Manila has suspended oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea (SCS), Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman said Wednesday, as it tries to strike a deal with Beijing on a joint energy project.Drilling off the Philippines was allowed to resume in October 2020 when Duterte – who has taken a softer approach than his predecessor to Beijing's claims over most of the waterway – lifted a 2014 moratorium.It was hoped that Duterte's decision would fast-track talks with B

Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta scored a landslide victory in East Timor's presidential election, according to preliminary results published Wednesday by the election secretariat.The 72-year-old secured 397,145 votes, or 62.09 percent, against incumbent Francisco "Lu-Olo" Guterres' 242,440, or 37.91 percent, the secretariat's website showed after all ballots were counted."The count of the district, national and regional vote has been completed", said Acilino

"How old are you"? It's a simple question with a clear answer. But for those in South Korea, answering this question is anything but straightforward.In South Korea, when a baby is born they are considered a year old. Come New Year's Day, they gain another year.

Pregnant women have been an "afterthought" during the coronavirus pandemic and some of their deaths were "preventable", a leading scientist has said. Data shows there have been at least 40 maternal deaths from COVID in the United Kingdom (UK).Almost all were unvaccinated and more than half happened after pregnant women were advised to take-up the vaccine.The regulator says vaccines during pregnancy are "safe".Professor Marian Knight, who investigates eve

The Philippines' Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa filed a complaint on Tuesday against a top member of President Rodrigo Duterte's media team over alleged "malicious and defamatory" posts on Facebook.Ressa has been a vocal critic of Duterte and the deadly drug war he launched in 2016, triggering what media advocates say is a grinding series of criminal charges, probes and online attacks against her and Rappler – the news site she co-founded.In the complaint

An up-and-coming Thai politician is facing allegations he sexually abused more than a dozen women, in what is fast becoming the country's most high-profile #MeToo case.According to Thai police, 14 women formally filed complaints against former Democrat Party deputy Prinn Panitchpakdi, whose father was deputy prime minister and later director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO).The #MeToo movement – which originated in the United States (US) – swept the globe in 2017 but, until

At about noon last Tuesday, Yu Wenming, an 82-year-old man in Shanghai, called his local residential committee for help. “I’ve used up my medicines. Nor do I have anything to eat. I’m feeling awful,” Yu, who had tested positive for COVID, told the party secretary, Zhang Zhen.Zhang listened patiently, saying he had already referred the case to his superiors and there was nothing he could do. “Do you mean I should just wait here until I die, then?” Yu asked.

East Timor's citizens head to the polls on Tuesday to choose either a Nobel laureate or a former guerrilla fighter – the incumbent president – as their next leader.Polling stations in Southeast Asia's youngest country open at 7:00 am (2200 GMT Monday) for what is a rematch of a 2007 election won handily by former revolutionary hero and peace prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta.Nearly 860,000 people in the country of just 1.3 million are eligible to vote, and ballot counting could take sev

China reported seven new deaths from COVID-19 in Shanghai on Tuesday, raising the official toll after hundreds of thousands of cases in the metropolis during a weeks-long lockdown.City authorities revealed the first virus deaths on Monday, with Tuesday's fatalities bringing the total official toll to just 10, despite the scale of the outbreak.Beijing insists its zero-COVID policy of hard lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines has averted fatalities and the public health crises t

Whatever your standpoint on whether the pandemic is over, or what “living with the virus” should mean, it is clear some manifestation of COVID-19 will be with us for some time to come.