could be expected in the next 24 hours.

Carlos Valdes Gonzalez said one of the aftershocks had already registered a magnitude of 5.3.

A large earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 struck near Acapulco on Mexico's Pacific coast on Tuesday

A large earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 struck near Acapulco on Mexico's Pacific coast on Tuesday

A pedestrian bridge reportedly collapsed and crushed a microbus in Mexico City, but there were still no reports of deaths.

Office workers and residents were sent running into the streets in wealthy districts and poor neighborhoods alike.

Samantha Rodriguez, a 37-year old environmental consultant, was evacuated from the 11th floor of an office block.

“I thought it was going to pass rapidly but the walls began to thunder and we decided to get out,” she said.

Sirens could be heard across the city, and police helicopters are crisscrossing the skies.

“I swear I never felt one so strong, I thought the building was going to collapse,” said Sebastian Herrera, 42, a businessman from a neighborhood hit hard in Mexico’s devastating 1985 earthquake, which killed thousands.

Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard’s Twitter account said the water system and other “strategic services” were not experiencing problems and no damage was reported in the central or northern areas of the city.

Mobile phone networks have been affected, our correspondent says, and people have had trouble contacting their loved ones.

Gabino Cue, the governor of Oaxaca state, next to Guerrero state, said via Twitter that the quake had caused cracks in school buildings and damaged roofs in one part of the state.

The USGS said the epicentre was 11 miles (18 km) underground.

The US president’s daughter, 13-year-old Malia Obama, was on a school trip in Oaxaca, south-western Mexico. A White House official said she was safe and had never been in danger.

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