The trough of a low pressure area (LPA) will still cause cloudy skies with rain in Mindanao and parts of Visayas on Friday, February 2, 2024, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa). DOST-Pagasa / KGA
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Friday, February 2, 2024
Floods and landslides leave six dead in Davao de Oro
Situation at Km. 74, Purok 1B, National Highway, Brgy. Sawangan, Mawab in Davao de Oro.
Agence France-Presse
February 2, 2024 | 8:36am
MANILA, Philippines — Floods and landslides triggered by torrential rain have killed six people in Davao de Oro, with one other person missing, rescuers said Thursday.
Rain began pounding wide areas of Mindanao, the country's second-largest island, last weekend, causing floods and landslides that officials said sent thousands fleeing to emergency shelters.
The hardest-hit areas were the mountainous municipality of Maragusan, which recorded 23 landslides since Sunday, and the adjacent town of New Bataan where more than 10,000 people were evacuated from flooded homes.
Three people were killed and a fourth was missing in the Maragusan landslides, its municipal disaster officer Romeo Tublag told AFP.
"Our town is surrounded by mountains so landslides are an ever-present threat. It's been raining almost daily here," Tublag said.
In New Bataan, a landslide killed a man while a woman was swept away and killed by floodwaters and another man electrocuted outside his flooded house, disaster official Aeona Armocilla told AFP.
Swollen rivers flooded three villages, forcing the evacuation of 10,100 residents, Armocilla said, adding that it was still raining in the area late Thursday.
Floods also hit the municipalities of Bunawan and Veruela in nearby Agusan del Sur province, with more than 5,000 people sheltering in evacuation centres, provincial disaster official Alexis Cabardo told AFP.
LOOK: Michelle Dee’s contemporary denim look is made of pre-loved jeans
This is not the first time Michelle wore an upcycled denim piece by designer Kristine Ordinario
Apart from her charm and wit, Michelle Dee is loved by many pageant fans for her sense of style. Always putting Filipino design talents in the spotlight, the reigning Miss Universe Philippines can be spotted wearing the chicest terno or something more urban, a vision of modern Filipino style.
At a press conference during Thai beauty queen Anntonia Porsild's visit to the Philippines, Michelle was spotted wearing a contemporary look designed by Kristine Ordinario. The ensemble features denim belts turned into wide-leg pants and a tube top. Completing the look is a patched denim jacket. In an interview with Manila Bulletin Lifestyle, Kristine shared that she used pre-loved jeans the Filipino beauty queen's look.
"My friend used to sell thrift clothes and I got some pre-loved denim jeans, which then I repurposed to create the denim jacket and belts ensemble," the designer said. "The jeans were cut into strips and made into individual belts before I assembled them for the tube top and pants... This look adheres to my design aesthetic which focuses mainly on structured silhouettes incorporated with hardware materials."
This is not the first time Michelle wore a piece designed by Kristine. During her time competing at Miss Universe 2023, she donned one of her upcycled patched denim jackets in El Salvador.
When asked what makes Michelle a perfect muse for her brand, Kristine said, "Michelle Dee carries an air of sophistication and powerful energy much like my brand."
The fastest Filipina
The fastest Filipina
Bianca Bustamante
Feb 2, 2024 06:21 AM
Many Filipinos continue to hope for a day when a Filipino driver will waive the country’s flag in the Pinnacle of Motorsport, Formula 1. That day may soon come thanks to Bianca Bustamante, a Filipino racecar driver who was recently signed to the McLaren Driver Development Program. The 19-year-old first began waving the country’s flag in 2022 as one of the competitors of the all-female W series, which serves as a support race for Formula 1. In 2023, she joined the all-female F1 Academy racing series and secured two victories and multiple podiums during the season.
Bustamante is the first female driver signed to the McLaren Driver Development Program and with some luck and our support, may be one of Formula 1’s first female drivers. A spot in the driver development program is not a guarantee of a Formula 1 seat, however it certainly brings her close to the coveted big leagues.
Her rise hasn’t been without controversy, after it was discovered she had liked several hurtful tweets aimed at a current Formula One driver that called him derogatory names. Nonetheless, the nation continues to hold hopes high that Bianca may finally be the country’s first Formula 1 driver.
Universal Music Group pulls out from TikTok
Feb 1, 2024 12:24 PM
AT A GLANCE
UMG claimed that an agreement was not reached with TikTok regarding the following issues: “appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users.”
A chunk of the world’s biggest hits and artists won’t be playing on TikTok soon.
This was after Universal Music Group (UMG) pulled out its music catalog from the popular short-form video-sharing platform.
Last Tuesday, UMG posted online that its agreement with TikTok will expire on Jan. 31.
UMG claimed that an agreement was not reached with TikTok regarding the following issues: “appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users.”
The music company, one of the largest in the world today, also said that “TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay.”
“Ultimately, TikTok is trying to build a music-based business without paying fair value for the music,” UMG said.
TikTok, in its announcement on Jan. 30, expressed its disappointment in UMG, saying, " It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put its own greed above the interests of its artists and songwriters.”
“Despite Universal's false narrative and rhetoric, they have chosen to walk away from the powerful support of a platform with well over a billion users that serves as a free promotional and discovery vehicle for their talent.”
Universal is home to some of the biggest music artists in the world today, including Taylor Swift, Drake, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Kendrick Lamar, BTS, and Post Malone.
Thursday, February 1, 2024
Traditional pandesal, to the rescue!
How our favorite breakfast bread can save dollars, reduce imports, and help farmers
Feb 1, 2024 09:30 AM
AT A GLANCE
Our mad dash to the bread bag ensured that the pandesal was still hot and not soggy from the steam of freshly-baked bread.
Every barrio in the Philippines has a community bakery, its own panaderya that supplies freshly baked pandesal from dawn to midnight.
Growing up at the south end of Pulang Lupa in Las Piñas, we were awakened daily by the honking of the pandesal delivery bicycle, which sent us kids rushing to our front yard where the day’s ration of pandesal was carefully nestled atop a gumamela bush, out of reach of dogs, cats, chicken, and other free-range creatures.
Our mad dash to the bread bag ensured that the pandesal was still hot and not soggy from the steam of freshly-baked bread. We paid for the bread by leaving money in a paper bag atop the gumamela bush every Sunday morning. We never lost a single bag.
Pandesal was the breakfast staple in our five-generation household. There was no dietary precaution against pandesal raising the blood sugar of my grandparents and great-grandparents.
The old pandesal recipe saw drastic changes, especially during the hot “pandesal” craze. The staple shrank, was tinted with yellowish food color, and sweetened.
Community bakers, according to Lucito Chavez, president of the Asosasyon ng Pilipinong Panadero (APP), are pushing for the nationwide adoption of a “standardized pandesal” formula, using less sugar to avert future price increases.
The standardized formula will return pandesal (salty bread) to its traditional recipe.
The pandesal currently being sold by both community and industrial bakeries, Chavez explained, has deviated significantly from the traditional formula, requiring a huge portion of sugar, which has recently become expensive.
Agricultural products like squash, camote, potato, sweet potato, carrot, malunggay, as well as ube, can be incorported to pandesal to as much as 25 percent. These local products face supply and quality challenges due to poor post-harvest capacity, lack of a robust cold chain infrastructure, and high transportation cost.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) projects the Philippines will import 240,000 MT of refined sugar this crop year 2023-2024.
Tinapayan Festival, a community bakery which has been around for 40 years, introduced nutrient-packed, cost-efficient pandesal varieties that solve the rising prices of fuel, sugar, and wheat. Use of bountiful vegetable harvest in pandesal is a novel and practical solution for farmers’ seasonal problems while providing nutritious and affordable bread.
'Guten Tag babes': Adele announces Munich concerts
Feb 1, 2024 07:21 AM
AT A GLANCE
The British singer will perform at a specially-created, 80,000-capacity venue in the southern German city on Aug. 2, 3, 9 and 10.
FRANKFURT (AFP) - Pop superstar Adele on Wednesday announced four open-air concerts in Munich in August, her first shows in mainland Europe since 2016.
The British singer will perform at a specially-created, 80,000-capacity venue in the southern German city on Aug. 2, 3, 9 and 10.
The 35-year-old said she had been on the last stage of her Las Vegas residency -- "Weekends with Adele", which runs until June - when she was approached about the Munich shows.
"A one off, bespoke pop-up stadium designed around whatever show I want to put on? Pretty much slap bang in the middle of Europe? In Munich?" she wrote in an Instagram post.
"That's a bit random, but still fabulous!"
The concerts will come right after Euro 2024, which Germany is hosting, and "with the Olympics next door", said the singer, known for hits including "Easy On Me" and "Someone Like You".
Paris is hosting the Olympics in July and August.
"I couldn't think of a more wonderful way to spend my summer and end this beautiful phase of my life and career with shows closer to home during such an exciting summer," she said.
"Guten Tag babes x".
Jonallier Perez: Panlabuhan Floating Village
This was in Panlabuhan Floating Village, Agusan Marshland, Loreto, Agusan del Sur with my fellow travelers from Davao City.
Works at Senate of the Philippines
Co-founder at Diggs-Jansen Development Corp.
Executive Director at Mindanao Tourism Council
Rentner aufgepasst: Im Februar wird die Rente später als sonst überwiesen
2024 hat nicht nur im Januar einige Änderungen bei der Rente gebracht. Im Februar landen die Rentenzahlungen einmalig später als üblich auf dem Konto.
Berlin – Mit dem neuen Jahr sind einige Neuerungen für Rentner eingezogen – zum Beispiel bei den Steuern und Hinzuverdiensten. Dazu kommt eine Änderung, die die Rentenzahlungen für den Februar betrifft. Diese landen später auf dem Konto als üblich. Grund dafür ist das Schaltjahr.
Rentenzahlung im Februar: Schaltjahr verschiebt Auszahlungstermin
Alle vier Jahre gibt es in Deutschland ein Schaltjahr mit 366 statt 365 Tagen. Der zusätzliche Tag ist immer der 29. Februar. 2024 ist es wieder soweit – und betrifft dann auch die Rentenzahlungen, die in den meisten Fällen zum Ende des Monats ausgezahlt werden. Durch den zusätzlichen Tag im Februar verschiebt sich diese einmalig nach hinten – und zwar um einen Tag.
Eine Ausnahme bilden die Renten, die vorschüssig ausgezahlt werden. Diese erhalten alle Rentnerinnen und Rentner, die bis März 2004 in den Ruhestand gegangen sind. Sie bekommen die Rente für den Februar schon am 31. Januar 2024. Aber alle Personen, die seit April 2004 in den Ruhestand gegangen sind bzw. noch gehen werden, erhalten die nachschüssige Rente, also am Ende des Monats.
Auszahlungstermin bei nachschüssigen Renten im Februar 2024: Donnerstag, 29.02.2024
Rente: 2024 bringt viele Änderungen
Mit dem neuen Jahr gibt es viele Änderungen für Rentner. Unter anderem dürfen Menschen, die eine Rente aufgrund von Erwerbsminderung beziehen, seit dem 1. Januar 2024 mehr hinzuverdienen. Außerdem müssen Neurentner einen höheren Anteil ihrer Rente versteuern.
Auch bei den Altersgrenzen tut sich etwas: Das reguläre Renteneintrittsalter steigt zu Jahresbeginn auf 66 Jahre. Und zwar gilt das für Versicherte, die 1958 geboren wurden. Für diejenigen, die später geboren wurden, erhöht sich das Eintrittsalter in 2-Monats-Schritten weiter. Die reguläre Altersgrenze von 67 Jahren wird 2031 erreicht.
Auch bei der abschlagsfreien Rente für mindestens über 45 Jahre lang Versicherte (bekannt als „Rente ab 63“) steigt die Altersgrenze – nämlich auf 64 Jahre und 4 Monate für 1960 Geborene. Für später Geborene erhöht sich das Eintrittsalter bis 2029 auf 65 Jahre.
What are some German customs and habits that seem weird to foreigners?
James Johnson
Owner of FreelanceWritersSchool.com
201 followers
265 following
I teach regular people how to start freelance writing even if they failed English at school and have no experience in business. I’m also an Expat living in Germany.
I’m going to come at this from a British perspective, based on my experience of living in Germany and having a long term relationship with a German.
(Please remember this is all tongue-in-cheek and I love the Germans a lot :) )
01: Schultüte (School Cone)
The first time I went to meet my girlfriend's parents in Bad Dürkheim we took part in the socially awkward tradition of going through family photo albums. You know the kind, where you smile and nod and go, "Oh yeah....wow. Really? Cool." and try to figure out what expression you should have on your face.
As we were going through childhood photos I stumbled across a picture of the first day of school, where every child was stood holding a strange large cone (almost as big as the child themselves) covered in decorations.
Nobody else looking at the album seemed to react to the photo, but before they turned the page, I had to ask them to hold on and explain this weird phenomenon to me.
Apparently on the first day of school it's normal to give your child a three kilogram cone filled with stationery, sweets and treats. They must then proceed to walk around the school on their first day holding said cone. And, then, they're allowed to open to the cone once they get back home after the first day of school (they very thing the items in the cone were created for).
Nope. Still don't get it.
02: Polterabend (Smashing Porcelain Before You Get Married)
Before getting married, a couple will post the date of their Polterabend in a local newspaper, much like a classified advert.
People in the surrounding village or area (read: total strangers) can then turn up to your event - seemingly hosted in a car park or wide open space - with their unwanted porcelain products such as toilets, sinks and cups, and donate them to you.
You then, as a couple, process to smash all of the porcelain into tiny pieces for the amusement of your friends, family and total strangers as they watch.
Once all of the porcelain has been broken, the onlooking masses get drunk and eat food while you and your partner spend the rest of the evening sweeping up the porcelain and tidying up the mess that you've made.
03: Being Naked
It’s incredibly un-British how often German people are naked.
Not long ago I was on Skype with my Girlfriend while she in the bath (not for that reason). And, in the 10 minutes we were on the call her: sister-in-law, brother, mother, nephew and other brother all came into the room and had a shower.
People love to be naked in local saunas and, well… just in general, really.
I’ve seen more German penises in my life than I’d care to admit.
04: Directness
I’d like to admit I’m rather English: I talk around specific subjects, if someone is clearly enjoying an awful new outfit I don’t mention it, and unless it’s one of my really close friends I don’t tend to speak my mind.
I’m a regular ol’ Hugh Grant in Mancunian clothing.
In Germany, they haven’t gotten their heads quite around that concept.
- Wearing an awful t-shirt? They’ll tell you.
- Been a bit of a dick? Oh, they’ll tell you.
- Put on a little bit of weight? Yeah, they’ll god damn well tell you.
In one respect it’s quite nice because you always know where you stand. But, in other cases, you’ll come away with a crushed soul.
05: Wanting All Their Money Back
In England, if I lent my mate £5, I’d be quite happy if he bought me a beer and we called it quits. If I lend someone £1 and the only have 50p to give me back, then, okay, that’s fine by me.
But Germans have a way of being incredibly precise with their money and how much they want it back.
“Have you got that 2 Euro 38 I lent you for the S-Bahn the other day, James?”
“Erm, I’ve got 3 Euro.”
“Let me just see if I have 62 cents to give you in return”
What scary is that’s not an unusual conversation to have! Take my extra 62 cents and be done with you.
06: Stopping At Every Pedestrian Crossing
I met my girlfriend when we were both on the Camino de Santiago. (That’s a big hike across Spain.) Which meant we’d do a lot of walking through villages, cities and the countryside.
What always confused me is why she had to stop at every street crossing and wait for light to turn green. The Spaniards, and every other tourist, would just saunter across when there were no cars coming. But she insisted on waiting.
Then I got to Germany and found out that’s what everyone does. You get the German stare, which is the equivalent of an English tutting noise, whenever you cross on a red light.
I was later told a story by her father when he was in Paris for work. It was late at night, there was no traffic, and he stood waiting at a red light. He was then accompanied by another man who also stood waiting for the light to change. He turned to him and said, “So, you’re German too?”.
There was never a truer word spoken.
07: Not Talking About Money
Unless they’re asking you for the 71 cents back, it’s a taboo to talk about money in Germany. Especially with people of an older generation, or even of my generation.
I used to joke with my girlfriend that she was rich because of where her family lived. And, it was always met with a brief, “Heh…yeah” and then shrugged off. Then, when I found out one of her friends was given a stupidly expensive car for his 18th birthday, I also made a joke met with the same response.
People don’t like to admit they have money. They could be sitting in a mansion on the side of a hill overlooking wine country, while their butler cleans their Bentley, and still be adamant they’re not well off.
I learned from a Podcast, and later from some friends here, that it’s not unusual for people to lie about their income on official documents!
Edit: I updated and expanded this answer over on my Blog because I had so much fun writing it. You can check it out here
if you really want to :)Footnotes
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