4 killed in Somalia blast ahead of presidential vote Pakistan decides to resume trade with India

6.8-magnitude quake rocks Chile

SANTIAGO: A 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit Chile's Antofagasta region, with no reports of casualties or material damage so far, according to the National Seismological Centre. The quake's epicentre was 70 km east of the town of Socaire, over 1,600 km north of the country's capital Santiago, with a depth of 248 km, reports Xinhua news agency. Surrounding regions felt the quake at varied intensities. In a Twitter post, the Interior Ministry's National Emergency Office ruled out the possibility of a tsunami along the Chilean coast.

200 inmates rearrested after Ecuador prison break

QUITO: Ecuadorian police have arrested 200 of the 220 inmates who escaped from an overcrowded prison in Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas province during a riot earlier this week that left 44 prisoners dead, the Interior Ministry said. Following the riot at the Bellavista prison on Monday, which also left 10 inmates injured, authorities captured a first group of 112 inmates outside the prison early Tuesday, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying.

MOGADISHU: Somali police on Wednesday said at least four people have been killed by a suicide explosion that targeted a checkpoint near the airport in the capital, Mogadishu. "I saw four people dead at the scene. Two of them were government soldiers who died immediately after the attack," said police officer Ali Hassan. A number of wounded people were taken away in an ambulance, according to witness Hamdi Nur. There were no details on the other casualties.

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has decided to resume trade with India, designating a trade minister for the task. Though the decision is being seen as a major development in terms of country's dire economic condition, it is also being seen as a major compromise by Islamabad and a back step from its previous stance against India after August 5, 2019. The decision to resume trade with India is a difficult decision that Shehbaz Sharif has taken because the former Prime Minister Imran Khan had halted trade with India after the Modi government abrogated Article 370 of its constitution and changed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

New Mexico wildfire inches closer towards Taos

NEW MEXICO: Many homes near America's largest wildfire survived the latest barrage of howling winds and erratic flames but New Mexico's governor said on Tuesday the risk of more destruction is high and that the long-term costs of recovering from the massive blaze will soar. Two more days of strong winds and dangerously bone-dry conditions are in the forecast before some relief is expected on Friday. Crews were most concerned on Tuesday night about the potential for the massive fire east of Santa Fe to spread farther north toward rural towns and mountain resort communities closer to Taos - about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from its current northern edge.

Need $144 nm to avert Yemen tanker disaster

CAIRO: The United Nations sought $144 million on Wednesday to fund the salvage operation of a decaying tanker full of oil moored off the coast of Yemen, a ship whose demise could cause an environmental disaster. The amount includes $80 million to transfer the more than 1 million barrels of crude oil the FSO Safer is carrying to storage, said David Gressly, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen. The pledging conference, co-hosed by the UN and The Netherlands, comes more than two months after the UN and Yemen's Houthi rebels reached an agreement to transfer the tanker's contents to another vessel.