By Daniel Trotta

(Reuters) – U.S. traffic deaths rose 9 percent in the first half of 2012 compared with the same period last year, breaking a 5-year downward trend, according to preliminary data that experts cannot yet explain.

Road accidents killed 16,290 people from January through June, the most since 2009, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a preliminary report that does not examine causes.

, June 22 (Reuters) – The Massachusetts
Turnpike carves its way west from Boston through the upland
hills and small towns of western Massachusetts, an area hard-hit
by the recent recession. It is here that some of the biggest
names in casino gambling are laying down fortunes in hopes of
reaping big payoffs, while local supporters and antagonists gird
for a showdown.

Massachusetts is but the latest state to bet on gambling as
a salve for its wounded economy. Before the first blackjack is
dealt or the first patron craps out, the municipalities in which
the gaming companies hope to set up shop will have their say.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A recount on Thursday showed Mexico’s Enrique Pena Nieto as the clear winner of Sunday’s presidential election, but the runner-up still refused to concede, alleging Pena Nieto’s party bought millions of votes.

The results set up a return to power for the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which governed Mexico from 1929 to 2000, when it was frequently accused of vote-rigging.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Opposition front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto won last Sunday’s presidential election as expected, but he emerged with a narrower margin than had been forecast, complicating his chances of pushing through reforms.

Following are the main political risks to watch in Mexico.

ELECTION

Pena Nieto, the new face of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, won more than 38 percent of the vote, about 6.5 percentage points ahead of his nearest rival, leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican opposition candidate Enrique Pena Nieto’s campaign team claimed victory in the country’s presidential election on Sunday after exit polls showed him winning by a comfortable margin.

Pena Nieto, 45, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), led by between 8 and 11 percentage points in exit polls published by three of Mexico’s main television networks after voting ended on Sunday night.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Opposition candidate Enrique Pena Nieto is seen winning Mexico’s presidential election by a comfortable margin and restoring to power the party that ruled for much of the 20th century, according to three exit polls.

Pena Nieto, 45, led by between 8 and 11 percentage points in exit polls released by three of Mexico’s main television networks after voting ended on Sunday night.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexicans vote for a new president on Sunday with the opposition party that dominated the country for most of the past century poised for a comeback after the ruling conservatives failed to provide strong growth or halt a brutal drugs war.

Twelve years after the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) lost power, polls show its candidate Enrique Pena Nieto heading into the vote with a double-digit lead over his opponents, despite lingering doubts about the party.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Accused of every dirty trick in the book during its 71-year grip on power in the 20th century, Mexico’s Institutional Revolutionary Party has bounced back and is on the verge of a dramatic victory in Sunday’s presidential election.

The PRI has seized on the anemic economic growth and rampant drug violence plaguing Mexico under the ruling conservatives and is promising to restore order and make voters better off if it returns to office after a 12-year hiatus.

, June 22 (Reuters) – The Massachusetts
Turnpike carves its way east from Boston through the upland
hills and small towns of western Massachusetts, an area hard-hit
by the recent recession. It is here that some of the biggest
names in casino gambling are laying down fortunes in hopes of
reaping big payoffs, while local supporters and antagonists gird
for a showdown.

Massachusetts is but the latest state to bet on gambling as
a salve for its wounded economy. Before the first blackjack is
dealt or the first patron craps out, the municipalities in which
the gaming companies hope to set up shop will have their say.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – LeRoy Neiman, whose distinctive, vibrantly colored paintings of sports figures and athletic events made him as famous as many of the athletes he drew, died on Wednesday at age 91.

Neiman, a showman known for his handlebar mustache, sometimes painted live on television during major events such as the Olympics and the Super Bowl, helping make him one of the world’s most commercially successful contemporary artists.