Lima, Peru
The U.S. Geological Survey said the early morning quake had a magnitude of 7.1 and was centered 25 miles from Acari in the Arequipa department of southwestern Peru.
The quake jolted people awake as far away as capital city of Lima, some 350 miles from Acari, blocked some roads, collapsed adobe homes in several towns and left at least one supermarket a jumble of fallen crackers boxes and soda bottles.
Arequipa Gov. Yamila Osorio said a 55-year-old man killed when he was crushed by a fallen rock and the National Civil Defense Institute said at least 57 people were injured — 23 of them in Chala district, a coastal area dependent on fishing and mining that is popular with tourists.
The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially warned of that hazardous waves could hit Peru and Chile, but later stated there was no longer any tsunami threat from the quake. The quake came four days before Pope Francis was set to arrive in Peru.
A Turkish passenger plane veered off the runway and dived nose-down into the side of a cliff, where it landed on its belly, a few perilous yards from the Black Sea.
The Pegasus Airlines aircraft landed Saturday evening at Trabzon Airport on northeastern Turkey’s Black Sea coast. Authorities have not said what caused the plane to skid off the runway after it landed. In a brief statement, the budget airline simply described what happened as a “runway excursion incident.”
The plane’s 162 passengers, two pilots and four cabin-crew members all got out of the aircraft safely, Pegasus Airlines said. The flight was en route from Ankara, the Turkish capital.
The plane skidded to the left after it landed on the single runway, which runs parallel to the coast just yards from the water. Images show the Boeing 737-800 stuck at a downward angle on the muddy cliff that adjoins the Black Sea.
Washington
President Donald Trump hasn’t made a final decision, but appears more likely to send only $60 million of the planned $125 million first installment to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, said the officials, who weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Future contributions would require the agency, facing heavy Israeli criticism, to demonstrate significant changes in operations, they said, adding that one suggestion under consideration would require the Palestinians to first re-enter peace talks with Israel.
The State Department said Sunday that “the decision is under review. There are still deliberations taking place.” The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the matter.
The administration could announce its decision as early as Tuesday, the officials said. The plan to withhold some of the money is backed by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis, who offered it as a compromise to demands for more drastic measures by U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, the officials said.
Haley wants a complete cutoff in U.S. money until the Palestinians resume peace talks with Israel that have been frozen for years. But Tillerson, Mattis and others say ending all assistance would exacerbate instability in the Mideast, notably in Jordan, a host to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees and a crucial U.S. strategic partner.
The U.S. is the agency’s largest donor, supplying nearly 30 percent of its total budget. The agency focuses on providing health care, education and social services to Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians either fled or were forced from their homes during the war that led to Israel’s establishment in 1948. Today, there are an estimated 5 million refugees and their descendants, mostly scattered across the region.
— Wire reports