Latest news with #COVID19
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Authorities Searching Volcanic Lake for 34 Missing Gamblers as Suspect Hints it Contains Over 100 Bodies
Authorities in the Philippines are searching for 34 missing men, who were accused of cheating while betting on livestreamed cockfights during the COVID pandemic It's believed that the men were killed and dumped in a volcanic lake called Taal Lake by a group of six security guards One of the suspects has come forward to give an interview, claiming that they killed and disposed of more than 100 bodiesAuthorities are searching for 34 men who have gone missing amid allegations that they cheated while betting on cockfights in Manila, Philippines. The search is pointing toward Taal Lake, a volcanic lake, where it is believed that the men's bodies might have been disposed of, according to reporting by the BBC. Now, a suspect involved in the case is hinting that authorities will find even more victims. Per local outlet Philstar, the men went missing between April 2021 and January 2022. The outlet noted that "at least 10" of the missing men were last seen at the Manila Arena, where a group of six security guards that have become chief suspects worked. It's claimed that the men took part in fixing livestreamed cockfights, known as e-sabong, which became popular during the COVID pandemic. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Cockfighting is legal in the Philippines. While some industries suffered amid the pandemic, the BBC reported that turning online to livestream fights opened up an even greater revenue source in the business. Amid news of the disappearing gamblers, the livestreamed version of cockfighting has since been banned. Six security guards have been accused of kidnapping the men, with one of them coming forward to speak out, according to local outlet The suspect, identified under the alias "Totoy," implied the men were strangled to death with a wire before they were disposed of during a recent interview on GMA News, per the outlet. 'How can they survive when they were already buried in Taal Lake?' Totoy asked during the interview, which was conducted in Filipino. 'All of them. If we dig them up, it's just bones. How can we recognize them?" Totoy hinted that authorities would uncover the bodies of more than 100 victims if they searched, saying, "And it's not just missing cockfighting enthusiasts who are being thrown there, even drug lords." The suspect, who came forward amid alleged threats against him and other loved ones, vowed to "cooperate" with "the mothers and relatives" of the missing, saying that he would help in "the pursuit of justice." Per the outlet, he alleged that the men were bound after they were taken. He said he was responsible for talking to people who were accused of cheating. After that, "another group of persons" took charge. Totoy expressed surprise at how many men they were targeting in a brief period of time, alleging that he expressed concerns about the speed. Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla told the press on Thursday, June 19 that divers would be deployed in the Taal Lake, which encompasses an active volcano, to search for human remains, according to the BBC. "We can't just let it pass and just let it go. We have to be responsible enough to seek the truth especially in cases like this," he said. Following the revelation, Remulla also said that they would search for additional witnesses who might be able to corroborate the allegations. Philstar reported that five witnesses had already been spoken to. Philippine Navy spokesperson Capt. John Percie Alcos told the press on Friday, June 20, per Philstar, that the organization was "ready to help any agency of the government for the safety and welfare of Filipinos." However, he added that the navy has not yet been drawn into the seach. "Likely, once there's a notice from other government agencies in this particular case, we will refer this to the Naval Special Operations Command because that's where we have our technical divers," he said. PEOPLE has contacted the Philippine National Police and Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla for comment. Read the original article on People
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Good Morning Britain's Kate Garraway reveals she had bailiffs turn up at her door while her late husband Derek Draper was in a coma in hospital
Kate Garraway has revealed that she once had bailiffs turn up at her door while her late husband Derek Draper was in a coma. During Friday's instalment of Good Morning Britain, the presenter, 58, opened up on the tough situation she faced while her husband was stricken in hospital with a COVID-19-related illness. Speaking to money-saving expert Martin Lewis, who is campaigning to change the way councils call in debts of unpaid council tax, she revealed: 'Martin this is extraordinary. I've experienced this you know, when Derek was in his coma. She continued: 'In the latter half of 2020, somebody came to the door, a bailiff, it was all in Derek's name and they said: "You have to pay your years council tax plus the fines because we've been chasing you with letters." Kate explained the reason for the bill going unpaid, was because her husband was responsible for paying the council tax. She said she had 'no idea' it was going unpaid - otherwise, she would have paid it. She continued: 'It was my fault, I hadn't been opening the letters in his name because my head was in another place. 'And I've experienced the speed, as what happened was six weeks between him you know finding them, because he was in a coma, he hadn't paid our council tax, to having bailiffs at the door. 'And I, of course, am in a much more fortunate position than the sort of people you're talking about.' Following the admission, Kate was seen making her way to another job - hosting her Smooth Radio show in London. It comes after MailOnline revealed earlier this week that Kate had suffered another financial blow amid her £800,000 debt battle. The presenter had been frozen out of her bank accounts after changing her phone handset and reached out to Barclays Bank on social media in a desperate plea for help on Tuesday. Kate said that she had been unable to access either her current or savings account since Friday and hadn't been able to speak to anyone in customer service. Taking to X, she wrote: '@Barclays please please get in touch with me - I have not been able to access any of my Barclays accounts current or savings since Friday due to changing my phone handset and can't get through to anyone on customer service - please dm me.' Kate's message didn't go unanswered this time and a customer service rep responded to her through the Barclays X account. They wrote: 'Could you please pop into our DM's with your full name, postcode, contact number, and we can take it from there together. 'I've popped a link on this message that will take you through to us in DM. If you do have any other questions then please do let me know as we are here 24/7 for you. Thank you!' It's the latest financial blow for Kate who has been dealing with debt following her husband Derek's death. The presenter has openly discussed how she has been left with debts between £500,000 and £800,000 after caring for her late husband. Political lobbyist Derek died at the age of 56 in January 2024 following a four-year battle with long Covid with Kate paying £16,000 a month for his care. Now, a new liquidator's report has revealed the large tax costs that are yet to be paid by Derek's now-defunct psychotherapeutic company Astra Aspera. The company, which was jointly controlled by Kate, went bust owing hundreds of thousands of pounds to creditors, including a large bill to HMRC. Filings on Companies House have revealed how Kate has been trying to pay off the debt, with HMRC now submitting a lower revised total in a small boost. HMRC's latest preferential claim stands at £288,054, which is around a third of its previous 2023 submission of £716,822, according to the documents. It is not known why HMRC dropped the payment, and the filing has claimed there are also 'insufficient funds to pay a dividend to secondary preferential creditors'. According to The Sun, Kate has so far paid back £21,000. Addressing the filing, Kate's spokesperson told MailOnline the 'shocked' TV star 'doesn't recognise these figures' and is in contact with HMRC to make sure she 'honours what is required'. Their statement read: 'Kate has met all that the liquidators of Derek's company have asked for and more over the past four years. 'She doesn't recognise these figures and is shocked that it's being presented in this way by them. 'Caring for Derek and supporting her family when Derek could no longer run his own businesses has taken a huge financial toll on her but she's determined to put things right. 'She is in constant contact with HMRC to make sure she honours what's required from Derek's now-defunct company.' Kate said that she had been unable to access either her current or savings account since Friday and hadn't been able to speak to anyone in customer service Kate's message didn't go unanswered this time and a customer service rep responded to her through the Barclays X account Derek battled long Covid for four years before his death and Kate has openly discussed the devastating financial toll of funding his care during that period. When Derek wasn't in hospital, he had to be looked after 24/7 at home by his wife and a team of carers. Derek battled long Covid for four years before his death and Kate has openly discussed the devastating financial toll of funding his care during that period. When Derek wasn't in hospital, he had to be looked after 24/7 at home by his wife and a team of carers. In January, Kate explained how she has been left with 'excessive un-payable debt' as she spoke about dealing with the funding of his care. She shared: 'The family and I have been talking about the challenges we faced this time last year, one of the overriding ones, he went back into intensive care before he passed away was dealing with the funding of care. 'At the time of his death, there were two appeals that hadn't been heard for funding. It kept being pushed back and pushed back. 'In the meantime, I'm lucky I have an incredible job which is well paid. I was having to fund the situation. 'Now I've got excessive un-payable debt because of it. If I'm in that position what else are people going to be?' In March 2024, the presenter revealed that she had been spending £16,000 a month on care for her late husband. She told Good Morning Britain: 'I am ashamed of the fact I'm in debt. I have an incredible job that I love, that's very well paid. 'I'm not a carer travelling miles, paying their own transport to go and help somebody for minimum wage.
Forbes
3 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Beyond Perks—Why Conscious Culture Is A Scalable Business Strategy
Greg Dolan, CEO, Keen Decision Systems. In today's startup landscape, culture often gets reduced to surface-level perks: remote work options, wellness stipends and quarterly offsites. While those things have their place, they're not culture. They're benefits. And when the pressure's on, those perks won't protect your company from internal dysfunction or a surge of people leaving for greener pastures. When everyone is offering the same thing, how can you differentiate yourself? We believe real culture isn't what happens on the surface. Rather, it's the system under the surface. It's the logic, behaviors, rituals and decisions that persist, especially when things get hard. Culture is how your company responds to tension, change, conflict and opportunity. And it's either intentional or accidental. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, did your team band together and rally around a set of shared values or did your organization splinter and grow apart? Most companies don't consciously design culture. They inherit it, or worse, they drift into it. When we founded Keen in 2010, we decided that culture would not be an afterthought. Instead, it would be the operating system, informing everything we do. Smart organizations make culture a bedrock principle from the start. We codified our values from day one and tied them to how we hire, promote, give feedback and reward. In addition, we implemented a four-day workweek before it was cool. The goal was not to be trendy, but because we believe performance and rest are partners, not opposites. Startups are notoriously tough on people, so by valuing your employees, you can ensure that they're able to thrive while also building a strong organization. Additionally, we built a performance development system rooted in coaching, feedback and quarterly OKRs, instead of annual reviews that no one uses and where feedback is unclear. We separated accountability from fear, clarity from micromanagement and growth from burnout. We didn't add culture. We architected it and we're better as an organization because of it. The lie corporate America has told for too long is that culture is soft. Or secondary. Or HR's job. But we believe that culture is strategy, infrastructure and compounding value. If you want to build something that lasts, culture has to scale with your business model. You can't scale trust, performance and autonomy if your systems are still managing appearances instead of outcomes. As a result of our culture focus, we've experienced faster onboarding because people know who we are. Additionally, there's a greater alignment among teams because decisions are values-aligned and we've experienced lower churn because the workplace actually works for people. We've also created more resilient teams because they've been built in truth, not theater. In a world where startups are pressured to grow at all costs, the companies that build with intention and humanity on a strong cultural spine will likely outperform in the long term. They'll also attract the best people, retain their customers and scale sustainably. By putting culture at the forefront, you can create an organization that people want to work for. Beyond that, by practicing a culture rooted in self-awareness, trust and individual accountability, people can thrive both personally and professionally. Founders have an unfair advantage. You don't have 100 years of dysfunction to undo. You can design your operating system from day one. The question is: will you? Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Forbes
3 hours ago
- General
- Forbes
1 Powerful Way To Keep Your Relationship Strong During Uncertain Times
The world may feel messy, but your relationship doesn't have to feel the same way. Here's why, ... More according to new research. Wars are raging. The economy is teetering. The world is spinning faster than we could ever keep up with. And, unfortunately, it's not slowing down. Recessions, pandemics, conflict and social unrest have historically been associated with steep declines in romantic relationship satisfaction. People usually expect love to be a shelter of sorts in times like these — but when both partners are completely overwhelmed, that shelter can start to cave inwards. However, new research suggests our relationships don't have to be collateral damage in the midst of worldly chaos. In fact, they might be our best chance at staying grounded. Global uncertainty can deplete emotional bandwidth in ways that few people are consciously aware of. And, too often, this exhaustion gets mistaken as just a sign of the times. As an unfortunate result, this tension usually goes unchecked. Unfortunately, relationships are often first to bear the brunt of this. A 2021 study published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships tracked couples throughout the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the months that followed. These months (if not years) were defined by ambiguity in almost every aspect of life: health, career, family, finances and daily routines. The researchers found that this chronic sense of uncertainty led to significantly elevated levels of psychological distress for the participants. Naturally, when we're this burned out from stress, our capacities for even the most basic forms of relationship maintenance run thin. Practicing patience and empathy is difficult when we can barely offer it to ourselves. Unsurprisingly, the study found that higher levels of individual stress were linked to lower relationship satisfaction. Instead of being a source of comfort during trying times, relationships became just another source of emotional strain. This is just one of many symptoms of systemic stress. When one or both partners feel overwhelmed, they lack the necessary emotional resources to truly look after one another in the ways they otherwise would. Importantly, these declines aren't necessarily due to resentment or a lack of love. In uncertain times, individuals simply can't afford to divert their gaze away from everything happening globally. Consequently, they lose sight of what's happening internally — for both themselves and those close to them. While prior studies like these may give cause to be cynical, February 2025 research from McGill University gives us reason to be hopeful. Published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the study found that couples who co-create a 'shared reality' experience much less uncertainty during times of doubt. More importantly, they report experiencing much more meaning in their lives, too. In simple terms, this refers to the understanding partners share regarding what's happening in their lives. They see events unfold around them, and interpret them in similar ways. Regardless of whether these events are terrifying, chaotic, joyous or even just neutral, they unpack it — and make sense of it — together. These shared realities can be formed in countless ways. Today, it might look like a couple venting to each other after a long day. Maybe they've been doomscrolling, watching footage of families in Gaza displaced by war, families being torn apart by deportation or seeing another climate disaster unfold. One puts their phone down, sighs and says, 'It's just headline after headline. I feel like all I can do is just sit here and watch it happen, doing nothing.' Like so many people right now, this partner is experiencing what can only be described as helpless dissonance: the feeling that the world is unraveling, and they're powerless to do anything about it. In moments like these, we often talk about the importance of 'feeling heard' or 'feeling seen' in relationships. But when distress reaches this level of extremity, saying 'Yeah, that sucks,' or, 'I'm sorry you're feeling that way,' just isn't enough. Instead, what matters most is knowing that you aren't alone in these feelings, nor in coping with them. In this case, their partner doesn't dismiss their concerns, nor do they try to fix it. Instead, they meet them where they are. They say something like, 'I've been feeling that, too. It's like the world is on fire, and all I can do is watch it burn from the couch.' They talk more. They unpack their fear, their anger, their guilt. They sit with their discomfort together. Maybe in the days that follow, they find small things they can do. They donate to a cause. They join a protest. They talk to their friends. They take breaks from the news when they need to. They remind each other that, even though they can't solve every world problem single-handedly, they can at least see them through the same lens together. This is their greatest buffer. Their rituals in empathy remind them that even when the world feels shaky, they can still hold each other steady inside it. As the lead author of the 2025 study, M. Catalina Enestrom, explains in McGill University's press release, 'Shared reality doesn't necessarily require shared experiences.' She continues, 'One partner can describe a stressful event they experienced, and if the other partner sees it the same way, this too can foster shared reality. As couples accumulate these shared reality experiences, they come to develop a sense of shared understanding about the world in general.' The power of shared reality was especially clear in high-stress, high-stakes contexts. Specifically, frontline healthcare workers during the pandemic and Black Americans during the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement reported significantly more meaning in life, and significantly less uncertainty, when they shared a worldview with their partner. In other words, uncertainty becomes much less destabilizing if you're not holding it alone. Your version of reality starts to feel more real if you have a partner who validates your interpretations of events. Even if nothing around you has actually changed — and even if there's nothing you could actually do to change it — you can still find meaning and control, together, in your situation. While a shared reality is particularly important during times of upheaval, Enestrom and her colleagues argue that these benefits can be reaped even in normal, everyday life. That is, knowing you aren't experiencing daily life in complete isolation makes you feel more coherent, more connected and less alone in your own head. Importantly, this doesn't mean you and your partner necessarily have to agree on everything. You don't need to merge your identities or parrot your ideas and feelings back at one another. Otherwise, it's simply an affirmation for the sake of affirmation. Saying the right words means very little if they aren't backed with genuine empathy; it only works if you truly care about how the other person sees the world. The single most important part of it is that you form a framework for understanding the world. In doing so, you can rely at the very least on your shared sense of direction — even when everything outside your relationship feels completely unpredictable. Is your relationship a safe space for expressing your true thoughts and feelings about the world? Take this science-backed test to find out: Authenticity In Relationships Scale
Fast Company
4 hours ago
- Business
- Fast Company
Tariffs and supply chain disruptions: Why S&OP is your secret weapon
At just about the halfway point, the 2020s have been a decade of unprecedented supply chain disruptions. In 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic 'brought to light previously unseen vulnerabilities' in the global supply chain, according to Ernst & Young. Five years later, the world's vast and intricate supply, demand, and logistics networks have faced more disruptions from a bird flu epidemic, a global trade war, on-again-off-again tariffs, and other factors. In particular, tariffs and related trade fights can inject extreme uncertainty, complexity, and volatility into already fragile supply chain networks, with impacts extending well into the future. In April 2025, Axios reported that '[a] slew of companies have warned of higher prices or have already increased them, including Procter & Gamble, Best Buy, Unilever, Ford, Shein, Temu, AutoZone and Hermès,' and the Halloween and Costume Association was already warning tariffs could 'wipe out Halloween and severely disrupt Christmas unless urgent action is taken.' Companies that rely on efficient and effective supply chain management, like product manufacturers, are facing tremendous pressure to step up their game in the face of mounting challenges. As a result, supply chain leaders and their colleagues in finance and operations are asking questions like, 'Should we onshore our manufacturing?' 'Should we cut our foreign growth plan?' 'Should we change product strategies?' and more. These are all good questions, and every business is different. But I believe there's a common denominator that can help any company reduce risk and more effectively manage supply chain volatility: a very high-level sales and operations planning (S&OP) process. WHAT IS S&OP? Simply put, S&OP is a cross-functional alignment exercise designed to match product inventory with market demand. The process usually involves a monthly meeting with key people from finance, sales, marketing, operations, and possibly other business areas like production, warehousing, and logistics. For companies managing complex supply chains, S&OP is the bridge between strategic planning (sometimes considered a part of integrated business planning, or IBP), which prepares medium and long-range forecasts, and sales and operations execution (S&OE), which is the daily tactical execution of the company's IBP and S&OE processes. The fact that most people take for granted that they can get pretty much anything they want, nearly any time, from nearly any part of the world is a testament to the miracle of global supply chains. However, these intricate networks are vulnerable to a number of factors, and problems in one part of the chain almost always ripple elsewhere. The risk of supply chain disruptions goes up considerably when companies' assumptions about demand, supply, logistics, or other factors come into question. As one example, tariffs may reduce demand for products and create inventory imbalances. These imbalances affect corporate profitability, which can impact jobs or corporate investments. The more control a company has over reducing daylight between supply and demand, the less things like tariffs and trade uncertainties impact the company. This is where a highly effective S&OP process can drive more value than any other effort. Done well, S&OP keeps daily execution in sync with business strategy, brings alignment and transparency between business functions, drives trust and accuracy in the numbers, exposes gaps and creates accountability to close them, and enables clarity in probability and risk analysis. Done exceptionally well, S&OP empowers companies to use continuous alignment to make daily or even hourly incremental tweaks based on changing market conditions. Tariffs and the threat of a trade war are serious concerns for supply chains, but the principles of excellent supply chain planning don't really change if the threat is tariffs, an active hurricane season, or a rash of pirate activity in the Atlantic Ocean. Principles inform strategy, strategy informs tactics, and tactical execution creates a virtuous feedback loop in a good S&OP process. Start with these principles: 1. Use a single number system: Ensure accurate data and single sources of truth to avoid 'garbage in, garbage out.' In a single number system, one department develops the forecast, and the other departments participate by sharing assumptions for lifting or decrementing the forecast. The 'consensus' then is around the assumptions, not the number, which eliminates confusion. 2. Connect to strategy: Lead with goals, tolerances, and full integration of the financial plan. Good tools and processes allow teams to see where plans are out of sync with the strategy and financial plan. This enables teams to take corrective action much earlier and bring the business back into alignment with strategy. 3. Eliminate bias: Insist on a culture of getting numbers right and managing specific behaviors. Think of bias like shooting arrows at a target: If you aim for the center, but constantly hit to the right of the bullseye, you are biased to shoot right of the bullseye. Bias is easy to see and should be easy to correct, but it requires honesty. 4. Drive with assumptions: Ensure end-to-end planning, incorporate the entire planning horizon, and be sure to include all key trends. Related to No. 1 above, companies that learn to focus on assumptions rather than the number tend to be much better at executing a valid plan because they understand what really moves the needle. 5. Close gaps: Insist on understanding the 'why' and 'how,' surface discrepancies quickly, and guide with trustworthy analytics. Using a single number system and focusing on assumptions naturally reveals gaps and the ideal ways to close them. 6. Mitigate risks: Get very good at probability analysis, cross-functional simulations, brainstorming, and connecting it all back to strategy. When steps one to five above are accomplished, the company is in a strong position to run simulations and risk analysis and can do so very rapidly and with confidence. It's hard to make good supply chain decisions even in the best of times. When tariffs or other uncertainties cloud the crystal ball, it's even harder. Amid supply chain uncertainty, a strong S&OP process is your secret weapon.
