Businesses and consumers can expect to gain greater control over how their financial data is used, meaning they will be able to access innovative new services as the UK moves to a system of ‘open finance’, an expert has said.
Japanese management company official fired over poor management of NGT48 pop idol Maho Yamaguchi’s home assault case
An official from the management company of Japanese idol group AKB48 and its spinoff groups has been replaced, amid condemnation over the company’s tepid handling of a case of home assault against one of its singers.
AKS announced a change in personnel and apologised five days after Maho Yamaguchi, a 23-year-old member of NGT48, revealed she had been squeezed in the face by two intruders at her home last year on December 8. Despite being the victim, Maho Yamaguchi was made to apologise…
Protests break out as Thai military junta set to delay general election for the fifth time
Tensions continue to mount in Thailand as the ruling military junta has signalled that the long postponed elections will be delayed yet again.
On Sunday, hundreds of people took to the streets for the third time in a week to criticise the military government for appearing to renege on assurances the election would finally happen on February 24.
It is the fifth time the military junta, which took over in a bloodless coup in 2014, has delayed elections and prevented the country’s return to…
Xi Jinping set to meet Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang in April, South Korean sources say
Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to make his first visit to North Korea in April, and the two sides are agreed on the matter, South Korean parliamentary sources told the South China Morning Post.
“Pyongyang and Beijing have reached a general consensus that Xi will visit Pyongyang in April,” said one of the sources, who has close ties to the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee in Seoul.
North Korea has issued repeated invitations for Xi to visit – including in…
Base instinct: how Chinese visit to Cambodia reignited rumour of navy port plan
Fresh from celebrating four decades since the downfall of the former Khmer Rouge rulers, Cambodia welcomed several Chinese warships. Just days after last week’s anniversary, the vessels docked in the resort city of Sihanoukville, reviving concerns about the implications of close military ties between the two countries and the possibility China is planning a naval base in the kingdom. Cambodia’s leader Hun Sen swatted away similar rumours about Beijing’s intentions last…
Nissan executive Munoz resigns after Ghosn’s arrest
Nissan Chief Performance Officer Jose Munoz, who took a leave of absence a week ago, is leaving, the first high-profile departure at the Japanese carmaker publicly acknowledged as related to the arrest of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn.
Munoz on Saturday said in a statement on LinkedIn he made the decision after serious thinking because the company was “involved in matters that have and will continue to divert its focus”, referring to Ghosn’s case.
Munoz is among several…
Thai security forces kill two linked to deadly shooting at school
Two insurgents believed to be tied to a motorcycle drive-by shooting at a school in Thailand’s south were shot dead Saturday, police said, as Unicef warned of trauma for children near the scene of the lunchtime violence.
Since 2004, clashes between Malay-Muslim rebels and the Buddhist-majority Thai state that annexed the area over 100 years ago have killed nearly 7,000 people, mostly civilians of both faiths.
The conflict rarely makes global headlines but is a reality for residents of…
A year later, China’s ‘Ice Boy’ Wang Fuman has a new home, warmer school and his mum back
Many things about Wang Fuman’s life have changed since he became an international sensation a year ago.
Then, he was an eight-year-old who had to walk for an hour in a thin jacket from his grandmother’s mud hut to his freezing cold, poorly-resourced school. His father was working far away, and his mother had deserted the family.
His teacher posted a photo of him arriving at school with his head covered in icicles, a photo that quickly spread on social media and earned him the…
Government consults on changes to developer contribution rules
The government is consulting on changes to developer contributions focussed on the operation of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), which allows local planning authorities to raise funds from new development to help fund local infrastructure.
Saudi woman Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun who fled family granted asylum by Canada: Thai authorities
A Saudi teenager who fled to Thailand over alleged abuse by her family has been granted asylum in Canada, Thailand’s immigration chief told Reuters on Friday.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, will be boarding a Korean Air flight from Bangkok to Seoul on Friday night, before boarding a connecting flight to Canada, immigration chief Surachate Hakparn said.
“Canada has granted her asylum. She’ll leave tonight at 11.15pm.”
The office of Canada’s foreign minister however,…