An asteroid wider than the tallest building in the world will cross Earth’s orbit next week, media reports said Wednesday. Named 7482 (1994 PC1), the asteroid is slated to fly by Jan. 18 but is not expected to threaten Earth with a direct collision. But it will come within roughly 1.2 million miles, close enough to earn the “potentially hazardous” label from NASA for its “potential to make threatening approaches to the Earth,” according to the space agency, as reported by CBS News. The agency began tracking the asteroid in 1994. It is traveling at 47,344 kilometers per hour (29,418

Novak Djokovic was included in the Australian Open official draw on Thursday, although it is still uncertain whether the government will cancel his visa for a second time. World no. 1 was drawn with fellow Miomir Kecmanovic, who is ranked 78th, for his first-round match. On Jan. 4, Djokovic said he had been granted a medical exemption from being vaccinated for Covid-19, but after his arrival, the Australian Border Force canceled his visa. After he was sent to an immigration detention hotel in Melbourne, a federal court ordered his release. Australia mandates all players to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19

Positive sentiments continued to buoy the local bourse on Thursday, and this benefited the local currency as well after it again touched the 50-level against the US dollar. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained by 1.28 percent, or 92.62 points, to 7,307.75 points. All Shares increased by 1.05 percent, or 40.20 points, to 3,870.11 points. Mining and Oil posted the highest gain among the sectoral indexes with a jump of 2.24 percent. It was trailed by the Financials, 1.75 percent; Services, 1.55 percent; Industrial, 1.38 percent; Holding Firms, 0.93 percent; and Property, 0.59 percent. Volume reached 1.50 billion shares

A total of 130 communist terrorist group members and supporters in Northern and Central Luzon have returned to the fold of the law since Dec. 1, 2021. Maj. Gen. Andrew Costelo, acting commander of the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) and concurrent commander of Joint Task Force Kaugnay, said on Thursday the surrenderers include 15 regular New People’s Army (NPA) rebels, 12 Militia ng Bayan, one arrested personality, and 102 members of different NPA-affiliated mass organizations in the two Luzon areas. In addition, Costelo said a total of 17 firearms and three improvised explosive devices were recovered since December last year.

The Negros Occidental provincial government will not impose restrictions for travelers from this capital city, which will be placed under Alert Level 3 starting January 14. Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II said on Thursday said this way, the movement of people and vehicles within Negros Occidental will remain smooth. “It would be impractical to have border controls. Even during the times when our quarantine classifications were changing, it was still okay,” he added. Negros Occidental remains under Alert Level 2 until the end of January, based on the recommendation of the national Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has signed an executive order (EO) adopting an “integrated approach” in the ratification and accession to international maritime organization conventions and instruments. Signed by Duterte last December 28 and released to reporters on Thursday, EO 159 has also reconstituted and renamed the Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee on the Ratification and Implementation of Maritime Conventions (ICCRIMC) to the Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee to Facilitate the Ratification and Accession to and Implementation of Maritime Conventions (ICCFRAIMC). The ICCRIMC was created in 2015 under the Department of Transportation and Communications and now the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to monitor developments and