Beijing has ignored a protest from Manila asking Chinese fishermen to cease harvesting giant clams from the Scarborough Shoal, a group of Filipino fishermen claimed Friday, as bilateral tensions rise anew over the sinking of a Philippine fishing boat by a suspected Chinese trawler.According to Nards Cuaresman – president of local fishermen in the town of Masinloc in Zambales, a province close to the mineral-rich South China Sea – the so-called Chinese maritime militia is using propellers…
UK introduces VAT reverse charge on renewable energy guarantees of origin
The UK is introducing a VAT reverse charge for supplies of renewable energy certificates with effect from 14 June 2019.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets Iranian leadership, tries to ease tensions with United States
Iran will not repeat its “bitter experience” of negotiating with the United States, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tehran on Thursday.Abe was carrying a message to Iranian leaders from US President Donald Trump.“I do not see Trump worthy of any message exchange, and I do not have any reply for him now or in future,” Fars news agency quoted Khamenei as saying.Khamenei also said Trump’s promise not to seek regime change in Iran was “a lie”, adding…
Indonesia benefiting as China’s shoemakers shift production as US trade war worsens, central bank official says
Indonesian exports are gaining market share in the United States in some sectors as supply chains shift away from China’s manufacturing base to the Southeast Asian nation, even though the trade war has hurt more than benefited emerging economies, said Bank Indonesia deputy governor Dody Budi Waluyo.In particular, Indonesian footwear exports to the US are seeing “some progressive performance”, Waluyo said.In the first four months of 2019, Indonesia exported footwear worth US$559.91 million to…
Philippines slams suspected Chinese vessel for ‘contemptible’ sinking of fishing boat
The Philippines on Wednesday condemned the actions of a suspected Chinese fishing vessel accused of abandoning a Filipino fishing crew after a collision in the disputed South China Sea. The boat hit an anchored Filipino craft, the F/B GIMVER 1, on Sunday near Recto Bank – claimed by both Manila and Beijing – causing it to sink and leaving 22 crewmen “to the mercy of the elements”, said Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana. Although Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has largely set aside…
‘I categorically deny this vicious libel’: Malaysian minister Azmin Ali condemns gay sex video as attempt to ruin his reputation
Malaysia’s Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali rejected claims he was in a gay sex video that went viral earlier this week, and vowed to expose those behind the “abominable” allegations.“I categorically deny this vicious libel upon me,” he said in a statement on Wednesday evening.“This is nothing but a nefarious plot to assassinate my reputation and character in an attempt to destroy my political career.”Azmin claimed the video and accompanying accusations of corruption were the latest in a…
Over 150 CFOs and senior finance executives personally fined last year by HMRC
The UK’s HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is increasingly targeting the most senior executives as part of its efforts to hold individuals at large businesses to account, with 152 chief financial officers (CFOs) and senior finance executives personally fined for tax accounting failures in the year-end 31 March 2018, says Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-law.com.
National minimum wage naming scheme suspended
A scheme for the naming of employers found to be in breach of the UK’s national minimum wage (NMW) has been suspended while the government reviews the scheme.
Arrests of six Islamists with Abu Sayyaf in Philippines fuel fears over spread of militancy
Philippine authorities have arrested six suspected militants from the Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf group, in a sign of how the terrorist network continues to trouble Southeast Asia even as its influence wanes in the Middle East.Police on Tuesday said they had raided Islamist hideouts days after the killing of Dutch wildlife photographer Ewold Horn on May 31, when insurgents holding the 59-year-old hostage clashed with government security forces in the restive southern Philippines.Horn was…
Row over China flags sold in Philippine park: Chinese embassy in Manila speaks out
Staged photographs showing vendors selling Chinese flags in a Philippine park ahead of the country’s Independence Day should be condemned if they were an attempt to undermine bilateral relations, the Chinese embassy has said.The embassy’s intervention comes after the photos, which purportedly show four people selling the flags at Luneta Park in Manila, sparked fury online at the weekend and reignited a debate about Chinese influence in the country.Under Philippine law, it is illegal for foreign…