VAN, Turkey (Reuters) – An earthquake in eastern Turkey killed at least five people and scores more were trapped under the rubble of two hotels and a dozen other buildings, state television said on Thursday, less than three weeks after another killed 600 in the same area.

The magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck 16 km (9 miles) south of the city of Van at 1923 GMT on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

ANKARA (Reuters) – At least three people were killed and scores more trapped under the rubble of two hotels and a dozen other buildings when an earthquake hit eastern Turkey on Wednesday, less than three weeks after another quake killed 600 in the same area.

The magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck 16 km (9 miles) south of the city of Van at 1923 GMT, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – China called on Wednesday for an independent and stable Afghanistan free from outside interference, in what diplomats interpreted as a new, higher-profile effort by Asia’s largest economy to take a more active role in its neighbour’s future.

Speaking at a conference on Afghanistan in Istanbul, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin urged the international community to respect Afghanistan’s sovereignty and said Afghans must rally behind a national reconciliation.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Pakistan and Afghanistan have stepped back from a near-rupture in relations following the murder of an Afghan peace envoy, officials said on Wednesday after several days of talks between the two countries.

Leaders of the two countries, accompanied by their army and intelligence chiefs, met at a regional conference hosted by Turkey for the first time since the assassination in September of peace envoy and former president Burhanuddin Rabbani.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai ruled out on Tuesday an early resumption of talks with the Taliban after a summit meeting with Pakistan which appeared to yield no breakthrough on a bitter rift between the two neighbours.

Karzai’s comments could undercut U.S. efforts to pick up the threads of talks ruptured by the assassination in September of Afghan peace envoy and former president Burhanuddin Rabbani by a suicide bomber posing as a Taliban peace emissary.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan and Pakistan held their first talks on Tuesday since the assassination of an Afghan peace negotiator, in a meeting hosted by Turkey to heal a rift undermining prospects of ending the Afghan war.

Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari met along with Turkish President Abdullah Gul while their army chiefs consulted ahead of an international conference on Afghanistan.

ISTANBUL, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Afghanistan and Pakistan held
their first talks on Tuesday since the assassination of an
Afghan peace negotiator, in a meeting hosted by Turkey to heal a
rift undermining prospects of ending the Afghan war.

Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari met along with Turkish
President Abdullah Gul while their army chiefs consulted ahead
of an international conference on Afghanistan.

ERCIS, Turkey (Reuters) – Rescue workers pulled a 13-year-old boy alive out of the rubble of an apartment block on Friday, five days after a powerful earthquake that killed at least 570 people in eastern Turkey.

“It is a great miracle,” Neriman, the boy’s 34-year-old mother told Reuters. “He told me he prayed and when he said all his prayers and there were no more left he recited the national anthem.”

ERCIS, Turkey (Reuters) – Rescue workers pulled out a 13-year-old boy alive from rubble on Friday, over 100 hours after a powerful earthquake that killed more than 500 people in eastern Turkey .

The rescue lifted Turkish spirits as thousands of quake survivors endured a fifth freezing and wet night without a roof over their heads.

ERCIS, Turkey (Reuters) – The rescue of a man buried under rubble for more than 100 hours cheered grief-stricken survivors of the massive earthquake in southeast Turkey, as thousands endured a fifth freezing, wet night without a roof over their heads.

People left homeless by Sunday’s 7.2 magnitude quake in the predominantly Kurdish eastern province of Van have complained bitterly over the slow delivery of relief in the early days of the disaster.