Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has scrapped plans to attend the United Nations General Assembly later this month, her spokesman said Wednesday, as the Nobel laureate faces intense global scrutiny over the Rohingya refugee crisis.
“The state counsellor won’t attend the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly,” said government spokesman Zaw Htay, using Suu Kyi’s formal title.
The spokesman did not explain the decision but said the country’s vice-president…
Halimah Yacob declared Singapore's first woman president
Halimah Yacob, a former speaker of parliament, was declared elected as Singapore’s first woman president on Wednesday, after the returning officer announced she was the sole candidate to qualify for the contest.
Aiming to strengthen a sense of inclusivity in the multicultural city state, Singapore had decreed the presidency, a largely ceremonial post, would be reserved for candidates from the minority Malay community this time.
“Although this is a reserved election, I’m not a…
Potential for procedural concessions as EU ‘repeal bill’ passes first Commons vote
The main piece of legislation which will facilitate the UK’s exit from the EU has passed its first parliamentary test.
Children at risk after South Korean surveillance app reissued under new name, researchers say
A South Korean child-monitoring smartphone app that was removed from the market in 2015 after it was found to be riddled with security flaws has been reissued under a new name and still puts children at risk, researchers said.
The app “Cyber Security Zone” is part of government efforts to curb what authorities consider excessive cellphone use by young people. Parents are required by law to install monitoring software on smartphones for all children 18 and under.
The app is almost…
Look south to Asean to tap the digital future of the world’s seventh-biggest economic bloc
As the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) turns 50 this year, the economic strides that have made the regional bloc the world’s seventh-largest economy will set it up for sustained growth, increased prosperity and exciting prospects for the next half century.
Technology, and how it will continue to change the way people live, work, shop, dine, travel and save, is perhaps one of the most fascinating advances in recent times, and one that presents vast opportunities ahead.
China…
Three-yearly discount rate reviews should reduce ‘shocks’ for insurers, says expert
Insurers will welcome government proposals to reform the way in which the ‘discount rate’ applied to lump sum personal injury payments is calculated following the dramatic change announced in February, an expert has said.
What to know: UN Security Council set to vote Monday on more North Korea sanctions
North Korea’s September 3 nuclear test was the country’s largest and prompted global outrage. The US is calling for an oil embargo on Pyongyang and assets freeze on leader Kim Jong-un.
What, when and where
■ The UN Security Council is set to vote on Monday afternoon (New York time) on a US-drafted resolution to impose new sanctions on North Korea. Last Tuesday, the US circulated a draft resolution proposing a ban on all oil and natural gas exports to the country and a freeze…
‘Those that ran were hacked to death’: Rohingyas relive massacre in Myanmar after fleeing to Bangladesh
Myanmar soldiers barred the entrance to the mosque, men arrived with machetes and petrol cans and then, according to Rohingya Muslim eyewitnesses, the killing began.
“Those that ran were hacked to death. Others that got away were shot by the army,” said Master Kamal, a 53-year-old teacher, and one of the survivors of the massacre in Aung Sit Pyin in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
“They were burning houses. We fled to save our lives.”
Kamal said he saw three neighbours…
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte rules out negotiating with Islamist insurgents in Marawi
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday ruled out the possibility of allowing Islamic State-linked militants to flee a southern city in exchange for the release of dozens of hostages.
The militants seized large parts of Marawi City on the island of Mindanao in May, and a hard core of fighters has held out through more than 100 days of air strikes and ground attacks by troops.
“No way,” Duterte told reporters when asked about a rumour that one rebel leader, Omarkhayam Maute…
Myanmar’s Rohingya militants declare one-month ceasefire to allow delivery of aid to Rakhine
Rohingya militants, whose August 25 raids in Myanmar’s Rakhine State sparked an army crackdown that has seen nearly 300,000 of the Muslim minority flee to Bangladesh, on Sunday declared an immediate unilateral one-month ceasefire.
Bedraggled and exhausted Rohingya refugees have arrived in huge numbers in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar area for over two weeks, while tens of thousands more are believed to be on the move inside Rakhine, many in desperate conditions after more than a…