3.1 Earthquake quivers L.A

A shallow magnitude 3.1 earthquake was reported Sunday morning 12 miles from Hawthorne, Nev., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 9:37 a.m. Pacific time at a depth of 7.5 miles.
According to the USGS, the epicenter was 14 miles from Wichman, Nev., 22 miles from Schurz, Nev., and 147 miles from Sacramento.
In the past 10 days, there have been two earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 and greater centered nearby.
Read more about California earthquakes on L.A. Now.
-- Ken Schwencke

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/earthquake-31-quake-strikes-near-hawthorne-nv-1twjke.html

Russia Holding Firm against Military intervention in Syria

Reporting from Beirut—

As diplomats attempted to craft a compromise, Russia remained firm Wednesday in its pledge to veto any U.N. Security Council resolution that could open the door for international military intervention in Syria.

Meanwhile, fighting raged anew in the troubled Middle East nation, with nearly 70 additional deaths reported by opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose bloody crackdown on street protests has led to calls from the Arab League and Western powers for him to step aside.

After a closed-door meeting, U.N. diplomats said progress had been made to overcome Russia's objections. "But there are a lot of difficult issues and we are not there yet," said British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, according to the Associated Press.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said, "I think we have a much better understanding of what we need to do to reach consensus."

But Moscow continues to oppose any U.N. move that calls for Assad to step down or would slap new economic penalties or an arms embargo on Damascus.

Behind Russia's resolute stance is its longtime relationship with Assad and his family, who have run Syria for four decades, as well as a web of business and security interests, and deep discomfort in Moscow with the concept of foreign-mandated change in leadership. Russian diplomats say they were deceived last year when a U.N. resolution designed to protect Libyan civilians morphed into a Western-led bombing campaign that doomed the long-ruling government of Moammar Kadafi.

Moreover, opposition to the resolution will not cause significant damage to relations between Russia, the West and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, predicted Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the journal Russia in Global Affairs. Other concerns, such as the situation in Iran and Afghanistan, keep Washington and its allies engaged with Russia, he said, and Moscow's relations with gulf countries are already bad.

"Russia has nothing to lose," Lukyanov said.

U.N. action could help determine the future of Syria as it nears the one-year anniversary of a protest movement that was met by the government crackdown and has since evolved into armed rebellion that has left the country on the precipice of civil war.

A draft U.N. resolution circulating in New York would authorize unspecified "further measures" should Syria not comply with its terms, including a "political transition" in which Assad would cede power.

The Arab League and its Western allies, including Washington, are pushing the proposal. But Syria, backed by Russia and other nations, calls the scheme an affront to its sovereignty.

Moscow, which last year joined with China to veto a U.N. resolution that would have condemned the Syrian crackdown on dissent, is concerned that the revolt in Syria, along with other "Arab Spring" movements, are part of a Western conspiracy to dominate the Middle East, Russian analysts say.

Vladimir Chizhov, Russia's envoy to the European Union, said the current U.N. draft was "missing the most important thing: a clear clause ruling out the possibility that ... [it] could be used to justify military intervention in Syrian affairs."

"For this reason," he said, "I see no chance this draft could be adopted."

Violence continued to ravage Syria on Wednesday, with an opposition coalition, the Local Coordination Committees, reporting at least 68 more deaths, more than half in clashes outside Damascus. The military has been clearing armed rebels from towns near the capital after insurgents brazenly advanced to within a few miles of the capital, embarrassing the government.

The official government news agency reported that four military officers, including a brigadier general, were killed Wednesday and six were wounded in a confrontation with an "armed terrorist group" outside Damascus.

The United Nations has reported more than 5,000 deaths since protests against Assad's rule broke out in March.

Casualty figures cannot be independently verified because journalists' access is limited in Syria.

Also on Wednesday, Iran reported that 11 Iranian pilgrims had been abducted in Syria, the latest in a series of kidnappings of Iranian citizens. Iran is a close ally of Syria, but Tehran has advised its citizens to hold off on bus tours to the nation.

Kidnappings, mostly of Syrians, have become a regular feature of the conflict, reflecting a generalized breakdown in law and order, human rights activists say. Abductees are often used as bargaining chips to gain the release of kidnap victims held by the other side, observers say.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-syria-violence-20120202,0,7233234.story

Landslide in New Guinea Leaves Several Dead

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea -- Rescuers were pulling bodies from the debris of a landslide that struck mountainous central Papua New Guinea, a disaster official said Wednesday. Local news media reported that as many as 60 people were dead or missing.

At least four bodies had been recovered by Wednesday evening, though the full extent of the damage to villages hit by Tuesday's landslide was not immediately known, said Martin Mose, the director of the South Pacific island nation's National Disaster Center.

"We are expecting more (bodies)," Mose said. "I am unwilling to put a number on that until I get confirmation from my team."

The National newspaper reported that 40 bodies had been recovered and 20 people were still missing following the landslide in the central town of Mendi.

The landslide carved a 1-mile (1.5 kilometer) trail of destruction across the remote landscape, Mose said, leaving roads to the villages cut off.

Photos from the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier showed scores of villagers searching a gigantic mound of dirt for survivors and victims.

Local lawmaker Francis Potape told Radio Australia's indigenous language service that the landslide completely covered two villages while people slept.

"There are people buried underneath and a number of them are, from what I have heard, children," The National quoted Potape as saying.

Three National Disaster Center officials and a police specialist dog unit flew to Mendi on Wednesday to join police at the disaster site.

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill also flew to the site to assess the damage on Wednesday

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/25/papua-new-guinea-landslide-deaths_n_1230715.html