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MANILA, Philippines---Nonito Donaire will have another shot at a world title. The World Boxing Council has approved a fight between Donaire and Mexico's Alexandro Santiago for the vacant WBC bantamweight belt. The location and date of the bout have yet to be announced. Donaire, 40, a four-division champion, was supposed to take on Jason Moloney for the strap but the Australian opted to pursue a different title instead. Donaire is ranked No. 1 bantamweight by the WBC. The WBC on Saturday also said the winner between Donaire and Santiago is "committed to fight" against the victor of the title eliminator featuring Nawaphon Sor Rungvisai and Filipino Reymart Gaballo. The f...

Keep on reading: Nonito Donaire set for WBC title fight vs Alexandro Santiago

MANILA, Philippines--San Miguel Beer's big Sunday duel with TNT could be considered a confidence-booster in its bid to wrest the PBA Governors' Cup crown. But coach Jorge Gallent doesn't want to be too far ahead going into the contest at Philsports Arena in Pasig City pitting teams currently sharing top spot in the season-ending conference. "One game at a time, my friend," Gallent said after the Beermen's 102-99 win over Barangay Ginebra on Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum. The Beermen share a 7-1 slate with the Tropang Giga, with teams with either winning records or traditional contenders among their victims. Aside from Ginebra, San Miguel has also beaten Meralco and Mag...

Keep on reading: PBA: Tied at top spot, San Miguel taking title bid ‘one game at a time’

COTABATO CITY --- Inside the office of Bangsamoro interim Chief Minister Ahod "Al Haj Murad" Ebrahim on Wednesday, February 15, a small crowd of people turned emotional as the leaders of two erstwhile warring clans in Maguindanao del Norte hugged each other. Former Barira Mayor Barok Tomawis and Dr. Ibrahim Ibay, former mayor of Parang town, then exchanged the traditional Islamic pleasantry of "peace be with you" which also elicits the response "peace be upon you, too." The crowd then burst into a festive mood, welcoming a new beginning for the Ibay and Tomawis clans who have been locked in a political feud for over a decade. The clans are based in the Iranun-dominated towns...

Keep on reading: Warring Maguindanao clans reunite through BARMM mediation

TAIPEI, Taiwan --- A group of officials from Shanghai arrived in Taiwan on Saturday for the first visit to the island by Chinese politicians since 2020, as scores of activists gathered in protest. "China get out," shouted some demonstrators outside Taipei's airport, holding signs reading "Taiwan, China, separate countries" in protest against Beijing's claim that self-ruled Taiwan is part of its territory. Exchanges between the two sides were significantly reduced due to border controls during the coronavirus pandemic but contact was rare even before Covid owing to rising tensions. Taiwan reopened its border in October but still imposed tighter rules on Chinese citizens...

Keep on reading: Delegation of Chinese officials make rare visit to Taiwan

MANILA, Philippines --- Carl Tamayo is excited to play with veteran guard Ryuichi Kishimoto and former PBA import Allen Durham as he beefs up the Ryukyu Golden Kings in the 2022-23 B.League season. One of the things that the 6-foot-7 Filipino forward is looking forward to is learning from Kishimoto in his first professional stint. "I'm very excited to play with the team. Not just one player, but to play with each other. But seeing Kishimoto, the way he thinks [in] the game, the way he plays the game, I think the maturity that he has, the experience, I think I'm very excited to learn a lot from him," said Tamayo during his introductory press conference on Thursday. Besides Ki...

Keep on reading: Carl Tamayo excited to learn from Ryukyu veteran guard Ryuichi Kishimoto

SEOUL, South Korea --- North Korea fired a suspected long-range ballistic missile Saturday, South Korea's military said, Pyongyang's first test in seven weeks that comes days before Seoul and Washington are due to start joint tabletop exercises. Seoul's military said it had detected the launch of "a presumed long-range ballistic missile fired into the East Sea from Pyongyang's Sunan area, around 17:22 (0822 GMT)," referring to the body of water also known as theSeaofJapan. "The South Korean military maintains a full readiness posture while closely cooperating with the US and strengthening surveillance and vigilance," it added in a statement. Japan also confirmed the launch, ...

Keep on reading: North Korea fires ‘long-range’ ballistic missile, Seoul says

MANILA, Philippines---Remy Palma and Grethcel Soltones showed the way for Petro Gazz to dominate Cignal, 28-26, 25-18, 25-13, for its second straight win in the 2023 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference on Saturday at Philsports Arena. Despite losing their key players and having a new coach in Oliver Almadro, the Angels reasserted their mastery over the HD Spikers, extending their win streak against their Reinforced Finals opponents to four games since the semifinal round of last year's season-ending tournament. Palma, who was one of the key players that tormented Cignal in the Finals, poured in 10 kills, four blocks, and an ace to finish with a game-high 15 points...

Keep on reading: PVL: Remy Palma, Grethcel Soltones help Petro Gazz beat Cignal anew

KYIV --- The bombs fall and the sirens blare but, in a Kyiv basement, rehearsals for the show -- about a German town relentlessly attacked during World War Two -- go on. The ProEnglish Theater's next performance of "The Book of Sirens" is on February 21, three days before the first anniversary of Russia's invasion. It is the latest installment of theater founder and Artistic Director Alex Borovenskiy's creative mission to help heal the scars of conflict and tell the world there is more to Ukraine than survival. "If we talk about the war through the means of art, this wound will be able to heal much faster. We will not scar. We will not have this trauma for generations," he t...

Keep on reading: Kyiv’s ‘art shelter’ basement theater heals the scars of war

The body of Ghana soccer star Christian Atsu was found under rubble on Saturday, according to his agent, almost two weeks after the earthquake that devastated Turkey and Syria.

MANILA, Philippines---Blackwater decided to bring back import Shawn Glover in a bid to overcome a miserable campaign in the PBA Governors' Cup. The Bossing activated Glover on the eve of their match against Barangay Ginebra on Sunday after losing all three matches with former NBA player Troy Williams. League rules allow teams to once again field their original imports. Blackwater is near the bottom of the standings with a 1-6 record, with its only win produced with Glover reinforcing the squad. Glover averaged 23.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.0 steals in four games that saw Bossing go 1-3 before tapping Williams. Williams produced 39.0 points highlighted by a...

Keep on reading: PBA: Struggling Blackwater brings back Shawn Glover

ANTAKYA/KAHRAMANMARAS, Turkey --- More than 45,000 people have been killed in the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria, and the toll is expected to soar with some 264,000 apartments in Turkey destroyed and many still missing in the country's worst modern disaster. Twelve days after the quake hit, three people, including a child, were rescued alive from the rubble of a building in Antakya city of southern Turkey on Saturday, 296 hours after the earthquake, state news agency Anadolu said. Television images showed them being carried to ambulances. The death toll in Turkey stands at 39,672, while neighboring Syria has reported more than 5,800 deaths. Syria's toll has not chan...

Keep on reading: Quake death toll passes 45,000; many still missing in flattened apartments

Maja Salvador and her fianc Rambo Nuez are set to tie the knot this coming July, as disclosed by the actress-TV host's handler to King of Talk Boy Abunda. Abunda reached out to Salvador and her handler after speculations that the couple had a secret wedding on Valentine's Day arose. He said this during an episode of his talk show "Fast Talk with Boy Abunda" on Thursday, Feb. 16. "Ang kanilang statement ay (Their statement was)---Maja and Rambo have always been generous to the public about many things in their life, but of course they keep certain things private," Abunda stated. "We respect that, pero sinabi sa amin na ang kasal ni Maja at Rambo ay magaganap in July of 2023 (but...

Keep on reading: Maja Salvador, BF Rambo Nuñez to get married in July

This week in our travel roundup: New footage of the Titanic revealed for the first time, the medieval treasure trove found under the streets of Amsterdam and the Air New Zealand flight that went on a 16-hour round trip from Auckland to Auckland.

Former Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce was ordered to pay more than $1.4 million in penalties after being charged with making false and misleading statements about crypto securities he was paid to promote, US regulators said Friday. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said in a statement Pierce had been charged with touting EthereumMax (EMAX) tokens without disclosing that he had been paid to do so. The SEC statement said Pierce -- nicknamed 'The Truth' during his playing days -- was paid EMAX tokens worth $244,000 to promote the securities. The 45-year-old also posted a screenshot of an account showing large holdings and profits of the securities when in fact his h...

Keep on reading: Paul Pierce fined $1.4M over ‘misleading’ crypto promotion

MANILA, Philippines --- Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. on Saturday directed the Philippine National Police (PNP) to launch manhunt operations to find the suspects behind the gun attack on Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr. He also ordered the PNP to coordinate with military units on the ground in tracking down the gunmen. "Agad akong nagbigay ng direktiba sa PNP na magsagawa ng manhunt operations upang agad na mahuli ang mga suspek sa insidenteng ito," Abalos said in a statement Saturday. (I immediately gave PNP a directive to conduct manhunt operations to immediately capture the suspects in this incident.) Abalos condemned t...

Keep on reading: DILG orders manhunt to find suspects in gun attack on Lanao del Sur guv

MANILA, Philippines---RJ Abarrientos powered the Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus past Suwon KT Sonicboom, 69-59, in the Korean Basketball League on Saturday. Abarrientos, as a starter, helped Ulsan gain the upper-hand with 14 markers, 5 boards and three dimes. He, however, had a cold-shooting night with just a 31.6 field goal shooting clip, making just six of his 19 tries. Gauge Prim made up for the Far Eastern University prospect's struggles from the field with a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds to put Mobis Phoebus in a 26-17 card. Dave Ildefonso had a significant increase in playing time, being used for 22 minutes in Saturday's loss. He registered eight points, five...

Keep on reading: KBL: RJ Abarrientos powers Ulsan past Dave Ildefonso’s Suwon

LONDON---A German remake of anti-war classic "All Quiet on the Western Front" leads the nominations at this weekend's British Academy Film Awards, which movie pundits will be following closely as an indicator for next month's Oscars. Based on the 1928 novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque about the horrors of World War I from the perspective of a young German soldier, the Netflix drama overtook other award season favorites to secure 14 nods at Sunday's BAFTAs. "Since 'Parasite' won best picture at the Oscars, the foreign language issue doesn't seem to be an issue, people seem to be embracing movies no matter where they're from," Jenelle Riley, a screenwriter and deputy aw...

Keep on reading: And the winner is… London rolls out red carpet for BAFTA Film Awards

A woman who had been abducted nearly a year ago while traveling across the country made a dramatic escape from her kidnapper after she concocted a getaway plan to a New Jersey gas station, authorities said Friday.