CUBA-US-POPE

HAVANA — Cubans excitedly look to the pope's trip to Cuba and the U.S. through the lens of his role as mediator of detente between the two nations. Many expect the visit to transform the diplomatic warming from abstract talks into real benefits for Cubans.

 

CHILE-EARTHQUAKE

COQUIMBO, Chile — Parts of this port are a disaster after an 8.3-magnitude quake that killed at least 12 people and likely caused billions in damage. Overturned cars and splintered boats sit in mud next to toppled adobe homes and fishing nets tangled in trees.

 

UNITED NATIONS-US-SEXUAL RIGHTS

UNITED NATIONS — The U.S. government says it will begin using the term "sexual rights" in discussions of human rights and global development. The statement at a U.N. meeting this week comes after years of lobbying from rights groups who have argued that the U.S. should show global leadership on the rights of people of all gender identities and sexual orientations.

 

PRESIDENTIAL RACE-TRUMP

ROCHESTER, New Hampshire — Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump declines to correct a questioner at a town hall event who incorrectly stated that President Barack Obama is Muslim and said he'd be "looking at" claims of terrorist training camps on American soil.

 

WOMEN IN COMBAT

WASHINGTON — The Marine Corps is expected to ask that women not be allowed to compete for several front-line combat jobs, inflaming tensions between Navy and Marine leaders, U.S. officials say.

CANADA-ELECTION DEBATE

TORONTO — Canada's Conservative prime minister acknowledges that things aren't great in the Canadian economy, but in a debate ahead of next month's election he asked Canadians where they would rather live.

 

PUERTO RICO-ECONOMIC CRISIS

LARES, Puerto Rico — Tourists used to flock to this mountain town to visit coffee plantations, buy handmade crafts and stop at Puerto Rico's most famous ice cream shop. That shop has closed, as have 25 percent of all businesses in Lares, which has been hit hard by the island's economic crisis.

 

BRAZIL-CAMPAIGN FINANCE

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil's Supreme Court bans corporate contributions to political campaigns and parties, a hot issue as investigators in the nation's biggest corruption scandal say such financing was used by businesses to win lucrative contracts with state-run oil company Petrobras.

 

HONDURAS-LAWYER SLAIN

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — An anti-corruption activist in Honduras who also reportedly suffers from a mental illness confessed to stabbing to death a lawyer representing an official charged in the fraudulent sales of medicines to the government, police say.

 

CUBA-POPE-DISSIDENTS

HAVANA — Pope Francis plans to meet with Cuba's president and its priests, its young and its sick, its churchgoers and its seminarians as he travels across the island starting Saturday. But not its dissidents.