China on Thursday summoned Japan’s ambassador over Tokyo’s “wrong decision” to release more than 1 million tonnes of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.Assistant foreign minister Wu Jianghao “lodged solemn representations” with ambassador Hideo Tarumi and accused Japan of “suspected violation of international law”, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.The Japanese government insists the release from the stricken plant which has stored the large volume of…
High Court dismisses allegations over administrators’ conduct
The High Court of England and Wales has dismissed a claim brought by the liquidators of One Blackfriars Limited against its former joint administrators over the sale of the company’s main asset, a development site in Blackfriars, London.
Coronavirus: Cambodian PM Hun Sen warns ‘we are on the brink of death’; India records 200,000 new cases
Spiralling Covid-19 cases have put Cambodia “on the brink of death”, its strongman premier Hun Sen has warned, as the country imposed lockdowns in the capital Phnom Penh and a nearby city.Cambodia has reported a surge in Covid-19 cases since February, when an outbreak was first detected among its Chinese expatriate community.Authorities said last week that hospitals in Phnom Penh were running out of beds and that they had transformed schools and wedding party halls into treatment centres, while…
Pakistan to ban extremist TLP party behind deadly anti-France protests
An extremist political party in Pakistan responsible for paralysing swathes of the country with anti-France protests will be banned, a senior minister said on Wednesday.Thousands of supporters from the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) have blocked major intersections in cities throughout Pakistan this week, with two police officers killed in clashes with rioters.“We have decided to ban the TLP and the draft is going to the cabinet for approval,” Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told a news…
Whitsun Reef: Philippines files new diplomatic protest against China
The Philippines filed fresh diplomatic protests to China on Wednesday after accusing its giant neighbour of undertaking illegal fishing and massing more than 240 boats within its territorial waters.The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said that two protests had been lodged, days after Manila summoned Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian to press for the withdrawal of its vessels on the disputed Whitsun Reef in the South China Sea and other Philippine maritime zones.The Philippines last month…
The challenges with data and AI in UK financial services
Financial services businesses should review the way they procure, manage and use data, and consider whether specific new processes need to be developed, to implement artificial intelligence (AI) systems in a way that customers trust, is effective and meets legal and regulatory standards.
Parasite director Bong Joon-ho addresses anti-Asian violence
Three-time Academy Award winner Bong Joon-ho thinks filmmakers have to do their part to help stamp out hate and racism.The Parasite director recently served as a masterclass guest lecturer for Chapman University’s Dodge College, sharing his thoughts regarding America’s current racial turmoil and discussing what choices the film industry has to confront social issues.Addressing recent racially-charged violence in the US — including the March 16 mass shooting at Atlanta spas that left eight…
UK Supreme Court sale and leaseback did not trigger VAT clawback
The sale and leaseback of a newly constructed care home was not a disposal of the entire interest in the care home, so as to trigger a claw-back of the VAT zero-rating which had applied when the property was acquired from the developer, the UK’s Supreme Court has decided.
Whitsun Reef row: could the Philippines lose another South China Sea feature to Beijing?
The Philippines on Tuesday said it had summoned Beijing’s top envoy in Manila to press for Chinese ships to immediately leave the Whitsun Reef in the South China Sea, describing the escalating row as a “source of regional tension”.Officials from the two countries have traded acrimonious remarks since some 200 Chinese vessels, including some believed to be maritime militia, moored around the reef in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) last month, an incident Beijing insists was…
Coronavirus: Rodrigo Duterte reappears amid anger over surging cases, lack of hospital beds in Philippines
As the Philippines experiences an unprecedented surge in Covid-19 cases that is overwhelming all Metro Manila hospitals, anger is rising at the government’s handling of the crisis and President Rodrigo Duterte’s absence from public view over the last two weeks. Duterte appeared in a pre-recorded “Talk to the People” address televised late on Monday evening following speculation about his health or possible death. He had not been seen since his former aide-turned senator Christopher “Bong” Go…