Undergraduates at the Oxford college where Aung San Suu Kyi studied have voted to remove the de facto leader of Myanmar’s name from the title of their junior common room because of her response to the Rohingya humanitarian crisis.
In a vote on Thursday evening, students at St Hugh’s college at the University of Oxford resolved to eliminate the name of the 1991 Nobel peace laureate from the Aung San Suu Kyi junior common room with immediate effect.
The motion criticised the “…
Insurers welcome calls to delay introduction of Insurance Distribution Directive
Trade bodies for UK and EU insurers have welcomed calls by a European parliamentary committee to delay the introduction of the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) until October 2018, almost eight months later than planned.
‘Jack Bauer’ versus ‘Macron’: the colourful candidates clashing in Japan’s election
From an opposition leader nicknamed “Jack Bauer” to a gaffe-prone finance minister who used Adolf Hitler as an example when talking about leaving a political legacy, there are some colourful characters competing in Japan’s election.
Yukio Edano
Edano, a former trade minister and leader of the new centre-left Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, won fame as chief cabinet secretary during the country’s 2011 tsunami disaster, briefing reporters every day, often at odd…
Facebook denies Thai PM-Zuckerberg meeting
By Tery Fredrickson Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha’s hopes of meeting Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg look to have hit the rocks as a Facebook spokesman said no such plans are on the drawing board. “There are no plans currently for any of our senior leaders to visit Thailand,” according to the statement by a Facebook spokesman. The government has yet to respond to the denial. On Tuesday, Gen Prayut told the media Mr Zuckerberg will visit…
New Delhi closes coal-fired power plant as smog worsens during annual Diwali festival
India’s environmental watchdog shut down a coal-fired power plant and banned the use of diesel generators in New Delhi as air quality plummeted in the world’s most polluted capital on Wednesday, the start of the Diwali festival.
New Delhi experiences suffocating smog every year around Diwali, when farmers in north India burn the stubble left behind after the harvest and revellers let off firecrackers. The onset of winter aggravates the problem as the cooler air traps the pollutants…
Philippines arrests militant leader’s widow for trying to recruit fighters
Philippine law enforcement agents have arrested a woman who tried to spread radical ideas and recruit hundreds of foreigners to reinforce pro-Islamic State rebels occupying a southern city, the justice minister said on Wednesday.
Karen Aizha Hamidon, the widow of a former leader of a small extremist group in Mindanao, was arrested by special agents at her home in a Manila suburb a week ago and has been charged with inciting to rebellion, Vitaliano Aguirre told a news conference.
Hamidon is…
Review calls for ‘data trusts’ to help grow artificial intelligence in the UK
New frameworks for sharing data to be used by artificial intelligence (AI) tools should be developed to help grow AI in the UK, a government-commissioned review has recommended.
Anti-Chinese? Backlash and praise for new Jakarta governor’s racially tinged speech
The new governor of Indonesia’s capital faced a barrage of criticism on Tuesday for remarks in his inauguration speech that some residents and politicians warned could stoke ethnic and religious tension in the Southeast Asian country.
Anies Baswedan, a former education minister, said in a speech only hours after he was sworn in on Monday that “pribumi” (native or indigenous Indonesians) should take back control of the country from “colonial” influences.
His…
UK courts did not breach man’s right to reputation when dismissing his defamation claims, rules human rights court
Courts in the UK did not breach their obligation to protect a budding politician’s right to respect for his reputation when it dismissed his claim for allegedly defamatory comments published about him online, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has said.
Vietnam ex-MP jailed for stealing US$16 million in housing deposits
A former Vietnamese lawmaker has been sentenced to life in prison for fraud after she pocketed US$16 million in down-payments from would-be homeowners when she was a real estate developer, a court clerk said Tuesday.
Chau Thi Thu Nga is the latest to be punished as part of a government anti-corruption sweep targeting current and former officials, bankers and executives in the communist state.
As chairwoman of the private Housing Group company, Nga sold hundreds of apartments to prospective…