Month: February 2021

Indonesia said on Sunday that it was “deeply concerned” with the growing violence in Myanmar and urged restraint by security forces, after at least 18 people were killed when police cracked down on protesters on Sunday.“Indonesia urges the security forces to refrain from the use of force and exercise utmost restraint to avoid further casualties,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.Police fired on protesters on Sunday in the bloodiest day of weeks of demonstrations against a military coup…

Thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators marched on the army barracks home of Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Sunday in a procession filled with the flags and signs of the #MilkTeaAlliance, the trans-Asia movement of youthful protesters fighting back against authoritarian leaders.The protesters – mostly Thais, with some from Myanmar – gathered at Victory Monument in Bangkok for the noisy rally, the first organised for months by the Thai protest group Free Youth, which has rebranded…

When President Joko Widodo in February extended his best wishes to Indonesia’s Chinese community for Lunar New Year, he referred to them as “Tionghoa”. The word is now used in the Southeast Asian nation to describe its Chinese ethnic minority group, yet it was only officially adopted in 2014 – and it needed a presidential decree, amid considerable controversy. It is not often that a language becomes the reason for a public debate. Yet this is what happened in Indonesia that year, following a…

The death of a woman from a suspected drug overdose after a Bangkok party has underscored the risks faced by Thailand’s “pretties” – models-for-hire who offer services ranging from making appearances at sales promotion gigs, modelling at motorshows and hosting “VIP” parties, and who at each turn usually entertain male clientele in some form. The woman, Whitchayaporn Visessombut, known as Wa-Wa, was booked out to a VIP party in a Bangkok suburb late on Monday night and died at a local hospital…

Construction and engineering companies will be looking to the UK chancellor to provide sufficient upfront funding to enable them to support the government’s plans to drive the country’s economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis through new infrastructure projects.

A Bavarian radio station apologised on Friday for a host’s comments comparing popular South Korean K-pop band BTS to the coronavirus, saying his choice of words had gone too far but was in no way meant to be “hurtful or racist.”The statement came after legions of fans accused the station’s Matthias Matuschik of racism for his comments on the band’s cover of Coldplay’s Fix You, taking to social media using the hashtags #Bayern3Racist, #Bayern3Apologise and #RassismusBeiBayern3 which translates…

South Korea’s state-owned Exim bank has announced a KRW$200 billion ($180 million) environmental, social and governance related (ESG) fund to invest in green energy projects.

Solar Philippines Biga Corporation is planning to build a 2 gigawatts (GW) solar plant, combining with 6GW battery energy storage system and 600 megawatts (MW) diesel backup in Nasugbu, Batangas, 115 kilometres south west of Metro Manila, Philippines.

The Hong Kong government will issue green bonds worth $175.5 billion in the next five years, according to financial secretary Paul Chan of the government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China (HKSAR).

The Philippines will receive its first batch of Covid-19 vaccines this weekend from China’s Sinovac Biotech, allowing it to start its inoculation programme next week and lifting hopes for an economic revival after lengthy lockdowns that have fuelled job losses and substantially cut consumer spending.Harry Roque, spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte, said 600,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine would arrive on Sunday out of the 25 million doses that have been ordered, while 10,000 doses of a…