Colombian guerrillas have offered to free an ex-governor, a former politician and four other hostages to help jump-start talks on a prisoner swap.

BRAZIL has granted asylum to former Ecuador President Lucio Gutierrez, who took refuge in the Brazilian Embassy yesterday after being removed from office by Congress amid street protests calling for his ouster for abuse of power.

A bus carrying a youth soccer team collided with a coal truck on a rural road in northern Colombia, killing 10 people aboard the bus, including eight of the young athletes, a sports official said today.