Tropical Storm Richard strengthens into hurricane

Tropical Storm Richard strengthened into a hurricane over the Caribbean Sea on Sunday, on a track that could take it into the energy-rich Gulf of Mexico, the US National Hurricane Center said.

Richard, which was heading toward Belize and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, was the 10th hurricane of the busy 2010 Atlantic storm season. Five of those hurricanes have been major, but the US has escaped a significant landfall so far. (Rueters)