Japanese Embassy in the Philippines has recently tightened tourist visa slots for Filipino travelers amid a surge in visitors driven by the weak yen. The embassy is now urging Filipinos to submit their tourist visa applications up to two months in advance — more than double the previous recommendation — but the sudden change could…
At least 35 baby sea turtles from a guarded hatchery in a village in Curimao, Ilocos Norte were guided back to the wild on Wednesday. Engr. Erickson Biag, Currimao municipal environment officer designate, told the Philippine News Agency in a phone interview that village officials of Barangay Paguludan, are monitoring the pawikan hatchery. He said…
At least 30 people were killed and 60 others injured during a stampede that took place early Wednesday at the ongoing mega Hindu festival, Maha Kumbh Mela, in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh, officials said. The pre-dawn stampede was triggered after a barrier broke as tens of thousands of devotees thronged the Triveni Sangam…
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences for the deaths during a stampede that occurred in the early hours of the day in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Modi, however, didn’t specify the death toll or the number of injured persons. Though there was no official confirmation, local media reports suggested that at least…
The open-source and free release of Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot DeepSeek has sent shockwaves through the crypto market, triggering a sharp selloff in digital assets. Now all eyes are on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s upcoming interest rate decision. DeepSeek, a large language model (LLM), operates with significantly lower resource consumption than its rivals, including…
A poll conducted in Greenland revealed that 85% of the population opposes the idea of becoming U.S. territory. The survey, conducted by polling firm Verian for Greenland’s national newspaper Sermitsiaq and Danish media outlet Berlingske, evaluated public opinion in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks suggesting that his country should acquire Greenland from Denmark….
The Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Jesus Nazareno, popularly known as Quiapo Church, has a new parish priest, the Archdiocese of Manila announced on Wednesday. In Circular No. 2025-06, Fr. Isidro Marinay, Manila Archdiocese Chancellor, announced the appointment of Fr. Ramon Jade Licuanan to head the minor basilica effective next month. “We are pleased…
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Wednesday reported that a raid on an establishment in Pasay City yielded fake branded products worth P42 million. The operation, carried out on January 21, stemmed from a complaint filed by the authorized Gucci representative regarding the increasing number of fake products bearing the luxury brand’s trademark in…
The Philippines and New Zealand officially began negotiations for the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) on Jan. 23, 2025 hosted by the Philippine government in Manila. A SOVFA will reinforce the memorandum of arrangement between the DND and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) with the Ministry of Defense of New Zealand concerning…
