Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met in Moscow on Saturday for talks that included resolving a dispute over four Pacific islands and eventually signing a peace treaty.
Abe has been pushing for a way forward in the dispute that centres on the four most southern of the Kuril Islands, which Japan calls the Northern Territories.
The Soviet Union took the islands in the closing days of second world war. The dispute has kept the two countries from…
Women at ‘daily risk’ of slapping, sexual abuse and harassment in Walmart’s Asian supplier factories, rights groups say
Women who work in Asian factories making clothes for the global retail giant Walmart are at “daily risk” of slapping, sexual abuse and other harassment, rights groups said on Friday.
Based on interviews with about 250 workers in 60 Walmart supplier factories in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Indonesia, a coalition of charities said women were “systematically exposed to violence” and faced retaliation if they reported the attacks.
The coalition has investigated the factories…
Myanmar’s finance minister has been ‘allowed to resign’ by president
Myanmar’s Finance Minister Kyaw Win has resigned, President Win Myint said on Friday, without giving a reason.
Kyaw Win was “allowed to resign”, the president said in a short statement posted on the presidency’s official Facebook page late on Friday.
This week the English-language news magazine Frontier cited the head of Myanmar’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) as saying that the commission was in the final stage of an investigation into corruption…
Financial firms to be held to account on sexual harassment
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will use the senior managers and certification regime (SMCR) to hold financial firms to account for sexual harassment, according to one of its directors.
Upper Tribunal backs regulator in ITV pension support case
The Upper Tribunal has upheld the Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) use of its powers to seek financial support from ITV for members of a defined benefit (DB) pension scheme attached to the now defunct Box Clever TV rental business.
Report outlines economic vision for Scotland under independence
An independent Scotland should retain the pound sterling as its currency until such time as the economy can meet performance tests which would allow for the creation of an independent Scottish currency, according to a new report.
Challenge to London affordable housing guidance partially upheld
A legal challenge to the mayor of London’s affordable housing guidance brought by a group of retirement housing developers has been partially upheld by the High Court.
Indonesia strengthens anti-terror laws against home-grown militants following deadly Islamic State attack
Indonesia’s parliament approved on Friday tougher anti-terrorism laws as it seeks to combat a surge in home-grown Islamist militancy, days after suicide bombings claimed by Islamic State killed more than 30 people in the city of Surabaya.
Revising a 2003 law became a top priority for the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country after the Surabaya attacks, the deadliest in Indonesia in nearly two decades.
The revised law allows police to preemptively detain suspects for longer and…
‘Perplexing’, ‘the right call’, ‘embarrassing’: How the world viewed Donald Trump cancelling his meeting with Kim Jong-un
The announcement by US President Donald Trump that he has called off planned talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 has been received with, alternately, confusion, horror and admiration both within the US and abroad.
Trump said in an open letter on Thursday that the “tremendous anger and hostility” expressed by North Korea in recent days had caused him to scuttle the talks, which were to have taken place in Singapore. He later said in a statement that their…
Business productivity review opened in the UK
Cloud computing, e-commerce, accounting software and customer relationship management software are among the seven “best practice technologies” the UK government has identified to have potential to boost business productivity.