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MANILA, Oct 5, 2023 (AFP) – High food prices in the Philippines have pushed inflation to a five-month peak, officials said Thursday, increasing pressure on the government to stop the country’s neediest going hungry. Farming subsidies and food stamps for the poor are among government efforts to rein in or mitigate price increases, which have dented the popularity of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “The government is committed to providing targeted assistance to affected vulnerable segments […]
FRANKFURT, Germany, Oct 4, 2023 (AFP) – Efforts to bring down inflation will take time, a senior European Central Bank official said Wednesday, warning that the eurozone had yet to fully feel the impact of higher interest rates. “While inflation continues to decline, it is still expected to remain too high for too long,” ECB vice-president Luis de Guindos said at a conference in Cyprus. The ECB last month raised interest rates for a 10th […]
VIENNA, Oct 4, 2023 (AFP) – An OPEC+ panel recommended Wednesday that the oil cartel keep its current output reduction strategy unchanged after heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Russia vowed to maintain their cuts to prop up prices. Oil prices recovered in recent months and approached $100 per barrel last week as top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia have taken millions of barrels off the market. Crude prices have eased in more recent days, however, as […]
By Daniel AVIS WASHINGTON, Oct 3, 2023 (AFP) – Growing geopolitical fragmentation since the invasion of Ukraine has hit commodity markets, threatening to slow the transition to renewable energy as the world looks to combat climate change, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday. The fractures have led to a doubling in new trade restrictions on commodities since 2021, with low-income countries bearing the brunt of the costs, the IMF announced Tuesday. “To achieve net-zero-carbon emission […]
JAKARTA, Oct 3, 2023 (AFP) – Short video app TikTok said it will stop transactions on its app in Indonesia from Wednesday after Southeast Asia’s biggest economy banned direct sales on social media platforms last week to protect millions of small businesses. The new regulation is yet another setback for TikTok, which has faced intense scrutiny in the United States and other nations in recent months over users’ data security and the company’s alleged ties […]
By Frankie TAGGART WASHINGTON, Oct 1, 2023 (AFP) – The US Congress passed an 11th-hour funding bill Saturday to keep federal agencies running for another 45 days and avert a costly government shutdown — although the deal left out aid to war-torn Ukraine requested by President Joe Biden. Three hours before the midnight Saturday deadline, the Senate voted to keep the lights on through mid-November with a resolution that had advanced earlier from the House […]
By Maria DANILOVA WASHINGTON, Sept 30, 2023 (AFP) – Last-ditch moves to prevent a US government shutdown took a dramatic step forward Saturday, as Democrats overwhelmingly backed an eleventh-hour Republican measure to keep federal funding going for 45 days, albeit with a freeze on aid to Ukraine. The stopgap proposal adopted by the House of Representatives with a vote of 335-91 was pitched by Speaker Kevin McCarthy just hours before a midnight shutdown deadline that […]
WASHINGTON, Sept 30, 2023 (AFP) – The United States is heading toward a government shutdown this weekend with no foreseeable way out of a deadlock in Congress over hardline Republican calls for deep spending cuts. The new US fiscal year begins on October 1, but sharp disagreements in the Republican Party over the scale of federal debt has prevented passage of the bills needed to keep the government funded and open. The credit ratings agency […]
WASHINGTON, Sept 30, 2023 (AFP) – The US government on Saturday was hours from shutting down after the far right of the Republican Party scuppered final attempts at a temporary budget agreement, throwing into doubt everything from access to national parks to Washington’s massive support for Ukraine. The closure of all but critical government services, set to start after midnight Saturday (0400 GMT Sunday) if lawmakers fail to reach a deal, would be the first […]
HANOI, Sept 29, 2023 (AFP) – Vietnam’s economy grew 5.3 percent on-year in the third quarter, official data showed Friday, though experts warned it was on course to miss an ambitious year-end target. Loan interest rate reductions, an extension of tax payments and increased public investment had a positive impact, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said. But analysts warn it will be an uphill battle for the clothing, shoes and electronics manufacturing hub to reach […]
JAKARTA, Sept 25, 2023 (AFP) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo said new regulation on social media commerce could be passed as soon as Tuesday, as Jakarta aims to rein in sales on tech platforms it says are harming local businesses. Indonesian users spent more money on TikTok than anywhere else in Southeast Asia over the past year, as the app’s e-commerce arm rapidly grew to gain a substantial regional market share and millions of sellers […]
BANGKOK, Sept 25, 2023 (AFP) – Chinese tourists received a personal welcome from the Thai prime minister Monday as they arrived in Bangkok under a new visa-free scheme the government hopes will give the kingdom’s vital tourism sector a boost. Traditional dancers accompanied a smiling PM Srettha Thavisin as he greeted visitors arriving from Shanghai at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, handing out welcome gifts. “I was shocked by the welcoming ceremony, and I’m very happy. It’s […]
