Hilary, a small but powerful storm, strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane late on Thursday as its core continued to move parallel to the southwest Pacific coast of Mexico. The storm was 85 miles southwest of the popular resort of Acapulco, packing maximum sustained winds of 135 miles per hour, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center…

Monarch butterfly colonies in Mexico more than doubled in size this winter after bad storms devastated their numbers a year ago, conservationists said on Monday although the migrating insect remains under threat. Millions of butterflies make a 2,000-mile journey each year from Canada to winter in central Mexico’s warmer weather but the size of that…