It seems like San Miguel Beer is taking a new direction for the 2023 Governors’ Cup with a new head coach at the helm. Former San Miguel Beer head coach Leo Austria is taking a break from coaching (PBA Images)Former assistant Jorge Gallent is set to take over the coaching reins for the league’s winningest franchise from erstwhile coach Leo Austria who is set to take a break from coaching although will remain with the team as its consultant. He explained that Austria decided to take a sabbatical from coaching due personal reasons. “Coach Leo met with management a few days ago and informed us that he wishes to take a coaching sabbatical for personal reasons starting the Governor’s Cup,” said Abanilla in a statement. With this development, he will remain with the team as a Consultant and we have elevated Coach Jorge Gallent as the Head Coach.

(UPDATE) THE Department of Education-National Capital Region (DepEd-NCR) said it was "saddened and disturbed" after a 13-year-old student was fatally stabbed in Culiat High School in Quezon City early Friday morning. Together with the Schools Division Office of Quezon City and Culiat High School, it will provide assistance to the family of the victim, the statement said. "Follow-up stress debriefing sessions shall also be administered to students and teachers who witnessed the incident," the DepEd-NCR said. The suspect stabbed the victim, a classmate and Grade 7 student, reportedly in a fit of jealousy inside their school. As of this writing, the Culiat High School is yet to issue a statement on the incident.

"A Man Called Otto" is the newest Tom Hanks movie, it's the Hollywood version of an Oscar winning Swedish film, "A Man Called Ove," based in turn on a Swedish novel. Eva Green and Filipino Folklore, Tom Hanks and a cat, Pedro Pascal and some fungi compete for your eyeballs this week. Eva Green and Filipino Folklore, Tom Hanks and a cat, Pedro Pascal and some fungi compete for your eyeballs this week. Eva Green and Filipino Folklore, Tom Hanks and a cat, Pedro Pascal and some fungi compete for your eyeballs this week. ***Nocebo and A Man Called Otto opened last Wednesday, new episode of "The Last of Us" are out Mondays on HBO, it can also be streamed via HBO Go.

The coach bus driver surnamed Chan. Previous NextA 66-year-old woman died after she was hit by a coach bus at the airport on Thursday, and the 70-year-old driver was arrested for dangerous driving causing death. The incident occurred around 3pm Thursday when the 28-seat coach bus heading towards Tung Chung along Cheong Tat Road reached a bus stop opposite Terminal 1 at the airport. The woman surnamed Tai fell unconscious after she was knocked down by the coach bus and was rushed to North Lantau Hospital. The driver surnamed Chan was then arrested by police for dangerous driving causing death.

Bloomberg and staff reporterChina's oil giants said preliminary net income for last year surged on rising fuel prices and Beijing's emphasis on energy security. CNOOC (0883) expects its 2022 net profit to roughly double and net profit to come in between 139.6 billion yuan (HK$161.1 billion) and 143.6 billion yuan, up 99 and 104 percent. This came as PetroChina (0857) expects net income to jump up to 68 percent to 155 billion yuan. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has upended energy markets, resulting in skyrocketing prices and drastically tighter supply and aiding these state-owned oil and gas giants amid weak demand at home due to the pandemic. Flagging fuel demand in China will, they said in October, rebound in the final quarter, helped by stimulus and a recovering economy.

LONDON: American reality television star and social media colossus Kim Kardashian has purchased the Attallah Cross, the amethyst and diamond pendant famously worn on several occasions by Princess Diana, according to the auction house Sotheby's. The pendant — which Diana notably wore to a 1987 charity gala — fetched more than twice the pre-auction minimum estimate, with Sotheby's confirming it was bought by a representative on behalf of Kardashian. "Jewelry owned or worn by the late Princess Diana very rarely comes on to the market, especially a piece such as the Attallah Cross, which is so colorful, bold and distinctive," Sotheby's Kristian Spofforth said before the sale. "To some extent, this unusual pendant is symbolic of the princess's growing self-assurance in her sartorial and jewelry choices, at that particular moment in her life." Kardashian was initially accused of having damaged the screen legend's gown, but Los Angeles-based museum Ripley's Believe It or Not!, which owns the piece, denied the allegations.

MELBOURNE (AFP) — Second seed Casper Ruud was sent packing in the Australian Open second round Thursday, Jan. 19, with defeat to hard-hitting American Jenson Brooksby, a day after Rafael Nadal also went out. Norway’s Casper Ruud reacts as he plays against USA’s Jenson Brooksby during their men’s singles match on day four of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 19, 2023. (AFP)The Norwegian Ruud, who took a medical timeout after the second set, succumbed 6-3, 7-5, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2 to the 39th-ranked Brooksby on Rod Laver Arena. Brooksby, who is on his Australian Open debut, will face Tommy Paul next after his fellow American beat Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in five sets. But, undeterred, the gutsy American reset to break Ruud immediately and race to a 3-0 lead.

Hong Kong Customs busted three suspected smuggling cases involving restricted drugs valued at about HK$250,000. Officers discovered a large amount of Covid-19 oral drugs and restricted aphrodisiacs when searching three male travelers from India, who transited from Thailand to Hong Kong. The smuggled drugs included Lianhua Qingwen, a traditional Chinese medicine formulation used for the treatment of Covid19, and Primovir, another drug to treat Covid. Customs stated that the above three cases are still under investigation and stressed that smuggling is a severe offense, with the highest sentence being a HK$2 million fine and 7 years imprisonment. In addition, any person who moves medicine without a permit will also be breaking the law, with the highest sentence being a HK$500,000 fine and 2 years imprisonment.

(AFP)A magnitude 7.0 earthquake shook eastern Indonesia and southern Philippines on Wednesday, with no damage immediately reported and no tsunami warning issued. Resident Pius Ohoiwutun said some people ran from houses when the quake shook. The undersea quake was also felt in several provinces and cities across the southern Philippines, but there was no immediate reports of injuries or damage. No tsunami warning was issued by Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency. A magnitude 6.1 quake also shook eastern Indonesia earlier Wednesday morning.

Nearly 70 percent of overseas enterprises indicated intentions to expand their footprint in the Greater Bay Area in the next three years and Hong Kong remained the most popular destination, a HSBC survey found. The poll took in 3,400 enterprises in 16 markets, including South Korea and Japan, with respondents operating in or eyeing entry into the Chinese market. Separately, BOC Hong Kong (2388) forecasts the SAR economy will grow 2.8 percent and the jobless rate drop to 3.1 percent this year, driven by tourism and consumption recoveries. This came as PwC's annual Global CEO Survey showed nearly three quarters of chief executives believe global growth will decline over the next 12 months. The poll took in 4,410 CEOs in 105 countries and territories in October and November.

To achieve emission reduction targets, Gammon Construction introduced Hong Kong’s first battery-powered crawler crane on Tuesday. The new crawler crane could have a net carbon saving of nearly 76 metric tonnes of CO2e annually. In addition, the crawler crane comes with a 95% recyclable battery with a short charging time of 4.5 hours. Gammon Chief Executive Kevin O’Brien stated that introducing the first electric crawler crane to Hong Kong demonstrates the company’s commitment towards net zero. The builder is setting two targets for 2033: cutting 55 percent of the company’s absolute energy-related emissions and reducing the company’s indirect emissions by 33 percent.

Commuters crowded in the High-speed rail station on Tuesday morning as 14,000 tickets were made available today for them to travel via the transportation tool between Hong Kong and the mainland. The transport authority announced Monday to increase the quota by 4,000 for the relaunched Hong Kong-Mainland cross-border trains, offering 7,000 tickets respectively for commuters to depart from or arrive in Hong Kong every day. Hundreds of passengers flocked into the West Kowloon Station, waiting in queue to purchase tickets on Tuesday morning. However, lawmaker Gary Zhang Xinyu said only one-third of high-speed rail transport capacity was taken into use currently, urging a further increase of tickets provided. "I believe there is still a large space for increasing ticket amounts as the high-speed rail trains are already able to serve 40,000 to 50,000 passengers each day," he said in a radio program today.

Price hike: Gasoline up P0.95, diesel by P0.50An attendant (R) fills up a motorcycle with gasoline at a petrol station in Manila on March 15, 2022. MANILA, Philippines — Oil companies are raising gasoline and diesel prices today, while a minimal rollback is being implemented on kerosene. In separate advisories yesterday, oil firms said they would increase gasoline prices by P0.95 per liter and diesel prices by P0.50 per liter. The price adjustments will take effect at 6 a.m. today for most companies, except for Caltex, which implemented the adjustments at 12:01 a.m. and Cleanfuel at 4:01 p.m. Last week, diesel prices were slashed by P2.80 per liter, kerosene by P2.10 per liter and gasoline by P0.75 per liter, ending three consecutive weeks of increases for gasoline and kerosene, while also preventing two straight weeks of price hike for diesel.

ForumThe World Economic Forum (WEF) held in the town of Davos, Switzerland is as it says it is: a forum. The Davos forum attracts some of the most influential thinkers, key decision-makers and rising political stars. But the forum, nevertheless, serves to call global attention to the issues of the day and the possible policy actions to address them. No one in the forum is interested in listening to yet another pitch to participate in a sovereign wealth fund that has no proven record for superior returns. This cannot be done, obviously, in the case of participation in a global forum.

Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro is escorted by the Carabinieri after his arrest in the city of Palermo in Sicily on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. ITALIAN CARABINIERI PRESS OFFICE HANDOUT VIDEO GRAB VIA AFP Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro is escorted by the Carabinieri after his arrest in the city of Palermo in Sicily on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. ITALIAN CARABINIERI PRESS OFFICE HANDOUT VIDEO GRAB VIA AFPROME: Antimafia police caught Sicilian godfather Matteo Messina Denaro on Monday, ending a 30-year manhunt for Italy's most wanted fugitive. Criminology expert Anna Sergi at the University of Essex said Messina Denaro was "the last one, the most resilient one, the 'purest' Sicilian mafioso remaining." Messina Denaro was arrested a day after the 30th anniversary of the arrest of Salvatore "The Beast" Riina, the Cosa Nostra boss who died in 2017.