Thousands of jostling, weeping admirers of Juan Domingo Peron tossed carnations and cheered the late political strongman today as his coffin was moved through clogged streets of Buenos Aires for reburial at a new mausoleum south-west of the Argentine capital.

Leftist guerrillas in Colombia have taken a presidential candidate hostage after abducting her at a roadblock as she was driving into an area where government troops are trying to oust the rebels.

A candidate in Colombia's presidential elections has been reported missing after she failed to arrive at a former rebel-controlled town occupied by the army.

The Colombian army has invaded the largest town in a Switzerland-sized safe haven ceded to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) as part of a now-defunct peace process.

The death toll in El Salvador's earthquake has reached 255 with at least 2,261 reported injured

At least 173 people have died following the earthquake that destroyed hundreds of buildings in El Salvador.