TWO PERSONS ARRESTED FOR VOLUNTARILY CAUSING HURT BY DANGEROUS WEAPON WITHIN FOUR HOURS
Philippines Reports 14,786 New COVID-19 Cases, Total Surges To 2,580,173
MANILA – The Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH), reported 14,786 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, pushing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 2,580,173.
The DOH also reported that 164 more people died from COVID-19 complications, bringing the country’s death toll to 38,656.
The Philippines, with a population of 110 million, has tested nearly 20 million people since the outbreak in Jan, 2020.
Health Undersecretary, Maria Rosario Vergeire, said, the DOH is still assessing if the lower number of daily COVID-19 cases recorded in recent days is “artificial or real.”
“We need to analyse further and study (the trend) carefully, before we can say that the situation is really improving,” she told a televised press conference, stressing the need “to be cautious because hospitals are still full.”
Meanwhile, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary, Karl Kendrick Chua, expressed optimism that the Philippine economy can recover and reach its growth targets of four to five percent for 2021, and seven to nine percent in 2022.
However, Chua stressed the need to accelerate the vaccination rollout, manage the risks better, and implement economic recovery programme, to attain the targets.
Chua added that, while prospects for the country’s economic recovery remain promising, “its sustainability depends on our actions in dealing with the virus.”
“We believe that our strategy to have granular lockdowns is right and working,” Chua added, saying Metro Manila have recorded fewer cases.
The Philippines administered over 45.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and more than 21.4 million people have been fully vaccinated. The government aims to vaccinate up to 70 million people this year.
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK
Drug, Weapons Traffickers Arrested In Kabul
KABUL – Three suspected drug and weapons traffickers have been arrested in Kabul, Afghanistan, the country’s Ministry of Interior confirmed yesterday.
The ministry said in a statement that, “Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, stationed in Police District 3 of Kabul” have arrested the three suspected drug and weapons traffickers.
Further investigation is underway.
Last week, three groups of armed thieves were arrested, during a series of counter-crime operations in Qala-e-Haydar Khan and Arghandi areas of Paghman district, on the western outskirts of Kabul, according to the ministry.
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK
Three, Including Journalist, Killed In E. Afghanistan’s Shooting
KABUL– Three people, including a journalist, have been killed, in a shooting in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar, authorities confirmed today.
“Journalist and author, Sayyed Marof Saadat, along with his relatives were travelling in a sedan, along a road in Police District 5 of Jalalabad city when gunmen in a rickshaw opened fire on them,” a security source said.
Saadat’s son and the driver of the vehicle were wounded in the shooting, the source said.
An independent Afghan media group, Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC), condemned the murders.
No group has claimed responsibility for the shooting so far. Taliban authorities were investigating the case, according to the source.
Since the Taliban takeover in mid-Aug, at least 10 people have been killed and many others wounded, as Jalalabad, about 120 km in the east of Afghanistan’s Kabul, was hit by a series of bomb attacks, reportedly claimed by militants affiliated to a Daesh group, opposing the Taliban government.
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK
Japan’s Ruling Party’s New Leader To Take Office As Prime Minister, Launch New Gov’t
TOKYO– The newly elected leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Fumio Kishida, will take office as Japanese prime minister tomorrow and launch his new government, aiming to promote economic recovery, while keeping COVID-19 infections under control.
With the LDP-led ruling coalition controlling both chambers, the 64-year-old Kishida is almost guaranteed to be elected prime minister, at an extraordinary parliamentary session tomorrow.
The new leader plans to dissolve the House of Representatives on Oct 14, and consequently, a general election is likely to be held on Nov 7, local media reported.
Kishida promised to increase middle-class incomes and reduce wealth disparity under his “new form of capitalism,” which is viewed as a break from the “neoliberal policies” that the Japanese government has pursued over the past two decades.
In addition, he said that an economic package worth “tens of trillions of yen” is in preparation, to help people and businesses suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
His predecessor, Yoshihide Suga, who took office last year, announced not to seek re-election last month, amid the public dissatisfaction with his COVID-19 response.
As Japan’s COVID-19 infections declined recently, and nearly 60 percent of Japan’s population received a second shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, Kishida will need to handle tasks of gradually lifting restrictions on social and business activities, and opening the border to foreign travellers.
Kishida plans to finish the lineup of his cabinet today. In his prospective Cabinet, former education minister, Hirokazu Matsuno, 59, is set to become chief Cabinet secretary, and former environment minister, Shunichi Suzuki, 68, is likely to replace his brother-in-law, Taro Aso, as finance minister, local media reported.
Kishida also plans to create a new ministerial post for economic security, with a responsibility to craft a national strategy, designed to end the drain of intellectual property from Japan. It is not known who will take up the post so far.
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK