Asian Legal Review

Four days after Tesla’s fourth-largest shareholder urged “a time of quiet and peace,” chief executive Elon Musk lobbed one of his nastiest stink bombs yet: an accusation about an organiser of the Thailand cave rescue that investors say is a major distraction from his mission running the embattled carmaker.
Vernon Unsworth, a British diver who played a key role in the saving of 12 boys trapped in a flooded cavern, had said Musk’s unattempted idea of dispatching a…

The UK government is seeking to clarify the rules governing when litigation should be heard in private, in a bid to safeguard the principles of open justice.

New laws said to keep Australia safe from foreign meddling are preventing the media from reporting on Canberra’s own interference in one of its closest neighbours, according to critics, who argue the draconian regulations damage the country’s image and status in the region.
In 2004, an Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) agent raised concerns internally about techniques Australia was using to get an advantage over East Timor.
At the time, prime minister John Howard’s…

While Samsung Electronics has become synonymous with technology in South Korea, a controversial rival could upstage it in the race to build fifth-generation wireless networks in its own backyard.
Huawei Technologies, the Chinese company slammed in the US Congress as a security threat, is in the running to supply equipment to all three of South Korea’s national mobile carriers. At stake: initial contracts that could be worth 10 trillion won (US$9 billion).
Here’s what all the 5G fuss…

Elon Musk came under fire on Sunday after launching an extraordinary attack on a British diver who helped rescue the boys trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand, baselessly calling him a “pedo” on Twitter and then doubling down.
Twelve boys and their football coach were rescued from the Tham Luang cave complex by an international team and after a week of intense drama.
The chief executive of the tech giant Tesla offered to assist the rescue mission by providing a submarine. The…

As Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi this week sought to make progress on ending decades of civil war by bringing the country’s military and myriad ethnic armed groups to the negotiating table, the influence of Myanmar’s looming neighbour, China, weighed large on proceedings.
Although bringing peace was a campaign promise when Suu Kyi won landmark elections in 2015 and ended decades of absolute military rule, the country has witnessed some of the worst fighting in…

It is 11 on a Thursday night, and a private condominium show suite in Singapore’s Hougang district – a populous area in the northeastern side of the island – is unusually packed.
Snaking queues stretch beyond the Riverfront Residences showroom, while cars are double-parked. Inside, bright lights and shouting flood the space.
Wild-eyed property agents scramble frantically looking for clients lost in the crowd, while sweaty bankers with rolled-up sleeves hand out stacks of forms…

At least 132 people were killed and dozens more critically injured on Friday, in a bombing at an election campaign rally in a remote region of Pakistan, an attack that hurled the country deep into political chaos.
Officials blamed a suicide bomber for the killings and said the death toll could rise further.
The bombing happened on the day former prime minister Nawaz Sharif made a dramatic return to Pakistan aboard a commercial plane and was immediately taken into custody along with his daughter…

As Malaysia’s new government prepares for Monday’s parliament sitting – the first since the historic May 9 election – Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his reform-oriented allies are facing sharp questions about whether they will renege on vows to improve the country’s dismal human rights record.
Even before the start of the first legislative session, rights activists say the Pakatan Harapan bloc Mahathir leads is showing signs it won’t honour pledges to…

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has successfully appealed a decision by the Scottish Inner House that a representative member of a VAT group can rely on a timely claim made by a departed VAT group member when the representative member itself did not make a timely claim.