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BUENOS AIRES - Argentine President Javier Milei said on Thursday he will propose a bill to penalize the central bank from financing the nation's treasury. Milei, speaking in an interview with local news broadcaster TN, said he would look to stop the monetary authority from printing more bills in a bid to rein in inflation, which currently tops 200 percent annually. The libertarian president, who took office in December with a promise of controlling the economy in a country facing spiraling poverty, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) supports his policies. IMF support "The fund is very satisfied with what we're doing," Milei said following a meeting earlier in the day ...

Keep on reading: Argentina president wants central bank penalized for financing treasury

MANILA, Philippines --- A policeman was injured during a gun battle between government troops and suspected New People's Army fighters in Bohol province's Bilar town on Friday, the military said. Army spokesperson Col. Louie Dema-ala told INQUIRER.net in a Viber message that the encounter in Sitio Matin-ao 2, Barangay Campagao, started at 6:45 a.m. and was still ongoing as of this writing. This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.    ...

Keep on reading: Gov’t forces, NPA clash in Bohol town: 1 cop hurt – military

PEORIA, Arizona--- MLB's new uniform reveal hasn't gone very well. Now some of the rampant criticism has moved below the belt. Major League Baseball Players Association deputy executive director Bruce Meyer confirmed on Thursday that the organization is relaying concerns from players to MLB about the new pants, which are somewhat see-through. The complaints --- first reported by ESPN --- are part of broader scorn for the new uniforms, which are designed by Nike and manufactured by Fanatics. "I know everyone hates them," Phillies shortstop Trea Turner said last week. "We all liked what we had. We understand business, but I think everyone wanted to keep it the same way, for the m...

Keep on reading: MLB players miffed at new see-through pants, relaying concerns to league

Dani Alves once said he would "play until I'm 50" if someone threatened his record of trophies won, but his career was brought to a halt in January 2023, when UNAM of Mexico released him after the Brazilian was charged with rape. He was found guilty of raping a young woman at a Barcelona nightclub in December 2022 and was sentenced to four and a half years in prison by a Spanish court on Thursday. Between his debut for Esporte Clube Bahia in Brazil aged 18 in 2001 and his last game for the Pumas in January 2023 aged 39, Alves played almost 1,000 competitive games for club and country, accumulating trophies. READ: Dani Alves found guilty of rape, sentenced to prison "I have th...

Keep on reading: Dani Alves: Record-setting footballer convicted of rape

Cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler says a total of 210,020 student and parent data amounting to 153.76 GB were left unprotected in the Online Voucher Application (OVAP), which was developed by the Philippines' Department of Education as a means for eligible students to seek financial assistance. Free stock photo from Pexels MANILA, Philippines --- A total of 210,020 student and parent records amounting to 153.76 GB were left unprotected in the Online Voucher Application (OVAP).  Cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler said the platform had no password protection, letting anyone with an internet connection access them. Fowler said the database contained Personal Iden...

Keep on reading: Over 200,000 student and parent data exposed in PH education platform

Attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea have delayed cargo and sent shipping costs higher, but soft demand and ample ship availability are muting the impact on inflation, analysts from Moody's Investor Service said on Thursday. Ships carrying everything from furniture and apparel to food and fuel are being diverted away from the nearby Suez Canal trade shortcut to the longer and more expensive route around Africa. Rerouting takes vessels and crew out of danger from drone and missile strikes by Iran-aligned Houthis supporting Palestinians as the Israel-Hamas war rages. Container ships are the No. 1 user of the Europe-Asia Suez Canal route. Most are avoiding the Red Sea in ...

Keep on reading: Red Sea ship attacks not driving inflation, Moody’s says

U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers should delay interest rate cuts by at least another couple more months to see if a recent uptick in inflation signals stalling progress toward price stability or is just a bump in the road, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday. Core consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in January from a month earlier, well above the pace consistent with the Fed's 2 percent annual inflation goal. That, along with a 3.3-percent annualized increase in fourth-quarter GDP and the more than 350,000 jobs added to the U.S. economy in January, "has reinforced my view that we need to verify that the progress on inflation we saw in the last half of 2023 will conti...

Keep on reading: Fed’s Waller sees ‘no rush’ to cut interest rates

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka --- The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization on Thursday set a target to further increase aquaculture production to meet a rising demand for seafood and to fight global hunger and undernourishment. The FAO hopes to see 35 percent growth in the sector by 2030, according to a report adopted at the end of a three-day Asia and Pacific regional conference in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo. Officials said the world's aquaculture production has increased by 54 percent since 2011 and remains one of the fastest growing agricultural producing sectors. READ: We must not take water for granted The new target is part of the FAO's "Blue Transformation" road map, whic...

Keep on reading: FAO targets 35% growth in aquaculture production by 2030

MANILA, Philippines --- The easterlies would bring warm temperatures and cause rain over certain areas but the weather will be generally fair for most of the country this Friday, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa). State weather agency specialist Benison Estareja said during an early morning report that cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms may be expected in Northern Mindanao, Caraga Region, and Davao Region due to the easterlies or warm winds from the Pacific Ocean. The same weather system is also anticipated to bring partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstor...

Keep on reading: Easterlies to bring warm weather, rain in parts of PH – Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines ---Aboitiz Power Corp. has raised its stake in a coal-fired power plant in Mindanao to boost its portfolio without adding new coal capacity to the power grid. In a stock exchange filing on Thursday, AboitizPower said it had signed a share purchase agreement with Essen-based STEAG GmbH to acquire the latter's remaining 15.6-percent equity interest in the 210-megawatt (MW) coal power plant managed by STEAG State Power Inc. This brings AboitizPower's total equity interest in the Misamis Oriental facility to 85 percent. READ: AboitizPower assumes control of Mindanao coal plant operator "With the energization of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVI...

Keep on reading: AboitizPower hikes stake in coal-fired plant

MANILA, Philippines ---An initial public offering (IPO) by Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) could help the two state-run banks better perform their respective mandates by strengthening their balance sheet with fresh capital and improving governance. "An IPO can raise capital from the public markets to strengthen their respective balance sheets," said Calixto Chikiamco, president of Foundation For Economic Freedom, a policy advocacy group. "Being publicly listed will also help in bank governance as the management and board of the banks must answer not only to the government but also to private shareholders," Chikiamco added. RE...

Keep on reading: IPO seen to strengthen LandBank, DBP

LONDON --- British authorities said Friday they had seized 5.7 tons of cocaine from a port in southern England, in what is believed to be the biggest-ever seizure of Class A drugs in the UK. The haul, worth an estimated 450 million pounds ($570 million) based on UK street prices, was discovered on Feb. 8 at Southampton Port, hidden in a container within a shipment of bananas from South America. READ: Cocaine worth P16.5 million seized from a passenger at Naia The National Crime Agency (NCA) said it believes the shipment was headed for the Port of Hamburg in Germany and that it was in touch with international agencies across Europe to identify the criminal networks involved. ...

Keep on reading: UK authorities seize ‘biggest ever’ cocaine shipment

WASHINGTON, United States ---A senior Federal Reserve official said Thursday that the US central bank will likely start cutting interest rates "at some point this year," but warned against the potentially inflationary effect of over-consumption. "If the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back our policy restraint later this year," Fed vice chair Philip Jefferson told an event at the Peterson Institute of International Economics (PIIE) in Washington. The number two man at the US central bank said he still expects growth in spending and production in the US to slow in 2024. "Even so, without a clear understanding of why consumer spe...

Keep on reading: US Fed official warns of inflationary risk of over-consumption

WASHINGTON --- The Biden administration on Thursday cautioned Iran of a "swift and severe" response from the international community if Tehran provided ballistic missiles to Russia. The US warning comes after Reuters reported earlier this week that the Islamic Republic shipped the powerful weapons to Moscow. Speaking at a virtual briefing with reporters, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said Washington has yet to see confirmation that missiles have moved from Iran to Russia. Reuters exclusively reported on Wednesday that Iran has provided Russia with a large number of powerful surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, citing six sources, a move that illustr...

Keep on reading: US warns Iran against providing ballistic missiles to Russia

Nvidia added $277 billion in stock market value on Thursday, Wall Street's largest one-day gain in history after the heavyweight chipmaker's quarterly report beat expectations and reignited a rally fueled by optimism about artificial intelligence. The company's stock soared 16.4 percent to close at $785.38, a record-high close, lifting its market capitalization to $1.96 trillion after its January-quarter report late on Wednesday showed demand for its specialized chips used in AI computing continued to outpace analysts' already-high expectations. The Santa Clara, California-based company's results fed new fuel to a global rally in technology stocks linked to AI, propelling the S...

Keep on reading: Nvidia adds record $277B in stock market value

MANILA, Philippines --- It looked like the state weather agency's earlier prediction that no tropical cyclone would disturb the country this February will become a reality. A week before the month ends, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said it still does not see any tropical cyclone forming or entering the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) until Feb. 29. "Based on our latest animation, we have not monitored any tropical cyclones or low pressure areas and there is also a low chance of a weather disturbance until the end of this month," Pagasa weather expert Benison Estareja said. At the start of the month, Pagasa ...

Keep on reading: Pagasa: Chance of tropical cyclone disturbing PH this Feb still low

NEW YORK/LONDON ---AI chipmaker Nvidia's stunning results sparked a worldwide wave of record highs in equity markets on Thursday, including the first new peak for Japan's Nikkei since 1989, while bond yields mostly rose as economic data kept immediate hopes of interest rate cuts at bay. The benchmark S&P 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wall Street, along with Europe's pan-regional STOXX 600 index and MSCI's all-country world index also hit record highs as Nvidia's shares surged 16.4 percent and lifted artificial intelligence-related chip stocks around the globe. National bourses in Frankfurt and Paris set fresh highs too, while Chinese stocks overnight extende...

Keep on reading: Nvidia fuels global stock records, bond yields rise

At least three in vitro fertilization (IVF) providers in Alabama have halted treatments since the state Supreme Court on Friday said frozen embryos in test tubes should be considered children, casting doubt on future access to the procedure in the state. The ruling by the court, whose elected judges are all Republican, left doctors and patients wondering how to legally store, transport, and use embryos in Alabama. Health advocates said by enshrining the idea of "fetal personhood," the ruling could inspire further restrictions on women's reproductive freedom around the country. In Alabama, would-be parents now have fewer IVF treatment options than they did a week ago, and one st...

Keep on reading: 3 providers halt IVF after Alabama high court rules embryos are children

LONDON/PARIS ---Two of the world's top consumer goods companies, Danone and Nestle, said on Thursday they will slow price increases in 2024 after two years of hikes that prompted many shoppers to seek cheaper alternatives for basic goods like yoghurt and coffee. But Danone, which owns brands including Evian and Badoit waters and Activia yoghurt, warned prices would still rise, citing a need to offset labor costs and shipping prices. Nestle said it is seeing less impact from freight costs than in previous years although there has been some stress from attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. Their comments follow British rival Unilever, the maker of Ben & Jerry's ice cream and...

Keep on reading: Nestle, Danone see price hikes slowing after years of sharp increases

WASHINGTON ---The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting that job growth likely remained solid in February. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 201,000 for the week ended Feb 17, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 218,000 claims for the latest week. Claims are hovering at historically low levels, despite high profile layoffs at the start of the year. Difficulties finding labor during and after the COVID-19 pandemic have generally left employers reluctant to reduce head count. Worker productivity has also increased w...

Keep on reading: US weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fall