In the World

ANTIGUA, Guatemala - The United States and Venezuela have agreed to begin a high-level dialogue with the aim of restoring ambassador-level relations and ending more than a decade of steadily deteriorating ties, Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday.

On his first trip to Latin America since taking office and after meeting Venezuela's foreign minister in the first cabinet-level discussion between the two nations in at least several years, Kerry said he was hopeful that a rapprochement could be achieved.

The meeting, which came at Venezuela's request, took place just hours after Venezuela released from prison an American filmmaker who had been jailed on espionage charges, removing an immediate irritant in the relationship.

Kerry thanked Foreign Minister Elias Jose Jaua for the release of Timothy Tracy, calling it a "very positive development" and said that he and his counterpart had spent about 40 minutes going over in detail areas in which the two countries could cooperate.

- AP

DRESDEN, Germany - Desperate families were plucked from rooftops by helicopters, cars were swept away by raging torrents and levees failed without warning Wednesday as central Europe staggered under an inland ocean of flooding.

Tens of thousands of people had to be evacuated in Germany and the Czech Republic, and chemical plants along the mighty Danube and Elbe Rivers were hastily shut down.

City officials, federal troops, and emergency workers across a vast region either raced to prepare or struggled to cope as flood crests roared downstream.

Overall, 16 people have died since the beginning of the flooding last week, including eight people in the Czech Republic, five in Germany, two in Austria and one in Slovakia. At least four other people were missing in the Czech Republic, according to the interior minister.

- AP

MORELIA, Mexico - Three suspected drug-gang gunmen were killed in a confrontation with community self-defense squads and federal police in the mountains of western Mexico, the local mayor said Wednesday.

Mayor Justo Virgen Cerrillos in the town of Chinicuila said the suspects had been trying to steal residents' cars to flee the recent offensive by federal forces and died in a gun battle that began when they were confronted by vigilantes and police Tuesday.

The federal government sent in thousands of soldiers and police in May to try to restore order after the Knights Templar drug cartel imposed a regime of extortion, kidnapping, and killings in Michoacan.

- AP