Washington - Part of Mexico's eastern coast was under a hurric

Caracas - Venezuelan troops seized a cement plant owned by Mexico's Cemex SAB after a deal to nationalize the firm failed.

Troops occupied the Maracaibo Cemex plant in the western state of Zulia Monday night but plan to take control of all four Cemex plants in Venezuela Tuesday.

"At midnight, we are going to take operational control of Cemex's installations, and from that moment, the expropriation decree takes effect," Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said Monday night in Caracas.

President Hugo Chavez announced in April that he would nationalize the cement industry after nationalizing power, telecommunication, oil and steel companies since last year.

Mexico City, August 18 : A team of archaeologists has claimed to have discovered a legendary route inside caves and sinkholes in Mexico that leads to several underground Mayan buildings.

According to Popol Vuh, the sacred Maya book, to enter the Maya underworld, Xibalba, a tortuous road had to be walked, and at the end, there was a lake with houses, where hard tests had to be accomplished.

Now, archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY), have found the route that leads to the Mayan buildings. 

Mexico City, August 18: Archaeologists have gathered the earliest evidence of tar used as waterproofing material in Veracruz in Mexico, which is more than 3,500 years old.

Earliest remains of containers with tar are those recovered in the municipality of Hidalgotitlan, Veracruz, as part of El Manati archaeological project.

Olmeca cultures that inhabited the Gulf of Mexico vicinity used tar to protect soil, terracotta or wooden constructions, floor and wall covering, boat sealant, as well as glue.

According to University of Pennsylvania archaeologist Carl Wendt investigations, Olmeca people collected tar directly from deposits, many of them concentrated at Eastern Veracruz, between Coatzacoalcos and Choapa rivers.

Vienna - The Mexican company Cemex, one of the world's largest cement makers, is selling its building materials subsidiaries in Austria and Hungary to Austria-based construction company Strabag, both companies announced Thursday.

Strabag, one of Europe's leading construction groups, will buy 100 per cent of Cemex' stone, gravel and concrete operations in these two countries for 310 million euros (485 million dollars), Cemex announced in a statement.

Pending approval by market supervisory authorities and Strabag's board, the revenue from the sale will be used to reduce Cemex' debt, the Mexican company said.