Month: August 2021

Experience teaches us that well-organised despots, unless stopped in their tracks by citizen resistance, robust watchdog institutions, unforeseen outcomes and plain bad luck, can quickly remould sickly democratic institutions into a different political order we call despotism.Despotism isn’t old-fashioned tyranny or military dictatorship, or a single-ruler horror show the ancients called autocracy. It mustn’t be confused with 20th-century fascism or totalitarianism. Despotism is rather a new…

Dozens of influential Malaysian civil society groups have expressed dismay and alarm after a 17-year-old student who took a male teacher to task for allegedly joking about rape in class was served with a defamation suit and called up by police for “breaching the peace”. Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam in April became a national talking point after she called out the teacher – without naming him or her school – and sparked intense conversation about sexual harassment in schools and entrenched misogyny…

Businesses hoping to trial new ideas in the ‘regulatory sandbox’ run by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have been given guidance from the regulator on how to apply to do so.

A recent ruling by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) provides useful guidance for employers about their obligations to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to pay to account for employee disability, an employment law expert has said.

The Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) has introduced a new set of rules, designed to reflect contemporary standards in arbitration and international best practice.

Australia will introduce new powers to sanction alleged perpetrators of “egregious acts of international concern,” a move likely to put China in the crosshairs and further strain Sino-Australian relations.Under the proposals, Canberra would be able to impose targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on individuals or entities accused of gross human rights violations and other activities such as weapons proliferation, cyberattacks and corruption.Foreign Marise Payne said on Thursday the…

Japan is expected to use its meeting on Friday with the five Mekong River states to reiterate its commitment to the region, although analysts said it will also aim to reinforce its foreign policy objective of countering China’s influence.Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi will hold a videoconference summit with his counterparts from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The agenda includes support for the five countries – all of which are battling with Covid-19 surges due to…

South Korea’s national badminton body is filing a complaint with the Badminton World Federation (BWF) over Chinese player Chen Qingchen, who was heard repeatedly yelling profanities during matches against South Korean players at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.The 24-year-old Chen, ranked No 2 in the world by the BWF, could be heard shouting expletives in Mandarin that carry a similar meaning to saying f*** in English during a group stage women’s doubles match at the Games on July 27.She first used the…

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has scored again. Despite all the excitement in the opposition ranks – including another claim that opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had the numbers to take over as premier; a youth demonstration; a march by MPs to demand the opening of parliament, after it was suspended again for a Covid-19-related issue; the resignation of a member of Cabinet; and an attempt by the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) to take over – Muhyiddin remains. One more time, the…

Changes to the way in which apprenticeships in England are managed and funded will allow apprentices to work with multiple employers and in sectors with more flexible working patterns, the government has announced.