MANILA, Philippines — The number of schools damaged by Typhoon “Uwan” (international name: Fung-wong) has climbed to 2,953, while repair and cleanup costs have reached P661.1 million, according to a new situation report from the Department of Education (DepEd) released Wednesday, November 12.
DepEd said 10,400 classrooms have sustained damage so far — 3,503 classified as minor, 1,986 as major, and 1,238 as totally destroyed.
Region V (Bicol) had the largest number of damaged schools at 8,2383, one of the hardest hit regions by the typhoon, and where casualties and the number of evacuees are also highest. Most of the classroom damage in Region V was classified as minor.
To fund response operations, DepEd said it has mobilized its Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) teams and requested an initial P100 million for cleanup and minor repair activities. The department also plans to use P661.1 million for repair works and restoration of utilities, including power and connectivity in affected schools.
DepEd said it is coordinating with local governments and international partners, including the World Bank, to expedite reconstruction and ensure classes resume safely.
Based on DepEd’s latest situation report, at least 4,747 classrooms are still being used as evacuation centers on Wednesday after Uwan’s exit from the Philippine area of responsibility.
PARIS — It has become nearly impossible for people to tell the difference between music generated by artificial intelligence (AI) and that created by humans, according to a survey released Wednesday. The polling firm Ipsos asked 9,000 people to…
PARIS — It has become nearly impossible for people to tell the difference between music generated by artificial intelligence (AI) and that created by humans, according to a survey released Wednesday.
The polling firm Ipsos asked 9,000 people to listen to two clips of AI-generated music and one of human-made music in a survey conducted for France-based streaming platform Deezer.
“Ninety-seven percent could not distinguish between music entirely generated by AI and human-created music,” said Deezer in a statement.
The survey was conducted between Oct 6 and 10 in eight countries: Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States.
Deezer said more than half of the respondents felt uncomfortable at not being able to tell the difference.
Pollsters also asked broader questions about the impact of AI, with 51% saying the technology would lead to more low-quality music on streaming platforms and almost two-thirds believing it will lead to a loss of creativity.
“The survey results clearly show that people care about music and want to know if they’re listening to AI or human made tracks or not,” Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier said in a statement.
Deezer said there has not only been a surge in AI-generated content being uploaded to its platform, but it is finding listeners as well.
In January, one in 10 of the tracks streamed each day were completely AI-generated. Ten months later, that percentage has climbed to over one in three, or nearly 40,000 per day.
Eighty percent of survey respondents wanted fully AI-generated music clearly labelled for listeners.
Deezer is the only major music-streaming platform that systematically labels completely AI-generated content for users.
The issue gained prominence in June when a band called The Velvet Sundown suddenly went viral on Spotify, and only confirmed the following month that it was in fact AI-generated content.
The AI group’s most popular song has been streamed more than three million times.
In response, Spotify said it would encourage artists and publishers to sign up to a voluntary industry code to disclose AI use in music production.
PARIS — It has become nearly impossible for people to tell the difference between music generated by artificial intelligence (AI) and that created by humans, according to a survey released on Wednesday. The polling firm Ipsos asked 9,000 people…
PARIS — It has become nearly impossible for people to tell the difference between music generated by artificial intelligence (AI) and that created by humans, according to a survey released on Wednesday.
The polling firm Ipsos asked 9,000 people to listen to two clips of AI-generated music and one of human-made music in a survey conducted for France-based streaming platform Deezer.
“Ninety-seven percent could not distinguish between music entirely generated by AI and human-created music,” said Deezer.
The survey was conducted between Oct 6 and 10 in eight countries: Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States.
The survey came out as a country music song featuring a male singer’s voice generated by AI reached the top of the US charts for the first time this week.
Walk My Walk by Breaking Rust — an artist widely reported by US media to be powered by generative AI technology — made it to the top spot on Billboard magazine’s chart ranking digital sales of country songs, according to data published on Monday.
Deezer said more than half of the respondents felt uncomfortable at not being able to tell the difference.
Pollsters also asked broader questions about the impact of AI, with 51% saying the technology would lead to more low-quality music on streaming platforms and almost two-thirds believing it will lead to a loss of creativity.
“The survey results clearly show that people care about music and want to know if they’re listening to AI or human made tracks or not,” Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier said.
Deezer said there has not only been a surge in AI-generated content being uploaded to its platform, but it is finding listeners as well.
In January, one in 10 of the tracks streamed each day were completely AI-generated. Ten months later, that percentage has climbed to over one in three, or nearly 40,000 per day.
Eighty percent of survey respondents wanted fully AI-generated music clearly labelled for listeners.
Deezer is the only major music-streaming platform that systematically labels completely AI-generated content for users.
The issue gained prominence in June when a band called The Velvet Sundown suddenly went viral on Spotify, and only confirmed the following month that it was in fact AI-generated content.
The AI group’s most popular song has been streamed more than three million times.
In response, Spotify said it would encourage artists and publishers to sign up to a voluntary industry code to disclose AI use in music production.
The Deezer survey was conducted between Oct 6 and 10 in eight countries: Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States.
Looking for a title to binge-watch this weekend? Here’s our pick!
APPLE TV+
Come See Me In The Good Light
Premieres on Nov 14
A poignant and unexpectedly funny love story about poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley facing an incurable ca…
Looking for a title to binge-watch this weekend? Here’s our pick!
APPLE TV+
Come See Me In The Good Light
Premieres on Nov 14
A poignant and unexpectedly funny love story about poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley facing an incurable cancer diagnosis with joy, wit and an unshakable partnership. Through laughter and unwavering love, they transform pain into purpose, and mortality into a moving celebration of resilience.
HBO / HBO MAX
E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web
Premieres on Nov 12
When Wilbur learns that he is being raised for slaughter, he turns to a new friend for help: a witty and wise barn spider named Charlotte
Armor
Premieres on Nov 14
A father and son working as security guards for an armoured truck company encounter a team of would-be robbers while on a bridge. They become trapped and must come up with a plan to escape and ensure their survival.
DISCOVERY CHANNEL
All Access PD: Grand Rapids
Premieres on Nov 14
The show captures the entire operation of the Grand Rapids Police Department, from high-stakes homicide investigations to adrenaline-fuelled patrol stories..
Naked and Afraid: Apocalypse
Premieres on Nov 14
In a harsh, post-apocalyptic world, twelve seasoned survivalists face their ultimate challenge. Veterans and newcomers must overcome deadly terrain where others have perished before them.
PRIME VIDEO
Playdate
Premieres on Nov 12
When recently unemployed accountant Brian agrees to a playdate with charismatic stay-at-home dad Jeff and their sons, he expects an easy afternoon of small talk and football tossing. Instead, he’s thrust into a chaotic scramble to stay alive as they are pursued by a ruthless team of mercenaries. Brian stumbles through one ridiculous obstacle after another, his zero tactical skills a stark contrast to Jeff’s oddly prepared demeanour.
Malice
Premieres on Nov 14
Adam is a charismatic tutor who charms his way into the life of the wealthy Tanner family while they’re on holiday in Greece. When the family’s nanny falls dangerously ill, Adam orchestrates his way into their London home and his true vengeful nature begins to emerge. Adam now starts to turn Jamie Tanner and Nat against each other and secretly plots to bring down the entire family. When Adam’s obsession with the family raises questions, and those who dig deeper into his past find themselves playing a dangerous game. With his world collapsing around him, Jamie starts to realise that Adam may be responsible for all their recent disasters — but is it too late to save his family?
In this revenge thriller that proves the past never stays buried, one question remains: how do you protect your family from the enemy within.
NETFLIX
A Merry Little Ex-Mas
Premieres on Nov 12
All Kate and Everett want for Christmas is an amicable divorce and one last holiday as a family, but new flames and old feelings complicate their plans.
Dynamite Kiss
Premieres on Nov 12
A struggling woman pretends to be a married mom at work — but trouble brews when her new boss is an heir who once shared a magical kiss from the past.
Tee Yai: Born To Be Bad
Premieres on Nov 13
The bond between two outlaws is tested by a detective who is determined to hunt down a notorious gang of robbers in 80’s Bangkok.
Citizen Dog
Premieres on Nov 13
Ignoring his grandmother’s warning that he’ll grow a tail if he moves to Bangkok, Pod leaves the safety of his village for a job in a big-city factory that produces canned sardines. He accidentally loses his finger, but he ultimately finds true love.
The Beast In Me
Premieres on Nov 13
A famous author is pulled into a twisted mind game with her rich, powerful new neighbour — who might be a murderer.
The Unseeable
Premieres on Nov 13
This spooky tale centers on the owner of a shabby boardinghouse, an aging widow whose dead husband is — rumour has it — her spectral lover.
Last Samurai Standing
Premieres on Nov 13
One life, one point. Shujiro enters a deadly game where points are earned for each kill. Who will be the last samurai standing in this sinister scheme?
In Your Dreams
Premieres on Nov 14
A sister and brother journey into the wildly absurd landscape of their own dreams to ask the wish-granting Sandman for the perfect family
The Next Prince
Premieres on Nov 15
When a reluctant heir is called to compete in a tournament to decide the next king, the royal guard sent to escort him soon becomes his forbidden desire.
Dragon Ball Z: Season 5
Premieres on Nov 15
Still alive, Frieza heads to Earth with King Cold to exact revenge. A swordsman joins the fray, but it’s unclear who he is, or whose side he’s on.
LOS ANGELES — Three Bob Ross paintings sold at auction in Los Angeles for more than US$600,000 on Tuesday, the first of 30 canvases by the artist and television host to be sold as part of a campaign to help public broadcasters across the United States …
LOS ANGELES — Three Bob Ross paintings sold at auction in Los Angeles for more than US$600,000 on Tuesday, the first of 30 canvases by the artist and television host to be sold as part of a campaign to help public broadcasters across the United States weather federal funding cuts.
The sales were announced by Bonhams, the auction house that hosted the auction. It plans to sell the other 27 paintings at several auctions next year in Boston, New York and Los Angeles. The proceeds will benefit public television stations across the country that have been grappling with the Donald Trump administration’s cancellation of $1.1 billion in funding for public media.
Ross, who died at 52 in 1995, became a beloved pop culture figure in the 1980s by hosting “The Joy of Painting,” a PBS show carried by hundreds of public television stations.
The three landscapes sold Tuesday showcase some of Ross’ signature motifs, including saturated colours and whimsical clouds:
“Winter’s Peace” (1993), a portrait of a snow-covered cabin nestled beside evergreens, sold for $318,000.
“Home in the Valley” (1993), in which a single house overlooks a lake with mountains and clear blue skies, sold for $229,100.
“Cliffside” (1990), showing a flowing river gushing through the crevices of a cliff, sold for $114,800.
Joan Kowalski, the president of Bob Ross Inc, the company that oversees the Ross empire, donated the 30 paintings to American Public Television, a syndicator that distributes “The Joy of Painting” and other programmes to hundreds of public television channels. Most of the works have only been seen on the air, when Ross painted them.
Kowalski came up with the idea for the auction after seeing that Bonhams had sold two privately owned paintings by Ross in August for around $100,000 each.
Proceeds from the auctions will go to American Public Television, and the syndicator will disperse the money to broadcasters in need of relief. Neither American Public Television nor Bob Ross Inc could be reached for comment late Tuesday.
Painter Bob Ross is shown during the taping of his very first public television show ‘The Joy of Painting’ at the WNVC studio in Falls Church, Virginia, the United States, in this frame grab from video obtained by Reuters on Tuesday.
MANILA, Philippines — The Palace maintained that while the local officials who left the country during the typhoons are still being internally questioned, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. disapproved of leaders who are “chill-chill lang (only).”
Several officials are under fire for traveling abroad at the height of tropical cyclones Tino and Uwan, which ravaged the country mere days apart.
One official, Isabel Gov. Rodolfo Albano III, also caught the ire of citizens. Albano, currently in Germany, said that his residents should chill, even with the cyclone closing in on the Philippines.
While she did not name names, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said that Marcos does not accept this kind of behavior.
“Hindi niya (Marcos) po gusto na ang mga liderato ay chill-chill lang. So, dapat talaga ang trabaho ay para sa taumbayan kasi ang taumbayan umaasa po sa gobyerno lalo na sa mga ganitong klaseng sitwasyon at kondisyon. So, hindi puwedeng sabihin lang na chill-chill lang palagi dahil dapat trabaho, trabaho – hindi bakasyon,” Castro said.
(He does not like leaders who are just chilling around. The job should be for the people because the people rely on the government, especially in these types of situations and conditions. So, we can’t just say just chill because it should be work—not vacation.)
Castro maintained that just because the leaders went abroad, it does not mean that they were vacationing. However, she said that leaders must remain with their communities in the face of calamities.
The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has named several officials who went out of the country during Tino and Uwan, including Albano and Batanes Gov. Jun Aguto. Several executives from Cebu were also absent from their communities during the cyclones.
No resort?
While the Palace has expressed disapproval of “chill” leaders, it defended First Lady Liza Marcos for her book launch at the Goldenberg Mansion in Malacañang, which took place on November 6, the same time that Typhoon Tino hit the country.
Asked about the criticisms accusing the First Lady of being tone-deaf, the Palace said that each official had their own designated obligation.
South Korea and the Netherlands discussed joint strategies to
address emerging security challenges, including cybersecurity and
the responsible military use of artificial intelligence (AI),
Azernews reports, citing Yonhap.
Th…
South Korea and the Netherlands discussed joint strategies to
address emerging security challenges, including cybersecurity and
the responsible military use of artificial intelligence (AI), Azernews reports, citing Yonhap.
The talks took place on Monday in The Hague between Youn
Jong-kwon, South Korea’s ambassador for international cybersecurity
affairs, and Wouter Jurgens, director for security policy at the
Dutch foreign ministry, the South Korean foreign ministry said.
Both sides agreed to strengthen international coordination on
these emerging challenges and also addressed more traditional
security issues, such as the nonproliferation of weapons of mass
destruction.
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Washington seeks to reduce trade deficit with Vietnam, largest after China and Mexico
PUBLISHED : 12 Nov 2025 at 11:22
…
Washington seeks to reduce trade deficit with Vietnam, largest after China and Mexico
PUBLISHED : 12 Nov 2025 at 11:22
US and Vietnamese flags flutter in the wind at the presidential palace in Hanoi where US President George W Bush is visiting Nov 17, 2006. (File photo: Reuters)
HANOI — Vietnam is working to sign a trade agreement with the United States soon, Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son said on Wednesday, as a new round of negotiations gets underway in Washington.
In October, the two countries agreed to finalise a trade deal within weeks that would maintain US tariffs of 20% on its imports of Vietnamese goods but exempt some unspecified products from the new duty imposed by US President Donald Trump in August.
Son urged US businesses at a conference in Hanoi to help in bilateral negotiations so that the two parties could “soon sign a fair and balanced trade agreement.”
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Michael DeSombre, told the conference in a recorded statement that the trade deal should rebalance commercial flows between the two countries, reducing the US deficit with Hanoi, which is the largest after China and Mexico.
For the first 10 months of the year, Vietnam has recorded a US$111 billion trade surplus with the US – pointing to another potential annual record – according to Vietnamese data, which is usually more conservative than US trade figures, currently unavailable because of an ongoing federal government shutdown.
Talks on exemption list
A Vietnamese delegation led by Trade Minister Nguyen Hong Dien is in Washington this week for a new round of talks with US officials to work on finalising the trade agreement, the Vietnamese trade ministry said on its web portal.
A person briefed about the talks said negotiations would focus on identifying Vietnamese items that could be exempted from US tariffs, such as coffee, and on the scope of the preferential access to the Vietnamese market that Hanoi has pledged for US products, such as cars and farm goods.
The Vietnamese side aimed to finalise the deal ideally after the US Supreme Court decides on the legality of US tariffs imposed by Trump, and possibly by December, the person said, declining to be named because the information was not public. The court ruling is expected any time before the end of this year and mid-2026.
Vietnamese negotiators are keen to mark the signing of a trade deal with a meeting between Trump and Vietnam’s top leader To Lam, multiple officials have said.
Son urged US businesses at Wednesday’s conference to support Vietnam’s efforts to set up the high-level meeting. Past attempts have not been successful, according to multiple officials.
He also called on US businesses to encourage Washington to recognise Vietnam as a market economy and lift its restrictions on the export of high-tech products, such as advanced semiconductors.
DeSombre said Vietnam could play a role in global supply chains for critical minerals. Vietnam has large resources of rare earths and gallium but has been slow in exploiting them.
MANILA, Philippines — The death toll from Super Typhoon “Uwan” has increased to 27, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said.
As of Wednesday, November 12, Ifugao has the highest number of reported deaths with nine, followed by Benguet with four.
The following are the other reported death figures, according to the OCD:
Nueva Vizcaya – 3
Mountain Province – 3
Kalinga – 3
Catanduanes – 1
Capiz – 1
Samar – 1
Sulu – 1
Unknown province – 1
Two individuals were also reported missing in Kalinga.
A total of 36 individuals sustained injuries across the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Quezon, Catanduanes, Camarines Norte and Negros Occidental.
Affected individuals. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council’s (NDRRMC) 6 a.m. report, Typhoon Uwan affected 3,596,174 individuals, or 1,006,149 families.
The highest number of affected residents was recorded in Bicol with 1,414,412 individuals, followed by the Ilocos Region with 426,884 and Eastern Visayas with 422,392.
Of the total affected population, 623,310 people (171,786 families) were taking shelter in evacuation centers, while 296,035 people (84,524 families) sought refuge in other locations.
A total of 41,202 houses sustained damage, with 33,882 partially damaged and 7,320 completely destroyed. Infrastructure losses were estimated at P126,589,000.
The NDRRMC also reported that 277 of the 625 affected road sections and 61 of the 78 damaged bridge sections remain impassable.
As of writing, recorded agricultural losses amounted to P3,000.
State weather bureau PAGASA said that Uwan is now outside the Philippine area of responsibility, estimated to be 265 kilometers west-northwest of Itbayat, Batanes.
MANILA, Philippines — Just two days after celebrating his 21st birthday, Alas Pilipinas player Ike Barilea passed away, the Philippine national volleyball team announced Tuesday.
Barilea turned 21 on November 9. The cause of his death was not bared.
“The court feels emptier, and our hearts heavier. Rest easy, ALAS IKE BARILEA,” the team posted on Facebook.
“Thank you for the laughter, the memories, and the heart you gave to the team. Heaven gained an angel, but we lost a piece of ours. Fly high, our dear ALAS,” it added.
Barilea, a promising spiker from Negros, got into the limelight after his performance in the 2025 U21 National Finals, where he led the 1Silay Volleyball Club to a bronze medal finish.
This, then, led him to be called up to the initial Alas Pilipinas men pool for the 2025 FIVB men’s world championship.
However, he did not make the team.
Still, Barilea played both locally and internationally, seeing action for Santa Rosa City in the 2022 Spikers’ Turf and the 2025 AVC Men’s Champions League in Japan with Cignal.
“Friends, teammates, and fans remember him as a dedicated athlete whose passion, energy, and commitment left a mark on Philippine volleyball,” Spikers’ Turf said in a statement on its website.
