A Malaysian police investigator said on Thursday the absence of four North Korean suspects believed to have orchestrated the killing of their leader’s half-brother didn’t cause prejudice against the two women who are on trial.
Defence lawyers say Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam and Siti Aisyah of Indonesia are scapegoats in the death of Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpur’s airport on February 13 last year. Prosecutors say four North Korean suspects recruited the women and provided them…
Court casts doubt on who bears risk of obtaining planning permission
The employer under a standard form construction contract is not under an absolute obligation to obtain planning permission or conservation consent before the works can go ahead, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
Japan’s hi-tech condoms likely to be in demand at Tokyo Olympics as manufacturers sense marketing coup
Japanese condom makers are ramping up preparations ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, seeing a golden opportunity to showcase their world-record ultra-thin products.
For years, hundreds of thousands of condoms have been distributed for free to competitors at Olympic Games in a bid to encourage safe sex among the world’s fittest athletes.
The tradition provides prophylactic producers with a potentially unrivalled marketing opportunity.
In Japan, condom makers are hoping the Olympics…
Singapore passes media blackout law that blocks electronic communication after terror attack, raising concerns about crackdown on press
Singapore’s parliament on Wednesday passed a controversial law giving authorities the power to block all electronic communications at the scene of a terror attack, despite protests it will erode media freedom.
The law allows police to stop anyone within the vicinity of what they deem to be a “serious incident”, including a terror attack, from taking photos and video or communicating about police operations through text and audio messages.
The government claims the affluent…
Measures to strengthen DB pension protections announced
The powers of The Pensions Regulator (TPR) to intervene where employers do not act in the best interests of a defined benefit (DB) pension scheme will be strengthened, the government has announced.
Malaysia’s Najib denies using Cambridge Analytica, accuses Mahathir’s son
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Tuesday denied claims his government had ever engaged the tainted data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica, and instead accused his rival Mahathir Mohamad’s son as the person who had used the company’s controversial services before he crossed aisles to join the opposition.
Speculation about Cambridge Analytica’s involvement in Malaysia has been swirling since one of the company’s senior executives was secretly recorded by Britain…
New figures reveal loss of £236 million through authorised push payment frauds
Businesses and consumers lost £236 million last year through authorised push payment (APP) frauds, new data has shown.
Drug abuser in Singapore gets five years in jail and six strokes of the cane for drug offences and holding toddler hostage
By Faris Mokhtar
A drug abuser who kidnapped and held his girlfriend’s two-year-old son hostage for 17 hours in 2016 was sentenced to five years’ jail and six strokes of the cane on Tuesday (March 20).
Muhammad Iskandah Suhaimi, 40, was convicted of four charges last year for kidnapping the toddler, possessing and consuming methamphetamine, as well as for illegally possessing a knuckleduster.
The court heard that at about 4pm on September 27, 2016, just seconds after his girlfriend…
South Korean prosecutors seek arrest of former president Lee Myung-bak
South Korean prosecutors have requested an arrest warrant for ex-president Lee Myung-bak over allegations of bribery, embezzlement and other charges, officials said on Monday.
Lee, a conservative who governed from 2008 to 2013, is the latest South Korean leader to be entangled in scandals or other problems after leaving office.
Lee’s conservative successor, Park Geun-hye, was removed from office and jailed last year in a separate corruption scandal. Prosecutors last month demanded a 30-…
Why Malaysia wants to help Chinese couples have babies
By Khairie Hisyam Aliman
The Malaysian medical tourism industry’s revenue broke through the RM1 billion (US$255.4) mark for the first time in 2016. By 2020, the national target is to double that.
It may seem ambitious, but the Malaysian Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) is confident of achieving that figure. The market in its sights? China.
After China scrapped its one-child policy in October 2015, the council estimates there are around 90 million couples in China looking to conceive a…