World in brief: Court rejects Suu Kyi request

YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar’s highest court has rejected an appeal by lawyers of Aung San Suu Kyi to reinstate two key defense witnesses in a trial that has sparked global outrage.

The High Court on today upheld a lower court ruling, meaning Suu Kyi will be granted only two defense witnesses in her ongoing trial. She had wanted to have four witnesses in all.

The 64-year-old Nobel laureate is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest when an uninvited American man swam secretly to her lakeside home and stayed two days. Suu Kyi faces up to five years in prison if found guilty.

Suu Kyi is the leader of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement. She has been in detention for more than 13 of the last 19 years.

First couple losing power in elections

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentina’s first couple appeared to be losing a referendum on their political dominance Sunday, with early returns showing steep losses for their allies in Congress. Even former President Nestor Kirchner was trailing in a congressional race he launched in a bid to extend their power.

With 60 percent of the ballots counted, Kirchner – President Cristina Fernandez’s husband and predecessor – had 32.2 percent of the vote in his bid for a seat from Buenos Aires province.

Leading rival Francisco De Narvaez of the Union Pro alliance, a charismatic millionaire and sitting congressman who is part of a growing anti-Fernandez faction in the president’s Peronist party, was ahead with 34.7 percent.

Fernandez- and Kirchner-allied candidates also trailed in key races in the city of Buenos Aires and Cordoba and Santa Fe provinces.

“With these results … the ruling party would lose control of the Chamber of Deputies, and the Senate is also at risk,” analyst Rosendo Fraga told news channel Todo Noticias.

Mexico detains 93 police officers

MEXICO CITY – Mexican prosecutors announced Sunday they have put 93 police officers and investigators under house arrest on suspicion of aiding the Zetas, a feared gang of hit men tied to the Gulf drug cartel.

Corruption scandals have long plagued Mexican law enforcement, but the detentions represented one of the biggest single roundups of suspected officers in recent years.

The attorney general’s office said those detained included police officers and officials from state, federal and local forces assigned to the central state of Hidalgo, as well as one civilian government employee there.

The men allegedly protected and cooperated with the Zetas, a gang founded by deserters from an elite army unit.

The office said in a statement that investigations suggested the detainees were on the Zetas’ payroll, with payments of as much as 3 million pesos ($225,000) a month. It was unclear if that was paid to each detainee, or all as a lump sum.

The suspects have not yet been charged, and can be held for up to 40 days pending investigation.

Elsewhere Sunday, police in the border city of Tijuana reported they found the bodies of two men shot to death lying in streets. The city, just south of San Diego, has been one of the major scenes of drug-related violence that has claimed more than 10,800 lives across Mexico since late 2006.