In brief: 6.8 earthquake hits Philippines

MANILA, Philippines – A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the central Philippines today, killing a child and triggering a local tsunami alert.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology issued the tsunami alert for the central Philippines, saying the quake, which hit in a narrow strait just off Negros Island, could trigger a 3-foot wave along the island’s eastern coast as well as west of Cebu City, the country’s second largest. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a wider regional warning.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 44 miles north of Dumaguete city on Negros and hit at a depth of 29 miles.

A child died when a concrete fence of a house collapsed in Taysan town in Negros Oriental province, said Benito Ramos, who heads the Office of Civil Defense.

Migrants’ boat capsizes; 17 killed

SABANA DE LA MAR, Dominican Republic – Rescuers scouring the white-capped waters off the Dominican Republic’s coast have found 17 bodies and 13 survivors from a boat overloaded with migrants that capsized almost two days ago, officials said.

The boat carrying about 70 migrants from the Dominican Republic to the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico capsized before dawn Saturday morning and rescuers said hopes were fading for finding more survivors as search efforts were suspended because of darkness late Sunday.

Luis Castro, intelligence director of the Dominican Navy, said the bodies of 12 men and five women have been found. Thirteen survivors were rescued. The suspected captain of the smuggler’s boat has been detained, he said.

Ruling party picks female candidate

MEXICO CITY – Mexico’s ruling party on Sunday chose a former congresswoman to run for president, the first time a major party has nominated a woman to compete for the nation’s top office.

The National Action Party’s vote for Josefina Vazquez Mota over two other candidates sets the race for Mexico’s July 1 presidential election. The two other major parties had already selected their candidates.

Vazquez Mota, 51, faces an uphill climb against former Mexico state Gov. Enrique Pena Nieto, the front-runner in the current polls who could return Mexico’s long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, to power after a 12-year hiatus.

The leftist Democratic Revolution Party chose Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is making his second run after a razor-thin loss in 2006 to President Felipe Calderon.