No rain, but ....

 LOOK: No rain, but the corner of Magsayay Park experienced minor street flooding due to the effect of "taub" if High Tide in the coastal area of this city early in the morning, October 8, 2025.

#HighTide #DavaoCity #DavaoUpdates

screengrab from RPV moto travelvlog/Facebook

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959Niña Belarmino, Yenoh Chan Desu and 957 others

Einbürgerung frühestens nach fünf Jahren

Stand:08.10.2025, 18:07 Uhr

Kommentare

Innenminister Dobrindt warnt vor Anreizen für illegale Migration. © Niklas Graeber/dpa

Dass Zuwanderer nach drei Jahren einen deutschen Pass erhalten, hat den damaligen Oppositionsparteien CDU und CSU nie gepasst. Jetzt sind sie in der Regierung und machen das Ampel-Gesetz rückgängig.

Berlin - Die von der Ampel-Koalition eingeführte „Turbo-Einbürgerung“ für besonders gut integrierte Ausländer ist wieder Geschichte. Mit den Stimmen der schwarz-roten Koalition und der AfD beschloss der Bundestag die Abschaffung der erst im vergangenen Jahr eingeführten Regelung. Statt drei Jahren müssen die Betroffenen künftig mindestens fünf Jahre regulär in Deutschland leben, ehe sie einen deutschen Pass erhalten können.     

Innenminister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) erklärte, die Einbürgerung stehe am Ende eines Integrationsprozesses und nicht am Anfang: „Der deutsche Pass muss als Anerkennung für gelungene Integration zur Verfügung stehen und nicht als Anreiz für illegale Migration.“

Beschleunigte Einbürgerung nur selten genutzt

Von der bisherigen Sonderregelung hatten aber ohnehin nur wenige Zuwanderer profitiert. Im Juni dieses Jahres ergab eine Umfrage der Deutschen Presse-Agentur, dass die beschleunigte Einbürgerung bundesweit lediglich in einigen hundert Fällen zur Anwendung kam.  

Den Unionsparteien war die Reform der Vorgänger-Regierung von Anfang an ein Dorn im Auge. Deshalb war die Abschaffung bereits im schwarz-roten Koalitionsvertrag vereinbart worden.

Die SPD-Abgeordnete Eichwede verteidigt die Rücknahme der Reform. © Niklas Graeber/dpa

Die stellvertretende SPD-Fraktionsvorsitzende Sonja Eichwede sagte unter Verweis auf die niedrigen Fallzahlen, die beschleunigte Einbürgerung sei nicht der zentrale Hebel beim Staatsbürgerschaftsrecht. Wichtiger sei, dass die Möglichkeit der doppelten Staatsangehörigkeit bestehen bleibe.  

Opposition sieht Schaden für die Integration

Deutliche Kritik an der Rückabwicklung kam hingegen von Grünen und Linken. Die „rückwärtsgewandte Politik“ der Koalition schade der Integration, sagte Filiz Polat, Parlamentarische Geschäftsführerin der Grünen-Fraktion. Ferat Kocak von der Linken warf CDU und CSU sogar vor: „Mit Ihrer Migrationspolitik machen Sie den Hass der AfD salonfähig.“ dpa

Rente mit 70? Spahn sagt Anstieg des Eintrittsalters voraus

Stand:08.10.2025, 15:03 Uhr

Von: Clara Dzemla   

Die Rente in der Krise: Jens Spahn sieht in Zukunft die Rente ab 70. Die Merz-Regierung diskutiert über die Aktivrente. Ein Überblick.

Berlin – Jens Spahn (CDU) hat vorausgesagt, dass das Renteneintrittsalter in den 2030er Jahren weiter steigen wird. Bei der Rente ab 67, die planmäßig 2031 erreicht wird, könne es nicht bleiben. Das sagte Spahn am Montag in der ARD-Sendung „Maischberger“. Das Rentenalter werde „schrittweise Jahr um Jahr und dann Monat um Monat weiter steigen müssen.“ Im Bundestag wird aktuell über ein Rentenpaket diskutiert. Zum Gesetzesentwurf gehören die Stabilisierung der Rentenhöhe bei 48 Prozent und die sogenannte Aktivrente.   

In etwa zehn Jahren könnten Menschen erst mit 70 in Rente gehen © picture alliance/Britta Pedersen

Hintergrund der Diskussion sind die steigenden Ausgaben für die Rente. Allein in diesem Jahr ist fast ein Drittel des Bundeshaushalts für das Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales vorgesehen. Der Großteil davon entfällt auf die Rentenversicherung. Und diese Ausgaben werden in den kommenden Jahren und Jahrzehnten weiter steigen: Denn aufgrund des demografischen Wandels gehen immer mehr Menschen in Rente, während immer weniger Menschen arbeiten. Außerdem beziehen die Rentnerinnen und Rentner aufgrund der steigenden Lebenserwartung immer länger Rente. Beide Faktoren lassen die Ausgaben des Staats und die Rentenbeiträge immer weiter ansteigen.   

Merz-Regierung will Renteneintrittsalter schrittweise erhöhen

Eine Lösung dafür ist, das Renteneintrittsalter der Lebenserwartung anzupassen. Nach der aktuellen Gesetzeslage geht man mit 66 Jahren in Rente, bis 2031 soll die Grenze auf 67 Jahre angehoben werden. Ein Gremium um Bundeswirtschaftsministerin Katharina Reiche (CDU) hatte jüngst die Rente ab 70 gefordert. Ein Vorbild ist Dänemark. „Wenn wir immer länger leben, werden wir einen Teil dieser längeren Lebenszeit auch arbeiten müssen“, sagte auch Spahn bei Maischberger. Allerdings sei eine Rente ab 70 für ihn zum aktuellen Zeitpunkt nicht die richtige Debatte.

Allerdings ist es nicht so, dass alle Menschen mit 66 Jahren in Rente gehen. Wie der Tagesspiegel vorrechnet, nutzte fast ein Viertel der Rentnerinnen und Rentner letztes Jahr die sogenannte „Rente mit 63“. Denn nach der aktuellen Regelung kann man 45 Jahren Beitragszahlung in Rente gehen – und das auch mit weniger als 66 Jahren. Die Altersgrenze dafür wird schrittweise angehoben, bis 65 Jahren für den Geburtsjahrgang 1965 und alle Jüngeren. Ökonominnen und Ökonomen kritisieren diese Rente nach 45 Jahren. Sie entziehe dem Arbeitsmarkt dringend benötigte Arbeitskräfte. Laut Tagesspiegel wird das Modell deutlich häufiger in Anspruch genommen, als es bei seiner Einführung erwartet worden war. Der Anstieg des Renteneintrittsalters auf 67 Jahre betrifft also nicht für alle Menschen, ein Großteil kann weiter früher in Rente gehen.   

Merz-Regierung: Renten sollen bei 48 Prozent stabil bleiben

Trotz der steigenden Ausgaben will die Bundesregierung die Höhe der Rente stabilisieren. Das war ein zentrales Wahlversprechen der SPD und steht jetzt Gesetzesentwurf für das Rentenpaket. Ziel ist, die Standardrente bei 48 Prozent des Durchschnittseinkommens zu halten. Die Standardrente ist die Rente, die nach 45 Beitragsjahren mit durchschnittlichem Einkommen gezahlt wird.

Learning languages, growing grit

 

BY INEZ PONCE-DE LEON

OCTOBER 8, 2025

Read Next

Republic Weekly, 1971

In last week’s column (see “Learning languages, seeing realities,” (10/01/25), I wrote about the 2025 Speak Dating event, where I got to both brush up on my languages and make new friends.

While awaiting our turn at the Ukrainian booth, I met a young professional who wants to learn languages because she is so interested in European politics. She could talk about European policies, Ursula von der Leyen and her work before she took leadership of the European Union, and the Russia-Ukraine war, which she connected to our conflicts with China in the West Philippine Sea from both economic and ideological standpoints.

I found myself having to dig through my memories, because my goodness, she could talk! I had met only very few people like her, and most of them are already faculty members in political science or international relations.

Her friends often criticized her as being too quiet, she said, almost exasperatedly; but she also said that she would rather remain silent than speak up and feign interest for a topic that she didn’t understand or like.

She wasn’t someone educated in what we often label as our top educational institutions, nor was she employed by a diplomatic office. She had a desk job, had come from a city university, and was simply eager to learn.

My fellow faculty members would call this grit. It’s what professors dream of when we interact with students, what thesis advisers love when they watch their advisees grow from student-hood to scholarship, what non-academic circles prize when they seek out new hires.

Some might lambast the idea of grit: that it glorifies long hours of work at the expense of one’s health, both physical and mental; that it encourages the growth of bad systems because it reduces people to their output; that it makes people workhorses rather than valued members of society.

The problem with this kind of thinking is that it equates grit with effort. There is no critical examination as to whether that effort is truly fruitful and efficient, or simply effort performed for the sake of showing that one is doing something.

We see this in our students when they negotiate their grades with us, and say that we didn’t see their “effort.” Their output, however, shows that the process they went through wasn’t right: they did work at the last minute, didn’t move systematically from one idea to the next, were too focused on grades.

We have to keep reminding them that the A does not stand for “average.” Rather, an A is given to those who can rival even our graduate students, who take risks and work beyond their comfort zones, who are unafraid of uncertainty, who can show that they have a broader understanding of the connections among disparate concepts.

Grit is not working hard per se. It’s showing that one is willing to put in the long hours of thinking and sorting out ideas, but is also willing to be criticized when those ideas fall flat. It is the ability to appreciate that not everyone will be gentle, or will speak your language, or will know how to cushion the blows of criticism. It is effort joined with humility. It is a willingness and flexibility to learn and unlearn.

Last week, my fellow professors and I echoed these sentiments as we went through strategy planning. We could only do so much planning, but if our students aren’t willing to make mistakes and to bounce back from them with renewed vigor, then our plans would amount to nothing.

As we discussed our ideal student, I couldn’t help going back to the young woman I met and conversed with at the language fair. I remember how she told me that she liked reading news and commentaries because there was just so much to know about the world, so much to discover in the mess of content.

A few days after the event, she found me on Facebook, and we’ve been chatting ever since.  

She wants to take a graduate degree in international studies, with a focus on European politics, but she doesn’t know where to start. I’ve been coaching her on how to make connections between her current work and the field in which she wants to do research.

She has been eager to get back to school, even with her undergraduate degree and current job being in separate fields. She wants to teach after she graduates, but she is more interested in learning about a field she has always wanted to study—even if it means having to approach a whole other world with very few tools to go on.

I still have students who like to learn and are less fixated on their grades. But in these last few years, I’ve had more and more students despairing when they don’t get the grade they want, disengaging from difficult material when their first forays challenge their skills, or celebrating only their high grades but forgetting their lessons when they move to the next semester.

Perhaps we can add a few more concepts to grit: a hunger to learn in the long term, a willingness to get dirty and messed up in an uncertain world. The kind of spirit that breeds leaders who are not afraid to condemn corruption. The kind of courage that makes citizens.

—————-

iponcedeleon@ateneo.edu

Fuel prices rise for 7th straight week

 

Dominique Nicole Flores - Philstar.com

October 6, 2025 | 4:22pm

MANILA, Philippines — Motorists should brace for a nearly P1 per liter price hike for diesel starting Tuesday, October 7, marking the seventh consecutive week of increases for diesel and kerosene.

Oil firms announced a modest price hike of P0.20 per liter for gasoline and kerosene, and a P0.80 per liter increase for diesel.

The announcements were made in separate advisories on Monday, October 6, by Shell Pilipinas, Seaoil, CleanFuel, PetroGazz and Caltex.

According to the Department of Energy’s Oil Industry Management Bureau (DOE-OIMB), the latest round of price hikes follows the new US sanctions on Iranian firms and networks tied to the country’s missile and military aircraft production, in response to Iran’s nuclear program.

The agency, however, noted that it had been anticipating mixed price adjustments, as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+), including Russia, announced an increase in oil production for November.

Fuel prices shifted last week, with diesel and kerosene rising by P0.90 per liter, and gasoline falling by P0.20. The volatility stemmed from US threats of heavy tariffs on European nations if they continued to purchase oil from Russia. 

The European Union, however, has been considering imposing an import ban on Russian liquefied natural gas and sanctions on shadow fleet vessels amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

According to the DOE's price monitoring, the prevailing retail fuel prices in Metro Manila gas stations from September 30 to October 6 are as follows:

Gasoline (RON97/100) - P63.36

Gasoline (RON95) - P57

Gasoline (RON91) - P53.80

Diesel - P57.80

Diesel Plus - P59

Kerosene - P77.11

This week’s price hike pushed total increases for the year to P17.85 per liter for diesel, P5.65 for kerosene, the highest levels recorded so far in 2025. Gasoline, meanwhile, posted a year-to-date increase of P14.90 per liter.

Filipino writers and creatives shine in the First Asian Literary Festival in Brussels

By MBrand

Filipino writers and creatives will share the spotlight with their Asian and European counterparts in the first edition of the Asian Literary Festival in central Brussels this weekend, Oct 4-5.

The festival, a brainchild of nomad cultural curator and former journalist Louise Baterna, founder and president of the Philippine Art and Culture Exchange (PACE), will take place this at the historic Galerie Bortier, a gallery of superb architecture once dedicated to ancient editions and second hand books and other publications.

Baterna, who is the festival director, emphasized that this is more than just a literary festival: “Our aim is to show the rich heritage of Asian literature and provide a platform for Asian contemporary voices in the heart of Europe.”

This literary festival reflects the growing vibrancy of Asian literary creation. It will feature award-winning writers, emerging authors, intellectuals, and creatives from Asia and the diaspora. The event’s theme, “Between Worlds: Reviving the Silk Route of Expression,” also aims to breath new life into ancient dialogues while fostering contemporary intercultural conversations.

“It is also cultural bridge-building exercise that honors historical connections between the east and west while fostering new creative partnerships,” Baterna added. “That is also the reason why we invited European authors because we believe that literature is “borderless”.

Among the Filipino writers and creatives invited to speak in this festival are poet A.D. Capili (Belgium), Professor Asuncion Fresnoza-Flot of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, award-winning Criselda Yabes (France) Dorie Reyes Polo, Claire Paladin and Maria Renker (Germany), Maya Butalid (the Netherlands), Myrani Miranda Pesquet and children’s book illustrator Darlee Urbiztondo (Belgium).

Louise Baterna

AD Capili

Doris Polo

Criselda Yabes

Maya Butalid

Many Filipino authors also participated in the virtual meet “Words Through Screens” which allowed them to introduce themselves and talk about their book. These video capsules will be shown during the festival on a big screen. Among selected and their respective books are Maxine Pulgar Ramos (“Boba Girl”), Jansen Bognot (Something is happening in Blake’s Mind”), Techni Calibuso (“Bloom Beyond Expectations”), Emaine Coronel (“Lola Fely’s Front Porch”), Gretchen Largoza (“Finish the Sentence”), Anjel Reyes (“Pocketful of Regrets”), MGV Reamico (“Befriending my Amygdala”), Jenny Albinio (“Diwata and the Dinagyang Festival”), Astrid Sadaya (“I sea Poetry”), Kahlil Carozo (“Rajah Versus Conquistador) and Danabelle Gutierrez (“The F Word”).

Invited to grace the opening cocktail is Deputy Chief of Mission and Consul General Pabs Mendoza of the Philippine Embassy in Brussels while three Filipino musical talents were also invited to perform during the opening cocktail. They are Belgium-based Denise Musni, Mark Arquilla and Clarice Manuel.

PACE, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating platforms for Filipino and Asian creatives in Belgium and beyond, partnered with the Asian Group of Literature, a social enterprise that promotes reading, translating, peer reviews and publishing through its large ecosystem which includes the Asian Prizes for literature and the Asian Review.

The Asian Literary Festival in Brussels is the first in a “caravan” of Asian Literary Festivals to be held around the world in Odisha (India), Gampaha (Sri Lanka), Nairobi (Kenya) and Abu Dhabi (UAE).

Taylor Swift breaks records anew with 'The Life of a Showgirl'

By The Associated Press

Published Oct 4, 2025 12:09 pm

At A Glance

• Spotify announced Friday that Swift's album surpassed six million pre-saves on their platform to become the most pre-saved album in its history.

NEW YORK (AP) — Lights, camera, action. Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” has arrived.

Are you ready for it?

Swift announced her latest era back in August, when she began teasing the release.   

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of its drop date: how to stream, which variants exist, and of course, how the album came together. Enjoy the show!

“The Life of a Showgirl” is streaming on all major platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.

Fans were able to pre-save the album ahead of its release on Oct. 3. Pre-saving ensures the new music automatically appears in a fan’s library the moment it is available. It is also a way for an artist to promote streams ahead of the drop date.

Spotify announced Friday that Swift’s album surpassed six million pre-saves on their platform to become the most pre-saved album in its history.  

The previous title holder? Her 2024 album “The Tortured Poets Department.”

“The Life of a Showgirl” also became Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day in 2025 — and in its first 11 hours of release.

Also on Friday, Amazon Music announced “The Life of a Showgirl” broke the record for most streams in its first 24 hours, globally.

In addition to the many streaming options, there will also be a digital-download variant of “The Life of a Showgirl” available via iTunes, featuring a new cover image and a nearly three-minute “exclusive video from Taylor herself detailing inspirations behind the album” labeled “A Look Behind the Curtain.”

Target is once again a major partner with Swift. Their stores are carrying three CD variants, titled as “It’s Frightening,” “It’s Rapturous” and “It’s Beautiful” editions. There is also an exclusive vinyl release, “The Crowd Is Your King” edition in “summertime spritz pink shimmer vinyl.” Many Target locations will remain open past midnight on the day of release for superfans to pick up in real time.

There are a number of other vinyl variants as well: “The Tiny Bubble in Champagne Collection,” which features two vinyl variants described as “under bright lights pearlescent vinyl” and “red lipstick & lace transparent vinyl.”   

There is also “The Baby That’s Show Business Collection,” in two colorways: “lovely bouquet golden vinyl” and “lakeside beach blue sparkle vinyl.”

Then there’s “The Shiny Bug Collection” in “violet shimmer marbled vinyl” and “wintergreen and onyx marbled vinyl.”

And of course, there is the standard LP and cassette, in “sweat and vanilla perfume Portofino orange vinyl.”

Artwork varies throughout.