Philippines' Duterte appoints drug war critic as 'drugs tsar'

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed his main political rival, Leni Robredo, his "drugs tsar", after the opposition leader expressed alarm about the death toll in an anti-narcotics campaign and said it needed a fresh approach.

Watchdog: Disinformation, surveillance seen as growing threats to democracy

Governments around the world are increasingly using social media to manipulate elections and monitor their citizens, in a worrisome trend for democracy, a human rights watchdog said Nov 5.

Chinese pilot grounded after unauthorised cockpit guest’s photos go viral online

Air Guilin hands lifetime ban to pilot who allowed female student to visit the cabin during a flight. Incident happened in January but a picture taken in the cockpit resurfaced on social media this week.

TikTok declined to testify at a US congressional hearing on risks to American consumers

TikTok has become one of very few Chinese-owned apps that achieved success outside of China. TikTok currently ranks first in the entertainment category in the US iPhone app store.

Domestic online interference mars global elections - report

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Domestic governments and local actors engaged in online interference in efforts to influence 26 of 30 national elections studied by a democracy watchdog over the past year, according to a report released on Monday.

U.S. needs allies in fight against China - report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States risks becoming increasingly isolated unless it works with allies to oppose China's predatory economic policies, according to a new report that maps out a comprehensive strategy of U.S. "partial disengagement" from China.

Ross says phase one trade deal with China will be good start

BANGKOK: US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Tuesday that very good progress was being made towards completing a phase one trade agreement with China and he was hopeful that it would be a precursor to a much more robust agreement.

Indonesia Q3 GDP growth weakest in over 2 years, more stimulus likely

JAKARTA: Indonesia's economic growth slipped to its weakest in over two years, broadly meeting expectations, data showed on Tuesday, signalling more monetary or fiscal stimulus is on the cards over coming months to spur demand knocked by a global slowdown.

Most Asean markets gain on optimism over trade deal, China rate cut

China halts massive bond rout with symbolic interest rate cut

BEIJING: China’s central bank has finally helped put the brakes on the downward spiral in government debt.