Other News

WHO approves two new Covid-19 treatments

PARIS, France (AFP) — The World Health Organization approved two new Covid-19 treatments on Friday, growing the arsenal of tools along with vaccines to stave off severe illness and death from the virus. The news comes as Omicron cases fill hospitals around the world with the WHO predicting half of Europe will be infected by March. In their recommendation in British medical Journal the BMJ, WHO experts said arthritis drug baricitinib used with corticosteroids to […]

Last nine years all among 10 hottest-ever: NOAA

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – The nine years spanning 2013-2021 all rank among the 10 hottest on record, according to an annual report by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published Thursday, the latest data underscoring the global climate crisis. For 2021, the average temperature across global surfaces was 1.51 degrees Fahrenheit (0.84 degrees Celsius) above the 20th-century average, making the year the sixth-hottest in the overall record, which goes back to […]

Over 3K health care workers in government health facilities under isolation due to COVID — DOH

But Health USec Vega says health care facilities in Metro Manila still “manageable”   (Eagle News) – Over 3,000 of the 26,000 government health care workers in the country were under isolation as of Wednesday, January 12, affecting manpower of health facilities especially in Metro Manila. Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said that 3,114 health care workers in isolation were mostly in Metro Manila, representing 11 percent of the total health care workers in government instutions […]

China sentences two to death for smuggling drugs to Taiwan

BEIJING, China (AFP) — A Chinese court has sentenced two people to death for attempting to smuggle 400 kilograms of methamphetamine by sea from Southeast Asia to Taiwan, state media reported. Ten other people with the same smuggling ring were handed between 10 years and life in prison over the “extraordinarily large” operation, China News Service said. Chinese and foreign trafficking gangs operating out of China’s southeastern coastal province of Fujian arranged for fishermen to […]

11 killed in truck crash in Misamis Oriental

  MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — At least 11 people were killed after a small truck packed with partygoers, including children, overturned in the southern Philippines, police said Thursday. The vehicle was travelling to a beachside resort in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental on Mindanao island for a postponed holiday party on Wednesday when the driver lost control after the brakes apparently failed on a downhill section of road. Around 50 people were crammed into the truck, most […]

PHL logs record 34,021 new COVID-19 cases

(Eagle News)–COVID-19 cases in the Philippines rose to 3,092,409 on Thursday, Jan. 13, after the Department of Health reported 34,021 additional cases. According to the DOH, all laboratories were operational on Jan. 11 while seven did not submit data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System (CDRS). The DOH said of the total cases, 237,387 were active. Of these, 7332 were asymptomatic, 225408 were mild, 2881 were moderate, 1468 were severe, and 298 were critical. Recoveries rose […]

‘Small fire’ in Dubai after loud blast rattles buildings

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Dubai emergency services put out a “small fire” after residents reported a loud explosion that shook buildings near Jebel Ali port, Emirati officials said Thursday. Nobody was hurt in Wednesday night’s incident, which came six months after an explosion on a container ship unleashed a fireball at one of the world’s busiest ports. Dubai civil defence teams “brought under control a small fire that originated from electric cable in […]

Two hospitals in China’s Xi’an closed over lockdown failures

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Two hospitals in China’s locked-down city of Xi’an, including one that refused to treat an eight-month pregnant woman who later miscarried, have been closed while they “rectify” mistakes, authorities said Thursday. The historic city, one of several in China experiencing coronavirus outbreaks, has been subject to strict home confinement for three weeks in line with Beijing’s “zero-Covid” strategy. Top health officials were forced to apologise last week after a distressing social […]

Chinese man jailed for setting ‘slow’ internet cables on fire

BEIJING, China (AFP) — A man in China has been sentenced to seven years in jail for setting internet equipment ablaze after becoming enraged over a slow connection, authorities have said. The man, surnamed Lan, was at an internet cafe in southern Guangxi province last June when his frustration with the connection speed spilled over. He responded by destroying a public box containing optical fibre network cables, a local court said in a statement on […]

Palace, DOH urge those with mild Covid symptoms to do self-quarantine or to go to temporary isolation centers

Identify criteria for those who can undergo home isolation   (Eagle News) – Malacanang and health authorities encouraged the public experiencing mild symptoms and those who have no symptoms at all to just self-quarantine or isolate at their homes if they do not have senior citizens or those with comorbidities in their households. ”Ito po ang mensahe namin: Tumulong tayong protektahan ang ating healthcare system. Sa mga walang sintomas o may mild or moderate na […]

Poet Maya Angelou becomes first Black woman to appear on US coin

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – Poet and activist Maya Angelou has become the first Black woman to appear on the US quarter, in a new version of the coin unveiled by the US Mint on Monday. Angelou, author of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” will also be the first figure commemorated through the American Women Quarters Program, which was signed into law in January 2021. The US Mint “has begun shipping the […]

DOTr orders immediate enforcement of “no vaccination, no ride/no entry” in public transportation in NCR

  (Eagle News) – The Department of Transportation ordered the immediate enforcement of the “no vaccination, no ride/no entry” policy in all public transportation and related facilities in Metro Manila. Transportation Secretary Arturo Tugade said this was in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to restrict the movement of the unvaccinated in view of the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila. Tugade’s order was issued on January 11, 2022, a day after President […]