The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) could have greater scope to address consumer detriment stemming from “digitalisation”, such as the harvesting of personal data or personalised pricing, under plans it has put forward for the government to consider.
Pakistan accuses Indian aircraft of crossing Line of Control in Kashmir
Pakistan’s military said on Tuesday Indian military aircraft crossed the Line of Control frontier in the disputed Kashmir region and “released a payload” after Pakistan scrambled its own jets, but there were no casualties or damage. The confrontation follows escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals since the February 14 suicide bombing in Kashmir, when 40 Indian paramilitary police were killed by a Pakistani-based militant group. New Delhi blamed Islamabad, which denies having a…
Guidance reminds companies of duty to prevent tax evasion
Companies can now use the UK’s government gateway system to self-report a failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion offence online. New guidance from UK tax authority HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) reminds businesses of their duties to prevent tax evasion.
Indonesian housewives arrested over election video that claimed Joko Widodo would legalise gay marriage
Three Indonesian housewives have been arrested over an online video that claimed President Joko Widodo would ban prayer and make gay marriage legal in the Muslim-majority country if re-elected, police said on Monday.Widodo has fended off accusations over his Muslim credentials for years, claims that have been revived ahead of April presidential elections.Indonesia has also been battling a wave of fake news and misinformation campaigns online in the lead up to the polls.The video, shared…
North Korean cyberwarfare: as big a threat as its nuclear weapons?
North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme has for several years posed a growing threat to international security – to its neighbours in the South and to the rest of the world.However, the hermit kingdom has also been fashioning another weapon with which to harass the global community: it has carefully and quietly honed its cyberwarfare capabilities to the point that today, according to cybersecurity experts, its hackers are among the best in the world.In terms of speed – a crucial weapon in the…
Donald Trump thanks ‘helpful’ Xi Jinping as Vietnam fine-tunes security in Hanoi for summit with Kim Jong-un
With just days to go before his long-awaited second meeting with Kim Jong-un, US President Donald Trump on Sunday thanked China for its help setting up the summit in Vietnam aimed at ridding North Korea of nuclear weapons.“The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door,” Trump wrote in a series of tweets in which he praised President Xi Jinping for being “very helpful in his support” of the talks.President Xi of China has been very helpful in his support of my…
Everyone loves ‘Daddy’: forget Thaksin, here’s the Thai junta’s new billionaire rival: Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit is one uncharacteristic plutocrat.The law is after him, the ladies call him “daddy”, and he’s running in Thailand’s impending elections promising a welfare state.As the March 24 polls draw nearer, the 40-year-old scion of Thailand’s biggest auto-parts manufacturer is emerging as a darling among millennials – many of whom are disenchanted with long-standing strife between the “red shirts” and “yellow shirts” that have dominated the kingdom’s politics.And with some…
Trump-Kim summit 2019: From Singapore to Canada, fans of North Korea praise its ‘juche’ ideology and supreme leader
When Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un hold their second summit in Hanoi in the coming days, 26-year-old Airul Qaiz will be watching more closely than most Singaporeans.Airul leads the 50-member strong Singapore branch of the Korean Friendship Association (KFA), an international network of fervent North Korea supporters who claim they have direct links to Pyongyang.Led by Alejandro Cao de Benós, a Spain-based sympathiser of the regime, the KFA says it has members in 120 countries, though its…
India rape victims demand dignity at rally in New Delhi
Teju Bai walked for a month to join a rally in India’s capital by thousands of sexual assault survivors who came together in public for the first time to demand justice.Bai’s daughter-in-law was raped last year. The young woman has been shamed and remains a target for abuse while her attacker remains free, she said.Sexual assault has become a tinderbox social issue in India after the horrific rape and killing of a student on a New Delhi bus in 2012 that made global headlines.Changes were…
Comeback kings: the Instagram royals who reinvented Asia’s monarchies
Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Shakespeare’s musing on the trappings of monarchy may be 400 years old, but it appears as pertinent now as ever for the royal families of Asia. In Thailand, King Vajiralongkorn has vetoed his sister’s bid to run for prime minister; in Malaysia, the public reels from the abdication of a king rumoured to have married a Russian model; in Japan, an ageing emperor will soon become the first to step down voluntarily in more than 200 years.Still, what looks…
