■ COLOMBIA
Eleven killed in quake
The Red Cross in Bogota said on Sunday the death toll from a powerful earthquake in central Colombia has risen to 11, as aftershocks shook the region. Walter Cote, director of the country’s aid organization, told reporters that 54 people were seriously injured as a result of Saturday’s magnitude 5.5 quake, which also badly damaged about 400 homes. Among the dead were five people killed on the road between Bogota and the city of Villavicencio, capital of the Meta department. Three of the five were members of the same family — a father, mother and son — whose car was struck by falling rocks.
■ MEXICO
E-mail warns of bloodbath
Streets, nightclubs and restaurants were largely deserted this weekend in a city across from Texas where a widely circulated e-mail warned of a bloodbath. But violence did not appear to be worse than usual in Ciudad Juarez, home base of the powerful Juarez drug cartel and one of the hardest-hit cities in a surge of homicides across the country. Security officials reported at least six homicides since Saturday, including two municipal police officers who were riddled with machine-gun fire as they were getting into a car. Several businesses were set on fire, but nobody was hurt.
■ UNITED STATES
College inherits everything
A California radiologist left everything to his alma mater in western Pennsylvania. Absolutely everything. After the death of Larry Johnson, 68, from an apparent heart attack last year, Juniata College found itself the owner of possessions including his US$1.3 million condominium overlooking Monterey Bay, extensive music collection, Lexus, .38 caliber handgun, his cat named Princess and other items. Juniata officials said the donation, valued at US$6.5 million, is the largest ever for the 1,460-student school located about 160km east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It includes all of Johnson’s personal property, retirement assets and investment accounts.
■ UNITED STATES
Eight die in tornadoes
At least eight people were killed in the midwestern US on Sunday as a series of tornadoes swept through the region leaving behind a wake of destruction, CNN television reported. The network said seven people were found dead in northcentral Iowa, in the towns of Parkersburg and New Hartford when a tornado passed at about 6pm. Marble-sized hail also fell over Waterloo, where authorities reported significant damage to homes, trees and power lines, the report said. Iowa Governor Chet Culver declared a state of disaster in three counties. Meanwhile, in Minnesota, a separate twister killed a two-year-old child and seriously injured nine other people in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area, CNN said.
■ VENEZUELA
Station’s return demanded
Opponents of President Hugo Chavez are marching to demand the return of an opposition-sided television station that was booted off public airwaves this week last year. Many are still upset by Chavez’s decision not to renew the broadcast license of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), which had been critical of his government. Chavez replaced the network with a state-run channel that regularly transmits pro-government propaganda. RCTV now only airs on cable. Several thousand people marched through Venezuela’s capital on Sunday, shouting anti-Chavez slogans and demanding that RCTV’s broadcast license be returned. Chavez had repeatedly accused RCTV of violating broadcasting laws.
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