Asian markets are mostly higher on the eve of the U.S. presidential election amid more positive economic news from China. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index closed 1.3% higher. The S&P/ASX index in Australia gained 0.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.4%. The KOSPI index in South Korea also rose 1.4%, while Taiwan’s TSEC gained 0.3%. Shanghai’s Composite index was essentially unchanged. In late afternoon trading, Mumbai’s Sensex was also unchanged percentage-wise. Investors came back into the markets after data from the privately-run Caixin China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index showed an increase for October. In commodities trading, gold is selling at $1,882.90 per ounce, up 0.1%. U.S crude oil is at $34.55 per barrel, down 3.4%, and Brent oil is selling at $37.48 per barrel, unchanged percentage-wise. All three major U.S. indices are in positive territory in futures trading.
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Category: East
East news. East is the direction toward which the Earth rotates about its axis, and therefore the general direction from which the Sun appears to rise. The practice of praying towards the East is older than Christianity, but has been adopted by this religion as the Orient was thought of as containing mankind’s original home
Death Toll Rises in Philippines in Aftermath of Powerful Super Typhoon
The death toll from a super typhoon that struck the main Philippine island of Luzon Sunday has risen to 16. Typhoon Goni made landfall on Luzon carrying maximum sustained winds of 225 kilometers per hour, making it the strongest typhoon to hit the Pacific archipelago this year. Goni’s arrival comes a week after Typhoon Molave hit the same region, killing 22 people. Richard Gordon, the chief of the Philippine Red Cross, says up to 90% of homes across Catanduanes Island, which was in the path of Typhoon Goni on its way to Luzon were damaged or destroyed. Goni caused power outages, infrastructure damage and major floods. Video footage from local and social media showed rivers overflowing and some dikes destroyed, submerging villages and damaging farmland. Officials also say a landfall of volcanic ash destroyed hundreds of homes located near the active Mayon volcano in the province of Albay. Nearly 350,000 people were in evacuation centers, the Philippine Disaster Management Agency said Sunday, lowering the figure of nearly a million reported Saturday. Reuters news agency says President Rodrigo Duterte will make an aerial inspection of the typhoon damage on Monday. Goni weakened as it made its way past Manila on a path to the South China Sea. But forecasters are warning that another Pacific storm, dubbed Atsani, is on a path towards the Philippines.
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Thailand’s King Hints at Compromise with Protesters
Thailand’s king said his country is “the land of compromise” during a rare public interview about the months-long protests demanding greater political and societal reforms, including of the monarchy itself. King Maha Vajiralongkorn made the comments Sunday to British-based Channel 4 News as he and Queen Suthida walked among scores of supporters of the royal family after presiding over a religious ceremony outside the Grand Palace in Bangkok. The comment was in response to a question whether the king would compromise with protesters’ demands to reduce the monarchy’s influence. When asked what he would say to the protesters, King Vajiralongkorn said “We love them all the same,” repeating the phrase twice. Bangkok has been the scene of weeks of massive protests that initially began with demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former army general who seized power in a 2014 coup that ousted the elected civilian government. He won election to the post last year, but protesters say the vote was rigged in his favor due to laws drafted by the military. But the demonstrations have also evolved to include demands for reforms to Thailand’s constitutional monarchy, which maintains divine-like status among Thailand’s elite and elicits strong support from the military. The protesters have even gone so far as to openly criticize the monarchy, flying in the face of strict “lese majeste” laws which imposes prison sentences for anyone convicted of insulting the king and his family. The protesters marched on the Germany Embassy last week to demand the German government investigate whether King Vajiralongkorn has conducted state business during his extended stays there and to probe his tax records. The king has consolidated his own power by taking personal control of some army units, as well as billions of dollars held by the royal palace.
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Weak and Powerful Countries to Come Under UN Human Rights Spotlight
The United States is among 14 countries whose human rights records will be examined under the U.N. Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review. The two-week session, which opens Monday, will be held both in-person and remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Universal Periodic Review, or UPR, is a unique process in that the human rights records of all 193 U.N. member states, regardless of how weak or powerful they are, come under scrutiny. All states have participated at least twice since the process began in 2008. They now are in the midst of having their records reviewed for a third time. One of the successes of the UPR is that it has a 100 percent participation rate. Human Rights Council spokesman Rolando Gomez says the UPR is an opportunity for states to highlight advances they have made in the area of human rights. He agrees some countries may be particularly notorious human rights violators but adds none has a stellar record. All have issues that can stand improvement. He tells VOA it is the prerogative of a state whether it chooses to address these issues in a genuine manner. “If by chance they do not address their own issues in a genuine manner, there are states who are taking part in this who will certainly shed light on those issues,” he said. “They would not miss that opportunity through the UPR… But they certainly cannot conceal the violations that they are committing… the alleged violations they are committing. And, with membership, I should point out that they certainly cannot escape any form of scrutiny either.” Gomez says many good things have emerged from this process. He notes people have benefited from the implementation by states of recommendations made at the UPR. For example, he says literacy rates have increased in some countries, minority religions have been approved by constitutional orders in others and prison conditions have been improved. Gomez says the United States has been actively involved in the UPR process, despite having relinquished its seat as a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council. He says the U.S. will come under review on November 9. “I can tell you that from the reports, which are already in the public domain on this review the situations of people of African descent, racism, discrimination, police brutality — these are some of the issues, which will be addressed during this review,” he said.Gomez says other issues, such as the situation of migrants in the U.S. also will come up. Because of the coronavirus, he says most of the participants will testify remotely from Washington. He says Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to make a statement.
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Thai King Voices ‘Love’ for Protesters
In his first public comments on months of protests, Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn expressed “love” for protesters, who have called for limits to his power.“We love them all the same,” King Vajiralongkorn told a reporter from Channel 4 news. When asked if he was willing to compromise, the king responded, “Thailand is the land of compromise.”Protests Persist in Thailand Ahead of Special Parliamentary Session Protesters marched Sunday after the embattled prime minister ignored a ‘deadline’ from the movement to resign Protests, largely led by students, have primarily called for Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-Cha to step down. But the movement has also called for changes to the monarchy – an unprecedented move in a country where insulting the institution can lead to long prison sentences.The king’s comments came as he met with counter protesters, dressed in yellow, showing their support for the monarchy. A few clashes have occurred between rival protests in recent weeks.The demonstrations began in February when parliament announced it would dissolve a pro-democracy, largely young Future Forward party. Demonstrations were halted as the country locked down due to the coronavirus but later resumed despite limits on public gatherings.In an interview with VOA Thai, former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun said he agrees with some of the movement’s demands but that he was wary of calls to reform the monarchy. Former Thai Prime Minister Sees Merit in Protesters’ DemandsBut reforming the monarchy gives Anand Panyarachun pause, a position held by more than 60% of Thais who were respondents in a recent survey
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Super Typhoon Kills At Least 10 in Philippines
A super typhoon killed at least ten people as it slammed into the main Philippine island of Luzon Sunday, officials said.The strongest storm so far this year, Goni caused power outages, infrastructure damage and major floods but was weakened after two landfalls in the Bicol region. The weather bureau has downgraded it to typhoon category.Video footage from local and social media showed rivers overflowing and some dikes destroyed, submerging villages.Goni hit the Philippines a week after Typhoon Molave hit the same region, killing 22 people. Another typhoon is being monitored and could hit parts of Luzon in the coming days.According to the country’s disaster management agency, 19 million to 31 million people could be affected by the typhoon, including those in the capital, Manila.Nearly 350,000 people were in evacuation centers, the agency said, lowering the figure of nearly a million reported Saturday.
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UN Says Myanmar’s Discriminatory Laws Cast Doubt on Fairness of Elections
The U.N. human rights office warns Myanmar’s discriminatory citizenship and electoral laws cast doubt on the fairness of next week’s general elections, putting the country’s professed transition to democracy at risk.The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights says new rules and regulations put in place ahead of Myanmar’s November 8 general elections create further restrictions on people’s right to participate in this political process. Those most affected are the Rohingya Muslim and ethnic Rakhine population in Rakhine state.U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told VOA that decisions announced in mid-October by the Union Election Commission have significantly disenfranchised these minority groups.“So, even where they would have otherwise been able to vote, elections are not taking place in many of these townships. So, as I have said, elections will not be taking place in 56 townships across the country. And, of these, nine of the townships in Rakhine in their entirety cannot vote,” she said.In April, the government enacted a presidential directive denouncing public hate speech. Despite this, the U.N. agency says there has been an unrelenting proliferation in Myanmar of such speech against Muslims on Facebook.The human rights office criticizes continuing restrictions of the freedoms of opinion, expression and access to information. It notes an internet shutdown remains in place in eight townships in Rakhine and Chin states, severely limiting the ability of residents to exchange information.Shamdasani said the government has been using the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country to issue stay-at-home orders in certain areas.“In context of these orders as well—for example, journalists have been classed as nonessential. This means that really hampered their ability to go out there and cover the elections and cover the campaigning on the hate speech and the disenfranchisement and, all that we have described here, which is all very worrying,” said the spokeswoman.The U.N. agency is calling on Myanmar to denounce hate speech and to promote tolerance and nondiscrimination in speech by public officials and candidates. It urges the government to take measures to guarantee the right of political participation.
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Super Typhoon Kills At Least 4 in Philippines
A super typhoon killed at least four as it slammed into the main Philippine island of Luzon on Sunday, officials said.The strongest storm so far this year, Goni caused power outages, infrastructure damage and major floods but was weakened after two landfalls in the Bicol region. The weather bureau has downgraded it to typhoon category.Video footage from local and social media showed rivers overflowing and some dikes destroyed, submerging villages.Goni hit the Philippines a week after Typhoon Molave hit the same region, killing 22 people. Another typhoon is being monitored and could hit parts of Luzon in the coming days.According to the country’s disaster management agency, 19 million to 31 million people could be affected by the typhoon, including those in the capital, Manila.Nearly 350,000 people were in evacuation centers, the agency said, lowering the figure of nearly a million reported Saturday.
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Hong Kong Opposition Politicians Arrested Over Legislature Protest
Seven pro-democracy Hong Kong politicians were arrested Sunday over protests and scuffles that broke out in the legislature earlier this year, the latest prosecutions targeting Beijing’s opponents in the deeply divided city.The seven politicians — four of them sitting lawmakers — were arrested on charges of “contempt” and “interfering” with members of the city’s Legislative Council in early May, police said.The chamber passes semi-autonomous Hong Kong’s laws, but only half of its seats are directly elected, and a complex appointment system ensures the city’s pro-Beijing establishment is all but guaranteed a handsome majority.Scuffles and protests routinely break out, with the pro-democracy minority often resorting to filibustering, chanting and obstruction to try and halt bills they oppose.On May 8, confrontations broke out in a committee that decides which bills come up for debate.The opposition had used months of filibustering to stop the appointment of the committee’s leader. The pro-Beijing camp responded by forcibly installing one of their politicians to the committee chair.That prompted angry scenes and protests in the chamber with lawmakers from both sides displaying placards amid boisterous heckling and physical obstruction.Security guards and pro-Beijing lawmakers eventually dragged most of the pro-democracy politicians from the chamber and the installation of the committee chair went ahead.One pro-Beijing politician was seen on a live broadcast dragging an opponent out by his shirt collar — an incident which has sparked an ongoing private prosecution.Sunday’s police action singled out the pro-democracy politicians for arrest and is the latest in a string of prosecutions launched against Beijing critics.”Some lawmakers dashed towards the security guards surrounding the rostrum and made it impossible for the meeting to go on,” chief inspector Chan Wing-yu told reporters.Asked why only pro-democracy politicians faced prosecution that day for their actions, Chan declined to comment.The inability of Hong Kongers to elect their leaders and lawmakers has been at the heart of swelling opposition to Beijing’s rule, including the huge and often violent democracy protests that broke out last year.More than 10,000 people were arrested, and the courts are now filled with trials — many of them involving opposition lawmakers and prominent figures.In a direct response to the protests, Beijing bypassed the legislature and imposed a sweeping new national security law on Hong Kong in late June.Beijing says the law has restored stability. Critics say it has delivered a hammer blow to the city’s already stuttering freedoms.The arrested politicians could face up to a year in jail if convicted.The Liaison Office — which represents Beijing’s central government in the city — has warned that future legislature protests constitute one of the new national security crimes, which carry 10 years to life in jail.In September, elections for the legislature were postponed for a year with authorities blaming the coronavirus.
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Sister of Missing Thai Activist Headed to Cambodia
The sister of missing Thai pro-democracy activist Wanchalerm Satsaksit said this week she will travel to Cambodia with a team of lawyers to offer evidence she hopes will spark an investigation into the whereabouts of her brother, a victim of a suspected forced disappearance in Phnom Penh.Nothing has been heard from Wanchalerm since he was reportedly dragged into an SUV in broad daylight near his condominium in the Cambodian capital June 4, despite pressure on the Thai and Cambodian governments to probe how the 37-year-old vanished without a trace.The case has attracted attention from rights groups and others who have called for an investigation.Cambodia Pressed for Thorough Probe of Thai Activist’s Suspected AbductionWanchalearm Satsaksit is the ninth Thai activist in exile to have gone missing in a nearby country since a 2014 military coupWanchalerm’s sister, Sitanan Satsaksit, told VOA she will fly to Cambodia Nov. 10 with three Thai lawyers to prepare for a Dec. 8 court hearing they hope will be the first step toward opening a full investigation.Wanchalerm fled Thailand in May 2014, after the then-junta issued an arrest warrant against him for failing to report to a military camp for dissidents three days after a coup.From self-exile, mainly in Cambodia, he posted regular satirical attacks on his Facebook page against the government of Prayuth Chan-ocha, then the head of the junta, now the country’s prime minister. Wanchalerm’s last post mocking the Thai premier was made a day before his disappearance.He was not a high-profile dissident, still, a Thai court issued a warrant for his arrest in 2018 under the Computer Crimes Act, which carries a two-year jail term.“The time for justice is now. A crime is a crime, and no one is above the law. But I have no idea how much investigation the Cambodians have done or are willing to do,” Sitanan told VOA.Thai authorities deny any knowledge of Wanchalerm’s disappearance, and the Foreign Affairs Ministry says it has asked Cambodia to investigate the issue. Initially Cambodia was slow to open a probe, but under mounting pressure prosecutors there agreed to hear evidence. Sitanan received a summons from the court in Phnom Penh for the hearing into his disappearance.However, “Everyone knows who did this,” she told VOA.”The Thai state was involved, I said this publicly several times,” she said without giving further details.Thai justice minister Somsak Thepsuthin has said the Foreign Affairs Ministry could not confirm that Wanchalerm was in Cambodia.Sitanan was on the phone with Wanchalerm as he was reportedly bundled into a Toyota Highlander SUV after leaving his condominium to buy a snack nearby.“I heard a bang. Then he kept repeating ‘I can’t breathe…I can’t breathe’ before the phone disconnected. That was the last time I ever heard from him,” she told VOA.The car has not been traced and no suspects have been arrested.One of the lawyers accompanying her to Cambodia, Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, a human rights defender and the director of the Cross Cultural Foundation, expressed hope the hearing would deliver enough evidence to prove “a criminal act took place…. and that could lead to a criminal investigation including abduction, holding hostage and enforced disappearance.”The best outcome, from Sitanan’s point of view, would be for prosecutors in Cambodia — a country with dubious record on human rights and a long list of disappeared of its own — to launch a full investigation, albeit several months after Wanchalerm was first reported missing.In Cambodia, Sitanan plans to also conduct her own search for her brother, which she will broadcast throughout on Facebook Live. “It’s for my own safety,” she said.Bodies in the riverThailand has a grim history of suspected enforced disappearances.Wanchalerm is the ninth self-exiled activist to go missing since Thailand’s last coup in 2014, all of whom were seeking sanctuary in neighboring Laos, Cambodia or Vietnam.The bodies of Kraidej Luelert and Chatchan Buphawan, who had sought refuge in Laos, were found in the Mekong River in January 2019, stuffed in nets, their hands tied and rocks stuffed inside their disemboweled bodies.They lived with a third man, Surachai Sae-Dan, a staunch critic of the Thai military and monarchy and leader of the Red Siam group, a small group of dissidents. He vanished around the same time but has not been found.Another prominent Laos-based Thai activist, Wuthipong ‘Kotee’ Kachathamakul, renowned for his threats to take up armed struggle against the Thai military and criticism of the monarchy, has been missing for three years and is feared dead.No one has been arrested for the murders or disappearances, with rights groups saying the mounting toll points to shadowy Thai death squads working outside of Thai borders.On the streets of Bangkok, where mass pro-democracy rallies have rattled the government for months, posters of Wanchalerm’s face — smiling and waving the three-finger Hunger Games salute that is the movement’s anti-government symbol — have become a banner for the impunity which runs through Thai society.“People are demanding justice and truth, especially on the enforced disappearances of political dissidents living in exile,” said Pornpen.His disappearance has been part of a broader awakening on human rights among Thailand’s youth democracy movement who want Prayuth’s government to resign, a new constitution and reforms of the once unassailable monarchy.The Thai palace is protected by a tough royal defamation law carrying up to 15 years in jail, but also by a royalist establishment including the courts and an army, whose generals swear allegiance to King Maha Vajiralongkorn.Wanchalerm’s case is resonating across the reform movement.“That’s because at the protests they know if you dare to speak up, if you dare to fight for justice or call for better future you may end up like him,” said Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher on Thailand in Human Rights Watch’s Asia division.
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Philippines Evacuates Nearly 1M as 2020’s Strongest Typhoon Approaches
Officials evacuated almost a million residents in the southern part of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon as a Category 5 storm, the world’s strongest this year, was set to make landfall Sunday.Typhoon Goni, with 215-kph (133-mph) sustained winds and gusts of up to 265 kph (164 mph), will bring violent winds and strong rains, state weather and disaster officials said.It is among the strongest typhoons to hit the Philippines since Haiyan, which killed more than 6,300 people in 2013.”We are having a hard time with COVID-19, and then here comes another disaster,” Senator Christopher Go, the top aide of President Rodrigo Duterte, told a virtual news conference.Local executives should ensure that the virus does not spread in evacuation centers, he said.Officials began pre-emptive evacuations, with Albay province moving 794,000 residents to safety, Ricardo Jalad, executive director of the national disaster agency, said at a news conference.In Manila and nearby Bulacan province, roughly 1,000 COVID-19 patients housed in large isolation tents could be transferred to hotels and hospitals, Jalad said.The Philippines has the second-highest numbers of COVID-19 infections and deaths in Southeast Asia, behind only Indonesia, with 380,729 cases and 7,221 deaths.Molave’s victimsTyphoon Molave last week killed 22 people, mostly through drowning in provinces south of Manila, which is also in the projected path of Goni, the 18th tropical storm to hit the country this year.The main island of Luzon accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy, which fell into recession in the second quarter, and half of the population of more than 108 million.Relief goods, heavy machinery and personal protective equipment are already positioned in key areas, Filipino Grace America, mayor of Infanta town in Quezon province, told DZBB radio. “But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, our funds for calamity concerns and expenses are insufficient,” the mayor said.Local officials canceled port operations and barred fishers from setting sail. Airlines canceled dozens of flights.Another typhoon, Atsani, with 55-kph sustained winds and gusts of up to 70 kph, is gaining strength just outside the Philippines.An average of 20 typhoons, bringing heavy rains that trigger deadly landslides, hit the Philippines annually.
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Vietnam Gets Boost from Western Allies in its Defense against China
Vietnam’s leadership this year of a Southeast Asian negotiating bloc has opened a door to bolster its defense against longtime rival China through stronger relations with the West, experts say.The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, a U.S.-led grouping that also includes Australia, India and Japan, invited Vietnam to join talks on COVID-19 and economic impacts in March, and its members have conferred with Vietnamese officials regularly since then. U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo finished his five-nation Asia visit with a stop in Vietnam Friday. He praised the host country’s “sovereignty” when he met Friday with Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi and said he looked forward to further improvement in relations. FILE – A ship (top) of the Chinese Coast Guard is seen near a ship of the Vietnam Marine Guard in the South China Sea, about 210 km (130 miles) off shore of Vietnam, May 14, 2014The two sides periodically ram each other’s boats and try to keep each other away from undersea energy reserves — as China uses technological and military advantages to occupy tiny islets. The two communist neighbors often make up after these incidents but never settle them. They had already sparred on and off for centuries over territory, culminating in a war in the 1970s. Quad connections “will give Vietnam a solid regional ‘coalition’ to work on China with,” said Yun Sun, East Asia Program senior associate at the Stimson Center in Washington. “For a Vietnam that has been resisting China alone for centuries, to have those solid partners will improve Vietnam’s leverage and position,” she said. The Quad was launched 13 years ago. It’s seen as a counterweight to Chinese expansion, from the Sino-Indian border to the South China Sea. New Zealand and South Korea joined Vietnam for Quad talks this year about COVID-19. China will “think the worst” of Vietnam’s Quad role, Thayer said. Vietnam has hardly forgotten ASEAN or forsaken China, though. As ASEAN readies for a leadership summit November 11-15, Vietnam has a chance to help the members clinch a free-trade agreement involving China. China is already an economic benefactor for much of Southeast Asia, and Vietnam counted China last year as its No. 2 trading partner, after the United States. FILE – Container trucks are seen while waiting for cross the border at Huu Nghi border gate connecting with China, in Lang Son province, Vietnam, Feb. 20, 2020.A breakthrough this year in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership deal after nine years of discussion would make Vietnam “look good” by helping so many economies, said Rajiv Biswas, senior regional economist with IHS Markit, a London-based market analysis firm. The 15 would-be partnership countries make up almost 30% of the global gross domestic product. “Because these things have been under conversation for quite a few years, if they can pull it off under their chairmanship then it looks good that they were the ones who were able to bring it over the line,” Biswas said.
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Trump Suspends Duty-free Access for $817 Million in Thai Imports
Thailand’s duty-free privileges for some $817 million in exports to the United States will be revoked starting Dec. 30, U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday, citing a lack of progress in opening the Thai market to U.S. pork products.The suspension of the Generalized System of Preferences access follows a suspension earlier this year on about $1.3 billion worth imports from Thailand, which once had such privileges for about $4.4 billion in exports to the United States.The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said the list of products includes auto parts, electrical products, dried produce, tools and aluminum kitchenware.Trump’s letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announcing the move, released by the White House, follows more than two years of negotiations with Thailand over issues ranging from access to Thailand’s markets for U.S. goods and inadequate labor rights in the country.”I have determined that Thailand has not assured the United States that Thailand will provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets,” Trump wrote to Pelosi.GSP is a 1970s-era program of U.S. trade preferences for developing economies aimed at improving workers’ rights and market access.USTR also announced that it had closed other GSP eligibility reviews with no loss of benefits for Georgia, Indonesia and Uzbekistan. It also said new GSP reviews were opened for Eritrea based on concerns about workers’ rights.
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Hit Hard by Pandemic, South Korean Churches Find New Ways to Worship
In South Korea, one of the main ways the coronavirus has spread is through cluster infections in religious communities. That has forced many religious groups to adapt to new ways of worship, as VOA’s Bill Gallo reports from Seoul.
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2 Same-sex Couples in Military Marry in First for Taiwan
Two lesbian couples tied the knot in a mass wedding held by Taiwan’s military on Friday in a historic celebration with their peers.
Taiwan is the only place in Asia to have legalized same-sex marriage, with more than 4,000 such couples marrying since the legislation passed in May 2019. The mass wedding, which included 186 mixed-sex couples, was the first time same-sex couples have been wed and celebrated at a military ceremony.
Both couples viewed their ceremonies with a sense of responsibility towards representing the LGBT community.
“We are hoping that more LGBT people in the military can bravely stand up, because our military is very open-minded. In matters of love, everyone will be treated equally,” said Chen Ying-hsuan, 27, an army lieutenant who married Li Li-chen, 26.
Chen wore a rainbow wristband and said she has always been open about her sexual orientation while serving.
The ceremony at an army base in the northern city of Taoyuan was brief. The couples took part in a parade and then exchanged rings in front of an audience of family members and their senior officers.
Yumi Meng, 37, and her wife, army Maj. Wang Yi, 36, wiped back tears as they exchanged rings. Meng wore sneakers under her wedding dress, while Wang wore her officer’s uniform. They each carried a pride flag throughout the ceremony.
Meng’s parents had not come to the celebration, but both of Wang’s parents as well as her teacher came out to support the couple.
“I really feel that this is a huge breakthrough for the military because before gay people really had to go through a lot,” said Amy Chao, mother to Wang. “Perhaps for heterosexual couples, it’s just a paper, but it’s very important for gay couples, if you’re sick or have to have a major surgery, if you don’t have this, then you are nothing, you can’t make a decision.”
Since same-sex marriage became legal in Taiwan, 4,021 such couples have married, with 69% of them lesbian couples, according to the most recent government data.
The military seemed an unlikely institution to be the site of a same-sex marriage, but in recent years has opened up, said Victoria Hsu, the Co-founder of Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights. “We hope this is a good sign to show that the armed forces’ attitude towards the LGBT community is becoming more supportive than before in Taiwan.”
That attitude was on full display Friday as it welcomed dozens of reporters to the wedding.
“Our attitude is that everyone should be treated equally, and we congratulate each and every couple, and this shows that our military’s position is open-minded, progressive and with the times,” Lt. Gen. Yang An told reporters at the wedding.
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Pompeo Wraps of 5-Nation Asia Visit in Vietnam, with Recurring Anti-China Theme
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrapped up a five-nation visit of Asia in Vietnam Friday, repeating the theme that the U.S. is against China’s encroachment on sovereign nations of Southeast Asia, Asia and the Indo-Pacific regions.
Pompeo Friday was greeted by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in the capital Hanoi as the countries celebrate 25 years of U.S.-Vietnam relations.
Pompeo told Phuc the United States has enormous respect for the Vietnamese people and the country’s sovereignty.
In a statement issued after the visit, the State Department said “Secretary Pompeo underscored support for the sovereignty of Southeast Asian nations, international law, and a free and open Indo Pacific.”
The top U.S. diplomat also made a point of reinforcing U.S. support in pushing back on China during earlier stops in India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Indonesia.
Prior to Pompeo’s arrival to the Vietnam, the State Department issued a statement critical of China reneging on promises with other Mekong countries and for territorial claims in the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan all have rival claims to the South China Sea, through which a third of global shipping passes.
The Trump administration has been openly critical of China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and its adoption of policies that exercise aggressiveness behavior towards its smaller neighbors.
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Australian Inquiry Recommends Sweeping Changes to Handle Catastrophic Bushfires
A high-level report into Australia’s devastating “Black Summer” bushfires warns that natural disasters are becoming “more complex, more unpredictable, and more difficult to manage.”The Royal Commission, a high-level public inquiry into Australia’s bushfires, said the Black Summer fires of 2019 occurred during Australia’s hottest and driest year on record. According to the commission’s final report, more than 24 million hectares of land were burned. Thirty-three people died, and more than 3,000 homes were destroyed.The commission was set up in February to examine how Australia could become more resilient in the face of natural calamities.It has identified climate change as a key factor in an increasingly dangerous future. It warned that extreme weather had already become more frequent and intense because of climate change, bringing with it floods and bushfires.In the report released Friday, the inquiry said traditional firefighting methods might be no match for catastrophic fire conditions in the years and decades to come, when Australia would likely have more hot days and fewer cool days.The commission offered 80 recommendations, including the need for a national aerial firefighting fleet. Water-bombing aircraft are operated by individual states and territories, and the commission called for greater across-the-board cooperation between federal and local authorities. An integrated country-wide early warning system to alert residents was also recommended.David Littleproud, the minister for emergency management, said the report also advised harnessing firefighting techniques successfully used by Indigenous Australians.“It also brings into light the role that First Australians can play, and I have said this when this disaster first hit us back at the start of the year, is that our First Australians have a significant role to play in educating us and working with the new science to make sure that were can prepare better for particular bushfires in the future,” he said.Aboriginal methods involve the lighting of small so-called “cool” fires in specific areas during the early dry season between March and July. The flames burn slowly, reducing vegetation that can feed wildfires and that creates fire breaks.Australia’s federal, state and territory leaders will soon discuss the Royal Commission’s recommendations. Campaigners are urging them to adopt all of the recommendations and do more to address the impact of climate change.
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Rescuers in Vietnam Search for Dozens Missing after Deadly Landslides
Rescuers in Vietnam are searching villages for dozens of people missing after a typhoon described by officials as the most powerful to hit Vietnam in 20 years triggered landslides, killing at least 35 people.The state-run Vietnam News Agency reported Thursday that nearly two dozen people managed to escape in Tra Van and Tra Leng villages.Dozens more are still unaccounted for in those communities in Quang Nam province, where houses were buried by landslides.The news agency said rescuers uncovered eight bodies Thursday in Tra Van.Officials fear the death toll will rise as regions cut off by storm damage become more accessible.Typhoon Molave struck Vietnam late Wednesday with winds at 150 kph, killing more than a dozen fisherman and leaving several more missing.People in the mountains of Quang Nam province are still trying to recover from landslides and floods that killed 136 people earlier this month.Nguyen Hai Anh, the secretary general of Vietnam Red Cross, said the back-to-back disasters in central Vietnam have affected the lives of more than 7 million people, including just over 1 million people directly impacted by Typhoon Molave.
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Activists Hail Canadian Parliamentary Committee Report on Uighur ‘Genocide’
After the Canadian parliamentary Subcommittee on International Human Rights concluded last week that China’s treatment of the Uighurs in the Xinjiang region amounts to genocide, some experts and international human rights activists say the international community could be entering a new phase of action to hold officials in Beijing accountable.In its Oct. 21 statement, the committee said the detention of nearly 2 million Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims, forced labor, “pervasive” state surveillance and repressive control were “a clear attempt to eradicate Uighur culture and religion.”“Based on the evidence put forward during the Subcommittee hearings, both in 2018 and 2020, the Subcommittee is persuaded that the actions of the Chinese Communist Party constitute genocide as laid out in the Genocide Convention,” the committee said in a news release.The U.N. Genocide Convention defines genocide as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.Kyle Matthews, executive director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University, said the committee’s move represents the first time a national legislative body has described the treatment of Uighurs in China as genocide.“This will put pressure [on] the executive branch of government to follow suit and respond accordingly,” Matthews told VOA.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 8 MB480p | 11 MB540p | 15 MBOriginal | 36 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioChina has been accused internationally of arbitrary detention, forced indoctrination and torture of over a million Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in internment camps in Xinjiang since 2017.Approval by governmentThe committee called on the Canadian government to recognize the campaign as genocide, condemn China, and sanction officials involved in “grave human rights abuses.” It also asked the government to push for international access to the region and support organizations raising awareness on Uighurs.Committee chair Peter Fonseca told VOA that the suggestions included in the statement were “a unanimous proclamation on the part of the multiparty members of the subcommittee.”He said the committee report will be presented to the Foreign Affairs Committee, which can approve or reject its findings.Some experts say the findings are likely to proceed further in the country’s legislative branch and be presented to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Cabinet for approval.“The government has often followed the suggestions of the committee,” Ilan Orzy, director of operations at the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights, told VOA.Orzy said the Canadian government followed such a proceeding with regard to the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar.Canada recognized the actions by Myanmar authorities against the Rohingya minority as genocide in September 2018.The Canadian government has yet to announce whether it will act on the committee suggestions. In a statement shared with VOA, Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne said his government takes genocide allegations “very seriously.”“We will continue to work in close collaboration with our allies to push for these to be investigated through an international independent body and for impartial experts to access the region so that they can see the situation firsthand and report back,” Champagne said.‘‘We remain deeply disturbed by the troubling reports of human rights violations in Xinjiang and have publicly and consistently called on the Chinese government to end the repression of Uighurs,” he said.‘Vocational training’China rejects the claim that it is running a repressive campaign against Turkic minorities in Xinjiang. Beijing officials say they have sent Uighurs who were “poisoned” by religious extremism or who lagged behind in society to “vocational training centers” to deradicalize them and teach them new work skills.Last Thursday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian called the committee’s statement “groundless” and called on Canada to stop interfering in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of Xinjiang-related matters.“The so-called genocide in Xinjiang is a rumor and a farce fabricated by some anti-China forces to slander China,” Zhao said at a press conference.Some observers charge that a possible move by the Canadian government to approve the committee findings and recognize the Uighur genocide could encourage other countries to follow suit.U.S. stanceLast Friday, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, a Foreign Relations Committee member, urged the U.S. government to formerly recognize the issue as genocide.Tuesday, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a resolution to declare the Uighur campaign genocide.Peter Irwin, a senior program officer at the Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project, told VOA that those resolutions show the international community is ready to go beyond condemnation of China’s policies in Xinjiang toward holding party officials accountable.“The Canadian [parliamentary] subcommittee, to their credit, took the time to study the issue intensively, calling witnesses and analyzing reports, and concluded that what’s happening amounts to genocide,” Irwin said.Dolkun Isa, president of the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress, said that discussions of genocide-labeling means those countries understand the severity of the Uighur situation, and their policymakers are willing to adjust their responses to the crisis.“There is growing momentum to recognize the situation as a genocide, and the decision of the subcommittee has greatly contributed to that. It is our hope that this move will be the start of a more meaningful and concrete push by the international community to demand that China stops the Uighur genocide,” Isa told VOA.
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Early Voting Begins in Myanmar Election
Despite Myanmar’s growing coronavirus caseload and continuing unrest in some areas, early voting began Thursday for the November 8 general election, which involves nearly 100 political parties and contests for the upper and lower houses of the national, state and regional governments.Early voters include citizens unable to return to their constituencies because of COVID-19 restrictions, and voters older than 60 in townships under stay-at-home orders, according to the Union Election Commission (UEC). A total of 1,171 seats are being contested,
according to the Myanmar President U Win Myint casts his ballot, Oct. 29, 2020, during early voting in his country’s election. (VOA Burmese Service)Win Myint, 68, is also running for the national Lower House, where he holds a seat representing Tamwe Township that he secured in the 2015 general election.Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) is widely expected to be returned to power in the vote. The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is expected to dominate the nominations for seats in the military bloc.If Suu Kyi’s party wins, she will resign from her constituency to form a government. The winner of a by-election will then represent Kawhmu Township.Suu Kyi said on Monday that the government was well-prepared for the election, despite the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi casts her ballot, Oct. 29, 2020, during early voting in her country’s elections. (VOA Burmese Service)The UEC was criticized for favoring the NLD because many voters in the restive states support ethnic parties, according to a statement released October 18 by the Kachin State People’s Party, Kayah State Democratic Party, Karen National Democratic Party, Chin National League for Democracy and Mon Unity Party.It is unclear when voters in these areas will be allowed to vote. “The Union Election Commission is making decisions affecting people’s right to choose their representatives without an iota of transparency,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said Wednesday. “Myanmar’s election commission needs to fully explain the basis for its decisions on each of the affected townships, which affect the voting rights of 1.5 million largely ethnic minority people.”Thet Naing, in Sittwe; Htet Aung Khant in Mandalay, and VOA Burmese journalists in Naypyidaw, Agga Non, Mon State and Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
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US Sanctions Target 11 Entities, 5 People for Violating Iran Sanctions
The U.S. Treasury and State departments on Thursday announced sanctions on 11 entities in Iran, China and Singapore for buying and selling Iranian petrochemicals. In addition, the Justice Department announced two forfeiture complaints against Iran for the recent seizures of Iranian weapons bound for Yemen and refined petroleum bound for Venezuela. “The two forfeiture complaints allege sophisticated schemes by the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] to secretly ship weapons to Yemen and fuel to Venezuela, countries that pose grave threats to the security and stability of their respective regions,” John Demers, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement. “Iran continues to be a leading state sponsor of terrorism and a worldwide destabilizing force. It is with great satisfaction that I can announce that our intentions are to take the funds successfully forfeited from the fuel sales and provide them to the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund after the conclusion of the case.” According Demers, in November 2019 and February 2020, U.S. Navy ships interdicted flagless vessels carrying “large stocks of weapons, including 171 guided anti-tank missiles, eight surface-to-air missiles, and various other missile components.” FILE – The crew of the USS Normandy seized this illicit shipment of weapons and weapon components intended for the Houthis in Yemen, aboard a stateless dhow in the Arabian Sea, Feb. 9, 2020. (U.S. Navy photo)An investigation revealed the weapons to be manufactured in Iran and “consistent with known Iranian weapon systems.” On Aug. 20, 2020, the Justice Department filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking to forfeit the seized weapons. The second forfeiture complaint was filed on July 20, 2020, by the department’s National Security Division and the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia. It sought the forfeiture of 1.1 million barrels of Iranian petroleum seized from four foreign-flagged vessels headed to Venezuela. FILE – The Luna oil tanker is seen in this undated image released by the U.S. Justice Department, which on Aug. 14, 2020, confirmed it had seized the fuel cargo aboard four tankers, including the Luna, sent by Iran to crisis-wracked Venezuela.The seized petroleum has been subsequently sold by the United States. “These actions demonstrate our commitment to working with all of our law enforcement partners to stem the flow of illicit weapons, oil, and money from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other organizations that would do harm to the United States,” U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin said in a statement. “The U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia will use all available tools, including our jurisdiction to seize and forfeit assets located abroad, to counter terrorist funding and weapons proliferation.”
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Donors, Volunteers Step Up to Help One of Malaysia’s Worst-Hit Areas
In Malaysia, volunteers are collecting donations to help a part of the country that has been hit hard by COVID-19.At a storage site, volunteers tape and stack boxes of donated food and personal protective equipment, or PPE, from face shields to sardines. It is being sent from Malaysia’s biggest metropolitan area to one of its most remote — Semporna, which has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. Thousands of people are under lockdown, and some live in communities that can be reached only by boat. William Cheah, co-founder of Kembara Kitchen, helped organize the donation drive for Semporna residents. (Dave Grunebaum/VOA)William Cheah, co-founder of a social enterprise called Kembara Kitchen, helped organize the donation drive. “You do not need to be a very big person to have a very big impact,” Cheah said. “If everybody comes together, the unity involved in people coming in to help each other out, you create a lot of effect.” Zach Ho and his wife, Ivy, dropped off powdered milk formula. “We feel that every contribution helps,” Zach Ho said. “Even though it’s a very small amount, we hope that it helps the situation in Semporna.” Tan Mei Ling, a piano teacher, helps organize the donated food and PPE being sent to Semporna, Malaysia. (Dave Grunebaum/VOA)Volunteer Tan Mei Ling is a piano teacher whose music school is currently closed because of the pandemic. “I thought I would just come and help, since I was free,” she said. “I couldn’t teach, so I just came to help, and it feels good.” Altogether, more than four tons of aid was donated. The supplies were flown to the airport nearest to Semporna before being distributed by government agencies and nongovernmental organizations.
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Taiwan Marks 200 Days Without New Domestically Transmitted COVID-19 Cases
Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control reported Thursday the nation has now gone 200 days without any domestically transmitted cases of COVID-19, highlighting the island’s continued success at keeping the virus under control even as cases surge in other parts of the world.
The government health agency last reported a domestic case on April 12. CDC officials noted the milestone and thanked the public for playing a role, while urging people to continue to wear masks and wash their hands often.
At a news conference in Taipei, CDC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang credited the people of Taiwan for abiding by the CDC’s COVID-19 regulations, including self-quarantining at home, submitting to inspections at airports and participation in contact-tracing programs.
Since the pandemic began, Taiwan has recorded 553 cases of COVID-19, and just seven deaths. While it has stopped domestic transmission, it continues to record new cases in people arriving from abroad.
The CDC did report three Thursday new COVID-19 cases that came into the country from overseas. The reports said a woman traveling from the United States, a man returning from the Philippines, and an Indonesian woman all tested positive for the virus in recent days and submitted themselves for quarantine.
Taiwan has been pointed to as a success story in how to respond to the pandemic, especially considering its close business and tourism ties with China, where the virus first emerged late last year.
Its success has in part been attributed to acting very early in the pandemic. The Journal of the American Medical Association reports Taiwanese officials were checking passengers on flights from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the pandemic began, as early as Dec. 31 for fever and pneumonia symptoms.
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Museum Exhibit Revamp Raises Concerns in Hong Kong
Scholars are urging government curators not to shy away from controversial issues in the production of new exhibits as the Hong Kong Museum of History undertakes a two-year revamp of its popular Hong Kong Story exhibition.Occupying 7,000 square meters in eight galleries on two floors, the permanent exhibition of the Hong Kong Story has attracted more than 10 million local and overseas visitors since its launch in 2001, according to the museum website. It has now been temporarily closed, starting October 19, for an extensive renovation. Visitors wearing masks to help protect against the coronavirus walk past an earth sculpture, at the Hong Kong Museum of History, in Hong Kong, Oct. 16, 2020.The old exhibition showcased exhibits starting from the Devonian period 400 million years ago up to 1997. It only caused a stir in the public when the exhibition was officially closed this month, even though the decision was announced in 2015. The revamp is a regular exercise of history museums conducted every 20 years, according to John Carroll, a professor in the University of Hong Kong’s History Department and an expert in museology.Coming at a time when Hong Kong is reeling from intense turmoil after yearlong massive protests sparked by a now-defunct extradition bill last year, many fear the new exhibition — which will cover the period from the Neolithic to 2014 — will be a watered-down version of the recent history of the city.“Everything in Hong Kong these days is politically charged, there’s no point in speculating. The project is going to be difficult and challenging. However, it’s a good opportunity to make it an even better exhibition,” according to Carroll, the author of A Concise History of Hong Kong. “It’s not uncommon for governments to produce museums which are not critical because they don’t want to train people to be critical of the authorities. Most museums are a compromise,” he said, adding that “Museums should be a product of discussion, argument and negotiation, and to tell complex stories.” A screen shows the ceremony of British handover Hong Kong to China, at the exhibition “The Hong Kong Story” in the Hong Kong Museum of History, Oct. 16, 2020.He said even the old exhibition was curated in a traditional, conservative way, with an apparent attempt to avoid controversy. For instance, the portraits of the British governors who headed Hong Kong before the political handover to China in 1997 were displayed in a “dark corner” of the venue. “It is designed in such a way that people would not spend much time there,” he said.Echoing Carroll’s views, Godfrey Lai, a history researcher at Lingnan University, a Hong Kong liberal arts university, said, “I’m not too concerned with certain events being omitted or downplayed in the new exhibition since it’s rather difficult to wipe out history in modern times. But I am more concerned with the use of language and whether the selection of the content is biased.”“What’s so problematic is that the government tends to obtain the information from pro-establishment sources such as pro-Beijing newspapers,” he added. In the old exhibition, photos and videos instead of text were used to depict politically sensitive incidents, such as the pro-communist Hong Kong riots in 1967 under the British rule to keep away from having to deal with the conflicting views related to the historic events, Lai said.For the updated version of the exhibition, he suggested that interviews with people who have participated in the events and government officials who are responsible for making the decisions, and artifacts generated during that time be included to provide a more complete perspective. Lai also said the display should be presented from the point of view of Hong Kong people rather than that of the mainland Chinese.“Domestically, it should resonate and have a connection with the local people. Externally, tourists would want to know how the local people look at the events. If people want a mainland Chinese perspective, they should go the museums in Beijing,” he said.Taking a broader view, Carroll said the exhibition will be aimed at not just the 7.5 million local population but also visitors from mainland China and overseas. “Some people want to be more critical of the colonial rule, but some don’t,” he said. Both history scholars indicated they would want to have government officials’ reaction to key events shown in the exhibition. Then-Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s decision-making over the Umbrella Revolution, for example, also known as Occupy Central Movement when a series of mostly peaceful sit-in pro-democracy protests took place in 2014 should be featured in the renewed production, Carroll said.Angela Fong, who had visited the now-closed exhibition several times over the years with her two children, aged 17 and 10, said she is concerned that key political issues will be left out or “twisted.”“The government is already making changes to the history textbooks in schools. It’ll be difficult to tell the truth to our next generation,” she said.In 2015, history researcher Lai founded Wetoasthk, a Facebook page dedicated to Hong Kong history that has close to 30,000 followers. He said the government does not have an exclusive privilege in keeping a record of history.“Anyone can record history, especially with the help of technology today,” he told VOA.
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