ANALYSIS A new court ruling leaves us little further forward on an employer’s right to adjudicate the true value of the sum due under a construction contract after failing to serve payment notices and without first paying the amount demanded by the contractor.
Trump-Kim summit 2019: US president hails North Korea’s ‘awesome potential’ if only ‘my friend Kim Jong-un’ would denuclearise
US President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday in his latest bid to sweet-talk Kim Jong-un into giving up Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal, describing the North Korean leader as his “friend” ahead of their highly anticipated talks.Trump, tweeting from the JW Marriott Hotel in Hanoi where he is staying for the two-day talks with Kim starting this evening, said North Korea could become like Vietnam – also communist-ruled – if it decided to denuclearise.“Vietnam is thriving like few places on…
Indonesia says three killed, another 60 feared buried alive in illegal gold mine collapse
Indonesian officials said on Wednesday dozens of rescuers were using spades and ropes to dig out more than 60 people who were feared buried by the collapse of an illegal gold mine on the island of Sulawesi that killed at least three.Rescuers said they could hear the voices of some of those trapped in makeshift mining shafts in a muddy hillside in the Bolaang Mongondow area of North Sulawesi province and believed many were still alive.“We are able to detect that many of them are still alive…
Consumer focus and powers at heart of CMA proposals
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) could have greater scope to address consumer detriment stemming from “digitalisation”, such as the harvesting of personal data or personalised pricing, under plans it has put forward for the government to consider.
Pakistan accuses Indian aircraft of crossing Line of Control in Kashmir
Pakistan’s military said on Tuesday Indian military aircraft crossed the Line of Control frontier in the disputed Kashmir region and “released a payload” after Pakistan scrambled its own jets, but there were no casualties or damage. The confrontation follows escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals since the February 14 suicide bombing in Kashmir, when 40 Indian paramilitary police were killed by a Pakistani-based militant group. New Delhi blamed Islamabad, which denies having a…
Guidance reminds companies of duty to prevent tax evasion
Companies can now use the UK’s government gateway system to self-report a failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion offence online. New guidance from UK tax authority HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) reminds businesses of their duties to prevent tax evasion.
Indonesian housewives arrested over election video that claimed Joko Widodo would legalise gay marriage
Three Indonesian housewives have been arrested over an online video that claimed President Joko Widodo would ban prayer and make gay marriage legal in the Muslim-majority country if re-elected, police said on Monday.Widodo has fended off accusations over his Muslim credentials for years, claims that have been revived ahead of April presidential elections.Indonesia has also been battling a wave of fake news and misinformation campaigns online in the lead up to the polls.The video, shared…
North Korean cyberwarfare: as big a threat as its nuclear weapons?
North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme has for several years posed a growing threat to international security – to its neighbours in the South and to the rest of the world.However, the hermit kingdom has also been fashioning another weapon with which to harass the global community: it has carefully and quietly honed its cyberwarfare capabilities to the point that today, according to cybersecurity experts, its hackers are among the best in the world.In terms of speed – a crucial weapon in the…
Donald Trump thanks ‘helpful’ Xi Jinping as Vietnam fine-tunes security in Hanoi for summit with Kim Jong-un
With just days to go before his long-awaited second meeting with Kim Jong-un, US President Donald Trump on Sunday thanked China for its help setting up the summit in Vietnam aimed at ridding North Korea of nuclear weapons.“The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door,” Trump wrote in a series of tweets in which he praised President Xi Jinping for being “very helpful in his support” of the talks.President Xi of China has been very helpful in his support of my…
Everyone loves ‘Daddy’: forget Thaksin, here’s the Thai junta’s new billionaire rival: Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit is one uncharacteristic plutocrat.The law is after him, the ladies call him “daddy”, and he’s running in Thailand’s impending elections promising a welfare state.As the March 24 polls draw nearer, the 40-year-old scion of Thailand’s biggest auto-parts manufacturer is emerging as a darling among millennials – many of whom are disenchanted with long-standing strife between the “red shirts” and “yellow shirts” that have dominated the kingdom’s politics.And with some…