The United States has suspended a $350m aid programme to Malawi because of concerns that the government there is becoming increasingly authoritarian. The American aid package was

intended to

improve Malawi's electricity network, but it's dependent on a commitment to good governance. Recent suppression of anti-government protests has left 19 people dead in Malawi.

Mexican officials say at least 17 people have been killed and another four injured in an armed clash in a prison in the northern city of Ciudad Juarez. A spokesman for the city's authorities told the BBC that one group of prisoners attacked inmates from a rival drug gang on Monday night, using weapons they'd

seize

d from guards.

The Colombian salsa star Joe Arroyo has died at the age of 55 after being in hospital for nearly a month with lung and kidney problems. Arroyo, who's most famous for the hit La Rebelion, began singing in brothels in the Caribbean city of Cartagena at the age of eight. From Bogota, Arturo Wallace reports.

For Colombians, he was simply the greatest, and it's difficult to imagine a single Latin American not having danced at least once to one of his many hits. Alvaro Jose Arroyo Gonzalez - Joe Arroyo, El Joe - was a dominant figure of the salsa music scene between 1985 and 1995. And during his prolific career, 40 of his songs made it to the top of the Colombian charts. He was also the man who more clearly

reclaim

ed the African heritage of Latin American tropical music both in his lyrics and rhythms.