PRESIDENTIAL RACE-REPUBLICAN DEBATE

WASHINGTON — The narrowing of a vast field of Republican presidential hopefuls begins in earnest Thursday with the first debate of the 2016 campaign. At stake for Republicans: not only picking the candidate to represent them in the general election, but also selecting the direction the party will take as it seeks to regain the White House.

ARGENTINA-JEWISH CENTER BOMBING TRIAL

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Former President Carlos Menem goes on trial Thursday on charges that he and other top Argentine officials derailed the investigation into the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center that killed 85 people. 

THEATER SHOOTING-TENNESSEE

ANTIOCH, Tennessee — A man with "significant" psychological issues who was armed with a hatchet and pellet gun unleashes a volley of pepper spray at audience members inside a movie theater before being fired at by a police officer and shot dead by a SWAT team as he tries to escape out a back door, police say. 

MEXICO-SAN JUDAS-PHOTO GALLERY

MEXICO CITY — For the faithful, San Judas Tadeo is the saint of the hopeless, patron of lost causes, the deliverer of the impossible, drawing believers from the most desperate corners of society to a chapel near the heart of Mexico City. 

HAITI-CONTROVERSIAL COMMENT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A hostile comment made by Haitian President Michel Martelly at a campaign rally has set off an uproar in his coalition government, leading a politically allied party to announce the resignation of three officials from his administration. 

EL SALVADOR-BUS KILLINGS

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Gunmen board a bus near the Salvadoran capital and open fire, killing four people and wounding four others a week after a string of bus attacks brought service to a halt. 

COLOMBIA-DOLLAR MULE

BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombian police say they arrested a woman at Bogota's airport after discovering she was smuggling $38,500 in cash in small capsules hidden inside her body.