MEXICO-PRISON

MONTERREY, Mexico — A prison riot that left 49 inmates hacked, beaten or burned to death opened searing questions about gang rule, extortion and human rights violations in Mexico's overcrowded prisons, where people merely awaiting trial are mixed in with some of the world's most hardened killers. 

PRESIDENTIAL RACE

MILWAUKEE — Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders battle for the crucial support of black and Hispanic voters in a Democratic debate, a polite but pointed contest that marks a shift in the primary toward states with more minority voters. 

UNITED STATES-TAIWAN

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration says it is urging China and Taiwan to maintain dialogue amid concern that the election of an independence-leaning party on the island could heighten tensions in one of Asia's security hotspots. 

RANCHING STANDOFF

BURNS, Oregon — With the FBI tightening its ring around them, the last four holdouts in the armed takeover of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon surrender, ending a 41-day standoff that left one man dead and exposed simmering anger over the government's control of vast expanses of Western land. 

VENEZUELA-POLITICS

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela's Supreme Court overrules the opposition-controlled congress and grants broad decree powers to President Nicolas Maduro.

POPE-PATRIARCH

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis will arrive in Cuba on Friday for the first-ever papal meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, a historic development in the 1,000-year schism within Christianity that may be more about Russia asserting itself than any new ecumenical progress. 

STAIRWELL SHOOTING

NEW YORK — A newly-hired police officer who shot an unarmed man dead in a darkened public housing stairwell is convicted of manslaughter in a case closely watched by advocates for police accountability.