Feed aggregator

MILAN --- The spread of cryptocurrencies without any clear regulation is a cause for concern and could damage the way the market operates, the head of Italy's stock market regulator said on Monday. Paolo Savona joined a host of institutional leaders who have clamoured for more regulation and said cryptocurrencies could facilitate illegal activity such as money laundering and even undermine central banks' ability to conduct monetary policy. "Without proper oversight there could be a worsening in market transparency, the basis of legality and rational choice for (market) operators," the Consob chairman said as he presented the watchdog's yearly report. Europe and the United St...

Keep on reading: Unregulated spread of cryptocurrencies a concern, says Italian regulator

MANILA, Philippines --- The number of low-income Filipinos who own bank or financial accounts has almost doubled in recent years due, in large part, to the continued digitalization of financial services, according to the central bank. In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said there has been an increase in account ownership among the country's poorest citizens, or the class "E" socioeconomic segment, nearly doubling to 27 percent in 2019 from 14 percent in 2017. The same trend can be observed across the broader economy as account ownership among Filipino adults rose to 29 percent in 2019 from 23 percent in 2017, translating to an additional five million Filipinos be...

Keep on reading: Number of bank accounts of poorest Filipinos has doubled, says BSP

BRUSSELS --- NATO leaders are expected to brand China a security risk to the Western alliance on Monday, a day after the Group of Seven rich nations issued a statement on human rights in China and Taiwan that Beijing said slandered its reputation. With allied leaders also raising concerns about Russia's recent military build-up near Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg described the summit, the first Joe Biden will attend as U.S. president, as a "pivotal moment". In a marked change of tone from his predecessor Donald Trump, Biden on Sunday described NATO as "a sacred obligation". Arriving at the one-day summit in Brussels, Stoltenberg said China's growing militar...

Keep on reading: NATO to toughen G7 message on China despite Beijing’s cries of ‘slander’

ORMOC CITY -- The body of a 14-year-old boy who was reported missing while swimming in the sea in Pambujan town in Northern Samar was found on Sunday, June 13. Police investigation disclosed that the boy and his brother were swimming when a strong current dragged them to the deeper portion of the sea. Neighbors who were on the shoreline immediately responded and rescued the older brother. The fatality, however, was missing until he was found dead an hour later.  ...

Keep on reading: Body of boy who went missing while swimming in sea in Samar found

TACLOBAN CITY---Employees of the Eastern Samar provincial government will operate with a skeleton workforce from June 13 to 26, 2021 amid the rising cases of COVID-19 in Borongan City where the provincial capitol is located. "(This way), we will minimize the risk of COVID-19 spreading in workplaces while ensuring that the delivery of services within the provincial government remains unhampered," said Gov. Ben Evardone. Exempted from his order are employees of the Eastern Samar Provincial Hospital, which is based in Borongan. City Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda earlier placed Borongan under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ). In Leyte, the municipal inter-agency tas...

Keep on reading: COVID spike in Borongan City prompts E. Samar provincial gov’t to scale down workforce

The #TheBrokenMarriageVow is trending right now on Twitter as the full cast for the series has finally been revealed. ABS-CBN's Dreamscape Entertainment has just revealed via its official Twitter page the full list of actors who will be starring in the Filipino adaptation of the hit drama series from BBC Studies, "Doctor Foster." https://twitter.com/dreamscapeph/status/1404302772384649219 This follows the previous announcement made for the lead roles which would be played by Jodi Sta. Maria, Zanjoe Marudo, Sue Ramirez and Zaijian Jaranilla. As revealed, the rest of the cast are as follows: Joem Bascon as Enzo Tierra; Art Acua as Fred Lucero; Rachel Alejandro as Nathalia Lucero; Ang...

Keep on reading: ‘The Broken Marriage Vow’ full cast is revealed and fans are ecstatic

DUMAGUETE CITY -- Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo was not keen on implementing a total lockdown even amid the surge in COVID-19 cases in the province. "We cannot afford a total lockdown in the whole province of Negros Oriental unless the national government will help us," he said. The medical sector and the Dumaguete City Council recently appealed to tighten the community quarantine classification in the province to slow down the spread of the virus. Degamo said granular lockdowns for now are seen as the "best solution" to address the problem while preserving the local economy. Under granular lockdowns, only residences and villages with high numbers of COVID-19 cases wil...

Keep on reading: Total lockdown unlikely amid COVID surge in NegOr, says gov

Novavax Inc on Monday reported late-stage data from its U.S.-based clinical trial showing its vaccine is more than 90% effective against COVID-19 across a variety of variants of the virus. The study of nearly 30,000 volunteers in the United States and Mexico puts Novavax on track to file for emergency authorization in the United States and elsewhere in the third quarter of 2021, the company said. Novavax's protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate was more than 93% effective against the predominant variants of COVID-19 that have been of concern among scientists and public health officials, Novavax said. Protein-based vaccines are a conventional approach that use purified piec...

Keep on reading: Novavax COVID-19 vaccine more than 90% effective in US trial

  SAN ANTONIO, Zambales --- At least 43 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in this province over the weekend, a local health official said on Monday, June 14. According to Dr. Noel Bueno, provincial health director, the new patients are aged 4-71 and most of them contracted the virus at home. Some adult patients were infected by their co-workers, he also said. But Bueno said 17 of the infected patients last month had already recovered from the disease, raising the total number of recoveries to 2,192. To date, the province has a total of 2,960 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic broke out last year. Of this, 706 remained active and 60 had died. INQ...

Keep on reading: COVID-19 cases in Zambales up by 43

  CEBU CITY --- After several months of eased restrictions for domestic travel, Cebu province is now requiring COVID-19 negative tests for those coming from Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and Bohol provinces. Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia issued Executive Order No. 22 that requires either a negative swab test result 72 hours before departure or a negative Rapid Antigen Test taken at least 48 hours before departure from the place of origin. Garcia's order takes effect from June 14 to July 24 "unless further extended." The governor took into consideration the latest data from DOH that Cebu's neighboring provinces recorded an increasing number of active COVID-19 cases in t...

Keep on reading: Cebu now requires travelers from Negros, Bohol to show negative COVID-19 test

OLONGAPO CITY --- Over 13,000 residents here have been inoculated against COVID-19 but the vaccine rollout was temporarily put on hold pending the arrival of additional supply from the national government, an official said. In his weekly update, Mayor Rolen Paulino Jr. said 9,444 residents belonging to the priority sectors have received their first dose of vaccine. At least 3,799 of them have been given their second dose or were already fully vaccinated, Paulino said. The city has been administering the COVID-19 vaccine from China's Sinovac and AstraZeneca from the United Kingdom. Paulino said the slow vaccine rollout is a "global issue" due to the limited supply. He s...

Keep on reading: Close to 4,000 Olongapo residents now fully vaccinated against COVID-19

LONDON --- Eligibility rules were relaxed across Britain on Monday to allow more gay and bisexual men to donate life-saving blood, platelets, and plasma. Under the changes, introduced on World Blood Donor Day, individuals will no longer be prevented from donating if they are a man who has sex with other men. Instead, they will now be asked more tailored questions about their recent sexual behavior, health, and travel, before an individual infection risk assessment is made. Those who have had the same sexual partner for the last three months will now be eligible to donate, NHS Blood and Transplant said. NHSBT chief nurse Ella Poppitt said all donations are screened for evi...

Keep on reading: UK eases curbs on blood donations for gay and bisexual men

Ferrari on Sunday rolled out its first in-house fashion collection, offering fans of the Ferrari brand and its supercars a touch of "couture" within a contemporary clothing range.

A host of big names from sport took to social media to express their opinions on Nikola Jokic's ejection during the Denver Nuggets' NBA playoff loss on Sunday.

VfB Stuttgart striker Silas Katompa Mvumpa was banned from all competitions for three months and fined 30,000 euros after revealing he had been playing under a false identity for years. Known until last week as Silas Wamangituka, the striker revealed that his name and birth date were different and that the data had been changed years ago by a former agent who controlled him as a teenager. "It was clear to him and us that Silas was going to be sanctioned by the DFB, and that's the way it has to be according to the by-laws," said Stuttgart sporting director Sven Mislintat following the decision by the German Football Association (DFB). "At the same time, the verdict takes into...

Keep on reading: Stuttgart striker banned for three months over false identity

GENEVA --- The head of the World Trade Organization said on Monday that trade barriers related to medical supplies used against COVID-19 had risen and urged member states to drop them, as it intensified efforts to reach a deal on vaccine-sharing. "The trend is going in the wrong direction," WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told a virtual U.N. forum, referring to barriers on goods trade related to the pandemic. "We need to bring those restrictions down so we can move... medical goods and supplies and vaccines (faster)." She said the number of trade restrictions was 109 at the start of the pandemic early last year, and had later fallen to 51 but had since risen again t...

Keep on reading: WTO head says pandemic-related trade barriers are rising

Losing French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas jumped up one place to fourth in the latest ATP rankings released Monday. The 22-year-old Greek leapfrogged Austrian Dominc Thiem after his efforts in the French capital. Roland Garros winner Novak Djokovic, fresh from his 19th Grand Slam win, consolidated his lead atop the rankings. The Serb now stands 1,970 points ahead of Russian Daniil Medvedev, with Spain's Rafael Nadal in third. ATP rankings as of June 14 1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 12,113 points 2. Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 10,143 3. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 8,630 4. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 7,980 (+1) 5. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 7425 (-1) 6. Alexander Zverev (GER) 7,35...

Keep on reading: Losing finalist Tsitsipas moves one place in ATP rankings

Novak Djokovic's French Open triumph, which made him only the third man to win all four majors twice and took him halfway to a rare calendar Grand Slam, has reignited the debate over who is the greatest male player of all time. The 34-year-old Serb wrapped up his second Roland Garros title and 19th Slam trophy with victory from two sets down over Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas, 12 years his junior. It was a triumph built on the foundations of his epic semifinal win against 13-time champion Rafael Nadal, only the Spaniard's third loss in Paris in 16 years. Now Djokovic is just one Slam away from the record of 20 jointly-held by Nadal and Roger Federer. "We have to start talki...

Keep on reading: Djokovic, Federer, Nadal: Who’s the greatest of them all?

https://youtu.be/NeMl4vj7wjY MANILA, Philippines --- Western parts of Luzon may see cloudy skies and isolated rains again due to the southwest monsoon while most areas within the country would enjoy better weather conditions, state meteorologists said on Monday afternoon. The latest weather reports from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) showed that provinces in Ilocos Region, plus the western parts of Central Luzon which include Zambales and Bataan would be most affected by the southwest monsoon or habagat. Pagasa said rains may also persist in other provinces but these would be isolated and would last for a few minutes on...

Keep on reading: Habagat to prevail in Luzon, rest of PH to have better weather — Pagasa