Reward Yourself with a Spa Escape at Solaire Resort Quezon City

Nepal imports 2 million packs of playing cards in two months

Demand for playing cards tends to rise in Nepal during the festive season, particularly around Dashain and Tihar. The country imports cards from several countries to meet the seasonal demand. While cards are commonly used for entertainment, gambling can lead to substantial financial losses, with millions of rupees changing hands. Imports also account for a

Personal attacks fire up debate before Brazil's run-off vote

The race heats up just days before the run-off between the left-wing incumbent and his right-wing challenger.

Italian PM Meloni to hold emergency meeting after weekend of violent clashes

More than 200 people were detained during two days of rioting in the city, Italian media reports.

At least 20 Yemeni fighters killed as Houthis target military camp with ballistics

A deadly Houthi missile attack on a military training camp in Shabwa province killed at least 20 coalition fighters. The attack also resulted in over two dozen troops wounded, according to military officials. Following the strikes, Yemeni forces reported recapturing territory in Taiz governorate, while Houthi forces continued their offensive. In another incident, a coalition airstrike killed nine people, including children and women, in Saada.

Tiny pottery shard links Great Zimbabwe to China, while glass beads reveal trade ties

Unearthed at Great Zimbabwe, a shard of jade-green Longquan celadon pottery from China illuminates extensive trade networks linking Africa to Asia and the Middle East. This discovery illustrates the movement of goods across Southeast Asia, the Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean. Coupling this with glass beads found in the vicinity, the findings underscore Great Zimbabwe's importance as a hub in historical trading relations across continents.

Missing for 69 Years, royal tiara heads to auction for $1.3M

A diamond tiara known as the Mellerio Orléans Tiara will be auctioned on November 11 in Geneva. Originally crafted in 1862 for a royal exhibition, it features a Greek Revival design. After being lost for nearly 69 years, it is expected to fetch between $946,000 and $1.33 million. The tiara was once a wedding gift in 1864 to Marie Isabelle, an Orléanist claimant.

DFA: No Filipinos harmed in France, Italy protests

MANILA, Philippines — No Filipinos were harmed in the recent protests in France and Italy, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday morning. “Per the latest reports from the Philippine Embassy in Paris and the Philippine Consulate General in Milan, no Filipinos have been reported to be involved or harmed in the protests,” DFA

Exactly 1 year after infamous $102m heist, Louvre Museum in Paris shut amid unrest

The Louvre Museum in Paris has closed its doors temporarily, responding to significant student protests over educational and public service issues. The demonstrations, which have escalated into a wider national movement, also target the rising living costs and decreasing quality in public services. This closure comes on the heels of a major security incident involving a robbery. No updates on the reopening date have been released yet.

Pangilinan says Chinese envoy may face ‘firing squad’ for defying Beijing

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan took a swipe at Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan, suggesting that diplomats who defy Beijing could face severe punishment on returning home. “The arrogance and bullying tactics are unprecedented and deplorable, but that’s probably because, should these diplomats fail to toe the Party line, they could

Record El Niño? Depends who’s counting

WASHINGTON — Britain’s Met Office says this year’s El Niño is “unprecedented.” Japan’s weather agency has called it the strongest ever observed. US forecasters say it still trails the biggest events in its record books. How can they all be right? The answer lies in how they measure El Niño’s strength, with meteorological agencies using different methods to assess the climate phenomenon that make direct comparisons difficult. “By any measure, we are looking at a very strong El Niño,” climate scientist Emily Becker of the University of Miami told AFP, adding that only once it is over will scientists be able to assess how big it is and “where it fits in the context of history.” Natural climate driver  The Pacific Ocean’s El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the planet’s main natural climate driver. Normally, trade winds blow east to west along the equator, pushing warm water from South America toward Asia, while cold water rises from the depths to replace it. READ: El Niño affects over 451,000 people in PH – NDRRMC El Niños, which occur every two to seven years on average and last nine to 12 months, disrupt this pattern. The trade winds weaken and warm water is pushed back east toward the Americas. That shift in where ocean heat is released into the atmosphere ripples across global weather, making some regions cooler and wetter and others hotter and drier. In describing the El Niño as unprecedented, the Met Office points to raw temperatures in the Pacific. “Our observations confirm that sea-surface temperatures in the central equatorial Pacific have now surpassed levels recorded during previous El Niño events,” it said in a statement to AFP. But absolute temperatures are just one way of measuring El Niño’s strength. Agencies also look at anomalies — how far temperatures rise above a historic baseline — to assess the event. The Japan Meteorological Agency last week declared this El Niño the strongest on record based on how far sea surface temperatures were above normal in the Niño3 region of the eastern Pacific. By its count, the event beat 1997 in observations going back to 1949. The US watches a neighboring box, Niño3.4, in the east-central Pacific. It declares an El Niño when temperatures there run at least 0.5C above normal and the atmosphere responds, weakening the trade winds and shifting tropical rainfall eastward. This process is known as “ocean-atmosphere coupling.” Accounting for climate change  How “normal” is defined has been a matter of significant debate. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other agencies including the UN’s World Meteorological Organization long used the Oceanic Niño Index (ONI), which compares temperatures to a 30-year average that is updated every five years, so that the baseline keeps pace with a warming climate. READ: Super El Niño demands urgent, science-based governance  But with climate change speeding up and warming oceans worldwide, NOAA now uses the Relative Oceanic Niño Index (RONI), and the WMO is in the process of switching. RONI also relies on a 30-year average but goes on to measure how warm or cool the east-central Pacific is compared to the rest of the tropical ocean, because it is that difference that drives the weather impacts we care about. “We were finding a mismatch between the temperature of the tropical Pacific and the impacts,” said Becker about the old index. La Niña years, when the central and eastern tropical Pacific is cooler than normal, were producing stronger effects than their rating suggested, and El Niños weaker ones. NOAA projects this El Niño will be the strongest in its records, which go back to 1950, if the three-month average RONI anomaly reaches 2.5C or higher, a level that would put it above the 1982-83, 2015-16, and 1997-98 events. The chances are rated “high,” but not yet certain. “Regardless of where we’re ranking or how we’re measuring this event, it’s an incredible opportunity to study and understand this very powerful phenomenon in the context of a warming world,” said Becker. /dl

Rwandan dissident, former army officer, found beheaded in Uganda

Kenya pastor accused of ordering parents to starve their children to death faces verdict

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie faces 191 murder charges - all but one of them children.