Month: September 2017

The United States has warned it could launch a “massive military response” to threats from North Korea following Pyongyang’s provocative detonation of what it claimed was a miniaturised hydrogen bomb.
The comments from Defence Secretary Jim Mattis came after US President Donald Trump called an emergency meeting of his national security advisers to discuss what was an unexpectedly powerful nuclear test said to exceed in magnitude the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan.
South…

One of Cambodia’s last remaining independent newspapers announced on Sunday it was closing after 24 years, the latest in a series of blows to critics of strongman premier Hun Sen.
The Cambodia Daily said Monday’s edition would be its last after it was slapped with a US$6.3 million tax bill which its publishers said was politically motivated.
“The power to tax is the power to destroy. And after 24 years, one month and 15 days, the Cambodian government has destroyed The Cambodia…

An “explosion” measuring 6.3 magnitude was detected in North Korea Sunday after Pyongyang said it had developed an advanced hydrogen bomb that possessed “great destructive power”.
South Korea and Japan said the North may have conducted a sixth nuclear test, according to reports from the Blue House and Kyodo.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the seismic event was “artificial”.
The US Geological Survey said the explosion struck 55 km north…

Police arrested the leader of Cambodia’s main opposition party in a surprise raid on his home in the capital early Sunday, and the government issued a statement accusing him of treason.
The arrest of Kem Sokha dealt a major blow to the opposition ahead of elections due next year and was sure to raise political tensions in the volatile country.
The move comes amid a push by the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, one of the world’s longest serving rulers, to shutter critical news…

Japan is debating whether to develop a limited pre-emptive strike capability and buy cruise missiles – ideas that were anathema in the pacifist country before the North Korea missile threat. With revisions to Japan’s defence plans under way, ruling party hawks are accelerating the moves, and some defence experts say Japan should at least consider them.
After being on the back burner in the ruling party for decades, a possibility of pre-emptive strike was formally proposed to Prime…

Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Friday endorsed the annual reshuffle of 990 senior military officers, with a balance of officers from different factions moving into top positions.
The reshuffle is always scrutinised carefully for indications as to which factions within the powerful military are in the ascendancy.
A 2014 coup reinforced the military’s authority and although elections are promised next year, a new constitution gives the generals an important say for years to…

On 22 June 2017, the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) updated its existing suite of standard form New Engineering Contracts with the issue of NEC4.

Non-domiciled taxpayers contributed £9.3 billion to the UK economy in 2014/15 through a combination of income tax, capital gains tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs), according to newly-published figures.

Most smart meter customers do not recall being given any information about how their energy supplier stores consumption data from their meters, according to a new survey.

Three boats carrying ethnic Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar capsized in Bangladesh and 26 bodies of women and children have been recovered, officials said on Thursday.
Bangladesh border guard commander Lieutenant Colonel S.M. Ariful Islam said at least three boats carrying an unknown number of Rohingya Muslims sank in the Naf River at Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar on Wednesday. He said the bodies of 15 children and 11 women were recovered, and it was unclear whether anyone was still missing…