BRUSSELS, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - The European Commission said Monday, for the first time, that it would be ready to lower the bar in trade talks with the 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific rim countries making up the so-called ACP group.

The Commission's trade directorate chief David O'Sullivan told members of the European Parliament that Brussels would be prepared to reduce its ambitions on services oriented agreements and focus only on a goods deal.

BRUSSELS, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - The European Commission accused non-governmental organisations on Thursday of 'playing poker' with Europe's former colonies by urging them to reject new trade pacts.

The 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific rim countries making up the so-called ACP group and the European Union are struggling to clinch new agreements by the end of the year, when current preferential market access is due to expire.

GEORGETOWN, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - Leaders of the 15-nation Caribbean Community (Caricom) are Saturday due to consider banning artery-clogging trans-fats, as part of a measures to fight non-communicable diseases believed to be the biggest killers in the region.

Chairman of the Caribbean Commission on Health and Development (CCHD), George Alleyne, said the special summit on lifestyle diseases to be held in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, would discuss New York City's decision to prohibit the use of trans-fats that cause obesity, blood circulation and heart problems.

MIAMI, Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) - Tropical Storm Ingrid emerged over the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday, becoming the ninth named storm of the 2007 Atlantic season, the US National Hurricane Center said.

With winds of up to 65 kilometers (40 miles) per hour, Ingrid was about 1,350 kilometers (840 miles) east of the Lesser Antilles, a chain of popular tourist islands, the center said.

BRUSSELS, Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) - EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson warned Tuesday he could not 'pull a rabbit out of the hat' to save talks on new trade pacts with ex-European colonies ahead of a looming deadline.

The 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific rim countries making up the so-called ACP group and the European Union are struggling to conclude the new agreements by the end of the year, when a current preferential market access accord is due to expire.

BILWI, Nicaragua, Sept 8, 2007 (AFP) - Thousands of residents of Nicaragua and Honduras sought aid Saturday in the wake of Hurricane Felix, while rescuers expressed fears that the death toll of at least 100 would surely rise.

Mixed reports of the full extent of the damage wrought by Felix, which whipped the two Central American countries mid-week, filtered out as authorities attempted to reach isolated communities that had been in its path.

BILWI, Nicaragua, Sept 7, 2007 (AFP) - Crews from US helicopters reported bodies floating in the Caribbean as authorities on Friday scoured the coastline of Nicaragua and Honduras for more victims of Hurricane Felix, which has killed at least 100 people.

The account from crews of two US choppers assisting in the rescue effort confirmed fears the death toll would likely rise in the wake of the powerful storm that battered Central America this week.

OTTAWA, Sept 7, 2007 (AFP) - Canada announced Friday that it was sending one million Canadian dollars (950,000 USD) in emergency humanitarian aid to Nicaragua and Honduras to help those hit by Hurrican Felix, which killed more than 100 people.

Included in the aid are 10,000 blankets headed to Nicaragua on a Canadian Air Force Airbus C150, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

'Canadian officials will be arriving today in Managua, Nicaragua, to assist in the implementation of Canada's aid operation,' said Beverley Oda, minister of international cooperation.

BILWI, Nicaragua, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico geared up for flooding from rain-swollen rivers Thursday in the wake of two devastating hurricanes that left at least 109 dead and scores more missing.

Nicaragua and Honduras in a joint death toll Thursday, said that Hurricane Felix killed 100 people in their two countries.

TEGUCIGALPA, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - The bodies of 24 native Miskito Nicaraguans, whose fishing boat had capsized, were found near the Caribbean coast of Honduras in the wake of devastating Hurricane Felix, an official told reporters Thursday.

'This morning I was told that a boat was recovered with 24 bodies, 21 men and three women,' government representative for the Gracias a Dios region, Carolina Echeverria said.

BILWI, Nicaragua, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - Nicaragua and Mexico launched major relief operations Thursday after two hurricanes that killed at least 40 people with the toll expected to rise.

While Nicaragua surveyed the destruction left by Hurricane Felix that struck the Central American country Tuesday, Mexico's Pacific coast was hit Wednesday by Hurricane Henriette, which left two people dead.

BILWI, Nicaragua, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - Rare double hurricanes lashed Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico Wednesday, killing at least 40 people as a waning Felix left a trail of destruction and Henriette gathered force.

Nicaraguan authorities said Felix's toll of 38 dead was likely to rise after it displaced 50,000 people and sent search-and-rescue teams fanning out along the northeast of the country, where the storm hit hardest.

BILWI, Nicaragua, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - Rare double hurricanes lashed Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico Wednesday, killing at least 38 people as a waning Felix left a trail of destruction and Henriette gathered force.

Nicaraguan authorities said Felix's toll was likely to rise after it displaced 50,000 people and sent search-and-rescue teams fanning out along the northeast of the country, where the storm hit hardest.

BILWI, Nicaragua, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - The death toll from Hurricane Felix mounted to 21 and could rise further as search-and-rescue teams spread out Wednesday along northeastern Nicaragua, where the furious storm left a trail of destruction.

One day after it slammed ashore from the Caribbean, smashing thousands of homes, Felix lost all its punch, but the rain it dumped raised fears of floods and mudslides in neighboring Honduras.

BILWI, NICARAGUA, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - The death toll from Hurricane Felix mounted to 21 and could continue to rise as search-and-rescue teams spread out Wednesday along northeastern Nicaragua, where the furious storm left a trail of destruction.

One day after it slammed ashore from the Caribbean, smashing thousands of homes, Felix lost all its punch, but the rain it dumped over neighboring Honduras raised fears of floods and mudslides.

TEGUCIGALPA, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - The remnants of Hurricane Felix drenched Honduras threatening to cause dangerous floods and mudslides on Wednesday, one day after the then-mighty storm killed at least nine people, left dozens missing, and smashed thousands of homes in Nicaragua.

'We're braced for the worst,' said Gordana Jerger, deputy regional director of the World Food Program (WFP), adding that the UN agency rushed reinforcements and supplies to threatened areas.

TEGUCIGALPA, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - Felix, once a mighty hurricane, weakened into a tropical depression Wednesday but still threatened to trigger floods and mudslides in Nicaragua and Honduras, having already killed four people.

Felix slammed ashore in Nicaragua on Tuesday as a huge category-five hurricane but gradually lost steam as it moved across the country into neighboring Honduras.

But the storm continued to worry Central Americans haunted by memories of Hurricane Mitch, which killed 9,000 people in 1998.

MIAMI, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - The former hurricane Felix weakened into a tropical depression Wednesday but was expected to dump heavy rains that could trigger floods and mudslides in Nicaragua and Honduras, US forecasters said.

Felix was weakening rapidly over the mountains of Central America and was very near the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa at 0900 GMT, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said in its latest bulletin.

TEGUCIGALPA, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - Tropical Storm Felix threatened to trigger floods and mudslides in Honduras on Wednesday after the once monstrous hurricane killed four people in Nicaragua.

Felix weakened as it moved into Honduras after making landfall early Tuesday in northeastern Nicaragua as a massive, topmost categoy five hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson intensity scale.

But Honduras remained on red alert as the storm drenched the neighboring Central American countries, still haunted by memories of Hurricane Mitch, which killed 9,000 people in 1998.

MANAGUA, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - A furious Hurricane Felix on Tuesday left a trail of devastation in an already dirt-poor area of Nicaragua, killing at least four people, including a new-born baby, and destroying 5,000 homes.

By 2359 GMT, the US National Hurricane Center in Miami downgraded Felix to a tropical storm, with winds of 95 kilometers (60 miles) per hour but that is little comfort to residents in poor, low-lying areas, who can expect life-threatening flash floods and mud slides before the storm rains out sometime Wednesday.

MIAMI, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - For the first time on record, two Atlantic hurricanes have made landfall at category five in the same year as Hurricane Felix slammed ashore Tuesday at the topmost intensity on the Saffir-Simpson scale, according to data from the US National Hurricane Center.

The powerful storm roared ashore in northeastern Nicaragua with maximum sustained winds of 260 kilometers (160 miles) per hour, and higher gusts, before weakening to a category three hurricane, said the Miami-based NHC.

LA CEIBA, Honduras, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - A furious Hurricane Felix on Tuesday battered Central America with 260 kilometer (160 mile) per hour winds, tearing off roofs and dumping torrential rains over Nicaragua and Honduras.

Authorities in both countries feared the worst as the storm threatened to cause floods and mudslides and rekindled bitter memories of Hurricane Mitch, one of the deadliest on record, which devastated the region in 1998.

MIAMI, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - Hurricane Felix, which slammed into Nicaragua on Tuesday, is the 31st Atlantic storm known to have reached the topmost category five on the Saffir-Simpson intensity scale, but the second this year alone.

It packed maximum sustained winds of 260 kilometers (160 miles) per hour, with higher gusts as it roared ashore in extreme northeastern Nicaragua.

LA CEIBA, Honduras, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - Hurricane Felix smashed ashore in northeastern Nicaragua Tuesday, after swelling into a potentially catastrophic category five storm, the US National Hurricane Center said.

Felix was packing fierce winds of 260 kilometers (160 miles) per hour, the center said, and could spawn devastating flooding.

LA CEIBA, Honduras, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - Hurricane Felix grew into a monstrous, top-strength storm Tuesday, threatening to make a devastating landfall in Nicaragua and Honduras with fierce winds of 260 kilometers (160 miles) per hour.

Felix was just off the coast of northeastern Nicaragua at 1040 GMT as it became a 'potentially catastrophic' category five hurricane, the maximum on a five-level scale, the US National Hurricane Center reported.

LA CEIBA, Honduras, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - Powerful Hurricane Felix roared towards Honduras and Nicaragua Tuesday as authorities moved thousands of locals and tourists from the coasts to minimise the potentially devastating impact.

Packing winds of 240 kilometers (150 miles) per hour, the hurricane was expected to gain strength before striking the Central American nations' border region early Tuesday, according to the US National Hurricane Center.

TEGUCIGALPA, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - Honduras and Nicaragua braced for the worst and evacuated thousands of people, including tourists, as powerful Hurricane Felix barreled toward the impoverished central American nations on Monday.

National authorities and aid organizations readied for a potential disaster as the approaching storm rekindled memories of the devastation wrought in 1998 by Mitch, a massive storm and one of the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes in history.

MIAMI, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - Hurricane Felix on Monday lost some of of its massive power to become a category four storm, but remained extremely dangerous and could regain strength as it barreled toward central America, US forecasters said.

At 1800 GMT, the storm's maximum sustained winds had eased off a little, but still raged at 230 kilometers (145 miles) per hour, with higher gusts, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC.)

PARIS, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - Hurricane Felix, cruising towards Central America on Monday, is the second maximum-category storm of the 2007 season, which has not even reached its midway point, British and French scientists noted.

Mark Saunders, lead scientist with Tropical Storm Risk (TSR), a consortium gathering Benfield Hazard Research Centre at University College London and business interests, said it was 'unusual but not unprecedented' to have a storm of such magnitude at this stage in the season.

TEGUCIGALPA, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - Authorities in Honduras and Nicaragua on Monday urged coastal residents to flee for their lives as Hurricane Felix barreled toward central America at a potentially devastating maximum intensity.

'The option is for people to find a place where they may be protected, there is no longer any other option: you have to protect your lives and those of your families,' said Obed Escalon, a forecaster with the Honduran weather service.

MIAMI, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - Hurricane Felix ripped across the warm waters of the Caribbean early Monday towards Honduras and Belize after damaging homes and power lines in Grenada as it gained 'potentially catastrophic' class-five strength.

The storm was so powerful that it tossed around a US 'hurricane hunter' data gathering airplane and forced it to abort its mission, the Miami Herald reported.

MIAMI, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - Hurricane Felix grew into a potentially catastrophic class-five storm as it ripped across the warm waters of the Caribbean on its way towards Honduras and Belize.

At 0300 GMT Monday the center of Felix was located some 550 kilometers (345 miles) southeast of Kingston, Jamaica packing winds of 270 kilometers (165 miles) per hour, with higher gusts, the Florida-based National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory.

MIAMI, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - One person was reported missing in Venezuela as Hurricane Felix grew rapidly into a potentially devastating class-five storm Sunday, howling winds of 270 kilometers (165 miles) per hour as it headed on a track toward Honduras and Belize.

The Honduran government called an alert for five departments on its Caribbean coast, as the US National Hurricane Center forecast the storm will pass just offshore of the Gracias a Dios department on Tuesday.

MIAMI, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - Hurricane Felix intensified into a potentially devastating Category Five storm Sunday as it churned its way through the Caribbean toward Belize and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.

Forecasters with the National Hurricane Center in Miami upgraded Felix from a Category Two to a Category Five, the topmost strength on the Saffir-Sampson scale, over a bare 15 hours Sunday as it moved over the warm Caribbean Sea.

The storm's top winds have increased to near 270 kilometers (165 miles) per hour.

MIAMI, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - One person was reported missing in Venezuela as Hurricane Felix grew into a major class-four storm Sunday and threatened to become a level-five super storm as it headed on a track toward Honduras and Belize.

Venezuela civil defense officials said a person went missing as beaches were evacuated in Puerto Cabello, 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Caracas, which was blasted by high winds, heavy rains and up to three meter (10 feet) swells from Felix before it intensified.

MIAMI, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - Hurricane Felix was upgraded to a potentially devastating Category Four storm Sunday as it churned its way through the Caribbean toward Belize and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.

Forecasters with the National Hurricane Center in Miami upgraded Felix from Category Three strength on the Saffir-Sampson scale, which peaks at five.

The storm's top winds have increased to near 220 kilometers (140 miles) per hour, with stronger gusts.