Author: malaysiang

ANKARA: Oil prices declined on Friday, pressured by a strong US dollar, following higher-than-expected consumer price inflation data and on fears that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will maintain high rates for longer.

International benchmark Brent crude traded at USD85.02 per barrel at 10.37 a.m. local time (0737 GMT) for a 0.47 percent decrease from the closing price of USD85.42 a barrel in the previous trading session.

The American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at USD80.92 per barrel at the same time, a 0.42 percent fall from the previous session that closed at USD81.26 per barrel.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed on Thursday that the Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures the change in the price of goods sold by manufacturers, increased by 1.6 percent year-on-year in February against market expectations of a 1.1 percent rise.

The latest PPI marked the largest increase since September 2023.

Ahead of the Fed’s meeting on March 20, these figures were released, which raised con
cerns that the Fed would decide to keep interest rates higher for longer.

With support from the latest data, the US dollar index increased by 0.58 percent to 103.36 on Thursday, aiding the fall in oil prices.

The strong dollar is expected to lower demand by making oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Meanwhile, increased demand in the US, the world’s biggest oil consumer, and supply concerns stemming from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and between Russia and Ukraine curtailed price declines.

Geopolitical unrest and the decline in US crude inventories raised global supply concerns, which prompted profit-taking by investors in Friday’s early trade and increased pressure on prices.

Source: Philippines News Agency

CAIRO: During a meeting with mediators, Palestine’s Hamas movement unveiled its vision of a future ceasefire deal with Israel, Hamas spokesman Izzat al-Rishq wrote on his Telegram channel.

“Today, the movement presented to mediators its vision of a future agreement based on the following principles: an end to the aggression against our people in Gaza, delivery of humanitarian aid there, the return of displaced persons to their home regions and the withdrawal of Israeli military from the enclave,” Hamas said.

The spokesman added that the movement viewed these preconditions as “vital for reaching an agreement.”

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly.

Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardm
ents of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.

In late November 2023, Hamas announced an agreement with Israel, which was brokered by Egypt and Qatar, on a four-day humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, which took effect on November 24.

The sides extended the ceasefire several times but on the morning of December 1, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that Hamas had violated the truce in Gaza and opened fire on Israeli territory, thus prompting the IDF to resume combat operations in the Gaza Strip.

On March 12, the Al Arabiya television channel reported, citing a source in the Hamas leadership, that Hamas had accepted a US-proposed ceasefire plan for the Gaza Strip.

According to the source, the US initiative envisages the cessation of hostilities in the enclave and gradual return of displaced persons in exchange for release of some hostages, captured by radicals during their October 2023 a
ttack on Israel.

The Hamas delegation is expected to arrive in Cairo within days to discuss details of the deal, the source said. On the following day, the movement officially refuted this information.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: Both Philippine shares and the peso closed the week with losses following the release of the producer price index (PPI) in the United States.

On Friday, the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended its three-day rally as it dropped 2.09 percent to 6,822.32.

All Shares were lower by 1.39 points to 3,560.46.

Philstocks Financial, Inc. assistant research manager Claire Alviar attributed the shedding in the bourse to higher-than-expected US’ February PPI inflation.

“This weighed on sentiment as the Federal Reserve’s decision to ease monetary policy this year may not come any sooner,” she said.

Only Mining and Oil closed in the positive territory with 0.37 percent increase on the last day of trading this week.

The net market value turnover surged to PHP18.79 billion driven by the impact of the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) rebalancing, Alviar added.

Decliners outnumbered advancers at 113 to 92, with 38 left unchanged.

Meanwhile, the peso closed weak at 55.53 to a dollar from 55.40 on Th
ursday.

It already opened the day at 55.50 from 55.37 to the greenback.

The foreign exchange rate traded between 55.49 and 55.60, with a weighted average rate of 55.55 to a US dollar.

Trade volume jumped to USD1.2 billion from USD868.8 million the previous day.

Source: Philippines News Agency

TEHRAN: Iran’s embassy in Pakistan called on all countries, especially Islamic states to fight against Islamophobia, religious violence, and terrorism.

Regarding March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, the Iranian Embassy in Pakistan emphasized the need to take coordinated measures at the national, regional, and international levels, especially in Islamic countries to deal with the phenomenon of Islamophobia while condemning all forms of religious violence, fanaticism, and Islamophobia.

The statement said that the Zionist and colonialist conspiracy through provocative actions such as Quran burning, insulting the Islam Prophet, and openly insulting the holy things, beliefs, and religious values of one and a half billion people under the pretext of “freedom of” expression” has become a normal subject.

This dangerous phenomenon causes the escalation of tension, spreading hatred, Islamophobia, and violence against Muslims and is considered a threat to international peace and security and huma
n rights and a threat to peaceful relations between nations and followers of divine religions and peaceful coexistence, the statement said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

DAVAO CITY: The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Davao Region (DSWD-11) has launched the Program SOLo (Strengthening Opportunities for Lone Parents) in Davao del Norte province, with Panabo City as the pilot area for Mindanao.

In a statement released Friday, DSWD-11 said the launch took place Thursday through a ceremonial signing of the memorandum of agreement between the city government of Panabo and the agency.

Pioneering the initiative in Mindanao, the village of New Visayas in Panabo City has taken the challenge of spearheading the Program SOLo, wherein 30 beneficiaries have been carefully selected based on the Listahanan 3 database.

To ensure the seamless execution of the program, key stakeholders, including DSWD-11 and the Panabo government, will undergo comprehensive training in Cebu City from March 18 to 23, along with other pilot implementers from Luzon and Visayas.

“This preparation phase aims to equip implementers with the necessary skills and knowledge for the successful impleme
ntation of Program SOLo,” DSWD-11 added.

As per DSWD’s Listahanan 3 conducted by the National Household Targeting Office (NHTO), the Philippines has identified a staggering 583,787 individuals as solo parents. Of the number, 422,486 are women, and 161,301 are men.

The program’s primary objective is to empower single-parent households, enabling them to lead resilient and comfortable lives in alignment with the national development agenda.

Source: Philippines News Agency

CEBU CITY: About 5,000 grade-schoolers in this capital city are now enjoying a specialized tutoring session with college students tapped to teach struggling and non-reading learners, a regional social welfare official said Thursday.

Shalaine Marie Lucero, regional director of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Central Visayas, said 584 college students from the Cebu Normal University (CNU), a premier teaching institution in the Visayas, will assist 4,865 learners from 67 public elementary schools here.

Under the Tara, BASA! Tutoring Program of the national government, Lucero said 487 college students of CNU have been tapped to serve as tutors and youth development workers (YDWs) while 97 of them are now doing the ‘Nanay-Tatay’ sessions for the learners’ parents.

The tutors and YDWs are provided educational support through the cash-for-work mechanism, in exchange for their service in conducting learning and reading sessions.

These tutors will assist the struggling and non-reader elemen
tary learners with the 20-day after-school reading sessions, and the YDWs will conduct the parenting sessions with parents or guardians on the care and protection of children and guide them to be the first teachers at home or as Nanay-Tatay teachers.

Meanwhile, the 4,865 learners from 67 public elementary schools were pre-identified during the comprehensive rapid literacy assessment (CRLA) of the Department of Education (DepEd) in June last year.

The program is a holistic social welfare and development model that creates a learning ecosystem where college students from low-income families will be capacitated and deployed as tutors and YDWs in their community.

DSWD, DepEd, state colleges and universities, and local government units partnered in identifying struggling and non-reading learners as an effect of the challenges in adopting non-physical learning modalities during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

The 20-day tutoring session program here started on Friday last week in Cebu City aft
er it was launched and pilot-tested in the National Capital Region in August 2023 which, after a good outcome, was extended to seven other areas across the country.

Source: Philippines News Agency

LAOAG CITY: Farmers in Ilocos Norte have received agricultural supplies worth over PHP15.1 million from the provincial government to mitigate the effects of El Niño.

Governor Matthew Joseph Manotoc confirmed this on Friday after he reported that at least 140 units of water pumps and some 37 rolls of irrigation hose have been distributed to 140 farmers associations in the towns of Bacarra, Pasuquin, Vintar, Nueva Era, Pinili, Badoc, Dingras, Currimao, San Nicolas, and Solsona, Batac and this city.

Fuel subsidy vouchers worth PHP3,000 each were also given as irrigation support to 766 recipients in the towns of Piddig, Vintar, Currimao, Burgos, Bangui, and Pagudpud.

The construction of 71 small farm reservoirs in Batac and the towns of Pinili and San Nicolas are likewise complete, ensuring sufficient water supply to a service area of 104 hectares.

To sustain the growth of established vegetable gardens in schools and villages in different towns and cities of Ilocos Norte, a total of 285 units of water harvest
ing facilities were turned over for the benefit of 1,425 farmers and livestock raisers.

In time for the peak dry months, around a hundred farming households in Barangay Espiritu, Dingras can look forward to a stable source of irrigation and potable water supply with the newly constructed spring development worth PHP500,000.

On Jan. 19, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed Executive Order (EO) No. 53 to streamline, reactivate, and reconstitute the old El Niño task forces under EO No. 16 (s. 2001) and Memorandum Order No. 38 (s. 2019).

The task force is in charge of a comprehensive disaster preparedness and rehabilitation plan for El Niño and La Niña to provide ‘systematic, holistic, and results-driven interventions’ to help the public cope and minimize devastating effects.

Source: Philippines News Agency