A quake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale shook the south of the Baja California peninsula in northern Mexico on Monday, although no injuries or damage were reported.

A US expert on kidnappings was kidnapped in the northern Mexican town of Saltillo, after delivering a series of conferences on security, Mexican media reported Monday.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Thursday attended the funeral of some of the victims of Tuesday's airplane crash that killed 14 people, and promised a thorough investigation into the accident.

The Mexican public prosecutor's office on Thursday put forward two people who have been arrested as the alleged "material authors of the execution" of 24 men who were found last month in La Marquesa, a wooded area just outside Mexico City.

The Bank of Mexico used an additional 1.5 billion dollars to prop up the Mexican peso on Thursday, following a sharp depreciation in recent days.

With the latest intervention, Mexico's central bank has sold more than 10.8 billion dollars since last week.

The dollar is now worth more than 13 pesos, while it was worth some 11.2 pesos on October 1.

Mexico wants to host a small-scale version of the Olympic Summer Games in 2010 to celebrate the country's bicentenary, a high-ranking official said.

Jaques Rogge, chairman of the International Olympic Committee, authorized the event on Sunday, said Mario Vasquez Rana, president of the Pan American Sports Organization.

The category two hurricane Norbert lashed the west coast of Mexico Saturday, causing considerable damage along the Baja California peninsula.

The roofs of houses were blown off and electricity pylons ripped out in wind speeds of more than 200 kilometres per hour, the national weather service said.

Eleven people were killed and at least four others were injured when an unidentified armed group opened fire in a bar in the city of Chihuahua, capital of the northern Mexican state of the same name, the authorities said Friday.