Malaysia’s veteran former leader Mahathir Mohamad said on Friday that missing flight MH370 might have been taken over remotely in a bid to foil a hijack, reviving one of the many conspiracy theories surrounding its disappearance.
The Malaysia Airlines plane disappeared in March 2014 with 239 people – mostly from China – on board while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. No sign of the Boeing 777 jet was found in a vast search of the southern Indian Ocean and the Australian…
‘Singapore’s laws to stop fake news could backfire,’ according to Google and Facebook
Internet giants Facebook and Google on Thursday testified before a parliamentary committee in Singapore as they warned the city state against introducing new laws to combat “fake news”, saying that existing legislation is adequate to address the problem.
Their warnings were made to a parliamentary committee which is examining possible measures, including legislation, to tackle false online information which the government says could threaten national security.
Executives from…
Malaysian police deny scapegoating Kim Jong-nam’s accused killers after failing to catch North Korean plotters
A Malaysian police investigator said on Thursday the absence of four North Korean suspects believed to have orchestrated the killing of their leader’s half-brother didn’t cause prejudice against the two women who are on trial.
Defence lawyers say Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam and Siti Aisyah of Indonesia are scapegoats in the death of Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpur’s airport on February 13 last year. Prosecutors say four North Korean suspects recruited the women and provided them…
Court casts doubt on who bears risk of obtaining planning permission
The employer under a standard form construction contract is not under an absolute obligation to obtain planning permission or conservation consent before the works can go ahead, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
Japan’s hi-tech condoms likely to be in demand at Tokyo Olympics as manufacturers sense marketing coup
Japanese condom makers are ramping up preparations ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, seeing a golden opportunity to showcase their world-record ultra-thin products.
For years, hundreds of thousands of condoms have been distributed for free to competitors at Olympic Games in a bid to encourage safe sex among the world’s fittest athletes.
The tradition provides prophylactic producers with a potentially unrivalled marketing opportunity.
In Japan, condom makers are hoping the Olympics…
Singapore passes media blackout law that blocks electronic communication after terror attack, raising concerns about crackdown on press
Singapore’s parliament on Wednesday passed a controversial law giving authorities the power to block all electronic communications at the scene of a terror attack, despite protests it will erode media freedom.
The law allows police to stop anyone within the vicinity of what they deem to be a “serious incident”, including a terror attack, from taking photos and video or communicating about police operations through text and audio messages.
The government claims the affluent…
Measures to strengthen DB pension protections announced
The powers of The Pensions Regulator (TPR) to intervene where employers do not act in the best interests of a defined benefit (DB) pension scheme will be strengthened, the government has announced.
Malaysia’s Najib denies using Cambridge Analytica, accuses Mahathir’s son
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Tuesday denied claims his government had ever engaged the tainted data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica, and instead accused his rival Mahathir Mohamad’s son as the person who had used the company’s controversial services before he crossed aisles to join the opposition.
Speculation about Cambridge Analytica’s involvement in Malaysia has been swirling since one of the company’s senior executives was secretly recorded by Britain…
New figures reveal loss of £236 million through authorised push payment frauds
Businesses and consumers lost £236 million last year through authorised push payment (APP) frauds, new data has shown.
Drug abuser in Singapore gets five years in jail and six strokes of the cane for drug offences and holding toddler hostage
By Faris Mokhtar
A drug abuser who kidnapped and held his girlfriend’s two-year-old son hostage for 17 hours in 2016 was sentenced to five years’ jail and six strokes of the cane on Tuesday (March 20).
Muhammad Iskandah Suhaimi, 40, was convicted of four charges last year for kidnapping the toddler, possessing and consuming methamphetamine, as well as for illegally possessing a knuckleduster.
The court heard that at about 4pm on September 27, 2016, just seconds after his girlfriend…