San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra will have the daunting task of pulling the rug from under against the top seeds Bay Area and Magnolia, respectively, once the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals fire off on Wednesday, Dec. 14, at PhilSports Arena in Pasig City. On the other hand, although they came out unscathed from their own quarterfinal pairings, SMB and Ginebra got a fitting buildup to the semis showdown with confidence-boosting wins against Converge and NorthPort respectively. SMB acting head coach Jorge Gallent liked what he saw during the quarterfinals series as they brace for the tough duel against Bay Area. The Beermen certainly have the artillery to go up against the Dragons especially with June Mar Fajardo and Terrence Romeo back to their deadly forms. It’s still unclear whether Bay Area will field Myles Powell back or it will stick with Andrew Nicholson but SMB is preparing for both occasions as well as the Dragons contributors in Hayden Blankley and Glen Yang.

Implicit or intrinsic transition hooks (Continuation)Last week, Part 2 of this series started discussing implicit or intrinsic paragraph transition hooks. Unlike explicit or extrinsic hooks, this second type of paragraph transition device makes use of the natural progression or "flow" of the ideas themselves to link paragraphs logically. This involves repeating a key word or phrase used in the preceding paragraph and making it the takeoff point for the succeeding paragraph, or else using a synonym or words similar to that key word or phrase to do the transition job. I missed an important meeting in Manila and lost a major account..."We will explore in Part 4 even more effective strategies for effecting implicit paragraph transitions. Next week, Dec. 22, 2022: Making effective paragraph transitions – 4Visit Jose Carillo's English Forum, http://josecarilloforum.com.

The unpopular app reminds us of Covid and, as we look forward to returning to normal, it must retire into history. Could anything be better than beginning a new year by removing most - if not all, yet - existing Covid quarantine measures? Rather than announcing piecemeal relaxation, he revealed the easing of a raft of restrictions that have tied Hong Kong for just too long. Indeed, Hong Kong is rather late in exiting the pandemic. The LeaveHomeSafe app is a symbol of the pandemic and so are masks.

Hong Kong Customs on Tuesday seized a batch of suspected dangerous drugs worth about HK$2.2 million in Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai. About 1.2 kilograms of suspected crack cocaine and about 2.2kg of suspected cannabis buds were seized in the anti-narcotics operation, which was conducted in the vicinity of Yuen Long yesterday afternoon. A Customs spokesman said officers yesterday intercepted a man and found about 1kg of suspected crack cocaine inside a paper bag carried by him. Upon follow-up investigation, Customs officers on the same day further seized about 160g of suspected crack cocaine and about 1.6kg of suspected cannabis buds in the arrested man's residence in Tin Shui Wai. Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offense.

Among the handful of daring men is Chief Engineer Artemio "Art" Serafico, president of TSM Maritime Services (Phils.) Inc. and anchor of "Usapang Maritime," a social media commentary vlog on maritime education, training and manning sectors. Inc. and anchor of ‘Usapang Maritime.’ CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Chief Engineer Artemio 'Art' Serafico, president of TSM Maritime Services (Phils.) "I have decided to vlog so I can reach more people and open their perspectives in the maritime profession. Serafico may have already retired from seafaring for decades, but the man still talks like a true sailor — simple, daring and straightforward.

A construction worker was killed after falling off a 3-meter height while working on scaffolding for a villa. At a construction site in Ho Man Tin this morning, worker Mohammad Shahzad suddenly fell onto the ground while erecting a bamboo scaffold at the external wall of a house at Kadoorie Avenue. He sustained head injuries and was rushed to Kwong Wah Hospital, where he was later certified dead. The Labour Department is highly concerned about the fatal work accident and expresses its deepest sympathy to his family. The spokesman added that the contractors cannot resume the work process until the Department is satisfied that measures to diminish the relevant risks have been taken.

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China has launched a trade dispute at the World Trade Organization against the United States over its chip export control measures, China's commerce ministry said. The United States passed a sweeping set of regulations in October aimed at kneecapping China's semiconductor industry, prompting a complaint from a top China trade group. The United States has blocked appointments to the WTO's top ruling body on trade disputes, meaning some rows never get settled. China's complaint on U.S. chip export curbs comes days after a WTO ruling against Washington in a separate suit about metal tariffs that had been brought by China among others. The United States, a regular critic of the WTO's arbitration proceedings, rejected the WTO's findings.

11934 or the SIM Registration Act. New SIM cards will be sold in “deactivated mode” by the said date. Foreigners with other types of visas can acquire SIM cards without the 30-day validity period. Telco giant PLDT Inc.’s Smart Communications said more details on its SIM registration portal will be released in the next few weeks. “We are ready to roll out our SIM Registration processes after months of preparations, which have included, among others, studying best global practices and technology solutions from other countries that have already implemented SIM registration,” Smart vice president and regulatory head Roy Ibay said in a statement.

Richard Li’s FWD could raise up to US$1 billion in a share sale next year. Bloomberg, Reuters Previous NextHong Kong billionaire Richard Li Tzar-kai is weighing investing about US$200 million (HK$1.56 billion) in his insurance company FWD as part of a funding round ahead of its long-awaited listing in Hong Kong. It could seek to raise about US$1 billion from the IPO. Meanwhile, Shanghai Chicmax Cosmetic kicked off its retail books yesterday, aiming to raise up to HK$1.1 billion in a Hong Kong IPO. This came as three new companies had mixed performances on their debuts in Hong Kong.

Will the upcoming Central Economic Work Conference step on the gas for China to return to normal after three years of pandemic isolation? The Central Economic Work Conference will be rich in directives and numbers, including an annual GDP target for 2023. Were that unfortunately to be the situation, confidence would be shattered and it would need even greater efforts for the country to emerge from Covid. Investors and trading partners want to see more than just the figures that are routinely revealed at the end of each economic work conference. While the impact of the pandemic is temporary, the effect of economic development is long lasting.

Forex gains boost BSP’s 9-month profit to P95 billionMANILA, Philippines — The gains from foreign exchange transactions boosted the nine-month profit of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to P94.58 billion, 62 percent higher than the P58.42 billion recorded in the same period last year. The BSP books gains or losses from fluctuations in foreign exchange rates on matured, sold, paid and exchanged or settled foreign exchange assets and liabilities. It participates in the foreign exchange market is limited to temper sharp fluctuations in the exchange rate. However, this was offset by the 85.1 percent plunge in miscellaneous income to P6.69 billion from P45.05 billion. On the other hand, the total expenses increased by 14.6 percent P92.24 billion from P80.47 billion as interest expenses grew by 18.4 percent to P53.29 billion from P45.01 billion while other expenses inched up by 9.8 percent to P38.95 billion from P35.47 billion.

China said Monday it would retire an app used to track Covid-19 contacts, a milestone in the country's rapid turn away from its zero-tolerance coronavirus strategy. But social media users nevertheless hailed the Itinerary Card's retirement, noting the symbolism of Beijing shutting down its main tracking app. "Bye bye, this announces the end of an era, and also welcomes a brand new one," one person wrote on the Twitter-like Weibo platform. "Goodbye itinerary card, concerts here I come," wrote another. "The Itinerary Card and other similar products mean vast amounts of personal information and private data," wrote one Weibo user.

FDIs brace for global recession as inflows retreat in SeptemberUnlike the so-called “hot money” which enters and leaves markets with ease, FDIs are firmer commitments that provide jobs for Filipinos, so the government wants to attract more FDIs and not only keep existing ones. MANILA, Philippines — Foreign direct investments into the Philippines continue to be strained in September as a projected global economic recession dampened investor sentiment. Data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Monday showed that while FDIs amounted to $626 million in net inflows, this was lower by 7.9% year-on-year. The BSP projected the Philippines would rack up $11 billion in net FDI inflows this year, higher than the actual $10.5 billion generated last year. Data broken down revealed that equity capital placements, a measure of new FDIs, skyrocketed 158.7% year-on-year to $230 million in September.

Agence France-PresseDecember 12, 2022 | 8:10amAMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Tulips and bitcoin have both been associated with financial bubbles in their time, but in a giant greenhouse near Amsterdam the Dutch are trying to make them work together. That warmth is now heating the hothouse where rows of tulips grow, cutting the farmers’ reliance on gas whose price has soared since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. ‘Improving the environment’But the low-lying country is keenly aware of the effect of the agricultural industry on climate change, while farmers are struggling with high energy prices. “We’re actually improving the environment.”He is also selling tulips online for bitcoin via a business called Bitcoinbloem. The collaboration started when Koning saw a Twitter video de Groot had made about bitcoin mining, and called him up.