Official Gunmen shoot at US consulate in Mexico
Gunmen open fire on US consulate in Mexico
No Internet access for 911 defendants at Gitmo
Gunmen kill 6 at party in northern Mexico
Mexico offers reward in bar massacre investigation
Strong quake shakes Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico
Ex-volunteers angry at Peace Corps Bolivia pullout
USVI jury finds 3 guilty in killing of Pa. man
Colombia orders arrest of ex-general
Peru says 14 killed in Shining Path attack

By Guillermo Arias (AP)

U.S. National Hurricane Center officials said Sunday that after making landfall over mainland Mexico, Norbert has weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm.

Early Sunday morning Norbert made landfall over mainland Mexico as a Category 1 hurricane with winds near 85 mph (140 kph).

But the Miami-based center said those winds have weakened to near 60 mph (95 kph).

Forecasters say Norbert is expected to rapidly weaken to a tropical depression later Sunday morning.

At 5 a.m. Sunday, Norbert was about 140 miles (225 kilometers) southwest of Chihuahua, Mexico and was...

By Guillermo Arias (AP)

Hurricane Norbert made landfall over mainland Mexico early Sunday morning but is weakening, weather officials said.

The Category 1 hurricane's center made landfall about 25 miles southeast of Huatabampo around midnight Sunday with maximum winds near 85 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Since then, the hurricane's maximum winds have decreased to near 75 mph and that rapid weakening is likely as the hurricane moves over Mexico's mountainous terrain, the center said.

At 2 a.m. Sunday, it was moving toward the northeast near 21 mph, a general mo...

By Guillermo Arias (AP)

Hurricane Norbert barreled toward the Mexican mainland early Sunday after tearing off roofs and forcing hundreds of people to flee widespread flooding on the Baja California peninsula.

It hit land near Puerto Charley on Baja's southwest coast as a Category 2 hurricane, but weakened to Category 1 after emerging over the Gulf of California, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. Norbert was expected to reach mainland Mexico sometime before dawn.

Baja residents fled to shelters in school buses and army trucks as floodwaters rose in their homes. Winds uprooted...

By (AP)

A leftist governor says he has agreed to become the Peru's prime minister, a day after the nation's Cabinet resigned amid a brewing oil kickbacks scandal.

Yehude Simon says he will replace outgoing Jorge del Castillo in the position, which heads the president's Cabinet.

Simon told Peru's RPP radio Saturday that Foreign Minister Garcia Belaunde and Trade Minister Mercedez Araoz will stay on in their jobs as he builds a new, multiparty Cabinet.

The 61-year-old veterinarian served prison time for alleged links to leftist Tupac Amaru guerrillas.

He was pardoned in 20...

By Guillermo Arias (AP)

Hurricane Norbert has roared into Mexico's southern Baja California peninsula with torrential rains and screaming winds.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Norbert made landfall near Puerto Charley on the southwest coast of Baja California. It has winds of up to 105 miles (165 kph).

It is expected to sweep across a sparsely populated stretch of the peninsula, and then make a second landfall Saturday night in northwestern Mexico's mainland _ possibly as a hurricane.

Residents are fleeing to shelters as floodwaters rise in their homes. Winds are bending palm trees...

By Guillermo Arias (AP)

Scores of people fled flooded homes Saturday as Hurricane Norbert lashed Mexico's southern Baja California peninsula with torrential rains and screaming winds.

Norbert, with winds of up to 105 miles (165 kph), was expected to hit land along a sparsely populated stretch north of the resort of Cabo San Lucas and then make a second landfall Saturday night in northwestern Mexico's mainland _ possibly as a hurricane, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Residents fled to shelters as floodwaters rose in their homes. Winds bent palm trees and some streets were in knee-deep water...

By Eraldo Peres (AP)

In a matter of weeks, a Russian naval squadron will arrive in the waters off Latin America for the first time since the Cold War. It is already getting a warm welcome from some in a region where the influence of the United States is in decline.

"The U.S. Fourth Fleet can come to Latin America but a Russian fleet can't?" said Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa. "If you ask me, any country and any fleet that wants can visit us. We're a country of open doors."

The United States remains the strongest outside power in Latin America by most measures, including trade, military c...

By Guillermo Arias (AP)

Norbert bore down on Mexico's southern Baja California peninsula Saturday as powerful Category 2 hurricane, and hotels warned tourists to stay away from beaches as the skies darkened.

Norbert, with winds of up to 110 mph (155 kph), was expected to hit land along a relatively unpopulated stretch north of the resort of Cabo San Lucas and then make a second landfall Saturday night in northwestern Mexico's mainland _ possibly still as a hurricane, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Paula Lucero Aviles set out with six children and four other adults in a small fishing boat...

By Guillermo Arias (AP)

As Norbert bore down on Mexico's southern Baja California peninsula, it gathered strength overnight and was classified as a Category 3 hurricane early Saturday.

Officials from the National Hurricane Center in Miami say Norbert became better organized and has re-strengthened with winds of 115 mph.

The center says Norbert could even strengthen a little more before making landfall along the southwestern coast of Baja California later Saturday morning.

It also is expected to retain hurricane strength on its second landfall along the northwestern coast of mainland Mexico...

By (AP)

President Alan Garcia accepted the resignation of his entire Cabinet on Friday without naming replacements in response to an oil kickbacks scandal.

Garcia's government has been rocked by the public airing of audiotaped conversations discussing kickbacks for steering government contracts to Norwegian oil company Discover Petroleum. Discover denies any wrongdoing.

The president cleared out his Cabinet after already suspending the five oil contracts Discover won in a public auction last month and accepting resignations from his energy minister and the president of state oil...

By Andre Penner (AP)

Brazil's president said Friday that emerging market nations like Brazil must have a strong say in developing strict international rules for financial institutions.

Brazil and other developing countries "need to learn from this crisis to construct a new world economic order," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in a speech to Brazilian and American trade investment forum attended by U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.

Silva demanded tighter regulations for high risk investments in rich nations that he and many other leaders of developing market nations blame for ero...

By The Trinidad Express (AP)

A man was arrested Friday as a suspect in the slaying of a Swedish couple who were found hacked to death in their home in a tourist district of the normally placid southern Caribbean island of Tobago.

The suspect, 32, was detained because he resembles a man seen leaving the home of the Swedish couple before the attack, which happened Thursday, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Fitzroy Frederick.

Authorities have not charged the suspect and investigators were still collecting DNA and other evidence at the crime scene, Frederick said.

Robbery appeared to be the motive...

By Andre Penner (AP)

The booming prices for Venezuelan oil, Brazilian soy beans and Chilean copper that brought prosperity to Latin America are heading for a bust that threatens to erode the hard-won gains of its poor and newly emerging middle class.

The global financial meltdown is cooling demand for commodities, the engine that fueled more than a decade of growth and erased generations of suffocating international debt.

For Brazilian farmer Aldemire Rostirolla and millions of others who rode the boom, the new reality is sobering.

Rostirolla worked 18-hour days for a dozen-plus years to...

By Javier Galeano (AP)

Cuba is limiting how much basic fruits and vegetables people can buy at farmers' markets, irritating some customers but ensuring there's enough _ barely _ to go around.

The lines are long and some foods are scarce, but because the government has maintained and even increased rations in some areas, Cubans who initially worried about getting enough to eat now seem confident they won't go hungry despite the destruction of 30 percent of the island's crops by hurricanes Gustav and Ike last month.

"Of the little there is, there is some for everyone," 65-year-old Mercedes Grimau ...

By (AP)

Fishermen pulled in their boats and hotels warned tourists away from beaches Friday as Hurricane Norbert strengthened to a Category 2 storm and bore down on Mexico's southern Baja California Peninsula.

Norbert, with winds of 100 mph (160 kph), was expected to hit land early Saturday along a relatively unpopulated stretch of coastline north of the resort of Cabo San Lucas. A hurricane warning was issued for the west coast of Baja California, from Puerto San Andresito to Agua Blanca. Forecasters said it would weaken somewhat before hitting land.

Under overcast skies, fishermen...

By Fernando Llano (AP)

The Venezuelan government has ordered all McDonald's restaurants in the country closed for 48 hours for what it calls irregularities in the fast-food chain's financial books.

The country's state news service says the tax agency issued the order. It affects some 115 McDonald's restaurants nationwide.

Agency head Jose David Cabello says authorities found inconsistencies in McDonald's books related to amounts owed in taxes, and ordered the restaraunts closed Thursday through Saturday.

...

By Yuko Yajima (AP)

A hurricane warning has been issued for the west coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula as a weakened Hurricane Norbert churns in the Pacific.

The warning area goes from Punta Andresito to Agua Blanca in Mexico.

By early Friday, Norbert's maximum sustained winds had decreased to 85 mph. The hurricane is heading north-northwest but is expected to turn north-northeast during the day and head toward Mexico's coast.

Norbert is centered about 315 miles southwest of the southern tip of Baja California.

Meanwhile, southeast of Norbert, Tropical Storm Odile has gotte...

By Yuko Yajima (AP)

Hurricane Norbert weakened to Category 1 storm Thursday as it headed toward Mexico's southern Baja California peninsula but was still expected to be a hurricane when it hits land over the weekend.

Mexico issued a hurricane watch for the southern half of the peninsula, including Cabo San Lucas. The watch meant hurricane conditions were possible within 36 hours.

Norbert's winds have decreased to 90 mph (150 kph) after briefly hitting Category 4 force at 135 mph (215 kph) on Wednesday night, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. Forecasters said it remains a...

By Guillermo Arias (AP)

Five state police officers were killed in the western Mexican state of Jalisco by grenade-lobbing gunmen who fired more than 800 bullets in the attack, authorities said Thursday.

The officers came under fire Wednesday night as they prepared to search a car they had just stopped in the town of Lagos de Moreno outside the western city of Guadalajara, the Jalisco state public safety department said in a statement.

An unknown number of assailants arrived in two pickup trucks. Two bystanders also were wounded, the department said.

State Public Safety Secretary Luis Carlos...

By Guillermo Arias (AP)

Mexican authorities said Wednesday that 16 people were killed in 24 hours in the northern state across the U.S. border from California.

State officials blamed warring cells of the Arellano-Felix drug cartel for the killings and other homicides plaguing the area in recent weeks.

The Baja California state prosecutor's office said seven people were shot to death in the border city of Tijuana in four separate gunbattles. Another man was found handcuffed with a bag over his head, and two other bodies wrapped in blankets were dumped in a residential neighborhood.

Two state...

By Dario Lopez-Mills (AP)

President Felipe Calderon on Wednesday unveiled plans for $4.4 billion in emergency spending on roads, schools, hospitals and an oil refinery next year to help Mexico combat the world financial crisis.

In a televised address, Calderon assured Mexicans the nation's banks are solid and haven't slowed lending to companies or individuals, despite a global credit crunch that has sent stocks here tumbling and seen the peso weaken to a record low against the dollar.

The 53 billion pesos ($4.4 billion) in additional investment for 2009 would be used "to build infrastructure projects ...

By Yuko Yajima (AP)

Hurricane Norbert has strengthened to a powerful, Category 4 storm off Mexico's Pacific coast.

A Category 5 storm is the strongest on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

The National Hurricane Center says the storm has maximum sustained winds near 135 mph (215 kph.) It is expected to sweep over the southern section of Mexico's Baja California peninsula over the weekend.

The center said that Norbert was moving west-northwest at near 9 mph (15 kph) on Wednesday afternoon.

...

By (AP)

Hurricane Norbert strengthened Wednesday to a powerful Category 3 storm in the Pacific Ocean and was forecast to hit Mexico's Baja California peninsula by the weekend.

The hurricane was expected to turn toward the northeast over the next two days on a path that could take it over the southern Baja peninsula and the Mexican mainland, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Norbert's maximum sustained winds were near 125 mph (205 kph), and it was expected to remain a hurricane for the next two days.

The storm was centered about 460 miles (740 kilometers) south...

Indian army works to rescue boy trapped in well
Fire burns 750 acres, 2 homes northeast of LA
Biden decries ugly inferences against Obama
Govt eyes plan to take ownership stakes in banks
Obama asked about help for struggling families
McCain vows to whip Obamas you know what
Chihuahua fetches $17.5M, remains top movie dog
Canadian leader gambles for majority government
Flexible OLEDs could be part of lightings future
Biden decries unbecoming personal attacks