The United States is likely to seriously consider Pakistan’s proposal for a new port in the Arabian Sea and use it to ship the South Asian country’s rare minerals, even as observers warn of commercial and geopolitical risks of investing in a volatile region.
Advisers to Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir have approached US officials regarding the proposal for American investors to build and run the port in Pakistan, according to a Financial Times report last week.
Located in Gwadar…
Seoul demands truth over student’s Cambodia torture death as tensions rise
South Korean police plan to conduct a joint autopsy with Cambodian authorities on a Korean college student who was kidnapped and allegedly tortured to death, officials said on Sunday, amid rising concerns over similar crimes against Koreans in the Southeast Asian country.
The move comes as diplomatic tensions between the two nations escalated over organised crime involving online scams and kidnappings targeting South Korean nationals.
The Gyeongbuk provincial police agency said it will carry out…
Summers in Japan longer by 3 weeks over 42 years, researchers say
Japanese summers had lengthened by about three weeks over the 42 years from 1982 to 2023, a university research group said on Saturday.
The Mie University group said that due to climate change, the number of days classified as summer has increased each year, while the length of winter has remained relatively unchanged, and the average durations of spring and autumn have shortened.
The group cited “the rise in sea surface temperatures due to global warming” as the main factor, warning that “the…
‘It really hurts’: quake-hit locals in southern Philippines pick up the pieces
Vilma Lagnayo woke up on Saturday to a sobering reality – her family home of five years in the quiet coastal town of Manay in southern Philippines was gone.
The 56-year-old recalled that minutes before an offshore magnitude 7.4 quake hit at 9.43am on Friday, she was outside her house attending to house chores when the ground began to tremble softly.
Within seconds, the shaking turned violent – the walls of their house creaked and then collapsed, windows rattled, and the air filled with the sound…
Company secretary: Duties
This guide is based on UK law as at 1st February 2010, unless otherwise stated. There is no easily accessible job description for a company secretary. There are certain duties dotted around the…
Company secretary: Governance and liabilities
South Africa can provide learnings for UK on ‘day one’ dismissal law changes
Companies in the UK can learn from South Africa about how to handle the introduction of day one employment rights around unfair dismissal, an expert has said.
In a reverse Marshall Plan, Trump is squeezing US allies for cash
In what Martin Wolf at the Financial Times called “pure gangsterism”, US President Donald Trump has extracted pledged investments of at least US$1.5 trillion from America’s trading partners. This amounts to the Marshall Plan in reverse.
The scheme Washington initiated in 1947 essentially provided economic aid to Europe and later Japan. Of the US$13 billion provided, 90 per cent were grants. But in the US-Japan trade deal, seen as a political trophy for Trump, money will flow in the other…
ICC denies release to Philippines’ Duterte amid flight risk concerns
Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte, charged with crimes against humanity, will remain in custody after the International Criminal Court on Friday rejected a request from his defence team for release on medical grounds.
ICC judges ruled that Duterte posed a flight risk and could be in a position to influence witnesses if freed, arguing that this outweighed any medical problems suffered by the 80-year-old.
“The Chamber finds that Mr Duterte’s detention continues to remain necessary,” the…
Egypt’s construction boom: legal risks and opportunities
Egypt’s construction sector is not just booming — it’s being turbocharged by a wave of Gulf investment.