Brazil: Runway robbery
SAO PAULO — Brazilian authorities say gunmen used a pickup truck to block an air taxi from taking off at a small airport and stole money and documents it was carrying for the country's federation of banks.
Federal police say about eight men broke through security at the airfield in the northeastern city of Caruaru late Monday and rammed the truck into one of the small plane's wings as it taxied on the runway.
The men fired warning shots and ordered the pilots to turn over the money and documents.
China: More flood deaths
BEIJING — A landslide caused by rains in southern China left 21 people missing Tuesday, adding to a growing death toll from China's worst flood season in a decade, which is expected to worsen with heavy rains forecast across the country.
Rescuers searched for 21 people missing after a landslide in Hanyuan County in China's southern province of Sichuan on Tuesday morning, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Rocks and mud buried 58 homes and about 4,000 villagers were evacuated from their homes. Floods this year have already killed at least 823 people, left 437 missing and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage.
Venezuela: Rebel capture
CARACAS — Police apprehended six alleged far-right paramilitary fighters from Colombia, including a militia leader wanted in the killing of a Venezuelan mayor near the border with Colombia, authorities said Tuesday.
Johnny Marquez, a federal police investigator in the western state of Tachira, said officers arrested the militiamen during a sting operation near the town of La Fria. He said the group was deeply involved in hired killings, extortion and kidnapping among other crimes.
Ecuador: New oil fees
QUITO — Oil companies operating in Ecuador will no longer hold a stake in the oil they produce but instead receive a set production fee under new rules put in place Tuesday by the government of leftist President Rafael Correa.
The new payment plan will likely restrict private windfalls when world oil prices quickly rise, said Alexis Mera, legal secretary to the president's office.
Dominican Rep.: Disease
SANTO DOMINGO — Officials in the Dominican Republic are warning people living near low-lying areas flooded by recent rainstorms to be on alert for two diseases that have already killed 53 people and sickened thousands.
Health Minister Bautista Rojas says communities hit hard by the July storms have seen an outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue fever as well as leptospirosis. It spreads through exposure to water contaminated with urine from infected animals.
England: Ritz caper
LONDON — An unemployed British truck driver has been sentenced to five years in jail for trying to sell the world-famous Ritz hotel for 250 million pounds ($380 million) to a duped investor.
Anthony Lee was convicted earlier this month for tricking potential buyer Terence Collins to hand over a million pounds in 2006 ($1.6 million today).
The 49-year-old Lee claimed he was a close friend and associate of Frederick and David Barclay, the billionaire brothers who own the central London hotel.
S. Africa: Tiger on loose
JOHANNESBURG — Police are warning residents of a South African neighborhood against approaching a 17-month-old Bengal tiger that escaped from its owners.
Police say the tiger named Panjo broke open the canopy of a truck carrying it and jumped free early Tuesday in the Delmas district, southeast of Johannesburg.
Panjo's owner Rose Farreira told local media that Panjo was tame but warned that Panjo may attack unfamiliar people. She says the tiger could turn aggressive if it had been hurt in its escape.
Panjo remained on the run Tuesday evening. Tigers are not native to South Africa.