Death toll in Ukrainian attack on Russian apartment now at 15

THE DEATH toll in the partial collapse of a 10-story residential apartment building in Russia’s southwestern city of Belgorod following a Ukrainian attack on May 12 has risen to 15, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said.

Xi meets Russian Federation Council speaker

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping met recently with visiting Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko in Beijing.

Putin says Russia would have crushed rebellion, vows ‘justice’ for mutiny organizers

WASHINGTON — Russian President Vladimir Putin said the organizers of an armed mutiny last week will be “brought to justice” and that his military would have put down the rebellion anyway.

Russian mercenary chief says his forces are rebelling, some left Ukraine and entered city in Russia

THE OWNER of the Wagner private military contractor made his most direct challenge to the Kremlin yet, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defense minister. The security services reacted immediately by calling for the arrest of Yevgeny Prigozhin.

U.S. war with China, Russia not inevitable

THE UNITED States must remain the most powerful nation on Earth if peace is to continue between the U.S., China and Russia, said Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, who recently testified about the Defense Department’s fiscal year 2024 budget request at a House Armed Services Committee hearing.

Russia reportedly supplying enriched Plutonium to China

VARIOUS open-source outlets reported how Rosatom is providing highly enriched uranium for Chinese fast breeder reactors, said a U.S official during a recent posture hearing at the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces.

Marcos thanks world leaders

‘More countries congratulate president-elect’

PRESIDENT-ELECT Bongbong Marcos has thanked world leaders who congratulated him after winning in the election.

Duterte retains fuel taxes, to give P200 a month to poor families

PRESIDENT DUTERTE has rejected proposals to suspend fuel excise taxes, but approved a P200 a month cash aid to poor families amid the soaring prices of petroleum products due to the Russo-Ukrainian war.

No shortage of fuel amid Russo-Ukrainian war

CEBU CITY – The Department of Energy (DOE)-Visayas said there is enough supply of fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Central Visayas despite the impact of the Russo-Ukrainian war on oil prices in the world market.

Archbishop Palma urges Catholics to pray

CEBU CITY – As the Catholic Church starts the Lenten season, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma urged Cebuanos to intensify prayers for the country and the world.

Beng calls for prayers to end Russo-Ukraine war

WHILE THE Duterte government would not speak about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the local government of Zamboanga City led by Mayor Beng Climaco called on everyone to pray for peace and for the war, which has killed thousands from both sides, to end soon.

Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V effective vs. Omicron variant

SPUTNIK V is twice more effective than the Pfizer vaccine in neutralizing activity against the Omicron - this is the main takeaway from the latest analysis by Italy’s Experimental Institute Lazzaro Spallanzani, Russia’s Gamaleya Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology and Moscow State Sechenov Medical University.

Duterte eyes 20 million doses of Russian Covid vaccine

THE DUTERTE administration is eyeing to purchase at least 20 million doses of the Russian Covid-19 vaccine, Gamaleya Sputnik V, following a recent phone conversation between the Filipino leader and President Vladimir Putin.

Funds for anti-Covid vaccines ready

PRESIDENT DUTERTE assured the public that the government has money for the acquisition of Russian and Chinese vaccines for the coronavirus disease.

Maxim, InDriver operate illegally in Cebu: LTFRB

CEBU CITY - The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in Central Visayas is monitoring Maxim, a Russian ride-hailing application that is illegally operating in Cebu.

Eduardo Montealto Jr., LTFRB regional director, said that Maxim has not been accredited nor given a permit by the agency and yet continues to operate here. He said there are many unaccredited transport network vehicle service operating in Cebu and using apps that are not registered with the LTFRB. 

OPINION: Of PNA and Sputnik by Jun Ledesma

WHAT HAS RAPPLER'S Pia Ranada against the Philippine News Agency’s plan of having  a sharing arrangement of  news and  feature articles with Russia’s Sputnik own news agency?  For owing so much allegiance to US-based Omidyar Network that invested on Rappler, Ranada cannot keep her bias and prematurely hint that PNA’s idea of exchanging news articles and opinion items with Sputnik  is not to the comfort of the Philippines in terms of security.

In asserting that Sputnik is part of Russia’s propaganda machine, Rappler only succeeded in resurrecting the scandal involving the role of Omidyar Network (ON) in demonizing and destabilizing the government of Ukraine that led to the overthrow of its President Yanukovych, a pro-Russian leader.  ON, if we remember, figured prominently in the scandal involving its substantial dollar investment on Rappler which led to the revocation of its license. This media outfit had paraded as a 100% Filipino corporation but the fact that it issued Philippine Depository Receipts indicated that ON exercises  control on its business  and editorial policies. Of course, the easy exit from this tight fix was for ON to waive its PDRs and “donated” them to its Filipino staff.

 The last thing that Rappler’s Ranada should do therefore is to preach that “there is nothing to gain from this news cooperation except to learn from a country that has succeeded in turning lies into truths…”.

Brave words from a social news network that had been involved in spreading preposterous stories involving the Davao Death Squad and super-bloated figures of what it claimed as victims of Extra-Judicial Killings. It is the height of journalistic hubris to suggest  that they alone, and not the staff and writers of PNA, have the credentials to take the responsibility of monitoring and identifying what are trolls and fakes in various media platforms.

There are a lot of things to know and learn about Russia and this plan of sharing of news and other articles can only lead to better understanding of the political, economic and social issues surrounding Russia that had been deprived of us until today. From my short-pant days and now when I have few strands of hair left and shaking knees, I remain to be in limbo about what is inside Russia.

But yes, last October I made it to St. Petersburg, a Russian City by the Baltic Sea. Stayed in that magnificent city for two days. And I must say that indeed I am quite lucky to have set foot in this cultural, economic and scientific center of Russia. Isn’t it informative if we read stories, see video clips and photos about what’s in Russia and they about the Philippines? We have a lot of things to learn from each other and for as long as the Philippine News Agency will not accept investments from shady source I do not think that news exchanges will have any impact on our security at all.

By the way Sputnik news agency has regional offices in Washington, Beijing, Singapore, London Cairo and Edinburgh. So what are we so scared of? (Jun Ledesma)

Like Us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mindanaoexaminer

Follow Us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MindanaoExamine

Read And Share Our News: https://www.mindanaoexaminer.com

Mirror Site: https://mindanaoexaminernewspaper.blogspot.com

Digital Archives: https://issuu.com/mindanaoexaminernewspaper

See Media Rates: https://mindanaoexaminer.com/ad-rates