Other News

Malacanang welcomes Lonely Planet’s recognition of Philippine tourism

MANILA, Philippines — The Palace welcomed another recognition for the country’s tourism sector after it was named “a must-see destination in 2015” by travel guide publisher Lonely Planet.“Ikinagagalak natin ‘yan sapagkat talaga namang ikinararangal ng ating bansa ang pagkakaroon ng pinakamagagandang isla at magagandang natural endowments kaya naman dinarayo ito ng mga mamamayan mula sa iba’t ibang panig ng mundo,” Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said in a radio interview […]

Washington school shooting suspect left unhappy tweets

BY BILL RIGBY (Reuters) – A high school student believed to have shot to death a classmate and wounded four others on Friday at his campus north of Seattle was a popular homecoming prince but appeared on social media as a heart broken and sometimes angry adolescent. Police offered no motive for why Jaylen Fryberg, a freshman at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Marysville, walked into his school cafeteria and shot his fellow students. Rebecca Cooley, the […]

Palace says gov’t planning effective strategy to fight Ebola virus

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine health authorities have strengthened the mechanism to fight Ebola virus especially with the expected influx of Filipinos returning to the country for the year-end vacation season.It was reported that a health worker in New York tested positive for Ebola virus after working in Africa. New York has a large concentration of Filipinos.Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., said the government is further strengthening an effective program to protect th […]

Police seek motive in fatal Washington state school shooting

(Reuters) – Authorities in Washington state worked on Saturday to find out what led a popular high school student to open fire on a group of classmates seated at a cafeteria table, killing one and wounding four others, including a pair of his cousins, before killing himself. The Friday incident at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in the city of Marysville, north of Seattle, sent students fleeing from the building and sheltering under desks in the latest […]

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth sends her first tweet

(Reuters) – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth made her first foray into the world of social media on Friday when she sent out her inaugural message on Twitter. “It is a pleasure to open the Information Age exhibition today at the @sciencemuseum and I hope people will enjoy visiting. Elizabeth R,” the 88-year-old monarch tweeted at the opening of a new gallery at London’s Science Museum. The message, sent at 10.35 GMT, had already been re-tweeted more […]

China launches World Bank rival in Asia

(Reuters) – Australia, Indonesia and South Korea skipped the launch of a China-backed Asian infrastructure bank on Friday as the United States said it had concerns about the new rival to Western-dominated multilateral lenders. China’s $50 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is seen as a challenge to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, both of which count Washington and its allies as their biggest financial backers. China, which is keen to extend its […]

Protesters in Hong Kong to vote on government proposals

(Reuters) – Hong Kong protesters plan to hold a straw poll on government proposals they rejected earlier in the week as their street campaign pushing for democracy for the Chinese-controlled city entered its fifth week on Friday. With crowds likely to swell at the weekend, student leaders late on Thursday announced a plan for an electronic poll of protesters on reform proposals tabled by senior city government officials in talks on Tuesday that failed to […]

Sharapova grinds out first win but exits Finals

(Reuters) – Maria Sharapova recovered from a second-set meltdown to record her first victory at this year’s WTA Finals with a 7-5 6-7(4) 6-2 triumph over Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanksa on Friday but the Russian still bowed out of the elite eight-woman tournament. After losing her opening two White Group round robin matches, Sharapova needed to win in straight sets to stand any chance of advancing to the semi-finals as well as maintaining her pursuit of […]

Williams guaranteed year-end number one ranking

(Reuters) – Serena Williams clinched the year-end world number one ranking for the fourth time without hitting a ball on Friday after Maria Sharapova, the only woman with any chance of overtaking her, was eliminated from the WTA Finals. Needing to win in straight sets to stand any chance of advancing to the semi-finals, Sharapova lost the second set of her match against Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska at Singapore’s Indoor Stadium, ending her slim hopes of […]