Maintaining peace in the Taiwan StraitThe biggest political story last week in this part of the world was the presidential election in Taiwan. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has taken a more defiant stand towards China during its presidency the last eight years. This has made the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) with eight seats with enough power to swing a majority. In his victory speech, Lai Ching-te pledged that they would maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait but would defend the island nation from Chinese belligerence. The DPP victory ensures that its friendly alliance between Taiwan and the Philippines will continue.

WASHINGTON, D.C: British oil giant Shell has paused transit through the key Red Sea shipping route indefinitely over fears of escalating tensions involving Yemen's Houthi rebels, according to a media report Tuesday. Oil giant Shell and Japanese shipping firm NYK said on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, they are suspending travel along the Red Sea for fear of being attacked. The oil major's decision comes after Britain's BP said in December that it would suspend transit of oil through the Red Sea. Meanwhile, Japanese shipping firm Nippon Yusen said on Wednesday it is joining other major companies in suspending routes through the Red Sea. Lines — have also suspended navigation through the Red Sea, Japanese business daily Nikkei reported Tuesday.

PARIS: Scientists in China on Tuesday announced that they have cloned the first healthy rhesus monkey, a 2-year-old named Retro, by tweaking the process that created Dolly the sheep. RETRO ACTIVE Retro the cloned rhesus monkey is photographed in a laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Neuroscience in the city of Shanghai, eastern China in 2023. A pair of identical crab-eating macaques named Hua Hua and Zhong Zhong were created using SCNT in 2018 by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai. He told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the team had extensively researched why previous efforts to clone the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) had failed. For the SCNT procedure, scientists remove the nucleus from a healthy egg, then replace it with another nucleus from another type of body cell.

To begin with, I'd like to emphasize that as a rule, "even though" and "even if" are not interchangeable. It doesn't sound right to me. My reply to Edward:The sentence you presented doesn't sound right to me either. The right usage is "satisfied with": "I'm satisfied with what I've done in boxing." This doesn't mean though that "satisfied of" is grammatically wrong; it just so happens that "satisfied with" is the widely accepted usage.

‘All about greed': Motives of Cha-cha proponents questionedThis photo shows a screengrab from a video aired on television about the 1987 Constitution. Sen. Risa Hontiveros has flagged the reported “People’s Initiative” being carried out across several provinces — which have been marred by allegations of vote-buying — and raised doubts over the origins of the signature drive. Meanwhile, House Deputy Minority Leader Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers) has questioned the need for Charter change at all and warned that the proposed economic tweaks could serve as a pretext for political amendments. “It’s not right to call the petition a ‘People’s Initiative’ because this did not come from the people themselves,” Hontiveros said in Filipino. “Let us be clear: the reported 'people's initiative' is not about any economic or political reforms in the Constitution.

The government encourages citizens to opt for the "one bag for two uses" approach – using designated bags instead of plastic shopping bags for their shopping – after the municipal solid waste charge is implemented. However, environmental groups worried the practice may diminish incentives for citizens to bring their shopping bags to reduce waste at the source. For instance, there will be 40 three-liter or five-liter designated bags in one package, while a package of 20 for the 75-liter large bags. "This could inadvertently encourage customers to buy smaller bags, sending the wrong message and undermining the effectiveness of the plastic bag levy," Siu said. She believes only when an extra HK$1 levy for each designated bag sold at the retail points could encourage citizens to bring along their own shopping bags.

2023 annual sales by Geely Holding Brands rise 20% to 2.79m unitsFor the sixth consecutive year, Geely Holding achieved more than 2 million units in aggregate sales. For the sixth consecutive year, Geely Holding achieved more than 2 million units in aggregate sales. About the groupZhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely Holding) is a global automotive group that owns several well-known international automotive brands, with operations spanning the automotive value chain, from research, development and design to production, sales and servicing. Geely Holding employs over 120,000 people globally, and has been listed in the Fortune Global 500 for the past 11 years. For more information regarding Zhejiang Geely Holding Group please refer to the official website at www.zgh.com and Geely Global http://global.geely.com.

A commentary on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website said the meeting had exposed differences between participants and produced no increase in support for the proposals. Ukraine has sought, through the meetings and other diplomatic moves, to garner greater support from the “global south,” with many countries having stayed on the sidelines in the conflict. Zelenskiy’s Chief of Staff, Andriy Yermak, said there were participants at the Davos meeting from 18 Asian countries, 12 African countries, and six South American countries. ADVERTISEMENTREAD: More countries join talks on Ukraine leader’s peace formulaThe Swiss government agreed after the latest gathering on Zelenskiy’s peace plan to host a global peace summit on Ukraine at Zelenskiy’s request. Subscribe to our daily newsletter SIGN ME UPKremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the Davos talks as “simply talking for the sake of talking,” saying there could be no moves towards a settlement without Russia’s participation.

BRUSSELS: European Union economy commissioner Paolo Gentiloni on Monday warned that violence in the Red Sea sparked by Houthi attacks on shipping could push up energy prices and inflation in the bloc. Gentiloni said that "what is happening in the Red Sea... is not for the moment apparently creating consequences on energy prices and inflation." "But we think that it should be monitored very closely because these consequences could materialize in the coming weeks," he said. Tensions in the Red Sea have soared after the United States and Britain carried out strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen over their attacks on international shipping. But since mid-November, the attacks have prompted many shipping firms to take the longer route around the tip of Africa, disrupting supply chains and putting upward pressure on inflation.

The Pakatan Harapan government then appeared to be stable, having commanded a two-third parliamentary majority. But as Dr. Mahathir was pushing 95 as the world's oldest head of government, the question of succession inevitably cropped up. Anwar Ibrahim, the Pakatan Harapan founder and Dr. Mahathir's deputy during the latter's first turn as prime minister, was eager to assume the prime ministerial mantle soonest. The ruling Pakatan Harapan was supposed to hold a political meeting the next day to lay out the Mahathir-Anwar succession plan, including the timeline. That in essence deprived the Pakatan Harapan government of its parliamentary majority, and Dr. Mahathir decided to resign his premiership.

UN expert urged to probe continued assaults on free speech under MarcosLet’s Organize for Democracy and Integrity on the celebration of the World Press Freedom Day Thursday sent a six-page petition to David Kaye, UN special rapporteur on the promotion of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Khan will be visiting the country from January 23 to February 2 to take stock of the Philippines' state of free speech and press freedom. While Marcos does not openly encourage violence against media workers, unlike Duterte, concerns remain over whether the current administration has done enough to safeguard journalists from retribution and harassment. Nearly a quarter of the incidents documented by NUJP in 2023 were also related to the red-tagging of media workers. “Regarding the people's rights to freedom of expression, Indigenous Peoples in the country indomitably assert their rights to land and self-determination.

DAVOS, Switzerland: The world could have its first trillionaire within a decade, anti-poverty organization Oxfam International said Monday (Tuesday in Manila) in its annual assessment of global inequalities timed to the gathering of political and business elites at the Swiss ski resort of Davos. Oxfam's interim executive director said the report showed that the world is entering a "decade of division." To calculate the top five richest billionaires, Oxfam used figures from Forbes as of November 2023. Their total wealth then was $869 billion, up from $340 billion in March 2020, a nominal increase of 155 percent. For the bottom 60 percent of the global population, Oxfam used figures from the UBS Global Wealth Report 2023 and from the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook 2019.

6 UN experts sound alarm over Philippine government’s ‘unchecked’ anti-terror powersMANILA, Philippines — Six independent United Nations human rights experts have flagged the Philippine government’s “seemingly broad and unchecked” use of the anti-terrorism law to target red-tagged humanitarian workers and church leaders. This, according to the rights experts, goes against the Philippines’ international human rights obligations, which the government has repeatedly and publicly vowed to uphold. The UN rights experts also flagged the reported raids of the homes of human rights defenders and the offices of church workers and journalists, some of which were not preceded by the issuance of formal search warrants. The Supreme Court’s procedural rules for petitions seeking judicial relief from the Anti-Terrorism Council’s terrorist designation took effect on January 15. Prior to its passage in 2020, the Anti-Terrorism Act was widely opposed by human rights defenders, civil society and the government’s own human rights commission for its perceived impact on civil liberties and spaces of dissent.

China was "strongly dissatisfied with and resolutely opposes these remarks," its foreign ministry spokesperson said, referring to Marcos congratulating Lai on Monday for winning Taiwan's election and referring to him as its next president. "China has lodged a strong protest with the Philippines at the earliest opportunity," and summoned its ambassador "to give China a responsible explanation", Mao said. "We suggest that President Marcos read more books to properly understand the ins and outs of the Taiwan issue, so as to draw the right conclusions." Separately, Taiwan's foreign ministry expressed its thanks to Marcos, saying Taiwan and the Philippines "share values such as freedom, democracy and the rule of law" and Taiwan would further deepen cooperation and exchanges." The Philippines has unofficial ties with Taipei, with its Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan serving as a de facto embassy.

DAVOS, Switzerland: The world could have its first trillionaire within a decade, anti-poverty organization Oxfam International said Monday in its annual assessment of global inequalities timed to the gathering of political and business elites at the Swiss ski resort of Davos. Oxfam's interim executive director said the report showed that the world is entering a "decade of division." Currently, Musk is the richest man on the planet, with a personal fortune of just under $250 billion, according to Oxfam, which used figures from Forbes. To calculate the top five richest billionaires, Oxfam used figures from Forbes as of November 2023. For the bottom 60 percent of the global population, Oxfam used figures from the UBS Global Wealth Report 2023 and from the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook 2019.