News Update
As of January 15, 2018 (Monday)
1. Manila Bulletin
South Korea and North Korea to hold working-level talks
North Korea and South Korea have agreed to hold working-level talks at the Tongil Pavilion on the North Korean side of the truce village of Panmunjom on January 15, South Korea’s unification ministry said in a statement on Saturday. The delegation led by the unification minister Cho Myung-kyun, will be sent to hold talks on the prospects of North Korea sending its performance art group to the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
Washington welcomed as a first step to solving the North Korean nuclear weapons crisis, even though Pyongyang said those were aimed only at the United States and not up for discussion.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/01/14/south-korea-and-north-korea-to-hold-working-level-talks/
2. Philippine Star
P1 T worth of projects under construction as of Jan — DOF
According to a report from the Department of Finance (DOF), forty-four public infrastructure projects with a total cost of about P1 trillion are under construction as of early-2018, and another 15 projects, worth P1.04 trillion, are also in the pre-construction stage. Finance Undersecretary and chief economist Gil Beltran said most of the projects under the pre-construction stage would most likely start their implementation this year.
Among these projects are the P355.6 billion Mega-Manila Subway Project and the P134 billion Philippine National Railway South Commuter Line, P211.46 billion Malolos-Clark Railway, P51.7 billion Visayas-
Mindanao Grid Interconnection project, P25.5 billion Metro Manila Flood Control project and the P285 billion North-South Commuter Railway project.
http://beta.philstar.com/business/2018/01/15/1777755/p1-t-worth-projects-under-construction-jan-dof
3. Daily Inquirer
4 foreign firms eyeing 3rd telco slot
Four foreign telecommunication companies had expressed interest in becoming the third telco player in the country, according to Malacañang. Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar said acting Information and Communications Technology Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. informed him that a
Taiwanese telco and the Japanese company KDDI were also interested in the local telecommunications market.
He earlier said South Korea’s LG Plus and China Telecom were also interested.
https://business.inquirer.net/244117/4-foreign-firms-eyeing-3rd-telco-slot
4. Manila Times
Hawaii panics after false missile alert
An alert warning of an incoming ballistic missile aimed at Hawaii was sent in error Saturday, sowing panic and confusion across the US state — which is already on edge over the risk of attack — before officials dubbed it a
“false alarm.”
Emergency management officials eventually determined the notification was sent just after 8 a.m. (1800 GMT) during a shift change and a drill after “the wrong button was pushed” — a mistake that lit up phones across the archipelago with a disturbing alert urging people to “seek immediate shelter.”
“I deeply apologize for the trouble and heartbreak that we caused today,” said Vern Miyagi, administrator of Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency.
http://www.manilatimes.net/hawaii-panics-false-missile-alert/374293/
