US President Barack Obama was set to announce on Wednesday a landmark deal to re-establish full diplomatic relations with Cuba, severed 54 years ago in the angry heat of the Cold War. Obama will unveil plans for the re-opening of the US embassy in Havana and Cuba’s embassy in Washington, marking a major foreign policy win for his presidency. The United States could have a fully accredited “Man in Havana” as soon as July 20, according to Cuban authorities.

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The UN urged countries Wednesday, July 1, to create preparedness systems to counter the health risks of heatwaves, as they become ever more frequent and intense, and dangerous, due to climate change. For the first time, the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) and its World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have joined forces to create guidelines for experts and authorities for how to lower the health risks of heatwaves like the ones currently scorching Asia and Europe. The main recommendation? To create heatwave warning systems that highlight the health hazards and inform people what they should do to protect themselves.

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On Wednesday afternoon, July 1 Greece time, reports said that in a seeming turnaround, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had agreed to most of the conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other creditors. The Financial Times, which obtained a copy of a two-page letter sent Tuesday night by Tsipras to the heads of the IMF, the European Commission, and the European Central Bank, reported that Tsipras still sought some amendments to the terms imposed by creditors. These included delays in defense spending cuts, more gradual pension reforms, and a 30%-discount on Value Added Tax for remote islands. Tsipras is caught between keeping his promise and making Greece still a part of the EU since an exit could mean withdrawn support from Europe. How Greece will pay its €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) debt, support its ageing population, and keep political promises earlier made by its Syriza-led government form part of the Greek dilemma.

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Officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation revealed to senators that they found at least 6 health care facilities that tricked patients into undergoing cataract surgery  so the doctors and clinics could make as much claims with Philhealth as possible. No wonder, removal of cataracts ranked 4th among the top conditions and procedures PhilHealth paid for in 2014 – equivalent to P3.7 billion out of the P78 billion total benefit payments. PhilHealth is also investigating top 10 ambulatory surgical centers claiming for cataract procedures after they discovered a “very conspicuous rise” in claims which also coincided with complaints from patients.

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A week after he resigned by the Cabinet of President Benigno Aquino III, where he held two positions for 5 years, Vice President Jejomar Binay launched his political party for the 2016 presidential elections. While he championed the “pro-poor” and inclusive governance visions of the United Nationalist Alliance, he took a swipe at the Aquino administration’s supposed slow and ineffective leadership. The government, he said, had been “manhid at palpak” (insensitive and failed). For every alleged failure of the administration, he asked, “Nasaan ang gobyerno?” (Where is the government?). The Vice President, his family, and associates are facing investigations for alleged corruption during his time as mayor of Makati, the country’s premier district – moves that, he said, are politically motivated.

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The full text of the Vice President’s speech is here.

Vote on Rappler’s Mood Meter and tell us how you feel about Binay’s stand on 6 key national issues.

The Philippine High Court ordered a temporary stop to the implementation of executive orders issued by President Benigno Aquino III for the privatisation and reconveyance of the coconut levy fund that the government fought a long legal battle to get its hand on. The Supreme Court was acting on the petition of coconut farmers, who alleged that the EOs were unconstitutional and could cause the further exclusion of farmers from the P74.3-billion fund and open it to abuse.

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A hairdresser who used to work for a famous chain of salons in the Philippines spoke out a year after he was allegedly illegally dismissed for being HIV-positive. Rene Nocos, who filed a complaint in March 2014 before the National Labor Relations Commission, also said celebrity salon owner Ricky Reyes underpaid him in the 10 years he was working for various branches of the Ricky Superstyle Color Salon. Seeking benefits from the Social Security System and PhilHealth for his treatment, Nocos later learned the company didn’t remit his contributions to the state-run insurance systems. 

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Nearly 200 Cambodian garment workers have been hospitalised after a new spate of mass fainting at factories this week, officials said Wednesday, renewing concerns about conditions in the kingdom’s crucial textile industry. At least 61 workers at a factory in southern Takeo province fainted on July 1 Cheav Bunrith, a spokesman for the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), told Agence France-Presse. Those faintings came after 89 employees at a factory in Kandal province collapsed over the course of June 29 and June 30. A further 36 workers also fainted at a factory on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh Tuesday morning, Bunrith said.

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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday sought to deflect attention from a row over Tokyo’s planned National Stadium by praising organizers for keeping the 2020 Games budget in check. John Coates, chairman of the IOC’s Tokyo 2020 coordination commission, told reporters Tokyo had made “outstanding progress” since their last visit a year ago, pointing to cuts of $1.7 billion to projected venue costs and the recent appointment of an Olympics minister. Coates avoided wading into the public row between Tokyo’s administration and the central government over funding for the new National Stadium, the centerpiece for the 2020 Olympics and the 2019 rugby World Cup, to be hosted by Japan.

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SM of billionaire Henry Sy is the latest chain of malls to partner with the Commission on Elections to make the voters’ registration process more accessible and convenient to the public. The SM malls – all 52 of them across the country – will allow the poll body to set up booths where voters can have their biometrics captured to enable them to vote in the 2016 presidential, senatorial, and local elections. The Robinsons and Ayala chains earlier entered the same setup with the Comelec. 

Check out the schedule of voters’ registration in specific mall branches in July on Rappler #PHvote.