SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) _ Murder charges were filed Wednesday in the slaying of a gay teenager whose decapitated, partially burned body was found last week, while U.S. authorities said they were still considering whether to make it a hate crime case.

Gay activists expressed disappointment that the suspect wasn't immediately charged with a hate crime, saying authorities in Puerto Rico have never invoked a law covering crimes based on sexual orientation.

The dismembered body of 19-year-old college student Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado was discovered Friday along a road in the interior town of Cayey. Lopez was widely known as a volunteer for organizations advocating HIV prevention and gay rights, and activists are planning remembrance vigils for him in cities including San Juan, New York and Chicago.

The suspect, 26-year-old Juan Martinez Matos, was arrested earlier this week and allegedly confessed to killing Lopez and mutilating his body. He was charged with first-degree murder and weapons violations and jailed on $4 million bond.

It could not be immediately determined if Martinez was represented by an attorney.

Martinez met Lopez while looking for women Thursday night in an area known for prostitution, according to prosecutor Jose Bermudez Santos. Bermudez said the suspect confessed to stabbing Lopez, who was dressed as a woman, after discovering he was a man.

"He has a deep-seated rage," Bermudez said in remarks reported by the newspaper El Nuevo Dia.

CUBA: China health minister says 1.5M a day getting swine flu vaccine, defends foreigner quarantines

HAVANA (AP) _ China's health minister said Wednesday his country is vaccinating 1.5 million people a day against swine flu, part of a mammoth effort to reach nearly 7 percent of inhabitants of the world's most populous country by year's end.

Chen Zhu told The Associated Press that more than 50 million Chinese have been immunized so far.

He also defended China's aggressive quarantine of foreigners with flulike symptoms as well as health detentions of its own citizens.

"With initial efforts of containment, actually we not only reduced the impact of the first wave to China, but we also won time for us to prepare the vaccine" now being given to China's people, Chen said in an interview during the Havana meeting of the Global Forum for Health Research.

After the swine flu first appeared in Mexico last spring, China put Mexican visitors _ and people from other countries who had set foot in Mexico _ in weeklong quarantines and monitored them for the virus, whether or not they seemed sick.

Chinese authorities also isolated entire planeloads of international visitors if someone on board experienced flulike symptoms. They pulled passengers off trains and blocked access to villages if someone got sick after coming into contact with a foreigner.

Such measures are easier to impose in an authoritarian state. They sparked protests around the world, but when asked if they were successful, Chen said: "Exactly, very successful, exactly."

"We are confident the situation is under control," he said.

Chen said officials have moved past containing swine flu and are focusing now on improving emergency room treatment to keep those with the most urgent cases of the virus from dying.

BAHAMAS: PM says temporary employment proposal will create 2,500 jobs for 6 months

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) _ The leader of the Bahamas is calling for lawmakers to create 2,500 temporary jobs for the next six months to help struggling families during the economic recession.

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said Wednesday that his temporary job initiative would cost $14.3 million. Ingraham is also finance minister.

Ingraham says the program would provide about $210 weekly for Bahamians chosen for the temporary jobs.

Members of Parliament would be asked to propose job projects for their constituencies. Digitalizing government records that only exist on paper is likely to be a top priority.

Lawmakers are expected to vote on the Ingraham's initiative in coming days.

BERMUDA: Baltimore woman killed in bicycle crash on holiday, newspaper says

HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) _ A Bermuda newspaper reports that a 33-year-old tourist from Maryland died in a bicycle crash while vacationing in the British Atlantic islands.

The Royal Gazette quotes an unnamed police spokesman as saying the woman, identified as Bethany Heinrichs of Baltimore, apparently lost control of her bike and crashed into a curb.

The spokesman told the paper Wednesday that she suffered "serious chest and abdominal injuries." She was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Police and U.S. consular officials in the British Atlantic territory did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Investigators asked anyone who witnessed Tuesday's crash in the western parish of Sandys to contact them.

CARIBBEAN: Former NC banker's jewels, art work and cars to be auctioned off to help repay duped investors

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ Jewels, art, cars and more than 150 bottles of fine wine will be auctioned off in North Carolina's capital city to help recoup nearly $70 million in losses for investors duped in an alleged Ponzi scheme.

Rockingham-based Iron Horse Auction Co. is conducting the auction Wednesday under a federal court order to sell the assets of 58-year-old William Wise who operated the Caribbean-based Millennium Bank from an office in Raleigh.

The Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that Wise used the bank as a front for a Ponzi scheme in which he stole nearly $70 million from 375 investors since July 2004.

No charges have been filed in the case, but after the SEC sued Wise and others in March, the courts froze all of Wise's assets.

Wise's whereabouts are unknown.

PUERTO RICO: School bus crash on highway kills 8-year-old girl, injures other students

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) _ Authorities in Puerto Rico say a school bus has fallen off an overpass, killing an 8-year-old girl near the capital of the U.S. Caribbean territory.

Police officer Erick Aponte says the bus was carrying at least nine people when the driver lost control and it fell off an overpass Wednesday morning in suburban Guaynabo.

Edward Moreno of the Education Department says third-grader Paola Nicole Guzman was killed and six other people were injured, including the driver.