00:00A cool, calm Thursday evening to all. William Theo here, homegrown and pleased to be bringing you PTV News Now.
00:08Kicking off our big stories at the hour, Senators have called for tighter controls or a complete ban on online gambling,
00:17citing its growing toll on addiction, crime and family breakdown.
00:21Senators Joel Villanueva and Pia Cayetano highlighted tragic cases linked to gambling,
00:27including massive debt, theft and suicide.
00:30Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Rodante Marcoleta criticized the BSP for its slow action in removing gambling links from e-wallets
00:38as the Senate pressed the agency to meet its set deadline.
00:43While PagCorp's online gaming revenues have surged,
00:46the agency admitted it is struggling to keep up with enforcement against illegal operations.
00:51In other news, Bitcoin, the darling of cryptocurrency, hit a new high Thursday, albeit briefly during early Asian trading,
01:01spurred by U.S. equities on a climb and a positive piece of legislation from the U.S. Congress.
01:08The cryptocurrency reached a peak of $124,500 before retreating thereafter.
01:14A senior market analyst said the market was soaking up the good news and in a buoyant mood.
01:21Prospects of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve over soft inflation boosted Japan's Nikkei Index
01:28to yet another record close yesterday but then steadily tapered off as it closed 1,045% today.
01:35The Hong Kong and Taiwan stock exchanges also fell a little while South Korea's inched up as well as in London, Frankfurt and Paris indices.
01:46Meanwhile, investors are upbeat and also on edge as they closely await the results of the Trump-Putin summit in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday.
01:55And so we've come to the end of our program.
01:59Join us tomorrow evening for a summary of the events in the week that just passed in our Global Roundup.
02:06I am William Thea wishing you a restful night ahead and thank you for watching PTV News Now.
