Asian Legal Review

Ahead of her maiden overseas trip, Hong Kong’s leader is hoping to strengthen the city’s ties with its Southeast Asian neighbours and learn from competitor Singapore.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor confirmed on Sunday that a long-awaited free-trade agreement between Asean and Hong Kong was on track to be signed by the end of this year. She also hinted that she would like to visit all 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the coming years.
Hong Kong’s leader…

Ulan Bator’s urban music scene is buzzing with a new vibe created by a hip-hop duo mixing into their sound the traditional art of throat singing, or “khoomei”, as Mongolians call it.
Rap group Fish Symboled Stamp, named after a fish-shaped seal traditionally used to brand horses in the landlocked nation, incorporates the nearly 1,000-year-old vocal tradition of communities across Siberia and Central Asia.
Khoomei means “pharynx”, and performers imitate the sounds…

Southeast Asian nations will cooperate more closely with intelligence and law enforcement authorities from the Middle East amid “grave concerns” about an elevated threat from Islamic State (IS) in the region.
Representatives from four Southeast Asian nations, Australia and New Zealand met in the Indonesian city of Manado on Saturday to develop a response to the increased danger posed by IS, highlighted by the occupation of parts of the southern Philippines city of Marawi by…

Two leading concert pianists who claimed that they had entered into a partnership to create a dating app with a developer friend have had their case dismissed by a Scottish appeal court.

The European Commission has told France and Belgium that they must abolish tax exemptions granted to their ports to comply with EU state aid rules. 

Regulators in Australia and Abu Dhabi are to share information on national fintech trends and help fintech businesses develop in the two countries.

Duterte wants to bomb tribal schools to halt rebel indoctrination Human rights groups urged Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to retract a threat to order airstrikes against tribal schools he accused of teaching students to become communist rebels, warning such an attack would constitute a war crime. Angered by recent communist rebel attacks on government forces, including a gun battle last week that wounded five members of his elite presidential guards, Duterte has called off peace talks…

Manila’s plan for joint energy exploration with Beijing in the South China Sea could be a test of unity for the Asean regional bloc as it grapples with an increasingly assertive China. Several members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have privately expressed concerns over Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan, according to observers. They say Manila’s bid to edge closer to Beijing economically could deepen divisions in the group over how to deal with…

YouTubers around the world have found fame on the online video platform, with a select number achieving mainstream success as their millions of fans propel them to brand endorsements, best-selling books and cameos in major films.
While still far behind the likes of Sweden’s PewDiePie, who has amassed the world’s highest number of subscribers at 56 million, top YouTubers in Japan have achieved followings in the millions and are also seeing signs of breaking into mainstream pop…

Businesses in Singapore could soon be given new rights to process personal data without the consent of the people to whom the information relates, under proposals outlined by the government in the city state.