Strong quake hits west Indonesia

Strong quake hits west Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia

A powerful earthquake jolted the western Indonesian island of Sumatra early today, killing a 12-year-old boy and sending people streaming from houses, hotels and at least one hospital in panic.

The magnitude-6.6 quake was centered 60 miles southwest of the city of Medan and 62 miles beneath the earth’s crust, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

It was too far inland to generate a tsunami.

The quake hit about 1 a.m., rattling people from their sleep in towns and villages across the island’s northern tip.

Maura Sakti, a mayor in Subulussalam, told local station TVOne a 12-year-old boy had been killed. At least one other person was injured.

Pakistan captures key al-Qaida leader

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

Pakistan’s main intelligence agency has nabbed a top al-Qaida commander suspected of planning attacks on American oil pipelines, tankers and other economic targets, Pakistani officials said Monday. The arrest, made with help from the United States, suggested the recent tensions that have derailed cooperation between the two countries may be easing.

Younis al Mauritani, a senior al-Qaida commander, was arrested in the southern city of Quetta along with two other senior operatives from the organization, Abdul Ghaffar al Shami and Messara al Shami, Pakistan’s military said.

Typhoon leaves 29 dead in Japan

TOKYO

Six months after Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, the slow-moving but powerful Typhoon Talas has brought heavy rainfall and caused massive landslides in the country.

The storm had left at least 29 people dead and 51 missing in the nation’s west as of Monday afternoon, according to a tally by The Yomiuri Shimbun.

Full-scale rescue operations are being conducted in Wakayama, Mie and Nara prefectures, which have suffered the brunt of the typhoon’s damage. In Wakayama Prefecture, 18 people have been confirmed dead, and 27 are still missing, while four have died and 20 are missing in Nara Prefecture.

NASA launching twin moon probes

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

Four decades after landing men on the moon, NASA is returning to Earth’s orbiting companion, this time with a set of robotic twins that will measure lunar gravity while chasing each other in circles.

By creating the most precise lunar gravity map ever, scientists hope to figure out what’s beneath the lunar surface, all the way to the core. The orbiting probes also will help pinpoint the best landing sites for future explorers, whether human or mechanical.

Near-identical twins Grail-A and Grail-B — short for Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory — are due to blast off Thursday aboard an unmanned rocket.

Rebels hold off on attacking town

TARHOUNA, Libya

Thousands of rebel fighters closed in around one of Libya’s last pro-Gadhafi strongholds Monday but held back on a final assault in hopes of avoiding a bloody battle for the town of Bani Walid.

The standoff came as rebel leaders in Tripoli said Libya’s transition to democratic rule would begin with a “declaration of liberation” that was unlikely to come before Gadhafi’s forces’ last strongholds were defeated and the fugitive former dictator had been captured.

Combined dispatches