Gibson donates $1m to Mexican aid

Mel Gibson (left) and Mexican President Vicente Fox met this week

Mel Gibson has pledged $1m (£566,000) to help Mexico's hurricane relief in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Stan, the Mexican government has announced.

The actor met the Mexican president, Vicente Fox, this week.

Gibson is preparing to shoot his new film Apocalypto in the Gulf state of Veracruz, which sustained heavy damage earlier this month.

Set 3,000 years ago in central America, the film features dialogue spoken in an obscure Mayan dialect.

Floods and landslides

Gibson will direct Apocalypto, a title taken from the Greek word for an unveiling or new beginning, and the film's plot has been kept secret.

Filming is scheduled to begin on 14 November.

Hurricane Stan hit Central America and Mexico with days of relentless rain from 1 October, triggering floods and landslides.

More than 2,000 people died in Guatemala and a further 125 in El Salvador, Mexico and Nicaragua.