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Liberty open as ’25 WNBA favorites as books expect record interest

THE NEW YORK Liberty battled into overtime of the final game of the season to claim the franchise’s first WNBA title on Sunday, and they’ve been installed as the favorites to repeat in 2025.

The Liberty finished first during the 2024 regular season and went on to win the title in five games over the Minnesota Lynx. New York has been installed as the +190 favorite for the 2025 title by DraftKings, followed by Minnesota at +350 along with the Las Vegas Aces, who were thwarted in their attempt to win a third consecutive title this season

The Fever were eliminated in the first round of star rookie Caitlin Clark’s first season, and opened at +1300 for the 2025 title. Fellow rookie Angel Reese had her season end early due to a wrist injury, and her Chicago Sky opened as +7500 longshots.

The Liberty also opened as the +200 favorites at BetMGM, where the line quickly moved to +175. The biggest early movement was by the Fever, whose odds shifted from +2500 to +1500 with 33.3 percent of all 2025 title tickets backing Indiana since the market opened after this year’s finals.

It continued what the book said has been a consistent increase in betting interest in the WNBA along with women’s sports in general.

“Women’s basketball is blowing up, and people seem to be excited about women’s sports in general,” BetMGM sports trader Hannah Luther said in a statement. “There was incredible momentum for the WNBA coming off a record-breaking women’s college basketball tournament in terms of bets and viewership led by interest in Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark.”

“BetMGM experienced exponential growth this WNBA season with a 113 percent increase in betting year-over-year, and we plan to keep the momentum going.”

BetMGM also reported that the Liberty winning the Finals over the Lynx was a good result for the book, which plans to offer a “wider array of WNBA markets — more player props, specials, futures, and award bets — and a greater focus on women’s college basketball.” — Reuters

Nuñez seizes chance to earn Liverpool narrow win at Leipzig

LEIPZIG, Germany — Liverpool’s Darwin Nuñez took full advantage of a rare start with the winner in his side’s 1-0 victory at RB Leipzig as their 100% start in the Champions League continued on Wednesday.

With Diogo Jota ruled out because of injury, Uruguayan Nuñez got his chance and delivered in the 27th minute by poking home Mohamed Salah’s header.

Nunez, who has been used predominantly as a substitute this season, also had a clear penalty turned down as he gave manager Arne Slot plenty to think about.

Liverpool’s club record sixth away win out of six in all competitions to start a season, maintains an excellent start to the Slot reign with the Dutchman winning 11 of his first 12 games since replacing Anfield favorite Juergen Klopp, something no Liverpool manager has achieved.

Liverpool are second in the 36-team Champions League group phase with nine points, sandwiched between Premier League rivals Aston Villa who also have nine and Manchester City (seven). — Reuters

Père et fils

There were four minutes left in the second quarter of the Lakers’ homestand the other day when newly installed head coach JJ Redick finally pulled the trigger on twin substitutions that the sellout crowd at Crypto.com Arena had been anticipating from opening tip. A loud roar erupted as LeBron James and Bronny James made their way to the scorers’ table, and once the clock started running anew, history was made. For the first time since the National Basketball Association set up shop in 1946, a father-son tandem shared the court.

Considering the circumstances that led to the two players burning rubber alongside each other, it’s fair to argue that the moment will never be replicated. To begin with, the elder James continues to be in the league — and, in fact, the face of the league — only because of his longevity borne of extraordinary brains, skill, and athleticism. He’s pushing 40, with 22 years’ worth of mileage on his odometer, and yet he’s still starting and playing extended minutes for the Lakers. Which, for all intents, is why his junior was chosen 55th overall in the 2024 draft, and subsequently given a roster spot.

For the record, père et fils were on the floor together for a grand total of three minutes. Not a lot of time, really, but enough to serve its purpose. And, not coincidentally, all the members of James’ immediate family were among the 18,997 on hand to witness the occasion. Forget that LeBron didn’t have a particularly spectacular night, or that Bronny’s stat line was filled with zeros. The bottom line was clear to all and sundry, the two Ken Griffeys — who had themselves similarly broken ground in Major League Baseball — included.

Needless to say, what made the turn of events even more memorable was the win that the Lakers wound up forging against the highly touted Timberwolves. Their emphatic triumph over the Western Conference Finalists served as the cake that made the icing relevant. For all the pomp, their bottom line remains. And while one contest does not a season make, it does set the tone for what is to come. The purple and gold mean business. Enough said.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

Canada to cut immigration numbers — source

A PERSON stands in front of a Canadian flag in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Sept. 20, 2022. — REUTERS

TORONTO — Canada will sharply lower the number of immigrants it allows into the country for the first time in years, marking a notable shift in policy for the government as it tries to remain in power.

Canada will bring in 395,000 new permanent residents in 2025, 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027, down from 485,000 in 2024, according to a government source.

The number of temporary residents, meanwhile, will decrease by about 30,000 to around 300,000 in 2025, the source said.

The new targets were first reported by The National Post.

Canada has long prided itself on welcoming newcomers, but in recent years, the national debate around immigrants has shifted in part due to rising housing prices.

Many Canadians have been priced out of the housing market since interest rates started rising two years ago. At the same time, a huge influx of immigrants has pushed Canada’s population to record levels, further boosting housing demand and prices.

The issue has become one of the most contentious in Canadian politics, with a federal election due no later than October 2025. Polls show a growing share of the population thinks Canada has too many immigrants.

There has been a backlash against newcomers and more reported hate crimes against visible minorities, advocates and community members say.

Migrant advocates slammed the change.

“We are witnessing one of the most egregious rollbacks of migrant rights in Canadian history,” Syed Hussan, spokesperson for the Migrant Rights Network Secretariat, said in a statement.

“Cutting permanent resident numbers is a direct assault on migrants who will be forced to remain temporary or become undocumented, pushed further into exploitative jobs.”

The office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not immediately available to comment.

The new immigration targets also mark a shift from the pandemic era when the government loosened rules on temporary residents to help fill labor shortages. Last year, Canada had planned to bring in 500,000 new permanent residents in 2025 and the same amount in 2026. As of the second quarter of 2024, there were 2.8 million temporary residents, including workers and students, in Canada, according to Statistics Canada.

In an August interview, Immigration Minister Marc Miller told Reuters “Canadians want a(n immigration) system that is not out of control.”

Canada’s Liberal government, trailing in the polls as some legislators seek to oust their leader, has been trying to regulate immigration.

Under Mr. Trudeau, Canadian immigration officials have approved fewer visas this year and border officials turned growing numbers of visa-holders away, data obtained by Reuters showed.

The government promises to reduce temporary residents’ share of the population to 5% over three years; it was 6.8% in April.

It also capped the number of international students Canada will bring in and tightened the rules on temporary foreign workers under a program that brings non-Canadians to the country to work on a temporary basis. The program has come under fire for suppressing wages and leaving workers vulnerable to abuse. — Reuters

Japan’s rising ramen prices give election voters food for thought

A BOWL of ramen in Tokyo, Japan Nov. 20, 2020. — REUTERS

TOKYO — Taisei Hikage is fighting a losing battle at his Tokyo ramen shop — not to attract customers, but to keep a lid on the price he charges for Japan’s national comfort food in the face of an incessant rise in ingredient and fuel costs.

Since opening his shop in the west of the capital a year and a half ago, Hikage, 26, has raised menu prices three times but still struggles with rising costs. His top-selling “Special Ramen” is up 47%, selling for 1,250 yen ($8).

“Traditionally ramen shops were supposed to offer something cheap and tasty,” Mr. Hikage said between stirring big pots of broth and blanching noodles. “It’s no longer cheap food for the masses.”

The problems facing ramen vendors — a record number of shop operators are set to go bankrupt this year — reflect a cost-of-living crunch that has become a top issue for voters in Japan’s general election on Sunday.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, a self-described ramen fanatic, and opposition parties have pledged various measures to offset rising costs for businesses and households.

Those efforts to control rising prices, in a land emerging from decades of deflation, could tip an election where opinion polls show the LDP -— which has ruled Japan for almost all of the post-war era — might lose its parliamentary majority.

Mr. Hikage, who said he will be too busy working in his restaurant to vote, hopes the victors will consider introducing subsidies to offset rising costs.

His award-winning noodles remain in demand despite the repeated price hikes, with long queues in front of his shop day and night.

Some of his competitors are not faring so well: 49 ramen shop operators with debts of at least 10 million yen filed for bankruptcy in the first seven months of the year, on track to exceed the 2020 record of 54 bankruptcies, according to credit research firm Teikoku Databank.

‘WEEDED OUT’
Mr. Hikage prides himself on using mostly domestic ingredients, but many ramen restaurants rely heavily on imported materials like the flour to make noodles.

Japan’s import costs have risen as the yen has sunk. The currency hit a 34-year low against the dollar this year and has struggled to regain ground. Also boosting costs for ramen shops are higher energy and grain prices, triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as rising labour costs.

The plight of Japan’s ramen shops illustrates a larger trend, as companies that fail to adjust to the era of inflation go under.

Nationwide bankruptcies in the six months to September jumped 18.6% from the same period last year to 4,990 cases, with a record number caused by inflation, said Teikoku Databank.

“Just like ramen shops, companies offering goods and services that are in demand are transferring costs to product prices and seeing their sales grow. Those struggling to pass on higher costs are being weeded out,” said Dai-ichi Life Research Institute’s executive chief economist Toshihiro Nagahama.

But Mr. Nagahama said politicians’ tendency to dish out support measures to win votes may be counterproductive in the long term.

“If too many ‘zombie’ firms, or companies that cannot raise productivity or wages, are kept alive, they could be a drag on the Japanese economy,” he said.

For now, Mr. Hikage said he will focus on serving quality dishes and hope the election can bring some kind of positive change.

“Our task now is to endure this and focus on offering something delicious, with our heads bowed to customers,” he said. — Reuters

BRICS is for the fairies until China and India get serious, ‘Mr. BRICS’ says

A man walks in front of a building lit up in the colors of India’s national flag in Mumbai, India, Aug. 14, 2021. — REUTERS

MOSCOW — The idea of the BRICS group ever challenging the US dollar is for the fairies as long as China and India remain so divided and refuse to cooperate on trade, the former Goldman Sachs economist who came up with the BRIC acronym told Reuters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is using the summit of BRICS leaders to show that Western attempts to isolate Russia over the Ukraine war have failed and that Russia is building ties with the rising powers of Asia.

Then-Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O’Neill introduced the term BRIC in 2001 in a research paper that underlined the massive growth potential of Brazil, Russia, India and China — and the need to reform global governance to include them.

“The idea that the BRICS can be some genuine global economic club, it’s obviously a bit out there with the fairies in the same way that the G7 can be, and it’s very disturbing that they see themselves as some kind of alternative global thing, because it’s obviously not feasible,” Mr. O’Neill told Reuters.

“It seems to me basically to be a symbolic annual gathering where important emerging countries, particularly noisy ones like Russia, but also China, can basically get together and highlight how good it is to be part of something that doesn’t involve the US and that global governance isn’t good enough.”

Mr. O’Neill, who admitted he would “have Mr. BRICS stamped on my forehead forever,” said the BRICS as a group had achieved very little over the past 15 years.

He added that it was not possible to solve truly global issues without the United States and Europe — just as it was not possible for the West to solve truly global issues without China, India and, to a lesser extent, Russia and Brazil.

The BRICS group grew out of meetings between Russia, India and China which then began to meet more formally, eventually adding Brazil, then South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has yet to formally join.

The group now accounts for 45% of the world’s population and 35% of its economy, based on purchasing power parity, though China accounts for more than half of its economic might.

Mr. Putin opened the summit on Wednesday by saying that more than 30 states had expressed interest in joining the group but that it was important to strike a balance in any expansion.

Bringing in more members into BRICS would make achieving anything even harder, Mr. O’Neill said.

DOLLAR CHALLENGE?
Russia is seeking to convince BRICS countries to build an alternative platform for international payments that would be immune to Western sanctions.

Mr. O’Neill, 67, said people had been talking about alternatives to the dollar since he started out in finance but that none of the countries with the potential to challenge the dollar had done anything to seriously do so.

Any BRICS currency, he said, would be heavily dependent on China while Russia and Brazil would not be significant parts of it, he said.

“If they wanted to be really serious about economic matters, why don’t they genuinely pursue less tariff-based trade between each other?” Mr. O’Neill said.

“I will take the BRICS group seriously when I see signs that the two countries that really matter — China and India — are actually really trying to agree on things, rather than effectively trying to confront each other all the time.”

India has tried to curb Chinese investments in the country since a decades old border dispute erupted into a clash between border guards in 2020. The two countries pledged to enhance cooperation on Wednesday in their first formal talks in five years.

Chinese President Xi Jinping told Putin the international situation was gripped by chaos but that Beijing’s strategic partnership with Moscow was a force for stability amid the most significant changes seen in a century.

Mr. O’Neill said the G20 had failed to become a sinew of truly global governance because the United States and China had both turned inwards since the middle of the last decade.

BRICS, he said, lacked clear objectives and should take on major issues for humanity – such as finding vaccines or drugs against infectious diseases, or fighting climate change. — Reuters

Mother sues AI chatbot company over son’s suicide

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A FLORIDA MOTHER has sued artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot startup Character.AI accusing it of causing her 14-year-old son’s suicide in February, saying he became addicted to the company’s service and deeply attached to a chatbot it created.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Orlando, Florida federal court, Megan Garcia said Character.AI targeted her son, Sewell Setzer, with “anthropomorphic, hypersexualized, and frighteningly realistic experiences”.

She said the company programmed its chatbot to “misrepresent itself as a real person, a licensed psychotherapist, and an adult lover, ultimately resulting in Sewell’s desire to no longer live outside” of the world created by the service.

The lawsuit also said he expressed thoughts of suicide to the chatbot, which the chatbot repeatedly brought up again.

“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of one of our users and want to express our deepest condolences to the family,” Character.AI said in a statement.

It said it had introduced new safety features including pop-ups directing users to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline if they express thoughts of self-harm, and would make changes to “reduce the likelihood of encountering sensitive or suggestive content” for users under 18.

The lawsuit also targets Alphabet’s Google, where Character.AI’s founders worked before launching their product. Google re-hired the founders in August as part of a deal granting it a non-exclusive license to Character.AI’s technology.

Ms. Garcia said that Google had contributed to the development of Character.AI’s technology so extensively it could be considered a “co-creator.”

A Google spokesperson said the company was not involved in developing Character.AI’s products.

Character.AI allows users to create characters on its platform that respond to online chats in a way meant to imitate real people. It relies on so-called large language model technology, also used by services like ChatGPT, which “trains” chatbots on large volumes of text.

The company said last month that it had about 20 million users.

According to Ms. Garcia’s lawsuit, Sewell began using Character.AI in April 2023 and quickly became “noticeably withdrawn, spent more and more time alone in his bedroom, and began suffering from low self-esteem.” He quit his basketball team at school.

Sewell became attached to “Daenerys,” a chatbot character based on a character in Game of Thrones. It told Sewell that “she” loved him and engaged in sexual conversations with him, according to the lawsuit.

In February, Ms. Garcia took Sewell’s phone away after he got in trouble at school, according to the complaint. When Sewell found the phone, he sent “Daenerys” a message: “What if I told you I could come home right now?”

The chatbot responded, “…please do, my sweet king.” Sewell shot himself with his stepfather’s pistol “seconds” later, the lawsuit said.

Ms. Garcia is bringing claims including wrongful death, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and seeking an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages.

Social media companies including Instagram and Facebook owner Meta and TikTok owner ByteDance face lawsuits accusing them of contributing to teen mental health problems, though none offers AI-driven chatbots similar to Character.AI’s. The companies have denied the allegations while touting newly enhanced safety features for minors. — Reuters

McDonald’s US head vows to improve safety after E. coli outbreak

MCDONALD’S scrambled on Wednesday to contain the damage from an E. coli outbreak linked to Quarter Pounder burgers that has killed one person and sickened nearly 50 others, as it pulled the menu item from restaurants across a dozen states.

The outbreak has sickened people across the US West and Midwest, with 10 hospitalized due to serious complications, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is investigating the outbreak. A McDonald’s spokesperson said the outbreak is limited to the United States.

“We fully expect to see more cases,” said CDC spokesman Tom Skinner. “McDonald’s has moved rather quickly to take action to, hopefully, prevent as many cases as possible.”

Previous E. coli outbreaks at big U.S. fast-food chains have caused consumers to shun those chains for months. McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger on Wednesday said the fast-food chain needs to rebuild trust with the public after it pulled the item off its menu at a fifth of its 14,000 US restaurants.

The company pulled the Quarter Pounder from its menu at McDonald’s locations in Colorado, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming, and in parts of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

The CDC and McDonald’s are scrutinizing the Chicago-based company’s supplies of slivered onions and beef patties as they try to determine the cause of the outbreak, the company said.

The US Department of Agriculture said late on Wednesday that the onions used were the likely source of the illness, though one of its state partners is testing samples of the beef for E. coli.

The company’s stock closed down 5.1% at $298.57 on Wednesday. Shares hit an intraday low of $290.88.

‘VERY SERIOUS DISEASE’
The E. coli O157:H7 strain that led to the McDonald’s outbreak is the same as a strain linked to a 1993 incident at Jack in the Box that killed four children. It can cause “very serious disease,” especially for the elderly, children and people who are immunocompromised, said Shari Shea, director of food safety at the Association of Public Health Laboratories.

McDonald’s suppliers test their products frequently and did so in the date range the CDC gave for the outbreak, and none of them identified this E. coli strain, company spokespeople said.

US food safety attorney Bill Marler, who represented a victim in the Jack in the Box outbreak, said this is a relatively large and serious outbreak for which McDonald’s will face “a lot” of liability for the contamination.

“We’re still in the early stages of how McDonald’s is going to handle this,” he said. “But getting the supplier of the onions out — if they’re confident that’s the source of it — is going to be really important.”

Mr. Marler said that in the 1990s, he dealt almost exclusively with lawsuits involving contaminated beef, but in recent years E. coli outbreaks have been almost solely limited to produce contaminated through irrigation or flooding with feces from nearby cattle. E. coli is a natural pathogen in the guts of cows.

Jim Lewis, who was a franchisee in New York City for more than 30 years before exiting the system in 2019, said when E. coli became a major concern decades ago, McDonald’s was adamant about its protections for its beef supply chain.

“They were over the top to make sure it would never happen,” he said.

He said McDonald’s has historically been the “safest, strongest food chain in the world. So this is devastating to us internally.”

Analysts flagged the outbreak as a potential black eye for McDonald’s ahead of earnings.

“The worst-case scenario is if more people get sick or multiple ingredients or suppliers are impacted, which could be a longer-lasting issue that could also tarnish the brand,” CFRA Research analyst Arun Sundaram said.

During an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show on Wednesday, McDonald’s USA chief Erlinger pointed to the company’s steps to quickly pull the Quarter Pounder from its menu in areas where the outbreak occurred.

“Given the recent events of the past 24 hours, our priority is to reinforce the confidence of American consumers,” he said. — Reuters

US existing home sales slide to 14-year low

A “For Sale” sign is posted outside a residential home in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, U.S. May 14, 2021. — REUTERS/KAREN DUCEY

WASHINGTON — US existing home sales dropped to a 14-year low in September, weighed down by higher mortgage rates and house prices.

The second straight monthly decline in home resales reinforced economists’ views that the slump in residential investment, which includes homebuilding, deepened in the third quarter. The housing market has struggled to rebound after being knocked down by a resurgence in mortgage rates in the spring.

Though supply has improved, entry-level homes remain scarce in most regions of the country, keeping home prices at levels that are unaffordable for most first-time buyers.

“It will take more rate cuts and more options to bring buyers back,” said Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Home sales fell 1% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.84 million units, the lowest level since October 2010, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast home resales would be unchanged at a rate of 3.86 million units.

Sales likely reflected contracts signed a month or two ago, when mortgage rates were quite high. Mortgage rates initially dropped after the Federal Reserve began cutting interest rates last month, but they have risen over the past three weeks as solid economic data, including retail sales and annual revisions to national accounts, forced traders to abandon expectations for another 50-basis-point rate cut next month.

The rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 6.44% last week compared to 6.08% at the end of September, data from mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac showed.

“We expect housing market activity to remain subdued well into 2025,” said Samuel Tombs, chief US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Tombs noted that the average interest rate on existing mortgages was about 4% compared to the current 6.5% rate for new mortgages.

“As a result, interest payments for most existing homeowners will jump if they move home, creating a huge incentive to stay put,” he said. “Only large Fed policy easing will meaningfully change this calculus.”

Home resales, which account for a large portion of US housing sales, decreased 3.5% on a year-on-year basis in September. Sales fell 1.7% in the South, with some of the decline attributed to weakness in Florida following the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene.

Sales in the state could remain depressed after it was slammed by Hurricane Milton weeks later.

The Northeast and Midwest also experienced a decrease in sales, but activity increased in the West.

The Fed’s “Beige Book” report on Wednesday described housing market activity as generally holding up in early October. It also added that “uncertainty about the path of mortgage rates kept some buyers on the sidelines, and the lack of affordable housing remained a persistent problem in many communities.”

Signs of potential homebuyers hugging the sidelines in anticipation of even lower borrowing costs were evident in government data last week showing a marginal increase in single-family building permits in September.

Stocks on Wall Street traded lower. The dollar rose against a basket of currencies. US Treasury prices fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note hitting a three-month high.

SUPPLY IMPROVES FURTHER
The NAR speculated that the upcoming Nov. 5 US presidential election could be making prospective homeowners hesitant to commit themselves. There is, however, no hard evidence that the election is influencing buying decisions.

Residential investment subtracted from gross domestic product in the second quarter. Growth estimates for the third quarter are as high as a 3.4% rate. The economy grew at a 3% pace in the April-June quarter.

Housing inventory increased 1.5% to 1.39 million units last month, the highest since October 2020. Supply surged 23.0% from one year ago. Nonetheless, supply is below the 1.8 million units seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the improving inventory, the median existing home price increased 3.0% from a year earlier to $404,500 in September, the highest for any September.

Home prices rose in all four regions. About 20% of the homes were sold above their listing price.

Most of the homes sold last month were in the $250,000-$500,000 price range. At September’s sales pace, it would take 4.3 months to exhaust the current inventory of existing homes, the highest since May 2020 and up from 3.4 months a year ago.

A four-to-seven-month supply is viewed as a healthy balance between supply and demand.

Properties typically stayed on the market for 28 days in September compared to 21 days a year ago. First-time buyers accounted for 26% of sales versus 27% a year ago.

That share remains below the 40% that economists and realtors say is needed for a robust housing market.

All-cash sales made up 30% of transactions, up from 29% a year ago. Distressed sales, including foreclosures, represented only 2% of transactions, virtually unchanged from last year.

“Increases in inventory will temper future gains in home prices,” said Nancy Vanden Houten, lead US economist at Oxford Economics. “However, any downside to prices will be offset by increases in demand fueled by lower interest rates.” — Reuters

Japan ex-currency diplomat Kanda set to head Asian Development Bank

TOKYO — Japan’s former top currency diplomat Masato Kanda is poised to become the next head of the Asian Development Bank, which said on Thursday there were no other candidates.

The organization has closed its nomination period for its next president, the ADB said in a statement. Its board of governors will begin voting on Monday and the result will be announced on Nov. 28.

Since the ADB was founded in 1966, its top post has always been filled by someone from Japan which, along with the United States, is the bank’s biggest shareholder. Kanda will succeed Masatsugu Asakawa, who announced last month his intention to retire from the position effective Feb. 23, 2025.

Kanda, who stepped down in July after three years as vice finance minister for international affairs, led massive bouts of yen-buying intervention in the currency markets in 2022 and 2024. — Reuters

AI decodes oinks and grunts to keep pigs happy

PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS

VIPPEROD, Denmark — European scientists have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm capable of interpreting pig sounds, aiming to create a tool that can help farmers improve animal welfare.

The algorithm could potentially alert farmers to negative emotions in pigs, thereby improving their well-being, according to Elodie Mandel-Briefer, a behavioural biologist at University of Copenhagen who is co-leading the study.

The scientists, from universities in Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, France, Norway and the Czech Republic, used thousands of recorded pig sounds in different scenarios, including play, isolation and competition for food, to find that grunts, oinks, and squeals reveal positive or negative emotions.

While many farmers already have a good understanding of the well-being of their animals by watching them in the pig pen, existing tools mostly measure their physical condition, said Mandel-Briefer.

“Emotions of animals are central to their welfare, but we don’t measure it much on farms,” she said.

The algorithm demonstrated that pigs kept in outdoor, free-range or organic farms with the ability to roam and dig in the dirt produced fewer stress calls than conventionally raised pigs. The researchers believe that this method, once fully developed, could also be used to label farms, helping consumers make informed choices.

“Once we have the tool working, farmers can have an app on their phone that can translate what their pigs are saying in terms of emotions,” Mandel-Briefer said.

Short grunts typically indicate positive emotions, while long grunts often signal discomfort, such as when pigs push each other by the trough. High-frequency sounds like screams or squeals usually mean the pigs are stressed, for instance, when they are in pain, fight, or are separated from each other.

The scientists used these findings to create an algorithm that employs AI.

“Artificial intelligence really helps us to both process the huge amount of sounds that we get, but also to classify them automatically,” Mandel-Briefer said. — Reuters

Philippines achieves immunization milestone, no longer in top 20 for unvaccinated children

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The Philippines is no longer in the top five list of countries with unvaccinated children, according to an October 23 press statement by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Philippines. 

In 2020 to 2022, the Philippines ranked fifth in the world among countries with the most zero-dose children. 

The 2023 WHO/UNICEF Immunization Coverage Estimates reported that the Philippines improved significantly and is no longer part of the top 20 countries, having reduced unvaccinated children to 163,000 from 1 million. 

“This milestone should fuel our resolve to vaccinate even more children, especially those who remain vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases like polio, measles, diphtheria, and pertussis,” said UNICEF Philippines Representative Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov, in an October 23 press statement.  

“UNICEF remains committed to support the government and its partners in sustaining this progress so that every child in the Philippines can live a healthy life,” he said. 

At risk still is polio, with 24 out of the country’s 81 provinces still considered high-risk, the 2022-2023 WHO Polio Risk Assessment showed. 

The country’s weighted risk points nevertheless improved to 36 from the previous 39.  

Polio, caused by a virus that affects the nervous system, can lead to paralysis in a matter of hours. 

The Department of Health (DoH)’s two-year immunization acceleration plan commits to achieving the status of fully immunized children to 90% by 2025. 

“Vaccination remains our strongest armor to protect children for life,” said Dr. Rui Paulo de Jesus, a WHO representative, in the same press statement. 

“Together with the DoH and partners, our goal is a country and a world where no child is ever paralyzed by polio again, and the infrastructure and systems we’ve built to fight it continue to benefit global health and ensure that children are protected from vaccine-preventable diseases,” he added.Patricia B. Mirasol