News

Hunt for 'Al Capone' prison cell tax evader

Nigel Harker, from Hartlepool, who admitted to tax evasion, walks out of court before sentencing.

NHCP leads 22nd PH-ES Friendship Day celebration in Baler, Aurora

THE National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) leads the nation in celebrating the 22nd Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day and commemorating the 126th anniversary of the Start of the Siege in Baler, Aurora, today, July 1, at 8 a.m. in front of Baler Church and Baler Plaza. Guests of honor Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri and Spanish Ambassador to the Philippines Miguel Utray lead the wreath-laying ceremonies at the Baler Church in the...

Damage to new-build homes was 'sectarian hate crime'

Two new-build properties were damaged in an overnight attack in Antrim, police say.

Dela Rosa’s refusal to attend drug war probe ‘a cowardly act’ – Castro

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Ronald Dela Rosa’s decision to skip the House of Representatives probe into former President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war is “a cowardly act” and “an attempt to evade accountability,” a lawmaker said on Sunday. ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro said this after Dela Rosa, the Philippine National Police (PNP) chief during the Duterte administration, said he would only face the allegations against him and the...

Construction of Cebu City Medical Center enters 10th year

NINE years and three mayors ago, the Cebu City government began the construction of the new Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC). It was to be a modern, 10-story medical facility catering to the residents of Cebu City in general, the lower-income residents in particular. The need for a new city-owned hospital was obvious: the old CCMC building was rendered unsafe after the Oct. 15, 2013 earthquake of 7.2 magnitude. Hospital operations were...

BulSU students present papers at intl conference

FOUR AB Literatura: Maikling Pagsulat students of Bulacan State University College of Arts and Letters (BulSU-CAL) presented their respective research papers during the 7 th International Conference of Asian and Philippine Studies (ICAPS) held in Baguio City on May 30 to June 1, 2024. BulSU President Teddy San Andres informed that the presented papers and the student presenters include "Makapakitbi sa Atay: Iba pang mga Pagdadalamhati" by Kyt...

Light aircraft crash lands at airfield

Firefighters and ambulance crews went to the crash, which happened on Saturday at Beccles.

Sara's ratings decline

(UPDATE) WHILE the overall performance rating of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the second quarter of 2024 stabilized, Vice President Sara Duterte's ratings saw another significant drop, down 20 percentage points from two years ago, the latest nationwide survey conducted by Publicus Asia showed. Based on the results of the independent and non-commissioned Pahayag Second Quarter 2024 survey taken from June 15 to 19, Duterte's overall ratings...

What Palaszczuk has said about enforcing the tough Covid restrictions

Annastacia Palaszczuk has opened up on what she really thought about her Covid policies after separating dying people from their families because of border closures.

VP Sara to attend Palarong Pambansa 2024 opening event

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Vice President Sara Duterte has confirmed that she will be present during the upcoming opening ceremony of the Palarong Pambansa 2024 in Cebu City. She announced this to local media during an ambush interview in Cebu City on Saturday, June 29. Palarong Pambansa 2024 will take place from July 6 to 16, with the opening ceremony scheduled on July 9 at the Cebu City Sports Center. Aside from Palaro, she will also be...

Vice President Sara rejects tag as opposition leader

Duterte not running for senator DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte disagreed with claims that she is now the leader of the opposition against the Marcos administration. Her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, meanwhile said he would not run for a Senate seat in the May 2025 midterm elections, contrary to Sara’s June 25 announcement. “Based on my work, my character and my principles, I don’t act for the benefit of the...

World failed in attaining devt goals – UN

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations warned that only 17 percent of its 169 targets to improve life for the world's more than 7 billion people are on track to be reached by the 2030 deadline. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched the annual report saying, "It shows the world is getting a failing grade." World leaders adopted the 17 wide-ranging development goals from ending global poverty to achieving gender equality in 2015 and set 169...

Putin's safety at risk?

ATESH, the Ukrainian resistance movement, has just made an important discovery. That discovery could boost the confidence of Zelensky's forces and even lead to a symbolic victory. On Thursday, Ukrainian resistance fighters reported on their Telegram account that they had discovered the anti-aircraft system protecting the Russian president's second house. The house (one of many that Putin owns in Russia) is in Sochi, the Black Sea resort. The...

Coalition-building as an exercise in political shape-shifting

LAST week, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that his political party, the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, has entered into an alliance with the National Unity Party as he seeks to expand the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas, a coalition he is building ahead of next year's midterm election. The NUP is the fourth party to join the Alyansa, and many more political groups are expected to sign up. The President's announcement came just days...

Israeli tanks advance into areas in north and south Gaza

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Kamel Hamdan CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) -Israeli forces advanced further on Sunday into the Shejaia neighbourhood of northern Gaza and also pushed deeper into western and central Rafah in the south, killing at least six Palestinians and destroying several homes, residents said. Israeli tanks, which moved back into Shejaia four days ago, fired shells towards several houses,

Red Cross receives P60M donation from Okada Foundation to build new blood center in Cavite

OFFICIALS of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) national head office and its Cavite chapter were on hand recently to receive a donation from the Okada Foundation amounting to P60 million, which will fund the construction of a new building for the PRC Cavite Chapter in Vermosa Complex in Imus. The soon-to-rise building, which sits on 859 sqm of property donated by Ayala Land Inc., will serve as the primary blood center in Cavite. It will provide...

Man shot before stolen car set on fire, police say

A man from Sheffield was shot after he and another man met a group of men in Wallasey, police say.

Proper method of photographic identification

Dear PAO, A man was killed while attending our town's foundation day festivities. The police conducted an initial investigation. However, since the initial witnesses could not positively identify any suspect, the police entered into its blotter entry "unidentified suspects still at large." During the trial, the same witnesses now claimed to have identified with certainty the suspects after being shown, at the police station, the pictures of...

Four dead, two missing after Swiss landslide, police say

Four people died and two were missing in Switzerland on Sunday after violent thunderstorms and melting snow caused flooding and landslides in two southern cantons, police said. Three of the victims were killed early on Sunday in a landslide in the remote Maggia valley, in the Italian-speaking Alpine canton of Ticino, police said in a statement. The...

Kanlaon remains under alert Level 2

MANILA, Philippines — Despite the recent elevated gas emission, Kanlaon Volcano in Negros Occidental remains under alert Level 2, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. Phivolcs director Teresito Bacolcol yesterday said state seismologists could not yet increase the alert level as they were still monitoring the volcano’s activity. “Sometimes it is high, sometimes it is low,” Bacolcol said, referring to Kanlaon’s gas...

NEDA to hold regional consultations for Trabaho Para sa Bayan -DOLE

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) will conduct regional consultations to fill in the gaps in the Trabaho Para sa Bayan plan, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Sunday. “[I]to na yung na submit sa Pangulo, yung tatagos sa term niya. May karagdagan pang apat na taon para matugunan ang mandato ng batas na 10-year national employment masterplan,” DOLE Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said on Super Radyo dzBB. (The...

Homeless man accused of stabbing stranger to death is amateur artist

Forrest Stevenson, 36, has been charged with murder after Andres Malmis Pancha, 45, was allegedly killed at Frankston pier at 6am on Saturday.

Japan and Philippines trying to finish defense pact for signing in Manila as alarm grows over China

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Top defense and foreign affairs officials of Japan and the Philippines will meet in Manila next month to strengthen strategic ties and discuss regional concerns, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday at a time of escalating concerns over China’s actions in the disputed South China Sea. Details of the agenda of the July 8 meetings of Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko and Defense Minister Kihara...

43 Negros Occidental barangays declared rebel-free

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — Forty-three more barangays in Negros Occidental have been declared free from the presence of communists insurgents, according to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson. Each rebel-free barangay is proposed to receive P10 million worth of infrastructure projects as part of the support to barangay development program (SBDP) of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Lacson said. The proposed budget for infrastructure...

Guided bomb attack on Ukraine's Kharkiv kills one, injures eight, officials say

(Reuters) - Russian forces attacked the centre of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second- largest city, with a guided bomb, killing one person, injuring eight and setting ablaze buildings and vehicles, officials said. Mayor Ihor Terekhov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said the bomb hit near the city centre, triggering a fire. He put the death toll at one, with an 8-month-old infant among the injured.

Law waiving entrance exam fees signed

SEN. Bong Go said the new law waiving entrance exam fees in private higher educational institutions (HEIs) promotes educational equity. The senator on Sunday lauded the signing into law of Republic Act (RA) 12006 or the Free College Entrance Examinations Act. Go said RA 12006, sponsored by then chairman of the Senate Committee on Higher Education and now Senate President Francis Escudero, "opened up great opportunities" for HEIs to poor but...

Lawyers group backs Marcos WPS policy

THE foremost organization of Philippine lawyers, supported the stand of the Marcos government to assert the country's legal and sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea. In a statement issued over the weekend, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) cited the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and the Spanish-United States Treaty of Washington in 1900 as the basis for its argument. The IBP said Article III of the Treaty of Paris "clearly...

Senate undecided on Bagong Pilipinas hymn in flag ceremony

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate leadership has yet to decide whether to include the Bagong Pilipinas hymn and pledge during the regular flag-raising ceremony, even as the House of Representatives intends to adopt it. Senate President Francis Escudero said he personally sees no problem in including the hymn and pledge, but the Senate secretariat is still in the process of studying the matter. “I have yet to receive their recommendation and/or...

Search for Jay Slater in Tenerife called off by Spanish police

Spanish police have called off the search for missing teenager Jay Slater in Tenerife, according to reports. The 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared after setting off to walk back to his accommodation on the holiday island on June 17.

Suspected North Korean ties to Ukraine conflict alarm Pentagon

No winners of Ultra Lotto 6/58, Superlotto 6/49 on Sunday, June 30, 2024

There were no winners of either of the big lotto draws held on Sunday, June 30. No one hit the right combinations for the Ultra Lotto 6/58 and the Superlotto 6/49, drawn by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO). The winning numbers for the Ultra Lotto 6/58 were 50-41-04-05-34-47. The jackpot remains at 49,500,000.00. The winning numbers for Superlotto 6/49 were 49-29-26-41-07-08. The prize has risen to P94,952,236.60. — BM, GMA...

North Korea says US, South Korea and Japan developing ‘Asian NATO’

The claim comes after Washington, Seoul and Tokyo began joint military exercises on Thursday.

Teves can be extradited by end of July, says DOJ

MANILA, Philippines — Former lawmaker turned murder suspect Arnolfo Teves Jr. could be brought back to the Philippines by July to finally face the multiple murder charges filed against him here, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Saturday. In a news forum in Quezon City, Mico Clavano, spokesperson for the DOJ, said they expected a favorable decision even if Teves’ camp appealed the Timor-Leste Court of Appeals’ decision granting the...

Man arrested after three people suffer knife wounds

A 24-year-old man is arrested after a woman and two men suffer stab wounds in Desborough.

Police investigate teenager's death in seaside town

Officers were made aware the 17-year-old had died in Margate just before 18:00 BST.

Ukraine, Russia say priests freed in prisoner exchange

KYIV — Ukraine and Russia said Saturday that priests were among the dozens of captured soldiers and civilians they had exchanged earlier this week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said two Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests taken captive in Moscow-occupied Berdiansk were handed back to Ukraine thanks to the mediation of the Vatican. Meanwhile, Russia said a high-ranking Ukrainian Orthodox cleric was handed over to Moscow along with two...

Mexico celebrates Pride as Costa Rica fires minister

MEXICO CITY — More than 100,000 people rallied for LGBTQ rights in Mexico on Saturday, while Costa Rica’s culture minister was sacked for supporting the country’s own Pride March this weekend. The streets of Mexico City were filled with rainbow flags as people marched to central Zocalo square in a festive atmosphere. Crowds chanted against hate crimes and discrimination, and shouted for “sexual freedom!” with police and organizers saying more...

Video shows US police officer fatally shooting 13-year-old on ground

Police in New York state, where the incident occurred, say the teenage boy was carrying a replica gun.

Hungary’s Orban moves to form new EU parliament group

VIENNA — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Sunday announced he wanted to form a new EU parliament alliance, together with Austria’s far-right party and the Czech centrist group of ex-premier Andrej Babis. “We take on the responsibility to launch this new platform and new faction. I want to make it clear that this is our goal,” the nationalist premier told reporters at a joint press conference with Austria’s Freedom Party (FPOe) leader...

PNP chief orders cops: Stop moonlighting

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil yesterday directed PNP personnel to stop moonlighting as security escorts for private persons and instead focus on public safety. Marbil issued the directive to ensure that police personnel are ready to respond promptly to citizens’ complaints and emergencies. “Our duty is to ensure the safety of the people. Police must be available at all times to address the...

Phinma forum highlights private sector's role in food security

BUSINESSES must invest in projects and initiatives that strengthen the country's food supply and agricultural productivity, especially as the climate crisis continues to worsen, executives of Phinma Corp. said in its policy forum last week. The event titled "Achieving Food Security: Advancing Investments for Agricultural Sustainability" gathered leaders of Phinma and its Construction Materials Group (Phinma CMG), agriculture and other government...

Immigration not a big issue in Wales, say Reform

Nigel Farage's party says immigration has been discussed more on the doorstep in England than Wales.

‘Name ex-Cabinet official who lobbied for illegal POGOs’

MANILA, Philippines — Senators challenged the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) to name the former Cabinet official who allegedly facilitated the grant of gaming licenses to Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) so as not to cast doubt on all other former members of the Cabinet. Senate President Francis Escudero said if PAGCOR fails to name this former Cabinet official, then his colleagues Senators Risa Hontiveros and Sherwin...

PAOCC receives death threats amid illegal POGO probe

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said Sunday some of its personnel have received death threats amid its investigation into the illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hubs. “Well opo, kami ay nakakatanggap ng ilang mga pagbabanta. Pero siguro po naman ay 'yun ay mga pananakot lamang,” PAOCC spokesperson Winston John Casio said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview. (Yes, we have been receiving some threats. But maybe...

Las Piñas votes to reset barangays boundaries

MANILA, Philippines — Residents of Las Piñas have voted to reset the boundaries of 20 barangays in the city, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced yesterday. Based on the certificates of canvass released yesterday, 41,493 residents approved an ordinance delineating the territorial boundaries of 20 barangays in the city. The Comelec recorded a voter turnout of 19.88 percent as 61,237 of 308,059 registered voters in Las Piñas...

Man in critical condition after stabbing

Police say they are treating the attack as an isolated incident but are appealing for witnesses.

Acquittal can't escape law of karma

THE government imposes punishment on those transgressing the laws of the land as a means of asserting its sovereign will of protecting its inhabitants from those who sow anarchy and disturb the peace. It is also a way of exacting retribution for the victims' suffering. It warns would-be transgressors that they cannot escape accountability for dastardly deeds like taking another's life, inflicting physical injury, forcibly or deceptively taking...

Basic education

HE said that he would have a Secretary of Education at the end of last week, but President Bongbong Marcos has admitted that selecting one is more difficult than he had earlier thought. He has asked for more time to make a choice. At the commencement of his administration, he did not have to wait at all since the vice president, Inday Sara Duterte, volunteered for the post and by express provision of the Constitution, no confirmation by the...

Zelenskyy appeals to West to relax targeting limits for Ukraine as glide bombs hammer front line

DONETSK REGION, Ukraine (AP) — Drone footage from Ukraine’s military released Sunday has shown what appears to be bodies in a civilian area in the embattled eastern town of Toretsk, which has come under heavy Russian bombardment in recent days. The attacks in the war-torn Donetsk region have prompted a scaled-up evacuation effort by Ukrainian rescue services. Local officials said that powerful Russian glide bombs have also been used in the town,...

Motorcyclist seriously injured in crash

Police say the rider was taken to hospital, where he remains in a "life-threatening condition".