MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Rescuers digging for survivors among dozens of people buried by earthquake-triggered landslides on a central Philippine island have found only bodies. The death toll climbed to 15 on Tuesday, and at least 73 people were still missing.

Monday's 6.9-magnitude earthquake also collapsed bridges and damaged roads on Negros Island, forcing soldiers and firefighters to hike mountains to reach remote villages. Most of the confirmed deaths were in Planas village, a part of Guihulngan town where some 30 houses were buried under concrete debris.

Guihulngan Mayor Ernesto Reyes said crews were using backhoes to try to rescue people, but he added that at the rate deaths were being reported, the town may run out of coffins.

The damage may be worse than officials realized because the quake cut off communications to some villages, Reyes said.

"We have no water and power because electric posts were toppled," he told The Associated Press by phone. "Many of our roads were damaged, including bridges, and stores are closed. We're isolated."

Another hard-hit area was the mountain village of Solongon in La Libertad town, where an unknown number of people were trapped under some 100 houses.

President Benigno Aquino III ordered air force helicopters and navy and coast guard vessels to come to aid of rescuers, some of whom were digging with picks and shovels to look for survivors.

Workers were clearing and fixing and bridges leading up from the coast to mountains so heavy equipment, food and medicine could flow to the worst-hit villages.

Monday's quake was caused by movement in an undersea fault 44 miles north of Dumaguete, capital of Negros Oriental province, and about 400 miles southeast of the nation's capital, Manila. It hit at a depth of 29 miles.

Negros Oriental police chief Senior Superintendent Edward Carranza said at least 73 people remained missing in the province.

The casualties could top a 2004 quake on Mindoro Island, south of Manila, where 78 people died, about half of them in a quake-triggered tsunami. A local tsunami alert was issued following Monday's temblor but was soon canceled.

The Philippines is in the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common. The damage and casualties are compounded by shoddy construction in the impoverished nation. A 7.7-magnitude quake killed nearly 2,000 people in northern Luzon in 1990.

Mayor Reyes said that 13 residents died and at least 29 remained missing in the landslide in Planas, where an army platoon began digging in a scramble to find survivors. A 50-man team of veteran rescuers from nearby Cebu province was en route, along with firefighters deployed by the provincial government.

A new crisis unraveled when the landslide in Planas clogged a mountain river, threatening about four villages downstream. If the river swells or the landslide gives way, the accumulated water may sweep away houses along the banks, Reyes said. Residents were warned to move away.

Lloyd Malay, a 56-year-old government forest ranger in Guihulngan, mourned the death of his friend, a carpenter, who was pinned to death in the house where Malay used to live.

"It's a tragedy I can't do anything about," Malay said as he stood before the ruins. "We have to start all over again."

The road running through his community had a web of ugly cracks. Many of his neighbors managed to escape by fleeing toward the mountain and elsewhere when the ground started to shake.

Associated Press writer Jim Gomez contributed to this report.

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PANAMA CITY (AP) — Doctors in Panama say former dictator Manuel Noriega is "stable" after being hospitalized for extreme hypertension.

Health Minister Franklin Vergara says Noriega is "conscious and well oriented," and will be kept for 48 hours for observation at Panama City's public Santo Tomas hospital.

Vergara said in a statement Monday that officials plan to return Noriega to the El Renacer prison after the observation period.

Noriega was toppled by a 1989 U.S. invasion and served a drug sentence in a U.S. prison.

He was returned on Dec. 11 from France to serve a combined 60-year Panamanian prison sentence for murder, embezzlement and corruption.

The 77-year-old Noriega was transferred from prison to a hospital on Sunday.

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BEIJING (AP) — State media say the body of a Chinese worker who went missing during a rebel attack on a work site in Sudan has been found and that 29 others abducted in the assault would be freed soon.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday that China was told of the recovery by Sudan officials in South Kordofan. The man went missing Jan. 28 in an attack on a road construction site where 47 Chinese were working.

Seventeen others managed to escape and 29 were taken hostage. Xinhua quoted Sudanese media as saying mediation by the International Committee of the Red Cross meant the 29 would be freed in the next several days.

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PARIS (AP) — Air France and other airlines sought to limit the damage from a strike Monday by aviation industry workers — a walkout prompted by rules that would limit the impact of future strikes.

Paris aviation officials canceled or rescheduled at least 100 flights in advance as 200 flag-waving protesters marched from terminal to terminal at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport, watched by riot police.

Unions representing pilots, cabin and ground crews called the strike through to Thursday to protest a bill in Parliament that would require air transport workers to give 48 hours notice before striking.

French flagship carrier Air France said 85 percent of its long-haul flights and 75 percent of its mid-range flights went ahead as usual Monday, with the others canceled.

Some airlines were caught off-guard by workers who didn't announce earlier that they'd be on strike. Paris airport authority ADP said low-cost carrier easyJet had to cancel five flights Monday after employees didn't show.

For Tuesday, Air France forecast it would guarantee at least 50 percent of long-haul flights and 70 percent of short- and medium-range flights.

The Air France statement suggested frustration with the current rules, noting that last-minute changes may await because "personnel is not required to warn ahead of time of their intention" to strike.

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ROME (AP) — The U.S. cardinal who leads the Vatican office overseeing cases of sexual abuse by clergy says Pope Benedict XVI should be thanked, not attacked, for his handling of the problem.

Cardinal William Levada vigorously defended Benedict in a speech to a Vatican-backed symposium in Rome aimed at showing church leaders how to help sex abuse victims and protect children. Before becoming pontiff, Benedict held Levada's job, and the cardinal thanked him for supporting binding rules so U.S. bishops could crack down on abuse.

But advocates for abuse victims derided the four-day symposium that began Monday, however, calling it "window dressing." The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests is demanding that the Vatican make public its secret files on abuse cases.

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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Striking state police and their supporters have clashed with Brazilian soldiers outside the state legislature in the northeastern city of Salvador. 

Troops surrounded the building Monday as the strike that has paralyzed the city moved into its sixth day. Brazilian television broadcast images of soldiers firing rubber bullets and charging crowds as they tried to enter the building, where strikers are holed up.

The strike has thrown a pall over preparations for Carnival in Brazil's third largest city, unleashing a rash of looting and a spike in the murder rate.

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BEIJING (AP) — The International Monetary Fund warns that a sharp downturn in Europe could cut China's economic growth rate nearly in half, adding to warnings about a possible severe global slowdown this year.

The IMF says Beijing should be ready to launch a multibillion-dollar stimulus to ward off a slump in the world's second-largest economy.

The IMF forecasts 8.2 percent growth this year for China but said that could be reduced by up to four percentage points if Europe's crisis causes large declines in credit and output.

China rebounded quickly from the 2008 global crisis and its economy expanded by a healthy 9.2 percent last year but growth has declined as Beijing tightened credit and investment curbs to prevent overheating.

China's leaders have responded to a plunge in global demand by promising bank lending and other aid to struggling entrepreneurs. The government warned last month it faces "complexity and challenges" due to global malaise.

The World Bank, which is the IMF's sibling organization, told China and other developing countries last month they should prepare for a global slump that it warned might hit them harder than the 2008 economic crisis.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has ordered new sanctions on Iran and its central bank, in a move to enforce a law he signed in December.

In a letter to Congress, Obama said the tougher sanctions are warranted "particularly in light of the deceptive practices of the Central Bank of Iran and other Iranian banks." He said the problems included the hiding transactions of sanctioned parties, the deficiencies of Iran's anti-money laundering regime and the unacceptably high risk posed to the entire international financial system posed by Iran's activities.

The sanctions were included as an amendment in the wide-ranging defense bill Obama signed into law at the end of 2011. The White House said Obama signed the executive order approving the sanctions on Sunday, well ahead of the six-month window he was afforded in the defense bill.

Obama's fresh swipe at Tehran come as the White House tries to both ratchet up pressure on the Islamic republic to abandon its nuclear program and dissuade Israel from launching a unilateral strike on Iran, a move that could roil the Middle East and jolt the global economy.

Obama said Sunday he does not believe Israel has yet decided whether to attack Iran and still believes a diplomatic solution is possible.

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PARIS (AP) — France and Germany seek to impose tighter controls on Greece's finances, warning political leaders in Athens to agree on new austerity measures soon if they don't want to see their country go bankrupt.

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and German Chancellor Angela Merkel say Greek leaders need to push through reforms in order to obtain new funds in a second planned bailout worth $171 billion.

The country needs the money to repay a bond coming due in March. But Greek party leaders have been unable to agree to the new measures, missing multiple deadlines in the negotiations, and delayed their latest meeting to Tuesday. Financial markets remain on edge as investors await the outcome of the talks.

In a sign of their lack of confidence in the Greek politicians, Sarkozy and Merkel called for Athens to set up a separate account to ensure that billions of euros in bailout money go directly to servicing debt, and not other government spending priorities.

The proposal would amount to a financial straitjacket that would force Athens to put a higher priority on repaying its foreign lenders than on financing government services.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration closed the U.S. Embassy in Damascus on Monday and pulled all American diplomats out of violence-wracked Syria as the U.S. stepped up pressure on President Bashar Assad to leave power.

Robert Ford, the American ambassador, and 17 other U.S. officials left Syria and were expected to travel back to the United States. Ford informed Syrian authorities of the decision to leave earlier in the day, State Department officials said. Two diplomats left by air and the others went overland to Jordan.

Their departure comes two weeks after the State Department warned that it would close the embassy unless Assad's government better protected the mission, citing safety concerns about embassy personnel and a recent series of car bombs. And it coincides with a U.S. effort to build an international coalition in support of Syria's opposition.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement that Ford remains the U.S. ambassador "to Syria and its people," and said he would continue his work on Syria, maintaining contacts with the Syrian opposition and supporting "the peaceful political transition which the Syrian people have so bravely sought."

The U.N. estimates that well over 5,400 people have been killed since March, when mostly peaceful protesters rose up to voice their anger toward four decades of dictatorship by the Assad family. A brutal crackdown ensued, prompting armed rebels to take the fight to regime troops and try to establish control in pro-opposition areas. The government has responded with even more violence, raising fears of an all-out civil war.

Despite the increased bloodshed, world powers are bitterly divided over how to deal with the situation. The U.S., its European partners and much of the Arab world want Assad to step down and transfer power to his vice president as part of a transition to democracy. But Russia and China, wary after watching the West help Libyan militia oust Moammar Gadhafi, reject any talk of military intervention or regime change. They vetoed a U.N. resolution over the weekend that would have endorsed an Arab League plan for Syria's post-Assad future.

President Barack Obama said the ongoing conflict in Syria should be resolved without outside military intervention, saying a negotiated solution in Syria is still possible. And he defended his administration's actions during the 11-month uprising against Assad's regime.

"We have been relentless in sending a message that it is time for Assad to go," Obama said during an interview with NBC. "This is not going to be a matter of if, it's going to be a matter of when."

Obama deflected questions about whether the U.S and its partners should intervene militarily in Syria as they did in Libya, saying those decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.

"Not every situation is going to allow for the kind of military solution we saw with Libya," he said. "I think it is very possible for us to try to resolve this without recourse to outside military intervention."

With diplomacy at an impasse, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Sunday for "friends of democratic Syria" to unite and rally against Assad's regime, previewing the possible formation of a group of like-minded nations to coordinate assistance to the Syrian opposition. Speaking in Bulgaria, she said the world had a duty to halt the violence and see Assad out of power. She called the U.N. setback a "travesty."

The contact group is likely to be similar, but not identical, to the one established last year for Libya, which oversaw the international help for Gadhafi's opponents. It also coordinated NATO military operations to protect Libyan civilians, something that is not envisioned in Syria.

The Syrian group is likely to concentrate on enhancing sanctions against the Assad regime and trying to bring disparate Syrian opposition groups inside and outside the country together so that they can form a more formidable opposition. It could also seek more humanitarian relief for embattled Syrian communities and greater monitoring arms sales to Assad's government.

Earlier Monday, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice said China and Russia were running the risk of suffering the same sort of international isolation as Assad because of their decision to block a U.N. Security Council vote embracing an Arab League solution for the Syrian crisis.

Rice said she thinks both Moscow and Beijing "will come to regret" their votes Saturday against the Arab League-sponsored resolution aimed at moving Assad in the direction of a peaceful transition to democracy in his violence-wracked country.

The Obama administration has long called on Assad to leave power, and officials insist his regime's demise is inevitable.

But just over a year ago, the administration had sought to engage Damascus and sent Ford to the country in the hopes of prying away Iran's main ally in the Arab world and gaining a more willing partner in American efforts to forge stability in Lebanon and peace among Israel and its Arab neighbors. Syria had gone years without an American ambassador after the Bush administration broke ties over Syria's alleged role in the 2005 assassination of politician Rafik Hariri in neighboring Lebanon, and it remains on a U.S. "state sponsor of terrorism" list.

Assad largely shrugged off U.S. attempts to pull his nation away from its alliances with Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. And as protests escalated in Syria, Ford took on an increasingly high-profile role defending the rights of Syrian protesters. Threats led the U.S. to pull him out of the country in October, but he returned in December to what officials described as an important job monitoring abuses and developments on the ground — even if U.S. engagement efforts were dead.

To improve security, Washington wanted Assad's government to narrow a portion of the main Damascus thoroughfare that the embassy is located on so that its setback could be improved. The Syrians refused. The U.S. had sought to move the entire embassy elsewhere in Damascus for two decades, but has never received permission from authorities.

Shutting the embassy and recalling American personnel is short of a complete break of diplomatic relations. A year ago the U.S. similarly closed its mission in Libya's capital as violence escalated, yet maintained for some time communications with senior Libyan officials as it sought to convince Gadhafi loyalists to abandon the regime and others to advance possible surrender scenarios.

With Gadhafi's death last year, the revolutions that toppled decades-long leaders Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia, and Yemen's long-time strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh receiving medical care in the United States, Assad is among the Arab Spring autocrats left standing. His forces remain formidable and he continues to receive political — and possibly some military support — from Russia and China, but he has been unable to snuff out Syria's opposition.

After the U.N. veto, the commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army, Col. Riad al-Asaad, said "there is no other road" except military action to topple Assad.

____

Associated Press writer Julie Pace contributed to this report.

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