World datelines

Mexico: Tropical storm

LOS CABOS — Once-powerful Hurricane Rick lost most of its punch as it headed toward Mexican resort regions as a tropical storm Tuesday, but local authorities still prepared for evacuations in case of flooding.

Rick had been the strongest hurricane in the eastern North Pacific region since 1997, with winds of 180 mph during the weekend, and it kicked up high waves hundreds of miles from its center that killed at least two people. But Rick spent its force far out at sea and was weakened by moving across cooler waters.

Iraq: Bombs kill 6

BAGHDAD — Car bombs and planted explosives killed six people, mostly police, on Tuesday in different areas of Iraq as a low-level insurgency continues to target the country's struggling security forces.

A car packed with explosives blew up at a gas station in the town of Saqlawiyah, 45 miles (75 kilometers) west of Baghdad, killing three policemen and one civilian, a local police officer said. He said five policemen and one civilian were wounded in the same blast.

In northern Baghdad, one civilian was killed and four were wounded when a bomb attached to a minibus exploded in Kazimiyah.

Minutes later, a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol in western Baghdad wounded three civilians, a local policeman said.

Poland: Biden visit

WARSAW — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Poland late Tuesday on the highest-level visit yet by the Obama administration to the country — a gesture Poles view as Washington's attempt to repair damage done by its handling of missile defense plans.

President Barack Obama is deeply admired in Western Europe, but his administration is less popular in Poland and other former Soviet satellites because of Washington's drive to mend ties with Russia — still deeply feared in the region — and plans to reconfigure Bush-era missile defense plans.

Iran: Sentence

TEHRAN — Iran ignored appeals by Hillary Rodham Clinton and even rock star Sting and sentenced an Iranian-American academic to 12 years in prison Tuesday for his alleged role in anti-government protests after the country's disputed presidential election.

The sentence for Kian Tajbakhsh was the longest prison term yet in a mass trial of more than 100 opposition figures, activists and journalists in the postelection turmoil.