BERLIN, Germany — In a rare move, the European Central Bank last week beat the US Federal Reserve to the monetary policy easing punch when it cut interest rates for the first time in nearly five years. AFP looks at why it was the first to act and wheth...

WASHINGTON — Climate skeptics are scapegoating a weather modification technique known as cloud seeding to deny the role of global warming in historic floods that have recently devastated countries from Brazil to Kenya. Record rainfall brought to ...

CEBU CITY, Philippines— Disheartened. This is how Binibining Toledo 2023 Kim Irish Placibe felt during the coronation night of Binibining Toledo 2024 after organizers cut off her farewell speech and was called “ungrateful” by someone in the organizatio...

Scientists recently created the world’s strongest iron-based superconducting magnet with artificial intelligence. Soon, it may transform numerous industries, especially the medical field. For example, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines help doct...

MANILA, Philippines — The appointments for the Teacher Education Council (TEC) Secretariat will be completed in due time, the Department of Education (DepEd) said on Wednesday. DepEd made the pronouncement in response to allegations by an unnamed advoc...

LANY lead vocalist Paul Klein said he is currently recovering following hospitalization after being hit by a car while riding his Vespa, adding he is “fortunate to still be here.”  On the band’s Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) acco...

LEGAZPI CITY — A magnitude 4.1 earthquake was recorded Wednesday, June 12, in Donsol town in Sorsogon, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said. In a bulletin, Phivolcs said the epicenter of the tectonic quake detected by ...

SAN ANTONIO, Zambales — There is nothing to celebrate, the fisherfolk group Pamalakaya said during the country’s Independence Day commemoration on Wednesday, June 12, stressing that “until now the presence and influence of other countries h...

SAN FRANCISCO, United States — Elon Musk on Tuesday dropped his lawsuit against OpenAI and its co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman for betraying the startup’s founding mission. In a California court, Musk had accused the AI firm he helped se...

MANILA, Philippines — The absolute divorce bill, which the House of Representatives passed on the third and final reading last May 22, has been transmitted to the Senate, Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman said on Wednesday.  In a statement, Lagman s...

COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) today joined the country’s celebration of its 126th year since the declaration of Philippine independence, with interim Chief Minister Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim a...

LUCENA CITY — Taal Volcano emitted less sulfur dioxide (SO2), but volcanic smog or “vog” remained on Tuesday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported on Wednesday, June 12. Phivolcs had measured 2,479 metric tons (MT)...

Red Velvet is releasing a new album in time for their 10th debut anniversary. The K-pop girl group is dropping its seventh EP, “Cosmic,” on June 24 at 6 p.m., according to SM Entertainment. The new album will carry six tracks that accentuate the group’...

Angel Di Maria scored the only goal as Argentina warmed up for the defense of their Copa America crown with a 1-0 friendly victory over Ecuador in Chicago on Sunday. Di Maria, named as captain for the game with Lionel Messi on the bench, bagged his 31s...

PARIS — President Emmanuel Macron said Monday he was confident the French would make the “right choice” in snap elections he called after the far right beat his centrist alliance in EU elections. Many view Macron’s move as a hig...

Edu Manzano said he recently confronted a traffic enforcer who allegedly tried to extort money from his driver amounting to P4,000 for a supposed traffic violation on Roxas Boulevard. On his X account, Manzano admitted getting upset as he watched from ...

COTABATO CITY — One of the five wounded victims of an ambush targeting a village official in this city on Friday night died at the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center (CRMC), a police official said. Major John Vincent Bravo, station commander of Cotab...

What makes the emergent boys’ love genre so compelling for Asian audiences?     At her lowest point, fighting burnout and depression in her Chinese hometown, Huang Bingbing says she found comfort in watching the escapist love story of t...

Max Verstappen eased the pressure on Sunday when he completed a hat-trick of victories at the Canadian Grand Prix to consolidate his early-season lead in the drivers’ championship. After being beaten in two of the previous three races, the series...

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Volleyball fans from all over the country would automatically recognize the monicker “Cherry Bomb.” What comes to our minds when we hear this, is the small but powerful spiker from Compostela, Cebu. Her prowess on the volleyball ...

MANILA, Philippines — A patrolwoman was reportedly sexually harassed by a police major in Bulacan last June 7, according to the authorities. In a report on Monday, Bulacan police identified the suspect as Major Gerardo Navarro. READ: 2 Cavite cops faci...

European markets sank with the euro on Monday after a win for far-right parties in EU elections and French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to call a snap parliamentary poll fuelled uncertainty in the bloc. The losses came after a mostly nega...

MANILA, Philippines — A radio reporter’s alleged physical assault by protesting jeepney drivers in Quezon City on Monday has been condemned by the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS). “Mariin natin kinokondena ang karahasan na ito ...

ARQALYL, Kazakhstan — After a few hesitant steps following a long flight from Prague, three Przewalski horses galloped off for the first time into the Kazakh steppe — the native habitat of this endangered species. The horses emerged after b...

NEW DELHI, India — India’s heatwave is the longest ever to hit the country, the government’s top weather expert said Monday as he warned people will face increasingly oppressive temperatures. Parts of northern India have been gripped by a h...

GENEVA — Switzerland will stage a conference on Ukraine this coming weekend, with world leaders set to discuss how to reach an eventual peace process — although Russia is not taking part. The gathering comes immediately after the G7 summit ...

Charlie Dizon considers her “Third World Romance” co-star and now-husband Carlo Aquino her “lucky charm” after her Best Actress win at the 47th Gawad Urian Awards. Held at De La Salle University last June 9, Dizon was named Best Actress for her perform...

MANILA, Philippines — A radio reporter was allegedly attacked by jeepney drivers protesting in front of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board and Land Transportation Office in Quezon City on Monday. But the strikers claimed the journ...

Payton Pritchard doesn’t care much about what his line in the stat sheet looks like, which is one of the many things that endears him to Joe Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics. He was sent into Game 2 of the NBA Finals with 3.3 seconds remaining in the th...

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City government is looking at how they could incorporate the singing of the “Bagong Pilipinas” (“New Philippines”) hymn into their Monday morning flag ceremony at Plaza Sugbo. Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia said tha...

MANILA, Philippines — Former Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan is likely to run for the Senate in the upcoming midterm elections. “Siguro (maybe) on a scale of one to 10, [there is a probability of] eight [to] nine [for me to] go back to the Senate,...

Enjoy the comforts of a 5-star luxury hotel with the allure of old-European culture at Andaz Prague     The thing with modern luxury hotels these days—sure their service is impeccable, the food is to die for, the rooms and the architecture ar...

LIVONIA, Mich. — A tiny, low-priced electric car called the Seagull has American automakers and politicians trembling. The car, launched last year by Chinese automaker BYD, sells for around $12,000 in China, but drives well and is put together with cra...

CEBU CITY, Philippines — To address the water crisis in Cebu City, Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia is willing to “talk and sit down” with the officers in charge of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD). Garcia, who said this in a press conferen...

MANILA, Philippines — Based on Pagasa’s latest computed heat index forecast, Dagupan City in Pangasinan is expected to once again record the highest heat index for the day at 47ºC. READ: Red Cross reminds public to stay hydrated amid high heat index Me...

Mumbai, India — Twelve people were killed and at least 60 injured after a billboard collapsed during a fierce storm in India’s financial capital Mumbai, officials said Monday. An excavator was digging through the wreckage as rescuers raced to fin...

ANKARA — Turkey announced Monday a three-year austerity plan aimed at reducing public spending to calm inflation that reached heights of nearly 70 percent year-on-year in April. The government said it will limit recruitment and transport spending for p...

MANILA, Philippines — Overcast skies and rain should be expected over parts of extreme northern Luzon on Tuesday, while generally fair weather and isolated thunderstorms are forecast in the rest of the country, the state weather bureau said. “Isang fro...