A disagreement over whether a disputes escalation mechanism in a contract had been properly complied with was for an arbitrator, rather than the courts, to decide, a court in Hong Kong has ruled.
North Korea’s Kim Jong-un replaces officials over ‘grave incident’ in coronavirus response
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un replaced several senior officials after a “grave incident” in the country’s efforts to defend itself against the Covid-19 pandemic, state media reported on Wednesday.Pyongyang closed its borders in January last year to defend itself against coronavirus outbreak that first emerged in neighbouring China and has gone on to sweep the world.It has not publicly confirmed any cases of the disease at any point, neither in state media nor in the test statistics it has…
Six dead, several people missing off Bali coast after passenger ferry sinks
At least six people died and several more are missing after a passenger ferry sank off the coast of Bali, Indonesian authorities said on Tuesday, in the latest maritime accident to hit the archipelago.The KMP Yunicee had 53 passengers and crew aboard on a trip from East Java to the holiday island when the accident happened as the ferry tried to dock, authorities said.Some 44 people were rescued as the vessel sank while another six died in the accident, with three more missing, they said. The…
FCA tells asset managers, insurers and pension providers to report on climate risk
Asset managers, life insurers, pension providers and standard listed companies are to be brought within the scope of climate-related disclosure rules by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Thai royalists ‘dox’ hundreds of pro-democracy activists using Google Maps
Google took down two Google Maps documents on Monday that had listed the names and addresses of hundreds of Thai activists who were accused by royalists of opposing the monarchy, the technology company said. Thai royalist activist Songklod “Pukem” Chuenchoopol said he and a team of 80 volunteers had created the maps and planned to report everyone named on them to police on accusations of insulting the monarchy. Alphabet’s Google said in an emailed statement “the issue is now fixed”, and noted…
In Thailand’s conflict-hit ‘Deep South’, mistrust fuels Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy among Muslim majority
Fear, misinformation and chronic mistrust of the state in a conflict zone is undercutting vaccination efforts in Thailand’s insurgency-hit “Deep South”, activists say, as coronavirus cases spike in a region previously spared the worst of the pandemic. The southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat have recorded scores of new infections each day after the virus seeped over the border from neighbouring Malaysia, which remains under a state of emergency to control the spread of…
K-pop ads help to drive up traffic for Thailand’s tuk tuk taxis
Bangkok “tuk tuk” taxi driver Samran Thammasa, 39, had never heard of K-pop star Jessica Jung before the coronavirus pandemic, but now the singer’s Thai fans are helping him survive the loss of tourist customers.His bright green three-wheeled motorcycle rickshaw has been mostly vacant for more than a year. In the past few months, though, he has earned about 600 baht (US$19) a month to feature K-pop ads on his vehicle.“The extra income may not be a lot for most people but it is for us,” he said,…
US remains the world’s dominant power in cyberspace but China is catching up, report says
The United States remains the world’s pre-eminent cyber power and is likely to retain that position ahead of China at least until 2030 with the help of similarly advanced Western allies, according to a new report by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS).Although China has made significant progress bolstering its cyber capabilities since 2014, it has been “nowhere near enough to close the gap” with the US, said Greg Austin, the lead author of the report titled “Cyber…
As Philippines marks pride month, low-income LGBT folk struggle to be heard
Anne Villarama, a 37-year-old housekeeper in Manila, longs to be able to wave a rainbow flag in a pride parade without fear one day.The mother of one belongs to the LGBT community, which has long faced discrimination in the Philippines, a country with a mostly Catholic population that has conservative views around issues of gender diversity.For many LGBT folk, the pride month of June has been a time for the community to rally and assert their rights. Until the Covid-19 pandemic put a halt to…
Thrown in a volcano: Indonesian devotees gather in thousands to sacrifice fruit, flowers and livestock
Thousands of worshippers trudged up an active Indonesian volcano on Saturday to cast livestock and other offerings down its smouldering crater in a centuries-old religious ceremony. Every year people from the Tengger tribe gather from the surrounding highlands to throw fruit, vegetables, flowers and even livestock such as goats and chickens into Mount Bromo’s crater as part of the Yadnya Kasada festival. A long line of worshippers, some with goats slung across their backs, made their way to…