News in brief

By The Associated Press

Tropical Storm Ileana weakens to a depression

MEXICO CITY | The National Hurricane Center says Storm Ileana has weakened to a tropical depression. The tropical storm formed Thursday off Mexico’s Pacific coast as it moved ashore, making landfall on the coast of the Mexican state of Sinaloa Saturday, a day after it pounded the resort-studded Los Cabos.

On Sunday, wind speed dropped to 35 mph, NOAA said in an advisory, as Ileana was nearly 30 miles southwest of Los Mochis, Mexico, and moving west-northwest at 2 mph. It also forecasts the storm to become a remnant low — a post-tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds less than 34 knots.

Iran says it successfully launched satellite

TEHRAN, Iran | Iran says it launched a satellite into space with a rocket built by the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Iran described the launch Saturday as a success, making it the second such launch to put a satellite into orbit with that particular rocket. Independent scientists later confirmed the launch and that the satellite reached orbit.

The launch comes amid heightened tensions gripping the wider Middle East over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, during which Tehran launched an unprecedented direct missile-and-drone attack on Israel. Meanwhile, Iran continues to enrich uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels, raising concerns among nonproliferation experts about Tehran’s program.

—From AP reports