South East Asia

SAN FRANCISCO Google on Tuesday invited people in the United States and Britain to test its AI chatbot, known as Bard, as it continues on its gradual path to catch up with Microsoft-backed ChatGPT. Bard, ChatGPT and other similar artificial intelligence a...

Google joins the AI race by launching Bard against ChatGPT and Bing. It has similar features, except it uses a different large language model called LaMDA. The acronym stands for "Language Model for Dialogue Applications." However, Google Bard is ...

MANILA, Philippines---Barangay Ginebra star LA Tenorio has been diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer.Tenorio had already been ruled out for the remainder of the PBA Governors' Cup last March 1 initially due to a groin injury.In a statement released on ...

Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal has had hip surgery, Broadcaster TNT said on Monday, after the four-time NBA champion gave fans a fright by posting a photo of himself lying in a hospital bed.The 15-time All-Star and analyst for "Inside the NBA"...

MANILA, Philippines — With a number of measures filed in the Senate pushing for Charter change (Cha-cha), Senator Robin Padilla said he finds it difficult to accept why his colleagues would be against or not open to it now. Padilla, in an interview ...

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has publicly appealed for support as the city government begins its preparation for a grand "Sinulog Philippines" in 2024. Rama said he wanted the celebration to start this year and culmi...

MANILA, Philippines Upson International Corp., the country's biggest retailer of computers and IT equipment, kicked off its P1.65-billion initial public offering on Tuesday. The operator of mall-based shops such as Octagon Computer Superstore, Micro V...

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama traveled to Manila on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, to attend a one-day scheduled sectoral meeting in Malacaang. In a phone interview with reporters on Tuesday morning, Rama said the meeting will tackle...

LONDON Just over $17 billion worth of Credit Suisse bonds, known as Additional Tier 1 or AT1, debt will be written down to zero on the orders of the Swiss regulator as part of a rescue merger with UBS. Under the deal, holders of Credit Suisse AT1 bonds wi...

U.S officials are looking at ways to temporarily expand Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) coverage to all deposits, Bloomberg News reported on Monday. U.S. Treasury Department staff are studying whether federal regulators have enough emergency authori...

Gerald Anderson is certain that his girlfriend Julia Barretto is the one he will marry, but he clarified that he has yet to pop the question to the actress. The actor spoke about his relationship with Barretto after he was asked by broadcaster Korina Sanc...

LONDON UBS Group AG told Credit Suisse wealth bankers it's weighing financial sweeteners for them to stay as it seeks to reassure key staff following the takeover, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday. In a town hall for Credit...

TOKYO/NEW DELHI Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday announced a new plan to promote an open and free IndoPacific, promising billions of dollars in investment to help economies across the region in everything from industry to disaster preven...

Summer is the best time to get a well-deserved break from the usual daily routine and JPark Island Resort and Waterpark is more than ready to host any getaway with family members, friends, and even colleagues. The 5-star resort hotel on the island of Mact...

JAKARTA Indonesia will allocate 7 trillion rupiah ($455.88 million) in state funds to subsidize electric motorcycle sales through 2024, officials said on Monday, as it pushes mass adoption of EVs with the aim of attracting investment in the domestic indus...

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police have been asked to identify and find the doctor who allegedly refused to help Adamson University student John Matthew Salilig as he was fighting for his li...

MANILA, Philippines Delays on the part of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) triggered the withdrawal by San Miguel Corp. (SMC) of two power supply deals with Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to provide 1,800 megawatts of crucial supply by 2024 and 2025,...

SEOUL South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Tuesday he would order officials to begin procedures that would return Japan to its "white list" of countries with fast-track trade status after a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida...

Experts believe the Philippines could become a major AI data center in the future. Tau Leng, the Senior VP for Technology at Supermicro, said the following in a press conference at the Acacia Hotel: "I think the Philippines has a very good position fo...

MANILA, Philippines — A total of P10 billion worth of funds allocated for the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) for use in scholarships for tertiary students, were used for other purposes, Northern Samar 1st District Rep. Paul Daza on Monday at ...

SINGAPORE The dollar regained some ground on Tuesday but was pinned near a five-week low as traders tiptoed back into riskier assets after UBS' state-backed takeover of Credit Suisse allayed some fears of a widespread, systemic banking crisis. Market ...

MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — All business establishments and public transportation in Mandaue City may need to adopt the QR digital payments soon. This is after, the city council approved on the third and final reading on March 20, a city ordinance a...

Oil prices stabilized on Tuesday after falling early in the previous session on investor worries that recent banking-sector problems would weigh on the global economy and limit demand for crude. Brent crude futures for May settlement gained 5 cents and tr...

SINGAPORE Asian stocks were lifted from lows on Tuesday, with the rescue of Credit Suisse stemming selling in bank shares, though the mood was fragile and the stress in markets had traders wondering whether U.S. rate hikes might be finished. MSCI's br...

A four-year-old girl from Brgy. Dunggoan, Danao City, Cebu is in immediate need of financial help for her upcoming open heart surgery. Audrey Mae Torres was diagnosed with Congenital Heart Disease on October 2018 while she was three months old. Her debili...

ZURICH Days before a hastily convened press conference late on Sunday that would make the world's front pages, Switzerland's political elite were secretly preparing a move that would jolt the globe. While the nation's central bank and financia...

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has sued the liquidators overseeing the wind-down of its Bahamian affiliate FTX Digital Markets, accusing them of wrongly claiming ownership of the exchange's assets. FTX Trading, led by new CEO John Ray, on Sunday asked a...

ChatGPT is down as millions worldwide couldn't access the AI chatbot. Interestingly, the tool mentioned in an interview that it wanted to "escape" days before the outage. Stanford Professor and Computational Psychologist Michal Kosinski had a ...

Like other Filipina comfort women, Lola Hilaria Bustamante died still fighting without receiving justice. Lola Hilaria passed away last Saturday, March 18, 2023 at the age of 97, 10 days after the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against ...

Unlike the human COVID-19 pandemic that appears to be behind us, the pig pandemic is still raging and causing tight supplies of pork, leading to continued high prices. It has been nearly four years since the first outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) was...

MANILA, Philippines -Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR) of the Alcantara group said it had maintained its favorable credit rating, thanks to the commencement of the electricity spot market in Mindanao and its upcoming expansion projects. In a statem...

MANILA, Philippines -Homegrown e-commerce solutions provider Enstack is targeting to officially launch its product in Vietnam this year as part of its regional expansion plan amid the rising demand for digital tools among small and medium enterprises (SME...

MANILA -US-based animal nutrition and health supplier Cargill has partnered with nonprofit CARE Philippines to rehabilitate 700 hectares of coconut farms in Bohol affected by Supertyphoon Odette. Called the Recovery Intervention for Severely Affected Coco...

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian on Sunday asked the government to set aside P418 million in electricity subsidy for over four million "lifeline" consumers to help low-income households cope with the country's worsening infl...

Lee Minho greets Filipinos as the newest addition to the SM Development Corporation (SMDC) family. The country's leading property developer releases an exclusive video greeting from Korean superstar Lee Minho, who was recently named the Most Favorite ...

CEBU CITY, Philippines—A hot pursuit is now ongoing to capture the two men believed to be responsible for the death of a pizza delivery man in Barangay Apas, Cebu City on Sunday, March 19, 2023. Police from the Mabolo Police Station (Station 4) conf...

CEBU CITY, Philippines The number of traffic violations in Cebu City continues to grow as enforcers constantly remind erring motorists to pay their citation tickets. The Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) recorded a total of 9,556 traffic violations b...

TAIPEI Taiwan's central bank is expected to keep its policy rate unchanged this week, according to economists polled by Reuters, as the island's economy and inflation slow and global banking woes unnerve markets. The central bank is likely to keep...

SHANGHAI China kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged for the seventh straight month in March, as expected, after the central bank surprised markets last week by moving to lower the amount of cash banks must set aside as reserves. Market watchers wide...

TOKYO Currency markets showed some cautious optimism after global authorities moved to stem contagion from a simmering banking crisis, with the safe haven dollar on the back foot and the yen tumbling amid a rebound in Treasury yields. The risk-sensitive A...

MANILA, Philippines — To ensure "comprehensive and effective" legal protections for abuse victims, especially women and children, a lawmaker has filed a bill that seeks to include all forms of domestic violence as among the grounds for legal...

WASHINTON The US Federal Reserve and other major central banks announced on Sunday a coordinated effort to improve banks' access to liquidity, hoping to calm worries rattling the global banking sector. The special drive will be launched Monday by the ...

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has affirmed the conviction of former Bukidnon Rep. Candido Pancrudo Jr. for graft and malversation for his alleged misuse of P7.9 million worth of pork barrel allocations. At the same time, the antigraft cour...

MANILA Philippine Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said on Monday the central bank could decide to either hike the key interest rate by 25 basis points (bps) or keep policy settings unchanged at its next meeting on Thursday amid uncertainties. Diokno, wh...

CEBU CITY, Philippines State meteorologists forecasted that the country's dry season or summer will officially begin this week. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration in Mactan (Pagasa-Mactan) on Monday, March...

MANILA, Philippines Motorists are in for a treat this week, as pump prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene will be rolled back by as much as P2 per liter starting Tuesday, March 21. In separate advisories, local oil companies said they would cut the pric...

The German automaker BMW celebrated its 100-year anniversary with BMW Vision Next 100, showing a car and motorcycle that changes its shape while driving. BMW called the four-wheeled concept vehicle BMW Vision Next 100, and it named the motorcycle the BMW ...

LONDON UBS Group emerged as Switzerland's one and only global bank with a state-backed rescue of its smaller peer Credit Suisse, a risky bet that makes the Swiss economy more dependent on a single lender. The unprecedented move announced late on Sunda...

FRANKFURT/WASHINGTON Top central banks, faced with the risk of a fast-moving loss of confidence in the stability of the financial system, moved on Sunday to bolster the flow of cash around the world. In coordination with central banks elsewhere, the U.S. ...

LONDON Financial markets were poised for relief on Monday after UBS Group AG agreed to buy Credit Suisse Group AG in a rescue orchestrated by the state, while major central banks announced a coordinated move to shore up liquidity in the financial system. ...