Asian Legal Review

Comments by UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer have provided a significant indication that the UK’s franchising industry could face statutory reform, an expert has said.

For thousands of India’s technology professionals working in the United States, the Christmas break ended not with a smooth return to the office but with a bureaucratic cliffhanger.
Routine H‑1B visa renewals at US consular posts across India were abruptly pushed back as Washington ratcheted up its vetting of applicants’ online activity.
Interviews that many had expected to sail through were suddenly rescheduled for months later, leaving engineers stranded, projects disrupted and employers…

A Philippine army colonel relieved for his anti-Marcos stance has “voluntarily” returned to his unit and will face charges and psychiatric evaluation, according to his superior.
Audie Mongao was on Friday discharged from command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Training Support Group after he publicly withdrew support for President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr in a social media post, saying “it’s too much, enough already”.
Army spokesperson Lourie Dema-ala said Mongao was “put into…

For Indonesia, much of the past year was more a marathon than a sprint, with Southeast Asia’s largest economy recording steady growth despite global headwinds, a tighter budget and mounting pressure on jobs and household spending at home.
Now, Jakarta sees 2026 as the right time to pick up speed, setting its sights on an annual economic expansion of no less than 6 per cent.
Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa insists the target is attainable through improved policy coordination and stronger…

The life of a migrant worker in Singapore is bittersweet.
Ramesh, 29, came to the city state in search of a good job. He hails from Tamil Nadu, India, and earns just over S$600 (US$466) a month working as a technician at a large multinational firm.
While this is double what he made in India and has helped put his sisters through college there, it is only about 10 per cent of the S$5,775 nominal median gross monthly income of Singaporeans.
Grappling with an ageing population and a low fertility…

A calico cat named Yontama was formally appointed stationmaster at Kishi Station in western Japan this week, stepping into a role that is at once whimsical and ceremonial but also important to the survival of a rural railway line.
The appointment ceremony on Wednesday drew fans, photographers and local officials to the station in Kinokawa, Wakayama prefecture, where Wakayama Electric Railway President Mitsunobu Kojima placed a medal around Yontama’s neck as the crowd applauded.
Yontama is the…

For property developers and investors, contractors, property management companies and residential landlords, 2026 will be a year of significant developments in UK building safety.

UK manufacturers will be looking for greater clarity as the government launches its first-ever plan to reduce the risks posed by certain harmful chemicals and pesticides in 2026, an expert has said.

The United Malays National Organisation (Umno), which for decades dominated Malaysian politics and remains a key member of the ruling coalition, is set to renew a push for the release of jailed former prime minister Najib Razak next week, even as it steps back from threats to quit the government.
Resolutions pushing for a full pardon and demanding justice for Najib were the “hottest topic” submitted by the party’s 191 divisions ahead of its annual assembly, Secretary General Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki…

The capacity of British regulators to meet the increased cyber security demands being placed on companies under planned new legislation has been questioned by lawmakers.