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EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey, (Reuters) – Spain climbed again to ​the summit of world football on Sunday when substitute Ferran Torres struck in the 106th minute to prise the World Cup from holders Argentina ‌with a 1-0 victory that crowned a new era but brought precious little beauty. The biggest prize in football deserved a classic. Instead, the world’s two finest teams produced a suffocating stalemate that drifted towards penalties before Torres finally found the breakthrough with Spain’s 20th attempt on goal. It was perhaps fitting that the final whistle sparked the game’s liveliest moments, with players pushing, shoving and falling to the ground ​as Argentina’s frustrations finally boiled over into a brawl. The euphemism “one for the purists” might have been coined to describe this contest. It was a match almost entirely ​devoid of quality, chances and risk until Torres, introduced from the bench, finally broke the deadlock. Messi,…

Metro Manila, Philippines – The public trust rating of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. fell to a record-low of 34%, while Vice President Sara Duterte’s held at 57%, according to a survey conducted ahead of Marcos Jr.’s fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA).  In June 2026, Marcos Jr.’s “much trust” rating of 34% fell by one percentage point compared to the 35% recorded in March 2026, based on results of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey commissioned by the Stratbase Consultancy made public on Sunday, July 19.  This represents a record low for Marcos and a continued decline in his trust rating since it peaked at 64% in the July 2024 edition of the SWS survey.  Of the 1,200 respondents, 45% had “little trust” in Marcos Jr., while another 19% were undecided. In terms of overall net trust rating – taken by subtracting the much trust rating from the little…

Metro Manila, Philippines – After Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano claimed that Sen. Ping Lacson’s net worth doubled in 2025, the ex-police chief-turned-lawmaker defended his integrity, saying the Senate minority leader “crossed the line” by attacking his character. In a Facebook Live broadcast on Saturday, July 18, Cayetano hurled corruption accusations at Lacson, claiming that the latter’s net worth reported in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) doubled in value in 2025. “As of this morning, I’m still counting informants and witnesses, directly or through intermediaries, willing to provide information and evidence to put him in his proper place — the Payatas, QC [Quezon City] jail,” Lacson countered in a social media post on Sunday, July 19. In an earlier post on Saturday, Lacson strongly denied Cayetano’s calculations. “Hindi nag-doble ang net worth sa SALN ko in 2025 compared to 2022 when I left the Senate. Actually, more than…

WASHINGTON/CAIRO – The United States launched new strikes against Iran, Central Command said, after it earlier announced that two U.S. military personnel were killed in Jordan and another was ​missing following an Iranian attack. Before the strikes on Saturday, Iran’s supreme leader said Washington would pay for “seeking to escalate the conflict.” Central Command said in a statement that the airstrikes began ‌at 6 p.m. ET (2200 GMT), at President Donald Trump’s direction. “The strikes are designed to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces who launched attacks against American service members in Jordan last night,” it said, without providing further details. Iran’s Mehr news agency said the U.S. carried out an attack near Sirik in southern Iran, adding that no casualties or damage to infrastructure have been reported. The U.S. and Iran have intensified attacks…

Metro Manila, Philippines – House lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro on Friday clarified that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), not the prosecution panel, would decide whether to seek presidential authorization to disclose Vice President Sara Duterte’s tax records if subpoenaed by the Impeachment Court.  “Actually, it is the discretion of the BIR… Prerogative iyan ng BIR, kung sila ba ay hihingi din ng authority sa presidente upang mailatag itong mga dokumento ng BIR,” Luistro told NewsWatch Plus on Friday, July 17.  [Translation: Actually, it is the BIR’s discretion. It is the agency’s prerogative whether it will seek the president’s authority before presenting the BIR documents.] The president’s authorization is widely viewed as a key step to allow the prosecution to present Duterte’s tax records as evidence in the impeachment trial.  The prosecution has asked the Impeachment Court to subpoena Duterte’s tax records, bank documents, and reports from the Anti-Money Laundering…