Australia’s foreign minister on Monday met Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on issues including the Covid-19 pandemic during the second stop of her four-nation Southeast Asian tour.Foreign Minister Marise Payne exchanged views with her host on trade and Australia’s provision of assistance to Cambodia in the education, health, agriculture and defence sectors, said Eang Sophalleth, a spokesman for the Cambodian premier.Payne mentioned during talks that Australia will provide 3.5 million doses of…
Singapore’s highest court to rule Tuesday on reprieve for Malaysian drug trafficker facing execution
Singapore’s highest court will on Tuesday make an 11th-hour ruling on whether to grant a stay of execution for a convicted Malaysian drug trafficker who is facing imminent execution, following a constitutional challenge that claimed the death sentence violated the 33-year-old man’s fundamental rights.The Court of Appeal will convene on Tuesday to hear the case of Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, said anti-death penalty activist and journalist Kirsten Han on Twitter.The urgent convening of the…
Two Indian families are fighting over 19th century shipping magnate’s US$1 billion fortune and Saudi Arabia doesn’t know who to give it to
A US$1 billion fortune left behind by a 19th century Muslim shipping magnate who built a guest house for pilgrims to Mecca is being fought over by two feuding families in India.The money has been lying in a Saudi Arabian coffer for decades due to the inability of both the Saudi and Indian governments to adjudicate which of the two families, who live within a few miles of each other in Kannur, Kerala, has the rightful claim.At the heart of the dispute between the Keyi family, who number around 1…
Eight years on, Typhoon Haiyan’s young Philippine survivors have grown up and joined the climate change battle
Cyrel Bajen was 16 years old when Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded, put parts of his hometown in the Philippines under six metres (20 feet) of water.But he can remember that tragic day in 2013 well. The storm had cut visibility to near zero, so he was unable to see even as far as his neighbours’ home. Yet he could hear them drowning.“I heard them screaming and crying as they held on to posts [to avoid being swept away], they were fighting for their lives…
Vietnam’s Chinese-built metro line opens as Hanoi seeks to cut traffic, pollution
It’s a city of more than 5 million motorbikes, but Hanoi on Saturday opened its first ever urban railway line as authorities try to cut traffic and pollution that have long dogged the Vietnamese capital.After years of delays and a near-doubling of construction costs, a train eased out of Cat Linh station, close to the centre of the city, to begin its 13-kilometre journey towards the densely populated east.“I decided to give this a try because I was curious,” Nguyen Thi Thu said inside a busy…
Malaysia’s Smart Glove to look into forced labour claims after US import ban
Malaysia’s Smart Glove on Saturday said it was opposed to forced labour and committed to the well-being of its workers, after the United States banned imports from the rubber glove maker for alleged forced labour practices.The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Thursday issued a “Withhold Release Order” prohibiting imports from Smart Glove and its group of companies, citing what the CBP called reasonable evidence that indicated “Smart Glove production facilities utilise forced labour”…
Pension disputes: cooperation key to successful resolution
The Pensions Ombudsman (PO) has emphasised the need for parties to work together to resolve pensions disputes, in one of the recent decisions to be handed down by the body. The decisions also highlighted the importance of information to managing pensions and settling disputes, with the provision of documentary evidence a key element of two cases in September 2021.
Vietnamese roast minister over gold-plated steak as country feels economic pain of Covid-19
A video showing a powerful Vietnamese official enjoying a bite of steak smothered in gold leaf at a luxury London restaurant has sparked online anger in the Southeast Asian country, where the average person earns a few dollars a day.To Lam, minister of public security – whose agency deals with the monitoring of dissent and surveillance of activists in the authoritarian state – was seen tucking into the hunk of meat at Nusr-Et Steakhouse in the wealthy area of Knightsbridge.Nusr-Et, named after…
Failure to comply with pre-arbitration requirement to mediate a matter of admissibility, not jurisdiction
Two recent rulings from the English and Hong Kong courts have highlighted that the question of compliance with procedural steps in an arbitration clause relates to the admissibility of a claim rather than the tribunal’s substantive jurisdiction.
UK considers new IP right for AI
A new form of intellectual property (IP) right could be written into UK law to provide protection to “AI-devised inventions”.