Naval vessels from the Philippines and United States conducted a joint sail through parts of the South China Sea lying within the Southeast Asian nation’s exclusive economic zone, Manila’s military said on Monday.

It was the first time the Philippines and Washington have carried out a joint sail in waters west of Palawan island, the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Western Command said.

The display of cooperation between the U.S. and Philippines comes at a time of heightened tension between Manila and Beijing, which claims much of the South China Sea.

The Philippine Navy’s guided-missile frigate BRP Jose Rizal and the US Navy Alrleigh Burke-class guided missile-destroyer USS Ralph Johnson participated in the joint sail, during which ships practice manoeuvring near other vessels. 

“This event aims to provide an opportunity for the Philippine Navy and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Navy to test and refine existing maritime doctrine,” the Western Command said in a statement.

Manila has repeatedly complained against what it described as China’s “aggressive” actions in the South China Sea, including the use of a water cannon by its coast guard against a Philippines vessel engaged in a resupply mission on Aug. 5.

China has built militarised, manmade islands in the South China Sea and its claim of historic sovereignty overlaps with the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

The Philippines won an international arbitration award against China in 2016, after a tribunal said Beijing’s sweeping claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea had no legal basis.
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The French government said Monday it was preparing a new decree against meaty terms like “steak” or “grill” being used to describe plant-based products.

Its latest decree is “an issue of transparency and honesty responding to the legitimate expectations of consumers and producers,” Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said in a statement.

Farmers and firms in France’s meat supply chain have long militated against terms like “plant-based burger” or “vegan sausage,” claiming that they confuse consumers.

But a 2022 decree protecting such words was suspended by the country’s top administrative court.

While that court, the Council of State, has asked for guidance from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) before its final ruling, Paris’ agriculture ministry says it has already prepared a new language order taking the judges’ complaints into account.

The decree has been submitted to the European Commission for checking against its detailed food labeling rules.

But “the term ‘plant-based steak’ has been in use for more than 40 years,” said Guillaume Hannotin, lawyer for the Proteines France organization representing makers of vegan and vegetarian alternatives.

France’s new decree still contravenes EU regulation on labeling for products that, unlike milk, lack a strict legal definition and can be referred to by terms in popular use, Hannotin argued.

The government’s latest move “torpedoes the proceedings in progress before the ECJ,” which were triggered by a complaint from Proteines France, he added.
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The U.S. is honoring its nearly 160 million workers Monday, the annual Labor Day celebration that unofficially marks the end of summer and gives families a last chance for get-togethers with friends and relatives the day before the school year starts in some communities if it hasn’t already begun.

The national holiday, officially proclaimed in 1894, was born as a tribute to American workers who often faced harsh conditions in the late 19th century — 12-hour days, seven days a week, with low pay for physically demanding work. Now, backyard barbecues, a few parades and a day of relaxation mark the holiday.

While labor disputes over working conditions and pay are still common in the U.S., such as current labor negotiations over expiring auto workers’ contracts, many labor conflicts have evolved into disputes that fit the times, and they are not just about workers’ pay.

Some businesses are feuding with their white-collar employees over whether they should be required to return full-time or at least part-time to their workplaces after they worked almost entirely from home for more than three years because of the coronavirus pandemic. Other disputes have emerged over the budding use of artificial intelligence, how it affects companies’ work product and whether workers might lose their jobs because of the use of it.

The unionized U.S. workforce has been declining for years, but still totals more 14 million workers. Democrats rely on it for steady political support in elections, although a segment of more conservative workers in some factory towns have switched their political allegiance to Republicans even as their union leaders still mostly support Democratic politicians.

Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden, who often calls himself the most pro-union president in U.S. history, is visiting the eastern city of Philadelphia Monday for its annual Tri-State Labor Day Parade. He was expected to speak about the importance of unions in U.S. labor history and how the American economy, the world’s biggest, has recovered from the initial devastating effects of the pandemic.

National polling shows Biden, running for reelection in 2024, struggling to gain the confidence of voters for his handling of the U.S. economy. But he has adopted the term “Bidenomics,” which critics intended as an epithet for his presidency, as a favorable campaign commendation.

During Biden’s 2½ years in office, the U.S. economy has added more than 13 million new jobs, more than during any other presidency in the same time frame, although some were replacement slots to fill vacancies lost in the pandemic.

Biden said Friday, “As we head into Labor Day, we ought to take a step back and take note of the fact that America is now in one of the strongest job-creating periods in our history.”

The Labor Department reported Friday that employers added 187,000 jobs in August, less than in some prior months but still a healthy number in the face of rising interest rates imposed by the Federal Reserve, the country’s central bank.

The U.S. unemployment rate rose from 3.5% to 3.8%, the highest level since February 2022 but still near a five-decade low. Economists, however, said the jobless rate was higher for an encouraging reason: Another 736,000 people began looking for work in August, a sign they felt they could find a job even if they did not immediately get hired.

The Labor Department only counts people who are actively looking for a job as unemployed, so that accounted for the higher jobless rate.

Biden has used executive declarations to promote worker union organizing, applauded unionization efforts at the giant shopping website Amazon and has authorized federal funding to aid union members’ pensions. Last week, the Biden administration proposed a new rule that would make 3.6 million more U.S. workers eligible for overtime pay, the most generous such increase in decades.

In campaign stops, Biden has praised union workers helping to build bridges and repair deteriorating infrastructure as part of the bipartisan $1.1 trillion public works package Congress passed in 2021.

“Unions raise standards across the workforce and industries, pushing up wages and strengthening benefits for everyone,” Biden said Friday. “You’ve heard me say many times: Wall Street didn’t build America. The middle-class built America, and unions built the middle class.”

Some of the information in this report came from The Associated Press.
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A guitar expert and two journalists have launched a global hunt for a missing bass guitar owned by Paul McCartney, bidding to solve what they brand “the greatest mystery in rock and roll.”

The trio of lifelong Beatles fans are searching for McCartney’s original Höfner bass — last seen in London in 1969 — in order to reunite the instrument with the former Fab Four frontman.

McCartney played the instrument throughout the 1960s, including at Hamburg’s Top Ten Club, at the Cavern Club in Liverpool and on early Beatles recordings at London’s Abbey Road studios.

“This is the search for the most important bass in history — Paul McCartney’s original Höfner,” the search party says on a website (thelostbass.com) newly-created for the endeavor.

“This is the bass you hear on ‘Love Me Do’, ‘She Loves You’, and ‘Twist and Shout’. The bass that powered Beatlemania — and shaped the sound of the modern world.”

McCartney bought the left-handed Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass for around £30 — about £550 ($585) today — in Hamburg in 1961, during The Beatles’ four-month residency at the Top Ten Club.

It disappeared without a trace nearly eight years later in January 1969 when the band were recording the “Get Back/Let It Be” sessions in central London.

By then its appearance was unique — after being overhauled in 1964, including with a complete respray in a three-part dark sunburst polyurethane finish — and it had become McCartney’s back-up bass.

‘Give something back’

The team now hunting for the guitar say it has not been seen since, but that “numerous theories and false sightings have occurred over the years.”

Appealing for fresh tips on its whereabouts, they insist their mission is “a search, not an investigation”, noting all information will be treated confidentially.

“With a little help from our friends — from fans and musicians to collectors and music shops — we can get the bass back to where it once belonged,” the trio stated on the website.

“Paul McCartney has given us so much over the last 62 years. The Lost Bass project is our chance to give something back.”

Nick Wass, a semi-retired former marketing manager and electric guitar developer for Höfner who co-wrote the definitive book on the Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass, is spearheading the search.

“It was played in Hamburg, at The Cavern Club, at Abbey Road. Isn’t that enough alone to get this bass back?” he added.

“I know, because I talked with him about it, that Paul would be so happy — thrilled — if this bass could get back to him.”

Wass is joined by journalist husband and wife team Scott and Naomi Jones.

The trio said other previously lost guitars have been found.

John Lennon’s Gibson J-160E — which he used to write “I Want To Hold Your Hand” — disappeared during The Beatles’ Christmas Show in 1963.

It resurfaced half a century later, and then sold at auction for $2.4 million.
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Four astronauts returned to Earth early Monday after a six-month stay at the International Space Station.

Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Atlantic off the Florida coast.

Returning were NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren “Woody” Hoburg, Russia’s Andrei Fedyaev and the United Arab Emirates’ Sultan al-Neyadi, the first person from the Arab world to spend an extended time in orbit.

Before departing the space station, they said they were craving hot showers, steaming cups of coffee and the ocean air since arriving in March. Their homecoming was delayed a day because of poor weather at the splashdown locations, but in the end, provided a spectacular middle-of-the-night show as the capsule streaked through the sky over Cape Canaveral toward a splashdown near Jacksonville.

The astronauts said it was incredible to be back. “You’ve got a roomful of happy people here,” SpaceX Mission Control radioed.

SpaceX launched their replacements over a week ago.

Another crew switch will occur later this month with the long-awaited homecoming of two Russians and one American who have been up there an entire year. Their stay was doubled after their Soyuz capsule leaked all of its coolant and a new craft had to be launched.

Between crew swaps, the space station is home to seven astronauts.
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The third installment in the Denzel Washington-led “Equalizer” franchise topped the domestic box office this weekend with $34.5 million according to studio estimates Sunday. By the end of the Monday holiday, Sony expects that total will rise to $42 million.

Labor Day signals the end of Hollywood’s summer movie season, which will surpass $4 billion in ticket sales for the first time since the pandemic thanks in no small part to “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” which are still netting records even after seven weeks in theaters. This weekend, Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” officially became the biggest movie of 2023 with over $1.36 billion globally, surpassing “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” while Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” sailed past $850 million globally to become the No. 3 movie of the year and Nolan’s third highest grossing.

“The Equalizer 3” arrived at a fraught time for Hollywood, with actors seven weeks into a strike for fair contracts with major entertainment companies and movie theaters bracing for a somewhat depleted fall season as a result.

The ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike meant Washington was unable to stump for the movie, which was directed by his frequent collaborator Antoine Fuqua and brings his vigilante character Robert McCall to Italy’s Amalfi coast. While the lack of a major star on a promotional tour would normally be considered a liability for a film’s box office potential, “Equalizer 3” may be the rare exception that could withstand a rollout without Washington’s help simply because it’s a recognizable franchise.

“One of the biggest movie stars in the world took us out on a high note,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “Studios often coast to Labor Day, but Sony was smart to choose this weekend to open ‘The Equalizer 3.'”

Sony opened the R-rated “Equalizer 3” in over 3,900 locations in North America, including on IMAX and premium large format screens, where it opened in line with the previous two films which both went on to make over $190 million globally. With co-financing from TSG and Eagle Pictures, the film carried a $70 million production price tag. The film received generally positive reviews from critics (76% on Rotten Tomatoes) and overwhelmingly positive reviews from audiences, who gave it an A on CinemaScore and a five-star PostTrak rating.

“It’s uncanny the consistency of the Equalizer franchise,” Dergarabedian said.

Overseas, it made $26.1 million, contributing to a $60.6 million global debut.

In second place, “Barbie” added $10.6 million over the weekend in the U.S. and Canada, pushing its domestic total to $609.5 million. Warner Bros.’ other main theatrical offering, “Blue Beetle” added $7.3 million to take third. The DC superhero film has grossed $56.6 million in three weekends in North America. Fourth place went to Sony’s “Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story,” which is projecting $6.6 million through Sunday, down 62% from its first-place opening weekend, and $8.5 million including Monday.

“Oppenheimer” landed in fifth place on the domestic charts with an estimated $5.5 million ($7.4 million including estimates for Monday) from 2,543 theaters. This brings its domestic total to $310.3 million and its global take to $851 million.

The Universal film opened in China on Wednesday, playing on 35,000 screens, where it is estimated to have made $30.3 million in its first five days. A significant portion of that ($9.3 million through Sunday) came from 736 IMAX screens.

IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond said in a statement that “Oppenheimer’s” China debut showed that “it’s nowhere near finished dazzling audiences worldwide.” Gelfond added that its success also offers “a powerful demonstration of our surging market share around the world.”

That the 18-week summer movie season hit $4 billion is significant for an industry still recovering from the pandemic and facing uncertainty in the fall if the actors and writers strikes continue. Before the pandemic, $4 billion summers had become the standard for the industry and generally accounted for at least 40% of the total box office for the year. Last summer netted out with $3.4 billion.

And this summer had its share of hits, flops and surprises, with “Barbenheimer” accounting for over $900 million of the $4 billion haul.

“The summer box office is vitally important and a strong indicator of the health of the industry,” Dergarabedian said. “Many were really skeptical that we could get to $4 billion. We’re hitting it literally in the final days of the summer. It’s a reminder that any hit or miss makes a profound impact on the bottom line.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Tuesday.

1. “The Equalizer 3,” $34.5 million.

2. “Barbie,” $10.6 million.

3. “Blue Beetle,” $7.3 million.

4. “Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story,” $6.6 million.

5. “Oppenheimer,” $5.5 million.

6. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” $4.8 million.

7. “Bottoms,” $3 million.

8. “Meg 2: The Trench,” $2.9 million.

9. “Strays,” $2.5 million.

10. “Talk to Me,” $1.8 million.
    …

As the U.S. government built its latest stretch of border wall, Mexico made a statement of its own by laying remains of the Berlin Wall a few steps away.

The 3-ton pockmarked, gray concrete slab sits between a bullring, a lighthouse and the border wall, which extends into the Pacific Ocean.

“May this be a lesson to build a society that knocks down walls and builds bridges,” reads the inscription below the towering Cold War relic, attributed to Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero and titled, “A World Without Walls.”

For Caballero, like many of Tijuana’s 2 million residents, the U.S. wall is personal and political, a part of the city’s fabric and a fact of life. She considers herself a migrant, having moved from Oaxaca in southern Mexico when she was 2 years old with her mother, who fled “the vicious cycle of poverty, physical abuse and illiteracy.”

The installation opened Aug. 13 at a ceremony with Caballero and Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s former foreign secretary who is now a leading presidential candidate.

Caballero, 41, is married to an Iranian man who became a U.S. citizen and lives in the United States. She and their 9-year-old son used to cross the border between Tijuana and San Diego.

Since June, Caballero has lived in a military barracks in Tijuana, saying she acted on credible threats against her brought to her attention by U.S. intelligence officials and a recommendation by Mexico’s federal government. Weeks earlier, her bodyguard survived an assassination attempt.

Caballero said that she doesn’t know who wants to kill her but suspects payback for having seized arms from violent criminals who plague her city. “Someone is probably upset with me,” she said in her spacious City Hall office.

Shards of the Berlin Wall scattered worldwide after it crumbled in 1989, with collectors putting them in hotels, schools, transit stations and parks. Marcos Cline, who makes commercials and other digital productions in Los Angeles, needed a home for his artifact and found an ally in Tijuana’s mayor.

“Why in Tijuana?” Caballero said. “How many families have shed blood, labor and their lives to get past the wall? The social and political conflict is different than the Berlin Wall, but it’s a wall at the end of the day. And a wall is always a sphinx that divides and bloodies nations.”

President Joe Biden issued an executive order his first day in office to halt wall construction, ending a signature effort by his predecessor, Donald Trump. But his administration has moved ahead with small, already-contracted projects, including replacing a two-layered wall in San Diego standing 5.5 meters (18 feet) high with one rising 9.1 meters (30 feet) and stretching 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) to the ocean.

The wall slices through Friendship Park, a cross-border site inaugurated by then-U.S. first lady Pat Nixon in 1971 to symbolize binational ties. For decades, families separated by immigration status met through barbed wire and, later, a chain-link fence. It is a cherished, festive destination for tourists and residents in Mexico.

At an arts festival in 2005, David “The Human Cannonball” Smith Jr. flashed his passport in Tijuana as he lowered himself into a barrel and was shot over the wall, landing on a net on the beach with U.S. border agents nearby. In 2019, artist Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana covered the Tijuana side of the wall with paintings of adults who moved to the U.S. illegally as young children and were deported. Visitors who held up their phones to bar codes were taken to a website that voiced their first-person narratives.

Cline said he was turned away at the White House when he tried delivering the Berlin Wall relic to Trump and then trucked it across the country to find a suitable home. He said the piece has found “its second life” at the Tijuana park alongside the colorful paintings on the border wall that express views on politics and immigration.

The U.S. government has gradually restricted park access from San Diego over the last 15 years in a state park that once allowed cross-border yoga classes, religious services and music festivals. After lengthy consideration, the Biden administration agreed to keep the wall at 5.5 meters (18 feet) for a small section where some access will be allowed.

Dan Watman of Friends of Friendship Park, which advocates for cross-border park access, said the 18.3-meter (60-foot) section that will remain at the lower height is only a token gesture. “The park on the Mexican side has become sort of a one-sided party,” he said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said that it anticipates replacing the “deteriorated” two-layer barrier by November and that the higher one under construction “will provide much needed improvements.”

The Berlin Wall installation has gotten rave reviews from visitors. Lydia Vanasse, who works in the financial sector in San Diego and lives in Tijuana, said the relic took her back to her 20s when the Soviet empire fell, and Germans were suddenly allowed to move freely.

“San Diego and Tijuana are sister cities,” she said. “The wall separates us, but we are united in many ways. It would be better if there wasn’t a wall.”
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About 5,000 people gathered in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki Sunday to protest a new type of identity card to be introduced later this month, police said.

Carrying Greek flags and banners, the protesters rallied at the city’s iconic White Tower, a waterfront former fortification, chanting slogans and the national anthem. They played a speech by the late former head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens, who had warned of the enemies of the Greek people.

Later, they marched through the city center before dispersing without incident.

The machine-readable cards will replace the type of ID currently issued and will contain the same information, such as name, parents’ name, address and height. The only extra information, blood type, is optional.

But the cards have inspired conspiracy theories, and some people assert the new IDs contain chips that will allow authorities to pinpoint cardholders’ locations or even control their minds. The majority of the IDs’ opponents are deeply religious.

An exasperated Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a recent cabinet meeting that the IDs will not contain “any chips or cameras or listening devices.”

The protesters’ religious connections pose a problem for the Church of Greece, some of whose bishops encourage the protests. Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens, who has none of the fiery rhetoric of his predecessor, Christodoulos, has said the Church’s Holy Synod will issue a statement about the IDs in a few days and has counseled “judiciousness and prudence.”

Another protest rally is scheduled to take place in the capital Athens next weekend.

The new IDs, which conform to an EU-wide standard, will become obligatory by August 2026.
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