AP – MEXICO CITY ? Edgar Valdez Villarreal is believed to be the chief hit man for one of Mexico’s most brutal drug cartels. His nickname? “Barbie.”

AFP – Rivals in the Honduran crisis sent teams to Costa Rica ahead of a deadline for stalled crisis talks, as a diplomat suggested they had reached a deal for the conditional return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

Reuters – Honduras’ rival governments opened new talks on Wednesday to solve a crisis set off by a coup last month, but its de facto rulers sent mixed signals over allowing toppled President Manuel Zelaya’s return to power.

AFP – Mexican authorities have seized over 7.5 tons of cocaine found aboard two speed boats traveling off the Pacific coast en route to the United States, Mexico’s Navy said.

Reuters – Honduras’ de facto government said on Wednesday a new round of talks aimed at defusing the country’s political crisis had been delayed and that it was waiting for a new proposal from mediator Costa Rica.

AP – President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday that hundreds of radio stations his government plans to seize for allegedly operating illegally could be turned over to Venezuelans who share his socialist vision.

AP – Police have detained a woman in the deaths of two professional wrestlers who were found drugged in a low-rent hotel in the Mexican capital, prosecutors said Tuesday.

AP – Ecuadorean officials say there’s new hope that famed Galapagos giant tortoise Lonesome George, believed to be the last of his species, could soon be a father.

AFP – Seventeen journalists have been killed in Mexico since the beginning of 2008, making the country one of the world’s most dangerous for media workers, a non-governmental group said.

AP – Police have captured four men accused of slaying 12 federal agents and dumping their bloodied bodies along a highway in President Felipe Calderon’s home state of Michoacan, federal authorities said Wednesday.