Strong quake knocks out power, sends residents fleeing homes in southern Philippines

Strong quake knocks out power, sends residents fleeing homes in southern Philippines
A strong earthquake in the southern Philippines on Feb. 1, 2023, stoked fear of a 2019 temblor that damaged many buildings in Davao region. (AFP file)
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Updated 01 February 2023

Strong quake knocks out power, sends residents fleeing homes in southern Philippines

Strong quake knocks out power, sends residents fleeing homes in southern Philippines
  • The quake was so strong in Montevista town of Davao de Oro province an and a witness said her house would collapse.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines: A 6.0-magnitude earthquake rocked the southern Philippines on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said, with local authorities warning of aftershocks and possible damage.
The shallow quake struck at 6:44 p.m. (1044 GMT), near Monkayo municipality in Davao de Oro province on Mindanao island.
Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage than deeper ones, but there were no immediate reports of major damage in the remote and mountainous gold mining region.
Monkayo police Staff Sergeant Harvey Asayas told AFP the quake was strong in the beginning but gradually weakened and stopped after 40 seconds.
“The authorities are now conducting patrols around to assess damage including the fire personnel and disaster officers,” Asayas said.
Police Corporal Edwin Mangigo, who is stationed at an outpost near Mount Diwata in Monkayo, said there had been no reports of casualties at local mining sites.
“We thought there was a landslide because our roof was shaking, we thought it was going to break,” Mangigo said.

Police Corporal Lucita Ambrocio, who is based in the nearby municipality of New Bataan, described the quake as “quick.”
“After 10 minutes, our colleagues went back to the building,” said Ambrocio, who raced outside with her colleagues when the police station started shaking.
“I checked the premises and I saw a small crack in the barracks.”
But in nearby Montevista municipality, Maricar Melgar said the quake was so strong she feared the building she was in would collapse.
“This was probably the strongest earthquake I experienced. My body is still shaking,” the 51-year-old told AFP.

In Tagum city, in Davao del Norte province, about 40 kilometers south west of the epicenter, residents also fled their homes and power was knocked out by the force of the quake.
“We were eating when (the house) began to shake — it was strong,” said Grace Jao, 40.
“We ran outside — we had to take safety measures. We did not see any damage inside the house when we got back.”
Quakes are a daily occurrence in the Philippines, which sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic as well as volcanic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
Most are too weak to be felt by humans, but strong and destructive ones come at random with no technology available to predict when and where it will happen.
The nation’s civil defense office regularly holds drills simulating earthquake scenarios along active fault lines.
The last major quake was in October in the northern Philippines.
The 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit the mountain town of Dolores in Abra province, injuring several people, damaging buildings and cutting power to most of the region.
A 7.0-magnitude quake in mountainous Abra last July triggered landslides and ground fissures, killing 11 people and injuring several hundred.


Belarus’ Lukashenko says Russian nuclear arms needed to deter threats from West

Belarus’ Lukashenko says Russian nuclear arms needed to deter threats from West
Updated 10 min 49 sec ago

Belarus’ Lukashenko says Russian nuclear arms needed to deter threats from West

Belarus’ Lukashenko says Russian nuclear arms needed to deter threats from West
BELARUS: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that Russian tactical nuclear weapons set to be deployed in his country would protect it from Western threats, alleging that there were plans to invade Belarus from neighboring Poland.
“Take my word for it, I have never deceived you. They are preparing to invade Belarus, to destroy our country,” Lukashenko said in an annual address to lawmakers and government officials.
President Vladimir
Putin
said on Saturday that Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, its first deployment of nuclear armaments outside its borders since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Minsk said the missiles would offer protection after what it called a campaign of pressure from the United States and its allies aimed at overthrowing Lukashenko, who has been in power for 28 years.
In Friday’s speech, Lukashenko also called for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine and for talks to start on a lasting peace settlement, warning that Russia would be forced to use “the most terrible weapon” if it felt threatened.
“It is impossible to defeat a nuclear power. If the Russian leadership understands that the situation threatens to cause Russia’s disintegration, it will use the most terrible weapon. This cannot be allowed,” he said.

Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report

Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report
Updated 32 min 1 sec ago

Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report

Afghan pilot to remain in UK after PM’s intervention: report
  • Pilot who served alongside British forces was threatened with deportation to Rwanda
  • Unnamed pilot reached Britain in a small boat

LONDON: The UK Home Office is set to grant an Afghan pilot leave to remain in Britain after an intervention by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, The Times reported on Friday.

The unnamed pilot, who served as a lieutenant in the Afghan Air Force, reached Britain in a small boat across the English Channel as he said there were no safer legal routes into the country.

Despite flying more than 30 missions against the Taliban alongside coalition forces, he was threatened with deportation to Rwanda before his case became public after an investigation by The Independent, as he had traveled to the UK via a number of safe countries, including Italy, Switzerland and France.

The case was put to Sunak during questions at the House of Commons Liaison Committee earlier this week, at which he said “these are exactly the sort of people we want to help,” adding that he would ask the Home Office to look again at the pilot’s application.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has now said the former lieutenant will receive the right to permanently remain in the UK when he applies through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, but warned other Afghans not to travel illegally to the UK via the same route.

“The ARAP scheme is agnostic about where you’re applying from. The ARAP scheme has been used to bring people out of refugee camps in Greece. I would encourage people to apply for the ARAP scheme if they fit the requirements that we have set out,” Wallace said.

The decision comes after several senior political and military figures criticized the initial threat to deport the pilot.

Tobias Ellwood, chair of the House of Commons Defence Committee, and Lord West of Spithead, former head of the Royal Navy, both said the UK has a “duty” to people who had served alongside British forces in Afghanistan.

Lord West told The Independent: “The Afghans who helped us, whether they be interpreters or whether they were fighting alongside us, we have a duty to look after them — not least because they were helping us, but also because no one is ever going to want to help us if we ever get involved in a situation like that again.”

He added: “I understand all the issues about trying to stop boats coming across the Channel and people drowning. But I think occasionally one has to show some flexibility. And I would have thought this was a classic case where we should.”

A Home Office spokesman told The Times: “We remain committed to providing protection for vulnerable and at-risk people fleeing Afghanistan and so far have brought around 24,500 people impacted by the situation back to the UK.

“We continue to work with like-minded partners and countries neighbouring Afghanistan on resettlement issues, and to support safe passage for eligible Afghans.”


NATO chief says Finland to become member ‘in coming days’

NATO chief says Finland to become member ‘in coming days’
Updated 31 March 2023

NATO chief says Finland to become member ‘in coming days’

NATO chief says Finland to become member ‘in coming days’
  • NATO chief says he looks forward to also welcoming Sweden as full member soon

BRUSEELS: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Friday that Finland would formally become a member within days, as he congratulated its president on clearing the final obstacle to joining.
“I look forward to raising Finland’s flag at NATO HQ in the coming days. Together we are stronger and safer,” Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter.
After months of delays, Turkiye’s parliament on Thursday removed the last hurdle for Finland by becoming the last member of the US-led military alliance to ratify its application.
Stoltenberg said in separate statement that “Finland has highly capable forces, advanced capabilities, and strong democratic institutions.”
“So Finland will bring a lot to our alliance,” he said.
NATO foreign ministers are meeting at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels next week, when it is expected the membership could be formalized.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year upended European security and pushed Finland and its neighbor Sweden to drop decades of non-alignment and seek to join NATO’s protective umbrella.
Stockholm application remains stuck, however, because of ongoing resistance from both Turkiye and Hungary.
But Stoltenberg insisted that “all allies agree that a rapid conclusion of the ratification process for Sweden will be in everyone’s interest,“
“I look forward to also welcoming Sweden as a full member of the NATO family as soon as possible,” he said.


Lawyer: Steenkamp’s parents to oppose parole for Oscar Pistorius

Lawyer: Steenkamp’s parents to oppose parole for Oscar Pistorius
Updated 31 March 2023

Lawyer: Steenkamp’s parents to oppose parole for Oscar Pistorius

Lawyer: Steenkamp’s parents to oppose parole for Oscar Pistorius
  • Former Olympic runner was convicted of murder for the Valentine’s Day 2013 shooting of Reeva Steenkamp
  • A decision on Pistorius’ parole could come on Friday but is more likely to take days to finalize

PRETORIA: The parents of Reeva Steenkamp, the woman Oscar Pistorius shot dead 10 years ago, will oppose the former Olympic runner’s application for parole, their lawyer said Friday.
Lawyer Tania Koen said ahead of a scheduled parole hearing for Pistorius that “unless he comes clean, they don’t feel that he is rehabilitated.”
Pistorius, a multiple Paralympic champion who made history by running against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 Olympics, was convicted of murder for the Valentine’s Day 2013 shooting of Reeva Steenkamp at his home.
Pistorius claims he shot Steenkamp by mistake thinking she was an intruder in his home.
He was sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison and is eligible for parole under South African law after having served half his sentence.
Koen said Steenkamp’s mother, June Steenkamp, would submit written and oral statements at Friday’s hearing opposing Pistorius’ application to be released from prison.
“She doesn’t feel that he must be released,” Koen told reporters outside the Atteridgeville Correctional Center in Pretoria, where Pistorius has been held since 2016 and where his parole hearing is expected to take place.
Submissions from a victim’s relative are just one of the factors a parole board takes into account when deciding if an offender can be released early on parole. The parole board will also consider Pistorius’ behavior in prison and if he would be a threat to society if he were released.
A decision on Pistorius’ parole could come on Friday but is more likely to take days to finalize.


Hijacked Danish ship located in Gulf of Guinea, ‘part of crew’ kidnapped

Hijacked Danish ship located in Gulf of Guinea, ‘part of crew’ kidnapped
Updated 31 March 2023

Hijacked Danish ship located in Gulf of Guinea, ‘part of crew’ kidnapped

Hijacked Danish ship located in Gulf of Guinea, ‘part of crew’ kidnapped
  • No details were provided on the number of crew kidnapped, nor their nationalities
  • The owner said there was no reported damage to the vessel or cargo

COPENHAGEN: The Danish oil tanker seized by pirates has been located in the Gulf of Guinea but a part of its crew has been kidnapped, the ship’s owner Monjasa said Friday.
The Monjasa Reformer, which had 16 crew on board when it was boarded by pirates on March 25, was found on Thursday by the French navy off the coast of Sao Tome and Principe.
When the vessel was located, “the pirates had abandoned the vessel and brought a part of the crew members with them,” Monjasa said in a statement.
“The rescued crew members are all in good health and safely located in a secure environment and receiving proper attention following these dreadful events,” it said.
No details were provided on the number of crew kidnapped, nor their nationalities.
“Our thoughts are with the crew members still missing and their families during this stressful period,” Monjasa said, adding that it was “working closely with the local authorities” to obtain the sailors’ safe return.
The owner said there was no reported damage to the vessel or cargo.
The 135-meter-long Monjasa Reformer “experienced an emergency situation” on March 25 around 260 kilometers west of Port Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo, Monjasa said.
The shipowner added that the crew had sought refuge in the tanker’s secure room or “citadel” when the pirates boarded, “in accordance with the onboard anti-piracy emergency protocol.”
The vessel was “sitting idle” at the time of the incident.