Other News

Thai PM to visit Saudi Arabia for first time since gem theft soured ties

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-cha will this week make the first visit by a Thai leader to Saudi Arabia in more than 30 years following decades of diplomatic tension sparked by a jewel theft from a Saudi palace. Thai-born janitor Kriangkrai Techamong stole $20 million worth of precious gems in 1989 from the home of a Saudi prince, triggering a feud between the countries dubbed the “Blue Diamond Affair” that has yet […]

Peru races to save birds threatened by oil spill

by Carlos MANDUJANO Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) – A Lima zoo is racing to save dozens of seabirds, including protected penguins, left covered in oil after 6,000 barrels of crude spilled off Peru’s coast due to waves from a volcanic eruption in the South Pacific. More than 40 birds, including Humboldt penguins — listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature — were brought to the Parque de Las Leyendas zoo […]

Lab monkeys found, killed after fleeing US road crash

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – Three monkeys have been found and killed after a truck carrying 100 primates to a laboratory crashed, allowing them to escape and triggering a police hunt. The vehicle turned in front of an oncoming dump truck near Danville, Pennsylvania, on Friday en route to a lab in Florida. Police said on Twitter Friday that “a small number of monkeys may have fled the crash scene into the surrounding area.” […]

‘Spider-Man’ swings into sixth place on all-time box office list

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — “Spider-Man: No Way Home” powered its way into sixth place on the all-time global box office list, as it returned to the top spot in North American theaters at the weekend, industry data showed Sunday. In its sixth week out, the Sony superhero yarn with Tom Holland in the title role took in an estimated $14.1 million in the United States and Canada after slipping briefly from the top […]

EU nations quarrel over whether nuclear, gas are ‘green’

by Julien GIRAULT Agence France-Presse AMIENS, France (AFP) – Hours before the window for lodging objections closes, EU environment and energy ministers meeting in France Friday differed sharply on a European Commission provision that would classify nuclear and natural gas energy as “sustainable”. The controversy pits countries led by France — where nuclear generates a world-leading 70 percent of electricity — against Germany, Austria and others in the 27-nation bloc. Debate over the Commission’s so-called […]

NBA suspends Bucks Allen for hard foul on Alex Caruso

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Milwaukee Bucks guard Grayson Allen has been suspended for one game for breaking the wrist of Alex Caruso of the Chicago Bulls in Friday night’s NBA game in Milwaukee. The league’s disciplinary officials decided to suspend Allen after he was slapped with a flagrant two foul call by officials during the third quarter of the Bucks 94-90 win. Allen was ejected after the penalty call. Caruso went up for […]

Peru declares environmental emergency on coastal area hit by oil spill

by Ernesto TOVAR Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) – Peru declared an environmental emergency Saturday to battle an oil spill caused by freak waves from a volcanic eruption in the South Pacific. The stunningly powerful eruption last Saturday of an undersea volcano near Tonga unleashed tsunami waves around the Pacific and as far away as the United States. In Peru, the oil spill near Lima has fouled beaches, killed birds and harmed the fishing and […]

Thousands march in Washington against Covid vaccine mandates

by Inès BEL AIBA WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Waving signs denouncing President Joe Biden and calling for “freedom,” several thousand people demonstrated in Washington Sunday against what some described as the “tyranny” of Covid-19 vaccine mandates in the United States. Speaker after speaker — including notorious anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who compared vaccine mandates to the Holocaust — took to the microphone in front of the white marble Lincoln Memorial to decry the […]

Cloudy skies, rains expected in parts of PHL

(Eagle News) — Cloudy skies and rains are expected in parts of the country on Monday, Jan. 24. According to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Caraga, Northern Mindanao, and Davao Region, in particular, will have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms due to the trough of the low pressure area found 445 km east of Surigao City, Surigao del Norte . PAGASA said flash floods or […]

PHL reports 29,828 more COVID-19 cases

(Eagle News) — COVID-19 cases in the Philippines rose to 3417216 on Sunday, Jan. 23, after the Department of Health reported 29828 additional cases. According to the DOH, all laboratories were operational on Jan. 21 while two did not provide data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System. The DOH said of the total cases, 273,580 were active. Of these, 8371 were asymptomatic, 260399 were mild, 3006 were moderate, 1496 were severe, and 308 were critical. […]

Beijing tests 2 million for coronavirus as Winter Olympics loom

Beijing city officials on Sunday said all two million residents of a neighbourhood where a small cluster of coronavirus cases was detected will be tested, less than two weeks before the start of the Winter Olympics. China’s cases constitute a tiny fraction of the massive surge in countries around the globe, with the highly contagious Omicron variant driving a fresh spike in infections. Still, multiple small outbreaks around China — including in Beijing — have […]

Filipino Magsayo captures WBC featherweight title

Filipino Mark Magsayo dethroned WBC featherweight champ Gary Russell on Saturday with a majority decision to end the longest championship reign in professional boxing. The 26-year-old undefeated Magsayo won on points on two of the three judges’ scorecards as he handed Russell his first defeat since 2015. Two judges had 115-113 for Magsayo while the other scored it even, 114-114. “This is my dream since I was a kid,” said Magsayo. “I am so proud […]