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Beijing— China said Friday it respects freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea despite reports its ground controllers issued warnings to US strategic bombers flying over the area this week. 

By Angela Charlton and Sylvie Corbet / The Associated Press Paris—French President Francois Hollande vowed to attack the Islamic State (IS) group without mercy as the jihadist group admitted responsibility on Saturday for orchestrating the deadliest attacks on France since World War II.

By Riza Lozada  Telecommunications giant Globe Telecom Inc. sustained its growth momentum for the first nine months of this year, posting a 34-percent increase in profit to P14.1 billion on a 15-percent jump in revenues to P83.4 billion, compared with last year’s figure. 

Casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp. reported taking a hit from the recent devaluation of the yuan resulting in a P1.509-billion loss in the first nine months, compared with a year ago, but said at the same time that prospects for the company were getting better, particularly its local operations. 

By Luis Leoncio  The Philippines is being warned against hastily joining any of the trade agreements that are expected to be aggressively promoted by the United States and China during next week’s summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec). 

The Tax Management Association of the Philippines (TMAP), an organization of accountants and consultants of the country’s biggest corporations, is at loggerheads with Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, one of its own, over the tax-cut measures pending in Congress.

Washington—The United States is taking action to make sure it militarily stays ahead of China, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said in remarks at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

By Luis Leoncio  Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) has completed a major foray into the US burger business through a minority infusion into the upscale American fast-food chain Smashburger. 

Financial inclusion, as an advocacy, had won for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) plaudits from international groups, but a large part of the country remains poor and with no access to the its financial system.

The Aquino administration, incredulous at the dismal Philippines ratings in the latest annual Ease of Doing Business report of the World Bank (WB), has lashed out at the ranking, calling it “erratic and unsound.”