Tropical storm Ida has strengthned, and now Hurricane Ida is moving toward Central America. Currently, the storm is a category 1 hurricane, with maximum 75 mph winds.

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake, its epicenter 80 miles northeast of La Ceiba, Honduras, struck early Thursday morning. The Honduras earthquake hit at at 3:24 AM (4:24 AM ET) at the relatively shallow depth of 6 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Golden, Colorado.

Lake Nicaragua is not only the largest lake in Central America, but at 3,100 square miles, it is the largest body of fresh water between the Great Lakes of North America and Lake Titicaca on the Bolivia-Peru border.The aboriginal name for this lake, Cocibolca, means "sweet sea". It is the largest lake in Central America and one of the very few, or perhaps the only, freshwater lake to have sharks, although their numbers have dropped precipitously.

“On [07-07-07], the New Open World Foundation announced the completion of a world poll to name the ‘new Seven Wonders of the World’…To see them all would mean traveling to Jordan, Peru, India, Mexico, China, Brazil, and Italy. A tour of ‘finalists’ would span the United States, Mali, the United Kingdom, Greece, Spain, Australia, Egypt, Germany, Russia, Japan, Turkey, France, Chile and Cambodia …That would indeed be a wonderful journey.” – Philadelphia Inquirer

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visit this week in Mexico, Central America and Caribbean to discuss the development of biofuels.