SAN JOSE -- A powerful 7-magnitude earthquake hit the border area between Costa Rica and Panama at about 3:15 p.m. local time Wednesday, according to the National Seismological Network of the University of Costa Rica.

The epicenter of the earthquake was located 113 km south of Punta Burica, Panama, at the southern end of their shared border, on the Pacific Ocean, with a depth of 10 km, the report said. (Costa Rica-Earthquake)

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WASHINGTON -- The United States and Germany on Wednesday announced an agreement on the issue of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, an effort to reduce the risk that the contentious project could pose to Ukraine.

The 1,230-km gas pipeline, expected to be completed next month, would bring 55 billion cubic meters of gas annually from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea. (U.S.-US Germany-Nord Stream 2)

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MOSCOW -- The Russian multifunctional Nauka (Science) module was successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station (ISS), Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos said Wednesday.

The Proton-M carrier rocket with the Nauka module was launched at 17:58 Moscow time (1458 GMT), Roscosmos said in a statement. (Russia-Space-Roscosmos)

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UNITED NATIONS -- UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir on Wednesday called for efforts to strive for justice and equality.

He made the appeal at a General Assembly meeting to observe Nelson Mandela International Day, which falls on July 18.

"Nelson Mandela's name is synonymous with the fight for justice and equality ... He had the vision to imagine a better world for all," said Bozkir. (UN-Mandela-Bozkir)