Author: INQUIRER.net

DHAKA — Two minor tremors hit Bangladesh on Saturday, a day after a powerful earthquake struck outside the capital Dhaka and killed at least 10 people.

A 3.3-magnitude jolt was recorded in Narshingdi district, east of Dhaka, in the morning, followed by a 4.3-magnitude quake that struck the capital around 6:00 pm (1200 GMT), according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department.

Dhaka resident Tasnuba Sharmin Sharna, 32, said her children started screaming as the furniture in their apartment began shaking.

READ: Filipinos spared from powerful Bangladesh quake – DFA

“We are praying to God for mercy,” Sharna told AFP.

Friday’s deadly earthquake was felt in Dhaka and neighbouring districts, causing widespread destruction.

Updating earlier tolls from the 5.5-magnitude quake, disaster management official Ishtiaqe Ahmed told AFP that “the number of casualties has reached 10, while a few hundreds were injured”.

There were no immediate reports of casualties on Saturday, but the aftershocks — which are common after major earthquakes — have added to fears of an even greater disaster.

READ: TV: 2 dead, 100 injured in Bangladesh from Nepal quake

“I don’t feel safe yet, as there was another jolt this morning… Maybe we are next,” said Shahnaj Parvin, 44, who lives near the epicentre of Friday’s earthquake and told AFP she had never experienced such a tremor.

Cracks have developed in dozens of houses in her area, she said.

“I was hanging my children’s clothes on the washing line when the tremor struck,” added Parvin.

“I held onto a mahogany tree, and when I returned home, I found my glassware broken.”

The government has activated Bangladesh’s emergency operation centre to assess the scale of the damage and to coordinate relief and rescue operations.

Rubayet Kabir of the Meteorological Department’s Earthquake Observation and Research Center said Bangladesh’s geography makes the country of 170 million people prone to quakes.

“That’s why we experience earthquakes quite frequently, though they are not as strong as the one” on Friday, he told AFP.

“Some small tremors are expected after any major earthquake,” Kabir said.

“There has been no massive earthquake in the last 100 years or more, but Bangladesh has been vulnerable for quite some time.” /dl

WASHINGTON — Britain’s disgraced former prince Andrew failed to respond to a request from US lawmakers to be questioned about his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, members of a US Congressional committed have announced.

Sixteen Democratic lawmakers signed a letter asking Andrew to participate in a “transcribed interview” with the House of Representatives oversight committee investigating Epstein, who took his own life in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges.

The letter asked Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor after King Charles III formally stripped his younger brother’s titles over his ties to Epstein, to respond by November 20.

READ: UK’s Andrew asked to testify over Epstein as he formally loses titles

The US Congress cannot compel testimony from foreigners, so it was always unlikely that Andrew would consent to do so. Democrats are in the minority in the House.

“Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s silence in the face of the Oversight Democrats’ demand for testimony speaks volumes,” two members of that committee, Robert Garcia and Suhas Subramanyan, said in a statement Friday.

“The documents we’ve reviewed, along with public records and Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s testimony, raise serious questions he must answer, yet he continues to hide.”

READ: Prince Andrew gives up Duke of York title amid Epstein scandal

Emails recently released by the committee as well as a posthumous memoir written by Giuffre, who accused Andrew of sexual assault, reignited anger in the UK over Andrew’s ties to Epstein.

Andrew has always denied that he sexually abused Giuffre, who alleged that she was trafficked to have sex with him on three occasions, twice when she was 17.

After she launched a lawsuit against him, he paid her a multi-million-pound settlement in 2022 without making any admission of guilt.

Giuffre, a US and Australian citizen, died by suicide at her home in Australia in April.

Garcia and Subramanyan said the committee’s work to understand the extent of Epstein’s network would “move forward with or without” testimony from the 65-year-old Andrew.

“We will hold anyone who was involved in these crimes accountable, no matter their wealth, status, or political party. We will get justice for the survivors,” they said. /dl

BAGUIO CITY — The summer capital’s working journalists on Sunday advocated for economic protection during the 16th year commemoration of the 2009 massacre of 57 people by a Maguindanao political clan, including 32 newsmen who were found in shallow graves.

In a statement, the Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club Inc. declared that its members reaffirm their “unwavering commitment to the principles of press freedom, truth and justice (to) honor the lives of our colleagues who were brutally silenced.”

But the group asserted that “true press freedom is impossible when the very practitioners of the craft are themselves vulnerable and unprotected.”

“Therefore, we continue our resolve to tirelessly uphold the economic rights and welfare of all media practitioners and workers (and) call for an immediate end to unfair labor practices that compromise job security, unjust compensation that fails to reflect the demanding and vital nature of journalistic work, and unsecured work tenure and precarious employment contracts that leave media workers economically vulnerable,” read the statement penned by BCBC president and radio newsman Dionisio Dennis Jr.

“Our colleagues deserve stability, fair compensation, and respectful working conditions commensurate with the crucial role they play in a democratic society, ” BCBC asserted, as well as their “absolute protection from the constant threat of harassment, threats, and intimidation.”

“Journalists must be allowed to perform their duty — delivering the news as fairly and factually as possible and being the voice of the voiceless — without fear of reprisal,” the group says.

The journalists were abducted and murdered along with a convoy of family members and supporters of gubernatorial candidate Esmael Mangudadatu, then a municipal mayor, who were on their way to file his certificate of candidacy. Among the slain were Mangudadatu’s pregnant wife and sister.

His rival, Andal Ampatuan Jr., was convicted for their murders in 2019 along with several conspirators, but other suspects did not stand trial.

The non-profit Center for International Law on Saturday said it will seek an urgent motion before the Court of Appeals to resolve the pending appeals in the Maguindanao massacre cases and to judicially recognize journalist Reynaldo Momay, the 58th victim in the killings. /das

CEBU CITY, Philippines — In any sport, referees often bear the brunt of spectators’ disagreements with their decisions.

They spend most nights being yelled at, with many fans throwing up every insult they can think of.

It’s one of the most thankless jobs in sports. Yet a few who are tough enough choose this path and excel in it.

One of them is Aaron Rey Balbuena Cañete, a Cebuano who recently and quietly carved out a piece of history.

Earlier this year, he became the first Filipino basketball referee to earn an invitation to a National Basketball Association (NBA) enrichment program.

The NBA Summer League International Officiating Instructor Program was rare opportunity that put him in the same room with some of the best officials in the world.

READ: Cebuano referee makes history in NBA Summer League

It was a milestone he talks about with both pride and humility.

“It was a great learning experience. I learned a lot, especially about individual officiating techniques and NBA officiating protocols,” he said.

Cañete even got the chance to meet Scott Foster, one of the NBA’s most well-known referees.

“My ultimate goal is to officiate, at the highest level, international games like Fiba competitions,” he said.

A different love for basketball

Cañete grew up around the game.

His father, Reynaldo, is a respected regional executive of the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas and a familiar figure in Cebu’s basketball community.

But Aaron didn’t take the common route. He was 16 and still a high school player when he officiated his first game. It wasn’t passion, as he said, that hooked him at first. It was the challenge.

“The most common misconception is that referees are biased or favor one team during the game, which is not true,” said Cañete.

He knows the pressure that comes with working in tense arenas where emotions can shift in an instant and entire crowds direct their frustration at referees like him. Still, he tries to approach every situation with professionalism and authority.

“Yes, I’ve experienced this during different games, especially in intense or close matches. Emotions run high, and sometimes players, coaches, or fans become confrontational. It’s part of the job, and we learn how to handle it professionally,” he added.

His father and his uncle, Paul, were the ones who inspired him to officiate. From there, he quietly climbed the ladder, moving from local games to national leagues and eventually into the National Collegiate Athletic Association in Manila.

Grateful to mentors

In 2023, he became an accredited referee of the International Basketball Association or Fiba for both 5-on-5 and 3×3. That opened the door to the NBA Summer League invitation

Cañete is quick to credit others for helping him with his achievements.

He acknowledged the support of SBP technical head Andrew Te, along with Fiba World Cup and Olympic referee Ferdinand “Bong” Pascual, and SBP executives Al Panlilio and Erika Dy, who helped open the door to the NBA Summer League opportunity.

He also expressed his gratitude to those who guided him from the beginning.

“I’d like to thank my father, my family, my senior referees in the Philippines, the Fiba Commissioners and Fiba referees in the country, Sir Liberato Valenzuela, Sir Andrew Teh, and especially Sir Ferdinand ‘Bong’ Pascual, who has always been there to guide me,” he said.

“Thank you all for your support, guidance, and for believing in me throughout my journey.”

Even with a packed schedule in Manila and abroad, he always finds time to return home. In August, he worked as one of the referees in Cebu’s inaugural inter-collegiate invitational tournament — a full-circle moment in what’s becoming an impressive career in basketball officiating.

3rd photo: Aaron Rey Balbuena Cañete. | Facebook photo

WASHINGTON — A resident of Washington state has died after contracting a rare strain of bird flu previously only reported in animals, state health officials said — the second human fatality linked to the virus in the United States this year.

The patient was only identified as “an older adult with underlying health conditions” and had been hospitalized since early this month, the Washington state department of health said Friday.

Tests conducted by the University of Washington confirmed the patient was suffering from H5N5 avian influenza, the department said in a statement, calling it “the first recorded infection with this variant in a person globally.”

READ: US records its first human death from bird flu

The result was confirmed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The risk to the public remains low. No other people involved have tested positive for avian influenza,” it said. “There is no evidence of transmission of this virus between people.”

The patient has “a backyard flock of mixed domestic birds,” and officials believe this was the source of exposure.

READ: WHO: First human case of H5N2 bird flu died from multiple factors

The CDC has recorded more than 70 human cases of bird flu this year. A person died after contracting H5N1 in Louisiana in January.

The World Health Organization has recorded more than 1,000 bird flu cases in humans since 2003 in 25 countries — a figure that includes all strains of the virus. /dl

BELEM, Brazil — The COP30 climate summit has drawn to a close after two weeks in the Amazonian city of Belem where protests, street marches and even a fire caused unexpected moments of drama.

But beneath enormous tents erected over a former airport at the edge of the rainforest, nations also adopted some decisions on how to battle climate change.

Here are the main negotiated outcomes, and the voluntary commitments, made during the summit attended by nearly 200 nations:

READ: UN deal increases money to countries hit by climate change

Fossil fuels

The thorniest issues were bundled into a “mutirao” pact — the summit’s slogan, drawn from the Tupi-Guarani word for “collective effort.”

The agreement included an initiative for countries to collaborate on a voluntary basis to reduce carbon emissions and strive to limit global warming to 1.5C relative to pre-industrial levels.

It also noted a commitment made by all nations at COP28 in Dubai to “transition away from fossil fuels” — but this exact phrase, which has become politically sensitive, was not included.

Despite pressure from more than 80 nations from Europe to Latin American to the Pacific, the conference did not adopt a “roadmap” to phase out fossil fuels.

Instead, COP30 president Andre Correa do Lago offered to create one for countries willing to join on a voluntary basis, and another plan to halt deforestation.

Finance

The world’s poorest nations have long complained they lack the finance for “adaptation” — measures to protect their economies from rising seas, such as building sea walls, and other impacts of climate change.

In a win for developing countries at COP30, the final agreement “calls for efforts to at least triple adaptation finance by 2035.”

In 2024, rich countries agreed to provide $300 billion a year by 2035 in climate finance to developing nations, with no specific amount earmarked for adaptation.

Most of that goes to projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as renewable energy, and not to adaptation — something developing nations have long complained puts them at a disadvantage.

The “tripling” goal agreed in Belem could mean $120 billion from that $300 billion is earmarked for adaptation, but close observers said clarity was still needed around that target.

Trade

For the first time, trade has been included as a pillar of the final text, with a three-year dialogue to take place under the climate framework.

This reflected concerns from countries including China that trade measures — like taxes on carbon-intensive goods — could erode export revenues or throw up barriers to green technology sales.

Forests

At COP30, Brazil launched a new global investment vehicle that proposes paying out a share of profits to forest-rich countries for every hectare of trees they leave standing.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced during a leaders’ summit in Belem last week — even before COP30 officially started — the launch of the Tropical Forests Forever Facility.

The TFFF attracted $5.5 billion in pledges from Norway, Germany, Indonesia, France and Brazil — the biggest contributors.

Ultimately, Brazil is seeking to raise $125 billion in public and private investment, but said the fund could start working even without the full $25 billion in startup capital from governments.

Methane pledges

Slashing methane emissions — the second-largest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide — is considered one of the fastest ways to curb global warming.

Although it remains in the atmosphere for about 12 years, the “super pollutant” is roughly 80 times more potent than CO2 over a 20-year period.

At COP30, seven countries — Britain, France, Canada, Germany, Norway, Japan and Kazakhstan — signed a statement vowing to achieve “near zero” methane emissions across the fossil fuel sector.