Apart from the creation of three new positions of politically appointed officials at the rank of deputy secretary of the department, one directorate officer will be added to each office and creating a political assistant post to support the secretary for justice. A new Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau will be set up to take over the culture, arts and sports, as well as the film, creative industries and tourism portfolios. And the Transport and Housing Bureau will be split into two policy bureaus, namely the Transport and Logistics Bureau and the Housing Bureau. In addition, the Food and Health Bureau will be revamped as Health Bureau to focus on medical and health policies. The Innovation and Technology Bureau will be retitled as the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau under the plan, and the Home Affairs Bureau will reorganise into the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau.

The Philippines was assured of another gold in the 31st Southeast Asian Games after Carlo Biado and Johann Chua won their semifinal matches Tuesday, May 17 to arrange an all-Filipino final in the men’s 9-ball singles. After settling for bronze as teammates in the men’s 9-ball doubles in the 2019 edition held in Manila, Biado and Chua will face off for the gold Wednesday in a race-to-9 affair. Going for his third gold in the regional meet is Biado, who took the men’s 9-ball doubles in the 2015 Singapore Games with Warren Kiamco and the men’s 9-ball singles in the 2017 Kuala Lumpur meet. Chua, the 29-year-old from Bacolod City, has never won a SEA Games gold. Meanwhile, Chua led 3-1 at the start then claimed six of the last eight racks to secure the victory.

NOTICE OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE STOCKHOLDERS OF KEPPEL PHILIPPINES PROPERTIES, INC.TO ALL STOCKHOLDERS:Notice is hereby given that the Annual Stockholders' Meeting (Meeting) of Keppel Philippines Properties, Inc. (Company) will be held on 10 June 2022, Friday, at 10:30 a.m. via Webex virtual conferencing. Considering that the health and safety of our stakeholders is the Company's paramount concern, participation by stockholders at the upcoming Meeting may be by appointing a proxy or by remote communication. If appointing a proxy, kindly date, sign, and deliver your proxy form to the Corporate Secretary at Keppel Philippines Properties, Inc., 12 ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City 1550 on or before 06 June 2022. Stockholders who will participate by remote communication should register by confirming their attendance via e-mail to [email protected] on or before 06 June 2022. Guidelines for registration and participation by remote communication is available on the Company's website (http://keppelland.com.ph) and on its PSE Edge Company Disclosures page (https://edge.pse.com.ph).

AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNSSEOUL: North Korean military medics ramped up the distribution of medicines to fight a growing coronavirus outbreak, state media said on Tuesday, with the number of reported cases of "fever" nearing 1.5 million. North Korea's leader has put himself front and centre of the country's Covid response since its first case was announced last week, saying the outbreak is causing "great upheaval." Authorities have stepped up media awareness campaigns and pharmaceutical factories have increased the production of medicines, KCNA reported. She urged the international community to offer medicines, vaccines and infrastructure to North Korea. Despite the Covid crisis, new satellite imagery has indicated North Korea has resumed construction at a long-dormant nuclear reactor.

For April alone, production growth declined 2.9 percent year on year from March's 5 percent. With efforts to contain the Omicron-fueled coronavirus outbreaks, enhance transportation and logistics, and support enterprises to tide over difficulties, industrial production will be on the mend, he added. 'Short-term impact'On retail sales, NBS data showed that these dipped 0.2 percent year on year to 13.81 trillion yuan (about $2 trillion) in January to April. For the fourth month alone, retail sales declined 11.1 percent from a year ago to 2.95 trillion yuan, which Fu mainly blamed on "the short-term impact of Covid-19." Despite the drop in retail sales, Lu said basic living needs were guaranteed, leading to the sales growth of relevant commodities.

The artistic gymnastics team collected a total of seven golds, four silvers and one bronze in the Hanoi Games. Host Vietnam continues to dominate with 82 golds, 50 silvers and 55 bronzes followed by Thailand with 34 golds, 35 silvers and 50 bronzes. Finnegan also took the silver medal in the balance beam after losing to Malaysia's Rachel Yeoh Li Wen (12.567-12.467). Execution, making good shots and maximizing every frame," said Tan after clinching his first gold medal in three SEA Games appearances. He bagged the silver medal in the team event with Ong, Patrick Neil Nuqui and Kenneth Chua in the 2019 SEA Games.

Two candidates on the same nomination list of the 2020 Legislative Council election for the New Territories West geographical constituency were sentenced to three weeks’ imprisonment for failing to lodge an election return. The duo received from the REO a candidate folder which contained a blank election return form, a guide to election return and an action checklist for candidates. As stated on the action checklist, candidates on the same nomination list should submit one set of election return to the REO. On August 14, 2020, the REO sent registered mails to Chiu and Wong reminding them to lodge the election return by September 29, 2020. Reminder emails were further sent to the duo on two other occasions before the election return submission deadline.

President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. waves at his supporters during a campaign rally in Sampaloc, Manila on April 23, 2022. PHOTO BY JOHN RYAN BALDEMORPresident-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. was also the overwhelming choice of Filipinos who voted abroad. In Saudi Arabia, where there is a 98 percent voter turnout, Marcos obtained 46,748 votes compared to Robredo's 8,582. Based on the partial and unofficial results, as of May 13, 2022, Marcos led the presidential race with 31,104,175 votes against Robredo's 14,822,051 votes. In the 2016 race for vice president, Marcos also won the month-long overseas absentee voting, where he gained 176,669 over Robredo, who got 89,935 votes.

PHOTO BY TIZIANA FABI/AFPROME: Novak Djokovic won his sixth Italian Open title on Sunday (Monday in Manila) after a straight-sets victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-0, 7-6 (7/5) in Rome, while Iga Swiatek won her fifth straight tournament by dispatching Ons Jabeur. World number one Djokovic saw off underwhelming Monte Carlo Masters champion Tsitsipas to claim the last major tournament before Roland Garros gets underway later this month. "So it couldn't be a better time coming into Roland Garros with a title." Swiatek, meanwhile, said she was going to treat Roland Garros as "any other tournament" after beating Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 to retain the women's title. The 20-year-old Pole has dropped just one set in her last 20 matches and calmly dealt with Jabeur in a largely one-sided final in Rome.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board has featured 150 local tours on their website today, for citizens who spend HK$800 or more at designated retail and dining outlets in the city to redeem a place in a local guided tour or an upgraded tour with a small top-up fee. The board previously announced the “Hong Kong Summer Treats” Campaign, debuting with a new round of Spend-to-Redeem local tours to encourage the public to rediscover Hong Kong from various perspectives and drive a positive local ambiance. The board said the new round of Spend-to-Redeem “Local Tours” centers around four themes – Lively Culture, Neighbourhoods, Scenic Harbour and Gastro-fantasies – encompassing a wide variety of distinctive tours, authentic local culture and delightful culinary experiences. Two top-up tours - which include tickets to the Hong Kong Disneyland - are available in the first batch of 150 local tours. More details on these local tours could be found at https://www.holidayhk.com/en-hk/free-tours/

(Seated from left) DBP Senior Assistant Vice President Ma. Ofelia Tesorio, DBP Executive Vice President Paul Lazaro, BBMPC Board Chairman Bonifacio Bermoy, BoholGovernor Arthur Yap and BCMPC Board Chairman Melchor Daniel. DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Herbosa said the P200-million and P9.3-million granted to the Bohol Bayanihan Multi-Purpose Cooperative (BBMPC) and the Bohol Community Multi-Purpose Cooperative (BCMPC), respectively, would be used primarily for working capital as well as processing, storage and other logistical requirements. DBP is the fifth largest bank in the country in terms of assets and provides credit support to four strategic sectors of the economy – infrastructure and logistics; micro, small and medium enterprises; the environment; and social services and community development. DBP's financing assistance to DA-accredited farmers cooperatives forms an integral component of the National Government's Expanded Rice Credit Assistance.

Ukrainian forces opened a dam early in the war in Demydiv, causing the Irpin River to flood the village and thousands of acres around. The move has since been credited with stopping Russian soldiers and tanks from breaking through Ukraine’s lines. “What would have happened if they (Russian forces) …. The Russian invasion, now in its third month, has claimed thousands of civilian lives, sent millions of Ukrainians fleeing and reduced cities to rubble. Over the weekend, Russia pummeled positions in the east of Ukraine on Sunday, seeking to encircle Ukrainian forces in the battle for Donbas.

Rapid developments in emerging technology are also changing lives, paving the way for advances across industries and maybe even new "realities." This focus on shareholder capitalism will require business leaders to find new ways of accounting for unintended impacts on, say, the physical environment. Individually, business leaders will also have to be more mindful of how they hold themselves accountable and how they practice transparency in action and communication as more and more people are watching. In this environment, business leaders will have to become adept at spotting strategic partners within their ecosystem and maximizing those partnerships for competitive advantage. The author is the tax and corporate services leader of Deloitte Philippines (Navarro Amper & Co.), a member of the Deloitte Asia Pacific Network.

JERUSALEM: Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has kept the rating for Israel unchanged at AA-, said a statement issued by Israel's Finance Ministry on Saturday (Sunday in Manila), citing the agency's report. While the analysts at S&P decided to keep Israel's rating unchanged, they raised concerns over the political and security risks in the country, including the governing coalition's loss of its thin majority in the parliament and the widespread violent attacks in recent weeks. "The stable outlook balances elevated geopolitical and domestic political risks and the pandemic-induced deterioration of Israel's fiscal position, against the state's persistently resilient economy, improving budgetary performance and strong balance of payments," they explained. The report expects Israel's economy to expand by 5.5 percent in 2022, following a very strong 8.2-percent growth in 2021 and a 2.2-percent contraction in 2020. "The affirmation is a direct result of the strong performance of the Israeli economy and of the promotion of structural reforms that encourage growth," said Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

The mercury dips to 19 degrees Celsius today as a northeast monsoon brings cooler weather after a week of virtual nonstop rain that was almost as bad as a Covid-mandated shutdown. But conditions will improve further with a dry continental airstream making itself felt later this week. There will be sunny periods and little chance of rain, though showers and isolated thunderstorms could return on Thursday. The system currently in use takes about six minute for each scan, but other radar systems can complete the task in about one minute. Cheng also believes refined radar systems could see Hong Kong issuing rainstorm warnings more frequently in future when the SAR is under the influence of extreme weather.