TAITUNG, Taiwan — Taiwan’s air force may be on the front lines of defending against China’s daily incursions into the skies near the democratically governed island, but for downtime and to boost morale they have a secret weapon – their own band.

BEIJING — China’s capital Beijing no longer requires people that enter supermarkets and commercial buildings to show negative COVID-19 tests on their mobile phones, the city government said in a statement on Tuesday.

Disney’s streaming service is now in the Philippines. You and your family may enjoy the fun Disney+ series and movies on your smart TV.

About half the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital will remain without electricity for the coming days after Russian missile strikes on power facilities, the Kyiv regional governor said.

UPDATED at 5:73 p.m.

Philippines top stories on politics, legislation, environment and government policies as well as updates from around the globe.

Coco Martin will be appearing in another adaptation of a Fernando Poe Jr. classic as “Batang Quiapo,” which is set to make its way to ABS-CBN in 2023.

SHANGHAI — More than half of Chinese say they will put off travel abroad, for periods from several months to more than a year, even if borders re-opened tomorrow, a study showed on Tuesday, a sign that consumer recovery from COVID-19 measures will take time.

SYDNEY  – Australia’s current account fell into deficit for the first time in three years last quarter as robust domestic demand sucked in imports and miners paid more dividends abroad, though the drag on economic growth was not as large as first feared.

JAKARTA — Indonesia’s parliament on Tuesday approved a criminal code that bans sex outside marriage with a punishment of up to one year in jail, part of a raft of legal changes that critics say undermine civil liberties in the world’s third-largest democracy.

MANILA, Philippines — Undersecretary Jose Vicente Salazar is no longer connected with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) following his resignation.

SYDNEY  – Australia’s central bank on Tuesday delivered a widely expected interest rate hike at its last policy decision of 2022 and said more hikes are still needed ahead as policymakers seek to rein in inflation.

MANILA, Philippines — A magnitude 3.9 earthquake struck Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, on Tuesday, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

MANILA, Philippines — The proposed Maharlika Wealth Fund (MWF) does not have enough safeguards to protect it from possible abuse and loss of capital, an ex-lawmaker said as a warning to the public and his former colleagues in Congress.

MANILA  – The Philippine economy is expected to lose momentum in 2023 with the pace of expansion set to slow to 5.7 percent as soaring inflation and higher interest rates crimp domestic demand, the World Bank said on Tuesday.

MANILA, Philippines — A progressive group is seeing no problem with the proposed sovereign wealth fund (SWF) or Maharlika Investment Fund if the money for it would come from a wealth tax and not from income generated by state-owned insurers.

Shamaine Buencamino fondly reminisced on how she and husband, actor Nonie Buencamino welcomed their late daughter Julia into the world, on what would have been her 23rd birthday.

COLOMBO – The World Bank has approved crisis-hit Sri Lanka’s request to access concessional financing from the International Development Association so as to help stabilise its economy, the lender said on Tuesday.

BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping paid tribute to former leader Jiang Zemin on Tuesday for ensuring the Communist Party’s survival from “political storms” and reforming it to inject new vitality and modernize the country’s economy.

Philippines top stories on politics, legislation, environment and government policies as well as updates from around the globe.

MANILA, Philippines — The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) on Tuesday gave assurance that there will be transparency in the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) and that investments that will be made through it would be protected.