AP – In a private, low-key ceremony, the U.S. ambassador and three Colombian ministers on Friday signed a pact giving American personnel expanded access to military bases in this drug-producing country, a deal that Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez has called a threat to the region’s security. Read more

AP – It’s five times larger than the Titanic, has seven neighborhoods, an ice rink, a golf course and a 750-seat outdoor amphitheater. The world’s largest cruise ship is finally finished and Friday it began gliding toward its home port in Florida. Read more

AP – Ousted President Manuel Zelaya said Friday that a U.S.-brokered pact will restore him to power in about a week, ending Honduras’ isolation four months after soldiers flew the leftist leader into exile in his pajamas. Read more

AP – One man cast 35 votes for female relatives. Others lugged in sacks full of voting cards they said were from women. And in a village of just 250 people, 200 women supposedly voted in three hours. Read more

AP – The fourth typhoon to lash the Philippines in a month brought pounding rain and winds to the eastern coast early Saturday as it barreled toward Manila along the same path as an earlier storm that left the capital still partially submerged. Read more