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  MADRID -- The number of new COVID-19 cases in Spain continued to increase on Monday, with the 14-day incidence rate reaching 700 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, but officials said the situation was improving in some of the hardest-hit areas. The total number of cases in Spain reached 4.3 million amid the spread of the more contagious Delta variant, while deaths totaled 81,268, 47 more than in the last Health Ministry report released on Friday. "It looks like we are starting to observe a deceleration in the incidence's rhythm of growth," deputy health minister Silvia Calzon told a news briefing, adding that more than 65% of new cases were among people below the age...

Keep on reading: Spain’s COVID-19 incidence rate rises, but officials see signs of hope

• Live updates: The latest on the Tokyo Olympics

The US could see about four times the current rate of Covid-19 cases in the next four to six weeks as the Delta variant spreads and the population hits a wall on vaccinations, the former CDC director told CNN.

  MANILA, Philippines --- President Rodrigo Duterte's final State of the Nation Address (Sona) may have been almost three hours long, but there were still key issues that he failed to emphasize, Vice President Leni Robredo said Tuesday. "Tapos na ang SONA ng Pangulo. Nakarinig tayo ng talaan ng mga numero at mga proyekto. Sa kabila nito, may inasahan sana tayong madiinan na hindi nadiinan," Robredo said in her report aired through her Facebook account on Tuesday. (The President's SONA is over. We heard lists of numbers and projects. And yet there were things we had hoped would be given emphasis but were not.) "Bukod sa paglatag ng mga polisiya, alam din nating may is...

Keep on reading: Robredo: Duterte’s Sona showed key points gov’t failed in pandemic response

  MANILA, Philippines --- The University of the Philippines-Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC) needs P100 million to capacitate its satellite facilities in Visayas and Mindanao in conducting genome sequencing and detect COVID-19 variants of concern. Dr. Cynthia Saloma, PGC executive director, said Tuesday that the two satellite offices should have an annual budget of P50 million each to sequence a capacity of 50 COVID-19 samples per week. "Gumawa kami ng calculation, P50 million [is needed for] each lab that will make them able to sequence 50 samples, 100 samples a week, so 50-50," she told an online media briefing. (We made a calculation. We need P50 million for ...

Keep on reading: UP-PGC needs P100M for genome sequencing in Visayas, Mindanao

Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz made history Monday becoming the first athlete from the Philippines to win gold at the Olympics.

TOKYO--- Japan's great hope for tennis gold Naomi Osaka was on Tuesday beaten in the third round of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic tennis singles tournament in a blow to home spirits. The world number two was swiped aside 6-1 6-4 by Czech Marketa Vondrousova in an early shock on Day Four of the Games. The tennis event has now lost both of its top draw cards after world number one and Wimbledon champion Ash Barty was beaten in Sunday's first round. Osaka, who lit the Olympic cauldron on Friday to open the Games, seemed out of sorts on the Tokyo blue courts and never settled into a rhythm as Vondrousova never looked back. The Japanese player sprayed a costly 18 unforced errors thro...

Keep on reading: Japan’s Naomi Osaka out of Tokyo Olympics third round

SAN ANTONIO, ZAMBALES---At least 474 more persons in this province received Monday their second dose of the vaccine against COVID-19, pushing the total number of fully vaccinated residents to 19,430.   Among them were 131 recipients of the single dose of Janssen vaccine of Johnson & Johnson, said Dr. Noel Bueno, provincial health director.   At least 37,867 residents had received the first dose of the vaccine.   A total of 57,297 doses had been administered in the province. Of this number, 37,867 got other vaccine brands (16,357 AstraZeneca, 21,510 Coronavac).   The province needs to vaccinate 400,000 of its 590,800 residents to achieve...

Keep on reading: Over 19,000 Zambales residents now fully vaccinated vs COVID-19

LAOAG CITY----The African swine fever (ASF) had spread to four more towns in Ilocos Norte, the provincial government said Tuesday, July 27. The viral disease that was first traced in June to some hogs at Barangay Manalpac in Solsona town, has plagued the nearby Carasi, Nueva Era, Marcos, and Dingras towns. The provincial government said agriculture authorities had intensified their monitoring and surveillance in these areas to prevent further transmission of the disease. Hog raisers were also advised to strictly abide by "biosecurity protocols, eliminate meat-based swill feeding, and limit interaction in pig farms." In Solsona town, agriculture officer Ranison Narciso said th...

Keep on reading: ASF spreads to 4 more towns in Ilocos Norte

  MANILA, Philippines --- The proposed economic Charter change remains to be a priority of the executive branch despite it was not mentioned in President Rodrigo Duterte's final State of the Nation Address (Sona), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said Tuesday. "Hindi ko rin alam kung bakit hindi nabanggit ng ating Pangulo [I really don't know why the President did not mention it]...What is clear to us in the IATF-CORE (Inter-Agency Task Force on Constitutional Reform) is that this is a priority of the executive branch," Malaya said in an online briefing. "While we are proposing these three economic bills, these are th...

Keep on reading: Economic Cha-cha still a priority despite no mention in Duterte’s Sona — task force

BAGUIO CITY----A 19-year-old driver of a water delivery truck died after the vehicle lost its brakes and crashed into a parked van in Itogon town, Benguet province Monday, July 26, police said. Investigators identified the fatality as Martin Napeek III, a resident of Barangay Tuding in Itogon. The police said the delivery truck was descending along Proper Tuding when its breaks malfunctioned, causing it to hit a van parked on the roadside and a nearby house before rolling over onto its side. The impact caused Napeek to suffer serious injuries. He died while being taken to the hospital, investigators said....

Keep on reading: Wayward truck crashes into van in Benguet, driver dead

BAGUIO CITY---A motorcycle rider died Monday after an 18-wheeler truck hit him in Sta. Cruz town, Ilocos Sur province, the police said.   Investigators said Jan Kim Pacquia Pacuno, 23, a farmer from Barangay Baluarte in Sta. Cruz figured in a head-on collision with the truck along the national highway in Barangay Saoat.   According to the initial report, the truck was heading south and was trying to overtake a tricycle when the victim's motorcycle emerged in the opposite direction.   The victim's body was severed and was beyond recognition, police said.   Investigators said the motorcycle had no headlights and the victim was allegedly under the...

Keep on reading: Rider dead in motorcycle-truck collision in Ilocos Sur

• Live updates: The latest on the Tokyo Olympics

  MANILA, Philippines --- Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto disclosed on Tuesday a P200 billion unreleased funds from the 2021 national budget alone, further lending credits to allegations of "huge underspending" in government funds. Recto initially backed Senator Panfilo Lacson's claim about the "huge underspending" from the Bayanihan 2 funds. "While it may be true that P6 billion has not been released by the DBM (Department of Budget and Management), most of those released have not been obligated, have not been disbursed, so hindi pa napapakinabangan, so to speak," he said when interviewed over ABS-CBN News Channel. "That's just Bayanihan," he pointed out. "...

Keep on reading: Recto bares P200B unreleased funds from 2021 budget

MANILA, Philippines --- Vice President Leni Robredo has called on the national government to stop pushing for divisiveness amid the health crisis, stressing that the COVID-19 outbreaks do not distinguish between politics and party membership. Robredo said in her report on Tuesday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte's final State of the Nation Address (Sona), that every Filipino getting sick means a lot for the whole economy as there would be less able bodies to work for their families. "Kailangan nang itigil ito. Nasa gitna tayo ng isang krisis. Tayo rin ang nagkakahawahan; tayo rin ang nagdurusa; tayo ang naaantala sa landas ng pag-unlad. Ang totoo: Hindi itinatanong ng pan...

Keep on reading: Robredo says gov’t must end divisiveness: COVID is beyond politics

Don Lemon and political commentators Ana Navarro and Scott Jennings discuss video of Fox News host Tucker Carlson being confronted by a man who later posted the footage to his Instagram account.

    LONDON -- PayPal Holdings Inc is partnering with non-profit organization the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to investigate how extremist and hate movements in the United States take advantage of financial platforms to fund their criminal activities. The initiative will be led through ADL's Center on Extremism, and will focus on uncovering and disrupting the financial flows supporting white supremacist and anti-government organizations. It will also look at networks spreading and profiting from antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, anti-immigrant, anti-Black, anti-Hispanic and anti-Asian bigotry. The information collected through the initiatives will be shared...

Keep on reading: PayPal to research transactions that fund hate groups, extremists

Films by Jane Campion, Pedro Almodovar and Paolo Sorrentino will compete among other international entries for the Venice Film Festival's top Golden Lion prize next month, organizers said. Twenty one films will compete during the 78th edition of the high-profile competition to be held Sept. 1 to 11, with Almodovar's "Madres Paralelas" (Parallel Mothers) starring Penelope Cruz opening the festival. In the running is Campion, whose latest movie about a fraternal feud on a Montana ranch, "The Power of the Dog" starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst, comes after a hiatus from film since 2009. The directorial debut of United States actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, "The Lost Da...

Keep on reading: Jane Campion, Pedro Almodovar to compete for top prize at Venice film festival

        WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden said Monday the White House is pushing for people with long-term symptoms of COVID-19 to be protected against discrimination, as he marked the anniversary of a landmark law for people with disabilities. U.S. agencies will coordinate to ensure people suffering from severe long-term health problems are protected after the end of their infections with the novel coronavirus, he said. "Many Americans who seemingly recovered from the virus still face lingering challenges like breathing problems, brain fog, chronic pain or fatigue," Biden said. "These conditions can sometimes rise to the level of a disability." ...

Keep on reading: Biden pushes for long COVID sufferers to be protected by law