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BDO's 20% stock dividend approved by SECBDO [BDO 130.0 0.1%] [link] disclosed that on November 29, the SEC approved the company’s 20% stock dividend that was approved by shareholders back in April. The stock dividend will be used to “fund” the increase in BDO’s authorized capital from P5.5 billion to P8.5 billion. It’s a quick, cheap, and relatively easy way for a company to raise its authorized capital stock. It doesn’t really change anything for shareholders; sure, they get more shares, but their proportional holdings won’t change at all. It’s like a small stock-split, but with the added bonus of allowing BDO to raise its authorized capital stock.

SAO PAULO — Heavy rains caused serious flooding in southern Brazil on Thursday, where rescuers in the southern state of Santa Catarina were dispatched to help evacuate hundreds of families trapped in their homes. Video footage provided by Santa Catarina’s civil defense unit showed helicopters flying over muddy water that had submerged houses up to the roofline. Santa Catarina officials called on people to avoid road travel, as a state of emergency was declared in several cities. Flooding at this time of the year around Brazil is common and has caused devastation for decades. In February, 94 people died in mudslides after heavy rains in the historic Brazilian mountain town of Petropolis, near Rio de Janeiro.

The Government and the MPFA are constantly reviewing the MPF investment regulations and tapping industry’s views with scheme members’ interest as a priority. “The eMPF Platform represents the single largest reform ever carried out by the MPFA,” she elaborated. “The way people retire is changing and most retirees plan to fund their retirement with their MPF, savings and investment.” Chiu observed. And as the eMPF Platform is going to be launched, it will be necessary for scheme members, employers and MPF practitioners to expedite their own digital transformation. It states that MPF trustees must review whether the addition of a new CF could enhance the diversity of the existing range of CFs in an MPF scheme to meet the needs of scheme members with different outcome expectations and risk appetites.

It jailed human rights, labor and pro-democracy activists and banned the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which the ruling party saw as a threat to its monopoly on power. Jiang was on the verge of retirement as Shanghai party leader in 1989 when he was drafted by then-paramount leader Deng Xiaoping to pull together the party and nation. He was said to be frustrated that Deng had picked Hu as the next leader, blocking Jiang from installing his own successor. As mayor of Shanghai in 1985-89, Jiang impressed foreign visitors as a representative of a new breed of outward-looking Chinese leaders. Despite a genial public image, Jiang dealt severely with challenges to ruling party power.

Swim for your life! But some are worth living for, especially when the race is for your life and the lives of your loved ones. Trivia: the Issa sisters reportedly did not know how to swim before the movie, but trained for it till they swam like fish. The Issa sisters playing the Mardini sisters ensured that the lead stars’ acting would be natural. Do the sisters swim to shore and leave the others behind?

Agriculture miracleIt’s good to see the secretary of agriculture visiting the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, Laguna. And that being concurrent secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Marcos will give R&D the necessary support, particularly funding, to produce more miracles in agriculture. There’s a lot that needs fixing in the agriculture sector. * * *Marcos’ taking on the agriculture portfolio concurrently with his enormous tasks as President shows the importance he is giving to addressing the crisis in agriculture. But the buck will stop with the secretary of agriculture.

The unprecedented uprising was the first protest by the Chinese against its authorities in Seoul amid ongoing “white paper” protests in mainland China in a symbolic protest against censorship. The protest was led by Chinese students studying in Korea, but some Koreans also participated. ADVERTISEMENTThe protestors began to gather at around 7 p.m. at the bustling Hongdae area in central Seoul, holding white papers and flowers. When more than 100 people gathered, they denounced Chinese authorities for failing to handle COVID policies, demanding freedom and democracy and even calling for the removal of Xi Jinping. People in China can only do so much because it’s so repressive there.”Frustration and anger against Xi as well as the Chinese Communist Party were palpable.

(UPDATE) THE monthlong 24/7 free ride on the Edsa Busway rolled out on Thursday, December 1, as the government's gift to commuters this Christmas season. According to the Department of Transportation (DoTr), the free ride scheme will last until December 31. The Edsa Busway was a concept initiated at the height of the pandemic. Bautista earlier disclosed that they are now in the process of completing the terms of reference for the privatization of the EDSA Busway by 2023. Bautista said through this move, operations of the EDSA Busway would be more efficient.

During the exercise, Indian soldiers were dropped from helicopters to flush out gunmen from a house in a demonstration of unarmed combat skills. India and China fought a war along the border in 1962. The latest dispute flared in June 2020, when at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops were killed in a brawl in the Ladakh region. Some Indian and Chinese soldiers have pulled back from a key friction point, but tensions between the two countries have persisted. The exercise also reflects the strengthening of defense ties between India and the US.

DA eyes soft loans from JapanMANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) plans to secure soft loans from Japan to bump up the food security programs under the two countries’ bilateral cooperation. Representatives of the Embassy of Japan and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), led by Economic Minister Nihei Daisuke and First Secretary and Agriculture Attache Tachikawa Jumpei, met with the DA to identify key areas of agricultural cooperation between the Philippines and Japan. During the meeting, DA Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban expressed the Philippines’ interest in seeking financial assistance from Japan. This is either through soft loans or the Japan Food Security Project for Underprivileged Farmers (formerly called the 2KR Program) to help support the agency’s programs toward food security. The project aims to come up with a vegetable value chain roadmap to identify major bottlenecks, provide solutions, and distinguish the roles of each stakeholder along the value chain.

The fines for traffic violations were updated. NCAP served its purpose like the Panopticon did in a previous age. The Panopticon was a watchtower inside prisons where the prisoners could be observed by unseen guards. The Palace has not been shy about touting the survey results. The survey results indicate a broad constituency for the current administration and its continuity program of policy modernization.

BEIJING — Chinese authorities have begun inquiries into some of the people who gathered at weekend protests against COVID-19 curbs, three people who were at the Beijing demonstrations told Reuters, as police remained out in numbers on the city’s streets. Simmering discontent with COVID prevention policies three years into the pandemic ignited into broader protests in cities thousands of miles apart over the weekend. “The large number of police, it’s really scary,” said Beijing resident Philip Qin, 22, who witnessed the protests on Sunday. Officials say the zero-COVID policy has kept the death toll in the world’s most populous country in the thousands, avoiding the millions of deaths elsewhere. RELATED STORIESA timeline of COVID-related protests in ChinaChina protests highlight Xi Jinping’s COVID-19 policy dilemma–to walk it back or notFor more news about the novel coronavirus click here.

The government will ask China's top legislative body to interpret the city’s national security law on whether foreign lawyers can be involved in national security cases, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Monday. This came after the Court of Final Appeal dismissed an appeal by the Justice Department to overturn an earlier court decision allowing a British lawyer to defend media tycoon Jimmy Lai in his upcoming national security trial. Under the existing system, the government is powerless to prevent overseas lawyers from being subject to “dubious interference” or ensure they keep state secrets, Lee added. The Standing Committee has offered five interpretations of Hong Kong’s Basic Law -- its mini constitution -- since the UK handed the city back in 1997. The ruling effectively blocked two elected “localists” from taking their seats in the Hong Kong’s legislature.

A trace amount of banned veterinary drug metabolite has been found in a sample of prepackaged frozen shrimp tested by the Centre for Food Safety. "The CFS collected the shrimp sample from a supermarket in Tin Shui Wai for testing under its routine food surveillance programme. The test result showed that it contained AOZ (metabolite) at a level of 6.6 parts per billion," the spokesman said. The Dairy Farm Company Limited, the sole distributor, has initiated a recall on the affected batch of the product. CFS has also informed the vendor concerned to stop the sale and remove from shelves the affected batch of the product.