Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, met a suspected US intelligence agent in the northern Malaysian island resort of Langkawi just days before his mysterious demise, police revealed on Monday.
Fuelling speculation that Kim had ties with US intelligence, Wan Azirul Nizam also confirmed that a forensic report on Kim’s Dell laptop showed that some data was accessed by a USB pen drive several times on February 9, 2017, while he was in Langkawi….
The bitcoin party is over. The blockchain party has only just begun
CONFIDENCE IN cryptocurrency markets may have taken a major hit in recent weeks, but the same cannot be said of the value of the technology it relies on – the blockchain.
Bitcoin’s price plunged this week to less than US$11,000, from almost US$20,000 in mid-December, after South Korea announced that all anonymous accounts, foreigners without local banking services and minors would be banned from trading on exchanges from January 30.
But, particularly in Southeast Asia, much…
Papua’s deadly measles outbreak shows decades of neglect, experts say
Indonesia’s battle to stem a deadly measles outbreak among malnourished children in Papua is doomed to be repeated unless the government helps lift the isolated region out of grinding poverty, observers say.
Some 800 children have fallen ill and as many as 100 others, mostly toddlers, are feared to have died in what Jakarta called an “extraordinary” outbreak that was first made public this month.
At an overwhelmed hospital in Agats, one of the worst-affected communities, rail-…
Is time up for Thailand’s junta after Watchgate scandal?
No surprises here – for the third time since the Thai military led by General Prayuth Chan-ocha took power in a 2014 coup, a planned general election to restore democracy has been postponed.
The decision on Thursday by the junta-appointed legislature to delay the vote means polls will now probably be held in early 2019 instead of November as promised by Prayuth last year.
Thai political observers say they had anticipated the fresh delay – a time-buying tactic for Prayuth to…
Mudflows threaten locals near erupting Philippine volcano
Millions of tonnes of ash and rocks from an erupting Philippine volcano could bury nearby communities because of heavy rain, authorities said on Saturday, as tens of thousands flee over fears of a deadly explosion.
The official Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) issued the warning as heavy rain lashed the surroundings of the Mayon volcano, which has been emitting flaming lava and giant clouds of superheated ash for about a week. Rainwater could combine with the…
‘Pyongyang Olympics’: how North Korea stole the Winter Games
The procession through Seoul this week of the North Korean pop singer Hyon Song-wol, best known for her song Excellent Horse-like Lady, has inspired hopes for peace thanks to North Korea’s participation in the upcoming Pyeongchang Winter Olympics – but for others, her visit conjured images of the Trojan Horse.
Arriving in a plush grey fur flanked by a delegation of severe-looking men in dark suits, Hyon visited the South for two days to inspect the venue where North Korea’s…
Experts call for re-think of apprenticeship levy as apprentice numbers fall
The government may be forced to revisit the operation of the apprenticeship levy after figures showed apprenticeship starts have actually fallen since its introduction, an expert has said.
Planning permission granted for ‘significantly strategic’ Irish electricity interconnector
Full planning permission for the Northern Irish section of a planned electricity interconnector between the north and the Republic of Ireland has been granted.
Six more countries sign multilateral tax treaty instrument to prevent international tax avoidance
Barbados, Côte d’Ivoire, Jamaica, Malaysia, Panama and Tunisia have signed a multilateral instrument (MLI) to amend double tax treaties to bring into effect changes designed to prevent tax avoidance by multinational groups, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) has announced . These signatures bring the total number of signatories to date to 78.
Will India and Asean counterbalance China?
As China continues its inexorable rise, global strategists are increasingly looking – anxiously – to India. Why?
Many are hoping that India, with its huge population and roaring gross domestic product (GDP) growth, is likely to become a competitor to its northern neighbour.
In geopolitical terms, the Indians are expected to stand up to Chinese expansion in the Indian Ocean (in the guise of the Belt and Road Initiative).
Indeed, this week the Association of South-east Asian Nations (…