Tropical Storm Earl bears down on Central America

A tropical storm, dubbed Earl and packing nearly hurricane-force winds, was to hit northern Central American countries Wednesday, prompting warnings and emergency planning by authorities. Earl was moving slowly westward across the Caribbean and was expected to drive across the northern coast of Honduras and Guatemala on Wednesday and slam directly into Belize late Wednesday or early Thursday before moving into southeastern Mexico. Honduras issued a red alert for its Caribbean island group the Bay Islands and closed airports and schools in the north.