Abortion law in England is “ripe for change”, a digital healthcare expert has said, following a landmark vote by MPs on telemedical pregnancy terminations.
Indian tourists seek luxury of Maldives, Dubai as foreign travel restarts – but not everyone’s excited
When the Indian government announced it was restarting international travel on March 27 after two years of limited flights amid the pandemic, Jaideep Kelkar immediately booked a week-long holiday for his family of five to the Maldives. “Before the pandemic, we travelled at least twice annually to foreign destinations to bond as a family,” said the 48-year-old Mumbai-based garment exporter. “But the two pandemic years ruined all such plans. So we were literally counting down the days until we…
China’s Ukraine war stance raises ‘awkward questions’ on Taiwan, Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong says
Russia’s war in Ukraine presents China with “awkward questions”, as Moscow’s actions contravene the very principles that Beijing relies on to back up its position on Taiwan, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Wednesday. Speaking at a dialogue session organised by the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, Lee said the conflict could potentially have far-reaching implications across Asia. For China, the war “presents them with awkward questions because … it violates the…
EU challenges UK in WTO dispute over renewables support
The EU is seeking consultation with the UK at the World Trade Organization (WTO) as the first step in formal dispute settlement proceedings against the UK, accusing it of breaching core WTO commitments by applying discriminatory evaluation criteria in the context of a support scheme for renewable energy projects.
Malaysia 1MDB scandal: feng shui master warned ex-Goldman banker Leissner about ‘bad karma’ before fraud came to light
The wife of the former Goldman Sachs banker on trial over the 1MDB scandal told the jury her feng shui master warned her husband’s boss of “bad karma” – a prediction that seems to have come true. Hwee Bin Lim, the wife of ex-Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng, was testifying for her husband on Tuesday as he stands charged with conspiracy in the looting of sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd. Lim told the jurors that she and Ng arranged for feng shui readings with a “Master Pang” for Ng’s…
North Korea passed off old intercontinental ballistic missile as newer version, Seoul says
North Korea tried to deceive the world about the type of missile it fired last week, claiming that it successfully tested a “huge,” new ICBM while actually firing off a rocket first launched in 2017, South Korean defence officials said. The intercontinental ballistic missile that North Korea launched last week was likely a Hwasong-15, which was successfully tested in November 2017 and designed to carry a single nuclear warhead, the South Korean defence ministry told lawmakers in a report on…
New framework for EU-US data flows moves closer
Businesses that need to transfer personal data between the EU and US should not bank on the work being done to establish a new EU-US data privacy framework, experts in data protection law have said.
Malaysia 1MDB scandal: ex-Goldman banker Roger Ng’s wife denies US$35 million in her mum’s account was stolen from fund
The wife of former Goldman Sachs Inc banker Roger Ng denied that US$35 million held in an account in her mother’s name was stolen from 1MDB, claiming instead that the money was the return on a legitimate investment.Prosecutors claim the money was a kickback that Ng, the only Goldman banker to go on trial over 1MDB, received for allegedly conspiring with his former boss Tim Leissner and Malaysian financier Jho Low to loot billions of dollars from the sovereign wealth fund. But Ng’s wife, Hwee…
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines praise ‘zero kidnapping’ anti-piracy naval patrols
Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines have lauded the success of a 2017 agreement to conduct joint patrols and share intelligence about activities in waters in their region once prone to kidnappings, and pledged to deepen the pact.The defence ministers of the three countries praised the Trilateral Cooperation Agreement (TCA) after a meeting on the sidelines of the biennial Defence Services Asia trade show in Kuala Lumpur.The TCA was signed in 2017 amid a spate of piracy attacks and…
Democratic Republic of the Congo set to join East African Community
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is set to join the East African Community this month, after negotiations with the regional body.