Asian Legal Review

The US-Iran peace deal is likely to bring immediate relief but not yet reassurance for Asia, as leaders across the region watch whether the Strait of Hormuz reopens, oil prices ease and the agreement can withstand the nuclear talks and geopolitical distrust still ahead, analysts say.
The agreement, mediated by Pakistan and scheduled to be signed on Friday in Switzerland, is intended to end more than three months of war in the Gulf, halt the US blockade of Iran and reopen one of the world’s most…

The defacement of the National Bureau of Investigation’s website over the weekend marked an escalation in a wave of attacks on Philippine government pages, with the country’s main investigative agency becoming the third major state body in less than a week to have its site compromised.
The incident followed similar attacks on the Senate’s website on Wednesday and the House of Representatives’ page on Saturday, raising questions about the government’s ability to protect even its own law…

China is capable of a direct missile strike on Australia and the threat is growing as Beijing amasses long-range and hypersonic weapons and builds islands in the South China Sea, an Australian think tank said on Sunday.
A Lowy Institute report found the main threat to Australia was from Chinese missiles fired from ships, submarines and a new intermediate-range ballistic missile that could reach the island continent from China.
China’s capacity to strike Australia would grow over the next decade…

A powerful earthquake that killed at least 61 people in the Philippines this week raised the seabed by as much as two metres (6.6 feet), exposing coral and harming marine life, the environment department said on Sunday.
The 7.8-magnitude tremor in southern Mindanao island on Monday has also left at least 40 people missing, according to updated tolls from the disaster agency.
Local residents first reported the geological phenomenon known as “coastal uplift” two days after the quake, which…

Five Indian air force personnel were killed when a military plane crashed while landing at a base in the country’s remote northeast on Saturday, the military said in a statement.
“The Indian Air Force deeply regrets the loss of five personnel in the An-32 accident at Jorhat”, a city in Assam state, the air force said in a statement.
It did not say how many people were on board at the time, or whether there were any survivors.
However, an air force official, speaking on condition of anonymity as…

In a blaring nightclub in wartime Myanmar, partied-out revellers doze until dawn by the dance floor, wary of journeying home despite the end of a post-coup curfew.
Lasers streak the smoke-filled air and music is cranked up to 150 decibels, according to one DJ – as loud as a jet engine at take-off – but the weekend clubbers slumbering on sofas dotted around the warehouse-sized Yangon venue do not stir.
“That became a habit, they’re used to it,” said one 29-year-old veteran of the capital’s elite…

China’s decision to ban Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr and his family from Chinese territory has taken Beijing’s maritime feud with Manila into unusually personal territory, with analysts saying the move appeared aimed at warning other Philippine officials against taking a hard line.
The sanctions, announced by China’s foreign ministry on Thursday following Teodoro’s recent criticism of Beijing, also prohibit Chinese organisations and individuals from engaging in transactions,…

The state elections in Johor and Negeri Sembilan, scheduled for July 11 and August 1, have opened two battlegrounds where economic issues take precedence over the political wrangling of Malaysia’s coalition parties.
The ballot will also test whether Singapore-linked rail projects, economic zones and a data centre investment push have translated into support among Johor’s 2.73 million voters grappling with higher living costs.
Nominations to fill 56 seats in the Johor state assembly will begin on…

Workplace sweepstakes are a popular way to build engagement around sporting and other events. However, many common formats fall within the scope of the Gambling Act 2005 and can be unlawful unless they fit within a specific exemption.

Employers that encourage World Cup sweepstakes as means of engaging colleagues and building team spirit should ensure they are carefully structured, to avoid them falling foul of gambling laws in Britain, an expert has said.