An artificial beach in the Philippine capital, Manila is causing controversy with some environmentalists arguing it is bad for the environment.
The ''Manila Bay Sands'' project is part of a wider $20m government plan to clean up Manila Bay.
The white sand is made from crushed dolomite rock which is extracted from large dolomite mines.
The Kalikasan Environment Group says the mining operations are destructive and the synthetic sand can harm marine life.
Despite this, thousands of Manila's residents have been flocking to the beach to catch a glimpse of the city's hottest new talking point.
Source: BBC
In a study it described as both conclusive and disappointing, the World Health Organization said the antiviral drug remdesivir has "little or no effect on mortality" for patients hospitalized with coronavirus and it doesn't seem to help patients recover any faster, either. Until now, remdesivir has been the only drug that appeared to have specific effects for coronavirus. It was the only drug with an Emergency Use Authorization for Covid-19 from the US Food and Drug Administration.
Results of the WHO study have not been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. But WHO posted them to a pre-print server.
The largest unexploded World War Two bomb ever found in Poland has detonated during the defusing process, a Polish Navy spokesman said. The chance the bomb - at the bottom of a Baltic Sea shipping canal - would detonate had been put at 50-50 and all the divers were unharmed. About 750 residents had been evacuated near the port city of Swinoujscie.
The RAF dropped the Tallboy or "earthquake" bomb in a raid in 1945 which sank the German cruiser Lützow.
The US is to execute a female federal inmate for the first time in almost 70 years, the Justice Department said. Lisa Montgomery strangled a pregnant woman in Missouri before cutting out and kidnapping the baby in 2004. She is due to be given a lethal injection in Indiana on 8 December.
The last woman to be executed by the US government was Bonnie Heady, who died in a gas chamber in Missouri in 1953, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The federal execution of Brandon Bernard, who with his accomplices murdered two youth ministers in 1999, has also been scheduled for December.
A British pilot from the East Riding of Yorkshire is being prosecuted over the crash which killed Argentinian professional, footballer Emiliano Sala. The 28-year-old striker was being flown from Nantes in France to his new club, Cardiff City, on 21 January 2019 when the light aircraft being piloted by David Ibbotson, 59, from Lincolnshire, plunged into the sea near Guernsey. His body was recovered from the seabed 68 metres down two weeks after while Ibbotson’s body has still not been found.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced in a statement that David Henderson, 66, who was meant to have flown the footballer, has been charged with two offences under the Air Navigation Order (2016).
33 year old US tennis player Sam Querrey, has been accused of fleeing Russia on a private jet after he and his family tested positive for Covid-19. Querrey and his wife had tested positive for the virus ahead of the St. Petersburg Open this week and were placed in quarantine at a hotel, according to the tournament organizers.
Doctors had recommended Querrey and his family be moved to a private apartment but he did not allegedly answer the door when doctors were dispatched to evaluate his condition.
The government of Thailand has announced a ban on gatherings of more than five people under an emergency decree, and arrested several prominent protest leaders in a tight handed bid to stop pro-democracy protests that have gripped the country for more than three months.
The decree, which came into effect in the capital Bangkok at 4 a.m. local time Thursday October 15, was enforced after thousands of protesters marched from the city's Democracy Monument and broke through a police barricade to camp outside Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's offices late Wednesday, calling for Prayut's resignation and reform of the monarchy.
A 27 year-old South African jailed for life for trafficking more than 0.5kg of cocaine from Brazil to Cambodia will know on 3 November, whether his sentence will be reduced. This was the date the Cambodian Court of Appeal said it would deliver its verdict. The South African, Blignaut Chan had swallowed the drugs before departing Brazil and was arrested at the Phnom Penh International Airport in September 2017.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. During his hearing at the Appeal Court, Chan told a judge through an interpreter that he had been hired by Au Stin, also a South African, to swallow about 50 pills filled with cocaine.
A bus has collided with a train in Thailand, killing at least 18 people and injuring dozens more, officials say. The crash happened on Sunday morning, 50km (31 miles) east of Bangkok.
Thai police said passengers inside the bus were on their way to a temple to mark the end of Buddhist Lent. Images from the scene show the bus upturned on its side, heavily damaged and objects scattered along the train tracks. Rescue workers say they need a crane to be able to lift the bus.
There were 60 passengers travelling in the bus at the time of the crash, province governor Maitree Tritilanond said.
Rafael Nadal produced a convincing displace to stun Novak Djokovic and equal Roger Federer's record of 20 Grand Slam men's titles at the French Open final on Sunday, October 11. The Spaniard defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 in 2 hours, and 41 minutes at Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris to clinch a record-extending 13th title at Roland Garros.
Speaking after the game, Nadal who also became the first player to win 100 singles matches at Roland Garros: "A win here means everything for me. Honestly, I don't think about the 20th and equalling Roger, for me it is just a Roland Garros victory."
"I have spent most of the most important moments in my career here.
TikTok has been banned in Pakistan after the country’s telecom regulator deemed that it had failed to filter out “immoral and indecent” content. It is the latest blow for the beleaguered social media platform, which back in June was banned in India after that country said it had received reports that TikTok and other Chinese apps were “stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data.”
The app, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, also faces a potential ban in the US over concerns about user privacy.
Bangladesh is set to allow the death penalty for convicted rapists after weeks of protests over sexual violence in the country. Bangladesh's Cabinet on Monday approved an amendment changing the maximum punishment for convicted rapists from life imprisonment to death, according to state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).
The new provision will go into effect once it is signed by Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid. The step is considered a formality.
"Surely (the law) will be a deterrent to such notorious crimes while we simultaneously will make all-out efforts to expedite the trial process of rape cases in the relevant courts," Law Minister Anisul Huq said, according to BSS.
Atletico Madrid striker, Luis Suarez, has claimed that he was forced out of Barcelona, because of his relationship with Lionel Messi. The 33-year-old left the Nou Camp after six years this summer.
During his spell with Barca, Suarez became the club’s third all-time top goal scorer with 198 goals.
“I would have looked for a solution if it was a financial problem and if it was a sporting issue I could have understood. It is not clear to me why they took the decision they took.
“I think they wanted to remove me from Messi’s side. Maybe it annoyed them that I had a good relationship with Leo. Perhaps they didn’t want him to be with me so much. I can’t find any reason to think that would damage the team, though,” Suarez told ESPN’s “90 Minutos” on Friday.
England and Manchester United striker, Marcus Rashford has been honored by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his campaign against child poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 22-year-old forward was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), in the Queen's Birthday Honors list, approved by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
Rashford made an impact during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic when he campaigned for the government to allow about 1.3 million children to claim free school meal vouchers in England's summer holidays during the coronavirus pandemic.
Tanzanian residents, students and firefighters were battling on Monday to contain a fire that broke out Sunday on Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, the National Parks service (TANAPA) said.
Hard winds on Sunday helped fan the fire, but the winds have died down. So far, no injuries or deaths have been reported and no property damaged.
"The fire is still going on and firefighters from TANAPA, other government institutions and locals are continuing with the efforts to contain it," said Pascal Shelutete, a TANAPA official.
Kilimanjaro rises to nearly 6,000 metres (20,000 feet) above sea level. Around 50,000 tourists climb it every year.
Facebook has banned all accounts linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory movement from its platforms.
"Starting today, we will remove Facebook Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts," the company said on Tuesday.
The move is a significant escalation to Facebook's earlier decision to remove or restrict groups and accounts sharing and promoting QAnon material.
QAnon is a conspiracy theory that says President Trump is waging a war against elite Satan-worshipping paedophiles.
