Nov 9, 2026
MANILA, Philippines — The prosecution on Monday presented purported Google Maps views of Vice President Sara Duterte’s property in Matina Crossing, Davao City, as it questioned whether the property was properly declared in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN). During Day 40 of the Duterte impeachment trial, prosecution counsel Benjamin Tolosa Jr.
MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives rechanneled P115.82 billion from the executive’s spending plan, Bataan Rep. Albert “Abet” Garcia said on Monday, revising the previous P116.32 billion figure that a special panel of lawmakers reportedly finalized last month. Garcia, the senior vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, revealed that the realignments were about
MANILA, Philippines – Major political parties in the House of Representatives backed on Monday the full disclosure of congressional district allocations under the proposed 2027 budget. Representatives of majority bloc parties – National Unity Party (NUP), Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrat (Lakas-CMD), Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) and Nacionalista Party (NP) – expressed
SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur — A 34-year-old man who spent months impersonating an Army soldier to run an alleged elaborate swindling racket across Mindanao has been arrested, leaving behind a trail of swindled vehicles, gadgets, and over P100,000 in stolen cash. The suspect, identified only as alias “Jan,” was apprehended in Purok 6, Barangay
MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Monday filed an agricultural economic sabotage complaint against thirteen individuals allegedly involved in smuggling cigarettes worth P13 billion. READ: BOC seizes over P1.17-B suspected smuggled cigarettes in Cebu port According to NBI Director Melvin Matibag, the case stems from the 59 container vans seized by
Sogang University has ranked No. 1 in the university category for the 13th consecutive year in the Korean Standard-Service Quality Index (KS-SQI) survey conducted by the Korean Standards Association (KSA). The university said it earned an overall score of 86.5 points in this year's survey, maintaining its top position in the category since 2014. It received particularly high scores in accuracy, friendliness and social value. The second-half survey covered 238 organizations across 58 general and platform service industries. The 2026 KS-SQI certification ceremony was held on Wednesday at the Grand Ballroom of Signiel Seoul in Lotte World Tower in southern Seoul. It drew about 200 attendees, including representatives of award-winning organizations. The KS-SQI is a service quality measurement model jointly developed by the KSA and Seoul National University’s Institute of Management Research. Designed to reflect the characteristics of Korea’s service industry and consumers, the index serves as a comprehensive measure of service quality nationwide. Since 2000, the KSA has conducted the surve
Itaewon Global Village Center will offer free internal medicine check-ups for all foreign residents this Saturday as part of its Community Closet event. The check-ups will cover only seasonal illnesses such as fever, colds, coughs, the flu and related issues, and medicine will be provided free of charge in partnership with CCC AGAPE, a Korean medical service group. Marking its eighth edition, the Community Closet event, held twice a year in spring and autumn, is built around a simple but powerful principle: foreigners helping foreigners. Since 2023, the initiative has continued to grow, helping residents access essential items while encouraging a culture of sharing and reuse. Designed as a more dignified way to share, it is a free shopping event that allows foreign residents in need to receive donated clothes and household items in a welcoming environment. “For foreign residents navigating life in South Korea, finding a sense of belonging can be just as important as finding practical support," Katherine Ann Corteza, the center’s director, told The Korea Times. Originally from the Phi
Kwak Su-ryang, a professor in Kookmin University’s Department of Integrative Biotechnology, has been named to the 2026 World’s Top 2% Scientists list jointly released by Stanford University and Elsevier. The list recognizes the top 2 percent of researchers in their respective fields based on a comprehensive assessment of research performance, including citation metrics and publication output, using data from Elsevier’s Scopus database. Kwak’s research focuses on designing functional microorganisms and biomaterials using synthetic and computational biology, and evaluating their potential applications in precision medicine through multi-omics approaches. His notable achievements include a study published in Microbiome in 2020 that identified the effects of fecal microbiota transplantation on the gut microbiome and resistome, or the collection of antibiotic resistance genes in the human digestive system. Another study, published in Biomaterials in 2022, used metabolic engineering to identify and enhance the prebiotic properties of oligosaccharides in yeast cell walls. “I am gratefu
The University of Seoul held an admissions information session at the University of Languages and International Studies of Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Oct. 30, as part of its efforts to attract talented students from overseas. The University of Seoul said the event drew approximately 360 participants, including students enrolled in Korean language departments at local Vietnamese universities. The information session was organized to introduce local students firsthand to the university’s academic strengths and admission procedures, while expanding its efforts to attract talented international students. Faculty members from six colleges and the university’s Korean Language and Culture Program engaged with local students and provided one-on-one consultations for students interested in studying in Korea. The six colleges were the College of Government and Economics, the College of Business Administration, the College of Humanities, the College of Natural Sciences, the College of Artificial Intelligence and the College of Engineering. By having its faculty members directly introduc
President Lee Jae Myung's approval rating fell to 35.9 percent last week likely due to an intense political standoff over legislation and stock market volatility, a pollster said Monday. Positive assessments of Lee's job performance dropped by 1 percentage point from the previous week in the poll conducted on 2,528 adults from last Monday to Friday, according to Realmeter. Negative assessments rose by 0.5 percentage point to 60.6 percent, while 3.4 percent of respondents said they were not sure. Realmeter attributed the lower approval rating to last week's standoff between the ruling and main opposition parties over a bill calling for a special counsel investigation into alleged fabricated indictments targeting the president and others. The bill passed the National Assembly on Friday, led by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). The pollster also attributed the decline to last week's sharp fall in the KOSPI stock market index to below 5,000 points and other volatility in the financial sector. Meanwhile, support for the two largest parties came to 36.5 percent for the DPK and 39.7 per
President Lee Jae Myung on Monday vowed to hire more firefighters and increase investment in strengthening their capabilities to ensure public safety amid diverse disaster risks. Lee made the pledge during a ceremony marking the 64th Day of Firefighting in the central city of Sejong, attended by government officials, firefighters, those who died while on duty and their bereaved families. The president stressed the ongoing climate crisis is increasing the diversity and scale of disasters, likely making them more complicated and difficult for firefighters to combat. "Preparing for and responding to changes a step ahead of time would be the way to protect the people's lives and ensure their safety," Lee said. He pledged to hire more firefighters, strengthen their command system and expand investment to enable them to respond more promptly and systematically to disasters and ensure public safety. Through the investment, the government plans to harness artificial intelligence (AI) and drones to identify risk factors, and undertake dangerous rescue operations while deploying cutting-edge defense
Leaders of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) gathered outside Cheong Wa Dae on Monday to protest the recent passage of a bill calling for a special counsel investigation into alleged fabricated indictments targeting President Lee Jae Myung and others. The PPP leadership held a Supreme Council meeting outside the presidential office, after the ruling Democratic Party of Korea railroaded the bill through a plenary session of the National Assembly on Friday. The legislation calls for appointing an independent counsel to investigate suspicions the prosecution under former President Yoon Suk Yeol fabricated evidence or induced false testimonies to build cases against then opposition leader Lee and others. The PPP has denounced the effort as a pretext to cancel all of Lee's indictments, as his trials have been suspended under an article of the Constitution that exempts a sitting president from criminal prosecution except in cases of insurrection or treason. Lee faces charges of involvement in corrupt development schemes, illegal remittances to North Korea, and the misuse of a govern
