Las Vegas, Dec 20 (IANS) American Olivia Culpo was crowned Miss Universe 2012 at a gala ceremony Wednesday.

Las Vegas, Dec 20 (IANS) Shilpa Singh, India's official contestant at the Miss Universe 2012, has entered the top 16 at the international beauty pageant.

Tegucigalpa, Dec 8 (IANS/EFE) A son of Honduras' former ambassador to the Organization of American States, Carlos Sosa Coello, was fatally shot Friday, his father said.

Las Vegas, Nov 17 (IANS/EFE) Mexican brother−sister duo Jesse & Joy were the big winners in the 13th edition of the Latin Grammy Awards, taking home four prizes, while Colombian pop star Juanes came away with album of the year.

Tegucigalpa, Nov 9 (IANS/EFE) An aspiring journalist was killed here Thursday when he resisted assailants who wanted to take his laptop computer, Honduran police said.

Tegucigalpa, Oct 20 (IANS/EFE) Two soldiers and two civil servants were killed by armed robbers in the eastern town of El Chaparral, an official said Friday.

Tegucigalpa, Sep 25 (IANS/EFE) A prosecutor assigned to the human rights unit was gunned down Monday in the southern Honduran province of Choluteca, an official spokesperson said. The official was hit by 11 bullets.

Tegucigalpa, Sep 21 (IANS/EFE) Sixteen members of an extended family were killed Thursday in a remote area of the eastern Honduran province of Olancho, a relative of the victims said.

Tegucigalpa, Sep 12 (IANS/EFE) A Honduran court Tuesday sentenced a man to 28 years in jail after finding him guilty of having fatally shot journalist Jorge Alberto Orellana in April 2010 during the course of a robbery.

Tegucigalpa, July 17 (IANS/EFE) Family remittances sent home by Hondurans living abroad totalled $1.45 billion in the first half of this year, 2.2 percent more than during the same period in 2011, the country's central bank reported.

Tegucigalpa, July 11 (IANS) Twentyfour people have died over the past two weeks in Honduras after drinking illicit liquor, said health authorities.

Tegucigalpa, July 4 (IANS/EFE) One person was killed and another injured Tuesday when their small plane loaded with cocaine made a forced landing near the eastern Honduran town of Catacamas, authorities said.

Tegucigalpa, May 10 (IANS/EFE) A journalist with HRN, one of Honduras' leading radio networks, was kidnapped here Wednesday while driving to work.

Guadalajara (Mexico), May 8 (IANS/EFE) A female candidate of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, posed semi-nude for posters in her "provocative" campaign for a seat in Mexico's lower house.

Tegucigalpa, May 19 (IANS/EFE) Two people have been arrested in connection with the abduction and murder of journalist Alfredo Villatoro, the head of the Honduran National Police said.

Tegucigalpa, April 24 (IANS/EFE) Television personality Noel Valladares and his two companions were gunned down Monday in Tegucigalpa, Honduran police said.

Guadalajara (Mexico), April 22 (IANS/EFE) More than 50 young Mixtec Indians gave a concert in the western Mexican city of Guadalajara, in which they fused their ancestral musical tradition with melodies made famous by the legendary British rock group The Beatles.

Houston, April 11 (IANS) Iran's crude oil production is expected to fall by about 500,000 barrels per day by the end of this year due to a lack of investment resulting from sanctions against the country, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

Guadalajara (Mexico), April 2 (IANS/EFE) A natural gas pipeline owned by Mexican state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, caught fire when fuel was being stolen from a stretch near the western city of Tlajomulco, officials said.

Guadalajara (Mexico), March 22 (IANS/EFE) Julio Gonzalez Estrada, who helped make tequila a lucrative export for Mexico, died at his home in the western state of Jalisco, industry sources said. He was 83.

Guadalajara (Mexico), March 11 (IANS/EFE) The Ecuadorian film "Pescador" (Fisherman) was awarded Saturday two silver Mayahuel Prizes for Best Actor and Best Director at the 27th Guadalajara International Film Festival.

Guadalajara (Mexico), March 6 (IANS/EFE) A nine-year-old pianist made her solo debut over the weekend with the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra in western Mexico, opening the orchestra's season.

Guadalajara (Mexico), March 6 (IANS/EFE) Spanish singer Monica Naranjo was given the Maguey Prize over the weekend at Mexico's Guadalajara International Film Festival for her work on behalf of the gay community.

Guadalajara (Mexico), March 5 (IANS/EFE) Cuban-American actor Andy Garcia said during an appearance at Mexico's Guadalajara International Film Festival that he planned to make a film about "the last 10 years of the life" of legendary writer Ernest Hemingway.

Tegucigalpa, Feb 22 (IANS/EFE) The fire that claimed 359 lives last week in a prison in central Honduras "was merely an accidental occurrence and not caused by criminal hands", the country's attorney general said Tuesday.

Houston, Feb 16 (IANS) An estimated 5.6 million trees were killed by last year's devastating drought in the US state of Texas, authorities said Wednesday.

Tegucigalpa, Feb 16 (IANS/EFE) The fire that killed more than 300 inmates at the Comayagua prison farm in central Honduras will be investigated with full transparency and "international observation", President Porfirio Lobo said Wednesday.

Houston, Feb 9 (IANS) The 2013 All-Star Game will be held in Houston from Feb 15 to 17, the NBA has officially announced here.

Tegucigalpa, Feb 9 (IANS/EFE) The Honduran armed forces acknowledged Wednesday that 22 grenade launchers were stolen from an armoury in 2010.

Houston, Feb 5 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Over 6,000 individuals have applied for joining NASA's Astronaut Corps, twice as many as the US space agency usually receives, NASA said Sunday.

Houston, Feb 2 (IANS) US carrier American Airlines said Wednesday that it wants to eliminate 13,000 jobs as it seeks to cut labour costs by 20 percent.

Tegucigalpa, Feb 2 (IANS/EFE) A Bengal tiger donated by a Mexican circus to the Tegucigalpa zoo last year was put down after sustaining a hip injury. It will now be stuffed and placed on display at the zoo, Honduran media reported Wednesday.

Guadalajara (Mexico), Jan 20 (IANS/EFE) Mexican authorities have arrested four teenagers for their alleged role in the deaths of four youths and a middle-aged man whose bodies were found buried at a student group's office in this western city.

Guadalajara (Mexico), Jan 13 (IANS/EFE) Seven members of a family, including five children, were found dead from gas poisoning in an apparent mass suicide in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, authorities said.

Tegucigalpa, Jan 12 (IANS/EFE) Eight people, four of them children, were murdered in the Caribbean province of Colon, the Honduran government said.

Houston, Jan 12 (IANS) The US state of Texas released more greenhouse gases into the air than any other American state in 2010, official data showed Wednesday.

Guadalajara (Mexico), Dec 27 (IANS/EFE) Five residents of a drug rehab center in this western Mexican city died and 26 fell sick after eating donated food that apparently contained cyanide, the Red Cross said Monday.

Guadalajara (Mexico), Dec 26 (IANS/EFE) Thousands of children and adults visited the zoo in the city of Guadalajara, capital of the western Mexican state of Jalisco to see the 'underwater' Santa Claus, who dives in one of the fish tanks at the aquarium.

Tegucigalpa, Dec 20 (IANS/EFE) A small twin-engine airplane suspected of being used to smuggle cocaine was found burned in the Caribbean province of Colon, Honduran police said.

Tegucigalpa, Dec 15 (IANS/EFE) Dozens of members of Honduras' gay and lesbian community gathered outside the Attorney General's Office in this capital to protest the slayings of 58 gays and lesbians this year.

Tegucigalpa, Dec 14 (IANS/EFE) Several people were beaten by police and troops here Tuesday during a protest to demand justice for 24 journalists murdered in Honduras over the last eight years, including 17 slain since January 2010.

Tegucigalpa, Dec 7 (IANS/EFE) Journalist Luz Marina Paz and a companion were gunned down Tuesday in Tegucigalpa, Honduran police said.

Guadalajara (Mexico), Nov 25 (IANS/EFE) Dominican singer Juan Luis Guerra said in Guadalajara, the capital of the western Mexican state of Jalisco, that he has pursued his commitment to social causes through his music, by which he intends to send a message of peace.

Houston, Nov 19 (IANS) US Major League Soccer (MLS) has picked Dwayne De Rosario of DC United the winner of 2011 Most Valuable Player (MVP).

Tegucigalpa, Oct 31 (IANS/EFE) A television reporter was shot and wounded in San Pedro Sula, a city in northern Honduras.

Houston, Oct 19 (IANS) A domestic Southwest Airlines flight made an emergency landing in a Texas town Tuesday afternoon after a male passenger attempted to break into the cockpit, authorities said.

Tegucigalpa, Oct 18 (IANS/EFE) Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin expressed solidarity with the thousands of Hondurans affected by the torrential rains that have lashed the Central American country for more than six days and have caused a dozen deaths.