In an initial step toward what could be the first wrongful-death suit of its kind, Texas resident Steven Trunnell has filed a petition against Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork producer, based in Virginia, and the owner of a massive pig farm in Perote, Mexico, near the village of La Gloria, where the earliest cases of the new H1N1 flu were detected. Trunnell filed the petition in his home state on behalf of his late wife, Judy Dominguez Trunnell, ...

A wind-fanned wildfire spread across 500 acres in Santa Barbara County, California, early Thursday, forcing 13,000 residents to evacuate and destroying at least 20 homes. The fire, strengthened by high temperatures and low humidity, engulfed mansions in the coastal community's foothills. The blaze, which started Tuesday, came six months after the Tea Fire destroyed about 200 homes in the Santa Barbara area. The current fire has forced about 13,000 people to evacuate, said Derek Johnson, ...

When Moises Bonilla watched a fellow swine flu sufferer breathe her last in the isolated hospital ward, he prayed he would not follow her. The 39-year-old woman had been on the bed next to him for two days, tubes shoved into her throat, her eyes rarely flickering. Although she was unable to speak, Bonilla felt an affinity with her as he did with all his fellow patients, who egged each other on with calls to keep fighting. But she slipped ...

A killer bug is spreading like wildfire. Streets of one of the world's biggest cities are eerily empty. Bars and restaurants have been shuttered for days. The president goes on TV to tell workers to stay at home for their own safety. Those who venture outside are clad in surgical masks. Once healthy people are suddenly falling sick and dying from a new disease, H1N1 swine flu. The government swears the situation is under control. But down at ...

The number of confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus has jumped more than 30 percent with 331 people being diagnosed so far, the World Health Organization said Friday. The virus, commonly known as swine flu, has spread to 11 countries, but the hardest hit areas were in the western hemisphere, the organization said. "We have not seen sustained human-to-human transmission anywhere outside the Americas region," said WHO spokesman, Thomas Abraham. In the United States, the Centers for Disease ...

The outbreak of swine flu, that has killed more than 150 people in Mexico, has also affected the football world with the semfinals and final of the CONCACAF section of the under-17 World Cup, scheduled for Wednesday and Saturday, having been cancelled -- world governing body FIFA has confirmed on their official Web site. CONCACAF, the confederation that governs football in central and north America, has decided to follow the lead of the Mexican government in order to safeguard the ...

Trading in travel shares tumbled in markets around the world Monday, amid fears that the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico could turn into a global pandemic. But shares in pharmaceutical businesses and medical companies have shown strong play. At 1100 GMT the FTSE in London was down by 0.6 percent, with the CAC in Paris down by 1.3 percent and the Dax in Frankfurt lower by 1.3 percent. At the same time shares in airlines Lufthansa and British Airways ...

Fernando Navarette fingers his blue mouth mask and eyes other customers suspiciously at the juice stand as he orders a special anti-flu cocktail of pineapple, guava and honey. "I want to get the vitamins in me and then get back home," says the 37-year-old graphic designer, carefully keeping his distance. "I don't want to be in the street any longer than necessary and risk bringing the virus into my house. I have young children to worry about." Fears of getting ...

British authorities and environmental groups were welcoming the launch this week of the world's first biodegradable chewing gum, which they say could help save some of the millions spent on clearing up the mess ordinary gum creates. The new gum becomes non-adhesive when dry and decomposes to dust within six weeks, a spokesman for Mexico's Chicza Mayan Rainforest Chewing Gum told CNN. The makers of Chicza say it is the first biodegradable chewing gum ever sold. Environmental and waste management ...

Jose Reyes Ferriz, mayor of the Mexican border city of Juarez, presides over what may be the western hemisphere's most dangerous town, certainly the hardest hit by Mexico's drug-war terror. Since the start of last year, Juarez has seen almost 2,000 drug-related murders. Reyes this month requested thousands of federal army soldiers to rein in the violence, which has subsided for the moment — giving him a chance to rebuild Juarez's corrupt police force. He talked with TIME's Tim Padgett ...