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PSEi climbs ahead of Yellen’s Congress testimony

THE MAIN INDEX rose on Wednesday, nearing the 8,000 level, but still remains in consolidation phase and may be stuck between support and resistance until catalysts emerge.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose 1.02% or 80.23 points to end at 7,938.37 yesterday.

The broader all shares index increased 0.86% or 40.52 points to 4,754.67.

“Once again, the PSEi closes in on the 8,000-level even as the backdrop has not materially changed. In fact, if there have been any changes so far, these have mostly raised concerns, if not outright doubts, on the broad economy’s prospects,” read the market recap of Philstocks Financial, Inc. on Wednesday.

“For now, breaches of the 8,000 line will continue to be met by profit taking, unless a fresh catalyst provides the market enough support to keep above the line,” Philstocks Financial added, noting that investors will mostly be anticipating second quarter earnings releases for catalysts.

“Despite this rally, it appears that the market will stay in a consolidation phase and will move between 7,800 and 8,000 absent any new catalysts,” Manuel Antonio G. Lisbona, president of PNB Securities, Inc., similarly noted in a mobile phone message on Wednesday.

All sectors ended in the green. Property led the charge on Wednesday, jumping 2.14% or 78.3 points to 3,731.65. Holding firms went up 0.93% or 73.39 points to 7,910.91; mining and oil climbed 0.83% or 105.50 points to 12,738.81; industrials rose 0.75% or 82.98 points to 11,145.92; services increased 0.47% or 8.06 points to 1,702.74; and financials inched up 0.06% or 1.33 points to 1,971.83.

Advancers outnumbered losers, 125 to 85, while 42 names closed unchanged.

Value turnover climbed to P9.35 billion yesterday, higher than the P7.17 billion logged on Tuesday, as 1.59 billion shares changed hands.

Foreigners turned buyers anew with net purchases totalling P241.66 million, a turnaround from Tuesday’s net selling of P63.60 million.

Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Wednesday in line with broader Asia as fresh controversy over US President Donald J. Trump’s administration had little impact on global equities, with investors looking ahead to Federal Reserve Chair Janet L. Yellen’s comments later in the day.

US stocks took a brief tumble overnight after e-mails disclosed Mr. Trump’s eldest son welcomed help from a Russian lawyer for his father’s 2016 election campaign, but the stocks reversed their losses by close.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4% on Wednesday.

Indonesia inched up 0.5%, helped by strong gains in the financial sector. Thai shares were up as much as 0.3%, supported by industrials and financials, while Vietnam rose as much as 0.6%.

Meanwhile, Singapore shares fell as much as 0.5%. Malaysian shares were largely flat. — JCL with Reuters

Confident Venus

Seventy-three minutes was all it took for Venus Williams to claim her Round-of-8 match at Wimbledon the other day. At 10th, her seeding was three slots higher than that of Jelena Ostapenko, and she showed her advantage from the get-go; she took the first game off three aces, broke serve, and then consolidated with confidence, all in a span of 504 seconds. And from the way she moved throughout the contest, it didn’t look she was a 37-year-old, on-and-off competitor exactly two decades removed from her debut at the All-England Club. As far as she was concerned, she couldn’t have felt any better, her continuing bout with Sjogren’s Syndrome put off, even if temporarily, by her determination to succeed on the surface most suited to her skills.

Certainly, Williams started the way she needed to against Ostapenko, whose self-assurance translated to an aggressive style of play punctuated by booming groundstrokes. She doesn’t always find equals to her power, but in comparison to the reigning French Open champion, she actually seemed the more reserved. Which is not to say overmatched, because she knew well enough to lean on her experience to construct points off meaningful rallies. Whereas she would normally go for quick winners against measured competition, she stayed patient against her opponent, striking just when the risk-reward ratio appeared favorable.

For Williams, the victory both exemplifies an already-solid 2017 and signifies what’s still in store. In prevailing against a major winner 17 summers her junior, she has defied expectations and, at the same time, fueled prospects of another Grand Slam final appearance. And once there, who knows? In the absence of sister Serena, who felled her in the battle for the Australian Open crown earlier this year, anything’s possible.

First things first, though, and Williams is banking on momentum to take the measure of hometown hope Johanna Konta in the semifinal round. And, yes, she figures to once again make her serve her primary weapon; as she noted, “It’s working out for me just in time, just for these later rounds. I’d like to think that I can continue to rely on it as the matches continue,” she noted. In any case, this much is clear: She won’t be leaving anything in the tank. “I try really hard,” she said in reference to the obvious. “You do your best while you can. That’s what I’m doing.”

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.

Google, Amazon join online protest of net neutrality change

HOW MANY online activists does it take to save Silicon Valley’s favorite Obama-era regulation?

Organizers of an online protest aimed at derailing a Republican plan to roll back net neutrality rules are hoping the magic number is 70,000. That’s the number of sites and organizations — including Amazon.com, Google, Facebook and even President Donald Trump’s favored medium, Twitter — that have pledged to participate.

On Wednesday, the big commercial sites will join scores of online activists and businesses in telling users about the change planned in Washington — and ask the visitors to contact Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), where Republican Chairman Ajit Pai, a Trump appointee, commands a majority and is moving toward gutting the rule against interfering with Web traffic.

The protest comes as Democratic lawmakers bring renewed focus on the issue. Democratic senators Ron Wyden, of Oregon, and Brian Schatz, of Hawaii, on Monday asked the FCC to ensure its computer system is prepared to withstand the expected surge of comments. Both senators support the embattled rule.

Already the FCC has received 5.6 million comments on the issue, ahead of a July 17 deadline for remarks. In May, televised commentary from comedian John Oliver sparked a surge of comments to the FCC.

Mark Wigfield, an FCC spokesman, declined to comment on the protests.

Organizers hope for an outpouring that can change a seemingly certain trajectory toward action by the FCC to roll back the rule that forbids broadband providers led by AT&T, Inc., Comcast Corp. and Verizon Communications, Inc. from blocking or slowing data — to hinder rivals, for instance, or to favor affiliated services.

“We’re trying to make it easier for real people to comment and make their voices heard,” said Evan Greer, campaign director for Fight for the Future, a nonprofit advocacy group that helped organize the protest. “Ajit Pai has made it clear he has no interest in listening to the public. He’s listening to the cable companies and plans to give them what they want.”

Protest organizers say that if Pai succeeds in weakening or eliminating the rule, broadband companies will slow Web traffic, block rivals’ Internet content, censor unpopular viewpoints and charge extra fees.

Backers of Pai’s move say the net-neutrality rule claims too much authority over private broadband providers, discourages investment needed to spread fast internet service to more people, and that a competitive market will ensure broadband providers treat traffic fairly.

The protest is “not going to stop the FCC,” Berin Szoka, founder of TechFreedom, a policy group that supports Pai’s move, said in an interview.

“Their entire agenda is simply to jump up and down at the FCC, and jump up and down on the Hill, and try to obstruct a legislative deal” that could see Congress resolve the years of debate over net neutrality, Szoka said.

“All lawmakers in Washington should oppose the FCC’s anti-net neutrality proposal that will do immeasurable harm to free speech and innovation, and is deeply unpopular,” Mark Stanley, a spokesman with Demand Progress, a group helping to organize the protest, said in an e-mailed statement today.

But lawmakers aren’t running the net neutrality proceeding as Pai heads toward a vote possibly later this year at the FCC. Pai’s antipathy to the rule passed in 2015 was well known when Trump elevated him to chairman in January. And in 2014 while the FCC prepared the rule, Trump in a tweet called the regulation “Obama’s attack on the internet.”

Democratic representatives are agitating against the change. “The @FCC wants to get rid of the rules that protect #net neutrality. That’s a threat to destroy the Internet as we know it,” Senator Al Franken, of Minnesota, said in a tweet. Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy also tweeted, saying, “Ending #net neutrality would allow internet providers to slow certain websites or charge more for preferential service.” — Bloomberg

App for women turns phones into panic buttons

CIUDAD JUçREZ, MEXICO — The Mexican city of Juarez has been dubbed “the capital of murdered women”: since the 1990s, hundreds of women have been raped, killed and dumped in the desert, or simply disappeared without a trace.

Now the border city, which sits across from El Paso, Texas, is fighting back by launching an application that turns women’s cell phones into panic buttons.

The app, called “I Am Not Alone” (“No estoy sola,” in Spanish), lets users send an alert to their emergency contacts by shaking their phones or clicking a button.

It does not require a data plan, instead sending text messages with a link that enables the recipient to see the user’s location on Google Maps.

“Wherever you have cell phone coverage, you can use the app,” said Miguel David Diaz de Leon, technology and communications director at Juarez City Hall.

“Help, I have an emergency. This is my location,” say the messages.

The app continues sending them every five to 10 minutes, or until the user deactivates them.

The app is currently only available for Android phones, but the city is working on versions for other systems.

Launched last week, the app has already been downloaded more than 13,000 times — including more than 100 times in the United States.

GRISLY HISTORY
Juarez has been working to shed the dark distinction of being one of the world’s most dangerous cities for women.

The crisis has eased somewhat since the 1990s, when rights groups estimate that more than 1,500 women were murdered.

The victims were primarily poor young women who had come to the city to work in the “maquila” industry, factories that assemble products to ship across the border.

Many were found raped and brutally tortured, their bodies left in the desert that surrounds the city.

These days, violence in Juarez makes fewer international headlines. It is no longer Mexico’s murder capital, and attention has shifted to new hotspots in the country’s deadly war on powerful drug cartels.

But the city of 1.4 million people remains a dangerous one for women: 54 were reported missing last year, and 17 have disappeared so far this year.

And city officials have noticed a worrying trend: the victims still tend to be poor young women.

“We are concerned about the disappearance of young women with very similar profiles to those who were disappearing years ago,” said Veronica Corchado Espinoza, head of the city government’s Women’s Institute.

IN DEMAND
Residents give the app strong reviews: it has four out of five stars in the Google Play store.

Women’s rights activists have also praised the app.

“There is a great need for women to be able to count on these types of tools… to strengthen our networks and send an alert when we are in a potentially dangerous situation,” said Itzel Gonzalez of the Women’s Network of Juarez. — AFP

IBM revamps network unit around Watson AI

INTERNATIONAL Business Machines Corp. (IBM) is revamping its Global Technology Services division, which helps customers run their computer networks, to rely more heavily on artificial intelligence (AI).

The new AI-capability will help IBM’s customers minimize disruptions such as server outages or switching malfunctions by predicting problems before they occur and automatically taking corrective action, such as brokering additional cloud capacity or rerouting network traffic around bottlenecks, Bart Van Den Daele, general manager of IBM Global Technology Services in Europe, said in an interview.

The product offering, powered by IBM’s Watson cognitive computing platform, will enable the company to maintain its market share in IT network infrastructure management, Van den Daele said.

New York-based IBM has been struggling to pivot from reliance on older products like computers and operating system software and into higher-growth areas like AI and the cloud. It’s facing stiff competition from rivals including Microsoft Corp., Cisco Systems, Inc. and Alphabet, Inc.’s Google, who have also begun emphasizing artificial intelligence and automation in products that help customers manage their servers and networks.

Recently Microsoft announced a major reorganization of its global salesforce, in part to focus on selling AI-enabled products and services. Since becoming chief executive officer in 2012, Ginni Rometty has increasingly sought to integrate Watson — a suite of different artificial intelligence capabilities linked together — into all of IBM’s product offerings. She has done so in part because sales of its traditional products, which included hardware such as mainframes and servers that were physically located in customer’s offices, as well as the service contracts to maintain these systems, has been steadily declining.

The system also has the ability to understand IT helpdesk queries using natural language, meaning that it could take over much of the low-level work that a company’s IT support staff have to handle on a daily basis.

IBM trained its Watson-based IT infrastructure platform by feeding it data from more than 10 million past incidents, Van den Daele said. The system is now handling more than 800,000 incidents a month.

The new system, which has been piloted with customers including Danish banking group Danske Bank A/S, has already made improvements in network performance, he said.

“We saw a significant reduction of server incidents,” Jay Steen Olsen, Danske Bank’s chief technology officer, said in a statement. He said the IBM platform would “help us act before an incident occurs and move us closer to an integrated, automated and always-on environment.” — Bloomberg

Hardwork is a talent

Chess PieceBobby Ang

(Conclusion)

Ms. Janelle Mae Frayna was born on May 19, 1996 in Legazpi City, Albay. She is the youngest of three siblings. Her brothers Jan Mari Felix and Don Mari Phil are both with the Philippine National Police. Her father is George Guillermo while her mother, Corazon Sonia Frayna is the genius in the family — she is an engineer, teacher with many other side professions — on top of that she passed six national eligibilities. She is the one Janelle points to as her role model. Corazon Sonia has stage 3 breast cancer but is fighting it very hard and her bravery has always been an inspiration.

When Janelle was 11 years old her older brother taught her chess. Let us listen to her story.

“Back then, I never knew that I would make a name because of ‘just’ playing chess. I attended elementary and half of my high school days in my hometown Legazpi City. At that time, I was a typical school kid driven to be the best in my class. I love competitions because they bring out potentials that we never thought we have!

“One thing that helped my progress in class and in chess is that whenever I set goals, I never cease until I reach it. Some people think that I’m too ambitious. But for me it’s not. Trying to outdo yourself and getting better each day is a matter of attitude. I always seek for improvement, because our life doesn’t end once we realize our dreams. I believe that as long as we’re breathing, there will always be a next level/next phase for us.

“Most Filipinos are die hard basketball fans. But chess? Ah ohhh. We do have great talents for the game but we fail to develop and sustain a strong chess culture. I share the advocacy of my coach Grandmaster Jayson, which is to promote chess professionalism in our country. He has the heart to help kids reach their full chess playing potentials. But there are resistance — from the parents, young kids themselves and even from the veteran players. I always hear from the old guys that Filipinos have innate gifts for the game, they say ‘likas na madiskarte tayo.’ Perhaps right, but it’s not just about talent. Talent alone can’t win championships.”

“I am a living testament of what hard work, dedication and faith can do to reach our dreams. I was 14 when I met Grandmaster Jayson. That was the first time that I have met a grandmaster. Wow! Honestly, I felt that grandmasters are like rare species of the world. No exaggeration but I felt so blessed to finally meet one.”

It is difficult to overestimate the impact GM Jayson Gonzales had on Janelle. He was coach of the FEU chess team, and a good one at that. Unlike some coaches who rely on pirating the top players of other schools, Jayson prides himself on developing his own talents. One day he noticed that one of his players in the FEU women’s squad was reading all the chess materials he distributed. He gave her some more and she devoured all of that as well. Clearly, Janelle Mae Frayna was serious at her chess. This was what started the collaboration between coach and pupil which continues up to this day.

In 2014, at the age of 18, she shocked everybody by qualifying for the Finals of the Philippine Chess Championship, men’s division, the first time a woman, let alone a teenager, accomplished this feat. An even bigger shock was in store for the finalists, as she beat International Grandmasters Joey Antonio and Richard Bitoon as well as International Masters Jan Emmanuel Garcia, Oliver Dimakiling and Joel Pimentel to finish in 4th place, qualifying her to represent the Philippines in the 2014 Tromso Olympiad.

* * *
2014 National Chess Championship
June 21-28, 2014

Final Standings
1-2. GM Eugenio Torre 2423, GM John Paul Gomez 2526, 7.5/11

3. FM Paulo Bersamina 2118, 6.5/11

4-7. WFM Janelle Mae Frayna 2133, GM Darwin Laylo 2508, IM Jan Emmanuel Garcia 2390, GM Rogelio Antonio, Jr. 2517, 6.0/11

8. GM Rogelio Barcenilla 2475, 5.5/11

9-10. IM Oliver Dimakiling 2373, GM Richard Bitoon 2423, 5.0/11

11-12. NM Roel Abelgas 2319, IM Joel Pimentel 2286, 2.5/11

Here is her memorable game against GM Antonio.

* * *
Frayna, Janelle Mae (2133) — Antonio, Rogelio, Jr. (2517) [A04]
NATIONAL Championships, 23.06.2014
[WGM Janelle Mae Frayna]

1.Nf3

I was inspired to play Nf3 all throughout the tournament since it gave me a lucky win against GM Bitoon.

1…b6

A rare response perhaps he was thinking to counter my usual fianchetto setup of g3, then Bg2 with his Bb7.

2.e4!

Exclamation for the courage. At that time, I was not an e4 player but the ensuing battle transposes to its territory which is the Owen’s defense.

2…Bb7 3.Nc3

I won’t pretend to know the opening theory of this game, but I was just following simple chess principles of optimum piece development.

3…e6 4.d4 Bb4 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.Qe2 d5 7.exd5

After the game I found out that this is the most popular move in the given position. 7.e5 is the latest trend. 7…Ne4 8.0 — 0 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Bxc3 10.Rb1 Nc6 11.Rd1 (11.Qe3 Bb4 12.Qf4 Qd7) 11…Qd7 12.Ba3 Nxd4 13.Nxd4 Bxd4 14.c3 Bxc3 15.Rbc1 Ba5 16.Rxc7 Qxc7 17.Rc1 Qxc1+ (Forced. 17…Qb8 18.Bb5+ Kd8 19.Qh5 Black is getting mated) 18.Bxc1 0 — 0 — 0 19.Ba3 Kb8 20.Qf3 Rd7 21.Bd6+ Ka8 22.Bb5 Rc8 23.h3 Bc6 24.Ba6 Rcd8 25.Qd3 g6 26.Qc2 Bb7 27.Bb5 Rc8 28.Qa4 Rdd8 29.Qh4 a6 30.Bd3 Rd7 31.Qxh7 b5 32.Qh4 Bc7 33.Bxc7 Rdxc7 34.Qf4 Rc1+ 35.Kh2 R8c7 36.h4 R1c3 37.Qd4 R3c4 38.Qb6 Rc8 39.g3 Ra4 40.Kh3 Rxa2 41.Kg4 Rc6 42.Qd8+ Ka7 43.Qf8 Rxf2 44.Bxg6 fxg6 45.Qxf2+ Rb6 46.Kf4 b4 47.Ke3 b3 48.Qb2 a5 49.g4 Rb4 50.h5 gxh5 51.gxh5 d4+ 52.Kd3 Bf3 53.h6 Bd1 54.Kd2 Bc2 55.Qa1 Kb6 56.Qh1 b2 57.Kxc2 b1Q+ 58.Qxb1 d3+ 59.Kc1 d2+ 0 — 1 (59) Pavlovic,M (2522)-Minasian,A (2578) Moscow 2008.

7…Nxd5 8.Bd2 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Be7 10.0 — 0 0 — 0

Position is equal.

11.c4N

[11.Ne5 most popular continuation]

11…Bf6 12.c3 Nd7 13.Be4 Bxe4 14.Qxe4 e5 15.Rad1 exd4 16.cxd4 Re8 17.Qg4

Trying to retain the queen’s active position.

17…Nf8 18.Rfe1 Qd6

Objectively, the position is equal, but there are some positional nuances that we have to take into consideration, specifically on the pawn structures of both sides.

19.Bg5

[19.d5 Rxe1+ 20.Rxe1 b5 21.Bf4 Qc5 22.cxb5 Qxd5 23.Bxc7 Qxb5 equal]

19…Bxg5 20.Qxg5 Ng6 21.Qb5 c6 22.Qf5 Rad8 23.h4

A typical move discussed in the 45 techniques of positional chess by IM Valeri Bronznik — knight restriction.

23…Rxe1+ 24.Rxe1 Qb4 25.Qg5 f6 26.Qc1 Qa5 27.Qb1 Nf8 28.Re7 Qa3?!

[28…Qa4 29.c5 Ng6 30.Re4 equal]

29.Re3

Better was 29.Qe1 with sole command of the lone open file, but I was inviting for repetition of moves. I want to test if he was satisfied with a draw or wanted to play on.

29…Qa4 30.Qc1 c5 31.Ra3 Qd7 32.d5

A potentially dangerous passed d- pawn.

32…Qg4?

Better was 32…Re8 33.Re3 with only a slight advantage for White.

33.Rxa7 Re8 34.Ra3 Re4 35.Re3?!

Another proof of my cautious attitude. Passed pawns musts be pushed! 35.Qd2 Rxc4 36.d6 Qd7 37.Re3 Qc6 38.Re7 Nd7 39.Qd3 Rc1+ 40.Ne1 c4 41.Qg3 g6 42.Qf4 Rd1 43.Qh6 with a winning position.

35…Rxc4

[35…Rxe3 36.fxe3 Kf7 and again there is only a slight advantage for White.

36.Qd2 <D>

POSITION AFTER 36.QD2

36…Qf5?

This careless move turns the game into a loss. He should have blocked the White rook with 36…Re4.

37.d6!

I say it again — passed pawns must be pushed!

37…Qc2?

GM Joey panics when he realizes that 37…Nd7 38.Re8+ Kf7 39.Re7+ Kg8 40.Qe3 wins for White. A better move would have been 37…Rc2 although 38.Qd1 Rb2 39.Kh2 still retains the advantage.

38.Qd5+ Kh8 39.Qf7 h6 40.Qxf8+ Kh7 41.d7

Other winning moves were of course possible but I was too excited on pushing this pawn and for my rook to invade the 7th rank! I felt extreme happiness during the game — who would have thought that I would have a winning position against the 12-time National Chess Champ!

41…Qd1+ 42.Kh2 Qxd7 43.g3?!

Inconsistent with my plan! For some reason I didn’t play 43.Re7 Qg4 (43…Qd6+ 44.g3+ — ) 44.Ng5+ which forces mate.

43…Rc2 44.Kg2 Rxa2 45.Re7 Qg4 46.Qxf6?

[46.Ng5+ would have ended the game one move earlier.]

46…Ra8 47.Ng5+ 1 — 0

On Tuesday, I will show you the Memorable game against GM Richard Bitoon.

Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.

bobby@cpamd.net

Trump son said he would ‘love’ Russian dirt on Clinton — e-mails

WASHINGTON — Donald J. Trump’s eldest son on Tuesday released e-mails showing he embraced Russia’s efforts to support his father’s presidential campaign, admitting he would “love” to get dirt from Moscow on Hillary R. Clinton.

Donald Trump, Jr. was told by an interlocutor that he could get “very high level and sensitive information” that was “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”

The 39-year-old Donald Jr. — who now runs the family real estate business in his father’s stead — responded “if it’s what you say I love it” and set up a meeting with a “Russian government attorney,” according to the e-mails.

The e-mail chain, released in its entirety by Donald Jr. on his Twitter account, added fuel to the political firestorm swirling over allegations that Mr. Trump’s campaign team colluded with Moscow to influence the 2016 election.

US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a mass effort to tilt the election in Mr. Trump’s favor, including hacking and leaking embarrassing e-mails from Democrats.

The e-mail disclosure now thrusts the president’s son to the center of multiple US investigations by Congress and by the FBI as to whether Mr. Trump’s team was in the know.

In a statement accompanying the e-mails, Donald Jr. said he believed he was going to receive “political opposition research” on Ms. Clinton, and added that the Russian lawyer, “as she has said publicly, was not a government official.”

Mr. Trump jumped to his son’s defense, saying in a statement: “My son is a high-quality person and I applaud his transparency.”

INFO TO ‘INCRIMINATE HILLARY’
Donald Jr. had initially dismissed the meeting he arranged with the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, as having to do with adoptions, but then offered shifting explanations as more details emerged.

In the e-mails released Tuesday, Rob Goldstone — a publicist close to the Trumps — tells Donald Jr. that he has learned of a Russian offer of compromising material on Ms. Clinton from a pop singer he represented, Emin Agalarov.

“The Crown Prosecutor of Russia met with his father Aras this morning and in their meeting offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father,” Mr. Goldstone wrote in a June 3, 2016 e-mail.

“This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump — helped along by Aras and Emin,” he added.

Donald Jr. responded less than 20 minutes later, according to the chain of e-mails entitled “Russia-Clinton — private and confidential.”

“Thanks Rob I appreciate that. I am on the road at the moment but perhaps I just speak to Emin first. Seems we have some time and if it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.”

Ms. Veselnitskaya is referred to in the exchange as “the Russian government attorney.”

The e-mail exchange took place as Ms. Clinton had all but secured the Democratic nomination and Mr. Trump was casting one eye toward the general election campaign that would begin that summer.

In an interview with NBC News, Ms. Veselnitskaya said: “It’s possible that maybe they were looking for such information” about the Clinton campaign.

“They wanted it so badly,” she added.

‘POTENTIALLY TREASON’
Ms. Clinton’s vice presidential running mate Tim Kaine described the revelations as moving toward more serious charges of perjury and “potentially treason.”

“This should have set off alarm bells and red lights and instead, what it seemed to do is it activated their salivary glands,” Mr. Kaine said in a separate interview with MSNBC.

“They should have turned this over to law enforcement immediately.”

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden went even farther, saying the e-mails “show there is no longer a question of whether this campaign sought to collude with a hostile foreign power to subvert America’s democracy.”

“The question is how far the coordination goes,” Mr. Wyden added.

Vice-President Mike Pence’s office issued a statement saying he was unaware of the meeting, in what appeared to be a bid to distance himself from the matter.

The New York Times reported that Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner, two of Mr. Trump’s most trusted campaign officials, also attended the meeting with Ms. Veselnitskaya and Donald Jr. last year.

The Kremlin has said it “did not know who” Ms. Veselnitskaya was.

“We can’t be aware of all the meetings Russian lawyers have abroad,” said spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

A spokesman for Mr. Kushner did not respond to request for comment.

A senior White House official denied that there was anything inappropriate about the meeting with Ms. Veselnitskaya — and said Mr. Trump was under no obligation to have disclosed it earlier.

“He’s not a member of the administration,” Sebastian Gorka told CNN. — AFP

Did Donald Trump, Jr. break US law?

NEW YORK — Did Donald J. Trump’s eldest son break US law in meeting a Russian lawyer he hoped would dish compromising dirt on the woman standing between his father and the White House?

Could the 39-year-old real estate scion be charged with treason? This is what legal experts say about what is known so far of the June 2016 meeting in New York between Don Jr. and Natalia Veselnitskaya.

WHAT LAW MIGHT HE HAVE BROKEN?
The most incriminating revelation, say experts who spoke to AFP, are the e-mails that Mr. Trump Jr. dumped on his Twitter account: namely that he would “love” to hear what the Russian had to say about Hillary R. Clinton.

“If it’s what you say I love it,” he wrote back within minutes of being told the lawyer had information that would “incriminate” Ms. Clinton as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”

Brandon Garrett, law professor at the University of Virginia, says since Watergate, federal law has forbidden any direct or indirect foreign contribution or promise of such to a US election.

The statute outlaws any donation “or other thing of value,” which Mr. Garrett said could potentially include information.

Another worry for Mr. Trump Jr. is that conspiracy law is sweeping.

“One does not have to have committed a crime, the attempt is enough,” said Mr. Garrett. “They could still be found guilty of conspiring,” he warned. In other words, the sole fact of going into a meeting to fish for information could be enough to establish intent.

But Daniel Tokaji, an electoral law expert at Ohio State University, sees “very serious free speech” concerns and “troubling implications” in interpreting information as a “contribution.”

He warned it “could prohibit a campaign from gathering information about a rival campaign.”

Susan Klein, law professor at the University of Texas and a Democrat, doesn’t believe Mr. Trump Jr. could be prosecuted just for talking either — “except perhaps if they paid for it or exchanged it for something.”

WHO DECIDES IF THERE’S A CASE?
The Federal Election Commission logically pursues election law violations, says Mr. Tokaji.

But split three-three between Democrats and Republicans, “it’s very unlikely that they would take action,” he added.

In theory the US attorney’s office in Manhattan, where the meeting took place, could also open a case.

More likely is that former FBI director Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor charged with investigating possible links between the Trump campaign and Russia, will determine if there’s a case, says Mr. Tokaji.

DID HE COMMIT TREASON?
Democratic Party lawmakers deployed the T word on Tuesday, but the experts who spoke to AFP doubted that would stick.

“Simply having a contact with a foreign country, even a foreign adversary — we are not at war — does not make it espionage or treason,” says Joshua Dressler, law professor at Ohio State University.

“To bring it within treason, you’d have to (show that) they intended to harm their own country… That’s an extreme argument to make,” he said. “It would probably have to be something less extreme.” — AFP

United States looks to defuse Qatar-Gulf row with counter-terror deal

DOHA — Qatar and the United States signed a deal Tuesday to combat “terrorism” as visiting US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pursued efforts to resolve the Gulf diplomatic crisis.

In Qatar as part of a series of Gulf meetings, Mr. Tillerson also said Doha had been “reasonable” in the dispute, which has seen Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with the emirate over accusations it supports extremism.

Mr. Tillerson is spending much of this week in the Gulf seeking to mediate in the rift among crucial US allies, and will meet foreign ministers of the four countries isolating Qatar in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Wednesday.

After talks with senior officials in Doha on Tuesday, Mr. Tillerson and Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani announced the deal targeting extremist financing.

“The memorandum lays out a series of steps the two countries will take over the coming months and years to interrupt and disable terror financing flows and intensify counter-terrorism activities globally,” Mr. Tillerson said at a joint press conference.

It also meant Qatar was “the first to respond” to US President Donald J. Trump’s call at a summit in Riyadh earlier this year “to stop the funding of terrorism” — suggesting such deals could be signed with the other Arab states as a step toward ending the crisis.

Sheikh Mohammed urged “the siege countries to join us in the future” by signing on to such deals.

But Tuesday’s initiative met a dismissive reaction from the Arab countries that imposed sanctions on Qatar last month.

“This step is insufficient,” said a joint statement published by Saudi state news agency SPA, adding that the four states would “carefully monitor the seriousness of Qatari authorities in combating all forms of financing, supporting and harboring terrorism.”

Commitments made by Qatari authorities “cannot be trusted,” the statement added, citing previous agreements that have allegedly not been honored.

While the State Department has warned the crisis could last months, Mr. Tillerson on Tuesday struck a moderately optimistic note.

“I’m hopeful we can make some progress to bring this to a point of resolution,” he said after meeting Qatar’s emir.

“Qatar has been quite clear in its positions and I think very reasonable and we want to talk now… (about) how do we take things forward.”

Mr. Tillerson flew back to Kuwait — the main mediator in the crisis and where he is based this week — after the talks in Qatar.

Egypt announced the meeting with Mr. Tillerson in Jeddah on Wednesday, saying it “reflects the four countries’ desire to enhance coordination and underscore their unity on ways to deal with Qatar in the future.” The diplomatic crisis is the worst to hit the region since the establishment of the Gulf Cooperation Council in 1981. The United States and its Western allies have vast economic and political interests in the Gulf. — AFP

Chinese carrier sails into Taiwan’s defense zone

TAIPEI — Chinese aircraft carrier the Liaoning entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone early on Wednesday morning on its way back from Hong Kong and is being monitored, Taiwan’s defense ministry said, adding there was no cause for alarm.

The Liaoning left Hong Kong at noon on Tuesday, before entering Taiwan’s defense zone by traveling in a northerly direction via the western side of the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said.

Taiwan was monitoring the situation, had detected nothing unusual and people should not be alarmed, it added.

The Soviet-built Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, had been in Hong Kong for events marking the 20th anniversary of the territory’s return to Chinese rule from Britain.

It was the fourth time that the Liaoning has sailed near self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own, in recent months for what Beijing has said were routine drills.

Earlier this month Taiwan scrambled jets to shadow the carrier as it made its way to Hong Kong.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan, which China considers a wayward province, under its control. — Reuters

IS chief reported dead after jihadists lose Mosul

BEIRUT — Islamic State (IS) group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was reported dead on Tuesday, a day after Iraq declared it had driven the jihadists from their one-time top stronghold of Mosul.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a longtime conflict monitor, said it had heard from senior IS leaders that Baghdadi was dead.

If confirmed, his death would mark another devastating blow to the jihadist group after its loss of Mosul, which Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Monday declared had been retaken from IS after a grueling months-long campaign.

The Britain-based Observatory’s director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that “top tier commanders from IS who are present in Deir Ezzor province have confirmed the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, emir of the Islamic State group, to the Observatory.”

“We learned of it today but we do not know when he died or how,” he said.

The report could not be independently verified. Baghdadi has been reported killed several times.

Deir Ezzor, in eastern Syria, remains largely under IS control but the group has rapidly lost territory elsewhere in Syria and in neighboring Iraq.

Abdel Rahman said Baghdadi “was present in eastern parts of Deir Ezzor province” in recent months, but it was unclear if he died there or elsewhere.

There was no official confirmation or denial of the news on IS-run social media outlets.

PERSISTENT RUMORS OF DEATH
The US-led coalition fighting the jihadist group in Syria and Iraq said it could not verify the Observatory’s information.

“I don’t have a clue” about Baghdadi’s status, said US Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, who heads the coalition.

“Hope he’s deader than a doornail. And if he’s not, as soon as we find out where he is he will be,” he said in a video call from Baghdad.

Asked if the coalition was examining the claim, its spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon said: “We have professionals who use all information at their disposal to verify reports before we would confirm any allegations.”

US President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday tweeted “Big wins against ISIS!”

It was not immediately clear if that was a reference to Mosul’s recapture, Baghdadi’s reported death, or both.

There have been persistent rumors that Baghdadi had died in recent months. Russia’s army said in mid-June that it was seeking to verify whether it had killed the IS chief in a May air strike in Syria.

The US-led coalition said at the time it could not confirm whether the Russian strike had killed Baghdadi.

With a $25-million US bounty on his head, Baghdadi has kept a low profile but was rumored to move regularly throughout IS-held territory in the area straddling Iraq and Syria.

The 46-year-old Iraqi has not been seen since making his only known public appearance as “caliph” in 2014 at the Grand Mosque of Al-Nuri in Mosul.

IS destroyed the highly symbolic site before Iraqi forces could reach it as they pushed the jihadist group from Mosul.

Iraqi forces launched their campaign in October to retake Iraq’s second city, which was seized by the jihadists during the mid — 2014 offensive that saw them take control of large parts of Iraq and Syria.

Mr. Abadi announced in Mosul on Monday that the campaign had ended with the defeat of IS in the city, hailing “a victory over darkness, a victory over brutality and terrorism”.

DEVASTATION IN MOSUL
The cost of victory has been enormous: much of Mosul lies in ruins, thousands are dead and wounded and nearly half the city’s residents have been forced from their homes.

In Mosul’s Old City, where buildings lie crumbling and burned — out cars and other debris choke the streets, security forces were still searching for remaining IS fighters.

“What we are doing today is just combing the area and clearing it of sleeper cells,” said Staff Lieutenant General Sami al — Aridhi, a senior commander in Iraq’s elite Counter — Terrorism Service.

“There are groups that are hiding in shelters,” but they surrender or are killed, Aridhi said.

Since the Mosul operation began in October, 920,000 people have fled their homes, only a fraction of whom have returned, according to the United Nations.

Rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Iraqi forces and the US — led coalition of exposing civilians to “relentless and unlawful attacks” in west Mosul.

“Pro — government forces launched barrages of indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks using explosive weapons unsuitable for such a densely populated urban area,” Amnesty said. — AFP

Cleaning up culture

The elephant in the room is the house help, also called: yayakatulongkasambahay, the list goes on. Not too long ago, the late Pulitzer Prize‑winning journalist Alex Tizon shook the world with his viral Atlantic essaywhere he detailed how his family’s “Lola” entered a lifetime of servitude in order to survive. “In exchange for their labor,” he wrote of slaves, “they might be given food, shelter, and protection.” The essay, a biographical piece which he wrote in the final days of his life, shed light on the Fillipino tradition of hiring house help, whose service can sometimes be returned with harsh conditions. The problem is pervasive. “Even the poor can have utusans or katulongs (‘helpers’) or kasambahays (‘domestics’), as long as there are people even poorer,” he also wrote. “The pool is deep.”

In this day and age, is the practice exposed by Mr. Tizon still in place? While admittedly archaic, it comes in new forms. Yet, with evolving residences come evolving mindsets. Case‑in‑point: many urban professionals, especially young millennials, seek respite in high‑rise condominiums they call home, and whose lifestyle comes with a new set of demands, such as maintaining the cleanliness of their 30‑square‑meter units while they live their lives.

With this in mind, a team of urban professionals took a step forward and decided to disrupt the culture of finding help around the house, specifically in cleaning up.

“We seek to meet the need of condo‑dwellers for on‑demand cleaning services while also providing jobs to unemployed mothers who live in poor communities nearby usually in the shadow of high‑rise condo buildings,” one of the service’s founders, Oskie King, said. “Living in these communities, usually in the shadows of high‑rise condominiums, are mothers who seek additional source income as a means to provide extra support for her family.”

“We want to eradicate the culture of indifference and apathy in our country,” he further said. “We want to be that platform that enables a community where our pool of clients and cleaning ladies are able to make a difference in each other’s lives.”

Mr. King’s jogging buddy Frances Rafio was the one who pitched the idea of a sort of Uber for cleaning services. The two eventually founded the startup aptly called “Cleaning Lady,” which would provide an on‑demand cleaning service to condominium units and even some small offices and houses in Metro Manila.

Art Erka Capili Inciong

Launched in June last year, Cleaning Lady had its initial fund worth ₱500,000 from business incubator and accelerator IdeaSpace when they won its pitch competition last year. The company also received free office space, software support, and mentorship from executives of firms under Hong Kong‑based First Pacific Co. Ltd.

They then tapped cleaning ladies from Gawad Kalinga communities in Brookside, Quezon City and Manggahan Kawayanan, Parañaque City. The 14 ladies they have now have all received training under an agency accredited by TESDA. A number of them hold the agency’s National Certificate for Housekeeping Level 2, including Mr. King, who also joined the training.

At present, Cleaning Lady’s services are available in Makati City, Quezon City, Caloocan City, Pasig, Ortigas, Taguig City, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Manila, Alabang, and Parañaque.

Fees are ₱350 for an hour of service, ₱500 for one and a half hour, and ₱625 for two hours. Users have to pay ₱100 for every 30 minutes exceeding the first two hours. Bookings are done via text message or through the company’s Facebook page and website.

Cleaning Lady also offers add‑on services such as grease trap cleaning and fridge cleaning. Users opting to have cleaning services on a weekly arrangement can also avail themselves of the company’s subscription packages.

According to Mr. King, Cleaning Lady has already recorded more than 2,500 bookings and generated its first million‑peso revenue in less than a year of operation.

“Operations are sustained by our monthly revenues and we are proud to say that we have been sustainable ever since,” he said. “We continue to grow our pool of clients and are now ramping up our recruitment to have more cleaning ladies and meet our targets for 2017.”

More than a startup company, Mr King said that Cleaning Lady is a social enterprise that seeks to bring a social impact by “empowering unemployed women from organized communities.”

“We envision creating a social enterprise that places meaning before money, impact before income, and significance over success,” he said.

According to Mr. King, Cleaning Lady also aims to “bridge the gap between the privileged and the underprivileged by creating meaningful opportunities that foster inclusive growth and sustainable development.”

The company plans to tap more women from organized communities in the country as it expands its operation.

“We believe that our social cause goes beyond the immediate effect on the lives of our cleaning ladies,” he said. “Because with what we do, the effects go multiplied through their children, family, community and country.”


PLDT, Inc. is one of the three Philippine units of First Pacific Co. Ltd. Hastings Holdings, Inc.—a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc.—maintains an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.