South and North Korea are discussing plans to announce an official end to the military conflict that has existed between the two countries since 1950, the South Korean Munhwa Ilbo newspaper reported, citing an unidentified South Korean official.
At next week’s summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the two neighbours may release a joint statement saying they will seek to ease military tension and to end confrontation, according to the…
Personalised medicines: new initiative to pool genomic data in EU
Plans to create a new European database of more than one million sequenced human genomes have been outlined by 13 EU countries.
Indonesian court orders release of US$250 million luxury yacht linked to 1MDB scandal
A luxury yacht linked to allegations that US$4.5 billion was looted from Malaysia’s state investment fund 1MDB must be returned to its wealthy owner, an Indonesian court ruled on Tuesday, citing missteps by police in seizing the vessel.
The decision comes about six weeks after Indonesian authorities, acting on a request from the FBI, seized the Cayman Islands-registered Equanimity, reportedly worth some US$250 million, which was moored off the Indonesian tourist island of Bali. Its three…
Philippine maid taken to hospital after Saudi boss ‘made her drink bleach’
A Philippine domestic worker has been taken to hospital in Saudi Arabia after her employer allegedly forced her to drink household bleach, Manila’s foreign ministry said on Monday.
Domestic worker Agnes Mancilla underwent emergency abdominal surgery after she was taken, unconscious, to a hospital in Saudi’s southwestern Jizan city on April 2, the ministry said.
“We are working closely with authorities in Jizan to make sure that justice will be given to Agnes Mancilla,”…
Splitting EPC contracts for tax savings
ANALYSIS: Split construction contracts are often used in certain Asian countries by developers to reduce their tax exposure.
BMW driver who refused to pay for Singaporean Caltex attendant’s ‘mistake’ target of an online witch-hunt
By Jessica Lin
Public sentiment can take on a life of its own in the age of social media.
One man in Singapore, who allegedly refused to pay for the full cost of petrol mistakenly pumped into the car he was driving, is now facing the heat caused by his actions.
According to Facebook user Kelly Yeo, the driver of a BMW Series 5 had claimed that a petrol station attendant had misheard request to pump just S$10 (US$7.62) worth of petrol into the car.
As a result, he refused to pay the full S$…
‘It would be reckless to swim’: Japanese police continue search for escaped convict on island
The whereabouts of a 27-year-old prison escapee remained unknown on Sunday, with a week-long search involving some 6,600 police officers on a small forested western Japan island failing to arrest the convicted thief.
Hiroshima and Ehime prefectural police have been pursuing Tatsuma Hirao on Mukaishima Island in the Seto Inland Sea since his escape on April 8 from a prison in the city of Imabari.
Police searchers have come up empty despite Hirao leaving clues of his whereabouts including…
First Rohingya family repatriated to Myanmar, thousands more to go
Myanmar’s government said it has repatriated the first family of Rohingya refugees, among 700,000 who fled a brutal crackdown, but the move was slammed by rights groups as a publicity stunt which ignored warnings over the security of returnees.
The stateless Muslim minority has been massing in squalid refugee camps across the border in Bangladesh since the Myanmar army launched a ruthless campaign against the community in northern Rakhine state last August.
The UN says the operation…
Japanese playing cards offer novel spin on sex education and dating etiquette
A traditional Japanese card game has been given a new spin by an expert on midwifery as a fun way to teach students about sex and dating etiquette.
Minako Saho of Osaka Prefecture University in western Japan came up with a version of “karuta” in 2013 to help create a more relaxed classroom environment for teachers and students to discuss what can for some be an awkward topic.
Traditionally played during New Year celebrations, karuta uses cards with poems or proverbs on them. It…
‘I feared many would become human rights cases’: ex-US envoy to Vietnam quit because Trump wanted to deport thousands of refugees
The former US ambassador to Vietnam has said he resigned last year in opposition to a Trump administration plan to deport more than 8,000 Vietnamese people, most of whom are refugees.
Ted Osius, who worked in the US foreign services for 30 years, said the Trump administration asked him to press Vietnam’s government to accept the deportees – who had mostly fled the country after the fall of Saigon in 1975.
“The majority targeted for deportation – sometimes for minor…