swerte 999
Putin apologizes for crash but stops short of saying Azerbaijani plane was shot down
PASAY CITY, Philippines , Dec. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The SM Group is approaching the coming year with cautious optimism, encouraged by the continued growth of the Philippine economy. SM Investments President and Chief Executive Officer Frederic C. DyBuncio said that despite ongoing challenges of peso volatility and higher inflation, the business sector has adapted well. Consistent demand sustained household spending in the third quarter, with Household Final Consumption Expenditure posting a year-on-year growth of 5.1%, maintaining the same level in the same quarter last year, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed. "Any moderation in inflation should trigger a strong confidence rebound. This could create opportunities in consumer-focused sectors in the country and we are poised to cater to these evolving demands," Mr. DyBuncio said. To cater to growing demand, SM continues to expand into more underserved areas, contributing to sustainable economic development and collaborating with government stakeholders to enhance access to modern retail, financial services, and integrated property developments. "By investing and expanding to more areas nationwide, SM creates new markets and improves access to these essential sectors, serving more communities and helping stimulate sustained economic activities," he said. Mr. DyBuncio also said SM continues to invest in promising ventures such as renewable energy and logistics, that foster economic activity. SM has invested in the clean energy industry through Philippine Geothermal Production Company (PGPC) which produces 300 Megawatts of geothermal steam supply. SM aims to continue to develop geothermal concessions through PGPC in support of the Department of Energy's goal of reaching 50% renewable energy supply by 2040. To encourage circularity towards green energy production, SM's property arm, SM Prime Holdings partnered with GUUN Co. Ltd. ( GUUN ) to implement the Japanese technique of reducing landfill impact. The technology converts non-recyclable and hard-to-recycle packaging into alternative fuel. SM's banking arm, BDO Unibank is one of the largest funders of renewable energy projects. BDO has funded PHP898 billion in sustainable finance, including loans to 59 renewable energy projects as of December 2023. In logistics and tourism, the improvement of transport networks across the country's archipelago connects tourist and industrial areas that will help create inclusive growth. SM though its subsidiary 2GO launched MV Masigla and MV Masikap in 2024 to help better connect goods to 19 ports across the country including Iloilo, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro and Manila , further supporting the government's push for medium term growth through an upgraded tourism infrastructure and ecosystem. "Our focus for 2025 will be to drive purposeful growth, empowering communities and partners through our investments towards a sustainable future," Mr. DyBuncio said. View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sm-approaches-2025-with-cautious-optimism-302339448.html SOURCE SM Investments Corporation
Putin apologizes for crash but stops short of saying Azerbaijani plane was shot down
Unretired two-time Pro Bowl LB Shaquil Barrett signs to resume career with Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Column: Visiting America’s battlefields? Show some respectAt least 65 million tune in for Netflix NFL Christmas Day games. NBA holiday ratings also skyrocket
How Kash Patel has used children's books and podcasts to promote conspiracy theoriesRemarks uttered by the CEO of T-Mobile US ( TMUS -6.12% ) on Monday weren't exactly well received by investors. Absent any other market-moving news about their stock, they traded out of the No. 3 mobile carrier assertively. By the end of the day, its price had sunk by more than 6%, notably worse than the 0.6% drop of the S&P 500 index. Fourth-quarter caution Speaking at the UBS Global Media and Telecommunications conference Monday, T-Mobile US Chief Mike Sievert essentially said his company's investors should prepare for some discouraging news coming down the pike. Specifically, he warned that certain factors will act as tailwinds on the telecom company's results, and some figures won't be as good as they were in the third quarter. Much of this has to do with an anticipated slowdown in customer additions, which Sievert described as notching a "decade-long record" in said quarter. The company's performance in this aspect of its business was indeed strong, with net "adds" of 865,000 subscribers in that period. This development was a key factor in T-Mobile raising a clutch of metrics in its full-year 2024 guidance, including customer additions, net cash from operations, and non-GAAP (adjusted) free cash flow. The market overreacts This shouldn't necessarily come as a shock to investors or telecom industry watchers. As a whole, the U.S. market is relatively saturated, and the game now is to find new income streams from existing customers -- hence, the promotion of products such as home internet service. I think a relatively softer quarter isn't surprising given how robust No. 3 was in many respects, and I feel T-Mobile US bulls should stay the course and not get discouraged.
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a "tragic incident" following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people, but stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible. Putin's apology came as allegations mounted that Russian air defenses shot down the plane while attempting to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya. Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via videoconference Saturday at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. An official Kremlin statement issued Saturday said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny airport as the airliner "repeatedly" attempted to land there on Wednesday. It did not explicitly say one of these hit the plane. The statement said Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev "for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace." People are also reading... The readout said Russia has launched a criminal probe into the incident, and Azerbaijani state prosecutors have arrived in Grozny to participate. The Kremlin also said that "relevant services" from Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are jointly investigating the crash site near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. The plane was flying from Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, to Grozny when it turned toward Kazakhstan, hundreds of miles across the Caspian Sea from its intended destination, and crashed while attempting to land. There were 29 survivors. According to a readout of the call provided by Aliyev's press office, the Azerbaijani president told Putin that the plane was subject to "external physical and technical interference," though he also stopped short of blaming Russian air defenses. Part of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane lies on the ground Thursday near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan. Aliyev noted the plane had holes in its fuselage and the occupants sustained injuries "due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight." He said that a team of international experts began a probe of the incident at Azerbaijan's initiative, but provided no details. Earlier this week, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's office confirmed that investigators from Azerbaijan are working in Grozny. On Friday, a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an external weapon, echoing those made by aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defense systems responding to a Ukrainian attack. U.S. President Joe Biden, responding Saturday to a reporter asking whether he thought Putin should take responsibility for the crash, said: "Apparently he did but I haven't spoken to him." Biden made the comment after leaving church in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Passengers and crew members who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it circled over Grozny. Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia's civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, said Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones were targeting the city, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic. Yadrov said after the captain made two unsuccessful attempts to land, he was offered other airports but decided to fly to Aktau. People attend a funeral Saturday for Mahammadali Eganov, who died in the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash near the Kazakhstan's airport of Aktau at the age of 13, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Earlier this past week, Rosaviatsia cited unspecified early evidence as showing that a bird strike led to an emergency on board. In the days following the crash, Azerbaijan Airlines blamed "physical and technical interference" and announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports. It didn't say where the interference came from or provide any further details. If proven that the plane crashed after being hit by Russian fire, it would be the second deadly civil aviation accident linked to fighting in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed with a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people aboard, as it flew over the area in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014. Russia denied responsibility but a Dutch court in 2022 convicted two Russians and a pro-Russia Ukrainian man for their role in downing the plane with an air defense system brought into Ukraine from a Russian military base. The grave of Mahammadali Eganov, 13, who died in the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash near the Kazakhstan's Aktau airport, is seen Saturday in Baku, Azerbaijan. Following Wednesday's suspension of flights from Baku to Grozny and nearby Makhachkala, Azerbaijan Airlines announced Friday that it would also halt service to eight more Russian cities. Several other airlines made similar announcements since the crash. Kazakhstan's Qazaq Air on Friday said it would stop flying from Astana to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains for a month. Turkmenistan Airlines, the Central Asian country's flagship carrier, on Saturday halted flights to Moscow for at least a month, citing safety concerns. Earlier this past week, Israel's El Al carrier suspended service from Tel Aviv to the Russian capital, citing "developments in Russia's airspace." Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.'It's insane." How rattled Northern Californians weathered 7.0 earthquake and tsunami warningThe United States called Monday for de-escalation in Syria, where an Islamist-led rebel alliance has wrested swathes of territory from the control of President Bashar al-Assad's government in a lightning offensive. The European Union also called on "all sides to de-escalate", while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "alarmed" by the violence and called for an immediate halt to the fighting. Syria has been at war since Assad cracked down on democracy protests in 2011. The conflict has since drawn in foreign powers and jihadists, and left 500,000 people dead. The conflict had been mostly dormant with Assad back in control of much of the country, until last week when the Islamist-led rebel alliance began its offensive. The attack has seen swathes of Syria fall to rebel control, including second city Aleppo for the first time since the start of the civil war. "We want to see all countries use their influence -- use their leverage -- to push for de-escalation, protection of civilians and ultimately, a political process forward," US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. In a statement issued by EU foreign affairs spokesperson Anouar El Anouni, the European Union also called for de-escalation and the protection of civilians, while also condemning Assad backer Russia for conducting air strikes in his support. Russia first intervened directly in Syria's war in 2015 with strikes on rebel-held areas. Its help, along with that of Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, were instrumental in propping up Assad's rule. On Monday President Vladimir Putin and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian both pledged "unconditional support" for their ally, according to the Kremlin. Aleppo is home to two million people and saw fierce fighting earlier in the war. The Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies took the city at the weekend, except for neighbourhoods controlled by Kurdish forces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. They also seized Aleppo International Airport. HTS, led by Al-Qaeda's former Syria branch, has faced accusations of human rights abuses including torturing detainees. Abu Sufyan, a rebel commander, told AFP: "God willing, we will continue, go into Damascus and liberate the rest of Syria." One Aleppo resident spoke of panic. "There were terrible traffic jams -- it took people 13 to 15 hours to reach Homs" in central Syria, which is under government control. Normally, he said, it would take a couple of hours. AFPTV footage showed rebels patrolling the streets, some burning a Syrian flag and others holding the flag of the revolution. On Monday, Assad branded the rebel offensive led by HTS an attempt to redraw the regional map in line with US interests. His comments came in a call with Iran's Pezeshkian, who in turn pledged continued support and said Iran hoped "Syria will pass through this stage with success and victory". On Monday, Syrian and Russian air raids on several areas of Idlib province in the northwest killed 11 civilians including five children, the Observatory said. "The strikes targeted... families living on the edge of a displacement camp," said Hussein Ahmed Khudur, a 45-year-old teacher who sought refuge at the camp from fighting in Aleppo province. Other strikes in Aleppo killed four civilians, two of them children, the Observatory said, adding that air raids also targeted a Christian-majority neighbourhood. AFPTV footage showed rebels pushing into Hama province in central Syria. Syria's defence ministry said troops were clashing with "terrorist organisations" in the northern Hama countryside. Islamist-led rebels killed six civilians on Monday in a rocket attack on the government-held city of Hama, the Observatory said. Aron Lund of the Century International think tank said a major question hangs over possible Turkish involvement. "I have a hard time imagining that Turkey-backed groups could launch a major rebel offensive out of Turkey-held areas without Turkey being very significantly involved," he said. "But I also don't think Turkey necessarily wanted the rebels to get this far." Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for an end to the "instability" in Syria and an agreement to stop the civil war. On a visit to Ankara, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said it was crucial "to protect the achievements" of the so-called Astana process to end Syria's civil war, which involves Turkey, Russia and Iran. Several hours later, he said the respective foreign ministers would meet on the matter next weekend in Qatar. "We will try to activate this process again," he said. While the current fighting is rooted in a war that began more than a decade ago, much has changed since then. Millions of Syrians have been displaced, with about 5.5 million now in neighbouring countries. Most of those involved in the initial anti-Assad protests are either dead, in jail or in exile. Russia is at war in Ukraine, and Iran's militant allies Hezbollah and Hamas have been massively weakened by more than a year of conflict with Israel. Lebanon's Hezbollah played a key role in backing government forces particularly around Aleppo, but it withdrew from several positions to focus on fighting Israel. HTS and its allies launched their offensive on Wednesday, the day a Lebanon ceasefire began. The violence in Syria has killed 514 people, mostly combatants but also including 92 civilians, according to the Observatory. burs-srm-ser/smw
Bowman Consulting ups stock buyback to $35 millionShoppers despair as Easter eggs found on supermarket shelves in December