Feed aggregator

PULILAN, Bulacan---The local government of this town has secured P20 million in coronavirus vaccines from British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca, according to officials on Wednesday (Jan. 20). The vaccines will arrive in the third quarter of this year or earlier, said Mayor Maritz Ochoa-Montejo during the town's 225th anniversary celebration. Montejo said priority in the town's vaccine program included health workers and others on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19. Also on top of the list are government workers, senior citizens and other vulnerable groups. Pulilan, an agricultural town, is famous for its "Kneeling Carabao Festival" which is held during the San Isidro ...

Keep on reading: Bulacan agricultural town seals deal for P20M in AstraZeneca vaccines

China says that it is a "victim" of misinformation after Twitter restricted the account of the Chinese embassy in the United States.

With its vast mountain ranges, sandy beaches and towering forests, Cape Town is a place where the natural world dominates, imploring visitors to stop and soak it all in.

MANILA, Philippines---If current COVID-19 quarantine restrictions drag on until end of 2021 and mass vaccination lags behind, the Philippine economy cold eke out only a 2.9 percent growth, according to economists at the Ateneo de Manila University on Thursday (Jan. 21). Citing technical projections of the Ateneo's economics department, former socioeconomic planning secretary Cielito Habito told an online seminar that he expects the "painful" recession to end in the second quarter of 2021 even as restoring GDP to pre-pandemic levels was likely to take much longer---three or more years beyond President Rodrigo Duterte's tenure which ends middle of 2022. Ateneo economists projected GD...

Keep on reading: Ateneo economists: With no progress vs COVID-19, PH economy could grow only 2.9 percent this year

The European Union has joined a growing number of international voices calling for a probe into Ugandan election abuses and violence that left more than 40 people dead in the lead up to the polls.

SAN ANTONIO, ZAMBALES---The naval training station here has recorded 18 more COVID-19 cases that followed an outbreak last week, officials said on Thursday (Jan. 21). Dr. Noel Bueno, provincial health director, said the new cases inside the Naval Education, Training and Doctrine Command (NETDC) involved persons who had contact with three students who tested positive for SARS Cov2, the virus that causes COVID-19, from Jan. 13 to 15. The latest infections raised to 33 the total COVID-19 tally at NETDC, which was already placed on a 14-day lockdown since Jan. 13. Bueno said the students, aged 22 to 43, had been staying in the school for more than a year and had no travel histor...

Keep on reading: 18 more coronavirus infections emerge in Zambales naval training station

There is a single winner of the Powerball lottery on Wednesday.

Washington, United States --- New US President Joe Biden warned the worst of the pandemic is still to come, as the number of American coronavirus deaths surpassed the country's troop fatalities in World War II. Coronavirus cases have surged past 96 million worldwide, fuelled by the emergence of new variants including one that was first detected in Britain and has now spread to more than 60 nations, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. The United States remains the worst-hit country, with around a fifth of the two million global Covid-19 deaths, and Biden has made the fight against the pandemic his administration's top priority. "We need all our strength to persevere thr...

Keep on reading: US virus deaths top WWII fatalities as Biden warns worst yet to come

MANILA, Philippines --- The Department of Foreign Affairs' (DFA) entire passport revolving fund is "gone," according to its chief, Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., who said he would be cutting off the agency's foreign trips to replenish it. "Our entire passport revolving fund is gone," Locsin said in a tweet late Wednesday. https://twitter.com/teddyboylocsin/status/1351913506778431491 He said the DFA currently owes P388 million to the state-owned firm APO Production Unit, Inc. for the printing of passport booklets. "[A]pparently the fund was eaten up by travel allowances (huh?), insurance, miscellany( what?). So bear with us until I find money to replenish the fund," Locsin said...

Keep on reading: Locsin slashing DFA’s foreign trips to refill ‘gone’ passport revolving fund

City of London Police have discovered and destroyed a "significant" cannabis factory in the heart of London following reports about the strong smell of the plant.

MANILA, Philippines --- Most areas in the country can expect improving weather conditions starting Friday as the low-pressure area (LPA) has crossed the Luzon landmass and is moving farther away, over waters north of Palawan Weather reports from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration on Thursday said that the LPA is already 190 kilometers west of Puerto Princesa City in Palawan. It is not expected to develop into a tropical depression and may dissipate soon. Metro Manila, parts of Central Luzon and Southern Luzon and Bicol Region will have generally fair weather after the LPA brought moderate to heavy rains in these areas. However, P...

Keep on reading: Better weather for most parts of PH as LPA crosses Luzon landmass

Limiting air pollution to levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) could prevent more than 50,000 deaths in Europe annually, according to research published Wednesday that called for urgent action. The WHO estimates that air pollution kills more than seven million people each year and is one of the leading causes of sickness and absenteeism globally. Cities, with their crowded streets and high energy use, are hotspots for illness and disease linked to air pollution. The WHO recommends that fine particulate matter (PM2.5) not exceed 10 milligrams per cubic meter of air, averaged annually. For nitrous oxide (NO2), the threshold not to be exceeded is 40 milligr...

Keep on reading: Reducing air pollution ‘could prevent 50,000 EU deaths’

MANILA, Philippines --- A bill that would essentially make the recently terminated University of the Philippines-Department of National Defense (UP-DND) Accord applicable to all state colleges and universities (SUCs) in the country has been filed in the House of Representatives. Quezon City 6th District Rep. Kit Belmonte filed Thursday House Bill No. 8443 or the Academic Freedom Act of 2021, which seeks to "strengthen and uphold the freedom of teachers and students to teach, study, and pursue knowledge and research without unreasonable interference or restriction in all state universities and colleges." Under the bill, no member of the government's uniformed personnel may enter...

Keep on reading: House bill to apply ‘UP-DND Accord’ to all SUCs filed

Conor McGregor is back, again.

Cristiano Ronaldo's goal in Juventus' Italian Super Cup win over Napoli on Wednesday took his career scoring tally to 760, making him the highest goalscorer of all time -- or is he?

MANILA, Philippines---Kobe Paras won't be joining Gilas Pilipinas in the February window of the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers, team head coach Jong Uichico bared Thursday. Uichico said the 6-foot-6 forward informed the team that he would not join them in Clark, Pampanga for the competition due to "personal reasons." "Kobe begged off, for personal reasons," said Uichico. Paras was able to play for Gilas in the November window in Manama, Bahrain where he averaged 3.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in the Philippines' two wins against Thailand. Though Paras won't be joining the team, some pro players are in the fold including PBA 2019 Scoring Champion CJ Perez and 2020 Most Imp...

Keep on reading: Kobe Paras won’t join Gilas for upcoming Fiba window

LIGAO CITY---Bishop Emeritus Jose C. Sorra D.D, a native of Malinao town in Albay province, has died. He was 92. Bishop Joel Baylon, of the Diocese of Legazpi, announced Sorra's death in a statement. Sorra, it said, died of "respiratory failure secondary to pulmonary embolism." Sorra died at the Tanchuling Hospital in Legazpi City. Sorra served as bishop of Catanduanes province from May 27, 1974 until he became bishop of the Diocese of Legazpi on March 1, 1993. Sorra stayed in the Diocese of Legazpi until his retirement on April 1, 2005. Upon retirement, he stayed at Bethlehem, a retreat center at Sogod village in Bacacay town in Albay. The bishop's remains were bro...

Keep on reading: Retired Albay bishop Jose Sorra; 92

Two shipments of bananas that turned out to have been hiding 24 bricks of cocaine ended up at grocery stores in the city of Kelowna in British Columbia, Canada. The arrival of the illicit drug shipment is believed to have been caused by a mix-up, the Kelowna Regional Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) disclosed in a Jan. 19 release. One banana shipment arrived at the grocery store on Feb. 24, 2019. Employees found 12 bricks of what they believed to be drugs, which weighed around 1 kilogram each. Later that day, another store from West Kelowna also alerted police after finding another set of 12 bricks inside a banana shipment they also believed to be illegal drugs. The c...

Keep on reading: Cocaine hidden in banana shipments end up at grocery stores after mix-up

Built in the 16th and 17th centuries, Europe's geometrically perfect "star cities" were engineered by some of the most brilliant minds of their time, but their wonders can only be truly appreciated from the air

MANILA, Philippines --- Vice President Leni Robredo has inspected various community learning hubs in Lucena City, Quezon, her office said Thursday. According to the Office of the Vice President (OVP), Robredo visited four hubs in Lucena, specifically those that cater to children living in Barangay Talao-Talao, Barangay Dalahican, Barangay Cotta, and Barangay XI. Photos from OVP showed Robredo checking on the systems in place at the four education hubs, which have been operational since late last year. The community learning hubs is a project by OVP and its private sector partners, wherein students enrolled either through online classes or blended learning using modules a...

Keep on reading: Robredo visits Quezon learning hubs; OVP assures students’ safety