UK business secretary Greg Clark and EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier have both spoken in support of extending the Brexit transition period by two years, ahead of confirmation of the draft withdrawal agreement between the UK and EU.
Why Trump’s no-show at Asia summits wasn’t all bad: it helped countries focus on the substance of U.S. foreign policy
It was a rarity in the era of US President Donald Trump – a diplomatic summit season in Asia where the iconoclast, late-night tweeting leader was not the one providing the high drama.
Within Washington’s think tank circles, there had been some bellyaching that the president’s decision to dispatch Mike Pence as a stand-in for him would hurt American diplomacy in the region – especially with China’s top leaders gracing these events.
But as Pence returned to the…
At least a dozen dead in central Vietnam flash floods and landslides
Flash floods and landslides killed at least 12 people in central Vietnam, officials said on Sunday, as hundreds of troops were dispatched to clean up destroyed villages and washed out roads.
Heavy rains pounded the central Khanh Hoa province over the past few days as tropical depression Toraji blew in from the South China Sea, triggering landslides that wiped out houses and destroyed a small reservoir.
At least a dozen people have been killed so far while a search was ongoing for several others…
The 19th century Chinese cartoons with a revolutionary message for Singapore
THEY MAY BE mostly associated with lighthearted humour today, but cartoons were serious business in China in the late 19th century, as a new generation of artists responded to the turmoil of the era by reaching out to the masses with this emerging medium. As reforms and revolution took aim at imperial rule, Chinese in the diaspora also became exposed to the pointed satirical and social messages embedded in political cartoons. Publications launched by revolutionaries and émigré…
How the law caught up with the Philippines’ Imelda Marcos and her stolen millions
When a Philippine court sentenced former First Lady Imelda Marcos to 77 years in jail for corruption, her lawyer was taken ill, but not Imelda. She simply shrugged off the verdict handed down on November 9 and went partying that night. Her daughter Imee was holding her 63rd birthday party with guests that included President Rodrigo Duterte’s politically powerful daughter, Sara, who is also the mayor of Davao, and former presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Arroyo.
None of the guests…
Was Cambodia’s US$300m Khmer Rouge tribunal worth it?
After spending nine years and more than US$300 million to prosecute the leaders of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million of their countrymen, a United Nations-assisted tribunal has ended up convicting only three people for the communist group’s heinous actions.
Was it worth it?
These kinds of proceedings do not run cheap. The longer-running tribunals covering genocide in Rwanda and war crimes in the former Yugoslavia ran up costs of as much as US$2 billion…
Domestic mergers in Ireland
The 2014 Companies Act consolidated Ireland’s previous company legislation into a single act. It also made a number of reforms including introducing the facility for mergers of Irish companies, also known as ‘domestic mergers’.
Irish M&A: domestic mergers vs asset transfers
ANALYSIS: Where a seller and buyer have agreed to enter into an agreement for the transfer of the assets of a target company (an asset transfer) the merits for deciding to do this instead of a share purchase will have been considered at length from a business, accounting, tax and legal perspective.
New Zealand police seize 190kg of cocaine hidden among bananas in country’s largest ever drug bust
New Zealand police and customs officials have seized 190kg of cocaine with a street value of up to NZ$36 million (US$25 million) that was hidden in a shipment of bananas in the country’s largest ever drug bust.
A 41-year-old man was arrested in neighbouring Australia in connection with the seizure, New Zealand authorities said in a statement. .
The haul followed an Australian investigation into an organised crime group. Officials there said a potential shipment of illicit drugs was…
Law firm wins challenge to HMRC information notice
A law firm is not required to hand over details of clients they had advised on setting up offshore companies and trusts to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the first-tier tribunal (FTT) has ruled.