Category: Uncategorized

A former Philippine official charged with the murder of a prominent environmentalist has been freed after a court voided the case against him, his lawyer said on Saturday.
Joel Reyes, the ex-governor of the western island of Palawan, was arrested in 2015 for the killing of Gerry Ortega, a prominent campaigner and radio host who frequently accused Reyes of massive corruption.
Demetrio Custodio said his client was released late on Friday after the court decision.
Ortega was shot dead while…

Rohingya Muslim insurgents ambushed a military vehicle in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, wounding five members of the security forces, state media and officials said, and the rebels claimed responsibility for the rare attack.
A wave of raids by the insurgents on security force posts in August, 2017 sparked sweeping army counter-insurgency operations in the Muslim-majority north of the state that led to widespread violence and arson and an exodus of some 650,000 Rohingya villagers to…

A man in India claims he was kidnapped and forced to marry a woman at gunpoint – and that there’s video to prove it.
Police in India’s eastern Bihar state are investigating the claim by the family of Vinod Kumar, 29, that he was kidnapped when he went to attend a friend’s wedding and forced to marry a woman against his will.
Video clips of the alleged wedding went viral on social media, and appear to show a sobbing Kumar being pushed around and forced to go through the…

Three major European commodities and futures trading venues will be given additional time to comply with a new regulatory framework, regulators have announced.

Statutory interest paid by a company in administration on a surplus is ‘yearly interest’ for UK tax purposes and must therefore be paid after deduction of basic rate tax, the Court of Appeal has decided, overturning a previous decision of the High Court. 

ANALYSIS: Traded companies, banks and insurers with a calendar financial year will be assessing how to comply with new non-financial reporting obligations over the coming months, including the obligation to report on anti-bribery and anti-corruption matters.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) needs to strengthen its disaster management efforts after the region was hammered by deadly storms that left a path of destruction in their wake, its new chief said on Friday.
Secretary general Lim Jock Hoi, a veteran Bruneian diplomat, pointed to a tropical storm that battered the southern Philippines last month leaving at least 240 dead and tens of thousands displaced.
Also in December, a tropical cyclone pounded Indonesia’s main island…

Vietnamese police said they arrested a business tycoon wanted for revealing state secrets after he was deported by Singapore on Thursday.
Vietnamese officials said in a statement that Phan Van Anh Vu will be investigated “in accordance with regulations of the law.”
The 42-year-old Vu is a real estate developer who also served as a senior officer in Vietnamese intelligence service.
Police raided his home in the central city of Da Nang on December 21 and issued an arrest warrant…

Trading in bitcoin futures could present a potential risk to financial stability if financial institutions are left liable for losses, a member of the executive board at the European Central Bank has warned.

Myanmar’s president called on Independence Day on Thursday for reform of a military-drafted constitution and for justice for all recognised minorities under a federal system, but made no mention of the treatment of its Rohingya Muslim people.
Amending the charter to remove a dominant political role for the military has been one of the most contentious issues facing Myanmar as it emerges from nearly half a century of strict army rule.
The debate over constitutional reform, however, has…