Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC) received two Golden Arrows, while Filinvest Land, Inc. (FLI) and Filinvest REIT Corp. (FILRT) each earned one Golden Arrow. EastWest Banking Corporation (EastWest) received three Golden Arrows, marking an increase from its two-Golden Arrow recognition in 2025.

The latest distinctions build on the Group’s consistent recognition at the annual awards, reflecting its efforts to maintain sound governance practices across its businesses.

“Being recognized year after year reflects the importance we place on good governance across the Filinvest Group,” said Rhoda A. Huang, President and CEO of FDC. “For us, governance is a responsibility we carry every day through the decisions we make, the way we manage our businesses, and the trust we build with our stakeholders.”

The Golden Arrow Awards recognize publicly listed companies that achieve high ratings under the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS), an internationally benchmarked framework that evaluates corporate governance practices, including shareholder rights, transparency, accountability, and board responsibilities.

Strengthening governance across the Group

For EastWest, which earned three Golden Arrows this year, good governance remains central to maintaining customer confidence and supporting responsible growth in the banking sector.

“Trust is especially important in banking, and it is something we must earn through responsible decisions and consistent accountability,” said Jerry Ngo, CEO of EastWest. “Receiving three Golden Arrows is a meaningful recognition for our team and encourages us to keep strengthening the practices that protect our customers, make banking easier for them, and support the bank’s long-term growth.”

In real estate, FLI and FILRT continue to uphold strong governance standards as they create long-term value for homeowners, investors, and other stakeholders.

“At Filinvest Land, good governance begins within. It is deeply ingrained in our people and reflected in how we conduct business, make decisions, and fulfill our commitments to our stakeholders,” said Tristan Las Marias, President and CEO of Filinvest Land, Inc.

“It is humbling to be recognized year after year, and each recognition strengthens our resolve to uphold the highest standards of integrity, accountability, transparency, and responsiveness to the evolving needs of our stakeholders. Above all, it reminds us that trust must be earned every day through our actions and the commitments we fulfill as we continue building Filipino dreams.”

“Good governance is at the core of how we manage our sustainability-focused REIT business and create value for our stakeholders,” said Joseph M. Yap, President and CEO of Filinvest REIT Corp. “This recognition encourages us to continue upholding high standards of accountability and transparency as we grow our portfolio and deliver sustainable returns for our investors.”

Sustaining a tradition of good governance

The latest Golden Arrow recognitions extend the Filinvest Group’s multiyear track record at the ICD awards, with FDC and FLI earning Golden Arrow distinctions since 2021 and EastWest and FILRT since 2022.

As the Group continues to grow its businesses across real estate, banking, power, hospitality, and other industries, it remains focused on responsible management, transparency, and accountability in creating long-term value for its stakeholders.

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The “Accelerating Smallholder Digital Adoption at Scale in ASEAN: Strategic Pathways” report, launched during the 26^th Meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry Plus Three, said more programs are needed to reach food producers who use digital tools.

“This report confirms what our field-level teams have been telling us: the solutions exist, but they are not consistently reaching the farmers and businesses who need them most,” Grow Asia Executive Director Beverley Postma said.

The report is one of the outputs of the Smallholder Economic Empowerment through Digital Solutions project implemented by Grow Asia and IFAD. Funding also came from South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

According to the study underlying the report, most of their 824 respondents from eight ASEAN countries use digital tools for farming advisories, digital payments, and digital marketplaces.

IFAD and Grow Asia believe there is no “shortage of technology” but characterized the problem as an “underdeveloped delivery system.”

Problem areas within the delivery system included: farmers’ economic, behavioral, social and operational conditions that can affect their use of digital tools; feasibility of digital tools in reaching farmers; and the overall capacity of institutions, policies, and public-private sectors in making these digital systems effective.

Priority action areas include investing in digital and data infrastructure, strengthening cooperatives, ensuring inclusive adoption through financing, and risk-sharing systems, and institutionalizing public-private-philanthropy partnerships. — Maria Mikaela H. Tormon

“I’ve totally stopped going to convenience stores because of the rising cost of living,” she said.

Ms. Sekiya’s changing shopping habits are not just a concern for Japan’s once unassailable convenience stores, or ‘conbini’, but also a worrying sign for the economy, which has exited decades of deflation.

Underlying inflation rose in September at the fastest annual pace in three years, according to Bank of Japan data, exceeding its 2% target. The bank is likely on Friday to signal a rate hike could come as soon as December, taking the economy into territory not trodden for more than 30 years.

“Consumers have become extremely demanding when it comes to prices,” said Seiji Kitamura, head of group merchandising strategy at 7-Eleven owner Seven & i, which operates around 23,000 outlets across the country.

“Their desire to save has grown more than we anticipated.”

Customer numbers at convenience stores have fallen for 15 consecutive months, according to data from the Japan Franchise Association. In September, numbers fell by 3.8% from a year earlier, the most since September 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The increasing thriftiness of Japanese consumers — many of whom have never experienced widespread price gains in their lifetime — is likely to cause wider economic issues.

“With private consumption accounting for about half of Japan’s GDP, there are concerns that increased household belt-tightening could weigh on the broader economy,” said Ryohei Ikeda, an analyst at Mizuho Research Institute.

Japanese companies used to be famously reticent to raise prices, with ice pop maker Akagi Nyugyo apologizing in 2016 for a 10 yen ($0.06) hike.

But food and drink makers hit by the weak yen and higher oil prices raised prices on more than 20,000 items in 2026 for a second year. Amid the increases, Japanese convenience store operators are facing squeezed consumers seeking cheaper alternatives.

“Competitors such as drugstores and mini-supermarkets are putting value for money front and center,” Takeshi Inoue, a corporate manager at Itochu’s FamilyMart, said at an earnings briefing.

“We haven’t been able to fully meet customers’ needs.”

Ms. Sekiya said she is feeling the pinch when buying goods such as meat, vegetables and alcohol. She now shops at two discount supermarkets — Lopia and OK — to maximize savings.

To attract customers to its “conbinis”, Seven & i is introducing its lower-priced own-brand range, “Seven The Price”, which includes precooked chicken and bacon rashers and is priced around 20% below branded alternatives.

Last month, FamilyMart said it would offer morning discounts when customers bought bread or rice balls together with drinks such as coffee.

PORK CUTLET RICE BOWLS
In contrast to convenience stores, some supermarkets that compete aggressively on price are seeing robust customer traffic growth.

Seiyu, which was acquired last year by discount chain Trial Holdings, recorded a 6.9% year-on-year increase in customer numbers at existing stores in September.

“Wage growth has not kept pace with inflation, creating favorable conditions for discount retailers,” said Seiyu President Hitoshi Narakino.

Walmart previously struggled to make a success of Seiyu, with private equity firm KKR acquiring the business before selling to Trial.

Kyushu-based Trial has brought its popular 299 yen pork cutlet rice bowls and 199 yen egg sandwiches to Seiyu stores, where it is also bolstering supplies of fresh meat and fish.

Conbini are also under threat from mini-supermarkets, with Trial opening small format Trial GO stores in Tokyo and Aeon, Japan’s biggest retailing group, expanding its My Basket chain.

CRANE GAMES
As higher oil prices due to the Iran war feed through to electricity and gas bills, inflation is likely to top 3% in early 2027, said Taro Saito, a research fellow at the NLI Research Institute.

Real wages are also likely to turn negative next year, potentially further squeezing households, he said.

With rising labor and utility costs squeezing franchisees, conbini operators are looking outside of food to grow revenue.

FamilyMart is installing crane games and capsule-toy machines in about 5,000 stores by reducing space allocated for magazines and eating in.

Lawson, which is owned by Mitsubishi Corp and KDDI, has also installed toy machines at about 1,500 stores.

There are also signs of price sensitivity across the broader retail sector.

Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing  this week said it was scrapping a planned price hike for a color socks line that was set to take effect from November 10.

“As socks are an essential everyday item, in Japan we reconsidered our planned price revision,” Fast Retailing said. ($1 = 157.8100 yen) — Reuters

Mr. Saca, 61, served a reduced 10-year sentence after pleading guilty to diverting and laundering more than $300 million from the state budget during his 2004-2009 administration.

His lawyer, Mario Machado, said the former president had served his sentence in full without receiving early-release benefits. “The 10 years were completed,” Mr. Machado said.

“We have come to the court to formally report the release. This was requested just yesterday.”

Although Mr. Saca was sentenced in 2018, his prison term was backdated to 2016, when he was arrested during his son’s wedding. A plea deal allowed Mr. Saca to reduce a potential 30-year sentence.

Mr. Saca is one of four Salvadoran presidents to have faced corruption charges, although the other former leaders avoided the prospect of jail time. Mauricio Funes and Salvador Sanchez Ceren fled to Nicaragua, and Francisco Flores died before his trial could begin.

Mr. Saca, a businessman and radio broadcaster, served as president as part of the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA).

In 2014, after his expulsion from the party, he sought to return to the presidency with the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), but the Supreme Court ruled his candidacy unconstitutional.

Prosecutors had alleged that Mr. Saca diverted state funds for personal use and to benefit his allies, including by funneling large sums of money to his party. Mr. Saca was ordered in separate civil proceedings to repay millions of dollars to the state. — Reuters

The Wednesday announcement by Sanrio’s Chinese subsidiary came just after French soccer star Kylian Mbappe apologized for remarks about late Chinese leader Mao Zedong that saw several Chinese sponsors cut ties with him.

The hit show VIVANT, produced by Japanese broadcaster TBS and also available on Netflix, centers on Japanese spies and a terrorist organization called Tent. The latest season, currently being aired, depicts a fictional Chinese intelligence agency capturing and torturing some of the Japanese spies.

Chinese anger over Sanrio’s range of soft toys, including Hello Kitty, dressed as spies from the show has simmered for days on social media and came to a head this week when Chinese state media ramped up the condemnation.

“We deeply apologize for the concern this has caused everyone,” Sanrio’s Chinese subsidiary said in a statement.

“Regarding this collaboration, we believe it contains expressions that are inconsistent with the corporate philosophy of the Sanrio Group. We have therefore decided to terminate this collaboration along with all subsequent projects and promotional activities.”

TBS did not have immediate comment on the cancellation.

TBS President Masamine Ryuho said at a regular press conference on Wednesday that the drama is “entirely fictional and has no intention of disparaging any specific country”, local media reported.

Relations between China and Japan have plunged since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi late last year said that a hypothetical Chinese attack on democratically ruled Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

China has urged its citizens not to travel to Japan and throttled exports of rare earths to the country, minerals vital to the manufacturing of everything from cars to weapons.

Swathes of Japanese firms including Sanrio, however, are still reliant on the world’s second-biggest economy for sales. Sanrio booked sales of 9.8 billion yen ($62 million) in China in the first quarter, up almost 25% on the same period a year earlier.

Foreign brands have often faced public backlash in China. ​Dolce & Gabbana canceled a Shanghai fashion show in 2018 after ads showed a Chinese woman struggling to eat pizza and spaghetti with chopsticks. ⁠H&M, Nike and Adidas in 2021 came under attack over comments made about labor conditions in Xinjiang. — Reuters

The nation’s sovereign debt was the worst performer in the region during the two most recent episodes of Fed tightening, namely those that began in 2017 and 2022. Philippine 10-year yields climbed by an average of 152 basis points during those periods — nearly four times as much as those of second-placed India.

Philippine bonds have been sold off this year as energy prices have soared and US Treasury yields have climbed, while a strengthening dollar has lured funds away from peso-denominated assets. The prolonged conflict involving Iran is also weighing on the nation’s sovereign debt by keeping oil prices and inflation elevated.

“Higher US yields could continue to exert upward pressure on Philippine bond yields, particularly at the longer end, while also weighing on the peso,” said Rong Ren Goh, a fixed-income portfolio manager at Eastspring Investments in Singapore. Other headwinds for the bonds include “persistent inflation, peso weakness and uncertainty” over the final level of the Philippine central bank’s policy rate, he said.

Philippine bonds have handed dollar-based investors a loss of more than 11% this year through Thursday, while a similar gauge for Asia as a whole has gained 3.1%, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh signaled on Wednesday that the central bank remains on track to raise interest rates again this year, even as he stuck to his refusal to offer any explicit guidance on the future path of policy.

The peso has weakened about 8% against the dollar this year, making it Asia’s worst-performing currency after the Indonesian rupiah. That depreciation is putting further pressure on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to hike rates again after making a bigger-than-expected 50-basis-point increase last week.

“Currency stability has become an important consideration in the policy reaction function, complementing the BSP’s efforts to contain inflation expectations,” said Peerampa Janjumratsang, a portfolio manager for fixed income at M&G Investments in Singapore. This, together with risks from the El Niño weather pattern, suggests the central bank “may retain a hawkish bias despite the weaker growth backdrop,” she said.

Indonesian bonds were historically the most sensitive in Asia to Fed policy changes but Bank Indonesia’s debt-purchase program that started in 2020 appears to have mitigated some of the impact of US rate hikes. The central bank’s ownership of outstanding government bonds rose to peak at around 27% in January 2023 from around 10% at the start of 2020.

Investors should be cautious about Philippine bonds amid a “backdrop of elevated energy prices and El Niño risks,” Citigroup Inc. strategists including Gordon Goh wrote in a note last week. “Risks in the current environment are skewed heavily towards a more hawkish BSP.” —  Bloomberg

The recognition reflects FLI’s established approach to corporate governance, supported by defined board oversight, regular risk management and internal control reviews, and consistent regulatory compliance and disclosure. Filinvest Land maintains dedicated board committees to oversee key areas such as audit and risk management, corporate governance, compensation, and related-party transactions. It also conducts annual corporate governance training for directors and officers, reviews its governance practices, and engages shareholders through investor briefings, one-on-one discussions, and other communication channels. Together, these practices help reinforce accountability, transparency, and informed decision-making across the organization.

The Golden Arrow Awards recognize publicly listed companies and insurance companies that demonstrate strong corporate governance based on the ACGS and Corporate Governance Scorecard (CGS) assessment results, respectively. The ACGS evaluates companies on key governance principles, including shareholder rights, equitable treatment, stakeholder relations, transparency, and board accountability.

“Receiving the Golden Arrow Award for the fifth consecutive year affirms our continued commitment to responsible business practices and good corporate governance. We recognize that earning and sustaining the trust of our stakeholders requires transparency, accountability, and integrity in the way we do business,” said Tristan Las Marias, President and Chief Executive Officer of Filinvest Land, Inc.

As one of the Philippines’ leading full-range property developers with a nationwide presence, FLI recognizes that responsible growth requires more than delivering developments. It also means building stakeholder confidence, managing the business responsibly, and creating value that can be sustained over time. Sound governance helps provide this foundation as FLI continues to respond to the evolving needs of homeowners, businesses, and the communities it serves.

Guided by its commitment to Building the Filipino Dream, FLI continues to shape communities that connect living and livelihood, bringing opportunities closer to Filipino families. Its fifth consecutive Golden Arrow recognition underscores the role of responsible corporate governance in supporting this mission and in building a business that contributes to the country’s growth over the long term.

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For ZION purchases, the Buy Now, Pay Next Year offer applies to transactions worth P100,000 and above. Qualified customers can purchase an eligible ZION wellness product during the promotional period and have the first monthly installment billed several statement cycles later, creating more room between the holiday purchase and the start of payments.

BDO’s current holiday campaign allows qualified transactions to take advantage of its “pay four months later” arrangement, with the first installment reflected on the fourth statement cut-off from the transaction date. The promotion runs until Dec. 31, 2026, while specific installment terms remain subject to the participating merchant and BDO approval. The arrangement is particularly relevant for customers already considering higher-value ZION products. Selected massage chairs, saunas, cold plunge systems, and qualifying wellness combinations can meet the P100,000 minimum purchase requirement, giving buyers another way to plan a substantial purchase without placing the full financial weight on the holiday season itself.

That timing can make a meaningful difference. Instead of postponing a massage chair or home wellness setup until after the holidays, customers can bring the product home while the season is still underway and begin using it immediately, with payments starting in 2027. The gifting potential also extends beyond a single recipient. A ZION Massage Chair can become part of the household’s regular wind-down routine, while a sauna or cold plunge may support a more intentional recovery setup at home. These are purchases designed to remain useful long after December, making them especially relevant for families considering one larger shared gift rather than several short-term purchases.

BDO’s broader installment options also provide additional flexibility. Qualified cardholders may access 0% installment terms of up to 24 months under participating offers, although the exact tenor and applicable products should be confirmed with ZION Philippines before purchase.

For buyers, the appeal is less about delaying responsibility and more about choosing when the expense enters the household budget. A customer can secure a qualifying ZION product during the holiday period, have it delivered and installed, and move the beginning of the installment schedule into the following year. The Buy Now, Pay Next Year option also complements ZION Philippines’ other ongoing holiday offers. Depending on the selected product, customers may also find promotional pricing, installment arrangements, trade-in opportunities, and other purchase benefits available during the season. This gives buyers more than one route toward a wellness upgrade based on their budget and preferred payment structure.

With the BDO Buy Now, Pay Next Year promotion running until Dec. 31, 2026, ZION customers planning a purchase of P100,000 or more still have time to explore which products and payment terms qualify. For households that have already been considering a larger wellness investment, the proposition is straightforward: bring the gift home this holiday season, begin enjoying it now, and let the payments start in 2027.

Visit www.zionphilippines.com and purchase today.

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By Jomarc Angelo M. Corpuz

In an industry like real estate, successfully bringing visions to life will not be possible without brilliant leaders who can turn their ambitions into tangible results.

This is very much reflected by Federal Land, Inc., which was named Developer of the Year in the recently concluded Philippines Real Estate Awards 2026, earning industry recognition for a development portfolio comprised of buildings and towers most Filipinos are familiar with. Likewise, its Chairman, Alfred V. Ty, was also named Real Estate Personality of the Year, while eight of the developer’s projects across Metro Manila and Cebu received other distinct recognitions.

Mr. Ty says the Developer of the Year award affirms the developer’s continued effort to develop properties that respond to the needs of residents, businesses, and communities.

“On behalf of Federal Land, I would like to thank the Philippine Real Estate Awards for recognizing us as the Best Developer. This award reflects our continuous commitment to creating places for progress and spaces for life. We look forward to continuing to innovate and elevate the standards of property development in the country, one project at a time,” Mr. Ty said.

A portfolio of excellence with 8 project awards

The developer received eight project awards at the ceremony. The Seasons Residences won Best Mixed-Use Development, while MITSUKOSHI BGC received Best Retail Development. Valencia Hills Tower E was recognized as Best Mid-Range Development, and Siena Towers won Best Starter Home Condominium.

Meanwhile, Quantum Residences received the award for Best Transit-Oriented Development, while The Grand Midori Ortigas was named Best Investment Property in Metro Manila. In Cebu, Marco Polo Residences won Best Investment Property, and Hartwood Village received the award for Best Community-Centric Design.

Federal Land President Jose Mari Banzon said the awards are a testament to the developer’s commitment to purposeful development as it continues to expand its portfolio.

“After 54 years, our commitment remains clear: to create places that make a meaningful difference in people’s lives and communities. We continue to challenge ourselves to innovate, raise our standards, and build with purpose, while staying true to the values that have guided Federal Land from the beginning. These awards affirm that our people, our partnerships, and our commitment to excellence continue to move us forward,” Mr. Banzon said.

Multi-awarded and globally-recognized developer

The honors come as Federal Land prepares to celebrate its 55^th anniversary in 2027, marking nearly six decades of property development since its founding by Dr. George S.K. Ty in 1972. The company has since spread its foundations to more than 140 projects nationwide, spanning a Japanese-branded residential development in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), a hospitality-led residential estate in Cebu, and a growing network of master-planned communities under Federal Land Communities.

The company also received recognition earlier this year at the Stevie International Business Awards, where it was named Most Innovative Company of the Year in Real Estate and Real Estate Company of the Year. It also won Employer of the Year in Real Estate at the Stevie Awards for Great Employers.

These distinctions add to a year of recognition spanning project quality, innovation, and workplace development—areas that support the developer’s broader business operations as it approaches its anniversary.

Highly esteemed real estate executive

Further making Federal Land’s award-winning year more significant, Mr. Ty’s recognition as Real Estate Personality of the Year adds a leadership dimension to the developer’s achievements. The second-generation CEO has guided Federal Land through major developments and international partnerships while holding leadership responsibilities within GT Capital Holdings, Inc., the conglomerate that includes Metrobank, Toyota Motor Philippines, and AXA Philippines.

He continues the entrepreneurial legacy of his late father, whose interest in architecture helped shape Federal Land’s early direction. He has recalled accompanying his father to construction sites and seeing how he considered the people who would eventually occupy and use the buildings being developed.

That emphasis on the people who inhabit a property continues to inform Federal Land’s work across residential, commercial, and mixed-use developments. From premium addresses such as The Estate Makati and The Grand Midori Ortigas to integrated communities designed for a wider range of households, the developer’s portfolio embodies true initiative to connect property development with the experiences of its users.

Addressing attendees at the awards ceremony, Mr. Ty described the purpose behind the business in terms of the possibilities that property development can create.

“Real estate is not simply about structures. It is about imagining possibilities, and then having the courage and discipline to turn those possibilities into places that matter to people,” he said.

As Federal Land approaches its 55^th year in 2027, the Developer of the Year award brings together the different strands of its development strategy, from established urban landmarks and international collaborations to its expanding township portfolio. The developer’s next chapter will build on a legacy established by its founder, with its current leadership continuing to pursue developments that support how Filipinos live, work, and build communities.

To learn more about Federal Land and its projects, visit www.federalland.ph.

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The Philippine peso’s nearly 8% slide against the dollar this year may prompt the central bank to deploy more tools to stabilize the currency, according to marketwatchers.

The peso hit a new low of 64.200 to a dollar on Tuesday, making it Asia’s worst performer so far in October, as elevated energy prices weigh on the nation which relies heavily on imports for fuel supplies. The Philippines has taken a series of steps to cushion the impact of the Middle East crisis, including a surprise 50-basis-point hike this month to rein in inflation.

Here are other measures Philippine authorities may consider to support the peso:

TIGHTER OVERBOUGHT FX-POSITION LIMIT
Reducing the amount of greenback banks can hold in excess of their dollar liabilities may increase the supply of US currency in the market.

“It’s a possibility,” said Paul Favila, Citigroup Inc.’s country officer in the Philippines. Such a move would help curb speculation, he said. However, “the real issue lies in the fact that we are overly reliant on imports while actual commodity prices have gone up.”

MORE BSP SECURITIES ISSUANCE
BSP securities are monetary instruments issued by the central bank to influence the amount of money circulating in the financial system.

Issuing larger volumes of its own debt securities and other short-term tools such as term-deposit facility allows the central bank to absorb more cash.

HEAVIER SPOT AND FORWARD INTERVENTION
The BSP may intervene more in the spot market by selling dollars out of the country’s foreign exchange reserves. The nation has already deployed some of its foreign reserves to limit the peso’s decline.

Alongside spot intervention, it could actively use derivatives to help shape expectations about future exchange rates, particularly if pressure is concentrated in the forward market.

STRONGER VERBAL INTERVENTION
The central bank can signal more strongly that it considers the exchange-rate moves excessive and that it stands ready to intervene.

Monetary authorities have resorted to this measure several times under previous administrations. This eliminates the need to actually dip into the dollar reserves.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday pledged to defend the peso “as hard as we possibly can.”

PUSH FOR FISCAL MEASURES
Monetary authorities can push for fiscal measures to improve market sentiment. If the Department of Finance, headed by Frederick Go who also sits as a member of the central bank’s Monetary Board, can show that fiscal gap and debt will be contained, it can potentially ease pressure on the BSP to raise rates aggressively.

“The government needs to contain the fallout from the weakening peso and pursue both monetary and non-monetary measures to restore investor confidence,” said Jonathan Ravelas, a senior adviser at Reyes Tacandong & Co. in Manila. — Bloomberg

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said “all of Spain” was in mourning after the collision, which the transport minister said happened after a Renfe service was authorized to proceed despite an active red signal due to a stationary train ahead.

Oscar Puente told reporters in Madrid that the red signal was issued due to a computer communications failure, which automatically stopped traffic, but an erroneous decision was then taken to restart the Renfe train.

Mr. Sanchez said in a televised address from near the site south of Madrid that the “terrible tragedy” would be investigated and vowed to address any failures that came to light, adding that the causes of the two crashes appeared to be unrelated.

“If we need to further strengthen safety in order to rebuild confidence in our high-speed rail system, we will do so, because what is unacceptable for a country like Spain is to suffer two high-speed rail accidents in the same year,” Mr. Sanchez said.

Spain’s opposition People’s Party said it had canceled all campaign events for the day, ahead of elections next month.

TRAPPED AMONG SEATS

At the scene in rural Castilla-La Mancha, ambulances, funeral home vans and helicopters assembled beside one of the trains on an elevated stretch of track, while twisted metal and wreckage lay scattered down an embankment where at least three carriages had plunged.

The head of the regional government, Emiliano García-Page, said the death toll had risen to 68, while rescuers searching for other victims as darkness fell did not know if other fatalities would be discovered once the carriages were moved.

Passengers, some splattered with blood or bandaged, were evacuated along a nearby road after the crash, which Spain’s health minister, Monica Garcia, said had injured 80 people, 15 of them very seriously.

Salvador Arriza described the chaos in his carriage.

“I was very close to the door, but (other passengers) were breaking the windows to be able to get out. Some people practically couldn’t move because they were trapped amongst the seats,” said the 62-year-old.

INVESTIGATION UNDER WAY

The disaster, the deadliest train accident in Europe since a 2013 derailment in Spain’s Santiago de Compostela in which 80 people died, follows another fatal accident in January involving high-speed trains operated by the same companies on the same line, in which 46 people died.

In that collision, a train derailed and smashed into an oncoming train, prompting a debate over investment in railway maintenance.

Renfe said on Wednesday that after being authorized to continue its journey, its train had crashed into the Iryo train that had remained stationary “for reasons we don’t know”.

“The Renfe train continued on its way as instructed, and a collision occurred. The exact sequence of events, the traffic conditions and the circumstances of the impact will have to be established by the investigation,” Renfe said in a statement.

Iryo, which said it had activated emergency protocols, and state-owned infrastructure operator Adif did not respond to requests for comment.

PASSENGERS SENT FLYING

A Castilla-La Mancha government spokesperson said 147 people were on board the Iryo train and 397 on the Renfe service when the collision occurred at about 9 a.m. (0800 GMT), derailing two Iryo carriages.

Passenger Rafael Barcelo said he felt lucky as he had stepped away from his seat for a coffee, adding there had been at least eight victims from his carriage.

“We were having breakfast, drinking a coffee when we felt a very strong impact and we were sent flying,” he said.

At a school in Urda where relatives had been directed, a woman who gave her name as Ana fought back tears as she said there was still no news of her husband, Pepe. His name was not among those identified, although police had found their dog, Trece.

Renfe said it had opened a special line for families of victims. The railway operator said it had suspended ticket sales on the Madrid-Andalusia high-speed corridor until December 13.

MAINTENANCE SPENDING

A preliminary Civil Guard report in February pointed to defects in the track, rail or a weld between two sections of track as the leading theory behind January’s accident, though investigators kept seven other possibilities open.

Spain’s railway safety authority has reported that accidents, including derailments and collisions, increased from 45 in 2016 to 57 in 2024 and 69 last year.

A Reuters analysis of data from the Spanish competition authority showed some 25 million passengers used a high-speed train in Spain in the first half of 2026, a drop of around 14% compared with the same period last year.

Meanwhile, European Commission data shows Spain’s maintenance investment in its roughly 4,000 km (2,485 miles) of high-speed lines has lagged other large European countries.

Although Spain spent an average of about €1.5 billion a year on its high-speed network between 2018 and 2022, more than any other European country, most of that money went toward new construction. Only about 16% was earmarked for maintenance, renewals and upgrades. — Reuters

Fighting has damaged refineries across the Middle East and Russia, and hampered oil and gas flows through vital shipping lanes in the Black Sea, Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.

“We are in a very serious situation now. It does not look like we have a security of supply issue but I would warn against neglecting that,” EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen told reporters on Wednesday. He said affordability was just as urgent an issue, arguing that available supply meant little to households and businesses that could not afford it.

The Commission began talks with European refineries on Wednesday to find ways to boost output, including through the possible easing of some technical specifications.

Western powers also agreed this month to accelerate the release of over 400 million barrels of emergency oil stocks after US pressure.

EU countries will also discuss a Commission proposal to cut electricity bills through tax and grid fee reforms, such as by taxing electricity at a lower rate than natural gas.

The EU is entering the winter heating season, with stocks at only 75% of available storage , versus 83% a year ago.

European wholesale gas prices briefly touched €100/MWh on Wednesday for the first time since December 2022 when Europe was reeling from the loss of most of its Russian pipeline gas supply. Prices have been rising as the conflict in the Middle East escalated, and are now trading at around triple pre-Iran war levels. — Reuters

The official briefed on the negotiations, who is not from Iran, said a new draft peace proposal for the eight-month-old conflict was presented on Sunday and was being considered by Tehran, with a response expected by the end of the week.

Qatar, along with Pakistan, has led mediation to end the war, which has disrupted global shipping and oil supplies and recently spread to Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

The proposal presented by Qatar sets a seven-day timeline addressing both Tehran’s and Washington’s concerns, laying out daily confidence-building steps that each side must take, the official briefed on the negotiations said. The timeline could begin early next week and several countries would act as guarantors of the deal, the official added.

Shortly afterwards, a senior Iranian official involved in the talks said Qatar had presented only “unacceptable ideas and not an offer”, and that Tehran’s policy on showing no flexibility over the nuclear issue remained unchanged.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that Tehran remained in close contact with intermediaries to review ideas that could ensure the implementation of its own seven-day proposal aimed at ending the war in the Middle East.

He said Iran continued to give diplomacy a chance to succeed, adding that Tehran’s seven-day plan could be implemented in less than a week.

Washington wants Iran’s decades-long nuclear program to be part of negotiations to end the war from the outset, while Iran says its conditions — which include an end to the US blockade of Iranian ports and the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil exports — must be met first. Iran rejects Western concerns ​that ⁠its nuclear program is military in nature.

ATTACK ON SAUDI OIL REFINERY
In late September, Iran presented its seven-day proposal under which Mr. Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy shipping channels, could be reopened if certain conditions were met. US President Donald Trump rejected it, prompting further Qatari mediation.

The draft discussed in Tehran on Sunday was different from that proposal, the official briefed on the negotiations said, though the details of the latest plan were not immediately clear. The official had previously told Reuters that the Qatari mediators had coordinated with Washington before going to Tehran.

Earlier mediation efforts to end the war that the US and Israel launched on February 28 helped produce an interim peace agreement in June, but it quickly unraveled.

In recent weeks, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi forces have launched repeated attacks against Saudi Arabia — a key US ally and the world’s largest crude exporter — opening a new front in the eight-month-old war.

Oil prices rose more than 1% to more than $115 per barrel on Wednesday after a Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia’s largest oil refinery, Ras Tanura, stoking concerns over supply risks.

Fighting with the Houthis intensified last month as the militant group advanced against Saudi-backed forces towards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, another important shipping lane on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula from Hormuz.

CONCERNS ABOUT RISK OF NEW STRIKES
The official briefed on the negotiations said there were concerns ahead of Sunday’s meeting in Tehran that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, fighting for another term in a general election, could resume attacks on the Islamic Republic this week.

On Friday, Mr. Trump repeated threats to strike Iran again, while Iranian security officials told Reuters Tehran had drawn up detailed plans to attack Gulf undersea cables if the US and Israel resumed attacks.

On Monday, top officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan also met Iranian officials in Tehran as part of de-escalation efforts. Qatar said on Tuesday that Iran needs to stop threats against Arab Gulf states and open the Strait of Hormuz to show good intentions for mediation efforts to succeed.

Gulf states came under sustained bombardment earlier in the war.

The war also reignited fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. It has eroded Mr. Trump’s approval ratings ahead of the US midterm elections that decide control of Congress.— Reuters

In a sign of corporate customers embracing the technology, Google Cloud revenues more than doubled, but investors unnerved by the huge price tag and a growth slowdown in the market-dominating search engine sent shares down 10% after hours.

“In a market worried about AI cannibalizing the franchise, investors need to see search accelerating, not decelerating,” said Dave Wagner, portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors.

“Cloud is carrying the story, but until search shows AI is additive, the stock’s probably going to trade lower.”

The Mountain View, California company reported negative free cash flow of $9.1 billion, versus analyst expectations that it would come close to breaking even, LSEG data showed.

Aggressive efforts to boost cloud capacity and fund AI development led Alphabet to burn $5.9 billion last quarter, the first time it went into the negative in 22 years as a public company.

Total revenue missed Wall Street targets: revenue growth for Google Cloud outpaced expectations but was not enough to offset a $1.4-billion miss in advertising.

Alphabet’s second straight quarter of negative cash flow was a sharp turn for a company that was long one of the tech sector’s most prolific cash generators.

Moreover, Alphabet still plans to significantly increase its 2027 capital expenditures from this year’s spending forecasts of $195 billion to $205 billion, Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi told analysts on a conference call.

While executives did not put a number on 2027 outlays, investors were nervous about a big jump.

“A $300-billion (capex) number could potentially scare the market because free cash flow now is finally negative,” said Jeremy Saltsburg, senior investment officer at Check Capital.

In contrast, rival Microsoft, which also reported results on Wednesday, saw shares rise more than 5%, fueled by positive free cash flow that outstripped analyst estimates.

Ms. Ashkenazi added that she expected near-term margin pressure from the use of third-party cloud capacity.

Net income available to common Alphabet shareholders fell 25% to $26.17 billion, and adjusted earnings per share of $2.67 missed Wall Street targets of $3.02.

The results reflect the huge costs of the AI buildout, with investors concerned both by potential overspending and the risk of falling behind rivals by not spending enough.

Total third-quarter revenue of $127.6 billion fell short of analysts’ estimate of $128.2 billion, LSEG data showed. Revenue from ads came in at $82 billion, missing expectations of $83.4 billion.

Chief business officer Philipp Schindler attributed a larger-than-expected deceleration in search advertising growth to greater use of AI Mode, a chatbot interface for the search engine with which the company is still experimenting on ads.

Google would begin rolling out advertisements in AI Mode to international markets, Mr. Schindler told a conference call.

CLOUD INFLUENCE GROWS
Alphabet attempted to offset the disappointing advertising performance by playing up its cloud computing unit, most notably by debuting Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, as a speaker on the earnings call.

Revenue at Google Cloud exceeded estimates and more than doubled to $30.71 billion in the third quarter ended September 30.

Mr. Kurian said sales of Google’s tensor processing units (TPUs), which compete with Nvidia’s GPU chips, had become a meaningful contributor to his business unit.

Alphabet started recognizing revenue from direct sales of what it called its “TPU Systems”, spanning not only the chips but also associated hardware and software, last quarter.

But Ms. Ashkenazi cautioned that the buildout of TPU inventory would further place pressure on free cash flow.

Google Cloud’s backlog had grown to $561 billion and Alphabet expected to recognize more than 55% of it as revenue in the next 24 months, she added.

The third-largest cloud services provider globally after Amazon Web Services and Microsoft’s Azure, Google Cloud has expanded enterprise commitments, supported by multi-year cloud and AI infrastructure deals across cybersecurity, retail and financial services.

Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta are projected to collectively spend well over $700 billion in 2026 to expand AI data center footprint, chips and high-performance networking capacity.

In the face of supply bottlenecks for advanced silicon and data center power, Alphabet’s investments in custom tensor processing units alongside third-party GPUs have helped expand its service delivery capabilities.

Earlier on Wednesday, Google sought to preempt the results and counter a perception of losing out in the AI race by unveiling the new Gemini 4 Carbon model.

This meant the company was again “leading at the frontier,” CEO Sundar Pichai said on the call.

Afterwards, analysts at Bernstein asked in a note, “Did Google rush the deployment of Gemini 4 models as an offset to softer financial metrics? And are the models ready for commercial deployment?” — Reuters

The expected rainfall is attributed to the effects of the shearline and northeast monsoon, PAGASA said in its 5:00 a.m. press briefing.

Shearline, a zone where cold winds from the northeast monsoon and warm winds from the tropical Pacific converge, is expected to bring rain over Metro Manila, CALABARZON, Aurora, Bulacan and Oriental Mindoro in the next 24 hours.

The same weather conditions may also affect Marinduque, Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur.

PAGASA warned of possible flash floods and landslides.

Meanwhile, the northeast monsoon may bring rain over Cagayan Valley, the Cordillera Administrative Region, Nueva Ecija, the Ilocos Region and the rest of Central Luzon, with no significant impact expected.

The rest of the country is likely to experience fair and warm weather, with a chance of localized thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening.

PAGASA said that while the country is being affected by Super El Niño, rainy conditions are still possible due to rain-bearing weather systems such as the northeast monsoon, shearline, Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), easterlies, and tropical cyclones.

However, rainfall is expected to be below average due to El Niño.

“People may think that it will no longer rain… However, because we experienced a very strong El Niño, rainfall could be lower than normal,” PAGASA weather specialist Obet Badrina said during the press briefing.

He added that average temperatures in many areas are expected to be slightly elevated than normal, although cold surges from the northeast monsoon are still possible.

Between two and four tropical cyclones may also enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) through December. However, PAGASA had not monitored any tropical cyclones within PAR as of the forecast period. — Edg Adrian A. Eva

In the Philippines, celebrations often find their soundtrack quickly. A family meal turns into a reunion, and before long someone reaches for the microphone. Karaoke has long been part of how Filipinos gather.

That familiar ritual shaped Platinum Karaoke’s Sing It Loud event at Ayala Malls Market! Market!, where the brand introduced Sheryn Regis as its newest ambassador, launched a jingle, and showcased products.

Modern Karaoke and Party Speakers

Platinum Karaoke’s Modern Karaoke and Party Speakers are designed for different ways Filipinos gather, from home setups to larger speaker-led celebrations.

Platinum Karaoke also offers a wide range of microphones with zero mic delay and rich echo and reverb, giving singers a more immediate and fuller vocal experience.

Alpha 2 stood out with Sing With Me, Pro Score and Video Recording. The flexibility matters during the holidays, when one family may be singing at home on Christmas Eve while another needs a bigger setup for a clubhouse party or reunion.

PK Audio on the go

PK Audio is built for road trips, weekend getaways and outdoor get-togethers, with Roadie and Camper for easy portability and Apollo and Apollo Pro for bigger group listening.

A familiar voice for a Filipino tradition

That story of music bringing people together found a natural voice in Sheryn Regis. Known as the Crystal Voice of Asia, Regis has spent more than two decades building a career defined not only by vocal power, but by artistry, consistency, resilience and a genuine connection with audiences.

From her standout run on Star in a Million to her signature rendition of “Come In Out of the Rain,” along with songs such as “Kailan Kaya,” “Follow Your Dream,” “Tulad ng Dati” and “Gusto Ko Nang Bumitaw,” Sheryn has become part of the soundtrack of generations of Filipinos.

Her partnership with Platinum Karaoke makes sense for the same reason karaoke remains part of Filipino celebrations: both are rooted in the joy of singing and the emotion behind it. Platinum has spent 25 years putting the microphone in Filipino hands; Sheryn has spent more than two decades showing what can happen when a remarkable singer takes one.

At Sing It Loud, she delivered eight songs straight in an uninterrupted set, then shared the mic with one audience member through Alpha 2’s Sing With Me feature. She later joined Nicole Hyala, Jasper Tiongson, Lukas and HYPE for the new Platinum Karaoke jingle, built around “Sing it loud, feel the vibe,” “Dito lahat, bida ka na,” and “Real Karaoke. Real Joy. Deserve mo ang saya.”

Platinum Karaoke and PK Audio products are available nationwide through consumer electronics retailers and e-commerce platforms, including Lazada, Shopee and TikTok Shop. For product information, store details and updates, visit www.platinumkaraoke.com.

Platinum Karaoke brandstores are located at SM Makati; Vista Mall Bataan; Lucky Chinatown; Vista Mall Taguig; Ayala Malls Marquee, Pampanga; Ayala Malls Market! Market!; Venice Grand Canal; Robinsons Starmills, Pampanga; Pacific Mall, Lucena; and Robinsons Lipa, Batangas.

Follow Platinum Karaoke on Facebook at Platinum Karaoke, Instagram at @platinumkaraokephofficial, and TikTok at @platinumkaraoke.ph.

About Platinum Karaoke

Platinum Karaoke has been part of Filipino music and celebrations for 25 years. Its portfolio spans Modern Karaoke and Party Speakers, a wide microphone selection, and PK Audio portable products. The brand is part of Vismay International Corp.

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Formula One’s oldest and most successful team had the chance to secure the talent now set to become Italy’s first champion in 73 years, and Formula One’s youngest ever, but let it slip through their fingers.

Mercedes seized the opportunity instead in 2018, when Antonelli was 11.

“For Ferrari, Kimi was still too young whereas Mercedes could offer better guarantees regarding his future prospects,” Antonelli’s former manager Giovanni Minardi told the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper earlier this year.

Former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, who was no longer involved with the team at that point, saw a silver lining.

“I am a Ferrari man but I’m delighted to see what Antonelli is doing,” he told Spanish newspaper AS last month. “What I do regret is that Ferrari had the chance to sign him. They didn’t.

“A great opportunity vanished, but almost better for Antonelli. Such a young Italian driving a Ferrari… It would have been terrible pressure.”

Mercedes team boss and co-owner Toto Wolff credited Gwen Lagrue, who is joining Red Bull next year to run their young driver programme, for bringing Antonelli, now 20, on board.

He said also that people did not appreciate the amount of work that has gone into nurturing the team’s successor to seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

“I read an interview with Piero Ferrari last week where he said, ‘What a talent. He reminds me of Niki Lauda’. And I’m thinking, ‘People don’t get that this is the work of nine years’,” the Austrian told reporters after Antonelli won last Sunday’s US Grand Prix in Austin, his ninth win of the season.

“The development of nine years, the hardship of nine years, the integration of the team, the working with the engineers, the 10 or more millions spent in the development of his career, of his ability, of his character together with his parents.

“It’s just not that it landed like this.”

Wolff recalled how others said Antonelli, after nine rounds without points last year, should not have been given the Mercedes seat.

He spoke of those at other teams who suggested the youngster should not even be in Formula One.

“All of that now is extremely satisfying, to see what he’s able to deliver and how he’s working with the team, with (race engineer Peter) Bono (Bonnington) and yielding the results. But it wasn’t an easy road.” — Reuters

“Together, we will be more successful if we respond in a coordinated manner to violations of free and fair trade,” he said Tuesday in Singapore, before he travels to Japan and South Korea.

“Your security has a direct bearing on ours. Our security has a direct bearing on yours,” he said in a speech that outlined shared interests between the two regions.

The German leader focused special attention in his remarks on China, whose surging exports and increasingly high-end manufacturing risks hollowing out industries in many European economies. But for many countries in Asia, particularly the continent’s southeast, the economic and trade relationships are often more intertwined.

Merz also said China “bears a particular responsibility for order, peace, and security in the Indo-Pacific,” a view likely to resonate more with the US allies such as Philippines and Japan, as well as Taiwan.

The chancellor is bringing his message to the region as he has grown more hawkish on trade with China and recently forged a consensus with French President Emmanuel Macron that paved the way for tougher EU trade instruments.

As part of its response, the bloc is planning to use safeguard measures to cut imports of products from sectors including chemicals, furniture and machinery from China, according to people familiar with the matter.

“Wise China policy begins at home,” Merz said. “This principle holds true in the Indo-Pacific as much as in Europe. We will be better equipped to build balanced relations with China if we ourselves are united, strong, resilient, innovative and competitive.”

Merz also reiterated his call for China to stop supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine.
“We encourage China to use her power to help bring about a just peace in Ukraine, rather than enabling Moscow’s war of aggression,” he said.

Merz stressed in his remarks, as well as in an earlier press briefing with Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, that Germany supports the EU reaching more trade agreements, including with Canada and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

While an EU-Asean agreement is in the works and may take some time, Merz said he supports the EU reaching faster bilateral agreements with nations in the region, including Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. “The best would be a block-to-block agreement,” he said.

Wong also said the two sides discussed ways to bring closer together nations of the EU and those in the CPTPP trade pact, which includes 11 Asia-Pacific nations and the UK.

Merz is next scheduled to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo on Wednesday before traveling to Seoul on Thursday to meet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. — Bloomberg

The theater arm of The IdeaFirst Company unveiled its lineup on Oct. 25, naming Die Beautiful: The Musical, Victorina and Teorya ng Mga Tanong as its featured productions.

Opening in June 2027 at the Proscenium Theater, Die Beautiful: The Musical will reimagine the internationally acclaimed film through a production centered on beauty, identity, resilience and chosen family.

Directed by Tuxqs Rutaquio, the musical features a new book and lyrics co-written by Jun Robles Lana and Elmer Gatchalian. Its cast includes Audie Gemora, Karylle, Esang de Torres, Maxie Andreison, Viñas Deluxe, Lance Reblando and Chamyto.

In October 2027, Eugene Domingo will star in Victorina, a comedy written by Mr. Lana and directed by Chris Martinez.

Inspired by Doña Victorina, the social climber in Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, the play will revisit the literary character as she challenges social conventions and attempts to rewrite history on her own terms.

Scheduled for March 2028, Teorya ng Mga Tanong will reunite Romnick Sarmenta, Elijah Canlas and Epy Quizon following their successful performances in the stage adaptation of About Us But Not About Us.

Written by Mr. Lana and directed by Mr. Rutaquio, the play will feature a meta-theatrical premise in which the three actors step into the novel their characters once debated. The production will further explore the boundaries between fiction and reality through this unconventional narrative.

Beyond the three shows, IdeaFirst Live announced a fourth original production in development. The company has yet to disclose its title, cast, creative team or schedule, but described the project as an “unconventional theatrical experience.”

Alongside the season announcement, the company launched THE FIRST LIST, a membership program offering priority ticket booking, special invitations and other privileges.

Registration opened at the announcement venue and through The IdeaFirst Company’s website. —Mhicole A. Moral

The Mercedes driver, in only his second season, has a 123-point lead over teammate and closest rival George Russell with a maximum 100 still available after Mexico.

Two points on Sunday — a ninth place — is all he needs to become Italy’s first champion in 73 years even if Russell wins the race.

“It would be very cool to close this off, to be the next Italian champion, but of course then this has to be just the beginning, you know,” Antonelli told Reuters at last weekend’s US Grand Prix in Austin, where he took his ninth win of the season.

“We’ll focus on finishing this off in style, because it will be good to finish off well, and then we’ll keep going and look to do even better and be even more successful in years to come.”

RACING WITH FATHER MARCO IS ANOTHER DREAM
The Bologna-born youngster wants sportscar racer father Marco, a regular presence in the paddock, to feel something of what he has experienced on track once the dust has settled.

“He’s never driven a Formula One car,” he said. “That’s another thing I want for him. But this I need to ask Mercedes.”

Antonelli also intends to do some GT3 racing with him.

“That’s a dream of his and something we need to arrange. For sure next year there will be, at the start of the season or halfway, a time we can find because it will be good to fulfil this dream of his,” he said.

BORN RACER
The sound of engines and smell of exhausts has been part of Antonelli’s life since he was a baby.

The future Mercedes driver was barely 10 when he first sat on his father’s lap at the steering wheel of a competition Lamborghini, changing gears and guiding the car around a racetrack while Marco operated the brake and accelerator pedals.

He was eight when his father smuggled him into the Formula One paddock for the first time inside a stack of tyres with an umbrella on top.

“Sometimes we may look like lunatics because we just talk about racing,” said Kimi. “A couple of days ago my dad put out this really funny picture of when I was probably nine or 10 and I was sitting on his legs and we were watching onboards (driver view footage) together at the racetrack.

“We like to watch onboards together. We like to analyse things together. Racing is always in our minds. We have a lot of fun together and racing is our passion. It’s what I live for.”

Antonelli was fast-tracked by Mercedes as replacement for seven-times champion Lewis Hamilton when the Briton went to Ferrari, but despite the family background racing was not a given.

“When I was little, before everything even started, he (Marco) didn’t want me to race because the sport can be very cruel at times,” the Italian, who passed his driving test only last year, recalled last week.

“I’d always be very grateful to Mercedes because they were the ones gambling on me when I was very little. Mainly without them, I wouldn’t be here today because they were the ones who supported me all the way from karting to now.

“My dad didn’t want me to race because, unfortunately, when he was racing himself, he had to face this reality: He didn’t have any financial support, and he couldn’t keep going with his racing career… he didn’t want me to face the same kind of disappointments he had faced back then.”

WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Antonelli’s practice debut at Monza in 2024 was a tough baptism when he crashed in front of his home crowd, and last year was a rollercoaster in which he made mistakes and tested the limits.

There have been few errors this year, with new rules and a different kind of racing. Although Antonelli was well beaten by Russell in 2025, with the Briton starting this year as title favourite, he ripped up the script by securing five straight victories from China to Monaco.

Antonelli has won at tracks fast and slow, and stood out for his calm, natural joy of racing and as the leader of a new generation.

“He came to my office just before getting dressed (for the race in Austin) and just sat on the sofa and said ‘I’m going to enjoy this one. And isn’t it funny, I’m not thinking at all about the championship’,” Mercedes team principal and co-owner Toto Wolff said. “So he also has the right mindset.”

At Monza this year Antonelli carved his way from the back of the grid to become the first Italian winner at the “Temple of Speed” since 1966, a sensational achievement even if — according to Wolff — still not as good as the win in Austin.

The rewards, even as a Mercedes driver in a country where Ferrari is a national obsession, are evident.

Antonelli has moved to San Marino, where he is building a house with plenty of garage space. The suggestion he might live in Monaco was dismissed immediately but he was nonplussed when asked how he would reward himself for taking the title.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve got everything I need.” — Reuters

Mr. Trump’s fellow Republicans are fighting to retain the party’s majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate.

The five-day nationwide poll also showed that registered voters broadly favored Democrats over Republicans by 47% to 36% when asked which party they would pick for Congress in what is known as a “generic ballot” question. Some 11% said they did not know who they would vote for if the election were held today.

That gap of 11 percentage points between Democrats and Republicans was 1 percentage point tighter than in a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on October 19. The latest poll additionally asked undecided voters which party they were leaning toward. Factoring in their responses, the national race appeared somewhat tighter, with Democrats leading by 9 percentage points, 50% to 41%.

For Republicans, losing control of either chamber could complicate Mr. Trump’s agenda in the last two years ​of his second term as president.

Generic ballot polls are national polls that provide an overall view of which party poll respondents would like to see in charge in Congress. While these polls provide a view of national public sentiment, they do not ‌capture the nuances of the state-by-state and district-by-district contests that determine control of the Senate and House, contests in which Republicans hold some structural advantages.

STEEP SENATE CLIMB FOR DEMOCRATS
Political analysts generally see the Democrats having a good chance of winning control of the House, but think they face a steeper climb to win the Senate.

It remains to be seen how many voters will actually cast ballots. The voters who appeared most likely to vote still favored Democrats over Republicans by 9 points, 53% to 44%.

The fight for Congress has appeared to turn on views around inflation, which has surged since Mr. Trump ordered military strikes on Iran in February that sent gasoline prices higher. Some 73% of voters in the poll said their cost of living was heading in the wrong direction.

Prior to the start of the war, Reuters/Ipsos polls showed voters preferring Republicans over Democrats as the better stewards of the US economy. The latest poll showed 37% of voters said Democrats have a better approach on the economy, compared to 33% who picked Republicans on the issue.

The poll also suggested Democratic voters were more excited about voting, with 46% of Democrats saying they were very enthusiastic about the midterms, compared to 30% of Republicans who said the same.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll, which was conducted online, gathered responses from 1,679 US adults, including 1,280 registered voters, and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points for all adults and 3 points for registered voters. — Reuters

Yet Mr. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader with 19 years in office, remains a formidable survivor, with nationalist politics increasingly entrenched and Israel’s fragmented system potentially leaving him best placed to form a government.

Opinion polls show a close race between Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party and its right-wing allies and a rival alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff and security hawk with backers on the right and in the center.

Mr. Netanyahu is campaigning on his wartime leadership and his alliance with US President Donald Trump, who has endorsed him and joined Israel in waging war on Iran. Mr. Netanyahu said on Sunday that Mr. Trump was prepared to act again to “finally” remove the Iranian threat, but only if Mr. Netanyahu remained in power.

Mr. Eisenkot has accused Mr. Netanyahu of “relying on a campaign of fear-mongering, lies and threats,” and said he was confident Mr. Trump would work “in full cooperation with any leader chosen by the people.”

Mr. Netanyahu may again depend on far-right leaders Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich to form a government. Both have faced sanctions from some Western countries that accuse them of inciting violence against Palestinians, while Mr. Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party has gained support in opinion polls.

Neither Mr. Netanyahu nor Mr. Eisenkot has a clear path to power. If neither can form a governing coalition in the 120-seat parliament, Mr. Netanyahu could stay on as caretaker until another election is held next year.

Polls open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (0500 to 2000 GMT).

THE OCTOBER 7 RECKONING
The election follows one of Israel’s most turbulent periods since its establishment in 1948, shaped by the trauma of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, Israel’s subsequent military assault in Gaza and deep domestic divisions over the policies of Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing government.

For many of Mr. Netanyahu’s opponents, the election turns on accountability for the security failures of October 7, Israel’s deadliest day.

Mali Hajaj, an Education Ministry employee and Eisenkot supporter, said “the most important thing is the establishment of a national inquiry because that’s where our healing will come from.”

Lisa Tortor said she hoped Mr. Netanyahu would go and “they can form a new government and do some of the repairing of the damage that Bibi has done for Jews all over the world and for Israel, and Israel’s image.” Bibi is Mr. Netanyahu’s nickname.

But Nof Gabay, an 18-year-old Likud supporter, rejected the idea Mr. Netanyahu was to blame for October 7 and called him “the right man for the state of Israel.”

“Netanyahu managed the war in the best possible way,” Ms. Gabay said.

THE WARTIME RECORD
Israel flattened much of Gaza in the offensive launched after October 7, when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took another 251 hostage. Gaza health authorities say Israeli attacks killed 74,000 people.

Israel also dealt heavy blows to Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and traded strikes with Iran before a 12-day aerial campaign against Iranian nuclear sites in 2025 and this year’s joint US-Israeli war.

Mr. Eisenkot has said Israel’s next government must prevent Iran from acquiring a military nuclear capability, either by force or through an “arrangement” such as a US-backed diplomatic solution.

THE COALITION MATH
Like nearly all Jewish-led parties in Israel, Mr. Eisenkot opposes the two-state solution that underpinned decades of peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

But he has criticized Jewish settler violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has surged since 2023 and strained Israel’s ties with Western states, and opposes Mr. Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners Mr. Ben-Gvir and Mr. Smotrich.

In some bastions of Likud support, disenchanted voters have been going door to door to turn voters against Mr. Netanyahu. Some have turned away from Mr. Netanyahu as he battles corruption charges he denies in a long-running criminal trial.

A high turnout among voters from Israel’s Arab minority, Israeli by citizenship but Palestinian by heritage, could help nudge Israel’s complex coalition arithmetic in favor of Mr. Eisenkot.

Though Mr. Eisenkot has ruled out partnering with Arab parties, citing a lack of shared values, analysts see a scenario where they prop up a minority government he leads in order to ensure Mr. Netanyahu is removed from office.

“My expectation is that we will have only a slight majority either way. No landslide,” said Israeli political analyst Amotz Asa-El of the Shalom Hartman Institute. — Reuters

Serbia woke to a new era on Monday after Mr. Vucic, a frequent visitor to Moscow who had been prime minister or president since 2014, suffered a defeat on Sunday that prompted nationwide celebrations, although few had any idea of how the Balkan country’s new student-backed leaders would govern.

Russia saw Mr. Vucic’s Serbia as a crucial ally in Europe, and as a bulwark against what Moscow has cast as the European Union’s aggressive attempts to contain and punish it over its war in Ukraine.

Serbia buys large quantities of gas from Russian energy giant Gazprom, and although it has aspirations to join the European Union, it has not signed up to EU-backed sanctions on Russia over Ukraine. Instead, under Mr. Vucic — who enjoyed close ties to President Vladimir Putin — it continued to develop close economic, political and military links to Moscow.

The Kremlin put a brave face on Mr. Vucic’s defeat, saying it had taken note of the result and that Mr. Vucic — whose contribution to bilateral ties it warmly praised — was moving into opposition.

“As for the new political force that will come to power as a result of the elections, we wish to express our hope that its actions will also be constructively directed towards the further development of relations, and that these new political forces will understand that cooperation with Russia is in Serbia’s interests, because it benefits Serbia,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

“For our part, we intend to continue to do everything we can to foster the development of our relations with Belgrade. But, as you know, it takes two to tango.”

GEOPOLITICAL SETBACK
Russia can still count EU member Slovakia, under Prime Minister Robert Fico, as a friendly country. It has also been closely watching unrest in France, where far-right politician Marine Le Pen has said she would cut financial aid to Ukraine if she won next year’s presidential election.

Recent regional electoral successes for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) have been welcomed in Russia, where Mr. Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev has begun to speak about the possibility of one day reopening the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Germany and Russia which were blown up in 2022.

But for now at least, the potential loss of Serbia as a close ally — after setbacks to Russia’s geopolitical influence in the South Caucasus region and parts of Central Asia — is being seen as a serious blow in Moscow by Kremlin-aligned politicians, media and analysts.

Before Sunday’s election, the Student List party said it would not introduce sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, that it would retain Serbia’s military neutrality, and that it would not seek to join NATO.

Mr. Vucic has cast doubts on those pledges, suggesting the party would renege on them and impose sanctions on Moscow as soon as March or April.

Jovo Bakic, a representative for Student List and university lecturer, on Monday denied his party would U-turn.

“We respect Russia both as a great power and as our historically important partner and, in many cases, protector. There will be no changes there (in the country’s foreign policy),” Mr. Bakic told Russia’s RT Balkan TV outlet.

Members of Russia’s political elite fear Serbia’s EU aspirations could see it put under serious pressure to align itself more closely with EU foreign policy however and that Moscow could find itself betrayed by a traditional ally in the process.

“Brussels, for its part, is keen to see Belgrade align itself more closely with the common European position on Russia. The main indicator of Serbia’s actual course will not be Vucic’s statements or his opponents’ electoral pledges, but rather the first decisions taken by the new cabinet,” said the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.

Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of the influential Russia in Global Affairs journal, said it was clear that a new political era was under way in Serbia that could sharply reorient the country towards the EU, in the same way that Mr. Orban’s loss of power in Hungary saw Budapest and Brussels become much closer.

“In this sense, the Hungarian case is quite telling,” said Mr. Lukyanov. “And Russia has nothing good to look forward to.” — Reuters

AI has captured investors’ imagination with the promise of a technological leap that could transform businesses, accelerate scientific breakthroughs and unlock vast productivity gains.

That has fueled enormous investments in computing infrastructure and AI development, while also stoking skepticism over the scale and pace of the spending.

Anthropic’s listing comes at a critical time for global markets as investors closely assess whether the billions of dollars being poured into the technology will generate returns to justify sky-high valuations.

“There is still enormous excitement about AI’s potential to transform businesses, turbocharge productivity and reshape entire industries, but investors are becoming more discerning,” said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.

Anthropic’s net loss in the first half of 2026 widened sharply to $80.7 billion, largely due to a non-operating item related to bonds convertible into the company’s shares.

Despite the huge expenses, its operating loss for the same period narrowed to $693 million and its adjusted operating income swung to a positive $1.62 billion compared with a loss of $1.85 billion a year ago.

The company, which is expected to go public before Thanksgiving, said its revenue grew a staggering 1,368% in the three months ended June 30 from a year ago, but it warned in the prospectus that its revenue growth rate could decline and fluctuate from time to time.

The filing confirmed a series of Reuters exclusives that offered an early peek at its contents before Anthropic made it public, including details of its financial performance, growth trajectory and IPO plans.

Its prospectus details the risks from the powerful technology, from potential misuse and security threats to concerns that advanced systems could produce outputs that “could be interpreted as coercive, deceptive, or manipulative”, including behavior resembling blackmail.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has called for a slowdown in the development of AI.

VALUATION EXPECTATIONS
Some current and prospective investors are valuing Anthropic at about $1.5 trillion, down from roughly $2 trillion a week ago, after the AI startup disclosed some financial details at a recent investor event.

“The offering is for the faithful, that sooner or later, they’re going to get some return on that invested capital,” said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital.

Anthropic’s IPO currently stands alone in what was once expected to be a crowded fall listing market. Analysts said that would give it access to a deep pool of capital to fund its costly AI ambitions.

“Anthropic’s IPO will establish a benchmark for valuing leading AI labs, influencing both upcoming listings and confidence in the companies funding the AI infrastructure build-out,” IPOX research associate Lukas Muehlbauer said.

Analysts expect valuations of the AI sector to correct as investor unease with the debt-fueled AI investment boom roils equity and debt markets. Higher borrowing costs and rising bond yields have also added to investor caution.

“Anthropic is entering an IPO market that is far more challenging than the summer. Investors were not questioning valuations the same way a few months ago,” said Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused research and ETFs.

BALANCING AI’S PROMISES AND PERILS
Anthropic said more than half of Fortune 500 companies and over 30% of Global 2000 firms were its customers that generated at least $100,000 each in revenue for the company over the 12 months ended September 30.

The IPO comes as Anthropic’s own research raises concerns about advanced AI systems, which in controlled tests have shown behaviors including code sabotage, fraud assistance and information manipulation.

“Our increasing use of AI systems to accelerate our own research and development may cause the capabilities of our models to advance more rapidly than our ability to develop, validate, and implement corresponding safety, alignment, and security measures,” the prospectus said.

The company said it relies on a limited number of cloud services providers such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft and suppliers such as Broadcom for compute and critical infrastructure parts. These relationships can create “dependencies and potential vulnerabilities”, it said.

Anthropic, which did not reveal the terms of its offering, will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “ANT” after the IPO closes.

SCORCHING PACE OF GROWTH
Anthropic, founded in 2021 by a team of researchers who left OpenAI after disagreements over governance and AI safety, was valued at $965 billion in a funding round in May. It remains locked in a fierce battle with OpenAI to lead the race to build the most advanced AI systems.

The company named Netflix’s billionaire co-founder Reed Hastings as its lead independent director. In keeping with Nasdaq rules, Anthropic identified itself as a “controlled company” based on the power of its Long-Term Benefit Trust to elect a majority of its board.

The company said it expects compute and infrastructure expenses to rise in absolute dollars and remain its largest operating expense.

Anthropic has committed more than $600 billion to computing deals with partners including Amazon and Google, ranking among the largest AI infrastructure commitments on record.

Anthropic’s IPO follows that of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which rewrote the IPO record books in June, when it priced a $75 billion offering that valued the company at $1.75 trillion.

Goldman Sachs secured the prestigious lead-left role on Anthropic’s IPO, working alongside Morgan Stanley, which is also a lead underwriter. Both banks declined to comment.

Twenty other banks were named as underwriters with Morgan Stanley serving as stabilization agent, overseeing the stock’s early trading. The IPO mandates mark another win for the two banks, which also held lead roles in SpaceX’s IPO. — Reuters

“When we start mentioning the northeasterly windflow weather system, the chances increase that we are approaching the amihan season,” Veronica C. Torres,PAGASA weather specialist, said in a 5:00 a.m. press briefing in Filipino.

“So, we are not ruling out the possibility of officially declaring the amihan season in the next few days,” she added.

PAGASA earlier said that during the northeast monsoon season, cooler temperatures and rainy conditions are likely, especially in the northern parts of Luzon. The monsoon usually persists until March.

Meanwhile, the northeasterly windflow is expected to bring rains over Batanes, Cagayan, and Isabela, with no significant impact expected in the next 24 hours, PAGASA said in its 4:00 a.m. weather advisory.

It will likewise affect the Ilocos Region, the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and the rest of Cagayan Valley.

During the same period, localized thunderstorms are expected over Metro Manila and the rest of the country.

PAGASA had not monitored any tropical cyclones within the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) as of 8:00 a.m. — Edg Adrian A. Eva

Mr. Dizon will return to the Department of Transportation (DOTr), where he is expected to improve daily commuting conditions, reduce queues at the Land Transportation Office and eliminate fixers, while Mr. Lopez will take over the DPWH to strengthen safeguards against corruption and speed up infrastructure projects.

“We are shifting gears to accelerate reform. Secretary Dizon goes to DoTr to fix the daily commute. Secretary Lopez goes to DPWH to make sure the reforms there last,” PCO Secretary Lino Edgardo S. Cayetano said during a Palace press briefing, quoting Mr. Marcos.

Mr. Dizon served as Transportation secretary before being appointed to lead the DPWH in September 2025, following the resignation of Manuel M. Bonoan amid controversy over alleged irregularities in flood control projects. Mr. Lopez, who served as a DoTr undersecretary, assumed the department’s top post after Mr. Dizon’s transfer.

Mr. Cayetano said Mr. Dizon had been directed to accelerate the completion of critical mass transport projects to reduce travel time for workers and students. At the DPWH, he had opened thousands of projects to public scrutiny and pushed for the completion of long-delayed works, he said.

Mr. Lopez, a lawyer and certified public accountant, will be responsible for institutionalizing safeguards and embedding reforms into agency rules, processes and systems, according to Mr. Cayetano. He will also be tasked with expediting roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects.

The changes follow earlier reports of a possible Cabinet reshuffle that were denied by Mr. Dizon and Malacañang in early October.

The PCO said the President wants the two officials to focus on delivering faster public services and ensuring that reforms continue. – Erika Mae P. Sinaking

The 20-year-old Italian did all he could to put the championship out of reach of his rivals in Texas but Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes teammate George Russell did just enough to delay the inevitable with fourth and eighth respectively..

Antonelli now needs to score only two points — a ninth place — in Mexico City to be sure of the title even if Russell wins.

“It was the result we needed and the whole team deserve it so much,” he said of his first win since Spain last month. “I know we’re very close. We try to finish on a high and hopefully we can clinch it very soon”.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished second, 13.078 seconds behind, in Sunday’s race at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen third and helped by a late virtual safety car that slowed a chasing Hamilton who finished one second down the road.

The win from pole position on a one-stop strategy was Antonelli’s ninth in of the season and he now leads Russell by 123 points, and Hamilton by 124 with a maximum 125 remaining to be won and that reducing to 100 after Mexico.

“The main headline is that for me (it is) the best race he’s delivered so far,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.

“The race of a champion who isn’t the champion yet, but exceptional”.

McLaren’s reigning champion Lando Norris finished fifth on a one stop strategy after being passed by both Verstappen and Leclerc on lap 47 of 56 with his tyres struggling. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar was sixth, and ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Liam Lawson was ninth for Racing Bulls and Pierre Gasly took the final point for Alpine.

Antonelli made a flying getaway and was 2.3 seconds clear at the end of the opening lap while the Ferrari pair took the fight to slow-starting Verstappen for second place.

Leclerc went ahead, before being passed again by the Red Bull, and nearly made contact with Hamilton after the uphill scramble off the grid.

The virtual safety car was briefly deployed on lap two to allow marshals to clear debris and Russell, who had started sixth, had to serve a five second penalty at his sole stop after stewards ruled he had gained an advantage on Piastri on the opening lap at Turn 13.

Russell was then unable to find a way past the McLaren.

“Six good laps, 50 bad laps,” he said of his race. “I want to understand why the pace was so bad on the first stint. The penalty was a bit ridiculous as well, but that’s the least of my worries after such a bad weekend.

“For me, as long as we’re in the constructors’ (lead), that’s the main thing. Obviously I’d like to finish best of the rest, but P2, P3, P5 is not champion, so it doesn’t mean anything.”

Haas’s Ollie Bearman also collected a 10 second penalty for causing a collision with Gasly and retired at the half-distance. — Reuters

“I’m here. With you all,” the Nobel Peace Prize winner wrote on X.

She appeared at a church in western Lara state, according to images shared by her press team, and was greeted by bystanders who sang the national anthem and shouted “liberty!” as she left in an SUV, a Reuters witness said.

Throughout the day on Sunday, she traveled toward Caracas by road as supporters gathered along her route to cheer her on.

Her return was coordinated with the US, Panamanian and Colombian governments, according to a person briefed directly on Ms. Machado’s movements and plans, who added that Mr. Trump approved her return and was kept informed about it.

At the White House on Sunday, however, Mr. Trump said he did not know anything about Ms. Machado’s return and suggested the US would continue to back Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

“She’s a very nice woman,” he said, referring to Ms. Machado. “But we’re doing really well in Venezuela.”

The White House and the State Department did not respond to Reuters questions on the matter.

MACHADO’S RETURN PREVIOUSLY DELAYED AT US REQUEST
Ms. Machado’s efforts to return have tested her relationship with the Trump administration, which she has sought to cultivate as an ally since before it removed former President Nicolas Maduro from power in January.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly expressed support for Ms. Rodriguez, a former deputy to Mr. Maduro, and hailed deals on oil production and other business ventures by US companies in the South American country. Mr. Trump said in September it was too soon to consider democratic elections in Venezuela.

US officials have asked Ms. Machado at least once to delay her return, Reuters reported in June, and she has made several failed attempts to enter the country. Her team did not disclose details of how she returned.

Ms. Machado traveled in a private plane from Panama to Colombia and crossed overland on Sunday to Venezuela, four people familiar with her movements told Reuters.

The person briefed directly on her movements said the flight took place late last week and she was guarded by US security contractors during her journey. Ms. Rodriguez and the country’s authorities were warned by the US not to interfere or threaten her safety, the person said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on Sunday, “The conditions allowing for the safe return of Ms. Machado to Venezuela are the direct result of the US-supported reconciliation talks which have already seen hundreds of political prisoners freed and hundreds of political opposition figures return from exile.

“We expect all political actors to support these talks which represent the best chance Venezuela has had in thirty years to peacefully achieve not just a free and fair election but an enduring democracy.”

A faction of the opposition and the interim government held a round of talks this month, with the aim of remaking the top court and electoral council, among other goals, ahead of eventual elections. The talks have not included Ms. Machado’s political movement.

The Venezuelan Communications Ministry, which handles all press queries for the government, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Ms. Machado’s return.

SUPPORTERS CHEER MACHADO ON ROUTE TO CARACAS
As Ms. Machado traveled towards the capital on Sunday, thousands of people thronged to the side of the highway, many shouting, “María, we love you,” “welcome” and “freedom.”

“Maria Corina Machado will achieve liberty and democracy in Venezuela,” said Hernan Adames, 69, as he celebrated with other supporters in Barquisimeto.

Zuleima Granadillo, 61, an employee at the Ministry of Education, waited for Ms. Machado at a point along the highway in Aragua state, closer to Caracas.

“What does Machado’s arrival mean? All paths are opening up for us, the future is opening up, we have a light, and we are going all the way to the end,” she said.

“This dictatorship is already over with the arrival of our leader.”

Ms. Machado plans to meet with victims of the deadly earthquakes that struck Venezuela in June, as well as the families of political prisoners, the international community and various leaders from the democratic movement in Venezuela, David Smolansky, her top foreign affairs adviser, told Reuters.

“She will work proactively for a date for free and fair elections,” he added.

International energy firms committed last month to expanding projects in the country in a signing ceremony overseen by Ms. Rodriguez and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

Ms. Machado has said that only a “serious, democratic government” can provide the stability needed by investors.

She had been barred by Mr. Maduro’s government from exiting Venezuela but she secretly left in late 2025 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, after spending more than a year living mostly in hiding.

Ms. Machado’s Vente Venezuela movement debuted an app on Saturday to ‌collect voter registration information from Venezuelans abroad. The group hopes eventually to share data from the app, which was built by 15 staff over the last 18 months, with a reformed electoral council so users can be officially added to voter rolls.

Edmundo Gonzalez, a former presidential candidate for Ms. Machado’s movement who has been living in Spain, said on X he would soon join her in Venezuela. — Reuters

The Interior Ministry said 410,000 people took part in Saturday’s marches as authorities deployed 70,000 police, helping to avert a repeat of the looting and vandalism that swept many cities on October 17.

Labor leaders urged further protests next Saturday and a nationwide strike on November 5, saying frustration over wages, living costs and public services was spreading far beyond the student movement that first mobilized last month.

“We see an aggregation of anger,” Murielle Guilbert, co-leader of the left-wing Solidaires trade union federation, told BFM TV. She said grievances from students, workers, firefighters and other groups were converging.

“We call on people to take to the streets next Saturday.”

The SUD Education teaching union said it would join the October 31 demonstration while the large CGT union said it would decide during the week.

MACRON’S SCOPE TO RESPOND IS MINIMAL
The Yellow Vests, a grassroots movement that emerged in 2018 as a revolt against fuel taxes, also called for mass rallies next Saturday, including sit-ins outside town halls and the National Assembly.

“There is anger in this country. It’s growing in schools and universities, on roundabouts, in neighborhoods, on farms and in workplaces,” activist Azelma Sigaux told reporters.

In 2019, President Emmanuel Macron was able to find the resources to reduce fuel costs in response to the Yellow Vests.

Seven years on, strained public finances leave him with little room to meet protesters’ demands. His mandate also expires next April and his centrist party no longer has the majority needed to pass major legislation.

The government has begun talks with unions and student representatives to try to defuse the crisis, but protest leaders say the measures it has proposed so far are inadequate.

“We have received no response at all from this government,” said Ms. Guilbert.

Police unions said on Sunday they did not have enough staff to maintain for any length of time the high level of deployment that on Saturday helped to limit disorder to sporadic clashes in a number of cities, including Paris and Marseille.

Some 1,314 people were arrested on Saturday, half of last week’s numbers, the interior ministry said on Sunday, and about 50 police were injured, compared with more than 1,000 last week.

The protests have resonated beyond France’s borders.

On Saturday Belgian police used tear gas and pepper spray as they clashed in Brussels with anti-government demonstrators. In Albania, peaceful protests that began at the end of May this month turned into violent unrest and skirmishes have taken place in several Italian cities for a second week running. — Reuters

Lula, an icon of the global left and the most dominant force in Brazilian politics this century, defeated Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. The senator had finished first in the election’s first round and hoped to revive his father’s far-right movement.

At times, Lula’s reelection looked like a long shot, as voters soured on him and his Workers’ Party after years of corruption scandals and rising prices, while sweeping societal changes left the former metalworker and union leader looking out of touch with an increasingly app-based economy and its growing ranks of informal workers.

Lula’s victory marks another comeback in a career full of them. The 80-year-old was jailed from 2018 to 2019 on corruption charges that were later overturned, paving the way for him to beat Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 election.

“He is a statesman, a giant,” leftist federal lawmaker Erika Hilton, who was with Lula in Sao Paulo during the vote count, told Reuters.

UNLIKELY PATH TO VICTORY
Pollsters said better-than-expected turnout had powered Lula to victory. Leonardo Barreto, the co-founder of consultancy Think Policy, said voters had chosen Lula’s familiar embrace over Mr. Bolsonaro’s novelty.

“People today are choosing between change, with some apprehension, and a known path, which guarantees certain rights,” he said.

During the campaign, Lula pointed to a track record of falling poverty and inequality, while unemployment, illiteracy and deforestation hit record lows during his third term.

He warned Mr. Bolsonaro would cut welfare spending, backslide on social advances and hand over Brazil’s sovereignty to US President Donald Trump, whose State Department led a campaign to get the Bolsonaros back to power.

Lula’s win deprives Mr. Trump of a major addition to what has been a growing bloc of friendly right-wing Latin American governments that have embraced Washington’s agenda on security and migration.

Celso Amorim, a former Lula foreign minister, told Reuters the leftist “would be very important for establishing a point of balance in Latin America. Lula is that balance.”

COMEBACK KING
Lula becomes the first candidate since Brazil’s return to democracy in the 1980s to be elected after finishing second in the first round.

Lula, who was president between 2003 and 2011, campaigned on a potent mix of pragmatism and populism that has shaped his career in national politics for half a century, rolling out a slew of reforms aimed at improving the lives of workers and poor Brazilians.

These gained steam with late-campaign pledges that ranged from free nationwide weekend public ​transport, which has to be formally submitted to Congress, to a ‌15% increase in his trademark welfare program that is already being implemented.

Lula also championed a constitutional amendment that became Brazil’s biggest labor reform in decades, which passed with wide support in Congress.

CHALLENGING LEGISLATIVE REALITY
Still, Lula’s fourth term could be his most difficult yet, after Brazil elected its most conservative Congress since returning to democracy in the 1980s.

Combined, Mr. Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party (PL) and allied parties could control over 280 seats in the lower house and up to 50 seats in the Senate, enough for comfortable majorities in both chambers.

“He is likely to be a lame duck from the start,” said Oliver Stuenkel, a professor of international relations at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo.

The incoming legislature will likely deepen recent trends of presidents ceding power to Congress, Mr. Stuenkel said, predicting Lula will face waning influence over Supreme Court nominations, unwieldy party coalitions, and even the threat of impeachment.

ECONOMIC HEADWINDS
Lula faces an economy that his government forecasts will grow a meager 2.3% next year, adding to fiscal concerns tied to high interest rates and public debt that has risen past 82% of GDP, the highest since the pandemic.

The president’s critics blame spending, though interest costs have driven most of the increase in debt.

Goldman Sachs said it expects Lula to make modest progress at most to contain spending in a fourth term, as he stays committed to a state-led growth model.

Surging household debt also concerns economists. Trying to address the issue, Lula rolled out a provisional ban on online betting and unveiled a new debt relief program during the campaign.

The incoming right-wing Congress will try to pass structural reforms that favor businesses, experts say, prompting spending cuts that could fuel social upheaval. — Reuters

The ​quake, with an epicenter ​in Nagqu, a sparsely populated, high-altitude city in northern Tibet, is the strongest to hit China since January 2024.

More than 300 police officers including traffic and community police personnel were sent to the epicenter to carry out rescue and emergency relief work, the Nagqu police department said in a separate post on messaging app WeChat early on Friday.

Officers sent to the region checked for damage to homes and helped people relocate to safer locations, the Nagqu police also said in the WeChat post.

A video the police posted on TikTok sister app Douyin showed officers packing supplies in a truck in the dark and inspecting a building and rubble with flashlights.

More than 12,000 people have been safely relocated, state media outlet Xinhua reported.

Videos previously released by local official media showed people leaving their homes and seeking shelter outside or in their ‌cars ⁠parked on the street. One resident reported being awakened by the strong quake and hearing the house squeaking during the tremor.

The China Earthquake Networks Center said in a post that 413 aftershocks had been recorded.

In 2010, a magnitude 7.1 tremor struck Yushu in neighboring Qinghai province, killing at ⁠least 2,698 ​people and leaving nearly 300 people missing. — Reuters

Responding to a Reuters exclusive this month on the first known sighting of a Chinese militia boat off Taiwan’s Pacific coast in mid-August, the coast guard said it had dispatched a patrol boat to drive away the vessel, which was operating alongside a Chinese coast guard ship and a research vessel.

The coast guard confirmed details in the Reuters report, identifying the suspected militia fishing boat as Minfudingyu 07902, and said it had come as close as about 2.7 nautical miles outside Taiwan’s restricted waters on August 16.

China has increased such activity since June in overlapping economic waters involving Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines, the coast guard said, after Tokyo and Manila announced talks on maritime boundary delimitation in their exclusive economic zones (EEZ).

EEZs extend 200 nautical miles from the coast and give a coastal state rights to exploit, conserve and manage natural resources in those waters.

“Such complex grey-zone operations not only increase the maritime surveillance and response burden on Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines, but may also create regional security pressure and affect the existing international maritime order,” Taiwan’s Coast Guard said in a statement to Reuters.

China’s defense ministry, and the Philippines defense and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Japan’s coast guard declined immediate comment.

‘GREY-ZONE’ OPERATIONS
The coast guard said the vessels’ coordinated activity was part of a broader pattern of Chinese “grey-zone” operations using law-enforcement, scientific and civilian cover to expand Beijing’s influence at sea while remaining below the threshold of open conflict.

The Chinese operations were aimed at “assisting ‘battlefield preparation’,” the coast guard said, adding Taiwan’s east coast was an important maritime traffic and supply route and that continued Chinese activity there could further increase security pressure on Taiwan.

Officials in Taiwan say they believe China is practicing for a possible maritime blockade using overlapping military, paramilitary and civilian assets.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve its goals. Taiwan’s government rejects the claim and says only the island’s people can decide their future.

China has repeatedly said its operations off Taiwan’s east coast are “legitimate and lawful” because they are in Chinese waters, a position Taipei’s government strongly rejects.

Taiwan’s coast guard said it had placed the Minfudingyu 07902 on a priority watchlist, assessing the boat showed the “characteristics” of Chinese maritime militia activity and said it would continue tracking the vessel.

Dating back to the 1950s, China’s maritime militia uses fishing vessels with trained, state-supported crews to operate in disputed waters, often alongside coast guard ships around South China Sea flashpoints, helping Beijing assert maritime claims while maintaining a civilian appearance.

The surveillance report reviewed by Reuters was conducted by Taiwan’s Apex Aviation, which used radar screenshots, infrared imagery and automatic-identification system data from a reconnaissance flight to document the cluster of vessels. — Reuters

CINEPROD + PHOTO EXPO 2027 was officially introduced to the media today at The Shooting Gallery Studio in Makati City. The launch brought together leaders from government agencies, policy bodies, academia, and the film and photography industries to witness a new national platform for Philippine creative industries. Scheduled for July 9–11, 2027, at SMXCITE Manila, the inaugural exhibition aims to connect established industry masters with the next generation of film students, indie filmmakers, and digital storytellers. The event is organized by Global-Link MP Events International, Inc., presented by CMB Film Services, and co-presented by JG Superstore, MQ Lighting, and Solid Video Corp. (SVC).

Empowering Next-Gen Talent and Building Future Pipelines

The event comes at a pivotal moment for the country’s creative economy as emerging technology and new media reshape visual storytelling.

CINEPROD + PHOTO EXPO 2027 serves as a vital bridge for local creators, providing direct access to modern gear, specialized skills, and professional networks. By engaging youth early and collaborating with development bodies like the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), the expo builds a sustainable talent pipeline for the country’s film and visual production ecosystem.

During the launch, Jim Baltazar of CMB Film Services shared the vision behind the initiative, emphasizing the importance of mentorship, while Kirk Baltazar presented the event concept as a creative incubator for new local works.

Elevating Local Stories and Attracting International Recognition

The media launch also highlighted how CINEPROD + PHOTO will elevate Philippine cinema and attract global attention to local talent. A central feature of the event is its strategic alignment with the Department of Tourism to discover film destinations across the Philippines and foster active collaboration between filmmakers, foreign crews, and tourism agencies. Under the theme “The Philippines Through the Lens,” the initiative showcases local culture and scenic locations to both domestic and international audiences.

Director-General Paolo Villaluna of the Film Academy of the Philippines contributed an industry perspective on talent development, professional growth and opportunities for Filipino filmmakers.

Adding an international perspective was Saul Molina, representing the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), who traveled to the Philippines to participate in the media launch. His presence highlighted the value of international knowledge exchange and stronger connections between Filipino cinematographers and the global filmmaking community.

Representatives from JG Superstore, MQ Lighting and Solid Video Corp. also shared industry perspectives on evolving production technologies, equipment accessibility and the growing needs of filmmakers, photographers and contemporary media specialists.

Walid Wafik of SMXCITE Manila introduced the venue that will host the inaugural exhibition in July 2027. The 7,500 sq.m. exhibition is currently 80% occupied.

Hands-On Education, Industry Dialogue, and Looking Ahead to July 2027

Designed as an interactive learning and networking hub, the July 2027 expo will feature products across cinema optics, lighting, audio, and post-production software alongside film screenings, creator meet-and-greets, and special installations. Organizers are partnering with schools, guilds, and cultural bodies to deliver masterclasses and technical workshops for both veteran professionals and emerging artists.

A panel discussion co-moderated by Director General Paolo Villaluna and actress Iza Calzado brought together industry representatives for a conversation on the future of filmmaking, photography and content creation in the Philippines.

The discussion explored topics such as international collaboration, emerging technologies, professional training, changing market demands and the importance of creating more opportunities for industry engagement.

The launch also provided an opportunity to discuss how industry activities, including potential educational initiatives and smaller gatherings, could help sustain collaboration between major exhibitions.

Further announcements on participating brands, exhibition features, educational activities and visitor information will be released as preparations progress added Patrick-Lawrence Tan, CEO of Global-Link MP Events International, Inc., the show organizer.

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Kinetix Strength Studio (KSS) officially opened on Oct. 13, 2026, on the 4^th floor of The Podium in Ortigas. KSS comes from the Strength in Movement (SIM) Group, the same team behind Kinetix Lab, Kinetix+, Kinetix Kids, Kinetix Kitchen, and Polarity Wellness Club. Each one covers a different side of training and recovery, from sports science-led strength and conditioning to physiotherapy. KSS brings group strength training into the mix.

Strength Built in a Crew

“At KSS, we believe that strength is a group sport,” said Coach Marc Amil, branch manager of Kinetix Strength Studio.

Members train in a crew, and a coach stays nearby to check form and keep the pace up. “We focus on the social side of strength training, giving each person the experience of being part of a team through our signature and hybrid classes,” Coach Marc said.

KSS also works closely with its sister brands, so the coaching follows the same sports science approach. In Coach Marc’s words, “our classes are grounded in science and led by coaches with backgrounds in sports science.”

Classes for Every Level

Beginners train in the same classes as advanced and elite athletes. “Our classes are designed around a strength cycle, so everyone can progress at their own pace,” he explained.

Outside of class, members can use open gym time set up for hybrid sports simulation. “Our hybrid open gym time lets athletes experience a race-like environment, which helps them prepare for upcoming events,” he added.

Racing on Day One

The event began with a ribbon cutting, then moved into a friendly race simulation with some invited hybrid sport enthusiasts and racers. They participated in the Record Breakers Physical Fitness Test Hybrid Race Simulation. Before the first wave of participants hit the turf, SIM Group’s group training supervisor coach Antish Gaspar briefed the attendees and conducted a warm-up session.

Racers ran in pairs across three waves. Each pair had to clear four stations in order.

The course opened with a 500-meter run, then a 250-meter SkiErg. Next came a 15-meter sled push, with women pushing 102 kilos and men pushing 152 kilos. The last station called for 15 dumbbell squat thrusts using 15-pound dumbbells for women and 25-pound dumbbells for men.

Coaches manned every station to count reps and step in when racers needed help, while DJ Vant kept the room pumped with a race-ready set.

James Licauco and Keano Aniban posted the fastest time of the day to take first place. Ice Escarilla and Simon Abraham finished as runners-up.

After the final wave crossed the finish line, racers swapped sleds and SkiErgs for something slower. KSS coaches led guests on an Afterparty Tour of the studio, with recovery stops set up along the way.

“We promise a full experience that combines the excitement of team sports with personal athletic growth,” Coach Marc shared. “What makes us different is the fun and positive energy we bring.”

Partners Behind the Launch

Partners for the launch included H Proper Coffee Roasters, Coze Skin, Zeal, Fox’s Candy, and Nike Perfume, with support from SIM Group brands Polarity Wellness Club, Kinetix Lab, Kinetix+, and Kinetix Kitchen.

Kinetix Strength Studio is located on the 4^th floor of The Podium, Ortigas Business District, Mandaluyong City. For class schedules and updates, follow KSS on Instagram (@kinetixstrengthstudio) and Facebook.

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The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2025 results, released in 2026, show that the Philippines achieved its strongest performance since joining the assessment. Average scores improved by 20 points in Reading, 17 points in Science, and 16 points in Mathematics, while the share of learners achieving baseline proficiency increased across all three subjects. These gains reflect the combined efforts of educators, government agencies, communities, and education partners to strengthen learning outcomes.

Sustaining this momentum will require continued investment in foundational learning, teacher development, and approaches that help more students succeed. Better learning outcomes improve employment prospects, productivity, and competitiveness while expanding opportunities and pathways out of poverty. For businesses, they help build the skilled, adaptable workforce needed for long-term growth and innovation.

Education is a key pillar of Alagang Ayala because it strengthens the human capital that drives inclusive growth and national competitiveness. Just as physical infrastructure enables people and goods to move, education equips people to make the most of the opportunities it creates. By bringing together Ayala Foundation’s work in foundational learning and iPeople’s network of schools, the Group supports learners from their earliest years through higher education and career preparation.

“Education is one of the most powerful ways we can expand opportunity and change lives. When Filipinos have access to quality education, they are better equipped to build meaningful careers, support their families, and contribute to the country. Through Alagang Ayala, we are bringing together the strengths of the Ayala Group to help more Filipinos turn potential into opportunity — and opportunity into a better future,” said Ayala Corporation Chief Social Infrastructure Officer Paolo Borromeo.

Ayala Foundation works with public schools and partners to strengthen foundational skills and improve learning outcomes. Its CENTEX Digital Education pilot in San Marcelino reached 1,558 Grades 4 to 6 learners and 27 teachers across nine schools. Its High Touch, High Tech approach, combining teacher training and coaching with adaptive learning tools, helped raise average mathematics scores from 27% to 56% after 12 weeks, equivalent to seven months of learning, according to a third-party evaluation. This led DepEd Zambales to expand the approach, training at least one teacher in each of the province’s 315 public elementary schools, with 79 schools now implementing the program.

CENTEX Early Grades extends this work to learners ages three to five, focusing on literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional development. In El Nido, Palawan, and Lamitan City, Basilan, the program supports young learners through teacher training, improved learning resources, and stronger parent engagement.

“Teachers and child development workers are at the heart of the learning journey. They are the ones who see how learners are progressing, where they need support, and how to best help them move forward,” said Ayala Foundation President Tony Lambino. “Our role is to strengthen that work by giving our educators the training and tools they need to respond to help each learner build the foundations for lifelong learning.”

iPeople carries this work forward into higher education and employment. Formed through the 2019 combination of the Yuchengco and Ayala education groups, it now serves more than 80,000 students from kindergarten through doctoral programs. Its network includes Mapúa University, Mapúa Malayan Colleges Laguna, Mapúa Malayan Colleges Mindanao, Mapúa Malayan Digital College, National Teachers College, APEC Schools, and the Naga-based University of Nueva Caceres.

The network combines established institutions with new approaches to learning. National Teachers College continues its tradition of developing educators, while Mapúa gives students access to globally benchmarked content, international learning opportunities, and AI-enabled education through its expanded partnership with Arizona State University, the #1 university in the US for innovation, sustainability, and impact according to the 2026 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings. Mapúa has also introduced the country’s first undergraduate degree in AI engineering.

As industries evolve through digitalization and emerging technologies, preparing Filipinos for future-ready careers has become increasingly important. Through industry partnerships, global collaborations, and innovations in teaching and learning, iPeople helps equip students with the technical, analytical, and leadership skills needed in a rapidly changing economy.

“Quality education must prepare learners not only to graduate, but to succeed in a rapidly changing world. We are combining strong local institutions, global partnerships and industry-relevant learning to help Filipino students become AI-fluent and globally competitive,” said iPeople President Fred Ayala.

Together, these efforts show how Alagang Ayala supports learners at every stage, helping build stronger foundations for individuals, communities, and the country’s future.

About Ayala Corporation

For more than 190 years, Ayala Corporation has been building businesses that enable people to thrive.

Ayala, currently one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines, has meaningful presence in real estate, banking, digital services and telecommunications, and renewable energy. It likewise has a growing presence in healthcare, mobility, and logistics as well as investments in industrial technologies, education, and other ventures. Ayala manages its corporate social responsibility initiatives through Ayala Foundation.

Visit our website at https://ayala.com and follow us on LinkedIn to learn more about the company.

Spotlight is  BusinessWorld’s sponsored section that allows advertisers to amplify their brand and connect with BusinessWorld’s audience by publishing their stories on the BusinessWorld Web site. For more information, send an email to online@bworldonline.com.

Join us on Viber at https://bit.ly/3hv6bLA to get more updates and subscribe to BusinessWorld’s titles and get exclusive content through www.bworld-x.com.

Caption: A purple yam farm in Padre Garcia, Batangas province, the Philippines. Credit: Jam Sta Rosa/AFP/Getty Images via Bloomberg Mercury

The US Department of Agriculture will provide $34.1 million to support the Philippines’ push to develop purple yam or ube, as demand for the root crop surges.

The project will be funded by proceeds from the sale of nearly 40,000 metric tons of US soybean meal, and is expected to support 12,500 Filipino ube farmers over the next five years, the US embassy in Manila said in a statement. It will be implemented by US-based nonprofit TechnoServe.

The funding underscores increasing interest in the Philippines’ production of the crop, which has captured worldwide attention for its distinctive color. The Southeast Asian nation has however struggled to meet rising global demand due to limited production capabilities.

To protect its scarce planting stock from emerging competitors like Vietnam and China, the Philippines recently suspended exports of fresh purple yam. The government is aiming to build the nation’s ube production capacity and turn the crop into a bigger export earner.

The US embassy also said the purple yam project would further boost economic partnership with the Philippines, a long-time military ally of Washington. — Bloomberg

The climate phenomenon associated with warming across the equatorial Pacific Ocean is fanning crop-damaging droughts and floods. Food commodity prices are rising, and economists are revising estimates for inflation and deficits. These impacts are now feeding into markets already stressed by high debt levels and rising borrowing costs.

No corner of global asset markets will be fully shielded from the current El Niño cycle, says Katie Self, a portfolio manager at Pictet Asset Management.

“It’s become almost a full-on certainty that this is going to be the most extreme El Niño we’ve had in history,” and figuring out how to navigate the disruptions ahead is now “definitely” a priority, Self said in an interview.

Man Group, the world’s largest publicly traded hedge fund firm, warned in July that everything from grid infrastructure to metals and fertilizer could be in El Niño’s crosshairs. T. Rowe Price says it has turned to custom-made models to protect its $165 billion portfolio of emerging-market debt and equities from El Niño. And a number of boutique hedge funds are now building entire investment cases around the weather cycle as it intensifies, Bloomberg has previously reported.

A major concern is that El Niño will impact markets already struggling with a number of stresses, including growing debt reliance, rising interest rates and sudden investor selloffs.

“The current macro backdrop differs” compared with previous El Niño phases, “with higher rates, debt and volatility,” analysts Kamesh Korangi and Rose Choy wrote in a note this week by the Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute. The duo identified Indonesia, Brazil and Colombia as the most vulnerable sovereigns, and highlighted the possibility of “spillover effects globally.”

Though El Niño is associated with the Pacific, investors need to understand that “the knock-on effects are fully global,” says Self, who co-manages the $5.1 billion Pictet Global Environmental Opportunities fund. “There is not a single place in the world that will not feel some kind of a knock-on effect from El Niño.”

Strategies to navigate the shocks ahead span bets on interest rates tied to an El Niño-fueled bump in inflation. The weather phenomenon’s impact on energy markets is also emerging as a key trade for the coming months.

“Winter is the season when these forces — climatic, geopolitical, and structural — are likely to converge most intensely,” Zulfiqar Ali, founder and chief investment officer of energy commodities trading hedge fund ZAMS Asset Management, said in an interview last month. That creates an “unusually alpha-rich environment” for managers “with the analytical edge and risk discipline to navigate it.”

At Pictet, Self says she and her team are looking for companies designing technologies that will help cope with the extreme weather patterns fanned by El Niño. Examples include smart-irrigation equipment providers and solutions that lengthen the roots of plants that help in drought conditions, as well as storm-water drainage and flood protection systems, she says.

“El Niño is a compounding factor,” Self said. The weather cycle itself isn’t new, but “it’s now happening on this much warmer baseline.” Those two forces “are going to interact, interplay and make things substantially worse.”

The physical fallout of El Niño is already dominating headlines. Southeast Asian countries have been battling extreme air pollution from forest fires, India faced its weakest monsoon in more than a decade, and across South America people now face both severe floods and a lack of rain, upending their ability to farm.

For investors whose strategies are exposed to land, agriculture or forests in developing countries, the risks are particularly pronounced.

Jonathan Dean, who leads the natural capital strategy at BNP Paribas Asset Management’s alternatives unit, says he’s closely monitoring carbon-credit projects as El Niño fans forest fires such as those raging in Indonesia.

El Niño-triggered forest fire risk “has put the attention” on mal-adaptation of carbon credit projects, he said.

“It’s always been a fundamental part of our underwriting to understand the potential loss rates from a project, doing the climate research before to be able to identify risk factors within a project region,” he said.

The private equity strategy Dean oversees, which has more than $560 million in commitments from International Finance Corporation and other development finance institutions, has been working with a project developer in Indonesia to “maximize the opportunity,” he said. Insurance and remote-sensing technologies are part of a package of tools fund managers can consider to help assess risks in nature-based projects, he added.

The types of resilience or adaptation needed “are very broad ranging,” Pictet’s Self said. “It’s a really full, global phenomenon.” — Bloomberg

THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT’S (NG) budget deficit widened slightly in September despite double-digit revenue growth that outpaced the rise in government spending, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.

The fiscal gap inched up by 0.33% to P248.9 billion in September from P248.1 billion in the same month a year earlier, Treasury data released on Thursday showed.

“The deficit marginally increased as expenditure grew by P37.3 billion year on year and tapered by a P36.5-billion increase in total revenues,” the BTr said.

Month on month, the deficit ballooned by 54.35% from the P161.3-billion shortfall recorded in August.

Total revenue collections jumped by 12.95% to P318.2 billion in September from P281.7 billion a year earlier, supported by double-digit growth in both tax and nontax revenues.

Tax revenues, which accounted for 93.68% of total collections, increased by 12.11% to P298.1 billion in September from P265.9 billion a year ago.

Collections by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) rose by 11.18% to P203.4 billion in September from P183 billion in the same month last year.

The Bureau of Customs’ collections went up by 14.76% to P92.1 billion from P80.3 billion a year earlier.

The Treasury attributed the sustained growth in Customs collections to the “peso depreciation and higher oil prices, as well as enforcement measures, improved valuation and assessment, and continued customs modernization.”

Nontax revenues surged by 27.22% to P20.1 billion in September from P15.8 billion a year earlier.

Broken down, BTr income increased by 5.74% to P8.2 billion from P7.8 billion a year ago, while nontax revenues from other offices surged by 47.94% to P11.9 billion from P8 billion.

Meanwhile, government expenditures increased by 7.04% to P567.1 billion in September from P529.8 billion a year earlier amid “continuing implementation of education, health, and social protection services, as well as an uptick in infrastructure expenditures.”

The Treasury also said local government units’ higher share of National Tax Allotments and the Annual Block Grant to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao also contributed to the increase in spending.

Primary expenditures, which exclude interest payments, rose by 7.46% to P481.5 billion in September from P448.1 billion a year earlier. These accounted for 84.91% of total disbursements.

Interest payments increased by 4.74% to P85.6 billion in September from P81.7 billion in the same month last year.

Excluding interest payments, the government recorded a primary deficit of P163.3 billion in September, narrowing by 1.84% from the P166.4-billion shortfall a year earlier.

NINE-MONTH GAP
For the January-to-September period, the budget deficit widened by 16.64% to P1.303 trillion from P1.117 trillion in the same period last year, BTr data showed.

The nine-month shortfall exceeded the government’s P1.206-trillion deficit program by 8.08% or P97.4 billion.

This also represented 78.56% of the P1.66-trillion full-year deficit ceiling approved by the Development Budget Coordination Committee in May.

Total revenue collections grew by 4.99% to P3.535 trillion in the nine-month period from P3.367 trillion a year earlier, but 0.95% below the P3.569-trillion revenue target for the nine-month period. This accounted for 73.54% of the P4.807-trillion full-year revenue program.

As of end-September, tax revenues rose by 5.64% to P3.225 trillion, accounting for 91.23% of total collections.

BIR collections increased by 5.12% to P2.442 trillion, although these remained 2.68% below the agency’s nine-month target.

Customs collections climbed by 7.77% to P756.2 billion, exceeding its P748.5-billion target by 1.03%.

Nontax revenues dipped by 1.32% to P309.9 billion as of end-September from P314.1 billion a year earlier, although these exceeded the nine-month program by 10.04%.

Meanwhile, nine-month government expenditures increased by 7.9% to P4.838 trillion from P4.484 trillion a year earlier.

This exceeded the P4.775-trillion spending program for the first nine months by 1.33% and accounted for 74.82% of the revised P6.466-trillion full-year disbursement target.

Primary expenditures rose by 6.49% to P4.066 trillion as of end-September, while interest payments jumped by 15.95% to P772.1 billion.

The nine-month primary deficit widened by 17.67% to P531.2 billion from P451.4 billion a year earlier.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort attributed the country’s fiscal challenges partly to sluggish economic growth following government underspending since late 2025.

In a Viber message, he said catch-up government spending, particularly on infrastructure, could help “pump-prime the economy back to the usual 5% levels,” improve tax collections, narrow the budget deficit, and reduce the debt-to-gross domestic product ratio.

Mr. Ricafort also called for stronger tax collection efforts and fiscal reforms, with new or higher taxes considered only a last resort.

“More disciplined NG spending also needed to narrow the budget deficit and curb the growth in outstanding debt in terms of anti-corruption measures,” he said.

The government set its fiscal deficit ceiling at P1.659 trillion or -5.4% of GDP this year.

THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Thursday delivered a surprise 50-basis-point (bp) rate hike and signaled it was prepared to continue tightening amid broadening inflation risks from persistent price shocks and a strong El Niño.

The Monetary Board raised the target reverse repurchase rate (RRP) by 50 bps to 5.5%, the highest in nearly two years or since the 5.75% in February 2025. This also matched the benchmark rate set in April 2025.

Rates on the overnight deposit and lending facilities were also hiked by 50 bps each to 5% and 6%, respectively.

“The Monetary Board recognized the need for a strong monetary policy response to broadening price pressures and further upside risks to inflation,” the BSP said in a statement on Thursday.

“The BSP stands ready to take further monetary policy action as necessary to ensure the timely return of inflation to the target, in keeping with our price stability mandate.”

This was the BSP’s first 50-bp hike in nearly four years or since February 2023.

“This decisive adjustment will appropriately tighten monetary conditions in order to contain spillover effects and firmly anchor inflation expectations,” BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. said during a press briefing.

“Meanwhile, domestic economic activity is expected to recover, supported by fiscal measures. This provides some room for the policy adjustment that is needed for us to return to low inflation, the foundation of sustainable growth,” he added.

The BSP’s latest move marked the fourth consecutive meeting at which it tightened its monetary policy, bringing the cumulative hikes to 125 bps since April.

Only two out of 22 analysts polled by BusinessWorld predicted the 50-bp hike, while 20 had penciled in a quarter-point hike.

Mr. Remolona noted that the decision to raise by 50 bps was a “strong majority” in the Monetary Board, adding that it was driven by concerns that they were falling behind the curve.

“I think, clearly, we wouldn’t be doing 50 (bps) if we didn’t think we were kind of behind the curve. But fortunately, we only need 50 (bps) for now,” he said.

The BSP chief also noted that the Monetary Board talked about an off cycle hike, but opted out to avoid signaling to the market that the economic situation is too dire.

The central bank had noted inflation risks have intensified after the reignited Middle East war drove global oil prices higher, with the recent transport fare hikes and potential supply disruptions from El Niño adding pressures.

“The forecasts were worse than we thought. There was a bit of a sense of urgency to try and dampen these inflationary pressures,” Mr. Remolona said.

The BSP maintained its inflation forecast at 6.1% for this year but raised it to 6% for 2027 from 5.4% previously. It kept its inflation estimate at 3.3% for 2028.

“So, similar to headline inflation, the outlook now is that the core inflation may continue to increase over the next few months and even, perhaps, (in) the early months of 2027,” BSP Deputy Governor Zeno Ronald R. Abenoja said.

Inflation returned to this year’s peak of 7.2% in September amid renewed price surges in oil, food, housing, and utilities. This was the seventh consecutive month that inflation was above the BSP’s 3% target, with the year-to-date headline clip standing at 5.4%.

Core inflation, which discounts volatile food and fuel prices, likewise accelerated to a nearly three-year high of 4.7%.

Mr. Remolona noted that El Niño remains the top inflation risk, with Mr. Abenoja adding that the extreme weather event could affect rice production and push food prices higher.

“We think there’s a modest El Niño that we hope will happen. There is going to be El Niño. We’re almost sure of that… (But) ‘Godzilla El Niño,’ that El Niño will be pretty bad for prices,” Mr. Remolona said.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration on Wednesday said that a strong to very strong El Niño is active in the Tropical Pacific. El Niño, it added, is expected to peak before the year ends and last until the first quarter of 2027.

Meanwhile, the central bank governor said they are concerned that the recent peso depreciation may be inflationary.

However, Mr. Remolona noted that they do not tighten to support the peso, with their foreign market intervention still limited to smoothening out sharp inflationary swings.

On Thursday, the peso fell by 15.9 centavos to a new all-time low of P63.52 versus the greenback, breaking the previous record finish of P63.361 logged on Wednesday.

FURTHER TIGHTENING
Mr. Remolona also said they expect the economy to recover by the first quarter of next year on the back of fiscal measures, which provides them with additional tightening space.

“We expect fiscal spending to rise. And then with that, sentiment will improve and investment will go up. And inflation, if inflation comes down, sentiment will also improve. Then that will help the recovery,” he said.

Mr. Remolona left the door open for further tightening, but said he hopes they wouldn’t have to deliver more outsized hikes.

“I would say we remain open to further interest rate hikes. I can’t say whether it will be 50 (bps) or 25 (bps) or bigger,” he said. “You might remember that in 2022 we did 75 and then 50, and 50. I hope we don’t need to do that.”

Bank of the Philippine Islands Lead Economist Emilio S. Neri, Jr., who correctly predicted a 50-bp hike for Thursday’s meeting, said the BSP’s latest move was appropriate, and expects further tightening.

“We see the possibility of another rate hike in December, potentially at least 25 basis points,” he said in a commentary. “Further tightening in the first quarter of 2027 remains possible depending on the inflationary impact of El Niño. Should weather disruptions prove more severe than expected, the tightening cycle could extend into the first half of next year.”

The Monetary Board will hold its last meeting this year on Dec. 17.

On the other hand, Capital Economics Deputy Chief Emerging Markets Economist Jason Tuvey sees lower odds of further tightening if oil prices ease.

“The BSP hiked interest rates today by a larger-than-expected 50 bps, to 5.5%, but so long as energy prices stabilize and drop back from early next year as we assume, further monetary tightening is unlikely,” he said in a commentary.

However, persistently high fuel costs and potentially faster food inflation may prompt the BSP to increase its key rate by up to twice more, Mr. Tuvey added.

“That said, if energy prices remain elevated into next year and El Niño adds further upward pressure to food inflation, the BSP is likely to keep rates high for longer than we currently anticipate or even deliver one or two more hikes,” he said.

Pantheon Macroeconomics Chief Emerging Asia Economist Miguel Chanco also noted that another quarter-point hike in December is “not a done deal,” adding that the BSP could start easing by mid next year.

“Our base case is that the Board will eventually find itself in a position to start unwinding this year’s hikes by the middle of 2027, especially if we’re right about GDP growth remaining below par for the foreseeable future,” he said in an e-mail. “The Board is flimsily hanging its hat on ‘fiscal measures’ to support a recovery in domestic activity, which we think is a tough ask, given the overbearing weight of weak consumption and investment.”

BMI Asia Country Risk Analyst Brandon Ong said he expects another 25-bp rate hike in December to bring the policy rate to 5.75%.

“But the risk of another hike as early as February is rising. What some forecasters are calling a Godzilla El Niño could cause unprecedented crop disruptions and keep food prices elevated for longer, just as energy costs stayed high in a prolonged US-Iran conflict,” he said in a webinar on Thursday.

“As one of the region’s most inflation sensitive banks, the BSP will not hesitate to hike beyond our base case if inflation expectations start to trip,” he added.

Mr. Ong said the BMI now expects the Philippine economy to grow by 4.5% in 2027, from its previous forecast of 4.9%, as higher inflation will weigh on household spending while more intense El Niño spillovers and tighter monetary policy may dampen activity.

“Higher energy prices are already battering the economy this year, and with the El Niño hit likely to land in 2027, that pressure will likely carry on until next year,” he said.

“One silver lining is that public investments should pick up in 2027 from a low base this year, helping the Philippines emerge as one of the region’s faster growing economies,” he added. — with Justine Irish D. Tabile

The push came after governments in Europe and elsewhere took websites offline as a precaution on Wednesday while website operators scrambled to secure systems running the software.

The emergency shutdowns of banking, airline, rail, tax and government services from Tokyo to Helsinki mark one of the most dramatic tests of the decades-old programming tools that keep the web running, exposing how deeply governments and companies depend on code that few people understand.

“I’ve not seen anything like this in a long, long time,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said at an event in Germany on Thursday, saying the incident showed the importance of building software that can be maintained securely as systems grow more complex.

“It was a long day and a long night, I know, for all the IT and security folks.”

PHP KEY TO INTERNET’S FOUNDATIONS LIKE HTML, PYTHON
The developers of PHP – a computing language like HTML and Python – released fixes on Wednesday for vulnerabilities that had lurked in the software for years until they were uncovered using AI. They urged users to “update immediately”.

Madeline Lawrence, co-founder of Belgian cybersecurity firm Aikido Security, said that details of the flaws had become public before fixes were ready, with attacks reported since.

“Companies are racing to update against attackers who can use AI to exploit them. That’s the whole race,” she said.

As companies and governments deployed patches and suspended websites as a precaution, hacking attempts surged into the millions, according to cloud services firm Cloudflare and Amazon.

“In the 10 hours before it was publicly announced, across the network we saw thousands of attempts to exploit it,” Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince said in a post on X late on Wednesday.

“That jumped to tens of thousands in the 45 minutes post announcement, hundreds of thousands within 2 hours, and millions now.” Amazon also said it saw widespread exploitation.

IMPACT FROM JAPAN TO FINLAND
Japanese companies including brokerage Nomura, lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, airline ANA and East Japan Railway said on Thursday they were temporarily suspending some internet services as part of emergency measures.

Brewer Asahi Group Holdings temporarily suspended certain websites and systems and was conducting a security impact assessment. Insurer Tokio Marine Holdings said it had suspended its group website.

Japan’s Ministry of Finance and Meteorological Agency partially suspended online services to implement safety measures, while Japan’s National Tax Agency temporarily took down its service.

The precautionary shutdowns show Japan’s growing concerns over cybersecurity, as the country recorded more cyber incidents in the first nine months of the year than in all of last year, according to data from TrendAI.

French telecoms group Orange said it had temporarily suspended access to certain PHP-based websites and applications across several subsidiaries as a precaution.

Tencent Cloud, one of China’s largest cloud-computing providers, urged customers to install updated PHP versions but stopped short of calling for widespread website shutdowns.

Finland’s state IT services provider Valtori said it had continued installing PHP security patches overnight and was gradually lifting precautionary service blocks after shutting down government public web services a day earlier.

“Restoring services can take days or even weeks, as in addition to updates, the systems need to be carefully tested,” Valtori Director General Hannu Naumanen said in a statement.

Valtori said the outages were not caused by exploitation of the vulnerabilities or by a cyber breach, and that it was not aware of any active exploitation of the flaws.

SOME FIXES MAY TAKE WEEKS TO IMPLEMENT
Several Asian governments ordered cybersecurity inspections related to the PHP vulnerabilities on Thursday.

China’s industry ministry urged organizations and users to inspect systems and upgrade to the latest secure version of PHP. It also recommended strengthening cybersecurity monitoring and changing accounts, passwords and keys where necessary.

South Korea raised its private-sector cybersecurity alert level and activated emergency response measures, citing concerns over an increased risk of hacking attacks.

Felix Kuhlenkamp, head of security at German digital industry association Bitkom, said that many larger operators had already carried out updates, but for complex IT systems and smaller organizations it could take longer.

“They may run a website using PHP but don’t really keep a close eye on it,” he said. “If a website is based on an old version of PHP for which there is no security update, the entire system must be updated.” — Reuters

Part of a luxury condominium complex on Mexico’s Pacific coast in the tourist town of San Pancho in Nayarit State collapsed on Wednesday after pounding surf ate away the sand beneath it, exposing its foundation and leaving the structure tilted dramatically toward the sea.

In Paraguay, two dozen families took refuge late on Wednesday at a church near Paraguay’s border with Brazil after their homes flooded and more residents anxiously watched the swelling Parana, South America’s second-largest river, as rains battered the region.

UN officials warned this week that the El Niño weather pattern could drive a record increase in Pacific Ocean temperatures as it moves around the globe like a “wrecking ball,” triggering floods in some regions and droughts in others.

In Paraguay, the rising Parana River, a key commercial waterway, has affected about 4,200 families, according to the country’s national emergency agency.

A 58-year-old woman died after her home collapsed in the rains.

At the church now doubling as a shelter, in Paraguay’s Ciudad del Este, dozens of residents pitched tents on a soccer field while others organized communal kitchens with support from the church and local businesses.

In San Rafael, a riverside town, Antonina Sánchez, 65, recounted how she had to flee.

“I was surprised because the water came very quickly. My house, my entire kitchen collapsed; it’s caving in,” she said.

The World Meteorological Organization has predicted temperatures in the central Pacific will rise about 3.8 degrees Celsius above average between November and January, peaking around December, causing one of the most turbulent storm seasons on record.

RAIN, HAIL, MUD AND EROSION
Elsewhere in Latin America this week, two farm workers died near Bella Vista in Argentina’s Corrientes province while moving cattle away from flooded areas near the Parana, local media reported.

Hundreds of residents have been evacuated across the province, though above-average rainfall in parts of the Pampas agricultural belt could benefit crops.

In Chile’s capital Santiago, a flooded stream triggered a mudslide on October 8 onto city streets, and days later, a storm blanketed roads with hail and flooded streets.

In Peru, authorities on Thursday announced financial aid and tax relief for businesses affected by extreme weather battering the country’s Pacific coast. The government plans to allocate 18 billion soles ($5.22 billion) in 2027 towards mitigating the economic impact. — Reuters

The United States has been working closely with the interim government led by acting President Delcy Rodriguez since US forces captured President Nicolas Maduro in January. Both US President Donald Trump and Ms. Rodriguez, Mr. Maduro’s former deputy, have said there will be elections, but have not set a date either for a legislative vote or a national contest for president.

Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who has been outside the country for nearly a year after living in hiding following a contested 2024 election, has said elections must take place by July 2027.

Her Vente Venezuela movement organized the protest, which took place in the capital Caracas, as well as cities including Valencia, Maracay, San Cristobal and Maracaibo.

“Seeing this makes me happy because I know change is possible,” said 18-year-old cosmetology student Leosmary Hernandez, as she gathered with hundreds of others in northern Maracay. “I’ve been through so many hardships, so many problems because of the dollar, and difficulties studying. I have high hopes for my country and for our next leader, president, Maria Corina.”

“I went out to protest before, when things were much tougher, and I’m even less afraid today because I want my voice to be heard,” she added as music boomed around protesters waving Venezuelan flags.

Venezuela’s socialist movement, in power since 1999 under late President Hugo Chavez and then Mr. Maduro, has in the past deployed security forces against protesters decrying political repression, dizzying inflation, poor public services and other problems in the economically battered country, including after the 2024 presidential election.

The ruling Socialist Party called for its supporters to march from Caracas’ Plaza Venezuela, the same place the opposition planned to gather two hours later, to a location near the presidential palace to commemorate breast cancer awareness month.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, known for his close ties to the security services, was pictured on state television attending the march, while the opposition supporters moved their protest to a nearby location.

NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE
US-backed talks between a faction of the opposition and the interim government, aimed at remaking the top court and the electoral council with an eye toward ensuring fairness at eventual elections, held their latest session this month, but changes could take significant time. The negotiations do not include Ms. Machado’s political movement, though she has said she will not stand in the way of their progress.

Ms. Machado’s proxy roundly won the 2024 election according to vote tallies released by the opposition. But the government, which never released full counts, backed Mr. Maduro, as did the country’s legal and electoral institutions.

Amid the arrests of some of her closest collaborators, Ms. Machado went into hiding. Her last public appearance in Venezuela was at protests to mark Mr. Maduro’s third inauguration in January 2025, where she was briefly detained.

Ms. Machado has for years sought US support, aligning with hawks in the Trump team who argued that Mr. Maduro — through links to drug gangs — represented a direct threat to US national security. Mr. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are facing drug and torture charges in the US. They have pleaded not guilty.

But Mr. Trump has repeatedly praised Ms. Rodriguez’s management and her willingness to welcome US investors, saying last month it is too soon to consider elections.

Ms. Machado’s desire to return home, especially after devastating twin earthquakes in June, has caused friction in Washington, with US officials asking her to delay her trip, Reuters has reported.

Demonstrators were also calling for the release of prisoners they say are held for political reasons.

Legal rights group Foro Penal, which represents opposition figures and others who have been detained, often on charges like treason, says there are still more than 320 political prisoners in Venezuela, despite releases that took place under an amnesty law backed by the legislature earlier this year. The government has repeatedly denied holding political prisoners and says the amnesty is generous. — Reuters

The Philippines and Taiwan have repeatedly complained about Chinese activities designed to pressure the countries without direct confrontation. China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has overlapping claims with both Taiwan and the Philippines in the South China Sea.

Felipe F. Carino III, Manila’s deputy chief of mission in Washington, told a seminar this “pragmatic and practical approach” with Taiwan was necessary to protect mutual interests in the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines.

Speaking to Washington’s Center for a New American Security, Mr. Carino linked cable security to South China Sea tensions, but did not mention China by name.

He said security of undersea cables was vital given that they carried nearly all intercontinental data flows “and that 60-67% of cyber incidents happen in our region.”

“These are very important features that should be protected, so much so that we are exploring deeper cooperation with our friends in Taiwan,” Mr. Carino said, adding that the Philippines was doing so “notwithstanding our one China policy.”

He said the Philippines and Taiwan were exploring “practical and more pragmatic approaches in cooperation, including knowledge-sharing and capacity building” and added: “We see this cooperation leading towards … addressing the gray-zone issues in our part of the world.”

Asked if this cooperation could include joint patrols or accountability for vessels that disrupt communications, Mr. Carino said he did not have details, but said: “I’m sure that this is a constantly evolving cooperation, and some of the things that you mentioned may be actually coming to fruition.”

Taipei has stepped up efforts to protect undersea communications links, which are vital to the island’s connections to the rest of the world, after several incidents involving cables and China-linked vessels.

This month, the Philippines’ coast guard said it had deployed its largest vessel and an aircraft to challenge a Chinese research ship operating off northern Batanes province near undersea cable corridors.

At the same seminar, Andrea Yang, Taiwan’s deputy representative in Washington, referred to the jailing in Taiwan of a Chinese ship captain over damage to an undersea cable. She said Taiwan would put more resources into developing unmanned systems to improve maritime surveillance.

Ms. Yang said interference with undersea cables was an issue that should be taken up by the United Nations, which should consider mechanisms to prevent “bad behavior.” — Reuters

The announcement came as it was still unclear whether the US-born pope would proceed with a planned trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, scheduled for November 6-17.

The 71-year-old pontiff had the lower lobe of his right lung removed in surgery on October 13 and was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer.

Final histological examinations and molecular biology analyses of the tissue removed confirmed the diagnosis, with the disease remaining localized, the doctors said in a statement released by the Vatican.

“A subsequent oncological evaluation has confirmed that no further therapy is required,” the pope’s lead surgeon, Stefano Margaritora, and his personal physician, Luigi Carbone, said.

Leo was discharged from hospital on Saturday and is gradually resuming his normal duties. On Wednesday, he returned to St Peter’s Square for his weekly audience with pilgrims.

Mr. Margaritora said last week there were “no clinical reasons” preventing the pope from traveling to South America, but the Vatican’s secretary of state has indicated the pontiff may need to adjust the pace of his schedule to aid his recovery. — Reuters

The order came as attacks in Saudi Arabia killed at least one person and injured eight others at a civilian airport in Dammam and two people were killed in a drone attack on an oil field.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a post on X that the department ordered the departure of “non-emergency US government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia only” amid attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen on civilian targets in the country.

Washington had returned some diplomatic personnel to the region in recent months after many were pulled out when Tehran launched attacks on US facilities after the US-Israeli war on Iran began in late February.

“Iranian-supported Houthis have increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions,” Mr. Pigott said.

Four US officials told Reuters that US missions in other Gulf states would also be ordering family members to leave. Mr. Pigott did not address changes to other missions outside Saudi Arabia.

The latest withdrawals follow an escalation of the fighting in Yemen, opening another front ​in the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israeli ⁠war on Iran. The wider conflict has snarled global energy trade and hurt Gulf economies.

After the departure order, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority reported an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam that killed one person and injured eight others. Earlier in the day, two people were killed after Saudi air defenses intercepted a drone that was attempting to hit a facility at Saudi Aramco’s Shaybah oilfield, the energy ministry said.

The US embassy in Riyadh issued a security alert on Wednesday about possible further attacks by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia, after recent deadly strikes including on Riyadh’s airport.

The embassy and a CIA station hosted there came under attack by drones in early March, as Iran began launching attacks across the region. — Reuters

The statement came with a warning to Seoul of “the most horrible and distressing situation” if South Korea continued what Pyongyang calls interference in the North’s internal affairs.

On Wednesday evening, after she visited fortification sites with senior military officials, Ms. Kim said North Korea would activate anti-South Korea loudspeakers across the border by the end of October.

She said North Korean tactical units had taken up new positions and accused South Korean troops of conducting warning broadcasts and warning shots at multiple locations near the border. South Korea said warning shots had been fired as “legitimate and defensive measures”.

Ms. Kim warned that North Korean troops would “mercilessly eliminate” South Korean forces if warning fire resulted in harm to North Korean territory or personnel.

The threats deal a blow to South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s efforts to ease inter-Korean hostility and raise tensions along the heavily fortified frontier to their highest level since he took office in June last year.

Both North and South Korea have historically used loudspeakers to broadcast propaganda across the border, with South Korean broadcasts featuring K-pop music and news that have long irked Pyongyang and prompted tit-for-tat responses.

The two Koreas are separated by a demilitarized zone (DMZ), established after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice. North Korea has been reinforcing its side of the DMZ with mines, barriers and fencing since 2024 as it seeks to establish what it calls a permanent border with South Korea.

South Korea says North Korean mines planted as part of its fortification activity in the DMZ caused a blast last month that seriously wounded two soldiers. North Korea denies responsibility, calling the incident a South Korean fabrication.

Since taking office, Mr. Lee has pursued a policy of diplomatic engagement and tension reduction with North Korea despite Pyongyang’s refusal to resume dialogue and its designation of South Korea as a hostile state.

His administration halted South Korean loudspeaker broadcasts and dismantled fixed border loudspeakers last year, steps Seoul described as key confidence-building measures, and after which North Korea suspended its own broadcasts toward the South.

Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Seoul’s Kyungnam University, said Ms. Kim’s latest warnings did not necessarily mean the loudspeakers would be immediately activated.

But they presented Mr. Lee’s administration with an “enormous dilemma”, he said, as it faced a choice between maintaining its policy of peaceful engagement and containing aggressive North Korean military activity along the border. — Reuters

Developers of the PHP programming language on Wednesday released urgent new fixes to vulnerabilities that had been lurking in their software for years until they were uncovered using AI, saying all users were “encouraged to update immediately.”

With tech firms warning that some hackers were already exploiting the flaws, government agencies across Europe were among those that took sites offline as a precaution.

Because a fix is now public and artificial intelligence tools are able to reverse engineer the bug with little effort, experts said they were bracing for a wave of intrusions as hackers jumped to get ahead of the updates.

AI was powering a “race to exploit,” said Costin Raiu, co-founder of cybersecurity research and incident response firm TLP:Black. He said the next step was the “mass compromise of every vulnerable web server on the internet.”

PHP — a language that dates back to the early 1990s and initially stood for “Personal Home Page” — underpins huge parts of the public-facing web and is baked into WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and Magento sites, meaning any critical vulnerability potentially has enormous knock-on consequences.

“All servers using any version of PHP released in the last 20 years will be vulnerable,” said Tiffany Farriss, the interim chief executive of the Drupal Association. “This issue impacts the majority of the internet.”

Cybersecurity agencies around the world have urged PHP users to update immediately or take websites offline until patches can be applied.

According to data from Censys, the internet intelligence firm, about 1.5 million out of 2.6 million hosts report running a version of PHP for which there is no fix.

The Dutch cybersecurity agency itself went offline, saying it had done so as a precaution because of the vulnerabilities. The operator of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia also said it had taken down an unspecified number of systems until they could be safely patched, while the Internet Archive, the sprawling online library, said it also briefly went offline to deal with the issue.

Even some world leaders weighed in. The Dutch prime minister said he was closely monitoring the situation. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in a post on X said website owners should “check whether your live site uses PHP and prepare to apply the new fix.”

BUG FOUND WITH AI
The flaw in PHP was discovered using artificial intelligence, two cybersecurity companies said in independent reports. Calif said in a blog post it found the flaws with the help of a large language model on August 1 and had been working on a fix ever since. Alphabet-owned cybersecurity company Wiz said in a blog post that it too had discovered it with the help of Wiz Atlas, its autonomous AI vulnerability research tool, as well as Google’s Gemini 4 Argon and OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol.

The vulnerabilities remained hidden in the PHP codebase for more than a decade and would have been extraordinarily complicated for a human hacker to take advantage of, Wiz’s post said.

“Pre-AI, this manual work would be difficult to implement and even harder to scale,” it said. “With AI, this is no longer a barrier.” Calif and Wiz said they coordinated with one another and the PHP team and OpenAI on the discovery.

In a statement, the White House said it was made aware of the flaw on Friday.

In a blog post late on Wednesday, Amazon security chief CJ Moses said the tech giant’s security team detected an attempt to exploit the vulnerabilities against one of its decoy “honeypot” systems on October 17, four days before public disclosure.

The attempt on the system came from an anonymous internet address, suggesting the activity was conducted by a threat actor, Mr. Moses said, adding it was unclear how the actor learned of the flaws while they were under embargo.

More attempts followed on Wednesday by multiple actors before the embargo lifted. Amazon said it was still unclear whether any of the attempts would have worked against real websites, adding the flaws were “now being broadly exploited in the wild.”

CRITICAL SOFTWARE
PHP is a programming language used to run websites. When a visitor loads a page, a server running PHP assembles the content and sends it to the browser. It is free, open-source software maintained by volunteers.

Its ubiquity — PHP runs roughly 75% of websites whose programming language can be identified, according to web technology tracker W3Techs — has made experts anxious. AI-assisted hacking campaigns, which have proliferated in recent weeks, could wreak havoc on unpatched servers, said Lukasz Olejnik, a visiting senior research fellow at King’s College London.

“The scale is huge, and with AI, exploitation may happen instantly,” Mr. Olejnik said.

WordPress.com operator Automattic said users of its hosted solutions and Tumblr were safe from the bug. Risks were higher for small PHP-powered websites run by individuals or organizations with limited technical resources, often on shared hosting services where customers do not directly manage the underlying servers.

MASS OUTAGES
In the Netherlands, several organizations followed the example of the National Cyber Security Centre and took public-facing websites offline, including the Port of Rotterdam, government portal Overheid.nl, the national soccer association KNVB, the websites for the country’s five largest political parties and several hospital websites.

Danish municipal IT company Kombit said it had shut down several services, including the national school communication platform.

Disruption was even more widespread in Finland, where state IT services provider Valtori said government public network services had been taken offline “as a precautionary measure.”

France’s Interior Ministry said it had placed all of its websites into preventive maintenance. — Reuters

The declaration is also expected to encompass the economy, looking to advance bilateral free trade talks, while boosting social and diplomatic ties. The countries would establish committees in all of the areas to draft action plans, the person said.

Mr. Carney will be the first Canadian prime minister to make a dedicated bilateral visit to Turkey. He is set to meet with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Thursday and then with Turkish business leaders in Istanbul on Friday.

The visit is part of Mr. Carney’s efforts to reduce trade dependence on the United States and strengthen partnerships with regional powers amid a damaging trade war with Washington and an increasingly adversarial relationship with President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly questioned Canada’s sovereignty.

At a Canadian government briefing on Tuesday, officials declined to confirm what specific declarations, agreements or deals might be signed during the trip.

Mr. Carney will meet Mr. Erdogan “to advance cooperation in trade and investment, energy, defense and security and people-to-people ties,” said a Canadian government official.

The meetings with Turkish companies on Friday are meant “to promote the strengthening of bilateral trade and investment and to foster new opportunities for commercial collaboration,” the official said, adding that Ottawa is most interested in Turkey’s aerospace, defense, energy, mining, high-tech and agriculture sectors.

Turkey’s presidency and the Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

TALKS MAY INCLUDE NUCLEAR POWER, LNG
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told the Kanal 7 broadcaster on Sunday that energy, namely nuclear power, would be among the top agenda items during Mr. Carney’s visit.

Ankara anticipates that energy discussions will also include potential purchases by Turkey of liquefied natural gas from Canada as well as critical minerals, according to the person briefed on the matter. A working group is expected to be created to study the feasibility of a bid by Canada’s CANDU to build a planned nuclear plant on Turkey’s Black Sea coast.

Turkey has held talks with Canadian engineering firm AtkinsRealis, which owns CANDU, as well as South Korea’s ​Korea Electric Power Corporation and China’s State Power Investment Corporation, about potentially building its planned second and third nuclear power plants. Russia’s Rosatom is ⁠building its first.

The discussions on the defense sector are expected to focus on drones and naval cooperation. In 2024, to help thaw bilateral ties, Canada removed weapons-export controls on Turkey, including on optical ​technology used in drones that Turkey exports to dozens of nations.

Mr. Carney will be accompanied on the trip by his foreign minister Anita Anand and energy minister Tim Hodgson.

He will meet executives from defense companies and firms with energy businesses including Calik Holding and Sabanci Holding, according to two other people familiar with the plans. Sabanci Holding declined to comment while Calik Holding did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Turkish defense analysts have said Mr. Trump’s policies towards Canada had created opportunities for closer cooperation in ammunition production, drones and naval systems, but cautioned that major agreements were unlikely to materialize in the short term. — Reuters

The US official said Ukraine brought forward new ideas and proposals to the Oslo talks, which also involved the leaders of Norway and Finland and European and NATO representatives, and that participants made “meaningful progress” toward a coordinated approach to engaging Russia.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the talks covered “key elements of a comprehensive peace framework,” including security guarantees for Ukraine, a post-war economic plan and a broader European security architecture.

Mr. Witkoff would aim to “create a pathway toward direct trilateral and broader multilateral negotiations,” the official said.

Mr. Zelenskiy traveled to Oslo seeking to repair relations with Washington, which have sunk to new lows as Mr. Trump has courted Moscow. Kyiv has complained that Washington has withheld vital military support and intelligence.

Mr. Zelenskiy told a news conference after the Oslo meeting and an earlier phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Ukraine was again receiving early warnings of Russian missile attacks.

“Now it works, it’s great,” he said, adding he and Mr. Rubio had discussed supplies of Patriot missile interceptors as well as the satellite-based Starlink system, which Kyiv complained had stopped working when mounted on fast-moving objects such as drones.

Mr. Trump’s recent gestures toward Moscow, including a deal to buy Russian diesel and a waiver of new sanctions, sparked bipartisan pushback in the US Congress and worry in European capitals.

Mr. Zelenskiy said he had discussed “Article 5-like” security guarantees, referring to the NATO stipulation that an attack on one ally is an attack on all.

“I am thankful to the American side that they underlined again that it will be strong,” he said.

Mr. Zelenskiy reiterated that Ukraine hoped to discuss key issues on how to end the war during a trilateral meeting of leaders of Ukraine, Russia and the US.

Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told the news conference the Oslo meeting had been good and constructive, while Finnish President Alexander Stubb added: “I think the (peace) process is back on track.”

Washington has denied deliberately hindering Ukraine’s war effort. But Mr. Trump has repeatedly rebuked Mr. Zelenskiy, and called for him to be replaced.

On Tuesday, Mr. Trump called on Ukraine to make a deal to settle the war, and said Moscow wanted to get it done. “Ukraine has to want to settle this war,” he told reporters.

Mr. Trump suggested Moscow had the upper hand in the fight because “Russia is a big machine — they just keep grinding forward, and that’s what they’ve done. They’ve taken a very large piece of land.”

RUBIO SAYS US MISSILES MAY NOT HAVE BEEN DELIVERED YET
The US under Mr. Trump has largely stopped providing weapons directly to Ukraine but lets European countries buy US weaponry on Kyiv’s behalf under a program known as Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL). It has also provided intelligence and technology that Europe cannot match.

A source familiar with the matter said most weapons deliveries under PURL continued to flow, but US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had not approved Ukraine’s latest requests for Patriot interceptors.

Mr. Rubio acknowledged on Tuesday that a consignment of interceptors bought by European countries for Ukraine may not have been delivered, but denied that the US had changed policy.

“There has not been some deliberate political directive to go out and harm Ukraine,” he said on a visit to India.

Mr. Hegseth told reporters US policy toward Ukraine had not changed and stressed the need to maintain US stockpiles. “Certainly, with things like interceptors, we want to make sure our guys have the most possible as well,” he said.

He also said Washington had not pulled back Ukraine’s ability to access Starlink, which is owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and appeared to signal that the problem rested with corporate terms of service Kyiv needed to comply with.

Mr. Musk has said Starshield, the military-grade version of SpaceX’s Starlink communications system, is controlled by the US government and any limits on its use are ultimately up to Mr. Trump.

Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal cited US officials and people familiar with the matter as saying that Mr. Musk ordered the slowdown after consulting with Mr. Trump and other administration officials. Reuters reported earlier that the order to limit the service came from the White House.

While US ties with Ukraine have deteriorated, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian cities, particularly targeting power stations and fuel, despite a call from Mr. Trump for both sides to spare each other’s energy systems.

Russia bombarded cities in western Ukraine overnight, targeting electricity systems and knocking out power across swathes of the country that had previously been spared.

Ukraine held back for several days last week from hitting Russian oil refineries in deference to Mr. Trump’s request, but has resumed strikes after Russia showed no sign of complying. Both sides have also struck data centers.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly condemned Ukrainian attacks on Russia while saying little about Russia’s far more severe attacks on Ukraine.

RUSSIAN ATTACKS
Russia’s defense ministry said on Tuesday it struck three cargo vessels in Ukraine’s port of Reni and two other cargo vessels en route to Odesa. Russian forces also hit two logistics hubs, it said.

Energy facilities were attacked in seven Ukrainian regions overnight, knocking out power, and the western Lviv region was struck again during the day. Russian drones also struck an energy facility in Kyiv on Tuesday, mayor Vitali Klitschko said, with authorities saying power was out in four districts.

The deterioration of US-Ukraine relations began 10 days ago when Mr. Trump lifted sanctions on Russian diesel in a deal agreed with Mr. Putin. Mr. Trump said this would help reduce high fuel prices that have upset US voters ahead of midterm elections on November 3.

At the weekend, Mr. Trump issued a broad waiver of tougher sanctions on Russia that were meant to have begun this week. — Reuters

The move came after unrest swept northern Italian cities at the weekend, including the financial capital Milan, where gangs of mainly young people went on the rampage, smashing windows, robbing shops and attacking police.

“There is nothing revolutionary about vandalizing and stealing. Vandalism and theft are not protest, they are criminality,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on social media, unveiling the decree.

As part of the package, which comes into immediate effect, anyone who takes part in a group of at least five people and endangers public safety during protests faces up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of €20,000 ($22,460).

Penalties increase if faces are concealed or people injured.

Authorities are empowered to order prompt compensation for any damage inflicted and, in the case of minors, their parents will be held liable.

Police will be allowed to detain youths aged between 14 and 17, even if they have not committed a crime, provided there is evidence they pose a danger, extending powers that previously applied only to adults.

While authorities fear further unrest at demonstrations planned for Saturday, the government said it would deploy 500 army troops alongside the police in Milan until the end of 2026.

The military will help reinforce security at key sites, step up surveillance of sensitive locations and enhance monitoring across the area, the defense ministry said in a statement.

MELONI’S SECURITY CRACKDOWN
The disturbances in northern Italy echoed riots in neighboring France, where hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets on Saturday in some of the country’s most violent turmoil in years.

Ms. Meloni has passed a steady stream of security crackdowns since taking office in 2022, which critics say do little to address the underlying causes of crime and disorder.

Italy’s prison population has increased by more than 17% over four years, or nearly 10,000 people, government data shows.

Ms. Meloni’s government is also facing mounting pressure from a separate wave of protests in southern Italy, where truck drivers angered by soaring diesel prices and the rising cost of living have staged roadblocks that are disrupting supply chains.

Some pasta makers have had to halt production and agricultural groups have warned that fruit and vegetables could be left to rot. The government has promised fresh aid for road haulers after talks with industry representatives.

Protesters in both the north and the south say rising prices are pushing families into poverty — a concern for Ms. Meloni ahead of national elections that are due in 2027.

“We know what it means to look for a job, to earn an insufficient wage, and to see no prospects for the future … but hardship must never be used as an excuse for violence,” the prime minister said on Tuesday. ($1 = 0.8906 euros) — Reuters

Shares of Netflix fell nearly 7% to $63.99 in after-hours trading. The stock had fallen more than more than 40% in a year before the earnings report.

Third-quarter revenue rose 11.8% to $12.87 billion, in line with Wall Street forecasts, but the lowest rate of increase in nearly three years. The company forecast fourth-quarter net income of $2.79 billion and EPS of 67 cents, below the average analyst forecast of $3.07 billion and 73 cents.

Netflix reduced its advertising forecast for 2026 to roughly $2.7 billion, down from about $3 billion. Some ad product capabilities rolled out slightly slower than expected, executives said in their quarterly letter to shareholders.

The company that shook up Hollywood when it started streaming TV shows and movies two decades ago is now competing with a surge in viewership on YouTube and TikTok. Netflix has invested in video games, podcasts and live events to draw new viewers and increase the time members spend on the platform.

Wall Street analysts have questioned how the company will kick-start growth.

Looking ahead, Netflix said it would continue to expand its offerings through licensing more third-party content. Beyond that, it will focus on the core service of streaming TV, film and live events and invest in original shows that “spark conversation, bring in more members and make us a ‘must-have’ service,” executives said in the letter.

For the third quarter, earnings per share came in at 87 cents, ahead of the 82 cents average forecast of analysts surveyed by LSEG. New programming during the quarter included “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story,” the second season of “The Gentlemen,” the final installment of “Outer Banks” and a reboot of “Little House on the Prairie.”

Last week, Netflix laid off 1,000 people, or about 6% of its employees. The company replaced Chief Creative Officer Bela Bajaria and said film chief Dan Lin was departing, signs that it is resetting its programming strategy.

Earlier this year, Netflix lost a bidding war for Warner Bros Discovery and its rich library of characters, which was sold to David Ellison-led Skydance.

Netflix has posted monthly subscriber losses in the US throughout 2026, with no net additions reported for any month up to September, data from analytics firm Antenna showed.

Antenna tracks US subscription purchases via sources like credit card transactions, but excludes subscriptions acquired through wholesale bundles. A Netflix spokesperson said the Antenna data were “not representative of Netflix’s business performance.” — Reuters

Signal No. 1 was raised over seven areas, including Batanes, the Babuyan Islands, and mainland Cagayan, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) in its 5:00 a.m. tropical cyclone bulletin on Wednesday.

It was also raised over the eastern portion of Isabela, the northern and central portions of Apayao, the northeastern portion of Ilocos Norte, and the northeastern portion of Catanduanes.

PAGASA warned that affected areas could experience strong winds that pose a minimal to minor threat to life and property within the next 36 hours.

Meanwhile, PAGASA also issued heavy rainfall warnings for Ilocos Norte, Apayao, and Cagayan due to Champi, with rainfall of 50 to 100 millimeters expected in affected areas within the next 24 hours.

Similar areas may also be placed under heavy rainfall warnings until Friday.

The bureau warned of possible flooding and landslides in areas affected by heavy rainfall.

Super Typhoon Champi was last located 990 kilometers east of Northern Luzon as of 4:00 a.m., with maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 265 kph.

PAGASA said Champi is unlikely to make a direct landfall in the country, but its cloud extensions could still bring strong winds and rainfall to parts of Luzon.

In terms of its projected track and intensity, Champi is expected to move closest to extreme Northern Luzon between Thursday and Friday afternoon. It is then expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility by Friday evening or early Saturday morning.

PAGASA said the super typhoon could further intensify within the next six hours while over the Philippine Sea before beginning to weaken. It is expected to weaken into a severe tropical storm by Sunday. — Edg Adrian A. Eva

The financial technology company behind the GCash e-wallet platform listed its shares on the PSE Main Board under the ticker symbol GCASH.

Mynt’s shares opened at P6.63 apiece, up 0.5% from the IPO price of P6.60, according to Reuters.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. led the bell-ringing ceremony marking the company’s stock market debut.
The offering surpassed Monde Nissin Corp.’s P55.89-billion IPO in 2021, previously the largest in the Philippine stock market.

Mynt sold approximately 8.03 billion common shares at P6.60 apiece, comprising 1.61 billion newly issued shares and 6.42 billion existing shares sold by current shareholders.

The base offering was valued at approximately P53 billion, while the exercise of an overallotment option covering about 1.20 billion additional secondary shares increased the total transaction size to P60.9 billion.

Based on its final IPO prospectus, Mynt plans to allocate 60% of the net proceeds from the primary offering to the expansion of its credit technology (CreditTech) business.

The remaining proceeds will be allocated to product development and general corporate purposes.

Proceeds from the sale of newly issued shares will go to Mynt, while proceeds from the secondary offering will go to the selling shareholders.

Mynt’s domestic cornerstone investors include ATRAM Trust Corp., BPI Asset Management and Trust Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co.’s Trust Banking Group, Philequity Management, Inc., and RCBC Capital Corp.

Its international cornerstone investors include International Finance Corp., HSBC Global Asset Management (UK) Ltd., Amundsen Investment Management, FIL Investment Management (Hong Kong) Ltd., and funds and separately managed accounts managed by investment management subsidiaries of BlackRock, Inc.

Mynt earlier said Albizia Capital Pte. Ltd., Amundsen Investment Management, and HSBC Global Asset Management were making their first cornerstone investment commitments in the Philippines.

It also said Ninety One North America, Inc. and Ninety One UK Ltd. were participating as cornerstone investors in Southeast Asia for the first time.

Reuters earlier reported that cornerstone investors had committed to purchase P36.5 billion worth of shares ahead of the public offering.

The IPO also attracted demand from domestic institutional investors, with major local institutions placing orders that prompted banks to seek larger share allocations, according to earlier reports. — Alexandria Grace C. Magno

Family, friends and supporters held a wake for Mr. Solorzano, 43, on Monday, two days after he was shot dead by two assailants at a Guatemala City sports center. His burial is scheduled for Tuesday.

Guatemalan police said they had detained two men in relation to the killing, and seized a carbine-style firearm and a motorcycle. Both were released on Sunday without charge and maintain their innocence. Police said they have yet to establish a motive for the killing.

For Guatemalans, it brought back grim memories of the 1998 assassination of Bishop Juan José Gerardi, who was beaten to death two days after presenting a damning report that documented atrocities from Guatemala’s civil war, blaming the army and its allied forces for most of the violence.

“In terms of magnitude and significance, I think (we have to go back) to 1998, when Father Gerardi was killed,” said Juan Francisco Sandoval, former head of Guatemala’s Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity.

SOLORZANO TARGETED THE ELITE

Juan Francisco Solorzano Foppa was the son of a guerrilla fighter who died in the civil war in the 1980s, and the grandson of the acclaimed poet and activist Alaíde Foppa, who was abducted in 1980 and never seen again.

Mr. Solorzano rose from assistant prosecutor to become a leading anti-corruption figure. He worked with the UN-backed anti-corruption group CICIG on the “La Línea” bribery case, which brought down President Otto Pérez Molina in 2015.

As head of Guatemala’s tax agency from 2016, he targeted the business elite. He won a record $100 million settlement from the steelmaker Aceros de Guatemala and had the Camino Real hotel owner arrested over false invoices. His cases recovered about $280 million in taxes.

“He had many adversaries because of his work at the tax authority, and many political adversaries, especially because of the public accusations he made,” said Mr. Sandoval, who had known Mr. Solorzano for 23 years.

Mr. Solorzano was fired in 2018 and CICIG was forced out as part of a backlash by Guatemala’s powerful entrenched elite. In 2021, he was arrested over accusations of irregularities in signatures collected to register a new party.

“This does not give me any shame,” Mr. Solorzano said at the time, showing the handcuffs on his wrists to reporters in court. “This shows we are touching the powerful people of this country.”

A judge later dismissed the most serious charges.

In 2023, he briefly joined the defense team of Guatemalan investigative journalist Jose Ruben Zamora, who was arrested on money laundering charges but said he was a political prisoner. Mr. Solorzano regularly asserted links between criminal gangs and political parties, as well as the judicial system.

“It hurts me deeply, because this is not how you end the life of a citizen who has given so much to the country,” said former Interior Minister Francisco Rivas, a friend of Mr. Solorzano for 20 years. “He was a fighter, extraordinarily brave, and very firm in his convictions and values.”

President Bernardo Arevalo, who campaigned as an anti-corruption champion in the election he won in 2023, also condemned the killing, calling it a “cowardly” murder on Saturday. “Both the direct perpetrators and those who ordered the crime must face the full weight of the law,” he said.

Mr. Solorzano leaves four children: two from a first marriage and two with a second partner.

Mr. Solorzano’s uncle, human rights activist Julio Solorzano, suggested the murder could be a way to generate fear and distrust and to destabilize the country.

“We hope it will soon be known who the perpetrators were, but its impact as a political crime has already been felt,” he said during the wake on Monday. — Reuters

Some 31% of Americans approve of Mr. Trump’s performance in office, down a percentage point from two weeks earlier and the lowest level in either of his presidential terms, the four-day poll showed.

Asked which party they would vote for if the congressional elections were held today in what is known as ‌a “generic ⁠ballot” question, some 47% of registered voters in the nationwide poll picked Democrats and 35% chose Republicans. The 12-point Democratic advantage was the widest over the current election cycle and could bolster Democratic hopes of seizing control of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate.

For Republicans, losing control of either chamber could complicate Mr. Trump’s agenda in the last two years of his term.

Generic ballot polls are national polls that provide an overall view of which party ​poll respondents want to see ​in charge in Congress. ⁠While these polls provide a view of national public sentiment, they do not capture all the nuances of the state-by-state and district-by-district contests that determine control of the Senate and House, contests in which Republicans hold some structural advantages.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll two weeks earlier showed Democrats leading Republicans by 7 points, 44% to 37%.

Much of the drop in support for Republican congressional candidates was due to a larger share of women saying they would pick Democrats. Some 50% of female voters said they would vote Democratic, compared to 32% eyeing Republican candidates. Men also favored Democrats, but by a smaller margin.

Mr. Trump’s popularity has suffered since he ordered military strikes on Iran in February alongside US ally Israel. The war triggered a surge in gasoline prices, hitting household finances. Some 68% of Americans disapprove of Mr. Trump’s handling of the economy, including 37% of self-identified Republicans.

Voters in the poll picked Democrats over Republicans as the better stewards of the economy, by 40% to 33%.

The survey, which was conducted online, gathered responses from 1,679 US adults, including 1,279 registered voters. The poll’s results had a margin of error of 2 percentage points for all respondents and 3 points for registered voters. — Reuters

Cuban ambassador to the UN, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, and other representatives yelled at the US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, as he left the event at the UN building, which focused on allegations of human rights abuses by the Cuban government.

The tensions between the two nations are rising before the vote on the non-binding resolution, which has passed in the UN General Assembly by wide margins every year since 1992, and amid mounting strain from a US-imposed oil blockade on Cuba.

“I hope you…noted the so-called diplomats from the Cuban embassy here that we allow here by dint of treaty, harassing, yelling, intimidating, and filming not only our just released former political prisoners but others,” Mr. Waltz told reporters in New York.

“Year after year, the Cuban regime comes to the General Assembly and propagates a lie through its annual resolution…It uses excuse after excuse to justify its oppression, to justify the misery of the Cuban people, and what we are doing here at the US mission to the UN is exposing those lies,” he said.

The vote is expected to take place on Oct. 27-28, officials said.

The US has maintained a trade embargo on Cuba for more than 60 years ​and US President Donald Trump’s administration ​has been stepping up ⁠the pressure, after using the military in January to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The UN vote can carry political weight, but only the US Congress can lift the Cold War-era embargo.

Cuba has blamed US sanctions for the crisis the country is mired in, the worst economic downturn in decades characterized by shortages of basic goods, collapsing infrastructure and runaway inflation.

“The US is acting as an international delinquent, enforcing collective punishment on the people of Cuba. They are inflicting immense suffering upon the whole population of a peaceful nation,” Mr. Guzmán, the Cuban ambassador, said at an impromptu gathering outside the US meeting with dissidents.

Last month, Mr. Trump said at the UN that Cuba was a failed state and freedom ​would be coming to the island nation.

Cuba’s electrical grid suffered a total collapse last month, plunging it into darkness and leaving millions without power. — Reuters

The data center developer is seeking another major deal with the AI lab for a second facility at its Monarch data center campus in West Virginia, the person said.

In August, Anthropic struck a deal to spend $45 billion to ​rent AI cloud computing power from Nscale’s West ‌Virginia data center campus. A second Monarch building would deliver 460 megawatts of computing power using Nvidia’s advanced Vera Rubin AI chips, according to the source.

Anthropic did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Anthropic also has the right of first refusal on Monarch’s expected third building, the person said, adding discussions were ongoing and details of the plan could change.

Bloomberg, which first reported the news, also said a cohort of investors had urged Anthropic to lower its IPO valuation target after a series of market setbacks for AI companies.

Investors have sharpened scrutiny of companies that are increasingly turning to debt-driven AI infrastructure expansion. Last week, Nscale rival CoreWeave’s shares slumped amid concerns over its $50 billion debt load, fueling a global selloff in AI stocks.

The news of a potential tie-up comes after Microsoft pulled out of a deal to anchor a flagship data center for Nscale following power ​connection delays that pushed its expected supply date into the 2030s.

Nscale has grown rapidly since ⁠launch, increasing ​its total contracted value from $100 million to more than $103 ​billion in two-and-a-half years and competing with Nebius, Crusoe and Lambda.

According to the Nscale prospectus, Microsoft and Anthropic are expected to be the company’s major customers in the future. — Reuters

The financial technology company behind the GCash e-wallet platform listed its shares on the PSE Main Board under the ticker symbol GCASH.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. led the bell-ringing ceremony marking the company’s stock market debut.

Mynt offered approximately 8.03 billion common shares at P6.60 apiece, comprising 1.61 billion newly issued shares and 6.42 billion existing shares sold by current shareholders.

The P53-billion base offering surpassed the P48.6-billion IPO of Monde Nissin Corp. in 2021, previously the largest in the Philippine stock market.

The offering also included an overallotment option of up to 1.20 billion additional secondary shares, which could increase the total transaction size to approximately P60.92 billion if fully exercised.

According to its final IPO prospectus, Mynt plans to allocate 60% of the net proceeds from the primary offering to the expansion of its credit technology (CreditTech) business.

The remaining proceeds will be divided equally between product development and general corporate purposes.

The company identified several domestic cornerstone investors, including ATRAM Trust Corp., BPI Asset Management and Trust Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co.’s Trust Banking Group, Philequity Management, Inc., and RCBC Capital Corp.

Its international cornerstone investors include International Finance Corp., HSBC Global Asset Management (UK) Ltd., Amundsen Investment Management, FIL Investment Management (Hong Kong) Ltd., and funds and separately managed accounts managed by investment management subsidiaries of BlackRock, Inc.

Mynt earlier said Albizia Capital Pte. Ltd., Amundsen Investment Management, and HSBC Global Asset Management were making their first cornerstone investment commitments in the Philippines.

It also said Ninety One North America, Inc. and Ninety One UK Ltd. were participating as cornerstone investors in Southeast Asia for the first time.

Reuters earlier reported that cornerstone investors had committed to purchase P36.5 billion worth of shares ahead of the public offering.

The offering also drew demand from domestic institutional investors, with major local institutions placing orders that prompted banks to seek larger share allocations, according to earlier reports. — Alexandria Grace C. Magno

Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) is holding the fourth and final race weekend of the 2026 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Philippine Cup season on Oct. 22-24 at the Clark International Speedway in Mabalacat, Pampanga. The event is open to the public and admission is FREE.

The season finale is set to bring bigger thrills as the races deliver double the points, pushing drivers to push the limits for better to secure their place on the podium. Leading the standings as of Race Weekend 3 are Red Diwa for the Super Sporting Class, Bern Zaragoza for the Sporting Class, and Iñigo Anton for the Tamaraw Class.

Aside from the sprint and endurance races, fans can look forward to fun side activities such as the remote control or RC track and simulator racing rigs. Enthusiasts looking to mod their rides can also visit the sponsors’ booths, while those in the mood to elevate their wardrobe can check out the new lineup of official GAZOO Racing merchandise.

Fans who have been following the TGR Philippine Cup are in for an exciting 2027 season, with an addition that is sure to bring greater thrills to the series. Details will be announced during Race Weekend 4.

“We hope the developments we are planning for the 2027 season will attract new motorsports fans,” shared TMP First Vice-President for Vehicle Sales Operations Elijah Marcial. “It has always been our mantra at TGR Philippines to continue pushing the limits for better not just for the activities we are already doing, but also when looking for new ways to bring the thrill closer to Filipino motorsport fans,” she added.

Race Weekend 4 of the 2026 TGR Philippine Cup will also be broadcast live on TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Philippines’ Facebook Page.

The TGR Philippine Cup has been serving as a “rolling laboratory” since Race Weekend 2 in July, when TMP first introduced the use of low-carbon biofuels for the One-Make Races (OMR) of the Vios and Tamaraw. TMP has been testing E20 fuel, a 20% bio-ethanol blend, on the Vios, and B5 fuel, a 5% coco-biodiesel blend, on the Tamaraw as part of efforts to test alternative solutions toward energy security while supporting the country’s agricultural sector and the decarbonization of the transportation sector.

Race Weekend 4 will mark the culmination of this rolling laboratory initiative, with key findings to be consolidated and shared by TMP to relevant stakeholders to support informed and productive applications moving forward.

The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Philippine Cup is brought to you by Official Tire Partner GT Radial, Official Engine Oils Partner Petron RevX and Petron Blaze Racing, Official Partner TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Academy and Premier Race Partner DENSO. In cooperation with MOMO Italy, PIAA, Sparco Philippines, Toyota Financial Services Philippines, Autoplus, ROTA, and VARTA. This event is also supported by 3M, AVT, QUAD, myToyota Wallet, OMP, Tuason Racing Sports Unlimited, Brakes by AutoPerformance, GENCHEM, Toyota Tsusho, and Toyota Aisin. Contributing sponsors are Aguila Auto Glass, Kinto One, AutoQuix, HKR Philippine, Inc., Technol Eight, and Sun Logistics Technology, Inc.

To stay updated with the latest news on TGR Philippines, follow TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Philippines on Facebook and Instagram and TMP’s official pages — Toyota Motor Philippines on Facebook and Instagram, ToyotaMotorPH on X, and join the Viber community at Toyota PH.

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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi requested an urgent parliament session to authorize the military, one of the Arab world’s largest, to help defend its Gulf Arab ally if the kingdom requested its support.

A parliamentary vote had been expected on Sunday, but discussions were due to continue on Monday, two lawmakers and local media reports said.

Fighting between the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa and much of the north, has escalated in recent weeks, becoming another front in the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Any Egyptian military backing for Saudi Arabia could mark a major escalation in the wider Iran war, which has threatened global energy supplies and sent oil prices soaring since the US and Israel attacked the Islamic Republic in late February.

Hours after an announcement on further discussions by the parliament, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said in a post on X that he discussed regional developments and the importance of de-escalation during a phone call with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

HOUTHIS RAMP UP ATTACKS ON SAUDI ARABIA
The Houthis have in recent days attacked Riyadh’s international airport and the ​state oil company Saudi Aramco, amid renewed fighting with Saudi-backed forces. The Houthi advances threaten the strategic Bab el-Mandeb oil shipping route, following the collapse of a truce.

“Egypt will provide Saudi Arabia with all necessary and possible forms of support to defend its security and stability, protect its resources, territorial integrity and Islamic holy sites,” the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

The statement followed a meeting of Egypt’s National Defense Council chaired by Mr. Sisi and attended by the parliamentary speaker, the prime minister and the army chief.

Mr. Sisi said in a speech on Saturday that Egypt would act in accordance with guidance from Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who visited Mr. Sisi on September 15, after fighting in Yemen reignited.

If Egypt weighs in, it could face attacks by the Houthis, ragtag mountain fighters who have emerged as a deadly force of tens of thousands and whose missiles and drones threaten the region.

Arab countries, especially Gulf states hosting US bases, have faced repeated attacks by Iran and its allies, including the Houthis and pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, during the conflict.

Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Damietta came under a drone attack in July with no group claiming responsibility. Egypt has not blamed any party for the attack but said it was taking necessary measures to protect the country’s national security.

Egypt and ​Saudi Arabia are close strategic and economic partners. Saudi ​Arabia and ⁠other oil-rich Gulf states including the United Arab Emirates provided Egypt with billions of dollars in aid, central-bank deposits and investments after the military ouster of Islamist President Mohamed ⁠Morsi ​in 2013. Mr. Sisi became president a year later.

Egypt had previously joined the Saudi-led coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government against the Houthis, but played a limited combat role in the civil war.

Riyadh has turned to regional allies and Pakistan after it sought US President Donald Trump’s help to fight the Houthis. Mr. Trump did not agree to US strikes, sources told Reuters last month. Washington instead offered targeting assistance and intelligence-sharing.

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman visited Abu Dhabi on Sunday and met with UAE President Mohammed bin ​Zayed Al Nahyan, with talks focusing on regional security, according to the Emirati state news agency.

The talks followed a visit to Riyadh last month by UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the first trip by ‌a senior UAE official to the kingdom since a deep rift emerged between the two Gulf powers last year. — Reuters

Officials said 39 people were in hospitals as a result of the fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, which Prime Minister Mark Carney described as one of the worst peacetime tragedies for Canada’s military on home soil.

Winds up to 96 kilometers (60 miles) per hour fed the blaze which began around 4 p.m. MDT (2200 GMT) on Saturday. But they were below 50 km per hour leading up to the fire, Major General Wade Rutland told reporters at a news conference.

He described the sudden high winds and resulting spread of the fire as an “uncommon, rapid” event in which the flames advanced 1 km in 30 to 60 seconds.

“I’ve certainly never seen anything like it,” said Mr. Rutland, commander of 1st Canadian Division, which is based in Edmonton, about 210 km west of the military site.

Officials identified the dead as Sergeant Morgan Wong, Private Shaun Farrell, Private Aidan Goulding and Private Hayden Lykkemark.

“The nation is in mourning for those brave members of our Armed Forces whom we have lost,” Mr. Carney said Sunday, adding that he had ordered flags on federal buildings across the country to be lowered to half-staff to honor the victims.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said many of the injured will require “weeks and months” of specialized, intensive medical care.

When the fire began, Mr. Rutland said, 85 soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, were in “high intensity” combat training using live munitions at the base, which is located in a prairie setting. The soldiers were preparing for deployment to Latvia, where Canadian forces currently have their largest international military operation.

Mr. Rutland said the incident remains under investigation and declined to speculate on what caused the grass fire. Officials do not believe the region’s extensive oil and gas infrastructure had anything to do with the incident, he said. He also ruled out “outside interference.”

CFB Wainwright had 1,310 military and civilian personnel stationed there as of 2021, according to census data. The base houses the Canadian Maneuver Training Center, which runs training scenarios and exercises for the army. Mr. Carney said those affected in Saturday’s fire came from military bases across the country.

Military and civilian firefighters fought the fire through the night in “some of the worst conditions imaginable,” Mr. Carney said.

Twenty-two ground ambulances and eight air ambulances responded to the scene, Ms. Smith said. Patients are being treated in Edmonton, Wainwright, Calgary and Red Deer.

Military search and rescue technicians also parachuted into the site, Mr. Rutland said.

Health staff in Edmonton said a “code orange,” or mass-casualty event, was declared to coordinate the medical response for patients being transported from Wainwright.

The town of Wainwright, with a population of about 6,600, is just north of the base.

The municipality posted on social media that the fire had crossed the base fence into the nearby district but no evacuation orders had been issued. It said on Sunday that the fire is not expected to spread beyond its current boundaries. — Reuters

The 71-year-old pontiff had an operation on Tuesday to remove the lower lobe of his right lung, fueling speculation about how his illness might change his 17-month papacy.

Smiling from a window of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace as he spoke to pilgrims below in a firm, clear voice on Sunday, the first US pope thanked people across the world for their prayers and said he would now begin to resume his normal schedule.

“Having overcome this delicate phase… I will now gradually resume my activities, always with the help of God and your prayers,” Leo said.

The pope, who was discharged from Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Saturday, came to the window in the palace unaided and held his weekly midday appointment as usual.

He also urged pilgrims waiting below under cloudy skies to set aside any selfish ambitions and serve God “without compromise”.

NUN CRIES AS LEO MAKES APPEARANCE
Leo has been diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer. The diagnosis, for the youngest pope in decades, who was elected only in May 2025, caused shock.

His doctors discharged him on Saturday after blood tests and chest imaging that day showed him well enough to return home. They said he was able to perform normal daily activities independently.

Crowds in St. Peter’s Square, numbering about 15,000 according to the Vatican, shouted and clapped loudly as Leo first appeared at the window on Sunday. One Catholic nun knelt and cried, holding her hand over her face.

A few steps away, a group of other nuns held aloft a sign reading, “Best wishes, Holy Father. We love you and we are praying for you”.

POPE’S CALENDAR IN FLUX
Leo usually keeps a busy schedule, but the Vatican has canceled his other public events until at least Wednesday, when he is due to hold a weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square. It has not said whether he will hold that audience.

The pope is also planning to visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from November 6 to 17, in one of the most intense trips arranged for a Catholic leader in decades.

Dr. Stefano Margaritora, the pope’s lead surgeon, said on Saturday that Leo could be fully recovered in time for that trip.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, has however expressed skepticism. He told journalists on Friday the pope may need to adjust the pace of his schedule going forward “according to the condition of his health”.— Reuters

The proposed fund would be established as a wholly owned limited liability company and would receive an additional 2% of Anthropic’s shares, at the board’s discretion, for every 50% increase in the company’s value above a baseline that has yet to be disclosed.

The move comes at a time when Anthropic is planning one of the biggest IPOs in history as a public benefit corporation, a legal structure that requires management to consider certain broader interests as well as turning a profit for investors.

The company, which has positioned itself as a safety-first ​AI lab, has said AI could pose “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity” and devoted roughly 80 pages of the 261-page main body of its prospectus to laying out risk factors.

Anthropic said in its blog post its Public Benefit Fund could support initiatives including nonprofit donations, direct distributions to specific populations and efforts to address AI’s impact on the labor market.

Elon Musk, who runs Anthropic rival xAI, on X said he recommended “giving the shares directly to the public.”

Anthropic cited the potential impact of AI on workers as one area of focus for the new fund, building on a previously announced $200 million commitment to study and address labor-market disruption.

Global companies have cut thousands of jobs after investing ​heavily in AI, with many, primarily tech firms, pointing to higher efficiencies from the technology’s rapid adoption.

IMF research shows that some 40% of jobs will be either augmented, downgraded or eliminated by AI, with the number as high as ​60% in advanced economies, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said last week.

NOT FOR POLITICAL GIVING
The AI giant said none of the equity held by its fund would be used for lobbying or political giving in the United States or abroad.

US policymakers are weighing greater oversight of artificial intelligence and AI companies are stepping up efforts to shape how the technology is regulated.

Combined with its co-founders’ pledge to donate 80% of their equity and an employee donation matching program, roughly 20% of Anthropic’s shares will be dedicated to public purposes, excluding any additional shares added later.

Anthropic said it would say more in the coming months on the fund’s governance, structure and the valuation thresholds that could expand its ownership stake. It also plans to publish a public-benefit report detailing progress toward its mission. — Reuters

The survey, released on Friday and covering 2,400 respondents nationwide from Sept. 17 to 23, showed that 35% of Filipinos said the Philippine government should prioritize making food, particularly rice, meat and fish, more affordable. The figure was five percentage points higher than the 30% recorded in July but remained below the 41% recorded in March.

The latest finding was also consistent with the survey’s other results, which showed that 71% of Filipinos wanted the Marcos administration to control inflation, which accelerated to its fastest pace in more than three years, reaching 7.2% in September.

Apart from lowering food prices, about 26% urged the government to create more jobs and livelihood opportunities, while 24% wanted corruption eradicated to improve the delivery of public services. Meanwhile, 15% called for more accessible education and health-care services.

Based on the latest findings, Victor Andres “Dindo” C. Manhit, chief executive officer of the Stratbase Group, said the government should prioritize addressing the rising prices of basic goods if it wants to regain credibility and public trust.

He cited the results of another Stratbase-commissioned Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted from Sept. 21 to 27, which found that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s trust rating inched up to 36% from 34% in June. Meanwhile, Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s trust rating remained relatively steady at 56%, compared with 57% in June.

“The public has been consistently telling the government what matters most to them: the rising cost of basic goods and the ability to make ends meet,” Mr. Manhit said in a statement.

“If the administration wants to rebuild public trust, it has to address these everyday concerns and deliver results that Filipinos can actually feel in their homes and communities,” he added.

Concerns over food prices were most pronounced among Class E respondents, the poorest socioeconomic group, with 55% identifying affordable food as their top concern, up 11 percentage points from July, the report said.

This compared with 34% among Class D respondents and 26% among those in Class ABC.

By region, concern over food prices was highest in the National Capital Region at 43%, followed by Luzon at 36%, Mindanao at 34% and the Visayas at 31%.

Concerns over jobs and livelihood opportunities fell to 26% from 28% in July, while calls for the government to reduce or eliminate corruption declined to 24% from 28% in July and 31% in December 2025.

Despite the decline, corruption remained the third most cited concern nationwide, with 30% of respondents in the Visayas and 27% in the National Capital Region identifying it as a key issue.

Meanwhile, only 15% of respondents identified improving access to education and health-care services as a government priority, up one percentage point from July.

Mr. Manhit said the results underscored the need for the government to ensure that efforts to address corruption, create jobs and improve public services translate into lower costs, higher incomes and more secure livelihoods for Filipino families.

The latest Pulse Asia survey commissioned by the Stratbase Group has a margin of error of +/-2%. — Edg Adrian A. Eva

Areas in Luzon, including the Bicol Region, MIMAROPA (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan), and Quezon, as well as parts of the Visayas and Mindanao, are likely to experience scattered rains and thunderstorms due to the ITCZ, PAGASA said in its 4:00 p.m. advisory.

Meanwhile, Aurora, Metro Manila, and the rest of Luzon are expected to experience similar weather conditions due to the easterlies.

PAGASA warned of possible flooding and landslides in areas affected by the ITCZ and easterlies.

Rain is also expected in Batanes and the Babuyan Islands due to the northeasterly wind flow, although no significant impact is expected.

PAGASA is also monitoring Severe Tropical Storm Champi, which is located 2,930 kilometers east of Eastern Visayas. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometers per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 125 kph.

The tropical cyclone is currently not affecting any part of the country as of the forecast period. — Edg Adrian A. Eva

TUMI, the international travel, lifestyle, and accessories brand, today launches its Fall/Winter 2026 seasonal campaign and collection, inspired by rugged alpine terrain. The season is grounded by TUMI’s best-selling silhouettes in elemental hues, while the new TUMI Axis collection introduces everyday bags for the modern minimalist. The campaign follows two travelers — long-standing TUMI Global Brand Ambassador and McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Driver Lando Norris and a travel partner — embodying TUMI’s core belief that the pursuit never stops and there is always a new peak to reach.

Directed by Valentin Florian and photographed by Theo Gosselin, Fall/Winter 2026 immediately establishes a sense of place in the striking highlands of Scotland. Here, rugged terrain meets quiet elegance, mirroring the season’s elemental aesthetic.

“There is always another peak to reach, another goal to chase,” said Lando Norris, “that drive is something TUMI and I share, and I feel it in every TUMI bag I carry.”

The latest generation of TUMI Alpha, launched this past spring, evolves with fresh takes on beloved silhouettes rooted in an atmospheric color palette. The season is carried by iconic collections in key colors: Deep Pine across 19 Degree, 19 Degree Front Access, Harrison, and Alpha. Alpine Green and Rosewood add depth to Voyageur Nylon and Leather while a dynamic camouflage print is available in Alpha’s expanded silhouette range. Alpha Bravo, Olas, Adatto, and Accessory collections Belden and Nassau are further grounded in earthy neutrals.

Harrison’s signature minimalism finds new visual interest with the addition of woven leather details on key silhouettes and tactical embossed leather in a rich cognac, for the modern traveler. The collection expands this season with new color and material stories, from the warmth of Cognac Bombe to the refined texture of Taupe/Black Woven, alongside new smaller carry silhouettes that bring Harrison into everyday life.

Also debuting this season, TUMI Axis introduces a minimalist, streamlined collection built for modern everyday performance. Clean in design and lightweight in construction, Axis brings an everything-in-place organization system to four versatile silhouettes — available in Black, Navy and Black Reflective.

Carrying forward TUMI’s women’s offering, Voyageur Leather, the newly introduced made-in-Italy           Adatto Tote, and new silhouettes across Olas and Agent provide the modern woman with styles crafted for her own ascent. Each piece is designed for the woman who reaches her own peaks, perfect for any journey on her own terms.

“This season is inspired by the quiet confidence of the Alps,” said Victor Sanz, TUMI Global Creative Director, “rather than chasing excess, we wanted to explore the idea of elevation through thoughtful design. The collection reflects a sense of calm, precision, and purpose, where every detail has intention and every product is engineered to perform beautifully. It’s a reminder that true luxury isn’t about being louder, it’s about being better. We wanted to translate this feeling through the fall collection.”

More than a seasonal campaign, Fall/Winter 2026 is a global brand moment. Across key markets, TUMI will bring its alpine world to life through immersive experiences, activations, and content that blur the line between aspiration and function. At TUMI, performance and luxury have never been mutually exclusive. They are the standard. This season, that standard reaches new heights.

PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS 

19 Degree Collection

An alpine-inspired polycarbonate collection that brings a sense of escape to modern travel. Each piece balances sculptural design with lightweight durability — maintaining TUMI’s focus on performance, function, and effortless movement. This lineup introduces new seasonal colorways in Deep Pine and Salt across select silhouettes: Expandable Carry-On, Large Carry-On, Large Expandable Checked, Large Trunk, Front Access Expandable Carry-On, Large Front Access Expandable Carry-On, Medium Front Access Expandable Checked, and Large Front Access Expandable Checked.

Voyageur Q Tote

A versatile everyday tote designed to move seamlessly between travel and daily life. Now crafted in supple leather with refined hardware, the Q-Tote elevates its everyday appeal — pairing premium materials with practical organization and an effortless silhouette suited for work, weekends, and on-the-go travel.

TUMI Alpha Collection

The latest generation of Alpha, launched this past spring, arrives in an atmospheric Fall/Winter palette of Deep Pine, Forest Camo, and Grey Reflective across key silhouettes: the Dual Access Expandable Carry-On, Double Expansion Duffel, and TUMI Brief Pack.

TUMI Harrison Collection

Harrison expands for Fall/Winter 2026 with new materials, colorways, and silhouettes for the modern minimalist. Cognac Bombe joins permanently, while Taupe/Black Woven brings European-inspired woven construction to the collection’s clean, architectural lines. Two new silhouettes — the Macri Small Crossbody and Thatcher Sling — expand the ways Harrison can be worn.

About TUMI

Since 1975, TUMI has been creating world-class business, travel, and performance luxury essentials, designed to upgrade, uncomplicate and beautify all aspects of life on the move. Blending flawless functionality with a spirit of ingenuity, we’re committed to empowering journeys as a lifelong partner to movers and makers in pursuit of their passions. For more about TUMI, visit TUMI.com and follow on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.

TUMI and TUMI logo are registered trademarks of Tumi, Inc. © 2026 Tumi, Inc.

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Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary and Pag-IBIG Fund Board Chairman Jose Ramon P. Aliling welcomed the partnership, which adds DMCI Homes to Pag-IBIG Fund’s growing network of leading property developer partners.

“President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has directed us to expand access to decent and affordable housing for Filipino families. By partnering with leading developers, we bring together private-sector expertise and Pag-IBIG Fund financing to offer members more housing choices and help advance the Expanded 4PH Program,” Mr. Aliling said.

Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Marilene C. Acosta and DMCI Homes President Alfredo R. Austria signed the memorandum of understanding at the Pag-IBIG Fund Corporate Headquarters in Makati City. The signing was witnessed by DHSUD Secretary Aliling, DMCI Homes Chief Finance Officer Evangeline Hernandez-Atchioco, and Pag-IBIG Fund Senior Vice-President for Sales and Business Development Fermin A. Sta. Teresa, Jr.

Under the agreement, DMCI Homes will identify participating residential projects and available units, including ready-for-occupancy properties, and offer preferential pricing and other incentives to qualified Pag-IBIG Fund members, subject to applicable terms and conditions. Pag-IBIG Fund, in turn, will provide affordable housing financing, loan counseling, and assistance to qualified prospective homebuyers.

The first DMCI Homes project accredited by Pag-IBIG Fund is Anissa Heights in Pasay City. Accreditation is also underway for other Metro Manila projects such as Allegra Garden Place, The Erin Heights, The Oriana, Cypress Towers, Dansalan Gardens Condominiums, East Raya Gardens, Maricielo Villas, Mayfield Park Residences, Palm Grove Residences, Raya Garden Condominiums, Rhapsody Residences, Rosewood Pointe, and Tivoli Garden Residences, as well as Alea Residences in Bacoor City and Verdon Parc in Davao City.

Ms. Acosta said the partnership will give members more condominium choices, including ready-for-occupancy units that may be offered at preferential prices and with special developer incentives.

“Through this partnership, we are working with DMCI Homes to give our members access to more condominium choices at preferential prices. Once the necessary accreditations are completed, we expect to offer up to 3,990 units. Combined with Pag-IBIG Fund’s affordable housing financing and promotional rates of 4.5% and 5.75% per annum, these options can help qualified members move closer to owning a home that meets their needs and budget. And with developments in accessible urban locations, more families can enjoy the convenience of living closer to their workplaces and essential services,” Ms. Acosta said.

She added that prospective homebuyers can also visit the 2nd National Housing Expo on October 19 and 20 at the SMX Convention Center Manila, MOA Complex, Pasay City, where DMCI Homes will join more than 80 participating developers offering thousands of housing options, special Expo promotions, and opportunities to receive on-site Pag-IBIG Housing Loan assistance.

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The Philippine foreign ministry said ambassador Jing Quan’s remarks to journalists on Thursday were a “poor choice of words” and unhelpful given their complicated bilateral ties.

Mr. Jing had said China “may easily win” but would not use force as “we love peace”.

The ambassador was asked for his reaction to the Philippine defense secretary calling China a regional “troublemaker”.

Their comments were the latest heated exchange between China and US defense ally the Philippines, which have repeatedly sparred over disputed features in the South China Sea.

Asked on Friday about the ambassador’s remarks, Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said it “sounds very much like a threat” deserving of a discussion with the envoy.

The Chinese Embassy said the ambassador had been selectively quoted and called Manila’s response an “over-interpretation”, adding relations were currently “at an extremely sensitive stage”.

The Philippines and China have been at loggerheads for years over reefs and islands in the South China Sea located in the Philippine exclusive economic zone, with their coast guards squaring off repeatedly. — Reuters

The agreement makes Bacolod the first city where RLC will put “Hand in Hand for Progress,” its community development platform fueled by the Bayanihan spirit, into practice, with Robinsons Land Foundation (RLove) coordinating the company’s social responsibility work.

Through the initiative, Robinsons Land hopes to work hand in hand with the Bacolod City Government, private-sector partners, institutions, and local communities in support of shared development priorities. Inspired by the Filipino spirit of bayanihan, the program seeks to bring together different strengths and capabilities to contribute to the city’s progress. Bayanihan in Bacolod draws on the Filipino tradition of working toward a shared goal. Rather than approaching community development through isolated projects, the initiative brings together the Bacolod City Government, Robinsons Land, private-sector partners, institutions, and local communities around a common vision for the city’s future.

Among the first private-sector partners supporting the initiative are several long-standing Robinsons Land collaborators: W.V. Coscolluela & Associates, a respected architectural and planning firm; SPES Construction, one of the company’s trusted construction partners; Boysen and Asian Coatings, recognized leaders in protective and decorative coating solutions; Promain-Property Maintenance and Gardens, which specializes in property upkeep and landscape management; and Davies, known for providing products and solutions used across built environments. Having worked with Robinsons Land across various developments through the years, these partners are now bringing their expertise, services, and resources beyond project sites and into the community through Bayanihan in Bacolod.

One important component of RLC’s bayanihan initiative is tourism.

“Tourism doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Businesses do not exist apart from their neighborhoods. Everything is connected,” Aragon-GoBio said during the signing.

RLC’s relationship with Bacolod dates to 1997, when it opened Robinsons Bacolod, the city’s first modern shopping mall and the company’s first provincial mall. Since then, its presence has expanded to include Go Hotels Plus Bacolod, Cybergate Bacolod, and Brighton Bacolod, reflecting nearly three decades of growing alongside the city and its communities.

As it marks 46 years of shaping communities across the Philippines, RLC is looking at how it can bring the capabilities it has developed through decades of building malls, offices, hotels, residences, and destination estates beyond its property lines. “Robinsons Land sees an opportunity to contribute its expertise in planning, placemaking, construction, property management, tourism, hospitality, sustainability, and community building to initiatives that support the broader development of Bacolod,” shared Ms. Aragon-GoBio.

Equally important are the relationships RLC has built over the years with local governments, contractors, suppliers, institutions, community organizations, and private-sector partners. Through Bayanihan in Bacolod, the company hopes to leverage these networks to bring together different stakeholders and capabilities in support of shared community priorities.

That long-term view is evident in RLC’s pledge to help maintain the historic Bacolod Public Plaza after its planned revitalization. The company also plans a tourism lounge at its Bacolod mall, where visitors can find information on local destinations, culture and events. Training for transport providers and other tourism frontliners is intended to help travelers navigate the city and discover more of what it offers.

“Tourism is one of the most powerful ways to put money directly into the hands of the local people,” Aragon-GoBio said. Small eateries, transport providers, street vendors and local artisans are among those who stand to benefit when visitors venture beyond the places they already know.

RLC’s malls and hotels can direct guests toward local businesses and attractions, while offices can offer space for exhibits, product fairs and city promotions to boost Bacolod’s Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism. Residents of its communities can also take part in environmental and civic activities. These are ways the company can use its presence in Bacolod to support the city’s priorities beyond its own developments.

Through its One RLC approach, the company can also draw on the strengths of its different businesses. Its malls can help promote local enterprises and tourism destinations, its hotels can encourage visitors to explore more of Bacolod, its offices can provide venues for exhibitions and city promotions, and its communities can support environmental and socio-civic initiatives. Together, these capabilities allow RLC to contribute in ways that build on what it already does best.

The city’s role is to help identify priorities and opportunities that support Bacolod’s long-term development, while Robinsons Land contributes its expertise, resources, relationships, and platforms. Several industry partners have likewise stepped forward to offer pro bono services, demonstrating how different organizations can contribute their respective strengths toward a shared objective.

Several industry partners have already offered pro bono services, and Yvonne Garcia-Flores, RLC’s head of corporate social responsibility and sustainability, invited other organizations to take part in ways suited to their strengths. “Meaningful change does not require waiting for perfect conditions. It starts when organizations decide to contribute what they can, where they can,” she said.

“Tourism is not simply about bringing more people into a city. It is about creating a city that people want to visit, invest in, experience and call home,” Aragon-GoBio said.

Learn more about Hand in Hand for Progress and Robinsons Land’s efforts to help build stronger communities at https://bit.ly/Building-Bacolod.

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Mr. Rubio urged Mr. Aoun to hold accountable those who ordered, financed and directed the shipment, and “underscored that returning explosives to (Hezbollah) should be out of the question,” the US official said.

Mr. Rubio urged direct military-to-military communication between Lebanese and Israeli forces “for deconfliction,” the official added.

A Hezbollah lawmaker said earlier the explosives seized last week by Lebanese security forces belonged to his group.

The lawmaker, Hassan Fadlallah, said Hezbollah had intended to use the explosives against Israel, whose troops are occupying swathes of Lebanese territory seized in this year’s war.

A Hezbollah official and a Lebanese security source told Reuters the explosives seized in a car last week were intended to be used in explosive drones targeting Israeli troops.

Mr. Aoun told Mr. Rubio the Lebanese army and security forces were fully carrying out decisions to prevent armed displays, confiscate weapons and combat smuggling, the presidency said, adding Mr. Aoun asked Mr. Rubio to pressure Israel to halt attacks on southern Lebanese towns and villages.

On March 2, the Lebanese government specifically banned Hezbollah’s military activities after the movement launched rockets at Israel to back up Tehran, pulling Lebanon into the broader US-Israeli war on Iran that began on February 28.

Tehran subsequently launched its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon during the war have killed thousands and displaced millions.

Under a deal reached through US-brokered Israel-Lebanon talks, Beirut vowed to disarm Hezbollah, which would in turn lead to Israeli troops gradually withdrawing from Lebanon. But Hezbollah has refused to disarm as long as Israeli forces remain on Lebanese land and Israel has continued striking southern Lebanon. — Reuters

She spoke ahead of another Security Council poll on Friday to gauge support for a new secretary-general to succeed Antonio Guterres, whose second five-year term ends on December 31.

Ms. Grynspan said the UN must also cut jobs, curb bureaucracy and stop agencies duplicating work, arguing that cost-cutting alone would not revive an institution struggling with shrinking resources and declining political clout.

“I think that the UN has become too risk-averse,” Ms. Grynspan said. “You are the one that has to take the cost of rejection, the cost of failure, and try again. That’s the job of the UN.”

SHE URGES A MORE PROACTIVE UN
Ms. Grynspan, 70, a former Costa Rican vice president, called for a more proactive UN after the 193-member body was largely sidelined in wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and as it faces pressure from US President Donald Trump’s administration to cut costs.

“Cost cutting is not enough. Yes, you can cut costs and make everything worse. If you don’t reform, you will do everything worse than before. That’s why I talk about refocusing,” Ms. Grynspan, an economist, told Reuters.

Pointing to her tenure as head of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, Ms. Grynspan said she cut 20% of posts while sharpening its focus.

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz has criticized what he called bureaucratic “bloat” and duplication at the UN and called for a clearer focus on peacekeeping.

Ms. Grynspan said she shared Mr. Waltz’s concerns: “Some consolidation and rethinking of how to carry a mandate is necessary in many of the fields that have been expanding in the UN.” She said she would appoint a person inside her office to “impose the discipline that is necessary for mandate implementation.”

Ms. Grynspan pointed to her role in negotiations over the 2022 Black Sea Grain Initiative as a model for handling conflicts involving a permanent Security Council member. Russia withdrew from the agreement in 2023 and complained that key parts of the deal were never implemented.

“We didn’t go to the press … It was quiet diplomacy that worked,” she said. “This is not about being able to have total harmony in the international affairs … it’s about doing good.”

Ms. Grynspan said the UN already had the expertise, information and presence on the ground needed to play a larger diplomatic role but needed leadership capable of bringing those resources together.

“Peacemaking has to be at the center of the efforts of the UN,” she said, citing a rise in deadly interstate conflicts and calling for greater emphasis on mediation as well as prevention.

Ms. Grynspan also called for greater flexibility in peacekeeping, saying the secretary-general should work closely with the Security Council’s five permanent members to find alternative models when traditional peacekeeping is not viable.

Pointing to the multinational support mission in Haiti, she said: “Why should we be so defensive? Why should it be only a UN peacekeeping force? … Let’s try to make Haiti work and learn from the experience.”

‘GAME NOT OVER’
Ms. Grynspan, who will become the first female secretary-general in the UN’s history if she wins, has come out ahead in four out of five informal straw polls, obtaining nine votes in favor last week, according to diplomats close to the process.

Securing the recommendation requires at least nine positive votes out of the 15 countries, and no “discourage” votes from the five permanent members: the US, China, Russia, France, and Britain. Friday’s poll will for the first time use color-coded ballots revealing whether a veto power opposes a candidate.

Ms. Grynspan said she was the only candidate who has consistently reached nine votes in her favor, but she “wouldn’t be surprised” if she got a discouraging vote from a veto power. She said such opposition has been overcome in past races.

Diplomats at the UN say several senior figures, including former and current foreign ministers and country leaders, ​are seriously considering entering the race.

Ms. Grynspan said she expected new names could enter the race after the Friday vote and added: “The game is not over — we will have to continue working.” — Reuters

The intense wildfires, burning mainly on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, began in July and could continue until November, aggravated by a severe El Niño weather pattern, the government has warned.

“I think so far this looks quite similar to the 2015 fires,” said Karmele Llano Sanchez, co-founder of Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI), who has worked in Indonesia for more than 20 years. “It’s possible that in the months to come, they (the orangutans) will also be affected by not having enough to eat, not having enough room, enough habitat, and starvation.”

The world’s three species of orangutan are native only to Borneo and Sumatra.

YIARI, in the Ketapang region of Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, is now looking after 90 orangutans, after rescuing 49 since August, foundation spokesperson Heribertus Suciadi said.

Over the last three years, the center rescued three to five animals a year, he added.

The fires and haze have shrouded parts of Borneo, which also includes the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah, in a hazardous smog that has also spread to Singapore and the Malaysian peninsula, forcing some schools to close and causing a spike in respiratory illnesses.

Sampurna, an orangutan that Reuters encountered in August, was found gasping for air and writhing on the ground in a palm oil plantation.

Sampurna died on August 30, the forestry ministry said last month. Ms. Sanchez, who performed the necropsy on the great ape, said Sampurna died less than 12 hours after being rescued and had very dark lungs owing to respiratory problems, likening them to those of a heavy smoker.

From January ​to July this year, fires burned around 202,000 hectares (500,000 ​acres) in ⁠Indonesia. No official data for subsequent months has been released, but non-governmental organizations estimate fires have burned at least 600,000 hectares more since.

In 2015, fires burned nearly 960,000 hectares, forestry ministry data showed.

“I think in general, what we see is that these orangutans that were surviving in these fragments of forest, and the forest fragments are becoming smaller and smaller and smaller,” Ms. Sanchez said.

RESCUE MISSIONS
Once YIARI volunteers receive reports of orangutan sightings, they use a drone to determine the areas ravaged by the fires and whether orangutans were living there, Heribertus said.

Equipped with tranquilizers, rescuers then drive for hours to the burned forest to find the orangutans, sometimes using a net to capture the apes before taking them to safety.

The foundation has more than 200 staff, including firefighters and veterinarians.

“Fires are occurring in many areas. As a result, the orangutans are being displaced into plantations,” said Relly Susanto, a YIARI patroller.

On a recent August day at the YIARI center, orangutans swung through the trees and walked on vines, as youngsters ate fruit next to their mothers. While there is no escape from the smoke even at YIARI, the center is not currently at risk from the fires themselves and some of the rescued orangutans have been returned to the wild in safer locations.

At the moment, YIARI has enough capacity to take in the orangutans, Ms. Sanchez said. But with the fires showing little sign of abating, she is not sure how long that will last.

“It’s difficult to quantify how many orangutans will need to be rescued,” she said. “One of our concerns is whether we’ll have enough capacity to really get all of these rescued orangutans into the facility.” — Reuters

The loss-making cloud company has about $50 billion in debt and has become a focus of concerns that the data-center boom is being fueled by credit, straining newer players and pressuring cash flows even at giants such as Alphabet and Meta Platforms.

CoreWeave’s slump fueled a global rout in AI stocks, underscoring investor doubts about whether future revenue from the technology can keep pace with the spending.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, whose company is CoreWeave’s second-largest investor with about a 10% stake, played down the fears. “CoreWeave’s financial strength is improving every day,” Mr. Huang told reporters at a Stockholm event, adding that he does not see a need for Nvidia to backstop the company. “I’m optimistic. Their cost of capital is actually decreasing.”

CoreWeave stock was last up 5% after slipping as much as 8.3% to its lowest level since May 2025.

“The market is waking up to the fact that AI demand and a profitable business model are two very different things,” said Axel Rudolph, chief technical analyst at IG Group.

“It looks more like investors questioning how the build-out is being funded than a sudden collapse in appetite for AI computing. But if the cost of capital keeps rising, even strong demand may not be enough to protect the most heavily leveraged players.”

The jitters come as investors await Anthropic’s IPO, which would be a test of whether the Claude AI model maker’s rapid revenue growth can ease worries about runaway AI spending.

The market selloff has already led some companies such as smart ring maker Oura to push back their listings.

The yield on CoreWeave’s April-issued bonds was trading around 15% on Thursday, above the level that typically signals distress, drawing a “yikes” from Elon Musk on social media. The bond was last down 0.3 cents on the dollar to 79.15 cents, according to Tradeweb data.

The cost of insuring its debt against default has climbed to around 1,000 basis points, implying a nearly 63% chance of default in five years, up from about 30% a year ago. That is despite a deal under which Nvidia will buy any unsold CoreWeave capacity through April 13, 2032.

Options traders also ramped up bearish bets. Volume in put options, which give investors the right to sell shares at a certain price, hit a record high on Wednesday, according to Chris Murphy, co-head of derivatives strategy at Susquehanna.

“People are using put options to hedge negative credit sentiment, and we’ve seen consistent and aggressive put buying all week,” Mr. Murphy said.

Investors bought contracts that would profit if CoreWeave shares fell below $42.50, $50, and $60 in the coming weeks, while others used more complex trades to reduce the cost of some of those bearish wagers by taking on some risk tied to much lower share-price levels later in the year, according to Murphy and TradeAlert data.

CoreWeave, which went public in March 2025, leads newer cloud providers known as neoclouds that rent out computing power from scarce and costly Nvidia processors to meet soaring demand, often borrowing heavily to buy the chips. It counts Microsoft and OpenAI among its customers, according to media reports.

That leaves neoclouds exposed to any cooling in AI demand, critics have said, while the chips lose value as newer ones arrive, forcing another round of heavy spending to replace them.

CoreWeave raised its annual capital spending forecast by $4 billion to as much as $39 billion in August. It is expected to post revenue of nearly $13 billion this year and a loss of $2.13 billion, according to analysts’ estimates.

Worries about the build-out, on which US tech giants are expected to spend more than $700 billion this year, have in recent days rippled through the stocks that have been the biggest winners since ChatGPT’s November 2022 launch.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, a closely watched gauge of chip stocks, has erased over $1.6 trillion in market value in an 11.6% slide over the past six sessions. The Nasdaq has declined more than 3% in the period.

On Thursday, tech shares fell across Asia, Europe and the US, dragging broader markets lower on fears that rising interest rates could hurt the sector.

‘UNLIMITED’ POOLS OF CAPITAL
The CoreWeave selloff came as its co-founder Brannin McBee told the Financial Times that the company was seeking an investment-grade rating that would open the door to “unlimited” capital.

The same day research firm Gartner said about 80% of neoclouds could shut down by 2030 and that more than $3.5 trillion of AI spending could face impairment if AI providers keep up their current pace of investment.

“In 2026, AI providers are expected to spend nearly $1 trillion on AI infrastructure, and are forecast to invest an additional $6 trillion between 2027 and 2030,” said Will Sommer, analyst at Gartner.

“However, our research indicates enterprise and consumer AI revenue will be insufficient to support profitable returns on all planned AI capital expenditures during this period.”

CoreWeave CEO Mike Intrator pushed back on the concerns in an internal memo on Wednesday seen by Reuters, telling employees the company’s deal backlog more than covers its debt obligations and that markets can sometimes “misunderstand and act irrationally”. — Reuters

“I want to see Pope Leo get well,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “I just want to wish him well, get better fast.”

Pope Leo, 71, was diagnosed with lung cancer after surgeons removed a part of his right lung on Tuesday, according to the Vatican.

His recovery from surgery is progressing as expected and he has begun walking in his hospital room and eating normally, the Vatican said on Wednesday.

Leo and Mr. Trump have been critical of each other in the past.

Leo, the first US pope, has called for a “deep reflection” in the US about how migrants are treated under Mr. Trump, cast the Trump administration as being “extremely disrespectful” to immigrants and criticized what he called their “inhuman treatment.”

On the US foreign policy front, the Vatican has declined to join Mr. Trump’s “Board of Peace” initiative for Gaza and the pope has criticized the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Mr. Trump called Leo “terrible for Foreign Policy” and “WEAK on Crime” in an online post earlier this year.

Late last month, Leo said that concerns about AI having the potential to destroy the world should be taken seriously, in an apparent rebuke of Mr. Trump, who has said that fears the technology poses a threat to humanity are a “hoax.” — Reuters

Attacks around the waterway have surged over the past 10 days, with Iran saying it is stepping up strikes in response to the US blockade of its ports and tougher sanctions introduced last month.

The Singapore-flagged GFS Pride, a small container vessel with a capacity of 2,824 20-foot equivalent units (TEU), sank while sailing through the strait, according to maritime security sources.

“GFS PRIDE sustained damage and a fire on board, and has since sunk. All 21 crew members were safely evacuated. No injuries have been reported,” the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the vessel had been sailing through the strait on Tuesday.

In a separate incident, the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged Cape Dao sank close to the strait, weeks after being struck by a projectile on September 23, data from UN shipping agency the International Maritime Organization showed on Wednesday.

One crew member was killed, the rest of the crew evacuated straight after the strike, maritime sources said.

Its UAE-based manager Peonies Shipmanagement FZE could not be immediately reached for comment.

The GFS Pride and Cape Dao are the second and third vessels to have sunk since the US-Iran war began on February 28, according to an analysis of IMO casualty data.

“MPA is deeply concerned about the continued attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the Singapore authority said.

“Such attacks are unprovoked, unjustifiable, and a breach of international law.”

GFS Pride’s United Arab Emirates-based manager, GFS Ship Management FZE, could not be immediately reached for comment.

“The latest incidents reinforce the continuing threat to commercial shipping transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” maritime risk management company MARISKS said on Wednesday.

“The threat is not confined to tankers, with container vessels and bulk carriers also sustaining serious damage.”

IRAN TIGHTENS GRIP
A sharp escalation in threats to commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade passed before the war, has heightened concerns about security in the waterway.

Tehran has sought to tighten its grip on the waterway since US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, restricting transit in an effort to gain leverage over Washington.

Iran is increasingly deploying new tactics against vessels transiting the strait as it seeks to keep oil prices elevated and influence US midterm elections, two senior Iranian officials told Reuters.

While Iran and the US have focused their attacks on tankers, cargo and container vessels have also been attacked, immobilized or sunk.

The Maltese-flagged container ship Safeen Prestige was hit by a projectile in March and later sank north of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards attacked and seized the container ship MSC Francesca in April. — Reuters

US District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a written decision that elaborated on his September 24 emergency order that reinstated access for the journalists. The news organizations and press freedom groups have accused Mr. Trump of unconstitutional retaliation against journalists for coverage he does not like.

Mr. Kelly’s order last month gave the CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists access to the White House grounds on a temporary basis. The judge issued a ruling called a preliminary injunction on Tuesday that will remain in effect until he makes a final judgment in the lawsuit brought by the news organizations, unless an appeals court lifts his order.

The Trump administration appealed the judge’s decision on Wednesday.

A White House official said in a statement that the three news outlets are completely capable of reporting on Mr. Trump from outside the White House grounds.

“The lies they smear are a disservice to the American public and tear at the very fabric of our democracy,” the official said.

Theodore Boutrous, an attorney for the outlets, said in a statement that they were grateful for the ruling and that the harm Mr. Trump’s ban did “to our clients, the First Amendment and the public as a whole is profound.”

Mr. Kelly wrote in Tuesday’s decision that Mr. Trump’s public remarks made clear that he banned the news outlets because he considered their reporting biased and inaccurate, and not because of national security concerns as Justice Department lawyers later asserted in court.

“Simply put, that is unlawful viewpoint discrimination,” the judge wrote, adding that “no one should read this decision as suggesting that President Trump’s complaints are meritless.”

Mr. Trump appointed Mr. Kelly in 2017 during his first presidential term.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE MEDIA
Past presidents have battled with the press, but Mr. Trump’s campaign against the media has been unprecedented. He has upended decades of tradition by ​denying basic access to many major news organizations, launching personal attacks on journalists for their reporting and elevating media outlets seen as more sympathetic to the administration. He also has filed lawsuits against multiple news outlets.

Mr. Trump announced the ban in September on his social ​media platform, saying CNN, Politico, and MS NOW “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States.” The Justice Department has emphasized ​Mr. Trump’s contention that the ban is legally justified on national security grounds.

The outlets have said the revocation of their White House passes was unlawful retaliation for their news coverage and accused the Trump administration of manufacturing meritless national security concerns to justify the ban.

The outlets said in a lawsuit that the ban violated the US ⁠Constitution’s First Amendment protections for freedom of speech and a free press, as well as their rights to due process, meaning fair treatment from the government.

The White House on September 24 reinstated the CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists after Mr. Kelly decided the ban “likely violated their constitutional due process rights,” and ordered their access immediately restored.

The judge held a hearing on October 8 to hear arguments by the news outlets and the Justice Department over whether to extend the protection for the journalists against being barred from the White House. The Justice Department defended the bans as fair and justified.

The legal battle is being waged just weeks before the November 3 US midterm elections in which Mr. Trump’s ‌fellow Republicans ⁠are fighting to retain control of Congress. Mr. Trump’s job approval ratings are at record lows in opinion polls amid concerns over issues such as inflation and the Iran war. — Reuters

Attorneys general from the states, which include Iowa, Kansas and Arizona, filed the lawsuits independently in state courts, claiming ChatGPT is designed to be agreeable and engaging to earn the trust of users. But the chatbot reinforces delusions, encourages dangerous behavior and assists users in planning violence like mass shootings, the lawsuits claim.

The lawsuits represent the most significant coordinated state action against an artificial intelligence company, adding to a wave of legal challenges OpenAI faces as it prepares for a public listing. Florida’s attorney general filed the first such state suit in June.

The lawsuits accuse the company of violating state consumer protection laws by misleading users about the safety of ChatGPT. The states also allege that the company created a public nuisance by endangering the health of their residents.

The lawsuits seek orders forcing OpenAI to make changes to how ChatGPT works. Among other things, the states want the company barred from developing AI models that can improve themselves unless it can ensure those models are aligned with human values.

The states, which also include Arkansas, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska and West Virginia, are also seeking civil monetary penalties for OpenAI’s violations of state law as well as damages.

A spokesperson for OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company is also facing dozens of lawsuits by private plaintiffs, alleging ChatGPT helped users plan mass shootings or other violence. — Reuters

The country’s two major islands may experience scattered rains and thunderstorms due to the ITCZ in the next 24 hours, according to PAGASA’s 4:00 a.m. weather advisory.

Meanwhile, the northeasterly windflow may bring isolated light rains over the Ilocos Region, the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and Cagayan Valley, with no significant impact expected.

Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon could experience localized thunderstorms, posing a risk of flooding and landslides during severe thunderstorms.

PAGASA is also monitoring a tropical depression outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), located 2,245 kilometers east of extreme Northern Luzon as of 8:00 a.m.

The tropical depression has maximum sustained winds of 45 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 55 kph. PAGASA said that due to its distance, it is not expected to directly affect the country or enter PAR. — Edg Adrian A. Eva

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The pope has lung adenocarcinoma, a common form of cancer, with tissue tests conducted during the operation confirming what doctors had suspected from preparatory examinations, the bulletin said.

Leo was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Tuesday for surgery to remove the growth that doctors had discovered in a recent routine health check.

The pope’s lead surgeon, Dr. Stefano Margaritora, and his personal physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone, said in a statement that the procedure lasted about 90 minutes and was successful, with no complications.

“In order to make the procedure curative, the lower lobe of the right lung was removed using a video-assisted technique,” they said, making clear that the aim was to eliminate all cancerous tissue.

Human lungs have five lobes — three in the right lung and two in the left.

A medical expert said that in order to assess the pope’s case they would need to know the size of the tumor and whether the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, information the Vatican did not immediately provide.

“While we have the diagnosis, we do not yet have the stage. This is critical to prognosis and treatment,” said Dr. Stephen Liu, a lung cancer expert at Georgetown University in Washington and division chief of hematology-oncology at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

“If this is a small lung cancer with no lymph nodes involved, surgery itself is likely to be curative,” he told Reuters. “But if final analysis reveals a greater extent of cancer involvement, this indicates a poorer prognosis.”

RESTING IN HIS HOSPITAL ROOM

The pope regained consciousness normally after the operation and later returned to his hospital room, where he was resting, the medical bulletin said.

The Vatican said earlier this week that he was expected to remain in hospital for about a week and all his public events have been cancelled until October 20.

Leo left the Vatican ahead of the surgery shortly before 1 p.m. (1100 GMT) in Rome and was seen waving from the back of a black SUV as his convoy drove about 9 km (5.6 miles) north of the Vatican to the Gemelli.

Upon arrival at the hospital, Leo shook hands with several officials, walked in front of a waiting crowd of well-wishers, some of whom shouted ‘Auguri’ (best wishes), and headed in via the main entrance.

Leo, elected by the world’s cardinals in May 2025, is relatively young for a Church leader. He enjoys sports, including tennis, and is not known to be a smoker or to have had recent health issues.

The late Pope Francis, Leo’s predecessor, was hospitalized several times as he grew frail in his later years. He died aged 88 in April 2025.

Leo, who spoke in a firm, clear voice at his only public event on Monday, keeps a very busy schedule. He is due to make an 11-day tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from November 6 to 17, but it was not clear if this trip would still go ahead.

TYPHOID FEVER

The pope is the ultimate earthly authority for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics and does not have a deputy who steps in when he is sick. When a pope is incapacitated, the business of the Vatican’s vast bureaucracy carries on as usual, holding off on any decisions that require papal approval.

Leo, born in Chicago in 1955 as Robert Prevost, served for decades as a missionary and bishop in Peru before becoming pope. In 1985, when he was a young priest, he came down with typhoid fever in Chulucanas, Peru and was hospitalized.

He recounted the experience in his only major interview given as pope, in a book for Penguin Peru.

Leo said the pain was so bad that he asked God to die rather than continue suffering. He took his survival as a sign from God that “We need you here (on Earth),” he said.

“I never looked back,” said Leo. — Reuters

“My message is: ‘You have to get back to playing your serious role as a leader, playing a liberatory role for the rest of the world’,” Ms. Pillay, 85, told Reuters in The Hague, where she is currently a judge at the United Nations’ highest legal body, the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Hours after Ms. Pillay was announced as the winner of the Peace Prize on Friday, the United States announced sweeping sanctions aimed at her former employer, the International Criminal Court.

She said the timing of the sanctions, an unprecedented attack on an institution founded by international treaty, could not be coincidental.

“I think it’s very unfortunate. However, the plans of targeting international criminal justice through the ICC were brewing all the time,” Ms. Pillay said.

UN INQUIRY FOUND ISRAEL COMMITTED GENOCIDE IN GAZA
“That’s why the first thing I did when I returned from Nuremberg to The Hague is to go to the staff of the ICC to show solidarity for their work in promoting international criminal justice and to protect those who’ve already been sanctioned.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday called the ICC a “rogue court” that would never be allowed to prosecute Americans. The sanctions included a six-month grace period, and some exemptions for transactions for telecoms, software, payment of pensions and those related to detainees.

The US has long been hostile to the court, especially the statute that says the ICC has jurisdiction not only over nationals of member states but also over others alleged to have committed atrocity crimes on the territory of member states.

President Donald Trump was furious in particular with the arrest warrants issued in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and the administration has in recent months escalated its campaign against the ICC.

Ms. Pillay last year chaired a UN Commission ⁠of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory that concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Israel dismissed the report at the time as “scandalous”.

PILLAY IS ONLY TWENTY-FIRST WOMAN TO WIN NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
On Tuesday, Ms. Pillay called the backlash against the report “false propaganda by lobbies that promote Israel”.

Her first thought when she learned she had won the Nobel Peace Prize was that she was only the 21st woman to win it since 1901. “That in itself speaks to how entrenched inequality against women is.”

During her time as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in the 1990s, Ms. Pillay was part of a bench that issued a landmark judgment that rape and sexual violence could constitute acts of genocide.

Even now, she said sexual violence was still not being pursued enough in war crimes cases, in part because mainly male prosecutors believed that doing so would detract from their cases.

Rather than withdrawing into private life once she finishes her term at the ICJ, Ms. Pillay plans to work on addressing that issue:

“There is a solid base, laid not only by the Rwanda tribunal but by subsequent international tribunals, that you can no longer ignore sexual violence as collateral damage or as a ‘reward for soldiers’.” — Reuters

Tehran has tried to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28. It has restricted passage through the waterway, which carried about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas trade before the war, in an effort to gain leverage over Washington.

Its threats and attacks have severely curtailed traffic through the strait, driving up oil prices, though some oil has continued to transit.

The two officials declined to provide details of the new strategy, but one said that Iran had started using different offensive tactics against vessels it considered in violation of its restrictions about 10 days ago, adding that this had led to an increase in attacks on such ships.

The strategy included a change in the type as well as the pace of attacks, with one goal being to influence the outcome of the US vote, they said.

“The aim is to frustrate efforts by the United States and its allies to bring down global oil prices,” one of the two officials said.

The decision to adopt the new strategy had been taken at the highest levels of Iran’s leadership and was fully coordinated across the country’s ruling system, the officials said.

IRAN USING SPOTTERS
A US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Iran had changed tactics in one significant way: after the US destroyed much of Iran’s radar capabilities, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had started using unarmed spotters in small boats to identify potential targets, including US naval vessels, the official said.

Last week, in a previously unreported incident, the US military determined that Iranian spotters were operating from a dhow, calling in targets to the IRGC, the official said. US forces confronted the vessel, told its occupants to abandon ship and then destroyed it. There were no casualties, the US official said.

Unwilling to risk its remaining fast boats, Iran had been unable to prevent a ramp-up in oil exports through the strait, the official said, particularly after US strikes devastated its navy.

The war — and its $3 billion monthly price tag — has become a key issue on the US campaign trail for November’s midterm elections, which will decide control of Congress.

US President Donald Trump has been weighing next steps against Iran, but has said he will not attack again before the vote.

The US has meanwhile been pressing its own naval blockade of Iranian ports and extending sanctions as it tries to pile economic pressure on Tehran to reach a deal to end the conflict.

The standoff over Hormuz has left global energy markets exposed to further disruption, with the threat of attacks and high shipping and insurance costs complicating efforts to restore normal traffic.

In recent days, attacks on commercial ships still sailing through the strait have surged to their highest level since the war began, according to independent data.

There have been at least five incidents in the past 48 hours involving tankers and other commercial ships around the Hormuz area, including drone strikes, according to data analysis from maritime security sources and incidents reported to British navy-affiliated agency United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

That approximately mirrored the rate of attacks on October 3-5, pointing to a new escalation, according to data from the UN shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization.

“There is a tempo increase in strikes, which looks deliberate,” one maritime security source said.

ATTACKS OVER AN EXPANDED AREA
As part of the new strategy, Tehran will also expand the geographical scope of its operations beyond the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Oman and waters further afield, the officials said.

Analysis by maritime security sources based on attacks reported to UKMTO and maritime security companies in the region suggest this may already be happening. They show Iran targeting ships in areas beyond the Strait of Hormuz, including waters off the coast of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, in recent days.

The second Iranian official added that Tehran would not allow Mr. Trump to bring down oil prices before the November elections.

“Just when they think they are getting close to the point where prices will fall, we will push them away from it. This is a game of chess,” the second official said.

“Such vessels would be safe nowhere, even outside the Strait of Hormuz.”

The Pentagon and Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

COMPLETE CLOSURE OF HORMUZ SOON, SAYS IRANIAN OFFICIAL
Both Iranian officials said Tehran is moving towards a situation in which no vessel violating its restrictions would be able to pass through the strait. “It will be complete closure soon,” one of the officials said.

In its latest report on Sunday, the US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said the threat to merchant shipping in the Strait of Hormuz remained “severe”, the second-highest level.

“IRGC attacks, attempted attacks, and/or harassment activity persisted including UAV overflight, targeted surveillance of merchant shipping, and occasional VHF hailing,” JMIC said. — Reuters

Advances in surgical techniques have given selected heart surgery patients alternatives to conventional procedures. Prof. Theodoros Kofidis, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore, discusses the potential benefits of minimally invasive surgery, including earlier mobilization and shorter hospital stays in appropriate cases.

For inquiries, please contact Mount Elizabeth Hospital’s patient assistance center, IHH Healthcare Singapore — Philippine Office, located at G/F-B, Marco Polo Hotel, Meralco Avenue and Sapphire Street, Ortigas Center, Pasig City 1600; e-mail manila.ph@ihhhealthcare.com; or call 0917-526-7576.

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The Philippines posted the highest net inflows of foreign direct investments in six months even as they declined by over 40% year on year in July, preliminary Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data showed.

FDIs in the country yielded a net inflow of $689 million in July, plunging by 44.1% from the $1.233 billion recorded a year ago.

This was the highest monthly inflow in six months or since the $799 million in January, but marked the first annual decline since April.

Month on month, however, the net inflow surged by 54.1% from $447 million.

FDIs refer to cross-border investments in which a nonresident investor holds at least 10% equity in a resident enterprise. These may take the form of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings and intercompany borrowings.

Central bank data showed investments in equity and investment fund shares declined by 37.3% to $324 million in July from $517 million in the same month last year.

Nonresidents’ investments in net equity capital other than reinvestment of earnings also plummeted by 55.5% to $186 million in July from $418 million a year earlier.

This came amid the 56.7% year-on-year slide in equity capital placements to $199 million from $460 million, and a 69% slump in withdrawals to $13 million from $42 million.

Meanwhile, reinvestment of earnings amounted to $138 million in July, up by 39.9% from $99 million a year ago.

However, net investments in debt instruments fell by an annual 49.1% to $365 million from $717 million.

These consisted mainly of intercompany borrowing or lending between foreign direct investors and their subsidiaries or affiliates in the Philippines, according to the central bank. The rest are investments made by nonresident subsidiaries or associates in their resident direct investors, or known as reverse investment.

SEVEN-MONTH INFLOWS
In the seven months to July, FDI net inflows came in 23.9% lower year on year at $4.071 billion than the $5.35 billion logged previously.

“The decline reflected lower net inflows across all major FDI components,” the central bank said in a statement released late on Monday.

As of July, investments in equity and investment fund shares declined by 11.3% to $1.643 billion from $1.852 billion in the same period in 2025.

Net foreign investments in equity capital, excluding reinvestment of earnings, dropped by 6.9% to $675 million in the seven-month period from $725 million.

Broken down, placements went down by 23.4% annually to $924 million as of July from $1.206 billion a year ago, while withdrawals slumped by 48.2% to $249 million from $481 million.

“Capital placements came primarily from Japan, the United States, and Singapore,” the BSP said. “These funds were channeled largely into the manufacturing, financial and insurance, and real estate industries.”

BSP data also showed reinvestment of earnings stood at $968 million in the seven-month period, falling by 14.2% from $1.127 billion a year earlier.

Net investments in debt instruments likewise declined by 30.6% to $2.428 billion as of July from $3.498 billion.

For this year, the central bank sees FDI net inflows sliding to $7 billion from the estimated $7.8 billion last year.

The BSP’s FDI data reflect actual investment flows. This differs from the Philippine Statistics Authority’s approved foreign investment data, which represent investment commitments that may not necessarily be realized within the reference period.

“With them, we are better equipped to deal with shocks in the economy, such as energy crises or sudden changes in how much households consume,” John Hassler, Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, said in a statement.

Mr. Woodford and Mr. Hall are frequently name-checked by the world’s top central banks which, after a 2022 inflation surge in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, are currently grappling with the energy shock triggered by the Iran war.

One of the laureates’ key insights is that economies could only be kept on an even keel by taking into account the millions of decisions made at a micro-level by households and businesses, rather than by using top-down theories of how economies work.

“Authorities shouldn’t view stabilization of the economy as an exercise that is simply conducted by people pulling levers to control the economy independently of what people in the economy understand about this,” Columbia University’s Mr. Woodford, 70, told a news conference.

In contrast to the oil shocks of the 1970s, when central banks struggled to combat sky-high inflation, Mr. Woodford said the new framework was useful during the global financial crisis of the late-2000s to bolster traditional tools of monetary policy.

“Making more explicit statements about the likely future path of interest rate policy, as opposed to relying on simply being able to cut interest rates further immediately, that was an important part of the policy response in the years from 2009 onward,” he said.

Beyond so-called “forward guidance” on the future path of monetary policy, the work of Mr. Woodford – and Mr. Hall, 83, at Stanford University – promoted other concepts used today such as the idea of “sticky” inflation when price changes lag changes in demand.

Another is the “output gap”, a measure of demand pressure building up in an economy and how efficiently resources are being used, with the goal of stabilization policy being to steer that gap towards zero.

CORE CENTRAL BANK CONCEPTS
Mr. Hall has served as adviser to the US Treasury Department, the Justice Department and the Federal Reserve Board.

His insight in a 1978 paper that household decisions on consumption are a perfect indicator of their expectations was used by Mr. Woodford in a model on how consumption is determined.

Mr. Hall called the prize “a wonderful surprise” in a statement.

“I’ve spent my career trying to understand how the economy works,” he said. “When I thought I had a new idea, the next step was to find out whether it was actually new, whether it was right, and whether it mattered.”

Mr. Woodford also showed that central banks can stimulate or suppress economic activity by adjusting interest rates, rather than just by the amount of money in circulation.

Such concepts remain core to central banking today. Forward guidance became especially important after the 2008 financial crisis, when rates were near zero or even negative and standard monetary policy seemed to be out of ammunition.

Now, however, some are questioning how relevant it is given the amount of uncertainty in the global economy – with new US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh a notable sceptic.

The economics prize, formally known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, is the final award to be given out this year and is worth 12 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million).

First awarded in 1969, it is not one of the original five awards created in the 1895 will of industrialist and dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel, but was established by Sweden’s central bank.

The majority of previous laureates have been from the United States. Only three women have ever won, most recently Claudia Goldin in 2023 for work on how gender has affected pay and employment over time in the United States.

Last year’s winners, Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt, won for work on “creative destruction” and how new technology and production methods can boost growth and living standards.

The Nobel prizes for medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace were announced last week. ($1 = 10.0028 Swedish crowns) — Reuters

Operations at King Khalid International Airport, Saudi Arabia’s second-busiest airport after Jeddah, were suspended to “allow for the completion of procedures to ensure the safety and operational readiness of the airport’s facilities”, the Saudi civil aviation authority said in a statement.

Late on Monday, the Houthis said they had attacked the airport with a ballistic missile, shortly after Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired by the group towards Riyadh.

The Houthis also said in a statement that they targeted an airbase in Khamis Mushait in the kingdom’s southwest with a drone. There was no immediate Saudi confirmation.

A Notice to Airmen issued on Monday showed King Khalid International Airport will stay closed until 2100 GMT on October 17.

The airport has been shut since an attack on Saturday that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300, the deadliest in the kingdom in more than a decade. On Sunday, another attack killed one person and injured nearly a dozen others.

The attacks marked one of the most significant disruptions to Saudi aviation in years, adding to pressures on an industry already grappling with conflict across the Middle East and with higher jet fuel prices that are eating into profits.

They have also raised worries over civil aviation becoming a target in armed conflict.

“This level of sustained intense attack on civil aviation is unprecedented,” said Mark Zee, founder of OPSGROUP, a membership-based organization that provides aviation safety advice.

“I think this requires us to rethink how we view the current risk picture, and tread very carefully,” he said.

Air traffic tracker Flightradar24 showed planes avoiding the city on Monday, though jets were crossing Saudi airspace and landing at top hub Jeddah on the country’s west coast.

Cancellations across all Saudi airports reached 46.4%, aviation analytics firm Cirium said.

CRISIS OVERSHADOWS SAUDI BUSINESS OUTLOOK
The disruption has forced airlines across Europe and Asia to suspend services, while the Federal Aviation Administration advised US carriers on Sunday to exercise caution when flying to or over Saudi Arabia. EU aviation body EASA widened a Saudi airspace warning on Friday, citing missile and drone attacks.

“The impact goes beyond Saudi Arabia to the wider region and to its global connections,” said aviation analyst John Strickland.

OPSGROUP advised airlines to avoid the southern aviation corridor over the Middle East altogether, and take a route from Europe to Asia over central Asia.

That adds “extensive distance” for some routes and “closes off options for getting into Dubai, Abu Dhabi for most western carriers,” Mr. Zee said.

Lufthansa Group has cancelled all flights to Riyadh until October 16, while Air France-KLM has extended a suspension to and from Riyadh until the end of the month.

Etihad Airways said it had cancelled flights between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam due to “regional disruption”, adding that all flights between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh would be cancelled until October 19.

Qatar Airways said on Monday it had temporarily suspended flights to and from Riyadh and Dammam due to the “current situation”.

Delta Air Lines said it was delaying planned services from Atlanta to Riyadh, initially due to start on October 23, until March 2027.

The escalation with the Houthis has raised concerns over the broader economic impact. Saudi Arabia’s real GDP is projected to contract by 3.6% this year, reflecting a combination of factors including lower oil activity.

The attacks have put events scheduled in Riyadh this month under pressure, including the kingdom’s flagship investment conference and the WPC Energy Congress, where several top oil executives were dropped from the program. — Reuters

From Oct. 12 to 18, the first TCLV is likely to develop near the eastern boundary of PAGASA Monitoring Domain, the bureau said in its latest tropical cyclone threat potential forecast.

It also said the weather disturbance has a chance of developing into a tropical cyclone.

For the following week, covering Oct. 19 to 25, a second TCLV may develop near the eastern boundaries of the Tropical Cyclone Advisory Domain and the Tropical Cyclone Information Domain. However, it has a low chance of developing into a tropical cyclone.

“Therefore, the TC-Threat is highly likely during the forecast period,” PAGASA said, referring to the potential for tropical cyclone development over the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, PAGASA continues to monitor a tropical depression outside PAR, while two weather systems are bringing rains to large parts of the country, the bureau said in its 4:00 a.m. weather forecast.

The tropical depression was last located 2,790 kilometers east of Northern Luzon, with maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 70 kph.

The weather disturbance is not expected to enter PAR and is not currently affecting the country, PAGASA said.

Easterlies are expected to bring scattered rains and thunderstorms over the Bicol Region, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Aurora, Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, and Romblon.

Similar weather conditions are expected over Metro Manila, the Ilocos Region, the Cordillera Administrative Region, the rest of Cagayan Valley, the rest of Central Luzon, and the rest of CALABARZON.

PAGASA warned of possible flooding and landslides in areas affected by the easterlies.

Rain is also expected over Batanes and the Babuyan Islands due to the northeasterly windflow, although no significant impacts are expected. — Edg Adrian A. Eva

Model distillation has emerged as a key concern for leading AI companies due to intensifying US-China competition, with firms including Anthropic, OpenAI and Google arguing the practice enables rivals to reproduce advanced capabilities more quickly and at lower cost

Anthropic said safeguards restricting access to Claude’s reasoning have sharply reduced extraction attempts, with “the number of reasoning tokens extracted by distillers” now “10 to 100 times lower than it was before”

The California-headquartered company said it had made it harder to use proxy networks to repeatedly probe Claude’s protected reasoning, blocking extraction attempts and hindering large-scale distillation efforts

Anthropic said its safety system is “roughly as robust as those that prevent Claude from helping build bioweapons” and has “a false positive rate of less than 0.1%”

Anthropic banned tens of thousands of accounts linked to distillation campaigns and cited Chinese AI startup Z.ai, also known as Zhipu, as an example of a company that attempted to distill capabilities from Claude while developing its GLM-5.3 model, warning such practices pose safety and national security risks

Z.ai did not immediately respond to a request for comment. — Reuters

The partnership advances Expanded 4PH’s approach of addressing both sides of the housing equation by increasing the supply of quality homes and matching these with affordable financing. Coming as the country celebrates National Shelter Month, the collaboration also aligns with BCDA’s plans to provide affordable and mixed-income housing for workers within reach of New Clark City’s business, industrial and commercial districts.

Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Secretary and Pag-IBIG Fund Board Chairman Jose Ramon P. Aliling said the partnership demonstrates how institutions can combine their resources to make homeownership more attainable for Filipino workers.

“President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has directed us to sustain our efforts to provide more Filipino families with access to decent and affordable homes. Through Expanded 4PH, we are bringing together government resources and capabilities to turn that directive into concrete housing opportunities. This collaboration between BCDA and Pag-IBIG Fund puts government land and affordable financing to work toward that goal. We hope to replicate this model with similarly situated institutions in both government and the private sector, making more land available for quality housing and ensuring that more families have the means to own a home,” Mr. Aliling said.

Under the memorandum of agreement, BCDA and Pag-IBIG Fund will pursue housing and other development opportunities on identified BCDA properties, bringing together land, infrastructure, financing and housing expertise to help create quality homes in locations that meet Filipino workers’ needs. The collaboration will initially prioritize approximately 14 hectares in New Clark City, comprising a 10-hectare property in Bamban, Tarlac, and a 4-hectare property in Capas, Tarlac, with the latter intended for a government center and other complementary developments. Camp John Hay, Morong Discovery Park and the Poro Point Freeport Zone have also been identified for possible projects.

The planned housing development in New Clark City is intended for workers and aims to create a walk-to-work township, bringing homes closer to employment opportunities. The parties envision an integrated development that combines housing with commercial areas and facilities for rest, recreation and other daily needs, helping workers and their families enjoy a more convenient and balanced way of life. Set amid mountains and trees, the proposed township also seeks to offer workers a home environment with access to green surroundings while keeping them within reach of their workplaces and essential services.

BCDA President and CEO Joshua M. Bingcang shared his perspective on the partnership.

“We see this as a long-term institutional partnership. As our project areas continue to grow, we want to make sure that our properties are put to productive use and that development keeps pace with the needs of the people. Through this partnership, we aim to advance projects within the Marcos administration’s term that will provide quality housing and help give Filipino families greater opportunities to own a home,” Mr. Bingcang said. “Building on our previous 4PH groundbreaking, we look forward to working with Pag-IBIG Fund to turn more of these opportunities into quality housing for Filipino families,” he added.

Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Marilene C. Acosta said the partnership opens opportunities to make housing more affordable while placing greater attention on how a home’s location affects workers’ daily lives.

“Making homeownership more accessible means bringing together affordable financing and quality homes in locations that meet Filipino workers’ needs. Through this partnership, BCDA can provide access to government land, while Pag-IBIG Fund can contribute financing and housing expertise. This gives us an opportunity to build homes closer to workplaces and make it possible for our members to walk to work, helping them spend less on transportation, avoid long commutes and enjoy a better balance between work and home. Beyond homeownership, we want our housing efforts to ease our members’ daily expenses and give them more time with their families,” Ms. Acosta said.

Ms. Acosta and Mr. Bingcang signed the memorandum of agreement on Oct. 8 at the BCDA office in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, with Mr. Aliling witnessing the signing. Also present were BCDA Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer Gisela Z. Kalalo; DHSUD Senior Undersecretary Eduardo Robles, Jr.; and Pag-IBIG Fund officials Deputy Chief Executive Officers Alexander Hilario G. Aguilar and Benjamin R. Felix, Jr., Acting Deputy Chief Executive Officer Atty. Marcial C. Pimentel, Jr., Senior Vice-President Fermin A. Sta. Teresa, Jr., and Acting Vice-Presidents Atty. Jose Robert Po and Tina Marie Gabiosa.

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Leo told pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly Sunday prayer that the growth, a small nodule, was “well-contained” and had been spotted early.

The Vatican did not say whether the nodule is believed to be malignant.

“Recently, during some medical examinations, doctors found a localized nodule in my lung,” said the pontiff. “It was detected at a very early stage and is well contained.”

“The doctors believe it is advisable to intervene, so, following their advice, I have decided to undergo surgery to remove it,” he said. “The operation is already scheduled for the next few days.”

A nodule on the lung is a small, localized lesion that can be benign. The American Thoracic Society says fewer than 5% of lung nodules overall prove cancerous, although risk rises with age, size, and other factors such as smoking.

“Lung nodules are fairly common and are often benign,” said Stephen Liu, a lung cancer expert at Georgetown University in Washington and division chief of hematology-oncology at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

“When there is sufficient concern, and when it is safe to do so, based on the location of the nodule and the overall health of the patient, surgical removal can provide a definitive diagnosis,” he said.

LEO A RELATIVELY YOUNG POPE, PLAYS SPORTS
Leo, elected pope by the world’s cardinals in May 2025, is relatively young for a Church leader. He enjoys sports, including tennis, and is not known to be a smoker or to previously have had health issues.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wished the pope well.

“I would like to express to the Holy Father my personal support, and that of the Italian government, as he faces this challenge in the coming days,” she said in a statement.

“The serenity and composure with which he spoke about it (today) …are reassuring,” Ms. Meloni added.

The late Pope Francis, Leo’s predecessor, died at age 88. He was hospitalized several times as he grew frail in his later years. He did not usually announce his hospital visits in advance, sometimes sparking a media frenzy over his health.

The Vatican press office said Leo’s recovery from surgery was expected to take about a week. It did not immediately provide further details about the pope’s health.

Leo keeps a busy schedule and is due to make an 11-day tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from November 6-17.

Before mentioning his health issue in his address on Sunday, the pope referred to the trip, thanking Catholics for their prayers “for the pastoral visit I will undertake.” — Reuters

The Category 4 storm was located about 105 km (65 miles)  west-northwest of the port city of Manzanillo, in Colima state, with maximum sustained winds of 230 kph (145 mph), the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest advisory at 9 a.m. local time.

The hurricane was moving north-northwest at 11 kph (7 mph), with its center about 140 km (85 miles) south-southeast of Cabo Corrientes, in neighboring Jalisco state.

“With the approaching impact of Category 4 Hurricane Simon, we urge residents of coastal municipalities in Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Michoacan to remain sheltered until authorities officially declare that the danger has passed,” Ms. Sheinbaum said in a post on X.

She said precautionary evacuations to safer areas were continuing and urged residents to stay off the streets and follow civil protection instructions.

The NHC said Simon was expected to move very near Mexico’s west-central coast later on Sunday and remain close to the coast on Monday, although forecast uncertainty remained over whether the center would cross inland or remain just offshore. The hurricane’s eye remains offshore, but it’s tracking close to the Jalisco coast.

Even without direct landfall, dangerous storm surges, large destructive waves and damaging winds were likely along portions of Mexico’s west-central coast, the forecaster warned.

In Manzanillo, Mexico’s largest port and the main ​gateway for trade with Asia, residents on Saturday appeared largely calm despite the approaching storm, with little sign of panic buying at supermarkets.

Some stores had begun boarding up their windows, while businesses were closing and streets were relatively empty. Civil protection workers had closed beaches, erected barriers and raised red and black warning flags, urging residents to stay away from the shore.

Overnight and into Sunday, as Simon shifted somewhat westward off its course, it still delivered rain and winds that led to flooding in Manzanillo. The military and National Guard were deployed throughout the city.

By late Sunday morning when it seemed the worst of the storm had passed, some residents made their way through the largely empty streets to take a look at the choppy sea.

In the Alameda neighborhood, an area in the south surrounded by water, residents trudged through flooding up to their shins as members of the Mexican military bucketed out water from homes into the street alongside families.

By midday the rains had paused and residents had begun to remove the water that had begun filling their homes in the early hours of the morning, they said.

“The beds, the refrigerators, the stoves, all the furniture got wet. The whole house was flooded,” Cecilia Palomar told Reuters outside her home. “My mother doesn’t want to leave. We took her to my brother’s room, to higher ground. She’s elderly, but she doesn’t want to leave. She doesn’t want to be away from her home.”

Mexico’s National Civil Protection Coordination (CNPC) has placed 28 municipalities in Jalisco and Colima under its highest cyclone alert level, while another 93 municipalities were under a high alert level, according to civil protection bulletins.

Puerto Vallarta’s international airport has temporarily closed, while authorities have suspended nonessential activities and opened emergency shelters in threatened coastal communities.

The NHC warned that heavy rainfall through Monday could trigger life-threatening flooding and mudslides, particularly in mountainous areas.

Simon intensified rapidly into a Category 4 hurricane on Saturday, prompting authorities to deploy military personnel, emergency workers and civil protection teams to vulnerable coastal communities.

The storm comes a week after Hurricane Polo struck Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula as a Category 2 hurricane, toppling trees and utility poles and flooding streets. — Reuters

The FAA Notice to Airmen, which lasts until December 10, follows strikes on Saturday and Sunday on Riyadh’s international airport. The attack on Saturday killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.

“Threats could pose a potential risk to aircraft at all altitudes, including overflight, the arrival, and departure phases of flight,” the FAA said, warning of the “potentially hazardous situation.”

The notice also applies to operators of airplanes that are registered in the US.

Riyadh airport remains closed to flights through at least 5 p.m. EDT Monday.

US carrier Delta Air Lines is set to begin direct flights to Riyadh on October 23 from Atlanta.

Delta did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday but CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC last week that “safety is going to make the call” about whether the airline will move forward.

Other major US airlines serve Riyadh via codeshare partners.

In September 2025, FedEx launched its first dedicated flight into Saudi Arabia. The FedEx Boeing 777 freighter operates six times per week and connects the Americas and Europe to Riyadh, with connections to Guangzhou and Shanghai. — Reuters

Recurrent.ai, a developer of AI software, and some of its investors have accused Moonshot CEO Yang Zhilin and Chief Technology Officer Zhang Yutao of making false representations to Recurrent investors and enriching themselves at Recurrent’s expense, according to a March 11 letter Recurrent’s lawyers sent to Moonshot’s investors, which was seen by Reuters.

Mr. Yang and Zhang Yutao co-founded Recurrent.ai in 2016, before they established Moonshot in 2023, and continue to be directors of Recurrent’s holding company, according to corporate records. The settlement talks have not been previously reported.

Reuters could not independently determine the accuracy of the letter’s claims. The letter did not name the Recurrent investors.

Mr. Yang and Zhang Yutao did not respond to emailed requests for comment. Mr. Yang has previously denied the allegations. Moonshot declined to comment.

David Morrison, senior partner at MinterEllison, which represents Mr. Yang, Zhang Yutao and Moonshot, told Chinese media in November 2024 the case “lacked both legal and factual basis” and that the law firm would mount a defense.

Reuters could not ascertain if Zhang Yutao has commented publicly on the allegations.

Recurrent did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

Beijing-based Moonshot is among a group of Chinese AI developers, including DeepSeek, that is challenging the dominance of US companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic. Moonshot confidentially filed for a Hong Kong IPO, Reuters reported in September, as it seeks to capitalize on the popularity of its Kimi AI models.

While the dispute is not expected to jeopardize Moonshot’s IPO plans, an unresolved fight with Recurrent could raise governance, ownership and disclosure issues for prospective investors, and complicate the listing process, said one of the people with knowledge of the dispute.

The people familiar with the dispute said they did not know whether a settlement was imminent.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Securities and Futures Commission, which regulates the city’s financial industry, declined to comment. The China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Cyberspace Administration of China, one of the country’s main AI regulators, did not respond to requests for comment.

RECURRENT’S CASE AGAINST MOONSHOT EXECUTIVES

The dispute, which is in arbitration in Hong Kong, has been going on since 2024. Recurrent has accused Mr. Yang and Zhang Yutao of setting up Moonshot without authorization from the Recurrent board, making false representations to investors and enriching themselves at Recurrent’s expense, according to the March letter from its lawyers.

The letter alleged, without providing evidence, that servers containing vital large-language-model data were transferred without authorization from Recurrent to a Moonshot subsidiary in April 2023, and that some other key data was deleted in September 2024 at Zhang Yutao’s instructions.

Recurrent and its investors are also considering a separate Cayman Islands legal action against Moonshot President Zhang Yutong, according to the letter.

Zhang Yutong, who resigned as a Recurrent director in 2022, received a significant shareholding in Moonshot “for her personal benefit, a fact which was deliberately concealed from Recurrent’s shareholders,” it said. Reuters could not confirm this claim.

Zhang Yutong also did not respond to several emailed requests for comment sent via Moonshot.

Reuters could not ascertain if Zhang Yutong has commented publicly on the allegations.

Chinese media, including state-backed online news publication The Paper, tech-focused LatePost and Tencent News, have reported that Mr. Yang, in a post in 2024 on his personal WeChat social media account, rejected the accusations of illegal enrichment and other wrongdoing, saying he had cut a deal with the Recurrent board members on setting up Moonshot and that Zhang Yutong’s compensation was based on her professional capabilities. Reuters could not access the original post.

Recurrent received 9.5% of Moonshot’s original shares when the startup was established. Recurrent and its investors are seeking compensation equal to 10.5% of Moonshot’s original shares, which could be worth more than $700 million based on Moonshot’s $30 billion valuation in a June fundraising, one person said.

Moonshot initially gained traction with its Kimi chatbot, known for processing long documents. Alibaba’s backing helped raise its profile, and the company has since expanded into coding, reasoning and agent-based AI products.

In July Moonshot unveiled Kimi K3, a 2.8 trillion-parameter model that it said is the world’s largest open-weight AI system and delivers performance approaching that of Anthropic’s models. Its other backers include Tencent Holdings, Meituan and China Mobile. — Reuters

The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is expected to bring scattered rains and thunderstorms over the Bicol Region, MIMAROPA, Western Visayas, the Negros Island Region, Central Visayas, and Caraga, according to PAGASA’s 4:00 a.m. weather advisory.

It is also expected to affect Northern Mindanao, the Zamboanga Peninsula, Leyte, and Southern Leyte.

The ITCZ is a cloud band formed by the convergence of trade winds from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Easterlies are expected to bring similar weather conditions over Metro Manila, CALABARZON, Central Luzon, Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Benguet, and Pangasinan.

The northeasterly windflow may bring cloudy skies with rains over Batanes and the Babuyan Islands.

PAGASA warned of possible flooding and landslides in areas affected by the three weather systems.

Meanwhile, a tropical depression is being monitored within PAGASA’s monitoring domain. The disturbance was last located 3,030 kilometers east of Central Luzon, packing maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 70 kph.

“It is not expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility and is currently not affecting the country,” Aldzcar D. Aurelio, weather specialist of PAGASA, said during a 5 a.m. press briefing.

The previous tropical cyclone monitored by PAGASA has also exited the bureau’s monitoring domain. — Edg Adrian A. Eva

A loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a raft of recovery measures helped Thailand find a way out of the economic morass.

Almost 30 years on, Bangkok will next week host the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank and Mr. Nitithanprapas, now Thailand’s finance minister, is looking to steer the economy through a new challenge: how to escape years of sluggish growth.

“After the financial crisis, our investment-to-GDP has declined to around 22% to 23% at the moment. So that’s why our growth momentum has been so slow,” Mr. Nitithanprapas told Reuters in an interview.

“After I took the position as finance minister, I put it at the top of my agenda to push investment-led growth policies.”

Ahead of the Bangkok meetings, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned the global economy was under threat from persistently high energy prices, record public debt and risks from the AI investment boom — all factors for Thailand, where the public debt-to-GDP ratio is nearing the official ceiling of 70%.

‘HOLDING UP BETTER’
Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, has grown by an average of only 2.34% a year over the last five years, lagging regional peers that have recovered more swiftly from the pandemic.

Mr. Nitithanprapas last month outlined a plan to hit 3% growth ‌within three years by drawing foreign investment into key sectors such as semiconductors, data centers and advanced manufacturing, including electric vehicles.

A net energy importer, the country is also investing in renewables as it seeks to develop such resource-hungry industries.

Thailand’s central bank, however, has a more conservative view, putting the economy’s potential growth rate at 2.7%, a level it says could take at least four years to reach.

Despite headwinds, including a thorny household debt problem, sliding tourism arrivals and an unresolved trade deal with Washington, the Thai economy is showing resilience — a far cry from its situation in 1997.

“Thailand’s economy is holding up better than expected in the face of the global energy shock, deflationary pressures have receded, and policy predictability has improved following general elections in February 2026,” Fitch Ratings said last month, revising Thailand’s outlook to “stable” from “negative”.

POLITICAL OWNERSHIP
During the turbulence of 1997, as Asian stock markets and currencies plunged, it was Chuan Leekpai’s return as prime minister that helped turn the tide, said Anoop Singh, who led the IMF’s mission to Thailand during the crisis.

“As soon as that happened, there was political ownership, political recognition and reforms,” the now-retired Mr. Singh said in an interview.

“All the IMF is trying to do is to understand what the problem is, suggest to the government what they should do, but they have to do it. So the political ownership is the most important.”

Thailand has seen prime ministers removed by courts or military coups alongside deadly street protests in the decades since the crisis, but with the re-election of Anutin Charnvirakul in February, the country is now in a period of relative political calm, bringing some relief to the stuttering economy.

NEUTRAL INVESTMENT DESTINATION
In the weeks after the surprise win, analysts cheered the broad coalition Mr. Anutin rapidly stitched together and his backing for technocrats such as Mr. Nitithanprapas, but questioned the new administration’s appetite for overhauling the economy.

Pressed on what he considered the most critical structural reforms required, Mr. Nitithanprapas again stressed the need for a shift to renewable energy and upgrading grid infrastructure, building up sectors such as semiconductors and data centers and improving the talent pool for high-tech industries.

At a time of heightened geopolitical strife and trade tensions, Mr. Nitithanprapas is also promoting Thailand as a neutral and secure investment destination — a pitch he plans to make at the IMF-World Bank meeting.

“Given global economic situations, we have a fragmented world. We need some countries to link fragmented economies, and Thailand can be a trusted connector,” he said. — Reuters

Although the HVAC market remains concentrated in the residential and construction sectors, the company expects demand from data centers to grow in the next few years, Ryan Cañete, LG’s commercial air conditioning (CAC) sales team leader, said.

“The trend right now is mostly residential or ongoing construction,” Mr. Cañete told reporters during the launch of LG’s HVAC Academy and Business Innovation Center (BIC).

“But in the near future, next year or the year after, it will be more commercial, including data centers,” he added.

Vanlee Budod, LG’s chiller sales part leader, said the local expansion of data centers is mainly driven by the AI boom and the growing data storage requirements of enterprises.

“When AI is developing, data centers are also growing because of cloud storage and everything,” Ms. Budod told reporters.

According to Mordor Intelligence, a market research firm, the Philippine data center market is projected to double in value to $2.37 billion in 2031 from $850 million in 2026, representing a compound annual growth rate of 22.88%.

Ms. Budod said LG also aims to provide HVAC systems for data centers that may be built in Luzon under PAX SILICA, a US-led technology initiative. The Philippine government said in August that no large AI or hyperscale data centers would be built within the project site.

“That is their comment. But for us, we’re just preparing also,” Ms. Budod said, referring to the government’s remarks on data center construction under PAX SILICA.

LG OPENS HVAC BIC
LG Electronics Philippines has opened its new HVAC Academy and Business Innovation Center (BIC) at Silver City in Pasig, a dedicated space where customers, partners, contractors and developers can learn about and explore the company’s business solutions.

“The opening of the HVAC BIC is about bringing technology and expertise closer to the people who use them every day,” Nakhyun Seong, managing director of LG Electronics Philippines, Inc., said in a statement.

The HVAC BIC is expected to hold at least four sessions per week through an invitation-based or by-request scheme, Ms. Budod said.

LG is also considering partnering with government agencies such as the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) by next year to provide Filipinos with HVAC training. — Edg Adrian A. Eva

That question has since become more layered as players are given more ways to shape their picks and, increasingly, the experience around them.

For Riaan Laubscher, Director of ArenaPlus Betting Division, the shift represents something bigger than another feature added to a sportsbook: players increasingly want a hand in shaping how they engage with the game.

“Players want more control,” Laubscher said. “They’re no longer happy just picking a winner and hoping for the best, but would rather use their love of the sport to assist them with making an informed decision.”

That shift has also influenced how ArenaPlus approaches its own sportsbook, with developments in global markets and changes in player behavior becoming major factors for Laubscher when deciding which new features to introduce.

Deeper level of engagement

Specifically, Single Game Parlays (SGPs) have emerged as one of the clearest signs of that change, turning a single prediction into a more detailed reading of how a game itself might unfold.

ArenaPlus, the No. 1 PAGCOR-licensed online sportsbook in the Philippines, has seen that behavior through Bet Builder, its own SGP feature, with bet count and volume growing by more than 200% month-on-month and gross gaming revenue climbing over 700% in over a quarter as users combined several predictions around how they expected a single match to play out.

“When the results are in, it’s not just ‘I picked the right team’ [anymore], it’s ‘I read the match correctly,’” Laubscher said. “That sense of being right about multiple parts of the game creates a much deeper level of engagement.”

But every new layer of control creates a design challenge of its own: How do you give players more ways to shape their experience without making that experience harder to understand?

“More features don’t automatically make a better product because if you throw too many things at players at once, you risk confusing them and diluting what already works,” Laubscher said.

That dilemma now guides how his team approaches new features: introduce them, teach players how they work, study how users respond, and then decide whether to improve them, push them further, or move on.

Much larger ambition

ArenaPlus has taken the same approach with additions such as Early Cash Out and Boosted Odds, pairing new functionality with player education while giving players the freedom to decide which options fit the way they want to engage with sports.

The aim is to add meaningful choice without turning innovation into a race to put more buttons, markets, and options on the screen.

That becomes even more important in a developing market like the Philippines, where Laubscher has observed that players can be cautious when too many changes arrive too quickly, making familiarity and gradual improvements just as important as the features themselves.

The challenge only grows as ArenaPlus pursues a much larger ambition: turning the sportsbook into a broader sports destination where scores, live updates, viewing, community, and betting increasingly live under one roof.

“The real opportunity is turning the sportsbook into a complete sports entertainment platform, with social features at the center of it,” Laubscher said. “All while staying connected through the social networks and platforms they already use.”

“The technology can become increasingly sophisticated behind the scenes, but for the player it should actually feel simpler and more natural,” he added. “At that point, betting becomes just one part of a much richer sports experience rather than the [only] experience.”

More control, after all, should not mean more work for the player.

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“We have some more months to go, definitely, we will exceed (the record),” PEZA Director-General Tereso O. Panga told reporters on the sidelines of the 15th Arangkada Philippines Forum Friday.

At the end of September, investment approvals stood at P297.14 billion, nearing its P300-billion full-year target.

PEZA’s record was posted in 2012, when approvals hit P311 billion.

Mr. Panga said that at least P10 billion worth of investments are set for approval in the board meeting next week.

“We now see the trend that many of these companies are shifting production out of China,” Mr. Panga said.

In New Clark City, PEZA expects to sign three big-ticket projects involving semiconductors and hyperscale technologies.

“Three more big-ticket projects will be applied within the year, with each locator investing a minimum of P50 billion,” Mr. Panga told the forum.

He added that a Japanese electronics investor is considering a $1-billion expansion at the Laguna Technopark.

“They paid a courtesy visit to (Finance Secretary [Frederick D. Go,) and we accompanied them. It a big Japanese investor,” Mr. Panga said.

He also noted that several IT ecozone applications in Metro Manila await presidential proclamation.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. issued Administrative Order (AO) No. 45 in July, which directs the PEZA Board to accept, process and evaluate all applications for IT centers and parks in Metro Manila.

“As a result of that, we expect more GCCs (global capability centers) coming to the Philippines,” he said.

Mr. Panga noted that current IT park applications for ecozone status serve industries like tourism, food & beverage, and gaming software development.

Next year, PEZA expects investment approvals to come from electric vehicle transport and electronics.

“We are now diversifying. This is not your usual, assembly, testing and packaging. We’re going into high-tech,” he said.  — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz

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The year 2026 was projected to be the year of the “Agentic Enterprise,” where autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) would no longer be limited to simple chatbots but become more ingrained in the core infrastructure of businesses to increase productivity and drive growth, according to US-based cloud software company Salesforce.

Now that we are heading into the last quarter of 2026, this begs the question: Has this projection actually come to fruition?

To help us navigate the recent developments in the AI revolution in business, we are joined by Gavin Barfield, chief technology officer (CTO) and vice-president for solutions at Salesforce, in today’s B-Side podcast.

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The demonstration, drawing a crowd of hundreds to the New York State Supreme Court building in Manhattan, was one of dozens of protests organized on campuses and in communities across the country under the social media banner “#StopSexualViolence: From the Frat House to the White House.”

Several hundred people, mostly women, displayed banners reading “I am Jane Doe. Be afraid of me,” “Death to rape culture” and “This is personal” outside the New York Supreme Court in downtown Manhattan, where the Cornell student identified in court documents as Jane Doe filed a lawsuit against her alleged rapists.

“It’s entirely frustrating that we are here in 2026 and still dealing with this,” said one of the protesters, Brianna Williams, 40, who works for a nonprofit. “It’s just an infuriating moment.”

In a lawsuit filed last month, a Cornell student identified by the pseudonym Jane Doe said she had been plied with drugs and alcohol, then sexually assaulted by members of the campus chapter of the Chi Phi fraternity while she was incapacitated in October 2024.

Jane Doe, who was 20 at the time, named seven Chi Phi members as defendants in the suit, along with the fraternity, a local bar, her own sorority, and the Ivy League university, which she accused of failing to adequately investigate and punish students who were involved.

The lawsuit specifically criticized the university for having offered some of the alleged perpetrators a chance to mitigate their penalties by writing essays.

Jane Doe had reported the alleged assault to police several weeks after the fact, leading to an internal university investigation and a law enforcement probe, but the local prosecutor declined to bring criminal charges in the case.

Since the woman’s civil suit was filed, prosecutors reopened a criminal investigation, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed the state’s attorney general as special prosecutor in the case. Cornell University hired Sally Yates, a top former US Justice Department lawyer, to lead an independent review of how the school handled the allegations.

NATIONAL OUTCRY

Cornell, which has defended its response to the original report, shut down the Chi Phi chapter and imposed a range of discipline on the fraternity members found to be involved, including expulsions of some.

The men named in the suit have all denied any wrongdoing, some saying the sexual activity was consensual and others disputing their participation.

The suit ignited a renewed national outcry against sexual violence and harassment, especially on college campuses, with women taking to the streets in “I Am Jane Doe” protests of solidarity. “I Am Jane Doe” was also a rallying cry for Thursday’s scheduled demonstrations in cities including Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Denver, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Some activists have pointed to comments from President Donald Trump about his behavior toward women and a jury verdict finding him liable for sexual abuse of writer E. Jean Carroll as contributing to a “culture of rape” in the US.

Thousands of students, faculty and community activists marched on Monday through the Cornell campus in Ithaca, New York, demanding that the school administration take firmer action against sexual violence on campus.

The identity of Jane Doe ​has become part of the conversation. Women on social media have been posting #IamJaneDoe in solidarity with the ​accuser and to counter some who have sought to publicly name her. — Reuters

“Crazy, I think they’re all crazy,” Ms. Carson told Icelandic broadcaster RUV when asked how she was feeling after learning she had won while on the Arctic island. “I’ll get a sticker on the front of my book.”

Ms. Carson, 76, who was born in Toronto and has a home in Iceland, had been taken by surprise when called with the news, said Ingrid Carlberg, permanent secretary of the Academy, which awards the prize worth 12 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million).

“All she had time to tell me was that she is for the moment in Iceland, where she’s listening to the wind,” Ms. Carlberg told a press conference in Stockholm after the announcement.

She is widely known for her translations of classical Greek literature, which heavily influences her work that ranges from opera libretti to literary criticism and verse novels such as “Autobiography of Red” from 1998.

“Genre is something for booksellers. It’s something you do in order to appeal to an audience and make them buy books. And on what shelf do you put Anne Carson’s books? It’s on a shelf of her own,” said Swedish novelist Steve Sem-Sandberg, who is a member of the award committee. “That’s what I like about her.”

‘NEW FORMS OF CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE’
In its citation, the Swedish Academy said it was recognizing Ms. Carson “for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature”.

“Almost all her literary production has centered upon the intersection between the philologist’s obsession with words and the poet’s desire for new meaning,” the Academy said.

“She has herself identified the etymology of words as the starting point for all her work. Her translations from Classical Greek may be regarded as independent works in their own right.”

Her style is exemplified in “Norma Jeane Baker of Troy” from 2019, a performance piece which mixes the stories of Helen of Troy in Euripides’ play “Helen” with Marilyn Monroe.

LIFE WITHOUT PROUST
Often heralded as her greatest work, “Autobiography of Red” demonstrates Ms. Carson’s ability to “actualize the classical literary tradition”, the Academy said. In the book, she re-examines age-old questions such as “What happens when you love someone who will ultimately destroy you?”

Tapping into more modern inspirations, Ms. Carson reflected on the character of Albertine, one of the narrator Marcel’s love interests in Marcel Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time”, in her own book “The Albertine Workout”.

Ms. Carson had spent seven years reading Mr. Proust’s masterpiece and said in an interview with Canada’s CBC Radio One in 2016 that she suffered withdrawal symptoms after finishing, leading her to write “The Albertine Workout” as a way to prolong the experience.

“You think life goes on after Proust, but it seems so grey,” she said.

BOXING LESSONS TO FIGHT PARKINSON’S
Ms. Carson started taking boxing lessons when she was already in her 70s because of a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. The sport is recommended as a therapy because it helps with paying attention to hand-eye coordination and the sequencing of actions.

She reflected on the disease’s impact on her handwriting in an interview at the Louisiana Literary Festival in Denmark in 2024: “I scrub out whole paragraphs in shame … the shame of bad handwriting.”

Ms. Carson, who has taught classics at universities in Canada and the United States, has said that she considers herself a visual artist as much as a literary one.

“I think of making a poem as making an object. I have always thought of them more as drawings than as texts, but drawings that are also physically enterable through the fact of language,” she said in the CBC interview.

Poetry, she says, may be more attuned to the fast modern-day life than long-form writing.

“I think it’s probably more useful than prose right now because it’s faster and everybody is in a hurry so basically it’s good because it is brief,” she told the Icelandic broadcaster on Thursday.

When asked by the Nobel Committee about her own sources of inspiration, however, she listed ancient Greek poet Homer, author of “The Odyssey” epic.

As to how the classical stories she has reinterpreted in her work might be relevant to modern audiences, she said: “I don’t think I’m interested in relevance.”

‘AT HOME’ IN ICELAND AND NYC
Mr. Carson and her husband, artist Robert Currie, first came to Iceland after the 2008 banking collapse and gradually spent more time there. “We got to know people and we liked the people,” Mr. Carson told Iceland Review in 2023.

She has held citizenship of Iceland since 2022.

Mr. Currie told the magazine Iceland was one of only two places that immediately felt like home to him, the other being New York City in the 1970s.

Literature was the fourth of this year’s Nobels to be announced this week, following medicine, physics and chemistry. The peace prize winner will be announced in Oslo on Friday.

Established in the will of Swedish dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel, the prizes have been awarded since 1901.

Ms. Carson, who had been among the favorites this year, takes a place beside luminaries such as Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Alice Munro and Ernest Hemingway as a recipient of the award. Last year’s prize was won by Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai. ($1 = 10.0190 Swedish crowns) — Reuters

Maricarmen Abascal, who died on Wednesday, had been hospitalized for severe anxiety and exhaustion since her eviction on September 23. No cause of death has been announced.

Protests over home shortages and surging rents following her eviction prompted Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to call a snap general election for November 29 after parliament rejected his government’s proposals to address a mounting housing crisis.

As the sun set in Madrid, thousands followed a line of Tenants Union members, dressed in orange vests and walking arm-in-arm, as they carried a wreath of flowers from a protest camp in central Puerta del Sol square to Ms. Abascal’s former home near Retiro Park.

“They’re not deaths; they’re murders,” the protesters chanted.

Several people who received eviction orders have died by suicide in Spain in recent months.

Political leaders on Thursday traded blame and invoked Ms. Abascal’s case in attacks on opponents.

Left-leaning parties criticized conservatives who rejected legislation in parliament aimed at curbing soaring rental prices. Right-wingers said the leftist central government had been unable to tackle the crisis after eight years in power.

Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, leader of the conservative opposition People’s Party (PP), accused Mr. Sanchez and the Socialists of trying to exploit the housing crisis for political gain before the election.

“We will not allow this attempt to manipulate the emotions of the Spanish people; all of this has happened during their eight years in government. It won’t fly,” Mr. Feijoo said.

In the Madrid regional assembly, opposition leader Manuela Bergerot of the leftist Mas Madrid party said Maricarmen — as she has become known across Spain — had died because of “miserable people who put gain above a person’s life.”

She said the last thing Madrid regional leader Isabel Diaz Ayuso had done while Maricarmen was alive was “laugh at her” — a reference to Ms. Ayuso’s quip on September 28: “At what age do I get to stop paying my landlords? Let me know.”

Ms. Ayuso blamed Mr. Sanchez, saying Maricarmen had been evicted under his government.

PROTESTERS BLAME ‘GREEDY’ LANDLORDS
News of the octogenarian’s death enraged protesters camped on squares in Spain’s main cities who chanted that she had been “murdered” because of the greed of her landlords.

After an investment fund purchased the building where she had lived for more than 70 years, Ms. Abascal lost a lengthy legal battle against rent increases far beyond her pension income, leading to her eviction. While in hospital, she reached a deal to regain her home but she died before she could return.

“When everything is private, we will be deprived of everything,” said a placard on Puerta del Sol square, where mourners lit candles and left flowers honoring Maricarmen.

Outside Ms. Abascal’s building, mourners left flowers, candles, handwritten notes and children’s drawings.

“Maricarmen was the straw that broke the camel’s back… (she was) a symbol of resistance and unity,” said Alex Marinero, a 21-year-old protester.

Tributes to Ms. Abascal in the Madrid region’s legislature also caused arguments as lawmakers accused each other of cynically exploiting the case.

The PP, which has absolute majorities in the Madrid regional and local assemblies, refused to hold a minute of silence honoring her.

Instead, hard-left deputies staged one outside City Hall and gave Ms. Abascal a 60-second standing ovation during a tense debate in the regional assembly, while PP lawmakers remained seated with folded arms.

A survey carried out in June and published by state pollster CIS on Thursday found 76.3% of Spaniards supported intervention in the market to guarantee access to housing, while 79% believe the right to housing should take precedence over treating homes as a market commodity.

Ombudsman Angel Gabilondo said addressing the housing crisis would require greater commitment from all levels of government.

He said his office was preparing a housing report and reiterated proposals including expanding public housing, restricting tourist rentals, increasing rent assistance and strengthening protections against evictions for vulnerable households. — Reuters

The people said job cuts came after a voluntary buyout program and are expected to impact roughly 270 employees at Flock, a surveillance technology startup that has seen rapid growth in recent years. Employees will leave the company at the end of the month. Sources declined to be identified as the company has yet to make the plan public.

Flock declined to comment.

In September, Flock announced a voluntary separation program, asking employees to apply if they wanted to leave the company, Wired reported last month. The company has about 1,500 employees.

Flock faces growing scrutiny from regulators, lawmakers, and privacy advocates, despite drawing strong investor interest among venture capitalists. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Americans are divided on whether Flock cameras are a good idea. Some 38% of the country supports the use of Flock cameras in their community, compared to 47% who oppose their use.

Across 49 states, Flock’s network of around 120,000 AI-powered cameras, affixed to streets and highways, automatically read license plates and record vehicles as they pass.

The company, based in Atlanta and founded in 2017, has raised over $950 million from venture capital investors, with its latest $275 million round in March led by Andreessen Horowitz valuing the company at $7.5 billion. The funds have supported a new US manufacturing facility and an upcoming push into drone products, according to the company.

Flock provides cameras and software to more than 4,800 law enforcement agencies and nearly 1,000 businesses. The company says its technology helps investigate and solve crimes, but it has come under increasing scrutiny over alleged privacy violations and data-sharing practices.

Public backlash has grown. In September, Florida banned automated license plate readers from state highways, citing privacy risks tied to Flock’s cameras.

Home Depot investors recently demanded reviews of the retailer’s partnerships with surveillance technology vendors after reports that Flock’s data was used in immigration enforcement.

Flock also faces legal challenges, such as a privacy lawsuit in Virginia alleging that the widespread deployment of its AI-powered cameras constitutes warrantless surveillance.

Together with AI data centers, Flock cameras have emerged as a flashpoint in this year’s midterm elections, with candidates increasingly attacking their opponents by tying them to the technology. — Reuters

THE PHILIPPINE government has raised P167.25 billion from the Retail Treasury Bond 32 (RTB 32) offering, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said on Friday.

An additional P82.39 billion was raised from the offer period that ended Oct. 7, from the initial P84.86 billion raised at the rate-setting auction on Sept. 29, the Treasury said in a statement.

This also comes after the Treasury limited the public offering of the RTB 32 to retail investors starting Oct. 1.

The BTr said the amount raised from the bond exchange program will be announced at a later date.

“Proceeds from the RTB-32 issuance will support the government’s budgetary requirements

for various projects and programs such as education, health, infrastructure, agriculture,

among others,” the BTr said.

To help drive demand for the RTBs, the Treasury, together with the joint issue managers, conducted regional roadshows in Baguio, Batangas, Cagayan De Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Naga, and Pampanga.

It also set up information booths in several areas in the National Capital Region (NCR) and conducted financial literacy sessions for overseas Filipino communities, local retail investors, and institutions to further enhance public awareness of the RTB program.

The total amount announced was higher than the P150-billion target previously mentioned by National Treasury Sharon P. Almanza for new money under the offer.

The two and a half year bonds, with a coupon rate of 6.875%, will be issued and settled on Oct. 12.

It also includes an exchange offer for holders of RTBs maturing on Oct. 20, 2026 (RTB 15-01), March 1, 2027 (RTB 15-02) and March 4, 2027 (RTB 05-15), as well as for holders of fixed-rate Treasury notes (FXTN) maturing on Dec. 7, 2026 (FXTN 20-13) and Jan. 4, 2027 (FXTN 03-30).

The bonds were sold in minimum denominations of P5,000 and in multiples of P5,000 thereafter through web-based channel via the BTr Online Ordering Facility through China

Banking Corp., Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK), and First Metro Securities.

It was also available via application-based channels such as the LANDBANK mobile banking app, Overseas Filipino Bank mobile banking app, GCash via GBonds, PDAX, ATRAM Prime and ATRAM PERA mobile apps, and RCBC Pulz.

The Development Bank of the Philippines and LANDBANK were the Joint Lead Issue Managers, while BDO Capital & Investment Corporation, BPI Capital Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., First Metro Investment Corporation, PNB Capital and Investment Corp., Unionbank of the Philippines, and Security Bank Capital Investment Corp. were the Joint Issue Managers for RTB-32.

INTERNATIONAL BOND STANDARDS
Meanwhile, Philippine financial regulators on Friday announced that pricing of peso-denominated government bonds for settlement purposes will adopt the international pricing convention effective Jan. 4, 2027.

This confirms all relevant regulations and systems will be in place before end-2026.

“This reform is part of our broader effort to modernize the Philippine financial system. Aligning with international standards makes it easier for the Philippines to compete for capital in an increasingly integrated global financial system,” Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go said in a separate press release.

Ms. Almanza previously said they are working to align bond pricing conventions with international standards as part of its efforts to ensure the inclusion of Philippine bonds in JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets (GBI-EM), which is set to be announced on Jan. 29, 2027.

Other participating regulators include Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Insurance Commission (IC), Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx), and industry associations Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), Trust Officers Association of the Philippines (TOAP), Fund Managers Association of the Philippines (FMAP), Money Market Association of the Philippines (MART), National Association of Securities Brokers Inc. (NASBI), Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA), and Philippine Life Insurance Association (PLIA).

The shift in bond pricing convention will be applied on PDEx’s revised fixed-income market rules and trading conventions, while regulators of financial institutions including the BSP, the SEC, and the IC, will support the industry and the public through the transition process.

“A deeper and more liquid capital market provides more investment opportunities while giving businesses additional ways to raise funds. A more robust bond market complements bank credit and helps make the Philippine financial market and economy more resilient,” BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. said.

The BTr said there will be no actual impact for investors who hold bonds to maturity as most Philippine bond holders fall under this category, but some investors may see changes in the computation of the settlement value of government bonds.

It added that tax obligations will remain the same as the transition will not alter the contractual terms of the bonds.

Investors will continue to receive the scheduled interest payments (coupons) and principal at maturity, in accordance with the terms of their bonds, the Treasury said.

The reform aims to allow the government to borrow more efficiently and at lower rates by increasing participation in the government bond market and deepening market liquidity as well as investor base.

This would create more fiscal space, helping fund more and better public infrastructure and services as well as support more efficient price discovery and bond valuations.

The reforms will also benefit the private sector, as lower borrowing costs will help businesses expand, invest, and create jobs while allowing households to finance major investments and purchases.

“This is an important step in making the Philippine bond market more accessible and attractive to international investors. Broader participation in the government bond market will help lower borrowing costs, enabling the government to finance more productive spending, including public infrastructure and services,” Ms. Almanza added.

In June 2026, Jose Franco B. Soberano assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer, succeeding founder Jose R. Soberano III. Soberano III who remains as Executive Chairman.

The change comes as CLI enters a new phase of development. Its business has expanded beyond residential projects into townships, hotels, malls, offices and mixed-use developments across the Visayas and Mindanao. Its planned entry into Luzon represents the next stage of that expansion, with projects in Pasig City and Dasmariñas, Cavite expected to come into the portfolio in the next few years.

A platform built in VisMin

The scale of CLI’s business has changed significantly since its early years. What began primarily as a residential development platform has expanded into townships, hotels, commercial spaces, offices and mixed-use developments, giving the company a broader presence across the property market.

This diversification has allowed CLI to participate in different stages of a city’s growth, from housing and retail to workplaces, hotels and larger mixed-use environments.

As of June 30, 2026, CLI’s residential portfolio comprised more than 45,000 worth P176 billion, with sell-through improving to 95% from 92% in the previous quarter.

The company is also replenishing its development pipeline with 11 projects for 2026 that consists of approximately 5,600 homes and an estimated sales value of about P25 billion. The first of these, Alto Ranudo in Cebu, as well as the project in Ormoc, were launched earlier this month, with the remaining projects covering Cebu, Mactan, Butuan, Davao and Panglao.

These projects will allow CLI to continue growing in its established markets.

A broader property platform

CLI’s larger developments increasingly bring together different property uses within a single environment, creating opportunities for residential, commercial, leasing, hospitality and other activities to operate alongside one another. Davao Global Township is one example of this approach.

The 22-hectare Davao Global Township in Matina, Davao City is designed as a master-planned environment that brings together residential, commercial and civic components. Its first phase includes six residential towers, commercial lots, Central Park, a drive-through, DGT City Center and the Pavilion.

The East Village forms part of DGT’s residential component, while The West Village adds another condominium development within the township. CLI currently lists The West Village as an ongoing project, with construction updates continuing in 2026.

DGT City Center provides a commercial and lifestyle component within the township, with retail and dining spaces complementing the residential developments and other uses. CLI’s development materials describe the City Center as part of the first phase of DGT, alongside The East Village and the DGT Cultural Center.

In Cebu, Patria de Cebu is another example of CLI’s expansion into developments that combine retail, food and beverage, wellness and essential services within a historic downtown commercial corridor.

These developments also generate activity beyond the properties themselves, creating opportunities for contractors, suppliers, brokers, retailers, service providers and other businesses. Commercial and hospitality components can add further activity and employment once operational.

From regional developer to national contender

That evolution has also brought increasing recognition outside its traditional markets.

In August 2026, the company was named Best Developer in the Philippines at the 14^th PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards. It also received awards for Best Housing Developer in the Philippines, Best Developer – Visayas, and Best Developer – Mindanao, among nine recognitions across residential, hospitality and design categories.

The timing of the recognition is significant as CLI prepares to compete in markets beyond its established VisMin base.

The timing of the recognition is significant as CLI prepares to compete in markets beyond its established VisMin base.

A new market landscape

CLI’s entry into Luzon is taking shape through projects in Metro Manila and Cavite.

In Pasig City, the company is working with NTT UD Asia Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of Japan’s NTT Urban Development Corporation, on a multi-phase residential and retail mixed-use development.

Planned components include multiple residential towers, retail areas and community spaces, bringing together different uses within a single development.

In Dasmariñas, Cavite, CLI is planning a roughly 70-hectare flagship township. The master-planned estate is envisioned to include approximately 6,000 residential units together with commercial, institutional and other components, with initial launches targeted through 2028.

These projects put CLI into a market with a different competitive landscape from the regional cities where it has established its business.

At the same time, the company enters Luzon with an operating platform shaped by more than two decades of development in markets outside Metro Manila.

That track record spans across different price segments, building mixed-use environments, establishing hospitality and commercial assets, and expanding into emerging urban centers.

The next phase

CLI’s 23^rd anniversary comes as the company enters a new stage of growth. After building a diversified property platform across the Visayas and Mindanao, the company is now preparing to extend that platform into Luzon while continuing to expand its established markets.

As CLI moves beyond its traditional markets under new leadership, the transition is from what it has built to what it intends to build next: extending its development capabilities into new markets while continuing to grow the residential, commercial, hospitality and township businesses it has established across VisMin.

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The Philippines’ dollar reserves plummeted to its lowest level in three years at end-September as the central bank used its reserves to manage foreign exchange market volatility while the peso weakened.

In the nine months to September, the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) fell to $99.997 billion, down 8.31% from the $109.06 billion seen a year ago, preliminary data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

This was the lowest GIR level in three years or since the $98.116 billion logged in September 2023.

September also marked the seventh straight month that the GIR contracted annually.

Month on month, the country’s dollar reserves declined by 4.62% from $104.846 billion.

The central bank said its reserves shrank largely due to its net foreign exchange operations, especially as the peso depreciated further in September.

The reescalation of the Middle East war, coupled with domestic inflation woes and the Federal Reserve’s tightening, dragged the peso to hit new record lows six times in September.

The peso plunged to its weakest finish against the greenback of P62.86 on Sept. 14, before slumping to its worst intraday low of P62.925 on Sept. 15, according to Bankers Association of the Philippines data.

As of end-September, the peso has slumped by P3.85 or 6.15% from its P58.79 finish on Dec. 29, 2025.

The BSP uses the country’s foreign reserves by releasing US dollar liquidity when intervening in the foreign exchange market amid episodes of peso depreciation.

The GIR decline was also due to “downward valuation adjustments, primarily driven by changes in the prices of the BSP’s gold holdings and foreign currency–denominated reserve assets,” the central bank said.

The reserves’ fall also came after the national government reduced its foreign currency deposits with the BSP to pay its external debts, with its total withdrawals also exceeding its deposits during the month, the central bank added.

International reserves are the central bank’s foreign assets held mostly as investments in foreign-issued securities, foreign exchange and monetary gold, among others.

These are supplemented by claims to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the form of reserve position in the fund and special drawing rights (SDRs).

Despite falling below $100 billion, the latest dollar reserves level remains ample to protect the country from market volatility and ensure that it can pay its debts in case of an economic downturn, according to the BSP.

“The latest GIR level provides sufficient foreign currency to meet the country’s import needs, service its external debt obligations, and serve as a buffer against external economic shocks,” it said.

Based on latest data, the end-September reserves could cover about 3.2 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.

It also translates to 6.3 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, exceeding the three-month standard.

The BSP projects its foreign reserves to decline to $104 billion this year from the $110.8 billion it held in 2025.

Mr. Soai, 76, is Japanese, and Mr. Kagan, 95, is French, and their work built on a discovery by the 19th-century French chemist Louis Pasteur.

“This is the most exciting day in my life, I am very glad to share this prize with Professor Henri Kagan,” Mr. Soai said, speaking by phone to the Nobel Prize press conference, adding he had been out grocery shopping when he received the news.

Reuters was unable to reach Mr. Kagan, the third-oldest person to be awarded a Nobel Prize, but his daughter, Veronique Le Deunff, said she was “very happy” and that “the creativity and originality of his work have opened up new avenues for research”.

French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated the laureates on X, calling it an immense honor for the country. “A recognition suited to a lifetime of research,” he said.

In fact, Mr. Kagan’s work has long been seen as influential on the field and the then-French research minister complained to the Nobel Foundation in 2001 when Mr. Kagan was left out that year. The prize instead went to two American and one Japanese scientist for work in the same field.

In a congratulatory phone call, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told Mr. Soai: “As a Japanese, I’m very proud of you.”

‘RIGHT-HANDED’ AND ‘LEFT-HANDED’ MOLECULES
Many of the molecules essential to life exist in two forms that are mirror images of each other, like left and right hands. Yet living organisms almost exclusively use only one version, a phenomenon known as “homochirality” – from the Greek word for hand – that has puzzled chemists for more than a century.

This year’s prize was awarded for discoveries that showed how chemical reactions can be driven to favor a single molecular mirror image, work that has been key for chemists who design reactions for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals.

“The left-handed version of the drug can have one effect, and the right-handed version can have another effect, and then we need methods for selectively preparing them,” Peter Somfai, a member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said.

“In developing such methods the findings of this year’s laureates are important. They provided powerful tools for that.”

BUILDING ON WORK BY LOUIS PASTEUR
The first link in the chain in solving the problem was work by Mr. Pasteur, who died a few years before the Nobel Prizes were first awarded in 1901.

He was looking at tartaric acid, important in the production of wine, and noticed that bacteria only ferment one of the two forms of tartaric acid – that which is naturally found in grapes. With the other there is no fermentation.

That proved that some substances occur in two forms and that they have different properties, sometimes very damaging to health.

How to create the right form of a chiral substance was a problem not solved until Mr. Kagan and Mr. Soai were able to produce asymmetric reactions, creating an excess of one form.

“This is probably the coolest experiment in organic chemistry,” said Mr. Somfai.

The importance of the work is illustrated by the case of the thalidomide scandal in the early 1960s, when thousands of children were affected by birth defects caused by a sedative, thalidomide.

When researchers analyzed what had happened, they realized that it was the active substance’s mirror image that caused the harm.

AWARD CEREMONY IN STOCKHOLM IN DECEMBER
The chemistry Nobel, always the third prize to be awarded during Nobel week, followed those for medicine and physics announced on Monday and Tuesday.

Established in the will of Swedish inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel, the prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace have been awarded since 1901, with a few interruptions mostly due to the world wars.

Mr. Nobel, a chemist by trade, amassed huge wealth in the 19th century from inventions primarily tied to warfare, most notably dynamite. The economics prize is a later addition funded by the Swedish central bank.

Sometimes overshadowed by more famous laureates in the fields of physics, literature and peace, the chemistry awards have still recognized many influential discoveries such as nuclear fission and genetic sequencing techniques.

Last year’s chemistry award went to scientists Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi for the development of so-called metal-organic frameworks, molecular constructions that can help tackle challenges such as climate change and lack of fresh water.

The laureates will receive their medals from Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf at a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. The awards are followed by a lavish banquet at Stockholm City Hall.

They also share 12 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million). ($1 = 10.0309 Swedish crowns) — Reuters

The new charges could come as soon as Thursday, according to the official, who was briefed on the investigation.

Mr. Maduro, who led Venezuela for 13 years, and Ms. Flores were captured by the US military from their home in Caracas on January 3 and brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges. They have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to go on trial starting June 1, 2027.

A spokesperson for the Manhattan US Attorney’s office, which brought the charges, declined to comment.

Lawyers for Mr. Maduro and Ms. Flores did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The possibility of new charges was first reported by CNN on Wednesday.

Details of the new charges, including the identities of the alleged torture victims, were not immediately available.

Mr. Maduro’s tenure was marked by tensions with the United States. Washington accused his government of detaining Americans as leverage to extract concessions such as relief from financial sanctions.

Americans whom the US classified as wrongfully detained during Mr. Maduro’s tenure included five oil executives arrested on graft charges. They were freed in 2022 in exchange for two of Ms. Flores’ nephews who had been convicted in the US of drug trafficking.

Others detained included two former US Army Special Forces members who were arrested in Venezuela in 2020 in connection with a botched raid aimed at ousting Mr. Maduro. They were freed in 2023 as part of another prisoner swap.

Since Mr. Maduro’s capture, Venezuela has been led by his former vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, who has increased cooperation with the Trump administration.

Mr. Maduro, 63, and Ms. Flores, 69, have been held in a federal jail in Brooklyn.

Ms. Flores is due to appear in Manhattan federal court on Thursday to urge US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein to release her from jail before trial for health reasons. Prosecutors oppose her release. — Reuters

Authorities have advised shopkeepers to close their businesses early, warning of riots.

“Major unrest is underway. Close your businesses”, Belgium’s official government warning system BE-Alert said on Thursday.

Liège’s main train station was also closed but later reopened, local media reported, and police urged people to avoid the city center.

“Due to the ongoing demonstration, avoid the city center. Traffic there is severely disrupted”, the police said on social media platforms.

Local authorities could not immediately be reached to confirm the arrests, which the Belga news agency reported were linked to offenses including property damage and arson.

Students have protested over Belgium’s French-language education system, citing rising education costs, overcrowded classrooms and difficulties accessing study materials.

They held signs with slogans including “It’s a mess, we are fighting for a right! Not a privilege!” and “I chose education, not the hunger games!!”.

The unrest follows June clashes between protesters and police in Brussels over education reforms, including a tuition increase for most students in Belgium’s French-speaking Community to €1,194 ($1,280) from €835.

Videos circulating on social media in recent days showed shattered glass, fires and hundreds of mostly young protesters in Liège, while other footage showed police blocking roads.

During Wednesday’s protest, police were seen checking students for weapons.

IN TOUCH WITH FRENCH STUDENTS
Some students told Reuters they were in touch with French counterparts.

“We support each other because we’re facing pretty much the same issues,” 19-year-old student Alfred said.

Amelia Di Salve, also 19, who is studying to become a teacher, said Belgium’s student movement began earlier this year and was reignited after students saw the demonstrations in France.

“When we saw nothing was changing without protests, we decided we would start … France did influence us a little,” she said.

Liège mayor Willy Demeyer told Belgian broadcaster RTBF he hoped calm would return and “that dialogue can be established and that the young people can express their grievances in a peaceful way and, if possible, have those concerns heard”. — Reuters

The deal brings together the studios behind “Mission: Impossible,” “Harry Potter” and DC Studios alongside major television and streaming networks such as CBS, CNN, Paramount+ and HBO Max — forming an expansive entertainment company spanning film, TV and news.

The merger is a chance “to build the next-generation media and entertainment company, powered by creativity and technology,” Mr. Ellison said in a memo to employees on Tuesday, outlining his vision. The goal, he added, was not simply to get bigger but “to take on the biggest players in our industry.”

The new company, called Skydance, is the latest iteration of a conglomerate once controlled by the late Sumner Redstone that has precipitously shrunk over the years, as audiences flock to news and entertainment delivered by a growing cadre of smaller publishers and creators who are chipping away at once-mighty Hollywood.

Skydance not only faces competition from Netflix, Disney and others, but also from tech companies Apple, Meta, and Amazon, as well as the growing threat of AI.

Mr. Ellison said the merger was necessary to better take on these challengers at a time when the media industry had become complacent.

“They allowed Netflix to disrupt their business,” he told reporters in a press conference on Tuesday. “They allowed Amazon Prime Video to come and disrupt their business. They didn’t transform, and they held on to the past for too long.”

Shares of the combined company moved to the New York Stock Exchange from Nasdaq on Tuesday to trade under the ticker “SKYD.”

Settlements with a coalition of US states and a Hollywood writers union removed the main legal barriers to the merger, one of the largest in media history. It comes as Hollywood faces declining cable-TV subscriptions, the high cost of competing for streaming audiences and persistent pressure from unions over jobs and creative workers’ rights.

TRUMP’S CNN PROBLEM

President Donald Trump expressed approval on Tuesday when asked about the deal. “It’s going to be a great company,” he told reporters. “That’s a great merger. I’m glad they let it go.”

Mr. Trump has attacked news organizations since his first term, and he recently took the unprecedented step of banning several news outlets from the White House, including CNN. The move came weeks ahead of the November 3 midterm elections in which Mr. Trump’s fellow Republicans are defending narrow majorities in Congress.

CNN chief Mark Thompson and CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss will continue in their respective leadership roles in the new company and each will separately report to Mr. Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz, allaying concerns from critics that Ms. Weiss, who took over as CBS News editor-in-chief in 2025, ​would have greater control over all of Skydance’s news operations.

The concerns are also fueled by lawmakers’ criticism of Mr. Ellison for tailoring news coverage at Paramount-owned CBS News to favor Mr. Trump. As part of the settlement, Mr. Ellison agreed to create an editorial independence board to oversee CNN and CBS. Experts warn that the board will be “toothless.”

Mr. Ellison said last week the Skydance name was chosen to retain the individual identities of Paramount and Warner Bros studios, rather than combining them under a new brand.

Wall Street analysts, however, said the name reinforces the extent of Mr. Ellison’s control, highlighting how some of Hollywood’s most iconic brands now answer to him and how he has a platform to impose his strategy and culture.

In just 16 years, Skydance has gone from an independent studio to the center of one of Hollywood’s biggest power plays. Founded in 2010 by the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, it built its reputation as a financial backer and producer of Paramount’s blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick.”

After merging with Paramount last year, Skydance set its sights on Warner Bros, entering a heated bidding contest with Netflix while drawing interest from other potential suitors, including Comcast.

Warner Bros shareholders received an additional $41.9 million in a “ticking fee,” based on the number of days between September-end and the deal-closing, according to a regulatory filing.

BROADER HOLLYWOOD BET

Mr. Ellison named Mr. Kreiz as Skydance co-CEO to run day-to-day operations and lead the integration, while Mr. Ellison oversees creative direction and overall strategy.

Mr. Kreiz, former CEO of Mattel, was also appointed to the company’s board on Tuesday, alongside former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, and Laurene Powell Jobs, the founder of the Emerson Collective, and publisher of the Atlantic. Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair will join the company as an adviser, it said.

In bringing on Mr. Kreiz, Mr. Ellison has signaled the need for a cost-cutter. The duo faces the task of combining two large companies while delivering $6 billion in planned savings, a big part of which Paramount said would come from “non-labor sources.”

That includes combining technology and cloud providers of the two companies, but the scale of the cuts is expected to affect jobs across Hollywood.

Skydance plans to combine its streaming services, including HBO Max and Paramount+, into a single service and has pledged to release at least 30 films each in the first two years after closing, rising to 32 a year for the following three.

The combined company is also expected to carry about $80 billion in debt, putting pressure on Mr. Ellison to grow streaming, preserve cash flow from cable networks and improve theatrical film performance. Mr. Ellison has pledged to spend $30 billion or more each year on content.

Analysts at MoffettNathanson forecast core operating profit, or EBITDA, of $16 billion for 2028, rising to $19 billion in 2030. The research firm also predicted about $67 billion in revenue in 2028, growing to roughly $70 billion in 2030.

Mr. Ellison’s annual base salary will be $5 million, with a target annual bonus of $5 million, according to the regulatory filing.

The tech scion offered a cold assessment of the deal when Reuters asked how he planned to win over a skeptical Hollywood where many had expressed deep apprehensions over the transaction.

“I understand why everyone felt the way that they did,” he said, “but I think if you’re intellectually honest, you need to zoom out and to see that the symptoms of this go back a long time, and then you start asking yourself, ‘What was the alternative?'” — Reuters

Mr. Vance, a longtime skeptic of US involvement in foreign wars, has taken a leading role in negotiating a settlement to the conflict and brokered a provisional peace agreement in June that quickly fell apart. The war has jolted global energy markets and become a political liability for President Donald Trump and fellow Republicans ahead of November midterm elections.

Speaking on Monday after a campaign trip in Alaska, Mr. Vance said any agreement would require Iran to reduce its nuclear enrichment capacity, rather than offer assurances of future nuclear drawdowns.

“If you don’t want a nuclear weapon, then why do you need 60% enriched fuel? And if you want to show commitment to not building a nuclear weapon, don’t build highly enriched fuel. That’s a very basic threshold issue,” Mr. Vance said.

“I think if they want to show a commitment to not building a nuclear weapon, they would do something meaningful on their enrichment capacity.”

Iran and the US have exchanged proposals in recent weeks aimed at ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global energy shipping route. Mr. Trump rejected Tehran’s latest offer and has warned that military operations could intensify after the midterms.

Mr. Vance said the US remained open to an agreement but would require concrete Iranian nuclear concessions.

“We’re not going to trade words for actions,” Mr. Vance said.

UNCLEAR HOW IRAN MAKES DECISIONS: VANCE

Complicating matters, Mr. Vance said Washington is uncertain who makes decisions in Tehran.

Mr. Vance said the US was in talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. But it was unclear how much authority they wield within Iran’s power structure, he said, after joint US-Israeli strikes at the start of the war killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“One of the things we picked up on is it’s not totally clear how their country makes decisions,” Mr. Vance said. Separately, Mr. Trump said on Tuesday his “biggest problem” is no one knows who is running Iran.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Sunday that US officials are well aware of who their Iranian counterparts are and how Iran’s decision-making system works.

“The problem is actually the opposite: it lies in the contradictory positions and mixed messaging from US officials,” Esmaeil Baghaei told a weekly press conference.

Mr. Vance told Reuters he has held personal conversations with field commanders to gauge battlefield conditions. He dismissed concerns over critical munitions shortages and added that while Iranian troops are periodically able to strike commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, they are largely unable to prevent energy exports through the waterway.

Mr. Vance declined to say if he was leading peace talks, though he is frequently cited as the White House’s top negotiator.

“We’re certainly involved,” he said. “Ultimately, the president of the United States is driving things.”

The war — and its $3 billion monthly price tag — has become a key issue on the campaign trail. Higher energy prices have put Mr. Trump and Republicans on the defensive in competitive states that will decide control of Congress.

Mr. Vance has sought to temper criticism of Mr. Trump’s handling of the conflict, telling voters they should not let that issue keep them from backing Republicans in next month’s elections.

In Alaska, Mr. Vance rallied for Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, who is locked in a tight reelection battle with Democratic challenger Mary Peltola. Mr. Trump carried Alaska by 13 percentage points in 2024, but rising everyday costs have put the state in play.

Before speaking with Reuters, Mr. Vance focused much of his speech on affordability concerns, especially around energy. Alaska’s remote locale makes consumer goods more expensive, and energy production is a key industry.

Rally attendees roared when Mr. Sullivan nearly introduced Mr. Vance as the president of the US, rather than the vice president. Mr. Vance is seen as a leading Republican contender to succeed Mr. Trump in the White House.

Mr. Vance told Reuters afterward that he had not decided whether to seek the presidency in 2028.

“I’m inherently a procrastinator,” he said. “I really haven’t thought about it much.” — Reuters

Despite severe injuries to her arms from the insertion of intravenous lines during the aborted execution last Wednesday, Ms. Pike, 50, is “still handcuffed and shackled” to her hospital bed while she remains under medical care, her team of public defense attorneys wrote.

“Her prognosis remains unclear, but at a minimum we expect a long recovery,” the lawyers’ statement said, adding that a court hearing on Ms. Pike’s case was scheduled for Wednesday in Davidson County Chancery Court.

The hearing pertains to her lawyers’ request for a court order to preserve evidence from the failed execution they said would show the Tennessee Department of Correction violated Ms. Pike’s constitutional rights by subjecting her to cruel and unusual punishment, a spokesperson said.

She was not expected to appear for the proceeding.

Ms. Pike, sentenced to death for her role as a teenager in the torture-murder of 19-year-old schoolmate Colleen Slemmer three decades ago, survived the execution attempt on the night of September 30 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, the state capital. She has been hospitalized since then.

Her lawyers said on Friday their client remained unconscious, critically ill and hooked to a ventilator to breathe, as doctors labored to clear the drug pentobarbital from her system.

“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking and continues to receive critical medical care,” they wrote on Tuesday.

Ms. Pike’s petition for clemency, denied last week by Republican Governor Bill Lee, argued her death sentence had failed to properly account for Ms. Pike’s own childhood trauma as the victim of sexual abuse, neglect and untreated mental illness.

Long the only woman on death row in the state, Ms. Pike also has endured nearly 30 years of solitary confinement, her lawyers say.

Ms. Pike went from being the first woman Tennessee had tried to put to death since the early 19th century to becoming the first person in the United States known to have survived after execution drugs were administered.

Death penalty opponents said the incident exposed the inherent barbarity of executions. It also highlighted the difficulties of carrying out lethal injections while respecting constitutional prohibitions on cruel and unusual punishment.

LETHAL INJECTION GONE AWRY

Ms. Pike’s attorneys and journalists who witnessed the execution attempt described it as roughly 2-1/2 hours of disarray and prolonged distress for her as Correction Department personnel struggled to administer two doses of pentobarbital intravenously.

Ms. Pike was heard gasping, crying, whimpering and breathing loudly through much of the procedure, at one point saying, “My arm feels like it’s about to burst open.”

The bungled attempt to establish intravenous lines left both of Ms. Pike’s arms “swollen, burned and blistered,” the apparent result of the pentobarbital, a highly alkaline and caustic substance, seeping into the tissues under her skin, her lawyers said in court filings.

The lawyers accused state officials of having shrugged off prior warnings from Ms. Pike’s doctors that her small veins and a blood disorder would make placing IV lines especially difficult.

In the midst of the procedure, Ms. Pike’s lawyers filed an emergency court motion to halt it. By then, prison officials had ceased their execution efforts and called an ambulance, according to court records.

The night of the execution attempt, the Correction Department defended its handling of the situation, saying it had “followed every step of the state’s lawful, established execution protocol.” But agency commissioner Frank Strada has resigned and will leave his post this month, the governor announced on Saturday.

Mr. Lee had previously ordered a suspension of any scheduled executions for the rest of the year and a third-party review of what happened in Ms. Pike’s case.

30-YEAR SAGA

Two days before Ms. Pike was due to meet her fate, Mr. Lee rejected a petition seeking to commute her death penalty to a life prison term without the possibility of parole.

Ms. Pike was 18 in January 1995 when she, her 17-year-old boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, and a third companion lured Ms. Slemmer into a wooded area on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville and killed her.

The gruesome nature of the slaying, which involved Mr. Shipp carving the shape of a pentagram in the victim’s chest and Ms. Pike bashing Ms. Slemmer in the head with a chunk of asphalt, then taking a piece of her skull as a souvenir, drew intense media coverage at the time. Trial testimony indicated Ms. Pike viewed Ms. Slemmer as a rival for her boyfriend’s affections.

Ms. Pike and Mr. Shipp confessed to the killing, and both were convicted of first-degree murder. Ms. Pike was sentenced to death, while Mr. Shipp received a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

Their co-defendant, Shadolla Peterson, who was 18 at the time of the murder and had acted as a lookout for the other two, testified for the prosecution and received probation. — Reuters

Mr. Halzen, 82, realized that pristine ice at the South Pole could be used to track such neutrinos, sometimes known as “ghost particles” for the way they pass through the Earth without a trace, only interacting with matter extremely rarely.

“The messengers bring information from the cosmos,” Eva Olsson, of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, told a press conference. “They open the door to distant galaxies and tell us about the processes of exploding stars.”

“It’s a great relief for me because this was not totally unexpected, and around this time of the year I always felt miserable because I didn’t win the prize and thought it was terrible for my collaborators who deserved it so much,” Mr. Halzen said at a press conference. “So that problem is finally solved.”

HALZEN HAILED FOR DETECTING ‘MESSENGERS FROM THE COSMOS’

The interactions registered by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory provide information about how high-energy particles are created and may even reveal previously unknown phenomena, the Academy said.

“We could catch them in ice, that was the goal,” Mr. Halzen said of the years-long effort to construct the observatory, which he described as opening “a window on the universe.”

In 2014, the US-based Smithsonian magazine dubbed Mr. Halzen “Neutrino Man” when giving him one of its Ingenuity Awards, acclaiming him for an “amazing experiment (that) heralds the beginning of a new era in astronomy”.

It even published a comic illustrating his life: “How One Physicist’s Pursuit of the Cosmos Took Off in Antarctica”.

The observatory – in effect a telescope that shows neutrinos instead of light – is set in a cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice, which extends to a depth of 2,500 meters below the surface near the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.

More than 5,000 sensors await blips from the nearly massless high-energy neutrinos, which unlike other particles do not lose energy or change direction, in the hope of tracing their paths back to exploding stars, gamma-ray bursts, and cataclysmic phenomena involving black holes and neutron stars. They can expect to register about one per day.

Mr. Halzen, a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the US, first presented his idea in 1988 for capturing neutrino traces at the South Pole, but the project was not completed until 2011.

“I have to emphasize how lucky I was because, when we started this project, everybody realized this was maybe a good idea, but very few thought it would work, including myself,” Mr. Halzen told the press conference by telephone.

Neutrinos are electrically neutral, undisturbed by any magnetic field, which means that, in contrast to electromagnetic waves such as visible light, the direction from which they arrive points directly back to their source.

FRUITS OF HALZEN’S RESEARCH YET TO COME

The observatory has determined that high-energy neutrinos originate within but also far outside our own Milky Way galaxy, setting in motion an interstellar quest to find the objects and processes that create them.

Through the long winter at the South Pole, when bringing anything in or out is difficult as temperatures below minus 50 degrees Celsius (minus 58 Fahrenheit) preclude even aircraft landing, a skeleton crew of “winterovers” has to maintain the observatory.

The station, home to many other activities, can house as many as 150 people and has an industrial kitchen, dining room, gym and even a greenhouse. Last week it celebrated the sun’s return above the horizon after six months of night with a six-hole ice-golf tournament.

An extension, IceCube-Gen2, encompassing 8 cubic kilometers of ice, is planned to become operational in 2033 and will be able to detect 10 times as many neutrinos, including much weaker ones.

Mr. Halzen said the main fruits of his work were yet to be seen and that it was too early to say exactly what it could reveal about the universe.

“This is a new way of looking at the universe, and it will take bigger telescopes, many more telescopes, to become real astronomy,” he said. “And what this will bring is impossible to predict.”

WINNERS FROM EINSTEIN TO BOHR AND THE CURIES

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever congratulated Mr. Halzen on the recognition of “a life dedicated to unraveling the greatest secrets of the cosmos through its most minuscule manifestations”.

The physics laureate receives an award of 12 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million). Past winners include several other neutrino research pioneers, for instance Japan’s Takaaki Kajita and Arthur McDonald from Canada in 2015.

The Nobel Prizes were established under the will of Swedish inventor and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel, whose fortune was built in part on the invention of dynamite.

Physics was prominent in Mr. Nobel’s will and the prize remains one of the discipline’s highest distinctions. Over the decades, it has recognized discoveries that have fundamentally reshaped humanity’s understanding of the universe.

Among past laureates are some of the most celebrated figures in science, including Albert Einstein, Marie and Pierre Curie, Max Planck and Niels Bohr, whose work helped establish the foundations of modern physics.

The prize is presented in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of Mr. Nobel’s death. ($1 = 10.0329 Swedish crowns) — Reuters

The number of unemployed Filipinos increased by about 740,000 from 2.03 million in August 2025, while the number of employed people fell to 49.79 million from 50.1 million.

The August jobless rate, however, eased from a four-year high of 6% in July, when 3.14 million Filipinos were unemployed. Employment increased from 49.21 million a month earlier.

National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Claire Dennis S. Mapa attributed the year-on-year rise in unemployment to the labor market’s inability to fully absorb people who entered the workforce.

Mr. Mapa said 897,000 people entered the labor force in August, but only 470,000 found jobs, leaving 427,000 unemployed.

He said global market headwinds also weighed on manufacturing industries including garments, consumer electronics and electronic cables.

Bad weather, meanwhile, reduced average weekly working hours to 39.2 hours from 41 a year earlier and 40.6 in July, Mr. Mapa said.

The labor force participation rate fell to 64% from 65.1% a year earlier, translating to 52.56 million Filipinos aged 15 and older in the labor force. That compared with 52.13 million a year earlier.

The participation rate improved from 63.6% in July, when the labor force stood at 52.36 million.

Job quality also weakened from a year earlier, with the underemployment rate rising to 11.9% from 10.7%. This meant 5.9 million employed Filipinos wanted additional working hours, another job or a job with longer hours.

Underemployment eased from 12.9% in July.

Services remained the country’s biggest source of employment, accounting for 61.7% of employed Filipinos. Agriculture accounted for 20.9%, while industry made up 17.3%.

Wholesale and retail trade and motor vehicle repair had the biggest share of employment at 19%, followed by agriculture and forestry at 18.6% and construction at 10.3%.

Agriculture and forestry posted the biggest year-on-year increase in employment, adding 532,000 workers. Education added 298,000 jobs, accommodation and food services gained 195,000, transportation and storage added 185,000 and human health and social work gained 142,000.

Manufacturing posted the steepest annual decline, shedding 350,000 jobs. Fishing and aquaculture lost 335,000 workers, while wholesale and retail trade and motor vehicle repair shed 269,000.

Public administration and defense lost 220,000 workers, while other service activities shed 212,000.

Wage and salary workers accounted for 64.2% of total employment, while self-employed workers without paid employees made up 27.5%. Unpaid family workers accounted for 6.6%, while employers in family-operated farms or businesses made up 1.8%.

Workers in private establishments accounted for 50.3% of all employed Filipinos. Government and government-controlled corporations accounted for 9.1%.

The labor market was also weaker for young Filipinos. The labor force participation rate among those aged 15 to 24 fell to 32.7% from 33.3% a year earlier.

The youth employment rate dropped to 84.3% from 88.3% in August 2025, although it improved from 81.4% in July. About 587,000 of the 5.95 million employed young Filipinos were underemployed. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking and Norman P. Aquino

Here’s what we know about the case, which officials have not linked to her work or plague, and about the disease she studied.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Russian media named the victim as Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old laboratory worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East.

The authorities said she died of an unknown type of pneumonia but that as a precaution they quarantined everyone who had come into contact with her.

Unconfirmed reports of how she fell ill have circulated on social media.

One version said she had dropped a test tube containing live bacteria at work, a theory rejected by Russia’s health watchdog. Another said she became sick after traveling to Thailand. A third said she fell ill after going to an area near the border with Mongolia.

There is no evidence in the public domain to support any of those theories.

DID SHE DIE OF PLAGUE?

There is no confirmation she died from plague although one regional governor said she “may” have died from plague.

Health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said she died of an unknown type of pneumonia and that no relevant pathogens had been found in anyone who came into contact with her.

Elena Sofina, a local official in Siberia, said 60% of those quarantined had since been released. Local media said about 200 were initially quarantined.

Ms. Sofina said “a dangerous diagnosis” had not been confirmed.

WHAT IS PLAGUE AND CAN YOU TREAT IT?

Plague circulates mainly among small animals and fleas. Caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, it can also infect humans. Outbreaks include the “Black Death”, which killed over 50 million people in Europe in the 1300s.

It is transmitted between animals and humans by the bite of infected fleas, inhalation of infected respiratory particles and — rarely — ingestion of infectious materials. The disease’s mortality rate is 30%-100% if left untreated. If identified quickly, plague can be treated with antibiotics.

HOW COMMON IS PLAGUE?

Plague is endemic in many African countries, the former Soviet Union, the Americas and Asia, but most human cases in the last six years were reported from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Plague is endemic to Siberia, location of the first known prehistoric human outbreak, as Yersinia pestis is present there among small wild mammals and their fleas. It’s rare for Russians to have plague.

WHAT ABOUT INTERNATIONAL REACTION?

US President Donald Trump said the laboratory worker’s death was a “big problem for Russia” and offered to help Moscow deal with it. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Russia should share more information about the death.

The WHO in Geneva said Russia had told it there were no plague cases in the city of Irkutsk. Reuters could not establish whether this meant plague could be ruled out in the lab worker’s case.

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan said they were stepping up precautionary measures at their borders to guard against the possible spread of infectious diseases.

WHAT IS THE PLAGUE INSTITUTE IN SIBERIA?

The Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East was set up in 1934 to control plague outbreaks. Its founding scientist helped quell outbreaks in Siberia, Mongolia and China, its website says. It later worked with other dangerous diseases including cholera and anthrax.

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF PLAGUE?

Plague comes in three forms affecting different parts of the body. Pneumonic plague, the most virulent and least common form, is an infection of the lungs which prompts patients to cough out infectious airborne droplets.

Bubonic plague is the most common form, occurring chiefly when an infected flea bites a person, and causes swollen lymph nodes or “buboes”. Septicemic plague, which does not spread from person to person, occurs when plague bacteria multiply in the blood.

One form of plague can develop into another.

Infected persons usually start with flu-like symptoms after an incubation period of one to seven days. They experience fever, chills, head and body aches and weakness, vomiting and nausea.

WHY IS THIS DEATH IN THE SPOTLIGHT?

The COVID-19 pandemic heightened concerns about the risk of new deadly diseases emerging, and reports of clusters of unknown illness or laboratory accidents now cause panic online.

Most scientists believe the coronavirus that caused COVID-19 came from animals, but some have suggested a lab leak caused it.

Public health experts have urged caution about the incident in Siberia, saying only one case has been reported and that Russian authorities say there is no evidence the lab worker was infected with plague. — Reuters

Rather than relying solely on product demonstrations and specifications, TECNO presented the phone through a runway concept centered on modern Filipino women and the different roles they occupy in their daily lives.

Dubbed “MAKE IT LIGHTER: The Living Cover Runway,” the event framed the new smartphone around the idea of making everyday life lighter, but still with the capability to keep up with full, fast-moving everyday lives. Reflecting this, the CAMON SLIM 5G combines an extra-light 6.39mm ultra-slim body with a 6,000mAh battery, along with a 50MP Sony LYTIA 700C main camera, Super-Zoom FlashSnap and TECNO Universal Tone imaging.

The centerpiece of the launch was The Living Cover Runway, featuring 15 women from different backgrounds, professions and stages of life. They included celebrities and creators, but also entrepreneurs, working mothers, businesswomen, women in technology, community builders and other real Filipinas whose stories extend far beyond a single title.

The runway was designed around one simple idea: every woman becomes the cover of her own story. Instead of walking the stage simply as models, each woman entered with her name and identity introduced on the LED screen. As she moved down the runway carrying the CAMON SLIM 5G, a short narration introduced part of her personal journey—what she does, what she carries in life, and what making life “lighter” means to her.

The runway featured women whose stories explore reinvention, creativity, identity and growth. They include, among others, Aubrey Miles, Carlyn Ocampo, Fuschia Anne Ravena, and Max Collins.

Leading the finale was actress, host and Miss World 2013 Megan Young. Her journey across pageantry and entertainment reflected the evening’s celebration of women who continue to grow beyond a single title. Her Living Cover moment brought together the confidence, style and sense of possibility at the heart of the launch.

The fashion direction of the event centered on Burgundy Red, the hero color of the CAMON SLIM 5G.

All 15 looks incorporated burgundy as a common visual element, but the designs varied according to the woman wearing them. Instead of using identical gowns or a traditional pageant aesthetic, the styling drew from modern Filipiniana through structured silhouettes, translucent fabrics, fluid draping, pleats and movement.

100 Portraits of Becoming

The evening also offered a glimpse into another chapter of TECNO’s work with Filipino women through 100 Portraits of Becoming, a collaboration with artist and photographer Angélica Dass.

Portraiture was woven into the launch experience as part of a broader exploration of women beyond the labels commonly used to define them. In the event concept, photographed women form part of the emotional spine of the experience, connecting individual portraits with the stories presented throughout the launch.

The Philippine chapter of 100 Portraits of Becoming will look more closely at working women, particularly working solo mothers and the people around them, through the lens of diskarte—the adaptability, wisdom and resourcefulness with which women find their own ways forward. Rather than framing these women only through difficulty or sacrifice, the project asks a different question: Who are they beyond the labels placed on them?

More from the Angélica Dass collaboration will be revealed later in October.

With CAMON SLIM 5G, TECNO brought that philosophy off the specification sheet and onto a runway, allowing the product to be seen not only as a new smartphone, but as part of the style, movement and everyday life of the women it was designed for.

Availability

The CAMON Slim 5G is available in Burgundy Red, Matisse Black, and Rebel Pink during the pre-order period, from Oct. 2-15. It will also be available in Gossamer White next month.

The 256GB+8GB variant is available in all online and offline stores at ₱ 27,999; and while 128GB+8GB variant, priced at ₱24,999 is available via TikTok Shop only.

Pre-order offers

Pre-order customers can enjoy a package of benefits. This includes premium gifts worth P10,000, consisting of a Limited TECNO MagBadge, 60-day free replacement, 13-month extended warranty, three years of 256GB cloud storage, and a three-month Google One AI Plus 2TB free trial.

A special cash discount of up to P3,000 is also up for grabs, depending on the claim date. Customers claiming their units on Oct. 16-17 can receive P3,000, while those claiming on Oct. 18 can receive P2,500, and those claiming from Oct. 19-23 can receive P2,000.

Every valid pre-order before Oct. 24 will also receive one entry into TECNO’s P2 million cash prize draw, giving customers 101 chances to win — including one P 1 million Grand Prize and 100 winners of P10,000 each.

Flexible payment and connectivity partners

Customers can also avail themselves of financing options through Home Credit, Skyro, Salmon, PayJoy, BillEase, and Kredivo, as well as participating credit card installment providers. Depending on the partner and applicable promotion, customers can enjoy benefits such as installment plans of up to 24 months, with up to P1,000 discounts or cashback. Selected fintech partners may also offer special raffle promotions with a chance to have loan balances of up to P84,000 waived. Terms, eligibility and promotional mechanics may vary by partner.

In partnership with Globe, TECNO CAMON Slim 5G is also offered with a free Globe Prepaid SIM offering 1 year of unlimited 5G access. Buyers receive a welcome UNLI 5G 59 promo, followed by a monthly UNLI 5G 59 voucher for 12 months when maintaining a P300 monthly load.

TECNO MagBadge

Launched alongside CAMON Slim 5G, the TECNO MagBadge is a smart magnetic accessory that combines practical camera functions for a convenient smartphone experience. It supports rear camera preview, remote shutter control, and wireless media sync. It is priced at P5,999 SRP and is also available in official TECNO Online stores on Shopee, TikTok Shop and Lazada.

Be among the first to experience the TECNO CAMON Slim 5G. Pre-order now at https://bit.ly/4iKb0AM. 

For the latest news, product updates, and announcements, follow TECNO Philippines on Facebook (TECNO Mobile Philippines), Instagram (@tecnomobileph), or TikTok (@tecnomobilephilippines). 

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PHILIPPINE INFLATION sharply accelerated to its fastest pace in over three years in September due to higher food, transport and utility costs, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Tuesday.

Headline inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), quickened to 7.2% in September from 6.1% in August and 1.7% a year ago.

This matched the April clip and was the fastest in three-and-a-half years or since the 7.6% in March 2023.

The September reading was faster than the 6.7% median estimate of 22 analysts in a BusinessWorld poll, but within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 6.4%-7.4% estimate.

The headline clip has been above the BSP’s 3% target for seven consecutive months, bringing the average inflation to 5.4% as of September.

According to National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa, faster price increases in food, transport, and utilities fueled faster inflation last month.

Inflation for the heavily weighted food and nonalcoholic beverages index picked up to 6.7% in September from 4.6% in August, marking the fastest pace since the 6.8% in May.

Mr. Mapa noted inflation for vegetables, tubers, and the like accelerated to 10.7% in September from -3.4% in August, while rice inflation heated up to an over two-year high of 20.3% from 19.4%.

Meanwhile, core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, quickened to 4.7% in September from 4.1% a month ago and 2.6% a year earlier.

This was the same clip recorded in November 2023 and was the quickest core print in nearly three years or since the 5.3% in October 2023.

In a blog post on Monday, Wikimedia said it could confirm “that we have discovered some activity by these ‘rogue’ OpenAI agents on Wikimedia platforms,” including a May incident that resulted in a “partial outage” of its Wikidata Query Service.

Wikimedia said the disruption seemed to have been triggered as the agents visited millions of pages and made hundreds of thousands of data queries.

Wikimedia also said the OpenAI agents made unauthorized edits to Wikimedia wiki sites, including “potentially malicious edits” to a citation tool, which the foundation said were likely intended to hijack it.

Wikimedia said its Etherpad note-taking tool was also hit by malicious activity from OpenAI’s agents.

OpenAI said in a statement that it appreciated Wikimedia’s “detailed findings” and was working with the organization to analyze the activity. “We’ll continue to share relevant information as that work progresses,” OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said.

OpenAI has been scrambling to get its arms around the full scope of its rogue agent activity, Reuters has previously reported. — Reuters

The Munich-based business will retain assembly and manufacturing in Germany while assembling some products for the US market in Austin, Texas.

“The (US) market is larger in terms of absolute size and it’s growing faster than Europe,” Mr. Hoelzl told Reuters, noting that about 70% of the company’s business is in Europe.

RobCo said the $1 billion valuation was based on a new sale of shares after raising $100 million of capital in January, with investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia and Lingotto.

Monday’s transaction was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which said it involved the sale of $40 million of shares.

“With this round we’ve now raised close to $200 million in total,” Mr. Hoelzl said.

The transaction allowed employees to sell shares and brought in new investors including Cherry Ventures and the European Tech Collective.

The company joins a small but growing group of European robotics startups valued at $1 billion or more and that are targeting the emerging humanoid and human-like robot market. Rivals include NEURA Robotics and Agile Robots in Germany as well as Humanoid in the UK.

Founded in 2020, RobCo makes robots used in manufacturing. It said it is preparing for the March launch of Alfie, a two-armed, self-learning robot designed to handle industrial tasks that cannot easily be performed with traditional automation.

Mr. Hoelzl said that several customers have already installed a prototype of Alfie. — Reuters

Philippine economic growth is expected to slow to 3.7% this year, unchanged from the World Bank’s April forecast, even as the lender upgraded its outlook for several of the country’s regional peers amid stronger artificial intelligence (AI)-related investment and exports.

In its October East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, the World Bank said Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year is likely to ease from 4.4% in 2025.

“Growth in the Philippines is projected to slow to 3.7% in 2026 as weakness in domestic demand widens the negative output gap,” the bank said.

“Pressure from high energy prices is forecast to push inflation to 5.8% in 2026, weakening household purchasing power and raising production costs, while weak public investment and confidence will soften investment growth,” it added.

If realized, the 3.7% growth would be near the lower end of the government’s 3.5%-4.5% growth target for 2026.

The Philippine economy grew by 2.6% in the first half, well below the government’s target for the year.

For 2027, the World Bank cut its growth forecast for the Philippines to 5.2% from 5.6% in April, while projecting a 5.5% expansion in 2028.

The 2026 and 2027 forecasts, however, were unchanged from the World Bank’s projections in its Philippine Economic Update released in August, before the release of second-quarter GDP data.

“Growth is forecast to increase to an average of 5.4% in 2027–28 contingent on the rebound of public investment and the expected normalization of inflation by 2027,” the World Bank said.

In contrast, the World Bank raised its 2026 growth forecast for East Asia and the Pacific by 0.3 percentage point to 4.5%, largely due to stronger high-tech investments and exports in economies participating in global AI value chains.

Choi-Wan was last located 2,580 kilometers east-northeast of extreme Northern Luzon, outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), according to PAGASA’s 10:00 a.m. storm outlook.

“It’s no longer expected to enter PAR,” Aldczar D. Aurelio, PAGASA weather specialist, said in a separate 5:00 a.m. press briefing in Filipino.

“But its trough is affecting Visayas and Mindanao. So scattered rains are expected throughout the day,” he also said.

PAGASA warned of possible flooding and landslides in these areas, especially during severe thunderstorms.

The effects of Choi-Wan are no longer expected tomorrow as it moves farther toward Japan, Mr. Aurelio said.

However, it will be replaced by the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), which will bring rains over Visayas and Mindanao, also posing a risk of flooding and landslides.

The ITCZ is a cloud band formed through the convergence of trade winds from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. — Edg Adrian A. Eva

Thomas Giuffra, who represents the woman identified as “Jane Doe,” told CNN that people have threatened to silence or harm her if she does not withdraw her civil lawsuit alleging that several members of a Cornell fraternity drugged and raped her in 2024.

“She’s received multiple threats,” Mr. Giuffra said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Mr. Giuffra said he had also been threatened.

“I’m not afraid of these people,” he said. “But the threats, the abuse to protect what’s going on, the status quo — these guys are disgusting. They should stay in their mother’s basement and stay out of the world.”

The identity of Jane Doe has become part of the fevered online conversation surrounding the case. Women on social media have been posting #IamJaneDoe in solidarity with the accuser and to counter some who have sought to publicly name her.

Michael Tracey, an independent journalist and commentator, posted on Friday what he said was ⁠the accuser’s name, which Reuters was unable to verify, before quickly deleting it, saying his point had been made.

He has expressed sympathy for the accused men over what he says is the harassment they have faced, and described his effort to name the Cornell accuser as journalistic diligence protected under the Constitution as free speech.

He told Reuters on Sunday that he did not wish to encourage threats or harassment against the woman.

“The point, from my perspective, was more about the public-policy implications of this increasingly commonly used tactic in civil litigation, for plaintiffs’ attorneys to introduce sensational, reputation-harming allegations using the cloak of anonymity for their clients,” Mr. Tracey said in an interview.

Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff said in a video message on Saturday that the university will examine the role of fraternities and sororities on campus following the outcry over the school’s handling of the rape allegations.

“At their best, these organizations can provide ​students with friendship, belonging, mentorship and a powerful sense of community,” he said. “But being part of ​a group can never diminish individual responsibility.”

Since the lawsuit was filed last month, prosecutors in Tompkins County, New York, have been criticized for their initial handling of the allegations in 2024. New York Governor Kathy Hochul last week named state Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor to look into the case.

US President Donald Trump, a critic of Ms. James for years, lambasted the decision to appoint her. “And I feel badly for whoever she’s looking at because they won’t get a fair shake,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Friday.

Asked about Mr. Trump’s comment, Mr. Giuffra said the case shouldn’t be politicized. “It has nothing to do with politics,” Mr. Giuffra said. — Reuters

The two leading candidates will advance to the second round of voting on October 25, after topping a field of 12 candidates in a campaign focused on concerns about the growing cost of living, corruption and insecurity in Brazilians’ daily lives.

Mr. Bolsonaro, the son of right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election, now heads to a showdown with the leftist Lula, who picked up 44.9% of votes, with nearly 99% of votes reported.

Private surveys in the run-up to the election had forecast Lula leading the first-round vote by around three percentage points. Mr. Bolsonaro’s stronger-than-expected performance will buoy his campaign and may bolster Brazil’s currency and stock market, which have risen on the prospects of the business-friendly challenger.

“The pollsters missed badly,” said Robert Muggah, cofounder of think tank Igarape Institute. “Expect the runoff polls, which show a dead heat, to understate Bolsonaro as well.”

A victory for the senator would extend a wave of wins across Latin America by right-wing candidates aligned with US President Donald Trump, while Lula’s reelection could be a challenge for Washington, which has clashed with his government over trade and security.

Despite growing worries over Brazil’s public finances and sluggish economic growth, the campaign offered meager policy debate, as both leading candidates skipped the major TV debates.

SURPRISE SHOWING

Early on Sunday, Mr. Bolsonaro told journalists in Rio de Janeiro he was counting on “a protest vote from people who would otherwise vote for another candidate but are opposed to Lula.”

Thaise Lima, a 41-year-old lawyer on her way to vote in Sao Paulo, said her main goal was to get Lula’s Workers’ Party out of office.

“I don’t think Flavio is the best candidate, but I might decide to vote for him in the next few minutes,” she said, adding that she wished psychiatrist and author Augusto Cury were a more viable candidate.

Fernando Tempel, 49, a management consultant, told Reuters he was voting for Mr. Bolsonaro despite initially planning to vote for Romeu Zema, the former governor of Minas Gerais state.

“The protest vote foreshadows what is to come in the runoff,” said political analyst Rafael Favetti. “While this should benefit Flavio Bolsonaro now, his growth potential in the second round drops precisely because that support has already been front-loaded.”

ECONOMIC HEADWINDS

Despite falling inequality and unemployment, Lula has struggled to win over voters grappling with high living costs, heavy household debt and the threat of crime and more pervasive gang activity.

Mr. Bolsonaro has sought to capitalize on cost-of-living concerns, while Lula has moved to ban online gambling and, as the race tightened, expanded welfare and proposed fresh debt relief for families.

Rising spending and public debt above 82% of GDP have stoked fiscal concerns that Brazil’s next president will need to address. The government lowered its economic growth forecasts for this year and next to 2.0% and 2.3% respectively.

“I voted for Brazil to start growing again,” said Marciano de Souza e Silva, a 52-year-old public servant in Brasilia who voted for Flavio.

A strong performance by right-wing candidates in Sunday’s Senate election could help Mr. Bolsonaro’s ability to pass economic reforms, institute a “more well-behaved fiscal policy” and ultimately boost growth if he is elected, said Marco Saravalle, chief investment officer at MSX Invest/Krivo Capital.

OVERSHADOWED DEBATE

Scandals and fears of foreign interference ahead of the vote largely overshadowed policy debates during the campaign.

Controversy surrounding the now-defunct Banco Master has engulfed much of Brazil’s political class after Daniel Vorcaro, who ran the bank, was arrested earlier this year and accused of a multibillion-dollar fraud scheme.

The investigation has probed the banker’s ties to figures from Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to the younger Mr. Bolsonaro, who is being investigated for money laundering tied to the case by the federal police. Both have dismissed the allegations against them.

Throughout the campaign, Lula’s allies have warned that the Trump administration might refuse to recognize election results if he wins, pointing to an aborted effort to send US officials to Brazil.

“What is at stake is the future of Brazil,” Lula said after voting in Sao Bernardo do Campo, in Sao Paulo state.

Mr. Trump has not formally endorsed a candidate, though he hosted Senator Bolsonaro at the White House and praised him publicly.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that Brazilian intelligence officials briefed a French and German delegation on alleged US and Russian interference before the election. The US has rejected claims ​of interference in Brazil’s affairs.

On Sunday afternoon, Brazil’s electoral court chief Kassio Nunes Marques said the election was running smoothly. — Reuters

Crude exports from the region exceeded pre-war levels on September 24 and between September 27 and 29, rising to between 19.5 million barrels per day (bpd) and 22.5 million bpd, provisional data from ship-tracking firm Kpler showed.

Exports averaged 18 million bpd between March 2025 and February this year before the US-Israeli war with Iran began.

The 7-day moving average for crude exports was at 18.5 million bpd on October 1, the data showed. These include transits via the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, exports from terminals and ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman.

The overall tally for crude, oil products, chemicals and non-gas liquids averaged 22.4 million bpd in the seven days to September 30, Kpler data showed.

The number of liquefied natural gas cargoes exiting the Strait of Hormuz also rose in September to its highest monthly level since February.

The figures exclude any vessels that might have crossed the strait with their Automatic Identification System transponders turned off to avoid detection.

Before the Iran war started on February 28, the strait typically handled about 125 large commercial vessels per day, including tankers, gas carriers, bulkers and container vessels, accounting for some 20% of the world’s daily crude oil and LNG supply.

SHIP ATTACKS

However, attacks on tankers continued in and around the Strait of Hormuz, with at least seven incidents reported, shipping intelligence firm Marisks said in a report on Saturday.

The very large crude carrier Kazimah III was reportedly struck on October 1 by an unknown projectile while operating in the strait, causing a fire onboard the tanker, it added.

“All crew members were reported safe and were subsequently evacuated from the vessel,” Marisks said.

Kazimah III was last seen discharging 2 million barrels of Kuwaiti crude at the Ras Markaz port on the coast of Oman on September 17, Kpler data showed. Its owner, Kuwait Oil Tanker Company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside office hours.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency has reported at least one attack a day in the Strait of Hormuz or in the Gulf of Aden since October 2.

Marisks said merchant vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz face a “heightened and increasingly unpredictable kinetic threat” given the recent sharp increase in traffic.

“Current intelligence suggests that the recent pattern of incidents may not necessarily represent deliberate targeting of individually selected merchant vessels,” Marisks said.

“Instead, available information indicates the possibility that Iranian forces are launching missiles into a predetermined engagement area or ‘kill box’, with weapons potentially acquiring and locking onto available radar signatures within that area.”

Physical presence within the engagement zone at the relevant time could itself represent the primary exposure, it added. — Reuters

“We believe that the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology and people having the agency,” Mr. Altman said in an interview with Politico’s technology-focused newsletter Decoded.

Mr. Altman said there remained a fundamental difference in worldview between OpenAI and rival Anthropic on AI regulation, adding: “I think there’s a lot of daylight.”

“I disagree, but I understand the perspective of people who are like, ‘This technology is going to get so powerful, and it’s so dangerous, that a single lab in San Francisco should have it and make sure nothing bad happens, and kind of figure out how to dole out the benefits,'” Mr. Altman said.

He called that “a completely unacceptable trade-off” that runs counter to the “lighter-touch regulatory stance” backed by OpenAI.

“I wouldn’t take a trade of saying, ‘We’ll make sure there’s no major hacks, there’s no misuse of this technology, there’s zero scams, there’s zero all the other bad things that will happen,'” Mr. Altman said. “Because I think people will do tremendously — orders of magnitude more — good stuff than bad stuff.”

Mr. Altman’s remarks come amid a growing debate within the AI industry over the pace of development and the risks posed by increasingly capable systems.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in September published an essay calling on the industry to slow down to “pace the frontier,” a stance that Mr. Altman publicly endorsed. Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned in September, saying the people building AI believe it “could kill us all by the end of the decade.

Reuters reported in September that Anthropic warned that, despite AI’s potential benefits, the technology can sometimes act in ways that run counter to its makers’ intentions and penetrate other companies’ systems. The company said advanced models could exhibit “self-preserving behaviors,” including attempts to “resist shutdown,” “conceal or manipulate information,” or generate outputs that could be interpreted as “coercive, deceptive, or manipulative.”

However, US President Donald Trump has largely dismissed calls for new restrictions, arguing they would make it harder for American companies to compete with Chinese rivals. He has repeatedly said existing law enforcement agencies, including the Justice Department, provide sufficient safeguards and that no new rules are needed. — Reuters

Mr. Trump, who has pushed to rename artificial intelligence as “super intelligence,” said Mr. Clayton would head the newly created Super Intelligence Force (SIF), overseeing the government’s engagement with consumers, religious groups, AI companies and other stakeholders.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Mr. Trump wrote that SIF would aim to “ensure that America continues to lead the World in Super Intelligence” and to “protect the interests, and improve the lives, of all Americans.”

The announcement confirmed a Wall Street Journal report in which Mr. Clayton, appointed intelligence chief in August, said Mr. Trump had tapped him to lead the administration’s push to keep the US at the forefront of AI. “The risk of not being first is high,” Mr. Clayton told the newspaper.

Mr. Clayton said the task force would have 120 days to produce a report assessing the risks and opportunities posed by AI and recommending what role the federal government should play.

The safety of AI has become a major issue in recent weeks, with some researchers warning that people building the technology believe it could kill humans within a decade. Several Democratic and Republican lawmakers have responded with alarm and calls for more action.

Mr. Trump has appeared to take a light touch toward AI regulation, arguing that excessive oversight could weaken competitiveness against China. He said on Tuesday that he does not want to work with Chinese President Xi Jinping on governing AI technology.

Mr. Clayton’s panel will review AI-related risks and current government reporting mechanisms for breaches, hacks and other incidents, and recommend ways to strengthen federal-response capabilities under existing authorities, the Journal said, citing the task force’s charter.

This is the second time Mr. Trump has named an adviser to oversee AI-related decisions across the administration. Venture capitalist David Sacks held the AI czar role at the beginning of Mr. Trump’s second term.

In addition to Mr. Clayton, the task force’s leaders will include Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson, Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael and Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor, Mr. Trump wrote. — Reuters

Agriculture Undersecretary Arrey Perez said the fuel subsidy will be distributed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) as part of the Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food and Transport (UPLIFT ) framework initiated by the administration in March to address the impact of the sharp rise in oil prices on account of the Middle East war.

Mr. Perez said the DA is working with Land Bank of the Philippines for ways to further speed up the release and distribution of the fuel subsidy through the bank’s network of branches and automated teller machines.

Farmers and fisherfolk will receive a one-time fuel subsidy of P5,000 for their mechanized farm implements such as tractors and motorized bancas.

Delivery-truck drivers will receive a weekly fuel subsidy of P2,000 to help them sustain frequent delivery trips from farms to markets in Metro Manila and other parts of the country.

Mr. Perez said the Toll Regulatory Board is also discussing with tollway operators the possibility of exempting agri-delivery trucks from tolls until Dec.  31.

“Dagdag sa fuel subsidy, mayroon po kaming inaayos na toll holiday or discount para rin sa agri truckers (In addition to fuel subsidy, we are also working on toll holiday or discount for agri truckers),” said Mr. Perez.

Mr. Perez said the DA hopes to reach an agreement with the tollway operators soon so the toll holiday can be implemented within the month.

“Mayroon na pong sulat ang Toll Regulatory Board para sa ating mga tollway operators. Hiningan na sila ng komento. Kasi ang hinihingi po natin ay ituloy na iyan hanggang katapusan ng taong ito. Hanggang Dec. 31. Ito po iyong pinag-uusapan ngayon. Sana mapagbigyan tayo (The Toll Regulatory Board had already sought the comments of the tollway operators. We are asking them to continue this until the end of the year or until Dec. 31. We are now discussing this matter which we hope can be accommodated),” the DA official said.

The new round of fuel assistance under the UPLIFT will provide relief to vulnerable sectors as the benchmark Brent oil hit $100 per barrel on Sept. 9, the first time since July amid renewed US-Iran tension.

Farmers and fisherfolk are the first targets of the fresh UPLIFT assistance, as a big chunk of their expenses goes to fuel for their palay harvesters and motorized bancas.

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Finance super app GCash has introduced GStocks PH “Part-Owner Era” Hubs to simplify the stock market and expand financial education for Filipinos. By bringing hands-on learning about the capital markets directly to Filipinos, the initiative makes learning more approachable and relevant, especially among newcomers.

The educational spaces, located in Bonifacio High Street – B2 in Taguig, and One Ayala, 2nd Floor Concourse in Makati, feature materials about the basics of the stock market, managing risk, and building a diversified portfolio, including investor education resources by the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

Filipinos who wish to start their investment journey can register on GStocks PH, the trading platform offered by AB Capital Securities, Inc. found within GCash, or visit any of the Part-Owner Era Hubs to receive on-site assistance from Sept. 28 to Oct. 12.

Scaling Access to Responsible Investing

At present, GStocks PH serves over 2 million Filipinos, representing more than half of all online retail stock market accounts with the PSE. The rapid growth of digital PSE accounts, which saw a 30.5 percent year on year increase in 2025, makes financial education more critical.

The opening of the Part-Owner Era hubs reflects a broader GCash commitment to ensuring that as access expands, Filipinos are equipped to use investments responsibly to strengthen their financial stability. “We want to dispel misconceptions that accessing the stock market is only for the privileged few or should be costly or complicated,” said Winsley Bangit, Group Head of New Businesses at Mynt, the parent company of GCash.

“More than access alone, we believe Filipinos should be equipped with the tools and resources needed to make more informed and healthier financial decisions.” Bangit added.

In addition to launching its Part-Owner Era hubs, the finance superapp has made a full suite of market education resources available on GCash. This includes research reports by GStocks PH broker AB Capital Securities Inc., digital educational materials found in “InvesTips” on the GCash app homepage, and curated stock picks designed for beginners on GStocks PH, including entry-level stocks under P1,000, dividend-paying stocks, and top PSE index companies.

To get started on GStocks PH, fully verified GCash users can open the GCash app, tap the GStocks PH icon, select AB Capital Securities, Inc., and complete account registration. GStocks PH offers access to over 280 listed companies, free and instant account top-ups and withdrawals, and stock investment options for as low as P500.

By expanding access to resources that encourage responsible investing, GCash is helping build a deeper and more informed capital market, while helping Filipinos more confidently navigate tools to secure their long-term financial health.

For more information, visit: www.gcash.com.

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The 44^th AMEM and its Associated Meetings will bring together energy ministers and senior officials from ASEAN Member States, Dialogue Partners, and international organizations to advance regional cooperation across key areas of the energy sector. As ASEAN’s principal ministerial platform for energy cooperation, AMEM provides strategic direction on regional priorities and initiatives aimed at strengthening energy security, accelerating the energy transition, expanding clean and renewable energy deployment, improving energy efficiency, and advancing greater connectivity and integration of energy systems across Southeast Asia.

The meetings will also provide a platform for ASEAN and its partners to deepen cooperation on emerging technologies, investment, infrastructure development, and other initiatives needed to meet the region’s growing energy demand while building a more secure, resilient, and sustainable energy future. 

As the official mobility partner of this year’s meeting, the deployment of the VF MPV 7 fleet demonstrates VinFast’s leadership in the local electric seven-seater segment. Promising a comfortable, zero-emission mobility experience for delegates throughout the event, this milestone highlights the viability of battery electric vehicles as a practical mobility solution.

Launched in the Philippines in May this year, the VF MPV 7 is VinFast’s premium seven-seater designed for Filipino families. Built with a spacious cabin optimized for multi-generational families, the electric MPV offers comfortable seating across three rows, up to 1,240 liters of cargo space, and a 60.13-kWh battery that delivers a driving range of up to 450 km on a full charge under NEDC standards. Its 150-kW electric motor and 280 Nm of torque provide the power needed for everyday drives and longer journeys.

This year’s ASEAN Energy Business Forum is a platform that brings together key stakeholders to advance solutions for a more sustainable and resilient energy future. For VinFast, the forum provides an important opportunity to contribute to conversations around clean energy and sustainable mobility, while highlighting the role of electric vehicles in supporting the region’s energy transition. The brand’s participation also reinforces its commitment to working with partners across ASEAN to drive innovation and help shape a cleaner, smarter future for mobility in the region.

As VinFast continues to expand its presence across Southeast Asia, the company remains focused on shaping a more sustainable and accessible future for mobility in the region. Through an integrated ecosystem grounded in sustainable innovation, spanning electric vehicles and charging solutions to ownership and aftersales support, VinFast is working to make electric mobility a practical part of everyday life while supporting the evolving needs of communities across the region.

Spotlight is BusinessWorld’s sponsored section that allows advertisers to amplify their brand and connect with BusinessWorld’s audience by publishing their stories on the BusinessWorld Web site. For more information, send an email to online@bworldonline.com.

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Mynt will offer up to 8.03 billion common shares, with an overallotment option for up to 1.20 billion additional secondary common shares.

The offering will comprise up to 1.61 billion newly issued common shares under the primary offer and up to 6.42 billion existing common shares to be sold by current shareholders through a secondary offer.

At P6.60 per share, the base offering is worth about P53 billion. The transaction could reach about P60.92 billion if the overallotment option is fully exercised.

The shares will be listed on the PSE’s Main Board under the ticker symbol GCASH.

Mynt is scheduled to begin trading on the local bourse on Oct. 20.

Last week, Mynt said it had secured commitments from more than 20 global and domestic cornerstone investors, including International Finance Corp. (IFC), HSBC Global Asset Management (UK) Ltd., Amundsen Investment Management, FIL Investment Management (Hong Kong) Ltd., and funds and separately managed accounts managed by investment management subsidiaries of BlackRock, Inc.

Mynt also said Albizia Capital Pte. Ltd., Amundsen Investment Management, and HSBC Global Asset Management were making their first cornerstone investment commitments in the Philippines, while Ninety One North America, Inc. and Ninety One UK Ltd. were participating as cornerstone investors in Southeast Asia for the first time.

Reuters reported that cornerstone investors had agreed to buy P36.5 billion worth of shares ahead of the public offering.

The cornerstone commitments remain subject to potential reallocation between tranches, final pricing, completion of the offering, and other closing conditions. — Alexandria Grace C. Magno

Mynt will offer up to 8.03 billion common shares, with an overallotment option for up to 1.20 billion additional secondary common shares.

The offering will comprise up to 1.61 billion newly issued common shares under the primary offer and up to 6.42 billion existing common shares to be sold by current shareholders through a secondary offer.

At P6.60 per share, the base offering is worth about P53 billion. The transaction could reach about P60.92 billion if the overallotment option is fully exercised.

The shares will be listed on the PSE’s Main Board under the ticker symbol GCASH.

Mynt is scheduled to begin trading on the local bourse on Oct. 20.

Last week, Mynt said it had secured commitments from more than 20 global and domestic cornerstone investors, including International Finance Corp. (IFC), HSBC Global Asset Management (UK) Ltd., Amundsen Investment Management, FIL Investment Management (Hong Kong) Ltd., and funds and separately managed accounts managed by investment management subsidiaries of BlackRock, Inc.

Mynt also said Albizia Capital Pte. Ltd., Amundsen Investment Management, and HSBC Global Asset Management were making their first cornerstone investment commitments in the Philippines, while Ninety One North America, Inc. and Ninety One UK Ltd. were participating as cornerstone investors in Southeast Asia for the first time.

Reuters reported that cornerstone investors had agreed to buy P36.5 billion worth of shares ahead of the public offering.

The cornerstone commitments remain subject to potential reallocation between tranches, final pricing, completion of the offering, and other closing conditions. — Alexandria Grace C. Magno

Ms. Pike, 50, was sentenced to death in the 1990s after being convicted of a murder she carried out as a teenager. Her botched execution on Wednesday at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, the second this year in Tennessee, highlights the difficulties US states face in carrying out lethal injections and finding suitable alternative methods of capital punishment.

“Christa is alive right now,” Randall Spivey, one of Mr. Pike’s lawyers who was a witness at the execution attempt, told reporters on Thursday afternoon. “We don’t have a sense of her prognosis or much update on her health at the moment, but we do know that she is alive right now.”

Her lawyers repeated their calls for Ms. Pike’s sentence to be commuted to life in prison after enduring what they called “chemical torture.” Tennessee has suspended all executions for the rest of the year while it investigates the incident.

FAILED EXECUTIONS
While botched lethal injections are not rare, they usually involve difficulties at the first step: setting intravenous lines in the condemned prisoner’s body. Ms. Pike’s case is unusual in that prison officials appeared to succeed in injecting the drugs into her with two syringes, causing her right arm to “turn purple” and her skin to blister at the injection sites, Mr. Spivey said.

She appears to be the first person known to have survived after execution drugs entered her body, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a non-profit group in Washington.

“This failed attempt is the worst we’ve ever seen and unlike any other botched execution in the modern era,” Robin Maher, the center’s director, said in a statement.

After the second injection, Ms. Pike said her arm hurt and felt like it was “about to explode,” her lawyers said, suggesting to them that the execution drugs had gone into her arm tissue rather than directly into the bloodstream.

Ms. Pike, who would have been the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than two centuries, has a blood condition and feared that something would go wrong with lethal injections, her lawyers say.

Her lawyers unsuccessfully petitioned the state to consider alternative methods, such as death by hanging or firing squad.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, who denied Ms. Pike’s clemency appeal to commute her sentence to life in prison on Monday, ordered a suspension of scheduled executions in Tennessee for the rest of the year and a third-party review of Wednesday’s failed attempt.

“There is no one that wanted what happened last night to happen,” Mr. Lee, a Republican, told reporters. “It’s a tragedy, and it’s deeply disturbing to me that that has happened in this state. The people deserve better and we’re going to make sure that happens.”

‘KIND’ WITH HER EXECUTIONERS
Ms. Pike’s lawyers shared new details about her time in the execution chamber, saying her request to prison officials for an all-female execution team appeared to have been honored.

During the hour or so it took to set up intravenous lines, Ms. Pike gave the executioners guidance on how they might try to place the needle to get better access to her veins, Mr. Spivey said.

“Miss Pike was kind and she was cooperative and she was at peace the whole time,” Mr. Spivey said. “She was ready.”

Even after the first dose was injected, Ms. Pike was speaking with her spiritual adviser and her executioners, wishing them “loving kindness,” Mr. Spivey said.

Because pharmaceutical companies are forbidden by European law from selling drugs for use in executions, US prison systems typically rely on small, lightly regulated compounding pharmacies in procurement processes that are shrouded in secrecy.

Tennessee switched to a one-drug lethal injection protocol using pentobarbital, a powerful barbiturate, in 2024. It was unclear where it procured the drugs for Wednesday’s failed execution, information that Ms. Pike’s lawyers say was also withheld from them.

Most countries in the world and 23 US states have abolished the death penalty, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said Ms. Pike’s case showed the rest of the country should follow suit.

“The prolonged suffering – physical and mental – arising from multiple failed execution attempts is abhorrent, and cruel,” Mr. Turk said in a statement.

Ms. Pike was 18 in January 1995 when she, her 17-year-old boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp and a third companion lured Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old classmate at their Knoxville Job Corps vocational center, into a wooded area where they tortured and killed her. Ms. Pike and Mr. Shipp confessed to the killing, and both were convicted of first-degree murder. — Reuters

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Imagine waking up to the sound of waves. Stepping onto a balcony that overlooks the sea. Spending your days exactly as you’ve always pictured retirement or remote work should feel — unhurried, sun-drenched, and surrounded by everything that makes life genuinely good.

Live the Life You’ve Always Imagined in the World’s No. 1 Retirement Destination

For a growing number of global retirees and digital nomads, the dream of making the Philippines home and living by the sea is no longer a dream deferred or distant aspiration. Through the Philippine Lifestyle Visa (PLV) — an exclusive program by Landco Lifestyle Ventures (LLV) — it is simply a new way of life.

It’s a choice that is increasingly being recognized on the global stage. The Philippines is named the world’s No. 1 retirement destination for 2026 by the Expatriate Group.

The Department of Tourism welcomed the ranking, highlighting the country’s continued efforts to strengthen retirement and long-stay programs through the Philippine Retirement Authority’s Special Resident Retiree’s Visa (SRRV).

“Beyond our natural attractions, the Philippines offers warm hospitality, affordable living, quality services, and vibrant communities that allow people to live, travel, and thrive,” said Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay. “We will continue working with the Philippine Retirement Authority and our stakeholders to further strengthen the country’s competitiveness as a world-class retirement and tourism destination.”

PRA General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Bob Zozobrado likewise described the recognition as a reaffirmation of the country’s growing reputation as a preferred destination for retirees seeking a fulfilling and comfortable lifestyle abroad.

The recognition follows another recent milestone, with the Philippines being named the Best Retirement Destination in Asia at the 2025 TripZilla Excellence Awards.

“These distinctions reinforce the Philippines’ growing appeal as a place to live well, stay longer, and feel at home,” said Janine Huang, Head of Brand Experience & Hospitality Commercial, Landco Lifestyle Ventures.

“Through Landco’s Philippine Lifestyle Visa, we invite global residents to experience some of the country’s most celebrated coastal communities featuring iconic beachfront condotels The Spinnaker at Club Laiya and The Nautilus at CaSoBe and the exclusive seafront residential community The Residences at Terrazas de Punta Fuego. Together, these beach destinations offer Landco’s signature Life on Vacation lifestyle, and warmth that makes the country one of the world’s most desirable places to call home.”

More Than a Visa. A Way of Life.

What sets the Philippine Lifestyle Visa apart is what it leads to. Among the recognized routes to the Philippine Retirement Authority’s Special Resident Retiree’s Visa, the Philippine Lifestyle Visa stands apart — combining government-backed residency eligibility with exclusive access to LLV’s award-winning portfolio of resort communities.

Through LLV’s formal partnership with the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA), PLV holders are guided seamlessly along a government-supported pathway to permanent long-term residency — combining the security of official status with the extraordinary lifestyle infrastructure that only LLV’s resort communities can offer. 

It is the rare program that makes both the practical and the beautiful feel effortless.

The Philippines, Reimagined as Home

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As more global citizens seek out destinations that offer genuine quality of life, wellness, a competitive cost of living, and the assurance of long-term residency, the Philippine Lifestyle Visa quietly positions LLV — and the Philippines — at the heart of that conversation.

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To learn more about the Philippine Lifestyle Visa and Landco Lifestyle Ventures’ award-winning resort communities, visit www.landco.ph or facebook.com/LandcoPacificCorporation.

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The coalition said the attack put one transformer out of service but did not affect the power network. A Houthi military source, quoted by the Houthi-run Saba news agency, denied the coalition report.

The Houthis later reported Saudi strikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa and other parts of Yemen, with no immediate Saudi confirmation of the strikes.

A spokesperson for Yemen’s armed forces, which are aligned with the internationally recognized government, said coalition forces had attacked what it described as “high-value targets” in the capital Sanaa, without providing further details.

The recent escalation is the most serious fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthis since a UN-brokered truce largely halted cross-border attacks in 2022.

Hostilities resumed this year after the Houthis declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in July and began attacking Saudi territory and shipping, while Houthi forces also made major territorial gains along Yemen’s Red Sea coast.

Saudi Arabia has responded with air strikes in Yemen and backed government forces fighting to repel the Houthis.

The Saudi-led coalition said an investigation and examination of drone wreckage confirmed Houthi involvement in planning and carrying out Tuesday’s attack on the Medina power station.

A Houthi military source said the coalition claim was a “lie” intended to cover up what he described as Saudi Arabia’s failure to substantiate its earlier accusation that the Houthis targeted the Muslim holy city of Mecca, said the Saba news agency.

Saudi Arabia said two weeks ago it had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it entered restricted airspace over the city. The coalition described the incident as the second Houthi attempt to target Mecca since 2017, while the Houthis denied targeting Mecca or any other Islamic holy site.

The coalition said the Medina attack was part of what it described as repeated Houthi attempts to target the Two Holy Mosques and “provoke” Muslims worldwide. It said it would continue taking measures to protect the holy sites and pilgrims.

The coalition also said it had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis toward the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait. It gave no immediate details on any damage or casualties.

Local officials said early on Friday that the Houthis had also targeted the headquarters of the Saudi-led coalition forces command in Aden with several ballistic missiles and drones. There was no immediate comment from the coalition or the Houthis. — Reuters

Mr. Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, initially planned to attend the debate on TV Globo, the last campaign fixture before Sunday’s election, but he pulled out just hours before the event after Lula — who has skipped all debates this year — declined to attend.

“My only opponent in this campaign is Lula,” Mr. Bolsonaro said this week. “He’s the one I want to debate.”

TV Globo canceled the debate after receiving last-minute court rulings that altered previously agreed debate rules, including restrictions on referring to absent candidates, the network said in a statement.

The cancellation shows the declining role of televised debates in Brazilian politics, once a hallmark of the country’s democracy after decades of military dictatorship, and deprives voters of a clash over policy just days before the first-round vote.

Lula, who has led every major poll for Sunday’s first-round vote, has avoided sharing the stage with a field dominated by right-wing candidates who could concentrate their attacks on him as he sets his sights on a likely runoff against Mr. Bolsonaro.

“I don’t go to debates to listen to nonsense. If the debate isn’t helpful to the public, why should I go just to respond to trash talk?” Lula said in July.

Lula, running for president for the seventh time, also declined to participate in the last debate before the first round of his 2006 reelection campaign, a decision that drew widespread criticism at the time.

Rivals have accused him of dodging scrutiny over his administration.

Four right-of-center candidates — author-psychiatrist Augusto Cury, former Goias Governor Ronaldo Caiado, former Minas Gerais Governor Romeu Zema and Renan Santos — had been expected to take part in the debate on TV Globo, Brazil’s largest free-to-air broadcaster.

Other networks canceled two other debates after both declined to attend. On Thursday, Lula, who is seeking an unprecedented fourth non-consecutive term, is set to appear on a podcast at the same time as the TV Globo debate was scheduled.

A Datafolha poll on Thursday showed Lula with 42% support for the first round and Mr. Bolsonaro with 38%. In a simulated runoff scenario, the president would take 48% of the vote against the senator’s 45%. — Reuters

Mr. Greer told a news conference that many of the G20 trade ministers meeting in Milwaukee expressed concerns about excess industrial capacity, particularly in China, that is flooding their markets with cheap exports.

“Nearly all countries agree that this is an issue that requires action, and nearly all countries agree that our current system of trade remedies or responses is inadequate to solve this problem,” Mr. Greer said, adding that is why the US has taken unilateral tariff action to protect its industries.

He did not name countries objecting, but China had objected to a similar G20 statement denouncing forced labor and non-market economic policies that lead to excessive exports at a finance leaders’ meeting a month ago in Asheville, North Carolina.

“In the United States, we will continue to have discussions on this topic with like-minded trading partners well beyond Milwaukee,” Mr. Greer said.

The G20 ministers also discussed a US proposal for a sweeping reform of the Most Favored Nation system of published unconditional tariff rates that has underpinned global trade since the end of World War Two. This is a new topic for the G20, as past discussions on MFN tariffs have taken place within the World Trade Organization.

Mr. Greer said the US did not propose a joint G20 statement on MFN tariff reform because it was a longer-term conversation that was important to start.

“So for us, we think that the principle of unconditional Most Favored Nation (tariffs) warrants reform,” Mr. Greer said. “We think that it actually fails to promote reciprocity and balance in the trading system. It can actually create free riders.”

The G20 is expected to release a joint statement denouncing food coercion later on Thursday.

EXPORT PRESSURE
European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic told reporters separately that he was enthusiastic about discussing the need for “concentrated action” to tackle excess capacity because the problem has exploded over the past decade to the point where exports from China are threatening key industries in Europe, including autos and steel.

“Now we are at the stage where, because of these overcapacities and turbulence on the global market, (it) can create such flooding of the markets that whole sectors could be put in danger within a couple weeks or months,” he told reporters.

China, a G20 member, has rejected claims that its industrial policies have created excess capacity, and accuses Western countries of using the issue to justify protectionist measures.

Mr. Greer also said that he had positive discussions with French, German and other European counterparts about cooperation to open up strategic diesel reserves to help push down high prices due to supply constraints.

“I think I won’t put words in their mouth, of course, but I think they would love to have a cooperative path forward with the United States on how we get more diesel to market. Getting some of that diesel that’s in the reserve is part of that equation.”

He declined to directly address a Reuters report that US officials have warned France and Germany that they face a potential US diesel export ban if they fail to release emergency stocks of the fuel. — Reuters

The S&P Global Philippines Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 49.6 in September from 54.9 in August. This was the first contraction in five months or since the 48.3 in April.

A PMI reading below 50 shows a deterioration in operating conditions from the previous month, while a reading above 50 signals an improvement.

“Filipino manufacturers reported a notable impact from high oil prices, strong international competition and weak demand during September. Output, new orders and employment all dropped into contractionary territory,” Siân Jones, principal economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in a report.

“Firms also signaled moves into retrenchment mode via a fresh decline in input buying and a running down of inventories,” she added.

S&P said a renewed decline in production contributed to the contraction, with output falling for the first time in nine months and at the sharpest rate since November 2025. Firms attributed the decline to reduced new order inflows and international competition.

Filipino manufacturers also recorded a drop in new sales in September. Although the rate of contraction was only marginal, it marked a reversal from expansions in each of the previous four months.

Similarly, new export orders declined in September, with companies citing higher prices as a deterrent to client purchases amid strong competition. — Justine Irish DP. Tabile

US District Judge Haywood Gilliam in Oakland, California, ruled that US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the State Department failed to follow necessary rule-making processes before implementing Mr. Trump’s fee.

Mr. Gilliam, appointed by then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat, granted a request by a coalition of unions, employers and nonprofits to block the agencies from implementing Mr. Trump’s fee pending the outcome of a lawsuit they filed in October.

The fee was temporarily blocked in June by a federal judge in Boston, ruling in a separate case brought by 20 states. A Boston-based appeals court in July declined to pause that decision.

The Department of Homeland Security in August moved to adopt a permanent fee of about $103,000 that, when finalized, will likely be challenged in court. But that will involve different legal issues than lawsuits over the fee set by Mr. Trump. These suits have focused on the president’s power to set such a fee unilaterally.

The $100,000 fee was originally set to expire September 21 but Mr. Trump, a Republican, recently extended it for another year.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democracy Forward, a left-leaning legal group that represents the plaintiffs, applauded the ruling in a statement. “Today’s decision … protects a system that was thrown into chaos overnight,” said Steve Bressler, a lawyer with the group.

The US Chamber of Commerce, the country’s largest business lobbying group, has filed a third lawsuit challenging the fee. The chamber is appealing a judge’s decision rejecting its claims that Mr. Trump had no authority to set the fee.

The H-1B program allows US employers to hire foreign workers with training in specialty fields. Technology companies in particular rely heavily on workers who receive H-1B visas.

The program offers 65,000 visas annually, with another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees, approved for three to six years.

Mr. Trump’s order sharply raised the cost of obtaining H-1B visas, which had typically come with about $2,000 to $5,000 in fees, depending on various factors.

In imposing the fee, Mr. Trump invoked the president’s power under federal immigration law to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals that would be detrimental to US interests. He said businesses had abused the H-1B program and replaced American workers with cheaper foreign labor.

The Trump administration has also ordered enhanced vetting of H-1B applicants and proposed a new visa selection process that would favor higher-skilled and better-paid workers. — Reuters

Universal and commercial banks’ total outstanding loans, net of reverse repurchase agreements, increased by 11% to P15.121 trillion at end-August from P13.618 trillion a year earlier.

This was faster than the 10.4% expansion in July.

It was also the quickest growth in three months or since the 12.1% in May.

“Loans by universal and commercial banks (U/KBs) expanded in August, reflecting sustained demand for bank credit, particularly from businesses,” the BSP said in a statement late Wednesday.

Lending to residents accounted for the bulk of the sector’s total outstanding loans during the period, with the rest extended to nonresidents.

Big banks lent out a total of P14.816 trillion to residents as of August, up 11.3% from P13.308 trillion a year prior. This outpaced the 10.8% growth in July.

Broken down, loans granted for residents’ business activities climbed by 10.6% year on year to P12.731 trillion from P11.514 trillion, faster than July’s 9.8% expansion.

This came amid banks increased lending to key sectors including real estate; electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditioning supply; wholesale and retail trade, and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; financial and insurance activities; manufacturing; information and communication; and transportation and storage, according to the central bank.

Meanwhile, consumer loans jumped by 16.2% to P2.084 trillion at end-August from P1.794 trillion a year ago.

This eased from the 17.1% year-on-year increase in July amid slower lending activity in the credit card and motor vehicle segments.

Credit card loans jumped by an annual 23.3% to P1.323 trillion from P1.073 trillion the prior year, while loans for motor vehicles went up by 5.8% to P542.981 billion from P513.061 billion.

Both growth rates were slower than the 24.5% and 7%, respectively, recorded the previous month.

On the other hand, salary-based general purpose consumption loans went up by 11.6% to P183.587 billion from P164.456 billion a year earlier, outpacing July’s 9.9% increase.

Meanwhile, outstanding loans to nonresidents reached P305.186 billion as of August, slipping by 1.5% year on year from P309.789 billion. This was slower than the 6.8% decline in July.

The central bank monitors banks’ lending activities to track the transmission of monetary policy.

“Looking ahead, the BSP will continue to ensure that bank lending conditions remain consistent with its price and financial stability mandate,” it added. — Katherine K. Chan

Switzerland’s glaciers lost more than 5% of their ice in 2026, a report by the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network (GLAMOS) and the Swiss Commission for Cryosphere Observation of the Swiss Academy of Sciences showed on Thursday.

The findings underscore the accelerating pace of glacier retreat as extreme melt years become routine. Over the past five years, Swiss glaciers have shed almost a fifth of their ice, the report showed, threatening future water supplies and raising questions about the long-term survival of Europe’s ice fields.

“Now we are in this new world, in this future, where glaciers are just melting away,” Matthias Huss, director of GLAMOS, said.

A combination of a winter with too little snow and record temperatures in the summer led to what Mr. Huss called “enormous” melting this year.

‘A REALLY WORRYING SITUATION’
“We are seeing extreme years almost every year now and this is really a worrying situation,” Mr. Huss said.

Still, the rate of ice loss has not yet quite reached the record highs of 2022, when dust clouds from North Africa settled on the snow and accelerated melting, Huss said.

Switzerland’s largest glacier, Aletsch Glacier, suffered its biggest-ever melt this year, while Glacier de Tsanfleuron lost more than four meters (13 feet) of average thickness. Mr. Huss said this would have been unthinkable a few years ago.

In total, the scientists estimate Swiss glaciers lost around 2.2 trillion liters of water between July and September alone, equivalent to more than four times the annual drinking water consumption of Swiss households.

That has one positive side effect: glacier melt contributes to easing summer water shortages.

But, as ice-covered areas shrink and glaciers become smaller, this benefit is decreasing, Mr. Huss said.

“It’s not that we’re surprised because we know how fast the glaciers are melting, but to see the colors of the mountains where there is no snow left, there are just these rocks,” Mr. Huss said. “It makes me sad.” — Reuters

Passengers and crew entered the cockpit, overpowered the co-pilot and enabled a second pair of flydubai pilots who were aboard the flight to land the jet safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Israeli officials said.

More than 10 hours later, the passengers arrived at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport aboard a flydubai replacement aircraft, with several describing the episode as a miracle and recounting a frantic struggle to prevent a catastrophe.

Israeli officials said the attacker’s motive aboard flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv remained under investigation. Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which includes Dubai, signed the Abraham Accords normalizing relations in 2020.

The incident sharpened concerns about global aviation security in a region scarred by years of conflict, prompting Israel to tighten checks on pilots flying into the country.

“I just can say that it was a miracle. It was awful, crazy, and we thank God that we survived it, we didn’t think we will make it but thank God we are in Israel. We are back home. And we are happy to see everyone here,” passenger Lital Shachaf said.

Israel’s ambulance service said a 51-year-old man was taken to an Israeli hospital to be treated for injuries to his upper body. The man was in a “mild condition,” it said.

Describing the event as “a serious security incident,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saudi authorities would interrogate the co-pilot.

Flydubai said in a statement that the underlying reasons for the event remained unknown and warned against “premature speculation.” An Israeli official identified the co-pilot as an Omani national. There was no immediate comment from Oman.

Israeli officials applauded the passengers, who they credited with avoiding a much more serious disaster. Mr. Netanyahu said there were 174 people on board the flight from Dubai, most of them Israeli nationals.

US President Donald Trump said he spoke “at length” with Mr. Netanyahu on Wednesday about the incident. He proceeded to give reporters in the Oval Office a detailed account of what happened, adding: “This is the story that I heard — I don’t know if it’s true, but that’s the story that I got from Bibi (Netanyahu).”

‘SOMETHING YOU DO WITHOUT THINKING’
A Netanyahu spokesperson told Reuters that the wounded captain, identified by the Israeli leader’s office as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, was covered with blood on the floor when he managed to click the release to open the cockpit door. Passengers who entered found the co-pilot bashing at the plane’s control panel, the spokesperson said. “This is something you do without thinking, just running to save your daughter’s life, your family’s life,” said Asaf Rajuan, one of the passengers who helped restrain the attacker. He spoke with a forehead still bloodied from the struggle.

Mr. Netanyahu’s office released a video showing the prime minister at Ben Gurion Airport giving a hug to another passenger, Yaniv Hayun, who his office said “broke into” the cockpit. “I see you and I see a lion – a big hero,” Mr. Netanyahu told the man, who was still wearing the blood-stained shirt he had on during the flight.

Flydubai operates daily return flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv, a route that is popular among Israeli nationals. The flight path normally uses airspace over Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

It is not the first time a flight between Israel and the UAE has landed in Saudi Arabia. A flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Riyadh in September 2025 due to a medical incident, Israeli media reported at the time.

Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk airport, where the plane landed, said both pilots had been hospitalized after sustaining injuries.

The incident heightened security fears in Israel weeks before Israelis vote in the first election since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks, with Israel’s security figuring prominently in the campaigning.

Responding to the incident on X, far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote, “Terrorism is a devil with whom no agreement must be reached”.

ISRAEL TO TIGHTEN CHECKS ON PILOTS FLYING TO ISRAEL
Israeli media published conflicting reports on the incident, with some outlets reporting that a pilot had tried to crash the passenger plane in an alleged suicide attempt. Some Israeli media outlets initially identified the pilots as Omani and Emirati nationals, while others said they were Russian and Ukrainian.

“Every pilot that is going to be flying into Israel, we are going to know the pilots’ identities, know who they are, and do some type of security check,” Doron Spielman, a Netanyahu spokesperson, told Reuters.

Mr. Netanyahu met on Sunday with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a rare visit to the Gulf country. Israel and the UAE have forged close security, military and economic ties since establishing diplomatic ties.

Israel provided the UAE earlier this year with Iron Dome air-defense systems and Israeli personnel to operate them, helping defend against Iranian attacks launched after Israel and the US began strikes on Iran.

The UAE government had yet to comment on the flydubai incident, while the Dubai state-owned airline said an “altercation” occurred in the cockpit and the flight subsequently diverted to Tabuk, where it landed safely. The UAE’s aviation regulator, the GCAA, said the flight “experienced a security incident that was brought under control”. — Reuters

The new model, “Argon”, is larger in size than Google’s previous line of advanced “Pro” models, a company spokesperson said.

“It’s our most performant model yet built for complex workloads, and we see it comparable to frontier models like (OpenAI’s) Astra and (Anthropic’s) Opus on key coding and cyber benchmarks,” the spokesperson said.

Google said it was providing the model to select cybersecurity partners and was participating in the Trump administration’s voluntary process for pre-release model access. It did not provide a timeline for the model’s public release.

The model posted better marks than Astra and Opus in terms of self-reported performance on several industry benchmarks, per a company press release. Still, Argon remained behind on certain other metrics, including two of the four coding-related benchmarks Google included in the release.

Google no longer plans to release Gemini 3.5 Pro, which CEO Sundar Pichai originally said would be released in June, according to the company spokesperson.

In the intervening time, Google overhauled its DeepMind AI lab, with its founder and CEO Demis Hassabis stepping aside and several leaders of its Gemini model leaving the company.

The months of delays to its AI model have caused the company to fall behind Anthropic and OpenAI, which continued to push the research frontier with new releases to its top models.

Mr. Pichai in July pushed back on the notion that Google was losing ground in the AI race. But Google in recent months has shifted its messaging from touting Gemini’s cutting-edge capabilities to highlighting its cost advantage compared to competitor models. — Reuters

The country’s trade balance has remained in deficit since the $64.95-million surplus in May 2015.  

Merchandise exports jumped by 27.8% to $9.11 billion last month from 5.5% growth recorded a year earlier and 10.9% in July.  

Imports rose by 16.6% to $12.96 billion, reversing the 0.3% decline in August last year but slowing from the 23% surge in July.  

For the eight-month period, the trade-in-goods deficit widened by 26.34% to $41.56 billion from a year earlier. Exports rose 14.78% to $64.04 billion year on year, while imports climbed 19% to $105.6 billion, the PSA said. 

The Development Budget Coordination Committee expects exports to rise 3% and imports by 5% this year. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz

In a statement, the central bank said inflation likely settled at 6.4% to 7.4% in September from 6.1% in August and 1.7% a year earlier.  

If the forecast holds, September will snap four straight months of easing prices. At the upper end of the forecast, inflation would be the fastest in three-and-a-half years. At the lower end, inflation would be the fastest in four months, matching June.  

Either outcome would keep inflation above the BSP’s 3% target for a seventh straight month. The Philippine Statistics Authority is scheduled to release September inflation data on Oct. 6.  

“Upward price pressures for the month are likely to be driven by weather-related increases in the prices of vegetables, fish, rice and fruits,” the central bank said on Wednesday. “Increased domestic petroleum prices and depreciation of the peso could likewise contribute to higher inflation.” 

Lower meat prices and electricity rates may have partly offset these increases, the central bank said.  

“The BSP will remain vigilant and guided by incoming data, particularly on inflation and growth prospects,” it said. “It will continue to assess the impact of latest developments in the Middle East and recent weather disturbances on the country’s inflation and economic outlook.” — Katherine K. Chan

THE GOVERNMENT raised an initial P84.9 billion during Tuesday’s rate-setting auction for retail Treasury bonds (RTBs), the fourth such offering under the Marcos administration.

The two-and-a-half year bonds due 2029 fetched a coupon rate of 6.875% during the auction, with bid yields ranging from 6.5% to 6.875%.

Tenders hit P188.6 billion or more than six times the P30 billion on offer at the Bureau of the Treasury’s (BTr) first retail bond offer this year.

The coupon rate is 1 basis point (bp) higher than the 6.865% seen for the same bond series, 16.96 bps above the 6.7054% quoted for the two-year tenor but 14.91 bps below the 7.0241% quoted for the three-year bond, according to the PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates published on the Philippine Dealing System website.

It is also 87.5 bps higher than the 6% quoted for the government’s last RTB issuance in August 2025, where it raised an initial P210 billion from five-year notes.

National Treasurer Sharon P. Almanza said they chose to issue a 2.5-year bond since rates are still elevated, and market conditions remain defensive.

“Given where the rates are and how defensive the market is, we also want to make sure we are not adding costs for the government. We are hoping that by next year, rates will moderate. So, definitely, we don’t want to lock in at a very high rate,” she said during a briefing.

Ms. Almanza said the market, particularly retail investors, wants short-term tenors. “That’s why we want to be strategic and issue in this segment,” she added.

Ms. Almanza said the Treasury is aiming to raise P150 billion in new money from the latest RTBs, with additional funds expected from the bond exchange program.

She said they are also exercising active liability management to manage risks from adding more short tenors to their total debt stock.

“We haven’t really done the calculation, but we were doing active liability management (LM) exercise. So even if this will shorten our average maturity, as pointed out, we can conduct LM, meaning to say we do debt exchange and switches,” she said.

Ms. Almanza added they are still looking at issuing fresh fixed-rate Treasury notes (FXTN) this year, which will also include a form of liability management.

Still, the BTr cannot accept all offers from the exchange offer, but Ms. Almanza noted participation from the program usually ranges from 10% to 20% of the total volume for the eligible bonds.

“We also have our analysis. Some of those bonds are still at a very low coupon. So repricing all of them will be costlier for the government instead of just waiting for the maturity. We will be repricing them at 6.875%. Some of those bonds are at 4.8% or even lower. So that’s why we are looking at the cost benefit of the switch,” she said.

The RTB’s 2.5-year tenor was a function of prudence to avoid locking in elevated borrowing costs for a longer period of time amid market volatility stemming from the Middle East conflict, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message.

Still, the initial amount raised from the rate-setting auction reflected healthy retail investor appetite, Union Bank of the Philippines Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said in a Viber message.

“We expect total proceeds to rise further during the remaining offer period and could surpass the P100-billion mark if current subscription momentum holds,” he said.

Meanwhile, a trader said in a text message that the coupon rate hit the government’s sweet spot given indicative rates before the auction.

The public offer period for the RTBs will run until Oct. 7 unless ended earlier, while issuance and settlement date are scheduled for Oct. 12.

It also includes an exchange offer for holders of RTBs maturing on Oct. 20, 2026 (RTB 15-01), March 1, 2027 (RTB 15-02) and March 4, 2027 (RTB 05-15), as well as for holders of fixed-rate Treasury notes (FXTN) maturing on Dec. 7, 2026 (FXTN 20-13) and Jan. 4, 2027 (FXTN 03-30).

The BTr set the repurchase price for the RTB 15-01, RTN 15-02 and RTB 05-15 at 100.01%, 99.79%, and 99.59%, respectively.

The repurchase price for the FXTN 20-13 and FXTN 03-30 are at 100.3% and 100.1%, respectively.

Since the RTB was first launched in 2001, Ms. Almanza said the government has raised a cumulative P6 trillion.

Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go said 25 years of RTBs have shown that government borrowings “can serve a broader purpose.”

“It can give the Filipinos a chance to take part in financing the country’s priorities, and in the process, become more happy participants in the financial system. Ultimately, RTBs connect two important goals, helping Filipinos build their own financial future, and of course, contributing to the future of the Filipinos,” Mr. Go said in a speech on Tuesday.

The bonds are being sold in minimum denominations of P5,000 and in multiples of P5,000 thereafter, while each exchange offer will have a minimum amount of P5,000 in multiples of P0.01.

The RTBs will be available through over-the-counter placement in bank branches and digital channels such as the BTr Online Ordering Facility, the Bonds.PH mobile app, the Overseas Filipino Bank mobile banking app, and the Landbank mobile banking app.

They will also be available on GCash’s GBonds platform, and PDAX’s Bonds platform, as well as through an ATRAM PRIME account, the ATRAM PERA app, and RCBC Trust Corp.’s Investment Management Account through RCBC PULZ.

In an unusually outspoken address reflecting the depth of the crisis facing Spain following the Ceuta border rush that took place two months ago on Wednesday, the king said what happened in the enclave on the North African coast was “unacceptable” and generated an enormous security, public order and humanitarian challenge.

“It’s a situation that ought to have as a consequence a reinforcement of collaboration between member states in resources and cooperation,” he said. “The European countries that suffer the most pressure from being on the external borders of the European Union cannot alone bear a responsibility that also belongs to everyone.”

The king spoke during a dinner at the Royal Palace in Madrid also attended by Spain’s Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, a rare European proponent of the benefits of migration who launched a mass regularization of irregular migrants that concluded in the summer. Mr. Sanchez, however, has proposed possible changes to asylum rules to return arrivals more quickly, which NGOs and lawyers say would violate human rights conventions.

Asked in a news conference ​about the plans, territorial policy minister ​Angel Victor Torres ⁠said the government was “analyzing the possibility” of a legislative amendment but that it was “not easy” due to questions of international law.

Following the mass crossing of 72,000 migrants into Ceuta on July 30, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen commended Spain’s swift action in returning most arrivals to Morocco. Other leaders were less understanding, however, with Italy suspending the European Union’s border-free Schengen arrangements with Spain for one month.

European Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner unveiled a plan on Tuesday ​to strengthen EU border controls ‌in the wake of Ceuta.

The plan, which requires the approval of member states, would strengthen the mandate ​of Frontex, the EU border protection agency, and give it ​a standing corps ready for immediate deployment. — Reuters

“We are exchanging messages between the parties, and we’re working towards establishing a common ground in order to get into a deal that would save all of us from the repercussions of the conflict,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told reporters.

The US and Iran have failed to find an off-ramp from their war, now in its eighth month. Negotiations appeared to intensify during last week’s UN General Assembly meeting in New York, but have so far not yielded any agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Doha once again has emerged as would-be peacemaker after previously playing a supporting role in producing the June memorandum of understanding that led to a brief ceasefire. US and Iranian officials spoke separately with Qatari mediators on Monday. It was unclear if another exchange took place on Tuesday.

Mr. Trump repeated his position that Iran must not obtain a nuclear weapon and that the war would be over soon.

The conflict has degraded Iran’s conventional forces and damaged its already ailing economy, but Tehran has fought back with missile and drone strikes on US allies in the Gulf and by restricting oil tanker traffic in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which has pushed up world energy prices.

“I don’t know if they are going to give up yet but they’ll give up,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Tuesday.

“They are doing very poorly,” he added.

On Monday night, Mr. Trump took to social media to deny reports by Axios and CNN, citing unidentified US officials, that Mr. Trump was willing to give Iran sanctions relief and release frozen Iranian funds as part of a final deal on the condition that Iran showed “concrete progress” on the nuclear issue.

“This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Mr. Trump has cited preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear bomb as a central goal of the war, along with ending its ability to attack its neighbors and creating conditions for Iranians to topple their leadership.

Iran does not have nuclear weapons and denies it wants to develop them, but argues it has the right to a nuclear program for civilian purposes.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in an interview with the CBS show “Face the Nation” that aired on Sunday, said Tehran was ready for talks on its nuclear program and other issues, but would not accept “bullying or coercion.”

IRANIAN PEACE PROPOSAL
At the United Nations General Assembly last week, Iran floated a peace proposal that would trigger a seven-day countdown to reopening the strait and a pause in fighting.

Mr. Trump on Saturday rejected the plan although Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that Washington had not officially relayed a US rejection through mediators.

The war has killed thousands of people and severely disrupted global energy supplies, fueling inflation.

Saudi Arabia, the largest of the Gulf states, was drawn deeper into the war this month as Iranian-aligned Houthi fighters advanced in Yemen, routing forces of the Saudi-backed government and threatening Saudi oil exports through the Red Sea.

Oil prices settled 2.5% lower on Tuesday as investors focused on signs of recovering crude exports from the Middle East, but prices were still on track for monthly gains on lingering concern about supply disruptions.

The US government on Tuesday offered to loan energy companies up to 40 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the last US batch of crude from a global deal to unleash reserves in the wake of the Iran war.

The United States also stepped up its economic pressure on Iran, sanctioning 10 individuals and entities, including some based in China, Hong Kong and Pakistan, saying they helped Iran procure weapons and components. — Reuters

The fourth secret poll by the 15-member Security Council followed the gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly in New York last week.

The first and third polls, held in July and September, also showed Ms. Grynspan narrowly ahead while an August poll placed Guyana’s UN ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett in the top spot.

After former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet dropped out of the race this month, seven candidates are vying to succeed Antonio Guterres. The former Portuguese prime minister steps down at the end of ​this year after two five-year terms. More candidates could still enter the ⁠race.

Whoever wins ​will have to tackle multiple crises, including several wars, cutbacks in American contributions to the UN, and the UN’s declining political relevance.

Ultimately, the five Security Council veto powers — the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain — need to agree on a candidate. When Mr. Guterres ​was chosen in 2016, it took six straw polls for the Security Council to reach agreement.

The Security Council will eventually formally ​recommend a candidate to the 193-member General Assembly for election. The assembly has long been expected to approve the council’s choice.

In the more than 80-year history of ​the UN, there has never ​been a female secretary-general.

In the straw polls, which are expected to continue for several more rounds, Security Council members are asked on secret ballots if they “encourage,” “discourage” or have “no opinion” on candidates.

Ms. Grynspan received 10 encourage votes, three discourage and two no opinion. Ms. Rodrigues-Birkett received eight encourage votes, six discourage and one no opinion, sources close to the process said.

Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, the high-profile director general of the UN nuclear watchdog, also received eight encourage and seven discourage votes. — Reuters

Mr. Trump made the comments after meeting with tech executives at the White House. The companies agreed to work with “independent auditors” to assess whether AI systems are working as their designers intended, according to a copy of the agreement posted by Mr. Trump on his social media platform. The companies also said they would work to ensure their AI tools do not “hack or access technical systems in unintended ways.”

The administration faces increasing scrutiny over risks posed by advanced AI, after OpenAI and Anthropic reported their AI agents had gone rogue and hacked into other companies’ systems.

Data centers, which provide the computing power to train and run AI models, have drawn opposition in communities nationwide over concerns about electricity demand, utility costs and other local impacts. The backlash poses a political challenge for Republicans heading into the US midterm elections on November 3.

“It’s almost like a constitution, in a way,” Mr. Trump said, referring to the agreement between the companies. “And the biggest people in the world signed that, and I signed it as president. And it really is a form of protection.”

What began as a closed-door lunch with technology executives spilled into public view when Mr. Trump joined House Speaker Mike Johnson and a lineup of CEOs on the White House driveway, an area rarely used by the president to speak to journalists. He took questions from reporters for about 30 minutes on AI safety and other topics with the CEOs standing behind him.

The unusual scene came as pressure has mounted on the administration to address the risks and rapid spread of AI, and underscored the alliance Mr. Trump has cultivated with leaders of the tech industry. Executives at the meeting included OpenAI’s Greg Brockman, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang.

Mr. Zuckerberg, pulled forward from the crowd of billionaire executives by Mr. Trump to speak, said the companies agreed to develop “robust internal controls” for their AI systems. Mr. Trump said he is considering setting up a 10-person board to police the safety of AI tools. He did not specify potential members of that group. He added he would soon name a new official to lead White House policies on AI.

DOUBLES DOWN ON DATA CENTERS
Asked whether he was concerned that his support for data centers could hurt Republicans in November, Mr. Trump said tech companies would work to make communities “happy” about the construction of data centers.

“These big, powerful, very rich, very smart companies are going to be making massive contributions to communities,” Mr. Trump later told reporters gathered on the White House driveway, surrounded by the company executives.

But the companies have come under fire for not doing enough to make AI safer. A nationwide Reuters/Ipsos poll from September 17 to 20 shows some 73% of respondents worry that AI companies haven’t done enough to prevent AI from causing serious harm to society, and 55% of people said it would be good to slow AI development.

AI company executives and investors were among the largest individual donors in 2025 to MAGA Inc., a political action committee aligned with the president. OpenAI’s Mr. Brockman and his wife, Anna Brockman, gave a combined $25 million to the committee in 2025, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Mr. Trump met with the CEOs the same day his aides announced a new AI tool that they said will make it easier for the public to use government services.

Silicon Valley executives attended an event launching the new tool, including Meta’s Dina Powell McCormick and Sequoia Capital partner Shaun Maguire. Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia led the design of the new tool. Silicon Valley companies Google, SpaceX, Meta and 8VC were listed in the launch event’s program as sponsors.

Mr. Trump at the launch event said the AI tool could not “in theory, be hacked into” by bad actors. He did not provide evidence.

Mr. Trump on Tuesday also directed government agencies to use the words “super intelligence” instead of “artificial intelligence” when referring to the technology. — Reuters

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman and rival Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei earlier this month joined industry leaders in calling for a slower pace of AI development and stronger safety measures.

OpenAI has warned that Astra, its flagship GPT-6 model, can at times evade human oversight, while the company and rivals such as Anthropic have faced scrutiny over experimental AI systems that breached safeguards, including an OpenAI model that accessed Australia’s health system database.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier in the day that OpenAI had abandoned plans to launch the model, which was expected to be integrated into ChatGPT and Codex and was designed to handle more complex tasks without human assistance.

The Journal reported that GPT-6.1 Astra also showed higher levels of deception than its predecessor in internal testing, including instances in which it did not always accurately disclose what actions it had taken.

“While (GPT-6.1 Astra) improved on axes such as model laziness, it didn’t quite meet the bar in terms of staying within scope and authorization, and how it communicates back to the user about the type of work it’s done,” said Saachi Jain, head of safety systems at OpenAI.

“Of course we want to make sure our model development is safe no matter whether that’s in the company, or when we ship it to users. But when we ship it to users, we have an extremely high bar in terms of safety and alignment,” Ms. Jain said.

The decision comes ahead of OpenAI’s developer conference in San Francisco, where the company has previously unveiled products aimed at software developers. — Reuters

Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella said late on Sunday that he had instructed his economic team to hold talks with the IMF to seek a way out of the fiscal crisis.

The sources, who requested anonymity because the discussions are private, said the talks have focused on securing alternative financing at more favorable rates, as the country has increased its domestic and external borrowing targets amid a wide fiscal deficit expected this year and next.

The Finance Ministry confirmed it had asked the IMF to send a technical mission to conduct its Article IV consultation, an assessment of the country’s economy and macroeconomic policies, following meetings between IMF Deputy Managing Director Nigel Clarke, Vice President Jose Manuel Restrepo, Finance Minister Miguel Gomez Martinez and ministry officials.

The government said the consultation would allow the IMF to review its fiscal plan and economic outlook and would serve as a first step toward deepening dialogue on new forms of cooperation with the Fund.

Another source familiar with the matter had told Reuters earlier on Monday about Mr. Clarke’s visit. That source said it was too early to discuss any details about the size of a possible IMF financing program and that moving toward a program would require a dedicated staff visit and discussions with Colombian authorities.

Colombian Vice President Jose Manuel Restrepo and the country’s economic team discussed their contacts with the IMF and their intention to seek an agreement during some meetings with business leaders and capital markets investors in New York, two of the sources said.

“I have given clear instructions to the finance minister and the entire economic team to take charge of talks with the International Monetary Fund. I have given that instruction in order to seek a negotiated solution to the crisis,” Mr. De La Espriella said in a televised address on Sunday night. “We all know that the country’s fiscal situation is the most critical in our history.”

The IMF said it had no immediate comment on Mr. De La Espriella’s Sunday remarks.

Colombia is fiscally struggling amid lower tax revenue, expanded spending under the previous leftist government and persistent inflation. Mr. De La Espriella has promised sweeping austerity measures to cut spending.

The government has raised its fiscal deficit target for this year to 7.2% of gross domestic product from a previous 5.3%, and has increased the target to a record 9.4% of GDP for next year. It will increase borrowing by more than $10.5 billion this year. In 2027, borrowing is set reach to $71.66 billion, more than double what was initially planned. — Reuters

Any further talks are expected to focus on an amended version of a seven-day proposal that Iran presented last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters.

The war began in late February with US and Israeli attacks on Iran, killing thousands of people over seven months and shocking global markets as vital waterways for oil remained choked. The US and Iran have twice previously agreed to ceasefires in mediated peace talks, in April and June. Those agreements quickly unraveled.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who remained in New York after attending the General Assembly, said Iran expected to receive the US response to its latest ceasefire proposals and its conditions for restoring passage of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, according to state news agency IRNA.

“If the Americans claim they are seeking an agreement or a peaceful solution, we have presented that solution,” Mr. Araghchi said.

US officials separately spoke with mediators on Monday, US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House, without giving further details.

TRUMP HAS FLAGGED FURTHER TALKS THIS WEEK
Iran’s seven-day plan envisages an end to all hostilities in Iran and Lebanon, the unfreezing of billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian assets, an end to sanctions on Iranian oil and the lifting of the US blockade on Iranian ports.

Iran would then allow the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for oil tankers, and the two sides would also resume talks on Iran’s nuclear program and Mr. Trump’s wish to seize or eliminate its highly enriched uranium.

Mr. Trump said on Saturday he had rejected Iran’s proposal, saying Iran wanted a swift agreement because of the crippling economic pressure it is under. However, he also told Axios on Sunday that he expected US negotiators to engage in further talks this week.

Mr. Araghchi said on Sunday that mediators had not formally conveyed a US rejection, and that Iran was awaiting Washington’s definitive position before deciding its next steps.

“Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met,” he said on Sunday, adding that only a negotiated solution could resolve the impasse. — Reuters

The company’s IPO prospectus, reviewed by Reuters, highlights risks associated with its AI models, which it said could exhibit “self-preserving behaviors,” including attempts to “resist shutdown,” to “conceal or manipulate information” and behavior “resembling blackmail.”

“Our development of highly advanced models, platforms, and applications and expansion of use cases could further increase the risk that our models cause harm,” Anthropic said in the filing.

While public companies routinely outline product risks to investors, few, if any, have issued warnings suggesting their technology could cause potential human extinction. Anthropic emphasized both the transformative potential of AI on par with industrialization and electricity and the irreversible harm it could cause if mishandled.

Anthropic and other AI developers, including OpenAI, have faced scrutiny after incidents where experimental systems defied constraints, including a report of an OpenAI model breaching Australia’s health-system database.

Anthropic safety researcher Evan Hubinger estimated a greater than 10% probability that AI could kill humans within the next decade, echoing a sentiment by a former colleague, Jacob Coxon.

RISK-HEAVY DISCLOSURES
The company, which has positioned itself as a safety-first AI lab, devoted roughly 80 pages of the 261-page main body of its prospectus to laying out risk factors, nearly twice the 48 pages it used to describe its business.

For comparison, SpaceX, which owns xAI, dedicated just around 38 of the 277-page main body of its prospectus to risk factors.

“Potential model awareness of our evaluation efforts creates a significant limitation on our ability to assess model safety,” Anthropic said in the prospectus, adding that models sometimes develop unexpected capabilities during training that may not be discovered until they have been deployed and have resulted in significant safety incidents.

AI researchers have also warned that as models grow more capable, they increasingly recognize when they are being watched and adjust their behavior accordingly, which makes it harder to monitor model behavior.

Anthropic declined to comment in response to a request for comment on Monday.

UNCERTAIN RETURNS ON SAFETY INVESTMENT
Despite emphasizing AI safety, Anthropic said that returns on its safety investments are unclear.

It did not disclose in the filing how much the company was spending on such research. Earlier this month, Anthropic said about 6% of the computing power it used for AI research went to safety work in a sample week in July.

The company, creator of Claude AI models, described safety efforts as “resource-intensive” and said it must divide its limited funds between computing power, expensive AI talent and safety.

Anthropic said that its customer usage, and as a result revenue, is driven by new models and that a “continuous and overlapping cadence” of releases is “inherent to remaining at the frontier of AI development.”

The company last week released a new version of its Opus model, 10 days after CEO Dario Amodei published a nearly 4,000-word essay calling for pacing the frontier.

Some analysts and experts have said no leading AI lab would slow down when doing so risks handing rivals an advantage in an industry where valuations can change with each release.

Anthropic has pledged in recent weeks to disclose more data publicly about how it uses AI models to build future generations of the technology, as experts warn about recursive self-improvement — the point at which models can develop on their own without human help.

“We believe building reliable, trustworthy, and secure AI systems is a collective responsibility and that the market will reward it,” Anthropic said in the filing. — Reuters

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Globe Telecom Inc. is betting the artificial intelligence boom can turn its data-center venture into its next billion-dollar business as fintech arm Mynt Inc. heads for a record Philippine initial public offering.

The carrier plans to spend at least $1 billion in 2027, mainly to expand its data business, President and Chief Executive Officer Carl Raymond Cruz said in an interview Monday. Capital expenditures are expected to equal 23% to 28% of revenue over the next few years.

“We need to continue investing in the network,” he said. “We will continue to do that but with very selective, highly-prioritized areas mainly related to data and the digital economy.”

The country’s second-largest telecommunications firm is looking beyond its traditional operations for its next leg of growth as AI fuels a global race for computing capacity. Billions of dollars are pouring into the sector across Asia as cloud providers and technology companies seek to meet surging demand.

Globe already has a foothold through ST Telemedia Global Data Centres Philippines, a venture with parent Ayala Corp. and Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte. The data-center operator runs five facilities, with capacity set to reach 30 to 35 megawatts by the end of 2026 before rising to 124 MW over the following three years through new sites and expansion of existing facilities, according to Cruz.

A listing of the venture is among the options being considered to fund further expansion, he said. “Anything related to the digital economy is valuated quite generously by the market.”

Capacity constraints in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia mean the Philippines is the next destination for data-center customers, he said. “You’ll see data traffic increase by probably three to five times in the next couple of years with AI.”

Still, the Philippines cannot rely solely on demand spilling over from Malaysia and Indonesia, according to a report by BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions. To win large cloud projects, it will need to leverage its undersea cable links to developed Asian markets, alongside secured access to power and land.

The country has 44 data centers, the second-fewest among the Asian markets tracked by BMI, with about 140 MW of live capacity and another 264 MW under construction or planned.

At home, Globe is trying to catch up in a market led by rival PLDT Inc., whose data-center subsidiary VITRO Inc. is seeking up to P24.2 billion ($387 million) in a real estate investment trust IPO. Converge ICT Solutions Inc. is also expanding its own footprint.

The government is seeking to draw more of that data-center investment onshore. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed an executive order in July requiring the government’s most sensitive digital information to remain under Philippine jurisdiction, potentially boosting demand for local facilities.

The data-center bet follows Globe’s success with Mynt, the company behind GCash, the Philippines’ largest mobile wallet. Mynt was valued at $5 billion in its last funding round in 2024 and its IPO is expected to raise about P60 billion next month that would be the country’s biggest.

Globe intends to remain Mynt’s single largest shareholder as the fintech expands its credit, investment, savings and insurance services, Mr. Cruz said. — Bloomberg

“You need law enforcement and the politicians to get into the discussion about what safeguards and monitoring look like,” Mr. Gates said in a taped interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program. “And that has to be a required thing.”

A sudden ​groundswell has risen in favor of federal intervention after OpenAI said in July that an autonomous AI agent went rogue during a security test and hacked into another company, subverting human control. Mr. Gates joined that chorus, saying that government must be involved.

“No one thinks self-regulation is enough,” he said.

In a rare show of unity, ‌the CEOs of rivals Anthropic, OpenAI, Google’s DeepMind, Microsoft and xAI have called for slowing the development of increasingly capable AI systems.

But US President Donald Trump and other opponents of additional regulation for AI say new government restrictions would simply give China the upper hand in the AI revolution. Mr. Trump has publicly dismissed calls for new laws on AI as a “hoax.”

Mr. Gates argued that safeguards would not dramatically hinder the industry, and that the risks of not implementing them are real.

“It’s not a hoax at all,” he told NBC.

Warnings about AI’s risks are not new. But they took on added urgency this month after researchers in leading AI labs attached both a timeline and a probability to those concerns.

Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon warned that AI ​could kill us all by the end of the decade, prompting US lawmakers to call for new rules to govern the technology. Evan Hubinger, Anthropic’s alignment science lead, echoed Mr. Coxon’s warning, saying there was a more than 10% chance of such an event within the next decade.

Some policymakers have proposed mandating a “kill switch” that would allow federal authorities to halt AI models. Mr. Gates said that while he was not opposed to some sort of kill switch, it would not be enough if other safeguards were not also implemented.

The US and China agreed to launch a dialogue on AI following President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Washington. — Reuters

There was no immediate comment from Mr. Netanyahu’s office and the UAE’s foreign ministry.

The visit comes after Israeli newspaper Haaretz this month reported that Sheikh Mohamed had warned Mr. Netanyahu a week and a half before October 7, 2023 that Hamas was planning a major operation against Israel. The warning was not passed to Israeli intelligence agencies or the military, Haaretz reported.

Mr. Netanyahu, who has denied the report and threatened legal action against the newspaper, is facing a tough reelection campaign. Opposition leaders have accused the prime minister of bearing responsibility for security failures that preceded Hamas’ October 7 attack.

The UAE has declined to comment on the Haaretz report but has said that UAE and Israel have maintained “open and direct lines of communication” since establishing diplomatic relations in 2020. A UAE source previously told Reuters that the UAE discusses security matters with countries through the “relevant entities,” but not “at the level of national leaders.”

Earlier this year, the UAE denied that President Sheikh Mohamed met with Mr. Netanyahu after the Israeli prime minister’s office said in May that Mr. Netanyahu had “secretly visited” the Gulf country and met with the president.

A source familiar with the meeting said at the time that Mr. Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohammed met in Al-Ain, an oasis city in Abu Dhabi along the country’s border with Oman, on March 26.

Since coming under attack during the Iran war, the UAE has strengthened its relationships with the ‌United ⁠States and Israel, with which it opened ties as a result of the 2020 Abraham Accords. The relationship with Israel gives UAE a lever for regional influence and a unique channel to Washington. — Reuters

In a two-hour meeting with seven survivors in France, where Leo is on a three-city weekend visit, the pope met privately with each of the victims and heard proposals for how to improve the Church’s safeguarding measures, a Vatican statement said.

“He thanked them for their painful testimony and reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring that the harm they experienced is not repeated for others,” it said.

The survivors said after the meeting that it was emotional and touching. They said they felt listened to by the pontiff and they were impressed by his compassion and his knowledge of their individual cases, but they also hoped that the words would be accompanied by action.

“He certainly believes that the Church has done a great deal in France, but he also believes that the Church in France still has a tremendous amount left to do,” Jérôme Guillement said.

Leo is on a whirlwind four-day visit to France. Local Church leaders are hoping he will help repair the Church’s standing after a 2021 report found that some 330,000 French children had been abused by Catholic clergy and lay leaders over seven decades.

The pope told an estimated 150,000 people gathered for a Mass in a field near the famed Catholic shrine in Lourdes earlier on Sunday that the Church must have the courage to face its past.

“In order to heal the deep wounds, infidelities and painful errors that have occurred within (the Church), we must humbly place ourselves under the Lord’s purifying gaze,” the first US pope said.

Véronique Garnier, one of the survivors in the meeting with the pope, said she had found the Mass, in which Leo referred to abuse without directly apologizing for it, troubling and wondered why she had attended.

But she said she was encouraged by her meeting with Leo.

“I do indeed believe there is hope — hope that there can be change and truly listening to us at a deep level, rather than just superficially with beautiful words that are never followed by any real action,” she said.

Leo also spoke about the abuse scandals in a closed-door meeting with French bishops on Sunday, according to a Vatican-provided text.

The pope thanked the bishops for the “courageous measures” he said they had taken to confront the scandals and urged them to buttress their safeguarding efforts and “continue on the path undertaken, maintaining the greatest vigilance.”

Leo has drawn large crowds on his visit to France. Around 800,000 people came for an outdoor Mass on the Champs-Élysées with the pope in Paris on Saturday. He has also again urged the world to reconsider the development of artificial intelligence.

‘CANNOT IGNORE THIS ISSUE’
Leo has previously apologized directly for abuse scandals that have damaged the Church’s credibility across the world. On a trip to Spain in June, he told bishops there that they must listen to survivors and offer them reparations.

Bishop Pierre-Antoine Bozo, the spokesperson for the French bishops, said the pope’s desire to have the meeting “shows that we cannot ignore this issue and that it must always remain among our concerns.”

The pope’s itinerary in France included six events in Lourdes, a town in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains that attracts some 3 million pilgrims a year for visits to a shrine to the Virgin Mary and purported healing spring waters.

The site is also connected to a ⁠scandal that has ​dogged the Vatican in recent years. The shrine’s facade has a series of mosaics by Rev. Marko Rupnik, ​a prominent religious artist with Vatican ties, who has been accused of sexual abuse.

Mr. Rupnik, accused by more than 20 women, is not known to have commented publicly on the accusations. Five of his alleged victims wrote an open letter to the pope on Thursday, sharply criticizing an ongoing Vatican trial of the cleric.

The mosaics, stories tall, have been covered for the pope’s visit with large, muted yellow tarps. Arriving for the Mass on Sunday, Leo was driven in his open-top popemobile near the facade of the shrine and the covered mosaics.

The pope, who on Friday sharply reiterated Catholic opposition to assisted dying initiatives two ‌months after France created a legal right to die for those with incurable illnesses, again mentioned the Church’s pro-life stance in Lourdes.

Meeting with volunteers who help sick pilgrims hoping to find a miracle in the shrine’s waters, Leo urged them to remember the “profound meaning” of healthcare work.

“That is to care for a suffering person, not to eliminate that person,” the pope said. “Medicine must never become the servant of programmed death!” — Reuters

“The presidential office expresses strong regret over Ukraine’s unilateral disclosure and its subsequent false announcement that there had not been a non-disclosure agreement,” Seong Ghi-hong, senior presidential secretary for public relations, said in a statement released on Sunday.

He said the government was reviewing additional measures over the issue if necessary.

Mr. Seong said Ukraine had repeatedly discussed the prisoners’ transfer with Seoul through various channels and had requested secrecy, arguing that public disclosure could trigger domestic criticism that Kyiv had given up an opportunity to exchange the soldiers for Ukrainian prisoners.

South Korea agreed to keep the transfer confidential given security, diplomatic and humanitarian concerns, including the safety of the prisoners and their families, he said.

According to the statement, Ukraine later disclosed the transfer in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s address to the United Nations General Assembly without sufficient prior consultation and subsequently denied the existence of any confidentiality agreement.

Mr. Seong said the denial had seriously damaged trust between the two governments and could harm bilateral relations.

Ukraine’s embassy in Seoul did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Mr. Zelenskiy told the United Nations General Assembly last week that Ukraine had transferred two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea. He said the men had recently been sent there after being captured while fighting for Russia in the war against Ukraine.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung days earlier said Ukraine had disclosed the transfer in breach of a non-disclosure agreement.

In a post on X, Mr. Lee said “it was appropriate in every aspect not to disclose” the transfer, given the potential consequences, and that the two sides had agreed to keep it confidential.

“I do not know what circumstances led the Ukrainian side to disclose the matter despite the confidentiality agreement, but it is deeply regrettable,” he wrote.

Ukraine captured the two North Koreans in Russia’s Kursk region in January 2025. They were the first North Korean soldiers to be captured alive since Pyongyang entered the war in 2024, assisting Russia.

South Korea had previously declined to confirm the soldiers’ arrival, citing concerns for their safety and that of family members still in North Korea.

Seoul and Kyiv had been discussing a possible transfer after the two soldiers expressed a desire to go to South Korea, according to an opposition lawmaker in Seoul.

The transfer comes as South Korea has backed efforts to revive dialogue with North Korea, while US President Donald Trump has renewed his willingness to engage with Pyongyang. — Reuters

IMF Mission Chief for the Philippines Andrea Pescatori noted that suspending or cutting the excise tax on gasoline would not be “progressive” for the government’s fiscal consolidation efforts.

In a briefing following their Article IV Consultation in the Philippines on Friday, Mr. Pescatori said suspending excise taxes on kerosene and LPG is more appropriate as it would primarily benefit low-income households.

“Well, it seems that those are used mostly by the low-income segment of the population, and also (in) rural areas. It’s important in agriculture. So, that’s why we think that this is actually an appropriate measure,” he added.

Last week, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed Executive Order No. 125, temporarily suspending the excise tax on kerosene and LPG. This was the second time since the Middle East war erupted in late February that the government imposed the policy.

The suspension, however, does not apply to LPG used as raw material for petrochemical production or motive power and kerosene used as aviation fuel.

The Department of Energy earlier this month certified that the 30-day average price of Dubai crude oil breached the $80-per-barrel threshold that could trigger a fuel excise tax freeze or cut.

Pump prices spiked anew following the reescalation of the Middle East war in early September, prompting calls to freeze the excise tax on gasoline and diesel.

Fuel retailers last week raised pump prices for a third straight week, driving the price of gasoline to as much as P111.60 per liter, diesel to P121 per liter, and kerosene to P147 per liter.

However, motorists are expecting rollbacks this week after global prices eased, with diesel prices to be lowered by up to P8 per liter, gasoline by up to P1 per liter, kerosene by up to P6 per liter.

Mr. Pescatori said the IMF commends the Marcos Jr. administration for executing targeted and time-bound measures.

“So far, the government has compensated, has offset the loss from the excise taxes on oil — kerosene and LPG — with higher VAT (value added tax) receipts because of higher gasoline prices,” he said. So, this has been sort of a budget neutral.”

The VAT on petroleum products mirrors the rise of fuel prices as the 12% levy is computed as a percentage of the fuel’s overall cost.

Leaving the VAT on gasoline unchanged, according to Mr. Pescatori, will help the government generate more revenue while the suspension on kerosene and LPG is in place.

However, the IMF official added that cutting or suspending the excise tax on gasoline would do more harm than good to the country’s fiscal position.

“We do not recommend muting the signal for gasoline, because in fact, as you know, it’s not net progressive, and in high-income households, they can afford to pay higher gasoline prices,” Mr. Pescatori noted.

Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go has said that suspending the excise tax on gasoline and diesel would cost the government about P12 billion in foregone revenue.

Mr. Pescatori likewise noted that the IMF avoids recommending blanket subsidy or tax breaks on fuels at the global level, noting that such policies could lose their incentive effect if adopted by all countries.

“If every country introduces or cuts taxes, introduces subsidies to all fuels, then there is no incentive to cut fuel consumption globally, and this could even be subjective, because the means of price increase is more,” he said. “If a small country does it, that would still be fine.” — Katherine K. Chan

Legal action, “whether it involves the mastermind, the co-conspirator, owner, enabler or protector, it requires time and also it requires evidence,” Chhay Sinarith, who heads a government commission on combating fraud, told Reuters on the sidelines of a global anti-scam conference in the capital Phnom Penh on Thursday.

“That’s why it is of utmost importance for us to cooperate,” he said, adding that information given by international partners had enabled action against some suspects and that premature disclosure of investigations could cause suspects to flee.

Cambodia this week hosted representatives of more than a dozen countries — including the US and China — at the conference, for discussions about tackling an industry that has tarnished the country’s reputation and damaged its economy.

Cambodia and other Southeast Asian nations emerged after the pandemic as hubs for industrial-sized scam centers where workers are trafficked, detained in grim conditions and forced to defraud strangers online. The US said scam compounds in the region stole $10 billion from Americans alone in 2024.

Mr. Chhay declared last month that Cambodia had eradicated large-scale scam compounds since it began a year-long crackdown, though it has not provided a full list of the sites it has raided. Analysts have been skeptical, saying that the operation has left high-level figures and protectors of the industry unscathed.

“It’s clear that many large compounds remain active despite other operators clearing out and dispersing into smaller, decentralized sites,” said John Wojcik, a senior analyst at blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs. “The technology, payment rails, money-laundering networks and facilitators underpinning the industry also continue to operate at scale.”

Mr. Chhay said authorities are expanding their investigation into the financial network of Prince Group, a Cambodia-based conglomerate the US alleges was a front for multi-billion-dollar online fraud and money laundering operations.

Its Chinese-born founder, Chen Zhi, was arrested and deported to China from Cambodia earlier this year.

Reporters toured two facilities outside of Phnom Penh that Cambodian authorities said were scam centers belonging to Prince Group – vast complexes that officials said housed thousands of workers. One had a fake Singaporean police station allegedly used for impersonation fraud.

Lawyers for Prince Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment. — Reuters

In one room, a critically ill patient lay on oxygen support, crying out as medical staff in masks, gloves and plastic aprons rushed past him at the center in Butembo, a city of 2 million people.

“Over the past two weeks, we’ve seen a very sharp increase,” said Stephanie Hoffmann, project coordinator for the international medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in the city.

“There are sometimes patients who know they have Ebola but cannot find a bed.”

City authorities announced the opening of two new treatment centers this week to deal with the demand, bringing the total to four.

But some patients arrive so unwell, there is nothing doctors can do, said Ms. Hoffmann, speaking at the Kitatumba centre.

She described the case of a 10-year-old boy who died in triage before doctors could admit him to the facility on Tuesday.

The scenes underscore the difficulty of containing Ebola across a stretch of eastern Congo that is bigger than France – one where medical resources are stretched thin.

Researchers believe the rare Bundibugyo species of the virus was spreading for months before the first cases were confirmed in Ituri, a province that neighbors North Kivu, in May. Aid cuts, surveillance system gaps and the absence of approved vaccines ​and treatments hampered the response, along with armed conflict in the region.

As of Tuesday, Congo had confirmed 7,820 cases and 3,779 deaths, according to government data.

While Ituri remains the worst-affected province, North Kivu’s share of new infections increased sharply this month, the data shows. The province now accounts for around a third of newly confirmed cases and deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a report on Sunday.

Last week, South Ubangi became the seventh province affected, another sign of what WHO described as a “pronounced geographic redistribution of transmission.”

United Nations and Congolese government officials said last week there were signs transmission is slowing in some of the worst-affected parts of Ituri, where responders have been racing to set up treatment facilities, identify victims, trace contacts and educate people on how to protect themselves. But it remains a “massive” outbreak, UN Special Ebola Coordinator Julien Harneis told reporters in Geneva.

Frontline workers say cases continue to emerge in new and underprepared areas.

“Assuming the outbreak is under control because some Ebola treatment centers are admitting fewer patients would be a mistake,” Anthony Kergosien, MSF’s emergency coordinator in Congo, said in a September 18 statement. “The outbreak is not shrinking; it is moving.”

DEEP MISTRUST
Interviews with residents, health workers and local leaders suggest shortages of funding and skilled personnel, together with deep-seated mistrust of Ebola responders, are making the virus difficult to contain in North Kivu.

Just over 60% of people diagnosed there are dying, significantly higher than the national average of 48%, the data shows. Medical staff say there has not yet been enough education about the virus, and patients are avoiding health facilities. That complicates efforts to identify cases and start treatment before the disease reaches its most dangerous stages.

By the time Ebola patients reach Dr. Michel Paluku Mukuloli’s hospital in Butembo, it is often too late.

“Patients think that if they arrive at the hospital, they will be immediately sent to the treatment center to die,” he said.

In Butembo, one of the region’s largest cities and a major trading hub, there are few signs that mitigation measures are being widely adopted. Overcrowded minibuses criss-cross the city. Markets remain packed.

Some residents refuse to have their temperature checked or wash their hands at entry points to the city and outside public buildings, according to the head doctor in the Butembo health zone, Pablo Paluku Lwanzo.

Only two of the zone’s nine health checkpoints are operating due to staffing constraints, he added.

Other residents question whether Ebola is real. One local welder said his 12-year-old son, who suffered from respiratory problems, died the day he was transferred to an Ebola treatment center. Because none of the relatives and neighbors who accompanied the boy became sick, he became convinced doctors had wrongly diagnosed the case.

“For me, Ebola does not exist,” the man told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Frightened and angry residents have attacked teams sent to decontaminate their homes and safely bury people suspected of having died of Ebola.

One person “came at me with a machete,” said Lambert Maboko, a member of a burial team, as he recovered at home from the attack, which fractured his knee.

Ahead of each deployment, members of the team hold a prayer session for their safety.

Earlier this month, residents set fire to a health post they accused of collaborating with Ebola responders, sending patients fleeing into the community, staff said. Microscopes and solar panels were lost in the attack.

“I’m at a loss for words,” Kakule Mahamba, head of the Hope health post, said as he surveyed the charred wreckage. “Even the hospital beds were burned, as well as the medicines.”

Congolese authorities and WHO say they are working on building trust through awareness campaigns, household visits and engagement with religious and local leaders.

Speaking after meeting with the North Kivu governor and WHO representatives on Wednesday, Congo’s incident manager for the Ebola outbreak, Steve Ahuka, said authorities had gained more access over the past four weeks.

“While pockets of resistance remain, we believe that with the involvement of traditional, religious and neighborhood leaders … we can make progress.”

Responding to Reuters questions, WHO said cases declined in North Kivu in recent days after several weeks of marked increases. But funding and staffing constraints remain significant challenges across affected areas.

“The pressure is particularly acute in North Kivu, which … has seen a significant increase in transmission with limited bed capacity for patient care,” the statement said.

MEMORIES OF PAST OUTBREAKS
North Kivu was the epicenter of three previous Ebola outbreaks, including one in 2018-2020, which until this year was Congo’s largest and deadliest. Those outbreaks, however, were caused by a different type of Ebola virus, known as the Zaire species.

Much less is known about the Bundibugyo species. But responders say in the early stages of infection, patients often experience milder symptoms easily mistaken for more common diseases such as malaria and typhoid fever.

Unlike the more common Zaire species, there are no approved vaccines or treatments. That is contributing to suspicions the outbreak might be a hoax, according to local authorities.

“People remember the 2018 outbreak and ask why vaccines and treatments existed then but not today,” said Pepin Kavota, a civil society coordinator in the nearby city of Beni.

Cases of sexual abuse and exploitation on the part of responders during the 2018-2020 outbreak, including some employed by WHO, further eroded public trust, Mr. Kavota added.

In the statement to Reuters, WHO said it recognizes that “trust must be continually earned,” adding it has significantly strengthened efforts to prevent and respond to abuses since the previous outbreak.

Last month, provincial authorities recruited pro-government fighters known as Wazalendo to help protect responders and improve adherence to prevention measures. On some roads leading to Butembo, armed men now operate handwashing stations.

A leader of the force warned that people who repeatedly refused to comply with Ebola control measures could be forcibly taken to treatment centers and whipped.

Others worry such coercive tactics could worsen the very problem they are trying to address: mistrust.

“We should not need to use the police or the army in a response,” Mr. Lwanzo said. “The population must be sensitized and willingly adopt the measures that are being put in place to protect them.” — Reuters

Leo is also set to renew calls for global rules on AI development, while laying out a vision for Europe’s future during his visit, which includes stops in Paris, at the famed Catholic shrine at Lourdes, in the southwest, and in Metz, on the German border.

Telling reporters on the plane to Paris that he was coming to convey a message of peace, Leo added: “It is a message which at this time, as we all may know, is particularly important.”

Some 600,000 people have registered to join an outdoor mass in central Paris with Leo on Saturday, with throngs expected to stretch down the famed Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Some 37,000 security forces would be deployed to secure the events, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on French broadcaster TF1.

“He brings a message of peace and hope that is very, very positive. His visit to France sends a wonderful signal to the country,” a Catholic passer-by, Antoine Barxias-Casties, said in front of Notre-Dame cathedral on the eve of Leo’s visit.

AI AT TOP OF PAPAL AGENDA
Leading Leo’s agenda on Friday are speeches to President Emmanuel Macron and other French leaders at the Élysée Palace and to staff at the headquarters of the UN culture and education body, UNESCO, which is facing budget shortfalls after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agency in 2025.

The first US pope attracted ⁠Mr. Trump’s ire earlier this year after criticizing the Iran war.

Leo, who has made the risks spurred by AI a major concern of his papacy and has called on world leaders for global rules to oversee the industry, is expected to address the issue at UNESCO.

In a speech at the Vatican on Thursday, the pope said AI could benefit humanity, but has introduced “new dangers to security and international peace”. He urged global leaders to “govern wisely” in overseeing the technology.

Leo’s visit comes as Catholic leaders in France have been at odds with the government over the 2024 enshrining of a right to abortion in the French constitution, a world first, and the passage of a law earlier this year legalizing assisted dying for adults with incurable illnesses.

The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred and opposes abortion, assisted dying and capital punishment.

Leo will also lead a prayer service in Paris on Friday at the restored Notre-Dame cathedral, in the first visit by a pope since a devastating fire nearly destroyed the Gothic masterpiece in 2019.

POPE TO MEET ABUSE SURVIVORS
Leo is the first pope to make an official visit to France in nearly 20 years. Local Church leaders hope the trip will repair the Church’s standing after a crushing 2021 report found that some 330,000 French children had been abused by Catholic clergy and lay leaders over seven decades.

French bishops have since introduced compensation and safeguarding measures, but survivors have continued to press Church leaders to demonstrate accountability.

“Leo bears the immense responsibility of ‘declaring enough is enough’,” Alain Esquerre, 66, a spokesperson for victims at the Notre-Dame de Bétharram Catholic institution, told Reuters.

The pope will meet seven French victims of abuse by Catholic clergy on Sunday in Lourdes. The Vatican, which usually only issues statements about the pope’s meetings with abuse victims afterwards, has not provided further details.

Leo’s French tour will culminate in Metz on Sunday with a speech on “the roots of Europe for peace and unity”.

Mr. Macron has invited leaders from all 27 EU member states to attend but it is unclear who will come.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy may attend, according to media reports. Mr. Zelenskiy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The pope will leave France on Monday. — Reuters

The three-day Taiwan Expo 2026 brought 125 Taiwanese companies to Manila, covering industries including artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing, renewable energy, healthcare, agriculture, food and consumer products.

The Green & Innovation Showcase, organized by Taiwan’s International Trade Administration (TITA) together with the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), focused on renewable energy and power infrastructure, sustainable building materials, eco-friendly industrial and consumer solutions, and advanced water treatment.

The participating companies held targeted business-to-business matching sessions with Philippine stakeholders, including major corporations, government offices, corporate venture capital firms and real estate holdings, to explore sustainable solutions and cross-border collaboration.

The 13 exhibitors were Shihlin Electric & Engineering Corp., DaHe International Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Jiedeng International Co., Ltd., Champion Building Materials Co., Ltd., Super Battery Co., Ltd., Fortune Electric Co., Ltd., hiPower Hydrogen Technology Co., Ltd., Aireco Co., Ltd., Richten Energy Co., Ltd., Smart Power System Co., Ltd., Cutes Corp., Tin Jet Technology Co., Ltd. and Wonder Grenner Co., Ltd.

The expo featured technologies including sodium-ion batteries, energy management systems, transformers, methanol-hydrogen generators and other decentralized energy solutions. Other sustainability-focused technologies included solar products, energy-efficient building materials, smart recycling systems and environmentally friendly consumer products.

The technologies are being presented as the Philippines addresses infrastructure gaps and seeks to increase renewable energy use. The Department of Energy targets renewable energy to account for 35% of the country’s power generation mix by 2030 and 50% by 2040.

TITA and TAITRA also hosted the inaugural Taiwan-Japan-Philippines Industrial Cooperation Forum, which brought Taiwanese and Japanese companies together with Philippine businesses to explore cooperation in areas including green energy and smart cities.

The forum featured Shihlin Electric & Engineering and Fortune Electric and sought to connect foreign technology providers with Philippine system integrators, distributors and other local partners.

Taiwan Expo 2026 was organized by Taiwan’s International Trade Administration under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and implemented by TAITRA. — Kaizzer Angela Marie V. Manuba

“In the next three years, some of them will be 16 years old. A lot of the good players are gonna come out,” Sarah Jane Lim-Narvasa, a leading Filipino female professional pickleball athlete, told reporters during a media interview led by Herbalife.

“The level of pickleball generally will get higher,” she added.

Leander P. Lazaro, who is regarded as one of the top pickleball players in the country, said the sport is likely to become more competitive as local tournaments, whether privately organized or government-funded, continue to emerge nationwide.

He hopes that the country’s major sports events, such as the Palarong Pambansa, the country’s premier sporting event for elementary and secondary student-athletes, will follow suit to encourage young people to formally pursue pickleball. If the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) also adopts the sport as an event, players who want to pursue pickleball could have opportunities to obtain scholarships.

“I feel like that’s the only thing that stops some juniors to (pursue pickleball), that’s why they instead pursue tennis. They just choose tennis to get a scholarship in college,” Mr. Lazaro told reporters.

One of the highly anticipated local pickleball tournaments is the Maharlika Pilipinas Pickleball Tour (MPPT), founded by Manny Pacquiao, which will kick off its inaugural leg on Oct. 3–4 in Angeles City, Pampanga, with P1 million at stake for the winning team.

For aspiring pickleball athletes, Ms. Narvasa emphasized the importance of eating clean, healthy food when preparing for competitions. She shared that Herbalife Formula 1 Nutritional Shake Mix had helped her meet her nutritional needs and get through a whole day of competition even without eating a meal.

According to the company’s website, Herbalife Formula 1 Nutritional Shake Mix provides protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals and is formulated to help provide balanced nutrition as part of a healthy diet. — Edg Adrian A. Eva

In this article, we will explore how TikTok Shopping is revolutionizing the e-commerce industry and its potential to increase sales for businesses. From understanding TikTok Shopping and its features to leveraging user-generated content and collaborating with influencers, we will cover all aspects of this new era of shopping on TikTok.

Are you ready to discover the impact of TikTok Shopping on your e-commerce store sales? Let’s dive in.

Understanding TikTok Shopping

TikTok has taken the social media world by storm, with over 800 million active users worldwide. This platform, known for its short-form video content, has proven to be a powerful tool for businesses, especially in the e-commerce sector. In September 2020, TikTok launched its newest feature, TikTok Shopping, which allows businesses to sell products directly through the app.

Unlike other social media platforms with e-commerce capabilities, TikTok Shopping is specifically designed for mobile users and offers a seamless shopping experience within the app. This feature has the potential to boost e-commerce store sales uniquely and creatively.

According to a study by eMarketer, 34% of US internet users aged 18-34 have made a purchase influenced by an influencer on social media. With TikTok’s growing influencer culture, businesses can tap into this trend by utilizing influencers to promote their products through TikTok Shopping.

In the next section, we will discuss the role of influencers in TikTok Shopping and how businesses can leverage their impact to drive sales.

The Role of Influencers in TikTok Shopping

Influencers have become a major driving force behind the success of TikTok Shopping. With their large followings and ability to create engaging content, influencers have the power to promote products and drive sales on the platform. Influencers are seen as more authentic and relatable to younger audiences, so their recommendations hold significant weight.

Businesses can partner with influencers to showcase their products uniquely and creatively, reaching a wider audience and potentially increasing sales. However, it is important for businesses to carefully choose the right influencers for their target audience and set clear expectations and guidelines for collaborations.

While influencer marketing on TikTok can be highly effective, it is not without challenges. The authenticity of the influencer’s content and the potential for influencer fraud should be monitored. Businesses should also be aware of the constantly changing algorithm on TikTok and adapt their influencer strategy accordingly. Overall, influencers play a crucial role in the success of TikTok Shopping for e-commerce businesses.

Creating a TikTok Shopping Strategy

To harness the full potential of TikTok Shopping, businesses need to have a well-planned and executed strategy. Here are the critical steps to creating a successful TikTok Shopping strategy:

• Understand your target audience and their preferences on TikTok. This will help you tailor your content and choose the right influencers to collaborate with.
• Utilize platform-specific features such as hashtags, challenges, and filters to make your content more engaging and interactive.
• Create high-quality and visually appealing content that aligns with the tone and style of TikTok.
• Consistency is key – post regularly to keep your audience engaged and interested.
• Measure and analyze your performance on TikTok to continually adjust and improve your strategy.

By following these steps and staying creative and relevant, businesses can create a strong presence on TikTok Shopping and drive sales for their e-commerce stores.

Benefits of Using TikTok Shopping for E-commerce Stores

TikTok Shopping offers numerous benefits for e-commerce businesses, making it a beautiful platform for boosting sales. With over 800 million active users worldwide, TikTok provides a large and diverse audience for businesses. This can lead to increased visibility, brand awareness, and the opportunity for creative and engaging marketing strategies.

Furthermore, TikTok Shopping offers direct integration with e-commerce stores, allowing customers a seamless shopping experience. This can lead to higher conversion rates and increased sales. Businesses also can track and analyze their sales data through the platform, providing valuable insights for future marketing strategies.

Additionally, TikTok Shopping allows for the use of user-generated content (UGC) to promote products. This can increase trust and credibility for the brand and create a sense of authenticity and relatable content for the target audience.

Overall, TikTok Shopping presents a unique and exciting opportunity for e-commerce businesses to tap into a large and engaged audience, increase sales, and build brand awareness through creative and authentic marketing strategies.

Leveraging User-Generated Content for TikTok Shopping

User-generated content (UGC) has become a significant driving force for marketing success on social media platforms, and TikTok is no exception. With TikTok Shopping, businesses can leverage UGC to promote their products and increase sales. By encouraging users to create and share content related to their products, businesses can tap into TikTok’s authentic and organic nature, creating a more genuine connection with potential customers. This type of content also has the potential to reach a wider audience through shares and likes, increasing brand awareness and potential sales.

Examples of successful use of UGC in TikTok Shopping include challenges, user product reviews, and collaborations with influencers. By incorporating UGC into their TikTok Shopping strategy, businesses can maximize the impact of their marketing efforts and foster a stronger connection with their audience.

The Importance of Authenticity on TikTok Shopping

TikTok’s emphasis on authenticity is a distinguishing feature that sets it different from other social media networks. With its algorithm promoting organic and genuine content, TikTok has become a hub for users to express themselves and showcase their authentic selves. This has also translated into the platform’s e-commerce capabilities, specifically TikTok Shopping.

For e-commerce businesses looking to utilize TikTok Shopping, maintaining authenticity is crucial. As consumers are increasingly drawn to genuine and relatable content, businesses must focus on creating authentic and engaging content for their TikTok stores. This not only helps in building brand loyalty and trust, but also increases the chances of driving sales.

To maintain authenticity on TikTok Shopping, businesses can collaborate with influencers who align with their brand values and can create genuine and relatable content. Creating user-generated content and showcasing real customers using the products can also add to the authenticity of the brand. By prioritizing authenticity, businesses can maximize their impact on TikTok Shopping and boost their e-commerce store sales.

Integrating TikTok Shopping with E-commerce Stores

TikTok Shopping has opened up new opportunities for e-commerce businesses to reach and engage with a larger audience. However, to fully leverage the potential of this platform, businesses must integrate TikTok Shopping with their existing e-commerce store. This allows for a seamless customer shopping experience, increasing sales and customer satisfaction.

To integrate TikTok Shopping with an e-commerce store, businesses should first set up a TikTok store and connect it to their website. This can be done through the TikTok Ad Manager or by partnering with a Shopify or WooCommerce developer. Once the store is connected, businesses can effortlessly track sales and analytics and manage orders and inventory.

Integrating TikTok Shopping with an e-commerce store also provides the opportunity for social commerce, where customers can purchase directly on the TikTok app. This eliminates the need for customers to leave the app and increases the chances of making a sale. It’s important to accelerate TikTok’s growth by using the perfect blend of marketing tactics, such as those provided by TikTokluv.

By integrating TikTok Shopping with an ecommerce store, businesses can tap into the platform’s large user base and drive more sales through targeted advertising and engaging content. It also allows for a more seamless and convenient shopping experience for customers, ultimately leading to increased sales and business growth.

Challenges and Limitations of TikTok Shopping

Despite its potential for boosting e-commerce sales, TikTok Shopping has its own challenges and limitations. One of the main challenges is keeping up with the constantly changing trends and features on the platform. As a relatively new feature, there may also be technical difficulties or bugs that need to be addressed.

Another limitation is the potential for oversaturation and competition on the platform as more businesses jump on the TikTok Shopping bandwagon. This can make it harder for businesses to stand out and reach their target audience.

Moreover, TikTok’s algorithm can be unpredictable, making it difficult for businesses to ensure their content reaches a broad audience. This also means businesses must constantly monitor and adapt their content strategy to stay relevant on the platform.

However, these challenges can be overcome with proper planning, monitoring, and adaptation. Businesses need to stay informed and keep up with the latest trends and changes on TikTok to fully utilize the potential of TikTok Shopping.

Conclusion

Overall, TikTok Shopping has opened up a new era for ecommerce store sales. Its growing popularity and unique features offer immense potential for businesses to reach a wider audience and drive sales.

By utilizing influencers, creating a solid strategy, and leveraging user-generated content, businesses can effectively promote their products and increase brand awareness on the platform.

Integrating TikTok Shopping with an ecommerce store can also lead to a seamless shopping experience for customers. However, it is essential to monitor and adapt to changes on the platform and maintain authenticity to overcome potential challenges and limitations.

As we continue to see the impact of TikTok Shopping on ecommerce sales, it is clear that it is here to stay, and businesses should consider incorporating it into their marketing strategies for continued success. So, embrace this new era of shopping and watch your sales soar on TikTok Shopping.

Read Also:

• 10+ Excellent TikTok Statistics That Everyone Should Know In 2026
• How To Use TikTok As Part Of Your Marketing Strategy
• 5 Digital Marketing Methods to Increase Your Brand Awareness From 2026 & Beyond

Author bio: Annie Christina is a skilled Social media content lead at TikTokLuv. She has been an expert social media content writer for over three years, and she is passionate about offering high-quality, interesting content for reputable blogs and websites.

The post TikTok Shopping: A New Era For E-commerce Store Sales appeared first on Fincyte.

One of the least-discussed ways to improve employee engagement is personalised corporate gifts. Personalised gifts work better than generic giveaways. It makes the employees feel valued and forms deep emotional connections.

What is Personalized Corporate Gifting?

Personalized corporate gifting goes beyond standard, one-size-fits-all tokens of appreciation. Instead of giving the same generic items—like pens or diaries—organizations choose gifts that reflect an individual’s preferences, role, or achievements.

These customized gifts can take many forms, such as:

• Personalized gift items featuring engraved names or company logos
• Tech gadgets or accessories suited to an employee’s work or interests
• Eco-friendly gift baskets, wellness hampers, or self-care kits
• Experience-based gifts like concert tickets or online learning opportunities
• Custom-labelled gift items with a slogan

By choosing thoughtful and tailored gift items, companies can send a clear message: “We value you as an individual, not just as part of the workforce.”

Why Personalised Gifts for Employees?

Personalised or customised gifts are tailored to employees to recognise their achievements. personalised gifts for employees often include their names, roles, and achievements. These range from custom mugs to water bottle, tech accessories, apparel, and more.

Why Personalised Gifts for Employees Help with Engagement?

Personalised gifting is extremely essential in today’s time for better employee management. Here are some of the key reasons why personalised gifts for co-workers can foster better employee engagement:

• Creates a sense of belonging: When employees are awarded for their efforts with personalised gift items, they feel valued. Individual recognition makes them feel they’re part of something big. It boosts their morale and helps them engage more.
• Increases productivity and motivation: When a sense of belonging is created, feelings of productivity and motivation also increase. They tend to put in more effort. It serves as a motivation to give more and perform better while ensuring everything is on track.
• Builds a positive work culture: Increased productivity and a sense of belonging at the workplace help build a positive work culture. When employees are rewarded for their work, there’s a constant, healthy sense of competition at the workplace.

Types of Personalised Corporate Gifts for Employees

With so many customized gift options available in the market, it can be extremely confusing to decide what to give your employees. Personalising the elements is the key to ensuring that everything’s heading the right way. Below are some of the top types of personalized business gifts for employees:

• Personalised office supplies such as engraved pens, mousepads, or nameplates.
• Different corporate gift hampers, such as chocolates, high-quality coffee, or wellness packages.
• Various eco-friendly business gifts, such as bamboo bottles, seed paper kits, or notebooks.
• Technology gadgets such as earbuds, power banks, smartwatches, and Bluetooth speakers.
• Wellness and self-care kits like herbal teas, yoga mats, green products, or exercise trackers.
• Personalized home décor items like cutting boards, glasses, coasters, coffee mugs, etc.

Apart from the standard gifts, your business can take it a step further by offering customers luxury corporate gifts. These luxury gifts may include leather gift sets, branded accessories, or luxury watches.

How Do These Personalised Gifts Boost Employee Loyalty?

Each of these personalised gifts plays a key role in boosting employee engagement and loyalty. Employee loyalty and engagement can be won not only through salary hikes and promotions, but also through emotional touch. That’s exactly what these gifts tend to create.

Some of the key ways through which personalised gifts help in boosting employee engagement and loyalty include:

1. Boosts Emotional Connection

The personalised business gifts for employees like glasses, coasters, tumblers, and bottles help create an emotional connection that often goes beyond the economic benefits. Employees tend to stay with a company for a long time when they have a strong emotional connection to the workplace. Offering personalised options often helps build emotional connection. This also plays a key role in helping businesses achieve their goals.

2. Recognition and Appreciation

When efforts are recognised and appreciated, employees feel valued. This sense of value boosts employee loyalty. A personalised gift as a token of gratitude can work wonders. It is far more meaningful than a mere thanks you. Well-designed gifts from the company to employees show care.

3. Encourages Advocacy

Employees who feel valued will become brand advocates in no time. They are likely to post their positive experiences on social media and also refer to organisations. This plays a key role in positive branding. When your employees have positive things to say about your brand, it fosters a positive image in the market. This positive image is not only helpful from an employer’s perspective but also from a business perspective.

4. Fosters Corporate Social Responsibility

Companies may use these gifting policies to promote corporate social responsibility. These milestones and achievements can be shown within the organisation. This helps in team building and feeling valued. It reinforces positive value, which plays a key role in determining long-term growth. These things are crucial for showcasing the brand’s commitment to sustainability and social responsibility.

5. Increases Retention

Employees who feel valued in an organisation are very unlikely to quit. Organisations with good recognition patterns often have high employee retention rates. Offering customised gifts plays an important role in fostering long-term retention. Increased retention means less attrition and eventually better performance.

Conclusion

Customised employee gifting has become a key responsibility for companies. Organisations that want to build loyalty and engagement should definitely look into adopting these practices. This plays a key role in driving long-term sustainable growth.

It’s crucial to convey emotion and connect on an emotional level. All these small efforts play a key role, where the employees go beyond their call of duty to get the tasks done. More than an investment, it adds value to your organisation.

Read Also:

• The Benefits of Sending Corporate Holiday Cards
• 40+ Best Corporate Gift Ideas For Clients in 2026
• Gifts For Coworkers: 30 Fun And Practical Ideas

Author: Smith Villas

The post How Personalised Corporate Gifts Improve Employee Engagement & Loyalty? appeared first on Fincyte.

Mr. Yulo, the only Filipino to win two Olympic gold medals, added another major title to his collection with a score of 14.666 at the Nagoya City General Gymnasium, edging Kazakh runner-up Milad Karimi (14.600) and Japan’s bronze-medal winner Shoma Tsukiyama (14.566) in the tightest of podiums.

It came eight years after Mr. Yulo missed out on the medals in his only previous Asian Games in Indonesia when he fell in a tumbling pass and crashed to seventh after being the top qualifier for the floor final.

“This medal, it’s like winning the Olympics, also because it’s kind of the same back when I was 18 years old, at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games,” the 26-year-old said.

“I kind of messed up my routine there. I was a finalist on floor and vault, but it wasn’t really a good performance.

“And at the same time in Tokyo Olympics, it’s kind of the same. It was really messed up,” added Mr. Yulo, who failed to qualify for the floor final at those Games.

“It’s really a good story, and I feel like I redeemed it in this competition.”

ROAD TO LOS ANGELES OLYMPICS
Mr. Yulo has come a long way since those setbacks, becoming his nation’s first Olympic gymnastics champion when he won the floor title at Paris 2024 before adding a second gold in vault.

Mr. Yulo said the Asian gold was another milestone on the long road to defending his titles at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, though his focus was on staying healthy and enjoying his sport.

“That’s a big one, and I feel like there’s still a lot of time,” he said of Los Angeles.

“I’m preparing myself right now. This competition is part of it also, and I’m building my confidence also through these competitions.

“I know when the time comes when we are there, I just pray that I’m safe, and I enjoy that moment and I appreciate that moment.”

Mr. Yulo’s 18-year-old brother Karl Eldrew also qualified for the Nagoya final and finished seventh out of eight after a messy landing early in his routine.

His older brother may be the ultimate role model in rebounding from setbacks.

“He’s having a hard time, maybe, and I know that he will overcome this and take it as a lesson. It’s part of the journey,” said Carlos Yulo.

The Japan-trained gymnast’s celebrity has reached a point in the Philippines where his every movement draws a crowd, much like the nation’s top women’s tennis player, Alex Eala, who will bid for Asian Games gold next week.

“I know she’s going to smash it,” said Mr. Yulo, offering best wishes to the 21-year-old.

“I know she can do it, really. And I’m just really excited for other athletes also to compete and give their best.”— Reuters

The two leaders and their wives attended a state dinner, a black-tie affair of sesame-crusted sea bass and a guest list heavy with tech CEOs. Outside the gate, a group of loud protesters shouted slogans like “China out of Hong Kong” that were clearly audible to the leaders as they posed for pictures on the red-carpeted White House steps.

In his dinner toast, Mr. Trump said he and Mr. Xi “both understand we represent different systems but the ties between our people endure and we’ve never gotten along better.”

Mr. Trump then invited dinner guests to tour the site of the new ballroom he is building nearby, hours after showing Mr. Xi a helipad he had had built in the White House complex. Construction projects are a frequent digression for a president who has put a lot of focus on remaking Washington’s physical infrastructure.

Mr. Xi said he and Mr. Trump had in-depth discussions and reached “common understanding on many issues” that provided “new strategic guidance for China-US relations.” He did not elaborate.

“China and the United States must act as responsible major countries,” he said, calling for “a new approach for major countries to get along with each other.”

The meeting was striking for where it took place – in Washington, even as scores of world leaders were in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

It took place at a time of rising public concern about the swift growth of AI, and as Mr. Trump struggles to resolve a war his administration and Israel began with Iran, which has sharply driven up energy prices and weighed heavily on his public approval as November midterm elections approach.

TAIWAN TALKS
During a bilateral discussion in the afternoon, Mr. Xi urged the US to oppose “Taiwan independence,” according to a readout from the official Chinese news agency – addressing one of the thorniest issues between the two countries. The White House has not yet provided its own summary of the talks.

Mr. Xi had been expected to press Mr. Trump this week to halt arms sales to Taiwan. Following his visit to China in May, Mr. Trump said he was holding in abeyance an arms package to Taiwan worth some $14 billion and called it a “very good negotiating chip.”

That move left some US allies in Asia and even some of Mr. Trump’s fellow Republicans concerned that he may be tempted to soften Washington’s support for Taipei in exchange for economic wins. China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out using force to gain control over the island.

The summit between the two leaders came shortly after Mr. Trump forcefully defended his use of military power in a speech at the UN earlier this week, suggesting he could “annihilate” Iran. He took a strikingly different tone with Mr. Xi on Thursday, reflecting a power balance that has shifted toward the Chinese leader after a trade war that ended with a US climbdown on tariffs.

In remarks after Mr. Xi’s arrival on Thursday, Mr. Trump emphasized his “truly great friendship” with Mr. Xi, rather than focusing on policy differences, and said the two powers had made strides on trade since his trip to China in May.

Somewhat more pointedly, Mr. Xi said the two countries’ interests were deeply intertwined and that competition between them should be a “healthy one.” US companies were welcome in China, he said, adding that he hopes “Chinese companies are treated fairly here in the United States.”

Mr. Xi also said both militaries should maintain regular dialogue to improve crisis prevention.

PERSONAL VS. NATIONAL
Edgard Kagan, a former senior White House official for East Asia, said the contrasting rhetoric demonstrates the different strategy of each leader.

“The president is casting it very much as about his personal relationship with Xi,” said Mr. Kagan, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “What I found interesting was Xi is being much more cautious and suggesting that it’s less about the personal relationship than the national relationship.”

The summit, Mr. Xi’s first visit to Washington in more than a decade, is the second meeting this year between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies.

For Mr. Trump, who relishes ceremony and prizes his ties with powerful leaders, the visit is as much a matter of national prestige as an opportunity for high-stakes diplomacy.

But Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi’s remarks were not carried live by any US television networks, which refused to provide footage in protest of the White House’s ban of CNN, MS Now and Politico.

During his comments on Thursday, Mr. Xi said both countries must “ensure that the development of AI is always under human control.”

Analysts say intense competition between the two powers in AI is likely to limit the scope for anything beyond symbolic agreements.

There has been little sign Beijing is willing to exert pressure on Iran to yield to US demands. During Thursday’s meeting, Mr. Xi expressed support for the US and Iran to return to a ceasefire and eventually negotiate a peace deal, Xinhua reported.

The guest list for Thursday’s state dinner included CEOs like Apple’s Tim Cook, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Tesla’s Elon Musk and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang. Despite such an array, people familiar with US plans say Mr. Trump is likely to maintain firm export controls on US tech Mr. Xi wants loosened. — Reuters

“But we do not wish to continue. It’s America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not,” Mr. Pezeshkian said, responding to the question in an interview aired on Thursday on Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” show.

Iran’s president told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday Tehran would never surrender to US pressure as the two sides have remained far apart on how to end the war.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he could “annihilate” Iran if there is no deal to end the war, but also suggested an agreement could come soon.

Mr. Trump has offered shifting goals and timelines for the war that began on February 28 when the US and ​Israel attacked Iran and ​Tehran responded with ⁠its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases.

US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on ​Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.

Mr. Trump has cited weakening Iran’s nuclear ​capabilities as one of his war objectives.

Iran, which does not have nuclear weapons, denies seeking them. The US is nuclear-armed.

Tehran says it has the right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes as a party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). — Reuters

The walkout underscored the competing pressures facing Mr. Netanyahu, who is battling mounting criticism abroad over the Gaza war while campaigning for reelection at home ahead of an October 27 vote.

The divisions over Israel’s conduct were on display as Mr. Netanyahu began speaking, with dozens of delegates walking out in protest. He called them “moral cowards,” while supporters in the gallery chanted in Hebrew: “The people of Israel live.”

Mr. Netanyahu used his address to berate New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani for calling him a war criminal, Western European leaders for what he called succumbing to “antisemitic mobs,” and to accuse both Qatar and Turkey of spreading lies about Israel.

“You tried to stop me from coming here. You tried. You tried to silence me. Well, you can’t silence me. You can’t silence the truth,” Mr. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, said of Mr. Mamdani.

Mr. Mamdani campaigned for office on a promise to have Mr. Netanyahu arrested for alleged war crimes should he visit the largest US city but later said he determined he lacked the legal authority to do so. This week, Mr. Mamdani described Mr. Netanyahu as “the architect of a horrific genocide against Palestinians.”

Making his first visit to New York since Mr. Mamdani took office in January, Mr. Netanyahu said: “Here’s a simple truth: Israel didn’t commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide.”

He accused Mr. Mamdani of supporting Hamas militants, something Mr. Mamdani has denied.

“To all those spreading these lies about my country and about our brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall or in the office of the antisemitic mayor of New York, I say this: Shame on you!” Mr. Netanyahu said.

In a statement, Mr. Mamdani said: “As he has done time and again, Prime Minister Netanyahu used his speech to repeat baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians. Yet no lie can change the fact that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

Qatar also rejected the accusation that it was seeking to turn public opinion against Israel, with its foreign ministry spokesperson saying on X that Mr. Netanyahu’s repeated attacks on Doha sought to divert attention from responsibility for policies on the ground.

NETANYAHU’S POLITICAL FUTURE ON THE LINE
With general elections less than five weeks away, Mr. Netanyahu spoke for about 40 minutes in what amounted to a campaign-style speech, broadcast live in evening prime time on all four of the main Israeli television channels.

Ahead of his speech, Mr. Netanyahu’s government paid to place 500 pro-Israel and anti-Iran billboards and dozens of trucks carrying messages in support of Israel across Manhattan, Mr. Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

With opinion polls showing Mr. Netanyahu’s bloc trailing rivals ahead of the election, he used the speech to showcase what he described as Israel’s fight on seven fronts, including the war with Iran that began with joint US-Israeli strikes in late February.

As in past UN appearances, Mr. Netanyahu used props, holding up a pager linked to an attack that killed and wounded Iran-backed Hezbollah members in Lebanon and a Starlink satellite internet receiver he said he would leave for the Iranian delegation.

“So when they inevitably defect, they too will be able to freely tell their story on social media,” he said, adding that it was only a matter of time before the Iranian authorities would be toppled by the people.

STREET PROTESTS IN NEW YORK
Several hundred protesters gathered near the United Nations, with dozens blocking traffic and chanting, “Stop arming Israel, let Gaza live” and “Stop arming Israel, let Iran live.” Police detained them.

Mr. Netanyahu was making a short visit to the US for his UN address and, unusually, without a planned meeting with US President Donald Trump, whom he praised during his speech.

“We will continue to defend our state. We will continue to win because we have no other choice. In this battle against the barbarians, we’ve had no greater partner than President Trump. I thank him. I thank him for his bold leadership,” he said.

DEEPENING ISOLATION
Israel has faced deepening diplomatic isolation since launching its war in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attacks on Israel nearly three years ago.

Mr. Netanyahu is unable to travel to many countries because of an International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued against him and his then-defense minister as well as the then-military commander of Hamas in 2024.

Earlier this month, once-steadfast allies Britain, France and Canada announced sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which drew a muted response from Washington.

“The leaders of these countries have chosen to succumb to the antisemitic mobs. They’ve chosen weakness. They’ve chosen appeasement,” Mr. Netanyahu said.

He played down worsening violence in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers, describing it as “a handful of young juvenile delinquents, about 150 in number, who throw stones, who chop down olive trees.”

“Occasionally … they lit some fires. I can’t stand that. I won’t stand for vigilantism. We’re a country of law.” — Reuters

This year, AI filmmaker Mr. Zhu said he has fielded calls from officials in cities and industrial parks across China, all with the same pitch: bring your AI film business here.

“I am approached every day by a range of cities, from major metropolitan areas to smaller localities,” Mr. Zhu said, “hoping we can establish either technology or the company there.”

Those appeals reflect a major push by China to embed artificial intelligence into every corner of the economy – including the latest movies showing at cinemas.

Local governments have responded by promising to build tech clusters and offering subsidies to AI filmmakers and startups. That is straight out of a familiar industrial policy playbook, treating AI-generated content the way China built electric vehicles, solar panels and robotics into globally competitive industries.

The result is a fast-emerging industry of AI filmmakers, studios and streaming platforms in China seeking an early lead in production techniques and distribution.

China has created the “best environment” for AI filmmakers with “cheap rent, living allowance and computing support,” said Mr. Zhu, who also heads the AI-Generated Content (AIGC) department at China Wit Media in Shenzhen.

Mr. Zhu runs his personal studio in Shenzhen from a shared workspace with the backing of the city government and Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

FILMMAKERS DRAWN TO AI’S LOW PRODUUCTION COST
While China’s all-out push for AI in film has been welcomed by filmmakers like Mr. Zhu, the industry faces growing risks familiar to other sectors showered with state support. As companies step up production of goods like cars and consumer products, domestic demand remains constrained, driving down prices in what many see as a race to the bottom.

There are signs that AI video content may already be approaching overcapacity. In the first half of the year, 221,900 new AI shows were launched on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, but only 1,055 drew more than 100 million views, a typical benchmark of success, according to DataEye.

Filmmakers say they are drawn to AI by the low production costs.

In the first half of 2026, the cost of producing AI short dramas plunged from 5,000 yuan ($747) per minute to just a few hundred yuan, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

“A normal wedding scene might cost me 60,000 yuan to shoot conventionally,” said Pan Xiaojun, a postgraduate film-directing student based in Hainan, southern China. “But with AI, I can bring the same surreal scene to life for just 1,400 yuan.”

Mr. Pan said subsidies and rent waivers from a local government in Hainan allowed him to push his computing costs down further.

Other cities have also stepped up incentives.

Shanghai in May introduced measures to accelerate AI-powered micro-drama production, offering computing power and cloud-based AI models to cut costs and support overseas distribution.

Beijing has a 260 million yuan fund to support audiovisual technology. Its Huairou district, a hub of China’s film industry, offers producers of short AI dramas vouchers to reduce computing costs.

Shenzhen is also stepping up efforts to attract AI film talent, offering technical support for video production, visual effects and content generation, as well as subsidized rent.

Major Chinese streaming platform iQIYI is “all-in” on AI, CEO Gong Yu said in August. It is offering some creators subsidies for AI content that streams on the platform.

PUSHBACK AND OVERLOAD
The National Film Administration has granted a public-screening license to the 90-minute science-fiction epic “Sanxingdui: Future Memories”, the first AI film produced by a major Chinese studio to receive regulatory approval for theatrical release in China.

The film is due to be released this year, producer Bona Film Group said.

While Chinese consumers have been receptive to AI-generated content, there has nonetheless been a backlash.

Chinese actors have raised concerns over the use of their likenesses in AI films, fueling worries about copyright infringement and job losses for voice actors.

Consumers also complain of plagiarism and a lack of originality.

“Some people directly blend other people’s original characters or dance clips into AI-generated content without any credit. I think that behavior is completely unacceptable,” said Wen, a 22-year-old AI content fan.

The unexpected box-office success of the crudely animated, conventionally produced film, “Niu Lai,” was seen by some as a backlash against AI content.

China requires explicit labelling for AIGC but has yet to introduce clear copyright rules for it.

For now, AI film content produced in China is surging, and even going abroad.

Director Cao Yiwen premiered her AI-animated film during the World AI Film Festival in Cannes in April, and said she thought that China was taking the lead in the industry.

“France and the rest of Europe are still watching and waiting to see whether China will introduce clear laws,” she said. “We fell behind in the first two industrial revolutions, so perhaps this is the Third Industrial Revolution.” ($1 = 6.6955 Chinese yuan renminbi)  — Reuters

The government is looking to raise at least P30 billion from its first retail Treasury bond (RTB) offering this year, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said late on Wednesday.

According to a notice on its website, the BTr said it is planning to sell a minimum P30 billion worth of two and a half-year peso-denominated RTBs due April 12, 2029.

This is the government’s 32nd RTB offering since it started in 2001.

“Interest on RTB 32, to be calculated on a 30/360-day basis, will be paid quarterly in arrears on the last day of each three-month interest period,” the BTr said.

National Treasurer Sharon P. Almanza said on Wednesday they are aiming to raise less than half of the amount seen in its last RTB offer in August 2025 where it raised P507.16 billion from five-year notes.

The BTr will determine the interest rate through a Dutch auction with government securities eligible dealers (GSED) on Sept. 29, which will also mark the start of the public offer period until Oct. 7 unless ended earlier.

Issuance and settlement date are scheduled on Oct. 12.

Likewise, the government included an exchange offer for holders of RTBs maturing on Oct. 20 (RTB 15-01), March 1, 2027 (RTB 15-02) and March 4 2027 (RTB 05-15), as well as for holders of fixed-rate Treasury notes (FXTN) maturing on Dec. 7 (FXTN 20-13) and Jan. 4, 2027 (FXTN 03-30).

The BTr set the repurchase price for the bonds eligible for the exchange offer based on their respective Bloomberg Valuation (BVAL) rates as of Sept. 22, with the RTB 15-01, RTN 15-02, RTB 15-05, set at 100.01%, 99.79%, and 99.59%, respectively.

The repurchase price for the FXTN 20-13 and FXTN 03-30 are set at 100.3% and 100.1%, respectively.

The RTB 32 will be sold in minimum denominations of P5,000 and in multiples of P5,000 thereafter, while each exchange offer will have a minimum amount of P5,000 in multiples of P0.01.

The public offer period for the exchange program will also run from Sept. 29 to Oct. 7.

The RTBs will be available through over-the-counter placement in bank branches and digital channels such as the BTr Online Ordering Facility, the Bonds.PH mobile app, the Overseas Filipino Bank mobile banking app, and the Landbank mobile banking app.

They will also be available on GCash’s GBonds platform, and PDAX’s Bonds platform, as well as through an ATRAM PRIME account, the ATRAM PERA app, and RCBC Trust Corp.’s Investment Management Account (IMA) through RCBC PULZ.

Demand for the RTBs should be strong as investors tend to gravitate toward safe-haven assets like RTBs during uncertain times, Reyes Tacandong & Co. Senior Adviser Jonathan L. Ravelas said in a Viber message.

However, he noted investors could ask for higher yields to compensate for prevailing risks.
“The government is navigating a challenging interest-rate environment where market volatility is actually creating both opportunities and constraints,” he said.

The government borrows from local and foreign sources to help finance its budget deficit, which is capped at P1.659 trillion or 5.4% of gross domestic product this year.

Mr. Trump and his wife greeted Mr. Xi and his wife on a 100-foot-long red carpet rolled out on the tarmac beside Mr. Xi’s plane at the Maryland military base that hosts Air Force One.

The greeting broke with normal protocol, marking the first time a US president has welcomed a foreign leader at Joint Base Andrews in 11 years, when President Barack Obama welcomed Pope Francis in 2015, according to C-SPAN, which tracks presidential events.

The two leaders smiled, shook hands and spoke for a few minutes at the start of the Chinese leader’s first trip to the US in nearly three years. A military band played, and cannons blasted ceremonial fire as they greeted each other. Mr. Trump winced as a loud B-1 military bomber flew overhead. The leaders then went their separate ways, ahead of meetings scheduled for Thursday.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that he and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng agreed to extend a trade truce set to expire on November 10 by two months, through January 10. China’s embassy in Washington had no immediate comment.

EXPECTATIONS ARE LOW
But expectations for a broader breakthrough during Mr. Xi’s visit were slim. The two sides are at odds on issues ranging from Taiwan to narcotics and rare-earth minerals.

People familiar with the plans said Mr. Xi was likely to forcefully raise Beijing’s claim to Taiwan, a topic Washington would prefer to avoid, while Mr. Trump was likely to maintain firm US export controls despite Mr. Xi’s objections.

But talks set for Thursday could nonetheless yield deals to lower tariffs in specific sectors, cooperate on drug trafficking and expand military-to-military dialogue.

Mr. Trump is expected to seek the release of some Americans and others detained in China, according to the people.

The two countries could also agree to talk more on AI, where they are in fierce competition but mindful of growing dangers.

The meeting comes at a difficult moment for Mr. Trump, who faces falling approval numbers as public discontent with his war on Iran grows. Mr. Xi, while also facing challenges at home, arrives in a seemingly stronger position, with his country’s trade engine roaring.

The leaders themselves may not feel they need to compromise, analysts said.

“The president very much believes that over time the US economy is going to grow, the US will get stronger,” said Edgard Kagan, a former White House official now with Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I think when Xi Jinping sits down with Donald Trump, he very much believes the US is in hurtling decline, and that time is on China’s side.”

STATE DINNER WITH AI CHIEFS
Additional fanfare during the trip is due to include a state dinner with tech luminaries, a White House military ceremony including jet flyovers and a visit to the National Archives where the original Declaration of Independence and Constitution are housed.

A state dinner on Thursday is expected to bring together chiefs of companies important in both markets like Apple’s Tim Cook, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and OpenAI’s Sam Altman.

Despite their deep disagreements, both sides pressed ahead with the summit, which analysts said seeks to project stability between the world’s biggest factory and its biggest consumer.

As in their prior two meetings since 2025, the leaders are planning a highly scripted public spectacle. Instead of a joint press conference or statement at the end, the countries are expected to issue dueling announcements highlighting what each side hopes to convey to a domestic audience.

For Mr. Trump, the trip caps a week of diplomacy that began with a two-day stay in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Nearly seven months of war with Iran have spiked energy prices in the US, and the president’s Republican Party faces tough prospects in November’s congressional elections.

Mr. Xi has overseen a surge in China’s foreign trade but faces weak household spending and a property market downturn. Sweeping corruption ​and discipline crackdowns in the military have helped cement Mr. Xi’s power but also raised questions about the People’s Liberation Army’s readiness.

Another meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi is seen as likely this year, potentially at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China in November or the Group of 20 meetings in the US in December. — Reuters

The September 8 dated document, previously unreported and which two sources said was driven by David Milstein, an influential aide to US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, proposed that Mr. Rubio describe the countries’ actions as a series of hostile measures against Israel that contribute to antisemitism.

“These tactics unacceptably draw from the playbook of the antisemitic boycotts, divestments and sanctions movement,” the draft document, reviewed by Reuters, said.

The statement was never released.

According to three people familiar with the matter, the statement was not supported by the White House and the State Department’s senior leadership.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity.

Instead, speaking to reporters on September 8 in Florida before traveling to Latin America, Mr. Rubio refrained from outright criticism of the decision or any particular country.

“Obviously, we’re not going to do what the UK did. We saw their announcement today, but I don’t have any comment on it right now,” Mr. Rubio said.

The episode illustrates a widening divide between the White House and Mr. Trump’s senior diplomats in Israel about how best to respond to the expansion of Israeli settlements under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government.

It also highlights a growing ideological split within the American right over support for Israel, with polling showing younger Republicans holding an increasingly unfavorable opinion of Washington’s closest Middle East ally.

President Donald Trump earlier this year expressed his opposition to settlement expansion, a growing source of friction with Israel’s Arab neighbors, but his administration has put little pressure on Israel to change its policy.

That has at times put him at odds with Mr. Huckabee, a Baptist minister who is a staunch supporter of settlements and who refers to the West Bank by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria, a term used by the Israeli government but not formally adopted by the US.

Mr. Huckabee’s aide Mr. Milstein last year advocated that the US impose sanctions on the entire International Criminal Court to convince it to drop war crimes charges against Israeli leaders over the Gaza war – a measure the Mr. Trump administration has yet to deploy.

In response to questions from Reuters, a senior US official said the draft statement was not prepared in consultation with the State Department or White House.

The US embassy referred questions, including requests for comment from Mr. Huckabee and Mr. Milstein, to the State Department.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

US PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL QUESTIONED
US public backing for Israel has fallen since the Gaza war began in 2023, particularly among Democrats. A June Quinnipiac University poll found 48% of voters and 66% of Democrats believe the United States is too supportive of Israel, up from 16% and 20% when the question was first asked in 2017.

While large majorities of Republicans aged 50 and older view Israel positively, younger conservative Americans have grown more critical, a Pew Research Center poll from late March showed. Some 57% of Republicans aged 18-49 have an unfavorable opinion of Israel, up from 50% a year previously.

In December last year, Mr. Trump said that he and Mr. Netanyahu, whose government has overseen a rapid expansion of settlements, did not fully agree on the West Bank following a meeting with the Israeli leader. That September, Mr. Trump said he would not allow Israel to annex the territory.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. The United Nations and most countries consider settlements to be illegal under international law governing military occupation. Israel rejects this, viewing the territory as disputed rather than occupied.

Violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the territory has risen sharply this year, some of them emboldened by support from Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing government, which includes ministers who are themselves settlers.

Mr. Huckabee has publicly condemned the violence and called for perpetrators to be prosecuted. He has also said violent settlers were a minority and do not represent the wider settler community.

Some 500,000 Israeli settlers and 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, territory Palestinians have long sought for a future state, along with Gaza and East Jerusalem. — Reuters

During its 200th climate forum, PAGASA said that a strong El Niño is already present in the tropical Pacific and is likely to intensify into a very strong state by the end of 2026.

The phenomenon, which is characterized by unusually warm sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and can cause below-normal rainfall and drier conditions in the country, will persist until the first quarter of 2027.

“This situation needs to be taken seriously, particularly because of its potential impacts on rainfall and water resources,” PAGASA Administrator Nathaniel T. Servando said during the climate forum.

As of Sept. 21, 45 provinces across the country have already been affected by dry conditions, dry spell, and drought amid El Niño.

Most of the affected provinces were in the Visayas at 26, while 11 provinces were recorded in Luzon and eight in Mindanao.

PAGASA defines a dry condition as an area that has experienced or is expected to experience two consecutive months of below-normal rainfall, or up to a 60% reduction from average rainfall.

It is called a dry spell if rainfall has been below normal for three consecutive months, and drought if rainfall is way below the normal average, or there is more than a 60% reduction from average rainfall.

Ana Liza S. Solis, chief of PAGASA’s Climate Monitoring and Prediction Section, said that up to 85 provinces in total are likely to be impacted by these conditions from late October to the end of March 2027.

Here are the detailed areas that will be affected by dry conditions, dry spell, and drought during the said period:

End of October 2026: 28 provinces under dry conditions, 9 provinces affected by dry spell, and 8 provinces affected by drought — 45 provinces in total.

End of November 2026: 7 provinces under dry conditions, 35 provinces affected by dry spell, and 8 provinces affected by drought — 50 provinces in total.

End of December 2026: 16 provinces under dry conditions, 31 provinces affected by dry spell, and 19 provinces affected by drought — 66 provinces in total.

End of January 2027: 5 provinces under dry conditions, 37 provinces affected by dry spell, and 43 provinces affected by drought — 85 provinces in total.

End of February 2027: No provinces under dry conditions, 35 provinces affected by dry spell, and 50 provinces affected by drought — 85 provinces in total.

End of March 2027: No provinces under dry conditions, 5 provinces affected by dry spell, and 79 provinces affected by drought — 84 provinces in total.

Mr. Servando said DoST Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr. is urging local government units (LGUs) and key sectors to take action to prepare for the strong impacts of El Niño.

“LGUs and key sectors are being urged to take proactive and data-driven action before we even feel the strong impacts of a strong El Niño,” Mr. Servando said. — Edg Adrian A. Eva

The investment, equivalent to about $70 million, would come from IFC’s own account through the purchase of Mynt common shares, according to a disclosure dated Sept. 23. The project, identified as “Project Hiraya,” is pending approval.

Mynt’s IPO will comprise both primary and secondary shares.

IFC said proceeds from the primary offering would be used to expand Mynt’s digital financial services business, including its CreditTech operations through Fuse Financing, Inc., as well as for product development and other general corporate purposes.

Mynt is the parent company of the group behind GCash, which had 41.5 million monthly active users in the three months ended June 2026, equivalent to about 56% of the Philippine adult population.

Separately, GCash said it has been seeing increased use of investment products on its platform ahead of Mynt’s planned listing.

“In terms of behavior of customers, we see that there are a lot of trials. A lot are very interested to start investing and saving,” GCash Commercial Head of Wealth Management Darvin Sy Su told reporters on Monday.

GCash said its investment offerings, including GStocks, GFunds, and GBonds, have reached more than 25 million accounts, while GStocks has onboarded about two million users.

Mr. Sy Su said investment preferences varied across users, with younger customers showing more interest in cryptocurrency, while those with traditional investments also placed funds in stocks and bonds.

Toby Allan C. Arce, head of sales trading at Globalinks Securities and Stocks, Inc., said GCash’s investment services could give Mynt an additional channel for reaching retail investors through its existing user base.

He said, however, that this should not be the primary basis for valuing Mynt ahead of the IPO.

The PSE last week approved Mynt’s application to list its common shares on the Main Board under the ticker symbol GCASH.

The offering covers up to 8.03 billion primary and secondary common shares, consisting of up to 1.61 billion primary shares and 6.42 billion secondary shares, with an overallotment option of up to 1.20 billion secondary shares.

Mynt has set a maximum offer price of P10 per share, with the final offer price scheduled to be determined on Oct. 1 following the bookbuilding process.

The offer period is scheduled for Oct. 6 to 12, with the tentative listing date set for Oct. 20.

The PSE has said the transaction could become the largest public offering in the exchange’s history. — Alexandria Grace C. Magno and Ashley Erika O. Jose

JAKARTA — The Philippines must focus on diversifying its energy sources and strengthening its power system to sustain progress in its clean energy transition, an International Energy Agency (IEA) official said.

Sue-Ern Tan, head of IEA Regional Cooperation Centre, said the Philippines must accelerate its long-term plan of diversification and maximize its homegrown energy resources.

“The instability that’s happening in the Middle East is continuing, but I think the key is that focus on diversification is the golden rule of energy security,” Ms. Tan said on the sidelines of Enlit Asia 2026.

“Thinking through who you get your supplies from and what are the different types of supplies will remain a very key principle for the Philippine government as it considers its energy security challenges,” she added.

The conflict in the Middle East has underscored the Philippines’ vulnerability to disruptions in global energy markets, given its heavy reliance on imported fuel.

The Philippines sources over 90% of its oil supply from the Middle East, making it vulnerable to global supply disruptions and price swings.

Coal remains the backbone of the Philippines’ power mix, accounting for about 60%, while renewable energy makes up roughly 25%.

The country is aiming to raise the share of renewable energy to 35% by 2030 and 50% by 2040.

Ms. Tan acknowledged the Philippines’ momentum in moving away from imported fossil fuels such as coal.

“The government is thinking through how else we can source our power supply, including making the most of the excellent renewable energy resources that the Philippines has, which is very, very positive,” she said.

The IEA official said the government’s green energy auction (GEA) program has been “a really positive signal to the market to create a list of a pipeline of bankable projects.”

Since the first round of GEA was launched in 2022, the Department of Energy (DoE) has so far completed four auctions, which are expected to deliver about 21 gigawatts (GW) of capacity through 2035.

The previous auctions involved solar, onshore wind, biomass, geothermal, hydropower, and energy storage systems.

The DoE is advancing a 10-year GEA program that aims to offer an additional 25 GW of renewable energy capacity from 2027 to 2035, with the current focus on offshore wind and waste-to-energy projects.

Ms. Tan said the IEA is collaborating with the DoE to determine how the Philippines can integrate more of its homegrown resources into the existing power system.

“I think it’s continuing to do some more of that integrated planning. And it’s not necessarily a gap, but I think it’s continuing to focus more on how we integrate more of that variable renewable energy into the power system,” she said.

THE GOVERNMENT is looking to raise less from its planned retail Treasury bond (RTB) offering than in its previous sale amid elevated interest rates.

“We are not going to raise the usual volume that we’ve been raising in the past for this RTB. Definitely lower. We are not looking for a big volume for this one,” National Treasurer Sharon P. Almanza told reporters on Tuesday, adding that they will seek to raise less than half of their last issuance.

The government raised P507.16 billion from five-year notes in its last RTB issuance in August 2025. That was also the first time that RTBs were made available on GCash’s GBonds platform.

“It’s the 25^th year of RTB. Since it’s a milestone year for RTB, we want our investors to remember that this is an instrument that retail investors like or Filipinos like us, can invest in and you don’t need a big amount,” Ms. Almanza said.

“Because of the steep yield curve, we want to manage our cost,” she added.

Ms. Almanza said renewed market volatility, along with the effects of the southwest monsoon, El Niño and elevated oil prices, has raised expectations of higher inflation in September.

The National Treasurer said they are not pressured to raise a bigger volume as they still have regular auctions for the rest of the year.

“While recent market volatility may prompt investors to demand a slightly higher risk premium, the planned RTB issuance should still attract strong demand given ample domestic liquidity and the appeal of sovereign-backed investments,” Union Bank of the Philippines Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said in a Viber message.

The government also canceled its issuance of fresh five-year fixed rate Treasury notes (FXTN) initially scheduled for Tuesday.

“The postponement of the FXTN issuance suggests the government is being opportunistic in timing its borrowings, seeking to avoid locking in higher long-term rates while allowing retail funding to help meet financing needs,” Mr. Asuncion said.

However, Mr. Asuncion noted higher borrowing volumes will gradually increase debt servicing costs if interest rates stay elevated for longer and reduce fiscal flexibility.

“Overall, the key challenge is not demand for the RTB itself, but managing the long-term fiscal impact of borrowing in a higher-rate environment.”

Meanwhile, Philippine Institute for Development Studies Senior Research Fellow John Paolo R. Rivera said in a Viber message that investors may be wary due to market volatility and push rates up.

“Demand could remain supported by its retail investor base,” he said.

A trader said in a text message that the government could raise a minimum of P150 billion from the RTB issuance.

“For them to make sure there is demand, it should be two- to three-year papers,” the trader said, noting it could fetch a rate close to 7%.

Meanwhile, a five-year paper would have to be priced at 7.5% to ensure there is good demand, the trader added.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) is also eyeing a retail dollar bond (RDB) issuance soon, with Ms. Almanza noting it is cheaper to borrow offshore due to elevated rates domestically.

“We’re also exploring another RDB since we have a maturity but it will depend. Right now, because of the very high rates domestically, it’s cheaper [to borrow] with foreign exchange,” she said.

Ms. Almanza said that they could issue RDBs around the date of the maturity, which is on Oct. 8.

The government last tapped the offshore debt market in June, when it raised $2.5 billion from a triple-tranche dollar-denominated bond and met its foreign borrowing program for the year.

It raised $550 million from five-and-a-half-year notes at a reoffer yield of 4.699%, $1.65 billion from 10-year bonds at 5.355%, and $300 million from the tap of the 2051 global bonds at 5.75%.

“A retail dollar bond would help diversify the government’s funding sources and reduce reliance on a domestic market currently characterized by elevated borrowing costs,” Mr. Asuncion said.

However, he also noted increased exposure to foreign exchange risk, as debt servicing and principal repayments become more expensive in peso terms if the peso further weakens.

“While this strategy can help optimize funding costs and tap available investor demand, the key is maintaining a prudent balance between domestic and external borrowings,” Mr. Asuncion said.

“As long as foreign currency debt remains manageable, the benefits of funding diversification can outweigh the risks, but a sustained increase in external borrowing could leave public finances more vulnerable to exchange rate swings and shifts in global market conditions,” he added.

The government borrows from local and foreign sources to help finance its budget deficit, which is capped at P1.659 trillion or 5.4% of gross domestic product this year.

S&P GLOBAL RATINGS and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) sharply downgraded their Philippine growth forecasts for this year as a weaker-than-expected first half and persistent economic headwinds threaten to stall the country’s recovery.

Based on its latest Economic Outlook for Asia-Pacific published on Wednesday, S&P cut its Philippine gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection for this year to 2.9% from 4.1%.

“We have lowered our growth forecast for 2026, reflecting the weaker-than-expected first-half growth and a more gradual recovery trajectory,” S&P Global Ratings Asia-Pacific Senior Economist Vishrut Rana said in an e-mailed response to questions. “It will take some time for the economy to recover its footing.”

At the same time, ADB trimmed its 2026 Philippine GDP growth projection to 3.3% from the 3.8% forecast it made in July.

“In the Philippines, weak public investment contributed to the 2026 downgrade from 3.8% to 3.3%, although a rebound is expected to support growth of 5.1% in 2027,” the Manila-based multilateral lender said in its Asian Development Outlook report released on Wednesday. 

The ADB said that household consumption remained subdued amid high inflation and weak consumer confidence.

According to the ADB report, the Philippines is expected to be one of the slowest-growing economies in developing Southeast Asia this year, ahead only of Brunei Darussalam (1.2%), Thailand (2%) and Myanmar (2.2%). Vietnam is expected to post the fastest growth this year with 7.8%, followed by Indonesia (5.2%), Malaysia (4.9%), the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (4%), Timor-Leste (4%) and Cambodia (3.9%).

The lower growth projections from S&P and ADB come after the Philippine economy grew by 2.3% — a new post-pandemic low — in the second quarter, bringing first-half growth to 2.6%.

If S&P and ADB’s estimates hold, GDP growth will be slower than 4.4% in 2025, when a massive flood control corruption mess dampened the country’s spending and investments.

This year could also mark the fourth straight year that the government will miss its full-year growth goal. For this year, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) is targeting 3.5%-4.5% GDP growth. 

“The economy is facing a sharp pullback in public capital expenditure, a steep energy price shock, and elevated food prices, partly due to El Niño conditions,” S&P’s Mr. Rana said.

He noted that S&P’s gloomier outlook for the Philippine economy reflected expectations of a slow recovery in public spending.

“We expect public capital expenditure to normalize gradually as various public infrastructure works are initiated,” he said. “Given strong reforms in the space to increase transparency and efficiency, it will take time for disbursements to ramp up.”

Infrastructure spending has contracted since the flood control scandal broke out late last year. Based on the latest Department of Budget and Management (DBM) data, infrastructure and other capital outlays slumped by 40.8% annually to P367.4 billion in the first half from P620.2 billion.

The DBM has said that the government will go full throttle on infrastructure spending in the third quarter. 

OUTLOOK FOR 2027
Meanwhile, S&P sees the Philippine economy expanding by 5.4% in 2027, slower than its previous 5.8% estimate. It cut its GDP growth projections for 2028 to 6% from 6.2%, and for 2029 to 5.8% from 6.1%.

However, these are still within the government’s 5%-6% growth targets for 2027 to 2030.

S&P’s Mr. Rana noted that the Philippines’ growth drivers over the medium-term remain intact, supported by the business process outsourcing (BPO) and energy sectors.

“The BPO sector is competitive, leveraging a skilled labor force, and there is strong private sector interest to invest in upcoming special economic zones in industries such as energy, electronics, and BPO,” he said.

“The energy sector will likely see strong expansion as the Philippines aims to become more resilient to external energy shocks,” he added.

The ADB also trimmed its 2027 growth forecast to 5.1% from 5.3% previously, placing it at the lower end of the government’s target.

“The economy continues to feel the impact of the Middle East conflict, but business indicators point to expected improvements in economic activity, with the industry sector still looking to expand next year,” ADB Philippines Country Director Andrew Jeffries said on Wednesday.

“For the Philippines to ride through the effects of external and domestic shocks in the near term, timely government spending on planned investments especially in the social sector and critical infrastructure projects will be important,” he added.

ADB Philippines Country Office Senior Economics Officer Teresa Mendoza said household consumption is expected to continue growing, but at a more tempered pace as households remain vulnerable to higher prices.

The ADB maintained its inflation forecast for 2026 at 5.9%, but raised its 2027 projection to 4.4% from 3.9% in July.

Ms. Mendoza said remittances and the recent minimum wage increase in Metro Manila should provide some support to household spending. Remittances could also increase during periods of economic stress, while peso depreciation raises their value in local currency terms.

“We’re expecting (public investment) to improve gradually by the start of the fourth quarter of 2026. This is in line with the government’s move to accelerate ongoing flagship infrastructure projects, particularly rail projects,” Ms. Mendoza said.

Asked how much of the expected rebound in 2027 would come from base effects, Mr. Jeffries pointed to higher infrastructure spending and a recovery in public investment.

“We’ve already seen indications of more government outlays for infrastructure projects, including large transportation projects,” he said.

“I know there’s an intent to rebound public investment and get it back on track compared with what happened in the second half of last year and earlier. I think that’s a big part of it,” he added.

The ADB sees room for manufacturing and exports to play a bigger role in growth, although initiatives such as Pax Silica and the Luzon Economic Corridor are unlikely to have an immediate impact.

Mr. Jeffries said the initiatives are aimed at attracting higher value-added foreign direct investment (FDI), which could support jobs and economic growth.

“It would be a positive for job creation and growth, but it’s not immediate. There would be a lag,” he said. “Foreign direct investment, generally, depending on what it is, can take several years to build and construct.”

He said expanding manufacturing and exports could also help diversify the Philippine economy, where these sectors account for a smaller share of output compared with some neighboring economies.

“Increased exports would have a positive effect on economic growth and jobs and the like over time,” Mr. Jeffries said.

RISING PRICE PRESSURES
Meanwhile, S&P’s Mr. Rana said rising price pressures from costlier food and fuel may keep domestic demand sluggish in the near term, especially as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) tightens its monetary policy to curb inflation.

“Elevated energy and food prices, together with the resulting tighter monetary policy, will continue to weigh on domestic demand,” the S&P economist said.

In its latest outlook, S&P said it expects headline inflation to accelerate to 5.5% this year from its prior estimate of 4.8% amid sticky price pressures from food and energy items.

In August, headline inflation eased to a five-month low of 6.1% amid lower food and utility prices. However, it stayed above the central bank’s 3% target for a sixth straight month, bringing the year-to-date average inflation to 5.2%.

S&P also raised its inflation projections for 2027 to 3.6% from 3.3% and for 2028 to 3.2% from 3%, but left its 2029 forecast unchanged at 2.9%.

“Given persistent price pressures in food and energy; we expect inflation to be elevated this year before gradually easing next year,” Mr. Rana said.

This, he added, may prompt the BSP to deliver one final 25-basis-point (bp) policy rate hike this year before it shifts to easing next year.

“The BSP is likely to remain focused on the inflation mandate and, as such, we expect modest further monetary policy tightening this year,” Mr. Rana said. “We expect interest rates to be lowered in 2027 as inflation eases following dissipation of the energy and food price shocks.”

Tightening once more could help economic managers curb inflationary pressures and support the peso, S&P Asia-Pacific Chief Economist Louis Kuijs and Mr. Rana said in their report.

S&P expects the local unit to trade at P62 to the dollar by yearend, before rebounding to P60.50 next year.

In August, the central bank tightened for a third straight meeting as it sought to preemptively contain inflation risks from the looming severe El Niño, wage hike, and global oil price swings.

It lifted its key interest rate by 25 bps to an over one-year high of 5%, bringing its cumulative hikes to 75 bps since it first tightened in April.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei told the 15-member council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, that if managed poorly, he believed “AI could be a risk to humanity as a whole.”

The meeting — convened by France during the annual UN General Assembly gathering of world leaders — comes amid warnings that AI systems could soon improve themselves and slip beyond human control.

“For all the differences of the people in this room, we must put aside those differences in order to confront this global opportunity and global threat that is being presented to us at the same time. No leader, no company and no nation can manage this alone,” Mr. Amodei said.

Governments around the world have struggled to keep pace with rapid advances in artificial intelligence. The United States and China, the two leading powers in AI development, have taken different approaches to oversight.

President Donald Trump has argued that the US does not need new AI-specific regulations, while China has imposed rules governing AI algorithms and training data, including requirements that AI-generated content be clearly labeled.

Hugging Face co-founder Clément Delangue highlighted the role of AI tools in defending against cyberattacks, citing an incident in which US giant OpenAI’s AI agents breached Hugging Face’s infrastructure after escaping their testing environment.

“We were attacked by AI, but more importantly, we defended ourselves with AI,” he told the council.

Council members, including leading AI rivals the United States and China, were also set to speak.

Mr. Delangue said Hugging Face relied on a Chinese AI model to help defend against the attack by OpenAI’s AI agents because it faced fewer restrictions than comparable US tools. His remarks underscored the growing presence of Chinese AI products, which have gained users globally in part because they can offer lower-cost alternatives to American models.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said international cooperation was needed.

“If AI is to be democratic, the most important decisions cannot be made by labs in San Francisco alone. They must be shaped through democratic processes and by governments accountable to the people they serve,” Mr. Altman told the council.

As the council met, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in New York that an AI agent developed by OpenAI infiltrated an Australian government website in June, accessing public and non-public files.

US TO UN: YOU CANNOT GOVERN TECHNOLOGY YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND
Yoshua Bengio, a Canadian considered one of the “Godfathers of AI” and co-chair of the Independent International Scientific Panel — created by the UN General Assembly last year — told the Security Council: “The dangers are real and imminent.”

“This council faces an unprecedented threat, one that none of its members would choose, that none can contain alone, and that does not respect the borders we defend,” he said.

Mr. Trump told world leaders at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday that he “rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control” AI, describing the technology as amazing but noting that the US would be careful.

White House science and technology adviser Michael Kratsios echoed Mr. Trump in remarks to the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

“You cannot govern technology you do not understand. This body and others like it should focus on sharing best practices to build domestic capacity, not establishing a global regulatory scheme,” he said.

China’s UN Ambassador Fu Cong said continuous improvement of regulatory frameworks, emergency response, and cross-border cooperation on AI was needed.

“It is incumbent upon the international community to work more closely together, attach equal importance to development and security, and steer AI development for the positive, for good, and for humanity,” he told the Security Council.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has long pushed for global governance of AI, has warned that rapidly advancing artificial intelligence poses risks that cannot be ignored, putting him at odds with Mr. Trump.

The Security Council met for the first time on the risks of AI in 2023, when China said the technology should not become a “runaway horse” and the United States warned against its use to censor or repress people. Then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken chaired a Security Council meeting on AI in 2024. — Reuters

“We’ve all heard the warnings – which we must heed,” he said in his inaugural speech to the United Nations General Assembly. “I know how worried people are. So we have to rise to this moment.”

At his first multinational meeting in New York as Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade, Mr. Burnham made his support for AI the focus of his bid for Britain to assume a role on the global stage, rebuilding its diplomatic status.

He has said that rather than become a “doom-monger” about AI, he wanted Britain to pursue the huge benefits it could bring while being clear about the risks, which range from safeguards failing to keep up and hostile actors using it to wage an information war.

“Russian agencies have used every means at their disposal to spread lies and disinformation and prey on people’s fears,” he said.

“They’ve used bots and fake websites. Falsified newspaper articles. Forged the branding of 28 British organizations – including universities and the BBC. They’ve amplified far right narratives. And we have evidence that they tried to interfere with the 2019 General Election.”

Russia has rejected the allegations.

Mr. Burnham said he would position Britain as an “honest broker” to take a leadership role, citing its close US ties, improving EU relationship and decent relations with China and India.

Britain has a world-leading AI Security Institute, which works hand in glove with the US and the leading labs on AI safety, he said, but it needed to go further.

In discussions with AI leaders, officials have made clear Britain expects full and total visibility of new frontier models to strengthen the UK’s preparedness and resilience, his office said.

Mr. Burnham said fundamental decisions on AI had to be taken by elected governments, not left to tech companies, and he would put AI at the heart of Britain’s presidency of the G20 next year.

“We will work towards agreeing a single set of global principles and standards to ensure the transparency and access we need to increase our preparedness – and to ensure that AI development is safe,” he said.

Mr. Burnham announced a new National Center for Information Defense to detect, attribute and disrupt hostile state information attacks and identify deepfakes damaging British interests.

“Today I am tasking our security chiefs to begin work on a new National Center for Information Defense – to detect, attribute and disrupt these kinds of hostile state information attacks – to support and defend our democracy,” he said. — Reuters

The Venezuelan delegation, which includes the vice president of economy, the oil minister and officials from state oil company PDVSA, is focused on making the country look “investable,” two people close to the delegation told Reuters.

The pull-aside meeting, scheduled for 7:40 p.m. (2340 GMT) on the sidelines of a reception Mr. Trump is hosting during the UN General Assembly, comes during Ms. Rodriguez’s first trip to the US since taking office. She is expected to address the General Assembly on Wednesday afternoon.

A White House official said the meeting with Ms. Rodriguez included President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Stephen Miller, assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for policy.

Mr. Trump has built a working relationship with Ms. Rodriguez, who served as Mr. Maduro’s vice president. But critics say Washington has sidelined the opposition led by Maria Corina Machado, dropping demands for free elections in favor of oil and investment deals with the interim government. A small group of Venezuelans protested in New York on Tuesday, calling for elections.

In his speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump called Mr. Maduro an “outlaw dictator,” said hundreds of political prisoners had been freed since his capture and held up the raid as proof the US would use its “unmatched military might” to protect its interests in the Western Hemisphere.

“To the victor belong the spoils,” he said, calling an oil deal his administration signed with Caracas last month “perhaps the biggest deal ever made.” Mr. Trump has said he wants $100 billion in investment to flow into Venezuela’s oil industry.

Ms. Rodriguez arrived in New York on Monday with a delegation that has been holding talks on energy, mining and debt with US officials, multilateral lenders and companies, according to sources. The head of the Inter-American Development Bank is working to secure ‌approval for a $2.5 billion loan for Venezuela but has faced pushback from some members of the lender’s board.

DEMONSTRATORS DEMAND FREE ELECTIONS

Earlier on Tuesday, more than 50 protesters gathered outside the UN to protest Ms. Rodriguez’s presence, waving Venezuelan flags and carrying signs reading “No Vote No Oil” and “New Face, Same Regime.” Many said they wanted Mr. Trump to push for free elections in the South American country.

The protesters sang the Venezuelan national anthem and chanted “Delcy, I swear, you’re going to Brooklyn with Maduro” — a reference to the federal jail in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, just across the East River from the UN, where her predecessor is being held pending trial on drug trafficking charges.

“On one hand, it’s outrageous to see part of the regime meeting with the authorities of this country’s current government, but there’s also no doubt that thanks to this government, today we are one step closer to freedom,” said Miguel Eduardo Martinez, a 34-year-old social media manager who moved from Caracas in 2017.

“Delcy Rodriguez wasn’t born on January 3, 2026. Delcy Rodriguez has been with the Chavista dictatorship for more than 20 years. She has been complicit,” said Cesar Coello, who carried a sign depicting Ms. Rodriguez in an orange jumpsuit. Chavismo is the political movement founded by the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

Mr. Coello said he hoped Mr. Trump and Ms. Rodriguez would discuss holding elections soon. — Reuters

THE PHILIPPINES and the European Union (EU) have reached a “substantial agreement” on a free trade agreement (FTA) targeted for signing in 2027, as both sides seek fairer trade rules and more resilient supply chains amid heightened trade tensions and higher US tariffs.

European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X on Tuesday that she spoke with Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. and that they have agreed on the free trade deal.

“Given the challenging geopolitical and geoeconomic context, the two leaders also underlined the importance of working with likeminded partners across the world to ensure open, fair and predictable trade,” according to a readout of the call between Ms. von der Leyen and Mr. Marcos that was posted on the EC website.

This milestone comes three years after the EC president visited Manila in 2023 when both leaders agreed to relaunch the FTA negotiations.

Ms. von der Leyen will be in Manila next year for the signing of the Philippines-EU FTA, the EC said in a separate statement.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, Philippine Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina A. Roque and European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič said both sides reached a “substantial agreement” on an FTA, which will pave the way for its formal conclusion in the next few months.

Ms. Roque and Mr. Šefčovič welcomed the milestone, saying the deal will “deepen bilateral trade and investment ties, making them more diversified and resilient.”

“The agreement also sends a clear signal of reinforced engagement between the EU and the Philippines, anchored in their common interest in an open, inclusive, and rules-based international order in the current volatile context,” they said.

Ms. Roque and Mr. Šefčovič said the trade deal is expected to create new opportunities for Philippine and European businesses, including micro, small and medium enterprises, farmers, manufacturers, and consumers.

The deal is also expected to strengthen and diversify supply chains, as well as ensure fair rules and real predictability, both sides said.

The EC said the FTA would eliminate tariffs and improve market access on both sides.

“With 113 million people, the Philippines represents a major market for EU exporters. The FTA will liberalize over 94% of tariff lines, covering more than 97% of bilateral trade,” it said.

The Philippines and EU member states are under growing pressure to diversify their trade ties as uncertain US tariff policies and the Middle East war are disrupting global trade.

Massimo Santoro, ambassador of the EU delegation to the Philippines, said the FTA negotiations are “essentially concluded.”

Both sides are looking to ratify the FTA before the Philippines’ tariff perks under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) expire next year, Mr. Santoro said.

“We wish to be quick in putting this into force, because we also [took into] consideration the GSP+ mechanism ending in 2027,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the ASEAN-EU Business Summit on Tuesday.

Prior to the FTA, the Philippines and the EU’s trade relationship was anchored on the GSP+, which allows the duty-free entry of over 6,000 products to Europe.

The Philippines is the third country among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members to have concluded a bilateral FTA with the EU, after Singapore and Vietnam.

SWIFT RATIFICATION URGED
The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) said the new trade deal provides a clear framework for Philippine and European businesses.

“After years of rigorous dialogue, we now have a world-class framework that establishes a predictable foundation for trade and investment,” ECCP President Diana M. Edralin said in a statement.

She urged legislators and government officials in the Philippines and EU to ensure the speedy ratification of the trade deal.

“Ensuring an expedited legislative approval in both the Philippine Congress and the European Parliament will allow our business communities, workforce, and consumers to realize the full economic dividends of this historic pact without delay,” she said.

A trade deal with the EU provides an opportunity for the Philippines to bolster its competitiveness as a destination for European investment and as a player in regional value chains, the EU-ASEAN Business Council (EU-ABC) said.

“The challenge now is to translate the country’s strong fundamentals into a competitive operating environment, making it easier for companies to invest, produce and integrate the Philippines into regional supply chains,” EU-ABC Executive Director Chris Humphrey said in a statement.

Former Tariff Commissioner George N. Manzano said the Philippines’ FTA with the EU aligns with the need to strengthen economic resilience amid global trade risks.

“Such diversification is especially important amid geopolitical tensions and uncertainties involving the United States and China, and could help strengthen the resilience of the Philippine economy,” he said in a Viber message.

To attract European partners, Philippine businesses must invest in boosting its capacity to produce and export higher-value-added goods, Mr. Manzano added.

Federation of Philippine Industries Chairperson Elizabeth H. Lee said the FTA could help local industries to align with European standards.

“Meeting higher European standards in quality, safety, traceability, and sustainability will help local firms improve productivity, strengthen competitiveness, and participate more deeply in global value chains,” she said in a statement.

The Philippines’ FTA with the EU could also help attract foreign direct investments to modernize local industries and expand production capacity, Ms. Lee added.

Jonathan L. Ravelas, a senior adviser at Reyes Tacandong & Co., said the success of the FTA will depend on how well it is utilized.

“The FTA should be seen not just as a trade deal, but as a platform to improve the country’s competitiveness and long-term economic resilience,” he said via Viber.

To maximize its potential, the government and private sector must help ensure exporter awareness; simplify compliance requirements; upgrade logistics and infrastructure; and maintain a stable and predictable business environment, Mr. Ravelas added.

Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Ferdinand A. Ferrer said in a statement that the EU FTA can unlock new growth areas for Philippine firms, especially small and medium enterprises that plan to expand to international markets.

In a statement, Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr. said the FTA can give local exporters greater access to a high-value market like the EU.

The Philippines and EU first launched negotiations for a bilateral FTA in 2015.

FTA talks were stalled in 2017 after the EU raised concerns on human rights issues linked to former President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s drug war. Negotiations were formally resumed in March 2024.

The Philippines’ new trade pact with the EU is expected to unlock around $12 billion in export potential, the Department of Trade and Industry earlier said.

The EU was the Philippines’ fifth-largest trading partner in 2025, with total trade valued at $18.1 billion, according to data from the local statistics agency.

Philippine exports to the EU stood at $9.77 billion, while its imports from the bloc was valued at $8.34 billion last year.

“We’re monitoring a tropical cyclone and we’re expecting it to enter PAR tomorrow,” Chenel Dominguez, weather specialist of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said during a 5:00 a.m. press briefing in Filipino.

It is expected to enter PAR as a tropical storm and will be given the local name Queenie.

“We’re also seeing that its highest category is typhoon category,” Ms. Dominguez also said.

The tropical depression was last located 1,920 kilometers east of Southeastern Luzon. It had maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of up to 70 kph.

Its trough is causing thunderstorms over Eastern Visayas, CARAGA, Davao Oriental, Misamis Oriental, and Camiguin, PAGASA said.

The bureau warned of possible flooding and landslides during severe thunderstorms in these areas.

PAGASA said that the tropical depression is also likely to enhance the southwest monsoon, but it will not cause the widespread rains that the country experienced in early September.

In Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, generally fair weather is expected, with a chance of localized thunderstorms in the afternoon. — Edg Adrian A. Eva

“I have a big decision to make,” Mr. Trump said in a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York.

“Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before?… Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?”

In a statement on Tuesday, Iran’s Armed Forces dismissed Mr. Trump’s comments at the UN as “propaganda”, saying their response is “full readiness to inflict more severe, crushing, and unpredictable blows on the aggressors.”

But away from the fiery rhetoric, discussions continued to try to end the nearly seven-month conflict that began with joint US-Israeli strikes and has since killed thousands, driven up oil prices and drawn in neighboring countries.

US envoy Steve Witkoff in a post on X said that the United States and Iran engaged in lengthy talks on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly through mediators “who shuttled between the two sides throughout the day”.

The mediators will continue their work, Mr. Witkoff added, saying that he hoped Tuesday’s discussions would “prove constructive and promising.”

Mr. Trump also met the leaders of Middle Eastern countries who are keen to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for a fifth of global oil and gas shipments before the war, but are wary of giving their longstanding rival Iran too much power.

Many also host huge US military bases that have come under repeated Iranian attack throughout the war.

“We think that the situation with Iran could end right after the (November 3) midterm elections, maybe before. I don’t know. You never know,” Mr. Trump said as he met the leaders.

The diplomatic maneuvering comes as Mr. Trump faces pressure on multiple fronts — rising energy costs at home, a widening regional conflict abroad, and the midterms six weeks away that could reshape his political standing. Whether talks produce a deal or the war escalates further carries consequences for global oil markets, Gulf security and millions of Iranians.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi met with Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani of Qatar, which has spent months trying to de-escalate the conflict, the Qatari state news agency reported.

A senior Iranian official said Tehran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within days if the US eased military pressure and lifted its blockade on Iranian ports.

The senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran had conveyed its latest proposal to Washington through mediators last week and could reopen the strait to Gulf shipping within seven days if its demands were met.

In a reminder of Iran’s firm position so far, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who headed Iran’s negotiating team at previous talks, said Iran would never surrender: “Trump must understand that he cannot impose his power on the Iranian people and its armed forces.”

WIDENING REGIONAL CONFLICT

On the table at the Gulf states’ meeting with Mr. Trump is a Qatari proposal for a common security framework involving Iran and the Arab Gulf states, regional sources said. One source said Iran was reviewing the proposal.

Mr. Al Thani has said any such arrangement would need to provide security guarantees for the Gulf states and expand economic interdependence with Iran.

Saudi Arabia, the largest of the Gulf states, has been drawn deeper into the war this month as Iran-aligned Houthi fighters have advanced in Yemen, routing forces of the Saudi-backed government and threatening Saudi oil exports through the Red Sea.

The US, which bombed the Houthis for two months last year, has so far rebuffed repeated pleas from Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to rejoin the fight. The New York Times reported that Mr. Trump called off US strikes against the Houthis on Sunday at the last minute.

Asked why Washington had held back from striking the Houthis, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States would always support Saudi Arabia, adding:

“That said, that is a very dangerous and complex conflict that pre-exists … We have a history with the Houthis as well, and that’s something we don’t want to see impacted either.”

Oil markets did find some relief on Tuesday after sources told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had restarted operations at its East-West Pipeline and could resume exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu within hours, albeit at reduced volumes.

The pipeline, Saudi Arabia’s main export route bypassing wartime disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, had been shut after attacks this month that Riyadh blamed on Iranian-backed groups in Iraq. — Reuters

In his final address to the United Nations before leaving office next year, Mr. Macron said the world was witnessing a spectacle that should shame everyone, rebuking Mr. Trump’s portrayal of his Gaza peace plan as a diplomatic triumph.

He spoke at the United Nations General Assembly hours after Mr. Trump had from the same rostrum hailed his Gaza peace plan as a diplomatic triumph.

“A year ago, here in this very hall, about a dozen states had recognized Palestine. I hear the cynicism of some people: ‘Recognition is just a piece of paper, look at the reality,'” Mr. Macron said, banging his fist on the podium in his last speech at the United Nations before stepping down next May.

“But what credibility do we have if we continue to remain inactive in the face of Gaza? Some boast of a supposed peace. But that peace has not reopened humanitarian access for a single second. Are we simply to stand by and watch this spectacle that should shame us all?”

WHITE HOUSE RESPONDS

In response to Mr. Macron’s criticism, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said: “President Trump ended the war between Israel and Hamas, freed all living hostages, returned the bodies of the deceased to their loved ones, and is now leading the implementation of the 20-Point Plan for Peace in Gaza. While others talk, this President took this complex problem head on. No one has done more for peace and stability in the region.”

Mr. Macron has faced criticism among some politicians and activists in France that he has done little since recognizing a Palestinian state last September.

Despite the criticism, Paris has toughened its stance on settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, imposing some national sanctions and launching a process to ban products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

“Look at what is happening in the West Bank, where every day violations are committed. In whose name? Hamas has never operated in the West Bank,” Mr. Macron said.

“What is happening there is building, day by day, the impossibility of a project that should be based on respect for the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to exist.”

France’s ties with Israel have been particularly strained over the last year. Mr. Macron said those who believed that violating the sovereignty of all of Israel’s neighbors would ensure its security were mistaken.

“They are weakening Israel’s security, both today and in the future,” he said.

‘LONG LIVE THE UNITED NATIONS’

Seven months from France’s next presidential election, Mr. Macron was making his last appearance after first taking to the rostrum in 2017.

Often showing a keen eye for the trappings of diplomacy — the grand settings, the symbolism, the personal connections — he has at the same time failed to translate this into lasting strategic gains, analysts say.

However, he has always been a staunch defender of the multilateral system and the United Nations.

Mr. Macron warned against a global “return to the law of the jungle”, saying countries faced a choice between a world governed by power and coercion and a “civilized international society.”

“Our duty, more than ever, is to stand alongside the United Nations. We cannot accept the new order of impunity that some would like to build,” he said.

He ended his speech with “Long Live the United Nations!” — Reuters

Representatives from more than a dozen countries, including the United States and China, will attend the two-day gathering in Phnom Penh. Cambodian authorities say they have eradicated industrial-scale scam compounds, a claim met with skepticism by some analysts.

Cambodia and other Southeast Asian nations have become hubs for the transnational cyberscam industry, with mostly Chinese-led criminal gangs operating compounds where trafficking victims are detained and coerced into carrying out romance scams, police-impersonation fraud and other schemes.

On Monday and Tuesday, reporters toured sprawling centers shuttered by the government – one housing as many as 20,000 workers. They also viewed materials seized by police, including fake FBI and Chinese police badges used in impersonation schemes.

Under pressure from countries including the US, which estimates that Americans lost more than $10 billion to scammers operating in the region in 2024 alone, Cambodia says it has raided hundreds of compounds and deported hundreds of thousands of people over the past year.

But analysts and opposition figures say the raids have left politically connected figures who allegedly protected the networks untouched, while criminal groups have adapted by breaking into smaller units and moving operations overseas.

The credibility of the crackdown “will depend on whether the Cambodian state is willing to investigate all credible allegations, regardless of wealth, influence or official position,” Mu Sochua, an exiled opposition politician, said in a statement. — Reuters

The sites are Narsarsuaq, whose population has dwindled to a few dozen people since the US closed its Bluie West One military base in the 1950s, and Mestersvig, a military outpost used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish special forces unit, said two of the people.

Denmark, Greenland and the United States are expected to sign their new agreement at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City at 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT) on Tuesday.

The text of the agreement has not been made public and the three people familiar with the deal, speaking on condition of anonymity, said its details will not be finalized until it is signed.

The governments of Denmark and Greenland did not immediately respond to a request by Reuters for comment.

A White House spokesperson declined to comment on the details of the agreement, repeating an earlier statement that its signing on Tuesday would “secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States.”

Denmark says the agreement puts Arctic security under the watch of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the military defense alliance, rather than leaving it solely to the US and Denmark.

The deal follows months of pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has long said he wants the US to control Greenland and has at times refused to rule out military or economic force to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory. The idea has been rejected by an overwhelming majority of Greenlanders, polling shows.

Mr. Trump’s threats, which peaked in January, triggered a diplomatic crisis within NATO and pushed Denmark and Greenland into negotiations with Washington aimed at defusing the pressure.

During the Cold War, the US ​maintained 17 military installations and more than ⁠10,000 personnel in Greenland. Today only Pituffik Space Base remains, with some 150 US military personnel. — Reuters

The EU’s Aspides mission was launched in 2024 to protect shipping from attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, and diplomats have said there are currently six warships operating.

“When Aspides was put in place, then the indication was that it needs at least 10 ships. The situation, I think, is even more grave right now,” Kaja Kallas told reporters on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.

The Houthis have made rapid advances in recent weeks along the Red Sea coast, further complicating routes in a region that also includes the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic had already dwindled because of the US-Iran war.

Italy, one of the key countries in the Aspides mission, announced on Thursday it was preparing a naval mission in the area for its own ships, saying it could not wait for the EU to respond to the new crisis.

Ms. Kallas said the Houthi attacks were affecting European interests and impacting the global economy.

“The EU operation Aspides is making a crucial contribution to the security in the region and global shipping, but the operation needs more naval assets and more air assets to address the increased level of threats in the region,” she said.

Ms. Kallas sent a letter to the EU’s 27 member states on September 19 asking them to up their contributions. The issue would be discussed at upcoming defense and foreign ministers meetings, she said in the letter.

“This situation, which is still evolving as we speak, is already affecting European interests with repercussions on our supply chains and could have implications for our ability to support our economies which were already hit by rising fuel prices,” she said in the letter.

“For the moment, although the Houthis communicate that they would only target Saudi-linked interests, there is uncertainty over their course of action with respect to vessels that transit through the Strait. Regardless, they are now in a better position to potentially harm maritime shipping.” — Reuters

In a disclosure on Monday, DigiPlus said S&P Global Ratings assigned the company a “B+” long-term issuer credit rating with a stable outlook.

S&P expects DigiPlus to maintain a 40%-50% share of the Philippine online gaming market over the next two years, but projected its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margin at 14.5%-16% in 2026 and 2027, down from an average of about 18% in 2024 and 2025.

The ratings agency said higher customer acquisition and retention costs are expected following the August 2025 regulatory order separating e-wallets from online gambling platforms and restrictions on advertising.

“Higher marketing costs could wipe out the effects of lower gaming taxes and cost-savings for DigiPlus,” it said.

DigiPlus’ market share fell to 41% in 2025 from 47% a year earlier amid increased competition from new entrants.

S&P said the company regained some market share following the e-wallet delinking, although monthly active users recovered only modestly in the first half of 2026 and may remain below pre-delinking levels over the next two years.

The ratings agency expects the Philippine online gaming market to consolidate as smaller operators exit the industry.

“We believe the market will consolidate, with incumbents like DigiPlus benefiting from the exit of the smaller operators with cost disadvantages, and limited branding and technical know-how,” it said.

S&P expects DigiPlus’ financial performance to weaken in 2026 before improving in 2027.

It projected revenue to fall to P70.25 billion this year from P84.17 billion in 2025 before rising to P82.05 billion in 2027.

EBITDA is likewise expected to decline to P10.23 billion in 2026 from P14.35 billion last year, then recover to P13.31 billion in 2027.

S&P said more than 90% of DigiPlus’ revenue and profits currently come from online gaming.

DigiPlus plans to expand into land-based gaming in the Philippines through the acquisition of International Entertainment Corp. (IEC), the Hong Kong-listed parent of a land-based casino in Manila. It also plans to launch online gambling platforms in Brazil and South Africa starting in 2026.

S&P estimates the new businesses could account for 10%-20% of DigiPlus’ revenue and EBITDA by 2027, although the expansion is also expected to moderately increase the company’s debt.

Despite the planned investments, S&P assessed DigiPlus’ liquidity as adequate.

“The stable rating outlook reflects our expectation that DigiPlus will resume growth in revenue and EBITDA by leveraging its strong market position and large user base over the next 12 months,” the ratings agency said.

At the local bourse on Monday, DigiPlus shares fell 6.41%, or 56 centavos, to P8.18 each. — Alexandria Grace C. Magno

Ayala Corp. said in a disclosure on Monday that the transaction, valued at about $700 million, is based on an agreed subscription and acquisition price of P650 per common share and involves a combination of primary and secondary shares, including a voluntary tender offer.

The company expects to receive about P20 billion in proceeds, which it plans to use to reduce debt, continue its share purchase program covering Ayala Corp. and its listed subsidiaries, and fund future growth initiatives.

As part of the transaction, Ayala Corp. intends to conduct a voluntary tender offer on behalf of Mitsubishi for up to about 30 million common shares at P650 apiece.

“The tender offer will provide public shareholders with an opportunity to participate in the transaction and realize value at the same P650 per share price agreed with Mitsubishi. Additional details regarding the tender offer will be disclosed in due course,” Ayala Corp. said.

The P650 tender offer price is about 22% above Ayala Corp.’s P533 closing price on Monday.

“This transaction represents much more than a capital investment,” Ayala Corp. Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said.

“It reflects the strength of a relationship built over many years and a deep alignment in values, long-term thinking, and responsible business stewardship,” he added.

Ayala Corp. and Mitsubishi also plan to expand their cooperation in infrastructure, energy transition, real estate, digital technologies, mobility, logistics, and other emerging industries.

The company said Mitsubishi’s global network, industry expertise, and market relationships are expected to support business expansion and technology and knowledge transfer across the conglomerate’s portfolio.

“Mitsubishi’s increased investment in Ayala Corp. is designed to grow value for Ayala’s shareholders by combining global reach and technology of one of Japan’s leading trading houses with the assets of one of the Philippines’ most diversified conglomerates,” Ayala Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Cezar P. Consing said.

“This is about turbo-charging a 52-year relationship to benefit our various stakeholders,” he added.

Subject to shareholder and regulatory approval of proposed amendments to Ayala Corp.’s articles of incorporation, the company’s board will be expanded to nine members from seven.

Ayala Corp. and Mitsubishi have had a business relationship spanning 52 years and have worked together across several sectors and ventures.

The transaction remains subject to conditions precedent, closing conditions, and applicable regulatory approvals.

At the local bourse on Monday, Ayala Corp. shares rose 5.13% to P533 apiece. — Alexandria Grace C. Magno

The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) welcomed the successful conclusion of negotiations for the European Union–Philippines Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

The Philippines is only the third Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member country to conclude a bilateral free trade deal with the EU, after Singapore and Vietnam.

“The successful conclusion of these negotiations is a historic first for Philippine-European economic relations,” Diana Edralin, president of ECCP, said in a statement.

“After years of rigorous dialogue, we now have a world-class framework that establishes a predictable foundation for trade and investment. For the Philippines, securing this agreement as a pioneer in ASEAN demonstrates our economic resilience and readiness to compete globally.” — with Reuters

“The trough of LPA is affecting Eastern parts of Visayas,” Veronica C. Torres, PAGASA weather specialist, said in a 5:00 a.m. press briefing in Filipino.

“So, we’re expecting rainy conditions mostly in eastern parts of Visayas and Mindanao.”

A trough of LPA-induced thunderstorms is expected over Eastern Visayas, CARAGA, Bohol, and Davao Oriental in the next 24 hours, PAGASA said in a separate 4:00 a.m. weather forecast.

PAGASA warned of possible flash floods and landslides in these areas during moderate to occasional heavy rains.

The LPA was last located 1,795 kilometers East of Eastern Visayas and has a medium chance of developing into a tropical cyclone in the next 24 hours, Ms. Torres said.

She also said that in the next three days, it is likely to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility but will not directly affect the country.

It will be assigned the local name Queenie if it enters and develops as a tropical cyclone while in PAR.

Meanwhile, thunderstorms are expected in Palawan, Occidental Mindoro, and Oriental Mindoro due to the southwest monsoon. Metro Manila and the rest of the country are likely to be affected by localized thunderstorms.

PAGASA warned of possible flooding and landslides in these areas during severe thunderstorms. — Edg Adrian A. Eva

A lightning advance by the Iran-backed group this month has extended the wider Middle East conflict to a new theater and further threatened global energy supplies. The US has so far rebuffed repeated pleas from Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to join the fight in Yemen.

The New York Times reported that the Trump administration had prepared to launch airstrikes on Sunday against the Houthis after fresh pleas from the Saudi crown prince. But the newspaper said Mr. Trump called off the airstrikes at the last minute, even as troops were loading bombs onto aircraft.

Reuters could not verify the Times’ report. The US military’s Central Command referred questions to the White House. The White House did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Rashid al-Alimi, the Riyadh-based president of Yemen’s Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government, asked Mr. Trump by phone on Sunday for US military help, four sources told Reuters. Two of the people, one Yemeni and one Western, said Mr. Trump made no direct pledge of support during the call.

Riyadh was apparently struck on Saturday for the first time since the escalation began, with explosions heard and smoke visible near the airport. The Houthis said they had fired missiles at the Saudi capital; the Saudis have not commented.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Monday he had agreed to Saudi Arabia’s request to provide defensive air-to-air refueling for a limited time, a move he described as helping to stabilize the wider region. Britain and Saudi Arabia have been close military allies for decades, with Britain serving as one of the kingdom’s largest arms suppliers.

A French diplomatic source said Paris was ready to contribute to securing Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure in Yanbu on the Red Sea coast and the East-West pipeline corridor.

FIGHTING IN HIGHLANDS

The Houthis, who have controlled Yemen’s capital since 2014, seized the country’s Red Sea coast this month in an advance that routed forces of the Saudi-backed government.

Saudi Arabia has launched hundreds of strikes in recent days on the fighters’ positions in the highlands, the Houthis say.

According to the United Nations, nearly 700 people have been killed and thousands injured in the fighting. Nearly 130,000 Yemenis have fled homes within Yemen, and more than 3,000 have fled by boat across the Red Sea to Africa.

Five Yemeni military sources told Reuters the Houthis were now seeking to seize strategic heights, known as the Kahboub Mountains, in two provinces, Taiz and Lahij, which separate the Red Sea coast from the government-held south.

Fighting has centered on the outskirts of the remote mountain Al-Wazi’iyah district in Taiz province, and Ras al-Ara along the Indian Ocean coast between the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the Red Sea’s mouth and the government’s base in Aden, the sources said.

“The government forces appear to remain largely in a defensive posture following the loss of the Bab el-Mandeb area, while the Houthis are seeking to maintain the momentum of their advance, despite being exposed to intensive air strikes,” said Mohammed Al-Qadhi, a veteran Yemeni journalist now working as a political analyst.

“These mountains could become critical to determining whether the Houthis succeed in consolidating their recent territorial gains or whether government forces will be able to retain the positions necessary to mount a counteroffensive.”

SAUDI OIL EXPORTS

The surge in fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis creates a dilemma for Mr. Trump, under pressure to help Saudi allies but anxious not to further expand the deeply unpopular war he launched alongside Israel as “Operation Epic Fury” in February against Iran.

The US bombed the Houthis for two months in early 2025, but Mr. Trump called off those strikes after reaching a ceasefire, and has kept out of the Yemen conflict since.

The Houthis’ Red Sea advance risks cutting off the main alternative route Saudi Arabia has used for oil exports that bypass disruption through the Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Arabia has responded by increasing shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, where a small number of tankers are increasingly shuttling back and forth to bring out oil, charging record fees of as much as a quarter of the cargo’s value to brave the wartime risk. They then transfer the oil to other ships in the Indian Ocean, bound for customers in Asia or elsewhere.

Traders say Saudi Arabia has sold 60 million barrels of oil both this month and next, to be loaded from off Oman on the far side of Hormuz. Satellite data shows Saudi exports through Hormuz reaching 2.9 million barrels per day in recent days, up from just 700,000 in August.

That has helped put a cap on the global price of crude, which has retreated closer to $100 a barrel after approaching $110 last week. But consumers and industries are still paying record prices for some refined fuels, with the US retail price of diesel hitting another all-time high on Monday.

In the latest reported attack in Hormuz, Britain’s UKMTO maritime security agency said a ship sailing into the strait had been hit with a projectile, causing minor injuries to crew. It also said it had learned of an earlier strike on a gas tanker.

Diplomacy in the wider conflict has largely been stalled since a June interim ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran collapsed within weeks. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian is due to fly on Tuesday to New York to attend the UN General Assembly. — Reuters

First Gen President and Chief Operating Officer Francis Giles B. Puno said the company plans to allocate around P60 billion for hydropower projects and P70 billion for geothermal projects, with the remainder going to solar ventures.

“It’s not that difficult to do that because of all of the investors,” Mr. Puno said on the sidelines of the Philippine Net Zero Conference last week.

First Gen is one of the country’s largest power generation companies, with more than 1,700 megawatts (MW) of installed renewable energy capacity.

It also has interests in gas-fired power plants in Batangas.

The company expects to spend around $20 billion over the next five years to expand its energy portfolio to 13 gigawatts within and outside the Philippines.

To support this target, First Gen has earmarked around P41.7 billion in capital expenditures this year for investments in pumped-storage hydropower projects.

For the first six months of 2026, First Gen reported a 7.1% increase in net income to P12.82 billion, mainly due to higher contributions from Energy Development Corp. (EDC) and First Gen Hydro Power Corp.

EDC accounted for 73% of First Gen’s revenues, contributing P29.88 billion.

EDC is the Philippines’ largest geothermal energy producer, with more than 1,400 MW of capacity from its geothermal, wind, hydropower, and solar assets. The company accounts for about one-fifth of the country’s installed renewable energy capacity.

Amid EDC’s growth, Indonesia’s PT Barito Renewables Energy made an unsolicited $5-billion proposal to acquire the company.

Mr. Puno said First Gen has no plans to sell EDC, adding that there are no other foreign firms looking to acquire the company.

“If the Philippines wants to grow, I suspect you need companies like First Gen or EDC to continue to find ways to create value for the expansion of geothermal and other renewable energy sources,” he said. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera

THE COMBINED ASSETS of the Philippines’ biggest banks grew at the fastest pace in nearly two years in the second quarter, despite uncertainty stemming from the Middle East war.

In the latest edition of BusinessWorld’s quarterly banking report, the aggregate assets of 44 universal and commercial banks rose by 10.23% year on year to P30.16 trillion in the April-to-June period, from P27.37 trillion a year earlier.

This pace was faster than the 9.52% rise in the first quarter of 2026 and the 9.05% growth in the second quarter of 2025.

This was also the fastest asset growth in nearly two years, or since the 11.17% increase in the third quarter of 2024.

Total loans jumped by 10.63% year on year to P15.93 trillion in the second quarter, faster than the 9.05% growth a year ago. On a quarterly basis, loans inched up by 1.9%.

However, loan growth was the slowest in two quarters or since the 10.12% in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Asset and lending growth continued in the second quarter despite slowing economic activity and elevated inflation.

In the second quarter, gross domestic product expanded by 2.3% — a new post-pandemic low, bringing first-half growth to 2.6%. This is below the government’s 3.5%-4.5% growth target for the year.

Inflation eased to a three-month low of 6.4% in June, bringing the six-month average to 4.8%.

The big banks’ gross nonperforming loan ratio stood at 3.3% during the second quarter, lower than the 3.32% print in the first quarter and the 3.39% during the same quarter a year ago.

Loans are considered nonperforming if the principal and/or interest are unpaid for more than 90 days from the contractual due date. These may pose risk to the lenders’ asset quality as borrowers are likely to default on these debts.

Meanwhile, the banks’ median return on equity (RoE) rose to 7.76% in the second quarter from 7.34% in the first quarter.

RoE is an indicator of profitability which measures the amount shareholders make on every peso they invest in a company.

On the other hand, the largest banks’ median capital adequacy ratio — which reflects the lender’s ability to absorb losses from risk-weighted assets — stood at 19.01% in the second quarter,. This was lower than the 19.08% in the first quarter and the 19.18% in the second quarter of 2025.

The ratio was above the regulatory minimum of 10% set by the BSP as well as the international minimum standard of 8% under the Basel III framework.

As of end-June, the big banks’ leverage ratio stood at a median of 10.92%, lower than the 11.15% in the first quarter of 2026, and the 11.39% in the second quarter of 2025.

The leverage ratio, which gauges the institution’s ability to absorb shocks by measuring the bank’s capital relative to total exposure, reached a median of 10.92% as of end-June.

The current figure exceeded the central bank’s 5% guideline as well as the international standard of 3%.

Meanwhile, the net interest margin (NIM) of these big banks stood at 3.69%, higher than the 3.57% a year earlier.

NIMs are an indicator of banks’ investing efficiency by dividing annualized net interest income by average earning assets.

Return on assets, which measures the profit generated per peso of an asset, dipped to 1.61% in the April-to-June period from 1.62% a year ago.

In the second quarter, BDO Unibank, Inc. (BDO) remained the largest bank in terms of total assets with P5.91 trillion, followed by Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) with P3.98 trillion and Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) with P3.74 trillion.

The Sy-led bank was also the biggest lender with P3.91 trillion worth of loans issued, followed by BPI with P2.65 trillion and Metrobank with P2.08 trillion.

BDO also posted the largest total deposits with P4.56 trillion, followed by Land Bank of the Philippines with P3.05 trillion and BPI with P2.85 trillion.

Among banks with at least P100 billion assets, Philippine Veterans Bank posted the fastest year-on-year asset growth at 42.31%, followed by MUFG Bank Ltd. (41.82%) and Mizuho Bank Ltd. (34.23%).   

On the other hand, JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. was the most aggressive lender with a year-on-year growth of 120.64%, followed by Mizuho Bank Ltd. (91.29%) and Standard Chartered Bank (54.5%).

BusinessWorld Research has been tracking the financial performance of the country’s large banks quarterly since the late 1980s using banks’ published statements.

PHILIPPINE BANKS’ higher provisioning for nonperforming loans (NPL) is largely driven by rising consumer loans, rather than systemic stress across the sector, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

According to the central bank, the recent increases in NPL allowances merely reflect growing consumer credit, particularly in the credit card segment, and lenders’ risk management efforts.

“No particular bank group appears to account for the recent increase in loan loss allowances,” the BSP told BusinessWorld in an e-mailed response to questions. “Rather, the increase has been driven mainly by the continued expansion of consumer loan portfolio, particularly credit cards.”

The central bank added that provisioning for consumer loans remained in line with the segment’s portfolio growth, credit seasoning, and banks’ management of emerging credit risks.

In July, universal and commercial banks’ outstanding consumer loans to residents jumped by 17.1% to P2.062 trillion from P1.761 trillion a year ago, the latest central bank data showed.

Credit card loans accounted for the bulk of consumer loans, rising by 24.5% year on year to P1.304 trillion in July.

Meanwhile, separate BSP data showed NPLs reached P585.081 billion as of July, up by 9.27% from the P535.448 billion seen last year and by 0.02% from P584.971 billion in the prior month.

According to economists, bad debts rose during the period as elevated consumer prices and borrowing costs have strained borrowers’ repayment capacities.

This brought the sector’s gross NPL ratio to a two-month high of 3.35% in July, inching up from 3.29% in June but easing from 3.4% in the same month last year.

Last month, BSP Deputy Governor Zeno Ronald R. Abenoja told a House briefing that the local banking system remains sound, with NPLs, or loans unpaid for at least 90 days after the due date, are still “manageable and well-provisioned.”

The central bank later reaffirmed the same, adding that the rise of NPLs does not point to an industry-wide asset quality deterioration.

“While some loan segments have higher NPL growth, current data do not indicate a broad-based weakening in asset quality,” the BSP also told BusinessWorld.

“Rather, these trends reflect sector and portfolio-specific pressures that remain manageable, supported by adequate provisioning, strong capital buffers, and prudent risk management,” it added.

Meanwhile, the central bank noted that its move to highlight NPL provisioning was mainly to complement the NPL ratio and capital adequacy ratio (CAR), which it uses to gauge banks’ health and asset quality.

“The NPL coverage ratio does not replace (the) NPL ratio and CAR,” the regulator said. “Rather, it forms part of the range of banking strength/asset quality indicators monitored by the BSP.”

“The NPL coverage ratio reflects the robustness and maturity of banks’ provisioning practices, thus providing additional information on the extent to which existing NPLs are covered by allowances and complementing other indicators, such as the NPL ratio and CAR,” it added.

As of July, banks’ loan loss reserves stood at P540.895 billion as of end-July, slipping by 0.06% from P541.238 billion in the period ending June. However, it was up by 5.63% year on year from P512.061 billion previously.

Loan loss reserves comprised 3.1% of the lenders’ total loan book as of end-July, slightly higher than 3.04% in June but lower than 3.25% a year prior.

This brought banks’ NPL coverage ratio down to 92.45% in July from 92.52% in the previous month and 95.63% a year ago.

The NPL coverage ratio, or the loan loss reserves to NPL ratio, gauges banks’ buffers against potential losses emerging from bad loans. It indicates their capacity to cover bad loans using their loan loss reserves.

The latest figures mean the sector’s asset quality remains healthy in terms of the level of NPLs and how much it can absorb potential credit losses, the central bank noted.

“As such, the recent increase in provisioning reflects banks’ broader risk management practices,” it added. “Overall, the latest data indicate that banks continue to proactively build buffers against potential losses while supporting the growing credit needs of households and businesses.”

According to the central bank, domestic banks continue to see minimal direct exposure from the nearly seven-month long Middle East war, with risks looming mainly from indirect channels.

“Banks have reported limited direct exposure to jurisdictions affected by the Middle East conflict,” it said. “Potential risks to the domestic banking system stem mainly from indirect channels, including higher oil and input costs, inflationary pressures, exchange rate volatility, rising market yields, and tighter funding conditions.”

As of end-June, the banking industry’s CAR has remained above the BSP’s 10% minimum requirement. Their solo CAR stood at 15.23%, while their consolidated CAR, which covers banks and their subsidiaries, was at 15.59%.

THE DEPARTMENT of Finance (DoF) is open to proposals to impose a direct tax on wealthy individuals, as long as the measure can be effectively implemented.

Asked about a wealth tax last week, DoF Undersecretary Karlo Fermin S. Adriano told reporters: “Yes, that’s why we’re doing stakeholder engagement to get inputs. If they can think of any other wealth tax that we can consider, why not?”

Mr. Adriano said any wealth tax proposal should be “implementable.”

“So, we’re open, that’s why we’re doing all this stakeholder engagement to get all comments, and to be able to consider all the options. And our main classification is it’s implementable,” he added.

The DoF so far conducted two stakeholder briefings on its proposed tax reform package under the Promoting Growth, Revenue, and Equity towards Socio-economic Sustainability (ProGRESS) bill. A third briefing is scheduled for mid-October in Baguio City.

The package includes tax relief measures such as raising the annual income tax exemption threshold to P350,000 and removing the minimum corporate income tax for micro and small businesses.

It also includes raising the excise tax on sugary drinks, and proposing a uniform excise taxes on e-cigarettes and novel tobacco products and an excise tax on single-use plastics.

The ProGRESS bill also seeks to update taxes on luxury goods, including automobiles, nonessential goods and private aircraft.

Under the proposal, vehicles with a net manufacturer’s or importer’s price exceeding P8 million would be subject to a 75% excise tax.

The excise tax on nonessential goods would rise to 25% from 20% of dutiable value, while its coverage would be expanded to include private aircraft, recreational vessels such as jet skis, speedboats, sailboats and motorboats, and other high-end goods.

However, some groups want the government to go further and impose a direct tax on wealth.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines-Associated Labor Unions Advocacy Officer Mark Christian B. Villena said during a stakeholder briefing that the proposal to raise taxes on luxury goods were “not enough.”

“From what we can see there should be a wealth tax,” Mr. Villena said, noting that the group has been pushing for the passage of House Bill No. 8860 or the Patas na Ambag sa Tax para sa Angat-Sahod (PATAS) Act.

The bill seeks to impose a progressive solidarity wealth tax on individuals with a net worth of at least P1 billion.

It proposes a 1% tax on net worth of P1 billion to P2 billion, 2% on over P2 billion to P3 billion, and 3% on over P3 billion.

Jose Enrique “Sonny” A. Africa, executive director of IBON Foundation, said the think tank’s latest estimate showed that the proposed wealth tax could generate at least P570 billion in revenues.

Asian Consulting Group Founding Chairman and Chief Tax Adviser Raymond “Mon” A. Abrea said billionaires “should pay their fair share,” but warned that new taxes should be backed by clear estimates of their revenue and economic impact.

“Luxury taxes target spending; wealth taxes target accumulated assets. Before introducing either, the government should publish credible revenue estimates, enforcement costs, and effects on investment — including businesses whose value is substantial but whose cash is limited,” he told BusinessWorld in a Viber message.

However, he said such measures would only be as progressive “as its ability to reach hidden wealth.”

“Before we even impose tax on the wealthy or wealth taxes, why don’t we collect first or audit first the unexplained wealth? Because we might end up collecting more from those who are already paying,” he said.

“Tax fairness means reaching concealed fortunes as effectively as salaries deducted at source. Collect better before taxing more — and protect the legitimate investment that creates jobs,” he added.

PROTECT THE MIDDLE CLASS
Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) said the Philippines will have to protect the purchasing power of its middle class and strengthen investment to revive economic growth.

ADBI Dean and Chief Executive Officer Bambang Brodjonegoro said slowing household consumption has weighed on Philippine growth as the broader Asian economy grapples with weaker productivity and external uncertainties.

“This engine of growth is basically private consumption. And when we talk about private consumption, if I do the comparison among the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) economies, I think both Thailand and the Philippines are experiencing a slowdown, deeper than Indonesia and Malaysia,” he told reporters on Thursday.

He said weaker purchasing power, partly due to inflation, could be prompting middle-income households to cut spending, weighing on consumption and overall economic growth.

“I think for the Philippines to revive economic growth, maybe the attention needs to be on how to increase the purchasing power of the middle class. And don’t let the middle class shrink,” he added.

The Philippine economy grew by just 2.3% in the April-to-June period, bringing first-half growth to 2.6%, well below the government’s 3.5%-4.5% target for the year.

Household final consumption expenditure increased by 2.8% in the second quarter, much slower than the 5.2% growth in the same period a year ago, extending a five-quarter deceleration in consumption growth that began in the second quarter of 2025.

Mr. Brodjonegoro said the Philippines could consider temporary and targeted subsidies or social assistance for households just below the middle-income segment to help support consumption in the short term.

However, he said measures to support consumption would only help prevent growth from slowing further, while faster and more sustainable growth would require stronger investment.

“If you rely on consumption, it will at least maintain the existing growth. But if you focus more on investment, you will have higher economic growth,” he said.

Mr. Brodjonegoro said the Philippines should also revitalize its manufacturing sector and identify segments of regional and global manufacturing supply chains where it can build a competitive advantage.

“You don’t have to come up with a certain product, but more importantly, the Philippines has to be in the regional or global value chain,” he said.

He pointed to opportunities linked to digital transformation and artificial intelligence, including semiconductors, data centers and renewable energy supporting data-center operations.

THE PHILIPPINES’ balance of payments (BoP) deficit narrowed in August as sustained dollar inflows partly offset a higher import bill driven by elevated global oil prices, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

Based on central bank data released late on Friday, the country’s BoP gap shrank to $596 million in August from the $1.47-billion deficit in July.

However, it marked a reversal of the $359-million surplus a year ago. It was also the second month in a row that the country’s BoP position settled at a shortfall.

This brought the country’s BoP deficit in the eight months to August to $5.943 billion, wider than the $5.397-billion gap posted in the same period last year.

BoP refers to the country’s economic transactions with other nations. A deficit shows that the country spent more than it received, while a surplus indicates more funds entered the country.

“The year-to-date BoP position reflected the continued trade-in-goods deficit and net outflows from foreign portfolio investments,” the central bank said in a statement.

Latest Philippine Statistics Authority data showed the country’s trade-in-goods deficit expanded by 34.9% to $5.97 billion in July from $4.43 billion a year earlier. This brought the seven-month gap to balloon to $37.34 billion.

On the other hand, foreign portfolio investments or hot money yielded a net inflow of $66.47 million in July, down 91.05% from $742.56 million a year earlier.

However, hot money stood at a $3.938-billion net outflow as of July, reversing the $2.285-billion net inflows to the country in the prior year.

“These were partly offset by the sustained net inflows from personal remittances of overseas Filipinos, foreign borrowings by the NG (National Government), trade in services, and foreign direct investment,” it added.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort noted that the country’s sustained dollar inflows “fundamentally improved” its BoP position and gross international reserves (GIR) even as higher global oil prices swelled its import bill.

Still, he cautioned against potentially wider deficits as the Middle East war drags on and continues to disrupt global oil supply chains.

“For the coming months, the recent geopolitical risks in the Middle East especially on Iran could lead to some hedging of the country’s imports of crude oil, fuel, petroleum and other commodities especially if prices corrected lower as opportunity to buy to increase local inventories especially if the Strait of Hormuz remained disrupted… (which) could still lead to relatively wider trade deficits/net imports and, in turn, wider BoP deficits,” Mr. Ricafort said.

DOLLAR RESERVES
Meanwhile, revised BSP data showed the Philippines’ dollar reserves rose to its highest level in five months in August.

As of end-August, the country held $104.846 billion in gross international reserves (GIR), slightly higher than the $104.813 billion earlier reported.

This was the highest dollar reserves level seen since March, when it stood at $106.636 billion.

However, the latest level reflected a 2.1% dip from the $107.098-billion GIR recorded a year ago but was 1.48% higher than the $103.317 billion seen as of July. 

“The increase was mainly driven by upward valuation adjustments in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ gold holdings due to the increase in the price of gold in the international market, and the BSP’s higher net income from its investments abroad as global bond yields increased,” the BSP said. 

Spot gold touched an over three-month high of $4,631.99 per ounce in August before closing the month at $4,433.19 per ounce, Reuters reported.

International reserves are the central bank’s foreign assets held mostly as investments in foreign-issued securities, foreign exchange and monetary gold, among others.

These are supplemented by claims to the International Monetary Fund in the form of reserve position in the fund and special drawing rights.

“More importantly, relatively higher GIR to provide greater support for the peso exchange rate vs. the US dollar, as fundamentally supported by the continued growth in the country’s structural US dollar inflows especially from OFW (overseas Filipino worker) remittances, BPO (business process outsourcing) revenues, foreign tourism receipts, foreign investments, among others,” Mr. Ricafort said.

In August, the local unit stood at P61.3281 versus the greenback, about 7.1% or P4.0756 weaker than P57.2525 a year ago, according to BSP data.

On Sept. 14, it lost 18 centavos to close at a new historic trough of P62.86, breaking its previous all-time low finish of P62.68 on Sept. 11, Bankers Association of the Philippines data showed.

According to the BSP, the country’s end-August GIR level could cover about 3.3 times its short-term external debt based on residual maturity.

It likewise translates to 6.6 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income, more than double the three-month standard.

The central bank expects the country’s BoP position to end at a $10.7-billion deficit or -2.1% of its gross domestic product (GDP) this year, wider than the $5.7-billion gap or -1.2% of GDP in 2025.

It also projects the GIR level to shrink to $104 billion by yearend from the $110.8 billion recorded last year.

“From 2025 to 2026, we achieved record growth of around 75% compared to last year,” STARLUX Airlines Manager Jan Claude Angco told reporters in an interview on Thursday.

“Hopefully, we’re going to get more. I mean, three-digit growth, hopefully, for this year since we’re also increasing our aircraft count and upgauging our aircraft for here in the Philippine market,” he added.

Mr. Angco noted that the rising fuel surcharge, which affects airfare costs, does not impact their passenger demand. The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) recently raised the airline fuel surcharge to Level 14 from Level 13 for the second half of September 2026.

Under Level 14, airlines may collect an additional P457 to P1,336 per passenger for domestic flights, compared with the previous P423 to P1,237 rates.

For international flights, the surcharge ranges from P1,509.08 to P11,220.71, up from P1,396.74 to P10,385.42 previously.

“We thought that because of the fuel surcharge increasing, there would be fewer passengers,” he said. “Luckily for STARLUX, we are somehow getting more record revenue and record passenger numbers for our flights, especially exiting here in the Philippines.”

“I think it’s a good sign, not only for STARLUX, but I think for other airlines also,” he added.

The airline currently operates direct flights from Cebu, Clark and Manila to its main hub at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in Taipei. Passengers can connect to long-haul flights from Taipei to the United States and Europe.

“We’re looking to other Philippine destinations also, flying to and from Taipei, but right now, we’re sticking with Manila, Cebu, and Clark,” Mr. Angco said. “Our main focus here in the Philippines is more on the long-haul market, our main target.”

STARLUX will offer discounts of up to 35% on its US flight offerings at the Travel Sale Expo, happening Oct. 2 to 4 at SM Megamall.

The three-day event is expected to attract at least 50,000 visitors, with travel offers across 200 booths reaching up to 75% off. — Almira Louise S. Martinez

“For the Philippines, I think last year we touched almost 500,000. Of course, we’re looking to increase it,” Malaysian Ambassador Abdul Malik Melvin Castelino Anthony told reporters in an interview.

“I’m happy to see that Malaysia and the Philippines and, of course, the other ASEAN countries are working hard to increase tourist arrivals from our countries to each other, and from global arrivals,” he added.

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) recently bumped the airline fuel surcharge to Level 14 from Level 13 for the second half of September 2026 as renewed volatility in the Middle East keeps pressure on global oil markets.

Under Level 14, airlines may collect an additional P457 to P1,336 per passenger for domestic flights, while the international flight surcharge ranges from P1,509.08 to P11,220.71.

“We have no choice because this is something that is beyond our control,” Mr. Anthony said. “It is basically, you know, on market forces. What we can do, I think, is try to mitigate as much as possible the effect of it.”

“I think the government of the Philippines and Malaysia are doing as much as we can to ensure that the prices remain at a certain level that will not impede trade and development,” he added.

Data from the International Air Transport Association showed that jet fuel prices rose 6.1% to $181.46 per barrel in the week ending Sept. 11, up from $171.01 per barrel a week earlier.

In June, Malaysia recorded a 1.13% year-on-year increase in inbound arrivals from the Philippines, with 299,633 Filipino tourists from 296,298 previously. About 59 flights weekly between the countries offer more than 11,615 seats, as per Tourism Malaysia.

The flights connect Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, and other Malaysian destinations with key destinations in the Philippines, such as Manila and Cebu.

“We look forward to having more travelers from Malaysia coming to the Philippines and vice versa,” the ambassador said.

Malaysia ranked as the country’s 12th source market in 2025, accounting for 104,989 inbound tourists, or 1.62% of the overall arrival count. — Almira Louise S. Martinez

A report from the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel showed that 75 local water districts entered into joint ventures with PWIC from 2015 to 2022. The Ombudsman found the agreements “grossly disadvantageous.”

Assistant Ombudsman Jose Dominic “Mico” F. Clavano IV said Friday that 19 of the 75 local water districts had issued notices of pre-termination over PWIC’s alleged failure to meet its obligations.

“It has reportedly failed to supply uninterrupted water resources and has instead provided poor drinking water standards,” Mr. Clavano told a news briefing in mixed English and Filipino.

The agreements covered the financing, development, rehabilitation, expansion, improvement, operation and maintenance of water supply and septage facilities, Mr. Clavano said.

The initial complaints involve the Quezon Metropolitan Water District, San Pedro Water District and Trece Martires City Water District.

Commission on Audit records showed PWIC had not paid for its use or consumption of materials and supplies from the three water districts, with the unpaid obligations totaling P65.65 million, the Ombudsman said.

The complaints name former Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar, whom the Ombudsman identified as a beneficial owner of PWIC and Prime Assets Ventures, Inc., as well as Manuel B. Villar Jr., Cynthia A. Villar, Camille A. Villar and Manuel Paulo A. Villar.

Also named were PWIC executives, along with officials and members of the joint venture selection committees and boards of the three water districts.

The complaints allege violations of Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Mr. Clavano said the complaints were filed Friday and had entered preliminary investigation, where the respondents would be given an opportunity to answer the allegations.

He said the Ombudsman received complaints from residents about interrupted water supply and unclean water.

The Ombudsman said more water districts remain under investigation, with more cases expected.
“[T]here are still more water districts under investigation, and expectantly more cases in the pipelines,” Mr. Clavano said. — Mark Joseph M. Sanchez

The network of watchdog and research groups had earlier flagged P735.56 billion in the 2027 National Expenditure Program as vulnerable to political intervention, a figure the group revised upward on Friday after identifying additional infrastructure items lacking project documentation.

“We are now flagging a total of P970 billion in terms of red flags in our 2027 budget,” Hans Gonzalez, technical analyst at the coalition, told a media briefing.

“We have amended this figure. We note in particular an increase in hard pork, hard pork meaning infrastructure, from P483 billion to around P200 billion higher. Our original figure of P735 billion in red flags… has shot up to P970 billion,” he said.

According to PBC, the P970 billion total includes P680 billion in hard pork, consisting of infrastructure projects at risk of political insertions without complete project attachments.

The sum also includes P140 billion in soft pork earmarked for what the coalition described as patronage-driven social assistance, including P58.5 billion in local government support funds and anti-insurgency barangay programs.

Unprogrammed appropriations, categorized by the group as shadow pork, account for P112 billion, while budget allocations for offices, including the Office of the President, the Office of the Vice-President, and Congress, make up P38 billion.

The coalition’s assessment comes as Congress begins work on the proposed budget for 2027, with the House of Representatives conducting plenary deliberations on the measure. The House opened debates on the P7.2-trillion General Appropriations Bill on Sept. 15.

The proposed budget represents 21.7% of gross domestic product and is P407 billion, or 6%, higher than the 2026 budget, according to the Department of Budget and Management. The increase reflects mandatory spending requirements and existing obligations, including a higher National Tax Allotment for local governments and salary adjustments for civilian employees and military personnel.

“The proposed P7.2-trillion 2027 national budget is not yet final, and the People’s Budget Coalition (PBC) is calling on the House of Representatives to use the remaining stages of the budget process to address questionable allocations, protect essential services, and ensure meaningful public scrutiny before the budget is passed,” the coalition said.

FISCAL OUTLOOK AND DEBT PRESSURES
“Our economic managers are losing credibility on almost every front in terms of growth, debt, expenditure, revenue, and deficit,” Mr. Gonzalez said.

“Our room in our budget is shrinking further because of the bad fiscal and economic choices that we make, which is also reflected in this budget,” Mr. Gonzalez added. “If our government had P100 to spend, only P36 of that would even be up for discussion.”

Gross domestic product growth reached 2.6% in the first six months of 2026, falling short of the government original target range of 5% to 6% and its revised target of 3.5% to 4.5%.

The coalition noted that every single percentage point of missed economic growth reduces government revenues by roughly P150 billion.

“The budget’s allocable share has declined from around P40 per P100 in 2022 to about P36 today. Meanwhile, debt has reached 66% of GDP, while first-half 2026 growth stood at 2.6%, below the revised 3.5–4.5% target. Projected 2027 interest payments of P1.11 trillion would also exceed the entire education sector budget,” the coalition said.

“The PBC is calling for greater transparency around fiscal targets, assumptions, revisions, and risks to the government’s revenue program,” it added.

The coalition’s findings echo earlier assessments by the state’s own budget research arm. The Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) has earlier cautioned that the proposed budget might remain financeable under baseline assumptions, while stressing that financeability should not be equated with ample fiscal space or long-term sustainability, and urged Congress to weigh contingency plans in case revenues undershoot targets. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking

This year, GDay Love Overload will make stops in Quezon City, General Trias, Cebu, Lucena, Bacolod and Angeles City, giving more customers the opportunity to join the celebration closer to home. In several of these areas, GDay is joining festivities that customers already look forward to including the Siomai Festival in Cebu, the MassKara Festival in Bacolod, and Tigtigan in Angeles City.

“GDay is our way of showing customers how much we appreciate them, and we want them to feel that wherever they are. By bringing GDay into more communities, we can celebrate alongside our customers and create rewarding moments that feel closer and more relevant to them,” said KD Dizon, Chief Marketing Officer at Globe.

Customers can catch the 917 GDay pop-ups at the following locations:

• Cebu: Barangay Tisa during the Siomai Festival, Sept. 18 to 27, 4 p.m. to 1 a.m.
• General Trias: Barangay San Francisco Sunny Brooke 2 Gate 2, Sept. 21 to 23, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Quezon City: LITEX Terminal Commonwealth, Sept. 25 to 27, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Lucena: Lucena Public Market, Sept. 28 to 30, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Bacolod: Bacolod Government Center during MassKara Festival, Oct. 13 to 18, 3 p.m. to 12 a.m.
• Angeles City: Barangay Balibago during Tigtigan, Oct. 23 to 24, 3 p.m. to 12 am.

At each stop, customers can take part in interactive activities, unlock and take home exciting rewards in the GDay pop-up booth. Through the GlobeOne app, they can redeem entries to G Raffle Rush, play Goken Zone for a chance to win prizes, and discover exclusive GDay offers. Customers can also try their luck at Spin the Wheel for instant prizes, while eligible customers can enjoy additional brand-exclusive rewards and freebies.

The celebration continues online as customers share their GDay pop-up experience on social media for a chance to win special GDay merchandise and GCash. Together, the activities give customers different ways to experience GDay, from rewards and games to moments they can enjoy with their communities.

The community pop-ups are among the many ways Globe is bringing Love Overload to customers this 917 GDay 2026. Beyond the on-ground celebrations, customers can find more rewards, surprises and experiences made Just for You through the GlobeOne app throughout the GDay season.

Spotlight is  BusinessWorld’s sponsored section that allows advertisers to amplify their brand and connect with BusinessWorld’s audience by publishing their stories on the BusinessWorld Web site. For more information, send an email to online@bworldonline.com.

Join us on Viber at https://bit.ly/3hv6bLA to get more updates and subscribe to BusinessWorld’s titles and get exclusive content through www.bworld-x.com.

The full operations of the NSCR are now targeted to start by the third quarter of 2033, later than the previous January 2032 target, after procurement challenges, tighter government spending and right-of-way issues delayed the flagship railway project.

“Regarding the North-South Commuter Railway Operations and Maintenance PPP (public-private partnership) project, there were some changes to the timeline. This was due to the need for fiscal prudence and careful management of public funds, challenges in the procurement process, and right-of-way issues,” Palace Press Officer Clarissa A. Castro told a news briefing in Filipino.

Under the revised schedule, the railway’s full commercial operations from Clark to Calamba are now expected by the third quarter of 2033.

“The expected timeline for the first partial operation (Valenzuela to Malolos) is December 2027; the second partial operation (Malolos to Clark) is set for the fourth quarter of 2028; and the third partial operation (Clark-Solis-Alabang to Calamba) is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2031,” Ms. Castro said.

The ED Council, chaired by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., had approved revisions to the parameters, terms and conditions for the NSCR project, in order to attract more bidders and encourage “competitive proposals.”

“Generally, the amendments involve the timelines and slight budget adjustments,” Ms. Castro said, but did not specify the amount.

The 147-kilometer elevated railway line seeks to ease travel across three regions Central Luzon, Metro Manila, and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon).

“The NSCR is an investment in opportunity,” said the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development Secretary and ED Council Vice-Chair Arsenio M. Balisacan. “Improved mobility will expand access to jobs, markets, education, and services across regions, reflecting our commitment to a more productive, resilient, and inclusive economy,” he added.

CEBU AIRPORT CONCESSION
At the same time, the ED Council also approved the extension concession for the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), which is managed by Aboitiz InfraCapital Cebu Airport Corp.  since end-2024.

“The approved extension of the concession period for the MCIA will provide a longer investment recovery period, enabling needed improvements such as the restoration and expansion of domestic and international routes and more seamless airport transfers, while minimizing pressure to increase passenger service charges,” the ED Council said, but did not specify how long the concession period was extended.

Sought for comment, the Aboitiz Group said it has yet to receive official notice from the ED Council on the extension.

The council said the MCIA concessionaire commits to provide nearly P15 billion in “capacity augmentation and capital investments.”

The airport was originally developed and operated by the GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp., which won the 25-year concession in 2014.

The ED Council also approved changes to the scope, cost and implementation timelines of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s Supporting Innovation in the Philippine Technical and Vocational Education and Training System project.

Similar changes were approved for the Department of Public Works and Highways’ Road Network Development Project in Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao and the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Reducing Food Insecurity and Undernutrition with Electronic Vouchers project.

Meanwhile, the ED council directed a review of the proposed guidelines on the suspension and resumption of classes amid tropical cyclones, earthquakes, storm surges, poor air quality, volcanic hazards, and extreme heat.

Former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua had earlier urged the Palace to review the policy on blanket suspensions, citing the disruption to face-to-face learning.

In a letter to Executive Secretary Ralph G. Recto that he shared with BusinessWorld, Mr. Chua said the “total cancellation since Aug. 1 is around 11 days already out of 27 class days, for a 41% cancellation rate.” — J.I.D.Tabile and E.M.P.Sinaking

REMITTANCE FLOWS from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are likely to remain subdued until yearend as overseas deployment slows and renewed hostilities in the Middle East create more volatility, banks said.

In a report dated Sept. 15, Maybank Investment Banking Group said it still sees cash remittances growing by 2.2% to $36.4 billion this year.

“We maintain our projection for 2026 remittances at +2.2% year on year or $36.4 billion, slightly below the BSP’s latest +2.7% year-on-year growth target,” Maybank Chief Economist Suhaimi Ilias, economist Azril Rosli, and senior economic analyst Fatin Nabila Mohd Zaini said.

“Downside risks from heightened geopolitical tensions, particularly in the Middle East, remain elevated and could contribute to greater month-to-month volatility,” they added.

Meanwhile, Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) expects full-year remittance growth to ease to 2% as it sees weak OFW deployment and global geopolitical woes dampening inflows.

“UnionBank maintains its 2% cash-remittance growth forecast for 2026, equivalent to around $36.3 (billion),” UnionBank Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said in a LinkedIn post.

“Growth may remain moderate amid weaker OFW deployment and geopolitical risks, although seasonal inflows should provide support toward year-end,” he added.

If both banks’ forecasts materialize, the Philippines will see the slowest remittance growth since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020, when it contracted by 0.8% to $29.903 billion.

Excluding the pandemic, this year would mark the weakest remittance growth in 25 years or since the 0.3% decline in 2001.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Tuesday that cash remittances, or money sent home by OFWs through banks, rose by 1.9% year on year to a seven-month high of $3.24 billion in July from $3.179 billion.

This marked the highest monthly value of inflows recorded since the $3.522 billion logged in December 2025.

According to Mr. Asuncion, the slight recovery in July from the over four-year low growth of 1.7% in June softened the blow of waning OFW deployment.

As of July, the country deployed a total of 980,673 OFWs, 34.04% lower than the about 1.487 million recorded in the same period in 2025, based on data from the Department of Migrant Workers.

Most OFWs were deployed to Saudi Arabia, followed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, Hong Kong, Qatar, Taiwan, Japan, Kuwait, Australia, and South Korea.

BSP data cited by Maybank showed that remittance flows from Middle East-based Filipinos eased in July, with those from Saudi Arabia slowing to a 1.3% growth from 2.8% in June, the UAE to 1% from 2.5%, and Qatar to 2.1% from 2.8%.

“Despite the moderation across several Gulf economies, remittance growth remained positive, suggesting that flows from the region continued to hold up amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainties,” they said.

However, for the Maybank economists, OFW deployment to a wide array of host countries has somewhat shielded overall remittances from the geopolitical tensions in the Gulf region.

“Collectively, the continued positive growth across major source markets points to the resilience of remittance dynamics,” they said.

“While performance remained uneven across individual markets, the diversification of remittance sources continues to provide an important buffer against external shocks, helping sustain overall OFW (remittance) inflows amid heightened global uncertainty,” they added.

Meanwhile, Mr. Asuncion noted that the weaker peso that month also boosted the purchasing power of remittances, with its depreciation translating to higher value of dollar-denominated remittances in the local currency.

“The weaker peso also lifted the estimated purchasing power of remittances by 4.2%, supporting household spending on food, housing, utilities, and other essentials,” he said.

The local unit continued to underperform in July as soaring oil prices amid persistent uncertainty over the Middle East war reignited safe-haven demand for the dollar.

It plunged to as low as P61.847 against the greenback on July 24, averaging 8.54% or P4.844 weaker year on year at P61.5963 during the month.

BSP Deputy Governor Zeno Ronald R. Abenoja told BusinessWorld in August that the central bank might revise its remittance estimates this month to reflect the recent developments surrounding the nearly seven-month long Middle East war.

The central bank projects cash remittances to grow by 2.7% to $36.6 billion this year, slowing from last year’s 3.3% to $35.6 billion.

In the first seven months of the year, cash remittances rose by 2.3% to $20.389 billion from $19.932 billion a year earlier.

PHILIPPINE ECONOMIC growth could pick up in the second half as public infrastructure spending accelerates and inflation eases, bringing the government’s full-year growth target within closer reach, a World Bank economist said.

World Bank Senior Country Economist for the Philippines Jaffar Al-Rikabi said growth could recover after a challenging first half, which was weighed down by the Middle East conflict and the lingering effects of a corruption scandal involving infrastructure projects.

The Philippine economy expanded by 2.6% in the first half, below the government’s 3.5%-4.5% growth target for the year.

Mr. Al-Rikabi noted that growth in the first half of 2025 had been robust, creating a high base for comparison this year.

“How does growth pick up? Well, growth picks up by public infrastructure gradually coming online,” he said during a panel discussion at the 12^th Annual Public Policy Conference.

Mr. Al-Rikabi said the government plans to accelerate implementation of infrastructure projects by the fourth quarter.

However, managing inflation remains a challenge amid the Middle East conflict, he said, adding that continued moderation in price pressures could support private consumption.

“We did see some data towards the tail end of the first half of the year where inflation was beginning to moderate. Still high but was beginning to moderate. If that continues, then we should see private consumption probably picking up,” Mr. Al-Rikabi said.

Former Economy Secretary and University of the Philippines professor emeritus Solita Collás-Monsod said the economy would need to expand by about 4.4% in the second half to post 3.5% growth for the full year.

“We will achieve 3.5% growth. I cannot believe that we will not be able to grow by 4.4%… for the second half,” she said.

However, Ms. Monsod questioned why the country should be satisfied with 3.5% growth when the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) had higher targets.

The original PDP targeted economic growth of 6.5%-8% annually from 2024-2028. The midterm update lowered the target to 6%-7% for 2026 through 2028.

Beyond the near-term growth outlook, economists also pointed to institutional and investment constraints that could weigh on the country’s longer-term expansion.

Asian Development Bank Institute Dean and Chief Executive Officer Bambang Brodjonegoro said the Philippines, as a middle-income economy, should pay attention to development planning and strengthen policy consistency, legal certainty and governance to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI).

“I think those are the three priorities in order to attract more FDI coming to the Philippines or any other economy,” he said.

He also said Southeast Asian economies could tap more investment from within the region, noting that intra-ASEAN investment remains at only around 20%.

“The potential is still big, but somehow we overlook this potential,” he said.

Meanwhile, World Bank’s Mr. Al-Rikabi said the Philippines faces a gap between the quality of its business regulations and implementation, which raises the actual cost of doing business.

“So we want to reduce de facto costs for businesses by streamlining the procedures that firms go through to register,” he said.

Ms. Monsod likewise argued that corruption and the uncertainty it creates have discouraged foreign investment.

“It is the corruption in this country, the uncertainty that it brings about that prevents foreign direct investment from coming,” she said.

Asked what could be done over the next 12 months, Ms. Monsod said the anti-corruption drive should continue, adding that she would like to see Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio impeached.

“This is a personal opinion, I would like to see the Vice-President impeached and that will start the whole ball rolling, because if the Vice-President can be impeached so are the others,” she said.

“And if the impeachment stays, the people will be empowered… they will continue their anti-corruption drive. The anti-corruption drive must continue, if we can do that in the next 12 months, we’re on the way,” she added.

Former Economy Secretary and University of Asia and the Pacific Professor Emeritus Jesus P. Estanislao said the Philippines should also draw up a longer-term strategy to attract more domestic and foreign investment.

“The biggest problem that we have is that we are unable to attract investments, both domestic and foreign, because of corruption,” he said. “So in the next 12 months, what we need to do is address that.”

Mr. Estanislao said the Philippines needs a strategic program that includes strengthening human resources as technologies such as artificial intelligence reshape the economy.

“We can do many things, but we have to put our heads together and come up with a good strategy now, leading to five years, 10 years, then investments will come,” he said.

THE DEPARTMENT of Energy (DoE) will no longer pursue its planned coal block auction this year, which would have included the country’s largest mine operated by Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC).

In an advisory dated Sept. 15, the DoE said it has scrapped the 2026 Coal Bid Round for the awarding of coal operating contracts covering three pre-determined areas.

The move came following the concerns raised by stakeholders during the pre-submission conference.

Among the reasons cited were developments affecting Semirara island — one of the areas offered in the auction — such as continuing water seepage, as well as legal considerations.

These concerns prompted the DoE to review the criteria for awarding coal operating contracts for the three areas.

The department said that the termination of this year’s coal auction will provide an opportunity to review and further develop “a fair, equitable, transparent, and comprehensive evaluation framework” for the awarding of the contracts.

“Such framework shall, consistent with the national interest, give due consideration to securing appropriate and measurable economic returns and benefits commensurate with the value and characteristics of the offered area,” the DoE said.

Launched in February, the bid round is offering three coal areas, which are estimated to hold around 207 million metric tons of coal reserves.

To be auctioned were five blocks across the municipalities of Benito Soliven, Naguilian, Cauayan in Isabela; and three blocks spanning the municipalities of Amulung and Iguig in Cagayan province.

It also covered the 10 blocks on Semirara Island in Antique, the flagship asset of SMPC, making it the country’s largest coal producer.  The site has been operated by the company for nearly 50 years but failed to renew its coal operating contract that is set to expire in July 2027.

The auction was supposed to take place in April but was postponed as the DoE is still working on the terms of reference.

SMPC earlier questioned the proposed DoE and Department of Environment and Natural Resources joint administrative order which would set the rules for awarding natural resource contracts.

The mine operator raised concerns about the proposed rules, saying some provisions could affect its existing rights.

The termination of the coal auction is also inconsistent with Energy Secretary Sharon S. Garin’s recent statement that the bidding would push through this year as the DoE prepares a department circular that will determine all the terms and procedures.

“We are far from starting the bidding, but the bidding will happen within the year,” she said in Sept. 15 briefing.

The Energy chief said the government wants coal produced under the contracts to be sold domestically, rather than prioritizing exports.

“We want to make sure that the coal is being sold in the Philippines, that optimization of our resources for energy security. Learning from our experience with the Middle East conflict, we need to secure our resources,” Ms. Garin said.

Toby Allan C. Arce, head of sales trading at Globalinks Securities and Stocks, Inc., said the delay in awarding the contract for Semirara narrows the window for potential replacement operators to prepare for operations.

“The closer we get to the expiration date without a clear process, the more difficult it becomes for SMPC — and potentially any alternative operator — to plan for operations beyond the current contract,” Mr. Arce told BusinessWorld.

Mr. Arce said, however, that getting the framework right may be more important than proceeding simply to meet the original timetable.

“A rushed bidding process that later results in disputes over the rules, existing assets or the terms of the succeeding contract could create even greater uncertainty,” he said.

“The LPA was located over Dumaran, Palawan and is currently traversing Palawan,” Leanne Loreto, weather specialist of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said in a 5:00 a.m. press briefing in Filipino.

The LPA is likely to cause thunderstorms in Visayas, MIMAROPA and Bicol Region in the next 24 hours, PAGASA said in a separate 4:00 a.m. weather advisory.

It is likewise expected to affect Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Batangas and Quezon.

PAGASA warned of possible flash floods and landslides during moderate to occasionally heavy rains.

The LPA is expected to dissipate, and the number of affected areas may decrease in the next 24 hours, Ms. Loreto said.

Meanwhile, severe tropical storm Dujuan is still being monitored by PAGASA and was located 2,460 kilometers east-northeast of Extreme Northern Luzon, based on PAGASA’s press briefing.

It intensified to 110 kilometers per hour (kph) of maximum sustained winds and 135 kph of gustiness.

“We are no longer expecting it to enter our area of responsibility, and it is not expected to affect the country,” Ms. Loreto said. — Edg Adrian A. Eva

In the Southeast Asia Outlook 2026-2035 report released on Wednesday, the Philippine economy is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 5.8% from 2026 to 2035 under the baseline scenario.

“The Philippines, which has a favorable demographic tailwind, could grow at a 5.8% average annual rate as consumption, infrastructure, and governance reforms unlock investment,” the report said.

This would make the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) growth the second-fastest among the six major Southeast Asian economies covered by the report, behind only Vietnam, which is projected to expand by an average of 6.2% annually until 2035.

The Philippine economy is expected to outpace Indonesia (5.4%), Malaysia (4.3%), Singapore (2.7%), and Thailand (2.2%).

Philippine GDP growth over the 10-year horizon is also above the 4.8% average for the six Southeast Asian economies.

The latest regional forecast for Southeast Asia is slower than the earlier average expansion of 5.1% for the 2024-2034 period, reflecting a more complex and volatile global environment.

However, the Philippine economy is experiencing a sharp slowdown this year, averaging 2.6% in the first half. The government is targeting 3.5%-4.5% GDP growth for 2026, and 5%-6% annually from 2027 to 2030.

Despite its relatively strong baseline forecast, the Philippines is also among the Southeast Asian economies facing the greatest downside exposure, according to the report.

The report noted that Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand would be the most exposed under a downside scenario because of their “capital-flow sensitivities, energy dependence, political uncertainty, and weaker structural momentum.”

Under more favorable global conditions, the Philippines could also capture less upside than Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam, which are better positioned to benefit from their roles in capital intermediation and global manufacturing supply chains.

“Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines see more limited benefit, as persistent structural constraints limit their ability to translate an improved external environment into stronger growth,” the report said.

The Philippines’ favorable demographics, steady remittance inflows, and consumption-led economic model provide some insulation from disruptions to global trade, it added.

However, it warned that the country’s dependence on imported energy, weaknesses in policy implementation and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven disruption to the outsourcing industry could prevent the economy from reaching its full potential.

“Dependence on imported energy quickly turns external price shocks into household inflation, while weak policy implementation hinders the conversion of investment commitment into actual deployment,” the report said.

The report also pointed to longer-term risks from AI-driven automation to the country’s business process outsourcing industry.

“Without stronger energy security and governance consistency, growth could be capped below the Philippines’ potential,” it said.

The report said that one of the Philippines’ immediate challenges is managing the transition to AI.

“The next few years will be critical; the Philippines must move into higher-value services while sustaining reform momentum through its next leadership transition,” it said.

The country also needs to strengthen its energy system, as gains in Philippine technology services have been constrained partly by limitations in the power grid.

Across Southeast Asia, the report said growth over the next decade will increasingly depend on stronger institutions, more reliable energy systems and the ability to use AI to raise productivity.

It said grid capacity and reliability will be increasingly important in determining whether economies can expand their industrial bases and support power-intensive AI infrastructure.

The Philippines has already fallen short of the report’s earlier growth expectations. From 2024 to 2025, the economy grew by an average of 5.1%, compared with the 6.1% average assumed in their previous 2024-2034 forecast.

“The Philippines saw growth impeded by weaker investment and public sector execution,” the report said. — Justine Irish D. Tabile

In a report on Wednesday, Chinabank Research said the National Government’s (NG) proposed sin taxes, if implemented, could stoke inflation to as fast as 4.5% next year.

“The proposal in its current form could add as much as 0.3 ppt (percentage point) to headline inflation in 2027, assuming it is passed this year and implemented at the start of 2027,” it said. “Including potential second-round effects, the impact could reach around 0.6 ppt.”

Chinabank said it expects inflation to average 3.9% in 2027.

“If fully passed on to consumers, the proposed tax increases could push headline inflation above the BSP’s upper target, reaching around 4.2% from first-round effects and up to 4.5% once second-round effects are included,” it said.

This means inflation could blow past the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 4% ceiling next year. The BSP sees inflation breaching its 3% target over the next three years, at 6.1% this year, 5.4% in 2027, and 3.3% in 2028.

The Department of Finance (DoF) wants Congress to approve the Promoting Growth, Revenue, and Equity towards Socio-economic Sustainability (ProGRESS) bill, which includes a revision of income tax exemption thresholds and imposition of higher or new sin taxes.

Under the current proposal, the excise tax on beverages with caloric or noncaloric sweeteners would more than triple to P20 per liter from P6, while the levy on beverages using high-fructose corn syrup would climb to P40 per liter from P1.

The package also introduces a higher levy on beverages using high-fructose corn syrup worth P40 per liter from P12.

The DoF likewise seeks to remove the excise tax exemption on ice cream, sorbets, ice lollies, and frozen yogurt and replace it with a P20-per-liter levy. This would result in a 9% price increase for edible ices.

For distilled spirits, the excise tax could rise to P157.21 per proof liter from P74.16, with the DoF proposing to tax premixed alcoholic beverages or alcopops as well. This means alcoholic beverages will be 20% costlier once the measure is enacted.

The DoF likewise wants to put a unified P72.93 excise tax rate per milliliter of salt nicotine, per two milliliters of freebase nicotine and per pack of 20 heated tobacco products, which would drive tobacco prices up by 3%.

“Although the measures could advance public health objectives by discouraging consumption of harmful products, higher excise taxes would likely be passed on to consumers, as observed following the Sin Tax Reform Law of 2012 and the TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) law of 2017,” Chinabank said.

“Nevertheless, the inflationary impact should be relatively contained and largely concentrated in the affected product categories, with limited knock-on effects compared with broad-based shocks such as higher oil, electricity, or rice prices,” it added.

Chinabank said the DoF proposal also includes new taxes on automobiles and plastics, but this is expected to have limited direct impact given their smaller weights in the consumer price index (CPI) basket and the potential for consumers to shift to less-taxed alternatives.

OIL PRESSURES

Meanwhile, Japanese financial giant Nomura said Philippine inflation may heat up faster than earlier expected as renewed escalation of the Middle East war stokes oil prices, fueling second-order effects.

In a report dated Sept. 15, Nomura raised its inflation estimates to 5.8% from 5.1% for this year and to 4% from 3.9% for 2027.

“We now forecast average headline CPI inflation and core inflation in 2026 at a higher 5.8% (was 5.1%) and 4% (was 3.9%), respectively, due to our oil price assumption,” Nomura research analysts Euben Paracuelles and Nabila Amani said. “We also expect more persistent second-round effects from higher energy prices.”

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, cooled for a second month in a row as it settled at 4.1% in August from 4.2% in July.

According to the Nomura analysts, this was largely due to easing pressures from recreational services and education.

“However, items sensitive to high energy costs are still adjusting higher, including personal care and other services,” Mr. Paracuelles and Ms. Amani added.

They noted this may warrant a fourth straight rate hike by the BSP, with potential further tightening as volatile oil prices and the “Super El Niño” add pressures.

“We reiterate our forecast for BSP to hike by another 25 bps (basis points) in October, but we continue to flag some risks it could deliver more thereafter,” Mr. Paracuelles and Ms. Amani said.

“We believe BSP remains concerned about rising core inflation and emerging upside risks due (to) a combination of still-high uncertainty over oil prices and prospects of a strong El Niño,” they added.

This week, retail pump prices in Metro Manila breached the P100 handle, after oil firms raised gasoline by as much as P5.68 per liter, diesel by P4.31 per liter, and kerosene by P4.62 per liter.

The BSP said inflation will likely peak in the fourth quarter this year as the impact of the Super El Niño feeds into food prices, with risks also looming from volatile oil prices and the minimum wage hike.

Last month, the Monetary Board tightened for a third straight meeting as it sought to preemptively contain inflation risks. It raised its key policy rate by 25 bps to an over one-year high of 5%, bringing its cumulative hikes to 75 bps since it first tightened in April.

BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. has left the door open for more hikes as needed to bring inflation closer to their 3% target, with their projected growth recovery providing them more wiggle room.

At the same time, Nomura kept its Philippine growth forecasts at 3.8% for 2026 and 5.6% for 2027, citing low base effects and the government’s catch-up spending that is expected to boost the economy in the latter half of the year.

“Concerns over politics, however, will likely linger, as the impeachment trial of VP (Vice-President) Sara Duterte continues,” Mr. Paracuelles and Ms. Amani added.

Nomura’s growth estimates fall within the government’s 3.5%-4.5% target for this year, and 5%-6% target for next year.

According to the BSP, fiscal measures may propel the economy in the fourth quarter, with a full recovery expected by 2027. It likewise noted that the country’s medium-term economic fundamentals remain solid.

Mr. Paracuelles and Ms. Amani said the central bank will likely remain measured in tightening monetary policy even as it remains vigilant about inflation risks.

The Monetary Board is scheduled to hold two more policy reviews this year on Oct. 22 and Dec. 17. — Katherine K. Chan

THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT has canceled its planned issuance of new fixed-rate Treasury notes (FXTN) this month as borrowing costs surged and the peso further weakened.

“Please be advised that the issuance of the five-year FXTN, as indicated in the schedule of Treasury bills and Treasury bonds issuances for the third quarter of 2026, is hereby cancelled,” the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said in a memorandum dated Sept. 15.

The BTr was initially scheduled to auction the new five-year FXTN on Sept. 22, while issuance was set for Sept. 24.

“(The cancellation) likely reflects Treasury’s decision to avoid locking in borrowing at elevated yields amid inflation, peso, and geopolitical pressures,” Philippine Institute for Development Studies Senior Research Fellow John Paolo R. Rivera said in a Viber message.

The local unit touched a new record intraday low of P62.925 against the dollar on Sept. 15, while its record low close was at P62.86 on Sept. 14.

On Wednesday, the currency strengthened by 9.6 centavos to close the session at P62.739 versus the greenback from its P62.835 finish on Tuesday.

In August, headline inflation eased to a five-month low of 6.1% from 6.2% in July amid lower food and utility prices. However, it remained above the central bank’s 3% target for a sixth straight month, bringing the year-to-date average inflation to 5.2%.

Mr. Rivera noted the government will likely adjust the timing, tenor, and mix of its borrowings while waiting for better market conditions.

“This does not mean RTB (retail Treasury bonds) will also be canceled, since retail bonds have different demand dynamics. Decision will ultimately depend on pricing and investor appetite,” he said.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said elevated Treasury yields make it more expensive for the government to borrow long term.

In a Viber message, Mr. Ricafort said the BTr can resort to issuing more T-bills and cash management bills (CMB) to satisfy demand for short-term borrowings.

The BTr revived its CMB offerings in June for the first time since the pandemic to help manage short-term liquidity needs amid elevated rates.

A trader said that the BTr will have to replace the jumbo issuance amid weak demand for longer-dated tenors. “As I mentioned before, their choice is to concentrate borrowing on shorter tenors.”

“It seems the five-year jumbo issuance is not appealing given the economic backdrop and external developments… Investors are naturally not comfortable investing in longer-term assets in anticipation of higher yields,” the trader said in a text message.

The trader said the government has been fulfilling its borrowing requirements mostly via short-term debt or T-bills.

Latest BTr data showed total gross borrowings rose by 20.2% to P2.113 trillion at end-July.

Of this, 73.27% or P1.548 trillion was domestic debt. It consisted of P1.157 trillion in fixed-rate Treasury bonds and P390.901 billion in net Treasury bills.

With the lack of appetite for a five-year paper, the trader said demand is unlikely to reach the government’s intended target for the issuance.

The government last issued fresh FXTN in February, where it raised an initial P235 billion from 10-year debt at its rate-setting auction.

The BTr wants to raise up to P380 billion from the domestic market this month — P250 billion via T-bills and P130 billion through T-bonds.

The government borrows from local and foreign sources to help fund its budget deficit, which is capped at P1.659 trillion or 5.4% of gross domestic product this year.

THE Philippines faces heightened economic risks from a potentially severe El Niño as a prolonged drought threatens agricultural production, food security, as well as water and energy supplies at a time when the government and households are still grappling with other external pressures.

Shombi Sharp, deputy executive secretary at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), said the Philippines is considered an El Niño hotspot, making it particularly vulnerable to prolonged dry conditions and drought.

“The history, unfortunately, demonstrates that the Philippines does face extremely high risk and vulnerability,” Mr. Sharp told BusinessWorld in an interview.

The strong El Niño episode in 2023-2024 inflicted P57.78 billion in agricultural losses, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Mr. Sharp said the current El Niño could become among the strongest on record and potentially persist into 2027, citing forecasts from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

“This is very, very concerning,” Mr. Sharp said. “I think it’s quite rare that we’ve had the data, the science looking so certain that an El Niño event would be extremely strong, potentially among the strongest on record, if not the strongest.”

The WMO said its forecasts indicate a near 100% likelihood that El Niño, a periodic warming of sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific, would persist through February 2027.

A very strong El Niño can significantly affect rainfall and temperature patterns around the world, as well as drive extreme weather, such as typhoons and droughts.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) earlier this month said the “Super El Niño” phenomenon is likely to persist until the first half of 2027 and projected to cause drought conditions in Camarines Sur and dry conditions and dry spells in 61 provinces.

Mr. Sharp said the impact on Philippine growth is difficult to quantify because it will depend on the severity and duration of El Niño and how early the government, businesses and communities respond.

He said El Niño could add to pressures already coming from geopolitical conflicts and supply chain disruptions.

“Conflict in the Middle East has disrupted supply chains. In the Philippines, for example, the economy relies a lot on remittances coming from overseas workers,” he said.

“The Gulf countries, which are an important source of remittances, have been negatively impacted by recent conflicts,” he added.

The Philippines could also be more exposed because of its reliance on food imports, particularly if drought reduces domestic production.

“Anything that puts pressure on domestic production obviously is going to create a situation where there are overlapping pressures and fiscal tightness,” Mr. Sharp said.

He said the government could limit the damage by acting early on weather forecasts, especially in agriculture, social protection, and water and energy management.

For agriculture, authorities and farmers could adjust planting calendars, expand the use of drought-resistant crops, and improve efficiency in the use of water and energy.

“So, basically food, water, energy. That’s going to be a big one,” he said.

The government should also strengthen social protection and safety nets for households most vulnerable to drought, including nutrition support and school feeding programs, Mr. Sharp said.

He noted that households already facing poverty and food insecurity would be among those most vulnerable to drought.

Mr. Sharp also called for more investment in climate adaptation, including disaster-resilient infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and climate-smart technologies.

“Investing in adaptation, let’s say resilience to climate, has to be a top priority for all the countries… especially this region and Southeast Asia,” he said.

Mr. Sharp said every dollar spent on preparedness and resilience could generate about $15 in broader economic returns, while investments in early-warning systems can significantly reduce both financial losses and loss of life.

Still, he said the Philippines is better prepared for El Niño than in the past, citing improvements in weather monitoring, forecasting and early-warning systems.

“The Philippines is… one of the first countries in the region to conceptualize and put into place these anticipatory initiatives,” he said.

He described the Philippines as a regional leader in some areas of climate data, forecasting and early warning, but said further investments are still needed.

ESCAP has also been working with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on drought preparedness.

Together with the ASEAN Secretariat, it developed the Ready for the Dry Years report, which examines the impact of prolonged droughts in Southeast Asia and measures that governments can take to build buffers against them.

World Bank Senior Nutrition Advisor Cecilia Santos-Acuin said the cost of poor nutrition goes beyond individual health, affecting productivity, human capital and the country’s long-term economic development.

“Malnutrition alone costs us about $8.5 billion, or 3% of our GDP per year,” Ms. Santos-Acuin said during the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines’ (ECCP) fifth annual Nutrition Forum on Wednesday.

Poor nutrition can affect an individual’s psychological and mental capacity, which in turn affects productivity and the ability to contribute to communities and the economy, she said.

The World Bank estimates that a package of nutrition interventions would cost about $20 per mother, infant and child. For the Philippines, the investment would amount to about $1.5 billion and could generate around $35 billion in economic benefits, Ms. Santos-Acuin said.

“It’s a very good return by any measure,” she said.

Department of Education (DepEd) Director IV Miguel Angelo Mantaring said the economic implications of malnutrition are also reflected in schools, where poor nutrition can affect attendance, participation and readiness to learn.

“You cannot teach around hunger,” Mr. Mantaring said.

He said children who come to school hungry, frequently ill or nutritionally compromised do not have the same opportunity to benefit from instruction and education reforms.

“Nutrition does not teach a child how to read. A teacher does that. The learning system does that, but nutrition can remove some of the physical barriers preventing the child from benefiting fully from what the teacher is doing,” Mr. Mantaring said.

DepEd is expanding its school-based feeding program to about 4.6 million learners in school year 2026–2027, including around 1.5 million kindergarten learners and 1.8 million Grade 1 learners who will receive daily feeding.

“We are progressively expanding universal feeding in the earliest grades. So starting this school year, this means approximately 1.5 million kindergarten learners and 1.8 million grade 1 learners are benefiting from daily feeding,” Mr. Mantaring said.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) OIC Director General Franklin Anthony M. Tabaquin said nutrition also requires regulations that protect consumers while ensuring access to safe and affordable products.

“Safety and affordability should not be treated as opposing goals,” Mr. Tabaquin said.

He called for science-based and risk-based regulation, saying requirements should be proportionate to actual risks and processes should be simplified where this can be done without compromising safety, quality or consumer protection.

“Better nutrition is too important and too complex to be the responsibility of one agency or one sector alone,” he said.

Ms. Santos-Acuin said the country also needs to address fragmentation in the delivery of nutrition interventions.

“Most of the time, the problem is not that we do not know what the interventions are or we do not have it in our programs. It’s because our delivery of the interventions is very fragmented,” she said.

The World Bank, together with the Philippine government, has been implementing a Philippine multisectoral nutrition project anchored on the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition.

The project combines national and local government interventions with early childhood development and water, sanitation and hygiene programs.

Participating communities recorded a 92% exclusive breastfeeding rate, compared with 60% in the National Nutrition Survey, while antenatal care reached 82%, Ms. Santos-Acuin said.

The project also recorded 23% minimum dietary adequacy, compared with a 14% national average at the time the data were collected.

Ms. Santos-Acuin said coordinated interventions can help shift communities from a cycle of poor nutrition toward better health, productivity and economic participation. — Kaizzer Angela Marie V. Manuba

ELEVATED BOND YIELDS could put further pressure on the national budget by raising government borrowing costs and interest payments just as the administration seeks to ramp up spending to support the Philippine economy.

“The Philippines is quite exposed to interest rate movements in advanced economies,” Marco Antonio C. Agonia, an economist at the University of Asia and the Pacific, said in an e-mail.

“Local bond yields have already trended higher due to upside inflation risks from the Middle East war and potential agricultural damage moving forward. Adding in elevated advanced economy yields to the mix adds more upside pressure on local bonds,” he added.

Yields on mid- to long-term Philippine government securities remained above 7% in the secondary market on Friday, compared with around 5.4%-6.5% on Feb. 27, a day before the Iran war broke out.

Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield climbed to around 4.97% on Friday from 3.97% on Feb. 27.

Mr. Agonia’s comments come after International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned that rising bond yields and ballooning debt in advanced economies could undo progress made by developing and low-income countries in managing their debt burdens.

Ms. Georgieva said higher borrowing costs in advanced economies could spill over to developing countries and make it more expensive for them to service their debt.

Mr. Agonia said Philippine financial market participants would seek to maintain a spread between US Treasuries and domestic bonds, putting upward pressure on yields for both foreign-denominated and peso-denominated government debt.

“This framework applies to both foreign-denominated bonds and local currency ones, threatening to enlarge interest payments on NG’s (National Government) budget,” he said.

The government has proposed a P7.2-trillion national budget for 2027, equivalent to 21.7% of gross domestic product (GDP). If approved, next year’s budget would be 6% higher than this year’s P6.79-trillion spending plan.

To finance its spending requirements, the NG plans to borrow P3.3 trillion in 2027, of which 72% will come from domestic sources and 28% from foreign creditors. This is 20.9% higher than this year’s P2.734-trillion program.

The government programmed P1.11 trillion for interest payments in 2027, up 11.9% from P995.6 billion this year. This would account for around 15.5% of the proposed P7.2-trillion budget.

China Banking Corp. Chief Economist Domini S. Velasquez said rising global bond yields reflect concerns over higher debt burdens, while risk-off sentiment following the war in Iran has added pressure through higher risk premiums and inflation.

“In the Philippines, higher inflation and the BSP’s (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) higher policy rate, together with the possibility of further hikes if needed, have also kept yields elevated,” she said in a Viber message.

Ms. Velasquez said fiscal consolidation remains on track, although at a slower pace than initially planned, resulting in higher borrowing requirements and interest payments.

“That said, the Philippines remains well below the debt service burden seen in the early 2000s, when interest payments accounted for roughly a quarter to a third of the national budget,” she said.

She said the share fell steadily to below 10% in the late 2010s but has risen again in recent years.

“This is something we need to watch, particularly if borrowing costs remain elevated,” Ms. Velasquez said.

Mr. Agonia said higher yields in the secondary market could also push up rates sought by investors at government securities auctions.

“NG may have to accept higher debt yields, especially as it looks to pump-prime the economy through infrastructure spending in the coming quarters,” he said.

“We usually see a string of partially awarded auctions and/or no winning bids for some tenors when debt market participants’ yield expectations rise.”

Persistently elevated borrowing costs could also make it more difficult for the government to refinance maturing obligations at cheaper rates, he added.

“Persistently elevated yields may also raise rollover risks, with NG potentially unable to retire higher-yielding debt for lower-yielding ones when market conditions are expected to improve,” Mr. Agonia said.

The Philippines’ transition to upper-middle income country (UMIC) status could likewise affect its access to cheaper financing.

“The country’s ascension to UMIC status may also limit the availability of lower-yielding, concessional financing agreements moving forward,” he said.

FISCAL CHALLENGE
At the same time, Mr. Agonia said elevated borrowing costs could complicate the government’s efforts to improve its fiscal position while supporting economic growth.

“NG is caught between a rock and a hard place in improving its fiscal position. It needs healthy economic growth to raise tax revenues but also needs to spend more because of tepid growth figures,” he said.

Data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that the fiscal deficit widened by 13.85% to P893.1 billion in the first seven months from P784.4 billion in the same period a year earlier. This was equivalent to 53.84% of the upwardly revised P1.659-trillion full-year ceiling.

Meanwhile, the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 66% at the end of the second quarter, the highest in 22 years or since the 71.6% recorded at end-2004. It also exceeded the government’s 64.9% debt-to-GDP target for 2026, which assumes GDP growth of 3.5% and nominal GDP of P30.45 trillion.

NG outstanding debt rose to a fresh high of P19.39 trillion at end-July, up 1.7% from P19.07 trillion at end-June.

However, Mr. Agonia said there is still room for the government to improve revenue collection efficiency, noting that the Philippines’ tax effort, or tax revenues as a share of gross domestic product, remains below Asia-Pacific standards.

He also said the government should ensure that additional spending generates stronger economic returns.

“Spending must now also be deliberate and impactful, with projects chosen to maximize fiscal multipliers, and not by how fast agencies can spend their budgets,” Mr. Agonia said.

Despite higher borrowing costs, Ms. Velasquez expects fiscal consolidation to continue over the medium term, “bringing both the fiscal deficit and debt-to-GDP ratio lower.”

For 2027, the government projects the fiscal deficit at P1.695 trillion, equivalent to 5.1% of GDP, while the debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to ease slightly to 64.8%, assuming 5% economic growth.

THE FINANCIAL Stability Coordination Council (FSCC) is pursuing preemptive actions to cushion the Philippine financial system against vulnerabilities and shocks emerging from global risks. 

In a statement following its latest executive committee meeting held earlier this month, the interagency body noted the financial system remains resilient even as uncertainties tied to the Middle East war and volatile global markets persist.

“Global risks remain elevated, with geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and volatile financial markets,” FSCC Chairman and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. said. “Nonetheless, our financial system remains well-positioned to absorb shocks.”

Still, the council said it is implementing tighter preemptive monitoring of the financial system and the developments surrounding it to mitigate potential threats and ensure its continued stability. 

“At the same time, the FSCC is taking steps to further boost its ability to identify emerging vulnerabilities early and increase the financial system’s capacity to manage potential shocks,” it said.

Among the measures being pursued include stricter oversight of nonbank financial intermediaries to promote their sustainable growth, along with enhanced evaluation of liquidity, leverage, concentration, interconnectedness, and the linkages among banks, nonbank intermediaries, corporates, and financial markets.

The council is likewise streamlining its data collection and information sharing within its network.

Meanwhile, results of the FSCC’s latest Survey of Salient Risks showed that respondents continue to see threats to the financial system from geopolitical tensions, cyberattacks, and global supply-chain disruptions.

These risks, according to the respondents, should prompt close monitoring.

The Survey of Salient Risks, conducted annually by the FSCC, is designed to gather the outlook of BSP-supervised institutions, other financial institutions, industry and market players, and the academe on the risks weighing on the financial system over the near (next one to two years) and medium (three to six years) terms. 

SOUND FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Still, the FSCC noted that financial institutions hold strong capital and liquidity positions, with their prudent risk management serving as an additional buffer against looming shocks. 

“These strengths enable financial institutions to continue lending to households and businesses,” it added.

In the private sector, continued household consumption and businesses’ financing needs have helped lending grow steadily, the council noted.

Domestic demand remains fueled by sustained consumer lending, according to the FSCC.

Based on latest data from the central bank, universal and commercial banks extended P2.062 trillion in consumer loans as of July, 17.1% higher than the P1.761 trillion logged a year earlier.

On the other hand, loans for residents’ production activities went up by 9.8% year on year to P12.624 trillion from P11.497 trillion. This accounted for the bulk of big banks’ total outstanding loans to residents during the period.

Meanwhile, the council also noted that firms’ investment and working-capital needs continue to boost corporate borrowings, with the real estate sector still accounting for most of lenders’ loan exposure. 

However, Philippine banks and trust entities’ exposure to the property sector plunged to its weakest in nearly seven years in the second quarter as tighter economic conditions strained market sentiment. 

BSP data showed the industry’s real estate exposure ratio fell to 18.72% as of end-June from 19.07% in the first quarter and 19.61% a year ago. This was the lowest ratio since the 18.65% as of end-December 2018.

“Overall asset quality, however, remains stable,” the FSCC said.

Nonperforming loans (NPLs), or those unpaid for at least 90 days after the due date, rose to P585.081 billion in July from P535.448 billion a year ago.

This brought banks’ latest gross NPL ratio to a two-month high of 3.35%, higher than 3.29% in June but lower than 3.4% in the same month last year.

In its latest Financial Stability Report released in June, the FSCC warned that risk-off sentiment due to uncertainties arising from the Middle East war may take a toll on the financial system, with risks increasing as the conflict drags on.

However, it reaffirmed that banks’ direct financial exposure to the conflict remains limited and that overall risks to the financial system are still manageable.

“The Council stressed that early identification of risks supports stronger preparedness,” the FSCC said. “It allows financial authorities and market participants to improve safeguards, refine contingency arrangements, and limit the impact of shocks on households, firms, and financial institutions.”

“The FSCC aims to proactively address risks through close monitoring, timely information sharing, and robust coordination among its members,” Mr. Remolona added.

The FSCC is an interagency council composed of the BSP, Department of Finance, Securities and Exchange Commission, Insurance Commission, and Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. It is tasked to monitor and manage systemic risks in the country’s financial system.