Quito, Ecuador News

Melrose High School students and chaperones are pictured on their Spanish trip to Equador.

Westborough High School science teacher Todd Ryan told the school committee Wednesday night that "I've always wanted to give students the same kind of experience that I had in college." The board is giving Ryan that chance.

Afternoon Update, sent weekday afternoons, keeps you up to date with breaking news and updates from later in the day.

In collaboration with Alliance FranA aise Quito and Museo del NiA o y del NiA o en el Adulto and support from a large number of institutions and partners, including UNESCO, the program will showcase a wide selection of films, Latin American and from elsewhere in the world, portraying science, scientists through a filmmaker's sensibility to ... (more)

The Swiss Re Foundation and the GEM Foundation announced a "three-year collaborative project to create the first-ever comprehensive picture of seismic risk in Latin America to incorporate social and economic factors." Swiss Re said: "International and local experts will assess potential physical damage as well as the broader community consequences ... (more)

A member of the De Mi Tierra Mariachi group waits to compete at the Mexico Theater in Quito, Ecuador.

Ecuador is easy to get to, just a three-and-a-half- hour flight from Miami, and if you go now, you can enjoy a totally new airport that has only been in operation about a month.

Summary: ILoveRoses, by Nevado Roses, opens a stunning, sumptuous airport boutique for enthusiasts of luxury roses.

When the photographers Pablo Corral Vega and Loup Langton held the first Pictures of the Year Latin America contest in 2011, they had no idea how many submissions they would receive.