Boat capsizes, killing 5 migrants
Waves capsized a boat carrying Dominican migrants near a popular surfing beach off the coast of Puerto Rico, killing at least five as surfers desperately tried to help.
At least 13 people aboard the makeshift 14-foot wooden boat survived the capsizing Sunday afternoon off the shore of Rincon, near the western tip of Puerto Rico. The migrants apparently were all Dominicans.
An unknown number of migrants were aboard the boat, said Lt. Cmdr. Dave Burns of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Survivors likely will be returned to the Dominican Republic, authorities said.
Small boats frequently attempt to smuggle migrants from the Dominican Republic to this U.S. Caribbean territory, a roughly 70-mile journey across the often-perilous Mona Passage.
SYDNEY, Australia
Cyclone weakens as it hits land
A tropical cyclone that forecasters predicted would be one of Australia’s worst was downgraded early today to a Category 2 storm after it hit land, ripping the roof off a school and damaging buildings in a northern community.
Cyclone Monica had been expected to slam into the northern city of Darwin as a maximum Category 5 cyclone, with winds up to 215 mph.
But by today, its winds had dropped to 77 mph.
Andrew Tupper, a forecaster with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, said Darwin was likely to escape major damage.
TEHRAN
Iran may back out of nuclear treaty
Iran’s president said Monday he is thinking about withdrawing from the nuclear nonprolifera- tion treaty if the U.N. atomic agency tries to prevent his country from enriching uranium.
In a rare news conference with foreign journalists, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also predicted the U.N. Security Council will not impose sanctions on Iran, which is facing a Friday deadline to halt enrichment because of suspicions it is trying to develop atomic weapons.
Ahmadinejad’s government insists the nonproliferation treaty gives Iran the right to enrich uranium for fueling civilian nuclear power plants, and he has given no ground in the international face-off.