Nilinaw ng Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) na ang sabay-sabay na pag-alburuto ng tatlong bulkan sa bansa ay nagkataon lamang at hindi magkakaugnay.
Sa isang pampublikong briefing, sinabi ni Phivolcs OIC Director Teresito Bacolcol na ang mga kasalukuyang aktibidad ng mga bulkang Mayon, Taal, at Kanlaon ay “magkakaiba at independiente sa isa’t isa.”
“Mayroon tayong 24 na aktibong bulkan at palaging may ganitong posibilidad na sabay-sabay na maging restive. Again, nagkataon lang po ito. Coincidence na may tatlong bulkan na sabay-sabay [na naging restive],” giit pa ng kalihim.
Kasalukuyang mahigpit na binabantayan ng Phivolcs ang tatlong nababagabag na bulkan—Mayon Volcano sa Albay, Taal Volcano sa Batangas, at Kanlaon Volcano sa Negros Island.
Nakataas ang alert level 3 sa Mayon mula Hunyo 8, 2023, alert level 1 para sa Taal mula Abril 9, 2022, at alert level 1 para sa Kanlaon mula Marso 11, 2020.
Sa kasalukuyan, pinapayuhan ng Phivolcs ang publiko na manatiling alerto at sundin ang mga patakaran at abiso ng lokal na pamahalaan at ahensya ng pagbabantay sa bulkan.
Ang mga residente malapit sa mga nabanggit na bulkan ay hinimok na maging handa sa posibleng pagsabog ng mga ito at sundin ang mga evacuation protocols kung kinakailangan.
Ipinapaalala rin ng Phivolcs na ang pag-aaral at pagpaplano ng mga lokal na pamahalaan sa hazard zones ay mahalaga upang maprotektahan ang mga residente at mapanatiling ligtas ang mga komunidad sa mga posibleng panganib dulot ng pag-aalburuto ng mga bulkan.
Sa kasalukuyan, wala pang ulat ng mga pinsala o insidente dahil sa mga pag-alburuto ng mga nababagabag na bulkan, subalit patuloy pa rin ang monitoro at pag-aaral ng mga eksperto ng Phivolcs upang masiguro ang kaligtasan ng publiko.
Hinahangad ng Phivolcs na patuloy na magsilbi bilang gabay at mapagtibay ang kaalaman ng publiko tungkol sa mga bulkan at iba pang natural na panganib upang mapalawig ang kamalayan at paghahanda ng mga Pilipino sa mga ganitong sitwasyon.
ROME. Pope Francis, “wisely” following doctors’ advice, will skip Sunday’s customary public blessing to allow himself to better heal after abdominal surgery earlier this week, his surgeon told reporters.
Blood and imaging tests indicate that the 86-year-old pope’s recovery is proceeding in an “absolutely normal” manner, Sergio Alfieri, who operated on the pontiff, also told reporters on Saturday at Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome.
During the three-hour-long operation on Wednesday, using general anesthesia, doctors removed increasingly painful scarring that resulted from previous abdominal surgeries as well as repaired a hernia in the abdominal wall, with the insertion of a prosthetic support netting, or mesh.
Alfieri said while Francis’ recovery has been medically uneventful, any extra physical exertion, like rising from bed to move to an armchair to recite the traditional Sunday noon blessing and commentary to the public through a video link, could be risky at this point.
While the Vatican said earlier in the week that Francis had occasionally been sitting in a chair to read newspapers, the weekly noon appointment customarily involves the pope speaking to the public for about 15 minutes and giving his blessing.
Advice by his doctors and the pope’s trusted Vatican nurse to forgo the Sunday appearance is aimed at achieving “the least strain on the abdominal wall in order to allow the implanted mesh and the muscle fascia repaired to heal optimally,″ Alfieri said.
“In the next few days, if he’s not careful about healing, the netting could tear and he’ll be back in the operating room,” the surgeon said.
“If he has a careful recovery, he’ll be back better” than before at the Vatican, Alfieri said. “It’s prudence that we suggested and that he wisely accepted.”
Francis has graduated from a liquid to a semiliquid diet and had no fever, according to his medical staff.
His cardiac and respiratory status was also fine, Alfieri said in his first medical briefing on the pontiff’s condition since the one he gave Wednesday shortly after the pope came round from the anesthetic.
“For his age, 86, he doesn’t have pathologies” regarding his heart or respiratory systems, Alfieri said in response to a reporter’s question.
Francis will recite the traditional Sunday noon prayer privately in his hospital room, and faithful are encouraged to join in the prayer, Bruni said.
While praying privately, Francis will unite “spiritually, with affection and gratitude, to the faithful who want to accompany him, wherever they are” in prayer, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a separate, written statement.
Meanwhile, thousands of people turned out in St. Peter’s Square for a gathering to promote the value of brotherhood — a quality so dear to Francis that he wrote an encyclical on its importance in 2020.
But since Francis couldn’t speak to them, a cardinal read out the pontiff’s speech, which acknowledged his absence.
“Even though I am unable to greet you in person, I would like to welcome and thank you wholeheartedly for coming,″ the prepared speech began. Those listening heard a reminder from Francis that there is ”the possibility of being brothers and sisters even when we are not close, as has happened to me.”
Francis is convalescing in the 10th-floor apartment reserved for papal use at Gemelli Polyclinic.
No date has yet been announced for his release from the hospital.
“We hope we will convince him to stay at least the whole next week,″ Alfieri said on Saturday.
Alfieri said by opting to spend more of his convalescence in the hospital instead of leaving after a handful of days, the pope can return “to his work with more strength and safety.”
Alfieri recalled his remarks, hours after the surgery, that Francis had experienced no complications during the surgery or from the general anesthesia.
During the operation, the surgical team removed adhesions, a kind of internal scarring not infrequent after previous surgery. Two years earlier, Francis had part of his colon removed following a narrowing of a section of the bowel. The hernia that was repaired had formed over a previous scar.
Alfieri had performed the 2021 bowel surgery as well. When he operated this time, “I found the same scars I found two years ago,” the surgeon said Saturday. “Then they weren’t causing symptoms.” But in the time since, the adhesions were increasingly causing pain.
Post-surgery, Francis “doesn’t have much pain,” Alfieri said, adding that the pontiff was on “bland” anti-pain medication “so he can breathe well.”
Francis has two trips abroad set for August, the first to Portugal, for a Catholic youth jamboree, and then, at the end of that month, to Mongolia, the first-ever pilgrimage by a pontiff to that Asian country.
Asked about the prospects for those strenuous trips given his surgery, Alfieri said the pontiff, “made these calculations” when deciding to go ahead with the June 7 surgery, an indication that Francis felt that the timing of the operation would allow him to stick to his travel plans.
Surgeon Sergio Alfieri, left, listens to pope’s spokeperson Matteo Bruni during a media briefing Saturday, June 10, 2023, about Pope Francis’ health conditions after his operation at Rome’s Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic, on Wednesday. Pope Francis, who underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a hernia in his abdominal wall, is following a careful convalescence which aims at reducing the effort of the abdominal wall, to allow the implanted prosthetic mesh and the repair of the muscular fascia to heal optimally. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Sa isang pahayag ng pinuno ng Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) nitong Biyernes, sinabi niya na maaari namang maglakbay patungong Tagaytay City sa lalawigan ng Batangas at Albay sa kabila ng hindi maayos na kalagayan ng Taal Volcano at Mayon Volcano.
“Safe naman po basta’t nag-iingat tayo sa pamamagitan ng pagsusuot ng face mask. Siguro naman sanay na tayong mag-face mask dahil sa pandemya, kaya’t mag-face mask po tayo upang maiwasan ang vog o ang tinatawag nating volcanic smog,” ayon kay Teresito Bacolcol, officer in charge ng Phivolcs, sa isang pampublikong briefing nang tanungin kung ligtas ba ang paglalakbay sa Tagaytay ngayong mahabang weekend.
Ayon sa kanya, nananatiling nasa Alert Level 1 (abnormal) ang Taal Volcano, ngunit inoobserbahan ang pagtaas ng degassing sa loob ng halos isang linggo.
“Nagdi-disperse ang sulfur dioxide (SO2) sa hangin. Kung ang direksyon ng hangin ay patungo sa hilaga at mataas ang antas ng SO2, maaaring umabot ito sa Tagaytay,” pahayag ni Bacolcol sa Philippine News Agency nang tanungin kung tinutukoy niya ang Tagaytay kahit na matatagpuan ito sa Batangas.
Ang vog ay maliliit na patak na naglalaman ng volcanic gas na maasido at maaaring magdulot ng pagkairita ng mata, lalamunan, at respiratory system depende sa konsentrasyon ng gas at tagal ng pagka-expose dito.
Ang mga plano na bumisita sa Albay sa Bicol Region ay maaaring gawin ito, ngunit hindi dapat pumasok sa anim-na-kilometrong permanent danger zone, ayon kay Bacolcol.
Noong Huwebes, itinaas ng Phivolcs ang alerto ng Mayon Volcano mula sa Alert Level 2 (pagtaas ng hindi maayos na kalagayan) patungo sa Alert Level 3 (pagtaas ng posibilidad ng mapanganib na pagsabog) dahil sa patuloy na pagtaas ng bilang ng mga pagguho ng bato nito.
Sa loob ng 24 oras mula 5 a.m. ng Huwebes hanggang 5 a.m. ng Biyernes, naitala ang kabuuang bilang na 109 pagguho ng bato sa Mayon. Dagdag pa niya, anim na pyroclastic density current na tumagal ng apat hanggang limang minuto rin ang naobserbahan.
“Nakita rin kagabi ang liwanag mula sa kawalan ng bukál. Ibig sabihin, may labis na init na nagmumula sa loob ng bukál,” pahayag ni Bacolcol.
Kung sakaling kailanganin itaas ang alerto ng Mayon Volcano sa Alert Level 4, sinabi ni Bacolcol na ang permanent danger zone ay papalawigin hanggang walong kilometro na radius.
Samantala, ipinaalala ni Bacolcol sa publiko na huwag pumasok sa anim-kilometrong permanent danger zone sa Mayon, pati na rin sa Taal Volcano Island (TVI).
“Huwag pumasok sa TVI dahil ang SO2 ay nakamamatay. Mayroon ding carbon dioxide na katulad ng SO2,” ayon sa kanya.
HONG KONG. Two giant inflatable ducks made a splash in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor on Friday, marking the return of a pop-art project that sparked a frenzy in the city a decade ago.
The two 18-meter-tall yellow ducks by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman resemble the bath toys many played with in their childhood. Shortly after their launch, dozens of residents and tourists flocked to the promenade near the government headquarters in Admiralty to snap photos of the ducks.
Hofman said he hopes the art exhibition brings joy to the city and connects people as they make memories together.
“Double duck, double luck,” he said. “In a world where we suffered from a pandemic, wars and political situations, I think it is the right moment to bring back the double luck.”
The inflatable ducks will stay in Hong Kong for about two weeks.
Many Hong Kongers at the promenade recalled the happiness his work brought to the shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui in 2013. Some were excited to see a pair of ducks on Friday instead of just one duck like the earlier exhibition.
Among the visitors was artist Laurence Lai, who brought paint brushes to make watercolors of the ducks. Lai said the city was full of negative vibes in recent years during the COVID-19 pandemic and that it’s time for the city to move on.
“With life returning to normal, the ducks can bring back some positivity,” the 50-year-old said.
Shenzhen resident Eva Yang and her young daughters were also happy to see the ducks, saying they made their sightseeing in Hong Kong more memorable.
“They’re spectacular,” Yang said.
In 2013, residents and tourists packed streets near the Tsim Sha Tsui pier to catch a glimpse of Hofman’s duck.
That duck’s stint in Hong Kong unintentionally turned political on the social media platform Weibo around the anniversary of Beijing’s Tiananmen crackdown in 1989. Chinese censors blocked searches for the term “big yellow duck” after netizens shared an image in which the tanks in the iconic “ Tank man” image were replaced with a line of oversized giant rubber ducks.
Hofman’s rubber ducks have been on a world tour since 2007.
An art installation called “Double Ducks” by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman is seen at Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, Friday, June 9, 2023. Two giant inflatable ducks made a splash in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor on Friday, marking the return of a pop-art project that sparked a frenzy in the city a decade ago. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)
MORONG, Bataan. Natagpuan ng mga mangingisda ang ilang piraso ng rocket debris na pinaniniwalaang mula sa bansang China na palutang-lutang sa karagatan ng Brgy. Nagbalayong ng bayang ito. Ang natuklasang debris ay nagdulot ng pag-aalala at pag-uusap sa mga lokal at awtoridad.
Ayon kay Morong Municipal Police Chief Captain Ernesto Clemente, natagpuan ang mga piraso ng bakal noong Hunyo 5 ng mga mangingisda bandang alas-8 ng umaga. Ang mga ito ay natagpuan may sampung milya ang layo sa baybaying dagat ng Brgy. Nagbalayong sa nasabing bayan.
Nang makita ng mga mangingisda ang mga debris, agad nilang hinatak ang mga ito gamit ang kanilang motorized bangka patungo sa pampang. Sa simula, inakala nilang mga scrap metal lamang ang kanilang natagpuan na ibebenta sana nila sa junk shop. Ngunit sa pag-aaral ng Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), lumitaw ang posibilidad na ito ay bahagi ng isang malaking spacecraft.
Sa ulat ng PCG, sinabi ni Alvin Menez, isa sa mga mangingisda, na ang natagpuang palutang-lutang na debris sa dagat ay malaking bakal maaaring nauugnay sa Tianzhou, isang automated cargo spacecraft ng China.
Hinatak ni Menez ang metal debris patungo sa baybayin at kaagad nagpaabot ng impormasyon sa mga awtoridad. Sa kasalukuyan, nasa pangangalaga na ng PCG ang nasabing debris.
Ayon kay PCG Commodore Jay Tarriela, ang debris na ito ay kamukha ng itaas na bahagi ng Tianzhou spacecraft na isang cargo spacecraft ng China. Sa kanyang tweet, sinabi ni Tarriela na, “Natagpuan ng isang mangingisda sa Morong, Bataan ang mga pinagkakamalang nawawasak na bahagi ng Tianzhou, isang Chinese automated cargo spacecraft. Ito ay kasalukuyang nasa pangangalaga ng PCG sa Limay, Bataan.”
Dahil sa insidente, nakipag-ugnayan na ang PCG sa Chinese Embassy sa Maynila at sa Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) upang talakayin ang mga natuklasang metal debris sa karagatan. Layunin ng pag-uusap na mapag-aralan ang posibleng epekto nito at ang pangkalahatang kalagayan ng mga rocket debris na nadiskubre na rin sa iba’t ibang lugar sa Pilipinas.
Ayon sa kamakailang report ng Reuters, naglunsad ang China ng Long March 7 rocket na nagdadala ng Tianzhou-4 spacecraft mula sa Wenchang Space Launch Center sa Hainan province noong Mayo. Ito ang naging batayan ng mga awtoridad sa pagsusuri ng posibleng pinanggalingan ng debris.
Nauna dito, sinabi ng PhilSA na binabantayan nila ang mga debris na hindi pa nasusunog na maaaring lumapag sa tatlong tinukoy na drop zone area na humigit-kumulang 65-79 kilometro ang layo mula sa Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal), isang teritoryo ng Pilipinas. Gayunman, sinabi rin ng PhilSA na malabong bumagsak ang debris sa lupa o mga residential area sa Pilipinas.
Sa kasalukuyan, patuloy ang imbestigasyon ng mga awtoridad upang matukoy ang eksaktong detalye ng pinanggalingan at mga rocket debris na natagpuan sa Bataan. Samantala, ang PhilSA ay mananatiling nakaalerto at nakikipagtulungan sa mga kinauukulang ahensya para sa kaligtasan at seguridad ng bansa sa mga ganitong mga insidente.
WASHINGTON. Health advisers on Friday unanimously backed the full approval of a closely watched Alzheimer’s drug, a key step toward opening insurance coverage to U.S. seniors with early stages of the brain-robbing disease.
The drug, Leqembi, received conditional approval from the Food and Drug Administration in January based on early results suggesting it could slow Alzheimer’s progression by several months. The FDA now is reviewing more definitive results to decide whether the drug should receive the agency’s full endorsement.
The decision carries extra significance because insurers have held off on paying for the infused treatment until it has full FDA approval.
The FDA panel of outside advisers voted 6-0 that a large company study confirmed the drug’s benefits for patients with mild or early Alzheimer’s. The nonbinding vote amounts to a recommendation for full approval, and the FDA is scheduled to issue a final decision on the matter by July 6.
The FDA’s initial OK for Leqembi came via the agency’s accelerated approval program, which allows early access to drugs based on laboratory or biological measures suggesting that they might help patients. The drug, marketed by Eisai and Biogen, helped clear a brain plaque that is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s.
The FDA panel reviewed more recent data from an 1,800-patient study in which people taking the drug showed a modestly slower rate of decline on measures of memory, judgment and other cognitive tests.
“For an illness like this where we don’t have very much, these are meaningful changes for patients with Alzheimer’s,” said Dr. Merit Cudkowicz of Harvard Medical School. “A couple more months in the highly functional state is really meaningful.”
Drugs approved via the accelerated pathway can technically be withdrawn by the FDA if their benefits aren’t confirmed, though regulators rarely take that step. Gaining full approval allows medications to stay on the market indefinitely.
Normally the process of converting an accelerated approval attracts little attention, and FDA rarely convenes its advisers to weigh in on such decisions.
But concerns about the cost and effectiveness of new plaque-targeting drugs like Leqembi have attracted new scrutiny to the process from academics, members of Congress and health insurers.
Medicare, the federal health plan that covers 60 million seniors, has essentially blocked coverage of Leqembi and a similar drug, Aduhelm, pending full FDA approval. That policy, which has little precedent, was announced last year amid concerns that Aduhelm, priced at $28,000-a-year, would drive up costs for Medicare recipients.
The federal program provides health insurance for the vast majority of people with Alzheimer’s, and private insurers tend to follow its lead.
Leqembi is priced similarly at $26,500 per year and the handful of patients who have received it to date have mainly had to pay out of pocket.
Facing pressure from Alzheimer’s advocates and patients, Medicare’s administrator, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, has made clear the program will immediately begin covering the drug if it gets FDA’s full OK.
But last week she announced extra requirements even after Medicare coverage begins: All patients receiving the drug will need to be enrolled in a federal registry to track Leqembi’s safety and effectiveness. That approach is occasionally used for complex new medical devices, but rarely for drugs.
The move was criticized by advocacy groups, including the Alzheimer’s Association, which has lobbied the federal government for months to begin paying a drug that they say could potentially help many thousands of Americans.
Leqembi is the first drug that’s been convincingly shown to slow Alzheimer’s by targeting the underlying biology of the disease. The delay in progression amounts to about five months, and some experts disagree on whether that difference is enough to meaningfully improve people’s lives.
But most FDA panelists were impressed by Eisai’s results, which they said showed significant differences in patients’ cognitive abilities and functionality, as well as reduced burden for caregivers.
The study tracked patients for 18 months using a scale measuring key indicators of cognitive function. At the end of the trial, patients receiving Leqembi declined more slowly — a difference of less than half a point on the scale — than patients who received a dummy infusion.
The drug was also associated with potentially serious side effects, including swelling of the brain and small bleeds in brain vessels.
Three patients taking Leqembi died during the study, two after experiencing a stroke linked to brain bleeding. But FDA reviewers said it was unclear whether the drug played a role in the deaths due to other underlying factors affecting the patients, including the use of blood-thinning medications that can increase the risk of bleeding.
“There are adverse effects,” said Dr. Robert Alexander of the University of Arizona, who chaired the panel. “But they’re monitorable and I think the benefit is clear.”
LUCENA CITY. Nakakulong ngayon ang isang security guard na suma-sideline bilang drug pusher matapos maaresto sa anti drug operation kahapon ng madaling araw sa Purok Maligaya, Barangay 5 sa lungsod na ito.
Kinilala ni PLt. Col. Ruben Ballera Jr. Chief of Police dito, ang nadakip na si Arnelo Padillo alyas “Rigor”, 33 anyos na binata at residente ng Purok Silangan, Brgy. Ibabang Dupay. Kabilang siya sa Quezon Police Provincial Office (QPPO) Suspected List Individual (SLI) at dati nang may kinakaharap na kasong paglabag sa RA 9165.
Ayon kay Ballera, nakatanggap sila ng impormasyon na naipatawag na ang suspek sa kanilang barangay at binalaan na muling aarestuhin kapag nasangkot pa sa dating gawain ngunit binabalewala niya ito.
Dahil dito, ikinasa ng City Drug Enforcement Unit (CDEU) ang operasyon laban sa suspek at nang magpositibo sa deal ay agad siyang inaresto dakong alas-2:22 ng madaling araw.
Nakumpiska sa suspek ang isang coin purse na naglalaman ng tatlong transparent sachet ng hinihinalang shabu na nagkakahalaga ng P40,800 at isang piraso ng P500 marked money.
MIAMI. Follow along for live updates on former President Donald Trump, who has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate. The indictment marks the first time in U.S. history that a former president faces criminal charges by the federal government he once oversaw. Trump faces the possibility of prison if convicted.
SECRET SERVICE PREPARES FOR TRUMP COURT APPEARANCE
The U.S. Secret Service is preparing for Trump’s appearance at a federal court in Miami on Tuesday after a grand jury indicted him on 37 felony counts related to his handling of classified documents.
Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the agency “will not seek any special accommodations outside of what would be required to ensure the former Presidents continued safety” in connection with Trump’s appearance.
He added: “As with any site visited by a protectee, the Secret Service is in constant coordination with the necessary entities to ensure protective requirements are met. We have the utmost confidence in the professionalism and commitment to security shared by our law enforcement partners in Florida.”
Trump’s April 4 arraignment in his New York case, where he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, attracted a crush of media and protesters, involved multiple street closures, extra security screenings and shut down non-Trump court business for an afternoon.
LAWS APPLY TO ‘EVERYONE’ TRUMP SPECIAL COUNSEL SAYS
The Justice Department special counsel who filed charges against Trump says in his first public statement that the country has “one set of laws and they apply to everyone” while he outlined the charges against the former president.
Jack Smith spoke to reporters briefly in Washington on Friday but did not take questions.
“Adherence to the rule of law is a bedrock principle of the Department of Justice and our nation’s commitment to the rule of law sets an example for the world,” Smith said.
He said prosecutors would seek a speedy trial and “very much look forward” to presenting their case.
TRUMP KEPT CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS IN BATHROOM, SHOWER OF CLUB, INDICTMENT SAYS
The indictment alleges Trump kept classified documents in the bathroom and shower at his Florida estate, as well as various other locations that included a ballroom, storeroom, office and bedroom.
Prosecutors noted that “tens of thousands of members and guests” visited the “active social club” of Mar-a-Lago between the end of Trump’s presidency in January 2021 through the August 2022 search. They argued that “nonetheless” Trump stored documents “in a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, and office space, his bedroom, and a storage room.”
The indictment claims that, for a two-month period, some of Trump’s boxes were stored in one of Mar-a-Lago’s gilded ballrooms. A picture included in the indictment shows boxes stacked in rows on the ballroom’s stage.
The indictment also shows photographs of boxes that spilled over in the storage room, including a document marked SECRET/REL TO USA, FVEY” which means information releasable only to members of the intelligence alliance of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. In the photo the classified document is redacted.
LAWYER SAID TRUMP SUGGESTED HE REMOVE DAMAGING DOCUMENTS
The indictment unsealed Friday also says that, unaware of any records being moved, Trump’s attorney on June 2, 2022, identified 38 documents with “classified” markings and placed them in a folder, which he sealed with clear duct tape handed to him by Trump valet Walt Nauta. The valet then took the attorney to see the former president.
“Did you find anything? Is it bad? … Is it good?” the lawyer said Trump asked.
The attorney told federal authorities that he discussed the folder of classified material with Trump and how the material should be handled. The attorney told authorities that as they discussed the attorney taking the materials with him, Trump gestured in a way that suggested he wanted the attorney to identify “anything really bad” and “you know, pluck it out.” The lawyer clarified that Trump did not articulate such instructions beyond making that “plucking motion.”
The attorney told authorities that he did not take anything out of the folder and that he instead immediately contacted the FBI and another Trump attorney. On June 3, according to the indictment, the second Trump attorney acted as the official custodian of records on Trump’s behalf and turned the material to the FBI.
INDICTMENT ALLEGES VALET MOVED BOXES AT TRUMP’S DIRECTION
The indictment alleges that Nauta acted “at Trump’s direction” to move move “approximately 64 boxes” of documents from the Mar-a-Lago storage room to the former president’s residence. Nauta’s actions occurred between May 23, 2022, and June 2, 2022, according to the indictment.
That total includes “approximately 30 boxes” Nauta allegedly moved on June 2, the same day Trump’s legal team was expected to examine the cache. Nauta’s actions that day came hours after he talked briefly via phone with Trump, prosecutors allege. Neither Trump nor Nauta, according to the indictment, disclosed to the former president’s attorneys that Nauta had moved any of the storage room contents.
According to prosecutors’ timeline, Trump met later that day with one of his attorneys and Nauta escorted the attorney to the storage room for his review of the documents.
INDICTMENT ALLEGES TRUMP SHOWED DOCUMENTS TO OTHERS
The indictment unsealed Friday outlined two circumstances in which Trump allegedly showed the documents to others.
One occurred in a meeting with a writer at his Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he described federal officials’ “plan of attack” against him and purportedly acknowledging that he knew the information “is still a secret.”
In a later meeting with a representative from his political action committee, Trump displayed “a classified map related to a military operation,” acknowledging he “should not be showing it to the representative and that the representative should not get too close,” prosecutors said.
In the next paragraph, prosecutors note how Trump, at a press conference while president in 2017, addressed media leaks and said that leaking classified information is “an illegal process” and that people involved “should be ashamed of themselves.”
TRUMP FACES 37 FELONY CHARGES
Trump is facing 37 felony charges related to the mishandling of classified documents.
An indictment unsealed Friday also alleges that he described a Pentagon “plan of attack” and shared a classified map related to a military operation.
The document marks the Justice Department’s first official confirmation of a criminal case against Trump arising from the retention of hundreds of documents at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago.
Charged alongside with Trump was Walt Nauta, a Trump aide who was seen on surveillance camera removing boxes at Mar-a-Lago.
The indictment accuses Trump of having improperly removed scores of boxes from the White House to take them to Mar-a-Lago, many of them containing classified information.
Trump described a Pentagon “plan of attack” and shared classified map related to a military operation, according to an indictment unsealed Friday.
The document marks the Justice Department’s first official confirmation of a criminal case against Trump arising from the retention of hundreds of documents at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago.
Trump disclosed the existence of the indictment in a Truth Social post Thursday night as well as in a video he recorded.
The indictment accuses Trump of having improperly removed scores of boxes from the White House to take them to Mar-a-Lago, many of them containing classified information.
BIDEN STAYS MUM ON TRUMP INDICTMENT; PENCE THINKS TRUMP SHOULD STAY IN PRESIDENTIAL RACE
President Joe Biden is steadfastly refusing to comment on Trump’s indictment and says he has not spoken to attorney general Merrick Garland about it, as the White House continues to shy away from the political implications of the case.
Traveling in North Carolina on Friday, Biden said of Garland shortly after the indictment against Trump was unsealed and released to the public, “I have not spoken to him at all. I’m not gonna speak to him.”
The president added, “I have no comment on what happened” and repeated similar replies when pressed.
Trump is the early front-runner in the Republican presidential primary for the right to challenge Biden, who is seeking reelection. At least one of Trump’s rivals, meanwhile, doesn’t think the case should prompt the former president to bow out of the primary race.
Mike Pence, who was Trump’s vice president, was asked by a reporter while campaigning at a diner in Derry, New Hampshire, if Trump should suspend his campaign and replied, “No.”
“I think any consideration of that is premature,” Pence said. “Everyone is innocent until proven guilty in America. I think the former president has a right to make his defense.”
This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of records being stored on the stage in the White and Gold Ballroom at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. 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)
An early bird El Nino has officially formed, likely to be strong, warp weather worldwide and give an already warming Earth an extra kick of natural heat, meteorologists announced.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Thursday issued an El Nino advisory, announcing the arrival of the climatic condition. It may not quite be like the others.
It formed a month or two earlier than most El Ninos do, which “gives it room to grow,” and there’s a 56% chance it will be considered strong and a 25% chance it reaches supersized levels, said climate scientist Michelle L’Heureux, head of NOAA’s El Nino/La Nina forecast office.
“If this El Nino tips into the largest class of events … it will be the shortest recurrence time in the historical record,” said Kim Cobb, a climate scientist at Brown University. Such a short gap between El Ninos leaves communities with less time to recover from damages to infrastructure, agriculture, and ecosystems like coral reefs.
Usually, an El Nino mutes hurricane activity in the Atlantic, giving relief to coastal areas in states from Texas to New England, Central America and the Caribbean, weary from recent record busy years. But this time, forecasters don’t see that happening, because of record hot Atlantic temperatures that would counteract the El Nino winds that normally decapitate many storms.
Hurricanes strengthen and grow when they travel over warm seawater, and the tropical regions of the Atlantic Ocean are “exceptionally warm,” said Kristopher Karnauskas, associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. So this year, NOAA and others are predicting a near-average Atlantic hurricane season.
In the past, a strong El Nino has led to record global warmth, like in 2016 and 1998. Scientists earlier this year had been saying next year is more likely to set a record heat, especially because El Ninos usually reach peak power in winter. But this El Nino started even earlier than usual.
“The onset of El Nino has implications for placing 2023 in the running for warmest year on record when combined with climate-warming background,” said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd.
An El Nino is a natural, temporary and occasional warming of part of the Pacific that shifts weather patterns across the globe, often by moving the airborne paths for storms. The world earlier this year got out of an unusually long-lasting and strong La Nina — El Nino’s flip side with cooling — that exacerbated drought in the U.S. West and augmented Atlantic hurricane season.
What this in some ways means is that some of the wild weather of the past three years – such as drought in places – will flip the opposite way.
“If you’ve been suffering three years of a profound drought like in South America, then a tilt toward wet might be a welcome to development,” L’Heureux said. “You don’t want flooding, but certainly there are portions of the world that may benefit from the onset of El Nino.”
For the next few months, during the northern summer, El Nino will most be felt in the Southern Hemisphere with “minimal impacts” in North America, L’Heureux said.
El Nino strongly tilts Australia toward drier and warmer conditions with northern South America — Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela — likely to be drier and Southeast Argentina and parts of Chile likely to be wetter, she said. India and Indonesia also tend to be dry through August in El Ninos.
While traditionally El Nino means fewer hurricanes in the Atlantic, it often means more tropical cyclones in the Pacific, L’Heureux said.
El Nino hits hardest in December through February, shifting the winter storm track farther south to the equator. The entire southern third to half of the United States, including California, is likely to be wetter in El Nino. For years, California was looking for El Nino rain relief from a decades long megadrought, but this winter’s seemingly endless atmospheric rivers made it no longer needed, she said.
The U.S. Pacific Northwest and parts of the Ohio Valley can go dry and warm, L’Heureux said.
Some of the biggest effects are likely to be seen in a hotter and drier Indonesia and adjacent parts of Asia, L’Heureux said. Also look for parts of southern Africa to go dry.
On the other hand, drought-stricken countries in northeast Africa will welcome beneficial rainfall after enduring drought conditions for several years due to prolonged La Nina events, said Azhar Ehsan, associate research scientist at Columbia University.
Some economic studies have shown that La Nina causes more damages in the United States and globally than El Nino.
One 2017 study in an economic journal found El Nino has a “growth-enhancing effect” on the economies of the United States and Europe, while it was costly for Australia, Chile, Indonesia, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa.
The United States also faces hazards from El Nino despite some benefits. Ehsan noted that the increased rainfall in California, Oregon, and Washington heightens the risk of landslides and flash flooding in these areas. “While El Nino brings benefits in terms of water resource recharge, it poses certain hazards that need to be considered and managed,” he added. (AP)
Itinalaga ni bagong Health Secretary Teodoro “Ted” Herbosa ngayong araw si Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire upang mamuno sa lahat ng mga undersecretary na nangangasiwa sa mga operasyon sa Department of Health (DOH), at si Undersecretary Eric Tayag bilang punong chief information officer.
Nagsilbi si Vergeire bilang officer-in-charge ng DOH bago ang pagtalaga ni Herbosa.
“I gave her a position of chief of all the undersecretaries that are in charge of our operations of all the different regions, because we have four undersecretaries taking care of the DOH activities in Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao,” ayon kay Herbosa sa isang panayam ng ANC.
“She will be helping me, helping me deliver the goals. Her experience and previous job of caretaker of DOH will continue in that segment of operations,” dagdag niya.
Dahil ang pangunahing prayoridad ni Herbosa bilang kalihim ng kalusugan ay ang overhaul DOH, sinabi niya na ang pagpili kay Tayag chief information officer ay napapanahon.
Binanggit niya ang termino ni Tayag bilang direktor ng Knowledge Management and Information Technology Service mula 2016 hanggang 2022.
“Ang digitalisasyon ng DOH ang aking prayoridad at kikilos siya upang tiyakin na ating dadalhin sa digital ang serbisyong pangkalusugan upang maging abot-kamay ito sa mga pinakamalalayong lugar sa bansa,” pahayag ni Herbosa.
Ipinaliwanag niya na ang digitalisasyon ng DOH ay isa sa kanyang mga medium-term na layunin, partikular na upang i-digitalize kung paano inilalabas ng kagawaran ang serbisyong pangkalusugan, kung paano ginagastos ang badyet, at kung paano sinusubaybayan ang mga operasyon ng DOH.
Inanunsyo ng Presidential Communications Office ang pagtalaga kay Herbosa bilang kalihim ng kalusugan noong Lunes, Hunyo 5. Nanumpa siya kinabukasan kay Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
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