Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Thursday, November 7, 2024.
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READ: Trump makes comeback
Donald Trump claimed a "magnificent" victory over Kamala Harris in the fight for the presidency on Wednesday as results put him on the verge of one of the most stunning comebacks in US political history. The Republican former president's address to a crowd of jubilant supporters came despite the fact that only Fox News had so far declared him the winner of the presidential election. World leaders rushed to congratulate him before the final results were in, with Ukraine's president in particular urging Trump to help achieve a "just peace" against Russia. Trump has previously called for US military aid to Kyiv to be cut, part of his nationalist "America First" policy that unsettled US allies in his first term. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday congratulated Trump on his election victory. Marcos said he looks forward to working with Trump on a wide range of issues "that will yield mutual benefits to two nations with deep ties, shared beliefs, common vision, and a long history of working together."
READ: Duterte slams Quad panel, to snub hearing
FORMER president Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday cast doubt on the integrity and independence of the House quad committee investigating the bloody war on drugs carried out by his administration and said he would not appear before the panel Thursday. In a statement read by his lawyer, Duterte said he would not attend the hearing because he doubts the committee's integrity, independence and probity to conduct the inquiry in aid of legislation. In a letter to the overall chairman of the committee, Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, Duterte said it was "apparent that the inquiry is a mere political ploy aimed to indict him for crime or crimes he did not commit."
READ: Govt agencies told to brace for Marce
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday directed all government agencies to remain on high alert as the country braces for Typhoon Marce. Marcos also reiterated the need to ensure that relevant information reaches communities promptly and that on-the-ground situations are reported accurately.
READ: QC reports new mpox case, shuts down sauna
THE Quezon City government said on Wednesday that it has recorded another mpox (monkeypox) case, involving a person who contracted the disease at a sauna and gym club in the city. Thus, Mayor Joy Belmonte approved a recommendation from the city health and business permit departments to permanently close the Fahrenheit or F Club located along E. Rodriguez Avenue. Officials of the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Division (CESD) said that the patient, a 31-year-old male resident, tested positive for mpox after exhibiting symptoms on Oct. 18. CESD chief Rolando Cruz said that during a patient interview and case investigation report, the male city resident visited the F Club on Oct. 5. Initial information indicates that it was the sixth time that patients pointed to the F Club as a possible place of exposure for the confirmed mpox cases.
BUSINESS: Farm output drop worsens
Topping business, farm output fell in the third quarter, with bad weather and swine fever outbreaks having led to contractions in the crops, livestock and fisheries sectors. The value of agricultural and fisheries production, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Wednesday, fell to 397.4 billion pesos in July-September from the previous quarter's 414.4 billion pesos and the year-earlier 412.7 billion pesos. The 3.7-percent drop worsened from the second quarter's -3.2 percent and -0.2 percent recorded a year ago.
SPORTS: Chua clinches World Cup slots
In sports, the Philippine Aquatics Inc. hailed the national team's decent showing at the prestigious World Aquatics-sanctioned World Cup Qualifying Series in Singapore. The Filipino swimmers recovered from unnoticeable performances in Incheon, Korea Series a week earlier with 2023 Cambodia Southeast Asian Games record-holder (200-meter [m] backstroke) Xiandi Chua claiming additional slots for this year's World Cup Championships in Budapest, Hungary, as she passes the Qualifying Time Standard (QTB) (B) clocking 2:09.71 in the women's 200-m backstroke. The 24-year-old senior student at De La Salle University, who studies Business Entrepreneurship, got her first QTB for the World Cup with a time of 4:45.41 in the 400-m individual medley while campaigning for the Philippine Team in the 2024 Australian Short Course Swimming Championships last September in Adelaide, Australia. Her time also broke Georgina Peregrina's 4:46.08 Philippine record at the New Zealand National Championships on Oct. 5, 2018.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta and Danton Remoto are today's front page columnists. Contreras thinks former president Rodrigo Duterte's gambits against the Senate backfired, Makabenta analyzes the country's political party systems, while Remoto discusses the US electoral climate in the country's midwest.
Today's editorial tackles the misdirection of climate finance. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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