Stuck in eternal drought, UAE turns to AI to make it rain
By Talek Harris
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
— In the marbled halls of a luxury hotel, leading experts are discussing a new approach to an age-old problem: how to make it rain in the UAE, the wealthy Gulf state that lies in one of the world’s biggest deserts.
Decades of work and millions of dollars have been ploughed into easing endless drought in the oilrich UAE, whose mainly expatriate population is soaring undeterred by a dry, hostile climate and hairdryer summer heat.
Despite the United Arab Emirates’ best efforts, rainfall remains rare.
But at last month’s International Rain Enhancement Forum in Abu Dhabi officials held out a new hope: harnessing artificial intelligence to wring more moisture out of often cloudless skies.
Among the initiatives is an AI system to improve cloud seeding, the practice of using planes to fire salt or other chemicals into clouds to
increase rain.
“It’s pretty much finished,” said Luca Delle Monache, deputy director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
“We’re doing the final touches.”
However, Delle Monache conceded that AI was not a “silver bullet” for the UAE, which like other countries has pursued cloud seeding for decades.
Cloud seeding works by increasing the size of droplets, which then fall as rain. It’s estimated to increase rainfall by 10-15 percent, Delle Monache said.
But it only works with certain types of puffy, cumulus clouds, and can even suppress rainfall if not done properly.
“You’ve got to do it in the right place at the right time. That’s why we use artificial intelligence,” he added.
- Prayers, applause -
The three-year project, funded with $1.5 million from the UAE’s rain enhancement program, feeds
Musk stars at Trump’s first cabinet meeting
By Danny KEMP
Washington, United States —
Elon Musk starred at Donald Trump’s first cabinet meeting Wednesday, with the US president insisting his team was “thrilled” with the extraordinary power given to his billionaire advisor despite reported tensions over his sweeping government cuts.
Trump asked tech tycoon Musk, who was wearing a black “Make America Great Again” baseball cap, to stand up and talk about the controversial program of his socalled Department of Government Efficiency.
“If we don’t do this, America will go bankrupt,” the world’s richest man told cabinet members at the White House, adding that he was “taking a lot of flak, and getting a lot
of death threats by the way.”
The SpaceX and Tesla tycoon at one point said his job was “humble technical support” for Trump’s government -- before opening his overcoat to reveal a black t-shirt saying “Tech Support” in large white letters.
Dismissing US media reports that some cabinet members had expressed frustration over DOGE emails sent to all federal employees asking them to justify their jobs or be sacked, Musk said it was the “best cabinet ever” and thanked them for their “support”.
Republican Trump, 78, also turned to the top team gathered around a huge wooden table for the first meeting of his second term, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
- ‘Throw them out’ -
“Is anybody unhappy with Elon? If they are we’ll throw them out of here,” Trump said, to laughter and applause from the cabinet members.
“Some disagree a little bit, but I will tell you for the most part I think everyone’s not only happy, they’re thrilled.”
The DOGE emails have caused confusion across Washington, with government departments on Monday largely telling told staff to either ignore them or downplayed the risks of not answering it.
Trump insisted however that employees who didn’t reply were “on the bubble” and risked losing their positions.
The star role given to Musk, who
satellite, radar and weather data into an algorithm that predicts where seedable clouds will form in the next six hours.
It promises to advance the
current method where cloud-seeding flights are directed by experts studying satellite images.
Hundreds of such flights occur annually in the UAE.
Wearable tech has far to go before challenging smartphones
By Mona GUICHARD
Barcelona, Spain — Wearable
gadgets like smart watches and glasses are growing more capable every year, but experts say smartphones will remain ubiquitous for the foreseeable future -- not least thanks to artificial intelligence features.
A slew of wearable products and prototypes were on show at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Monday, even as smartphone makers and network operators played up AI integration as making handsets more useful.
Such “new product ranges allow manufacturers to diversify the hopes until now placed in phones” said Cesar Corcoles, an IT and telecoms professor at the Open University of Catalonia.
The trade show in Barcelona will see “prototypes and demonstrations of smart glasses that place a small, very limited screen in front of our eyes”.
Smart glasses have seemed on the horizon for more than a decade, with Google’s Glass headset and camera released in 2013 -- although it has since been discontinued.
Meta has encountered more success recently with its frames developed alongside Ray-Ban, offering features including a built-in camera, music playback and voice interactions with the company’s AI. Yann LeCun, star AI researcher at the company which owns Facebook and Instagram, is often seen showing off the glasses at public appearances.
Worldwide, the market for smart glasses appears to be surging in terms of unit sales, with a 210-percent year-on-year increase in 2024 according to specialist research firm Counterpoint -- far faster than the seven-percent growth in smartphone shipments calculated by analysts Canalys.
- ‘Cool gimmick’ for nowBut comparing the number of devices rather than growth rates, last year’s roughly two million pairs of smart glasses barely register compared to the 1.2 billion smartphones sold.
Counterpoint predicts the glasses market will grow further in the coming years as more producers -- from social media giants to smartphone makers -- look to claim a piece of the action.
Other wearable categories may need longer to take off, with the recent shutdown of “AI Pin” maker Humane a sign some wearable tech is not yet mature.
Designed to be worn at chest level like a brooch, the wouldbe smartphone replacement incorporating a camera and mini projector was designed to be used via AI-powered voice interactions but received poor reviews.
Humane has now been sold to HP after the device failed to make the hoped-for impact.
The “AI Pin” was “just not that useful yet”, Canalys expert Jack Leathem said.
Voice-controlled devices are “a cool gimmick, but humans have become very, very used to textbased interactions on touchscreens,” he added -- habits it would take a powerful sales pitch to change.
“The most challenging thing is getting people to change their behaviour,” agreed Shen Ye of smartphone maker HTC’s Vive wearables arm.
“We still use a QWERTY keyboard because it’s what we’re used to... even though there are
With only about 100 millimetres (3.9 inches) of annual rainfall, the UAE’s nearly 10 million people mainly rely on desalinated water,
US President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC. ROBERTO SCHMIDT
Dubai dwellers take desert camping to skyscraper city
By Sahar AL ATTAR
Dozens of camper trailers are lined up, with simple facilities set up in the open air against a backdrop featuring the world’s tallest building, the needle-like Burj Khalifa -- a symbol of the ostentatious lifestyles and consumerism associated with the city.
Khaled al-Kaissi, 38, is among the minority of the population -around 10 percent -- who are native Emiratis.
In the United Arab Emirates, foreign labour largely from Asia is cheaply available, including for household help, to the benefit of many locals.
But “sometimes you need simple things”, like preparing your own cup of tea, he said, voicing a desire for “simplicity and humility”.
On the sandy ground, some visitors at the makeshift urban camping site have set up rugs and cushions to create a “majlis”, a type of communal living room traditional in the Gulf.
Others sit in regular camping
Stuck in eternal drought, UAE...
piped from plants that produce about 14 percent of the world’s total, according to official figures.
The population is 90 percent foreign and has increased nearly 30-fold since the UAE’s founding in 1971. People are concentrated in the big cities of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, coast-hugging refuges from the vast Arabian Desert hinterland.
However, the country still needs groundwater, replenished by rain and encouraged by a series of dams, for agriculture and industry.
Although UAE officials say rain has increased, downpours remain so unusual that school children are known to burst into applause and rush to classroom windows for a better view.
Rain, even the artificial variety, is exotic enough to be a leisure attraction: at Dubai’s Raining Street, visitors pay 300 dirhams ($81) to walk in fake drizzle.
Ordering prayers for rain is a long-standing practice by the Gulf’s ruling families.
The memorable exception was last April, when the heaviest rains on record shuttered Dubai’s major international air hub and flooded roads, paralysing the city for days.
- ‘Very niche area’ -
Searching for solutions, the UAE in 2017 started holding the rainfall forum, which has now seen seven editions. Its Rain Enhancement Program has handed out $22.5 million in grants over a decade.
“When it comes to cloudseeding this program here is the best in the world,” Delle Monache said at the forum, held near the presidential palace and next to the headquarters of ADNOC, the state oil firm.
“It’s a very niche area in atmospheric science. There are few experts in the world and they’re pretty much all here now.”
His team’s algorithm was not the only use of AI in discussion.
Marouane Temimi, associate professor at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, outlined a US-developed system that uses
Musk stars at Trump’s first...
is officially an advisor not a cabinet member, underscored his status as the most powerful person in Trump’s inner circle.
Trump had earlier downplayed reports of tensions over his dominance, posting on his social media platform Truth Social: “ALL CABINET MEMBERS ARE EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH ELON.”
The meeting -- and an hourlong question and answer session with media brought in under new White House rules controlling which reporters get access to Trump -- was more broadly a chance for him to tout a dramatic start to his second term.
Trump proclaimed progress on negotiations to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was set to visit the White House on Friday to sign a deal giving Washington access to Kyiv’s rare minerals.
Trump has alarmed allies by starting direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He also revealed that he was set to impose 25 percent tariffs on many imports from key ally Europe -- and proclaimed that the “European Union was created to screw the United States.”
- Controversial aides -
During the meeting Trump was flanked by aides openly chosen in many cases for their lavish declarations of loyalty -- and for their commitment to bring in the Musk-led cuts, along with Trump’s crackdown on diversity.
Many of these top figures were successfully confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate despite unusually extensive questions over their experience or behavior.
Among the most contentious are Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a
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machine learning to track the path and impact of storms in real time.
However Temimi, like Delle Monache, was also cautious about AI solutions, warning there were clear limits.
A lack of detailed data about cloud composition -- a common problem, as monitoring equipment is expensive -- hampers accurate predictions even with AI, Temimi said.
“I would say we still have some work to do just because we have data, but not enough data to train models correctly,” he told AFP.
Enthusiasm for AI was also tempered by Loic Fauchon, president of the World Water Council of government, commercial, UN and other groups.
“Be careful. Try to find the right balance between artificial intelligence and human intelligence,” he told the conference.
“Do not go too fast to artificial intelligence. Humankind is probably the best (option).”
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noted vaccine skeptic, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who has a history of backing Kremlin talking points, and Hegseth, a former Fox News host who has faced allegations of sexual assault.
And in a situation with no real parallel in modern US history, all of these powerful officials are overshadowed by Musk, who helped bankroll Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign to the tune of a quarter of a billion dollars.
While classified as a mere “special government employee” and “senior adviser to the president,” the South African-born magnate is seen more often at Trump’s side than Vice President JD Vance or even First Lady Melania Trump.
As owner of the X social media platform and a key leader in the US space program, his influence percolates through almost every corner of current Washington politics.
chairs.
Like many countries on the Arabian Peninsula, the United Arab Emirates was largely undeveloped before the discovery of oil in the late 1950s.
Less rich in hydrocarbons than other UAE emirates, Dubai became a regional leader in economic diversification.
It turned itself into an ultramodern metropolis, a regional business and financial centre, and a popular destination with grandiose attractions.
Despite the rapid transformation of their way of life and the influx of expatriates, Emiratis remain attached to their camping culture -- when temperatures drop enough for them to comfortably avoid air-conditioned shopping centres, that is.
It is a tradition tied to their Bedouin ancestors.
“The idea comes from our greatgreat-grandparents because they used to live in the desert... and they passed down this tradition to us,” said Wissam Hamad Skandarani, 33, a Palestinian-American with an Emirati mother.
Under the stars, he was getting ready to watch a football match on television.
Skandarani is in the habit of spending weekends camping in the desert, but since he found this spot a month ago he’s been coming every evening. Here, he meets his friends after work in Dubai’s financial district just a few minutes away.
“You have the city, and the beach in front of you. And you have the view,” he said. “You’re in heaven.”
- ‘Surreal’Ahmed Rashed al-Ali came from the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah to camp with his friends.
Since buying his camper three
probably much better ways of typing,” he added.
- AI on your phone -
Beyond consumer inertia, wearable tech is still up against engineering challenges stemming from its bid to squeeze smartphonelike functionality into a smaller package.
“There are limits around the computing power currently and battery performance,” Leathem said. “You can’t make them that compact.”
That’s one reason why smart watches able to make calls and send messages largely remain tethered to wearers’ smartphones for now.
“Every smart watch that comes out now is there to interact with a smartphone, not to replace it. It’s an accessory,” Leathem said.
What’s more, manufacturers are incentivised to get consumers buying a wider range of gadgets rather than simply swapping one for another.
And even as wearables become more useful, AI is expected to pump more value into smartphones themselves.
The latest offerings from Apple, Samsung or China’s Xiaomi have bet on offering users integrated “AI assistant” features.
“All the money is going into AI... their vision of the future is
years ago, Ali has taken it to cities across the UAE and also elsewhere in the Gulf.
“We used to put up the tent in one spot but the mobile home has modernised camping. You move around, one day in the mountains, one day at the beach, another in the desert,” he said.
Ali and others know full well that their camping spot likely won’t be spared from Dubai’s frenetic construction for long.
Authorities ignore them as long as the improvised camping sites are clean and well organised, said Mohammed Chammas, 46, a factory owner.
“But we are waiting for the time they come and tell us that something is going to be built and they ask us to move on,” he said.
In the meantime, visitors travelling with a camper van pass along via the internet the secret of this striking view of the Burj Khalifa -- which tourists staying in city hotels would likely pay a lot for. Sophie Ullrich, a 34-year-old German, has criss-crossed the deserts of the Gulf with her husband in their 4x4 converted into a camper van. They, like the Emiratis, also found themselves at the unofficial campground in Dubai.
“Being here was special,” she said. “We were sitting there in front of the car... looking at the skyline, having our Toyota in the background, and it felt so surreal.”
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keeping the same smartphone form factor, but making it way more useful,” Leathem said.
Canalys predicts that the share of smartphones sold worldwide with AI features will leap from 16 percent at present to more than half by 2028.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates —
On a patch of city land beside
the sea, urban Emiratis sit beneath the shimmering skyscrapers of wealthy Dubai, revamping a camping tradition rooted in the desert.
A person checks a smartphone with the Xiaomi Modular Optical System, at the MWC (Mobile World Congress), the world’s biggest mobile fair, in Barcelona. As the world’s biggest wireless technology fair, the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is packed with manufacturers showing off their latest gadgets and inventions. This year’s stands have looked to wow visitors with an ultra-lifelike humanoid robot, colour-changing smartphones, smart contact lenses and many more.
JOSEP LAGO
NEWS AS OF PRESS TIME
Philippines’ Palawan approves 50-year ban on new mining permits
By Cecil MORELLA
Manila, Philippines — The local government in a resourcerich Philippine province has unanimously voted in favour of a 50-year ban on new mining permits, a decision its supporters said cannot be overridden by Manila.
Palawan province, a UNESCO “biosphere reserve” known for its diverse flora and fauna, has become a hotbed for mining as the national government seeks to widen its market share for minerals like nickel, a key component of electric vehicle batteries.
But locals have increasingly pushed back against new mine proposals, with environmental groups and activists pointing to effects ranging from deforestation and flooding to the displacement of Indigenous peoples.
There are currently 11 mines operated in Palawan, but scores of applications are pending.
Environmental lawyer Grizelda Anda, who worked in support of Wednesday’s vote, said Manila would not be able to legally overrule the local government’s decision, which now awaits the governor’s signature.
“The (Philippine Mining Act of
1995) provides that you have to get the endorsement of the LGU (local government unit),” she said.
The new permit ban also imposes a 25-year pause on applications to renew or expand mining licenses.
Existing mines can continue “as long as they do not increase their production” or move into new areas, Anda added.
- ‘A really big win’ -
“This is a really big win not just for the people but for the environment, especially Palawan, which is our last frontier here in the Philippines,” said Jonila Castro, a spokesperson for the Manila-based Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment.
“We hope that many other provinces will have the same moratorium.”
Palawan resident Jade Cabasag, 23, whose church advocated for the ban, told AFP she was one of about 100,000 people who had signed a petition in favour of it.
“We are more than just a sector that values our faith, but we also value our environment,” she said, adding she was proud she could help in her “own little way”.
But the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines criticised the vote, saying in a statement on Thursday
that the environmental concerns were overblown given laws it said provided “stringent” safeguards.
The decision would also limit “the country’s ability to plan and strategise about its mineral wealth at a time when the global demand for
critical minerals is rising”, it said.
“The Philippine government has a responsibility to the people to develop its mineral resources responsibly for the good of the many. Palawan cannot and should not limit the national government’s
ability to do so.”
But mid-term
elections in May, when 10 of the Palawan board’s 11 members are up for re-election, could see the new ban undone if there is a dramatic shift in the body’s makeup.
(FILES) This file photo shows tour boats loaded with tourists preparing to depart El Nido town, Palawan province, for a day’s tour of the surrounding islands. The local board in a resource-rich Philippine province has unanimously passed a 50-year ban on new mining permits, a decision heralded by supporters who said it could not be overriden by Manila.
TED ALJIBE
Groups say millions already hit as US guts aid
By Shaun Tandon
Washington, United States —
Donald Trump’s aid freeze was announced as a review that would last 90 days. Instead, the US president has unleashed sweeping cuts that relief groups say have already hurt millions around the world.
With the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, leading Trump’s drive to slash spending to make way for tax cuts, the State Department announced Wednesday it had identified 92 percent of projects for elimination.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio axed 5,800 awards with $54 billion in value, the State Department said,
after the Trump administration ignored a court order to unfreeze aid, which is appropriated by Congress.
The UN children’s agency UNICEF said that “millions of children” had already felt the initial effects of the suspension and then termination of grants from the United States.
“Without urgent action, without
Trump tariff uncertainty overshadows growth promises: analysts
By Beiyi SEOW
Washington, United States —
President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the retaliation they attracted will likely weigh on US growth and boost inflation, according to analysts, but, beyond that, uncertainty surrounding the levies threatens to overshadow optimism about his future policies.
Trump reignited trade wars this week with hefty duties on Canadian, Mexican and Chinese imports, drawing sharp retaliation from Ottawa and Beijing, including new tariffs on key American farm products.
Collectively, these could dent US GDP growth by one percentage point and hike inflation by 0.6 points if kept in place for the year, said Nationwide chief economist Kathy Bostjancic.
“Tariffs represent a negative supply shock. It hurts production, raises prices,” she told AFP, warning that business and consumer confidence also take a hit from levies.
“That hope and excitement right now is overwhelmed by the uncertainty of what’s going to play out,” she added.
It also remains unclear if new tariffs will be long-lasting, and they come atop cost-cutting measures in the federal government which are being challenged in courts, KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk said.
The fallout from these efforts can undermine demand.
Trump has not only quickened the pace of tariff hikes in his second term by tapping emergency economic powers to impose them without an investigation period, but his levies cover a larger value of goods.
Trump’s first-term tariffs hit $380 billion worth of US imports over 2018-2019, mainly from China, said Erica York of the Tax Foundation.
But his latest duties introduced over a month impact $1.4 trillion of imports, mostly from allies, she added.
“Because of the faster implementation and the larger magnitude, the new tariffs will be much more disruptive to the US economy than Trump’s first trade war,” York said.
- Prices, jobsWhile the situation is fluid, Bostjancic said prices of products like motor vehicle parts could rise by 10 percent within months, given how integrated North American supply chains are.
This could inflate consumer costs for big ticket items. Used car prices could increase if producing new vehicles became pricey, analysts said.
New homes stand to become more expensive too, potentially making property owners reluctant to move and weighing on the housing market, said Jessica Lautz at the National Association of Realtors.
Trump’s latest 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods hits lumber imports, which are important to homebuilders.
With the breadth of Trump’s current tariff plans, “some companies may not be able to maintain the same level of employment,” Swonk of KPMG warned.
During Trump’s first term, despite an initial uptick in steel industry employment when he imposed tariffs on imports of the metal, these were more than offset by higher input costs and layoffs elsewhere, she noted.
- ‘Choke points’ -
Other near-term effects include countries’ readiness to to hit US “choke points” following experiences from his first administration, said Swonk.
“They’re going to look for the places that are the biggest pinch points for the president’s party and that’s the Republican Party,” she told AFP.
This means taking aim at Republican-dominated states.
When the world’s biggest economy takes action like sweeping tariffs other countries tend respond strategically, targeting countermeasures at areas which likely have more political sway over the administration, she said.
Farm and food products are often primary targets of retaliation, said Wendong Zhang of Cornell University. This could spark the need for federal aid to farmers subsequently.
Already, China said it would impose 10 percent and 15 percent levies on various US agricultural exports including soybeans.
In Trump’s first term, retaliatory tariffs on the United States caused more than $27 billion in US agricultural export losses from mid2018 to late-2019.
Economists say the hit to growth and inflation in 2025 could be somewhat counterbalanced by aggressive deregulation efforts next year, as Trump’s government seeks to rein in the budget deficit and make certain tax cuts permanent.
For now, the “uncertainty effect,” serves as a tax of its own, Swonk said.
funding, more children are going to suffer malnutrition. Fewer will have access to education, and preventable illnesses will claim more lives,” the agency’s spokesman James Elder told a news conference in Geneva.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters the world body was alarmed by the “severe cuts” by the United States -- until now the world’s largest donor in dollar terms.
“The reduction of America’s humanitarian role and influence will run counter to American interests globally. I can only hope that these decisions can be reversed based on more careful reviews,” Guterres told reporters.
- ‘Innocent civilians’The International Rescue Committee said at least two million people the non-governmental group assists will be affected by the cancellation of 46 US grants.
“The countries affected by these cuts -- including Sudan, Yemen, Syria -- are home to millions of innocent civilians who are victims of war and disaster,” said the group’s president David Miliband, a former British foreign secretary.
In South Africa, where around 13 percent of the population is HIV positive, a halt in US funding to the country’s HIV/AIDS program is forecast to contribute to more than 500,000 deaths over 10 years, the head of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation said.
The program until recently enjoyed wide bipartisan support, including from Rubio, a former senator.
But some aid workers say PEPFAR will be gutted without funding for related work, and notices seen by AFP showed that the United States was ending assistance to South African anti-AIDS organizations.
Trump’s Democratic opponents say the cuts only benefit adversary China, which seeks to show the United States is unreliable.
- Better off ‘in fireplace’? -
Trump and his allies have argued that foreign assistance is wasteful
and does not serve US interests.
Representative Brian Mast, the outspoken chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, at a recent hearing cited initiatives related to LGBTQ issues and tourism promotion funded by the now-eliminated US Agency for International Development (USAID).
“I think the fact is clear that America would have been better off if your money had been simply thrown into a fireplace,” Mast said.
Aid groups say much of the assistance supports US interests by promoting stability and health overseas.
By spending one dollar overseas in disease prevention, “we don’t have to spend $10, $20, $100 here to combat diseases,” said Tessie San Martin, CEO of the group FHI 360. She said 90 percent of the group’s work has been terminated, including HIV medication delivery, infectious disease treatment and malnutrition reduction.
“This has consequences that are not easily reversible,” she said.
Mark Feinberg, president and CEO of vaccine developer IAVI said there has been “really tremendous progress” in recent years toward producing a vaccine against HIV and that, had funding not stopped, it was possible to begin to “think about how we can bring the AIDS pandemic to an end.”
“This is setting us back decades,” he said.
“Without question, we’re going to see increased numbers of infections, we’re going to see increased resistance and we’re going to see really going back to where things were decades ago, which is really sad.”
Another aid group leader, who requested anonymity for fear of repercussions, said: “We all knew that there was going to be a change with the administration.
“But I don’t think anyone anticipated actions that were so malicious, incompetent and ignorant.”
UK to cut welfare spending in tough economy: reports
London, United Kingdom — Britain’s Labour government plans to cut spending on welfare by billions of pounds, local media reported on Wednesday, with public finances worsened by a stagnant economy and elevated borrowing costs.
Finance minister Rachel Reeves will announce the cuts in her Spring Statement on March 26, a follow up to her inaugural budget last October, according to the Financial Times and other UK publications.
The FT added that a £9.9 billion ($12.7 billion) fiscal cushion had been wiped out in recent months. UK government bonds shot higher after Reeves unveiled business tax rises in her budget that followed Labour’s election victory last year.
Sky News said the Treasury on Wednesday was informing the independent Office of Budget Responsibility of its proposed cuts to welfare and other departments.
“We do not comment on speculation,” a spokesperson at the Department for Work and Pensions told AFP in reaction.
They noted, however, that the government was “bringing forward reforms to health and disability benefits... so sick and disabled people are genuinely supported back into work, while being fairer on the taxpayer”.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week pledged to boost UK defence spending to 2.5 percent of the nation’s economy by 2027 in the face of uncertainty over the United States’ commitment to Ukraine and NATO.
(FILES) Shipping containers are stacked at the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, California. The US trade deficit surged to a new record in January, said the US Commerce Department on March 6, 2025, as imports spiked while tariff worries flared. The overall trade gap of the world’s biggest economy ballooned 34 percent to $131.4 billion, on the back of a 10 percent jump in imports for the month. This was the widest deficit for a month on record, dating back to 1992.
FREDERIC J. BROWN
LIVING AND ENJOYING IT, AROUND THE PLANET
Trends from Milan Fashion Week: Belts and 50 shades of grey
By Isabelle SCIAMMA
M ilan, Italy — Milan Fashion Week might be over, but the trends to stay elegant and stylish next winter have been revealed. The general mood of the week was quiet luxury, in line with the last few seasons, where quality materials were paired with everyday essentials.
Here are the main trends that were on show in Milan.
- Grey-
All the studios clearly had the grey suits from the 1980 film “American Gigolo” plastered all over their mood boards this season.
And it was in fact Giorgio Armani, who designed the famous suits worn by Richard Gere in the film, who showed a perfect mastery of the colour as the house closed Milan Fashion Week with its show on Sunday.
The “greige” colour invented by Giorgio Armani that skilfully combines grey and beige was spotted everywhere and in expensive materials: silk jacquard, cashmere and organza.
The brand showed off flowing jacket and trouser sets, trouser jumpsuits, and complex embroidery
on floaty dresses.
Grey also played a central role in the collection of Antonio Marras, in prince of Wales suits, tartan and tennis stripes, always worn in a tailored style in both men and women’s fashion.
The same went for Ferragamo, who used grey in large doublebuttoned coats, worn over long silk dresses.
Just like its men’s suits -- some contemporary, some in seventies style -- Gucci followed the same pattern for classic women’s ensembles, with small jackets and knee-length skirts complemented by a pretty integral tunic emblazoned with the double GG.
Max Mara’s collection highlighted flecked grey cardigans and dresses made from thick wool, while MM6 Maison Margiela showed off a greenish-grey hue in “Matrix” trench coats.
- Fasten your seatbelt -
The next season’s trend will be belts.
Most looks at Max Mara’s show involved belts, from coats and cardigans to a long woollen dress and both mini and long skirts.
Emporio Armani’s looks also featured Japanese Obi belts,
Paris imposes carsharing lane on congested ring road
By Hélène Duvigneau
Paris, France — Paris on Monday began limiting one lane of its notoriously busy ring road to car sharing during rush hours, the latest move by the French capital to ease congestion and pollution on one of Europe’s most traffic-clogged thoroughfares.
The car-sharing lane was used during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and the plan is championed by the Socialist-led city hall but criticised on the right.
The peripherique ring road, known throughout Paris with a mixture of dread and familiarity as the “periph”, is now reserving its leftmost traffic lane -- its fastest -- during rush hour for vehicles carrying “at least two passengers”.
This excludes heavy goods vehicles but includes all public transport, taxis, emergency vehicles and people with reduced mobility.
In October, city authorities reduced the speed limit throughout the ring road to 50 km/h (30 mph) from 70 km/h (44 mph).
“We want to reduce the number of cars on the road by optimising their passenger rate in order to reduce noise and air pollution,” David Belliard, deputy mayor in charge of transport, told AFP, emphasising that 80 percent of ring road users are solo drivers.
“The ring road is the busiest urban motorway in Europe and it is a real health scandal. The half a million inhabitants who live on either side of this urban motorway are exposed to levels of pollution that are still far too high, with 30 percent more asthma
among children,” added Dan Lert, the deputy mayor in charge of environmental issues.
The lane is signalled by white diamond signs on a blue background that are lit from Monday to Friday from 7:00 am to 10:30 am and from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Police headquarters can deactivate it in case of major traffic jams.
- ‘Most polluted area’Seven kilometres (4.3 miles) of the 35-kilometre (22-mile) “periph” in the south of Paris are currently exempt from the measure but the city is investing another seven million euros in equipment to bring the area into the scheme.
Drivers violating the new rules will be detected via artificial intelligence and will then see a message displayed on the signs asking them to change lanes.
The first fines, amounting to 135 euros, will be levied from May 1, with police responsible for analysing pictures before ordering the penalty.
With around 1.5 million daily journeys, the ring road is “the most polluted area in the capital”, according to the city hall.
But there has been concern about the scheme with the right-wing head of the Ile-de-France region which includes Paris and surrounding areas, writing to Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo to express fears over potential mass traffic jams.
“We must be able to stop this experiment, which is being implemented in such a non-consensual manner, if its results prove negative,” said Valerie Pecresse, demanding an “exhaustive” assessment within three months of the impact.
or belts made from velour with geometric buckles. At Gucci, the fashion house’s symbolic horsebit was featured in a metallic belt.
In Prada’s collection, thin belts created unexpected volume on oversize coats.
Meanwhile, for Tod and Ferragamo’s collections, belts had a more functional role, with Tod’s belts allowing for accessories and discreet pockets while Ferragamo’s featured oversize bags.
Moschino’s cheeky universe distorted the usual use of belts, using them to create structures that were part crinoline, part BDSM.
- Leather trench coatsNext winter’s coat could well be the leather trench coat.
Roberto Cavalli made a strong impression with an all-black rigid leather belted trench coat, while Tod’s collection showed off trench coats made of supple, wrap-around leather in bright red, caramel and chocolate.
Rome-based fashion house Fendi featured a trench coat made of cognac leather in retro style with a shirt collar, while Gucci had several varieties, without belts, stripped down and with animal prints, made of beige old leather.
Dolce and Gabbana presented a big leather coat worn over a silk nightdress and accompanied with mustard yellow biker boots, part of the “Cool Girls” collection by the Sicilian duo.
- Matelasse -
The matelasse style was also very visible on the podiums at Milan on coats, jackets and
sometimes skirts.
Fendi, which celebrates its 100th anniversary with an acclaimed collection by Silvia Venturini Fendi, granddaughter of the founders, featured a matelasse ensemble comprised of a flared skirt and small hyper-detailed golden ochre blouse that combined style and comfort.
Emporio Armani showed of the trend in short matelasse jackets with herringbone patterns, brightened up
with velour details.
Max Mara produced a floorlength belted coat in matelasse style, while the back of Dolce and Gabbana’s large coats featured matelasse leopard motifs that kept in line with the season’s theme: street wear chic.
And Moschino took the matelasse brief literally with a humorous interpretation, featuring models wearing large padded quilts as coats and pillows instead of hats.
A model presents a creation during the Dolce & Gabbana’s fashion show as part of the Womenswear Fall-Winter 2025/2026 Milan Fashion Week in Milan. PIERO CRUCIATTI
WHAT’S NEW IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Chameleon phones and smart contact lenses: the gadgets of MWC 2025
By Valentin BONTEMPS, Mona GUICHARD and Tom BARFIELD
Barcelona, Spain — As the world’s biggest wireless technology fair, the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is packed with manufacturers showing off their latest gadgets and inventions.
This year’s stands have looked to wow visitors with an ultra-lifelike humanoid robot, colour-changing smartphones, smart contact lenses and many more.
‘Spatial sound’ in phone calls
Where current calls use only a single audio channel to transmit the voice, the new system allows for sounds seeming to come from different directions.
Dubbed “Immersive video and audio services” (Ivas), the technology requires handsets fitted with two microphones.
That combined with the need for a high-speed 5G connection means the technology could take several years to reach most users.
High-fidelity robot Sporting a black dress, red jacket and long brown hair, ultra-realistic humanoid robot Amira is on display
Mobile equipment builder Nokia and operator Vodafone say their “3D spatial sound” will offer users “truly immersive audio” on phone calls, with the person on the line sounding as if they are in the same room.
by Emirati telecom operator Etisalat.
While imitating human features with high fidelity, Amira’s movements remain recognisably slow and jerky.
Elliott White of the robot’s creators Engineered Arts said that the device coud be connected to any generative AI “large language model” to allow interactions with people.
Remote driving
There is no shortage of connected cars on the floors at MWC, but visitors were able to test-drive a vehicle 3,000 kilometres away in Finland at the stand of congress organiser GSMA.
The setup -- nothing but a wheel
Musk launches ‘scary smart’ AI chatbot
San Francisco, United States —
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company unveiled on Monday the latest version of its chatbot, Grok 3, which the billionaire hopes will find traction in a highly competitive sector contested by the likes of ChatGPT and China’s DeepSeek.
The launch comes as the world’s richest man is deploying the enormous powers granted him by US President Donald Trump to restructure and dismantle federal agencies.
The unprecedented cost-cutting drive has raised conflict-of-interest questions, given that many of those agencies have regulatory oversight on elements of Musk’s sprawling business empire.
“Grok is to understand the universe,” Musk said at the start of the Grok 3 launch presentation.
Musk has promoted Grok 3 as “scary smart,” with 10 times the computational resources of its predecessor that was released in August last year.
The flagship product of his xAI company was trained on synthetic data and employs self-correction mechanisms that avoid errors –known as “hallucinations” -– that plague some AI chatbots and lead them to process false or misleading data as fact.
“Grok 3 has very powerful reasoning capabilities, so in the tests that we’ve done thus far, Grok 3 is
outperforming anything that’s been released, that we’re aware of, so that’s a good sign,” Musk said in a video call last week with the World Governments Summit in Dubai.
Grok 3 will be made available first to Premium+ paid subscribers of X -- formerly Twitter, which Musk acquired in 2022 -- before rolling out to other users.
The upgraded chatbot enters a crowded field with countries racing to introduce more sophisticated -and cost-effective -- AI products.
Chinese startup DeepSeek shocked the global AI industry last month with the launch of its lowcost, high-quality R1 chatbot -- a direct challenge to US ambitions to lead the world in developing the technology.
Grok 3 is also going up against OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT –pitting Musk against collaboratorturned-arch rival Sam Altman.
Musk and Altman were among the 11-person team that founded OpenAI in 2015. Created as a counterweight to Google’s dominance in artificial intelligence, the project got its initial funding from Musk, who invested $45 million to get it started.
Musk left three years later, and then in 2022 OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT created a global technology sensation -- one that did not feature Musk at its center and which made Altman a star.
Their relationship has become increasingly toxic and litigious ever since, with Open AI’s board last week rejecting a Musk-led offer to buy out the company for close to $100 billion.
- Trump and techTrump has put technology front and center of his new administration. Tech billionaires featured prominently at his inauguration and he has announced a number of major AI infrastructure initiatives from the White House.
Musk has become a key figure in the administration, as one of Trump’s closest advisers and the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has begun a radical overhaul of the US government bureaucracy.
Critics warn that Musk’s proximity to the president poses a major conflict of interest as he guides Trump on laws and regulations around artificial intelligence –just one sector in which he has a substantial commercial stake.
According to Bloomberg, xAI has been canvassing potential investors for a roughly $10 billion funding round that would value the company at about $75 billion.
Musk, who also acts as boss of SpaceX and Tesla, launched the xAI company in July 2023, shortly after he signed an open letter calling for a pause in the development of powerful AI models.
and some screens -- was created by Estonian firm Elmo, which has fitted the cars with a custom controller and multiple cameras, alongside Nokia.
Chameleonic smartphone
Chinese manufacturer Realme has developed a smartphone that changes colour as the outside temperature shifts.
The body of its 14 Pro line, textured to look like a seashell, is infused with thermochromic pigments that shift to blue below 16 degrees Celsius (61 Fahrenheit) or white when it gets warmer.
The smartphone maker admits that the purely decorative feature has a limited shelf-life.
“The cold-sensitive colorchanging function will gradually lose effect due to daily use,” Realme says.
Smart contact lenses
Dubai-based startup Xpanceo is aiming to fit smart features including an “extended reality” display, health monitoring and wireless power reception into a flexible contact lens.
Demonstrator models at their stand show off proofs of concept for each of the capabilities that cofounder Roman Axelrod says they want to pack into a single prototype device “by the end of 2026”.
For now the devices are relatively clunky, with a large metal coil needed to receive the wireless power to light up a single pixel on one demonstration lens.
Those components would be
miniaturised using “two-dimensional materials... only one atom thick,” Axelrod said.
“That is the scientific know-how that differentiates us”.
Solar-powered laptop
Chinese PC builder Lenovo has built solar panels into the lid of its Yoga Solar laptop to extend battery life.
Its 84 solar cells are able to feed power into the device even when not exposed to direct sunlight, Lenovo says.
The laptops will be fitted with a power monitoring system to manage when the solar panel comes into play.
“This innovation allows the solar panel to absorb and convert enough direct sunlight in 20 minutes to power up to one hour of video playback on the PC,” Lenovo said.
“Cat Eye” to spot cataracts
Spanish mobile operator Telefonica has joined forces with startup Edgendria Innovacion to build its “Cat Eye” tool.
Users can carry out an ophthalmological exam on themselves to determine whether they have a cataract serious enough to require surgical intervention.
A simple photo of each eye is churned through an AI-powered platform to detect the ailment.
This means doctors can “delegate certain tasks to their team so that they can intervene at the right time, making better use of their time,” Telefonica said.
Anthropic releases its ‘smartest’ AI model
San Francisco, United States — OpenAI rival Anthropic on Monday released what it said is its smartest artificial intelligence model to date, particularly when it comes to computer coding.
Along with Claude 3.7 Sonnet, the San Francisco-based company is making available in a limited research preview a digital “agent” called Claude Code tailored to be a tool for software developers.
Amazon-backed Anthropic described Claude Code as able to search and read code, edit files, run tests and more.
The release comes as AI companies are pushing out new products at a fast pace and with innovations quickly reproduced by rivals, often at a lower cost, raising concerns about finding a return on the massive investments.
Anthropic’s new model is “much stronger at coding, and particularly at taking over and doing really complicated coding tests,” Anthropic co-founder and chief science officer Jared Kaplan told AFP.
Aside from overall improved intelligence, the latest iteration of Claude has a “hybrid” reasoning model that lets users get quick answers to questions or have it spend time mulling complex queries and share steps in the process, according to Kaplan.
The improvement enables Claude to better follow instructions and handle more sophisticated analyses, he added.
Since OpenAI released ChatGPT in late 2022, the race has
been on to lead in a technology predicted to change the way people live and work.
The new AI model makes its debut as Anthropic works on finalizing a $3.5 billion funding round that values the startup at $61.5 billion in a huge leap from its prior valuation, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
Anthropic declined to comment on the report.
AI models have moved beyond generating images, videos or written works to providing “agents” specializing in fields or tasks.
OpenAI released a version of ChatGPT about six months ago that shared its “thinking” process, but Anthropic followed that by enabling its Claude model to command computers as people do.
OpenAI responded with the recent release of its first AI agent called Operator with similar capabilities.
Anthropic, which was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, and its arch-rival are striving to stand out in an increasingly crowded market.
“We try very hard to make model improvements grounded in customer problems,” said Anthropic chief product officer Mike Krieger.
“When it’s just newer, better, faster it’s not as impactful; we try to hear what people are saying and have the next model serve those needs.”
Amazon has invested a total of $8 billion in Anthropic, while Google-parent Alphabet has invested $2 billion in the startup.
Chief Marketing Officer at the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA) Lara Dewar (L), Women in Tech Global founder and CEO, Ayumi Moore Aoki (R) and Chief Commercial Innovation at NTT, Rika Nakazawa take part in the conference “Future of work and economic growth”, at the MWC (Mobile World Congress), the world’s biggest mobile fair, in Barcelona. As the world’s biggest wireless technology fair, the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is packed with manufacturers showing off their latest gadgets and inventions.
Manaure Quintero
THE BIG GAMES AND PLAYERS AROUND THE WORLD
Saudi PIF to pay ‘up to 12 months maternity leave’ for tennis players
Indian Wells, United States — Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is to finance a joint initiative with the WTA for paid maternity leave of “up to 12 months” for players on the women’s tennis circuit, it was announced on Thursday.
The PIF WTA Maternity Fund Program “will offer benefits to more than 320 eligible WTA players”, the Women’s Tennis Association said in a statement.
“WTA players will for the first time receive paid maternity leave up to 12 months, and have access to grants for fertility treatments to build families, as well as other benefits,” it read.
Players will have to compete “in a certain number of WTA tournaments in a window of time” to benefit from the payments.
Belinda Bencic, who won Olympic gold for Switzerland in Tokyo and has returned to the WTA
tour after having daughter Bella last April, welcomed the development.
“Absolutely it’s the best news really,” Bencic said after cruising past Germany’s Tatjana Maria in the first round at Indian Wells in California.
“I think we are very proud as players for the WTA (to be) the first sport in female sports to make this.
“It’s great for everyone who is considering to have a family and come back, especially also the lowerranked players that have to survive somehow when they are not playing for a year and a half and then trying to come back,”
Bencic, who earned her first title since returning from her leave in Abu Dhabi in February, noted that her Thursday opponent Maria was a mother of two.
“I’m really feeling like there are so many moms now on the tour, so we’re trying to show everyone it’s possible to have a baby and play
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION REGIONAL TRIAL COURT MANILA, BRANCH 55 rtc2mnl055@judiciary.gov.ph (02) 5-310-5326
IN THE MATTER OF CORRECTION OF ENTRIES IN THE CERTIFICATE OF DEATH OF JOVITA MALLARI BARREDO, particularly:
1. Entry number 7, correcting her civil status from “Widow” to “Married” JAIME BERJA BARREDO, Petitioner, -versus-
CIVIL CASE NO. R-MNL-25-00206-SP
THE LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF MANILA, PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY (PSA), CIVIL REGISTRAR GENERAL, THE OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR GENERAL, HENRY M. BARREDO, DOLY M. BARREDO, JAIMER M. BARREDO, JR., AND ALL OTHER PERSONS INTERESTED, Respondents.
This case is a verified Petition for Correction of the Certificate of Death of Jovita Mallari Barredo filed by the petitioner Jaime Berja Barredo seeking seeking correction of the civil status of the deceased Jovita Mallari Barredo in the latter’s Certificate of Death from “Widow” to “Married”.
Petitioner Jaime B. Barredo and deceased Jovita M. Barredo got married on March 4, 1975 in Manila evidenced by their marriage contract with Register No. 1612. Their union as spouses was blessed with three (3) offsprings namely: Henry M. Barredo, Dolly M. Barredo and Jaime M. Barredo, Jr. On August 16, 2024, Jovita M. Barredo died due to Acute Cardio-Pulmonary Failure. When the petitioner was processing the documents required by GSIS for the monthly pension of deceased Jovita and the requirements for the claiming of death/burial assistance, he discovered that the Certificate of Death of his wife Jovita reflected the latter’s civil status as widow where in truth, he and deceased Jovita are married.
WHEREFORE, being sufficient in form and substance, the Petition is set for hearing on 22 April 2025 at 8:30 o’clock in the morning, in the Session Hall of this Court sitting at Room 432, 4th Floor, City Hall, Manila.
Let this Order be published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks, in a newspaper of general circulation and published in Metro Manila, to be selected by raffle, at the expense of the petitioner.
Let copies of this Order and the Petition with its annexes be posted in a public and conspicuous place in the Office of the Clerk of Court of the Regional Trial CourtManila.
Similarly, let copies of this Order together with copies of the Petition and all its annexes/attachments, including the compliance, be served to the private respondents, the Office of the Local Civil Registrar of Manila, Philippine Statistics Authority, and the Office of the Solicitor General. The private and public respondents are given fifteen (15) days from notice of the petition, or from the last date of publication of such notice, within which to file their opposition thereto, if any. In the event that the Solicitor General cannot appear on the scheduled hearing, to designate the City Prosecutor of Manila to appear for and on behalf of the State.
SO ORDERED.
Manila, Philippines, 23 January 2025. (sgd.) Hon. Josefina E. Siscar Presiding Judge
TFP: February 27, March 6 & 13, 2025
professional tennis,” she said.
- Support and flexibilityTwo-time Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka, a WTA players’ council representative, welcomed “the beginning of a meaningful shift in how we support women in tennis, making it easier for athletes to pursue both their careers and their aspirations of starting a family.”
“Ensuring that programs like this exist has been a personal mission of mine,” the Belarusian former world number one, who gave birth to a son in 2016, was quoted in the statement as saying.
For WTA CEO Portia Archer “this initiative will provide the current and next generation of players the support and flexibility to explore family life, in whatever form they choose.”
Several top players have taken a break from their careers to give birth, with varying degrees of impact on their subsequent careers. The WTA says 25 active players are mothers.
Belgian Kim Clijsters won three majors -- the US Open in 2009 and 2010 and the Australian Open in 2011 -- after giving birth to her daughter in 2008, following in the footsteps of Australians Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong, who triumphed at Grand Slams as mothers.
However, 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams did not win
any after the birth of her first child in September 2017, even though the American reached four finals at Wimbledon and the US Open.
Four-time Grand Slam winner and former world number one Naomi Osaka of Japan returned to the courts in early 2024 after giving birth to a daughter.
Since then, the 27-year-old’s best result has been a final at the modest Auckland tournament in January.
Criticised by some tennis figures for its record on women’s rights, Saudi Arabia has boosted its tennis investments in recent years, organising the season-ending WTA Finals for the first time in Riyadh last November.
That came months after the WTA entered into a multi-year partnership with the PIF sovereign wealth fund, with the kingdom again set to host the WTA Finals in 2025 and 2026.
Passion driving LeBron to new records after scoring milestone
By Rob Woollard
Los Angeles, United States — LeBron James may never be able to settle the eternal debate over whether he deserves to be recognized as the greatest basketball player in history ahead of Michael Jordan.
But after reaching another milestone in his age-defying career, there is a strong case to be made that the 40-year-old NBA icon is at least winning his improbable duel with Father Time.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Lakers star became the first NBA player in history to score 50,000 career points, an astonishing scoring record that many believe will never be beaten.
Hours earlier, James had set another record, becoming the oldest man ever to win a player of the month award following a dazzling February in which he averaged 29.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game.
James finished Tuesday’s 136115 Lakers victory over the New Orleans Pelicans with 34 points, eight rebounds and six assists, demonstrating once again the kind of routine excellence and consistency that have been the hallmarks of a career now deep into its 22nd season.
- ‘A love for the sport’ -
Speaking to reporters huddled around his locker on Tuesday, James said his enduring passion for the sport had propelled him through the 50,000 points barrier.
“I mean, that’s a lot of points,” James reflected. “Obviously, the first thing that comes to mind is where
I’m from. Picking up the game when I was a little kid and having a love for the sport, and hoping that someday I’d be able to play at the highest level.
“I’ve been able to do that and really enjoy my career. So it’s definitely an honor. It’s pretty cool to see that.”
James admitted though that the relentless grind of the NBA’s gruelling 82-game regular season has become more challenging as the years have rolled by.
“Continuing to fall in love with the process -- that’s the hardest thing, every single year,” James said.
“You know it’s going to be a long season. It’s 82 games, 41 of them are on the road. It’s a lot of travel. And as you get older, it affects you differently.
“If you have a family, it affects you even differently. So the process, trying not to fall out of love with the process is the hardest thing.”
So far this season, there has been little sign that James’ passion is on the wane.
Last month, he became the only player in NBA history to record multiple 40-point games at the age of 40 or older after scoring 40 points in a 110-102 road win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
- Defying normalityIncredibly, that performance came after James scored 26 points in a home defeat to the Charlotte Hornets the previous night. James and the Lakers only arrived in Portland at 3am on the day of the game.
“He really just defies anything that’s normal,” Lakers coach JJ
Redick said after the win in Portland.
“And not just the physical feats and the plays. It’s the mentality. I believe I saw the other day, he’s a billionaire.
“And he’s playing on the second night of a back-to-back at 40 after 22 years with every fricking record and every accolade. He’s one of the greatest competitors.
“He’s amazing to coach. He brings it every single day. He sets the standard for how you’re supposed to approach this craft. And that’s to me, the most incredible thing.
“It’s just a mindset to do it, get up the next day, do it, get up the next day, do it, over and over and over again.”
The question now is whether James’s remarkable form can carry the Lakers to a record-equalling 18th NBA championship.
That possibility has looked less fanciful over the past month, with James forming a potent partnership alongside Luka Doncic following the Slovenian star’s stunning trade from the Dallas Mavericks on February 1. The Lakers are now second in the Western Conference following a seven-game winning streak.
Doncic, who was only four when James entered the NBA in 2003, has relished the chance to play alongside one of his idols, and spoke admiringly of his veteran teammate following Tuesday night’s milestone.
“It’s amazing, watching him do this stuff at this age,” said Doncic. “It’s just unbelievable, that 50,000 points. I can’t even explain how insane that is. He might get to 70K. You never know.”
INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA: Belinda Bencic of Switzerland plays a forehand in her match against Amanda Anisimova of the United States at Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California. HARRY HOW
Death of Boris Spassky: the Cold War on a chessboard in 1972
By Raphaëlle PICARD
P aris, France — Fifty years ago, the Cold War was transposed to a chessboard as Bobby Fischer of the United States took on defending world champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union, who has died aged 88, in a thrilling East-West clash dubbed the “match of the century”.
Some 50 million TV viewers tuned into the two-month-long tussle in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik, where chess’s enfant terrible Fischer set out to wrest the championship from the Soviet
Union, which had dominated the game for decades.
AFP reported daily from the competition. This account is based on its reporting. - Polar oppositesOn one side of the table is Fischer, an eccentric, fiercely competitive 29-year-old former boy wonder, who was holding his own among America’s greats by the age of 12 and has already won eight US chess championships.
Grown up in the New York suburb of Brooklyn, Fischer became the world’s youngest ever chess grand master at the age of 15
PUBLIC NOTICE
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH 213-MANDALUYONG CITY email: rtc1mdl213@judiciary.gov.ph Landline: 8661-4892
IN RE: PETITION FOR ISSUANCE OF NEW OWNER’S DUPLICATE COPY OF CCT NO. 9210 ISSUED BY THE REGISTER OF DEEDS OF MANDALUYONG CITY
IN LIEU OF THE LOST ONE
ACROPOLIS REALTY HOLDINGS, INC., represented by Julie B. Cabrido, Petitioner,
R-MND-25-00017-LR
This petition for the issuance of new owner’s duplicate copy of CCT No. 9208 was raffled to and received by this Court on 8 January 2025.
WHEREFORE, finding the petition sufficient in form and substance, the petitioner is directed to:
1. publish a copy of this Order for three (3) consecutive weeks, in “THE FOREIGN POST,” a periodical of general circulation chosen in a raffle conducted by the undersigned as Executive Judge of this Court on February 6, 2025;
2. post a copy of this Order and the Petition, except the annexes, for at least thirty (30) days prior to the date of hearing of this case at the following conspicuous places, to wit:
a.) main entrance of the new Mandaluyong City Hall Building; and
b.) at the main entrance of the Hall of Justice Building, Regional Trial Court, Mandaluyong City.
3. cause the service of this Order together with a copy of the Petition and its annexes to the following government offices:
a.) Register of Deeds of Mandaluyong City;
b.) the Director of the Bureau of Lands;
c.) the Commissioner of the Land Registration Authority (LRA);
d.) the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR);
e.) the City Prosecutor’s Office of Mandaluyong City; and
f.) the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).
Finally, notice is hereby given that this petition is set for hearing for the presentation of jurisdictional requisites on April 17, 2025 at 8:30 o’clock in the morning at which date and time, interested persons may appear and show cause why the petition should not be granted.
SO ORDERED
City of Mandaluyong, Philippines, February 10, 2025. (sgd.) AILEEN N. SAQUING-AGACITA Judge
Copy furnished: TFP: March 13, 20 & 27, 2025
Dennis C. Espejo
Counsel for petitioner
2/F RUBLOU Town Center - Brookside, Ortigas Ave. Ext., San Isidro, Cainta, Rizal
and dropped out of school to focus on the game.
AFP’s correspondent in Reykjavik says “he has few friends and doesn’t care to make any” and that his motto is: “It’s not enough to defeat an adversary, you have to crush them.”
He goes into the competition having won 101 out of his previous 120 games.
In the other seat is 35-year-old Boris Spassky, a trained journalist and married father of two children who has been world champion for three years.
Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in 1937 he was sent to an orphanage in Siberia during the Nazi German siege of the city during World War II.
A pure product of the Soviet chess machine, he began playing at five and became world champion at 19.
A likeable, modest character, he is the antithesis of the cantankerous Fischer.
- Temper tantrumsFischer is the first US-born player to have a stab at the title (since 1946, the two finalists have always been Soviet).
Iceland, as neutral country, hosts the match.
Fischer makes a series of demands before agreeing to participate. The venue, a sports hall, must be sound-proofed, fitted with a new carpet and the room temperature kept to 22.5 degrees Celsius.
But on the eve of the competition, he has still not shown up. Henry Kissinger, US national security advisor at the time under President Richard Nixon, calls Fischer and convinces him to take part.
AFP reports that the US champion “appears tired” when he lands in Reykjavik on July 4. He ducks out of the opening ceremony. An outraged Spassky demands an apology.
The competition finally gets underway on July 11, nine days late.
- ‘Scandal of the century’Spassky arrives 20 minutes early to the opening game to “vigorous applause” from the 2,500 spectators in the packed hall. Fischer dashes in at the last minute, “pushes past the photographers, rushes towards Spassky, shakes his hand” and sits down. The game is finally on.
At the 28th move, the game looks headed for a draw. But Fischer then makes two bad moves and resigns on the 56th move.
Stung by his loss, he demands that all cameras be removed from the hall. When the request is denied, he refuses to show up to the second game, forfeiting it.
“The spectators are disappointed and exasperated,” AFP reports.
As the third game looms Fischer is nowhere to be found. Kissinger again picks up the phone. “Please, continue the game,” Fischer later quotes him as pleading.
The hall is packed when the competition resumes on July 16, but the stage is empty. Spassky has accepted Fischer’s demand that they play in a small back room (with a camera broadcasting the events to the main hall outside).
Some commentators see Spassky’s concession as a bad omen for the Russian, who goes on
to lose the game. The fourth is a draw and Spassky resigns the fifth. The two are now neck-andneck.
- Games for the history booksThe 6th game is one of the toughest of the competition.
Spassky throws in the towel at the 41st move.
“I’m proud of this game, it was one of my best,” Fischer tells AFP, adding: “When Spassky joined the crowd in applauding my victory I thought ‘what a gentleman’.”
Spassky also resigns the
13th game, a chess masterclass, according to AFP’s correspondent, who reported that, after congratulating his opponent, Spassky “sits back down in contemplation for six minutes, his gaze lost in the chessboard”. The Russian asks that the 14th game be postponed and the next seven are all draws.
Game 21, which goes to Fischer, turns out to be the last. The next day Spassky resigns the game, making Fischer, who is still asleep, the 11th world chess champion, with a final score of 12.5-8.5.
PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY AND LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRY OFFICE OF MARIKINA CITY, Respondents.
This is a verified Petition for “Cancellation of the Deed of Legitimation Registered under Registry No. 2001-4512 and Correction of Entry in Certificate of Live Birth of Jessica Tolosa Noel a.k.a. “Jessica Noel Marcelino”, filed by petitioner through counsel Atty. Margaret R. Ching on October 10, 2024.
“The petition alleges that, petitioner Jessica Tolosa Noel also known as Jessica Noel Marcelino is of legal age, Filipino, with residence at 21 B Kagitingan St., Kalumpang, Marikina City; that the Petitioner was born on 02 September 1993 in Sta. Monica Medical Clinic, Tanong, Marikina City, said registration of birth was caused by her mother at a later period on 31 January 2001. On even date, an Affidavit of Acknowledgement/Admission of Paternity was executed by the parents of the Petitioner; that at the time of the registration of the birth of the Petitioner, her parents, Julie Tolosa Noel and Romules De Guzman Marcelino were not yet married, hence the registered name Jessica Tolosa Noel; that on 23 February 2001, Petitioner’s parents got married in Marikina City and by reason of said marriage, they executed a Deed of Legitimation acknowledged before the City Civil Registrar with Registry No. 2001-4512; that on 28 September 2023, considering that the surname MARCELINO had not yet been reflected in her Certificate of Live Birth. Petitioner executed an Affidavit to Use the Surname of Father pursuant to Republic Act (R.A.) 9255; that said Affidavit to Use the Surname of Father was registered at the Office of the City Civil Registrar of Marikina City under Registry No. 2023-4249 pursuant to R.A. 9255 and its revised IRR. (Memorandum Circular 2023-14). Consequently, Certification from Office of the City Civil Register of Marikina City, was likewise issued, with remarks, “THIS CHILD SHAL BE KNOWN AS JESSICA NOEL MARCELINO PURSUANT TO R.A. 9255 (MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR 2023-14)”; that on 23 January 2024, Petitioner filed an Application for Regular Annotation of Birth with Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) for the use of the father’s surname using the said Affidavit to Use the Surname of Father. However, PSA informed the Petitioner through its Feedback Form dated 09 May 204, that her application cannot be processed for the following reason: “The application to effect the use of the surname of the father pursuant to RA 9255 and its Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations as marginal annotation on the child’s Certificate of Live Birth cannot be effected by reason that there was a previously-registered Affidavit of Legitimation that was effected on the child’s birth record but the said application to effect legitimation by subsequent marriage of the parents cannot be validly effected by reason of the legal impediment of the father and mother to marry at the time of the conception of the child.” That Pursuant to Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 2004 issued by the Office of the Civil Registrar General, Petitioner intends to use the surname of her father MARCELINO since she has been using the name “Jessica Noel Marcelino” from birth up to present; that Petitioner humbly asserts that the Deed of Legitimation registered before the LCRO Marikina under Registry No. 2001-4512 should be cancelled, considering that it was based on a misapprehension of facts; that Petitioner respectfully prays that the Deed of Legitimation dated 29 May 2001 under Registry No. 2001-4512 be CANCELLED and DELETED from the LCRO Marikina City and PSA; that such cancellation of entries finds basis under Rule 108 of the Rules of Court, which provides: Cancellation or Correction of Entries in the Civil Registry
Section 2. Entries subject to cancellation or correction. — Upon good and valid grounds, the following entries in the civil register may be cancelled or corrected: (a) births: (b) marriage; (c) deaths; (d) legal separation; (e) judgments of annulments of marriage; (f) judgments declaring marriages void from the beginning; (g) legitimations; (h) adoptions; (i) acknowledgments of natural children; (j) naturalization; (k) election, loss or recovery of citizenship; (l) civil interdiction; (m) judicial determination of filiation; (n) voluntary emancipation of a minor; and (o) changes of name.
That in view of the above, Petitioner is legally entitled to use the surname of her father MARCELINO since filiation has been expressly recognized by the father through the Affidavit of Acknowledgment/Admission of Paternity on the second page of Petitioner’s Certificate of Live Birth; that, Petitioner had been using the surname MARCELINO since birth, and in order to correct and reconcile her registry and official records, it is respectfully prayed that her Certificate of Live Birth be corrected to reflect her name as JESSICA NOEL MARCELINO; that the correction of Petitioner’s Certificate of Live Birth is not resorted to avoid or evade any legal obligation since Petitioner has no derogatory or criminal records.
WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed that, after due publication and hearing, Respondents Philippine Statistics Authority and Local Civil Registry Office of Marikina City be DIRECTED to CANCEL the Deed of Legitimation under Registry No. 2001-4512. Furthermore, it is respectfully prayed that Respondents Philippine Statistics Authority and Local Civil Registry Office of Marikina City be DIRECTED to CORRECT the following entries on Petitioner’s Certificate of Live Birth identified as Registry No. 2001-3323:
a. Entry No. 1, the middle name entry should be corrected from “TOLOSA” to “NOEL”; b. Entry No. 1, the surname entry should be corrected from “NOEL to “MARCELINO”; to reflect the name of Petitioner as JESSICA NOEL MARCELINO.
Petitioner prays for other relief and remedy which is just and equitable under the premises.” Finding the petition to be sufficient in form and substance, the same is given due course and is set for initial hearing on March 25, 2025 at 8:30 in the morning at Regional Trial Court, Branch 193, Marikina City.
Let this order be published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines at least thirty (30) days before the initial hearing, at the expense of the petitioner.
Let a copy of this order together with a copy of the petition and its annexes be furnished the Office of the Solicitor General, the Local Civil Registrar of Marikina City, the Philippine Statistics Authority and the Office of the City Prosecutor of Marikina City for comment and information. SO ORDERED Marikina City, December 27, 2024 (sgd.)
(FILES) Russian-born chess master Boris Spassky (L) shakes hands with US master Bobby Fischer (R) at the beginning of their first match in the Hotel Maestral in Sveti Stefan, on September 2, 1992. The Russian Chess Federation announced that the Russian grandmaster Boris Spassky had died. AFP
Super-sub Elliott hands Liverpool win over PSG in Champions League
By Andy SCOTT
Paris, France — Harvey Elliott scored with his first touch after coming on as a late substitute to give Liverpool an unlikely 1-0 win away to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their heavyweight Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday.
Elliott had just replaced Mohamed Salah when he fired in from a Darwin Nunez assist in the 87th minute at the Parc des Princes to hand the Premier League leaders the advantage ahead of next week’s return.
It was the ultimate smash and grab act from Arne Slot’s side,
who up to that point had survived a pummelling from in-form PSG.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had a first-half strike disallowed for a marginal offside and an outstanding Alisson Becker made several crucial saves as the French league leaders had 28 attempts on goal to their visitors’ two.
“To go away with a win over here was probably a bit more than we deserved,” Slot told broadcaster TNT Sports. “It was probably the performance of my life,” added Alisson.
In contrast, Salah had been almost completely anonymous as Liverpool looked set to fail to
PUBLIC NOTICE
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION Branch 14, Manila
2/F Bulwagan ng Katarungan (Old NAWASA Bldg.), A. Villegas Street, Ermita, 1000 Manila
Email: rtc1mnl014@judiciary.gov.ph l br14rtcmanila@gmail.com
Facebook/Messenger: Branch 14 Regional Trial Court of Manila Tel No. (02) 8-5313-0062
IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION FOR JUDICIAL RECOGNITION OF THE FOREIGN DECREE OF DIVORCE BETWEEN MARICAR TAMMA AND ELVIN REU VENTENILLA, DECLARATION OF CAPACITY TO REMMARY OF MARICAR TAMMA, AND PETITION FOR CORRECTION OF ENTRIES OF MARICAR TAMMA
MARICAR TAMMA, Petitioners, -versus- SPEC. PROC. No. R-MNL-25-00849-SP FOR: Judicial Recognition of Foreign Divorce, Declaration of Capacity of Remarry and Petition for Correction of Entries REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, PHILIPPINE STATISTICS OFFICE, THE CIVIL REGISTRAR OF THE CITY OF MANILA AND ELVIN REU VENTENILLA, Respondents. x--------------------------------------------------x
ORDER
Before this Court is a Petition filed by MARICAR TAMMA praying that (1) The Judgment of the Superior Court of California, Country of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California dated 10 March 2005 dissolving the marriage between Petitioner and Elvin Reu Ventenilla celebrated in the Philippines, be Judicially Recognized as valid; (2) To declare that the Petitioner, consequently, shall have the Capacity to Remarry under Philippine Law; and (3) To issue and order directing the Local Civil Registrar of the City of Manila to make the necessary corrections regarding the Marital Status of the Petitioner (specifically, as now married to Dan Rosario Tamma).
WHEREFORE, finding the Petition to be sufficient in form, let the same be set for hearing on 05 May 2025 at 10:00 in the morning before this Court sitting on the 2nd Floor of Old Nawasa Building, A. Villegas Street (formerly Arroceros Street), Ermita, Manila, at which date and time any person having or claiming any interest, under the entry sought to be changed, may file his Opposition thereto and appear and show cause, if any, why the Petition should not be granted.
Let a copy of this Order be published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks at the expense of the Petitioner in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Manila determined by a raffle pursuant to P.D. 1079.
Furnish the Office of the Solicitor General, Philippine Statistics Authority, and Office of the City Civil Registrar of the City of Manila of this Order and the Petition together with its Annexes.
Parties are reminded to observe the guidelines provided by Supreme Court Administrative Order No. 251-2020, “Guidelines on the implementation in the Philippines of the Hague Service Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters” in case extrajudicial service of judicial documents is necessary.
SO ORDERED
City of Manila, Philippines, 04 February 2025.
(sgd.) B. ALBERT J. TENORIO, JR. Presiding Judge
score in a game for just the fourth time all season, but now they will be confident of pressing home their advantage at Anfield.
If Liverpool emerge victorious next week, a quarter-final against Aston Villa or Club Brugge awaits, although PSG showed enough to suggest they will again be dangerous in England.
“I am still optimistic because we would have been more than worthy winners with our performance,” PSG midfielder Vitinha told Canal Plus.
“I know that in football goals are all that matter, but the truth is that playing like that takes us closer.
“I am sure it will happen in Liverpool, that we will play with the same character and we will win.”
Luis Enrique’s team came into this game on a run of 10 straight victories and had scored 21 goals in their last five Champions League outings.
This performance, however, was more like those at the start of their Champions League campaign, when they struggled to turn chances into goals and lost to Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich.
January signing Kvaratskhelia was selected instead of teenage prospect Desire Doue, the Georgian completing a fluid front three alongside Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele.
Liverpool were without Cody Gakpo, so Diogo Jota came in for his first Champions League appearance since October 2.
The hotly anticipated clash had the potential to be Liverpool’s toughest test this season, and that is how the game panned out for long spells.
PSG are no longer a team dominated by a couple of superstar forwards, but rather a voracious collective of dynamic, hard-working young players under the guidance of their intense Spanish coach.
- Alisson starsThey pinned Liverpool back from the off and enjoyed 65 percent possession over the course of the game.
Kvaratskhelia thought he had scored on 20 minutes when he collected a Vitinha pass inside the area and curled a shot beyond Alisson.
The home players and fans celebrated, but the goal was eventually disallowed for a tight offside decision.
Liverpool were off the hook, as was the case when Joao Neves fired over from a Dembele centre a little earlier, and when Alisson saved from Dembele on the half-hour before the ball came to Barcola whose shot was too high.
The home side might have feared Salah, but the Egyptian could not get into the game as PSG attacked in droves.
There was a VAR check for a possible red card when Barcola was knocked over by Ibrahima Konate on the edge of the area, but the Italian officials let the Liverpool defender off.
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH 184-MANILA
Email Add: rtc1mnl184@judiciary.gov.ph
Contact Nos. (02) 82551990 / 09310808581
MILAIN M. TUAZON-HIRAI
Petitioner, CIVIL CASE NO. R-MNL-25-01414-SP FOR: Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgment and for the Cancellation of Entry of Marriage in the Civil Registry
JIEIMIATSUHIRO HIRAI, THE LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF MANILA CITY AND THE PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY, Respondents. x--------------------------------------------------x
ORDER
Before this Court is a Petition for the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgment and for the Cancellation of Entry of Marriage in the Civil Registry filed by petitioner, through counsel, on 20 February 2025.
Finding the petition to be sufficient in form and substance, let the instant case be set for hearing on 2 April 2025 at 8:30 o’clock in the morning, of which date and time the interested parties may appear and show cause, if any, why this petition shall not be granted.
Likewise, petitioner is hereby directed to cause the publication of this Order once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation selected by raffle, provided that the last publication be not later thank 2 April 2025.
The Local Civil Registrar of Manila or any person having or claiming interest under the entry whose change or correction is sought may, within fifteen (15) days from notice of the Petition, or from the last date of publication of such notice, file their objection thereto before this Court.
Let a copy of this Order be furnished to the Office of the Solicitor General, the Civil Registrar General-Philippine Statistics Authority, the Civil Registrar of Manila, the Office of the Clerk of Court - Regional Trial Court Manila, the petitioner and her counsel.
Further, the petitioner is hereby directed to furnish a copy of her Petition to the respondents.
SO ORDERED
TFP: March 13, 20 & 27, 2025
Cc: THE SOLICITOR GENERAL (with copy of Petition and Annexes)
Office of the Solicitor General
134 Amorsolo Street,
Vicente G. Cruz St., Sampaloc, Manila, Brgy. 424, Philippines
ELVIN REU VENTENILLA
169 Vicente G. Cruz St., Sampaloc, Manila, Brgy. 424, Philippines ATTY. RAYMOND B. PASCO
Paris continued to launch a barrage of attacks after the break, their counter-pressing game suffocating Liverpool.
Kvaratskhelia tested Alisson from a free-kick and Achraf Hakimi shot narrowly over, before Doue was denied by a brilliant save from the goalkeeper.
Doue, on as a substitute, cut in from the left 10 minutes from time and sent a shot curling towards the far top corner, but Alisson flew to his left and stretched to tip the ball behind.
It was not going to be PSG’s night, and when Alisson sent a long kick downfield three minutes from time, Nunez won the ball in the air before teeing up Elliott to shoot beyond Gianluigi Donnarumma into the far corner.
Copy furnished:
Given this 21st of February 2025, in the City of Manila, Philippines. (sgd.) CZARINA E. SAMONTE-VILLANUEVA Presiding Judge
TFP: March 6, 13 & 20, 2025
MILAIN M. TUAZON-HIRAI 9936 Waling-Waling corner Champaca Street, San Isidro, Barangay Dau, Mabalacat City, Pampanga
ATTY. PONCIANO V. DELA CRUZ JR. MacArthur Highway, Casmor Phase II, Subdivision, Barangay Mabiga, Mabalacat City, Pampanga
JIEIMIATSUHIRO HIRAI 5-11-1, Shibata cho, Minami Ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture Japan
ACP JODALINE L. TAGUINOD Office of the City Prosecutor - Manila Room 308, 3rd floor, Manila City Hall
THE LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF MANILA Manila City Hall
PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY PSA Complex, East Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City
OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR GENERAL 134 Amorsolo St., Legaspi Village, Makati
Paris Saint-Germain’s French forward #29 Bradley Barcola runs with the ball during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg football match between Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) and Liverpool (ENG) at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris.
FRANCK FIFE
S.Africa bids for first African F1 grand prix in 30 years
By Clément VARANGES
Midrand, South Africa - Three decades after Formula One engines last roared on African tarmac, South Africa is mounting a bid to organise a new Grand Prix and bring the world championship back to the continent.
Competition to host the highoctane spectacle is between two tracks: a street circuit in Cape Town and the less picturesque but historic Kyalami race track outside of Johannesburg.
A committee set up by sports
minister Gayton McKenzie will choose the winning bid in the third quarter of the year, committee member Mlimandlela Ndamase told AFP.
McKenzie is confident about South Africa’s chances.
“The Grand Prix is definitely coming in 2027, no doubt about that,” he said early February.
“Whether it is Cape Town or Joburg, we do not care as long as the Grand Prix is coming to South Africa.”
The challenging Kyalami circuit -- which zigzags about 30 kilometres
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH 95, QUEZON CITY rtc1qzn095@judiciary.gov.ph Tel No: 83612982
IN RE: PETITION FOR CORRECTION OF ENTRY IN THE CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH OF HIKARI GERVACIO, VERGILIO L. MAURICIO, JANICE S. GERVACIO and HIKARI GERVACIO (minor), Petitioners, -versus- SP PROC NO. R-QZN-25-00209-SP
LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF QUEZON CITY, THE PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY, AND ALL PERSONS WHO HAVE OR CLAIM ANY INTEREST WHICH WOULD BE AFFECTED THEREBY, Respondents.
Before this Court is a Petition filed by petitioners, through counsel for the Correction of Entries in the Certificate of Live Birth of Hikari Gervacio.
Petitioners pray for the following reliefs:
a. Name of Hikari’s father from “N/A” to “VERGILIO LOZADA MAURICIO”;
b. Citizenship of Hikari’s father from “N/A” to “FILIPINO”;
c. Status of marriage of Hikari’s parents from “NOT MARRIED” to “MARRIED”;
d. Place of Marriage of Hikari’s parents from “NOT MARRIED” to “QUEZON CITY”
Finding the Petition to be sufficient in form and substance, let this case be set for hearing on April 2, 2025 at 8:30 o’clock in the morning, before this Court located at Room 407, 4th Floor, Hall of Justice Building Annex, Quezon City Hall Compound, Quezon City, at which date, time and place all interested parties are required to appear and show cause why the said petition should not be granted.
Further, Let this Order be published in a newspaper of general circulation in Quezon City, once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks before the scheduled hearing while a separate copy of this order be posted at the Bulletin Board in the main entrance of the Hall of Justice, Quezon City Hall Compound, Quezon City at the Civil Registry Office and this Branch of Court at least twenty (20) days prior to date of hearing, and served together with the petition and its annexes upon the petitioner, the Office of the Solicitor General, City Prosecutor of Quezon City, Philippine Statistics Authority, the City Civil Registrar of Quezon City all at the expense of the petitioner.
SO ORDERED
Quezon City, Philippines, January 27, 2025 (sgd.) EDGARDO B. BELLOSILLO Presiding Judge
TFP: February 27, March 6 & 13, 2025
Cc: DE GUZMAN SAN DIEGO MEJIA & HERNANDEZ LAW OFFICES (GSMH Law) Counsel for the petitioners 16th Floor, Trident Tower, 312 Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Salcedo Village, Makati City 1200
(20 miles) outside Johannesburg and where the track is painted with a huge, colourful South African flag -- once hosted nail-biting races and legendary drivers.
But the last grand prix on African soil was held in 1993, the year before South Africa’s first democratic elections that ended apartheid. It was won by Alain Prost in a Williams.
- Post-apartheid return? -
South Africa’s bid to host F1 can count on the support of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who has long advocated for an African Grand Prix.
“We can’t be adding races in other locations and continuing to ignore Africa,” Hamilton said last August.
Under the leadership of US conglomerate Liberty Media, which bought the Formula One Group in 2017, the sport wants to “go to every continent”, said expert Samuel Tickell, of the University of Munster in Germany.
Returning to South Africa would be “something very important for Formula 1, which has not raced there since the end of the apartheid era,” he told AFP.
The sport had lived some “historic moments” in the country, Tickell said, including a threatened strike led by Niki Lauda in 1982 against a racing “super-licence” restricting drivers’ contractual freedom.
South Africa also boasts the continent’s only world champion, Ferrari’s Jody Scheckter in 1979.
Creating a race on the continent would not require excluding other venues as the F1 calendar is always expanding. The upcoming season counts seven more Grand Prix than in 2009, for example.
Sky-high organisational costs and hosting fees would not be an obstacle either, said Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economics at Skema Business School in Paris.
“Even if races are not commercially viable, to some of the countries and their backers, that won’t matter because it’s a strategic payoff,” he said.
China, for instance, has “long been building sports infrastructure for African countries in return for access to their natural resources,” he said.
Johannesburg’s Kyalami race track is certified as Grade 2, just a level below that needed for a F1 race and it will require some work to host an event.
- Rwanda ‘pole position’ -
An alternative circuit vying to hold the prestigious race would snake through the streets of Cape Town, recently ranked “best city in the world” by Time Out magazine.
Winding its way around the stadium built for the 2010 men’s football World Cup in the shadow of the emblematic Lion’s Head mountain overlooking the ocean, the route has already hosted a Formula E race in 2023.
A F1 street circuit in the city would “outclass Monaco,” said Cape Town Grand Prix CEO Igshaan Amlay.
Yet the real battle may be less between the two rival cities than against Rwanda, whose President Paul Kagame was at the Singapore Grand Prix in September to meet the sport’s governing body the FIA and F1 owners Liberty Media, Chadwick said.
“Rwanda is in pole position,”
Chadwick said.
Morocco has also long had ambitions of hosting a F1 race.
Still, nothing prevents two GPs being held on the continent, with the South African sports minister asking: “Why is it that when it comes to Africa, we are treated like we can
only get one?”
Rwanda’s F1 bid could though be hampered by its involvement in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Already calls are mounting to withdraw the cycling Road World Championships, planned in Kigali in September.
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION REGIONAL TRIAL COURT BRANCH 235, MAKATI CITY rtc1mkt235@judiciary.gov.ph (02) 8637-2284 / 0927-2969843
IN RE IN THE MATTER FOR THE ALLOWANCE OF THE NOTARIAL LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF THE LATE MARIE VERDUYN NORRIS (A.K.A. MIEKE VERDUYN NORRIS) AND FOR LETTERS TESTAMENTARY AND ADMINISTRATION,
VIJAY MULCHAND MIRPURI, Petitioner,
Case No. R-MKT-24-02573-SP:
For: Probate of notarial will and issuance of letters testamentary
INITIAL ORDER
Before this Court is a verified Amended Petition for the probate of the notarial last will and testament, dated 06 September 2019, of Marie Verduyn Norris, A.K.A. Mieke Verduyn Norris (“Norris”; “testatrix”). The petition likewise prays for the issuance of letters testamentary to Vijay Mulchand Mirpuri (“Mirpuri”), without payment of a bond.
Petitioner Mirpuri alleges, among others, that testatrix Norris, a Dutch citizen (Netherlands), died on 11 March 2022 at the Makati Medical Center; at the time of her death, she was residing in 325 Lirio Street, Palm Village, Barangay Guadalupe Viejo, Makati City; she was a participant of the retirement program of the Philippine Retirement Authority and a holder of a Special Resident Retiree’s Visa (SRRV) issued on 13 May 1998; she was a resident of the Philippines for twenty-four (24) years; and there are no known creditors at the time of her death.
Moreover, petitioner claims he was given the original copy of the subject notarial will by the testatrix on 06 September 2019; that he has been in possession thereof to date; and that he was appointed to be the sole executor of her estate. Further, as provided for in the will, and considering the testatrix died without compulsory heirs, Chairman of Radha Soami Satsang Beas Philippines, Inc., a corporation duly organized under the laws of the Philippines, of which the testatrix was a member of since 1974, will be the sole beneficiary of her estate.
The testatrix left the following properties:
I. Personal Properties A. Shares of stock
Type Number of shares Value of Shares (in Php) Maya Maya Cottages, Inc. 2,000 254,762.08
already inexistent B. Bank Accounts US Dollar account Amount in Php Amount in USD representing testatrix’s deposit for her Special Resident Retiree’s Visa Banco De Oro (time 1,162,000.00 20,000.00 deposit account)
C. Improvements on a lot
Location Area Value in Php Lot 1, Block No. N,
Nasugbu, Batangas
WHEREFORE, notice is hereby given that the instant petition will be heard by this Court at the 5th floor, Hall of Justice - Makati City, 911 J.P. Rizal St. corner Makati Avenue, Makati City on: 08 MAY 2025 at 8:30 in the morning at which date and time all interested parties are hereby cited to appear and show cause, if any, why said petition should not be granted.
Le a copy of this Order be published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation prior to the date of hearing. Petitioner is directed to coordinate with the RTC-OCC of Makati City for publication.
Let a copy of this order be published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation to be determined by raffle in accordance with law. Moreover, petitioner is directed to coordinate with the sheriff of this Court, who shall personally serve a copy of this order upon the beneficiary named in the will, Chairman of Radha Soami Satsang Beas Philippines, Inc., within five (5) days from receipt of this Order. The publication and service shall all be at petitioner’s expense. SO ORDERED.
06 February 2025, Makati City.
TFP: February 27, March 6 & 13, 2025
&
(sgd.) RICARDO A. MOLDEZ II Presiding Judge
Ferrari’s British driver Lewis Hamilton attends a press conference on the third day of the Formula One pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir. FADEL SENNA
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WHO’S DOING WHAT, WHERE, WITH WHOM
Honey, candles and California: Meghan Markle’s new show goes live
By Huw GRIFFITH
Los Angeles, United States —
Meghan Markle’s new lifestyle show went live on Netflix Tuesday, showcasing the former British royal as a thriving domestic maven.
The Duchess of Sussex, wife to Britain’s Prince Harry, harvests
honey, makes pasta and mixes bath salts against an idyllic California backdrop.
A rustic and effortlessly chic home provides the setting for the first episode, whose conceit is that she is hosting a long-time friend.
Of course, we’re not actually at Markle’s house, but rather another
luxury property near her home, where camera operators roam, offering purposely wobbly close-ups of candles, crudite and cake.
It also seems to have two kitchens. You know, like everyone’s house does.
Harry -- whom Markle wed in a fairytale ceremony in 2018, and with
whom she fled to California two years later -- only makes a fleeting appearance at the end of the eight episodes.
But there are little hints about life as a British royal; reminders of how -- in their telling -- the couple were spurned by a stuffy and racist establishment.
A friend who comes to stay, makeup artist Daniel Martin, “has just been in my life from the before, during and after, shall we say,” Markle tells an off-screen producer, with a meaningful pause to let viewers piece everything together.
Episodes of “With Love, Meghan” feature appearances from chef Alice Waters, actress Mindy Kaling and Abigail Spencer, one of Markle’s “Suits” co-stars.
The show coincides with a rebranding of Markle’s jam-andcookies online retailer, which was originally called “American Riviera Orchard” but is now known as “As Ever.”
The series is the latest effort by the Sussexes to make their own financial way after being cut off from the royal purse.
A reported $100 million deal with Netflix yielded the muchtalked-about “Harry & Meghan,”
a six-episode tell-all about their relationship and their high-profile split from the House of Windsor.
That was followed by Harry’s successful autobiography “Spare,” which re-trod much of the same angry ground, with bonus tales about taking drugs in proximity to Hollywood celebs.
But subsequent media ventures that have not rehashed the same grievances have fallen flat.
A Spotify interview podcast by Markle was not renewed after a first series critics blasted as pointless, while Netflix offerings about the sport of polo and the Invictus Games failed to make much impression.
Early reviews of “With Love, Meghan” in the British press were not kind, with The Telegraph calling the series an “exercise in narcissism.” “Meghan invites people to her pretend house” wrote the paper’s critic, and “they tell her how amazing she is. This happens for eight episodes,” it said.
Meanwhile Britain’s The Times newspaper said the show was desperate in its “upbeatness” with Markle “presenting her extreme wealth and mind-bogglingly exclusive lifestyle as if it is available to anyone.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Anjali Bhimani, Mindy Kaling, Poorna Jagannathan and Sarayu Blue attend the premiere of Hulu’s “Deli Boys” at Bike Shed Moto Co in Los Angeles, California. ARAYA DOHENY