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A Denver Nuggets squad looking to prove its championship quality and an upstart Miami Heat lineup that made defying the odds a trademark are on an NBA Finals collision course. Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic of Serbia leads the Western Conference top seed Nuggets against sharpshooter Jimmy Butler and the Heat, who needed a play-in victory just to grab an eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. The best-of-seven championship series begins Thursday at Denver. It's the Nuggets' first trip to the NBA Finals since making their league debut in 1976. Denver has won hard-earned respect after 46 seasons of futility, this year as a playoff top seed for the first time. ...

Keep on reading: Title-hungry Nuggets face odds-defying Heat in NBA Finals

SINGAPORE -Asia's stock markets slid toward a second month of losses in a row on Wednesday, and even the glittering Nikkei paused, as weak Chinese factory activity fed growing doubts about the post-pandemic recovery in the world's second biggest economy. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1 percent in early trade and is down 2.4 percent in a month where hopes for robust Chinese rebound have run dry. Data showed Chinese manufacturing activity contracted faster than expected this month on weakening demand, with the official manufacturing purchasing managers' index down to 48.2 against a forecast of 49.4. https://business.inquirer.net/403487/chinas-fact...

Keep on reading: Asia stocks slump to monthly loss as China data disappoints

  CLIVE, Iowa -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stepped up his attacks on Republican rival Donald Trump on Tuesday as he kicked off his first campaign swing as a presidential candidate in Iowa. While DeSantis rarely alluded to the former president during remarks at an evening rally, he showed less restraint afterward when taking questions from the media. DeSantis bashed Trump on issues such as immigration, COVID policy and federal spending, suggesting that he had drifted away from conservative principles as president. "Unfortunately, he's decided to move left on some of these issues," DeSantis said. Trump, the front-runner in the Republican race, recently assailed ...

Keep on reading: DeSantis bashes Trump as 2024 campaign swing begins

SYDNEY - Australian consumer prices rose by more than expected in April on a jump in fuel prices and strong gains in housing, suggesting sticky inflation will likely keep pressure on the central bank. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 6.8 percent in April from a year earlier, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed on Wednesday, compared with 6.3 percent in March and market forecasts of 6.4 percent. On a monthly basis, CPI rose by a strong 0.8 percent from March. Prices excluding volatile fruit, vegetables and fuel and holiday travel, rose 6.5 percent in the year to April, down from 6.9 percent in March. The Australian dollar hit a session high of $0.6538 after the data bu...

Keep on reading: Australia inflation accelerates in April, keeps pressure on RBA

  Canadian emergency officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for parts of Bedford, Nova Scotia, after authorities noted a new wildfire and the potential for an ammonia leak in the area, CBC News reported on Tuesday. This comes after the declaration late Sunday of a state of local emergency for the eastern city of Halifax, also in Nova Scotia, after a wildfire caused evacuations and power outages, impacting about 18,000 people. Crews were tackling the fire reported at a Farmers Dairy building off Hammonds Plains Road, Halifax Mayor Mike Savage told CBC. A wide evacuation radius was ordered partly due to the risk of an ammonia leak from tanks on the site of the F...

Keep on reading: Evacuation order issued in Nova Scotia, Canada, after new wildfire–CBC News

MANILA, Philippines --- The country has 2,239 new certified public accountants as the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced the result of the licensure examination held last week. The PRC Board of Accountancy said that 2,239 of the 7,376 aspiring accountants successfully passed the Certified Public Accountant Licensure Exam (CPALE) conducted from May 21-23 in Metro Manila, Baguio, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Koronadal, Legazpi, Lucena, Pagadian, Palawan, Pampanga, Rosales, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, and Zamboanga. University of the Philippines Diliman was the top-performing school in the May 2023 CPALE, posting a passing rate of 93.22%, according to the PRC...

Keep on reading: 2,239 pass May 2023 Certified Public Accountant Licensure Exam – PRC

MANILA, Philippines --- It was hours past midnight when the Senate made the unsurprising move to approve the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund bill, asserting its commitment to pass the measure within its timeline prior to Congress' sine die adjournment on June 2. Voting 19-1-1, the Senate passed the proposed MIF Act, more than a week after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. certified it as urgent. Forgoing the constitutional requirement of a three-day period between the second and third reading is allowed for bills deemed urgent by the President. But before senators made their votes known, Senator Risa Hontiveros said she thought the chamber would be deciding the fate of ...

Keep on reading: How did senators vote, and eventually approve Maharlika bill?

MANILA -The Philippine national government's debt stock continued to increase in April by 0.4 percent or an additional P54.24 billion to reach still another all-time high of P13.91 trillion, according to the Bureau of the Treasury. In April, foreign debt increased by 2.5 percent to P4.45 trillion as new borrowings exceeded payments made. Meanwhile, local debt decreased by 0.6 percent to P9.46 trillion mainly because the government redeemed more securities than it issued that month. On other hand, the depreciation of the Philippine peso in April blunted the decrease in outstanding obligations as this added P2.47 billion to the debt stock....

Keep on reading: Philippine debt stock rose further to P13.91T in April

Nikola Jokic can cap an improbable journey to the pinnacle of his sport by leading the Denver Nuggets to a first ever championship when the NBA Finals get under way on Thursday. Nine years ago, the softly spoken Serbian center barely caused a murmur of attention when the Nuggets chose him with the 41st overall pick in the draft. That selection was so low-key that it was not even broadcast live; instead, viewers watching the NBA draft were shown a commercial for a popular fast-food chain. The consensus was that while Jokic had size coupled with respectable passing and shooting ability, the doughy youngster lacked the athleticism and speed to thrive in the world's toughest bas...

Keep on reading: Quiet man Nikola Jokic ready for crowning glory in NBA Finals

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has used an array of adjectives to describe Jimmy Butler over the course of his team's remarkable postseason campaign. On Monday, Spoelstra was once again plundering his vocabulary after Butler led Miami's scoring in a do-or-die game seven blowout of the Boston Celtics to seal a place in the NBA Finals. It was the latest in a lengthening list of towering performances from Butler, the 33-year-old forward who has invariably been the cornerstone of Miami's odyssey through the NBA playoffs. In the first round, Butler scored 56 points and 42 points in games four and five as Miami romped to a 4-1 series victory against the top-seeded Milwaukee ...

Keep on reading: NBA: Jimmy Butler is Miami Heat’s man for ‘moments of truth’

Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers, who has played a pivotal part in the franchise's success over the past decade, is stepping down, ESPN reported on Tuesday. Myers confirmed to ESPN that he would leave the Warriors when his current contract expires in late June. "It's just time," ESPN quoted Myers as saying. The 48-year-old front office executive was hired as Golden State's assistant general manager in 2011 and promoted to general manager the following year. During his 11 seasons as general manager, the Warriors won four NBA championships in six visits to the NBA Finals. Myers was seen as a key part of the Warriors' success, helping to retain the core of ...

Keep on reading: NBA: Warriors GM Bob Myers stepping down

Ogie Diaz disclosed that sources confirmed to him that Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil have broken up and that it was the actress who decided to part ways with the actor to focus on her career. Diaz said this through his YouTube vlog on Tuesday, May 30, as he noted that breakup speculations might have stemmed from the "pronouncements" and prior interviews of the actress in which she made no mention of Gil. Diaz, the former manager of Soberano, added that Soberano might have further fueled speculations when she did not greet Gil through her social media pages on his birthday last March. "Ang nakarating sa atin ay hiwalay na sina Enrique Gil at Liza Soberano," Diaz said. "Hindi ...

Keep on reading: Ogie Diaz says insiders confirmed Liza Soberano, Enrique Gil’s split: ‘Sana hindi totoo’

MANILA -The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said inflation in May might be within the range of 5.8 percent to 6.6 percent, most likely receding for the fourth month in a row. The midpoint of forecast range --- 6.2 percent --- suggests that the BSP expects inflation to have eased further from the 6.6 percent print in April. https://business.inquirer.net/399412/philippine-inflation-eased-further-to-6-6-in-april The Philippine Statistics Authority will announce the official readout on June 6. "The cumulative rollback in domestic petroleum prices as well as lower poultry and fish prices and electricity rates of various regional power distributors could lead to lower inflation in May,...

Keep on reading: BSP: Inflation slowed down further in May

MANILA, Philippines --- The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has named its communications department deputy chief Hector Villacorta as the Land Transportation Office (LTO) acting officer-in-charge. Villacorta will replace Jose Arturo Tugade, who resigned last week as the agency's chief. In a text message on Wednesday, the LTO confirmed to INQUIRER.net that DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista had designated Villacorta as the LTO's acting OIC. Villacorta was Assistant Secretary for the DOTr's Communications Department before his latest assignment at the LTO. On May 22, Tugade announced he had stepped down as LTO chief saying: "Even as DOTr and LTO both aim to succeed in servin...

Keep on reading: DOTr names comms exec Hector Villacorta as LTO acting officer-in-charge

MANILA, Philippines --- A radio broadcaster was shot and killed in Barangay Sta. Isabel, Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro on Wednesday morning, the Philippine National Police said. The victim, identified as Cresenciano Aldovino Bunduquin, 50, died after two unidentified men on board a motorcycle fired at him at around 4:20 a.m., according to a report from the Police Regional Office Mimaropa(Mindoro Oriental and Occidental, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan). The Philippine National Police (PNP) said a hot pursuit operation against the two suspects is ongoing. Meanwhile, PNP chief General Benjamin Acorda Jr. directed the PRO Mimaropa to create a Special Investigation Task Group ...

Keep on reading: Radio broadcaster shot dead in Oriental Mindoro

BAGUIO CITY --- Abra Acting Gov. Russell Bragas ordered the suspension of classes at all levels in public and private schools on Wednesday, May 31, due to Typhoon Betty (international name: Mawar). Bragas said in an executive order signed on Wednesday that the suspension seeks to ensure the safety and welfare of students as the whole province experiences moderate to heavy rains. In its 5 a.m. bulletin, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration raised Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1 in the northeastern part of Abra, which includes the towns of Tineg, Lacub, and Malibcong. INQ RELATED STORIES Northern Luzon evacuations continue eve...

Keep on reading: Classes suspended in Abra due to Typhoon Betty

Oil prices edged up on Wednesday after steep losses in the prior session, as market participants awaited an expected vote on a bipartisan deal to lift the $31.4 trillion U.S. debt ceiling. Brent crude futures for August delivery rose 11 cents to $73.82 a barrel by 0013 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) gained 8 cents to $69.54 a barrel. Both fell more than 4 percent on Tuesday. Brent's July contract, which expires on Wednesday, and the U.S. benchmark were on track for monthly declines of more than 7 percent and 9 percent, respectively. Top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday urged members of his party to support the deal even as he faced a direct...

Keep on reading: Oil edges up after steep losses ahead of US debt ceiling vote

SEOUL --- Rare wailing air raid sirens and mobile phone alerts calling for evacuations rattled residents of the South Korean capital, Seoul, early on Wednesday after North Korea launched what it said was a satellite. North Korea launched the rocket southward, South Korea's military said, prompting emergency alerts and evacuation warnings in parts of South Korea and Japan. "I was so panicked. Nine-one-one lines were busy and the internet was slow," said Lee Juyeon, 33, a resident in the densely populated city of 9 million who has a 9-month-old child. "So without knowing what was really happening, I was about to head down to a basement wearing a wrap carrier with my baby." The...

Keep on reading: Evacuation alerts, sirens cause panic in Seoul after North Korea launch

MANILA, Philippines--The shutdown of Central Azucarera de Don Pedro, Inc. (CADPI), the largest sugar mill in the Calabarzon Region, has led to over 13,000 farmers and farm workers losing their livelihoods. House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez on Tuesday coordinated an aid distribution effort for some 800 displaced sugar farmers of CADPI. "Nang makausap ko ang mga magsasakang naapektuhan ng pagsasara ng sugar mill sa Speaker's Office, nalungkot ako sa dala nilang balita. Alam ko ang epekto ng pagsasara ng sugar mill. Kagutuman at kalituhan ang tiyak na resulta nito," Romualdez said in his brief message during the aid distribution held in Balayan. The closure of CADPI, ...

Keep on reading: Over 13,000 lose livelihoods after Nasugbu sugar mill shutdown; Romualdez leads aid distribution

BEIJING - China's manufacturing activity contracted faster than expected in May on weakening demand, an official factory survey showed on Wednesday, heaping pressures on policymakers to shore up the patchy economic recovery. The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) was 48.8 from 49.2 in April, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, staying below the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction. The outcome also lagged a forecast of 49.4. China's economy is emerging from three years of pandemic lockdowns, but the recovery has been uneven with services spending outperforming activity in the factory, property and export-oriented sectors...

Keep on reading: China’s factory activity falls faster than expected on weak demand – PMI