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US says THAAD anti-missile system is ‘in place’ in Israel

US DEFENSE SECRETARY Lloyd Austin III — KIN CHEUNG/POOL VIA REUTERS

KYIV — The US military has rushed its advanced anti-missile system to Israel and it is now “in place,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

THAAD, or the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, is a critical part of the US military’s layered air defense systems and adds to Israel’s already formidable anti-missile defenses.

“The THAAD system is in place,” Mr. Austin said, speaking to reporters before his arrival in Ukraine on Monday.

He declined to say whether it was operational, but added: “We have the ability to put it into operation very quickly and we’re on pace with our expectations.”

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. said the THAAD’s deployment, along with about 100 US soldiers, was meant to help defend Israel, which is weighing an expected retaliation against Iran after Tehran fired more than 180 missiles at Israel on Oct 1.

The United States has been urging Israel to calibrate its response to avoid triggering a broader war in the Middle East, officials say, with Mr. Biden publicly voicing his opposition to an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear sites and his concerns about a strike on its energy infrastructure.

Responding to questions from reporters, Mr. Biden said last week he had a good understanding of when and how Israel would attack Iran. But he also said he saw an opportunity to end the two enemies’ back-and-forth strikes.

Mr. Austin was cautious.

“It’s hard to say exactly what that (Israel’s) strike will look like,” Mr. Austin told reporters.

“At the end of the day, that’s an Israeli decision, and whether or not the Israelis believe it’s proportional and how the Iranians perceive it, I mean those may be two different things.”

“We’re going to do — continue to do — everything we can… to dial down the tensions and hopefully get both parties to begin to de-escalate.  So, we’ll see what happens,” he added. — Reuters

World lags on 2030 nature goals heading into UN COP16 talks

PEXELS-PIXABAY

THE WORLD in 2022 reached its most ambitious deal ever to halt the destruction of nature by decade’s end.

Two years later, countries are already behind on meeting their goals.

As nearly 200 nations were scheduled to meet on Monday for a two-week United Nations (UN) biodiversity summit, Conference of the Parties (COP16), in Cali, Colombia, they will be under pressure to prove their support for the goals laid out in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreement.

A top concern for countries and companies is how to pay for conservation, with the COP16 talks aiming to develop new initiatives that could generate revenues for nature.

“We have a problem here,” said Gavin Edwards, director of the nonprofit Nature Positive.

“COP16 is an opportunity to re-energize and remind everybody of their commitments two years ago and start to course correct if we’re going to get anywhere close to 2030 targets being achieved,” Mr. Edwards said.

The rate of nature destruction through activities like logging or overfishing has not let up, while governments miss deadlines on their biodiversity action plans and funding for conservation is billions of dollars away from meeting a 2025 goal.

The summit in Colombia, marking the 16th meeting of nations that signed the original 1992 Convention on Biodiversity, is set to be the largest biodiversity summit to date, with some 23,000 delegates registered to participate as well as a large exhibition area open to the public.

Whether the participation and pressure can push countries for bolder conservation actions remains to be seen.

The clearest sign of lagging efforts is the fact that most countries have yet to submit national conservation plans, known officially as National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), though they had agreed to do so by the start of COP16.

As of Friday, 31 out of 195 countries had filed a plan to the UN biodiversity secretariat.

Richer nations have been quicker to file with many European nations, Australia, Japan, China, South Korea and Canada having filed their plans.

The United States attends the talks but never ratified the Convention on Biodiversity, so is not obligated to submit a plan.

Another 73 countries as of Friday had opted to only file a less ambitious submission that sets out their national targets, without details of how they would be achieved.

With so few plans filed, experts will likely struggle to gauge progress in meeting the agreement’s hallmark “30 by 30” goal of preserving 30% of the land and sea by 2030.

Colombia’s Environment Minister Susana Muhamad, who also serves as COP16’s president, said that while the summit needs to assess the plans submitted so far, it must also look to address why so many others are late.

“It could be that the funds are not enough, for example, to be able to produce the plans,” Ms. Muhamad told Reuters. Countries with newly elected governments also may still be getting up to speed, she said.

Poorer countries have had a harder time finding the funding and expertise needed to develop national biodiversity plans, said the World Wide Fund for Nature’s (WWF) advocacy chief Bernadette Fischler Hooper.

MONEY FOR NATURE
Beyond getting countries to commit to conservation policies and plans, a top priority for the COP16 summit is finding new funding sources for poorer nations to meet nature goals.

During the COP15 talks in 2022, negotiators set a goal for $20 billion annually by 2025 to help developing countries on biodiversity.

That is not much more than the $15.4 billion per year that was already flowing for nature by 2022, according to OECD data published in September. While that makes the 2025 target more achievable, it also means the target could have been more ambitious.

“If you’re just looking at new money that’s been announced since (COP15) to implement this framework, it’s pretty thin,” said Brian O’Donnell of the Campaign for Nature advocacy group.

Because there is a two-year lag in the data, countries will not learn how much is being spent on nature this year until after the goal kicks in.

The world moved quickly after the COP15 deal to set up a new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund within months.

The fund was envisioned as one of the world’s principal instruments to pay for conservation, aiming to raise billions in dollars.

But few countries have since contributed, with only $238 million collected so far, according to data compiled by Campaign for Nature.

Ms. Muhamad said that, amid the financing conversation and policy reviews, negotiators need to keep their sights on the real-world nature crisis unfolding.

She has also urged nations to consider their plans for tackling climate change as part of their biodiversity agenda, given that the two are interlinked. For example, global warming has heated the oceans to unprecedented levels, with the world experiencing its fourth mass bleaching event this year.

“The final indicator really is what’s the reality of biodiversity loss,” she said. “We are not better off now than we were two years ago.” — Reuters

Media representatives engage in interactive online purchase at Iskaparate.com’s press Launch

At the press launch of Iskaparate.com, held on Oct. 15, 2024, at Overdoughs Café in Ayala Malls Circuit, Makati, media representatives and industry partners had the opportunity to experience the platform firsthand through an interactive online purchase demo led by a team from ConnectSys, Iskaparate’s ecosystem provider.

The event, designed to introduce Iskaparate’s features and benefits, was a key moment for the platform as it officially made its entrance into the digital marketplace. The demo gave an all-around tour of the website, including product showcasing, e-commerce functionalities, and purchasing process activated using an e-gift certificate. Attendees engaged with the demo through experiential navigation accompanied by an open forum about the platform’s overall operation. 

The event began with a warm video message from Iskaparate Founder Joey Bermudez, sharing the journey of Iskaparate from having a community of 33 entrepreneurial mothers to partnering with 3,000 fully vetted sellers. He highlighted, Iskaparate.com was born during the darkest days of the COVID pandemic when micro and small entrepreneurs lost their physical stores to the brutal lockdowns. We then created an online platform that would allow these entrepreneurs to resume their businesses.”

Attendees included a mix of media professionals and industry partners eager to see how the platform could potentially impact and transform the digital commerce landscape for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Philippines.

In the modern era when a unique driving force can define the success of an online platform, Iskaparate.com made a strong impression with its mission to empower small business owners. In her talk, DTC Promos, Inc. President & COO Marissa Dames emphasized its passionate goal, “We share a vision to support the growth of MSMEs.”

On the other hand, Josefina Rojo-Natividad, President & COO of Iskaparate, shared the progressive growth of the platform, “Iskaparate started as a B2C [platform], but now, we are proud to showcase that our website already features B2B, offering grocery items and personal care products. This would benefit the sellers we have whose products are not able to sell because of competition.”

Using an e-gift certificate, the demo walked participants through the entire buying process, from selecting products to completing transactions. This hands-on demonstration allowed the attendees to explore different aspects of the platform in real time. This feature of the launch allowed for an in-depth understanding of how the platform operates from a customer perspective.

Iskaparate.com, while initially conceived to support MSMEs, has now extended its offerings to include larger businesses and B2B companies. With a wide range of e-commerce tools, vendors of all sizes can list and manage their products, handle transactions, and engage directly with consumers on a trusted, efficient platform. The team emphasized that this expansion is designed to help businesses adapt to the digital age while remaining competitive in an increasingly globalized market.

During the event, the core mission of Iskaparate.com was further elaborated, which is to empower Filipino entrepreneurs, particularly MSMEs, by giving them the tools to navigate the e-commerce space effectively. Through the provision of a multi-vendor platform that levels the playing field, Iskaparate seeks to make online selling accessible to businesses that may not have the resources or expertise to establish their own e-commerce systems.

Iskaparate.com is a multi-vendor e-commerce platform initiated to aid and empower micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). It now extends to bigger groups and B2B companies that allow resellers to order in bulk at wholesale prices and resell them at good margins. 

For more information, visit www.iskaparate.com.

 


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Israel gives the US its demands for ending war in Lebanon, Axios reports

TAYLOR BRANDON-UNSPLASH

Israel gave the United States a document last week with its conditions for a diplomatic solution to end the war in Lebanon, Axios reported on Sunday, citing two U.S. officials and two Israeli officials.

Israel has demanded its IDF forces be allowed to engage in “active enforcement” to make sure Hezbollah doesn’t rearm and rebuild its military infrastructure close to the border, Axios reported, citing an Israeli official.

Israel also demanded its air force have freedom of operation in Lebanese air space, the report added.

A US official told Axios it was highly unlikely that Lebanon and the international community would agree to Israel’s conditions.

The White House could not be immediately reached outside regular business hours. The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The embassies of Israel and Lebanon in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

White House special envoy Amos Hochstein is visiting Beirut on Monday to discuss a diplomatic solution to the conflict, the report added. – Reuters

Vietnam PM says aiming to lift 2024 growth above 7%

MATT W NEWMAN-UNSPLASH

 – Vietnam’s gross domestic product is expected to grow by 6.8%-7.0% this year, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told parliament on Monday, before adding that the government was aiming to lift growth above the top end of that range. The country’s public debt is under control and well below a mandated ceiling set by the National Assembly, Mr. Chinh said at a the start of a month-long parliament session in Hanoi.

In 2025, Mr. Chinh said Vietnam would aim for growth of 7.0%-7.5%, supported by a credit growth target of 15% and public investment, including spending on transport infrastructure.

He said Vietnam will also seek to attract foreign investment and expand its export markets. “Numerous challenges are lying ahead, but no challenge can slow us down,” Mr. Chinh said.

The Southeast Asian country, a regional industrial hub, reported its strongest economic growth in two years in the September quarter, lifted by exports, industrial production and rising foreign investment, although Typhoon Yagi caused extensive damage last month that could affect future growth.

Mr. Chinh pledged there would not be any power shortages next year. In 2023, rolling power cuts affected industrial production.

He also said Vietnam would continue its fight against corruption and strengthen its defense capabilities. – Reuters

Indonesia’s Prabowo to swear in cabinet of over 100 ministers, deputies

INDONESIA’S new president, Prabowo Subianto, shouts after being inaugurated at the House of Representative building in Jakarta, Oct. 20, 2024. — REUTERS

 – Indonesia’s newly minted leader, President Prabowo Subianto, officially swore in his cabinet on Monday, a team which analysts said reflected continuity of his predecessor’s main policies.

Mr. Prabowo took office on Sunday as the eighth Indonesian president, taking the mantle from Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. In a fiery speech to lawmakers, he promised to eradicate corruption and aim to reach self-sufficiency in food and energy.

Mr. Prabowo’s cabinet has 48 ministries with over 100 ministers and deputies, including re-appointments of Sri Mulyani Indrawati as finance minister and Bahlil Lahadalia as energy minister.

Sri Mulyani will preside over Prabowo’s main programs, including giving free meals to about 20 million children which could cost the state budget 71 trillion rupiah ($4.60 billion) in the first year, a number intended to keep the annual fiscal deficit under a legislated ceiling of 3% of gross domestic product.

A former World Bank managing director, Sri Mulyani has earned plaudits for reforming the taxation system while working under two presidents before Prabowo.

Other key re-appointments include chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto and Erick Thohir as the state-owned enterprises minister.

Mr. Prabowo’s re-appointments show his intention to continue the policies of Jokowi, especially on the economy, said analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi.

“Prabowo does not want to take further risks and that’s why he chose key figures that served under Jokowi,” he said, adding these appointments give Prabowo some political security.

Indonesia’s new foreign minister is Mr. Sugiono, the deputy of Mr. Prabowo’s political party and second-in-command of the parliamentary commission overseeing foreign policy.

Luhut Pandjaitan, Jokowi’s senior minister who spearheaded Indonesia’s mineral processing industry, has been named the head of the country’s National Economic Council.

Mr. Prabowo’s cabinet differs in some aspects from Jokowi’s as some ministries have been broken up or renamed. Education and culture ministries are separate, as well as environment and forestry.

Ahead of the swearing in, Mr. Prabowo held a meeting with China’s visiting Vice President Han Zheng, according to a post on his official social media platform X and China’s foreign ministry. – Reuters

US, Canadian navies sail through Taiwan Strait week after war games

https://bit.ly/3M35ndK

 – A US and a Canadian warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait together on Sunday less than a week after China conducted a new round of war games around the island, with Beijing denouncing the mission as “disruptive”.

The US navy, occasionally accompanied by ships from allied countries, transits the strait around once a month. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, also says the strategic waterway belongs to it.

The US Navy’s 7th Fleet said on Monday that the destroyer USS Higgins and the Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver made a “routine” transit on Sunday “through waters where high-seas freedom of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law”.

The transit demonstrated the United States’ and Canada’s commitment to upholding freedom of navigation for all countries, it said in a statement.

“The international community’s navigational rights and freedoms in the Taiwan Strait should not be limited. The United States rejects any assertion of sovereignty or jurisdiction that is inconsistent with freedoms of navigations, overflight, and other lawful uses of the sea and air,” it said.

China’s Eastern Theatre Command said its forces monitored and warned the ships.

“The actions of the United States and Canada caused trouble and are disruptive to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” it added.

Taiwan’s defense ministry said the US and Canadian ships sailed in a northerly direction and Taiwan’s armed forces kept watch, adding the situation was “as normal”.

China staged the war games last Monday it said were a warning to “separatist acts” and which drew condemnation from the Taiwanese and US governments.

The US and Canadian navies last sailed such a joint mission in November of last year.

China says it alone has jurisdiction over the nearly 180 km (110 miles) wide waterway that is a major passageway for international trade. Taiwan and the United States dispute that, saying the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway.

Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims saying only the island’s people can decide their future. – Reuters

Australia’s Qantas told to pay $114,000 to 3 sacked workers in landmark outsourcing case

REUTERS

 – A court on Monday ordered Australia’s Qantas Airways to pay a combined A$170,000 ($114,000) to three baggage handlers it unlawfully sacked in 2020, implying a big damages bill for a lawsuit involving about 1,700 former workers whose jobs were outsourced.

Federal Court Judge Michael Lee said Qantas must pay each of the fired workers A$30,000, A$40,000 and A$100,000 respectively for non-economic loss to reflect the “harm sustained” when the airline laid off them and their colleagues to prevent industrial action.

The carrier must use those payouts as “test cases” as it negotiates with a union on a total damages bill for all of the former ground workers. Qantas had claimed the sackings were warranted as a cost-cutting measure during the COVID-19 pandemic and fought the industrial lawsuit all the way to the High Court.

Lee said he found if Qantas had not illegally outsourced its ground handling operations in 2020, it would have done so lawfully in 2021 to help save about A$100 million a year.

Though the ruling did not give a final payout figure, it sets the tone for the last major legal battle for the airline as it tries to recover from a reputational horror stretch in relation to its actions during and immediately after pandemic restrictions from 2020 to 2022.

The airline said it May it would pay A$120 million to settle a regulator lawsuit accusing it of selling tickets on already cancelled flights in the months after Australia’s international border reopened. It was also accused of pressuring the federal government to stop rival Qatar Airways from offering more flights to Australia.

“Qantas says it’s turned over a new leaf,” said Michael Kaine, national secretary of the Transport Workers Union that brought the industrial dismissal case.

“It’s time to prove it. After relentlessly prolonging this case and denying workers justice, Qantas must do everything in its power to ensure appropriate compensation.”

Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson, who started in the role in November 2023, said in a statement the company apologized to the workers impacted by its decision “and we know that the onus is on Qantas to learn from this”.

Lee, the judge, told Qantas and the TWU to discuss compensation for all the sacked workers and return to court on Nov. 15. – Reuters

Trump hands out french fries in Pennsylvania, Harris visits Georgia churches in swing-state appeals

US Vice-President Kamala Harris and former US President Donald Trump are seen in a combination of file photographs. — REUTERS FILE PHOTO

 – With the US presidential election just over two weeks away, Democrat Kamala Harris visited two churches on Sunday while her Republican rival, Donald Trump, visited another kind of American temple: a McDonald’s, where he again accused Harris of lying about having previously worked at the fast-food chain.

Both candidates were scrambling for votes in the most competitive states, with Ms. Harris, the US vice president, appealing to early voters in Georgia and Mr. Trump, the former president, campaigning in Pennsylvania ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

Ms. Harris highlighted the heroism of those who responded to Hurricane Helene, which caused deaths and destruction in Florida earlier this month. She drew a contrast between her vision for America and the harsh rhetoric of the current political climate, although she did not mention Trump by name.

“At this point across our nation, what we do see are some trying to deepen division among us, spread hate, sow fear and cause chaos,” she told thousands of congregants at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, in Stonecrest, Georgia.

Some measured the strength of a leader as “who you beat down” instead of being guided by “kindness and love,” she said, urging congregants to vote for a more compassionate future.

Ms. Harris was more direct in an interview with MSNBC when asked about Mr. Trump’s comments at an earlier rally in Pennsylvania in which he called her a “shit vice president,” telling civil rights leader Al Sharpton: “The American people deserve so much better.” At a McDonald’s in suburban Philadelphia, Trump removed his suit jacket, put on a black and yellow apron and cooked batches of french fries, something he said he had wanted to do “all my life.”

The former president dipped wire baskets of potatoes in sizzling oil before salting them and handing them out to some of his supporters through the drive-through window of the restaurant, which had been closed to the general public. Thousands of people lined the street opposite the restaurant to watch.

“I like this job,” said Mr. Trump, whose adoration for fast food has been well chronicled. “I’m having a lot of fun here.”

Mr. Trump has said the McDonald’s visit was intended in part as a jab at Ms. Harris, who says she worked at the fast-food chain during her college years in California. Mr. Trump claims Harris never worked there but has provided no evidence to back that up.

Ms. Harris spokesperson Ian Sams said the stunt was a sign of the real-estate mogul’s desperation.

“All he knows how to do is lie,” he said. “He can’t understand what it’s like to have a summer job because he was handed millions on a silver platter, only to blow it.”

The Harris campaign said Mr. Trump’s visit also belied his opposition to an increase in the federal minimum wage and his support for a rule that could make it more difficult for workers to win legal claims against the parent company if a franchise owner violated minimum-wage and overtime laws.

 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY”

Ms. Harris, who was raised in the teachings of the Black church and sang in a church choir, marked her 60th birthday on Sunday while campaigning outside of Atlanta.

At Divine Faith Ministries International in Jonesboro, Georgia, music icon Stevie Wonder performed, singing his hit “Higher Ground” and a version of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.”

Asked about polls showing a lack of enthusiasm for her candidacy among Black men who have been a reliable voting bloc for Democrats, Harris told Sharpton she was working to earn their votes as well.

“There’s this narrative about what kind of support we are receiving from Black men that is just not panning out in reality,” Harris said. “Because why would Black men be any different than any other demographic of voter? They expect that you earn their vote.”

Ms. Harris will need strong results in the majority non-white cities of Detroit and Atlanta and their surrounding suburbs to repeat President Joe Biden’s 2020 wins in Michigan and Georgia.

At a campaign event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mr. Trump extended birthday wishes to Ms. Harris, drawing boos from his crowd.

“Happy birthday, and many more, and I mean it,” Mr. Trump said, although he continued to criticize Harris’s policies and speculating that his opponent may have “a cognitive problem.” – Reuters

Cuba grid collapses again, hurricane heaps on misery

PHILSTAR

 – Cuba’s electrical grid collapsed again on Sunday, the fourth such failure in 48 hours, with a hurricane making landfall to compound the island’s misery and threaten further havoc on its decrepit infrastructure.

Cuba earlier on Sunday had said it was making headway restoring service after multiple false starts, though millions of people remained without electricity more than two days after the grid’s initial collapse.

“Restoration work began immediately,” the country’s energy and mines ministry said on X.

Hurricane Oscar made landfall on the Caribbean island on Sunday, bringing strong winds, a powerful storm surge and rain to parts of eastern Cuba and threatening to further complicate the government’s efforts to reestablish service.

Cuba’s meteorological survey warned of “an extremely dangerous situation” in eastern Cuba, while the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported winds of 75 miles per hour (120 kph) as the storm made its way across the island.

“On the forecast track, the center of Oscar is expected to continue moving across eastern Cuba tonight and Monday, then emerge off the northern coast of Cuba late Monday and cross the central Bahamas on Tuesday,” the Hurricane Center said.

The Communist-run government canceled school through Wednesday – a near unprecedented move in Cuba – citing the hurricane and the ongoing energy crisis. Officials said only essential workers should report to work on Monday.

The repeated grid collapses marked a major setback in the government’s efforts to quickly restore power to exhausted residents already suffering from severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel.

The multiple setbacks in the first 48 hours also underscored the complexity of the work and the still precarious state of the country’s grid.

Cuba had restored power to 160,000 clients in Havana just prior to the grid’s Sunday collapse, giving some residents a glimmer of hope.

But housewife Anabel Gonzalez, of old Havana, a neighborhood popular with tourists, said she was growing desperate after three days without power.

“My cell phone is dead and look at my refrigerator. The little that I had has all gone to waste,” she said, pointing to bare shelves in her two-room home.

Energy and mines minister Vicente de la O Levy told reporters earlier on Sunday he expected the grid to be fully functional by Monday or Tuesday but warned residents not to expect dramatic improvements.

It was not immediately clear how much the latest setback would delay the government’s efforts.

Cuba’s national electrical grid first crashed around midday on Friday after the island’s largest power plant shut down, sowing chaos. The grid collapsed again on Saturday morning, state-run media reported.

By early evening on Saturday, authorities reported some progress restoring power before announcing another partial grid collapse.

 

RISING TENSIONS

Reuters reporters witnessed two small protests overnight after a grid failure left Havana in the dark late Saturday, one on the outskirts of the capital in Marianao and the other in the more central Cuatro Caminos. Various videos of protests elsewhere in the capital began to crop up on social media late on Saturday, though Reuters was not able to verify their authenticity.

Energy Minister O Levy said the blackouts were bothersome to residents, but he said most Cubans understood and supported government efforts to restore power.

“It is Cuban culture to cooperate,” O Levy told reporters on Sunday. “Those isolated and minimal incidents that do exist, we catalog them as incorrect, as indecent.”

Internet traffic dropped off sharply in Cuba over the weekend, according to data from internet monitoring group NetBlocks, as vast power outages made it all but impossible for most island residents to charge phones and get online.

“Network data show that Cuba remains largely offline as the island experiences a second nationwide power outage,” Netblocks said on Saturday.

The government has blamed weeks of worsening blackouts – as long as 10 to 20 hours a day across much of the island – on deteriorating infrastructure, fuel shortages and rising demand.

Cuba also blames the U.S. trade embargo, as well as sanctions instituted by then-President Donald Trump, for ongoing difficulties in acquiring fuel and spare parts to operate and maintain its oil-fired plants.

The US has denied any role in the grid failures.

Cuba depends on imports to feed its largely obsolete, oil-fired power plants. Fuel deliveries to the island have dropped significantly this year as Venezuela, Russia and Mexico, once important suppliers, have slashed their exports to Cuba.

Ally Venezuela – struggling to supply its own market – cut by half its deliveries of subsidized fuel to Cuba this year, forcing the island to search for more costly oil on the spot market.

Mexico, another frequent supplier, appeared also to have cut fuel flows to Cuba during a presidential election year.

Recently elected President Claudia Sheinbaum has not said if the state-supported supply to Cuba will continue under same terms under her administration. – Reuters

EXPLAINER | Urgent calls to pass the “Teen Pregnancy Prevention Bill Now!

The enactment of the “Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Bill” is an urgent call from nearly four hundred civil society organizations and government agencies to the Senate, as the country’s problem of teenage pregnancy remains high.

The bill seeks to protect Filipino children and youth by implementing accurate, age- and development-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education in schools and communities.

Easier access to information and services, including contraceptives; access to well-trained health personnel, and social protections, are among the other solutions that the bill aims to provide.

“If we pass this bill, we take care of the 10 to 14-year-olds, we take care of the 15 to 19-year-olds, and we address the P33 billion economic loss due to teenage pregnancy,” Myline Mirasol Quiray, head, knowledge management and communications division of Commission on Population and Development.

Related article: https://www.bworldonline.com/health/2024/09/24/623638/senate-urged-to-prioritize-passage-of-teen-pregnancy-prevention-bill/

Interview by Edg Adrian A. Eva
Editing by Jayson John D. Mariñas

Joint Foreign Chambers to present Arangkada Lifetime Achievement Award to Secretary Pascual on Oct. 24

On Oct. 24, 2024 (Thursday), at their annual flagship Arangkada Philippines Forum, the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFC) will honor former Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual with the annual Arangkada Lifetime Achievement Award. Every year, the award honors a person who has, by writing, word, or deed in the public, private, and/or non-profit sector(s) over a period of at least 25 years, contributed to significant and enduring improvements in the conditions and environment for business in the Philippines. The award presentation is scheduled for 2:35 p.m. at the Marriott Grand Ballroom in Pasay City, and will be followed by an acceptance speech from Secretary Pascual. A full schedule of the full-day forum can be found here.

The 13th Arangkada Philippines Forum will bring together hundreds of public and private sector leaders to discuss reforms and strategies to upskill the country’s workforce and accelerate economic growth, in light of demographic shifts and technological advancements. The forum will feature top government officials, including Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Chairman of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education Mark Go, and leaders from the Department of Labor and Employment, Commission on Higher Education, and Department of Trade and Industry, among others, business leaders and heads of business groups, and representatives from international organizations like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and International Labor Organization. It will also be attended by industry experts, members of the diplomatic community, academe, and media. To register for the 2024 Arangkada Philippines Forum, visit www.arangkadaphilippines.com/forum2024.

“We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Secretary Pascual on this year’s Arangkada Lifetime Achievement Award. We have greatly appreciated his partnership in promoting investments and trade between the Philippines and the countries we represent, and we particularly value his work to support Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) during his tenure. This award is a testament to his contributions to the acceleration of the country’s economic growth. We are excited to present it to him during our annual forum on Oct. 24th,” said the Joint Foreign Chambers.

“I am honored to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Joint Foreign Chambers. The Joint Foreign Chambers have been a steadfast partner in the work to promote trade and investments, driving meaningful progress in our nation’s economic development. I look forward to participating in their forum and speaking about the vital role of investing in the Filipino workforce — an essential driver of our shared vision for a more inclusive, resilient, and globally competitive Philippine economy. Together, we can continue building a future that uplifts every Filipino and enhances our standing in the global market,” said Secretary Pascual.

With this award, the JFC acknowledges Secretary Pascual’s 44 years of public service, especially his most recent achievements as the former Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry. During his tenure, the DTI launched a series of successful investment roadshows across the globe. These initiatives significantly boosted the country’s visibility on the international stage, drawing investments in key sectors such as renewable energy, information and communication technology, construction, real estate, and logistics. Prior to this, he also held pivotal positions at the Asian Development Bank, the Institute of Corporate Directors, and the Management Association of the Philippines, where he showed his sincere commitment to national development and inclusive progress.

Fitting to the Arangkada forum theme of “Upskill, Upscale, Uplift,” Mr. Pascual’s commitment to improving the skills of the Filipino workforce was reflected during his term as the President of the University of the Philippines, where he introduced reforms to encourage greater focus on research, improve school facilities and information systems, and raise its international standings.

The 2024 Arangkada Philippines Forum is proudly supported by leaders in the industry, including Coca-Cola Philippines, First Philippine Holdings, ICTSI, SGV & Co., Capital One, Marubeni, Royal Cargo, AIG, BDO, Cargill, Converge, and Eastern Communications. The event is also supported by key business groups, civil organizations, and media partners, such as the Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Development Alliance, Asia Society Philippines, ConnectedWomen, Employers Confederation of the Philippines, Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Fintech Alliance PH, German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, PepsiCo, Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., Philippine Mining Club, PwC Philippines, Royal Danish Embassy Manila, Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc., BusinessWorld, Inquirer.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer, and the Philippine Star.

The JFC is a coalition of the American, Canadian, European, Japanese, and Korean chambers as well as the Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters, Incorporated (PAMURI). It supports and promotes open international trade, increased foreign investment, and improved conditions for business to benefit both the Philippines and the countries the JFC members represent.

 


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