Top stories from DAWNS Digest.
Scores Killed in Massive Earthquake in Guatemala
This was the biggest earthquake to hit Guatemala since a calamitous quake of 1975 that killed 20,000. “A 7.4-magnitude earthquake rocked Guatemala on Wednesday, killing at least 48 people in two states as it toppled thick adobe walls, shook huge landslides down onto highways, and sent terrified villagers streaming into the streets of this idyllic mountain town near the border with Mexico. One hundred people were missing, and hundreds were injured. The quake, which hit at 10:35 a.m. in the midst of the work day, caused terror over an unusually wide area, with damage reported in all but one of Guatemala’s 22 states and shaking felt as far away as Mexico City, 600 miles (965 kilometers) to the northwest. President Otto Perez Molina said at a news conference that 40 people died in the state of San Marcos and eight more were killed in the neighboring state of Quetzaltenango.” (AP http://bit.ly/RZUo2i)
ECOWAS Finalizes Mali Intervention Plan
The west african bloc has reportedly agreed to a military intervention strategy. “West African army chiefs have adopted a military plan to expel Islamist rebels controlling northern Mali, as one extremist group pushes for a negotiated solution to the crisis. Mali has slid into chaos since a March 22 coup overthrew the government of president Amadou Toumani Toure, creating a power vacuum that enabled Islamist rebels to seize the vast desert north. The military blueprint, reached at a meeting of army top brass in Bamako that wrapped up late Tuesday, will next be studied by regional heads of state for approval before being presented to the UN Security Council on November 26.” (Radio Netherlands http://bit.ly/WCqbhc)