The World Today - Ang Mundo Ngayon, Diliman Road, Quezon City (2025)

01/12/2025

Russian Tourist Marvels at Hot Springs Amid Frozen Landscape as Arxan Ice and Snow Festival Marks 20th Year

ARXAN, China (AP) — A Russian visitor to northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region said she was stunned by the contrast of bathing in steaming outdoor hot springs while surrounded by sub-zero ice and snow.

“In a pure ice and snow environment at minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit), I’m bathed in a natural hot spring. I can look up and see the starry sky and the vast forest and snowfields,” Anna Ivanova, a tourist from Russia, said during her trip to Arxan.

Her experience came as the 20th Arxan Ice and Snow Festival opened Nov. 15, spotlighting a remote mountain city that has emerged as one of China’s leading cold-weather tourism destinations.

Arxan, a county-level city in the southwest foothills of the Greater Hinggan Mountains and at the convergence of four major grasslands, endures a seven-month winter with roughly six months of snow cover annually. In recent years, its combination of dramatic frozen landscapes and geothermal hot springs has attracted growing numbers of domestic and international travelers.

Over the past two decades, local authorities have shifted from simple ice-and-snow sightseeing to a full-spectrum winter tourism model that blends extreme-weather sports, hot-spring wellness, traditional ethnic folk customs of the Mongolian and other local groups, and health-focused activities.

The festival, now in its 20th edition, serves as the centerpiece of Arxan’s winter season, drawing visitors seeking both adventure in the deep freeze and relaxation in its natural thermal pools.

01/12/2025

Norway Breaks Ground on World’s First Full-Scale Ship Tunnel Through a Mountain

SELUJE, Norway — Norway has begun construction on the Stad Ship Tunnel, the world’s first full-scale tunnel designed to let large ships sail directly through a mountain, offering a safe shortcut past one of Europe’s most treacherous coastal stretches.

The 1.7-kilometer (1.05-mile) tunnel will slice through the narrowest part of the Stad Peninsula in western Norway, allowing vessels to bypass the notorious Stadhavet Sea, where howling winds, towering waves and chaotic currents have sunk ships and claimed lives for centuries.

When completed, the passage will measure 36 meters (118 feet) high and 26.5 meters (87 feet) wide — tall and wide enough for coastal cargo ships, passenger ferries, and rescue vessels up to the size of Norway’s Hurtigruten coastal liners to pass through with room to spare.

The Norwegian Coastal Administration says more than 3 million cubic meters of solid rock — equivalent to roughly 1,200 Olympic-size swimming pools — will be blasted and excavated in the project, which officials describe as one of the most ambitious maritime infrastructure works ever undertaken.

“Instead of battling unpredictable weather that can halt shipping for days, vessels will have a calm, predictable route,” project director Terje Andreassen told The Associated Press. “This will dramatically improve safety and reliability along the entire Norwegian coast.”

The tunnel is expected to shorten travel times, reduce weather-related delays, and guarantee year-round ferry service for local communities that have long depended on routes frequently canceled because of rough seas. Regional officials say the project will also bolster trade, tourism, and emergency response capabilities.

Norway awarded the main construction contract in late 2024, with preparatory blasting already underway. Full-scale excavation is scheduled to begin in 2025, and the tunnel is slated to open to maritime traffic in 2032 at an estimated cost of 5.5 billion Norwegian kroner (about $500 million).

The country’s decades of experience building long road and rail tunnels — including the submerged subsea tunnels that already link islands to the mainland — gave engineers the confidence to tackle the unprecedented ship tunnel.

Once finished, the Stad Ship Tunnel is expected to join landmarks such as the Panama Canal and Norway’s own Atlantic Ocean Road as a global symbol of engineering ingenuity in overcoming harsh geography.

01/12/2025

Euro model shifts potential tropical system south toward Eastern Samar, Visayas, northern Palawan

MANILA, Dec 1, 2025 - The latest run of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model, issued at 4:15 a.m. local time on Monday, shows a more southern track for a developing tropical disturbance expected to affect the Philippines around December 6-7, 2025.

The model guidance now brings the system toward Eastern Samar and Leyte, passing just north of Cebu, then moving through Masbate, Capiz, Aklan, Romblon and northern Palawan.

If the system reaches tropical depression or strong tropical storm intensity, it could produce strong winds and very heavy rainfall across southern Luzon and much of the Visayas.

Meteorologists emphasised that this remains a single model forecast and not an official track from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), with subsequent runs likely to show changes. Further updates will be provided as new data becomes available.

01/12/2025

Severe Solar Storm Collapses Earth's Plasmasphere by Nearly 80%, Data Show

TOKYO, Dec 1, 2025 – A powerful solar storm in May 2024 triggered one of the most dramatic contractions of Earth’s plasmasphere ever recorded, compressing the protective torus of cold plasma surrounding the planet by almost 80% in a matter of hours, according to data from Japan’s Arase satellite published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Scientists have named the event the “Gannon storm” after the researcher who first identified its severity. The storm, classified as a G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), ranks among the strongest to affect near-Earth space in more than two decades.

The plasmasphere – a doughnut-shaped region of charged particles extending from about 600 miles (1,000 km) above Earth’s surface out to typically 15,000–25,000 miles (25,000–40,000 km) in the equatorial plane – acts as a buffer against high-energy particles from the Sun. During the Gannon storm, its outer boundary was observed collapsing from approximately 27,000 miles (43,500 km) to just 6,000 miles (9,700 km) from Earth’s center, exposing satellites in medium Earth orbit, including portions of the GPS constellation, to significantly higher fluxes of energetic particles.

The Japanese Arase spacecraft, also known as Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace (ERG), was ideally positioned inside the shrinking plasmasphere and captured continuous in-situ measurements throughout the event on May 10–11, 2024. Researchers say such direct observation of a near-total plasmaspheric collapse is unprecedented.

The rapid depletion was driven by a combination of enhanced outward plasma flow and a prolonged negative ionospheric storm, a phenomenon in which the electron density in the upper atmosphere drops sharply. The negative phase, which lasted several days, suppressed the normal refilling of the plasmasphere from the ionosphere. As a result, full recovery took more than four days – more than twice the typical 1–2 day replenishment time following major storms.

“These observations reveal how fragile the plasmasphere can be during extreme space weather,” said Atsuki Shinbori of Nagoya University’s Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, a co-author of the study. “Satellites that usually operate inside this protective region suddenly found themselves in a much harsher radiation environment.”

While no widespread GPS outages were reported during the event, experts note that prolonged exposure to high-energy particles can degrade satellite electronics over time and increase positioning errors for navigation systems.

The Gannon storm occurred during the ascending phase of Solar Cycle 25, which is proving more active than initially forecast. NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center has recorded multiple G4- and G5-level storms since early 2024, raising concerns about risks to power grids, aviation communications, and satellite operations as the cycle approaches its peak expected in mid-2025.

Scientists emphasized that continued monitoring by satellites such as Arase, NASA’s Van Allen Probes (now decommissioned), and the upcoming ESA/JAXA Plasma Observatory mission will be critical for developing more accurate space-weather forecasting models.

01/12/2025

1 or 2 Tropical Cyclones Possible in Philippines This December, PAGASA Says

MANILA — One or two tropical cyclones may form or enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility before the end of 2025, the state weather bureau said Monday.

“Ngayong Disyembre, isa hanggang dalawang bagyo ang inaasahan nating maaaring mabuo o papasok ng Philippine Area of Responsibility,” PAGASA weather specialist Obet Badrina said during the agency’s public weather forecast.

The projection comes as tropical cyclone activity typically slows in the final month of the year.

30/11/2025

Low-Pressure Area 93W Expands Over Pacific; Could Become Typhoon Wilma and Affect Bicol, Visayas

MANILA, Philippines Nov. 30, 2025— A low-pressure area monitored as Invest 93W continued to expand its cloud cover Sunday while drifting over the warm waters of the western North Pacific southeast of Guam, the Philippine weather bureau said.

The disturbance was packing maximum sustained winds of 25-30 kph (15-18 mph) as it moved west to west-northwestward at 15 kph (9 mph), according to a midday update from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). The system, located approximately 1,200 kilometers (746 miles) east-southeast of Infanta, Quezon province, had a medium chance of developing into a tropical depression within 48 hours, PAGASA said.

No gale warnings were in effect, but forecasters outlined two possible tracks for the system, which could bring rain to parts of the country if it intensifies.

In one scenario, the LPA could approach the eastern Bicol region before recurving northeastward into the open Pacific, limiting impacts on land.

The second and currently favored scenario, influenced by the northeast monsoon (amihan) and an active shear line over eastern Luzon, would see the system drift southwestward and potentially cross or pass near the Bicol region, MIMAROPA provinces, or the Visayas.

If the system strengthens into a tropical storm after entering the Philippine area of responsibility, it will be named Wilma, becoming the 23rd named storm of the 2025 Pacific typhoon season — an above-average year that has already seen 22 named storms, including the deadly Typhoon Verbena earlier this month.

PAGASA noted favorable sea surface temperatures of 28-29°C (82-84°F) but said moderate wind shear could slow development. No immediate threats to life or property were reported, though scattered heavy rains associated with the shear line may affect eastern Luzon and the Visayas in the coming days.

The state weather bureau said it will issue its next advisory Sunday morning as the 2025 typhoon season, officially ending December 1, 2025 continues to show late-season activity.

30/11/2025

Farewell to a Martian Legend: NASA’s Opportunity Rover

NASA’s Opportunity rover, part of the Mars Exploration Rover mission, concluded its historic journey in 2019 after nearly 15 years of operations on the Martian surface. The rover landed in Meridiani Planum on January 25, 2004, designed for a 90‑sol mission but ultimately surviving for 5,111 sols, far exceeding expectations.

During its mission, Opportunity traveled 45.16 kilometers, setting the record for the longest distance driven by any vehicle on another world. Its scientific achievements included identifying hematite-rich spherules, sulfate-rich rocks, and sedimentary structures that provided strong evidence that liquid water once existed on Mars. These findings significantly advanced understanding of the planet’s past habitability.

In May 2018, a regional dust storm detected by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter expanded into a global event, becoming one of the most intense planet‑wide storms observed on Mars. By June, atmospheric opacity increased to levels that prevented sunlight from reaching Opportunity’s solar panels, cutting off its ability to recharge. The rover entered a low‑power hibernation mode on June 10, 2018, and did not respond afterward.

NASA conducted an extensive recovery effort, transmitting more than 1,000 commands over eight months in an attempt to re-establish contact. Engineers considered possibilities such as dust accumulation on the solar arrays or internal component failure. On February 13, 2019, after all attempts were exhausted, NASA declared the mission complete.

Opportunity’s mission set endurance records, provided critical geological and atmospheric data, and delivered some of the strongest evidence that Mars once hosted environments capable of supporting liquid water. Its discoveries continue to inform ongoing and future Mars exploration programs.

30/11/2025

Overview of the $2.4 Trillion China Act

The "$2.4 trillion China act" refers to the escalated US tariffs on Chinese imports, implemented under President Donald Trump's administration starting in early 2025. These tariffs, building on prior trade measures, impose duties of up to 104% on approximately $2.4 trillion worth of annual Chinese exports to the US. The policy targets key sectors including electronics, machinery, steel, and consumer goods, aiming to reduce the US trade deficit with China, which stood at $279 billion in 2024. The tariffs were enacted via executive action under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, following a brief court challenge in May 2025 that was overturned on appeal.

China's exports to the US totaled $427 billion in 2023, but projections for 2025 estimated $2.4 trillion in cumulative value across affected categories when including supply chain impacts. This figure aggregates the value of goods subject to the duties, representing about 25% of China's total global exports. The US, accounting for 17% of China's export market in 2024, is China's largest single trading partner.

Global Economic Impacts

The tariffs are projected to reduce global economic growth by 0.3% by 2030 under baseline reciprocal scenarios, according to Economic Modeling analysis. In a full decoupling scenario—where US-China trade drops by 95%—global GDP could contract by 2.6%. US inflation is expected to rise by 1.0 percentage point by the end of 2025 as import costs are passed to consumers, with manufacturing reshoring adding $160 billion monthly to US construction spending since 2022.

China's economy faces a 0.5% reduction in activity by 2030 from existing tariffs, escalating to 1.3% under decoupling. China's GDP growth, forecasted at 4.9% for 2024 by ANZ, is vulnerable due to its reliance on exports, which comprise 20% of GDP. Property sales in 70 Chinese cities have declined for 15 consecutive months as of September 2024, with construction starts and completions down year-over-year. The National Bureau of Statistics PMI index showed a declining trend from March 2024, reflecting manufacturing slowdowns tied to reduced US demand.

Worldwide retaliation could amplify effects: US economic activity might shrink by 2.2%, while China's growth falls 0.7%. The tariffs reverse post-WWII trade liberalization, ending the "Washington Consensus" era of deregulation and free markets, as noted by Commonwealth Bank chief economist Luke Yeaman in April 2025.

Impacts on Australia

Australia's $2 trillion economy derives 33% of its exports from trade with China, valued at $172 billion in 2024 with a $51 billion surplus. Key exports include iron ore ($136 billion annually, 60% to China), coal, natural gas, barley, wine, and education services, representing 8.2% of Australia's GDP. A slowdown in Chinese demand has already impacted sectors: iron ore prices, dependent on Chinese steel production for housing and infrastructure, fell amid 2024 property market declines. Wheat exports to China, Australia's largest by value for three years, dropped on regulatory rumors in September 2024, alongside declines in sorghum and barley prices.

The tariffs are expected to reduce Chinese demand for Australian commodities by 10-15% in 2025, per ANZ estimates, exacerbating a 2024 Chinese GDP slowdown. Australia's ASX 200 index plunged 3.2% on April 9, 2025, with mining stocks like BHP and Rio Tinto down 5-7% due to trade war fears. The Australian dollar fell below US$0.60 for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, trading at US$0.58 by mid-April 2025. Tourism from China, Australia's second-largest source with 1.4 million visitors pre-2020, faces further restrictions; flights remain 40% below 2019 levels due to lingering trade tensions.

In response, Australia rejected China's April 2025 trade overture for a bilateral deal to counter US tariffs, as announced by Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles. This followed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's statement that the 10% baseline tariffs had "no basis in logic" but warranted no retaliation. Australia's "Future Made in America" policy, a $22.7 billion package from the May 2024 budget, includes $7 billion in tax credits for critical minerals processing and $2 per kilogram incentives for green hydrogen, aimed at diversifying away from China amid US-led industrial shifts.

Key Figures Involved

- Xi Jinping: China's President, overseeing responses including potential fiscal stimuli announced at the 2024 National People's Congress. China's population peaked at 1.4 billion in 2021, with 45% working-age, contributing to labor constraints amid economic stalls.
- Donald Trump: US President, who enacted the tariffs as "reciprocal" measures against 60 partners, including China at 104%, India at 25%, and Japan at 20%. The policy follows his 2018-2020 trade war, which imposed 25% duties on $360 billion in Chinese goods.
- Anthony Albanese: Australian Prime Minister, leading diversification efforts. In April 2025, he emphasized preparation for global uncertainty without retaliatory tariffs.

Long-Term Risks for Australia

Australia's export dependency exposes it to a "significant risk" of revenue drops, with potential 0.5-1.0% GDP contraction by 2026 if Chinese growth dips below 4%. Past sanctions in 2020—banning $20 billion in Australian barley, wine, and coal—cost $51 billion overall. Diversification targets include Japan (10% of exports), South Korea (7%), India (5%), and the US (4%), but China absorbs 72% more exports than the next largest partner. Productivity declines and "economic shallowing" since 2020, per expert analysis, compound vulnerabilities, with single-market reliance threatening industries like mining (50% of exports) and agriculture.

29/11/2025

PAGASA Monitors Tropical Wave South of Guam as Cold Surge Nears

MANILA — The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) and international forecast centers continued monitoring a tropical wave several hundred kilometers south of Guam on Sunday, November 30, 2025.

Some numerical guidance, including the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model, suggests possible development of the disturbance in the coming days ahead, but several other global models do not show significant organization.

Forecasters said a stronger northeast monsoon surge, driven by an incoming continental cold air mass, is expected to reach the Philippines during the first week of December. The interaction between the cold surge and the tropical wave is forecast to produce a pronounced shear line, bringing periods of moderate to heavy rain across eastern Luzon and the Visayas from December 3 to 5, 2025.

As of Sunday, no reliable model guidance indicated the formation of a tropical cyclone. Meteorologists noted, however, that rapid organization of the wave remains possible and could alter the forecast if it occurs.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center and PAGASA have not issued any tropical cyclone advisories for the system.

Residents of eastern Luzon and the Visayas were advised to monitor updates for potential heavy rainfall and possible flooding associated with the enhanced monsoon and shear line rather than a named tropical storm.

The latest forecast discussion was updated Friday morning local time, with additional guidance expected throughout the weekend.

29/11/2025

POSSIBLE TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION LOOMING FIRST WEEK OF DECEMBER 2025

MANILA — The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) and international guidance models indicate an increasing chance of tropical cyclone formation in the western Pacific during the first week of December, with the system potentially approaching or affecting the Philippines, forecasters said Friday.

If the disturbance develops into a tropical storm within the Philippine area of responsibility, it would be named Wilma, followed by Yasmin and Zoraida, according to the 2024 PAGASA naming list.

Current long-range ensemble models from ECMWF and other global guidance show a broad area of low pressure possibly organizing east of the Philippines early next week, but the track and intensity remain highly uncertain.

Weather specialists stressed that significant changes to the forecast are likely in the coming days and urged the public to monitor official updates from PAGASA.

No tropical cyclone warnings are currently in effect.

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