Other News

Comelec identifies candidates with illegal campaign posters

(Eagle News) — The Commission on Elections has released the list of candidates who have illegal campaign posters as of Thursday, Feb. 14. Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon released the names in a Tweet on Friday, Feb. 15, a day after she said her office had sent notices to 34 candidates for violating the requirements on campaign posters–they were either oversized or were placed in prohibited areas. The list she tweeted, however, contained 40 names. The […]

Fears flood water runoff could ‘smother’ Barrier Reef

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Runoff from recent floods in northern Australia is flowing onto parts of the Barrier Reef, scientists said Friday, starving coral of light and providing fodder for the predatory crown-of-thorns starfish. Parts of northern Queensland are still reeling after nearly two weeks of unprecedented rainfall that turned roads into rivers and inundated hundreds of homes with floodwater. Scientists at James Cook University say the floods swelled a number of rivers along hundreds […]

Japan to recognize indigenous Ainu people for first time

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Japan’s government introduced a bill Friday to recognize the country’s ethnic Ainu minority as an “indigenous” people for the first time, after decades of discrimination against the group. The Ainu people — many of whom live in northern Hokkaido — have long suffered the effects of a policy of forced assimilation, and while discrimination has receded gradually, income and education gaps with the rest of Japan persist. “It is important to […]

Total ban sa lahat ng imported meat products na apektado ng swine fever, dapat nang ipatupad – AGAP Rep. Briones

(Eagle News) — Bukod sa paghihigpit, kailangang magpatupad na ng total ban sa lahat ng mga meat products na pumapasok sa bansa. Ito ang reaksyon ni Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines (AGAP) Partylist President Nicanor Briones matapos makapasok sa bansa ang mga meat product galing Japan na apektado ng African swine fever. Sa panayam ng Radyo Agila, sinabi ni Briones na bukod sa panganib sa kalusugan, babagsak din ang negosyo ng mga pork farmer […]

Palace to Ressa following her claims of gov’t abuse of power: “You are the one abusing your power as a journalist”

(Eagle News)–The Palace on Friday, Feb. 15, scoffed at Maria Ressa’s claims the government was behind her arrest for cyber libel and was abusing its power, urging her to be  “woman enough” and face her case instead of blaming the administration. “Excuse me, Maria. Abuse of power? You are the one abusing your power as a journalist. You are marshaling your colleagues to support you on the basis of misplaced and baseless cause. What is […]

Decrying their “attempts to mislead” the public, Wilfredo Keng says he is currently mulling filing other cases vs Ressa, Rappler

(Eagle News) — The businessman who filed cyber libel charges against Rappler Inc., its executive editor Maria Ressa and former reporter Reynaldo Santos on Friday, Feb. 15, said he was “exploring other cases that can be filed” against the online news outfit and Ressa, as he decried what he said were their attempts to mislead the public. In a statement, Wilfredo Keng slammed what he said was Rappler’s and Ressa’s “ingenious attempt to divert attention […]

China’s January inflation comes in slower than expected

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Factory and consumer price inflation in China rose at a slower rate than expected in January as global growth cools and the US trade war drags on, official data showed Friday. The producer price index (PPI) — an important barometer of the industrial sector that measures the cost of goods at the factory gate — rose 0.1 percent on-year in January, compared with a 0.9 percent rise the previous month. The […]

Asian shares drop on trade talks fears, weak US retail

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian stocks retreated Friday as concern grew over reports of an impasse in China-US trade talks in Beijing, and Wall Street was hit by weak US retail sales. Bourses across the region posted losses as investors shrugged off news that US President Donald Trump would sign a massive spending bill to avert a government shutdown, while Chinese inflation eased more than expected. Top US economic officials were due to meet […]

US officials to meet Xi as trade talks near end

by Ryan Mcmorrow Agence France Presse Top US economic officials were to meet on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the sides aim to wrap up trade talks in Beijing with enough goodwill to extend a truce in their tariff war. The world’s two biggest economies are seeking an accord to bridge their deep trade differences, after President Donald Trump set a March 1 deadline beyond which he would rescind a freeze on tariff […]

Facebook taps user data to defend workers from threat

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) – Facebook gathers intelligence from its platform to identify people who threaten the firm or its workers, the social network said Thursday in response to media reports of the security tactic. CNBC reported that it interviewed more than a dozen former Facebook security employees, some of whom questioned the ethics of what was portrayed as an unclearly defined practice at the leading social network. Facebook spokesman Anthony Harrison told AFP […]

BoC seizes misdeclared ammo, guns from Pasay warehouse

(Eagle News) — The Bureau of Customs has seized guns and ammunition that had been misdeclared from a Pasay warehouse. In a statement on Friday, Feb. 15, the BoC said the eight pistols, 20 ammunition magazines and 226 bullets were discovered in two packages with the “Solar Panel” and “Tool Cart” labels. The discovery was made following the profiling of Customs officers and an X-ray examination of the outbound shipments that came from Taiwan, the BoC said. The BoC […]