Friedrich Merz: conservative set to be Germany’s next chancellor
By Isabelle Le Page and Sam Reeves in Frankfurt
Berlin, Germany — Germany’s election winner Friedrich Merz has vowed to rule Europe’s largest economy by returning to his Christian Democrat party’s conservative roots, ease restraints on business and crack down on irregular immigration.
A long-time rival of centrist exchancellor Angela Merkel within the CDU party, Merz has attacked her open-door migrant policy and drawn her ire for accepting support from the far-right AfD on the flashpoint issue in parliament.
At age 69, trained lawyer Merz boasts a strong business background -- including at investment fund BlackRock and on many corporate boards, which made him a millionaire -- but has never held a government leadership post.
Nonetheless, the combative orator seeks to project a statesmanlike persona and has voiced confidence he can deal with mercurial US President Donald Trump, whom he has labelled “predictably unpredictable”.
As the three-way coalition of centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz floundered, Merz as head of the opposition CDU/CSU block rained withering fire on the outgoing
“green-left” government.
Polls had long declared Merz -despite lukewarm personal approval ratings -- the strong favourite to oust Scholz and bring an end to what Merz labels “three lost years” for Germany.
In a recent blistering parliament speech, Merz likened Scholz and his allies to business managers who have bankrupted a company but still ask to extend their contracts by four years.
“Do you know what the owners would say once they stopped laughing?” Merz asked mockingly. “They would politely ask you to leave the company. That’s how it is in normal life.”
Merz’s campaign promise was to revive the ailing economy and rebuild Berlin’s international standing for “a Germany we can be proud of again”.
On Sunday a jubilant Merz -eager to get going with his decadesold dream to run the country -- urged speedy talks to forge a new coalition government, warning that “the world out there is not waiting for us”.
- ‘Zero tolerance’ -
Among his toughest pledges is to shut German borders to undocumented migrants, even if they seek asylum and to detain those awaiting deportation.
Unfair? Figures belie Trump’s claims on EU trade balance
By Daniel Aronssohn
Brussels,
Belgium — President
Donald Trump repeatedly claims that US-EU trade ties are unfair and that Europe is abusing the United States as justification for threatening tariffs.
But the figures paint a picture of a more balanced relationship than Trump describes, one that benefits both sides of the Atlantic.
- US services surplus
When Trump criticises the European Union’s trade surplus with the United States, he is only referring to trade in goods.
The EU is a major exporter of cars and industrial equipment to the United States and according to the European Commission, there was a goods trade surplus of 157 billion euros ($164 billion) for the 27-country bloc in 2023.
But this figure does not take into account services, which make up the largest part of economic activity.
American firms are very dominant in services, particularly in finance and digital.
Tech titans like Google or Meta don’t have any competitors in Europe. In fact, for services, the EU has a trade deficit of 109 billion euros with the United States.
This means the EU’s actual
trade surplus is 48 billion euros, a negligible figure compared with EU-US trade worth 1.6 trillion euros.
- Tariffs barely higher in the EU
One of Trump’s bugbears with Europe is about car imports.
He slams the 10 percent customs duties in the EU on cars imported from the United States, comparing it to the 2.5 percent Washington imposes on Europe’s cars.
But the reality is more complex than Trump’s comments suggest.
The EU and the United States apply customs duties on different products. The EU estimates the “average tariff rate on both sides is approximately one percent”.
“We are at low levels even if the EU taxes a little more than the United States on average,” said Elvire Fabry, trade geopolitics expert at the Jacques Delors Institute.
The commission points out it is the United States that imposes a 25 percent tariff on pickup trucks from Europe -- the most popular vehicle in the US market.
Some rates are restrictive, especially in the agricultural sector.
As examples, Fabry gave US taxes of 350 percent on tobacco imports, 164 percent on vegetable
Merz has in the past labelled the sons of Muslim immigrants “little pashas” and accused some Ukrainian war refugees of “social welfare tourism”, before later apologising.
Last month, Merz sparked
high drama in parliament -- and waves of street protests -- when he pushed through a motion signalling his immigration crackdown with support from the extreme-right Alternative for Germany (AfD),
breaking a long-standing taboo of never dealing with the controversial party.
In other signals of a rightward shift, Merz has vowed a “zero
Can Europe match words with actions post Munich?
By Emmanuel Parisse, Didier Lauras and Stuart Williams
Paris, France — Lofty rhetoric and frank acknowledgements of a new world order have not been in short supply from European leaders since the new American administration of Donald Trump took office, but it will take an immense leap to translate such sentiments into reality, analysts and observers say.
Trump spoke over the heads of not only Europe but also Ukraine by declaring he was ready to negotiate with Russia to end the three-year war, while his Vice President JD Vance left seasoned policymakers dazed with a withering attack on the European Union at the Munich Security Forum.
“It’s really a ‘make or break’ moment,” said a European source, asking to be named, adding: “while the war continues, (...) things bigger than Ukraine are at stake in Ukraine, starting with our security.”
The shock switch in policy from the United States prompted European leaders to vow to ramp up
defence capacities through higher spending and even to consider sending troops to Ukraine to enforce an eventual ceasefire.
Emergency talks of key European leaders called Monday by French President Emmanuel Macron were aimed at showing a united front, but immediately exposed tensions with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz saying he was “a little irritated” by suggestions, from the likes of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, that troops should be deployed.
In the most concrete sign that the United States has brought Russia back from the cold, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with American counterpart Marco Rubio in Saudi Arabia later Tuesday.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters in Paris: “Everyone at this meeting is aware that transatlantic relations, the NATO alliance and our friendship with the United States have entered a new phase.”
NATO chief Mark Rutte said the Europeans were “ready and willing” to step up, while EU commission
chief Ursula von der Leyen called for a “surge” in defence.
- ‘Clock ticking’The chairman of the Munich Security Forum Christoph Heusgen, after the annual conference was shocked by Vance’s speech, went as far as to say: “We have to fear that our common-value base is not that common anymore”.
As if to emphasise his point, some accounts on social media edited his speech to show him weeping when he said this, although in fact his emotion came after he thanked his team over his last year in charge.
“This unfortunately shows again how the mechanisms of disinformation work,” Heusgen later said on social media.
Phillips O’Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews, said that while the west is “perilously close to the worst-case scenario on Trump and Ukraine”, Europe should have seen the trouble coming.
“The European reaction
Leader and top candidate for chancellor of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Friedrich Merz gestures as he addresses a press conference following a CDU party leadership meeting at the party’s headquarters, the Konrad-Adenauer-Haus, in Berlin, one day after the German general elections.
INA FASSBENDER
What we know about the US-Ukraine minerals deal
Kyiv, Ukraine — Kyiv and Washington have agreed a deal to give the United States access to Ukrainian mineral resources, following a spat between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
Here’s what we know about the agreement that could be signed by Trump and Zelensky in Washington this week, which the Ukrainian president on Wednesday called just a “framework agreement” to be tightened up in future discussions.
Ukrainian and international media have published what
they report is the full text of the agreement, which lacks any security guarantee for Ukraine.
- A joint fundTrump had demanded compensation for US aid paid out under the administration of former US president Joe Biden in the three years since Russia invaded in February 2022.
The US leader had sought $500 billion in compensation -- around four times the amount that Washington has paid out to Ukraine, which currently stands at $120 billion, according to the Kiel Institute, a German economic
research body.
Zelensky rejected this draft saying he would not sign off on an accord that “ten generations” of Ukrainians would be liable to pay off.
“The main thing for me was that we are not a debtor,” Zelensky told journalists Wednesday.
The deal’s wording, as published by The Financial Times, The Kyiv Independent and other media, does however indicate that the United States and Ukraine should develop mineral resources together with revenues diverted to a joint USUkrainian fund.
The fund will earn from future monetisation of all relevant Ukraine government-owned natural resource assets, the terms say.
The terms leave unclear exactly what share of the fund the US would own.
“It’s too early to talk about money,” Zelensky said Wednesday, with details to be thrashed out later.
- Vague on securityUkraine had been adamant that any deal must include long-term and robust security guarantees that would help deter Russia from ever attacking again.
Zelensky first floated the idea of exchanging access to Ukrainian natural resources for security commitments in October last year as part of his five-point Victory Plan.
Unfair? Figures belie Trump’s...
oils and 132 percent on fruits as well as 32 percent on clothing.
“Trump takes the numbers that suit him,” Fabry said.
- A win-win partnership
“Trade in goods only paints a part of the picture of the economic relationship between Europe and the US,” said Thibaut L’Ortye of the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU.
“Looking at other metrics, including trade in services, mutual investment and affiliate sales, offers a more complete understanding of the breadth and depth of the relationship,” he told AFP.
“Ultimately, both economies greatly benefit from the partnership,” he added.
The United States is Europe’s largest investor, and vice versa, with 5.3 trillion euros worth of investment in each others’ markets based on 2022 data, the commission said.
The American Chamber of Commerce to the EU does, however, say there are sectors, including digital, “where the success of American companies has made them more exposed and affected by the EU’s initiatives”.
From the US perspective, EU landmark digital rules including a mammoth data protection law as well as content moderation and competition laws constitute nontariff barriers.
- A high-risk arm wrestling
From page 1
match Brussels sees “no justification” for Trump’s extra tariffs, but is ready to respond “firmly and swiftly” if the United States goes ahead with extra duties, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said during his Washington visit this week.
Rising trade tensions have EU and US businesses worried.
“Tariffs are not the right economic tool. We are concerned about the broad scope of the measures under review, the uncertainty they create,” said L’Ortye.
“We must avoid a negative spiral of tit-for-tat tariffs that would only hurt both economies. The EU and the US should urgently seek a negotiated solution,” he urged.
Can Europe match words with...
seemed stunned -- which is just as worrying,” he said.
For Alberto Alemanno, professor of EU law at the HEC Paris business school, the Paris meeting showed “major differences” among European countries over committing peacekeeping troops to Ukraine and funding a massive defence investment push.
“At least the debate is now in full swing across capitals and beyond but the clock is ticking,” he said.
The potential challenge of finding unity within the EU were underlined by the stance at the Elysee Palace meeting of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who arrived conspicuously late and echoed concerns about troop deployments.
Sending troops was “the most
complex and the least effective” way of securing peace in Ukraine, she said according to reports confirmed by an Italian government source to AFP.
Meloni, who revels in her cordial ties with Trump and his advisor the X and Tesla owner Elon Musk, also said the meeting should not be an “anti-Trump” initiative, the source added.
- ‘Question of political will’Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics, whose country shares a border with Russia, said that since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there had been much talk in Europe about increasing defence spending, but “our capabilities are not enough”.
“I’m afraid that, after a couple of days, after strong statements, we will somehow relax, will relax
From page 1
again, and we will go back to business as usual,” he said after the Munich meeting.
While the informal Paris talks were not aimed at forging an accord, many leaders agreed that one key step for the European Union was to relax its strict fiscal rules to allow higher defence spending by member states.
For former Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, who was present in Munich, the United States is “no longer happy to be the main guarantor of security in Europe” and “does not see the EU as it once did”.
“Europe is technically fully able to adapt and rise to this challenge, but the question remains one of political will, or the lack of it. Indecision will lead in only one direction, and it won’t be pretty.”
Ukraine ultimately wants NATO membership. But that option -- a red line for the Kremlin -- has been shelved by Washington.
Ukraine has also advocated for foreign peacekeeping troops to be deployed in the event of a ceasefire. But the United States has rejected this option while European countries are divided on the issue.
According to the text published by media, the only clause on security puts the US under no obligation. The deal also does not mention weapons.
It simply says that the US “supports Ukraine’s efforts to obtain the security assurances necessary to build a lasting peace”.
Zelensky told journalists he had wanted “at least a phrase about security guarantees”, adding: “This sentence appeared.”
The text does say the US wants a “sovereign and secure Ukraine” and will maintain a longterm commitment to a “stable and economically prosperous Ukraine”.
- What minerals? -
The text of the agreement says it concerns natural resources including deposits of minerals, hydrocarbons and natural gas, but not ones that are currently sources of revenue for Ukraine.
The country is a notable producer of manganese (the world’s eighth largest producer, according to World Mining Data), titanium (11th) and graphite (14th), which is essential for electric batteries.
Ukraine has 20 percent of the world’s estimated resources of graphite, according to France’s Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM).
Ukraine has also said it “possesses one of the largest lithium deposits in Europe”. The government added that the soft metal is not yet extracted.
Kyiv has said that “rare earth metals are known to exist in six deposits” and that an investment of $300 million would be needed to develop a deposit at Novopoltavske, which it claimed was one of the world’s largest.
The site is however controlled by Russian forces and the Kremlin has ruled out ceding territories it has captured since 2022 or the Crimean peninsula annexed in 2014.
The Shevchenko deposit of lithium, tantalum, niobium and beryllium lies less than 10 kilometres from the front line near Pokrovsk, where the Russian army is gaining ground against outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian forces.
Friedrich Merz:...
tolerance” law-and-order drive, to reverse marijuana legalisation, limit “woke” policies and gendersensitive language and study a return to nuclear power.
Merz argues all this will lure voters back from the AfD.
But he may yet have to temper some of his policies as he seeks one or more coalition partners.
Scholz during the campaign sought to portray his rival as a “hothead” and charged that his dalliance with the AfD signals he would one day rule with the farright party -- a charge Merz strongly rejects.
News magazine Der Spiegel has said Merz takes conflicts personally and is sometimes given to fits of anger, opining that “if Merz were a bullfighter, he would probably hold the red cloth in front of his stomach”.
- Hobby pilotMerz, who is Roman Catholic, was born on November 11, 1955, and lives among the rolling hills and forests of the Sauerland region of North Rhine-Westphalia state.
At six foot six (198 centimetres) tall, Merz stands out in a crowd and is a licenced pilot who sometimes flies his own private jet.
He has been married for more than 40 years to Charlotte Merz, a judge, with whom he has three adult children.
He was elected to the European Parliament in 1989 and soon after to the Bundestag, where his mentor was the late CDU powerbroker Wolfgang Schaeuble.
After chancellor Helmut Kohl’s long reign ended in a slush fund scandal, Merkel soon sidelined Merz to take over the party and went on to run Germany for 16 years.
For over a decade, Merz pursued a career in the private sector but never gave up his life-long ambition of becoming chancellor.
From page 1
A free-market liberal who wants to cut corporate taxes and slash red tape to help Germany Inc, he outlined his views in a 2008 book titled “Dare More Capitalism”. Merz has sought to turn his long stint in the business world into a key selling point, said political scientist Antonios Souris of Berlin’s Free University.
“He likes to flirt a little with this role of having returned to politics as an outsider, as an experienced captain of industry, not just a career politician like Scholz.”
His CV and personal wealth have left Merz open to charges of being out of touch with voters -an accusation he has rebuffed by insisting he belongs to the “upper middle class”.
Tetiana reacts as she pays tribute on the birthday day of her son Sergiy Voityshyn, who was killed in 2024 fighting Russian troops in the Donetsk region, at a makeshift memorial for the fallen Ukrainian and foreign fighters on the Independence Square in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. ROMAN PILIPEY
Michelin to debut PH resto selections in 2026
By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora
MANILA — The prestigious Michelin Guide has arrived in the Philippines to evaluate restaurants in Manila and Cebu for its 2026 edition.
The Michelin Guide, a globally recognized culinary authority, is a series of guidebooks which awards its famous “Michelin Star” to restaurants offering the best culinary experiences.
One Michelin Star is awarded to restaurants for “high-quality cooking that is worth a stop,” two for those with “excellent cooking that is worth a detour,” and three for those that offer “exceptional cuisine that is worth a special journey”.
The 2026 Michelin Guide will focus on Manila and Cebu, while also beginning to explore Pampanga, Tagaytay, and Cavite.
The Michelin Guide, created in 1900 by the Michelin tire company to support the growth of automobile mobility by promoting mature gastronomic destinations, posited that the “Filipino cuisine is poised to take center stage on the global culinary map”.
“Our Michelin Inspectors have been following the evolution of the Filipino culinary scene with great excitement. The country’s deep-rooted culinary traditions, combined with a strong openness to global influences, create a uniquely diverse dining culture,” Gwendal
Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide, said.
“In Manila, we see young, talented chefs redefining Filipino cuisine with fresh perspectives; while Cebu, as a leading tourist destination, offers an impressive range of dining experiences with world-class hospitality,” he added.
Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco welcomed the arrival of the culinary authority and invited travelers anew to visit the country for a culinary offering shaped by diverse global influences.
“The arrival of the Michelin Guide is not only a testament to our country’s culinary excellence but also a significant leap forward for Filipino tourism, with gastronomy now forming a key part of our national tourism priorities,” she said.
“In the Philippines, every dish tells a story and every flavor is an invitation to experience our nation’s rich cultural tapestry.”
Alongside the coveted Michelin Star ratings, the Guide’s selection also includes the popular Bib Gourmand category, which is awarded to restaurants that provide good quality food at a moderate price.
The Michelin Guide said its evaluations by a team of anonymous and expert inspectors are carried out “objectively and independently, ensuring that external factors do not influence the results”.
“This dedication to impartiality
Philippines welcomes removal from money laundering ‘grey list’
Manila, Philippines — The Philippines on Saturday praised its removal from a global financial “grey list” of countries under increased monitoring for money laundering and terrorism financing, a status that can hamper global financial transactions.
The Southeast Asia nation had been on the Financial Action Task Force list, which identifies countries “working with it to correct deficiencies in their financial systems”, since 2021.
“The (Financial Action Task Force) removed the Philippines from its increased monitoring following a successful on-site visit and updated its statements on ‘high-risk and other monitored jurisdictions’,” the Paris-based group said after a Friday vote at its annual plenary.
The FATF, an international organisation that coordinates global efforts to crack down on money laundering and terrorism financing, includes representatives from nearly 40 countries including the United States, China and South Africa.
In a statement Saturday, the Anti-Money Laundering Council in Manila hailed the FATF decision as a “milestone” that would bring a litany of benefits.
“The Philippines’ exit from the FATF greylist is expected to facilitate faster and lower-cost cross-border transactions, reduce compliance barriers, and enhance financial transparency,” it said.
The move would also provide relief for more than two million Filipinos who work overseas and send remittances home each year, the council added.
It singled out President Ferdinand Marcos’ 2023 signing of an executive order targeting money laundering and “counter-terrorism financing” as having played a key role in the decision.
Marcos last year also banned offshore gaming operators, known locally as POGOs, that were said to be used as fronts by organised crime groups for human trafficking, money laundering, online fraud, kidnappings and even murder.
But rights groups have accused the government of filing “baseless” charges against civil society groups to improve its standing with the FATF.
“This move by FATF, we are afraid, will be taken as a stamp of approval by the government and will thus very likely embolden them to continue, even intensify, the harassment,” Human Rights Watch senior researcher Carlos Conde told AFP on Saturday.
“While we recognise the need to stamp out money laundering -- and FATF did acknowledge the supposed improvements the Philippine government did in this regard -- there clearly is a need for the government to adhere to international human rights standards as it pursues this campaign.”
and excellence guarantees that only the outstanding dining establishments are recognized,” it said.
Japan, Philippines deepening ties in ‘severe’ security environment
Manila, Philippines — An
“increasingly severe” security environment has made deepening security ties with the Philippines a necessity, Japan’s defence chief said Monday after a meeting with his counterpart in Manila.
Speaking as he concluded a two-day visit that included a tour of Philippine air bases, Japanese defence secretary Gen Nakatani said the two countries hoped to achieve greater operational collaboration in the future.
“Secretary (Gilberto) Teodoro Jr and I firmly concurred that the security environment surrounding us is becoming increasingly severe and it is ... necessary to further enhance defence cooperation,” Nakatani said.
He added the countries had agreed to establish “strategic dialogue between high-level operational officers”.
Nakatani’s visit comes on the heels of a January foreign ministers’ meeting where the Philippines and Japan vowed to strengthen security
cooperation to counter China’s actions in key sea trade routes, including the disputed South China Sea.
Philippine defence chief Teodoro Jr. told Monday’s joint press briefing the two countries shared the “common cause of resisting any unilateral attempt to reshape ...international law by force”.
China has deployed navy and coast guard vessels in a bid to bar the Philippines from strategically important reefs and islands in the South China Sea, leading to a string of confrontations in recent months.
In December, the Philippines said the Chinese coast guard used water cannon and “sideswiped” a government fisheries department vessel.
And last week, the Philippine coast guard said a Chinese Navy helicopter came “within 10 feet” (three metres) of a surveillance plane carrying journalists over the contested Scarborough Shoal.
Japan is a key financier of
Philippine efforts to modernise its South China Sea patrol craft as well as maritime surveillance systems including radar installations.
Beijing claims the strategic waterway in almost its entirety despite an international tribunal ruling that its claim lacked any legal basis.
Japan has its own ongoing dispute with China over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea -known as the Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan -- which are claimed by Beijing but administered by Tokyo.
Both Tokyo and Manila are longtime allies of the United States, which has been strengthening an arc of alliances to deter China’s claims in the Pacific.
Late last year, the Philippine Senate ratified a key pact with Japan that would allow them to deploy troops on each other’s soil.
The agreement, which now awaits ratification in Tokyo, also allows for increased joint combat drills.
DOT to tap more ‘celebrity tourism ambassadors’ in key markets
By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora
MANILA — The Department of Tourism (DOT) is interested to partner with more celebrity tourism ambassadors as part of its push to increase arrivals from key source markets, Secretary Christina Frasco said.
Frasco made the statement after the DOT signed a partnership deal with South Korean actor Seo In-guk on Friday.
“We’ve already done it with Japan, with Alan Shirahama. And of course, we’re looking to our other top source markets for globally
known celebrities as well,” she said in an interview in Makati City.
The Philippine Tourism Ambassador program is a DOTled initiative, implemented along with its marketing arm, the Tourism Promotions Board. It aims to invigorate arrivals, especially from key markets by collaborating with popular personalities from the target country.
In 2023, the DOT tapped Japanese celebrity Alan Shirahama, a member of the Japanese boy band Exile, who is also known for his roles in Daytime Shooting Star,
Prince of Legend, and One in a Hundred Thousand.
With Seo, the DOT said it hopes to maximize the South Korean star’s huge following on social media and attract more South Koreans, especially those from his fan base, to travel to the Philippines.
Frasco has yet to identify what market the DOT is targeting for its next celebrity tourism ambassador.
The country’s top sources for inbound visitors are South Korea, the United States, Japan, China, Australia, Canada, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Malaysia.
The full restaurant selection of the Michelin Guide Manila and Environs & Cebu 2026 will be unveiled in the last quarter of 2025.
It will join the global Michelin Guide restaurant and hotel selections that may be accessed for free on its digital platforms.
Philippines’ Secretary of National Defence Gilberto Teodoro (R) shakes hands with Japan’s Defence Minister Gen Nakatani prior to their bilateral meeting at a hotel in Manila.
TED ALJIBE
Indonesia’s new sovereign wealth fund: what to know
Jakarta, Indonesia — Indonesian
President Prabowo Subianto on Monday launched a new sovereign wealth fund set to be the biggest in Southeast Asia’s largest economy and give the ex-general greater control of the country’s coffers.
He wants to tap into the fund’s assets -- planned to be more than $900 billion -- to boost Indonesia to developed economy status, despite expert concern about its governance.
Here’s what the fund -- named Danantara -- will mean for the archipelago nation.
- Big pledgesPrabowo has launched a costcutting spree across government ministries to fund Danantara and other campaign promises such as a multi-billion-dollar free lunch plan for children.
The fund will start with a budget of $20 billion, according to state media, some of which the president says has come from the cuts.
That initial money will be poured into around 20 projects across mineral resources, food production and renewable energy, he said.
The fund’s capital will come from dividends, cash and assets, as Prabowo tries to boost liquidity and investments to lift growth to his optimistic target of eight percent, from around five percent now.
“It was created so we can have liquidity that can boost our economy,” said Eko Listiyanto, vice director of the Jakarta-based Institute for Development of Economics and Finance.
“This is a good step, as long as it is managed properly.”
- AmbiguityDetails on how the fund will work and which entities will fall under its control have been few and far between.
But it was announced Monday that Prabowo ally and investment minister Rosan Roeslani would head the fund, boasting business experience that should provide some investor confidence.
Minister for state-owned enterprises Erick Thohir will assume an oversight role, according to the revised law that permitted the creation of Danantara.
Public accountants will audit the fund as it will not be subject to checks by the country’s Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), unless ordered by a Prabowo-dominated parliament, according to the law.
Two units will reportedly be created under the fund’s umbrella -- a holding company to oversee state-owned enterprises and an investment arm.
Experts have also called for the
Germany’s ‘debt brake’ at centre of economic debate
By Jean-Philippe LACOUR
Frankfurt, Germany — A row over Germany’s “debt brake” helped deal the death blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party ruling coalition, paving the way for next week’s snap elections.
The rule, which strictly limits government borrowing, now finds itself at the centre of debate over Europe’s ailing top economy, a key election battleground.
Critics blame it for years of chronic underinvestment that has caused infrastructure to deteriorate, kept defence spending low and hit education standards. Its defenders insist it has helped keep the country’s finances stable.
Here are some questions and answers about the controversial rule:
- What is the debt brake? -
The constitutionally enshrined measure prevents the central government from running a deficit of more than 0.35 percent of annual GDP, except in emergencies.
It was introduced in 2009 by the government of then-chancellor Angela Merkel, at a time of debate about national debt levels during the global financial crisis.
It was suspended for four years to permit extra spending during the coronavirus pandemic and then the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine, but it came back into force in 2024.
- What do its supporters say? -
They say it has helped keep spending levels under control in Europe’s top economy -- Germany’s public debt is around 60 percent of GDP compared to around 100 percent or more for most other G7 countries.
One of its key political backers is the pro-business Free Democratic Party, part of Scholz’s coalition. It argues that the brake ensures that future generations are not burdened with the debts taken on by their forebears.
“Every euro of debt taken on today will have to be repaid by future generations,” the party says.
But the refusal of party leader Christian Lindner to countenance any easing of the rule when he was finance minister under Scholz left him at loggerheads with his coalition partners, and contributed to the government’s implosion.
- What about criticism?Critics blame the brake for preventing investment in areas such as defence, as US President Donald Trump pressures Europe to boost funding, and for infrastructure problems, from late trains to patchy internet.
Other challenges, such as decarbonising the economy, also need vast public outlays.
Meeting them will require an additional 782 billion euros ($811 billion) of government spending between now and 2030, according to the Dezernat Zukunft think tank.
The government created offbudget funds for spending in certain areas such as defence and climate, drawing accusations they had engaged in accounting trickery to circumvent the rules.
The constitutional court ruled in November that the government had indeed broken the debt rules, specifically over a manouevre where they transferred money from a coronavirus support fund into climate change investments.
The ruling blew a hole in the coalition’s budget, ratcheting up tensions over the brake.
- What happens after the election? -
Leader of the centre-right opposition and favourite to be the next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has sent mixed signals about the brake.
His CDU party’s position is that it should remain but he has occasionally indicated an openness to reforming it in certain circumstances.
In a recent television debate with centre-left leader Scholz, he gave vague answers when asked about the subject: “One can discuss anything, but certainly not at first.”
Scholz’s SPD -- whom some speculate could end up in coalition with the CDU -- backs loosening the strict rules to boost investment, a position shared by the Greens.
Much will however depend on the shape of the new ruling coalition after the February 23 election.
creation of an oversight body.
“Indonesia should create a mechanism to monitor possible abuses within Danantara and to investigate alleged corruption,” said Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“It is a challenge now with the weakened anti-corruption commission and the regression of democracy in Indonesia.”
- Governance concerns -
The fund will also report directly to Prabowo, with at least one expert who declined to be named saying the president’s control over it was “like Najib”, referring to the former Malaysian leader who oversaw scandal-ridden sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
Najib is in jail for corruption related to the plunder of 1MDB after the scandal sparked investigations in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore.
“This is a new body so people will question everything. Some people are wary that this will be a political tool,” Eko said.
But the potential for graft could be reduced as Danantara will attract global investors the government will need, he added.
‘Process
“People know that preDanantara state-owned enterprises were often used as cash cows,” he said.
If the government was seen to be interfering in business too much, “investors will not be interested”.
- Public trust -
Yet on the street, Prabowo’s moves have proven unpopular among young people.
Thousands, led by students, protested across Indonesia’s cities last week in an early test of Prabowo’s economic shake-up.
So the legitimacy of the fund will be key, experts say, claiming it should report to finance professionals and not presidents, like Singapore’s investment arm which has a portfolio of $288 billion.
“If our benchmark is Temasek, Temasek is supervised by professionals,” said Jahen Fachrul Rezki, an economy researcher at the University of Indonesia.
The potential that “this huge amount of money could be interfered with by the government, this has created fear,” he said.
“If that happens, once the trust is gone, the impact will be massive.”
is the punishment’: The rise of SLAPP suits in the US
By Issam AHMED
Washington, United States —
What do Donald Trump’s lawsuit against an Iowa pollster, a $300 million case against Greenpeace by an oil pipeline operator, and companies suing customers over negative reviews have in common?
They’ve all been labeled SLAPPs -- Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation -legal actions intended to silence critics and suppress free speech by dragging defendants into costly, time-consuming litigation.
“The process itself is the punishment,” said Sushma Raman, interim executive director of Greenpeace, referring to a lawsuit filed against the organization by Energy Transfer, the operator of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
- Abusive processThe term “SLAPP” was coined by two University of Denver professors in the late 1980s, and Washington state became the first to pass an anti-SLAPP law in 1989.
Media lawyer Thomas Burke, author of the book “Anti-SLAPP Litigation,” told AFP that SLAPP suits make up “80 percent or more of the big lawsuits” against the media and environmentalists.
He worked on the largest anti-SLAPP settlement in US history, defending the Center for Investigative Reporting against a lawsuit by Planet Aid over a Mother Jones report about its activities in Malawi.
The case was dismissed in 2021 under California’s anti-SLAPP law, with Planet Aid ordered to pay nearly $2 million.
Then-private citizen Trump once sued a book author and publisher for $6 billion over claims about his net worth. The lawsuit was dismissed, but without an anti-SLAPP law, the defendants couldn’t recover legal costs.
Trump later bragged, “I spent a couple of bucks on legal fees, and they spent a whole lot more. I did it to make his life miserable, which I’m happy about.”
The president is currently suing an Iowa pollster over an incorrect prediction, alleging election interference.
Kevin Goldberg of the Freedom Forum told AFP that while the US Constitution enshrines free speech protections, many people don’t realize they can still be sued -- along with the significant financial burden, time commitment, and stress that come with it.
- Anti-SLAPP lawsToday, 35 states and the capital Washington have anti-SLAPP statutes.
To proceed, plaintiffs must overcome significant legal hurdles, such as proving their case can withstand a First Amendment defense or demonstrating “actual malice,” that the statements were made with reckless disregard for the truth.
But no law yet exists at the national level.
“So if plaintiffs who just want to shut organizations want to sue, they’re going to do their level best to get into federal court,” said Burke.
A key feature of anti-SLAPP laws is that they require plaintiffs to cover defendants’ legal fees, acting as a strong deterrent against frivolous lawsuits.
(L-R) Indonesia’s Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President Prabowo Subianto and former president Joko Widodo attend the launch of a sovereign wealth fund known as Daya Anagata Nusantara, or Danantara, in Jakarta. BAY ISMOYO
LIVING AND ENJOYING IT, AROUND THE PLANET
Milan Fashion week opens as luxury sector struggles
Milan, Italy — Milan Fashion Week kicked off Tuesday, but the flair and fanfare on catwalks will likely struggle to distract from a worrying slump in the luxury sector.
For six days, the northern Italian capital of fashion will showcase Autumn/Winter 2025-2026 women’s looks -- while scrambling behind the scenes to react to macroeconomic headwinds cutting into sales.
Milan’s glamorous showcase for the latest fashion trends, which ends Sunday, comes during a difficult moment for Italian fashion, with estimates showing sales having fallen by 5 percent last year.
Italy’s woes are part of a global slump in the sector, driven by weakness in the key market of China, reduced appetite for highpriced goods, and widespread economic uncertainty.
Gucci -- once the pride of fashion week but now the worst performer in Kering’s portfolio -opened the fashion fest in Milan.
The French group earlier this month announced a jaw-dropping 23 percent drop in sales at Gucci, its flagship brand accounting for almost half of the revenue of the group, whose sales have not recovered despite an announced turnaround.
Just over two weeks before the show, Gucci announced the departure of its creative director, Sabato de Sarno -- after just two years on the job.
It was up to the brand’s creative studio to sign off on an interim
collection entitled “Continuum”, which drew on elements of the brand’s heritage, such as silhouettes from the 60s or minimalism from the 90s.
Fabrics were both classic and subversive, while the colour palette ranged from shades of green to gray, mauve and brown.
Instead of the traditional designer’s bow at the end of the show, dozens of people from the design studio came out to greet the audience.
“A brand is not a person, a brand is a story and it is the people who work there at all levels, that’s what we saw today,” Francesca Bellettini, deputy chief executive of Kering, told AFP.
Kering Chief Executive Francois-Henri Pinault tried to temper the fallout ahead of the show, telling analysts during its annual presentation this month that measures were being taken to “strengthen the health and desirability of our brands for the long term.”
“Gucci will come back. I have absolutely no doubt,” Pinault said.
The net profit of Kering -which also owns Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta, the latter a bright spot in the portfolio -- plunged 62 percent last year to 1.13 billion euros ($1.18 billion).
- Cutting backConsultants Bain & Company have estimated that only about a third of the world’s luxury brands experienced growth in 2024.
Paris workshop delivers ultrarealistic film prop babies
By Tupac POINTU
Paris, France — In a workshop outside Paris, Celine Lallement stitched hairs into a silicone baby’s skull -- the latest creation from a studio specialised in making ultrarealistic infants for the film and TV industries.
Founded in 2008 and based in a north Paris suburb, “Cinebebe” produces props that can take more than six weeks of crafting before they are sent to production sets.
“It’s mohair, it comes from the Angora goat. It’s finer than adult hair, so it imitates baby hair very well,” Lallement explained as she carefully inserted each strand.
At one point, she spotted a problem.
“There are two hairs in the same follicle, that won’t work,” she said before using tweezers to correct the mistake.
Her latest work is set to be used in a film shoot in England, according to Justine Ray Le Solliec, who co-manages the special effects workshop.
With slightly red cheeks, tiny veins under the eyelids, skin folds and pores, it’s hard to tell the difference from a real child.
“You can expect to pay around 700 euros ($726) to rent a baby for a day’s shoot and between 9,000 euros and 15,000 euros to buy one, depending on the time required to make it,” said Ray Le Solliec.
- Covid effect -
From 26-week premature
infants to 18-month-old toddlers, Cinebebe’s miniature mannequins are used in around 100 productions every year, mostly in France and Europe.
Their work has been glimpsed in hit Netflix series “Emily in Paris”, as well as the blockbuster 2024 French movie “The Count of Monte Cristo”.
The company uses silicone castings for babies, but also creates pregnant bellies, breasts, placentas, fetuses, umbilical cords, and even life-sized pelvis models that are used for birth scenes.
“In France, regulations prohibit newborns under three months old from participating in film shoots,” Ray Le Solliec explained.
“For infants aged three months to three years, filming time is limited to one hour per day, which can be challenging when multiple scenes involve children.”
Beyond regulations, their business has accelerated since the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.
“It helped us because babies were not allowed on set during that period,” she added.
Post-pandemic, their revenue has doubled every year, though there was a “slight slowdown” in 2024 compared to 2023, with a growth rate of 35 percent.
The next step is expanding internationally, with a London office planned in 2025.
Their production goal is to develop babies with open eyes as well as larger babies for stunt scenes.
“Global luxury consumers, grappling with macroeconomic uncertainty and continued price elevation by brands, cut back slightly on discretionary items,” said Bain in a January report.
In Italy, the fashion sector, including eyewear, jewellery, and beauty, is expected to post turnover of just under 96 billion euros in 2024, a drop of 5.3 percent compared to 2023, according to forecasts by Italian Fashion Chamber.
The body’s president, Carlo Capasa, said earlier this month that the week of shows, buying, and networking demonstrated the sector’s willingness “to address the complexity of the moment the sector is facing.”
“Creativity, pragmatism, and flexibility,” will help the sector confront “such a challenging moment,” he told a press conference, with efforts needed to boost innovation and strengthen Italy’s supply chain.
He said the chamber would lobby the government for “support policies” for the sector.
The Italian leather and footwear sector is faring worse than fashion, with estimates from trade association Confindustria showing an anticipated revenue drop of 8.1 percent in 2024.
In Tuscany, the hub of Italy’s leather industry, nearly 100,000 people are estimated to be on furlough.
The Italian government has put aside about 110 million euros to boost the fashion sector this year
and last.
But that hasn’t been able to pull some factories back from the brink of closure.
Swiss brand Bally — whose runway show is scheduled for Saturday -- announced in December it would shut its production facility near Florence which employs 55 workers.
Negotiations with trade unions are ongoing to avert the closure.
Some brands are celebrating big anniversaries this year in Milan, notably Fendi’s 100th birthday with a co-ed catwalk show under the
interim creative direction of Silvia Venturini Fendi.
DSquared celebrates its 30th birthday while Kway celebrates 60 years since it was established in Paris in 1965.
Also on the calendar are Milan stalwarts Prada, Giorgio Armani, Versace, Max Mara, Ferragamo, and Dolce & Gabbana.
Bottega Veneta will be absent, having postponed its first show under new artistic director Louise Trotter to September, after previous director Matthieu Blazy left for Chanel in December.
Models present creations for the Roberto Cavalli Womenswear Ready-towear Fall-Winter 2025/2026 collection during the Milan Fashion Week, in Milan. ANDREAS SOLARO
WHAT’S NEW IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
AI opens ‘endless’ doors for fashion models, closes others
By Lucie LEQUIER
London, United Kingdom
— London-based model
Alexsandrah Gondora understands the power of being in “two places at the same time” thanks to an AI replica of herself: “She’s doing the hard work so I don’t have to!”
Fashion designers and retailers can book her digital double for photo shoots without her having to travel or physically be there, Gondora told AFP.
It is a solution that “saves time”, said the model, who is also walking down in-person runways at London Fashion Week, which runs until Monday evening.
In the fashion industry, artificial intelligence is already used by
brands to create visual imagery for e-commerce websites and customised advertising campaigns at a lower cost.
While the technology opens up opportunities for some, critics fear AI will render many professionals, including models, make-up artists and photographers obsolete -- and could risk promoting an artificial standard of beauty.
- Customisable -
In one video, sculpted male models flex their muscles next to glamorous women, with a backdrop of marble pools and gilded mirrors.
But none of it is real: this Christmas campaign was entirely generated with the use of AI by studio Copy Lab for the Swedish underwear brand CDLP.
“We are a very small company: I cannot go to a house in Beverly Hills and shoot a campaign,” said CDLP co-founder Christian Larson.
According to Larson, “real” photography has limitations.
“You have a film of this many pictures, the sun will set, and the light will disappear, and the budget will run out,” Larson told AFP.
But with AI, “you dive into this black hole of endless options.”
Preparing an ad campaign involving a photo shoot in the French Alps for ski eyewear would normally take several months to complete and could cost 35,000 euros ($37,000), but can be done virtually for just 500 euros in a few days, claimed Artem Kupriyanenko, citing a campaign done by his technology company
a
for more
22
Amazon’s next-gen Alexa gets AI upgrade
By Thomas URBAIN
New York, United States —
Online retail behemoth
Amazon on Wednesday announced a new version of its Alexa voice assistant that is powered by generative artificial intelligence, giving the device more human-like qualities.
“I’m not just an assistant. I’m your new best friend in the digital world,” Alexa Plus told the audience at a New York launch event.
The upgrade comes amid fierce competition in the AI assistant market.
Microsoft now offers an audio version of Copilot, Google has launched its Gemini AI, and Apple continues working to enhance Siri with generative AI capabilities.
Though the market leaders, Alexa and Siri have been struggling to deliver more intuitive interactions and the companies have long promised increased performance with the use of generative AI.
The rollout comes as tech giants including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI are investing billions in
AI development despite uncertain returns.
The tech juggernauts are trying to expand the everyday use of AI, and Amazon can count on a base of over 600 million installed devices already equipped with its 10-yearold service.
Panos Panay, senior vice president of devices and services at Amazon, said that Alexa Plus opens a new age for voice devices.
“Until this moment... we have been limited by technology,” Panay, a former Microsoft executive, said at the event.
For now Alexa is mostly used for relatively simple tasks, such as playing music, giving the weather forecast or turning on the lights in a room.
Alexa Plus’s capabilities are closer to that of a virtual agent, capable of performing actions on command.
This launch is “taking AI to the masses,” said analyst Paolo Pescatore of PP Foresight, adding that there was “a lot riding on this revamp.”
“The biggest question is whether users are ready, given their early
experiences and concerns around security and trust. These factors still remain huge barriers to wider adoption,” he added.
Demonstrations at the event showed Alexa Plus performing tasks like booking concert tickets, sending text messages, planning trips, updating shared calendars, and even analyzing security camera footage to determine if someone had walked the dog.
Benefiting from the new functionalities of generative AI, Alexa Plus can create, at a child’s request, a made up story with the characters of his or her choice, or produce a song in tribute to a pet.
In one showcase, the assistant composed and performed a song about a cat using Suno, a music generation service currently facing lawsuits from major music labels.
The new offering includes access through Alexa.com and a dedicated phone app, allowing users to upload documents for feedback similar to ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini.
Alexa Plus will launch in the United States in April for $19.99 monthly, with free access for Amazon Prime subscribers.
Genera.
London and Lisbon-based Genera boasts a catalogue of 500 AI-generated models, all of which it claims to own the copyrights for.
The avatars can be customised by clients: “We can do any body shape, any gender, any ethnicity,” assured Genera’s creative head Keiron Birch, who said the practice was “super inclusive”.
But AI tends to create a characteristic face type, which differs from generator to generator, said Carl-Axel Wahlstrom, co-founder of Stockholm-based Copy Lab, an “AI creative studio”.
MidJourney, for example, has a tendency to generate models with thicker lips.
- Grey areaGenerative AI is trained on banks of images of models that are often retouched or which reflect a dominant “white, Western” aesthetic, explained Wahlstrom.
To obtain less generic results, he refines the descriptions or “prompts” he provides to the AI engines.
And for more “authentic” results, he also trains them on “imperfect” databases, where he has, for example, added images of “regular skin, like my skin, my girlfriend’s skin, people that we know’s skin.”
Alexsandrah Gondora was critical of brands which use AI images created from databases found on the internet without paying the model, who she called the “middleman”.
Models also face being
duplicated virtually without their knowledge.
The “Fashion Workers Act”, due to come into force this summer in New York, hopes to tackle this grey area by enabling models to control the use of AI to reproduce their likeness. But its practical application could prove complicated.
Gondora, however, is compensated for the work done by her digital alter ego and has the final say on how it is used.
This is also the case when she helps bring Shudu Gram, an AIgenerated black supermodel, to life. This virtual character created in 2017 and billed as the “world’s first digital supermodel” is followed by 237,000 followers on Instagram.
Gondora and several other reallife black models lend their features to various shoots and projects for Shudu.
Last year, Shudu was a model for a 1960s-inspired collaboration by fashion label MAX&Co and London-based designer Richard Quinn.
When used ethically, AI does not deprive models from diverse backgrounds of opportunities, assured Gondora, who claimed that this technology has “opened certain doors” for her.
One of them is that her AI model is “timeless”.
“There is no expiration for my AI... it’s timeless. Somewhere out there in the world, my AI will always be young to me, even when I’m old.”
France sets new plasma record in hunt for nuclear fusion
Paris, France — French scientists on Tuesday announced that they had reached a “crucial milestone” in the long road towards nuclear fusion by managing to maintain raging-hot plasma for a record 22 minutes.
Nuclear fusion has the muchvaunted potential to provide the world with clean, safe and nearly inexhaustible energy -- but the scientific holy grail has remained stubbornly elusive over decades.
The idea is to recreate the process that occurs at the heart of stars by fusing two atomic nuclei. This would be the opposite of fission -- which splits the atom -that is used in nuclear power plants.
Among other things, the process requires temperatures of more than 100 million degrees Celsius to create and maintain plasma.
This hot, electrically charged gas easily becomes unstable, which can lead to lost energy and limit the efficiency of a possible future nuclear fusion reactor.
The WEST tokamak machine in southern France managed to maintain plasma for 1,337 seconds on February 12, France’s Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) said in a statement.
This “smashed” the previous record set in China last month by 25 percent, said the CEA, which runs the tokamak machine.
The CEA’s head of fundamental
research Anne-Isabelle Etienvre told AFP that achieving plasma for that long shows “that we control its production, but also its maintenance”.
But there are still many “technological barriers” to overcome before thermonuclear fusion can “produce more energy than it consumes”, she added.
In the coming month, the WEST team is aiming to achieve even longer plasma durations -- “up to several hours combined” -- as well as higher temperatures, according to the CEA.
In doing so, the researchers hope to approach the conditions “expected in fusion plasmas”, the statement said.
The scientists will also observe the effect that such “intense plasma” has on the inside of their tokamak machine, Etienvre said.
The goal is to prepare the ground for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) being built in France, she added.
First set in motion in 1985, the ITER brings together China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States.
It had been scheduled to go online this year, but repeated setbacks, delays and spiralling costs have postponed operations until at least 2033.
(FILES) A technician checks the plasma heating antenna inside the vacuum chamber of the Tore Supra nuclear reactor (TOKAMAK reactor using the principle of fusion) at the CEA in Cadarache, southeastern France. Scientists have reached a “milestone” on the path to nuclear fusion by sustaining
plasma
than
minutes - a record - in the reactor operated by the CEA in Cadarache (Bouches-du-Rhone), the organization. BORIS HORVAT
THE REAL WORLD BEHIND THE HEADLINES
Two years on, construction jungle emerges from Antioch’s quake-hit ruins
By Hazel WARD
Antakya, Turkey — Whenever Sema Genc enters a room, the first place she looks is the ceiling: would it hold up in an earthquake, or would she be trapped under the rubble again?
“That fear is always with you,” said the 34-year-old, whose home in Antakya collapsed on top of her in a 7.8-magnitude quake that devastated swathes of southern Turkey in the early hours of February 6, 2023, killing her entire family.
“They got up and I woke up when they opened my door. Suddenly the building collapsed. I was caught in
my bed but they were directly under the debris in the corridor. They died within minutes,” said Genc, who works for an NGO helping Syrian refugee children.
Trapped under the rubble, her legs crushed and scalded by boiling water from a broken radiator, she spent 36 hours screaming for help before someone came to the rescue.
“It wasn’t the earthquake but the destruction of our home that took my whole family from me. I feel really angry with those who built it,” she told AFP.
The powerful quake and its multiple aftershocks wreaked havoc, leaving 53,725 people dead and
107,000 injured.
It razed 39,000 buildings and left another 200,000 severely damaged, figures from Turkey’s AFAD disaster agency show. Nearly two million people were left homeless.
No place was worse hit than Antakya, the site of the ancient city of Antioch, where 90 percent of its buildings were lost and more than 20,000 people died in the town and the surrounding Hatay province that borders northwestern Syria.
- Concrete jungle -
Although countless tonnes of rubble have been removed, parts of the historic centre still look like a war zone.
Elsewhere wide expanses have been cleared for construction, transforming Antakya into a vast sprawling building site, its ancient skyline marked by a tangle of cranes and an ever-present haze of dust.
“It’s been a really long wait but of course the city was demolished,” sighed Atilla Cicekci, a 57-yearold father-of-three standing in his family’s makeshift encampment built around a 21-square-metre container.
He’s applied for the government lottery to get a home built by the state-run TOKI housing agency but his number has not yet come up.
“All the new construction makes you hopeful and it’s good they’re working fast, but we just want a place to shelter.”
TOKI architect Deniz Eskiocak, who is overseeing the construction of 482 apartments and 24 commercial units within a year, said their 324 builders were working round the clock to get everything done.
“I have to make it happen quickly while ensuring that all the right procedures are followed so it’s safe. We have poured a lot of concrete at 2:00 or 3:00 am,” she told AFP at the massive construction site.
By January 26, the environment ministry said it had handed over 201,580 homes and businesses across the quake zone, promising a total of 453,000 by the year’s end.
- Under scrutiny -
The construction is drawing scrutiny from still-homeless survivors who by the end of October still numbered 670,000 living in 218,000 containers, AFAD figures show.
“The hardest thing is making them stay away from the construction sites because it’s dangerous. They want to see even the smallest jobs being done to ensure everything is done right,” said Eskiocak.
One of those was Genc, the NGO worker rescued from the rubble.
She spent five months in hospital and underwent seven reconstructive
operations before moving into a container.
Eventually, she won a lottery place and in November moved into the newly built Gulderen estate located on a once-empty hillside north of Antakya.
“Maybe if I’d moved in without seeing the construction phase, I might have had doubts. But we saw with our own eyes the concrete, how much steel was used to build it, and how the foundation was properly laid,” she told AFP in her fourthfloor apartment.
“Maybe if this earthquake hadn’t happened, nobody would have paid that much attention to the construction of a normal building. But now everyone is looking to see if we’ll be able to live safely.” - Earthquake-proof?The collapse of so many buildings in one of the world’s most earthquake-prone areas pointed to the greed of unscrupulous developers and corrupt bureaucrats who rubber-stamped unsafe projects on unsuitable land with substandard materials, experts say.
Mustafa Arslan, TOKI’s chief engineer in Hatay province said showing people their buildings that withstood the quake had done a lot to increase public confidence.
“Whether it’s the diameter of the reinforced steel bars, the quantity used, or the class of concrete, it all passes certain inspection mechanisms,” he told AFP on the Gulderen estate.
“If there’s a new earthquake, we’re confident these homes will stand.”
A few weeks after Genc moved in, there was another pre-dawn earthquake, albeit a “small” tremor measuring about 4.5.
“It was what we were most afraid of when we came here. At first, we were scared, but when we got up, we realised it was OK,” she said.
“This place gives me confidence,” she smiled, banging her fist on the walls.
“Here I feel really safe.”
Outdated showers, inefficient toilets: Trump’s nostalgia for retro ways
Washington, United States
— Old-school gas stoves, generous showerheads, delicate light bulbs.
Since his return to the White House, President Donald Trump has sought to reverse environmental standards for many household appliances, using a familiar refrain: it was better before.
“I am hereby instructing Secretary Lee Zeldin to immediately go back to my Environmental Orders, which were terminated by Crooked Joe Biden, on Water Standards and Flow pertaining to SINKS, SHOWERS, TOILETS, WASHING MACHINES, DISHWASHERS, etc.,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday.
The 78-year-old billionaire has for years complained about modern showerheads, saying they slow the flow of water.
“You turn on the shower, if you’re like me, you can’t wash your
beautiful hair properly,” Trump said in 2020.
During his first term, Trump reversed federal regulations limiting water flow on a number of appliances, only to see them reinstated by Democrat Joe Biden.
And during his election campaign, Trump also accused Democrats of wanting to ban gas stoves and gasoline or dieselpowered automobiles, framing it as a freedom issue for Americans.
- ‘I always look orange’ -
And the former reality TV star also frequently rails against LED light bulbs, which have been gradually replaced by incandescent bulbs over the past decade.
“I’m not a vain person... but I look better under an incandescent light than these crazy lights that are beaming down on us,” Trump said in 2019. “I always look orange.”
In his Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump announced that
he would sign an executive order to return “to the common sense standards on LIGHTBULBS, that were put in place by the Trump Administration, but terminated by Crooked Joe.”
Andrew deLaski, head of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, ASAP, which advocates for energy efficiency standards for everyday items, called Trump’s concerns outdated.
“Today, there’s a huge array of modern, efficient products that are top performers,” he said.
According to ASAP, LED bulbs “lower energy costs for households and businesses, and reduce pollution.”
Similarly, “showerhead standards save consumers money on their water and energy bills and help protect the environment,” the group says.
- MAGABut the crusade of the
Republican leader, a notorious climate skeptic, seems to have less to do with environmental or economic considerations and more with yearning for times past.
Since he entered US politics in 2015, the billionaire has used nostalgia as a powerful electoral tool.
“Donald Trump seems to understand, and perhaps himself be susceptible to, these nostalgic appeals,” said Spencer Goidel, a political science professor at Auburn University in Alabama.
The researcher, who has studied nostalgia in politics, drew a parallel with people’s musical tastes.
“Most Americans think the best era of music was the era in which they were in young adulthood,” he said.
People tend to remember the outstanding songs and forget the bad ones.
“In society, the same is true. The
great men and women of history are immortalized. The mediocre, sometimes corrupt or incompetent, men and women are forgotten,” added Goidel.
It’s hardly surprising, then, that politicians are seizing on nostalgic sentiment, because “crafting a future-oriented message is difficult.”
“It’s much easier to argue we should return to the way things were,” the researcher said.
Trump’s signature slogan “Make America Great Again” taps into the same idea.
While nostalgia is not inherently Democratic or Republican, it “is associated with racist and sexist attitudes, authoritarian attitudes, and voting Republican.”
According to Goidel’s research, “people with higher levels of nostalgia are more supportive of a strong man breaking laws and institutions, as well as greater support for political violence.”
(FILES) This photograph shows construction areas of Turkish public housing agency (TOKI) in Antakya on the second anniversary of the earthquake that devastated south-east Turkey and northern Syria. The powerful quake and its multiple aftershocks wreaked havoc across a huge area of southern Turkey, leaving 53,725 people dead and 107,000 injured in the early hours of February 6, 2023. Nearly two million people were made homeless, and the quake raised 39,000 buildings, severely damaging 200,000 others, figures from Turkey’s AFAD disaster agency show. OZAN KOSE
THE BIG GAMES AND PLAYERS AROUND THE WORLD
Roma searching for solace in Europe again
Paris, France — Roma head to Porto in the Europa League on Thursday still looking to salvage a poor season after a disappointing January transfer window.
The capital city club sit ninth in the Serie A table despite a recent eight-game unbeaten run in the league and were dumped out of the Italian Cup last week by AC Milan.
They needed a 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in their final league-phase match just to secure a top-24 finish in the Europa League and a knockout play-off round tie against Porto.
An irritated Claudio Ranieri,
back for a third spell in charge as Roma’s third coach of the campaign, pointed to financial fair-play rules when repeatedly asked by reporters why the club did not spend more in January in an attempt to revive their fortunes.
“I will tell the president to spend more money, take three or four years of suspension, that way we won’t go to Europe, we won’t go to the Champions League, and we’ll all be happy,” the 73-year-old told Radio Rai after Roma’s 1-0 win at Venezia on Sunday, before cutting the interview short.
Roma fans were angered by the
decision early in the season to sack popular coach Daniele De Rossi, who helped the team finish sixth in Serie A last term after a similarly bad start.
Ivan Juric did not last long as his successor and was dismissed with the club just four points above the relegation zone.
Roma have not finished in the top four of the Italian top flight since the 2017/18 season, but have enjoyed recent success in Europe.
Porto have been in even worse form going into the first leg and are on a five-match winless streak in the Portuguese Primeira Liga after a 1-1 draw with leaders Sporting Lisbon on Friday.
But Porto have won their last two European ties against Roma, in the 2018/19 Champions League last 16 and in 2016/17 Champions League qualifying.
- Ajax on song -
Ajax are also targeting a last16 place when they take on Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise, buoyed by a run of six consecutive league victories which has taken them to the top of the Eredivisie.
The Dutch giants finished a lowly fifth in the Netherlands last season but are getting back to their best.
They are hoping to win a first major European trophy since their
Canada coach Marsch blasts Trump’s ‘51st state’ rhetoric
Los Angeles, United States — Canadian men’s football coach Jesse Marsch decried US President Donald Trump’s “ridiculous rhetoric about Canada being the 51st state,” calling it insulting to a loyal ally.
Marsch, a 51-year-old American who took over as Canada coach in 2024, spoke to reporters on Wednesday at a media day for the CONCACAF Nations League
finals next month, and said Trump’s animosity toward Canada had only invigorated his team.
Marsch said that he had developed a deep appreciation for Canadian culture and society since taking his current job.
“Canada is a strong, independent nation that is deep-rooted in decency,” he said. “And it’s a place that values high ethics and respect,
PUBLIC NOTICE
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION NAVOTAS CITY
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE JUDGE (02) 8 373 1857 / rtc1nvt288@judiciary.gov.ph
In Re: PETITION FOR APPOINTMENT AS NOTARY PUBLIC
MA. ANNALIZA R. TEODORO, Petitioner.
NOTICE OF SUMMARY HEARING
NC-25-01-NAV
Notice is hereby given that a summary hearing on the petition for appointment of notarial commission of ATTY. MA. ANNALIZA R. TEODORO shall be held on March 12, 2025 at 11:00 o’clock in the morning at the Office of the Executive Judge, Regional Trial Court, Branch 288, located at No. 17 Ignacio Street, Daanghari, Navotas City. Any person who has any cause or reason to object the grant of the petition may file a verified opposition thereto before the date of summary hearing.
Let this Notice of Summary of Hearing be published once in a newspaper of general circulation in Navotas City to be determined by raffle, and posted in a conspicuous place in the Office of the Executive Judge and the Office of the Clerk of Court, at the expense of the petitioner.
Navotas City, February 21, 2025.
TFP: March 06, 2025
(sgd.) RONALD Q. TORRIJOS Executive Judge
unlike the polarized, disrespectful and often now hateful climate that is in the US.
“It’s a place that I’ve learned as the national team coach where people really believe that their differences make them stronger.”
Marsch said his team includes a wealth of first- and second-generation Canadians who are “uniquely and incredibly proud to be Canadian and to represent their country”.
Marsch, who guided Canada to a fourth-placed finish at the Copa America last year, said that amid Trump’s goading comments -- and his stated plans to implement tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico -- “these international tournaments for Canada mean something different now”.
Marsch was joined by Mexico coach Javier Aguirre and Panama coach Thomas Christiansen at the press event at SoFi Stadium, where the Nations League finals will be held March 20-23.
The United States was represented by USA Soccer vice president Oguchi Onyewu, who declined to be drawn into any political conversation.
Aguirre also said he preferred to “focus on the sporting issue,” although he admitted that he couldn’t go along with Trump’s decree that the Gulf of Mexico be called the Gulf of America.
“For me, it’s the Gulf of Mexico, obviously,” he said.
Aguirre said that as the son of immigrants he identified with Mexicans who had moved north in search of “the American dream”.
“It is not easy to leave your country in search of a better life for your own,” he said.
fourth Champions League title in 1995.
Elsewhere, Mourinho’s Fenerbahce host Anderlecht, while their bitter rivals Galatasaray visit AZ Alkmaar in their first leg.
Galatasaray’s Super Lig match against Adana Demispor at the weekend was halted in the 30th minute after the Istanbul side’s opponents walked off in protest after an earlier penalty decision.
Fenerbahce then slammed Galatasaray in a statement, accusing their rivals of “harming the state and the Turkish football federation”.
Galatasaray are the only Turkish club to ever win a European competition, lifting the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2000.
Europa League knockout playoff round, first-leg fixtures (2000 GMT unless stated): Thursday
Fenerbahce (TUR) v Anderlecht (BEL), Ferencvaros (HUN) v Viktoria Plzen (CZE) (both 1745), Midtjylland (DEN) v Real Sociedad (ESP), Union Saint-Gilloise (BEL) v Ajax (NED), AZ Alkmaar (NED) v Galatasaray (TUR), Porto (POR) v Roma (ITA), PAOK (GRE) v FCSB (ROM), Twente (NED) v Bodo/ Glimt (NOR) Conference League knockout play-off round, first-leg fixtures (2000 GMT unless stated): Thursday Celje (SLO) v APOEL (CYP), Molde (NOR) v Shamrock Rovers (IRL), TSC (SRB) v Jagiellonia (POL), Vikingur (ISL) v Panathinaikos (GRE) (all 1745), Borac Banja Luka (BIH) v Olimpija Ljubljana (SLO), FC Copenhagen (DEN) v Heidenheim (GER), Gent (BEL) v Real Betis (ESP), Omonia (CYP) v Pafos (CYP)
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.
ORDER
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.
TFP: February 27, March 6 & 13, 2025
(sgd.) Hon. Josefina E. Siscar Presiding Judge
FC Porto’s Argentinian coach Martin Rodrigo Anselmi reacts during the UEFA Europa League knockout phase play-off first leg football match between FC Porto and Roma at Dragao stadium in Porto. MIGUEL RIOPA
‘Complete overhaul’: what went wrong for Pakistan in Champions Trophy
By Shahid HASHMI
Karachi, Pakistan — Title-holders and hosts Pakistan crashed out in the group phase of the Champions Trophy after losing to New Zealand and arch-rivals India.
They still have a match to play, against Bangladesh on Thursday, but their tournament is over -- a disappointing end to their first hosting of a major international cricket event in three decades.
AFP Sport looks at where it all went wrong for Mohammad Rizwan’s men in the 50-over tournament:
- Uncertain build-upRizwan was appointed whiteball skipper in October last year and led Pakistan to an impressive 2-1 ODI win over world champions Australia -- their first series victory in 22 years in the country.
They also won in Zimbabwe and inflicted on South Africa their
first home whitewash, with a 3-0 scoreline.
But fast-rising opener Saim Ayub injured his ankle during a subsequent Test in South Africa.
Pakistan delayed the announcement of their Champions Trophy squad until the deadline to wait on Ayub’s fitness but the lefthander failed to recover.
To add to the home team’s woes, fellow opener Fakhar Zaman was ruled out of the rest of the tournament after the first match -- a 60-run defeat to New Zealand -- with a muscle injury.
- Poor squad selection -
Pakistan selectors resisted calls from former players and pundits to include a second spinner in the 15man squad and instead chose only one in Abrar Ahmed.
They relied on part-time spinners Salman Agha and Khushdil Shah, who have managed just one wicket between them in two matches.
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION PASIG CITY
OFFICE OF THE CLERK OF COURT AND EX-OFFICIO SHERIFF
RIZAL COMMERCIAL BANKING CORPORATION, represented by Atty. Leonardo A. Yepes, Jr., Mortgagee, -versus-
SPOUSES JOHN ALSON L. ELISEO AND CLARA L. ELISEO, as represented by Atty-in-Fact John Albert L. Eliseo, Respondents/Mortgagors,
FILE NO. F-25-012-REM EXTRA JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE OF REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE UNDER ACT 3135, AS AMENDED BY ACT 4118
NOTICE OF SHERIFF’S SALE
Upon extra-judicial petition for sale under Act 3135 as amended by Act 4118 filed by mortgagee, RIZAL COMMERCIAL BANKING CORPORATION, represented by Atty. Leonardo A. Yepes Jr., with principal office at 28th Floor, AT Yuchengco Centre, 25th & 26th Sts., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, City, against the debtors/mortgagors,
SPOUSES JOHN ALSON L. ELISEO AND CLARA L. ELISEO, as represented by Atty-in-Fact
John Albert L. Eliseo, with given postal address/es at [1] P6-00 3rd corner 14th Street, Villamor Airbase, Pasay City; [2] Unit 28 F-D The Currency F Ortigas Jr. Rd. corner Julia Vargas Ave., Ortigas Center, Pasig City; [3] Unit 403 Benrosi Suites, 1209 P. Ocampo St., Vito Cruz, Malate, Manila, and for the satisfaction of the mortgaged debt which as of January 6, 2025 amounts to TWO MILLION SIX HUNDRED NINETY ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED NINETY FOUR PESOS & 41/100 (P2,691,294.41) exclusive of interest, penalty and other charges, and all legal fees and expenses incidental to this foreclosure and sale, the Clerk of Court and Ex-Officio Sheriff of Pasig City or her duly authorized sheriff, will sell at public auction on 07 May 2025 at 10:00 o’clock in the morning or soon thereafter in-front of the Main Entrance of the Pasig City Hall, Pasig City, to the highest bidder and for CASH or CERTIFIED CHECK, in Philippine Currency, the following described real property with all its improvements existing thereon, to wit: CONDOMINIUM CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. 011-2021014508
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that the unit identified and described as:
RESIDENTIAL UNIT D — A RESIDENTIAL STUDIO CONDOMINIUM UNIT LOCATED AT THE TWENTY-EIGHT FLOOR LEVEL OF “THE CURRENCY 01” WITH AN AREA OF 25.00 SQUARE METERS, MORE OR LESS in the diagrammatic floor plan appended to the enabling or master deed of the condominium project annotated on TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE PT-119284 which embraces and describes the land located at JULIA VARGAS AVE., COR. EMERALD AVE., ORTIGAS CENTER, PASIG CITY with an area of TWO THOUSAND FIFTEEN (2,015) Square Meter.
Prospective buyers and/or bidders are hereby enjoined to investigate for themselves the title of the real property and the encumbrances thereon, if there be any.
All sealed bids must be submitted to the undersigned on the above-stated time and date.
In the event the public auction should not take place on the said date, it shall be held on 28 May, 2025 at the same time and place without further notice. Pasig City, February 4, 2025.
(sgd.) EDWIN S. CARIÑO Sheriff IV
(sgd.) ATTY. ROSALIE C. AROSA Clerk of Court & Ex-Officio Sheriff
Pakistan also erred by not selecting a regular opener and took the risky step of promoting out-ofform Babar Azam to partner Zaman.
When Zaman was ruled out they brought in Imam-ul-Haq as a replacement. He made just 10 as Pakistan were crushed by title favourites India by six wickets.
In a surprise move they included in the squad all-rounders Khushdil and Faheem Ashraf on the basis of their performances in Bangladesh’s Twenty20 league.
Ashraf had not played an ODI
English cricket’s Hundred valued at almost £1 billion
By Julian Guyer
London, United Kingdom — The cascade of cash into English cricket created by the auction of stakes in Hundred franchises climaxed on Wednesday with a deal for Southern Brave.
It takes the total value of the eight-team tournament close to a mammoth £1 billion ($1.2 billion).
GMR, the owners of the Brave’s host county Hampshire and the coowners of Indian Premier League franchise Delhi Capitals, have agreed to pay a reported fee of nearly £50 million for a 49 percent holding in the team.
A period of exclusivity between the counties and their prospective investors will now ensue as details of each deal for a club in the 100 balls per side competition, which features both men and women’s teams, are finalised.
But with the sales process complete, it means the eight teams -- which only played their first matches in 2021 -- have been valued at a remarkable collective figure in excess of £950 million.
The Hundred, has proved controversial, with many English and Welsh county fans angry at the way the tournament deprives their clubs of key players at the height of the season.
But cricket chiefs say funds raised from sales in Hundred franchises will support the 18 tradition-al counties, with current figures way in excess of the ECB’s lowest original estimate of £350 mil-lion.
The biggest individual Hundred deal was for the Lord’s-based London Spirit, with a Silicon Valley consortium paying £145 million for a minority share in a team whose total worth is valued at more than £290 million.
Four groups from the lucrative IPL, cricket’s wealthiest franchise competition, are now involved in the Hundred.
In addition to GMR, the other IPL outfits with Hundred stakes are Reliance (Mumbai Indians and Oval Invincibles), Sun Group (Sunrisers Hyderabad and Northern Superchargers) and RPSG (Lucknow Supergiants and Manchester Originals).
Todd Boehly, co-owner of Premier League club Chelsea, has agreed to pay nearly £40 million for 49 percent of the Trent Rockets.
for two years and Khushdil for three.
Former Pakistan captain and television pundit Rashid Latif called it a “political selection”, blaming outside influence.
- Old-style cricketFormer Pakistan captain and popular all-rounder Shahid Afridi accused Pakistan of playing outdated cricket.
“In 2025 Pakistan was playing the cricket style of the 1980s and 1990s while other teams had progressed well to adopt an aggressive and modern style,” he told AFP.
“The ailment of playing too many dot balls also hurt our game.”
Pakistan played 152 dot balls against India in scoring 241 in 49.4 overs, including a record 28 balls with no scores in the first six overs. Their total of 260 in 47.2 overs in the defeat to New Zealand had 162 dot balls.
“The mindset of Pakistan players does not match with modern-day cricket,” said Afridi.
“We need a complete overhaul of the system so that we can produce players with an aggressive mindset.”
PUBLIC NOTICE
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH 184-MANILA
Email Add: rtc1mnl184@judiciary.gov.ph Contact Nos. (02) 8255190 / 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
Given this 21st of February 2025, in the City of Manila, Philippines.
Copy furnished:
PUBLICATION: “THE FOREIGN POST”
DATES: February 20, 27 & March 6, 2025
Copy furnished:
RIZAL COMMERCIAL BANKING CORPORATION, represented by Atty. Leonardo A. Yepes, Jr., 28th Floor, AT Yuchengco Centre, 25th & 26th Sts., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, City
SPOUSES JOHN ALSON L. ELISEO AND CLARA L. ELISEO as represented by Atty-in-Fact John Albert L. Eliseo
[1] P6-00 3rd corner 14th Street, Villamor Airbase, Pasay City
[2] Unit 28 F-D The Currency F Ortigas Jr. Rd. corner Julia Vargas Ave., Ortigas Center, Pasig City
[3] Unit 403 Benrosi Suites, 1209 P. Ocampo St., Vito Cruz, Malate, Manila
Further US interest has come from Knighthead Capital, whose investors include former NFL star Tom Brady, with the group adding a stake in Birmingham Phoenix to their existing ownership of Birmingham City football club.
And tech entrepreneur Sanjay Govil, who also owns Washington Freedom, the champions of America’s Major League Cricket, has agreed to pay Glamorgan £40 million for 49 percent of the Welsh Fire.
(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
India’s captain Rohit Sharma (2L) and his teammate Virat Kohli (2R) celebrate their team’s win in the ICC Champions Trophy one-day international (ODI) cricket match between New Zealand and India at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai.
FADEL SENNA
Boxing moves ‘one step closer’ to 2028 Olympics place
Lausanne, Switzerland —
The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday provisionally recognised World Boxing as the body to oversee the sport at future Games.
The IOC has severed links with the International Boxing Association (IBA), the long-standing ruling body of amateur boxing, over financial, governance and ethical concerns and stepped in to organise the sport at last year’s Paris Olympics.
The IBA is chaired by the Kremlin-linked Russian Umar Kremlev.
Boxing is not currently part of the programme for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and IOC president Thomas Bach had warned that boxing’s national federations needed to find a new and “reliable” international partner if it wanted to be included.
In a statement recognising World Boxing as the sport’s amateur
‘We
federation, the IOC said the body “has demonstrated strong willingness and effort in enhancing good governance and implementation, to be compliant with the appropriate standards”.
World Boxing, founded in 2023 and which has 78 members led by the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia and Brazil, hailed the IOC’s decision as “an important milestone”.
“Keeping its place at the Olympic Games is absolutely critical to the future of our sport at every level, from the grassroots to the highest echelons of professional boxing, and this decision by the IOC takes us one step closer to our objective of seeing boxing restored to the Olympic programme,” World Boxing’s president Boris van der Vorst said.
Kazakhstan’s former twotime unified world middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin heads World Boxing’s Olympic Commission and in that role has been liaising closely with the IOC.
“Receiving provisional Olympic recognition from the IOC is an important achievement and demonstrates that our sport is on the
will be back’: Guardiola vows to rebuild Man City
By Steven GRIFFITHS
London, United Kingdom — Pep
Guardiola insisted Manchester City will be a Premier League force again in the future after Erling Haaland sealed a 1-0 win at Tottenham on Wednesday.
Haaland’s clinical finish in the
12th minute bolstered City’s bid to qualify for next season’s Champions League as they moved into fourth place.
Battling to finish in the top four is a significant letdown for City after they won the last four Premier League titles to make it six in seven seasons for Guardiola.
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
Office of the Solicitor General 134 Amorsolo Street, Legaspi Village, Makati City
Liverpool look almost certain to take the title this season, but City -beaten 2-0 by the Reds on Sunday -have been out of the race for months after a dismal period which has left them 20 points adrift of the leaders.
With City also out of the Champions League following their play-off loss to Real Madrid, Guardiola has only the FA Cup left as a path to silverware this season.
But in the longer-term, the Spaniard remains convinced City can be restored to their former glory despite a team ageing in some positions and lacking Premier League experience in others.
The good and bad sides to City’s spluttering team were on full display in north London as they started brightly but wasted a series of chances to increase their lead before clinging on under heavy pressure after the interval.
“Never will be this season the old City,” Guardiola said. “Old City were too good, but we will be back.
“The game, it was open second half because we didn’t close the first. In this stadium always they have 20 to 25 minutes and second half we suffered.
“It’s happened many times this season that we give away an unbelievable amount of goals and up front there are many games, like Champions League at Sporting we should be 1-3 or 1-4 in the first half and we lost 4-1. Many times it happens and today fortunately it finished good.”
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou claimed overeagerness hurt his injury-hit team during a onesided first half.
Postecoglou’s men have endured a season almost as troubled as City’s, leaving them in 13th place and chasing Europa League glory to end a 17-year trophy drought.
“First half we were just a little bit too eager to get forward with the ball. I thought we were really wasteful and when you are against City, it allows them to get into a rhythm,” Postecoglou said.
“They can pick you off at different times and we just didn’t handle that part of the game well. They scored and had a couple of good chances to get further ahead.
“I certainly felt second half we dominated the game and territory. We were pretty relentless. Much better with the ball and a lot calmer but just missing a goal and ultimately fell short.
“It’s disappointing to lose again and that’s the main feeling, but it did look more like us today.”
right path,” said Golovkin, the silver medallist from the 2004 Athens Games.
Aside from removing the status of the IBA, the IOC clashed with the federation during Paris 2024 over the participation of two female boxers, Algeria’s Imane Khelif and
Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting.
The IBA banned the fighters during the 2023 World Championships following a chromosome test, citing gender ineligibility issues, but the IOC allowed them to compete in Paris and both won gold medals.
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 Certificate of Interest in N/A N/A Maya Maya Cottages, Inc. Inco
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
Copy furnished: HERRERA TEEHANKEE & CABRERA LAW OFFICES ATTY. JAMIE ROSE M. PALACOL Counsel for petitioner Clerk of Court & Ex-officio Sheriff 5th Floor, SGV II Building Regional Trial Court of Makati
(FILES) Kyrgyzstan’s Munarbek Seiitbek Uulu and Bulgaria’s Javier Ibanez Diaz (Blue) compete in the men’s 57kg semi-final boxing match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Roland-Garros Stadium in Paris. MAURO PIMENTEL
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‘Brat’ icon Charli XCX picks up Brit award for best songwriter
London, United Kingdom — British pop sensation and “brat summer” icon Charli XCX
Wednesday won the Brit award for best songwriter of the year, putting her in pole position to scoop up the most honours in a weekend ceremony.
awards -- the highest of any artist -- including the nod for the coveted artist of the year prize.
The 32-year-old also has five nominations going into Saturday’s
“Charli’s songwriting is distinctive, bold and relentlessly
innovative,” said Damian Christian, chair of the 2025 Brit committee.
And he added her highly successful album “Brat” had “taken her craft to new heights”.
“Brat”, Charli’s sixth album launched in June, transformed her into one of the top music stars in 2024, with its lime-green cover and celebration of a relaxed, partying lifestyle.
It re-defined the word “brat” with Charli describing a “brat girl” as someone “who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes, who feels herself, but then also maybe has a breakdown, but kind of parties through it”.
The word even became associated with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris when fans began applying the coloured “brat” filter to the nominee’s images.
Charli XCX, real name Charlotte Emma Aitchison, voiced approval with a sign-off -- “kamala IS brat” -- swiftly embraced by the Harris campaign.
In November, just days before Harris’s presidency bid ended in defeat, Collins dictionary designated “brat” as its Word of the Year.
In past years, star singersongwriters Ed Sheeran and Raye were also crowned with the best songwriter award ahead of the main competition.
Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift, The Beatles, The Cure are all up for awards along with Charli XCX on Saturday.
The 45th annual Brit Awards at London’s O2 Arena will recognise the top musical talent of 2024, and also feature live performances from indie singer Sam Fender and US rapper Teddy Swims.
The coveted Best Album Of The Year Award will be fought out by Charli XCX, veteran goth band The Cure, seven-time Brit winner Dua Lipa, jazz group Ezra Collective and indie-rockers The Last Dinner Party.
US singer Sabrina Carpenter, who is up for the International Artist Of The Year Award, will be presented with the Brits Global Success award on the night, in recognition of her mammoth global sales in 2024.
The Brit Awards have recognised the cream of British pop music since they were first held in 1977, and have often been peppered with scandal and farce.
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA: (L-R) Devin Freeman and Former Vice President Kamala Harris, winner of the Chairman’s Award, pose in the press room during the 56th NAACP Image Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California.
ROBIN L MARSHALL