Myanmar’s military government has freed hundreds of political prisoners from the notorious Insein prison, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s party spokesman and a famous comedian Zarganar, local media reported.Minutes after military ruler Min Aung Hlaing’s speech on Monday, state television announced more than 5,600 people arrested or wanted over their roles in anti-coup protests would be freed in an amnesty on humanitarian grounds.The release was described by some activists as a ploy by the ruling…
Japan’s ENEOS to buy renewables company for US$1.8bn
Japanese oil company ENEOS will acquire the renewable energy company Japan Renewable Energy (JRE) for 200 billion yen (US$1.8bn), it has announced.
4 Chinese nationals killed by Philippine police in drugs operation
Philippine police on Monday killed four Chinese nationals during an anti-drugs operation that lead to the confiscation of more than 262 million pesos (US$5.24 million) worth of crystal meth.The suspects, from Fujian and Shanxi in China, were “known distributors of illegal drugs” in the capital and surrounding provinces, a police report said.Police set up a sting operation to buy crystal meth from the suspects in a residential subdivision in Angeles City, 83km north of Manila. Known locally as…
Malaysian transgender tycoon Nur Sajat granted asylum
A transgender businesswoman who fled Malaysia after being accused of insulting Islam by cross-dressing has been granted asylum.Cosmetics millionaire Nur Sajat, 36, has been on the run for months since being summoned to appear at a sharia court on a blasphemy charge for dressing as a woman during a religious event at her beauty centre in 2018.Last month, she resurfaced in Thailand, where she was briefly detained, charged and fined over an immigration offence, but was subsequently released and…
Muslims and Hindus protest in Bangladesh amid violence over perceived insult to Islam
Protests erupted for a second day in Bangladesh’s capital on Saturday, amid a wave of violence against local Hindus following a viral social media image perceived as insulting to the country’s Muslim majority.Some 10,000 protesters – many of them carrying banners of Islamist political parties – took to the streets outside the main mosque of the capital, Dhaka, a day after demonstrations on the same site ended in clashes with police.The crowd chanted “Down with the enemies of the Islam” and …
In Malaysia’s Johor, forest reserves are being replaced with gold mines and palm oil plantations
About five years ago, a herd of elephants showed up at Su Chun Fa’s estate in Malaysia and ate all the young oil palms in an eight-acre plot.Su blamed himself. Elephants had long roamed the adjacent forests in Johor, but they had stayed away from the estates for some time, so he opted not to install electric fences.“I was careless,” said the 75-year-old, who has lived in Peninsular Malaysia’s southernmost state of Johor for most of his life. He has since abandoned his plot near the town of…
Myanmar junta blames ‘foreign intervention’ for Asean summit exclusion
Myanmar’s military government has blamed “foreign intervention” for the rare exclusion of its junta leader from a regional leaders’ summit this month.Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told the BBC Burmese news service that the United States and representatives of the European Union had pressured other leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to exclude military leader Min Aung Hlaing from the summit, taking place October 26-28.“The foreign interventions can also be seen…
Singapore says no disruption to electricity supply as power companies exit
Singapore’s energy regulator said on Saturday that it is working closely with retailers facing challenges from current volatile electricity prices and said there will be no disruption to their customers’ electricity supply.Singapore’s wholesale electricity market prices, which are determined every half-hour depending on demand and supply conditions, have been hit by higher price volatility for sustained periods over the past two weeks, the Energy Market Authority (EMA) said.Several factors were…
Transposing the EU’s platform liability regime into Dutch, German and Irish law
The EU’s Digital Single Market (DSM) Copyright Directive is set to adapt the European Union’s copyright law to the requirements of a digital society, but only few member states have adequately transposed it into national law within the deadline.
South African court confirms binding nature of unrevised adjudicator decisions
South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has reinforced the purpose of adjudication in settling disputes under construction contracts, confirming that an adjudicator’s decision which has not been revised by a tribunal remains binding and enforceable.