An offshore earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck Surigao del Sur province in the southern Philippines on Saturday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology reported.

The institute said the quake, which occurred at 6:22 a.m. local time, hit at a depth of 9 km, about 66 km northeast of Lingig, a coastal town, Xinhua news agency reported.

The tremor was also felt in many provinces in the Mindanao region, including Agusan del Sur, Davao de Oro, Davao City, Davao Occidental, and even some areas in the central Philippines.

The institute said the tectonic quake will trigger aftershocks but will not cause damage.

The archipelagic Philippines has frequent seismic activities due to its location along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”. AGENCIES

A man died in a targeted shooting in Melbourne’s west after which Australian police have commenced an investigation.

At approximately 9:10 p.m. local time on Friday, emergency services were called to Tenterfield Drive in Burnside Heights, following reports of a man suffering a gunshot wound outside a property, Xinhua news agency reported.

Victoria Police confirmed that the 34-year-old victim from Wallan was declared dead at the scene.

“The exact circumstances surrounding the death are yet to be determined at this stage, however, police do not believe this was a random attack,” the authority noted.

With the suspect still at large, the police force has urged members of the public to provide related information as soon as possible.

A witness was quoted by local media the Australian, saying that the shooter approached the man on foot and fired multiple bullets before driving off.

Burnside Heights is around 20 km north-west of Melbourne’s central business district. According to Australia’s 2021 Census, the suburb has a population of 6,377. AGENCIES

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that the recent US position on Venezuela’s elections was “reckless” and renewed his call for the international community to avoid interventionism.

In his daily press conference, the Mexican president said that statements like the one made by the United States on Thursday do not help resolve electoral disputes in Venezuela, Xinhua news agency reported.

“It is reckless,” Lopez Obrador said when asked by a journalist whether the statement from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken could worsen the situation in the South American country.

On Thursday, Blinken claimed that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia received the most votes in the July 28 elections.

The Mexican president reiterated his call for “no interventionism” from the international community and organisations.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council declared Nicolas Maduro as the president-elect on Monday for the 2025-2031 term, following the elections held on July 28. AGENCIES

The Portuguese government announced that it has greenlit a series of significant investments by Redes Energetics Nacionais (REN) aimed at extending and developing the National Transmission Network (RNT).

The approval, announced in a statement by Environment and Energy Minister Maria da Graca Carvalho on Friday, underscores the country’s commitment to enhancing its energy infrastructure and promoting sustainability, Xinhua news agency reported.

The specific investment plan by REN includes the creation of grid connection capacity in the high-demand area of Sines and reinforcements to integrate a photovoltaic plant into the grid.

Additionally, the development of the RNT in the northeast of the country will focus on integrating renewable energy sources and supplying new very high-voltage grid infrastructure.

The minister emphasised the strategic importance of these investments, noting that they serve as a “sign of encouragement” to both domestic and international companies looking to invest in Portugal.

“We want to encourage companies, both domestic and foreign, to invest in our country and contribute to building a more sustainable future,” she stated.

The move aligns with Portugal’s broader energy strategy to foster renewable energy integration and infrastructure development, positioning the country as a leader in sustainable energy solutions in Europe. AGENCIES

China’s Ministry of Emergency Management on Saturday dispatched a working team to southwest China’s Sichuan Province to guide rescue efforts after a flash flood and mudslide.

The ministry said it has also sent 268 people and 65 vehicles from the Sichuan Fire and Rescue Department and 55 people and 35 sets of equipment from China Anneng Construction Group Co., Ltd. to help in the rescue efforts, Xinhua news agency. reported

Two people were killed, eight injured, and 12 others were missing after a flash flood and mudslide took place early in the morning on Saturday in Ridi Village, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

A tunnel bridge collapsed during a flash flood and mudslide. The collapse caused three vehicles to fall, carrying six people. One person was rescued, and five others remained missing as of 11 a.m. local time Saturday, local authorities said.

The bridge connecting two tunnels on an expressway collapsed at around 3:30 a.m. at the section between Kangding City and Luding County of the Ya’an-Kangding expressway, according to the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture’s publicity department. AGENCIES

Slovakia expects the European Commission (EC) to defend the interests of European Union (EU) member states in an oil transit dispute with Ukraine, Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar said.

Blanar made the remarks in a Facebook post in response to a letter sent by the EC to him and his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto over the oil transit dispute, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said on Friday that at the same time, his country won’t wait and is looking for other solutions if the commission doesn’t act.

“We have received a letter from Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis regarding the halted oil supplies via Ukraine,” Blanar added.

Slovakia and Hungary have been accusing Ukraine of violating an agreement between the EU and Ukraine after it recently stopped the oil transit of the Russian company Lukoil through the Druzhba pipeline to the two EU countries.

Slovakia’s Economy Ministry said last month that oil deliveries from Lukoil had stopped flowing to the country via Ukraine following the company’s inclusion on a Ukrainian sanctions list in June.

The agreement between the EU and Ukraine stipulates that the transit of energy products to the EU must not be hindered. Slovakia and Hungary have appealed to the EC to intervene.

On Thursday, the EC said that oil supplies to Slovakia and Hungary are not in immediate danger as a result of Ukrainian sanctions against Lukoil.

Blanar said on Friday that the EC is postponing a decision on Slovakia’s request to use the options of the agreement. It has also sent further questions to Slovakia, which the Economy Ministry answered and sent back to Brussels.

On Friday, Dombrovskis said on social media platform X that he had spoken to Szijjarto to get more details on energy supplies to Hungary. AGENCIES

The US government has sued Chinese-owned social media giant TikTok, alleging that it endangered the safety of children by illegally collecting information from them and allowing them to share messages and videos with adults.

The US Justice Department announced on Friday that it had filed the lawsuit in a California federal court alleging violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and failure to implement earlier court orders to comply with the law.

“TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violated kids’ privacy, threatening the safety of millions of children across the country,” said Lina Khan, the head of the Federal Trade Commission, which joined the Justice Department in suing the short video behemoth.

The complaint against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance alleges that from 2019 onwards TikTok allowed children to create regular TikTok accounts and create, view, and share short-form videos and messages with adults.

TikTok also collected personal information from even accounts in the Kids Mode, a limited version for children under 13, the complaint said.

The personal information included children’s email addresses.

When parents discovered their children’s accounts and asked TikTok to delete the accounts and information, the company frequently did not honour those requests, the complaint added.

Moreover, TikTok had “deficient and ineffectual internal policies and processes for identifying and deleting TikTok accounts created by children,” the Justice Department said.

The government sued TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly, in 2019 for COPPA violations, and the court ordered it to undertake specific measures to comply with the law, which they have not, according to the department.

“The Department is deeply concerned that TikTok has continued to collect and retain children’s personal information despite a court order barring such conduct,” Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin Mizer said.

COPPA was passed in 1999 and came into effect in 2000.

The lawsuit comes as a new, even more stringent law, the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act, was approved by the Senate on Tuesday and is pending before the House of Representatives.

This would extend some of the protections in COPPA to teenagers under 17 and also add more protection for children and teens.

TikTok, which was banned in India in 2020, has faced calls in the US for a similar ban from legislators and privacy advocates.

Because it is a Chinese company under the jurisdiction of Beijing there are fears that the humongous trove of information it collects about Americans could be seized by the Chinese government and misused.

In addition, TikTok has been accused of exploiting children by addicting them to its short videos.

TikTok claimed that it had segregated US data and kept them in the US, but The Wall Street Journal reported in January that sometimes data is shared with the China-based parent company.

Responding to the filing of the lawsuit, TikTok’s Spokesperson Michael Hughes said the allegations pertained to past events and practices and were inaccurate.

He asserted, “We are proud of our efforts to protect children and we will continue to update and improve the platform.” AGENCIES

The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has elected To Lam as general secretary of the CPV Central Committee, according to a statement on Saturday.

He will continue to serve as Vietnam’s president, Xinhua news agency reported.

Lam has served as the 13th General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam since August 2024 and the 13th President of Vietnam since May 2024.

He served as Minister of Public Security from April 2016 until his election to the presidency in May 2024. AGENCIES

Two people were killed, eight injured and 12 others went missing after a flash flood and mudslide in southwest China’s Sichuan Province Saturday, local authorities said.

The flash flood and mudslide took place early in the morning in Ridi Village, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, according to the emergency rescue and disaster relief headquarters, Xinhua news agency reported.

The injured have been sent to hospital for treatment and over 300 people have been relocated.

Rescue work is underway. AGENCIES

Three policemen were injured while eight protesters were arrested for a range of offences, including violent disorder and burglary in Sunderland, northeast England. 

On Friday, three officers sustained injuries during the protests, which were “utterly deplorable”, the Northumbria Police said in a statement on Saturday.

One officer has been discharged from the hospital, while the other two remain hospitalised, the police said.

A statement from the police read, “Anyone involved in the disorder we have seen can expect to be dealt with robustly – and that action has already begun.”

During the clashes, a police office building was attacked, and the adjacent property was set alight. Protesters threw beer cans and stones at police near a mosque, and at least one car was set on fire, it said.

“The shocking scenes we have witnessed in Sunderland are completely unacceptable. We want to make it clear that the disorder, violence, and damage which has occurred will not be tolerated,” the statement read.

The police also urged the public to avoid the area while officers manage the situation, stressing that public safety is the “utmost priority.”

While acknowledging that the right to lawful protest is a fundamental part of democracy, the police warned that using protests as a “means to commit crime” will not be tolerated.

An investigation is underway to identify the people responsible for the unrest and violence.

The disorder in Sunderland occurred as police nationwide prepared for planned far-right rallies and other demonstrations this weekend, following two nights of unrest in several areas in the wake of Monday’s knife attack that claimed the lives of three young girls. AGENCIES