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Thursday 2014 Vol.12, 10 No. 40 Vol. 11 No. 65 Saturday,18, December 2015
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FDI outflows, inflows spiked in Sept
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Bïč Bï©ïĄïźïŁïĄ Cï”ïĄïČï„ïłïïĄ
HE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported a very sharp spike in the withdrawal of foreign equity placements in September, totaling $553 million, from withdrawals of only $11 million the previous August.
AMID DISPUTES, CRITICAL PARIS CLIMATE TALKS RUN OVERTIME
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INSIDE
Over 2M Pinoy kids have hazardous jobs
BRIGHT FUTURE Sports BusinessMirror
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| SATURDAY A , DECEMBER 12, 2015 AY mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao
BRIGHT FUTURE Bïč Mï©ï«ï„ BïČï„ïłïźïĄïšïĄïź
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Los Angeles Times
AN ANTONIOâDespite all the chaos thatâs rammed into the Los Angeles Lakers, Jordan Clarkson has remained their steadiest player. He can score, with accuracy no less, and heâs got a determined, make-ithappen mind-set. Heâs also one of the keys to the Lakersâ off-season, a slightly complicated piece of the gigantic cash pie available to them next July. Kobe Bryantâs $25 million will be off their books and Roy Hibbertâs $15.6 million, too. Add the league-wide salarycap increase from $70 million to about $90 million and you have a spending party for a team with only seven players under contract for 2016-2017 at a combined $26.3 million. But Clarkson will get a big raise as a restricted free agent after making $845,000 this season. The possibilities are many because heâs a second-round draft pick who received a two-year contract when the Lakers plucked him out of obscurity with the 46th pick in 2014. Luckily for the Lakers, Clarkson, 23, will be subject to the National Basketball Associationâs (NBA) so-called Gilbert Arenas provision next summer, meaning other teams will be limited in what they can offer. The Arenas provision was created because Golden State was unable to match Washingtonâs offer in 2002 to Arenas, a second-round draft pick whose career was on the rise after only two NBA seasons. Golden State was hamstrung by the salary cap, so Washington was able to pry him away. Teams with enough salary-cap room can give Clarkson a max of $57.8 million over four years, or $34.1 million over three years. Clarkson can sign an offer sheet with only one team, which the Lakers have the option of matching. Or the Lakers could swoop in before he starts talking to other teams and offer a four-year contract up to $88.9 million. That would obviously get a deal done, but would be a lot of money for a promising
player whose primary accomplishment so far was making the NBA all-rookie team. âThe Lakersâ options are open right now,â salary-cap expert Larry Coon said. âThey can either let him try the freeagent market knowing that, at the very worst, some team is going to spring an Arenas contract on him that they wonât mind matching. Or they can offer him a slightly better deal thatâs still better than he can get anywhere else.â Thereâs little doubt the Lakers want Clarkson in their future. Heâs averaging 15.2 points on commendable 47-percent shooting. Bryant, in contrast, is averaging 15.9 points on 30.9-percent shooting. âI think heâs been remarkably consistent,â Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak said of Clarkson in a recent interview. âHe did have to make the adjustment from playing the second half of the year last year with basically a free rein to a team where thereâs more ball-handling guards. That takes away a little bit of what he gave us in the second half of last year. âHaving said that, he worked on his game during the summer, heâs a much better shooter, heâs just as competitive.â Because of the Arenas provision, heâs a virtual lock to be on the Lakers several more years.
Bïč CïĄï© U. OïČï€ï©ïźïĄïČï©ïŻ
Jordan Clarkson will get a big raise as a restricted free agent after making $845,000 this season. The possibilities are many because heâs a second-round draft pick who received a twoyear contract when the Lakers plucked him out of obscurity with the 46th pick in 2014.
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MORE COACH KOBE?
IN a surprise move, Kobe Bryant yielded playing time to the younger players late in a 123-122 overtime loss on Wednesday to Minnesota. It was the right gesture on his part, considering his erratic play this season. The key questionâwill it continue? Bryant seemed to enjoy it. âI did a lot more teaching, coaching them along from the sidelines,â he said. âI played 20 years. Iâm not really tripping about minutes or anything like that.â Bryant has repeatedly said he doesnât want to coach when done, entirely sensible given his legendary impatient demeanor. Just the same, Julius Randle endorsed him. âIf he wanted to, heâd be pretty good at it,â Randle said. âHe was patient [Wednesday]. It was good.â
DURANTT POWERSS OKC VS AATLANTA
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KLAHOMA CITYâKevin Durant had 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in his seventh career triple-double, as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Atlanta Hawks, 107-94, on Thursday. Russell Westbrook had 23 points and 10 assists. It was just the second time both Durant and Westbrook had at least 10 assists in the same game, and the first time it happened in a win. Durant got his final assist on a pass to Westbrook for a three-pointer with 1:14 remaining. Serge Ibaka had a season-high 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who won their third straight. Kent Bazemore scored 22 points and Jeff Teague had 18 for the Hawks, who had won their previous two games. Kyle Korver added 12 and Thabo Sefolosha finished with 11. The Thunder outrebounded the Hawks, 52-34. In Chicago, Pau Gasol scored 24 points as Chicago beat the Clippers, 83-80, to end a threegame losing streak. The Bulls caught a big break midway through the third quarter, when Clippers All-Star Blake Griffin was ejected for a hard foul against Taj Gibson, and they came away with the win after blowing a 16-point lead. Jimmy Butler finished with 14 points after pouring in a career-high 36 the previous night against Boston. Derrick Rose scored all of his 11 points in the second half, and Gibson finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Griffin led the Clippers with 18 points. Chris Paul scored 12 but missed the tying three-point attempt, while DeAndre Jordan added 10 points and 14 rebounds. The Clippers hit 10 of 22 three-pointers but came up short after winning three straight and six of seven. Andrea Bargnani scored a season-high 23 points, and Thaddeus Young had 18 points and 11 rebounds, as Brooklyn beat Philadelphia, 100-91. Brooklyn won for the sixth time in its last seven home games. Philadelphia fell to 0-13 on the road. Shane Larkin scored 14 points and Bojan Bogdanovic had 10 for the Nets. Jahlil Okafor had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and TJ McConnell scored 17 points for the 76ers. AP
JORDAN CLARKSON could get a hefty raise in off-season. AP
âVERY ERY COMPLICATEDâ COM M
NOT even Barcelona is off limits for Cristiano Ronaldo. AP
ADRIDâCristiano Ronaldo is really serious about keeping his options open for the future. Not even Barcelona or Manchester Unitedâs rivals in England are off-limits. Ronaldo told the Associated Press (AP) on Thursday that he knows it would be âvery complicatedâ to play for these clubs, but itâs something that the Real Madrid star doesnât rule out either. He said nothing is certain in soccer, so he will not close doors to any leagues or teams, not even Madridâs biggest rival. âItâs a little more difficult, but...,â he said, with a long pause, not dismissing the possibility. âThere are things that you kind of already have an idea, that to play one day for Barcelona would be almost impossible, or to play for another English club other than Manchester, itâs very complicated,â he said. âBut thatâs not 100-percent guaranteed. As I said before, there are no certainties in football.â In his interview with the AP, the Portugal forward made it clear that when itâs time to decide about his future, he will consider all options on the table.
âEverything is open, all leagues,â he said. âI may end my career here with Real Madrid. Iâm just being honest. I donât know whatâs going to happen tomorrow. If I was 75-percent certain, I would say so, it wouldnât be a problem. But I have no idea.â Speaking before the launch of his new product with nutrition partner Herbalife, Ronaldo said he may even decide to be somewhere else other than Europe, and that itâs not impossible for him to be playing in the United Statesâ Major League Soccer. âRight now I donât see myself playing in the American league, but thatâs right now,â he said. âIn two or three years I may think differently.â He said that in the future he may be at a stage of his life in which he might prefer playing in the US, instead of the more traditional European leagues. âThese are always difficult questions to answer because we never know whatâs going to happen tomorrow,â he said. âAnd as a football professional, this is always an unknown, so I prefer to stay in the present. The present is good and Iâm enjoying being at Real Madrid. But in a few years I
donât know how Iâm going to be thinking.â Ronaldo has a contract with Real Madrid until 2018, but there has been widespread speculation about him leaving the Spanish clubâdespite having become its all-time leading scorer. Those rumors gained ground after his brief sideline meeting with Paris Saint-Germain Coach Laurent Blanc in a recent match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, but Ronaldo has been downplaying any immediate move out of Madrid. âWhen itâs closer to ending my contract Iâm going to have to make decisions, whether itâs staying at Real Madrid or going to another club or ending my career in a few years,â the 30-year-old Ronaldo said. âItâs normal. Thatâs why Iâm not worried, because I know that everything has a beginning and everything has an end. Iâm ready for that. Iâm ready to stay at Real Madrid, to leave, to end my career when itâs time. Itâs part of my job.â The Portugal star, voted the best player in the world three times, played six seasons with Manchester United before joining Madrid in 2009. AP
SPORTS
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VER 2 million Filipino children are working under hazardous conditions nationwide, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). In the final results of the latest Survey on Children (SOC), the PSA reported that Filipinos aged
5 to 17 who are in dangerous occupations in the country reached 2.05 million, accounting for 61.9 percent of the total number of working children. SOC data showed that there were 3.3 million working children nationwide. They accounted for 12.4 percent of the estimated CïŻïźïŽï©ïźï”ï„ï€ ïŻïź Aï
2 KOREAS HOLD HIGH-LEVEL TALKS TO EASE ANIMOSITY
STREAKS of light are created, as vehicles move on the right side of the road while the other side halts due to a traffic jam in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Dhaka holds sprawling slums to which millions have fled when seas swallowed their coastal homes. Global losses from flooding in coastal cities are already averaging about $6 billion a year, according to a 2013 study published in the journal Nature. Those losses could rise to $52 billion annually by 2050, it said. AP/A.M. AHAD
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BusinessMirror
World The
B2-1 | Saturday, December 12, 2015 âą Editor: Lyn Resurreccion
HWANG BOOGI (left), South Koreaâs vice minister of unification and the head negotiator for high-level talks with North Korea, shakes hands with his North Korean counterpart Jon Jong Su, before their meeting at the Kaesong Industrial Complex in Kaesong, North Korea, on Friday. KOREA POOL/YONHAP VIA AP
2 Koreas hold high-level talks to ease animosity
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EOUL, South KoreaâNorth and South Korea on Friday held high-level talks at a North Korean border town, a small step meant to improve ties battered by a military standoff in August and decades of acrimony and bloodshed. No major breakthrough was expected at the meeting of viceministerial officials in Kaesong, but analysts see even these relatively low-level talks as meaningful, because they seek to carry out previously agreed reconciliation effortsâsomething the rivals have often failed to do in the past. South Korean officials want to discuss more reunions between aging family members separated by
the 1950-1953 Korean War. Analysts have said cash-strapped North Korea might seek the Southâs commitment to restart joint tours to its scenic Diamond Mountain resort, which were suspended by Seoul in 2008 following the shooting death of a South Korean tourist there by a North Korean soldier. âThere are a lot of issues to discuss between the South and North. [We] will do our best to resolve
them one at a time, step by step,â said Hwang Boogi, South Koreaâs vice minister of unification and the head negotiator for the talks, before leaving for Kaesong. Expectations for Fridayâs meeting dropped last month when both sides in preparatory negotiations settled for a meeting at the vice-ministerial level. This likely ruled out discussions on more important issues. Still, any negotiations between the rivals, which are separated by the worldâs most heavily armed border, should improve upon the situation in August when they threatened each other with war over land mine explosions that maimed two South Korean soldiers. The standoff eased after marathon talks and an agreement on efforts to reduce animosity. Those included a resumption of talks between senior officials and a new round of reunions for war-separated families, which were held in October. Analysts say quick improvements
in ties are unlikely because the rivals remain far apart on major issues, such as Pyongyangâs nuclear weapons ambitions and the broad economic sanctions the South has imposed on the North since 2010, when Seoul blamed a North Korean torpedo for a warship sinking that killed 46 South Koreans. Improving relations with Seoul is a priority for young North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who likely wants tangible diplomatic and economic achievements before a convention of the ruling Workersâ Party in May, said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seoulâs Dongguk University. It is widely expected that Kim will use the congress, the partyâs first since 1980, to announce major state polices and shake up the countryâs political elite to further consolidate his power. The Korean Peninsula remains technically at war, because the Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. AP
Prominent Chinese tycoon missing B
EIJINGâThe Chinese conglomerate that owns Club Med suspended trading of its shares on Friday following a news report that its chairman, one of Chinaâs most prominent business leaders, is missing. Fosun International employees were unable to contact Guo Guangchang beginning at midday on Thursday, the magazine Caixin said on its web site. It cited what it said were messages on social media that Guo was last seen with police at an airport in Shanghai. Guoâs disappearance comes in the midst of a sweeping anticorruption crackdown led by President Xi Jinping in which dozens of executives at stateowned companies have been detained or questioned.
GUO GUANGCHANG attends the opening ceremony of the new Internet bank MYbank in Hangzhou in east Chinaâs Zhejiang province in this photo taken on June 25. CHINATOPIX VIA AP Businesspeople in previous investigations have been held for weeks for questioning with no public notice. Fosun and its pharmaceutical unit
suspended trading of their shares in Hong Kong. They cited the pending release of an announcement with âinside information.â Phone calls to Fosunâs media and investor relations departments werenât answered. Guo, 48, is one of Chinaâs biggest investors abroad. Fosun, which he cofounded in the 1990s, has businesses in real estate, steel, mining and retailing. The Financial Times dubbed him âChinaâs Warren Buffettâ for following the legendary American investorâs approach of using the cash flow from insurance operations to buy other businesses. Fosun won a bidding war this year to take over Club Mediterranee, the French resort operator. Last year it paid âŹ1 billion
($1.1 billion) for Portugalâs biggest insurance company, Caixa Seguros. In 2013 it bought the 60-story tower at 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza in New York City for $725 million. In the United States it owns Meadowbrook Insurance Group Inc. and 20 percent of insurer Ironshore Inc. Guo had denied earlier he was the target of a graft investigation. According to Caixin, a court in Shanghai said in August he had âinappropriate connectionsâ with a former executive at several state companies, Wang Zongnan, who was sentenced to 18 years in jail on charges he misused corporate money. Guo has a net worth of $7.8 billion, according to the Hurun Report, which follows Chinaâs wealthy. AP
BULLET TRAIN, NUCLEAR DEAL TOP AGENDA OF JAPANâS ABE IN INDIA
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EW DELHIâPrime Minister Narendra Modi hopes the visit this weekend by Shinzo Abe will be a major step in transforming India into an economic powerhouse with Japanâs help in building bullet trains, âsmart citiesâ and accessing nuclear technology. India and Japan are set to sign a $15-billion agreement for a high-speed train linking the Indian financial hub of Mumbai with Ahmadabad, the commercial capital of Modiâs home state, Gujarat. The train would cut travel time on the 505-kilometer route from eight hours to two, and would eventually be extended to New Delhi, Indian officials said. For Japan, still smarting from losing out to China over a similar agreement in Indonesia, firming up the Indian deal was crucial. Tokyo has promised technical support to New Delhi for the project, and a large chunk of the financing would be with a low-interest 50-year Japanese loan. The deal would benefit Japanese companies with contracts for manufacturing rail cars, tracks and operating systems. Other major priorities during Prime Minister Abeâs three-day visit include discussions on a civil nuclear agreement, military purchases for Indiaâs armed forces and Japanese aid to upgrade Indiaâs creaking infrastructure. Maritime security and strategic cooperation would also be an important theme of the talks, an Indian official said on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak to the media. As India tries to balance its economic growth with sustainable development, New Delhi is keen to increase its use of nuclear power. India wants Japanese companies to set up nuclear power plants, but there were still some wrinkles to be ironed out, Indian officials said. Analysts said that Japan, which has long been seen as a pacifist nation and a firm supporter of nuclear nonproliferation, will have strong reservations about signing a civil nuclear agreement with India, because New Delhi
has not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. âTokyo will want some kind of commitment from India that it will not conduct a nuclear test. But India will have concerns about its strategic autonomy being curbed if it agrees to conditionalities,â said Lalima Varma, professor of Japanese studies at New Delhiâs Jawaharlal Nehru University. âWhile itâs unlikely a civil nuclear deal will be signed during this visit, the two sides will air their concerns. That could be construed as progress,â she said. In 1998, when India conducted its nuclear tests, Japan imposed economic sanctions and cut off financial aid to India. The sanctions were lifted in 2001 and relations have since improved significantly. India has been trying to upgrade its military equipment and a potential defense agreement to sell US-2 amphibious aircraft to India could turn out to be Japanâs first major military sale after it lifted a postwar ban on the export of defense equipment in 2014. Japanâs navy uses the US-2 aircraft, which can land and take off from the sea, for maritime surveillance and search and rescue operations. The two countries are also likely to sign an agreement allowing the transfer of defense technology and coproduction of arms and military equipment. Abe and Modi are expected to explore ways to boost their surprisingly low trade. Analysts say despite a 15-percent annual rate of increase in two-way trade, India accounts for only 1.2 percent of Japanâs total trade, and Japan for 2 percent of Indiaâs. In contrast, China accounted for 18.3 percent of total Japanese exports in 2014, said Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist for IHS Global Insight. Modi has said that he wants to attract Japanese investment into Indian manufacturing and infrastructure development, including his grand scheme of building around 100 âsmart citiesâ with integrated transport and communications. AP
âBMâ REPORTER WINS SUN LIFE PLUM Sun Life Financial Philippines awarded the winners
Fully integrated Syrian refugee family embraces Christmas spirit in Germany
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WICKAU, GermanyâChristmas carols sound in the medieval square and the scents of hot spiced wine, anise cookies and beeswax candles waft through the air at Zwickauâs traditional Christmas market. The four children of the Habashieh family, Syrian refugees, wander from stand to stand, looking with big eyes at all the mouthwatering delicaciesâfilled with joy that they will be spending their first German Christmas in the warmth of their own home. Only weeks ago, Khawla Kareem,
the matriarch, was so desperate about life in Germany that she said she would rather brave the bombs in Damascus than spend another day in a cramped shelter with no privacy, no school for her children and fear of racist attacks. Today she couldnât be happier. Following months in a succession of squalid asylum centers, German authorities found them an empty apartment where they could live with modest dignity. The Muslim family has joined in the Christmas spirit of their neighbors, decorating the door of their flat with glittery red bells
and tree branches in green and gold. âWeâre fully integrated now,â Reem Habashieh, the familyâs oldest daughter, says with a twinkle in her eye. Her little sister Raghad, 11, even has a toy Christmas calendar like most German kids, where each date is a door that opens to reveal chocolate in the countdown to Christmas eve. The Habashiehsâ journey has been one of hardship and heartbreak: braving choppy Mediterranean waters in a dinghy to Greece; trekking through Balkan cornfields with no water in scorching heat; jumping across barbed wire in fear of Hungarian border
police; paying Romanian smugglers thousands of euros to take them to Berlin in a minibus; spending countless sleepless nights in asylum centers with unspeakably filthy toilets. It all now feels like a bad dream. Now they are living a new German dream which is playing out to the tune of Yuletide cheer. At the Christmas market, thereâs a long line in front of a stand with Dresden yeast bread which looks tempting, with its melted cheese and sour cream topping. But once the children discover it contains tiny bits of baconâdefinitely not halalâ
they opt instead for a vendor selling gingerbread hearts, glazed apples and cotton candy. Yaman, 15, orders a bag of candied almonds in the German he is quickly sponging upâand the children begin munching away at the warm, sugary nuts. Little Raghad goes for a ride on a merry-go-round, beaming as she sits on a yellow elephant, its blue-greenish eyes blinking into the winter evening. Then, giggling and teasing each other, the four children begin to make wishes to Santa Claus. âIf I could make a wish,â says
19-year-old Reem, âIâd really love to go to university soon.â âI wish and pray for peace in Syria,â says 18-year-old Mohammed, taking a drag on his cigarette. Raghadâs wish is the same as countless German 11 year olds: âIâd like a Barbie doll.â These happy mornings, Khawla Kareem gets up before dawn, makes herself a strong Arabic coffee and listens to the tunes of Lebanese star Fairuz, just like she did in Damascusâexplaining that the start to her day would be incomplete without the legendary singerâs voice. AP
WORLD
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in the Second Sinag Financial Literacy Journalism Awards, which honors journalists whose works help in promoting financial literacy among Filipinos toward their financial freedom and a brighter future. In the photo are the three winners in the print category: Raymart Escopel, winner for the Visayas; Kristianne Marie Fusilero, winner for Mindanao; and BUSINESSMIRROR reporter David Cagahastian, winner for Luzon (fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively). With them are Sun Life Philippines President and CEO Riza Mantaring (third from left) and Sun Life Philippines Chief Marketing Officer Mylene Lopa (right). The judges for this yearâs Sinag Awards are lawyer Mike Toledo (left); Salve Duplito (second from left); Tina Colayco (seventh from left); and Maria Ressa (not in photo).
Puregold may cut capex next year S
UPERMARKET operator Puregold Price Club Inc. may allocate a lower capital expenditure (capex) by next year but still expects to grow at double-digit rates, as it tries to saturate the market with its brand of grocery stores. John Marson Hao, the companyâs vice president for investor relations, said the company may set a P2.6-billion capex for 2016, mainly for the organic expansion of Puregold stores and S&R membership shopping. This yearâs capex, on the other hand, is seen ending at P3.4 billion.
âBut this year, we spent P1.5 billion for acquisition cost,âHao said. The said amount was spent for the combined acquisition of the NE Bodega stores and Budgetlane Supermarket. âWe have no budget yet for acquisition cost for next year,â Hao said. The company said it will spend some P1 billion each for 25 new Puregold and two S&R stores for next year, P450 million for 75 Lawson convenience stores and P150 million for its 10 stores of quick-service S&R New York Pizza. By the end of the year, Puregold supermarket will have 257 branches mainly in
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 47.1820
Metro Manila and of Luzon, NE Bodega stores will have nine, Budgetlane eight, Lawson 10 and S&R Membership Shopping 15. For the first nine months of the year, Puregold net income rose 6.5 percent, to P3.2 billion from last yearâs P3 billion. Puregold stores contributed a lionâs share of that income at P2 billion, followed by S&R at P1.17 billion. As of the first three quarters, the company is operating a total of 267 stores, most of these are in Luzon, and only six stores in the Visayas and seven stores in Mindanao. VG Cabuag
IGHïșSTAKES climate talks outside Paris will not end on Friday as planned but will continue at least one more day, as diplomats try to overcome disagreements over howâor even whetherâto share the costs of fighting climate change and shift to clean energy on a global scale. Negotiators from more than 190 countries are trying to do something thatâs never been done: Reach a deal for all countries to reduce man-made carbon emissions and cooperate to adapt
to rising seas and increasingly extreme weather caused by human activity. US Secretary of State John Kerry zipped in and out of negotiation rooms, as delegates broke into smaller groups overnight to iron out their differences. After all-night talks wrapped up at nearly 6 a.m. (0500 GMT), French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he is aiming for a final draft on Saturday. The two-week talks, the culmination of years of United Nations (UN)-led efforts for a long-term climate deal, had been
scheduled to wrap up on Friday. The UN talks often run past deadline, given the complexity and sensitivity of each word in an international agreement. âI will not present the text Friday evening, as I had thought, but Saturday morning,â Fabius said on BFM television. âThere is still work to do.... Things are going in the right direction.â Fabius said he wanted to consult with various negotiating blocs, so that âthis is really a text...that comes from everyone.ââThis represents CïŻïźïŽï©ïźï”ï„ï€ ïŻïź Aï
FILIPINO CONSUL LAUDED AT WORLD CONGRESS The FĂ©dĂ©ration Internationale des Corps et Associations Consulaires a.i.s.b.l. (Ficac)-World Federation of Consuls honored recently Timor Leste Honorary Consul General Lito Jimenez during the 11th World Congress of Consuls held in Istanbul, Turkey. Jimenez was cited for his exemplary work and other meritorious efforts in promoting and strengthening diplomatic relationship between the Philippines and Timor Leste, one of the worldâs youngest nations. Photo shows Jimenez (left) receiving the Ficac Medal of Honor from Aykut Eken, Ficac president and chairman of the 11th World Congress of Consuls. The Ficac-World Federation of Consuls, a global organization composed of honorary consuls and consuls general, organized the annual Ficac World Congress of Consuls. The congress carried the âBridging the Worldâ theme to emphasize the importance to overcome the political, social and economic challenges that countries from around the world face today.
n JAPAN 0.3880 n UK 71.5468 n HK 6.0877 n CHINA 7.3289 n SINGAPORE 33.6222 n AUSTRALIA 34.4721 n EU 51.6218 n SAUDI ARABIA 12.5778
Source: BSP (11 December 2015)