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Batangas City survives General Santos City, 66-62, advances to finals of MPBL South Division

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BATANGAS City Embassy Chill escaped with a 66-62 win in Game 3 over the visiting General Santos City to march on to the South Division finals of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) late Tuesday night at the Batangas City Coliseum.

In front of more than 5,000 fans including MPBL founder Manny Pacquiao, the home team leaned on King Importante’s game-saving block and Cedric Ablaza’s insurance free throws for the gutsy semifinal win that catapulted them back to the division finals.

Levi Hernandez showed the way with 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block, including a booming trey to give the No. 2 seed Batangas a 64-58 lead in the last three minutes.

Mr. Ablaza collared 13 points, four rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block while John Ambulodto added 12 points as Batangas banked on its roaring home crowd to fend off the Warriors’ multiple comeback attempts.

“Hats off to the GenSan team. They’re really a tough team. We really had a hard time closing out this series but my players did not give up. They wanted it more,” said coach Cholo Villanueva.

Batangas built an early 10-point lead but allowed a GenSan fightback to a stare at a 54-55 deficit midway through the fourth quarter before Mr. Hernandez restored order for a little breather down the wire.

But GenSan retaliated anew, moving on to within 62-64 off an Enzo Joson steal and forced another stop for a potential game-winning trey of Michole Sorela only for Mr. Importante to foil it with a big swat as Mr. Ablaza sealed the game from the foul line.

Batangas, the inaugural MPBL champion, will face No. 1 seed Bacoor, which swept last season’s runner-up Zamboanga in the other semis bracket, in the best-of-three South division finale for a seat in the national finals against the North winner.

Top-seeded Pampanga and No. 4 seed Caloocan are in the North finals as Mr. Pacquiao, the former Senator and world boxing icon, beams with thrill and excitement for the last four teams standing.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sorela (15) and Mark Cruz (12) paced the No. 3 GenSan in a gallant stand. — John Bryan Ulanday

AC Milan comes from behind to beat PSG 2-1, earns first Group F win

MILAN, Italy — AC Milan striker Olivier Giroud’s powerful header early in the second half secured a 2-1 Champions League Group F home victory over Paris St Germain (PSG) in a pulsating match on Tuesday for the first win in this season’s competition by the Italian side.

Former Inter Milan defender Milan Skriniar had put PSG ahead but their advantage lasted only three minutes before Rafael Leao netted an acrobatic equalizer and Mr. Giroud then sealed a precious victory just after the break in front of 75,649 at the San Siro.

Milan now have five points from four games in third behind second-placed PSG with six points. Leaders Borussia Dortmund have seven points after winning 2-0 earlier on Tuesday at home to Newcastle United who are bottom on four points.

The match in San Siro was played at a frenetic tempo in the first half with end-to-end action and, while the pace inevitably slowed in the second period, it was an absorbing clash in which Milan had to hold on at the end as PSG piled on the pressure.

“It was a high-level match, we knew the difficulty of coming to play here,” PSG captain Marquinhos told Canal+. “The second goal changes the match because we were good at that moment.

“We knew it (qualification for the knockout stages) would be hard if we didn’t win today, but we must not give up. Everything remains in our hands.”

Milan won a Champions League game in which they had trailed for the first time since beating Real Madrid in 2009.

CORNER ROUTINE
PSG went ahead after nine minutes following a well-worked corner. Mr. Marquinhos flicked on the set-piece and Mr. Skriniar was left unmarked to head home his first goal for the Paris club.

They have scored in their last 48 group stage matches in the Champions League, the longest run in the competition’s history, having previously drawn a blank against Real Madrid in 2015.

But the home side were level three minutes later with an excellent finish from Leao.

Giroud’s initial shot was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma against his former club but as the ball looped into the air Leao produced an overhead kick.

Kylian Mbappe then found himself one-on-one with Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan but scuffed his shot wide before Ousmane Dembele struck the crossbar with a curling shot from 25 meters.

There was less goalmouth action in the second period but Milan led early when Theo Hernandez’s superb cross was met with a powerful trademark header by Mr. Giroud.

Lee Kang-In struck a post for PSG on a luckless night for the Parisians as their five-game winning run came to an end. “The players played with their heart, with energy; it’s what we wanted. We managed to work as a team against a great side,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli said.

“The team worked well together, and deserved the win. Now we need to perform well against Dortmund and overtake them.”

Milan host Dortmund on Nov. 28 when PSG welcome Newcastle. — Reuters

Man City’s Haaland poised to break another scoring record

MANCHESTER, England — Three days after an ankle injury cast doubt on whether Manchester City’s Erling Haaland would even play against Young Boys on Tuesday, he laid down another impressive performance, scoring twice in City’s 3-0 Champions League win and moving closer to smashing yet another record.

Mr. Haaland now has 39 Champions League goals from 34 appearances, and is poised to break the record for fewest appearances to reach 40 goals, which is held by Ruud van Nistelrooy (45 games).

Despite being Europe’s top scorer last season, Mr. Haaland was recently beaten by Lionel Messi to the Ballon D’Or award. City manager Pep Guardiola was asked if his striker is putting together the type of season that could win the prestigious trophy next year.

“If he with his mates can win trophies, will be a chance to win it,” Mr. Guardiola said. “If we don’t, he won’t win it.”

Holders City clinched a spot in the last 16 with two group games remaining after guaranteeing a top-two finish. Mr. Haaland’s first goal came from a penalty while Mr. Guardiola described his second — a left-footed rocket from 20 meters — as “amazing.”

“Normally Erling scores goals, six-yard box, 18-yard box he has this talent, not the first time he has done it,” the Spanish manager said. “Yeah, that was a fantastic goal.”

Mr. Guardiola said Mr. Haaland was given the green light to play after a training session.

“I didn’t speak with him, we saw in the training session how he moved and how happy he was,” Mr. Guardiola said. “He feels good, okay. So he plays, the job was almost done, take a rest for next Sunday.”

Mr. Guardiola said there was a sense of accomplishment in clinching a knockout berth with two games remaining, but the aim is to finish top in the group to ensure the second game in the last-16 is at home.

“The job isn’t done, we have to finish first,” Mr. Guardiola said. “We have a job to do, the first step to qualify is done. Really impressed, two fantastic goals.”

The manager lamented what could be a long injury layoff for John Stones, who recently returned from a hip injury but was replaced after halftime on Tuesday. — Reuters

Chinese minister warns against maritime ‘camp’ confrontations

CARLOS DE SOUZA-UNSPLASH

BEIJING — China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, said maritime disputes should be resolved through talks and warned against “camp” confrontations, but stopped short of naming the United States, days before an expected meeting between the countries’ leaders.

The Philippines, Japan and the United States have complained about what they say is growing Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. Beijing says most of the region is part of its territory, a claim that is hotly disputed by several littoral nations.

Last month, China and the Philippines traded barbs over a collision in the South China Sea as Chinese vessels blocked the passage of Philippine ships. Beijing said the vessels were “trespassing” on Chinese territory when trying to send supplies to Philippine troops stationed on a disputed shoal, which lies in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

The tense encounters between China and the Philippines at the contested shoal have led Japan to call for trilateral cooperation with the United States on helping Manila bolster its security capabilities.

“Historical maritime disputes should be resolved through friendly consultation between direct parties, and maritime camp confrontations and zero-sum games should be resisted,” Mr. Wang said at a symposium on maritime governance in Hainan on Tuesday, without identifying any nation.

Crisis communication mechanisms should also be improved, Mr. Wang said, without referring to the incidents.

China has long criticized what it labels as “cliques” among nations, especially countries that have no direct claims in disputes. Beijing has been especially critical of the US Indo-Pacific strategy, which identifies China as an aggressor in the region, including the South China Sea, undermining international maritime law including freedom of navigation.

Last year, at the same symposium, Mr. Wang said a “certain major country” created the Indo-Pacific strategy, put together exclusive “small circles”, and doubled down on “provocative” close-range maneuvers and muscle-flexing.

But in his remarks on Tuesday, Mr. Wang took a more dovish tone and avoided overt references to the United States, amid broader bilateral efforts to ease tensions and days ahead of an expected meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joseph R. Biden on the sidelines of an upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

China will continue to fulfil its obligations under international maritime laws, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea UNCLOS), Mr. Wang said, again without referring to Washington.

A year earlier, he had criticized the “certain major country” for refusing to join UNCLOS, of which more than 160 countries are parties. The United States, while accepting the UNCLOS, has yet to ratify it. — Reuters

This year ‘virtually certain’ to be warmest in 125,000 years, EU scientists say

A WOMAN walks with cold patches on her forehead and neck amid a red alert for heatwave in Beijing, China, June 23, 2023. — REUTETRS

BRUSSELS — This year is “virtually certain” to be the warmest in 125,000 years, European Union (EU) scientists said on Wednesday, after data showed last month was the world’s hottest October in that period.

Last month smashed through the previous October temperature record, from 2019, by a massive margin, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said.

“The record was broken by 0.4 degrees Celsius, which is a huge margin,” said C3S Deputy Director Samantha Burgess, who described the October temperature anomaly as “very extreme.”

The heat is a result of continued greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, combined with the emergence this year of the El Niño weather pattern, which warms the surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Globally, the average surface air temperature in October was 1.7 degrees Celsius warmer than the same month in 1850-1900, which Copernicus defines as the pre-industrial period.

The record-breaking October means 2023 is now “virtually certain” to be the warmest year recorded, C3S said in a statement. The previous record was 2016 – another El Niño year.

Copernicus’ dataset goes back to 1940. “When we combine our data with the IPCC, then we can say that this is the warmest year for the last 125,000 years,” Ms. Burgess said.

The longer-term data from U.N. climate science panel IPCC includes readings from sources such as ice cores, tree rings and coral deposits.

The only other time before October a month breached the temperature record by such a large margin was in September 2023.

“September really, really surprised us. So after last month, it’s hard to determine whether we’re in a new climate state. But now records keep tumbling and they’re surprising me less than they did a month ago,” Ms. Burgess said.

Michael Mann, a climate scientist at University of Pennsylvania, said: “Most El Niño years are now record-breakers, because the extra global warmth of El Niño adds to the steady ramp of human-caused warming.”

Climate change is fueling increasingly destructive extremes. This year, that included floods that killed thousands of people in Libya, severe heatwaves in South America, and Canada’s worst wildfire season on record.

“We must not let the devastating floods, wildfires, storms, and heatwaves seen this year become the new normal,” said Piers Forster, climate scientist at University of Leeds.

“By rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade, we can halve the rate of warming,” he added.

Despite countries setting increasingly ambitious targets to gradually cut emissions, so far that has not happened. Global CO2 emissions hit a record high in 2022. — Reuters

Israel’s military targets Hamas tunnels in new phase of Gaza war

REUTERS

JERUSALEM — Israel’s military is starting the next phase of its war against Hamas, targeting the Islamist group’s labyrinth of tunnels and command structures in northern Gaza in an operation that may take months to complete, security sources said.

Israeli forces have pounded Gaza from the air and used ground troops to divide the coastal enclave into two, in an offensive launched after Hamas gunmen killed 1,400 people and took some 240 hostages in a cross-border attack on Oct. 7. In recent days, Israeli troops have surrounded Gaza City and battled Hamas fighters as they pushed deeper into its streets.

With casualties in Gaza topping 10,000, according to Palestinian health officials, Israel has come under mounting diplomatic pressure for a humanitarian ceasefire.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant approved on Monday further operational plans for military action in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have declined to comment on the details.

Five Israeli security sources told Reuters that locating and disabling the vast tunnel network running beneath swathes of northern Gaza would be a fundamental part of the next phase of the offensive, which would take time.

With Israeli tanks advancing towards the heart of Gaza City, they have faced heavy resistance from Hamas fighters using the tunnel network to launch ambushes, two sources with Hamas and separate militant group Islamic Jihad said.

A fighter appears from one tunnel shaft, fires a rocket propelled grenade and then disappears, only to appear at another tunnel entrance and attack again, the Palestinian sources said.

Chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday that Israel’s combat engineering corps were using explosive devices to destroy the tunnels and operations had destroyed more than 100 shafts.

Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official and a negotiator during the first and second intifadas that took place in the late 1980s and early 2000s, said IDF troops were working through a structured plan to locate tunnels, destroy rocket launching sites, and kill Hamas commanders and fighters. “It’s about eliminating the military spine,” he said. “It would be very reasonable to say that we’re looking at something that could take months.”

SPIDERS WEB
Hamas, which has controlled the coastal enclave since 2007, has built a tunnel city stretching beneath Gaza for hundreds of kilometers, up to 80 meters deep in parts. One hostage held in the network before being freed by Hamas last month described it as ‘a spiders web.’

The Israeli military has said that many of Hamas’ tunnels, command centers and rocket launchers lie adjacent to schools, hospitals and humanitarian institutions in northern Gaza, including the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the region’s largest.

Despite appeals from Washington for a humanitarian pause, the Israeli security sources said the presence of troops on the ground inside Gaza City made a temporary cessation of hostilities risky and unlikely at this stage.

Both Israel and Hamas have rebuffed international pressure for a ceasefire. Israel says hostages taken by Hamas should be released first; Hamas insists it will not free them or stop fighting while Gaza is under assault.

How long Washington maintains its backing for the operation may determine how much freedom of action Israel has. Israel’s leaders insist they are not working to a “diplomatic ticking clock,” Benny Gantz, a former defense minister who is now in Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, said on Oct 28.

Hamas is estimated to have a force of between 20,000 and 30,000 fighters, according to Israeli security sources. Hagari said that Israel was seeking to target Hamas field commanders to undermine Hamas capabilities to carry out counter attacks.

Hamas has not reported how many fighters have been killed but funerals have taken place for some political and military leaders. Amongst the most important was Ayman Nofal, a member of the higher military council of Hamas’ armed wing.

Major General Yaron Finkelman, the head of the IDF’s Southern Command, said on Tuesday that dozens of Hamas commanders had been killed, without providing specific details. 

Some 348 Israeli soldiers have also been killed since Oct. 7, according to IDF data. “This is a complex and difficult war, and unfortunately, it has costs,” Finkelman said.

ROBOTS, SNIFFER DOGS
Lior Akerman, senior fellow at the Institute for Policy and Strategy at Israel’s Reichman University and a former senior Shin Bet official, said the ferocious aerial bombardment was meant to immobilize as much of Hamas’ military infrastructure as possible before troops turned to battles underground in the tunnels.

Security sources said troops on the ground were also trying to gather more intelligence on the tunnel network without necessarily having to enter them.

Robots and sniffer dogs were being deployed to locate tunnel entrances and also probe areas inside them before possible action by specialist ground troops that include commandos from the elite Yahalom unit of the combat engineers. Soldiers are using bulldozers to destroy parts of tunnel entrances.

Shalom Ben Hanan, another former top official in the Shin Bet security service, said operations in the tunnel network would need to proceed more slowly because of the presence of Israeli hostages believed to be held there.

Security sources said some intelligence was being gathered from Gaza residents fleeing south about the concentration of the tunnels.

Israel has for weeks focused attention on the al-Shifa hospital, accusing Hamas of using it as a shield for underground operational centres.

Ben Hanan said incursions around the hospital posed significant risks for Israeli forces given they may need to evacuate civilians still inside the complex, even after they were given warnings to leave.

“They (Hamas) will shoot at us and will fight with us from the hospital,” he said. “We will pay a high price for it.” — Reuters

Global fight vs tuberculosis recovering from COVID-19 knock but still off target — WHO

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION in Geneva, Switzerland — FLICKER

LONDON — The global fight against tuberculosis (TB), badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, is beginning to recover but remains a long way off target, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report.

During the first two years of the pandemic, there were around 4 million missing TB patients per year, meaning people who developed TB but who were not diagnosed or treated. That gap narrowed to around 3.1 million in 2022, the U.N. agency’s annual report estimated, back to the pre-pandemic level of 2019.

However, a lack of funding and focus continues to stymie efforts to end what has been described as the “pandemic of the poor.” TB, an infectious disease which usually attacks the lungs, is both preventable and curable.

In total, an estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with TB in 2022, up from 10.3 million in 2021. But 7.5 million were diagnosed — meaning they could  access suitable treatment — the highest figure since monitoring began in 1995, the WHO said.

TB-related deaths also fell slightly, from 1.4 million in 2021 to 1.3 million in 2022. The disease remains just behind COVID-19 as the world’s deadliest infectious illness, with India, Indonesia and the Philippines particularly badly affected by TB.

The multi-drug resistant form of the illness is also still a significant public health threat, the WHO said, with only about two in five able to obtain the treatment they need.

But WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there was hope after millennia of suffering, with progress made on diagnostics, drugs, and the first new vaccine for 100 years in the final stage of trials.

“We have an opportunity to write the final chapter in the story of TB,” he said in an emailed statement.

However the agency acknowledged that this would need all hands on deck with a slew of targets missed in the 2015-2022 period, including on funding, diagnosis rates and reducing fatalities. A UN-high level meeting in September set new targets for the 2023-2027 period. — Reuters

Klook survey: Japan Rail pass price hike affects Filipino travelers’ choices

DENYS NEVOZHAI-UNSPLASH

Filipinos are rethinking their plans to travel to Japan due to the recent price increase of the Japan Rail (JR) pass, its nationwide unlimited rail pass, according to travel platform Klook. 

Survey findings from Klook showed that 44% of Filipino respondents are unsure or have no plans to buy the pass for their next trip to Japan.

The price of the seven-day ordinary car JR pass grew by about 70% with expanded services for foreign travelers last month, as announced by the Japan Railways Group in April.

Klook also reported that 96% of Filipino travelers still want to go to Japan because of other affordable transportation options and a weaker Japanese Yen.

In the Philippines, Klook recorded a 228% growth in the number of daily bookings to Japan in October from January. 

“This number is expected to rise as Japan enters its first-ever peak travel season since the pandemic,” it said in an e-mailed press statement to reporters on Wednesday. 

Estimates from the Japan National Tourism Organization showed about 2,156,900 international travelers to the country in August, a 1,169.5% year-on-year increase. 

This number is 14.4% lower than the volume of tourists in August 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, it added. 

Given the abundance of transport alternatives in Japan, only 6% of Filipino travelers found its transport system confusing to navigate, Klook noted. 

They were most familiar with Shinkansen, or bullet trains that operate at the highest rail speed. Klook said its sales have consecutively exceeded those of JR pass for the four weeks following the price hike. 

Additionally, Filipino travelers saw affordability (56%), ease of ticket booking and redemption (46%), and taking the scenic route (40%) as top considerations when choosing a mode of transportation, Klook said. 

It also saw an inclination to explore less-traveled areas of Japan at 92%. — Miguel Hanz L. Antivola

Concentrix + Webhelp is 2023 Asia CEO Top Employer of the Year Grand Winner, Circle of Excellence in 3 more categories

Members of Concentrix + Webhelp Philippines ExeCom represent the company at the 2023 Asia CEO Award Ceremonies

Concentrix + Webhelp, a leading global provider of customer experience (CX) services and technologies and the Philippines’ largest private employer, was declared the Grand Winner for Top Employer of the Year at the 2023 Asia CEO Awards. It was also recognized in the Circle of Excellence for 3 other categories: Sustainability Company of the Year, Woman Leader of the Year for Vice-President of Client Success Tonichi Parekh, and Expatriate Executive of the Year for SVP and Country Leader Amit Jagga.

Asia CEO Awards is the largest event of its kind in the region. For 14 years, it has been recognizing local and international organizations and leaders at the forefront of shaping the Philippine economic landscape and contributing to nation-building. This 2023, the award-giving body deemed Concentrix + Webhelp as ‘the best of the best’ as Grand Winner for Top Employer of the Year, for its superior job growth, career opportunities, excellent work environment and exceptional care for its people and local communities.

According to Concentrix + Webhelp SVP and Philippines Country Leader Amit Jagga, “It’s the ultimate honor to be Asia CEO 2023 Top Employer of the Year-Grand Winner among hundreds of companies, across all industries. This, together with the Circle of Excellence for Sustainability as well as our individual leadership getting recognized, all exemplify the unwavering commitment of Concentrix + Webhelp. As a company that designs, builds and runs game-changing customer experiences, we continuously invest in meaningful employment, future-ready careers, the best care for over 100,000 Filipino game-changers and their families, and bring positive impact to the communities where we live and work.  The recognition also goes beyond our size, scale or the success of the Customer Experience (CX) industry where we belong – it truly affirms how being value-driven and people-centric at the core of everything we do is the right way to sustain growth, leadership, and the country’s position in the global stage.”

Concentrix + Webhelp operates 52 sites in 20 cities in the Philippines, employing over 100,000 Filipinos as the country’s largest private employer. This 2023, the company received #GreatPlaceToWork recognition from Fortune, Philippines Best Employer Brand award from HRD Congress and PEZA Hall of Fame status for Top Employer among its many accolades, for its exemplary growth and contributions to the nation and for nurturing Filipino talent.

About Concentrix + Webhelp

Hi, we’re a leading global provider of customer experience (CX) solutions and technology. We create game-changing customer journeys for some of the world’s best brands, and the ones that are changing the world as we know it. Every day, we Design, Build and Run CX that helps brands grow across the world and into the future. Whether it’s a specific solution or the whole end-to-end journey — we’ve got it covered. We’re the strategic thinkers who design brand-defining experiences. The tech geeks who build smarter solutions. And the operational experts who run it all and make it work seamlessly. Across 70+ countries and six continents, we provide services across key industry verticals including technology & consumer electronics; retail, travel & ecommerce; banking, financial services & insurance; healthcare; communications & media; automotive; and energy & public sector. Concentrix Corporation (NASDAQ: CNXC) operating under the trade name Concentrix + Webhelp – Location: virtually everywhere – visit www.concentrix.com to learn more.

 

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US suspends Indo-Pacific talks on key aspects of digital trade — lawmakers

ADAM SZUSCIK-UNSPLASH

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has suspended talks on some key digital trade aspects of its Indo-Pacific Economic Framework initiative, Democratic lawmakers said on Tuesday as negotiators from 14 countries race to finish some agreements ahead of a major Pacific Rim summit next week.

The halt comes after the US Trade Representative’s office last month reversed longstanding US digital trade demands at the World Trade Organization — no longer insisting on rules that protect free cross-border data flows and prohibit national requirements for data localization and reviews of software source code.

The US Trade Representative’s office said it withdrew its position to give Congress room to enact stronger technology regulations. That pleased liberal Democrats who want to rein in big US tech firms, but angered a broad array of business groups that say it undermines decades of U.S. policy that was enshrined in the 2020 US-Mexico-Canada agreement on trade.

In a letter to Biden, Senator Elizabeth Warren, four other senators and seven members of the House of Representatives said they wanted to ensure that IPEF’s digital trade provisions are consistent with the administration’s new view.

“We thank you for suspending negotiations on aspects of the IPEF digital text that can be used to frustrate privacy, AI, civil rights and liberties, anti-monopoly, gig worker and other digital safeguards that Congress and the administration seek,” the lawmakers wrote.

SUMMIT DEADLINE
USTR and the Commerce Department are hosting a seventh round of negotiations on IPEF this week in San Francisco, to try to finalize some agreements that can be announced at next week’s US-hosted summit of leaders of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation countries, also in the US tech capital.

People familiar with the talks say that discussions on the digital trade chapter have largely ground to a halt because the US position is now unclear and being reevaluated.

A USTR spokesperson declined comment on the IPEF digital talks.

IPEF is the Biden administration’s signature effort to engage economically with Asia to provide countries an alternative to deepening economic ties with China. IPEF’s “trade pillar” will not seek to lower tariffs or improve market access among its members as a traditional trade agreement, but will focus on environmental, labor and other standards.

The lawmakers, who also included Senator Amy Klobuchar and Representative Pramila Jayapal, said they want to ensure that IPEF and other trade agreements do not prohibit anti-monopoly policies and consumer privacy restrictions and other steps to counter “Big Tech abuses.” — Reuters

Japan plans to issue climate transition bonds early next year — Finance ministry 

STOCK PHOTO | Image by Josh Soto from Unsplash

TOKYO — Japan plans to issue climate transition bonds with a two-year tenor from around February next year, the Ministry of Finance said in a preliminary advisory on Wednesday.

The government will eventually offer the climate transition bonds in two, five, 10 and 20-year tenors with a fixed-coupon rate, the ministry said in the advisory. A final announcement on the details will be made in early December, it said. — Reuters

Kazakhstan ready to transport more Russian gas, oil — Kazakh President

Image by David Mark from Pixabay

Kazakhstan is ready to transport more Russian oil and gas, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev told the Russian daily Izvestia in remarks published early on Wednesday, a day before President Vladimir Putin was set to visit his country.

After initially trying to distance itself from Russia following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the central Asian country seems to be warming to a “gas union” idea that Putin proposed last year and which would also involve Uzbekistan.

“We are interested in making full use of our transit potential and are ready to further increase the volume of Russian gas transportation,” Tokayev was quoted as saying.

Keen to boost sales of its energy and commodities in Asia, after being hit by Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, Putin proposed the “gas union” idea late last year to support shipments between the three countries and to other energy buyers, including China.

Moscow calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation.”

Last month, Russia started supplying natural gas to Uzbekistan via Kazakhstan, marking the occasion with ceremonies in Moscow and elsewhere attended by the presidents of the three countries and shown on state TV.

The project, Tokayev told Izvestia, “will give a powerful impetus to the industrial development of our countries”.

While Russia is a major natural gas exporter, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan produce roughly as much as they consume. Their outputs, however, are becoming increasingly insufficient as consumption rises, spurred by population growth and industrial development.

A huge increase in liquefied petroleum gas prices early last year led to unrest in Kazakhstan’s cities while a shortage of natural gas and electricity amid frigid temperatures sparked protests in Uzbekistan at the start of this year.

The two countries are connected by a gas pipeline to Russia, and a separate pipeline crosses both on its way to China.

However, both pipelines mostly pump gas from Turkmenistan, while Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have never reported any transit shipments of Russian gas to China or any other countries.

Tokayev also said that Kazakhstan was ready for greater cooperation with Russia in the oil sector – including in transporting Russian oil. He said that plans called for a shipment of up to 100 million metric tons of Russian oil to China by 2033.

Putin, interviewed by the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda daily before his trip, indicated that energy issues will be a big part of his talks with Tokayev.

“Nature and geography give Russia and Kazakhstan significant competitive advantages in the energy sector, which we strive to make the most of for the benefit of our fellow citizens,” Putin said. — Reuters

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