Chileans desperate for supplies stood in long lines outside shops on Thursday after strong aftershocks from a deadly 8.2-magnitude earthquake forced them to spend another night out in the cold.

After six people were killed in late Tuesday's earthquake, northern Chile was rocked by a powerful 7.6-magnitude aftershock Wednesday night, forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes once more.

The United States on Thursday denied it used its overseas aid agency to mount a covert operation on social media to incite unrest against Cuba's communist leaders.

But the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) did say it had created a Twitter-style application on which Cubans, subject to strict curbs on expression, were able to "talk freely among themselves" consistent with universal rights and freedoms.

A senior U.S. official voiced confidence Thursday that the global response to Russia's annexation of Crimea would have a "chilling effect" that deters China from contemplating similar action.

Since Russia seized Crimea last month, U.S. lawmakers and Asian diplomats have asked about the message sent to an increasingly confident China -- especially with regard to Taiwan, which is claimed by Beijing and relies on U.S. support.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau likely has little control over his fighters, the International Crisis Group said on Thursday, calling the Islamist terror group "more dispersed than ever".

A new report from the Brussels-based think-tank said many of Boko Haram's senior commanders are probably based outside Nigeria, including in neighboring Cameroon and Niger.

The United States said Thursday it will meet next week with allies South Korea and Japan to plan strategy on North Korea amid high tensions after the regime's live-fire drills.

The U.S. pointman on North Korea, Glyn Davies, will meet Monday in Washington with his counterparts from Japan and South Korea, Junichi Ihara and Hwang Joon-Kook.

Colombia's Nobel-winning writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the 87-year-old author of "One Hundred Years of Solitude," was hospitalized Thursday for undisclosed reasons in Mexico City, a health ministry official said.

"The family has asked us not to disclosed information about his state of health," the official told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity.

Crimea on Thursday said it was opposed to an autonomous territory for the Tatars, an ethnic minority that was against the Black Sea peninsula's recent annexation by Russia.

"No, that is not possible, there can only be a cultural autonomy," Crimean deputy prime minister Roustam Temirgaliev told the Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

NATO hit back on Thursday at accusations by Moscow that the Western alliance was in violation of international law and accused Russia of fomenting "propaganda and disinformation" over the crisis in Ukraine.

"No, of course we haven't violated the Rome Declaration and I'm actually surprised that Russia can claim that NATO has violated its commitments because Russia is violating every principle and international commitment it has made," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

Eleven Western and Middle Eastern powers on Thursday warned Syrian President Bashar Assad against holding elections, saying that the vote would have no credibility amid the country's brutal civil war.

In a joint statement, the 11 core members of so-called Friends of Syria urged Assad instead to embrace a plan outlined in Geneva talks that includes a transitional government as a way out of the three-year war.

Syria can still meet a June deadline for getting rid of its chemical weapons, but to do so must resume stalled weapons transfers now, an international coordinator told the U.N. Security Council Thursday.

Syria has suspended the transfers for what it says are security reasons, but on Sunday said it planned to resume them in the "coming days."