(UPDATE) Tropical storm Henry has moved closer to northern Philippines, enhancing the southwest monsoon that soaked Luzon in rain the past few days, the weather bureau said Friday.

(UPDATE) He could have gotten what he wanted but it was too late.

The mother of former senator and defeated vice presidential candidate Sen. Manuel "Mar" Roxas II on Thursday belied rumors that there was a gap between her son and President Aquino.

Lawmakers on Friday heaped criticisms on the Aquino administration?s proposal to increase funds of dole-out programs under the Department of Social Welfare of Development (DSWD), while slashing the budget of key agencies such as the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

A court sheriff was gunned down by an unidentified gunman in Noveleta, Cavite Friday noon, authorities said.

With one more death in Cebu caused by dengue hemorrhagic fever, health and hospital authorities are exerting more effort to contain the spread of the dreaded disease.

(UPDATE) Former Akbayan Rep. Loretta Rosales formally assumed the chairmanship of the Commission on Human Rights Friday, noting that she has big shoes to fill and asking her detractors not to be afraid of her.

KUALA LUMPUR--A Malaysian wildlife trafficker has pleaded guilty to smuggling 95 endangered boa constrictors and could face up to seven years in jail, officials said Friday.

TOKYO--A Japanese man drove the wrong way down an expressway for 90 kilometers (55 miles) and broke through five police barricades because his cat had died, he told police.

(UPDATE) Mapua Institute of Technology blasted slumping Emilio Aguinaldo, 74-65, Friday in the 86th NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Arena in San Juan.

A stranded dolphin was rescued by sea patrol members, fisheries officers and the police in San Teodoro town, Mindoro Oriental Thursday afternoon and released in deep waters two hours later, authorities said.

The housing mess involving Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp. would not have happened had there been effective check and balance on the firm?s transactions with the state-controlled Home Development Mutual Fund, popularly known as the Pag-IBIG Fund, a lawmaker said on Friday.

(UPDATE) Philippine National Police Director General Jesus Verzosa has sought the permission of President Benigno Aquino III for an early retirement on September 15, a police spokesman said on Friday.

A man killed a 15-year-old boy accused of killing his 13-year-old son over an unpaid P5 bet in a remote hinterland village of Binalbagan town, Negros Occidental, the municipal police said.

Security preparations for the holding of the October 2 special elections in the provinces of Basilan and Lanao del Sur have started, authorities said.

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington and its escort warships are scheduled to arrive Saturday morning in Manila for a four-day goodwill visit.

The government has vowed to implement in full the remaining provisions of the peace agreement it concluded with the Moro National Liberation Front in 1996.

A Manila court has postponed the arraignment of the brother of slain hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza on serious disobedience charges to give him time to file a motion to dismiss the complaint.

A son of murdered Aklan activist and town councilor Fernando Baldomero has assumed his father?s post and has vowed to continue his advocacies.

(UPDATE) Philippine National Police (PNP) Director-General Jesus Versoza admitted that they have not fully perfected crowd control in hostage crisis situations.

Police authorities here confirmed on Friday the arrest of a fugitive police officer linked to the November 23 Maguindanao massacre.

BacMan Geothermal, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of geothermal leader Energy Development Corp., paid the government P1.28 billion on Friday for the 150-megawatt Bacon-Manito geothermal power plant in Bicol.

(UPDATE) A broadcasting network giant has been asked by a local court to answer a civil suit filed by one of its hosts seeking the termination of his contract with the network and the payment of damages totaling P11 million.

Consumers of power distributor Manila Electric Co. can expect their electricity bills to go down by 68.4 centavos per kilowatt-hour (kWh) this month, as the basic generation charge has fallen to P5.4119 per kWh, the power firm said.

Local stocks rallied further on Friday as upbeat global markets boosted investors' risk appetite, pushing the index to a new multi-year high.

The US Embassy and its affiliated offices will be closed to the public on Monday, September 6, in observance of US Labor Day, according to an emailed statement from the embassy.

Members of the elite units of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) on Friday showed off their skills in handling crises, days after the bloody hostage crisis in Quirino Grandstand last August 23.

(UPDATE) President Benigno Aquino III has declared a non-working holiday the end of Eid?l Fitr or the Feast of Ramadan that would fall on September 10 this year.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Eduardo Nachura questioned the inclusion of two lawmakers as members of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) despite having pending electoral protests.

MANILA, Philippines ? The buck stops at the highest office of the land.

Six unidentified men shot and killed a police officer during a robbery inside a bus in Sitio (sub-village) Pagan, Barangay (village) Marilog, Davao City on Monday, according to belated police reports reaching Camp Crame.

Interior and Local Government undersecretary Rico Puno on Friday said that the government's crisis management committee treated the botched August 23 hostage incident as a local instead of a national crisis despite the fact that majority of the hostages were foreign nationals.

WASHINGTON?NASA has landed on the iPad.

The helper of a 10-wheeler truck was in critical condition after the vehicle rammed a van, a car, and an electric post along General Aguinaldo Highway in Bacoor, Cavite, an hour past midnight Thursday, the police said. For unknown reasons, the driver fled the scene.

MANILA, Philippines?In Valenzuela City early this year, fourth graders were given a Math quiz in Filipino while sixth graders took the same quiz in English.

MANILA, Philippines ? A driver and his helper were rescued early Friday after their 10-wheel truck was swept away by a swollen river in Rodriguez, Rizal, which they tried to cross despite warnings not to, police said.

After years of earning less than their male counterparts, some American women are catching up to and even overtaking men in terms of how much they earn, but only some of them, a study shows.

MANILA, Philippines?Prisco Nilo, the weather bureau chief who was fired by President Benigno Aquino III last month, should ?move on,? said Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo.

IZMIR?China scraped into the second round of the World Basketball Championships on Thursday while Australia also made sure of their last 16 spot.

Dr. Nilo Tayag, head of the National Epidemiology Center, Thursday disclosed that the 62,503 dengue cases reported from January to Aug. 21 was the highest ever number recorded in the country, and warned that deaths from dengue could also reach a new high this year.

A Hong Kong police official was held for three hours at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Thursday for trying to bring out empty shells and bullet slugs taken from test fires conducted on the firearms of slain hostage-taker Rolando Mendoza.

A police officer implicated in the 2008 ?euro generals? scandal has earned his first star despite facing charges before the Ombudsman.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. Thursday cautioned House members against rushing the deliberations on two impeachment complaints against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland?A man who railed against the Discovery Channel?s environmental programming for years burst into the company?s headquarters with at least one explosive device strapped to his body on Wednesday and took three people hostage at gunpoint before police gunned him down.

While it gives away millions of pesos in lottery prizes, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has been losing heavily for the past several years, the agency?s head said Thursday.

The administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo launched a Food-for-School Program (FSP) in early November 2004 as part of its response to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showing that more Filipinos were going hungry.

Tourist arrivals from Hong Kong are expected to decrease by 10 percent as a result of the Aug. 23 hostage crisis that led to the death of eight tourists from the Chinese territory, a Malacañang official Thursday told reporters.

HONG KONG?Hong Kong lawmakers Thursday passed a motion demanding that the Philippine government apologize and pay compensation to the families of eight Hong Kong tourists killed in a hostage bloodbath in Manila.

HONG KONG?Philippine authorities sent the bodies of three of the victims in the Manila bus hijacking to the wrong families, Hong Kong said Thursday, in the latest of a series of missteps in the handling of the hostage crisis.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo?s chances of being confirmed by the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA) now hang in the balance in view of the bungled rescue of Hong Kong tourists held hostage on Aug. 23, according to an ally of President Aquino.

A marathon three-day inquiry into the botched hostage rescue drama opens on Friday amid hopes by the Philippines and China that the probe will be fair and thorough and those responsible will be held accountable.