NEWSWORTHY
Advocates fighting child labor come together in Tokyo ahead of Osaka G20 summit
Empowering workers, installing social protection programs and monitoring organizations to implement those programs are key points to reducing 152 million children engaged in child labor worldwide — more than half of whom work in hazardous conditions that put their health and development at risk. That ...
Dreams of economic revival after Mahathir's return fade in Malaysia
A year ago, Malaysian land surveyor Muhammad Nur Aliff had high hopes that a shock election victory by 93-year-old Mahathir Mohamad could be the catalyst for reform and revival in a country hobbled by sky-high public debt and corruption. But polls show that such optimism ...
Ex-ministers blast Jair Bolsonaro for dismantling Brazil's environmental protections
Eight former Brazilian environment ministers blasted new right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and his administration in a letter on Wednesday, saying it is dismantling the country's environmental protections. The former officials criticized the government's decision to strip the environment ministry's authority over forestry and water agency ...
China must “graduate from” the Asian Development Bank’s easy money if it continues to tempt emerging economies with unaffordable loans, the finance minister says at the ADB’s conference in Fiji.
Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted some 5,000 delegates from across the globe at a Belt and Road Forum in Beijing last week to discuss his signature infrastructure project, which began in 2013 to rebuild ancient trading routes across Eurasia. This year's gathering eschewed the ...
Xi tells summit that China's 'Belt and Road' initiative must be green and sustainable
China's "Belt and Road" initiative must be green and sustainable, President Xi Jinping said at the opening of a summit on his grand plan on Friday, adding that the massive infrastructure and trade plan should result in "high quality" growth for everyone. Xi's plan to ...
From coal plants to airports and bridges, China is forking out for investments across the western Balkans, laying groundwork for a new battle for influence on the European Union's fringe. The West has long eyed Russia as its chief rival in this turbulent corner of ...
Asian Development Bank sees growth in continent's developing countries slowing to 5.7% in 2019
The Asian Development Bank said Wednesday that growth in developing Asia will slow to 5.7 percent this year, down from 5.9 percent in 2018, due to slowing global demand and persistent trade tensions. In its Asian Development Outlook 2019 report, the bank said growth in ...
A towering sculpture called Vessel — made up of 2,500 twisting steps the public can climb — was to open Friday as the visual centerpiece of Hudson Yards, a $25 billion urban complex on Manhattan's West Side that is the city's most ambitious development ...
Japan targets more coordination with firms and NGOs to get most out of development aid
Japan will join with private companies and nongovernmental organizations to make more efficient and effective use of official development assistance, one of Tokyo's key diplomatic pillars, according to a white paper released by the Foreign Ministry on Friday. The annual report on development cooperation reflects ...
Spies and satellites: Analyzing North Korea's economy isn't easy
As informal markets and budding entrepreneurs rise to fill more of the void left by failed state-owned enterprises in North Korea, analysts outside the notoriously secretive country are finding it even more tricky to measure its economy. That is the message from Cho Tae-hyoung, the ...
Nature-short Bangkok debates whether to turn 'last' big green space into park or mall
The fate of a large green space in the middle of one of the world's most built-up cities is pitting communities and conservationists against developers and cash-strapped authorities — a type of battle that is increasingly common in Asia. The Makkasan area in central Bangkok, ...
