Mexico quake toll rises to 360:

Lat/Am

The death toll from Mexico’s magnitude 7.1 earthquake has risen by two and now stands at 360.

It includes 219 deaths in Mexico City, where 38 buildings collapsed during the temblor.

The rest of the casualties came in five states near the capital.

National Civil Defense chief Luis Felipe Puente reported the new toll Saturday on Twitter. (AP)

Meanwhile, Mexico is still cleaning up the rubble left by its killer earthquake on Sept 19, but already accusations are flying that shoddy construction, official negligence and corruption made the disaster worse. (Agencies)

Colombia’s ELN starts truce:

After a halfcentury of armed struggle, the Colombian armed forces and the country’s last guerrilla group, the ELN, began on Sunday a historic, if possibly temporary, truce.

The initial ceasefire between the National Liberation Army rebels and government forces, which began at midnight Saturday, is set to extend until Jan 9.

The truce is the most important achievement yet from peace talks carried out since February by negotiators for the rebels and the Colombian government of President Juan Manuel Santos in neighboring Ecuador, aimed at ending the longest armed conflict in the Americas. (AFP)

Turkish Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar (second left), and Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre (second right), receive a salute from a Somali soldier at combined Turkey-Somali training center during his visit to Mogadishu, Somalia on Sept 30....