STA. ROSA CITY, Laguna. Isang bagong pulis ang namatay habang apat pa ang malubhang nasugatan matapos silang maaksidente sa may Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road sa Sta. Rosa City, ayon sa ulat kahapon.
Kinilala ng Sta. Rosa Police ang nasawing rookie cop na si Patrolman Rufino Libao, 23, nakatalaga sa Philippine National Police Academy sa Silang, Cavite.
Si Libao ay idineklarang dead-on-the-spot dahil sa malubhang pinsala na tinamo sa katawan dahil sa malakas na impact ng banggaan.
Ang kasama ni Libao na kinilalang si Patrolman Camilo Fernandez, 28 anyos, nakatalaga rin sa PNPA headquarters; ang truck driver na si Aslany Aba, 24 anyos, at mga truck helpers nito na sina Joey Nuoveras, 35 anyos at Montiadora Camacho, 43 anyos, ay pawang malubhang nasugatan sa insidente.
Ang mga biktima ay dinala sa City Medic Hospital.
Sa report, sina Libao at Fernandez ay lulan ng Honda vehicle at papunta sa direksyon ng Paseo de Sta. Rosa nang maaksidente sa Sta. Rosa-Tagaytay Road sa Brgy. Pulong Sta Cruz, Sta. Rosa City, nitong Martes ng alas 3:30 ng madaling-araw.
Sinabi ng pulisya na ang kotse ni Libao ay nag-overtake at inokupahan ang lane ng truck na nagsanhi ng matinding banggaan ng dalawang nabanggit na sasakyan.
NEW YORK. The next round of COVID-19 vaccines will target one of the latest versions of the coronavirus, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday.
FDA’s decision came one day after an agency panel of outside advisers supported the recipe change. The agency told vaccine makers to provide protection against just one omicron strain, known as XBB.1.5.
Today’s shots include the original coronavirus and an earlier version of omicron. They do still help prevent severe disease and death even as XBB variants have taken over. But protection gradually wanes over time and was short-lived against milder infection even before the virus, inevitably, evolved again.
The three U.S. companies that make COVID-19 shots said this week they had geared up to make the formula change, in anticipation of making many millions of doses available for the fall. One company, Pfizer, said it could have at least some doses ready as early as next month.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will eventually decide whether to recommend the shot for nearly all Americans or just for certain high-risk groups.
NEW YORK. Wake up early this weekend to catch a celestial sight: Five planets will line up in the sky before sunrise on Saturday.
Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter, Uranus and Mercury will appear together, weather permitting. Here’s how to spot the planet parade.
WHEN AND WHERE CAN I SEE THEM?
For the best views, seek a spot with little light pollution and a clear view of the horizon.
Mercury will be the last to come into view, about an hour before sunrise. If you go outside at that time, you’ll be able to see all five planets stretching across the sky — from Mercury down by the horizon to Saturn higher up in the sky — until the sun rises.
DO I NEED BINOCULARS OR A TELESCOPE?
Some planets will be easier to spot than others.
Jupiter and Saturn will be pretty bright and easiest to see. Mercury will be a little dimmer, though still possibly visible with the naked eye. To get a view of Neptune and Uranus, you’ll probably need to break out a pair of binoculars or a telescope.
HOW COMMON IS THIS?
There was another five-planet lineup in March, with a slightly different makeup. A three-planet alignment will happen in July. This happens when the planets’ orbits line them up on one side of the sun from Earth’s perspective.
BOSTON. Climate change protesters dropped their pants at the Massachusetts Statehouse during a debate on a proposed tax relief package Thursday to bring attention to what they say is the need for swifter action against the use of fossil fuels.
About 1 p.m., protesters stood, turned their backs to the Senate chamber and lowered their pants to reveal letters that spelled out STOP PASSING GAS! on their bare backsides.
The protesters were all wearing pink thongs.
A short time later, the session was put into recess while the protesters were arrested and escorted out of the chamber. The senators then returned and continued their debate.
The group Extinction Rebellion has staged other protests at the Statehouse. They say they plan to continue their efforts until lawmakers approve legislation banning new fossil fuel infrastructure.
Former Gov. Charlie Baker last year signed a major climate bill meant to bring the state closer to its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The new law encourages the development of offshore wind and solar energy and gives some local authority to limiting the use of fossil fuels in building projects.
PADRE GARCIA, Batangas. Isang 32-anyos na security guard ang nasawi matapos pagbabarilin ng kanyang pinsan na isang ahente ng Small Town Lottery (STL) sa bayang ito sa Batangas, noong Miyerkules ng hapon.
Ang biktimang security guard ay kinilalang si Berinie Dimaculangan, naninirahan sa Brgy. Banay-banay, Padre Garcia, Batangas.
Ang suspek na agad na nahuli ay natukoy na si Victorino Dimaculangan, 42 anyos, isang STL agent at residente rin ng nabanggit na barangay.
Ayon sa ulat, nagsimula ang alitan ng dalawa nang tanungin ni Berinie si Victorino kung may relasyon ito sa kanilang pinsan. Nagkaroon sila ng sagutan at nagkagulo ng bandang alas-5:00 ng hapon.
Pagkatapos ng mainit na pagtatalo, umuwi si Victorino at kumuha ng baril na ginamit sa pagpatay kay Berinie.
Dinala ang biktima sa Dr. R Rosales Memorial Medical Hospital ngunit idineklara na siyang patay pagdating.
Naaresto naman si Victorino sa isinagawang hot pursuit operations kung saan nakumpiska ang isang baril na kalibre 45 at mga bala.
SAN PABLO CITY, Laguna. Binigyang diin ni Dr. James Lee Ho, ang City Health Officer ng lungsod na ito, ang kahalagahan ng bivalent vaccine sa paglaban sa mga panganib ng mga subvariant ng Omicron na maaaring makuha ng komunidad sa isang forum na ginanap sa Liga ng mga Barangay Office sa lungsod na ito kamakailan.
Ang forum na dinaluhan ng mga health workers, kinatawan ng mga pribadong ospital at mga hepe ng kaukulang local department units ay pinulong ni Dr. Lee Ho matapos ipahayag ng Department of Health (DOH) na dumating na ang 390,000 doses ng bivalent vaccine na donasyon ng Lithuania.
Ayon sa kanya, bago kumuha ng bivalent vaccine ay kailangang nakakuha na ng dalawang primary shots at dalawang booster shots upang masiguro ang epektibong proteksyon.
Ayon kay Dr. Ho, ang dalawang primary shots ang magbibigay ng pangunahing proteksyon laban sa mga sakit na ito. Kasunod nito, ang dalawang booster shots ay kailangang gawin upang mapalakas ang immunity at masiguro ang pangmatagalang proteksyon. Samantalang ang bivalent vaccine ay panlaban sa omicron variant BA.4 at BA.5.
Hahatiin sa health workers at senior citizens ang paunang batch ng bivalent vaccines na ipapadala ng DOH sa San Pablo City, ayon kay Dr. Lee Ho.
“Mahalaga ang pagkakaroon ng kumpletong dalawang primary shots at dalawang booster shots para sa bivalent vaccine. Sa pamamagitan nito, malaki ang posibilidad na maiwasan ang omicron variant BA. 4 and BA. 5 lineages,” ayon sa paliwanag ni Dr. Lee Ho.
Sa kasalukuyan, pinapaalalahanan niya ang lahat ng mga residente na dapat sumailalim sa tamang proseso ng pagbabakuna, na kinabibilangan ng dalawang primary shots at dalawang booster shots, upang magkaroon ng buong proteksyon laban sa mga sakit na target ng bivalent vaccine.
Hinikayat niya ang mga residente ng lungsod na makiisa sa kampanya ng pagbabakuna at kumpletuhin ang kanilang apat na bakuna upang makakuha ng bivalent vaccine.
Ayon aniya sa mga eksperto, ang bivalent vaccine ay kumikilos sa pamamagitan ng pagpapalakas ng immune system ng tao upang labanan ang mga sakit na ito. Ang pagkakaroon ng kumpletong dosis ng bakuna ay mahalaga upang masiguro ang matatag na proteksyon at maiwasan ang pagkakasakit.
Ang mga residente ay maaaring kumuha ng primary at booster dose sa SM San Pablo tuwing Martes at Biyernes mula 8:00 ng umaga hanggang 12:00 ng tanghali, ayon sa city health officer.
Sa pamamagitan ng kolektibong pagkilos at pagtutulungan, maipagtatanggol natin ang ating mga sarili at ang ating komunidad laban sa mga sakit. Patuloy nating suportahan ang mga inisyatibo ng Department of Health ng lokal na City Health Office upang matiyak ang kalusugan at kapakanan ng bawat isa. Hangad nating magpatuloy ang maayos na pag-unlad ng ating komunidad sa pamamagitan ng agarang pagbabakuna at pag-iingat sa ating mga sarili,” ang pagtatapos ni Dr. Lee Ho.
WASHINGTON. The FBI investigators who searched Harold Martin’s Maryland property in the fall of 2016 found classified documents — including material at the top secret level — strewn about his home, car and storage shed.
Unlike former President Donald Trump, the former National Security Agency contractor didn’t contest the allegations, ultimately pleading guilty in 2019 and admitting his actions were “wrong, illegal and highly questionable.” But his expressions of contrition and guilty plea to a single count of willful retention of national defense information didn’t spare him the harsh punishment of nine years in prison.
The resolution of that case looms as an ominous guidepost for the legal jeopardy Trump could face as he confronts 37 felony counts — 31 under the same century-old Espionage Act statute used to prosecute Martin and other defendants alleged to have illegally retained classified documents. Even many like Martin who have pleaded guilty and accepted responsibility have nonetheless been socked with yearslong prison sentences.
“When they decide to pursue a willful mishandling case, it’s to send a message: that we take these cases very seriously,” said Michael Zweiback, a defense lawyer and former Justice Department prosecutor. “They almost always are seeking jail time.”
How much prison time the former president could face in the event of a conviction is impossible to say, with such a decision ultimately up to the trial judge — in this case, a Trump appointee who has already demonstrated a willingness to rule in his favor. It’s also hard to know the extent to which other factors — including the logistical and political complications of jailing a former president — might play a role.
The Espionage Act offense is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, though it’s rare for first-time federal offenders to get close to the maximum. But beyond the retention, prosecutors have also identified multiple aggravating factors in Trump’s alleged conduct, accusing him of seeking to enlist others — including a lawyer and aides — to hide the records from investigators and showing off some to visitors. Some of the other counts in the indictment, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, call for up to 20 years in prison.
Justice Department prosecutors in recent years have used the Espionage Act provision against a variety of defendants, including a West Virginia woman who retained an NSA document related to a foreign government’s military and political issues. Elizabeth Jo Shirley pleaded guilty in 2020 to a willful retention count and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
This month, a retired Air Force intelligence officer named Robert Birchum was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to keeping classified files at his home, his overseas officer’s quarters and a storage pod in his driveway.
Many defendants have pleaded guilty, rather than face trial, though not all have gone to prison. Trump — who also faces charges related to hush-money payments in New York state court — has shown no signs that he could be headed toward a plea deal, vigorously insisting he is innocent and personally attacking Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith hours after appearing in Miami federal court Tuesday.
Despite the details in the indictment, Trump does have some avenues to try to contest the charges.
For one thing, he’s drawn Judge Aileen Cannon, who sided with Trump last year in the former president’s bid to appoint a special master to conduct an independent review of the seized classified documents. Citing the “stigma” she said was associated with an FBI search of Trump’s home, she said a “future indictment” based on items that should’ve been returned to Trump “would result in reputational harm of a decidedly different order of magnitude.”
Over the next several months, Cannon will make decisions that will shape the trial, including how quickly it will happen and whether any evidence will be kept out.
Prosecutors also face the challenge in Florida — where Republicans have made steady inroads in recent years — of a jury pool likely to be more favorable to Trump than if the case were tried in overwhelmingly Democratic Washington, D.C.
Still, “I think that it might very well be that Jack Smith welcomes a Florida jury because if there is a conviction, it will be much harder to say, ‘Well, that jury was somehow anti-Trump,’” said Stephen Saltzburg, a George Washington University law school professor and former Justice Department official.
Experts anticipate Trump’s lawyers to echo the former president’s public remarks in trying to get the case dismissed by arguing he was entitled to have the documents and is the victim of prosecutorial overreach. Trump could also try to block prosecutors from being able to use key evidence, such as notes from his lawyer detailing conversations with the former president.
If the case gets to trial, experts say Trump’s attorneys may attempt what’s called “jury nullification” or try to convince jurors that he should be acquitted even if they believe Trump broke the law because the violation wasn’t serious enough to warrant charges and he is being singled out.
“The theme of the defense can be riddled with suggestions of unfairness and selective prosecution — basically trying to convince a jury that even if the former president did what the government says he did, none of this should have ever ended up in a criminal prosecution,” said Robert Mintz, a defense attorney and former Justice Department prosecutor.
Robert Kelner, a Washington criminal defense lawyer, said while an outright acquittal seems unlikely given the volume of evidence, a pathway for a mistrial exists if Trump attorneys can persuade even one juror to acquit on grounds that the president enjoyed the absolute authority to declassify information.
That authority ended the moment Trump left the presidency, but even so, “some jurors will likely find it hard to rationalize convicting him for something that he previously had the absolute authority (to do) simply because he didn’t file the right forms and do it at the right time,” Kelner said.
In the end, facing a mountain of evidence and the prospect of years in prison, Trump’s best hope may be a tactic he often pursues: Delay, delay, delay, said Cheryl Bader, a former federal prosecutor and head of Fordham University Law School’s Criminal Defense Clinic.
“His best defense may be to try to ride out the election cycle, be elected as president and therefore be in charge of the Justice Department before the case goes to trial,” she said.
This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of records in a storage room at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., that were photographed on Nov. 12, 2021. Trump is facing 37 felony charges related to the mishandling of classified documents according to an indictment unsealed Friday, June 9, 2023. (Justice Department via AP)
WARSAW, Poland. There will be no more going to Hel on bus 666.
The bus to the town of Hel on Poland’s Baltic coast has long been popular with tourists. But some Christian conservatives have protested the number signifying the devil on a bus leading to a place that sounds like the word “hell” in English.
The local bus operator, PKS Gdynia, announced this week that bus 666 will no longer run to Hel. It said it had flipped the last number and would now run the line under the number 669 starting on June 24.
Local media said the bus company acted under the pressure of Christian groups who had pushed for the change, but were already thinking of returning to the old number amid a public outcry over the change.
The local news portal Trojmiasto.pl said that the line operated under the number 666 since 2006, first as a local joke before attracting riders from across Poland and beyond. Some people rode the bus simply to say they had taken the 666 bus to Hel, Polish media reported.
Fronda, a Catholic publication, has for years called for the 666 bus to be renamed, arguing that it had Satanic overtones and that “to present the reality of eternal damnation as amusing in any way is just plain stupidity.”
It lamented that fact that many Polish journalists, even Catholic ones, took pleasure in the joke.
Sa pamamagitan ng Proklamasyon Bilang 258 na nilagdaan noong Hunyo 13, idineklara ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ang Hunyo 28 bilang isang regular na pambansang holiday ngayong taon, bilang pagdiriwang ng Eid’l Adha.
Ayon sa nasabing proklamasyon na isinapubliko ng Malacañang, ang pagdedeklara ng holiday ay batay sa rekomendasyon ng National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, na sumusunod sa 1444 Hijrah Islamic Lunar Calendar.
Ang Eid’l Adha, na kilala rin bilang “Feast of Sacrifice,” ay isa sa pinakamahalagang kapistahan na ipinagdiriwang ng mga Muslim sa buong mundo. Ito ay nagpapahayag ng pagkilala at pag-alala sa pagsunod ni Ibrahim (o Abraham) sa utos ng Diyos na ialay ang kanyang anak bilang tanda ng kanyang pananampalataya.
Sa pagdeklara ng Hunyo 28 bilang regular na holiday, binibigyan ni Pangulong Marcos ng pagkakataon ang mga Pilipino, lalo na ang mga kapatid nating Muslim, na ipagdiwang ng malaya ang mahalagang okasyon na ito. Ito ay magbibigay-daan sa mga pamilya na magsama-sama at magbahagi ng mga panalangin, salu-salo, at pagpapahalaga sa kahalagahan ng pag-aalay at sakripisyo.
Sa mga darating na araw, inaasahang maging mapayapa at makabuluhan ang pagdiriwang ng Eid’l Adha sa buong bansa.
LONDON. Lawmakers in Europe signed off Wednesday on the world’s first set of comprehensive rules for artificial intelligence, clearing a key hurdle as authorities across the globe race to rein in AI.
The European Parliament vote is one of the last steps before the rules become law, which could act as a model for other places working on similar regulations.
Here’s a look at the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act:
HOW DO THE RULES WORK?
The measure, first proposed in 2021, will govern any product or service that uses an artificial intelligence system. The act will classify AI systems according to four levels of risk, from minimal to unacceptable.
Riskier applications, such as for hiring or tech targeted to children, will face tougher requirements, including being more transparent and using accurate data.
It will be up to the EU’s 27 member states to enforce the rules. Regulators could force companies to withdraw their apps from the market.
In extreme cases, violations could draw fines of up to 40 million euros ($43 million) or 7% of a company’s annual global revenue, which in the case of tech companies like Google and Microsoft could amount to billions.
WHAT ARE THE RISKS?
One of the EU’s main goals is to guard against any AI threats to health and safety and protect fundamental rights and values.
That means some AI uses are an absolute no-no, such as “social scoring” systems that judge people based on their behavior.
Also forbidden is AI that exploits vulnerable people, including children, or uses subliminal manipulation that can result in harm, for example, an interactive talking toy that encourages dangerous behavior.
Lawmakers beefed up the original proposal from the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, by widening the ban on real-time remote facial recognition and biometric identification in public. The technology scans passers-by and uses AI to match their faces or other physical traits to a database.
A contentious amendment to allow law enforcement exceptions such as finding missing children or preventing terrorist threats did not pass.
AI systems used in categories like employment and education, which would affect the course of a person’s life, face tough requirements such as being transparent with users and taking steps to assess and reduce risks of bias from algorithms.
Most AI systems, such as video games or spam filters, fall into the low- or no-risk category, the commission says.
WHAT ABOUT CHATGPT?
The original measure barely mentioned chatbots, mainly by requiring them to be labeled so users know they’re interacting with a machine. Negotiators later added provisions to cover general purpose AI like ChatGPT after it exploded in popularity, subjecting that technology to some of the same requirements as high-risk systems.
One key addition is a requirement to thoroughly document any copyright material used to teach AI systems how to generate text, images, video and music that resemble human work.
That would let content creators know if their blog posts, digital books, scientific articles or songs have been used to train algorithms that power systems like ChatGPT. Then they could decide whether their work has been copied and seek redress.
WHY ARE THE EU RULES SO IMPORTANT?
The European Union isn’t a big player in cutting-edge AI development. That role is taken by the U.S. and China. But Brussels often plays a trend-setting role with regulations that tend to become de facto global standards and has become a pioneer in efforts to target the power of large tech companies.
The sheer size of the EU’s single market, with 450 million consumers, makes it easier for companies to comply than develop different products for different regions, experts say.
But it’s not just a crackdown. By laying down common rules for AI, Brussels is also trying to develop the market by instilling confidence among users.
“The fact this is regulation that can be enforced and companies will be held liable is significant” because other places like the United States, Singapore and Britain have merely offered “guidance and recommendations,” said Kris Shrishak, a technologist and senior fellow at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.
Businesses and industry groups warn that Europe needs to strike the right balance.
“The EU is set to become a leader in regulating artificial intelligence, but whether it will lead on AI innovation still remains to be seen,” said Boniface de Champris, a policy manager for the Computer and Communications Industry Association, a lobbying group for tech companies.
“Europe’s new AI rules need to effectively address clearly defined risks, while leaving enough flexibility for developers to deliver useful AI applications to the benefit of all Europeans,” he said.
Others are playing catch up on AI rules. Britain, which left the EU in 2020, is jockeying for a position in AI leadership. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak plans to host a world summit on AI safety this fall.
“I want to make the U.K. not just the intellectual home but the geographical home of global AI safety regulation,” Sunak said at a tech conference this week.
WHAT’S NEXT?
It could be years before the rules fully take effect. The next step is three-way negotiations involving member countries, the Parliament and the European Commission, possibly facing more changes as they try to agree on the wording.
Final approval is expected by the end of this year, followed by a grace period for companies and organizations to adapt, often around two years.
Brando Benifei, an Italian member of the European Parliament who is co-leading its work on the AI Act, said they would push for quicker adoption of the rules for fast-evolving technologies like generative AI.
To fill the gap before the legislation takes effect, Europe and the U.S. are drawing up a voluntary code of conduct that officials promised at the end of May would be drafted within weeks and could be expanded to other “like-minded countries.”
Lawmakers vote on the Artificial Intelligence act Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France. Authorities worldwide are racing to rein in artificial intelligence, including in the European Union, where groundbreaking legislation is set to pass a key hurdle Wednesday. European Parliament lawmakers are due to vote on the proposal — including controversial amendments on facial recognition. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
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