World

WASHINGTON – The United States and Japan on Friday launched a task force to promote human rights and international labour standards in supply chains, amid shared concerns about China’s treatment of Uighur Muslims, and said they would invite other governments to join the initiative. The two sides also signed an updated memorandum of cooperation on cyber security to strengthen operational collaboration and hosted a roundtable with Japanese business representatives on upholding human rights and preventing use of forced labour in supply chains, a US statement said. The signings came ahead of a visit to Washington next week by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for talks expected to focus on shared concerns about China’s growing might and other pressing international issues. US Trade Repr

NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors are dropping charges against a New York City police officer and military veteran who was accused of helping the Chinese government keep tabs on Tibetans in the United States, a case that U.S. authorities once publicized as an “insider threat.” A court date is scheduled Thursday in Brooklyn after federal prosecutors told a judge they want to dismiss their case against Baimadajie Angwang. “As a result of our continued investigation, the government obtained additional information bearing on the charges,” prosecutors from the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s office and the Department of Justice headquarters said in a court filing Friday. The prosecutors said they “assessed the evidence as a whole in light of that information” and concluded they wanted to drop the case “in

CP Foton Sales to spend B1bn on factory Mr Kritsana sees bright business prospects for the sale of both ICE-powered vehicles and EVs in the domestic commercial vehicle market this year. CP Foton Sales Co, a Thai-Chinese automaker in the commercial vehicle segment, plans to spend 1 billion baht building a factory to assemble electric vehicles (EVs) and oil-powered vehicles in Thailand by 2026. "The plant would be the company's second car assembly facility in Asean after Malaysia," said Kritsana Settharangkul, managing director of CP Foton Sales. The company wants to team up with a business partner to push ahead with this project, he said. CP Foton Sales, a joint venture between China's Foton Motor Group and CP Group, was established in 2019. "We want to sell cars in the domestic marke...

Philippine Nobel laureate acquitted of tax evasion but still faces more legal challenges Rappler CEO and Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa celebrates her acquittal on charges of tax evasion, outside the Court of Tax Appeals in Quezon City, Philippines on Wednesday. (Photo: Reuters) MANILA: Philippine Nobel Prize winner Maria Ressa has been acquitted of tax evasion, among several charges the crusading journalist has long maintained are politically motivated, calling the ruling a victory for “truth”. Ressa, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov in 2021, still faces three other cases, including a cyber libel conviction now under appeal that could mean nearly seven years in prison. “Today, facts win. Truth wins,” a teary-eyed and defiant Ressa told reporters on W

Change tack on Myanmar 2023 will be a year of reckoning for Myanmar. In August next year, the country will hold an election, which many believe will be a one-horse race. Such a result will certainly be a headache for the international community, especially supranational bodies like the United Nations. If the junta under the State Administration Council (SAC) wins the elections, more countries, especially those in the West, will act more aggressively against the SAC and its allies. As such, 2023 looks set to be a complicated year for Thailand's bilateral relationship with Myanmar. Unlike most critics of Myanmar, many of whom are separated by distance, Thailand has been playing the role of the understanding neighbour for the past two years. Considering both nations share a 2,400-kilomet...

Count your blessings. ’Tis the season for it. William Nylander had a stocking stuffed with them going into the Christmas break — 20 goals, tops on the Leafs. And, to keep those bells jingling, the overtime winner over St. Louis on Tuesday — four minutes and three seconds into extra time: Picked Vladimir Tarasenko’s pocket at the Leafs’ blue line, cranked up the rocket boosters straight down the ice, forehand-backhand-up-and-over Jordan Binnington. Thereby giving Toronto their third OT win of the season and averting a third straight road loss. Loading... Loading... A good time to sing Willy’s praises. Because he’s having a yowza year. Yet asked where he considered himself most blessed skill-wise — skating, ice-vision, soft hands, offensive creativity — the 26-year-old was momentarily s

Philippines, China seek to mend ties Chinese President Xi Jinping and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr review an honour guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on Wednesday last week. (Photo: Reuters) It's not an overstatement to say that the recent visit by Philippines President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr to China was one of the most important visits between the two countries in decades. The outcome of the three-day trip will have far-reaching implications for bilateral, regional, and global strategic landscapes in the post-pandemic era. Given the Philippines' highly valued location as part of the first island chain, its role in Asean and as a US ally, Manila has the potential to set the trajectory of issues related to regional pea...

Country has been aggressively wooing US carmaker to build EV and battery plants A Tesla model X airport taxi waits for passengers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport outside Jakarta. (Photo: AFP) JAKARTA: Negotiations between Indonesia and Tesla are continuing, a senior minister said on Thursday, following a report that the US electric vehicle maker is nearing a preliminary deal to build production facilities with a capacity of one million units in the country. Luhut Pandjaitan, who has been leading the talks with Tesla, declined to discuss further details, citing a non-disclosure agreement. Bloomberg News also reported that the Indonesia talks include plans for production facilities and a programme to facilitate the company’s supply chain, citing people familiar with the matter.

A Christmas Eve shooting at a pub in northwest England killed a young woman and wounded three men, police said Sunday. The Merseyside Police force said it was investigating the 11:50 p.m. Saturday shooting at the Lighthouse pub in the town of Wallasey as a murder case. Police have not detained any suspects. “This investigation is in the very early stages, and we understand that this is a truly shocking and devastating incident that has happened just before Christmas Day in a busy venue full of young people,“ Detective Superintendent David McCaughrean said. The woman died at a hospital “with an injury consistent with a gunshot wound,” the police force said in a statement. Along with the three men wounded, several people were injured, according to the statement. Investigators were seekin

China to scrap Covid quarantine rule for inbound travellers People visit a Christmas market, as Covid-19 outbreaks continue, in Shanghai, China, on Dec 24, 2022. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING: China will stop requiring inbound travellers to go into quarantine starting from Jan 8, the National Health Commission said on Monday in a major step towards easing curbs on its borders, which have been largely shut since 2020. China's management of Covid-19 will also be downgraded to the less strict Category B from the current top-level Category A, the health authority said in a statement, as the disease has become less virulent and will gradually evolve into a common respiratory infection. Three years of zero-tolerance measures, from shuttered borders to frequent lockdowns, have battered China's eco...