Mexico: Hurricane
PUERTO VALLARTA — Jimena strengthened into a dangerous Category 4 hurricane off Mexico's Pacific coast Sunday, and forecasters said it could hit the Baja California peninsula as a major storm in the coming days.
Jimena kicked up surf along the northwestern coast and generated strong winds that bent trees in the resort town of Zihuatanejo, uprooting at least one. Strong waves and wind prevented a couple on a boat from reaching port, forcing them to spend the night at sea, said Zihuatanejo coast guard official Jose Angel Lara.
If Jimena stays on its northwestern track, it would carry hurricane-force winds to the tip of resort-dotted Baja California by late Monday and slam into the peninsula by Wednesday morning, said Richard Pasch, a senior specialist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Pakistan: Bombings
ISLAMABAD — Bombings targeted a Pakistani police station and set a NATO fuel convoy ablaze Sunday, killing 16 cadets in the northwest's Swat Valley and threatening the supply line to international forces in Afghanistan in a separate attack near the border.
The two blasts hours apart and hundreds of miles from each other came as Pakistani officials said the Taliban were ramping up strikes to avenge recent setbacks, including the loss of territory to the military and the death of their top leader in a CIA missile strike near the Afghan border.
Colombia: Swine flu
BOGOTA — President Alvaro Uribe has the swine flu and officials are contacting other South American governments whose leaders attended a summit last week with the Colombian leader, authorities said Sunday.
The 57-year-old Uribe began feeling symptoms Friday, the same day as a meeting of South American presidents in Bariloche, Argentina, and he was confirmed to have swine flu after returning home, Social Protection Minister Diego Palacio said.
"This isn't something that has us scared," Palacio said at a news conference. He said Uribe is not considered a high-risk patient.
Germany: Elections
BERLIN — Voters inflicted losses on Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives in state elections Sunday, a setback weeks before a national election that she hopes will produce a new center-right government.
Merkel's center-left rival in the Sept. 27 national ballot, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, celebrated her party's "dramatic losses" and said the results show the election remains open.
Sweden: Ikea flap
STOCKHOLM — Ikea, the Swedish furniture chain, said Sunday it never expected such a backlash after switching typeface in its latest catalog.
The company's decision to make its first such font change in 50 years — from the iconic Futura typeface to the Verdana one — has caused a worldwide reaction on the Internet. The catalog, which the company advertises as the world's most printed book, was distributed last month.
Poland: Jet crashes
WARSAW — A Belarusian fighter jet crashed Sunday during an air show in central Poland, killing both pilots on board the two-seater plane, officials said.
The Su-27 jet went down while performing maneuvers at a festival in Radom, 65 miles south of Warsaw.
Afghanistan: Election
KABUL — Major fraud complaints in the Afghan presidential election surged Sunday to nearly 700, raising concern that the volume of cases that must be investigated will delay announcement of a winner and formation of a new government.
President Hamid Karzai is leading with 46.2 percent of votes from the Aug. 20 ballot, followed by ex-Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah with 31.4 percent, according to official figures from 35 percent of the polling stations.