Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte may declare nationwide martial law next week if threatened massive protests by communists and other leftists against his rule turn violent or disrupt the country, his defence chief said Friday.
“He said, if the left will try to have a massive protest, start fires on the streets, they will disrupt the country, then I might (declare martial law),” Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters.
More to follow …
Trump says he will visit China, Japan and South Korea in November
US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he intends to visit China, Japan and South Korea later this year, a blockbuster maiden presidential visit to Asia.
Trump said aboard Air Force One that a US delegation would likely make the trip in November, adding that he will “possibly” go to the Apec summit in Vietnam at the same time.
The announcement sets the stage for a wildly ambitious first visit to a region that is vital to US economic and security interests.
The visit is…
Anchor defendants: limits on their use as a way of getting around jurisdictional rules
ANALYSIS: Recent comments by judges in the Court of Appeal may have cast doubt on the use of ‘anchor defendants’ as a means of establishing jurisdiction where the case against that party is in reality weak or hopeless.
Chinese submarine docks at Malaysian port for second time this year
A Chinese submarine has docked in Malaysia, the second such visit to the Southeast Asian country this year, as Western powers fret over China’s expanding reach in the South China Sea.
China claims nearly all of the disputed waterway, through which an estimated US$3 trillion in international trade passes each year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan also have claims.
Tensions between China and Malaysia over their overlapping claims, however, appear to have eased after Kuala…
Fire kills 22 students and two wardens at Kuala Lumpur religious school
Twenty-four people, most of them students, were killed Thursday when a blaze tore through a Malaysian religious school, in what officials said was one of the country’s worst fire disasters for years.
The blaze broke out before dawn in the tahfiz – an Islamic religious school -in the heart of the capital Kuala Lumpur.
Firefighters rushed to the scene and the blaze was out within an hour but not before it wreaked terrible devastation.
Pictures in local media showed ash-covered, fire-…
Court of Appeal clarifies ‘serious harm’ test under defamation laws
A new ruling by the Court of Appeal has confirmed that it will not be as challenging for people to bring defamation claims before the courts in England and Wales under new defamation laws as many media organisations may have hoped, a specialist in media litigation has said.
Myanmar's Suu Kyi scraps UN General Assembly trip amid intense scrutiny over her response to Rohingya crisis
Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has scrapped plans to attend the United Nations General Assembly later this month, her spokesman said Wednesday, as the Nobel laureate faces intense global scrutiny over the Rohingya refugee crisis.
“The state counsellor won’t attend the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly,” said government spokesman Zaw Htay, using Suu Kyi’s formal title.
The spokesman did not explain the decision but said the country’s vice-president…
Halimah Yacob declared Singapore's first woman president
Halimah Yacob, a former speaker of parliament, was declared elected as Singapore’s first woman president on Wednesday, after the returning officer announced she was the sole candidate to qualify for the contest.
Aiming to strengthen a sense of inclusivity in the multicultural city state, Singapore had decreed the presidency, a largely ceremonial post, would be reserved for candidates from the minority Malay community this time.
“Although this is a reserved election, I’m not a…
Potential for procedural concessions as EU ‘repeal bill’ passes first Commons vote
The main piece of legislation which will facilitate the UK’s exit from the EU has passed its first parliamentary test.
Children at risk after South Korean surveillance app reissued under new name, researchers say
A South Korean child-monitoring smartphone app that was removed from the market in 2015 after it was found to be riddled with security flaws has been reissued under a new name and still puts children at risk, researchers said.
The app “Cyber Security Zone” is part of government efforts to curb what authorities consider excessive cellphone use by young people. Parents are required by law to install monitoring software on smartphones for all children 18 and under.
The app is almost…