Production News

BSP Sets Ceiling On Credit Card Charges

The Monetary Board approved the setting of an annual interest rate ceiling of 24 percent on all credit card transactions effective November 3 this year.   The…

Overall BOP Posts US$657 Million Surplus in August 2020; Year-to-Date BOP Surplus Hits US$4.8 Billion, while GIR Level Reaches a Record High of US$99 Billion

The country’s overall balance of payments (BOP) position posted a surplus of US$657 million in August 2020, bringing the year-to-date surplus position to US$4.77 billion. The BOP…

Residential Real Estate Price Rise in Q2 2020

Nationwide residential property prices grew by 27.1 percent year-on-year in Q2 2020   Residential real estate prices of various types of new housing units in the Philippines…

Vietnam’s Economic Hopes Fade as COVID-19 Takes Away Business

TAIPEI, TAIWAN – Vietnamese officials have lowered expectations for their country’s normally fast-growing gross domestic product in 2020 as the global economic slowdown thins demand for exports…

Cambodia Allocates $1.2 Billion to Bolster Economy

The Cambodian government has allocated $1.2 billion to bolster an economy struggling with the withdrawal of some European trade perks and the COVID-19 pandemic. Under its Everything…

Palm Oil Labor Abuses Linked to World’s Top Brands, Banks

PENINSULAR, MALAYSIA – Jum’s words tumble out over the phone, his voice growing ever more frantic. Between sobs, he says he’s trapped on a Malaysian plantation run…

General News

Indonesia, Landslide in Sorong City, West Papua (16:45 Sep 18 2020)

Description High intensity rainfall and unstable soil structure caused a landslide in Sorong City, West Papua on 18 Sep 2020 at 16.45 WIT Location: Sorong Manoi, Sorong…

Viet Nam, Flood, Landslides, and Storms in Tay Giang, Quang Nam (06:00 Sep 22 2020)

Description The entire national grid system in the area of ​​H. Tay Giang is paralyzed from September 18 to September 21, only to overcome and energize for…

WOMAN ARRESTED FOR A SERIES OF E-COMMERCE SCAMS

The Police have arrested a 20-year-old woman for her suspected involvement in a series of e-commerce scams. Between 9 June 2020 and 5 July 2020, the Police received…

Human Rights News

Asia and the Pacific: Weekly Regional Humanitarian Snapshot (15 – 21 September 2020)

VIETNAM AND THAILAND Tropical Storm Noul travelled west over the South China Sea towards central Vietnam and made landfall on 18 September, bringing heavy rainfall, strong winds,…

Human Rights Council holds dialogue with Special Rapporteur on Myanmar and starts dialogue with Commission of Inquiry on Syria

The Human Rights Council this afternoon held an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, and started an interactive dialogue with…

Philippines Denies Claim of Increased Police Drug-Related Killings

TAIPEI, TAIWAN – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s office Wednesday denied a claim made this month by the international rights group Human Rights Watch that drug-related killings by…

UN Agency Condemns Cambodia’s Repression of Human Rights Defenders

GENEVA – The U.N. human rights office is condemning what it calls growing repressive measures by the Cambodian government that stifle freedom of expression and assembly practiced…