Inquirer Breaking News

Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell has announced that she will remove her music from Spotify, following the lead of Neil Young in protesting the popular streaming service giving voice to misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. Mitchell acted in the aftermath of Wednesday's announcement by Spotify and Young that the platform would remove his music following the singer-songwriter's objection to his songs playing on the same service that offers a podcast by prominent vaccine skeptic Joe Rogan. "I've decided to remove all my music from Spotify," Mitchell said in statement published on her website. "Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I...

Keep on reading: Joni Mitchell removes music from Spotify over vaccine misinformation

MEXICO CITY --- Twelve people were killed when their van overturned and flipped into a ditch on a highway in central Mexico, leaving another 11 people injured, officials said on Saturday. Seven of the victims who died were still trapped inside the car, the emergency services agency from Jalisco state said on Twitter. The accident occurred near the city of Lagos de Moreno, on a highway that links the central states of Guanajuato and Jalisco. RELATED STORY:At least 53 migrants die in Mexico truck accident Photos from the emergency services agency show a large black van toppled onto its side in a deep rut along the highway, with what appears to be a shattered windshield. ...

Keep on reading: 12 people die in Mexico highway accident

ROME --- Italian head of state Sergio Mattarella was re-elected for a second term on Saturday, with party chiefs asking him to carry on after a week of fruitless, often fraught voting in parliament to choose a successor. Relieved party chiefs thanked 80-year-old Mattarella for agreeing to remain, but the failed attempts to replace him during seven rounds of balloting have left deep scars, with potentially dangerous repercussions for political stability. Nonetheless, financial markets are likely to react positively to the status quo, which will see Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who had made clear he hoped to become president himself, continuing as prime minister instead. Dragh...

Keep on reading: Italy re-elects President Mattarella, government unity bruised

MANILA, Philippines --- Sorsogon Gov. Francis "Chiz" Escudero, who is seeking reelection for the Senate in the upcoming elections, was endorsed by mayors belonging to the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, and Quezon) and Eastern Samar. The mayors' support was conveyed in a recent meeting in Sorsogon by the following LMP Chapter presidents: San Jose Mayor Valentino Patron, LMP-Batangas; Pila Mayor Edgardo Ramos, LMP-Laguna; Tiaong Mayor Ramon Preza, LMP-Quezon; and Balangkayan Mayor Allan Contado, LMP-Eastern Samar. Escudero's senatorial bid has also been endorsed by the tandems of Vice President Leni Robredo and Sen. Fran...

Keep on reading: Calabarzon, Eastern Samar mayors endorse Escudero

MANILA, Philippines --- More than two years after supposedly dismantling all of them, illegal structures and kubol (makeshift dwellings) were back again in the maximum security compound of New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City. Personnel of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) started destroying the unauthorized structures on Friday, two weeks after four armed prisoners bolted out of the heavily guarded national penitentiary. Gerald Bantag, director general of the BuCor, led the demolition team at the east quadrant of Bilibid's maximum security compound, which covers Dormitories 2, 5 and 9. Bantag said dismantling the kubol would rid the Bilibid's persistent problem of illegal ...

Keep on reading: BuCor destroys ‘kubol’ in Bilibid anew

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet, Philippines --- Young people, some of them without face masks, spent their morning on Jan. 24 at the pagoda gardens of Bell Church, which has drawn tourists in the past 62 years at the border of this Benguet capital town and Baguio City. Inside the temple, a woman burned incense at an altar devoted to five Chinese icons who symbolize the philosophies of the world's major religions --- Buddhism (Tao-Jih-Fu-Tsun), Taoism (Chang Tze-Fang), Confucianism (Liau Chen Shan Shr), Christianity (Lian Tai Sheng Mu), and Islam (Leu Chun Yang). Like many Baguio spots, Bell Church experienced a sudden drop in visitors within the last three weeks because of the threat pos...

Keep on reading: Benguet’s Bell Church brings hope amid pandemic

The Philippines' women's football team has a chance to accomplish something extraordinary when it plunges into knockout quarterfinals action against Chinese Taipei on Sunday in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup in India. With a win, the Filipinos can achieve a first in sports history: booking for the country a spot in the grandest football stage of all, the World Cup. "[T]hat really is a crunch game against Chinese Taipei," said Philippines coach Alen Stajcic. A loss on Sunday plunges the Philippines in a more torturous route to next year's Women's World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand. Five berths are at stake in the ongoing tourn...

Keep on reading: PH women gun for historic World Cup berth vs Chinese Taipei

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) could learn by Monday when it can finally resume its Governors' Cup, PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said on Saturday. "We've already given the local governments a hard copy of our request last Thursday, so we are hoping that we are able to know more about the status of our bid by Monday the earliest," the league chief told the Inquirer. The PBA has been frozen by the latest uptick in new COVID-19 cases for almost a month now. But with a dip projected by pandemic monitors around next month, the league---armed with an endorsement from the Games and Amusements Board---began pursuing clearances to reopen its season-ending tournament earl...

Keep on reading: PBA Governors’ Cup go now up to LGUs; Phoenix tries to secure Banchero extension

KYIV --- From Monday to Friday, Mykhaylo is a lawyer, Alexander is an IT programmer, and Konstantin freelances in online advertising. On Saturday, the three came together in an abandoned construction site on the outskirts of Kyiv to train as Ukrainian army reservists, ready to be called up in the event of any war breaking out with neighboring Russia. Nervous over the threat of some 120,000 Russian troops massed near the border with Ukraine, Kyiv has launched a new Territorial Defence force this year, which it wants to build up into a corps of up to 130,000 people. While they may stand little chance against the much bigger and better-equipped professional Russian army, reserv...

Keep on reading: Ukrainian reservists gear up in case of conflict with Russia

NEW YORK --- The northeastern United States was walloped by a fierce winter storm on Saturday that threatened to drop more than two feet (60 cm) of snow while packing high winds, prompting governors in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and other states to declare states of emergency. The Nor'easter, which moved up the East Coast after forming in the Atlantic Ocean off the Carolinas, blanketed a large swath of New England with heavy snowfall, with some coastal areas of New Jersey already recording 15 inches (38 cm) of accumulation. "The combination of heavy snow rates and strong winds will produce dangerous blizzard conditions across portions of the Mid-Atlantic and New Engla...

Keep on reading: ‘One for the record books’: Winter storm blankets US East Coast in snow

DIGOS CITY, Davao del Sur, Philippines --- Maj. Kristine Miraa, the police chief of Santa Cruz town in this province, appealed to the public on Saturday to help identify a dead woman found floating off the town's coast last Jan. 22. Miraa also urged families whose members had gone missing to contact the police station. According to her, the provincial crime laboratory has taken a mouth swab sample from the woman's body for DNA matching. Miraa surmised that the woman was not a resident of nearby areas since there were no claimants to the body as of Friday, a week after it was found off the coast of Barangay Coronon. When found, the body was hogtied and a plastic container ...

Keep on reading: Cops seek help to identify dead woman found off Davao del Sur coast

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines --- More than 21 years ago, Alfredo Lacanilao Santos Fernando asked his landlord-employer if he could spare him a coconut tree. He needed lumber to repair the hut that he had built on a piece of farmland in Barangay Pamucutan here, where he worked as a caretaker. Fernando got his wish. For extra cash, he sold the coconuts picked from the same tree that he was given, using the money to buy nails and other building materials. But unknown to Fernando, some of the landlord's family members disapproved of the gesture. They accused him of theft and filed a formal complaint against him in early 2000. On Nov. 21, 2021, members of Zamboanga ...

Keep on reading: Zamboanga City cops pass hat for 72-year-old detainee

With two "historic" victories, the Philippines on Saturday marked its most successful outing yet at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. For her directorial debut, the film-within-a-film "Leonor Will Never Die," Martika Ramirez Escobar was given the Special Jury Prize for Innovative Spirit at the World Cinema Dramatic section, making her the first Filipino feature film director to win at the festival, which was held online for the second year in the row. Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan, meanwhile, earned the country's first-ever Sundance win for a short film with "The Headhunter's Daughter." The dreamy, elegiac drama competed at the Shorts Program 4 section and took home the Gr...

Keep on reading: 2 Filipino indie films bag ‘historic’ wins at Sundance

The veteran actress Dexter Doria is surprised by the success of her online program "DidiSerye"---a play on the popular reference to supporters of President Duterte---that debuted on Jan. 10. Meant to promote fact-checking and debunk fake news, the series of vlogs has gathered thousands of fans this early on YouTube (almost 8,000 subscribers), Facebook (38,000 likes) and Twitter (more than 5,600 followers). Each episode runs for about three minutes ("Better to keep it short than ramble on and on," Doria says) and discusses pervasive misconceptions on social media. "Hindi paninira ang magsabi ng totoo" (Telling the truth is not putting down others) is the program's slogan. The...

Keep on reading: Actress in ‘meaningful’ role as real-life foe of fake news

The last time we talked to Dingdong Dantes, we told him that he and his wife Marian Rivera should fill this world with more beautiful kids, like daughter Zia and son Sixto. We were just kidding of course. What isn't laughing matter, however, is how Dong and Marian are raising their gorgeous children the best way they know how to. When we asked the actor how he manages to keep Zia and Sixto entertained during the long lockdown, he said with a proud smile, "Well, thank God for the mother (laughs)! My wife is very good where parenting skills and innovation are concerned---I'll give that to her. Napakahusay n'ya sa bagay na 'yan. "I admit, keeping this up remains a dilemma until no...

Keep on reading: Dingdong on parenting: Don’t rely too much on technology

One of the things former "Pinoy Big Brother" (PBB) housemate Ylona Garcia did during her recent stay in her hometown in Sydney, Australia, was catch up with some of her childhood friends. And in doing so, she found inspiration for her latest single, "Entertain Me." "I was blessed to have been able to get in touch with my friends in Australia. And as we shared stories, I found something we had in common. I was 18 then ... a time when we were supposed to be adults, and feel independent and strong. But we didn't feel that way, which was really sad," the 19-year-old recording artist said in a recent virtual group interview. "Entertain Me"---produced by the duo DNA and written by Yl...

Keep on reading: From Australia to US: Ex-PBB housemate YLona Garcia starting all over again

Beauty may have its advantages, but sometimes, it doesn't give you instant access into the inner circle. Take the case of Bashful Damsel (BD), whose sexy image and movie-star looks have led her to lead roles in a network's "second-tier" telenovelas. But in an out-of-town sortie that gathered some of the company's popular leading ladies, BD quickly found herself being the odd-woman-out. When the lovely gals started trickling inside the waiting room before the start of the program, all of the other girls began chatting excitedly with one another. BD, meanwhile, just looked uncomfortable and distant---like a fifth wheel in a bevy of chatty and catty beauties. Perhaps this was becau...

Keep on reading: Pretty actress’ odd-woman-out experience

MANILA, Philippines --- Manila will use the newly-rehabilitated Manila Zoo for the pilot implementation of the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11. The national government has already given clearance to Manila to use the zoo, Faye Orellana, chief of the Manila Public Information Office, told the INQUIRER.net in a text message on Saturday. The city is targeting to begin the vaccination of the said age group on Feb. 4, Orellana said, adding that the vaccines dedicated for the activity, were expected to arrive by Feb. 2. "Hopefully it will meet the said date so we can give protection already to the minors, who we can also consider as part of the vulnerable sector," she said. ...

Keep on reading: Manila Zoo to be used as venue for vaccination of kids aged 5 to 11

MANILA, Philippines --- Presidential aspirant Leody De Guzman "respects" the decision of progressive coalition Makabayan to endorse Vice President Leni Robredo and Sen. Francis Pangilinan for the upcoming elections. "I respect the dynamism and decision of Makabayan," De Guzman, who chairs the Buluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, said in a statement in Filipino. "Whatever is the outcome and practical considerations of their endorsement in other candidates, I would still pledge my support to Neri Colmenares and Bong Labog for their senatorial bid," he added. On Friday, senatorial aspirant Neri Colmenares, who chairs Bayan Muna, confirmed that the Makabayan Coalition had decided t...

Keep on reading: Leody de Guzman ‘respects’ Makabayan’s move to back Robredo, Pangilinan

MANILA, Philippines --- A total of eight phreatomagmatic bursts were recorded at Taal Volcano on Saturday, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs). Phreatomagmatic eruptions are caused by the interaction of water and magma. Phivolcs recorded the eight phreatomagmatic bursts between 1:18 p.m. to 9:57 p.m. "These events were very short-lived, lasting only 10 seconds to two minutes and produced only traces in the seismic record but were accompanied by distinct infrasound signals," Phivolcs said in its advisory. Phivolcs reminded the public that Taal Volcano was still under Alert Level 2 (increased unrest), which means that such gas-driven e...

Keep on reading: Phivolcs records very weak phreatomagmatic bursts at Taal Volcano