The De La Salle Green Archers outlasted the UP Fighting Maroons, 73-69, in Game 3 of their Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023 to win the UAAP Season 86 men's basketball championship. The victory over the Fighting Maroons netted La Salle its first title in seven years and 10th overall in the tourney. Video by Niel Victor Masoy

A defence from five participantsUS Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry arrives for a press conference at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai on December 6, 2023. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — In recent years, there have been growing questions about whether the climate talks known as COP are useful. Here, five participants at this year's COP28 defend the meetings, insisting that without them, the planet would be in much worse shape. "There is a potentially historic moment to seize, given the international mobilisation on the objective of tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency... Gustavo Pinheiro, senior associate for E3G in Brazil:"We wouldn't even have knowledge about climate change," without the COP process, Pinheiro told AFP.

THE Emirati head of the UN's climate conference pressed countries on Wednesday to strive for common ground and reach a "historic" deal by early next week, giving negotiators days to untangle disagreements over the fate of fossil fuels. COP28 president Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber speaks during a press conference at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai on December 4, 2023. KARIM SAHIB / AFP COP28 president Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber speaks during a press conference at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai on December 4, 2023. COP28 kicked off last week with the landmark launch of a loss and damage fund for nations devastated by climate change. "I want this COP to mark the beginning of the end for fossil fuels," European climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said on Wednesday.

GLOBE Telecom Inc. (Globe) on Thursday said that it had sold another 120 telecommunication towers to Frontier Tower Associates Philippines Inc. (FTAP) for P1.5 billion. In August 2022, Globe signed agreements with MIDC and FTAP for the sale of 5,709 telecommunication towers and related passive infrastructure for approximately P71 billion. Under the agreements, Globe said 2,180 towers would be sold to MIDC for approximately P26 billion, while 3,529 towers would be sold to FTAP for approximately P45 billion. MIDC is an independent tower company specializing in the development, ownership and management of communication towers and infrastructure, offering digital infrastructure solutions to the Philippine market. FTAP, also an independent tower company in the Philippines, is a subsidiary of Pinnacle Towers, an Asia-focused digital infrastructure platform that invests in, builds and operates telecommunication infrastructure with a focus on towers and related assets.

PISA scores show Filipino boys are being left behindStudents arrive for the first day of in-person classes after years-long COVID-19 lockdowns at Pedro Guevara Elementary School in Manila on Aug. 22, 2022. According to the Philippines’ PISA scores, female students continue to outperform their male peers in mathematics, reading and science — and reading scores indicate that boys could be trailing behind girls by nearly two years’ worth of schooling. Male Filipino students only attained an average score of 348 points in mathematics in PISA 2022 -- 14 points less than the score of female students. This mathematics gap between boys and girls is different from the OECD average, where boys scored nine points higher than girls overall. Consistent in past PISA reports, female students in the Philippines outscored their male counterparts in reading, which is a category globally dominated by female students.

Asian diva Karen Mok will hit the stage at Sha Tin Racecourse for the first time with a show-stopping set list. The Hong Kong Jockey Club is collaborating with Asia Motion E-Sports to offer racing fans a chance to sample the dynamics of jockey apprenticeship through e-experiences. Previous NextHong Kong's premier international horse racing event, the Longines Hong Kong International Races, returns to Sha Tin Racecourse on December 10. With A-list entertainment and world-class racing under the twilight sky, the Longines Hong Kong International Races is poised to be an unforgettable extravaganza. -----------About the Longines Hong Kong International RacesDate: 10 DecemberTime: Event starts at 11:30 am; First race at 12:25 pmVenue: Sha Tin RacecourseEnquiries: 1817

11422 already call for an “ipso facto revocation.”ADVERTISEMENT“Well, we are giving them a chance. It was stated in their franchise that it is ipso facto revoked. ADVERTISEMENTDeliberation on franchise violationsWhen asked again if the panel would recommend revoking SMNI’s franchise, Pimentel said: “It will be deliberated. “Ipso facto revocation,” Pimentel said, is stated as a possible repercussion for SMNI if the network breaches provisions in the franchise. “So this noncompliance shall render the franchise ipso facto revoked again, that’s automatically revoked.

He then posed these two questions: "Is the use of the subjective 'who' in the sentence above correct or acceptable? On the other hand, using "who" instead often gives us with the uncomfortable feeling that something's not right with the sentence. These days, however, many native English speakers are rediscovering the grammatical virtue of "that" as an all-purpose relative pronoun. I do think that even nonnative English speakers these days can follow suit with very little danger of being marked as uneducated yokels. Read this essay and listen to its voice recording in The Manila Times: "Dealing decisively with the "who" versus "whom" conundrum"Next, Dec. 14, 2023: The genesis of corporateseVisit Jose Carillo's English Forum, http://josecarilloforum.com.

PCG spokesperson warns vs Chinese-led tactics to taint his credibilityThis photo taken on April 23, 2023 shows a member of the Philippine coast guard vessel BRP Malabrigo manning his post while being shadowed by a Chinese coast guard ship at Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea. MANILA, Philippines — The spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard on Wednesday warned Filipinos about a China-led campaign to “taint” his credibility as a source of information about the country’s defense of the West Philippine Sea. PCG spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said that China is currently engaged in a disinformation campaign aimed at undermining the government’s transparency initiatives about the WPS, which include attempts to damage Filipino officials’ credibility. Tarriela was commenting on a report by Philstar.com that documented a coordinated attempt by anonymous accounts to spread narratives alleging the PCG spokesperson was a covert “CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) agent” working for the United States government. “Only through these efforts can we expose the falsehoods and distortions perpetuated by the PRC to undermine our territorial integrity,” the PCG spokesperson added.

'Stagnating at the bottom': Officials say time and funding needed to improve PISA scoresSan Jose Elementary School students attend face-to-face classes outside their classrooms in Malilipot, Albay on June 15, 2023. For example, changes in initial teacher education can take decades before their effects are visible in most classrooms,” PISA said. ‘Bottomed out’The latest PISA results also indicate that the Philippines has “bottomed out,” said Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate education committee. Similar to DepEd officials, Gatchalian lamented the single-digit changes in the Philippines’ scores in mathematics, reading and science from 2018 to 2022. Budget restraintsBesides testing students in the fundamental subjects, the PISA report also included an assessment of countries’ investments in education.

Maintenance contractor Getinge Group Hong Kong, the supplier of the fallen surgical light in United Christian Hospital in February, has issued a public apology in the newpapers on Wednesday. In the public apology, the contractor expressed sincere apologies to the Hospital Authority for any inconvenience caused by the incident. They solemnly apologize for the incident and pledge that they will actively enhance cooperation with the Hospital Authority in the future to improve safety and service quality. In February, an anesthetic assistant at the United Christian Hospital was hit on the shoulder by a loose surgical light while making preparations for surgery. Read more: Hospital contractor barred from tendering over fallen surgical light

ISLAMABAD: The Taliban's "abusive" educational policies are not only harming girls in Afghanistan but also boys, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report published on Wednesday. The hardline Islamist group has been globally condemned for banning girls and women from high school and university, but the rights group says there has been less attention to the deep harm inflicted on boys' education. Because the Taliban have dismissed all female teachers from boys' schools, many boys are taught by unqualified people or sit in classrooms with no teachers at all. "The Taliban are causing irreversible damage to the Afghan education system for boys, as well as girls," said Sahar Fetrat, who wrote the report. "The Taliban's impact on the education system is harming children today and will haunt Afghanistan's future," Fetrat said.

Veteran newspaper journalist and author of the award-winning book 'English Plain and Simple: No nonsense ways to learn today's global language' Jose Carillo says that the problem with how Filipinos speak and write English is that they don't trust themselves enough to express themselves using simpler words. He said that the goal in communicating in any language is to be understood. Video and interview by Ezrah Raya

"The time between now and 1.5 degrees is shrinking massively, so to keep a chance to stay below 1.5 C, or very close to 1.5 C, we need to act now." 'Wrong direction'The landmark 2015 Paris Agreement saw countries commit to limiting temperature rise to well below 2 C above the pre-industrial era and preferably 1.5 C. The more ambitious 1.5 C goal has since taken on greater urgency as evidence emerges that warming beyond this could trigger dangerous and irreversible tipping points. "The other half is reducing fossil fuel emissions. Several major polluters have clocked falling CO2 emissions this year — including a 3-percent decrease in the United States and a 7.4-percent drop across the European Union. Going above 1.5 C for a single year would not breach the Paris deal, however, which is measured over decades.

De Lima appointed Liberal Party spokespersonFormer Philippine senator and human rights campaigner Leila de Lima waves as she arrives at the Muntinlupa Trial Court in Manila on September 18, 2023. MANILA, Philippines — The Liberal Party has designated former Sen. Leila de Lima as its new spokesperson, LP President and lawmaker Edcel Lagman announced on Tuesday. Lagman said in a statement that De Lima was selected as the party’s official spokesperson during its management committee meeting on Monday. “De Lima, who has been a long-standing member of the Liberal Party, committed to resume her active role in advocating and enhancing the Party’s advocacy on good governance, social justice and liberalism,” said the Albay lawmaker. “I hope to convey our Party's message of reforms and advocacy on good governance, social justice and civil liberties,” De Lima said.