Despite US calls for a boycott of Huawei technology within the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, leaked discussions from the UK’s National Security Council have indicated a willingness to permit the Chinese telecoms giant’s involvement in “non-essential” parts of the country’s new 5G infrastructure.The US has urged other Five Eyes members – the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia – to exclude Huawei from the construction of new telecommunications networks, claiming the company could…
No oxygen, no food, no water: ‘Miracle rescue’ for Singapore-based Malaysian climber Chin Wui Kin, who was stranded on Nepal’s Mount Annapurna for two days
A Malaysian climber stranded in the open for two nights on one of the world’s most treacherous mountains was rescued in Nepal on Thursday, expedition organisers said.Climbing experts said it was a “miracle” that 48-year-old survived the freezing conditions on Mount Annapurna for so long.Chin reached the top of the 8,100-metre (26,500-foot) Himalayan mountain on Tuesday but failed to return to the nearest camp, 1km (0.6 miles) below the peak, with the rest of his group. He was a part of a 13…
Vladimir Putin-Kim Jong-un summit: what do both sides aim to gain?
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok provides an intriguing twist to the global diplomatic push to resolve the nuclear stand-off with Pyongyang, which appeared to hit a wall after a summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump collapsed in February.It also adds a chapter to the storied but often strained friendship between Pyongyang and Moscow, which was forged in the blood of war and weathered by the Soviet collapse and tensions…
Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad’s visit to Huawei in Beijing seen as sign of ‘endorsement’
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad visited Huawei Technologies’ Beijing office on Thursday morning in what was seen as a sign of Malaysian support for the Chinese telecommunications equipment supplier.Mahathir’s visit could be seen as an “endorsement” for Huawei which is still in the running to provide 5G gear for the country’s telecommunication networks, according to a source familiar with the matter who declined to be named talking about confidential matters. However, no technology…
UK tax underpaid by US-based multinationals up 35% from last year
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) believes that US-based multinational businesses may have underpaid £4.6 billion of UK tax last year, up 35% from £3.4bn in 2017, according to figures obtained by Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com.
BBC presenter wins personal service company case
ITV’s ‘Loose Women’ presenter Kaye Adams has won a tax tribunal case in which HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) claimed that her personal services company (PSC) should have applied IR35 rules to payments made by the BBC for presenting a BBC Scotland radio programme.
CJEU asked whether ‘innocent agent’ lorry driver can be liable for unpaid excise duty
The Court of Appeal has decided to ask the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) whether a lorry driver who is found to be carrying goods in respect of which excise duty has not been paid is liable to pay the duty under EU law, even if he did not know that the goods were being smuggled.
No job, huge debts: stressed out Indonesia’s election ‘losers’ face bleak future
Political hopeful Yayat Abdurahman bet that he would be a winner among some 245,000 candidates in Indonesia’s election last week, but his dreams of public office are fading fast as the votes get tallied.So the stressed-out candidate checked into an Islamic healing centre where a cleric prayed for his future and doused him in flower-infused water as part of traditional cleansing ritual.“At the beginning I was optimistic and feeling confident,” he said.“I thought ‘I have to win, I have to get the…
The Chearavanonts, Thailand’s richest family, are getting richer helping China
Chia Ek Chor fled his typhoon-ravaged village in southern China and started a new life in Thailand selling vegetable seeds with his brother in 1921. Almost a century later, with the largest family fortune in the country, his descendants are becoming Chinese President Xi Jinping’s key economic allies.Chia’s son Dhanin Chearavanont is senior chairman of Charoen Pokphand Group, a vast conglomerate that is the world’s biggest producer of animal feed, shrimp as well as a top telecom firm in Thailand…
Heng Swee Keat appointed deputy prime minister in Singapore cabinet reshuffle
Singapore’s Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat on Tuesday moved one step closer to becoming the Lion City’s next leader after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong named him as his new deputy.Lee, 67, moved his two current deputies, Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, to senior minister roles.Heng, 57, will be the sole Deputy Prime Minister and will also continue as Finance Minister. The changes will take effect next Wednesday.Heng’s promotion comes after the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) last…