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Australia, Britain Criticize China for Actions in Hong Kong
SYDNEY - Australia and Britain on Friday criticized China for its actions in Hong Kong and the South China Sea and its support of Russia, after a meeting in which London and Canberra deepened their security ties.The two countries called out 'recent unsafe and destabilizing behavior by China's vessels against Philippine vessels and crew near Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea,' in a statement that contain.....»»
GCash sets sights on further international expansion
With GCash Overseas, Filipinos in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany, Qatar, Kuwait, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia can now download and use the GCash app, whether they have Philippine SIMs or local mobile phone numbers in the countries or territories where they live......»»
Elijah Woods on first-ever Asia tour, ‘loving’ Filipino fans
Canadian singer-songwriter and producer Elijah Woods (stylized as elijah woods) is bringing to Asia his ilu 24/7, 365 tour. The series of shows will commence on May 13 in Singapore and travel through Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Manila, Tokyo and Taipei......»»
Hong Kong, Philippines work to enhance relations
Filipinos are slowly beginning to travel back to Hong Kong following continued efforts by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office to woo tourists from the Philippines, as well as renew and improve trade and economic ties between the two nations following the COVID-19 pandemic......»»
Thousands of Freddie Mercury’s personal items go on sale
A sale of thousands of items belonging to the charismatic Queen frontman Freddie Mercury got under way Wednesday in London, with the graffiti-covered green door of Mercury's home first to go under the hammer. The door of his Garden Lodge home in west London sold for £412,750 ($516,000) including buyer's premium and fees -- far in excess of the £15,000-25,000 estimate. Other items up for grabs at the Sotheby's auction range from manuscripts of Queen's biggest hits to furniture, paintings and knick-knacks. Among the highlights of Wednesday's "evening sale", which will be followed by two other live auctions and three online sales over the next week, is Mercury's piano. The Yamaha quarter-tail piano was bought by Mercury in 1975 and was used to create almost all of his greatest songs. It is expected to sell for £2 million-£3 million ($2.5 million-$3.75 million). Also on sale is the original manuscript for epic hit "Bohemian Rhapsody", whose 15 pages of pencil and ballpoint pen remarks reveal the different directions Mercury envisaged for the track. It also reveals that it was originally going to be called "Mongolian Rhapsody". Part of the proceeds will be donated to the Mercury Phoenix Trust and the Elton John Aids Foundation, two organisations involved in the fight against AIDS. In a message read out before the auction began by auctioneer Oliver Barker, John paid tribute to his friend. "I miss Freddie to this day. He was a wonderful friend more full of love and life than anyone I've ever met, as well as a brilliant performer whose music has inspired and thrilled millions," he said. "He was kind, generous and funny and it is a tragedy that AIDS took him from the world much too soon," he added. Auction fan Paintings by Chagall, Dali and Picasso that adorned Mercury's home, as well as the last painting he bought a month before his death from AIDS in 1991 -- an oil on canvas by James Jacques Joseph Tissot -- are also going under the hammer. The entire collection is being offered for sale by Mary Austin, a close friend and one-time fiancee of Mercury's. "Mary Austin has lived with the collection and has cared for the collection for more than three decades," Gabriel Heaton, a books and manuscripts specialist at Sotheby's, told AFP. Mercury "was not interested in having a museum of his life but he loved auctions", to the point of being a regular at Sotheby's sales, said Heaton. Austin believes the artist -- who was 45 when he died -- would have "loved" this sale, he added. Some 1,469 lots are going under the hammer at the famous London auction house, whose facade has been decorated with a huge moustache for the occasion. Many reveal another side of Mercury, including his passion for cats and for Japan -- as evidenced by his collection of kimonos and prints. Moustache comb Mercury's most flamboyant stage costumes, Hawaiian shirt and Superman tank top will also find new homes along with his personal polaroids and legendary snapper Mick Rock's shots. The finest bottles from his cellar, such as Dom Perignon champagne, are up for grabs alongside more intimate items, such as a book of personally annotated poetry and a moustache comb. Among the more playful items are a set of games including travel Scrabble, at which Mercury excelled. Before the sale, the auction house hosted the collection at a month-long exhibition, open to the public free of charge. Sotheby's estimated when the auction was announced in April that the lots would fetch at least £6 million. The auction house says it is the largest collection, by volume, of a cultural icon to go to auction since the Elton John sale in 1988, when 2,000 lots sold for a total of £4.8 million. The post Thousands of Freddie Mercury’s personal items go on sale appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
‘Must-have’ Japanese whisky turns 100 as demand soars
The famed Yamazaki distillery marks its 100th anniversary this year with plenty to celebrate, as Japan's acclaimed aged whiskies command increasingly eye-watering prices thanks to growing demand and longstanding shortages. Japan's oldest distillery has sat at the foot of a mountain outside Kyoto since it was built by Shinjiro Torii, the founder of Yamazaki maker Suntory, who wanted to make whisky suited to a Japanese palate. It is largely foreign demand, along with the relative scarcity of the most desirable decades-old bottles, that has pushed prices sky-high. A bottle of Yamazaki 55, with an official retail price of three million yen ($20,700), sold for a whopping $600,000 at a Sotheby's auction in New York last year. That was still well below the record $795,000 set at a Hong Kong auction in 2020. And in Japan's upscale Ginza district, a more modest Yamazaki 18 with a manufacturer's price of 32,000 yen ($220) is on sale for 120,000 yen. Suntory does not disclose production volume but the distillery's senior general manager Takahisa Fujii said it has risen dramatically over the past 20 years. The company announced plans this year to pump 10 billion yen into its Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries, but demand still far outstrips capacity. "We have received so many requests for our whisky from customers around the world, so we are trying to respond to them as best we can," Fujii said. The Yamazaki distillery welcomes dozens of visitors from Japan and abroad each day but those hoping to stock up on aged varieties come away disappointed. Peter Kaleta, a 35-year-old visitor who runs a bar in Poland, was crestfallen he couldn't buy one of his favourites. It's a "must-have" for whisky bars, he added, calling the lack of aged varieties "kind of depressing". - 'The boom is back' - Junpei Kusunoki, manager of Tokyo Whisky Library, a bar in the chic Omotesando district, is no stranger to the struggle for supply. "The whisky boom is back," he told AFP. "There's a quota in Omotesando area, so it's a war against competitors. We're trying everything to rake in" bottles. The location of Yamazaki's distillery is a world away from the Scottish terroir most associated with whisky but Fujii says the site was chosen for the region's famed water. Its renown traces back to the 16th century, when Japanese tea master Sen no Rikyu laboured nearby. "You can't make good liquor without good water," Fujii said, adding that the humid and misty environment helps age the whisky. The distillery's unique range of copper stills in different shapes and sizes also contribute to the brand's particular profile, he said. Yamazaki's layered and well-balanced flavours are considered a good match for Japanese cuisine, Fujii said. There are now around 100 distilleries across Japan, according to whisky critic Mamoru Tsuchiya, with a reputation for quality helping boost the profile of its tipples. The exorbitant prices are the result of a "lack of whisky at a time when demand from abroad has increased exponentially", he said. Today's success belies a 20-year downturn after domestic consumption peaked in 1983. "Sales were declining every year," said Nobuyuki Akiyama, head of Suntory's whisky marketing division, "... so the impact was big". - 'Make it Suntory time' - Things only started to turn around in the early 2000s, when Nikka Whisky's Yoichi 10 and Yamazaki 12 received prestigious international industry awards. And 2003 saw Suntory's Hibiki 17 play a starring role in the hit movie "Lost in Translation", featuring Bill Murray promoting the drink with the line: "For relaxing times, make it Suntory time." Domestic sales also recovered just as international demand began to rise, thanks in part to the revival of highballs, a mix of whisky and soda. A 2015 television drama based on the life of Nikka Whisky's founder also helped drive renewed domestic interest. The sudden uptick came too quickly for companies that have to plan production decades in advance. "We have Hibiki 30, for example, where we need to think about how many bottles we should make 30 years into the future," said Akiyama, adding it was "impossible" to predict the market so far in advance. For now, sales look likely to continue growing, with exports surging to 56 billion yen ($404.1 million) last year, 14 times more than a decade earlier. Judith Ly, a German visitor to the Yamazaki distillery, said she makes an exception for Japanese whisky. "Normally I don't drink whisky, but I like the taste," she said. "It's smooth. It's easy to drink." nf/sah/pbt/leg © Agence France-Presse The post ‘Must-have’ Japanese whisky turns 100 as demand soars appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Antipolo City throws support on Ajido
The Antipolo City government led by Mayor Casimiro “Jun” Ynares III will provide support to Antipolo-born swimmer Jamesray Mishael Ajido, who won the country’s lone gold medal in record-breaking fashion at the recent 11th Asian Age-Group Swimming Championships......»»
Hoffman boosts bid for Paris Paris
Olympics hopeful Lauren Hoffman yesterday set a new national record in the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a gold medal performance in the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational in Coral Gables, Florida......»»
Hoffman sets new Philippine hurdles record at Florida meet
Paris Olympics-hopeful Lauren Hoffman on Wednesday set a new national record in the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a gold medal performance in the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational in Coral Gables, Florida......»»
Philippines braces for La Nina, continues to deal with El Nino
MANILA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines will continue to implement measures to lessen the impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon, as it braces for the opposite La Nina weather pattern, Philippine Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum said Tuesday. Solidum said in a news conference that the Department of Science and Technology's record showed that as of Sunday, 37 provinces across the country hav.....»»
Upson income drops despite record revenue
Listed IT products retailer Upson International Corp. posted record high revenue in 2023 but lower gross margin and higher expenses dragged down profit for the year......»»
James Yap fulfilled after record All-Star appearance in Bacolod homecoming
James Yap claims the record for most PBA All-Star Game selections, seeing action for Team Mark in an entertaining clash with Team Japeth that ended in a draw in Bacolod City.....»»
Kristel Fulgar undergoes surgery for rare leg tumor
'It was the hardest challenge I faced in my life,' says the 'Goin' Bulilit' alum.....»»
Knowing one’s IP right
Copyright registrations at the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines or IPOPhl reached record-high levels last year. And this, according to IPOPhl, signifies increased awareness of the importance of copyright registration......»»
GT Capital posts record high core earnings in 2023
GT Capital Holdings Inc., the listed conglomerate of the Ty Group finished 2023 with all-time high core earnings, buoyed by record-setting financial results from core businesses......»»
Investors swarm T-bond auction
Investors swarmed the latest offering of long-term securities, resulting in slightly lower rates and allowing the government to raise P30 billion......»»
Harrison Ford s Star Wars script fetches £10,795 at UK sale
An original draft "Star Wars" script left in a London apartment by "Han Solo" actor Harrison Ford sold at a UK auction for £10,795 ($13,600) on Saturday......»»
Brownlee to auction off Asian Games jersey, shoes for charity
Justin Brownlee aims to raise millions for charity as he plans to auction off the jersey and shoes he wore when he steered Gilas Pilipinas to a dramatic come-from-behind win over host China in the Asian Games.....»»
DOE slates 3rd round of Green Energy Auction
Another round of the Green Energy Auction will be conducted this year as part of the country’s utilization of renewable energy resources and attainment of energy security and reliability, the Department of Energy said......»»
P115 million worth of properties up for auction
State-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. is set to dispose P115.1 million worth of various properties of padlocked banks......»»