The owner of British Airways cut losses for the first three months of the year today as the group benefits from the restructuring of Spanish carrier Iberia.

Amanda Knox should be convicted of murdering British student Meredith Kercher, whose tragic death was in danger of being overlooked, an Italian appeal court has been told.

THE rain lies like a soft gauze curtain across the view of the terraced mountains and the white houses of the island of La Palma, westernmost of the Canary Islands.

Poland’s Catholic Church has said it will not pay compensation to victims of priests who sexually abused children.

Latin Americans reacted with joy, bursting into tears and cheers tonight at news that an Argentine cardinal has become the first pope from the hemisphere.

A popular rum promoter has angered environmentalists with his plan for a shark-hunting tournament in the Dominican Republic similar to one he organised after the release of the movie Jaws.

Haiti’s president performed a duet with Spanish crooner Julio Iglesias in a celebrity-studded concert in the Dominican Republic to help raise money for impoverished children.

At least 16 youngsters were killed and 32 injured when their bus plunged into a 400ft ravine north of Bolivia’s capital La Paz on the way to a school sports event.

The woman hailed Miss Dominican Republic must relinquish her crown because she is married, beauty contest organisers say.

CUBAN heavyweight Jose Larduet Gomez, issued a warning to Ireland’s Olympic silver medallist, Kenny Egan, when he stopped Lubos Valecky (Czech Republic) two minutes and 20 seconds into the first round of his preliminary bout at the World boxing championships in Baku yesterday.

A rapidly strengthening Hurricane Irene is heading towards the Bahamas and threatening to become a monster storm.

Heavy rain has hammered southern Haiti for a seventh straight day, triggering floods and mudslides and causing houses and shanties in the capital to collapse.

Former Dominican President Salvador Jorge Blanco has died at the age of 84.

BRAD PITT and Angelina Jolie are suing over a report that their relationship has hit the rocks.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are suing over a report that their relationship has hit the rocks.

Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya left his refuge in the Brazilian Embassy and flew into exile after his successor took office, ending months of turmoil during his failed quest to be restored to power after a coup.

MORE than 80 tonnes of government aid including blankets, water tanks and tents have arrived in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

A Government consignment of more than 80 tonnes of emergency humanitarian supplies has arrived in Haiti, Minister of State for Overseas Development Peter Power confirmed today.

Aid agency GOAL has confirmed that it will commence a large distribution of food and non food items to the inhabitants of Port-au-Prince this afternoon.

The largest earthquake ever recorded in the area has rocked Haiti, collapsing a hospital and damaging other buildings.

A FRENCH-based company headed by Irish personnel will be offering wine-tasting tours in the Languedoc Roussillon region of France this summer.

South American presidents reached an uneasy compromise to resolve a dangerous crisis triggered by Colombia’s military raid in Ecuador, stepping back from a week of insults, troop movements and talk of war.

Tropical Storm Noel’s centre spun slowly across Cuba as the system’s outer bands dumped heavy rains on island of Hispaniola, prompting thousands to flee their homes to escape rushing floodwaters and mudslides.

Three Dominican banking executives were convicted for their roles in a financial collapse that crippled the Caribbean country's economy.

Jamaicans headed inland and tourists fled the country as the powerful Hurricane Dean appeared poised to make a direct hit on the island after a deadly and destructive march across the eastern Caribbean.

Alarmed tourists jammed Caribbean airports for flights out of Hurricane Dean’s path as the storm threatened to engulf Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, facing criticism that he delayed the release of a German-born Guantanamo Bay prisoner, spoke out against US practices at the base last night during a rare visit to the Caribbean.

The founder of the London-based BetOnSports gambling website, Stephen Kaplan, has been arrested in the Dominican Republic, according to a US prosecutor.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for reviving global trade liberalisation talks so that developing countries can use trade to lift millions out of poverty.

Thousands of police and soldiers were deployed across the Dominican Republic yesterday to crack down on crimes ranging from drunk driving to gun violence.

Spanish researchers say they have resolved a century-old mystery surrounding Christopher Columbus’s burial place, which both Spain and the Dominican Republic claim. Their verdict: Spain has the right bones.

Angelina Jolie has confirmed she is expecting a baby with Brad Pitt, it was reported today.

A woman in the Dominican Republic has given birth to sextuplets.

Hurricane Emily strengthened dangerously today after slamming into Grenada, where it blasted out windows and flooded two main hospitals and tore roofs from homes still damaged by last year’s storms. At least one man was killed.

America's shellshocked southern coastal states began to clean up after their third hurricane pummelling in five weeks, which could cost a total of up to $20bn (€16.4bn).

Hurricane Ivan grew into the deadliest of storms today, packing winds of 160mph as it headed straight for Jamaica and left a devastated Grenada with 20 dead.

AMERICAN and Canadian troops yesterday rushed to a town left completely submerged by flooding and where health officials feared 1,000 people could be dead in that town alone.

The death toll from flooding in the Dominican Republic and Haiti rose to at least 363 today as villagers desperately searched for loved ones feared swept away by the torrent of mud from swollen rivers.

Around 100 people died when floods unleashed by torrential rains swept through a small farming town in the Dominican Republic, officials said.

A team of surgeons made final preparations today to operate on a Dominican infant born with a second head, a risky surgery that doctors say they believe to be the first of its kind.

Tropical Storm Odette crept over the Dominican Republic and out to the open Atlantic today after unleashing torrential rains that prompted thousands to flee their homes and left at least two dead.

IRELAND’S Andy Murray lost his bout at the World Boxing Championships in Thailand yesterday.

RESEARCHERS have exhumed a chest containing the supposed remains of Christopher Columbus and are planning DNA and other tests to determine whether they are really those of the famed explorer.

Shakira is unhurt after her helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing.