Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook on Friday said users around the world again had problems accessing its services for hours due to a tweak of its system, just days after a massive outage caused in a similar fashion. “Sincere apologies to anyone who wasn’t able to access our products in the last couple of hours,” a Facebook spokesperson told AFP about 21:30 GMT. “We fixed the issue, and everything should be back […]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — The Sri Lankan government on Friday ended price controls on essential foods in a bid to end black market trading as food shortages worsen amid a foreign currency crisis. The cabinet decided to free prices for milk powder, wheat flour, sugar and liquified petroleum gas hoping it would increase supplies. “Prices could go up by as much as 37 percent across the board, but it is hoped dealers will not […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — A Thai restaurant has taken dining with a water view to the next level — its customers perch precariously on wooden stools as murky brown floodwater laps at their tables. Tropical storm Dianmu and heavy monsoon rains have caused flooding in 33 Thai provinces, inundating more than 300,000 households and claiming nine lives. Riverside areas of Bangkok are bracing for flooding in the coming days and more storms are expected to […]
by Robbie COREY-BOULET ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AFP) — Medical supply shortages are having fatal consequences in Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region, with patients succumbing to post-partum haemorrhage or dying for lack of dialysis equipment, the UN’s emergency-response agency said on Thursday. The latest situation report from the agency comes one week after Ethiopia expelled seven senior UN officials over accusations of “meddling”, exacerbating concerns about the humanitarian response in a region where hundreds of thousands reportedly […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — US pharmaceutical giant Moderna announced Thursday it would build a plant in Africa, as pressure mounts on drugmakers to help ramp up Covid-19 vaccine production in areas that have received fewer doses. The biotech firm said it “will build a state-of-the-art mRNA facility in Africa with the goal of producing up to 500 million doses of vaccines each year.” Moderna said earlier this year it would increase global production […]
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Unusually powerful sandstorms have left at least six people dead in Sao Paulo in recent weeks, local media said, as southeastern Brazil grapples with severe drought. Scenes of huge orange dust clouds rumbling across the countryside — with winds of up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) an hour — have been seen at least three times since the end of September, terrifying residents in urban and rural areas of Sao […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Two priests were acquitted on Wednesday of charges linked with sex abuse at a school for altar boys in the Vatican City, in the first criminal trial of its kind. Gabriele Martinelli, a former pupil at the St Pius X pre-seminary and now a priest, was accused of assaulting a fellow altar boy — years before he joined the clergy. Martinelli, now 29, was tried alongside priest Enrico Radice, the […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Bars, restaurants, gyms and cinemas in Los Angeles will all require proof of vaccination against Covid-19 from next month, after an ordinance passed Wednesday by the council in the second biggest city in the United States. The move, which also applies to shopping malls and beauty salons, brings the city into line with New York and San Francisco. It comes as the United States struggles to slow a […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A 6.1-magnitude earthquake jolted the Japanese capital Tokyo and surrounding areas Thursday evening, reportedly injuring more than 20 people, but the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was no tsunami risk. The quake sent buildings swaying, stranded commuters, knocked products off store shelves and triggered emergency warnings blaring from the phones of local residents, intended to give them time to take shelter. Initial information from the JMA put the epicentre of […]
by Andrew BEATTY SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s largest city will emerge from a 106-day lockdown on Monday, as Sydney authorities confirmed coronavirus vaccination targets had been met. Stay-at-home orders will be lifted for the Harbour City’s five-million-plus people now that 70 percent of state residents over 16 have been double jabbed. “The light at the end of the tunnel is now very, very close,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Thursday, hailing the reopening announcement. […]
Spain (AFP) — Clouds of thick ash from the erupting volcano on La Palma on Thursday forced the island’s airport to close for the second time since the September 19 eruption, Spain’s airport authority said. “The airport is not in operation at the moment,” an AENA spokeswoman told AFP, saying “some cleaning work needs to be done” on the runways before it would reopen. But the closure “may not last very long” she added. On […]
by David COURBET Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — A 100-year-old former concentration camp guard will on Thursday become the oldest person yet to be tried for Nazi-era crimes in Germany when he goes before court charged with complicity in mass murder. The suspect, identified only as Josef S., stands accused of “knowingly and willingly” assisting in the murder of 3,518 prisoners at the Sachsenhausen camp in Oranienburg, north of Berlin, between 1942 […]
