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New Ironman 70.3 Davao course `exciting - Princess Galura
New Ironman 70.3 Davao course `exciting - Princess Galura.....»»
Davao City s Paolo Miguel Labanon, Eirron Vibar top 2 in 8K open swim
Davao City s Paolo Miguel Labanon, Eirron Vibar top 2 in 8K open swim.....»»
inDrive pauses operations to fix fare concerns
Ride-hailing giant inDrive, touted as the potential competitor of Grab Philippines, has suspended its operations in the country to address issues raised by the government regarding its fare system......»»
New ride-hailing app inDrive suspended due to fare-haggling system
Prior to the suspension order, inDrive was positioning itself to make a splash as a competitor to Grab. Now, its plans are on pause after the LTFRB questioned its fare-haggling system......»»
Senator Warren Criticizes Apples Decision to Shut Down Beepers iMessage to Android Solutio
Title: Apple Blocks Beeper, Stirring Controversy over Messaging App and Competitor Access In a recent development, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has come out in support.....»»
Ex-UK leader Johnson to join right-wing broadcaster GB News
Britain's former prime minister Boris Johnson announced Friday that he was joining the right-wing broadcaster GB News, the latest Conservative politician to take a presenting role on the contentious channel. The scandal-tarred Johnson, who was ousted from power last year by Tory MPs and quit as a lawmaker in June, will start his new "presenter, program maker and commentator" post in early 2024, GB News said. The channel was launched in mid-2021, billing itself as a right-wing, pro-Brexit competitor to mainstream broadcasters such as the BBC and Sky News, and has stoked controversy ever since. It has drawn comparisons to the US network Fox News for its unabashedly populist agenda, blurring the distinction between fact-based reporting and opinion while hiring high-profile right-wingers. In its latest setback, the channel sacked two of its presenters this month after an on-air sexism row that generated nearly 8,500 complaints to media watchdog Ofcom. Ofcom has opened several probes into GB News over alleged breaches of the broadcasting code of neutrality for TV news outlets after it hired several prominent members of the ruling Conservatives as presenters. Johnson, 59, said he was "excited" to be joining "an insurgent channel with a loyal and growing following", saying he would be offering his "frank opinions on world affairs". "I will be talking about the immense opportunities for Global Britain -- as well as the challenges -- and why our best days are yet to come," he said. GB News's editorial director Michael Booker called Johnson "the most influential prime minister of our generation". "As well as his political skills, he's an incredibly talented journalist and author," he said. Johnson, a former Daily Telegraph columnist who currently writes a weekly column for The Daily Mail, first worked as a journalist for The Times, where he was sacked for making up a quote. He moved on to become Brussels correspondent for The Daily Telegraph, where he made his name writing exaggerated claims about the European Union, including purported plans to standardize the sizes of condoms and bananas. He then entered politics, becoming an MP in 2001 and later serving two terms as London mayor before realizing his life-long dream of being prime minister in 2019. The post Ex-UK leader Johnson to join right-wing broadcaster GB News appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Obiena cries foul over doping accusation
Asian pole vault king EJ Obiena slammed accusations made against him by the wife of a fellow competitor, who claimed the Filipino star is using performance-enhancing drugs......»»
Next week, Google will have to stop making a specific claim about the Pixel Fold
Title: OnePlus Open: The Newest Competitor to Challenge Google’s Claim of Thinnest Foldable The race to create the thinnest foldable phone is heating up, as.....»»
PEZA chief understands Rotarian investors’ dilemma
The director general of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority said he understands the clamor of investors with regard to tax perks and incentives, which is why it’s only right that the government has finally decided to amend the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No. 11534 or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act. During discussions at the Rotary Club of Manila Membership Meeting on Thursday, a Rotarian who has invested in the country said the current policies of the government in terms of tax perks remain unpredictable because of the ‘tug of war’ between the investment promotion agencies, namely PEZA and the Board of Investments, which are all under the watch of the Department of Trade and Industry, with the Fiscal Incentives Review Board, chaired by Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno. He said that the reason why the Philippines is the last among the top five countries considered as top investment countries in Southeast Asia, which is now being dominated by Vietnam, followed by Singapore, Malaysia, and Cambodia. He said in terms of exports, the Philippines is also a laggard compared to the performance of Southeast Asian counterparts. The Philippines' total exports plummeted to $6.1 billion in July 2023, compared with $6.7 billion in the previous month. Its tough competitor, Vietnam, this August 2023 is enjoying $32.8 billion in exports. Vietnam is now considered Southeast Asia’s most attractive destination for foreign investors because of its favorable business environment, steady economic growth, improved infrastructure, and policy changes. According to Standard Chartered, Vietnam’s advantages to being the top tourist destination are in terms of labor, global trade integration, supply chains, political stability, and potential resources, with the government committed to promoting trade and sustainable growth. Unclear policies Another issue that was being questioned by some investors, according to the Rotarian, is the realization of the Fourth Industrial Revolution which doesn’t have clear policies for renewable energy, data centers, information technology, and artificial intelligence. “We have yet to see concrete policy formulation and roadmap to that effect. Compared to the recent pronouncement of US President Joe Biden Vietnam will be positioned as the future chipmaker, and the US is now legislating measures to dispense funds for that purpose. There seems to be a disconnect,” the investor said. With this, PEZA’s Panga admitted that there are indeed ‘differences’ with government agencies, particularly the DTI and the FIRB, but also sought the support of the club in PEZA’s job to further attract foreign direct investments into the country. Panga further emphasized that a whole government, industry, and society approach is needed to improve the ease and lessen the cost of doing business. "Through our collaborations and strategic alliances, PEZA, together with the Rotary Club of Manila, other ecozone industries, and stakeholders, will continue to push for eco-zoning the Philippines towards inclusive and sustainable development," he added. Last August, Finance Secretary Diokno and Trade and Industry Secretary Pascual approved the amendment to the IRR of the Act that will resolve the value-added tax issues raised by transitory registered business enterprises. The post PEZA chief understands Rotarian investors’ dilemma appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Stock photo giant Getty releases AI image generator
Photo agency Getty Images is launching an image generator powered by artificial intelligence and using its trove of stock photos, the company said Monday. With one of the world's most extensive photo archives, Getty is positioning itself as a competitor to the giants of generative AI, such as Dall-E creator OpenAI or Google, with its Imagen program, but also start-ups Midjourney or Stable Diffusion. Midjourney became famous earlier this year as the software behind the widely shared image of Pope Francis wearing a white puffer jacket, as well as another showing a fake arrest of former US president Donald Trump. Getty said its new product, titled Generative AI by Getty Images, was being made in partnership with AI chip giant Nvidia and that it would only be accessible to clients, not the general public. The service will be subscription-based, with rates based on the number of queries submitted by the customer, a spokesperson told AFP on Monday. Getty Images, which has a distribution partnership with AFP and other news and photo outlets, said it depended solely on its own stock photo library to build the AI. The company said it plans to remunerate photographers whose images were used to develop the software, who will receive a share of the revenues generated by the new tool. Getty and Nvidia "want to develop these tools in a responsible way that returns benefits to creators and doesn't pass risks on to customers, and this collaboration is testament to the fact that’s possible," said Grant Farhall, Getty chief product officer. Many of the companies involved in generative AI creation are being sued by artists, coders and writers for having used their works to create the generative technology, without permission or remuneration. The post Stock photo giant Getty releases AI image generator appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Amazon steps up AI race with $4-B Anthropic investment
Amazon said on Monday it would invest up to $4 billion in AI firm Anthropic, as the online retail giant steps into an AI race dominated by Microsoft, Google and OpenAI. The success of OpenAI's ChatGPT, a chatbot released last year that is able to generate poems, essays and other works with just a short prompt, has led to billions being invested in the field. Amazon had already announced it aimed to soup up its Alexa voice assistant with generative AI, which the firm said would allow users to have smoother conversations. San Francisco-based Anthropic is seen as a leader in the field and has its own chatbot, Claude, a competitor to ChatGPT. "We have tremendous respect for Anthropic's team and foundation models, and believe we can help improve many customer experiences, short and long-term, through our deeper collaboration," said Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. The giant firms and wealthy investors of Silicon Valley have poured money into artificial intelligence as they seek to find a killer application to justify the interest. ChatGPT's instant success threw much of the focus onto chatbots and sparked imitators and rivals, not least from Google with its Bard chatbot. Chinese titans Tencent and Baidu have also launched bots they claim can rival ChatGPT. 'Transformation' promise But Monday's deal between Anthropic and Amazon is potentially less significant in the chatbot world and more important in the race to develop chips to power AI. Anthropic agreed to use Amazon's chips to develop its next models and the two firms said they would collaborate on developing the next set of chips. All firms in the space are looking to wean themselves off the chips made by market leader NVIDIA, said Nick Patience, lead AI research analyst at S&P Global Market. "It'll be difficult for anyone to make a dent in the next 12 to 18 months," he told AFP, but tie-ups like Monday's Amazon deal could help change the picture over five years. Anthropic also agreed to use Amazon Web Services cloud infrastructure -- the data centers that store and process data on a vast scale -- for "mission critical workloads". Amazon said it would take a "minority ownership position" in the AI firm, which has already raised more than $1 billion since it was set up in 2021. The statement promises that "Claude", which is the name of Anthropic's chatbot and its model, will help AWS customers "of all sizes to develop new generative AI-powered applications to transform their organisations". The deal intensifies competition between Amazon and Google, which had earlier opened its cloud services to Anthropic and invested $300 million to acquire 10 percent of the company. AI models require huge computing power so AI firms rely on data centers provided by the likes of AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. As tech giants push their own AI ambitions, they have been increasingly looking at tie-ins with smaller AI firms -- Microsoft leading the way with a multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI. The post Amazon steps up AI race with $4-B Anthropic investment appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Biggest-ever Asian Games ready for liftoff in China after Covid delay
The biggest Asian Games in history, boasting about 12,000 competitors -- more than the Olympics -- will open on Saturday in the Chinese city of Hangzhou after a year's delay because of Covid. Athletes including world and Olympic champions will fight for medals in 40 sports from athletics, swimming and football to eSports and bridge. Nine sports, among them boxing, break dancing and tennis, will serve as qualifiers for next year's Paris Olympics. The Games were supposed to take place last September but were postponed because of China's strict zero-Covid rules, before China's ruling Communist Party abruptly abandoned the policy. The 19th edition of the Games, which were first held in New Delhi in 1951, throws together competitors from 45 countries and territories across Asia and the Middle East. For China, which hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics in a Covid-secure "bubble" in Beijing, it is a chance to show off its organizational, sporting and technological prowess after the pandemic years cut the country off from the sporting world. "We have overcome a lot of challenges but we are now fully conditioned to hold a successful Games," Chen Weiqiang, chief spokesperson for the Games, said on Wednesday. Sport meets politics The Games will be staged at 54 venues -- 14 newly constructed -- mostly in Hangzhou but also extending to cities as far afield as Wenzhou, 300 kilometres (180 miles) south. The centerpiece is the "Big Lotus" Olympic stadium with a capacity of up to 80,000 where athletics and the opening and closing ceremonies will be staged. President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony and meet Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad there, along with other visiting leaders, Chinese state media says. Assad is making his first visit to ally China since the war erupted in Syria in 2011. Russian President Vladimir Putin likewise attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, along with Xi, and weeks later launched the invasion of Ukraine. Hangzhou, a city of 12 million people an hour's bullet train from Shanghai, is famed in China for its ancient temples, gardens and its beloved West Lake. It is also the unofficial home of China's tech industry, notably the birth place of Jack Ma's Alibaba. The Games will showcase some of the latest tech to come out of the city, including driverless buses, robot dogs and facial recognition. China medal dash Hosts China have topped the medals table at every Asian Games since 1982 and are expected to do so again by the time the curtain comes down on October 8. They should reign in swimming, with Qin Haiyang fresh from his heroics at the world championships, where he announced himself as the new undisputed breaststroke king. The 24-year-old swept all three men's events and set a new world record in the 200m. In athletics, another of the most closely watched sports, India's Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra will defend his Asian Games javelin crown. His nearest competitor should be world silver medalist Arshad Nadeem from arch-rivals Pakistan and the countries are also on a collision course in cricket and hockey. ESports, in what is seen as a step toward Olympic inclusion one day, will make its full Asian Games debut having been a demonstration sport five years ago. Lee Sang-hyeok, better known as "Faker", has god-like status in League of Legends and will lead the South Korean charge at the futuristic-looking China Hangzhou Esports Centre. There is an added incentive which has caused controversy in South Korea -- winning gold will exempt them from having to do military service. A feature of the Asian Games is that it includes sports that are a little more quirky than the Olympics. Xiangqi -- also known as "Chinese chess" -- the card game bridge and the ancient wrestling discipline of kurash are all on the menu. Although the Games officially open on Saturday, the sporting action began on Tuesday, when North Korea returned to major international competition for the first time since the pandemic with a 2-0 win over Taiwan in men's football. The post Biggest-ever Asian Games ready for liftoff in China after Covid delay appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Germany weighs barring Chinese parts in 5G networks
Germany is considering a ban on parts made by Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE in its 5G networks from 2026, government sources told AFP on Wednesday. According to government proposals, Chinese components would be excluded from the country's "core network" from January 1, 2026, the sources said. It is understood that the ban will apply not only to new parts but also those that have already been installed. The government also wants to begin phasing out parts made by Huawei and ZTE in Germany's "access and transport network," the sources said. The changes to Germany's 5G mobile networks run by Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefonica are "of high importance for the German government in terms of security policy", according to a draft interior ministry document seen by AFP. Germany has "significant structural dependencies" on Huawei and ZTE, the document says, leading to "an urgent need for action". The plan marks part of Germany's strategy of "de-risking" its relationship with China, announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in July, according to the draft document. Germany in July presented a 64-page document outlining its new strategy towards a more "assertive" China, its top trade partner. Seeking a balance between competing interests of the EU's biggest economy, the document sought to refresh Germany's stance toward China as a "partner, competitor and systemic rival". "We want to reduce critical dependencies in future," Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on presenting the strategy, saying Berlin had "reacted to a China that has changed and become more assertive". The post Germany weighs barring Chinese parts in 5G networks appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
UBS’s Credit Suisse takeover, ‘deal of the century’?
Did banking giant UBS make "the deal of the century" when it bought one of the world's biggest banks for a pittance as it teetered on the edge of the abyss? Switzerland's largest bank was in March strong-armed by Swiss authorities into a $3.25-billion takeover of Credit Suisse, to keep its closest domestic rival from going under. At the time, investors gasped at the risks UBS was taking on with the purchase. But by August, the bank said it would not need the billions in support offered by the Swiss government and central bank to offset any surprises that might pop up in its stricken rival's accounts. That must mean that Credit Suisse's situation was "much better than described in March", Thomas Aeschi, a member of parliament with the populist rightwing Swiss People's Party (SVP), wrote on X, formerly Twitter. UBS seemed to prove him right when it unveiled its second-quarter results on August 31. The bank posted a towering net profit of $29.2 billion for the three-month period, thanks to an exceptional gain due to the gulf between the amount paid for Credit Suisse and its book value. 'Godsend' "UBS has pulled off the deal of the century," Switzerland's Socialist Party said, maintaining the "rescue" was more of a "godsend", allowing it to snatch up a bank at a dramatically reduced rate. "If we had chosen another path, (like) a temporary or partial nationalization," said Samuel Bendahan, a Socialist MP and economics professor at the University of Lausanne, the Swiss state "would have taken on the risk, but those $29 billion would have gone to the population". Instead, the takeover has created "a monopolistic situation", he told AFP, warning that while this might strengthen UBS, it puts Switzerland in an extremely risky position if the new mega-bank were to one day face a crisis. Politicians are not the only ones taking issue with the takeover. Gisele Vlietstra, founder of the Swiss Investor Protection Association, told public broadcaster RTS that UBS's towering quarterly profit confirms that the "intrinsic value" of Credit Suisse was "far higher" than the purchase price. She said she hoped that the lawsuits brought by her association and others on behalf of thousands of Credit Suisse shareholders will help determine "the correct value" that they should be compensated. 'Nickel and dime' "UBS paid a nickel and dime" and "got rid of its main competitor" in one fell swoop, Carlo Lombardini, a lawyer and banking law professor at Lausanne University, told AFP. The coming restructuring will clearly carry risks, "but having paid just three billion, it can't go wrong", he said, slamming the option chosen by the Swiss authorities. Like UBS, Credit Suisse was listed among 30 international banks deemed too big to fail because of their importance in the global banking architecture. But the collapse of three US regional lenders in March left the firm looking like the next weakest link in the chain. The Swiss government feared Credit Suisse would have quickly defaulted and triggered a global crisis, shredding Switzerland's reputation for sound banking. But its chosen option for dealing with the issue was certainly a boon to UBS, which will now swell to manage $5 trillion of invested assets. Confidence 'evaporated' UBS chief Sergio Ermotti acknowledged in a recent interview with the SonntagsZeitung weekly that the bank had been "worried" about its competitor since 2016, and had among other things looked into the possibilities of buying it, for fear a foreign lender might snap it up. He acknowledged that Credit Suisse may have survived for a time if the central bank had injected more cash, "but it would not have been enough, since confidence had evaporated". Since the takeover announcement in March, UBS has seen its share price soar 31 percent. But the bank still faces significant challenges, Vontobel analyst Andreas Venditti told AFP. The $29 billion "is a huge one-off gain, but this is just accounting", he said, stressing that "the losses and costs will come later". The analyst, who a few months ago wondered in a note whether UBS had secured "the deal of the decade or a decade of headaches", stressed that "it's going to be a huge task". He said it would only become clear "whether it was worth it" after most of the restructuring is done three years down the line. Parts of the business are continuing to "produce huge losses", he said, warning "many things can still go wrong". Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya agreed, recalling that "UBS was forced" into the merger. Now it is up to the bank to "transform an 'obligation' to its advantage". The post UBS’s Credit Suisse takeover, ‘deal of the century’? appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Dazzling Biles wins record eighth US all-around gymnastics title
Simone Biles dazzled on floor exercise Sunday on the way to a record eighth all-around title at the US Gymnastics Championships, another step on a comeback trail pointing toward the Paris Olympics. The four-time Olympic gold medallist electrified the SAP Center crowd with a soaring floor routine that included a rock-solid landing on her signature Biles I tumbling pass of double layout with a half-twist. It was her final event of the competition and brought ecstatic fans to their feet, earning a score of 15.400 for a triumphant all-around total of 118.450 points. Shi Jones, last year's world championships all-around silver medallist, was second, 3.9 points back. Biles broke the record for most all-around titles for a man or woman, set by Alfred Jochim with his seventh in 1933 and matched by Biles in 2021. Biles had taken control on Friday with a dazzling version of her Yurchenko double pike vault that was awarded 9.8 for execution and scored a whopping 15.700. She was the only competitor to finish the two days of competition with two scores of 15 or higher. Jones produced the only other score of 15 -- with a 15.0 on Sunday's uneven bars. Biles's triumph came in just the second competition of her return from a two-year break, which followed her dramatic withdrawal from multiple events at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She was the sport's dominant force and out to defend four gold medals won in Rio when she pulled out of most of her events in Tokyo citing the "twisties" -- the dangerous phenomenon in which gymnasts lose their sense of where they are in the air. Biles did earn a balance beam bronze in Tokyo, and now she looks set to contend again at next month's World Championships in Antwerp and, by extension, the Paris Olympics next year. bb/js © Agence France-Presse The post Dazzling Biles wins record eighth US all-around gymnastics title appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
‘We are afraid’: Violence-hit Ecuador votes under heavy security
Heavily-armed security officers kept watch Sunday as Ecuadorans voted in a presidential election marked by the murder of a top candidate and despair over the lawlessness that has engulfed the once-peaceful nation. Polls closed after a tense day, with soldiers and police searching voters at the entry to polling stations, while some of the eight presidential candidates wore helmets and bulletproof vests to cast their ballots. The small South American country has in recent years become a staging for foreign drug mafias seeking to export cocaine, stirring up a brutal war between local gangs. The murder of serious presidential contender Fernando Villavicencio on the campaign trail less than two weeks before the vote underscored the challenges facing the country. "The most serious problem is insecurity," said voter Eva Hurtado, 40, as she left a polling station north of the capital Quito on Sunday morning. "So many crimes, assassinations, disappearances. We are afraid." "Security, above all the security of our families, of our people, must be improved," said public worker Luis Veloso, 52. Villavicencio's killing has reshuffled the electoral cards, with none of the eight contenders expected to get an absolute majority -- likely forcing a runoff on October 15. Ecuadorans voted for a successor to conservative leader Guillermo Lasso, who called a snap election to avoid an impeachment trial just two years after coming to power. - Lawyer, reporter, sniper - Leading the polls before Villavicencio's murder was Luisa Gonzalez, 45, a lawyer from the leftist party of former president Rafael Correa. Villavicencio, who was polling second before his murder, was replaced at the last last minute by a close friend, another journalist, Christian Zurita, who witnessed his gunning down. Hours ahead of the vote, Zurita said he was receiving death threats on social media. "The threats against my life and my team will not stop us, but they are forcing us to take greater security protocols," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, adding that his party had alerted authorities and election observers. Political analysts say the candidate who has seen the biggest boost to his popularity is 40-year-old right-wing businessman Jan Topic. Nicknamed "Rambo," the former paratrooper and sniper with the French Foreign Legion has vowed to wipe out criminal gangs and build more prisons, emulating El Salvador's Nayib Bukele. While casting his ballot, Topic urged voters to elect "the candidate who has the experience, the will, and the plan to eradicate violence in the country." Other leading candidates are right-wing former vice president Otto Sonnenholzner and leftist Indigenous attorney Yaku Perez. In one of the world's most biodiverse countries, two key referendums are taking place on Sunday alongside the election. One will ask voters to choose whether to continue oil drilling in an Amazon reserve that is home to home to three of the world's last uncontacted Indigenous populations. Another focuses on whether to forbid mining activities in the Choco Andino forest. "I feel bad voting in favor of oil exploitation, but Ecuador lives off this oil," said electrician Magdalena Maurisaca. - Brutal gang war - Ecuador was once seen as a haven of peace wedged between cocaine-producing nations Colombia and Peru. The small country straddles the Andes and the Amazon, and was best known as the world's top exporter of bananas and home to the biodiverse Galapagos Islands, where British scientist Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution. However, in the past five years its large ports, lax security and corruption have lured foreign cartels that have come under increased pressure from the war on drugs in Mexico and Colombia. A struggle for power between local gangs has mostly played out in prisons, where 430 have been killed since 2021, leaving a trail of dismembered and burned bodies. "Ecuadorans are going to vote with three feelings: fear of insecurity... pessimism regarding the economic situation and distrust of the political class," political scientist Santiago Cahuasqui of the SEK International University told AFP. In 2022, the country hit a record of 26 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, higher than the rate in Colombia, Mexico or Brazil. Voters will also elect members of the 137-seat parliament. Initial results are expected to trickle in late Sunday, with a final tally expected in 10 days. To win in the first round a candidate must capture 40 percent of the vote or come 10 points ahead of their nearest competitor. The new president will take office on October 26 and will serve only the remainder of Lasso's term, a year and a half. bur-fb/dw © Agence France-Presse The post ‘We are afraid’: Violence-hit Ecuador votes under heavy security appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Lagrada shines in Asean youth archery
Ada Lagrada snared a couple of gold medals in the team event to emerge as the most bemedalled competitor in the 1st ASEAN Youth Archery Championships at the Dynamic Herb Sports Complex here over the weekend......»»
Country Garden: China’s under-pressure property giant
Concerns are mounting in China around Country Garden, a major property developer whose colossal debt raises fear of a bankruptcy that could spell wider economic turbulence, two years after the unravelling of its competitor Evergrande. Country Garden shares plunged by more than 18 percent in Hong Kong on Monday after it missed bond payments and warned of multibillion-dollar losses. Its billionaire boss Yang Huiyan has said the firm is "facing the greatest difficulties since our establishment". Here's what you need to know about Country Garden: Family business Country Garden is run by Yang Huiyan, who until recently was one of the richest women in China and Asia. Yang, now in her early forties, became a billionaire when she inherited shares from her father in 2005, two decades after he founded the company. But her fortune has dwindled since 2021 as China's real estate crisis dramatically weakened the sector. Yang, who lost nearly $29 billion in two years according to a Bloomberg ranking of billionaires, has an estimated wealth of $5.3 billion. To support Country Garden, she and her family have chipped in the equivalent of $4.9 billion in personal funds, according to the group. Real estate heavyweight The top seller of real estate in China last year, Country Garden was named in Forbes' list of the 500 largest companies in the world. Based in the southern Chinese city of Foshan, the group employed nearly 70,000 "full-time" staff members at the end of 2022, according to the most recent figures from the company, which has long been deemed financially solid. It also has operations abroad, including a gigantic real estate project in Malaysia involving artificial islands. Under pressure But recent sluggishness in the Chinese real estate market has caught up with the company. According to media reports, Country Garden was unable to make two bond payments on 6 August. It has a 30-day grace period, but if it does not pay within that time it risks default. Adding to the pressure, 31 billion yuan ($4.27 billion) in the firm's bonds are set to mature in 2024, according to rating agency Moody's. Another Evergrande? Like its competitor Evergrande, which owes more than $300 billion, any collapse of Country Garden would have damaging repercussions on the Chinese financial system and economy. It is due to publish its half-year results by the end of the month, and says it expects a net loss of 45 to 55 billion yuan (about $6.2 billion to $7.6 billion). And its situation is particularly precarious because around 60 percent of its projects are located in small Chinese cities, where property prices have fallen the most and where customers have weaker purchasing power. Country Garden announced over the weekend it would suspend trading of onshore bonds from Monday, a decision likely to cause concern in the markets as the company said that its debt was estimated at some 1.15 trillion yuan ($159 billion) at the end of 2022. Additional liabilities have brought other estimations of its overall debt as high as 1.4 trillion yuan ($193 billion), according to Bloomberg. Robotics In addition to its core focus on real estate, Country Garden has been developing robots for the catering industry since 2019. The firm has produced designs for different types of mechanized food processors, and last year it opened an expansive, fully automated restaurant in Foshan. The restaurant, which accommodates up to 600 people, is staffed by 20 robots that can prepare three types of dishes including Chinese hot pot, the firm said at the time. The post Country Garden: China’s under-pressure property giant appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Cheers as FIBA nears
As the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 opening day nears, PLDT and Smart gathered dignitaries and heads of embassies and consulates in the Philippines to promote camaraderie among nations in the most anticipated global sports event this year. “We are grateful to be able to come together to celebrate the upcoming FIBA World Cup 2023. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we can host the world’s biggest stage in basketball alongside Japan and Indonesia,” said Alfredo S. Panlilio, PLDT and Smart President and CEO, who also heads the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 local organizing committee. “The FIBA World Cup goes beyond basketball: it is about the heart and capabilities of all participating countries, and our ability to bring honor to our nations. We are eager to showcase our countrymen’s love for the sport and promote Filipino hospitality, while promoting the sportsmanship and culture of the countries that will play here in the Philippines,” he added. Dignitaries and special guests representing 25 countries attended the event hosted by PLDT Enterprise in Makati City. The event also served as an opportunity for the Philippine government, represented by Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco and Foreign Affairs Senior Special Assistant Alex Lamadrid, to present the plans of the government to support this global event. “The FIBA World Cup gives opportunities for Filipinos themselves to show their love for country, because what we will see is a great sense of nationalism in cheering for the Philippine team. This nationalism which will be replicated throughout the citizens of the world whom we are very eager to welcome to the country as we host the World Cup,” said Frasco. “The Department of Foreign Affairs, for its part, will continue to pursue and take advantage of the universal appeal of sports in bringing people together, to bridge cultural or social differences, and bring more cooperation in the spirit of mutual benefit and development,” said senior special assistant Lamadrid. The role of PLDT Chairman and Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Chairman Emeritus Manuel V. Pangilinan is central to the story of how the Philippines came to host the FIBA Basketball World Cup. After losing the bid against China in 2015, Pangilinan, who was then chair of SBP, started to form a multi-country consortium to win against competitor countries. And the rest is history. “The FIBA World Cup is an apex event in basketball, and it’s good for Filipinos to see how Gilas can compete with the rest of the world. It is the sporting event of the year, and we’ve gotten the full support of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., the Philippine Sports Commission, the Philippine Olympic Committee, and various government agencies as well as the private business sector. We are very thankful for them; we couldn’t have done this without their help. This is truly a national effort,” said Pangilinan. The post Cheers as FIBA nears appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
U.S. mulls sending its nursing students here
The United States plans to send its students to the Philippines to study nursing programs in the country to help address the shortage of nursing programs and residency slots in the United States. During a courtesy call by US Senator Tammy Duckworth to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at Malacañang Palace on Tuesday, she mentioned that she is in discussions with the US embassy regarding the possibility of sending their students to the Philippines. Duckworth lauded the Philippines for its well-educated workforce and its fluency in the English language, noting that many Filipino nurses work in the United States. “Noting the number of Filipino nurses in the US and the quality of service they provide, Senator Duckworth opens about her talk with the US Embassy in the Philippines about the possibility of sending American students to nursing schools in the country,” state-run Radio Television Malacañang said in their short video about the meeting as posted on Facebook. “(This is seen as) one of the measures to address the United States’ shortage of nursing programs and residency slots,” RTVM added. Marcos, on the other hand, is open to partnerships with the US government and expressed gratitude to Duckworth for the continued support of the country. “The President and Senator Duckworth talk about their respective governments’ shift to renewable energy, more importantly in the Philippines, as it strives to transform the economy post-pandemic,” RTVM said. According to the Presidential Communications Office, Duckworth told Marcos that the Philippines and the United States could collaborate for producing electronic vehicles to meet the huge demand of the American market. “I would rather have America’s manufacturing supply chain rest here in a nation that has been a long-time friend and ally, than in a nation that is our adversary or our competitor. And so, I think there are lots of opportunities and we had a really productive meeting.” The post U.S. mulls sending its nursing students here appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»