MELIPEUCO, Chile (Reuters) – Living in the shadow of Chile's sporadically erupting, snow-capped Llaima volcano, one of South America's most active, local residents like Eduardo Mendoza are paying a heavy price. Evacuated from the ski station where he works after the government imposed a red alert when Llaima began spewing lava earlier this month, Mendoza and dozens like him have lost their livelihoods and are having trouble feeding their families.

Bertha weakens to tropical storm near Bermuda

HAMILTON (Reuters) – Hurricane Bertha weakened back into a less-menacing tropical storm on Sunday after stalling near the British colony of Bermuda, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The top sustained winds of what had been the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic storm season slipped to near 65 miles per hour, below the 74 mph threshold at which tropical storms are classified as hurricanes, the Miami-based hurricane center said.

Pioneering heart surgeon DeBakey dies at age 99

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Surgeon Michael DeBakey, whose ground-breaking heart transplants and coronary bypass operations made him one of the giants of 20th century medicine, has died at age 99. The Baylor College of Medicine and Methodist Hospital said DeBakey died on Friday of natural causes. Methodist Hospital in Houston was his primary surgical hospital for many years.