Fears about China’s increasingly bellicose actions in the South China Sea and the “truancy” of senior US leaders from recent Southeast Asian diplomatic events will be among the key talking points at this weekend’s meeting of regional defence chiefs, analysts said, despite host nation Thailand’s hopes participants will steer clear of controversial issues.The Asean Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) Plus in Bangkok will feature the defence chiefs from the 10-nation bloc and eight global partners,…
Investigators release call records linking MH17 suspects to top Russian officials
A Dutch-led investigation into the shooting down of flight Malaysia Airlines flight 17 over Ukraine in 2014 released new intercepted phone calls on Thursday between high-ranking Russian officials and suspects facing trial over the crash.Investigators said they were making a “new witness appeal” based on “recorded telephone calls between the leaders of the DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic, a separatist group) and high-ranking Russian officials”.“Ties between Russian officials and DPR leaders…
Singapore massage chair tycoon in consortium talks for digital banking licence
Ron Sim, founder of one of Asia’s largest massage chair makers, is in talks to partner with a unit of Temasek Holdings and other firms to bid for one of Singapore’s new virtual banking licenses, according to people familiar with the matter.V3 Group, Sim’s Singapore-based firm, is in talks to partner with Temasek’s Heliconia Capital Management, as well as stored-value card company EZ-Link and property giant Far East Organisation in the new consortium, said the people, who asked not to be…
Stay or go? Hong Kong’s international students pack their bags amid protest chaos
Maya Boehm, an American exchange student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), has her bags packed to fly home at a moment’s notice. On Tuesday, Saint Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, told the 20-year-old that she and her classmates had been summoned home to “ensure the continued safety and security of our students” after chaotic clashes the previous night between anti-government protesters and police on the CUHK campus.The religious studies major has not been given an exact…
Singapore’s anti-gay law 377A: was male prostitute habit of British civil service the real target?
Why did Singapore’s former British rulers decide in 1938 to outlaw consensual sex between men? Were the colonial administrators really trying to stamp out homosexuality – or were they more concerned about British civil servants’ predilection for male prostitutes?That is one of the key questions Singapore’s High Court will have to grapple with as fresh challenges to the controversial law – Section 377A – get under way in closed door hearings. In doing so, Justice See Kee Oon is expected to…
Three dead in Thai court shooting, including ex-PM Yingluck’s old lawyer
Three people were killed in a shoot-out at a Thai courtroom on Tuesday during a hearing into an inheritance dispute, according to police, who said two of the victims were lawyers.The gunman opened fire on the opposing side in the dispute in Chanthaburi provincial court, before a guard shot back and fatally wounded him.National police office spokesman Krissana Pattanacharoen said three people including the assailant were confirmed dead, while others were injured in the melee.“Two are lawyers…
Cambodia ‘playing with fire’ by cosying up to China, says opposition figure Sam Rainsy
Embattled Cambodian opposition figure Sam Rainsy on Tuesday warned that the government’s growing ties with China threatened the rights of citizens and undermined the Southeast Asian country’s fight for democracy.Speaking in Kuala Lumpur after a private visit to the Malaysian Houses of Parliament, he said Prime Minister Hun Sen’s administration was “playing with fire” by allowing the China-Cambodia relationship to become too cosy.“Cambodia must be neutral and not allow China to build facilities…
US aviation authority downgrades Malaysia’s air safety rating
The US Federal Aviation Administration has downgraded Malaysia’s air safety rating, restricting the country’s airlines from adding flights to the United States, four sources familiar with the matter and a US government official said on Monday.The FAA’s safety rating is based on a country’s aviation oversight regime and is an assessment of the country’s civil aviation authority.The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia and the FAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Malaysia’s…
Vietnam jails 70-year-old Australian citizen for 12 years on ‘terrorism’ charges
A court in Vietnam sentenced a 70-year-old Vietnamese-Australian man on Monday to 12 years in prison after finding him guilty of “terrorism”, according to a lawyer who attended the trial.The Ministry of Public Security said in a statement on its official news website that Chau Van Kham was being tried for being a member of the US-based human rights group Viet Tan, which Vietnam regards as a “terrorist” body. It made no mention of the verdict.It said Kham had helped raised funds for anti-state…
Singapore’s PM calls for support as ‘tough fight’ looms in coming election
Singapore’s leaders need strong backing from voters to weather uncertain times, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said as he called on members of the ruling party to prepare for a “tough fight” at the next general election.Speaking at the People’s Action Party convention, Lee pointed to some economies around the world where public faith in governments has eroded, and both traditional and socialist parties have been weakened, The Straits Times reported. Populist movements may have upended the…