Asian Legal Review

The European Commission has told France and Belgium that they must abolish tax exemptions granted to their ports to comply with EU state aid rules. 

Regulators in Australia and Abu Dhabi are to share information on national fintech trends and help fintech businesses develop in the two countries.

Duterte wants to bomb tribal schools to halt rebel indoctrination Human rights groups urged Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to retract a threat to order airstrikes against tribal schools he accused of teaching students to become communist rebels, warning such an attack would constitute a war crime. Angered by recent communist rebel attacks on government forces, including a gun battle last week that wounded five members of his elite presidential guards, Duterte has called off peace talks…

Manila’s plan for joint energy exploration with Beijing in the South China Sea could be a test of unity for the Asean regional bloc as it grapples with an increasingly assertive China. Several members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have privately expressed concerns over Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan, according to observers. They say Manila’s bid to edge closer to Beijing economically could deepen divisions in the group over how to deal with…

YouTubers around the world have found fame on the online video platform, with a select number achieving mainstream success as their millions of fans propel them to brand endorsements, best-selling books and cameos in major films.
While still far behind the likes of Sweden’s PewDiePie, who has amassed the world’s highest number of subscribers at 56 million, top YouTubers in Japan have achieved followings in the millions and are also seeing signs of breaking into mainstream pop…

Businesses in Singapore could soon be given new rights to process personal data without the consent of the people to whom the information relates, under proposals outlined by the government in the city state.

Western governments are warning their citizens against travelling to nearly all of the southern third of the Philippines, citing the rising threats of terror attacks and kidnappings by Islamist militants.
Fresh alerts from Britain, Canada and Australia were released this week after President Rodrigo Duterte extended military rule across the southern region of Mindanao until the end of the year to combat the militants.
The Canadian advisory on Monday warned against visiting any part of Mindanao…

The 45% corporation tax charge on ‘restitution interest’ repaid to a company by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is lawful, a tax tribunal has ruled.

Fighting for a stable job, battling family issues and dealing with drug addiction, Ayu found in ­Islamic radicalism a window for acceptance and empowerment that she struggled to get more than 3,200km from home. She is one of about 45 Indonesian helpers who forged links with Islamic State while living in Hong Kong, a study by a Jakarta-based think tank showed on Wednesday. Small number of Indonesian domestic workers radicalised while in Hong Kong, report warns The Institute for…

By Yen Nee Lee The circumstances that brought down Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 remain one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries, but the carrier’s chief executive said he believed a breakthrough can be made within the next four years. The plane, a Boeing 777, was carrying 239 people en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur when it vanished from radar screens in March 2014. Search operations concentrated in the southern Indian Ocean, but the aircraft was not found….