POPE

MEXICO CITY — Pope Francis kicks off his first trip to Mexico on Saturday with speeches to the country's political and ecclesial elites, riding in on the success of his historic meeting in Cuba with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. 

PRESIDENTIAL RACE

DENMARK, South Carolina — 2016 Democratic presidential hopefuls fighting for black voters look for an edge in South Carolina as Republicans crisscrossed the state in search of a path out of Donald Trump's long shadow.

MEXICO-PRISON

MONTERREY, Mexico — Prosecutors charge three state officers with homicide after a bloody prison brawl that ended with 49 dead, raising questions about what happened in the melee that saw inmates fight with hammers, cudgels and makeshift knives.

ZIKA VIRUS

BRASILIA, Brazil — Brazil's health minister says authorities are "absolutely sure" the Zika virus is connected to devastating birth defects and rejects criticism that the government was slow to investigate the surge of cases that has set off international alarms.

UNITED NATIONS-ZIKA

GENEVA — Possible Zika vaccines are at least 18 months away from large-scale trials, the World Health Organization says as it advises pregnant women to consider delaying travel to areas where the mosquito-borne virus has turned up amid concerns it may be linked to birth defects. 

CUBA-US-FLIGHTS

HAVANA — The United States and Cuba will sign an agreement next week to resume commercial air traffic for the first time in five decades, starting the clock on dozens of new flights operating daily by next fall, U.S. officials say.