AP - A major political party in Mexico has chosen a female presidential candidate for the first time, as the ruling party bet that a charismatic former congresswoman will help it erode the lead held by its powerful rival.

AP - Rescuers scouring the white-capped waters off the Dominican Republic's coast have found 17 bodies and 13 survivors from a boat overloaded with migrants that capsized almost two days ago, officials said.

AP - Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who was toppled by a 1989 American invasion and later convicted of drug running, was transferred from prison to a hospital on Sunday because of extreme hypertension, health officials said.

AP - Police fired tear gas Sunday to clear blockades of the Pan-American highway by indigenous groups protesting changes to the mining law. One person was killed and 39 injured in the resulting clashes.

Reuters - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez mounted a lavish celebration on Saturday to mark the 20th anniversary of the failed coup that helped launch his political career, as opposition leaders slammed the event as a blemish on the country's democracy.

AP - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and other leaders in the left-leaning ALBA bloc backed Argentina on Saturday in its long-running dispute with Britain over the Falkland Islands.

AP - London's tabloids and British leaders are depicting Argentina as dangerous and belligerent 30 years after its invasion of the Falkland Islands. Argentines say Britain should consider its own history of waging war around the globe, and acknowledge that the islands and seas around them rightfully belong to Argentina.

AP - It's been months since Maria Luisa Gonzalez and her husband have been able to harvest anything from their drought-parched land or catch fish in a lake that's become little more than a muddy puddle.

AP - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez celebrated the 20th anniversary of the failed coup attempt that launched his political career on Saturday, presiding over a military parade while fighter jets and helicopters roared overhead.

AP - Mexican authorities say a masked man opened fire against a band playing popular norteno music in a Chihuahua city dance hall, killing five musicians, four customers and injuring 10 others.

AP - Fidel Castro spent six hours presenting a two-volume memoir to an audience at a Havana convention center, state media said Saturday. It was a rare appearance for the retired and increasingly reclusive former Cuban leader.

AP - Cuban President Raul Castro flew to Caracas on Friday to attend a meeting with other allies of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, who was at the airport for the arrival.