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    Biotech firm Promosome LLC sued Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech in federal court in San Diego, California, on Tuesday, accusing their COVID-19 vaccines of infringing a patent related to messenger RNA technology. The lawsuits add to a web of patent disputes between biotech companies over technology used in the coronavirus shots, including a case brought last year in Massachusetts by Moderna against Pfizer and its partner BioNTech. Promosome accused the companies of copying technology that allows for doses of mRNA that are small enough to use safely and effectively in the vaccines. Promosome asked the court for a share of royalties from the shots. Pfizer earne...

Keep on reading: Moderna, Pfizer hit with new patent lawsuits over COVID-19 vaccines

US chipmaker Intel announced its latest Arc Alchemist graphics cards: the Intel Arc Pro A60 and A60M. They are the company's fastest workstation solutions, providing more memory and GPU cores than the A40 and A50. As a result, these new GPUs are ideal entry-level to lower-midrange graphics solutions. You may want to check these if you are building a new PC. If you need a budget gaming computer, the Intel Arc Pro cards are enough for playing the latest games. Also, they are a better choice for architects, video makers, and other creative users. These GPUs will let you run 3D design apps like Autodesk without lagging. This article will discuss the specifications of the upcoming Intel...

Keep on reading: Intel Arc Pro A60 and Pro A60M Next-Gen GPUs Unveiled

Stefanos Tsitsipas pledged Tuesday to cut out "naps and melatonin" after admitting virtually sleepwalking into a French Open defeat by Carlos Alcaraz. The world number five from Greece slumped to a 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7/5) loss against top seed Alcaraz in a disappointing quarter-final. "One thing that I'm going to try to avoid in the future is have melatonin pills and naps before matches because it clearly doesn't seem to be working," said Tsitsipas of his pre-match routine. Melatonin in tablet form is often taken to treat sleep disorders. Tsitsipas, the runner-up to Novak Djokovic in Paris in 2021, only woke up to the task at hand in the eighth game of the third set on Tuesda...

Keep on reading: Tsitsipas to cut out ‘naps and melatonin’ after French Open exit

  CITY OF BALIWAG, BULACAN --- Three Korean nationals and two others died early Wednesday after their vehicle figured in a head-on collision with a truck while the victims were heading for Ninoy Aquino International Airport in this city, authorities said. In a report, Bulacan police director Colonel Relly Arnedo identified the Korean fatalities as Miseon Kim, 22; his father, Jinoh Kim, 62; and their companion, Park Misoone, 57. Their Filipino friends, who also died in the collision, were identified as Araceli De Guzman, 63, and Melchor Bulandos, 55, both from Talavera, Nueva Ecija. Investigators said the foreigners were catching their flight back to Korea when their ...

Keep on reading: 3 Koreans, 2 Filipino companions dead in Bulacan road crash 

SHANGHAI/BEIJING - In a rare attempt to bolsterChina's yuan, a self-regulatory body overseen by the country's central bank has told major state-ownedbanksto lower dollar deposit interest rates, four people with direct knowledge of the matter said. This could encourage Chinese firms, especially exporters, to settle foreign exchange receipts in yuan, which has weakened to six-month lows against the dollar. The buoyant U.S. currency and the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes have prompted many Chinese companies to hoard dollar receipts. Interest rates offered by the Chinesebankson dollar deposits of $50,000 and above would now be capped at 4.3 percent, the people, who declined ...

Keep on reading: China’s state banks told to lower cap on dollar deposit rates -sources

MANILA, Philippines --- President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has promised the Federation Of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry Inc. (FFCCCII) that his administration is working toward better tax administration to help businesses in the country flourish. Speaking during the oath taking of new FFCCCII officials at Malacaang on Wednesday, Marcos said they have listened, and will continue to hear the concerns of the business sector regarding ways to make doing business easier. "Cognizant of the concerns of the sector, we will continue to listen and exert efforts to improve the business climate and foster ease and efficiency of doing business. We have taken note of the issue...

Keep on reading: Bongbong Marcos promises improved tax administration

HONG KONG - Most Asia-Pacific stocks markets strengthened on Wednesday, as expectations for stimulus from China and overnight gains on Wall Street boosted the mood. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.7 percent in the morning. China's benchmark equity index rose 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.2 percent. On Tuesday, China reportedly asked the biggest banks to cut deposit rates to boost the economy. Speculation of policy support for the troubled property sector has been lifting those shares over the past week. Japan was an outlier, with the Nikkei sliding 1.1 percent after touching a 33-year high on Tuesday. "Overall, acr...

Keep on reading: Asia stocks gain on hopes for China stimulus, Fed pause

SYDNEY - Australia's economy grew at the weakest pace in one and a half years last quarter as high prices and rising interest rates sapped consumer spending, while emerging signs pointed to further softness ahead amid elevated borrowing costs and a slowdown in global growth. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.2 percent in the first quarter, easing from 0.5 percent in the previous quarter and under forecasts of 0.3 percent. Annual growth came in at 2.3 percent, also missing forecasts for 2.4 percent expansion. The report contained initial signs that domestic price pressures are easing and evidence that househ...

Keep on reading: Australia Q1 GDP growth hits weakest pace in 1-1/2 years as consumers struggle

BEIJING - China's exports fell a much faster than expected 7.5 percent in May year-on-year, while imports contracted at a slower pace, dropping 4.5 percent, customs data showed on Wednesday. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast exports to have shrunk 0.4 percent and imports to have fallen 8 percent. Having beaten expectations in the first quarter, analysts are now downgrading their expectations for the economy for the rest of the year, as factory output continues to slow amid persistent weak global demand. Weak Chinese demand is hurting other major economies in the region. South Korean data last week showed shipments to China slid 20.8 percent in May, marking a full year of...

Keep on reading: China’s exports tumble in May, imports slow

MANILA -Social protection for poor Filipinos more efficiently against economic shocks continues to be a vital task for the government as the Philippines remains in the grip of high inflation and other risks occurring here as well as abroad, according to the World Bank. The multilateral lender said this even as it revised upward its forecast growth for Philippine gross domestic product in 2023 to 6 percent from the 5.4-percent forecast in December. The World Bank said the higher forecast was driven by domestic consumption and investment. "It is essential to sustain improvements in social protection to help families, especially the poor and vulnerable, cope with economic difficulties...

Keep on reading: World Bank: More efficient social protection for poor Filipinos needed

Bea Alonzo has put a stop to rumors surrounding her alleged engagement to boyfriend, actor Dominic Roque, stressing that he hasn't put a ring on her finger yet. The celebrity couple sparked engagement speculations on social media after Roque shared an Instagram a photo of himself with Alonzo during their romantic getaway in Amanpulo.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Dominic Roque (@dominicroque) During a brief interview with GMA-7's Unang Hirit on Wednesday, June 7, the actress clarified that the seemingly romantic photos are meant to be some sort of throwback to their trip...

Keep on reading: Bea Alonzo clarifies she’s not yet engaged to Dominic Roque

  A man armed with four handguns killed two people and wounded five others when he fired into a crowd outside a high school graduation ceremony in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday, police said. Police said they arrested one suspect, a 19-year-old man who knew one of the victims and shot at him amid the crowd that had just emerged from the Huguenot High School's commencement ceremony inside a theater on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. The suspect was likely to be charged with two counts of second-degree murder in addition to other offenses, interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards told a press conference. Edwards called the shooter's behavior "disgusti...

Keep on reading: Gunman shoots two dead, wounds five others at Virginia high school graduation

    LONDON -- Prince Harry launched a fierce attack on the "vile" press on Tuesday, blaming tabloids for destroying his adolescence and later relationships, as he gave evidence for almost five hours in his lawsuit against a tabloid publisher. As he became the first senior British royal to appear in a witness box in more than a century, Harry also said the thought of people unlawfully intruding into the private life of his late mother Princess Diana made him "feel physically sick". The prince, the fifth-in-line to the throne, and 100 others are suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, at the High Cou...

Keep on reading: Prince Harry tells London court ‘vile’ press has blood on its hands

  Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Tuesday launched his 2024 presidential campaign with a withering attack on the Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, calling him a "self-serving mirror hog" and faulting other rivals for avoiding direct confrontation. Christie, 60, was an adviser to Trump's successful 2016 White House campaign but has since become a vocal critic over the former president's false claims that the 2020 election was rigged. A former federal prosecutor, Christie presented himself as the lone Republican contender willing to go toe-to-toe with the bellicose Trump. "A lonely, self-consumed, self-serving mirror hog is not a leader," he said. ...

Keep on reading: Christie takes aim at ‘self-serving’ Trump as he launches White House bid

  OTTAWA -- Authorities in New York, Toronto and Ottawa on Tuesday warned residents about the health risks from air polluted by smoke from unprecedented early summer wildfires in eastern Canada. An unusually early and intense start to wildfire season has set Canada on track for its worst-ever year as warm and dry conditions are forecast to persist for months. There are blazes in nearly all of Canada's 10 provinces and territories, with Quebec the worst impacted due to multiple fires caused by lightning. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued a health advisory for counties including New York, Bronx, and Queens. The state recommended resi...

Keep on reading: Smoke from Canadian wildfires sets off health alerts in New York, Ottawa

  WASHINGTON -- The White House on Tuesday said it could not say conclusively what destroyed a massive dam in Ukraine, but was assessing reports that the blast was caused by Russia, which has been occupying the dam since last year. Spokesman John Kirby said it was clear that the destruction of the dam on the Dnipro River that separates Russian and Ukrainian forces in southern Ukraine had likely caused "many deaths" and the evacuation of thousands of Ukrainians. Kirby told reporters the damage could have a devastating impact on Ukraine's energy security. "We've seen the reports that Russia was responsible for the explosion at the dam," he said. "We're doing the best w...

Keep on reading: White House: US cannot conclusively determine cause of Ukrainian dam destruction

  KHERSON, Ukraine -- A torrent of water burst through a massive dam on the Dnipro River that separates Russian and Ukrainian forces in southern Ukraine on Tuesday, flooding a swathe of the war zone, forcing villagers to flee and prompting finger-pointing from both sides. Ukraine said Russia had committed a deliberate war crime in blowing up the Soviet-era Nova Kakhovka dam, which powered a hydroelectric station. The Kremlin blamed Ukraine, saying it was trying to distract from the launch of a major counteroffensive Moscow says is faltering. Some Russian-installed officials said the dam had collapsed on its own, while Washington said it was uncertain who was responsible...

Keep on reading: War zone villagers flee after massive Ukraine dam destroyed

    MANILA, Philippines --- President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has told overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) that his administration will forge a more secure ties with countries that are hosting them. This is to raise the OFWs' level of protection and safety in these nations as they seek a better future for their families. Marcos made this statement on Wednesday in a video message to honor Filipinos abroad on Migrant Workers' Day. The Chief Executive described them as modern-day heroes. "We understand the challenges that you face being far from your loved ones, adjusting to new cultures, and overcoming barriers. And that's why this administration will c...

Keep on reading: Marcos tells OFWs PH will foster stronger ties with their host countries

  MANILA, Philippines --- Canada has added the Philippines to its electronic travel authorization (eTA) program, effectively allowing Filipinos who held a Canadian visa in the last 10 years, or those who currently hold a US non-immigrant visa, to travel to the country visa free. Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser made the announcement on Wednesday. He added this expansion is effective immediately. "This exciting development means that more individuals from around the world can now embark on unforgettable adventures, explore our diverse landscapes, reunite with family and friends, and immerse themselves in our vibrant culture withou...

Keep on reading: Eligible Filipinos may now travel to Canada visa-free

Chinese players Liang Wenbo and Li Hang have been handed lifetime bans for match-fixing by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), the governing body said on Tuesday. The pair have been found to have fixed snooker matches, persuaded or encouraged other players to fix matches and bet on matches, among other rule breaches. They have until June 20 to appeal against the decisions. Eight other Chinese players have been suspended, including former UK Championship winner Zhao Xintong who was banned for one year and eight months, and Yan Bingtao, the 2021 Masters champion, who was banned for five years. "It has been heartbreaking to see some young talented ...

Keep on reading: Two Chinese players handed life bans for match-fixing in snooker