The wife of Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak was hit on Wednesday with a new corruption charge over a solar energy contract.Rosmah Mansor pleaded not guilty to accepting a 5 million ringgit (US$1.22 million) bribe through her aide from a manager at Jepak Holdings as a kickback for helping secure a contract from the Education Ministry. She has also been charged with laundering illegal proceeds and tax evasion in a massive corruption scandal that led to Najib’s electoral loss last May…
Review shows police ‘short changing’ fraud victims
A critical review of the way in which UK law enforcement responds to reports of fraud underlines the importance of civil recovery routes for victims, an expert has said.
Japanese Catholic Church opens investigation into child sex abuse allegations
The Catholic Church in Japan said on Tuesday it will launch an internal probe into claims of sexual abuse against children by its clergy, after a wave of paedophilia revelations worldwide.The standing committee of the bishops’ conference last week decided to investigate all 16 dioceses in Japan, a spokesman for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan said.Japan is home to a small community of Roman Catholics, believed to number around 450,000.What the George Pell conviction reveals about Pope…
Tourists taking Phuket airport runway selfies could face death penalty
For selfie seekers, it’s the perfect Instagram-ready shot: standing on a beach with outstretched arms as a massive airliner soars overhead.Few places in the world can offer such a vantage point, which is why Mai Khao beach in Thailand’s Phuket province has proved so popular. But recent changes to the law mean tourists hoping for their very own “runway selfie” now risk life and limb – and not just because of the aeroplanes.Concerns over aviation safety have led to the introduction of a 9km-long…
ICO: businesses falling short on GDPR accountability
Businesses are falling short of meeting the General Data Protection Regulation’s (GDPR’s) accountability requirements, the UK’s information commissioner has said.
Why did Thailand’s junta bother with its farcical election?
Chiang Mai is swathed in smog. It’s opaque, oppressive and disconcerting.There’s no horizon. The air is yellowish and way, way above acceptable health levels: the result of forest fires and local slash-and-burn agriculture crashing head-to-head with El Niño, the global weather phenomenon.But the sickly air quality – earlier in the year Bangkok was similarly shrouded in pollution – serves only to match the obfuscation and uncertainty surrounding Thailand’s first contested elections in over eight…
Southeast Asia’s biggest budget carrier plans to turn airasia.com into online mall for travellers
AirAsia, whose website is used by 65 million customers every month, is considering a plan to sell tickets of non-competing carriers on airasia.com, using its size to give online travel agents a run for their money.The Kuala Lumpur-based carrier, Southeast Asia’s largest airline group, which already sells car rentals, accommodation at half a million hotels and serviced apartments worldwide and holiday packages in five regional destinations, thinks it can do a better job of selling these services…
Ex-fighter pilot Ly Tong, who hijacked Vietnam Airlines plane with plastic knife and coat hanger before parachuting into swamp, dies at 74
Ly Tong, the former fighter pilot known as the “Vietnamese James Bond” for his daring stunts – including hijacking a plane to drop 50,000 political leaflets over his homeland, calling on citizens to overthrow the communist government – has died in San Diego. He was 74.Last month, Tong was hospitalised and doctors diagnosed him with lung disease.He slipped into a coma on March 21, with his stay at Sharp Memorial Hospital drawing hundreds of visitors, some of whom called him a hero for his…
‘Let’s copy Malaysia’: fake news stokes fears for Chinese Indonesians
WHEN INDONESIAN PRESIDENTIAL hopeful Prabowo Subianto faced off against incumbent leader Joko Widodo in a televised debate last week, he surprisingly steered clear of one topic: Chinese investments. The 67-year-old, locked in an increasingly close race with the 57-year-old Widodo, had previously accused the president of selling out the country to China by accepting infrastructure loans, feeding into anti-China sentiments that Jokowi has had to navigate in seeking his second term. If he were…
Indonesian hostage rescued while another drowns and Malaysian is shot after fleeing Muslim militants in Philippines
An Indonesian hostage held by Muslim militants in the southern Philippines swam his way to freedom but another drowned while a Malaysian was shot in the back while escaping, officials said on Saturday.The two Indonesians and the Malaysian separately escaped while Philippine marines were trying to rescue them on Simusa island in southern Sulu province in the last two days, regional military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Besana said.“The island had been blockaded for the past 41 days. They …