While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, April 18 edition

Biggest earthquake in decades kills at least 235 in Ecuador, injures more than 1,500

The death toll from Ecuador's biggest earthquake in decades soared to at least 235 on Sunday as rescuers using tractors and bare hands hunted desperately for survivors in shattered coastal towns.

The 7.8 magnitude quake struck off the Pacific coast on Saturday and was felt around the Andean nation of 16 million people, causing panic as far away as the highland capital Quito and collapsing buildings and roads in a swathe of western towns.

President Rafael Correa, who was rushing home from a trip to Italy, said the confirmed number of fatalities rose on Sunday to 233.

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Thousands take part in Brussels rally against extremist violence

Around 7,000 people in Brussels marched against extremist violence on Sunday, nearly a month after suicide blasts on Europe's institutional capital left 32 dead and several hundred injured, police said.

A group of around 6,000 people left the Gare du Nord railway station and were to team up in central Brussels with around 1,000 marchers who started off from Molenbeek, the rundown Brussels district that has gained an unwelcome reputation as a terrorist haven.

The rally - "A march against terror and hatred" - was organised by civil groups, who had hoped for a turnout of 15,000.

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British Airways plane hits suspected drone on Heathrow landing

A British Airways plane struck an object believed to be a drone on Sunday as it was coming in for landing at Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, police said.

An investigation had been launched into the incident which follows a string of near misses involving drones.

The plane, an Airbus A320 with 132 passengers and five crew on board, was on its final descent into Heathrow's Terminal Five when it was struck.

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Football: Bolasie blast punctures Arsenal's Champions League bid in 1-1 draw with Palace

Yannick Bolasie put a dent in Arsenal's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League with an equaliser for Crystal Palace nine minutes from time in a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Arsene Wenger's side appeared on course for victory following Alexis Sanchez's headed goal in first-half stoppage-time.

But Palace, second best throughout in this all-London Premier League clash, hung on in and were rewarded when Bolasie's edge-of-the-box shot beat Petr Cech, who should have saved it, at the Arsenal goalkeeper's near post in the 81st minute.

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The Jungle Book roars into top spot at North American box office

Disney's highly anticipated remake of The Jungle Book trounced the competition at the box office on its opening weekend, grossing US$103.6 million (S$140.63 million) at the box office, industry estimates showed Sunday.

The live-action movie uses computer wizardry to bring to life the characters from Rudyard Kipling's classic stories about a boy named Mowgli who is raised by animals.

Starring newcomer Neel Sethi as Mowgli, Hollywood heavyweights Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley and Idris Elba provide the voices of Baloo the bear, Bagheera the panther and Shere Khan the tiger.

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