A chaotic crush of jubilant villagers and reporters greeted the young Indonesian woman who was freed after Malaysia dropped charges that she murdered the estranged half brother of North Korea’s leader in an airport two years ago.Mosque loudspeakers blared as police guarding Siti Aisyah pushed their way through a mob to the house of a local parliamentarian in the Javanese village of Rancasumur where she grew up. A police official said Aisyah was exhausted and had fainted.Earlier Tuesday she met…
UAE authorities introduce passporting regime for investment funds
Financial regulators in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have formally introduced new investment fund passporting protocols across the country.
As Thailand’s young look to the future, does Thaksin Shinawatra still matter?
One man has dominated Thai politics for well over twenty years; and it is not the current monarch, King Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun. Separately, the hapless, but essentially well-meaning military leader Prayuth Chan-ocha looks set to be a mere footnote in the kingdom’s contemporary history.Loathed by the elite, Thaksin Shinawatra, the brash Chiang Mai-born, telecom billionaire-turned-politician (and prime minister from 2001 to 2006) remains a Svengali-like presence despite being…
Philippine news website Rappler loses court appeal on foreign media ownership violation
A Philippine court has upheld a decision that a news site critical of President Rodrigo Duterte violated a constitutional ban on foreign ownership of news media.In a decision made public on Monday, the Court of Appeals said that Rappler effectively allowed US-based investor Omidyar Network “to participate” in its corporate actions and decisions in violation of the constitution, which requires media companies to be fully owned and managed by Filipinos.Rappler argued it did not grant Omidyar the…
UK appeal court overturns payment bank ‘trust’ finding
International money transfers between bank accounts, executed by a clearing system or correspondent bank, will not give rise to a trust relationship in favour of the customer who gave the transfer instruction, the Court of Appeal has confirmed.
Kim Jong-nam murder trial: Indonesian suspect Siti Aisyah freed after Malaysian prosecutors drop murder charge
An Indonesian woman held two years on suspicion of killing Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korea’s leader, was freed from custody on Monday after prosecutors unexpectedly dropped the murder charge against her.The High Court judge discharged Siti Aisyah without an acquittal after prosecutors said they wanted to withdraw the charge. They did not give a reason.Siti Aisyah cried and hugged her co-defendant, Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam, before leaving the courtroom.She was quickly ushered…
Why Hong Kong and Singapore should tax wealth more
In recent weeks, the finance ministers of Hong Kong and Singapore delivered their budget statements for the coming financial year. Both statements were notably silent on wealth taxes, an issue that has attracted growing attention in the United States and Europe in the decade since the global financial crisis. Hong Kong and Singapore were very much part of the international consensus in the late 1990s and early 2000s that viewed lower taxes on capital as necessary for attracting wealthy…
In Mahathir’s new Malaysia, a perfect storm for the Pakatan Harapan?
Ten months after a general election that overhauled Malaysia’s political landscape, its decimated opposition forces have begun rallying to win back voters by rebranding and repositioning themselves.Most recently, the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), which led the Barisan Nasional coalition that governed Malaysia for 61 years, teamed up with its long-time foe, the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS), to better court the country’s majority Malay-Muslim population – which is also its…
Malaysian jailed for more than 10 years for insulting Islam on social media
A Malaysian citizen was given more than 10 years in jail for insulting Islam and the Prophet Muhammad on social media, police said on Saturday, one of the country’s harshest such sentences in recent years.Issues related to race, religion and language are very sensitive topics in multiracial Malaysia.The person found guilty, known only as Facebook user “Ayea Yea”, was jailed for 10 years and 10 months after pleading guilty to ten charges of anti-religious activity and the misuse of…
Australia admits failings in Pacific, vows to counter China’s influence
Australia has admitted it had not focused enough attention on its Pacific neighbourhood but vowed to make “long overdue” amends, amid growing Chinese influence in the region.“I think we would have to accept some criticism,” said Australia’s minister for international development and the Pacific Anne Ruston on Friday. “We have perhaps not put as much attention and effort into our own region as we should of.”In recent months, Ruston has been at the sharp end of trying to fix that – jetting to-and…