Other News

President Aquino sets US trip to attend UN summit on global climate change

MANILA, Sept. 9 (PNA) — The Philippines will urge developed countries to agree to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to address the challenge of climate change when President Benigno S. Aquino III delivers a speech in the Global Climate Change Summit during his upcoming visit to the United States this September 23 to 24. In a Palace press briefing, Climate Change Commission Secretary Mary Ann Lucille Sering underscored the need for consensus among 95 percent […]

Singapore to use state-of-the-art farming tech to produce more veggies

Scientists at an indoor produce farm in Singapore are using cutting edge technology to reduce growing times and costs. The Panasonic lab-farm is one of the projects in the works to increase the capability of the small island state, which currently imports more than 95 percent of their produce, to grow their own vegetables.  Phoebe de Guzman reports from Singapore.

MH17 passenger remains return to Malaysia

(Reuters) — Two more bodies of victims killed when a jetliner was downed in Ukraine in July returned to Malaysia on Tuesday (September 9), ahead of the release of the Dutch Transport Safety Board preliminary report into the downing of the plane. Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 crashed after apparently being struck by a missile over war-tornUkraine on July 17, worsening a year of tragedy for the country following the baffling disappearance of another MAS flight in March. Bodies and wreckage from […]

UK’s Prince William and wife Kate thrilled at second baby news

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince William said on Monday he and wife Kate were thrilled to be expecting their second baby, after news of the pregnancy was released early because the Duchess had been suffering from morning sickness. The baby will be fourth-in-line to the British throne, after grandfather Prince Charles, father William and elder brother George, the couple’s first child born in July last year. There was no mention of when the baby was […]

Electricity power price hike seen by 2015

Energy price hikes of about 25 centavos per kilowatt hour are expected by year 2015, according to House of Representatives Committee on Energy Chairmen Reynaldo Umali. Private companies are thus advised to use generators or interruptible load programs as aid to the crisis. Under the interruptible load program (ILP), customers with large loads like commercial establishments will be asked to operate their own generator sets.  This is if the grid operator projects a need to […]

Iraq’s new government sworn in

(Reuters) — Iraq’s new government was sworn in on Monday (September 8) night in Baghdad in a bid to rescue Iraq from collapse, with sectarianism and Arab-Kurdish tensions on the rise. The parliament approved the new government to be headed by Haider al-Abadi as prime minister. Abadi is a Shi’ite Islamist. He included members of Iraq’s Shi’ite majority and its Kurdish and Sunni minorities in his cabinet. The swearing in of the government marks the start of Abadi’s uphill task to unify the […]

Expect lower electric bills in September

  Good news for electric consumers.  The Manila Electric Company has announced that the electric bills will go down P0.58 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) this month on lower generation and transmission charges resulting in lower electric bills in September. Generation charge went down to P5.19 per kWh which is its lowest level in 2014 to-date.  Last month, the rate was P5.63 per kWh.  The reason for the decrease in generation charge is the availability and reliability […]

Lucio Tan regains full control of Philippine Airlines

MANILA (PNA) — The Group of Dr. Lucio C. Tan formally sealed the deal with San Miguel Corporation (SMC) to buy back Philippine Airlines (PAL), SMC and PAL Holdings, Inc. disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Tuesday morning. In their disclosures, the companies said that, “The two biggest stockholders of Philippine Airlines – San Miguel Corporation (SMC) and the Group of Dr. Lucio C. Tan – signed a joint agreement whereby SMC expressed willingness […]

DILG offers reward money for info on cop “hulidap” suspects

Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas is ready to offer reward money to anyone who can give information that will lead to the arrest of the seven other police suspects involved in the so-called EDSA “Hulidap” that happened on September 1.”   President Aquino himself had approved the offer of the reward money.

Reese Witherspoon takes walk on ‘Wild’ side at Toronto festival

(Reuters) – From the moment Reese Witherspoon tears off a bloodied big toe nail in the opening scene of her new film “Wild,” it is clear the Oscar-winning actress is headed in a new direction. It may be the best move she has made in awhile, offering the normally pretty and perky Witherspoon the chance to play a raw and angry woman venturing into the wilderness on her own, for 1,000 miles with a monster-sized […]

Cilic crushes Nishikori to claim U.S. Open title

(Reuters) – Croatia’s Marin Cilic swept past Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-3 6-3 to win the U.S. Open on Monday and reach the pinnacle of the sport one year after a doping ban kept him out of the year’s final grand slam. The big-serving Croatian overwhelmed a weary Nishikori in one hour, 54 minutes to clinch a ruthless victory and deny his 10th-seeded opponent’s bid to become the first Asian man to win a grand […]