Albanians in fear after 340 aftershocks
TIRANA, Albania -- Fear and safety hazards kept many residents of Albania's capital of Tirana and the port city of Durres out of their homes Sunday after an earthquake the day before injured 105 people and damaged hundreds of buildings.
Albania's Institute of Geosciences, Energy, Water and Environment said more than 340 aftershocks have followed the 5.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Saturday afternoon near Durres.
About 600 houses, most built before 1990, were damaged in the quake, which also temporarily knocked out power and water facilities in Tirana, Durres and some western and central districts, authorities said.
The U.S. Geological Survey and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center recorded the rupture on Albania's western Adriatic Sea coast as a magnitude-5.6 quake.
It was felt along the western coast and far to the east. Many people ran outdoors when the quake hit at 4:04 p.m., or 9:04 a.m. CDT. At least 500 spent the night in temporary shelters.
Inspectors evaluated damaged structures Sunday.
Prime Minister Edi Rama said he had phone calls from his Italian, French, German and other European counterparts offering assistance.
Israel begins cutting Palestinian power
JERUSALEM -- Israel's national electric company says it has begun reducing power supplies to Palestinian areas of the occupied West Bank due to a financial dispute.
The Israel Electric Co. said Sunday that it took the step because the Jerusalem District Electricity Co., the Palestinians' main power distributor, has debts of roughly $485 million.
Ali Hamodeh, an official with the Palestinian distributor, says power is expected to be cut for two hours daily in several Palestinian towns in the coming weeks.
He accused Israel of "exaggerating" the level of debt and called the power cuts a "political exploit."
The Palestinians rely on Israel for nearly all of their electricity.
Crash kills 26 people on Pakistan bus
ISLAMABAD -- A bus crash in northern Pakistan killed 26 people Sunday after its brakes failed on a winding mountain road, police said.
Another 20 passengers were injured when the bus smashed into a dirt embankment, said Abdul Wakil, a local police officer.
Such road accidents are common in Pakistan, where motorists largely disregard traffic rules and safety standards on worn-out roads. Last month, a speeding bus fell off a mountainous road into a river in the northwest, killing 24 passengers.
Rescue efforts were hampered Sunday by the remote terrain near the town of Chilas on the route between the cities of Rawalpindi and Skardu. That's in the Gilgit-Baltistan area, part of the larger Kashmir region.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, and has been the sight of recent tensions. An army statement said 10 soldiers were among those killed in the crash.
Wakil said two of the injured had died after being taken to the hospital, and that all the dead and injured had been evacuated to hospitals from the crash site.
Sudan investigating protesters' deaths
CAIRO -- Sudan's newly appointed prime minister launched an independent investigation into a deadly crackdown on protesters in June, which killed dozens of people and threatened to crush the country's pro-democracy uprising.
Protest leaders had demanded the establishment of an international inquiry as part of a subsequent power-sharing agreement with the military, but the generals insisted on a Sudanese-led probe.
According to the protesters, at least 128 people were killed and hundreds wounded when security forces violently dispersed the protesters' main sit-in outside the military headquarters in the capital, Khartoum, on June 3. Authorities put the death toll at 87, including 17 inside the sit-in area.
The violence signaled a suppression of protests across Sudan that led to a breakdown in talks between the protesters and the ruling generals. The military had ousted autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in April amid nationwide protests against his nearly 30-year rule.
Sudan's new civilian leader, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, said late Saturday that the investigation will be led by a seven-member committee that includes a top judge, an independent figure and two attorneys. The justice, defense and interior ministries will also be represented on the committee.
The probe, which should conclude its work within six months, could seek support from the African Union if needed, said Hamdok.
An investigation by Sudanese prosecutors in July said the ruling generals did not order the deadly break-up, but blamed the widely condemned dispersal on paramilitary forces who exceeded their orders.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 09/23/2019