ST. JOHNS, Ariz. — A 9-year-old boy accused of shooting his father and his father's roommate to death last fall pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of negligent homicide.

Under a plea agreement, he pleaded guilty in the death of the roommate, and premeditated murder charges were dropped. Police said the boy used a .22-caliber rifle to shoot the men as they returned home from work Nov. 5.

The boy's plea spares the rural community from an emotional trial and prevents the boy from serving time in the state juvenile corrections system or being tried as an adult.

SCORES FLEE NEW CHILE ERUPTION

SANTIAGO, Chile — More than 150 people who had returned to a Chilean town destroyed by a volcanic eruption last year were evacuated again yesterday as the volcano roared back to life, spewing ash high into the air.

The explosion apparently rocked the dome of the 2,700-foot Chaiten volcano and sent volcanic material down the mountain's slope, threatening to block a river and trigger flooding, said Paula Narvaez, a presidential delegate to the area in southern Chile.

Chaiten erupted on May 2 for the first time in an estimated 9,000 years.

PAKISTAN BOMB KILLS 25 PEOPLE

ISLAMABAD — A hospital official said the death toll from a bomb attack at a funeral for a Shiite Muslim leader in northwestern Pakistan has risen to 25.

Ashiq Salim, a doctor at the main hospital in the city of Dera Ismail Khan, says 25 bodies had been brought there since the attack this morning.

Salim said the hospital was treating another 60 people who were injured.

Pakistan is suffering a surge in sectarian violence just as it struggles to contain a growing Taliban insurgency.

FEWER MEXICANS CROSSING BORDER

MEXICO CITY — Migration from Mexico, mainly to the United States, has fallen dramatically as fewer Mexicans leave their country to look for work abroad amid a global economic downturn, the government said yesterday.

The net outflow of Mexicans — both legal and illegal — declined by more than 50 percent in the 12 months ending in August 2008, said Eduardo Sojo, a government statistician.

Sojo attributed the net drop to tough economic conditions abroad.