World

Protesters angry at the high cost of living in Panama ended their three-week blockade of major roads on Tuesday, authorities said, as negotiations between the government and groups behind the demonstrations continued.

Security minister Juan Manuel Pino told AFP in a short message that the roads were “all open” for the first time since the protests began.

Earlier, police had announced on Twitter that “the roads that had been kept closed by protests have been cleared,” and traffic was flowing freely.

Panama has been gripped by protests over the cost of living and corruption in the worst social crisis since the American invasion of the country in 1989.

Since the unrest began, protesters have blocked various roads, most notably the Pan-American Highway, which connects Panama with Costa Rica and is the country’s main route for trade and the transport of goods.

The severing of the routes had led to shortages of food and fuel in several cities.

On Tuesday, leaders of the indigenous region of Ngabe-Bugle in the east of the country announced that they would stop blocking the Pan-American Highway in the province of Chiriqui, the source of most of the fresh food consumed in the country.

The president of Panama, Laurentino Cortizo, had reiterated on Tuesday his call for protesters to reopen the roads.

“The protests (and) closures of streets and highways affect us all, putting at risk the health and lives of Panamanians, and raising the cost of food and threatening employment,” he said.

While the government “respects the right to protest,” Cortizo said it should be done “without disruptions to social order, violations of the rights of third parties, and much less acts of vandalism.”

The opening of the roads came amid talks that have been taking place since Thursday in Penonome, 150 kilometers (90 miles) southeast of the capital, between the government and representatives of the organizations behind the protests.

So far, the government has agreed to reduce the cost of 72 basic goods and to lower the price of fuel from $5.20 per gallon (3.78 liters) to $3.25.

However, the groups have demanded the price of gasoline be cut to $3, along with reductions to the cost of medicines and electricity, improvements to public health and education, and measures to fight corruption.

Beachgoers in the Japanese region of Fukui have been warned to stay away from a displeased dolphin accused of biting swimmers, with officials urging visitors to “watch from afar”.

Beach attendants at the seafront in the central region on Wednesday set up a device that emits ultrasonic frequencies in a bid to repel the cantankerous creature, the city said.

A sign has been put up warning dolphin fans not to touch the animal.

Local media said at least 10 incidents involving dolphin bites have been recorded by attendants at the beach since it officially opened for the summer on July 9.

A local official told AFP that Fukui’s fire department has been called over two incidents, both involving men in their 40s who were swimming near the local beach.

Injuries have been minor so far, but local authorities have warned of “potentially severe wounds”. 

“Dolphins tend to be considered cute, but if you approach wild dolphins carelessly, you might get bitten and injured,” Fukui prefectural police cautioned in a Twitter post Monday.

“If you spot any, don’t go near them,” the police said, citing the case of a man who was bitten on the hand on Sunday. 

The city believes the series of attacks are the work of single dolphin, which was first spotted near shore at a different beach in April, Masaki Yasui, an official from the tourism promotion department, told AFP. 

“We understand that there are certain body parts where dolphins don’t like to be touched, like the tip of its nose and its back fin,” Yasui said.

He said videos posted on Twitter showed beachgoers had been trying to touch the dolphin in those areas. 

“We encourage visitors to watch the dolphin from afar if they come across it,” the official said. 

Miners in Angola have unearthed a rare pure pink diamond that is believed to be the largest found in 300 years, the Australian site operator announced Wednesday.

A 170 carat pink diamond — dubbed The Lulo Rose — was discovered at Lulo mine in the country’s diamond-rich northeast and is among the largest pink diamonds ever found, the Lucapa Diamond Company said in a statement to investors.

The “historic” find of the Type IIa diamond, one of the rarest and purest forms of natural stones, was welcomed by the Angolan government, which is also a partner in the mine.

“This record and spectacular pink diamond recovered from Lulo continues to showcase Angola as an important player on the world stage,” Angola’s Mineral Resources Minister Diamantino Azevedo said.

The diamond will be sold at international tender, likely at a dazzling price.

Although The Lulo Rose would have to be cut and polished to realise its true value, in a process that can see a stone lose 50 percent of its weight, similar pink diamonds have sold for record-breaking prices.

The 59.6 carat Pink Star was sold at a Hong Kong auction in 2017 for 71.2 million US dollars. It remains the most expensive diamond ever sold.

Miners in Angola have unearthed a rare pure pink diamond that is believed to be the largest found in 300 years, the Australian site operator announced Wednesday.

A 170 carat pink diamond — dubbed The Lulo Rose — was discovered at Lulo mine in the country’s diamond-rich northeast and is among the largest pink diamonds ever found, the Lucapa Diamond Company said in a statement to investors.

The “historic” find of the Type IIa diamond, one of the rarest and purest forms of natural stones, was welcomed by the Angolan government, which is also a partner in the mine.

“This record and spectacular pink diamond recovered from Lulo continues to showcase Angola as an important player on the world stage,” Angola’s Mineral Resources Minister Diamantino Azevedo said.

The diamond will be sold at international tender, likely at a dazzling price.

Although The Lulo Rose would have to be cut and polished to realise its true value, in a process that can see a stone lose 50 percent of its weight, similar pink diamonds have sold for record-breaking prices.

The 59.6 carat Pink Star was sold at a Hong Kong auction in 2017 for 71.2 million US dollars. It remains the most expensive diamond ever sold.

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake killed at least three people in the northern Philippines Wednesday, toppling buildings, and shaking high-rise towers more than 300 kilometres (185 miles) away in the capital Manila.

The shallow but powerful quake struck the mountainous and lightly populated province of Abra on the main island of Luzon at 8:43 am (0043 GMT), the US Geological Survey said.

Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage than deeper ones. This one left scores of people injured, triggered landslides, damaged churches, and knocked out power.

In Bangued, the provincial capital of Abra, which felt the full force of the quake, a 23-year-old woman was killed after a wall fell on her, police said. At least 62 people were injured in the province.

A 25-year-old construction worker in La Trinidad, the capital of the landlocked province Benguet, died when the three-storey building he was working on collapsed, police said. Seven other workers escaped unharmed.

Another person was killed when he fell off a construction site in the mountains of Kalinga province, where eight people were also injured, police said. 

As buildings shook and walls cracked in the municipality of Dolores in Abra, people ran outside, Police Major Edwin Sergio told AFP.

“The quake was very strong,” Sergio said, adding windows of the local market were broken.

“Vegetables and fruits sold in the market were also disarranged after tables were toppled.”

A video posted on Facebook and verified by AFP showed cracks in the asphalt road and ground in Bangued.

A number of the injured in Bangued were taken to hospital, police chief Major Nazareno Emia told AFP. 

“Some of the buildings here show cracks. Power was cut off and internet as well,” he added.

Congressman Ching Bernos, who represents the lone district of Abra, said the quake “caused damages to many households and establishments”, but did not elaborate.

University student Mira Zapata was in her house in San Juan municipality when she felt “really strong shaking”.

“We started shouting and rushed outside,” she said, as aftershocks continued.

“Our house is ok but houses down the hill were damaged.” 

– Ring of Fire –

The Philippines is regularly rocked by quakes due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

Wednesday’s quake was the strongest recorded in the Philippines in years and was felt across swathes of Luzon island, the most populous in the archipelago.

It was followed by more than 200 aftershocks, the local seismological agency said. Several of the subsequent quakes measured from magnitude 4.7 to 4.9, according to USGS.

Residents and office workers in Manila were evacuated from high-rise buildings.  

“Some of our personnel were pruning branches so they had to climb down immediately after they felt the strong shaking,” said Pangasinan provincial police chief Colonel Richmond Tadina. 

In Vigan City, in the province of Ilocos Sur, centuries-old structures built during the Spanish colonial period were damaged.

Verified video footage posted on Facebook showed the Bantay Bell Tower in the popular tourist destination partially crumbling. 

Two visitors suffered minor injuries from falling debris, an official said.

“We can’t rule out the possibility of another strong earthquake,” said Renato Solidum, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, whose family stronghold is in the north, said he would delay visiting the region to avoid causing disruptions.

Military personnel have been deployed to Abra to help with rescue operations.

There were reports of landslides in some areas. National disaster agency spokesman Mark Timbal said road-clearing operations were underway. 

There were no reports of damage to dams in the region, he added.

In October 2013, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Bohol Island in the central Philippines, killing over 200 people and triggering landslides.

Old churches in the birthplace of Catholicism in the Philippines were badly damaged. Nearly 400,000 were displaced and tens of thousands of houses were damaged. 

The powerful quake altered the island’s landscape and a “ground rupture” pushed up a stretch of ground by about three meters, creating a wall of rock above the epicentre. 

In 1990, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in the northern Philippines created a ground rupture stretching over a hundred kilometres. 

Fatalities were estimated to reach over 1,200 and caused major damage to buildings in Manila.