Other News

Japan raises alert level after volcano erupts

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A volcano in southwestern Japan has erupted, flinging large rocks hundreds of metres from the crater and prompting the meteorological agency to raise its alert level, Kyodo news agency reported early Wednesday. There were no immediate reports of injuries after the eruption of Mount Otake in Kagoshima prefecture, according to Kyodo. The report said the Japan Meteorological Agency had raised its alert level to a three on a scale of five, […]

LPA enters PAR; scattered rains expected over Mindanao and parts of Visayas

(Eagle News) — The low pressure area being monitored by the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration has entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility. According to PAGASA, the LPA, which was initially  spotted off Mindanao, was spotted 180 kilometers southwest of General Santos City. PAGASA said Mindanao, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, and Negros Occidental will have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms. Flash floods or landslides due to moderate to at times […]

MIAA releases list of operational commercial flights for Wednesday, March 31

(Eagle News) — The Manila International Airport Authority has released its list of operational commercial flights for Wednesday, March 31: Recently, the Palace announced an “NCR Plus” bubble, where further restrictions will be imposed for two weeks starting the day of the announcement. On March 28, the Palace said NCR Plus, which covers Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan, and Rizal, would revert to an enhanced community quarantine, the strictest form of community quarantine, starting Monday, March […]

More than 80% of intubated Covid patients die in Brazil

  RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — More than 80 percent of Covid-19 patients who have to be intubated in Brazil have died since the start of the second wave of infections ravaging the country, according to researchers. The mortality rate since February 15 — 83.5 percent — is far higher than in countries such as Mexico, Britain, Germany or Italy, highlighting how the South American country’s hospitals are struggling to deal with a surge […]

Comet ‘most pristine’ object from outer space seen in Solar System

    by Marlowe HOOD / Patrick GALEY Agence France Presse A newly observed interstellar comet is the most pristine visitor from outer space ever seen in our Solar System, according to a pair of studies released Tuesday detailing its unique characteristics. Pristine, in astronomical terms, describes a comet that has never passed close enough to a star to be transformed by its searing heat. 2I/Borisov was discovered in 2019 by Ukrainian astrophysicist Gennady Borisov […]

Video shows Asian-American woman attacked on New York street

https://youtu.be/5dLlo175c3E   NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New York police were searching Tuesday for a man who violently attacked an Asian-American woman as bystanders seemingly looked on without intervening, the latest incident of anti-Asian violence in the United States. The attack, which took place on a sidewalk in broad daylight in Midtown Manhattan on Monday, was caught on CCTV footage from inside an adjacent building. In the video, posted online by police, the man […]

OPINION: Inequity and inequality in the time of Covid-19

By Dr. Ma. Angela Leonor Aguinaldo Contributor/ columnist   A few days ago the BBC made a startling revelation about the earnest efforts of developed nations such as the UK, US, and the European Union to block vaccine plans for developing countries.  As reported, although these richer nations are posturing themselves to be at the forefront of pushing for global solutions to the worldwide pandemic, in truth there is a conscious and massive effort to […]

Global leaders push for pandemic preparedness treaty

  by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — World leaders pushed Tuesday for a new international treaty to prepare for the next global pandemic — and avoid the unseemly scramble for vaccines hampering the Covid-19 response. Leaders from 25 countries, the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO) sought to get the ground rules down in writing to streamline and speed up the reaction to future global outbreaks. The treaty would […]

PHL Medical Association president says more doctors, health workers getting COVID-19 amid spike in cases

1-week ECQ not enough as NCR hospitals now filled up with COVID-19 patients   (Eagle News) – The president of the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) expressed his concerns about the rising COVID-19 cases that are overwhelming hospitals in Metro Manila, saying that more and more doctors and other medical frontliners are becoming infected and even dying from coronavirus. Dr. Benito Atienza, in an interview over NET25’s Balitalakayan, said that even families of doctors hospitals in […]

PHL reports 9,296 additional COVID-19 cases; total now at 741,181

(Eagle News) — Philippine COVID-19 cases in the Philippines reached 741,181 after the Department of Health reported 9,296 additional cases. According to DOH data, of the total cases, 124680 were active. Of these,  96 percent were mild, 2.3 percent asymptomatic, 0.6 percent were critical, 0.7 percent were severe, and 0.39 percent were moderate. Recoveries rose to 603310, including the 103 additional ones. Five additional deaths pushed the COVID-19 death toll to 13191. The Greater Manila […]

Dollar breaks 110 yen for first time since March 2020

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — The dollar broke through the 110 yen barrier Tuesday for the first time in a year as optimism about the global economic outlook and rising US bond yields see investors turn away from the safe haven Japanese unit. The greenback hit 110.18 yen in afternoon trade as investors grow increasingly confident that world growth will pick up pace this year thanks to huge stimulus spending, particularly by the United States. […]

Blast damages Covid-defiant Dutch church

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Dutch police said a small explosion Tuesday damaged a church near Rotterdam which had reopened in defiance of government Covid advice and where a journalist was attacked when reporting the story. Residents of Krimpen aan den Ijssel said they were woken up by a loud bang around 4:30 am at the Mieraskerk church, scene of a scuffle between a churchgoer and a reporter on Sunday. “Nobody was injured in the […]