Month: October 2023

New legislation to address the risk of shortages in the supply of important medicines across the EU could be developed in the medium to long term, the European Commission has said.

Mass actions, sometimes described as collective, class or group actions, are actions brought by multiple claimants against the same defendant or group of defendants, generally in relation to harm said to have been caused to the claimants in the same or a similar way.

Protests by Bangladeshi garment workers against low wages have led to two deaths amid a spike in the costs of basic foodstuffs and other items.

The Philippines’ abstention from a UN resolution calling for an aid truce in Gaza has sparked a protest near the Israeli embassy in Manila and led to clashes with the police.

Medicines regulators should remove requirements for biosimilar products to pass through expensive comparative efficacy trials to increase patient access to these important medicines.

The Johor-Singapore special economic zone is aimed at attracting investment to the area and enhancing the flow of goods and people across borders.

Philippine senators say a proposed change in the name of a disputed South China Sea area could impact Manila’s territorial claims.

Mohamed Muizzu promised to remove 75 Indian personnel from the region famous for its sun-kissed atolls and luxury tourist resorts in which India and China have invested millions of dollars.

Malaysia’s government says it will look into a video purportedly showing teachers and students in a school carrying fake weapons.

Halloween celebrations in South Korea were subdued on the eve of the first anniversary of the harrowing party crush that killed 159 people. Many restaurants, bars, department stores and amusement parks are avoiding Halloween-themed events as a sign of respect for the victims. Few people clad in Halloween costumes were seen Saturday in Seoul’s popular Itaewon neighbourhood, the site of last year’s deadly surge when many revellers and others packed an alley, causing people to fall on each other like dominoes. The walls of the narrow, sloped alley in Itaewon were plastered with numerous Post-it notes with condolence messages that read “We won’t forget you” and “We’ll remember you”. A mourning station established in central Seoul received many visitors, who laid white flowers and burned incense in front of photos of the victims. In Seoul’s Hongdae area, another entertainment zone, there were only a few people wearing Halloween outfits. Authorities have deployed thousands of police, emergency and other officials since Friday for crowd control and safety of pedestrians in Itaewon and 15 other major nightlife districts in Seoul. About 200 police officers were separately mobilised to monitor narcotics use and violent crime, according to Seoul police. “I offer a deep apology again by bearing the sorrow and heavy responsibility for the disaster in my heart,” Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said on Friday. “The way to overcome the pains and sorrow of the disaster is preventing this kind of incident from happening again.” Bereaved families are to hold a formal memorial service on Sunday. In January, a police special investigation team concluded that police and municipal officials failed to work out effective crowd control steps despite correctly anticipating a huge number of people in Itaewon. Investigators also concluded that police had ignored hotline calls by pedestrians who warned of swelling crowds before the surge turned deadly. The Itaewon crush caused a nationwide outpouring of grief as the dead were mostly in their 20s…