Asian Legal Review

Indonesian rescue teams flew helicopters stuffed with food to remote flood-hit communities on Saturday as the death toll from the disaster jumped to 53 and fears grew about the possibility of more torrential rain.Tens of thousands in Jakarta were still unable to return to their waterlogged homes after some of the deadliest flooding in years hit the enormous capital region, home to about 30 million.In neighbouring Lebak, where half a dozen people died, police and military personnel dropped boxes…

A Turkish airline whose jets were used to fly Carlos Ghosn from Japan to Lebanon said an employee falsified records and that Ghosn’s name did not appear on any documentation related to the flights.Ghosn, who is facing financial misconduct charges, jumped bail on December 30 to avoid what he called a “rigged” Japanese justice system, in a dramatic escape that has confounded and embarrassed authorities. He flew in to Beirut on a private jet.How he was able to flee Japan, avoiding the round-the…

After a year of foreign policy mishaps, Malaysia on Friday sought to ring in 2020 with a new report card outlining its policy goals for the year ahead, including the reopening of its embassy in Pyongyang.Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah told reporters this would cap “the recovery of our bilateral relations with North Korea” nearly three years after Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of the current North Korean leader, was killed in Kuala Lumpur.Malaysia wants to be “friendly with all countries”, the…

1. TAIWAN GOES TO THE POLLSPresident Tsai Ing-wen is widely expected to come out on top in the election, which is likely to impact cross-strait relations for years to come. Her opposition of closer ties to the mainland has helped her campaign, as has her support for Hong Kong’s protests – both of which will antagonise Beijing further in 2020 should she remain in power.2. KIM’S NUCLEAR AMBITIONSMore than a year on from Kim Jong-un’s much-lauded summit with US President Donald Trump, the two…

Malaysia’s education minister resigned on Thursday in a surprise move that analysts said may indicate the start of a shake-up in Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s cabinet, even as the government grapples with increasing pressure to deliver on its election promises.Maszlee Malik, a member of Mahathir’s nationalist Malaysian United Indigenous Party (Bersatu), said at a press conference that he had been advised by the prime minister to step down, and did so with “a willing yet heavy heart”. He had…

A total of 87 China nationals were detained in a series of raids in the town of Puchong on Wednesday, a senior Malaysian Immigration Department official said.Khairul Dzaimee Daud, the Immigration Department director general, said the 79 men and eight women that were detained had been rounded up after raids were conducted on five residential and nine office units at a building in Puchong.He added that six desktop computers, 33 laptops and 203 mobile phones were seized in the raids.“The suspects…

As another year comes to a close, it’s time to reflect on the most offbeat tales of the past 12 months.As ever, there’s a selection of bizarre animal tales – yetis, pythons, oarfish and heroic dogs – and more than a few lashings of online outrage, stoked by drinking stunts, Photoshop fails and harsh words about a popular Asian fruit.‘Sex trainers’ deported from ThailandThe Thai beachside city of Pattaya has long had a reputation for its seedy nightlife but the story of Russians and Belarusians…

In his New Year message, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has urged citizens of the island nation to keep faith in its open economy even as others retreat from globalisation, warning that insularity and anti-establishment sentiment elsewhere in the world have fuelled “nativism, chauvinism and sectarian strife”.With a general election around the corner, Lee stressed that despite growing anxieties about the global economic slowdown, the Lion City remained better placed than other…

The number of people killed by a powerful storm that pommelled the central Philippines over Christmas has risen to 50, authorities said Tuesday, making it the nation’s deadliest storm of 2019.Typhoon Phanfone’s destructive winds and heavy rains brought down flimsy homes and destroyed commercial buildings mainly in the central island of Visayas, affecting more than two million people.At least 80,000 remain in emergency shelters and might have to stay until the New Year, given the scale of…

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have seized a ship suspected of fuel smuggling and arrested 16 Malaysian crew members, state media reported on Monday.The website of IRIB state television said the guards confiscated 1.3 million litres of “smuggled fuel” from the unnamed vessel 15 nautical miles from Abu Musa island.“The ship’s 16 crew who are of Malaysian nationality were arrested,” the Guards’ naval commander for the region, Brigadier General Ali Ozmayi, was quoted as saying.Abu Musa is one of…