Facebook Instagram Linkedin X Youtube
Home Blog Page 4111

Hawks lead wire to wire in beating Bucks, deal first loss of Milwaukee’s Lillard era

TRAE Young’s 20 points led eight Atlanta scorers in double figures, and the Hawks led wire to wire en route to a 127-110 rout over the host Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.

Atlanta pounced early, building a 15-point lead less than nine minutes into the game.

Milwaukee cut the deficit to one early into the second quarter, but runs of 18-4 and 13-3 in the period put the Hawks firmly in control.

The visitors shot 47-of-93 from the floor, including 15-of-37 from 3-point range, led by Bogdan Bogdanovic’s 4-of-7.

Mr. Bogdanovic led three Hawks reserves in double figures with 17 points. Onyeka Okongwu added 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Saddiq Bey scored 13 points with nine rebounds.

All five Atlanta starters scored at least 12 points, including Clint Capela with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Dejounte Murray and De’Andre Hunter each scored 15 points, and Jalen Johnson went for 14 points and seven rebounds.

Mr. Young dished a game-high 11 assists, Mr. Bogdanovic had six assists and Mr. Murray had five assists.

Atlanta totaled 32 assists as a team to 22 for Milwaukee.

The Hawks successfully pushed the pace with 25 fast-break points to seven for the Bucks, successfully capitalizing in part on Milwaukee’s 23 turnovers.

The Atlanta lead reached 31 points midway through the fourth quarter thanks to a 16-2 outburst lasting a little more than three minutes. It came after Giannis Antetokounmpo had dunked home two of his game-high 26 points to pull the Bucks to within 17.

Damian Lillard suffered through his worst offensive performance since Nov. 5, 2021, when he shot 2-of-13 from the floor for four points.

On Sunday, Mr. Lillard went 2-of-12 for six points, and was scoreless until the second half. Malik Beasley scored 18 points, Brook Lopez had 13 points and Bobby Portis scored 12 points off the bench for the Bucks.

Mr. Antetokounmpo grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Milwaukee shot 39-of-86 from the floor, including 16-of-44 from 3-point range. — Field Level Medi

China and Russia take aim at US at Chinese military forum

REUTERS

BEIJING  — Chinese and Russian military chiefs targeted the United States for criticism at a security forum in Beijing on Monday, even as China’s second-most-senior military commander vowed to boost defense ties with Washington.

The lack of regular communications between the US and Chinese militaries has been a persistent worry for Washington amid tensions between the countries and the risk of an accidental clash in the South China Sea or near Taiwan.

The Beijing Xiangshan Forum, China’s biggest annual show of military diplomacy, began Sunday without the country’s defense minister, who typically hosts the event, but included a U.S. delegation amid roiling regional tensions.

Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu warned the West that its involvement in the Ukraine war created grave danger.

“The Western line of steady escalation of the conflict with Russia carries the threat of a direct military clash between nuclear powers, which is fraught with catastrophic consequences,” Russia’s TASS state news agency cited Shoigu as saying at the forum.

Shoigu also said the West intends to inflict “strategic defeat” on Russia in a “hybrid war,” and praised the model of Russia-China relations as “exemplary,” Russian state media reported.

Zhang Youxia, vice chairman under President Xi Jinping on China’s Central Military Commission, delivered veiled criticism of the United States and its allies, accusing “some countries” of trying to undermine the government.

But in other parts of his speech, Zhang stressed the need for improved military ties with the United States.

“We will deepen strategic cooperation and coordination with Russia and are willing to, on the basis of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, develop military ties with the US,” Mr. Zhang said in an address being closely watched by military attaches and diplomats amid tensions over Taiwan and the South China Sea.

China’s defense minister delivered the keynote speech in previous years.

China and the US have had no high-level military-to-military communications since the Washington-sanctioned former Chinese defense minister, Li Shangfu, was appointed in March.

Mr. Li was sacked last week without explanation, and China did not name a replacement. Reuters reported last month that Li, who has been missing for two months, was being investigated over corruption.

The US Defense department has sent a delegation led by Cynthia Xanthi Carras, China country director in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense.

It is not yet known whether the US team will meet separately with Chinese military officials.

The participation of the U.S. delegation comes as the United States and China ramp up exchanges ahead of an expected summit between US President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping next month.

Last week, China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, met with Mr. Biden for an hour in talks the White House described as a “good opportunity” to keep open lines of communication between the two geopolitical rivals.

Despite the conciliatory remarks about improving China-US military relations, Zhang and some People’s Liberation Army officers gave no sign of a softer stance on issues such as Taiwan, which Beijing’s regards as its own territory.

Chinese Lieutenant General He Lei, speaking at a panel on Sunday, said that if China has to use force against Taiwan, “it will be a war for reunification, a just and legitimate war.”

In his speech, Mr. Zhang said that countries “should not deliberately provoke other countries on major and sensitive issues,” he said, adding that Taiwan is “a core interest” of China.

Many Western countries have either shunned the forum or are only sending small and low-level delegations, preferring instead to discuss international security issues at the Shangri-La Dialogue, held annually in Singapore.

Together with the commission’s third-ranked official, He Weidong, Mr. Zhang held bilateral meetings with defense ministers from Laos, Mongolia, Belarus, East Timor and Myanmar, according to state media. — Reuters

Barcelona’s Museum of Archaeology throws open doors to nudist visitors

A giant Estelada flag (Catalan separatist flag) is seen in Barcelona, Spain Feb. 12, 2021. — REUTERS/ALBERT GEA

BARCELONA — A Barcelona museum opened its doors to nudists on Saturday, holding a special tour during which visitors could ditch their clothes.

The Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia held the 90-minute tour in collaboration with the Catalan Naturism Club.

Visitors viewed the Bronzes of Riace exhibition of Luigi Spina’s photographs depicting two large Greek bronze statues of naked warriors from the 5th century B.C. that were discovered in 1972 near Riace, Italy.

“We wanted to make it a more colorful visit and not the typical guided tour,” said guide Edgard, who also went clothes-free. “We wanted people who came to see it to feel exactly the same as the work they were looking at.”

The museum’s website promised visitors the chance to “admire the works by posing in the same situation as they are, completely naked and surrounded by other bodies.”

“(I feel) the same intensity as observing it with clothes on, but with the difference that we might understand better that nudity has always existed and bodies should not be a source of shame for anyone,” said health worker Marta, 59, who was visiting the exhibition. — Reuters

Inflation to dog world economy next year, postponing rate cut calls

CORPORATE.WALMART.COM

BENGALURU — High inflation will dog the world economy next year, with three-quarters of over 200 economists polled by Reuters saying the main risk is that it turns out higher than they forecast, suggesting interest rates will also remain higher for longer.

Several central banks are still expected to begin cutting interest rates by the middle of 2024, but a growing number of economists surveyed are adjusting their views, pushing the more likely date into the second half of next year.

This is a significant change from expectations at the start of this year. Then, some investment banks were predicting the U.S. Federal Reserve, which sets the tone for many others, would be cutting rates right around now.

Despite broad success in bringing inflation down from its highs – the easier bit – prices are still rising faster than most central banks would prefer and hitting their inflation targets is likely to be tough.

The latest Reuters poll of over 500 economists taken between Oct. 6 and Oct. 25 produced 2024 growth downgrades and inflation upgrades for a majority of the 48 economies around the world surveyed.

A 75% majority who answered a separate question, 171 of 228, said the risk to these broadly-upgraded inflation forecasts was skewed higher, with only 57 saying lower.

The results follow news on Thursday the U.S. economy unexpectedly grew nearly 5%, annualized, in the third quarter, underscoring how the strength of the world’s largest economy is setting it apart from most of its peers.

The survey results also follow a warning from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, who said after the ECB snapped a 10-meeting tightening streak that “even having a discussion on a cut is totally, totally premature”.

While many central banks, including the Fed and the ECB, have presented a “higher for longer” narrative on rates for the better part of this year, many economists and financial market traders have been reluctant to accept that view.

“I think all of us have to keep an open mind that maybe policy isn’t restrictive enough,” said Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO.

“Our forecast is that the Fed has done enough and they don’t have to raise rates further, but I haven’t closed off the possibility we could be wrong and the Fed does ultimately have to do more.”

While most economists still say the Fed will cut by mid-year, the latest poll shows just 55% backing that scenario compared with over 70% last month.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand, which often leads the interest rate cycle, was also forecast to wait until July-September 2024 before cutting.

The majority backing no cuts until the second half of 2024 has also grown stronger for the Reserve Bank of Australia, Bank Indonesia and the Reserve Bank of India.

Even the Bank of Japan, the outlier sticking to ultra-loose policy through this entire round of inflation, is now expected to abandon negative interest rates next year.

Crucially, most economists agree the first easing steps will not be the beginning of a rapid series of cuts.

Asked what would prompt the first cut by the central bank they cover, over a two-thirds majority, 149 of 219, said it would be simply to make real interest rates less restrictive as inflation falls.

The remaining 70 said the first move would mark a shift towards stimulating the economy, suggesting only a minority expect a hard enough hit to demand and inflation hard to warrant monetary response.

Global economic growth was forecast to slow to 2.6% next year from an expected 2.9% this year.

“Central banks have had the highest rates in order to fight inflation … it’s certainly restraining activity, and it’s going to be a while before we get global growth above what has been its historical average,” said Nathan Sheets, global chief economist at Citi. — Reuters

Impeding relief aid to Gaza may be a crime under ICC jurisdiction

MOHAMMED IBRAHIM-UNSPLASH

CAIRO — Impeding relief supplies to Gaza’s population may constitute a crime under the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) jurisdiction, the court’s top prosecutor told a news conference in Egypt on Sunday.

Karim Khan also said Israel must make “discernable efforts, without further delay to make sure civilians receive basic foods, medicine”.

Aid supplies to Gaza have been minimal since Israel began bombarding the densely populated Palestinian enclave in response to a deadly attack by its ruling militant group Hamas on Oct. 7.

Israeli officials have said that food, water and medicines have been coming in through the Egyptian border and that it expected the quantities to rise.

United Nations officials have said the aid supplies are limited and do not correspond to the huge need on the ground.

In an unannounced visit, the ICC prosecutor went to the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza earlier in the day and posted a video statement from his location on X social media.

Khan said he was not able to get into Gaza but hopes to visit the Gaza strip and Israel while he is in the region.

The court has been investigating in the occupied Palestinian territories since 2021, looking into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity there from 2014 onwards.

Israel, which is not a member of the ICC, has previously rejected the court’s jurisdiction and does not formally engage with its investigations.

Khan has previously said that the ICC has jurisdiction over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during both the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel and in the territory of Gaza. — Reuters

[B-SIDE Podcast] How can Philippines restore Manila Bay?

Follow us on Spotify BusinessWorld B-Side

Manila Bay has been exposed to rapid urbanization over the years and is now in need of rehabilitation.

In this B-Side episode, Jerwin Baure, a marine science researcher, discusses with BusinessWorld reporter Sheldeen Talavera how Manila Bay has changed over the years and how it can be restored. 

“I think people do not realize that Manila Bay is actually a big body of water. It’s not just the sea that’s located along the Roxas Boulevard. But actually, Manila Bay is a big body of water off the coast of Bataan,” Mr. Baure said.

“There are still a lot of marine organisms found there like crabs, fish, and other kinds of marine ecosystems that can be found in the country,” he said. 

The Supreme Court issued a ruling on Manila Bay in 2018, directing 13 government agencies to clean up, rehabilitate, and preserve it, as well as restore and maintain its waters to a level suitable for swimming, skin diving, and other recreational activities. 

According to Mr. Baure, one way of doing this is by planting mangroves. 

Historically, there were around 500,000 hectares of mangroves all over the country, but they have been declining since the 1900s, primarily due to conversion into fishponds, he said. 

“Mangroves were historically found all over Manila Bay, and these trees can serve as nursery grounds for fish. They provide habitats for many species and they can also provide natural protection against storm surges,” Mr. Baure said. 

“They can also improve the water quality because mangroves can filter out pollution coming from the land and, also, they serve as habitat for migratory birds,” he added. 

In August, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., issued a verbal order for the suspension of 22 reclamation projects in Manila Bay, pending a review of their environmental and social impacts. 

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is working on a cumulative impact assessment with a team of scientists consisting of physical and chemical oceanographers, fishery specialists, marine biologists, and engineers. 

“When we discuss the benefits…, we also need to ask who benefits from these projects. Will it be the private investors? Or will it really [truly care about] marginalized people, since if reclamation projects continue, fishermen will lose their livelihood,” Mr. Baure said.

UAW-Ford deal nets union big wins on wages, benefits, investments

Ford Motor Company

DETROIT – United Auto Workers leaders approved a tentative deal on Sunday with Ford F.N that includes a pay hike of at least 30% for full-time workers and could more than double pay for others, in a victory for the union’s fight to roll back 15 years of concessions.

Bargaining continued at General Motors without any deal. UAW President Shawn Fain on Saturday ordered a walkout at GM’s Spring Hill, Tennessee, engine and assembly plant. Fain and GM CEO Mary Barra were meeting on Sunday night, sources familiar with the process said.

At Ford, the new deal includes $8.1 billion in manufacturing investments and could give workers up to $70,000 in extra pay over the 4-1/2-year life of the contract.

Cost-saving provisions such as paying workers at component plants less than employees at vehicle assembly lines were swept away under the new contract. The deal also eliminates all lower wage tier plants, an issue Fain highlighted from the start of the bargaining process.

Temporary workers will more than double their pay. Permanent workers could see top wage rates rise by more than 30% to $42.60 per hour by 2028, including estimated cost of living allowances.

In return, Ford will get the opportunity to offer an unlimited number of $50,000 buyouts to older workers earning the top rate. Ford can now replace them with younger hires who will earn less than the top wage for three years. Earlier, it took new workers eight years to reach top wage.

“It is a turning point in the class war that has been raging in this country for the past 40 years,” Fain said on a video post on Sunday.

He credited the rich contract to the union’s strategy of escalating pressure on Ford with a series of targeted strikes over six weeks: “This contract demonstrates the incredible power workers have when they are not afraid to use it.”

The union did back off some of its early demands that included a 32-hour work week, restoring defined benefit pensions and a 40% pay rise over the life of the contract.

Starting with smaller plants, the UAW had expanded the strike to Ford’s profitable Kentucky heavy-duty pickup factory. The union did the same with GM and Chrysler-owner Stellantis, reaching a tentative agreement with the latter on Saturday.

The UAW posted terms of its new contract deal with Ford after talks with local union leaders in Detroit on Sunday, before taking the deal to all union workers for ratification.

 

TERMS OF DEAL

Ford will add electric vehicles to existing assembly plants in Louisville and Ohio, according to the UAW summary of terms, investing $1.2 billion at the Louisville assembly plant and $2.1 billion to build electric vans in Ohio.

The Ford investments include several new hybrid models, including gas-electric hybrid versions of Ford’s largest SUVs, the Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition. Ford CEO Jim Farley has outlined plans to invest more in expanding the automaker’s hybrid lineup, even as it scales back plans to expand capacity for fully electric models.

The UAW won agreements covering new battery plants that could result in thousands of new UAW members at a planned battery plant in Marshall, Michigan, and the Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center, also known as Blue Oval City, that Ford is building in western Tennessee.

Fain said that once unionized, workers at battery plants would earn the same wages as Ford assembly workers.

The UAW-Ford contract offers some of the biggest gains for some of the lowest-paid production workers.

Union leaders will now fan out to regional meetings to explain the deals to members, who will then vote on approving it.

 

GM WALKOUT

GM and Ford shares have fallen roughly a fifth since the beginning of the strike on Sept. 15. Stellantis shares are down just 1%.

Sources have told Reuters that one key sticking point with GM was retiree pension costs. GM has many more retirees eligible for that increase than either Ford or Stellantis, because its workforce was far larger in the 1980s and 1990s.

Fain on Saturday criticized GM’s management’s “unnecessary and irresponsible refusal to come to a fair agreement.” GM said it was disappointed by the UAW decision to strike Spring Hill.

The Spring Hill walkout could hobble GM’s large pickup production as well as assembly of other popular GM vehicles. Ripple effects from an extended Spring Hill strike could boost the costs of the stalemate for GM well beyond the $400 million a week the company reported last week. – Reuters

Israel pounds Gaza’s north as it steps up ground assault

CHUTTERSNAP-UNSPLASH

GAZA – Palestinians in northern Gaza reported fierce air and artillery strikes early on Monday as Israeli troops backed by tanks pressed into the enclave with a ground assault that drew increased international calls for the protection of civilians.

Israeli air strikes hit areas near Gaza City’s Shifa and Al-Quds hospitals, and Palestinian militants clashed with Israeli forces in a border area east of the city of Khan Younis, in the enclave’s south, Palestinian media reported.

There was no comment from Hamas or the Israeli military on the fighting early on Monday. Reuters was not able to confirm the reports.

The bombardments came hours after Israel released images of battle tanks on the Palestinian enclave’s western coast, signaling a potential effort to surround Gaza’s main city two days after the Israeli government ordered expanded ground incursions across its eastern border.

Some pictures posted online also appeared to show Israeli soldiers waving an Israeli flag deep inside Gaza. Reuters could not verify the images.

Israel’s self-declared “second phase” of a three-week war against Iranian-backed Hamas militants has largely been kept from public view, with forces moving under darkness and a telecommunications blackout cutting off Palestinians.

The phone and internet cuts appeared to ease on Sunday, but telecoms provider Paltel said that Israeli air strikes again had knocked out internet and phone service in parts of the enclave’s northern sections, where Hamas has command centers. The outages have severely hampered rescue operations for casualties of Israeli barrages.

The reported strikes near hospitals came after the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Sunday that it had received warnings from Israeli authorities to immediately evacuate al-Quds hospital, where some 14,000 people have sought shelter.

Israel has accused Hamas of locating command centres and other military infrastructure in Gaza hospitals, something the group denies.

Palestinian officials said around 50,000 people had also taken shelter in Shifa Hospital, adding that they were concerned about ongoing Israeli threats to the facility.

Israel has tightened its blockade and bombarded Gaza since Hamas gunmen stormed across the border into Israel on Oct. 7. Israeli authorities say the militants killed some 1,400 people and took at least 239 hostages.

 

CALLS FOR A PAUSE

The stepped-up attacks by Israel coincided with a mounting international outcry for a “humanitarian pause” to allow aid in.

Qatar-mediated negotiations between Israel and Hamas continued on Sunday, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters, and included discussions about the possible release of hostages.

Hamas wants a five-day humanitarian pause in Israel’s operations to allow aid and fuel into the besieged Gaza Strip in return for the release of all civilian hostages held by the militants, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

More than half the hostages held by Hamas have foreign passports from 25 countries, including 54 Thai nationals, according to the Israeli government.

On Monday, the United Nations Security Council is due to be briefed on the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The 15-member body has unsuccessfully voted fours times in the past two weeks on draft resolutions that aimed to take action on the war, but the 193-member U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Friday to call for an immediate humanitarian truce.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call to protect civilians in Gaza and to “immediately and significantly increase the flow of humanitarian aid” to the besieged costal enclave, the White House said.

Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi committed to the significant acceleration of assistance flowing into Gaza beginning Sunday, the White House said separately.

Colonel Elad Goren of COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry agency that coordinates with the Palestinians, said Israel will allow a dramatic increase in aid to Gaza in coming days and Palestinian civilians should head to a “humanitarian zone” in the south of the tiny territory.

Medical authorities in the Gaza Strip, which has a population of 2.3 million people, said on Sunday 8,005 people – including 3,324 minors – had been killed.

The Hamas-run Gaza government’s media office said 116 medics and 35 journalists have been killed since the conflict erupted.

Reuters was unable to independently verify these figures.

Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas, a task that it described as necessitating protracted ground assaults in, around and under Gaza City, where the militants have an extensive subterranean bunker network.

There are fears too of regional overspill to the Gaza war, including in Lebanon where the Israeli army and Iranian-backed Hezbollah group have been exchanging fire.

The conflict has prompted large demonstrations worldwide in support of the Palestinians. On Sunday several thousand people rallied in Beirut to show solidarity with Gaza.

Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters on Sunday stormed Russia’s Dagestan airport in Makhachkala where a plane from Israel had just arrived, forcing Russian security forces to close the airport and divert flights while removing the demonstrators. The incident prompted Israel to urge Moscow to protect Israelis and Jews in Russia. – Reuters

From Spider-Verse to Argentina: Fans aim to break record for biggest Spider-Man gathering

STOCK IMAGE | Image by 5187396 from Pixabay

BUENOS AIRES – Some 1,000 people gathered at a major monument in Argentina’s capital on Sunday dressed as Spider-Man, aiming to break a world record for the most people dressed as the famous Marvel superhero at a single public event.

Argentine influencer Uki Deane organized the gathering via Instagram, aiming to outdo an event in June in Malaysia where 685 people dressed as Spider-Man.

Deane said he was confident of obtaining the Guinness World Records title with the turnout in Buenos Aires at the famous obelisk monument, where the crowd was a sea of skin-tight blue costumes and red masks.

“I wanted to summon 700 people and from our counting, we are many more. We have more than 1,000 signatures,” he told reporters at the event.

“It’s crazy what Spider-Man causes, it gives me enormous joy,” the 33-year-old added.

Guinness World Records did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The organizers asked participants to provide signatures and have their photo taken as documentation to provide to the record-keeping group.

The superhero look-alikes dressed as the character created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko clapped and sang with good cheer during the sunny afternoon. One participant complemented the Spider-Man costume with the blue-and-white striped Argentine soccer jersey, while another wore a business suit with a red tie that matched the superhero mask.

Juan Menchon, a 25-year-old soccer coach, said he felt empowered by the Spider-Man outfit.

“I’m very shy and the mask gives me a lot of freedom to have my say and express myself,” he said.

Others agreed with the costume’s transformative powers.

Matias Cones, 18, noted: “As Stan Lee says, anyone can put on the mask.” – Reuters

G7 calls for immediate repeal of bans on Japanese food, pressing China

STOCK PHOTO | Image by pythong from Pixabay

TOKYO – The Group of Seven (G7) industrial powers called on Sunday for the “immediate repeal” of import curbs on Japanese food products, a reference to China’s restrictions after Japan began releasing wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The G7 trade ministers, in a statement after a weekend meeting on Osaka, did not mention China but they also denounced what they consider its rising economic coercion through trade.

“We deplore actions to weaponize economic dependencies and commit to build on free, fair, and mutually beneficial economic and trade relationships,” said the 10-page statement.

China slapped a blanket suspension of Japanese fish imports two months ago when Japan started the release of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima plant into the Pacific. While Japan and the US have called the curbs unfair, Russia announced a similar restriction earlier this month.

In response, China described G7’s move as “economic coercion” and urged the G7 not to “stubbornly adhere to double standards” but take practical action to maintain the normal international trade and investment order.

“The G7 members undermine the level playing field and disrupt the security and stability of global production and supply chains,” China’s embassy in Japan said in a statement late on Sunday.

The G7 – the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada – expressed “concern” over recent control measures on the export of critical minerals.

China, the world’s top graphite producer, this month announced export curbs on the key material, used in electric vehicle batteries, in another bid to control critical mineral supply in response to challenges over its global manufacturing dominance.

The G7 ministers “shared the need, a genuinely strong one, to reduce dependence on a particular country” for the supply of critical resources, said Yasutoshi Nishimura, trade minister of the host Japan. “We completely agreed to build resilient and reliable supply chains” for critical minerals, semiconductors and batteries, he told a press conference.

The ministers reaffirmed their concerns on “a wide and evolving range of non-market policies” that include “pervasive, opaque and trade-distortive industrial subsidies” and forced technology transfer, the statement said.

On Russia, the G7 officials condemned its destruction of Ukrainian grain export infrastructure in its invasion of the country, and Moscow’s decision to “unilaterally” leave talks on an agreement that had allowed grain giant Ukraine to export wheat and other products through the Black Sea.

Unlike the G7 finance ministers’ meeting two weeks ago, which condemned “terror attacks” on Israel by Hamas, the trade ministers did not mention the Middle East crisis, saying only that they “seek to raise awareness about the challenges of moving humanitarian goods across international borders during natural disasters and other emergencies”.

Western countries have generally backed what they say is Israel’s right to self-defense, but there has been mounting international concern over the toll from Israel’s bombing and growing calls for a pause to allow aid to reach Palestinian civilians in Gaza. – Reuters

RSF initial report: Reuters journalist was killed in Lebanon in ‘targeted’ strike

PARIS – Reuters visuals journalist Issam Abdallah was killed on Oct. 13 in southern Lebanon by a “targeted” strike from the direction of the Israeli border, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Sunday, based on preliminary findings of its investigation.

“According to the ballistic analysis carried out by RSF, the shots came from the east of where the journalists were standing; from the direction of the Israeli border,” RSF said.

“Two strikes in the same place in such a short space of time (just over 30 seconds), from the same direction, clearly indicate precise targeting.”

The RSF report did not conclude who had launched the strike against the journalists or provide its underlying analysis.

The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the RSF’s findings. It has said it does not deliberately target journalists and that it is investigating the Oct. 13 incident.

In a statement, Reuters said: “We are reviewing the preliminary conclusion reached by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which found that Issam Abdallah and other journalists in Alma el-Chaab appear to have been deliberately fired upon from the direction of Israel on 13 October.

“We reiterate our call to the Israeli authorities to conduct a swift, thorough and transparent probe into what happened. And we call upon all other authorities with information about the incident to provide it. We will continue to fight for the rights of all journalists to report the news in the public interest free of harassment or harm, wherever they are.”

Abdallah was killed on Oct. 13 while working with six other journalists near the village of Alma al-Shaab, close to the Israeli border, where the Israeli military and Lebanese militia Hezbollah have been trading fire.

RSF said its preliminary findings were based on what it described as a “thorough analysis of eyewitness accounts, video footage and ballistics expertise”. Its investigation continues, the report added.

“It is unlikely that the journalists were mistaken for combatants, especially as they were not hiding: in order to have a clear field of vision, they had been in the open for more than an hour, on the top of a hill,” the report said. “They were wearing helmets and bullet-proof waistcoats marked ‘press’.”

Asked why it published preliminary findings and an accompanying six-minute video rather than wait until its investigation had concluded, the head of its Middle East desk, Jonathan Dagher, said: “We are certain of our findings at this stage and wanted the public to know about them.

“There are other elements which we have not yet been able to confirm.” He did not elaborate further.

Lebanon’s army and government have blamed Israel for Abdallah’s death. A Lebanese military source told Reuters that the claim is supported by a technical on-the-ground assessment carried out after the attack.

Abdallah was with two other Reuters journalists, Maher Nazeh and Thaer Al-Sudani, as well as journalists from media groups Al Jazeera and Agence France-Presse, when he was killed. – Reuters

SolX Technologies wins big in IGNITE 2023 Wildfire X Startup World Cup PH leg

By Mhicole A. Moral

End-to-end digital energy solutions platform SolX Technologies, Inc. bagged the top award in the Wildfire X Startup World Cup Philippine Regional Competition during the IGNITE 2023 on Oct. 13 at Fairmont Makati.

SolX Technologies topped nine other early-stage startup finalists. They will represent the Philippines at the 2023 Startup World Cup Grand Finale in Silicon Valley, with a chance to win the $1-million grand prize.

In an exclusive interview, SolX Technologies Co-Founder and CEO Sergius Santos stated the importance of providing digital energy solutions to help make cost-effective decisions with energy consumption.

“SolX provides three core technologies. Our proprietary hardware allows real-time data acquisition from any smart meter brands and sensors. It fully encrypts the data, which is used to verify electricity bills and utilize it to get the best energy contract. Second, the energy contract optimization system matches customers with the fittest energy portfolio, including suppliers, grid-connected, and self-generating assets. We also utilize the data from the first system to recommend key operational changes to further save on energy costs. Third, our anomaly detection system allows end-users to set certain thresholds on important energy parameters to monitor and verify,” said Mr. Santos.

SolX has already saved their clients close to P400 million in energy costs through their system as of date.

“Our technology is 100% Filipino-made, and our team is all from the Philippines. This showcases what our engineers, data scientists, and software developers can make when given the right opportunity,” Mr. Santos added.

The Wildfire X Startup World Cup PH by IGNITE 2023 is part of the Startup World Cup, an annual conference and competition that brings together promising startups, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and world-class tech CEOs worldwide. The event will happen in San Francisco, California on Dec. 1.

“To be able to be given an opportunity to pitch in front of Pegasus Tech Ventures, one of the largest funds in the valley, is already a huge upside regardless of the outcome,” Mr. Santos shared. “Hopefully, the Philippines can win the cup globally one day, whether it’s us or another venture. This will strongly impact the narrative towards looking at the Philippine startups and allowing better flow deals to our country.”

1...4,1104,1114,112...14,237Page 4,111 of 14,237
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
© 2024 BusinessWorld Publishing.
All rights reserved.
Read our privacy guidelines
Facebook Instagram Linkedin X Youtube