FIRST GEN. Corp. said on Thursday that the Department of Energy (DoE) had approved its application to have the company’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal project declared as nationally significant, making it easier for the company to secure permits.

DIVERSIFIED conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) recorded a 5% profit decline for the first half of 2019, which was attributed to flat sales and the slow performance of Petron Corp.

GMA Network Inc. said that it has been cooperating with the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) regarding occupational safety and health (OSH) inspections on the TV giant’s compliance to occupational safety and health standards, after veteran actor Eddie Garcia while shooting a television show.

SUICIDE RATES in Japan may have fallen — CNN reported in 2018 that the total number of suicides in the country fell to 21,321 in 2017 compared to a peak of 34,427 — but rookie director Kasumi Nojiri who directed Lying to Mom (2018) doesn’t believe in these numbers, saying that the number of people who committed suicide is probably misreported by the government.

CHINA BANKING Corp. (China Bank) and its subsidiaries posted a higher net income in the first half of the year on the back of continued growth in its loans and deposits.

WASHINGTON -- US job openings and hiring fell in June, suggesting that demand for labor was cooling in tandem with a slowing economy, which could provide another reason for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates again next month.

THE 2019 International Venice Film Festival has chosen Raymund Ribay Gutierrez’s Verdict as an official entry, making it the only Southeast Asian film to be chosen for the Horizons (Orizzonti) section.

LAND BANK of the Philippines (LANDBANK) is planning to boost its loan portfolio to the agriculture sector to P265 billion by 2020 and P350 billion by 2022 and lower annual interest rates to 5% from the current 6%.

THE US CENTERS for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Wednesday said it has finalized a decision to cover expensive cancer cell therapies sold by Gilead Sciences Inc. and Novartis AG.

AT ITS best Mikhail Red’s Eerie is exactly that: eerie. The son of pioneering indie filmmaker Raymond Red has I’d say inherited his father’s eye for editing, composition, and lighting, fashioning films that are (whatever else you might say about them) strikingly visual, with accompanying social commentary.

THE YUAN steadied on Thursday after the central bank set the daily fixing stronger than analysts expected, providing some reassurance to traders rattled by a tumultuous week in markets.

FARMERS have asked the government to address the steep decline in farmgate prices for palay, or unhusked rice, warning that the traders who buy from farmers are inactive in the market because they are stuck with expensive inventory from before the government allowed imports of cheaper foreign rice.