8.8-magnitude quake rocks Chile
Santiago, Chile (UPI) -- A massive earthquake in Chile Saturday killed at least 47 people and set off tsunami warnings as far as Australia.
The quake, measured at 8.8 on the Richter Scale, struck at 3:34 a.m. local time and was centered about 200 miles southwest of Santiago at a depth of 22 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The quake, centered about 200 miles southwest of Concepcion, was nearly a thousand times more powerful than the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti Jan. 12, CNN reported.
Tsunami warnings from Saturday's quake were issued for Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Antarctica, Central America, all Pacific island nations. and Australia, the BBC said.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said a large wave had hit the Juan Fernandez southern island group.
More than a dozen aftershocks had been reported, including one measuring magnitude 6.9. Many of Chile's news Web sites, radio stations and telephone networks were down.
Several hospitals were evacuated because of structural damage, the Santiago airport was closed and bridges were reported down in Parral, a town close to the quake's epicenter. A chemical fire in Colina was reported under control.
Obama calls for bipartisanship
Washington (UPI) -- President Barack Obama Saturday said both parties must pull together on healthcare reform for the sake of the millions of Americans who lack insurance.
In his weekly address, Obama also congratulated U.S. medal winners at the Winter Olympics and urged Republicans and Democrats to adopt their spirit and team up on healthcare legislation.
"If we want to compete on the world stage as well as we've competed in the world's games, we need to find common ground," he said.
Obama said he was eager to advance healthcare legislation because tens of millions of Americans and small businesses "cannot wait another generation for us to act."
Thursday's televised healthcare summit in Washington showed that stark differences remain between the two parties. At the summit, Obama suggested he would favor budget reconciliation rules in the Senate to move a bill with a simple majority vote.
British forces eye Afghanistan withdrawal
Kabul, Afghanistan (UPI) -- Recent advances against the Taliban mean British forces could begin to withdraw from Afghanistan as early as next year, Gen. David Richards said.
The British army commander said some troops could begin withdrawing in 2011, with the majority leaving by 2015, The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday in an exclusive.
Richards said this month's NATO-led assault in southern Afghanistan was showing "optimistic signs" that the Taliban had been weakened.
"The Taliban is now beginning to realize that they can lose this war, which was not the view they had a year ago," he said. "We have to reinforce the view that they can, and will, be beaten."
The recent success, Richards said, was due in part to British troops receiving more badly needed military equipment.
"We have been holding our own in very hard circumstances for years," Richards said. "Now for the first time we have the resources we have been seeking."
Snow, rain blanket East Coast
NEW YORK, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A storm with hurricane-force winds gave New York its snowiest month on record and cut power to nearly a million East Coast residents, meteorologists said.
By late Friday, 21 inches of snow had fallen on the boroughs of New York with 32 inches reported in Harriman, N.Y., and 21 inches in Monroe, N.Y., The Christian Science Monitor reported Saturday.
The storm gusted to 45 mph at New York's La Guardia airport, one of several major airports in the region forced to cancel or delay flights.
"The radar did show it with a hurricane-type eye," said Accuweather.com meteorologist Josh Nagelberg.
The storm dropped about 6 inches of snow on Philadelphia while warmer temperatures in southern New England brought drenching rain, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Saturday.
By Friday night, the storm split into two storms, one heading east out to sea and another moving toward northern Maine and the Canadian Maritimes, where it was expected to leave up to a foot of snow by late Sunday.
