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AS IT HAPPENS

8 hours ago

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that 5,322 laboratory-confirmed cases of monkeypox had been reported to it in the current outbreak, 85 percent of which are in Europe. Though case numbers are rapidly increasing, the United Nations health agency has not set a date for its emergency committee on monkeypox to convene for a second meeting. "From January 1 to June 30 this year, we have 5,322 laboratory-confirmed cases and one death," WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told reporters in Geneva. The number has increased by 56 percent in eight days. The previous figure given by the WHO, for the period up to June 22, was 3,413 cases. A surge in monkeypox cases has been reported since early May outside the West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic. Chaib said infections had now been reported in 53 countries.  —  AFP

10 hours ago

Some P400,000 worth of shabu concealed in a toy package was intercepted Tuesday afternoon at the cargo bay of a commercial airline in Zamboanga International Airport, authorities said. Jury Rocamoro, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Zamboanga office chief, said the illegal drugs were detected by a Philippine Coast Guard sniffer dog, which prompted the PDEA to inspect the package. They found 15 large sachets of shabu hidden in a plastic toy truck. — The STAR/Roel Pareño

13 hours ago

"Business is back", exclaims Abdullah Mekhlafi at the shop where he sells prayer mats in Islam's holiest city, which is preparing for the biggest influx of hajj pilgrims since the coronavirus pandemic began. Two years of drastic restrictions on the number of pilgrims who could perform the hajj emptied shops and hotels across the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca. But business owners are hoping for a quick recovery as hundreds of thousands of worshippers flock to the region this week. "We had few customers (during the last two hajj seasons), but today business is back, thanks to God. It's the same as before, and even better," 30-year-old Mekhlafi told AFP. One million people, including 850,000 from abroad, will be allowed at this year's hajj, one of five pillars of Islam which all able-bodied Muslims with the means are required to perform at least once in their lives. In 2019, about 2.5 million people took part in the rituals, which include circling the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, gathering at Mount Arafat and "stoning the devil" in Mina. The following year, after the pandemic took hold, foreigners were barred and the total number of worshippers was capped at 10,000 to stop the hajj from turning into a global super-spreader. That figure rose to 60,000 fully vaccinated Saudi citizens and residents in 2021. -- AFP

16 hours ago

Rain-swollen rivers spilled mud-brown waters across swathes of Sydney on Tuesday, swamping homes and roads while forcing thousands to flee. Emergency services have now instructed about 50,000 people to evacuate or to prepare to escape the rising waters in New South Wales, officials said. Emergency workers carried out 22 flood rescues in Sydney overnight, they said, with the support of 100 army troops deployed to the state. The floods, heavy rain and powerful winds led to power cuts for 19,000 homes, officials said. Australia has been at the sharp end of climate change, with droughts, deadly bushfires, bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef and floods becoming more common and intense as global weather patterns change. Higher temperatures mean the atmosphere holds more moisture, unleashing more rain. "Sydney is not out of danger, this is not a time to be complacent," State Emergency Services commissioner Carlene York told a news conference. "It's risky out there." -- AFP

17 hours ago

On his first official day as head of the Department of Justice, Secretary Boying Remulla met with National Bureau of Investigation Deputy Director De Lemos to "validate the facts already presented but would like to inquire more into" the bureau's filing of complaints against NCRPO officials over suspicious deaths at the New Bilibid Prison. Atty. Nico Clavano from the Office of the Justice Secretary says Remulla expressed "stern desire to hold all those involved accountable." On NBI raps vs NCPRO over suspicious Bilibid deaths: Atty. Nico Clavano from the Office of Justice Secretary says SOJ Boying Remulla met with NBI chief Eric Distor on Monday to "validate the facts already presented but would like to inquire more into the incident." @PhilstarNews — Kristine Patag (@kristinepatag) July 5, 2022

19 hours ago

President Ferdinad Marcos Jr. is set to hold his first Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, his Social Welfare and Development Secretary Erwin Tulfo says in a Facebook post. However, there are still vacancies in his Cabinet, including the next health secretary.

19 hours ago

A massive manhunt is underway Monday for a gunman who shot dead six people with a high-powered rifle at a US Independence Day parade in a wealthy Chicago suburb -- the latest in a series of shocking mass shootings. Firing into the holiday crowd from a rooftop, the gunman triggered scenes of total chaos as panicked onlookers ran for their lives, leaving behind a July 4 parade route strewn with chairs, abandoned balloons and personal belongings. Emergency officials said around two dozen people, including children, were treated for gunshot injuries, with some in critical condition. — AFP

19 hours ago

Ukraine tells an international conference Monday that it will cost an estimated $750 billion to rebuild the war-shattered country, a task President Volodymyr Zelensky says was the shared duty of the democratic world. Speaking at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Switzerland, the Ukrainian president and a long line of government ministers describe the massive destruction and towering needs since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24. "Reconstruction of Ukraine is not a local task of a single nation," Zelesnky says via video message. "It is a common task of the whole democratic world," he says, insisting that "reconstruction of Ukraine is the biggest contribution to the support of global peace". — AFP

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