Inquirer Breaking News

MANILA, Philippines --- Veteran setter Kim Fajardo is thrilled to step out of her comfort zone and eager to bring back her old lethal form with her new team, PLDT, in the 2024 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) season. PLDT on Friday officially welcomed Fajardo as the first of its three big recruits this offseason alongside Kianna Dy and Majoy Baron, who are set to be unveiled by the team. Fajardo expressed her hunger to thrive under the new system of coach Rald Ricafort after spending her collegiate career at La Salle and club stint with F2 Logistics both handled by coach Ramil De Jesus. "I want to be challenged by this new system and I want to learn more," said the 30-year-ol...

Keep on reading: PVL: Kim Fajardo eager to tackle new challenges with PLDT

LOS ANGELES---Organizers of the newly reformed Golden Globes hope that a "Barbenheimer" love-in can help to revitalize Hollywood's famously fun-loving but scandal-dogged awards gala on Sunday, Jan. 7. Kicking off prize-giving season from the usual swanky Beverly Hills ballroom at 5 p.m. (0100 GMT Monday), the Globes boast new owners and new voters---and have plenty of box-office gold to toast. The show is expected to celebrate "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer"---two movies that wowed critics and audiences alike when they were released simultaneously last summer, and have a whopping 17 nominations between them. "They are so different than each other, yet they were both successful......

Keep on reading: New-look Golden Globes prepares to toast ‘Barbenheimer’

Kylie Verzosa is adding "businesswoman" to her resume as she recently announced the upcoming launch of her first business venture. On Instagram, the beauty queen shared that she is embarking on a new journey as she unveiled her shapewear brand called SOL. "Another dream come true! I can't wait to share with you my first business and baby, and what my team and I have been working on for the past months," she wrote. Verzosa declared that this initiative is rooted in the goal of uplifting people's confidence: "At its core, it is to make everyone feel good and confident in their own bodies."   View this post on Instagram ...

Keep on reading: Kylie Verzosa announces first business venture

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI - Beijing has informally asked some money managers in China to prioritize the launch of equity funds over other products like bond funds, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter said, as authorities scramble to revive its lagging stock market. The "window guidance", or unofficial, verbal advice from regulators, was given by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to some of the country's biggest mutual fund managers in recent weeks, the sources said on condition of anonymity because the information was not public. The CSRC did not respond to a request for comment. China's $3.8 trillion mutual fund industry is a key pillar of the country's ca...

Keep on reading: China pushes equity fund launches to support stock market -sources

LUCENA CITY --- A motorcycle rider was killed and a policeman was wounded in an alleged shootout in Tanay, Rizal on Thursday, Jan 4, police said. The Region 4A police said in a report that cops conducting "Oplan Sita," a routine anti-criminality inspection, flagged down on Thursday morning two riders aboard separate motorcycles along Sagbat-Pililla road in Barangay Tandang Kutyo. Instead of heeding the order, the two motorcyclists ignored the police officers and fled towards Tanay town proper, prompting the policemen to give chase. The report said one of the riders fired at the law enforcers and hit Corporal Ron Aldrich Buenaventura on the chest, who was wearing a bulletproo...

Keep on reading: Rizal town shootout: Suspect slain, cop wounded

Asian equities attracted their biggest inflows in seven years in 2023, encouraged by major central banks' deceleration in rate hikes to prioritize economic stimulation amid diminishing inflation worries. Central banks only moderated the pace of their rate hikes last year, but this year analysts anticipate increased foreign inflows into regional equities as the potential for U.S. rate cuts enhance the appeal of risk assets. According to stock exchange data from Taiwan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, foreign investors bought a net $26.62 billion worth of stocks last year, the most since 2016. Indian equities had the greatest inflows last year...

Keep on reading: Asian equities attract largest inflows in seven years

LUCENA CITY --- A man hacked to death on Thursday the father and brother of his former lover in Mulanay town in Quezon province, authorities said. The Quezon police reported on Friday, Dec. 5, that the suspect, identified as "Efren," suddenly appeared around 10 a.m. at the house of Dominador Constantino, 67, in Barangay Sta. Rosa. The suspect borrowed the bolo of the old man and pretended that he would harvest bananas and sell them because he lost his money. Citing information from Dominador's lone house companion, a little girl, the investigators said Efren killed the old man by hacking him on the neck using the same bolo. The investigators also found Dominador's son, Ro...

Keep on reading: Man hacks to death 2 kin of ex-lover in Quezon

NBA Scores, News, Schedules   SAN FRANCISCO --- With three seconds left in a tie game, Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone set up Nikola Jokic to be the safety valve on an inbounds pass at the far end. Jamal Murray, the first option, wasn't available up the sideline. Neither was second-choice Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Instead, Aaron Gordon got the ball to Jokic, who took three dribbles across halfcourt, stopped and launched a 40-footer over Kevon Looney from the right sideline that banked in as time expired. That have the Nuggets a stunning 130-127 victory Thursday night after trailing by 18 points in the fourth quarter. They closed with a 25-4 run. Jokic had 34 points...

Keep on reading: NBA: Nikola Jokic hits 40-footer at buzzer, Nuggets rally to stun Warriors

PRETORIA, South Africa--- South African athlete Oscar Pistorius was due to be released from prison on parole Friday, more than a decade after he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in a Valentine's Day killing that shattered the reputation of a sports superstar. Television crews, photographers and news reporters gathered outside the gates of the Atteridgeville Correctional Center in the South African capital of Pretoria before 6 a.m., waiting to catch a glimpse of the world-famous double-amputee Olympic runner. Department of Corrections officials have said that Pistorius' release time on Friday will not be announced ahead of time and he will not be "paraded," indicating they wi...

Keep on reading: Oscar Pistorius to be released on parole after nearly 9 years in prison

MANILA, Philippines --- Department of Justice (DOJ) and Bureau of Immigration (BI) cannot confirm if International Criminal Court (ICC) investigators are already in the Philippines. Justice Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano told INQUIRER.net on Friday that BI cannot ascertain whether or not ICC representatives have arrived. "The Bureau of Immigration cannot confirm their presence here. If ever they have come in, it was surreptitious and done with intent to evade detection," he said on Viber. Asked if DOJ will be open to working with ICC based in The Hague, Netherlands, he responded that the department considers international assistance. However, the assistant secretary not...

Keep on reading: DOJ: No info on supposed arrival of ICC reps in PH; issue has ‘distracted’ us

MANILA, Philippines --- The House committee on energy will start its hearing on the power outage affecting Panay Island on Thursday, January 11, Iloilo City Rep. Julienne Baronda said on Friday. In a post on her Facebook page, Baronda showed a document from the said panel headed by former Speaker and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, which showed that the committee will hold a meeting on the issue. Baronda, along with several lawmakers, were among the authors of resolutions on the power shortage affecting Western Visayas. In a statement, Baronda explained that while she and other Iloilo-based lawmakers have filed resolutions asking the House to probe the blackouts, it would be...

Keep on reading: House panel probe on Panay power outage to start January 11

MANILA, Philippines --- Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda believes the Philippines can address inflation woes by diversifying its rice import sources and increasing local yield, as the staple food accounts for a huge part of every Filipino household's expenses. In a statement on Friday, Salceda said it is important to focus on rice as world prices are again seeing an uptick, if the government wants to improve from the inflation figures in 2023. Salceda said this just after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced that headline inflation rate for December 2023 eased to 3.9 percent, which brought the average for the entire 2023 to 6 percent. "With rice, world prices ...

Keep on reading: PH needs to boost rice yield, diversify import sources, says Salceda

We Filipinos are well-known for our resilience and determination to press onward no matter what life throws at us. No matter how difficult life can get, we somehow still manage to make the best of what we have. We are also very family-oriented people, always putting our loved ones' needs first before our own; sometimes to a point where we neglect our own well-being just to ensure theirs. There are certain things in life, however, that we cannot always overcome. These are illnesses, accidents, and death. When these risks come knocking on our door, they can destroy everything we've worked hard to build in a snap. To protect our families, we need more than resilience and determinatio...

Keep on reading: What to do when life doesn’t go according to Plan A?