Asian Legal Review

Filipino actress-turned-influencer Heart Evangelista has shared a quote about successful people who do not step on others, as she continues to fend off accusations of her being a “nepo-wife” and is exploring legal options against her critics.
The 40-year-old is married to Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who was ousted as senate president in September after being linked to the country’s 545 billion peso (US$9.3 billion) flood-control corruption scandal.
Since the scandal erupted in July, those…

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi both stressed on Thursday the importance of “forward-looking ties” as they held their first official talks.
Relations have long suffered over issues related to Japan’s brutal 1910-45 occupation of the Korean peninsula, and there have been concerns that ties could worsen under Takaichi.
“In today’s rapidly changing international and trade environment, South Korea and Japan – as neighbouring countries with so many…

As the 47th Asean summit came to a close this week, questions remained over the bloc’s handling of the Myanmar crisis and whether it had done enough to bring peace to the war-torn country.
The three-day summit saw the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations discuss various issues, including the ongoing clashes between Myanmar’s junta and opposition forces. Several members also signed trade deals with the United States.
“Myanmar was lower on the agenda at the summit compared with other…

A recent ruling from the FWC has reaffirmed that flexible work is not a benefit or ‘favour’ from an employer to an employee, but a protected entitlement that must be treated with fairness, transparency and legal compliance by employers when considering requests.

South Korea and the United States reached a comprehensive trade deal on Wednesday, ranging from tariffs and investment to shipbuilding, at the summit in Gyeongju between President Lee Jae-myung and his American counterpart, Donald Trump.
“We reached a deal. We did a lot of different things. Great session,” Trump said.
The two countries agreed to maintain tariffs at 15 per cent following a preliminary deal reached earlier this year, Chief Presidential Secretary for Policy Kim Yong-beom told…

One of Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed opposition factions has agreed to a China-brokered withdrawal from a lucrative ruby mining hub, the group said on Wednesday.
Myanmar has been mired in a civil war since the military grabbed power in a 2021 coup, with the junta fighting an array of pro-democracy guerrillas and powerful ethnic minority armed groups.
The ragtag opposition initially struggled to make headway before organising a combined offensive in late 2023 that seized huge swathes of…

New consultations on improving workers’ access to unions plus better protection and rights for pregnant women and new mothers have been launched in the UK

Heavy rains have caused major flooding in central Vietnam, with rivers swelling and submerging homes, farmland and tourist destinations including the historic cities of Hue and Hoi An.
Rainfall in the central city of Hue reached 1,085mm (42 inches) in 24 hours by late Monday, the highest volume ever recorded in Vietnam, according to the country’s meteorological department.
By Tuesday morning, water levels in Hue’s iconic Perfume River had risen to 4.62 meters (15 feet) and were waist-deep in the…

Few were ready for the zinger that followed when Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim leaned into the microphone and said, with a suitably dramatic pause for effect, that he and US President Donald Trump were alike in many ways.
“President Trump and I share a lot in common,” he said, as ears craned towards the lectern for the punchline. One of the overlapping experiences was “that I was in prison”, Anwar added, “and you almost got there”.
The joke landed well, drawing laughter in the room,…