GENEVA: Faced with drug supply shortages, the French government is banning online sales of paracetamol, a fever and painkiller widely present in French pharmacies. “The sale over the internet of medicines consisting exclusively of paracetamol will be suspended until Jan. 31, 2023,” the government said in a decree published Wednesday on the official government website. The decree stated that “tensions over paracetamol-based medicines have persisted for more than six months,” especially those forms intended for children. The government said: “The various measures taken by the health authorities, effective as they have been, have not yet made it
MANILA: President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Thursday increased fruit export opportunities for the Philippines by securing a USD2 billion deal with China to step up imports of high-value Philippine agricultural products. Marcos highlighted the country’s agriculture sector’s vast economic potential, which is seen “at the forefront” of the post-pandemic economic recovery strategy. The Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) and China General Administration of Customs signed an agreement for the protocol of phytosanitary requirements for the export of fresh durians from the Philippines to China. The new deal secured by the Marcos administration also covers coconut and
DAVAO CITY: The Bureau of Custom – Port of Davao (BOC-Davao) is releasing some 404 “balikbayan” boxes to their respective claimants through the city port here and the sub-port of Dadiangas, an official said Thursday. In a press briefing, Erastus Sandino Austria, BOC-Davao district collector, said the move aims to help overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families victimized by unscrupulous consolidators. This came after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. ordered the expedited release of abandoned “balikbayan” boxes to their consignees nationwide. At least 124 and 466 boxes have been claimed by consignees while 404 remain unclaimed,
BUTUAN CITY: A New People’s Army (NPA) rebel leader was served with another arrest warrant on Wednesday night while detained at the Lianga District Jail in Surigao del Sur. In a report Thursday, the Surigao del Sur Police Provincial Office (SDSPPO) said police personnel from San Agustin, Surigao del Sur served the arrest warrant for attempted murder on Ronald Enriquez Galdiano, 40. “The arrest warrant, dated November 21, 2019, was issued by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 28 in Lianga,” SDSPPO said. Galdiano is the alleged commanding officer of the NPA Guerrilla Front 19, Sub-Regional Committee
WASHINGTON: Job openings held nearly steady at historically high levels in November in the United States. There were about 10.5 million available jobs in November, essentially unchanged from October, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Available positions increased in professional and business services. They decreased in finance and insurance. With the Federal Reserve raising interest rates to cool demand and combat inflation, the labor market could slow further in 2023. Job openings are down from a record 11.9 million achieved in March 2022, though they still far exceed the 6 million Americans unemployed and seeking work.
MANILA: The acceleration of the domestic rate of price increases to 8.1 percent in December 2022 is in line with the forecast that inflation could peak last month as risks remain on the upside, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Thursday. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the latest rate of increase of inflation figure is the fastest since November 2008 due mainly to the annual jumps in the food and energy prices. Last December’s inflation rate was within the central bank’s 7.8 to 8.6 percent forecast for the month and brought the average inflation last year
