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MANILA, Philippines --- The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has so far lodged 153 diplomatic notes against Chinese actions in the country's waters this year. The 153 notes verbale filed this year are part of the 211 total protests lodged by the Philippines against China since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016, Assistant Secretary Eduardo Meez of the DFA Office of Public and Cultural Diplomacy (OPCD) told reporters Thursday. "China responded to 151 NVs (notes verbale)," he added. In Manila's latest action against China's activities, the DFA protested the "unlawful" issuance of over 200 radio challenges and other "provocative acts" by Chinese government shi...

Keep on reading: 153 protests filed vs China actions in PH waters in 2021 — DFA

MANILA, Philippines --- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will hold a voting simulation on Saturday in San Juan City in preparation for the May 2022 national and local elections. Comelec will hold the simulation in San Juan Elementary School using four classrooms as polling precincts, and three classrooms as holding areas. A total of 3,564 test voters will join the simulation on Saturday, Oct. 23, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. "While we definitely expect these health and safety protocols to impact voting hours and the number of voters that may be allowed to vote at a given time, we are confident that this activity will help us to streamline the overall voting experience," Comelec ...

Keep on reading: Comelec to hold voting simulation on Oct.13

  JERUSALEM -- The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective at preventing infection and symptomatic disease from the Delta variant among 12- to 18-year-olds, research conducted in Israel shows. The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, will likely provide further reassurance the shot is effective against the variant among younger people as the U.S. drug watchdog considers authorizing use of the vaccine on children as young as five. The study found the estimated vaccine effectiveness against documented COVID-19 infection in adolescents was 90%, and 93% against symptomatic COVID-19, on days seven to 21 after the second dose. Israel's C...

Keep on reading: Pfizer vaccine very effective against Delta variant in adolescents in Israel – study

He's enjoyed the summer of a lifetime, and Xander Schauffele is determined to keep the good times rolling.

  BRUSSELS -- The European Union must deepen ties with Taiwan and start work on an investment deal with the island, EU lawmakers said in a resolution adopted on Thursday, a move likely to anger Beijing as a similar EU-China deal struck in 2020 has been put on ice. The European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg, with a majority of 580 to 26 votes, backed the non-binding resolution requesting the bloc's executive European Commission "urgently begin an impact assessment, public consultation and scoping exercise on a bilateral investment agreement". The lawmakers also demanded the bloc's trade office in Taipei to be renamed the European Union office in Taiwan, in ...

Keep on reading: EU lawmakers push for closer ties with Taiwan amid rising Chinese pressure

Spanx, one of America's most prominent shapewear companies, is now worth $1.2 billion after inking a deal with Blackstone.

https://twitter.com/gymnastics/status/1450830068729720838 MANILA, Philippines---It's redemption time for Carlos Yulo as he put in a masterful performance in the floor exercise to enter the final in the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. Yulo showed his class and took top spot during the qualifications with a score of 15.166. The final is on Saturday in Kitakyushu, Japan. The defending world champion put on a mesmerizing routine with his motivation stemming from his Tokyo disappointment a couple of months ago. "I wanted to step up my game. I didn't want to make the same mistakes [at the Olymics]," said Yulo, who trains in Japan. Yulo also dazzled in the parallel b...

Keep on reading: WATCH: Carlos Yulo dazzles in floor exercise routine at worlds

Unilever is hiking prices to cope with soaring supply chain costs and expects inflation to accelerate into next year.

SAN ANTONIO, Zambales----Police arrested another alleged member of a drug group during a buy-bust operation on Thursday, Oct. 21, morning in Sta. Cruz town. Col. Romano Cardio, provincial police director, identified the suspect as Allan Mercurio, 41, a member of the Buelo drug syndicate and among the top priority drug personalities in the province. Seized from him were 14 sachets of alleged "shabu" (crystal meth) worth about P13,000. On Oct. 17, police arrested Melanio Santos Jr., 33, in a buy-bust operation in this town. Santos reportedly belongs to the same drug group. Both face charges for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. lzb...

Keep on reading: Another member of drug syndicate in Zambales falls

MANILA, Philippines --- Manila Ocean Park reopened its doors to the public on Thursday amid a lower alert level in Metro Manila. Only fully vaccinated individuals ages 18 to 65 years old, however, are allowed to visit the marine theme park. Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna led the ceremonial opening of the park after its temporary closure because of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Napaka-importante po ang patuloy na pagbubukas ng ating mga negosyo dahil na rin sa maraming naapektuhan ng pandemya na ating kinakaharap," said Lacuna in a statement. (It is very important for our businesses to open because of how much the pandemic is affecting us.) "Dahil po dito, makakabalik na po sa pagtatrab...

Keep on reading: Manila Ocean Park reopens to public

MANILA, Philippines---Bulacan in 2017 saw what is now being described as the "single bloodiest day" in the Duterte administration's campaign against drugs---32 drug suspects killed by police in just one day. But on Wednesday (Oct. 20), as the Department of Justice (DOJ) released details of its review of killings in connection with the anti-drug campaign, not a single case of killing in Bulacan since 2016 had been cited. READ: Drug war details out: Probe shatters cops 'nanlaban' narratives in 52 cases Cristina Palabay, secretary general of human rights group Karapatan, said many of the cases listed on the DOJ review were those that took place in the Calabarzon and Caraga regions ...

Keep on reading: PH’s ‘bloodiest killing field’ not on DOJ list of drug campaign killings

MANILA, Philippines --- Former lawmaker and senatorial candidate Neri Colmenares on Thursday disputed the claims of House Deputy Speaker and Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza thatthe Makabayan coalition has expressed support for presidential candidate Senator Manny Pacquiao. Atienza is running as vice president alongside Pacquiao under his faction of the PDP-Laban party. Colmenares, Bayan Muna chairperson, meanwhile, is being fielded by the Makabayan bloc. Colmenares, however, said Atienza's claims about the progression coalition were untrue. "Not true. Makabayan has not declared support for any candidate," Colmenares said in a short message on Thursday. At a forum earli...

Keep on reading: Colmenares denies Makabayan is supporting Pacquiao

On a personal trip to Ethiopia in 2015, former US President George W. Bush encountered a pleasant surprise.

MANILA, Philippines---The Department of Finance (DOF) is cold to the Department of Energy's (DOE) proposal to suspend excise on oil amid high global prices, as doing so would cost the government over a hundred billion pesos in foregone revenues amid a prolonged pandemic. At present, there is no existing law which can temporarily defer collection of fuel excise, such that new legislation will be needed in case the DOE pushes through with its plan, Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko said in an Oct. 20 memorandum to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III. The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act only covered oil excise hikes during the period 2018 to 2020. The TR...

Keep on reading: DOF: Without new law, excise on fuel can’t be suspended

MANILA, Philippines---The fight for control of the country's largest bus firm heated up further after more criminal complaints were filed against the breakaway faction of Bacolod City's billionaire Yanson family who tried to take over Vallacar Transit Inc. in 2019. In a statement, the camp of Leo Rey Yanson---president of the bus firm Ceres Lines---said new charges were filed against one of the members of the faction of the so-called "Yanson 4" siblings, and their lawyer, Anna Isabella Galvez of Fortun Narvasa and Salazar Law Office, who are fighting for control of the company. In two resolutions dated March 15, 2021, the Department of Justice in Manila found probable cause for fiv...

Keep on reading: Yanson feud further heats up with falsification, perjury raps vs faction in bus ownership war

From cool, dewy European mountain ranges and humid Central Asian forests to the urban sprawl across North America and the arid landscapes of the African continent, millions of people are cooking with only the sun's rays as fuel.

CAMP GEN. ALEJO SANTOS, Bulacan----More than P500,000 worth of "shabu" (crystal meth) and marijuana were confiscated from five suspected drug traders during simultaneous buy-bust operations in Bulacan province, the police said Thursday, Oct. 21. Col. Manuel Lukban Jr., Bulacan police director, said they seized 55 grams of shabu worth P374,000 from Gregor Maclam and P136,000 worth of the illegal drug from Wilson Laureta during a buy-bust operation at Barangay Graceville in the City of San Jose del Monte. In Baliwag town, the police confiscated 2.33 grams of shabu worth P15,844 and a brick of marijuana worth P20,000 from suspects Jeffrey Salinas and Cesar Reyes. The police the...

Keep on reading: Over P500K ‘shabu,’ marijuana seized from 5 suspects in Bulacan

https://twitter.com/EnesKanter/status/1450869180283203589 NBA player Enes Kanter on Wednesday slammed Chinese President Xi Jinping as a "brutal dictator" and declared that "Tibet belongs to the Tibetan people," risking reigniting tensions between Beijing and the US basketball league. Tibet has alternated over the centuries between independence and control by China, which claims it "peacefully liberated" the region in 1951 and brought infrastructure and education to the previously underdeveloped region. But human rights campaigners and exiles have accused China of religious repression, torture, forced sterilization and cultural erosion through forced re-education. "Dear Brutal...

Keep on reading: Celtics’ Enes Kanter slams China’s ‘brutal dictator’ Xi Jinping

Bea Alonzo celebrated her 34th birthday this week, and marked the occasion with a chic and stylish vintage-themed photo shoot. The actress had a variety of looks for the shoot, taken by photographer Mark Nicdao, as seen on her Instagram page on Tuesday, Oct. 19. Alonzo wore a plaid blazer, red glossy boots and a red beret while sporting bobbed hair. She donned a green headpiece and a yellow plaid shirt in another photo.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by bea alonzo (@beaalonzo)   View this post on Instagram ...

Keep on reading: Bea Alonzo channels Wes Anderson vibes in birthday shoot

  MANILA, Philippines --- Another 260 patients have died due to COVID-19 complications, raising the country's total fatalities due to the disease to 41,237, the Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday. The total deaths currently make up 1.50 percent of the total 2.74 million COVID-19 cases detected in the country since the start of the pandemic. The DOH logged 154 additional 86 deaths on Monday and 211 fatalities on Tuesday. Only five more deaths were reported on Wednesday due to technical issues with COVIDKaya, the agency's central repository of data related to the pandemic response. A total of 65,835 patients are still suffering from COVID-19, according to the hea...

Keep on reading: 260 more patients die of COVID complications — DOH