■MEXICO
Horses, watchman drown
A watchman and at least 50 horses drowned after heavy rain flooded an equestrian club in Mexico City, rescue services said on Tuesday. Two other people also died in overnight storms, media reports said. The 71-year-old watchman drowned at the La Barranca club as he tried to rescue the horses. In a night of fierce storms, a 13-year-old boy died after being swept away by a current as he crossed an avenue in Ecatapec, while a man died after being swept away in a stream in Zacatecas State, press reports said.
■EGYPT
Hotel serves alcohol again
Cairo’s Grand Hyatt hotel is serving alcohol again after a compromise was reached between the international management company and the Saudi owner who declared it a dry venue earlier this year. The owner’s decision in April to follow Islam’s ban on alcohol at one of the city’s swankiest tourist landmarks shocked many in the country’s tourism industry. All of Cairo’s international hotel chains serve alcohol. Cairo Grand Hyatt spokeswoman Sally Khattab said on Tuesday that the Hyatt company reached a compromise with Sheik Abdelaziz al-Brahim that alcohol could be served in a restaurant at the top of the hotel. The revolving restaurant at the top of the hotel will be managed by a subsidiary of Hyatt Hotels.
■ROMANIA
Police deploy in south
Police have deployed about 600 officers in a southern city where a gang leader was killed in a poker game. Police spokeswoman Florentina Popescu said officers were sent to Craiova to keep rival gangs apart after 41-year-old Mihai Parvu was shot early on Tuesday by another poker player over suspicions of cheating. Another man suffered stab wounds in the altercation and is reported in stable condition. Parvu died in a hospital west of Bucharest. Dozens of rival gang members gathered outside the building. There have been several clashes in Craiova between members of the underworld.
■COLOMBIA
Top police officer resigns
A police general resigned on Tuesday after prosecutors started investigating suspected ties between regional law enforcement officials and a cocaine ring. The scandal has underscored the struggle the country faces to stamp out cocaine corruption after the interior minister’s brother lost his job as a regional prosecutor over the probe into ties to wanted drug trafficker Daniel “Don Mario” Rendon. Police General Marco Antonio Pedreros, who commanded police in four provinces, stepped down after his name appeared in excerpts from tapes a local magazine said were contacts between Rendon and the Antioquia prosecutor’s office.



