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MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippines is ready to defend the oil and gas exploration it has decided to resume in its internationally recognized waters in the disputed South China Sea and will not cede that right to any nation, the energy chief said Friday. The Department of Energy announced Thursday...The South China SeaFossil FuelPhilippinesManilaDepartment Of EnergySeasOil ExplorationPresidency Of Donald TrumpScarborough ShoalInternational WatersChinese ShipsCoastal WatersReed BankU.N.Oil And GasRodrigo DuterteAlfonso CusiRead Full Story

A social media campaign calling for the release of 12 Hong Kong youths detained in China is gaining ground, with support from international activists including Greta Thunberg. The teenage environmentalist is among a growing list of international activists, campaigners and politicians sharing the hashtag #save12HKyouths, hoping to draw international attention to the plight of 12 young people held under tight security in mainland China after they were caught allegedly trying to flee Hong Kong by boat.Mainland ChinaSocial MediaDetaineesActivismChinese GovernmentTaiwanEnvironmentalistHong Kong GovernmentHuman Rights ActivistsAndy LiBoatChinese AuthoritiesInternational ActivistsProtestersMainland LawyersGreta ThunbergJoshua WongRead Full Story

PHNOM PENH Oct 21 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The pandemic risks triggering a race to the bottom that could push tens of millions of Asian garment workers into greater hazard on the factory floor, with women hardest hit, the International Labour Organization said on Wednesday.About 40% of workers furloughed or laid off by the COVID-19 crisis were not back at work by the third quarter and those who do return could lose hard-won labour rights, the agency said.“Workers are extremely vulnerable and factories are vulnerable to agree to conditions with brands that don’t allow them to ensure proper working conditions,” said Tara Rangarajan of the ILO’s Better Work programme.“It’s important ... that this doesn’t become a race to the bottom where those at the lowest end of power and privilege are the ones that suffer the greatest,” she said at the launch of an ILO report on the pandemic’s effect on garment workers.Garment workers have been heavily hit by the pandemic, with shops closed and factories shuttered.Fashion brands cancelled billions of dollars worth of orders from suppliers around the world, costing workers up to $5.8 billion in lost wages, according to advocacy group Clean Clothes Campaign.In the Asia-Pacific - home to about 65 million garment workers - orders from big Western buyers fell by up to 70% over the first half of 2020, costing the average worker between two and four weeks’ salary, said the United Nations agency.While the industry has stabilised in some centres, in Bangladesh, where at least 70,000 workers have been laid off, fears are growing that many will become destitute.“Given that the situation is worsening, I think we can all imagine what that would mean,” said Christian Viegelahn, a senior economist for the ILO in the Asia-Pacific.The crisis has given rise to union busting in Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar and seen countries introduce harsh laws that activists fear could be used to restrict worker rights.Women make up the majority of garment factory staff and have born the brunt of the crisis, Viegelahn said.“There is significant risk that we see existing inequalities between women and men exacerbated and some of the progress we have seen over recent years will be reversed.”The researchers studied Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan and the Philippines, with uncertainty due to last for months - at least.Mohammad Akash has reverted to transporting stones for about $2 a day since he was laid off from a Dhaka garment factory.“It pays half what I used to earn and its twice as painful,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.The 33-year-old lost his job in March and said he is still waiting on severance pay and other benefits promised by the bosses he had served for eight years."I haven't been able to pay rent for my house in four months," he said. (Reporting by Matt Blomberg and Naimul Karim, Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit news.trust.org)ILOLabor RightsClothingPhnom PenhWorkforceLayoffCOVID-19 PandemicPhilippinesIndonesiaChinaUnited NationsFear FactoryWorkers RightsBetter WorkClean Clothes Campaign

BEIJING, Oct. 30, 2020 /CNW/ -- The large-scale cultural tourism promotion event, exhibiting fine tourism products and cultural creative ones, was held on Monday in Zhongxian County, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. The county head Huang Zuying served as a cultural tourism promoter and introduced the unique charm of Zhongxian County to netizens via live streaming.Read Full Story ChinaCultural TourismBeijingNetizenLive StreamingZhongxian CountyYangtze RiverXinhua Silk RoadCNWHuang ZuyingChongqing MunicipalityZhongxian CultureZhongxian OrangesFine Tourism ProductsBEIJING

Taiwan is stocking up on air- and ground-launched rockets that, in the event of war with China, could pummel Chinese invasion forces before they even leave their bases. Taipei’s possible, multi-billion-dollar acquisition of American-made Standoff Land-Attack Missiles—Expanded Response and High-Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems could help to counter China’s own expanding missile arsenal.Read Full Story  ChinaMissileTaipeiBeijingRocketTaiwan StraitThe State DepartmentThe PentagonBallistic MissilesAir StrikesPeople 's Liberation ArmyATACMSProject 2049 InstituteU.S. State DepartmentYun FengIan Easton

A federal judge on Sunday postponed a Trump administration order that would have banned the popular video sharing app TikTok from U.S. smartphone app stores. A more comprehensive ban remains scheduled for November, about

As is customary, the local fare on offer at the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) is linguistically and thematically diverse, reflecting the nature of the island city-state. The opening film, Tan Bee Thiam’s “Tiong Bahru Social Club,” is presented in several languages, including English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Malay and Tamil....Read Full Story Newborn ChildChinaHokkienTeochew DialectDocumentary FestivalCultureShort FilmEnglish` Tiong Bahru Social ClubChineseMalay MuslimMuslimsJapaneseSGIFFPortugueseJacques TatiCharlie Chaplin

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Diplomats like to remain neutral but Nanaia Mahuta let the veil slip a little when a winner was declared in the U.S. election by tweeting a smiley-face emoji.Mahuta, the first indigenous Maori woman to be appointed New Zealand’s foreign affairs minister, suppresses a real-life smile when asked about it. “Look, what I can say is that there were encouraging signs in those speeches,” she said in an interview with the The Associated Press. She said the victory speech by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was “inspirational to many women around the world.”Mahuta, 50, was a surprise pick for the role, despite being a respected performer in Parliament for almost half her life, since she was first elected in 1996 at age 26. She is part of the most diverse group of lawmakers ever appointed to the top roles in Cabinet after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern won a second term in a landslide victory last month.Mahuta said she felt joyous at being chosen and promised to bring a new perspective to foreign affairs.She didn’t have to wait long for her first contentious moment. New Zealand has long been cautious of criticizing China, its largest trading partner. But Mahuta last week took the step of joining Australia, Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. in condemning China for imposing new rules to disqualify legislators in Hong Kong.China reacted with anger.“Be careful not to get poked in the eye,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said in response, referring to the “Five Eyes” military alliance among the five countries.Mahuta said she had talked with Ardern before deciding to sign the statement and felt it was a natural progression to “turn the dial up” and join with other countries. She said she thinks the relationship with China is mature enough to withstand such disagreements.Still, it will pose a challenge for Mahuta to find the right balance to strike with an increasingly assertive China and a combative U.S. For now, Mahuta said she intends to focus on building relationships with New Zealand’s immediate island neighbors in the Pacific, even if the coronavirus prevents her traveling there in person.“This could be the period of the Zoom diplomacy,” she said. People around the world have been curious about Mahuta’s moko kauae, or sacred facial tattoo, which she got four years ago to celebrate her heritage, ancestors and connection to Papatuanuku, or Mother Earth.“The most common question is, did it hurt?” she laughs.The answer? Not really, because her mind went to a different place.She said wearing the moko makes her more mindful “in how you want to be as a person, how you treat other people. So that it’s almost like a compass.”Thirty years ago, before there was a revival of Maori culture in New Zealand, facial tattoos tended to be associated with gang members. Mahuta said she still finds negative reactions to hers in some parts of the country, but these days most people recognize it as an affirmation of culture.Mahuta is the daughter of the late Sir Robert Mahuta, a key figure in the Tainui tribe who helped settle a groundbreaking financial claim with the government for land that was taken during colonization.Mahuta said her father was her mentor and a tough taskmaster. But it was the students she met as a university tutor who convinced her to go into politics, not her dad.“I think if he had his way, I wouldn’t be in politics, I’d be in the tribe,” she said.Lara Greaves, a lecturer in politics at the University of Auckland, said Mahuta is well prepared for her role because she has spent her whole life steeped in high-level cultural diplomacy in Maori society.“I think it’s a really positive move,” Greaves said.She said the surprise at Mahuta’s appointment -- her own included — likely reflected the dominance that men still have internationally in foreign affairs.Mahuta said she’d like to see more women involved.“I’m a part of a very small group of women who have now reached out and linked arms to say, well, there’s is a lot that we can do together,” she said.In her office, Mahuta points out various artifacts that have meaning for her — the baskets of knowledge from the Pacific, the pictures of the prime minister who invited her ancestor into Parliament. And then she gets to the Silvanian Families village in the corner.“I have a 7-year-old daughter who’s made part of this office hers,” Mahuta said. “One of the things I’ve learned when I’ve been in Parliament is to make it family friendly.”New ZealandForeign AffairsForeign MinistryMilitary AllianceOutlookHong KongAustraliaChinaWorld AffairsAPThe The Associated PressParliamentCabinetChineseTainuiNanaia MahutaKamala HarrisJacinda ArdernZhao Lijian

The death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 200,000 in the U.S. last week. One million people across the globe have died from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as of Monday, the New York Times reports. The death toll has reach

By the Hong Kong market close on Tuesday, shares of logistics provider ZTO Express jumped more than 9% from the offer price of 218 Hong Kong dollars ($28.13) per share. Shares of Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (N