- 38 dead as Azerbaijani jet crashes in Kazakhstan
- Crisis-hit Valencia hire West Brom's Corberan as new boss
- Suriname ex-dictator and fugitive Desi Bouterse dead at 79
- 35 feared dead as Azerbaijani jet crashes in Kazakhstan
- Pope calls for 'arms to be silenced' in Christmas appeal
- Syria authorities say torched 1 million captagon pills
- Pope calls for 'arms to be silenced' across world
- 32 survivors as Azerbaijani jet crashes in Kazakhstan
- Pakistan air strikes kill 46 in Afghanistan, Kabul says
- Liverpool host Foxes, Arsenal prepare for life without Saka
- Japan FM raises 'serious concerns' over China military buildup
- Pope's sombre message in Christmas under shadow of war
- Zelensky condemns Russian 'inhumane' Christmas attack on energy grid
- Sweeping Vietnam internet law comes into force
- Pope kicks off Christmas under shadow of war
- Catholics hold muted Christmas mass in Indonesia's Sharia stronghold
- Japan's top diplomat in China to address 'challenges'
- Thousands attend Christmas charity dinner in Buenos Aires
- Demand for Japanese content booms post 'Shogun'
- As India's Bollywood shifts, stars and snappers click
- Mystery drones won't interfere with Santa's work: US tracker
- Djokovic eyes more Slam glory as Swiatek returns under doping cloud
- Australia's in-form Head confirmed fit for Boxing Day Test
- Brazilian midfielder Oscar returns to Sao Paulo
- 'Wemby' and 'Ant-Man' to make NBA Christmas debuts
- US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down
- On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis launches holy Jubilee year
- 'Like a dream': AFP photographer's return to Syria
- Chiefs seek top seed in holiday test for playoff-bound NFL teams
- Panamanians protest 'public enemy' Trump's canal threat
- Cyclone death toll in Mayotte rises to 39
- Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her 'banishment'
- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- Man Utd boss Amorim vows to stay on course despite Rashford row
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- NASA probe makes closest ever pass by the Sun
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Global stocks mostly rise in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Global stocks mostly rise after US tech rally
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
Hurricane Julia slams Nicaragua, menaces Central America
Hurricane Julia raked across Nicaragua Sunday, lashing the country with winds and heavy rain and bringing potentially life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides to much of Central America.
Maximum sustained winds were estimated at 85 miles per hour (140 kph) when the storm made landfall near the Laguna de Perlas area at 0715 GMT, the country's weather agency said.
By late morning, the fifth Atlantic hurricane of the season had weakened slightly to a tropical storm with top sustained winds at near 70 miles per hour as it churned westward across Nicaragua.
But the US National Hurricane Center warned that Julia -- whose center was some 65 miles northeast of the capital Managua at 1500 GMT -- was still packing a punch, not just for Nicaragua but for neighboring countries.
"This rainfall may cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides across Central America today and Monday," with dangerous conditions also reaching southern Mexico, the NHC said in its latest advisory.
Julia was expected to emerge off the Pacific coast by Sunday evening, then shift northwestward to "parallel the Pacific coasts of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala tonight and Monday."
Maintaining its tropical storm strength, Julia is forecast to produce five to 10 inches (12.7 to 25.4 centimeters) of rain in Nicaragua and El Salvador, with isolated pockets receiving as much as 15 inches.
Hours earlier in Bluefields, Nicaragua, one of the main coastal towns buffeted by the storm, fishermen had been busy safeguarding their boats as people rushed to buy groceries and withdraw money from ATMs.
Hurricane-force winds and heavy rains began to be felt around midnight, according to AFP photographers in the city, while state media reported detached roofs, fallen trees and power outages.
Before reaching Nicaragua, Julia passed over a trio of Colombian islands, an environment ministry official told AFP, causing rain and lightning in the country's north.
Julia was a Category 1 hurricane, on the low side of the five-tier Saffir-Simpson wind scale, when it roared ashore in Nicaragua.
Authorities have evacuated some 6,000 people in Laguna de Perlas, in the Miskito keys located off the coast, and in other zones.
"We have to prepare with food, plastic, a little bit of everything, because we don't know what's going to happen," Javier Duarte, a cabinetmaker in Bluefields, told AFP.
The municipality of some 60,000 inhabitants has many flimsy structures.
Julia's arrival in Central America comes less than two weeks after deadly Hurricane Ian crashed into the southeastern US state of Florida, in one of the most powerful US hurricanes on record.
The Category 4 storm flattened entire neighborhoods on the Sunshine State's southwest coast. More than 100 people were killed, according to US media.
L.Davis--AMWN