Deadly Hurricane Otto descends on Nicaragua, Costa Rica

An intensifying hurricane poised to strike Nicaragua and Costa Rica on Thursday with powerful winds and heavy rains that are likely to trigger dangerous floods and mudslides. Packing winds of 175 kilometers (110 miles) per hour, Hurricane Otto was about to make landfall, according to the US National Hurricane Center. Coastal conditions were mostly calm just before, with AFP journalists in Nicaragua and Costa Rica's major cities on the Caribbean coast, Bluefields and Limon, reporting little rain or wind.