Magnitude-6.9 quake shakes Peru

Magnitude-6.9 quake shakes Peru

LIMA, Peru

A magnitude-6.9 earthquake centered off Peru’s central coast sent people running panicked into the streets Friday in cities badly damaged by a killer quake four years earlier. There were no reports of damage though hospital directors reported at least 20 injuries.

People who had lost loved ones and homes in the earlier quake were badly shaken, and some broke into tears.

“It felt like the one in 2007 because it was very strong,” Felix Sihuas told RPP radio. He said he was buried under rubble for six hours in the Aug. 15, 2007, quake, which killed 596 people and largely destroyed the town of Pisco.

Friday’s quake was considerably less violent in Lima, a city of 8.5 million people. The capital shook for about 30 seconds in a series of moderate, swaying movements.

NATO ending Libya mission

BRUSSELS

NATO has announced it will end its air campaign over Libya on Monday, after the decision of the U.N. Security Council to lift the no-fly zone and end military action to protect civilians.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Friday that the operation was “one of the most successful in NATO history,” one which was able to wind down quickly after the death of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Monitoring air patrols are expected to continue until Monday to make sure there are no more threats to civilians.

NATO’s 26,000 sorties, including 9,600 strike missions, destroyed about 5,900 military targets since they started March 31.

Marking 125 years for Statue of Liberty

NEW YORK

Scores of people waved tiny flags after taking the oath of U.S. citizenship at the foot of the Statue of Liberty on Friday, 125 years after the iconic American symbol welcoming visitors and immigrants was dedicated.

“We are a nation of diverse people,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said during the naturalization ceremony on Liberty Island. “And that diversity strengthens our nation.”

The new Americans, 125 immigrants from 46 countries, pledged to renounce foreign power, then posed for photos with their citizenship certificates.

New rules give girls equal shot at throne

LONDON

If Will and Kate’s first child is a girl, it’s now clear that she’ll probably become queen one day — and not even getting a little brother can mess that up.

The Commonwealth countries agreed Friday to change centuries-old rules of succession that put sons on the throne ahead of any older sisters. So that hypothetical daughter of Prince William and Kate Middleton — now known as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge — would have a prime place in history: the first princess to beat out any younger brothers and accede to the throne.

Had these rules been in place in the 1500s, Henry VIII would have just been a rather large historical footnote.

Mom: Son convicted of killings was raped

NEW HAVEN, Conn.

The mother of a Connecticut man facing a possible death sentence for a brutal, fatal home invasion broke down crying Friday as she told jurors her son was raped as a teenager and described her frantic efforts to save him after his behavior changed dramatically.

Jude Komisarjevsky said her son, Joshua, had run away when he was nearly 15, and when he came home, he looked transformed.

“There was tremendous pain in his expression,” she said. “His eyes were absolutely dead.”

Associated Press