South Korea rocket launch set today

MANILA -- South Korea is hours away from possibly joining the ranks of other spacefaring countries as it is expected to launch its first-ever space rocket on Friday afternoon.

State-funded Korean Broadcasting Service (KBS) reported that the Korea Aerospace Research Institute began making final preparations after no problems were found in the last rehearsal of the launch on Thursday.

'Ofel' exits to Vietnam

MANILA -- Tropical Storm "Ofel" continues to move across the West Philippine Sea and is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) Friday, all public storm warning the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said.

Pagasa weather forecaster Buddy Javier said all public storm warning signals, which remained hoisted over certain areas of Luzon as of Thursday night, had been lifted as the storm began moving toward Vietnam.

Magnitude 5 quake felt in Eastern Samar

CEBU -- A magnitude 5 earthquake was felt in Guiuan, Eastern Samar Friday morning, the Philippine Insitute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

Phivolcs, in its website, said as of 6:58 a.m. the quake was located at 87 kilometers (km) northeast of Guiuan town.

DSWD seeks bigger shelter for human trafficking victims in Masbate

LEGAZPI CITY -– The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is requesting the Provincial Government of Masbate to establish a new and bigger building that would serve as temporary shelter for victims of human trafficking who are rescued by local authorities.

The facility had became a necessity following the latest case of illegal recruitment wherein 36 victims have been rescued by the Masbate anti-trafficking task force while being readied for transport from the local port to Pilar, Sorsogon then to Nueva Ecija where they were supposed to be taken by their recruiters.

Guatemala excavates early Mayan ruler's tomb

GUATEMALA CITY — Archaeologists announced Thursday they have uncovered the tomb of a very early Mayan ruler, complete with rich jade jewelry and decoration.

Experts said the find at Guatemala's Tak'alik Ab'aj temple site could help shed light on the formative years of the Mayan culture.

Reward up for arrest wanted carnap leader

DAVAO CITY -- Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte put up millions of money as reward for the arrest or killing of Ryan “Baktin” Yu, tagged as the most notorious carnapper in Mindanao, believed the brain behind the series of carnapping incidents in the city and entire country.

“If you can arrest him, kill him, or bring him to me, I will immediately release the reward money in millions of pesos raised by car dealers who are mad at Yu who painted a very bad image on their business," said Duterte in a hastily-called press conference at the Grand Menseng Hotel here.

Microsoft presents dramatic changes to Windows

NEW YORK -- Microsoft on Thursday launched the campaign for the most dramatic changes to its Windows operating system in years, with Windows 8 designed to run on both PCs and the increasingly popular tablet computers.

"We kicked off a new era for Microsoft and a new era for our customers," Ballmer said.

Philippines rolls out welcome mat for US warship

ABOARD THE USS GEORGE WASHINGTON — A U.S. Navy aircraft carrier strike force's visit to Manila is the latest show of American military might partly aimed at countering China's grip in Asia. But it also provides hundreds of Filipino American sailors a chance to briefly soak in the warm embrace of a second home.

Central bank slashes interest rates by 25 basis points

MANILA -- The central bank's Monetary Board decided on Thursday to cut key policy interest rates for the fourth time this year as inflation environment continues to be benign.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said that interest rates were reduced by 25 basis points to 3.50 percent for the overnight borrowing or reverse repurchase (RRP) facility and 5.50 percent for the overnight lending or repurchase (RP) facility.

1,000 public hospital workers walk out vs privatization

MANILA -- At least 1,000 health workers of state-owned hospitals walked out Thursday in protest of the ongoing "privatization" of hospitals being run by the government.

Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) media officer Lovely Tanghal said the health workers left their stations during the lunch break from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. to stage a rally in front of their respective hospitals to denounce the privatization program.