Marshmallow yarn

MANILA, Philippines—Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana cast doubt on China’s claim that Chinese vessels anchored near Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef in the West Philippine Sea were fishing boats. “That is their standard line but those ships are not fishing,” Lorenzana told INQUIRER.net on Thursday (March 25). “And there are 183 to 220 of them? If it’s true that they are sheltering from the elements, that area is open sea and not conducive to shelter,” he said. “Why are they lashed together? I don’t know if lashing together ships in open turbulent seas is a good idea as they would be colliding with each other,” he said, commenting on the remarks of Chinese officials that the vessels were not part of a maritime militia but fishing vessels taking shelter from “rough sea conditions.” The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, the country’s weather forecast agency, had projected no storm and hot weather for the country after declaring the start of ... » Learn More about ‘Those ships are not fishing’: Lorenzana doubts China yarn on vessels in PH EEZ

Sunday hikers watch the lava flowing from the erupting Fagradalsfjall volcano. FAGRADALSFJALL, Iceland: Thousands of curious onlookers have flocked to an erupting volcano in Iceland to marvel at the hypnotic display of glowing red lava, the bravest of them grilling hot dogs and marshmallows over the smoldering embers. The eruption of a fissure near Mount Fagradalsfjall, which began late Friday, was the first in the same volcanic system in about 900 years. The volcano is located only about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the capital Reykjavik and can be reached after a 90-minute hike from the nearest road. "It's absolutely breathtaking," says Ulvar Kari Johannsson, a 21-year-old engineer who spent his Sunday visiting the scene. "It smells pretty bad. For me what was surprising was the colours of the orange: much, much deeper than what one would expect," he tells AFP. The incandescent lava bubbles and spurts from a small cone in the Geldingadalur valley, piling up in the basin ... » Learn More about Thousands flock to Iceland’s erupting volcano

The Philippines established diplomatic relations with Pakistan on September 8, 1949 through the opening of a Philippine Consulate in Pakistan. This was followed by the opening of the Philippine Embassy in Karachi in 1956. In May 1957, Pakistan’s then Prime Minister Husseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy made an official visit to the Philippines. This was reciprocated by President Diosdado Macapagal in July 1962. During the administration of former President Corazon Aquino, Pakistani Prime Minister Mohammad Khan Junejo made an official visit to the Philippines in May 1988. In 1989, President Aquino, on two occasions, held bilateral talks with the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who was able to visit the Philippines in 1995 as a guest of former President Fidel Ramos. In 1997, the gesture was returned by President Fidel V. Ramos, only the second Philippine Head of State to visit Pakistan almost 40 years after the first state visit of President Macapagal. State Visit of Pakistani President Pervez ... » Learn More about An overview of Pakistan-Philippines relations

BEIJING - Anger with Nike Inc erupted on Chinese social media late on Wednesday (March 24) after China’s netizens spotted a statement from the sporting goods giant saying it was “concerned” about reports of forced labour in Xinjiang and that it does not use cotton from the region. Topics around the Nike statement were among the highest trending on China’s Twitter-like social media Weibo on Thursday (March 25), and the social media storm had wider fallout. Popular Chinese actor Wang Yibo terminated his contract as a representative for Nike in response to social media criticism over its Xinjiang statement, his agency said in a statement on Weibo on Thursday. It was unclear when Nike had put out its statement, which did not have a date on it, and Nike was not immediately available for comment. “We are concerned about reports of forced labor in, and connected to, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR),” Nike said in the statement. [[nid:523147]] “Nike does not source ... » Learn More about Nike sees social media storm in China over Xinjiang statement

Anger with Nike erupted on Chinese social media late on Wednesday after China's netizens spotted a statement from the sporting goods giant saying it was "concerned" about reports of forced labour in Xinjiang and that it does not use cotton from the region. Topics around the Nike statement were among the highest trending on China's Twitter-like social media Weibo on Thursday, and the social media backlash had a wider fallout. Popular Chinese actor Wang Yibo terminated his contract as a representative for Nike in response to social media criticism over the company's Xinjiang statement, his agency said on Weibo on Thursday. It was unclear when Nike had put out the statement, which did not have a date on it. Nike did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "We are concerned about reports of forced labor in, and connected to, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR)," Nike said in the statement. "Nike does not source products from the XUAR and we have confirmed with ... » Learn More about Nike faces social media storm in China over Xinjiang statement

SCREENGRAB FROM SIMULARITY MANILA, Philippines—Chinese vessels appear to be freely coming in and out in large numbers at Julian Felipe (Witsun) Reef in the West Philippine Sea since late 2020, satellite images showed. US-based tech firm Simularity on Friday (March 26) said images of what are believed to be Chinese ships had been “mooring, arriving and departing” at the reef, which is inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, as early as November 2020. The number of stationary ships dropped briefly in early February 2021 but those entering and leaving the reef regularly had been in large numbers, Simularity said. Images from December 2020 were believed to show fishing ships moored together, each as wide as 200 meters, which was a sign they were there not to fish. “At an average width of 10 meters per ship, that’s a collection of 20 ships,” Simularity said. From March 23 to 24, Simularity counted at least 200 vessels at the reef, mostly believed to be Chinese fishing ... » Learn More about Satellite monitoring shows Chinese incursions in PH EEZ done with impunity

DHAKA (THE DAILY STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Narendra Modi's recent visit to mark 50 years of Bangladesh's independence has been dominated by his narratives of shared ties between the two friendly neighbours, united efforts of the two countries for the development of the region and concerted efforts to meet common goals: "For our millions of people, for their future, for our fight against poverty, for the fight against terrorism." PM Modi generously presented Bangladesh with 109 ambulances and 1.2 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presented PM Modi with a gold and a silver coin which were released marking the birth centenary of Bangladesh's Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with a silver coin released on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the country's independence. The Indian Prime Minister reiterated India's Neighbourhood First Policy and the two leaders also virtually opened some projects together. On the surface, ... » Learn More about Modi spreads neighbourly love, but key challenges rumble on: Daily Star columnist

GLOBAL TIMES, March 25: Nike has become the next target of Chinese netizens' rage after H&M for its stance over Xinjiang cotton supply issues. The hashtag #nike has become the biggest trending topic on China’s Twitter-like social media platform Sina Weibo on Thursday with 720 million views and 530,000 comments over its announcement outlining its boycott of Xinjiang cotton. Chinese netizens called the announcement of the company disgusting and asked the brand to get out of Chinese market after it came to light that the company said it has prohibited any type of "forced labor" across its supply chain in Xinjiang, citing so called human rights concerns. The announcement is still available on the official website purpose.nike.com as of Thursday morning. A telephone receptionist at Nike’s office reached by the Global Times stated that they have not received notice from the senior department on the response over the matter. Sina Weibo user “langlichitiaoxiaoculin” on Wednesday ... » Learn More about Nike, the next target after H&M on Xinjiang cotton issue

BEIJING (China Daily/ANN): It has become clearer than ever that using fabrications to accuse the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region of tolerating "forced labour" is just the first step for anti-China forces in Western countries to curb the development of the region's cotton and textile industry, as well as to inflict a heavy blow to the development of the region and the entire country, industry officials said. Ultimately, the large number of vulnerable cotton growers and textile workers in Xinjiang, many from ethnic groups including the Uygur, Kazak and Uzbek, are the real victims. Many of them, particularly those from less developed southern Xinjiang, have just escaped from poverty as the labor-intensive textile industry has thrived in the region in recent years, the officials said over the weekend. "We're considering laying off some workers because of poor sales of cotton yarn after some big international retail brands have chosen not to source cotton and yarn from Xinjiang over ... » Learn More about False claims aim to hurt prosperity of Xinjiang: China Daily

Scene from TBA Studios’ “Dito at Doon” While we didn’t have high expectations for JP Habac’s “Dito at Doon” because of its featherlight premise, we knew that the rom-com about “another lockdown romance” has three things going for it: First, it is produced by TBA, the indie-churning maverick studio that has, time and again, demonstrated its ability to shake up tired formula by putting a fascinating spin and perspective on cookie-cutter themes. It also doesn’t hurt that the film is helmed by the insightful guy behind “I’m Drunk, I Love You” and “Sakaling Maging Tayo.” We even patiently sat through the director’s BL (boys’ love) “micro” series “Meet Me Outside,” Habac’s disarming foray into a category that has of late succumbed to the genre’s formulaic, “you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all” contrivances. Biggest attraction But the movie’s biggest attraction is its female lead star, Janine Gutierrez, who has cleverly utilized her indefatigable candor (“Wag magreklamo? Hanggang ... » Learn More about Janine-JC starrer more substantial than its breezy rom-com facade