Standing atop the stairs outside his university auditorium, 20-year-old activist Parit Chiwarak led a protest hundreds strong calling for an end to Thailand’s ruling military junta.
“The military is supposed to protect the country, not fight the people,” he told students gathered at Thammasat, one of Thailand’s most prestigious universities.
“We want elections,” they chanted, many of them waving fans emblazoned with hearts reading “Love Democracy…
CMA Brexit guidance emphasises merger notification
Businesses planning to seal pre-Brexit merger deals that will have an impact on competition in the UK market should notify the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of those plans even if the transactions will initially be subject to the European Commission’s scrutiny only, the CMA has recommended.
US envoy confirms ‘draft framework’ for peace deal in Afghanistan
Negotiators for the US and the Taliban insurgents have reached “agreements in principle” on key issues for a peace deal that would end 17 years of war in Afghanistan, the top US envoy said on Monday. The statement by US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad followed six days of talks last week with the Taliban in Qatar, where he urged the Islamic insurgent group to enter into direct negotiations with the government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Ghani on Monday assured Afghans that their…
ICO busts ‘myth’ on Brexit data transfers
UK companies whose EU-based parent companies store personal data on their behalf may need to put new arrangements in place to enable them to access that data in the event of a ‘no deal’ Brexit, the data protection watchdog has said.
Poll finds Singapore divided over prospect of third-generation member of ruling Lee clan entering politics
A rare political poll released in Singapore on Monday shone a light on a topic that thus far had been confined to pockets within the chattering classes: will a “third-generation” member of the city state’s powerful Lee family enter politics?
The family of the revered late founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew has dominated Singapore’s politics for the best part of six decades – his eldest son Lee Hsien Loong is the country’s third and current premier –…
Islamic State group claims Philippines church bombing: SITE
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a double bomb attack on a Catholic church on a southern Philippine island that killed at least 18 people, according to the SITE Intelligence Group which monitors jihadist activities.
IS issued a formal communique claiming two suicide bombers had detonated explosive belts Sunday inside the church and its car park on Jolo – a stronghold of Islamist militants in the Catholic-majority nation.
Raffles who? 200 years since the British colonialist, Singapore would rather he disappear
For half a century since 1969, a white polymarble statue of Sir Stamford Raffles stood by the Singapore River, purportedly at the exact spot where the British colonial official first landed when he reached the Lion City.
This month, it “disappeared”. In a city state where vandalism can be punished by caning, a state-sanctioned artwork was commissioned to create an optical illusion that the statue was no longer there. The aim was to make Singaporeans think harder about Raffles….
Military might on show as India celebrates its national day
Thousands of Indians converged on a ceremonial boulevard in the country’s capital to watch a display of military power and cultural diversity amid tight security during Saturday’s national day celebrations.
Schoolchildren, folk dancers, and police and military battalions marched through the capital’s parade route on a cold morning, followed by a military hardware display that included M777 Howitzer artillery guns, T-90 main battle tanks, locally made nuclear-capable missile…
Old habits of patronage die hard in ‘New Malaysia’
Less than a year after Malaysia’s landmark elections that saw a new party take power for the first time in more than six decades, the administration has been accused of failing to crack down on nepotism and cronyism in government-linked companies (GLCs) and agencies.
The Pakatan Harapan coalition unseated long-time ruling alliance the Barisan Nasional in May after running on an anti-corruption platform, highlighting financial mismanagement and graft that it alleged was running rampant in…
The stand Down Under: why debate over Australia Day and Captain Cook divides a nation
For a government that has spent so much time and money trying to stop asylum seekers from trying to reach its shores by boat, Australia has spent much of the past week making quite a lot of noise about an empty vessel. The announcement that A$6.7 million (US$4.8 million) would be spent on sailing a replica of Captain Cook’s ship, the HMS Endeavour, around the country for the next 14 months has been met with something between raised eyebrows and well-deserved opprobrium – and not…