World News Update, what you need to know

Rescuers in Ecuador are losing hope of finding more survivors from an earthquake that killed nearly 500 people and dealt a shattering blow to the South American OPEC country's already-fragile economy.

WASHINGTON - The United Nations has not declared a breakdown in Syrian peace talks and the US still sees a path forward that includes a political transition in which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would leave office, the White House says.

WASHINGTON, April 19 Reuters - US President Barack Obama says he's told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a call that the situation in Syria is quickly deteriorating and their two nations must work together for the war-torn country to move forward.

KABUL - A Taliban suicide bomb and gun assault on a government security building during morning rush hour in central Kabul has killed at least 28 people and wounded more than 320, in the deadliest single attack in the Afghan capital since 2011.

HAVANA - Cuban President Raul Castro will serve a second term as head of the Communist Party while others in power since a 1959 revolution have also kept their jobs, the party says, despite a plan to open up to younger leaders over time.

MOSCOW, April 19 AP - Ukraine and Russia have reached a deal to release a jailed Ukrainian pilot, President Petro Poroshenko says, without elaborating if it would entail a swap for two Russian servicemen convicted by Kiev. (RUSSIA PILOT Update)

LONDON, April 19 PA - A message in a bottle which washed up more than 108 years after it was thrown into the sea has been confirmed as the world's oldest. (UK BOTTLE (with pics))