WASHINGTON, D.C. — World Bank President Ajay Banga on Tuesday warned that a significant widening of the Israel-Gaza war could lead to major impacts on the global economy, calling the steep loss of civilian lives in the region "unconscionable." Speaking in a Reuters NEXT Newsmaker interview, Banga said the war has had a relatively small impact on the global economy thus far, but a significant widening of the conflict would draw in other countries that are larger contributors to global growth, including commodity exporters. "First of all, I think this unbelievable loss of life women, children, others, civilians, is just unconscionable on all sides," Banga said. "The economic impact of this war, on the other hand, depends a great deal on how much this spreads." More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive so far, according to Gaza's health authorities.

47,000 deaths seen if ‘big one’ hits MetroMANILA, Philippines — Up to 46,993 casualties and 156,000 injured people should be expected if a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hits Metro Manila, a former Office of Civil Defense (OCD) official said yesterday. The Philippines prepared a master plan 20 years ago, Pama noted. Even just the basics, the base statistics of it already needs to be revisited,” he said. Pama is the former executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. And the stories are being added every year.”A review of the 2004 master plan is underway after the United Nations said the Philippines must prepare for the eventuality of a “big one,” according to Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga.

Congress urged to pass measure imposing margin-based taxes, royalties for mining firmsPresident Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. delivering his speech as he awards 13 mining firms of the 2023 Presidential Mineral Industry Environmental Award on Oct. 16, 2024. “As we look ahead, I urge all our dedicated agencies and esteemed members of Congress to support the Rationalization of the Mining Fiscal Regime,” he said. RELATED: No mining expansion needed for Philippines' energy shift – think tankBut what does this mean for mining companies if the Marcos administration’s Rationalization of the Mining Fiscal Regime is passed? Margin-based royaltiesThe House version of the mining fiscal regime is looking to impose royalties on income generated by mining companies. The highest possible tax is 10%, which is imposed on income equivalent to more than 80% of a mining operation’s gross output.

According to a study done in 2015 and submitted to the UP Diliman Journals, the probability of celebrities winning if they seek election to public office was highest among the poor. But the number of voters belonging to upper economic strata was much lower than those in the lower rung of the economic ladder. If I am really determined to enter politics, I have to serve the people. Dolphy died in 2012 staying true to his commitment to shun politics. Election winSome popular figures, however, are staying away from the political circus.

BENGALURU, India — An Indian passenger aircraft was diverted on Wednesday after the latest in a string of hoax bomb threats made to airline companies involving the country. The Akasa Air flight, which was flying from India's capital New Delhi to the southern city of Bengaluru, "received a security alert" and the flight was ordered to return as a "precaution". Akasa Air said emergency response teams were monitoring the situation and that the captain had followed "all required emergency procedures for a safe landing in Delhi". Singapore scrambled fighter jets on Tuesday to escort an Air India Express plane after an email warning about a possible bomb on board, the city-state's defense minister said. Air India also said on Tuesday one of its planes from New Delhi to Chicago had to make an emergency landing in Canada because of "a security threat posted online".

MANILA, Philippines — A Quezon City court has junked the criminal case filed against a private school teacher who shared on social media last year a video of a police officer identifying Vice President Sara Duterte as the “VIP” behind the closure of a portion of Commonwealth Avenue, causing heavy traffic in the area. Verdo Pantollano, identifying Duterte as the supposed VIP who caused the closure of a portion of the busy thoroughfare to allow her convoy to pass through. In his motion filed through his lawyer, Chel Diokno, Munar pointed out that the amended complaint filed by Pantollano remained “defective” as it still did not contain a specific offense as the original complaint. Upon learning who the “VIP” was, the motorist’s curiosity turned to irritation as he panned his camera to show rows of cars and motorcycles caught in heavy traffic. Subscribe to our daily newsletter SIGN ME UPThe QCPD, for its part, immediately relieved Pantollano, who was reinstated a week after the incident.

A High Court Jury has found a self-proclaimed Taoist practitioner to be guilty of murdering an intellectually impaired woman, while the victim's mother was convicted of aiding and abetting the indecent assault against her daughter. The 54-year-old defendant Dunsany Cheung Chi-choi was found guilty of murdering 21-year-old Ng Yan-yu in September 2019. Ng was discovered dead in a village house in Sai Kung. Meanwhile, Ng's 57-year-old mother Ng Ma Yu-kang was found guilty of aiding and abetting Cheung to carry out his acts. Both Cheung and the mother were remanded until their next court appearance on Friday for sentencing.

Marcos Jr. seeks more investments in disaster risk reductionPresident Marcos is joined by Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction head Kamal Kishore, UNDRR Regional Office for Asia-Pacific chief Marco Toscano Rivalta, and ministers and heads of delegation attending the 2024 Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction at the grand staircase of the PICC yesterday. MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos yesterday called on countries in the Asia-Pacific region to increase investments and funding in disaster risk reduction measures in the face of more destructive disasters brought by climate change. In his speech during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) in Pasay City, Marcos emphasized that facing calamities and disasters is a common struggle across the region. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 gave the international community profound guidance in their disaster risk reduction efforts, according to the President. Highlighting the theme of this year’s conference, “Surge to 2030: Enhancing ambition in Asia-Pacific to accelerate disaster risk reduction,” the President said nations are called to lead the global effort to reduce disaster and climate risks, protect the people and build sustainable economies.

We too get scratched or bruised, but they are the “wounded warriors” fighting the different types of cancer, the “one in a million disease,” the heart disease from birth, the genetic imperfection, the mental health challenge, visual impairment or loss of sight, that those in the “normal” world don’t see, don’t know and can’t understand. The reason is because we don’t talk enough about it, we are uncomfortable discussing such grave, life-threatening medical issues. I don’t know how many patients’ organizations there are in the Philippines but what I discovered is that most of them are DIY, set up by patients or family. We deplore all forms of vaccine misinformation and disinformation that has affected vaccine confidence to the detriment of Filipino children. * * *When I wrote about doctors and leaders in public health deciding to join the 2025 elections as candidates, I mistakenly placed Dr. Minguita Padilla as a senatorial aspirant.

Police are hunting down a man in his 30s after pushing a pedestrian off the sidewalk and into a moving bus as it was departing from a bus stop in San Po Kong. Police received a report around midnight on Tuesday that a 49-year-old man was pushed onto the road by a man outside 638 Prince Edward Road East. The man slammed into the door of the departing bus and fell to the ground, injuring his face and hand. He remained conscious and was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The case was identified as assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

A RECENT news cycle turned out the following news headlines:– More than 16 million families consider themselves poor– 11,000 OFWs ignore pleas to evacuate Lebanon– Rice-for-All selling rice at P43 per kilogram. On the surface, the three recent news headlines reported on issues that appear to be disparate and unrelated. Thirteen percent of Filipino families rated themselves as "borderline poor," a data point that suggests a nation overwhelmed by poverty. Rice at P43 per kg is not cheap, but the only thing cheaper than that is plastic rice, which is for subhumans. You can segue from stories on massive poverty to staying put in war-torn Lebanon to selling P43 per kg rice at Kadiwa stores seamlessly without missing a connecting thread.

SINGAPORE — Asian stocks swung between gain and loss on Monday as investors struggled to reach a consensus view on China's broad economic stimulus promises made over the weekend which were light on specifics. "Most onshore investors believe Beijing's decision to restructure local government and housing debt using central government funds is more significant than many foreign investors believe," said analysts at Morgan Stanley in a client note. US stock futures similarly edged lower, with S&P 500 futures losing 0.06 percent while Nasdaq futures fell 0.18 percent. Brent crude futures were last down 1.2 percent at $78.09 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 1.22 percent to $74.64 per barrel. A reading on UK inflation is due later this week, as is an interest rate decision from the European Central Bank.

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Special duties fund seen growing fasterMANILA, Philippines — The earmarked fund for the development of local industries affected by imports is likely to increase as the government imposes additional duties on new products, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said. Tiu Laurel told The STAR that he decided to impose special safeguard duties (SSG) on four new agricultural products because the trigger prices have been breached. “The trigger prices of these (products) under the (World Trade Organization) agreements have been triggered. We will use the collected duties for the competitiveness enhancement measures fund (CEMF) to help the local industry affected,” Tiu Laurel said. Chicken MDM is a vital raw ingredient used by meat processors to manufacture items like meat loaf and hotdogs.

The fuel price spike reflects the rise in crude oil prices globally. The most proximate cause for that spike is the possibility a full-scale regional war could break out in the Middle East. By contrast, presidential contender Donald Trump has urged Tel Aviv to go ahead and bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities. While we await, with great suspense, the exact nature of Israel’s response, global oil prices will likely remain at their present elevated levels. In which case, the greater anxieties these spawns will push oil prices much higher – perhaps close to the $100 per barrel level.