Filippine

MANILA, Philippines --- Starting next week, motorcycles-for-hire will be declared "illegal" and will be impounded, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) board member Antonio Gardiola Jr. said Monday. In an interview with reporters at the Senate prior to a hearing on bills seeking to regulate motorcycle taxis, Gardiola said they have recommended the termination of the pilot study meant to assess the safety of bikes for public transport. "It's really very significant but then it's also half of the three months 'yung study natin, we cannot gather data because of the legal impediments," Gardiola said. "We are resorting to legal rigmarole sa nangyayaring it...

Keep on reading: Motorcycle taxis ‘illegal’ starting next week — LTFRB board member

MANILA, Philippines - Ninety-eight percent of residents in the vicinity of Taal Volcano have been evacuated, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Monday.   "Based on our latest report, 98% of the residents in the barangays located within the 14-km high-risk danger zone have been fully evacuated and the rest are undergoing evacuation," DILG Secretary Eduardo Ao said in an event at Camp Crame.   Ao also assured that all local executives in Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) and National Capital Region (NCR) have already prepared their disaster-preparedness prot...

Keep on reading: 98% of residents in Taal Volcano’s 14-kilometer danger zone evacuated – DILG

BEIJING - China reported Monday a sharp rise in the number of people infected with a new coronavirus, including the first cases in the capital. The outbreak of viral pneumonia started in the central city of Wuhan. Authorities and media reports said the total number of infected people has topped 200. Wuhan authorities said a third person had died in their city. Authorities in Shenzhen in southern China reported one case, and Chinese state media said Beijing had reported two cases. Wuhan authorities said they had found 136 new cases, bringing the total in the city to 198. The outbreak has put other countries on alert as millions of Chinese travel for the Lunar New Year h...

Keep on reading: China counts sharp rise in coronavirus cases, 2 in Beijing

LUCENA CITY -- Two suspected bet collectors of illegal Small Town Lottery (STL) called "bookies" were nabbed in Sariaya town in Quezon province on Sunday, police reported Monday. Colonel Audie Madrideo, Quezon police director, said anti-illegal gambling operatives caught Rene Reyes, 32, and Ronnel Reyes, 29, while collecting money bets in Barangay (village) Lutucan 1 around 8:30 p.m. The report did not state how the two suspects were related. Recovered from the suspects were STL collection forms andP1,050 worth money bets in different denominations. Both failed to produce the identification card issued by Pirouette Gaming Corp., the licensed STL operator in the province, which s...

Keep on reading: 2 ‘bookies’ bet collectors held in Quezon

MANILA, Philippines --- The Taal Volcano continues to belch steam and ash plumes from "infrequent weak explosions" in the past 24 hours, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said on Monday. "Activity in the Main Crater in the past 24 hours has been characterized by steady steam emission and infrequent weak explosions that generated ash plumes 500 to 1000 meters tall and dispersed ash southwest of the Main Crater," Phivolcs said in its 8 a.m. bulletin. It added that sulfur dioxide emission was measured at an average of 4353 tons per day. In a press conference on Monday, Phivolcs director Renato Solidum said that steam emitted by Taal Volcano was "...

Keep on reading: Taal Volcano continues to emit steam, ash from weak explosions

LUCENA CITY -- A male beggar was struck and killed by a speeding vehicle along Maharlika Highway in Sariaya, Quezon late Sunday night, police said Monday.   Investigators said the fatality, around 17 to 22 years old, and believed to be mentally ill, was crossing the highway when he the tragedy took place in Barangay (village) Gibanga At around 9:30 p.m.   The driver of the vehicle sped off after the incident.   The victim died on the spot.   Police said the victim was not a resident of Sariaya.   His remains were brought to Marcelo Gayeta Funeral Parlor in Barangay Sampaloc 2.   Witnesses failed to supply additional detail...

Keep on reading: Beggar dead in Quezon hit-and-run incident

LONDON - Prince Harry said Sunday that he felt "great sadness" but found "no other option" to cutting almost all of his and his wife Meghan's royal ties in the hopes of achieving a more peaceful life.       The comments were Harry's first public remarks since his split from the royal family was announced earlier this month. Harry said he did not make the decision lightly and praised his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and the rest of his family for supporting him and his wife in recent months. He called the decision "a leap of faith" and said he hopes the move will allow him and his family to achieve a "more peaceful life." During his speech at a cha...

Keep on reading: Prince Harry: ‘No other option’ but to cut royal ties

  (First of three parts in an in-depth series.) The #MeToo hashtag gained steam in the United States in October 2017 as actress Alyssa Milano urged women to speak up about their experiences with sexual harassment and abuse. As other countries adopted the hashtag or created a localized version, for the most part, the Philippines was silent. But pockets of stories have surfaced online, with and without aid of the hashtag. In Metro Manila, it manifested in indie bands being outed on social media for sexual misconduct against women. Some were shut out of gigs, others disbanded. Most bands braved the initial storm of outrage and are still welcome in the scene. One of t...

Keep on reading: ‘It’s not my shame’: Why Filipino women are calling out sexual misconduct on social media

LOS ANGELES --- If the Producers Guild Awards are a true predictor of the Oscars' best film category, then the World War I film "1917" is poised to come away with the top honor in a few weeks. The Sam Mendes film won the award for theatrical motion picture at the untelevised ceremony Saturday night at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. Many in the crowd seemed stunned after Reese Witherspoon announced the winner of the Darryl F. Zanuck Award, which has gone on to win the best picture Oscar 21 out of 30 times --- including the past two years, with "Green Book" and "The Shape of Water." "This film was inspired by my grandfather, Alfred Mendes, and my hope was to honor his ex...

Keep on reading: ‘1917’ takes top honor at the Producers Guild Awards

CEBU CITY -- President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday promised Cebuanos that he will look for funds to establish a commuter train to help ease traffic congestion in Cebu. In a speech at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC), the final staging point of the Sinulog Grand Parade, Duterte acknowledged that Cebu has been plagued by so much traffic. "Cebu cannot expand anymore because it is an old city. The only way to address traffic here is to have a train or an elevated structure. That is how I see it," he said in Cebuano. "I will help you look for a funding. The plan is a commuter train. I will be the one to do it. I will look for money. That is my promise to you." he added. While ...

Keep on reading: Duterte promises to look for funds to establish rail transport in Cebu

LOS ANGELES --- Two "Bad Boys" were too good for one "Dolittle" at the box office. "Bad Boys for Life" starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence brought in $59 million in the U.S. and Canada to score a No. 1 debut entering the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. The action-packed, buddy comedy returned for the franchise's third installment after a 17-year hiatus with popular demand to outlast "Dolittle," starring Robert Downey Jr., which opened at second with a mediocre $22.5 million. Sony Pictures predicted that "Bad Boys" will make around $68 million over the four-day weekend. The film exceeded expectations, building momentum with favorable reviews including an A Cinema Sco...

Keep on reading: ‘Bad Boys for Life’ debuts so good with box office top spot

MANILA, Philippines --- Scattered rain showers, thunderstorms and cloudy skies are expected in Luzon and Visayas on Monday, the state weather bureau said Monday.   In its 4 a.m update, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said the northeast monsoon or "amihan" will bring cloudy skies with isolated light rains to Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative Region, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal Quezon), Bicol region, Aurora, Mindoro provinces, Marinduque, and Romblon.   Intermittent strong winds, especially in coastal and mountainous areas are possible, Pagasa added.   The northeast monsoon wi...

Keep on reading: Pagasa: Light rains, cloudy skies expected in Luzon, Visayas

TECUN UMAN, Guatemala - The bridge spanning the Suchiate River between Mexico and Guatemala was open again for business Sunday, but few migrants crossed after a failed attempt by thousands of Central Americans to barge through the previous day.         More than 2,000 migrants spent the night in Tecun Uman, on the Guatemalan side of the border, uncertain of their next steps. Many got that far by traveling in caravan for greater safety and, they hoped, success in reaching the United States.   Mexico, pressured by the U.S. to halt the northward flow of migrants, is offering those who turn themselves over to authorities temporary jobs in sou...

Keep on reading: Thousands camp in Guatemala as Mexico blocks migrant path

TULSA, Okla. - Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg made a pitch to African American voters the day before the national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., visiting a black church in Tulsa, the site of a race massacre nearly 100 years ago that left hundreds dead and the city's thriving African American community in rubble.     The former New York City mayor spoke out against racial income inequality and outlined an economic proposal aimed at increasing the number of black-owned homes and businesses. The plan includes a $70 billion investment in the nation's most disadvantaged neighborhoods.   "I do believe the next president has to ma...

Keep on reading: Bloomberg offers plan to tackle racial economic inequality

BAGHDAD --- Iraqi security forces wounded dozens of protesters on Sunday as renewed anti-government demonstrations gripped the capital and Iraq's south, activists and officials said.     The mass protests had lost steam when soaring U.S.-Iran tensions threatened an open conflict on Iraqi soil in past weeks. As the regional crisis receded, Iraqi activists gave the government a week's deadline to act on their demands for sweeping political reforms or said they would up the pressure with new demonstrations. The uprising began on Oct. 1 when thousands of Iraqis took to the streets to decry rampant government corruption, poor public services and a scarcity of jobs...

Keep on reading: Dozens wounded as Iraqi protesters up pressure on government

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - SpaceX completed the last big test of its crew capsule before launching astronauts in the next few months, mimicking an emergency escape shortly after liftoff Sunday.     No one was aboard for the wild ride in the skies above Cape Canaveral, just two mannequins. The nine-minute flight ended with the Dragon crew capsule parachuting safely into the Atlantic, after separating and speeding away from the exploding rocket. "I'm super fired up," Elon Musk, the company's founder and chief executive, told reporters. "It's just going to be wonderful to get astronauts back into orbit from American soil after almost a decade of not being able to do...

Keep on reading: SpaceX launches, destroys rocket in astronaut escape test

WASHINGTON - Advocates for and against President Donald Trump gave no ground Sunday on his Senate impeachment trial, digging in on whether a crime is required for his conviction and removal and whether witnesses will be called.     But even as Trump's defense team and the House prosecutor s pressed their case on the television talk shows, mystery still surrounded the ground rules for the impeachment trial, only the third in American history, when it resumes Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was shedding no light on what will be the same as --- and different from --- the precedent of President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial in 1999. All si...

Keep on reading: No give: Trump’s impeachment defense, prosecutors dig in

ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland - Canada's federal government was mobilizing the Armed Forces Sunday to help Newfoundland and Labrador dig out from the monster blizzard that paralyzed eastern regions of the province with record-breaking amounts of snow and as forecasts call for more.       Newfoundland Premier Dwight Ball asked for Ottawa's help on Saturday, and Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O'Regan said the federal government was working to deploy all available resources on the ground in St. John's.   No details were immediately announced, however O'Regan said that ensuring access to the city's main hospital would be a top priority. Canadian Ar...

Keep on reading: Canadian military mobilized to help Newfoundland dig out

TOKSOOK BAY, Alaska - There are no restaurants in Toksook Bay, Alaska. No motels or movie theater, either. There also aren't any factories. Or roads.     But the first Americans to be counted in the 2020 census live in this tiny community of 661 on the edge of the American expanse.   Their homes are huddled together in a windswept Bering Sea village, painted vivid lime green, purple or neon blue to help distinguish the signs of life from a frigid white winterscape that makes it hard to tell where the frozen sea ends and the village begins. Fish drying racks hang outside some front doors, and you're more likely to find a snowmobile or four-wheeler in t...

Keep on reading: On the edge of America, census begins in a tiny Alaska town

MANILA, Philippines --- President Duterte simply wants to emulate the strong political will of Ferdinand Marcos when he threatened to arrest the owners of two water firms "one night" if they challenge him in court, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said on Sunday but that does not mean the Chief Executive will resort to illegal acts. "What the President meant was, those who should be charged should be charged already. And if there's probable cause, then the court can issue a warrant of arrest. They will be jailed. But everything will undergo the legal process," Panelo explained. He assured that any arrests to be made will be conducted "with the assumption that there is ...

Keep on reading: Panelo: Duterte only wants to emulate strong political will of Marcos