■ Mexico
Locusts encircle resort
Clouds of locusts have descended around the beach resort of Cancun destroying crops. Towns have formed pesticide-armed brigades and are winning the war against the three-week-old plague that has left tourist areas unharmed, authorities said. Squads wait until night when the flying insects are roosting on plants to blast them. They carry motorized backpack pumps to shoot chemicals in a crusade that has affected from 800 hectares to 1,000 hectares of farm land.
■ United States
NY to outlaw trans fats
New York is set to become the first city in the US to ban all but tiny quantities of trans fats from being used in its restaurants. According to plans agreed this week by the board of health, all the city's restaurants, cafes and street stalls will be forced to keep to a limit of half a gram of trans fats in any item served from their menus. The move will see a sharp drop in use of the treated fats. Trans fats have been the subject of mounting concern among health experts who warn that they could contribute to heart disease by raising blood cholesterol levels. They are used in the baking of cakes, doughnuts and bread, and for deep frying.
■ United States
`Mom killer' pleads not guilty
A woman accused of killing her mother and leaving her body to be discovered on Mother's Day has pleaded not guilty to murder. Anne Trovato, 26, appeared before Westchester County Court Judge Barbara Zambelli on Tuesday. She pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, one count of burglary and two counts of weapon possession. Trovato's mother, Patricia Mery, was found dead in her suburban New York home on May 14, when her worried brother contacted police. Police said they believe the slaying occurred three days earlier. Mery, 59, had been stabbed more than 20 times and had been hit in the head several times with a metal baseball bat. Police have not disclosed a motive for the killing but say a battle over the right to visit Trovato's three-year-old daughter may have played a part.
■ Argentina
Former president collapses
Former president Carlos Menem was in stable condition, a day after collapsing while delivering a speech in central Argentina, authorities said. The 76-year-old Menem, who governed the country from 1989 until 1999 at the helm of the Peronist party, was addressing a crowd on Tuesday night near the provincial capital of Cordoba when he doubled over. Televised news footage showed Menem slowly fall sideways at the podium, grimacing and clasping his chest as an aide caught him in his arms. Menem was then taken to a waiting ambulance. Oscar Gonzalez, Cordoba's provincial health minister, said on Wednesday the ex-president suffered a bout of hypoglycemia, a sharp drop in blood sugar levels, but was not in danger.
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