With almost one and a half months since Thailand’s general election on March 24, Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha, leader of the military junta that usurped power from Yingluck Shinawatra’s government in 2014, seems a step closer to serving another term.On the May 7 and 8, the Election Commission (EC) certified 95 per cent of the election results on constituency MPs and party-list MPs respectively. The remaining 5 per cent will be tabulated when the cases involving possible…
US suspends effort to recover Korean war remains this year amid silence from Pyongyang
The United States military said on Wednesday that it has been unable to reach North Korean officials to discuss the recovery of American service members who died and were left behind in the Korean war, a new indication of fraying relations between the two nations.The Defence Department agency that recovers human remains from past wars said in a statement that US efforts to communicate with the North Korean army regarding the resumption of joint recovery operations in 2019 have been suspended…
Who will be Thailand’s next prime minister? Billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont of CP Group might have an idea
Dhanin Chearavanont has spent six decades building the Charoen Pokphand Group (CP) into a global empire spanning everything from agriculture and food to telecommunications and e-commerce – not to mention property development, automobiles, and finance – but he may have even greater ambitions in the political arena.Since his abrupt resignation last month as chairman of CP Foods, the conglomerate’s core business, speculation in Thailand has been rife that Dhanin will either be named as a senator –…
Major banks tap into fintech space in battle for market share
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has selected technology provider Mambu to support its new challenger bank Bó for its upcoming launch later this year.
Pension oversight proposals could delay corporate deals
Proposals that would require companies with defined benefit (DB) pension schemes to notify scheme trustees and The Pensions Regulator (TPR) about a wider range of corporate activities have the potential to delay deals, experts have warned.
Malaysia’s terrorism threat must be addressed at community level to prevent resurgence of groups such as Islamic State
The concept of “New Malaysia” is rife with sentiments of change. But since the Pakatan Harapan coalition won the country’s general election on May 9 last year, taking power from a party in place for 60 years, one problem has remained unchanged – the threat of terrorism.The new government took the helm amid a terrorism landscape shaped by a militarily weakened Islamic State in Syria and the southern Philippines. A five-month conflict between jihadist groups and government forces at Marawi in…
Malaysia is back from the brink of one-party rot, but Mahathir and Pakatan Harapan must continue to forge ahead as obstacles mount
On May 9, 2018, after more than six decades in power, Malaysia’s ruling Barisan Nasional was voted out of office.Just a few years prior, democracy and the rule of law in the country almost died. At the height of the scandal involving government fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), then prime minister Najib Razak fired dissenters in his cabinet, sacked the attorney general and shut down media companies.But the rot synonymous with a toxic one-party system runs deeper and started a long time…
Indonesian volcano Mount Sinabung erupts again, spewing massive column of smoke and ash skywards
An Indonesian volcano erupted on Tuesday, sending a massive column of ash and smoke 2,000 metres into the air, coating local villages in debris.Mount Sinabung on Sumatra island – which has been rumbling since 2010 and saw a deadly eruption in 2016 – spewed the thick plume after activity picked up in recent days.Disaster agency officials said the eruption has the “potential” to affect flights, but it had not issued a formal notice for planes to avoid the area.Local residents living along rivers…
Thai election: official Thai election results may herald pro-junta government
The official results of Thailand’s March 24 election due this week are set to boost a push by a pro-military party to form a governing coalition, unless an imminent court ruling complicates the picture.The party, Palang Pracharath, is a proxy for the junta government and is duelling for power with an anti-junta alliance. Many small parties are expected to get parliament seats in the official count and are likely to back the pro-military group, said Punchada Sirivunnabood, an expert in Thai…
Japanese warships off Okinawa could soon carry ground troops as Tokyo keeps eyes on Beijing
Japan is considering deploying ground troops aboard Maritime Self-Defence Force warships in waters off the country’s southwest. It would be the latest enhancement of the nation’s capabilities in the region and a clear signal to Beijing that Tokyo will defend its territory, analysts said.Quoting unnamed government sources, the Yomiuri newspaper reported officials had weighed having as many as 300 members of the Ground Self-Defence Force’s (GSDF) Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade operate from…