Tag: Region Asias

Student Unrest and Political Tensions Surge in Bangladesh Amidst the scenic beauty of Bangladesh’s hill tracts, a darker narrative unfolds as the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF) students face a brutal attack that has shaken the core of student activism in the country. In a recent spate of student unrest, the UPDF, advocating for democratic rights, found themselves targeted in a violent confrontation. A video that captured the harrowing incident went viral, revealing the use of sticks in the assault…

For weeks, alternative news outlets like The Grayzone and The Intercept have cast major doubts on Israel’s claim that the al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza sat atop a major Hamas command center. Now, even an ultimate establishment outlet — the Washington Post — has likewise found that Israel’s claims about the hospital it besieged don’t stand up to scrutiny. Mistrust existed even before the Israeli Defense Forces first besieged the hospital before bombing a departing ambulance convoy, and then raiding…

Obama-appointed DC district judge Beryl Howell sidestepped the First Amendment by finding Rudy Giuliani guilty of defaming two Georgia election workers before trial for allegedly “not complying with his discovery obligations” and now she’s ordering him to pay $148 million in damages immediately because he’s “unlikely” to have the jury verdict overturned on appeal. Just as we saw with the Colorado Supreme Court unilaterally disqualifying Trump from the 2024 election ballot, every basic tenet of our justice system is being…

SEOUL – South Korea’s financial watchdog has recommended imposing a fine of at least 10 billion won (S$10.24 million) each on HSBC Holdings and BNP Paribas for so-called naked short selling, which is considered illegal in the country, according to two people familiar with the matter.  The nation’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) made the recommendation to the Securities and Futures Commission under regulator Financial Services Commission (FSC), said the people, who requested anonymity discussing private matters.  Naked short selling is…

Saudi Diplomatic Exchanges and Technological Developments Amidst Political Shifts in North Africa In a recent diplomatic exchange, the Crown Prince of Morocco, Prince Hassan bin Mohammed, received a verbal message from the Saudi Arabian King and Crown Prince, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The message reiterated the robust fraternal relations between the two nations, discussing how to further enhance and develop these ties across diverse sectors. Saudi Arabia’s Strategic Diplomatic Engagements On another diplomatic front,…

  WASHINGTON – Temu, a popular low-cost online marketplace with ties to China, accused its rival Shein of using “mafia-style” methods to tamp down competition in a lawsuit filed on Dec 13, the latest volley in a heated turf war between two of the fastest-growing fashion retailers in the United States. In the filing, WhaleCo, which operates in the US as Temu, accused Shein of orchestrating a “multifaceted scheme” to slow its growth. It added that Shein had been trying…

There has been an unexpected validation of the title of Our Enemy, the Government (Brownstone, 2023). In a stunning indictment of the state of governance in the Australian state of Victoria, an unidentified senior bureaucrat classified citizens according to their compliance with the government’s Covid diktats. This is the state whose capital Melbourne suffered through the world’s longest lockdown (267 days!). Yet, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Victoria had the worst overall Covid mortality outcome between March 2020…

  US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israel last month to use “smaller bombs” to limit civilian casualties in Gaza only to turn around a few weeks later and send the Israel Defense Forces over 100 2,000-pound bunker busters. From the New York Times on Nov 4: From The Wall Street Journal, Dec 1, “U.S. Sends Israel 2,000-Pound Bunker Buster Bombs for Gaza War”: The U.S. has provided Israel with large bunker buster bombs, among tens of thousands of other weapons…

A French juvenile court on Friday convicted six teenagers for their roles in the beheading of a teacher by an Islamist extremist that shocked the country. Teacher Samuel Paty was killed outside his school in 2020 after showing his class cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad during a debate on free expression. The attacker, a young Chechen who had radicalized, was killed by police. The court found five of the defendants, who were 14 and 15 at the time of the…

TALLINN: Russian police have put prominent Russian-American journalist and author Masha Gessen on a wanted list after opening a criminal case against them on charges of spreading false information about the Russian army. It is the latest step in an unrelenting crackdown against dissent in Russiathat has intensified since the Kremlin invaded Ukraine more than 21 months ago, on Feb.24, 2022. The independent Russian news outlet Mediazona was the first to report Friday that Gessen’s profile has appeared on the…

In a bid to counter the impact of U.S. sanctions, Iran and Cuba announced their commitment to enhancing relations during a joint statement in Tehran. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel emphasized the need for cooperation to counter the economic challenges posed by the sanctions imposed on both nations by the United States. Raisi highlighted the potential for neutralizing sanctions through the exchange of capacities between the two countries. “There is a serious determination between the two…

SINGAPORE – A co-founder of Cake DeFi, which operates a Singapore-based online platform that offers access to decentralised finance services and products, has filed for the company to be wound up. A winding up notice in The Straits Times on Dec 7 showed that the company’s co-founder and chief technology officer Chua U-Zyn, represented by law firm Rajah & Tann Singapore, had filed an application with the High Court on Dec 1. ST has contacted the group for comments. This development…

A former Ukrainian MP regarded by Kyiv as a traitor has been shot dead in a park in suburban Moscow, in an attack attributed to Ukraine’s SBU security service. Illia Kyva was a pro-Russian member of Ukraine’s parliament before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but fled to Russia a month before the start of the war and frequently criticised Ukrainian authorities online and on Russian state TV talkshows. Russian investigators said in a statement on Wednesday that Kyva…

Japanese car maker Nissan is investigating a cyberattack that targeted its systems in Australia and New Zealand, which may have let hackers access personal information. Details of the attack have not been published but the company informed customers of its Nissan Oceania division of a potential data breach, warning them that there is a risk of scams in the upcoming days. Nissan Oceania is a regional division of the famous Japanese automaker that covers distribution, marketing, sales, and services in Australia…

LONDON: The Bank of England on Wednesday said its multiple interest-rate hikes aimed at cooling high inflation would prolong a cost-of-living crisis but stressed UK retail banks could contain the fallout. The BoE’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) said in a report that almost five million UK homeowners would see mortgage repayments soar over the next three years. Retail banks tend to pass on BoE rate hikes, hitting customers whose home loans come with variable rates and those whose fixed-term deals…

  WASHINGTON – The US government concluded that short-seller Hindenburg Research’s allegations of corporate fraud against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani weren’t relevant before extending his conglomerate as much as US$553 million (S740 million) for a container terminal in Sri Lanka, a senior US official said. Allegations in a scathing report by US-based Hindenburg Research, which erased around US$100 billion from the Adani Group’s market value earlier this year, were front and centre as the International Development Finance Corp., or DFC,…