In the second announcement of new settlements since the inauguration of pro-Israel US President Donald Trump, the construction project will be the largest in recent years on occupied land, and signals a firm rejection of the December UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements.

Following Donald Trump’s move to withdraw the US from the TPP trade deal, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the country would continue to support the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Free-Trade Agreement of the Asia-Pacific, and continue to endorse open, transparent and mutually beneficial free trade agreements.

The musical, which is set to open in China on Valentine’s Day next month, is up for 14 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Ryan Gosling and Best Actress for Emma Stone. Close behind with eight nominations are sci-fi movie Arrival and coming-of-age drama Moonlight, while Hacksaw Ridge, which was a surprise box-office success in China, picked up six nominations. After criticism over a lack of diversity after all-white acting nominations in the last two years, the 2017 Oscars sees seven non-white actors up for awards.

MOFA spokesperson Hua Chunying warned the US that China exerts indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and its adjacent waters, and China is firmly committed to safeguarding its own sovereignty and maritime rights, adding that China's stance on the South China Sea issue is clear-cut, consistent, and unchanged. Hua was reacting to comments by White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who said on Monday “it's a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China territory, then yeah, we're going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country.”

US President Donald Trump drew the ire of Native Americans and climate change activists on Tuesday after signing the executive order on the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, projects that had been blocked by the Obama administration after becoming the target of protests in recent months. White House press secretary Sean Spicer hailed the move as an “energy revolution.” 

The head of the National Tourism Administration, Zhang Lizhong, issued a statement urging Chinese tourists and travel operators to “completely stop all cooperation with this hotel chain,” with major online travel websites like Ctrip and Qunar already dropping the chain from their platforms. The company supplied a book in its hotels denying the Nanjing Massacre and Japan’s wartime sexual slavery, and refused to offer a sincere apology after the book caused uproar in China.

The Supreme Parliament rejected an appeal by the British government, ruling that there must be a parliamentary vote before Theresa May can formally start Brexit negotiations with the European Union. The Brexit secretary David Davis has vowed that the ruling will not delay the process of leaving the EU, ahead of a March 31 deadline for triggering Article 50.

The study conducted by Spring Professional found that while interest among foreign talent towards working in China has grown 150 percent in five years, some 55 percent of 2,000 expats who have lived in the country for at least five years were concerned about smog, up from 23 percent in 2012. He Kebin, dean of Tsinghua University's School of Environment, predicted it could take 10 to 15 years for most of the heavily polluted Chinese cities to meet the national air quality standard.