Asian Legal Review

A South Korean cargo ship hit in the Strait of Hormuz six days ago was struck by unidentified aircraft, the foreign ministry in Seoul said on Sunday, days after the fire-damaged HMM Namu arrived in Dubai.
US President Donald Trump has claimed that Iran had “taken some shots” at the Panama-flagged vessel and urged South Korea to join US operations aimed at restoring normal shipping through the strait.
The vital waterway has been virtually closed since the United States and Israel launched a war…

More than 300 foreign nationals were arrested in a raid on an alleged online gambling operation in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, police said on Saturday, in one of the country’s largest crackdowns on illegal digital betting networks.
The 321 foreigners, mainly from Vietnam, were arrested at a commercial building near the city’s Chinatown section that investigators described as a hub for more than 70 online gambling websites, targeting players outside Indonesia, based on marketing records…

In the 1980s, then Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad launched his “Look East” policy, urging his country and others in Southeast Asia to emulate the state-led economic development models of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, rather than those of market-dominated Western nations.
China subsequently emerged as a prime example of state-led development, but Japan is now leaning again towards a more dirigiste model under the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, not only in…

Vietnam has expanded its outposts in the South China Sea by hundreds of acres over the past year, according to a new report, as Hanoi and Beijing race to reinforce competing territorial claims through land reclamation.
Vietnam has added about 534 acres (2.16 square km) of land in the Spratly Islands, bringing its total reclaimed area to roughly 2,771 acres (11.2 square km), according to the Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.
While Hanoi had appeared to be narrowing the gap…

Deeper economic cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will hinge on whether a code can be laid down to govern maritime territory and activity in the South China Sea, Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has said.
“We cannot institutionalise any of those things until the code of conduct is finalised,” he told a press conference on Friday at the close of the 48th Asean summit in Cebu, when asked about aspects that held the most potential in relations between…

One in three large companies had a VAT investigation launched against them last year, highlighting HMRC’s focus on closing the tax gap, an expert has said.

Supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) should not be granted for substances expressly designated as excipients within applications for marketing authorisation for medicines, according to new opinion issued by an adviser to the EU’s top judges.

The recently concluded Balikatan joint drills have marked a shift in the Philippines’ defence strategy alongside Japan, with Tokyo offering the transfer of warships to its Southeast Asian ally, while a top Filipino official for the first time voiced “serious concern” over islands claimed by Beijing and Tokyo.
Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr on Wednesday said Manila now considered the uninhabited Diaoyu Islands, which Japan calls the Senkaku Islands, a security flashpoint in the…

EU rules regarding AI systems categorised as ‘high-risk’ will take effect from late 2027, not this summer as is scheduled, if a new deal struck by legislators is adopted in the coming weeks.

The leaders of Thailand and Cambodia agreed on Thursday to pursue trust-building measures to advance a fragile ceasefire and establish peace, after rare talks over last year’s deadly fighting between the two neighbours.
Troops remain deployed ‌on both sides of their long-disputed 817km (508-mile) border after battles in July and December when skirmishes quickly escalated into air strikes and heavy exchanges of artillery and rockets.
The Philippines, which is hosting Asean meetings on the island…