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Jessy Mendiola and Luis Manzano marked their third anniversary as a married couple by sharing moments from their recently held second wedding, a church ceremony, in Coron, Palawan. The actress looked radiant in a white asymmetrical lace dress while Manzano donned a Barong Tagalog, as seen on Mendiola's Instagram page on Wednesday, Feb. 21. In the caption, Mendiola admitted that she and the TV host were no longer excited to get married as they already did back in 2021. "Being together for almost [eight] years and being married for [three] years have taught me so many things. One of them is that love is not always easy, and that it isn't supposed to be easy all the time," she...

Keep on reading: Jessy Mendiola, Luis Manzano give peek at Palawan church wedding

  SINGAPORE --- Japanese stocks raced to a record peak on Thursday, breaking levels last seen in 1989 during the halcyon days of the bubble economy, as cheap valuations and corporate reforms lure foreign money looking for alternatives to battered Chinese markets. The Nikkei share average rose about 2% to 39,000 points, above the previous intraday record high of 38,957.44 points touched on the final trading day of 1989. On that day, the benchmark index closed at 38,915.87. The 34 years it has taken to regain its footing is a record, too, for a major market and is a decade longer than Wall Street took to recoup losses from the 1929 crash and Great Depression. READ: Nikkei...

Keep on reading: Nikkei parties like it’s 1989; scales record high

    TOKYO --- The Bank of Japan will pull the plug on its eight-year negative interest rate policy in April, according to more than 80% of economists polled by Reuters, marking a long-awaited major shift from a global outlier central bank. Nearly the same proportion of economists, 76%, also expect the BOJ to scrap yield curve control at that meeting, with almost all saying ultra-loose monetary conditions will end then, just months before many major central banks are expected to start cutting rates. READ: BOJ keeps ultra-loose policy intact The BOJ is on track to end negative interest rates in coming months despite Japan's economy slipping into a recession, so...

Keep on reading: BOJ to scrap negative interest rates in April, say over 80% of economists

https://youtube.com/live/BsuzMbEZ_KI Here's a quick roundup of today's top stories: House to hold 3 hearings on Cha-cha per week The House leadership on Wednesday announced plans to hold hearings "three times a week" on a resolution seeking to amend certain economic provisions of the Constitution and wrap up deliberations as swiftly as possible. The majority leader, Zamboanga Rep. Manuel Dalipe, said the chamber would be convening as a committee of the whole from Monday to Wednesday starting Feb. 26 to discuss Resolution of Both Houses No. 7 (RBH 7) and "show our seriousness and... desire to push for those economic provisions." PCG belies China's claim it drove off BFAR vessel i...

Keep on reading: INQToday: PCG belies China’s claim it drove off BFAR vessel in Scarborough Shoal

  President Volodymyr Zelensky downplayed Ukraine's loss of the eastern town of Avdiivka to Russian forces and called for faster support from allies as the war against Russia neared the two-year mark, in comments broadcast on Wednesday. Russian troops took control of Avdiivka last week in Moscow's biggest battlefield gain since its forces captured Bakhmut last May. Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin says Russia will press on with its drive through eastern Ukraine. Zelensky, in excerpts from an interview with Fox News to be aired on Thursday, acknowledged that last year had been "complicated" for Ukraine, particularly as 2023 came to a close.   READ: Ukraine withdr...

Keep on reading: Ukraine leader downplays loss of Avdiivka, seeks faster support

Things are about to change for the better for the fans of anything to do with Marvel because when X-Men '97 begins streaming on Disney+, this will be a chance for everyone who was too young during the early 90s to watch even a bit of what made the original X-Men the Animated Series iconic. Can they recapture the magic of what made the original animated series of the X-Men beloved in the first place? From what I saw of the official trailer of X-Men '97 that feeling is a bit there. But I have to watch the episodes first to make that conclusion accurate. Indeed, decades later, the animated series of the X-Men still has its impact on viewers for those who got to watch it when it fi...

Keep on reading: X-Men ’97? You bet, I will watch it

  MANILA, Philippines --- Seven Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel with a standing arrest warrant for two counts of murder have surrendered to authorities early this month, according to the Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG). In a statement on Thursday, IMEG said the seven surrendered to them on separate dates and locations from February 8 to 13. On February 8, the group said Staff Sergeant Quill Carame Bay-an, who reportedly went AWOL (absent without leave), turned himself in before the IMEG's office at Sitio Boted, Barangay Tawang, La Trinidad, Benguet. After this, three others surrendered on February 11 --- two in Pampanga and one in Quezon ...

Keep on reading: PNP-IMEG: 7 cops wanted for murder surrender

        VATICAN CITY -- The giant bronze-and-wood canopy in the middle of St Peter's Basilica is being gradually engulfed by scaffolding as Gian Lorenzo Bernini's masterpiece gets its first major restoration since the mid-1700s. The almost 30-meter-high canopy covers the high altar of the basilica, and was built on the spot where St Peter, the first pope, is believed to have been buried after dying as a Christian martyr in the reign of Roman Emperor Nero (54-68 AD). The altar, from which only the pope can celebrate Mass, is "the cornerstone of the entire architecture of the Basilica", Father Enzo Fortunato, head of communications for the church, ...

Keep on reading: Vatican restorers set to work on St. Peter’s centerpiece

MANILA, Philippines --- The last batch of 14 Filipinos from under siege Gaza Strip have arrived in the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed Thursday. In a text message to INQUIRER.net, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said the number of Filipinos repatriated from the war-torn enclave due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war is now at 136. "Yesterday February 21, at 8 a.m. [...] the last batch of 14 Filipino nationals fleeing from Gaza arrived at the [Ninoy Aquino International Airport], where they were met by DFA and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration officials," said de Vega. "This makes a total of 136 out of the original 137 Filipino...

Keep on reading: Last batch of 14 Filipinos back in PH from war-torn Gaza, says DFA

When the world marked International Mother Language Day last Feb. 21, the number of languages available on JW.ORG, the official website of the Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs), reached 1,087, making it the most translated website for five years now. While volunteer-driven, the website is able to translate eight major languages in the Philippines --- Cebuano, Iloko, Tagalog, Pangasinan, Bicol, Hiligaynon, and Waray-waray --- where the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures is available online and in print, according to James Morales, national spokesperson for JWs in the Philippines. He said several indigenous languages, such as Blaan, Chavacano, and Kankanaey, are also available ...

Keep on reading: JW website is world’s most translated

  SAN FRANCISCO -- President Joe Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "crazy SOB" during a fundraiser in San Francisco on Wednesday, warning there is always the threat of nuclear conflict but that the existential threat to humanity remains climate."This is the last existential threat. It is climate. We have a crazy SOB like that guy Putin and others, and we always have to worry about nuclear conflict, but the existential threat to humanity is climate," Biden told a small group of donors. Biden has previously cursed "son of a bitch" at others. In January 2022, he was caught on the hot mic using the same term of abuse against a Fox News White House reporter. Bi...

Keep on reading: Biden calls Putin a ‘crazy SOB’ during San Francisco fundraiser

  FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida --- The collapse of a sand hole that killed a 7-year-old Indiana girl who was digging with her brother on a Florida beach is an underrecognized danger that kills and injures several children a year around the country. Sloan Mattingly died Tuesday afternoon at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea's beach when a 4-to-5-foot-deep (1-to-1.5-meter) hole collapsed on her and her 9-year-old brother, Maddox. The boy was buried up to his chest, but the girl was fully covered. Video taken by a bystander shows about 20 adults trying to dig her out using their hands and plastic pails, but the hole kept collapsing on itself. Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, a small enclave north o...

Keep on reading: Sand hole collapse in Florida kills a child

Travis Kelce has reportedly landed at the next location of his girlfriend Taylor Swift's Eras tour on board a private jet. As reported by 9 News and Channel's 7 The Morning Show on Thursday, Feb. 22 (US time), the football star was seen getting off a private plane that's bound for Australia, where the pop icon is holding her concert. As seen in the photos and videos circulating online, Kelce appears to be accompanied by a friend and former NFL star, Ross Travis, as he went on to see the "Cruel Summer" singer. https://twitter.com/TheTodayShow/status/1760431977004417350 Kelce just came from a trip to Las Vegas with his Kansas City Chiefs team after winning the Super Bowl ea...

Keep on reading: Travis Kelce flies to Australia to support GF Taylor Swift

  WASHINGTON --- Alzheimer's quietly ravages the brain long before symptoms appear and now scientists have new clues about the dominolike sequence of those changes --- a potential window to one day intervene. A large study in China tracked middle-aged and older adults for 20 years, using regular brain scans, spinal taps and other tests. Compared to those who remained cognitively healthy, people who eventually developed the mind-robbing disease had higher levels of an Alzheimer's-linked protein in their spinal fluid 18 years prior to diagnosis, researchers reported Wednesday. Then every few years afterward, the study detected another so-called biomarker of brewing troubl...

Keep on reading: Silent brain changes precede Alzheimer’s–study

Miss Universe Philippines dropped the official headshots of the 2024 candidates, exciting pageant fans who are looking forward to meeting the next titleholder. The 54 candidates stunned with their glam looks, as seen on the organization's Facebook page on Wednesday, Feb. 21. "Pilipinas! Presenting the official headshots of the Miss Universe Philippines 2024 delegates," the caption read. Among the 54 delegates are pageant veterans Ahtisa Manalo representing Quezon Province; Christi McGarry representing Taguig City; Kris Tiffany Janson representing Cebu; Cyrille Payumo representing Pampanga; Victoria Velasquez Vincent representing Bacoor, Cavite; Stacey Gabriel representin...

Keep on reading: Miss Universe Philippines releases 2024 candidates’ official headshots

MANILA, Philippines --- The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Thursday disproved China's claim that it chased away a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel in the Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea. Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said BRP Datu Sanday continues to patrol the waters of the low-tide elevation, also known as Bajo de Masinloc and Panatag Shoal. "Currently, the BFAR vessel is actively ensuring the security of Filipino fishermen in that area," Tarriela told reporters in a Viber message. READ: PCG, BFAR ships deployed to Scarborough to protect fishers vs China Earlier Thursday, Beijing said its China...

Keep on reading: PCG belies China’s claim it drove off BFAR vessel in Scarborough Shoal

  DENVER --- An American founder of a Haitian orphanage who is accused of sexually abusing four boys there more than a decade ago has been ordered to be sent from Colorado to Florida to face prosecution. Michael Geilenfeld, 71, was arrested in Colorado on Jan. 20 after being indicted in Florida, accused of traveling from Miami to Haiti between 2010 and 2016 "for the purpose of engaging in any illicit sexual conduct with another person under 18." The charge he faces carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison in the event of a conviction. In a court order signed Tuesday and released Wednesday, a federal magistrate judge in Denver said U.S. marshals should take Geilenfe...

Keep on reading: Haiti orphanage founder to be sent to Florida for sex abuse case

  MANILA, Philippines --- Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has urged young Filipinos who are eligible to vote in the 2025 midterm elections to register with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) so that they can exercise their right to suffrage. In a statement, Romualdez stressed that young people must register as they are the "backbone" of the country's future. Romualdez said this after the Comelec opened the registration last February 12. Currently, the poll body said over 340,000 new voters have registered for the next elections. READ: Comelec: Over 340,000 new voters registered from Feb 12 to 17 "The youth are the backbone of our nation's future. Their activ...

Keep on reading: Romualdez urges young Filipinos to register for 2025 polls

  MANILA, Philippines --- Several foreign ambassadors toured Malacaang to bolster diplomatic ties, said the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) on Thursday. Foreign envoys included in the tour were the Chinese envoy to the Philippines, Huang Xilian, Australian Ambassador Hae Kyong Yu and European Union Ambassador Luc Veron. READ: Malacaang opens heritage mansions for glimpse of PH history, culture "As part of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.'s commitment to treasuring and preserving our country's history while strengthening our diplomatic ties, a guided tour of the nation's most historic homes was organized for Ambassadors assigned to t...

Keep on reading: LOOK: Foreign envoys tour Malacañang

    NEW YORK --- Emily Hollenbeck lived with a deep, recurring depression she likened to a black hole, where gravity felt so strong and her limbs so heavy she could barely move. She knew the illness could kill her. Both of her parents had taken their lives. She was willing to try something extreme: Having electrodes implanted in her brain as part of an experimental therapy. Researchers say the treatment ---- called deep brain stimulation, or DBS --- could eventually help many of the nearly 3 million Americans like her with depression that resists other treatments. It's approved for conditions such as Parkinson's disease and epilepsy, and many doctors and patie...

Keep on reading: Brain pacemaker helped woman with crippling depression