Author: viking

New laws that aim to bring greater harmonisation to the way telecoms companies and markets are regulated in the EU have entered into force.

Indonesian schoolchild Mukhlis Abdul Holik begins the long haul to school each day with a knapsack strapped to his back and hands stuffed into a pair of sandals – to guard against road burn.
It is no ordinary trip for the eight-year-old. He has severely deformed feet and legs so tiny that he only reaches up to his classmates’ waists when standing. With his mother in tow, the gap-toothed pupil crawls from his West Java village across rocky paths and an old wooden bridge that he…

Banks, credit card providers and other account servicing payment service providers (ASPSPs) are prohibited from contractually regulating the rights that third parties enjoy in law to access the payment account data, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed.

A Philippine lawmaker has proposed a bill to honour an international court’s ruling in favour of Manila in its maritime dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea, saying the move would boost national pride.
Gary C. Alejano, of the Magdalo Party-List, wants a working holiday to commemorate a verdict in The Hague on July 16, 2016, that concluded that China had no legal basis to claim historic rights to much of the South China Sea, known in the Philippines as the West Philippine Sea….

A Thai YouTube personality is facing defamation charges after making comments about dresses worn by Thailand’s Miss Universe candidate, one of which was designed by a daughter of the country’s king.
The monarchy is considered sacred in Thai society and few dare to criticise the institution for fear of running afoul of strict royal insult laws, which are supposed to only cover the king, queen, heir-apparent and regent. But criticism of other members of the royal family is still…

Businesses and manufacturers will be held more responsible for the costs of recycling packaging and products in England under plans put forward by the government.

Communist guerillas abducted two soldiers and at least a dozen militiamen in an attack on an army base in the south of the Philippines on Wednesday, officials said.
Government forces are trying to track down about 80 New People’s Army rebels who took the hostages in a predawn attack on an army patrol base near Sibagat town in Agusan del Sur province, according to Military Chief of Staff General Benjamin Madrigal Junior. The guerillas seized more than 20 assault rifles and two-way radio…

A British man who was arrested in Bali for possession of cannabis oil says he is now living a “terrible nightmare” and faces a jail term of up to 15 years.
Pip Holmes, 45, was arrested on December 3 for possession of what he described as “a tiny amount of THC oil”, which he had sent to him in Indonesia to help with his arthritis pain. He was one of five people arrested by Indonesian police for alleged drug smuggling last week in Denpasar, the capital of Bali province….

The official death toll from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drugs campaign has surpassed 5,000, authorities said on Tuesday.
Government figures covering the period from July 1, 2016, when the campaign was launched, to November 30 this year show that 5,050 people have been killed. A total of 164,265 “drug personalities” were arrested as part of 115,435 anti-drugs operations across the country during the reporting period.
Derrick Carreon, spokesman of the…

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed it is to make it easier for victims of authorised push payment (APP) fraud to make a complaint about a transaction.