9 h. ago From pledges to policy: Indonesia’s Prabowo marks 1 year in office

As Prabowo Subianto marks his first year as Indonesia’s president, the former general is grappling with the challenge of turning his populist campaign promises into lasting policy. While early initiatives such as free meals for children have drawn praise, concerns over civil liberties, economic sluggishness and foreign policy decisions threaten to overshadow his administration’s achievements. Prabowo, who was sworn in on October 20 last year, campaigned on a platform of ambitious social...

Events

58 h. ago 3 held in Hong Kong as new smuggling tactic of dropping cocaine at sea uncovered

Hong Kong police have arrested three men after discovering around 69kg of suspected cocaine worth HK$42 million, with traffickers believed to have hired divers to retrieve the drugs from near-shore waters, a tactic encountered by officers for the first time. A police spokesman said on Sunday that officers had conducted an anti-drug operation in Tsing Yi near Stonecutters Bridge the previous day and spotted three men loading three large bags into a suspicious private car. They stopped the trio...

Politics

3 d. ago 64 South Korean ‘pig butchering’ suspects return home from Cambodia

Sixty-four South Koreans who had been detained in Cambodia for alleged involvement in cyberscam operations returned home Saturday. South Korea had sent a team to Cambodia on Wednesday to discuss cases of fake jobs and scam centres involved in kidnapping dozens of its nationals. “A total of 64 nationals just arrived at Incheon International Airport on a chartered flight,” a police official said. Seoul had said around 60 South Koreans had been detained by authorities in Cambodia over the alleged...

Politics

3 d. ago 64 South Korean cyber scam suspects repatriated from Cambodia

Sixty-four South Koreans who had been detained in Cambodia for alleged involvement in cyberscam operations returned home on Saturday and were under arrest, police said. South Korea had sent a team to Cambodia on Wednesday to discuss cases of fake jobs and scam centres involved in kidnapping dozens of its nationals. “A total of 64 nationals just arrived at Incheon International Airport on a chartered flight,” a police official said. Seoul had said around 60 South Koreans had been detained by...

Politics

4 d. ago Malaysia may deploy police officers in schools to curb student violence

Police officers might be deployed in all schools and children aged 16 and below could be banned from using smartphones, Malaysia’s government said on Friday, after a string of violent crimes and bullying involving students that shocked the nation and forced the education ministry to admit to a culture of cover-up. Two cases of gang rape and a murder in three schools in the past fortnight have fuelled the fears of parents for their children’s safety, and raised public concerns over a lack of...

Events

5 d. ago IMF official urges China to shift fiscal focus away from industrial policy

IMF official urges China to shift fiscal focus away from industrial policy  Reuters

Politics

6 d. ago China airs confession from northern Myanmar crime boss Wei Hauiren

Criminal gangs in northern Myanmar targeted Chinese citizens with the support of local political and military leaders, state media has reported. On Wednesday, the national broadcaster CCTV aired a confession from the head of an alleged crime family Wei Huairen, who is also known as Wai San. Wei was handed over to Chinese law enforcement in January. A police officer told the broadcaster that the criminal activities of the Wei family – one of the main ethnically Chinese crime gangs in Kokang – had...

Events

6 d. ago China airs confession from northern Myanmar crime boss Wei Huairen

Criminal gangs in northern Myanmar targeted Chinese citizens with the support of local political and military leaders, state media has reported. On Wednesday, the national broadcaster CCTV aired a confession from the head of an alleged crime family Wei Huairen, who is also known as Wai San. Wei was handed over to Chinese law enforcement in January. A police officer told the broadcaster that the criminal activities of the Wei family – one of the main ethnically Chinese crime gangs in Kokang – had...

Events

6 d. ago China’s top party journal urges action to boost confidence ahead of fourth plenum

China’s ruling Communist Party’s leading theoretical journal has urged authorities to better manage market expectations, improve policy predictability and pay closer attention to public sentiment – ahead of a closed-door meeting of senior officials to discuss the next five-year plan and as trade tensions with the United States mount. In a Wednesday article, Qiushi – a leading platform for disseminating official policies and ideas – called on policymakers to better time policy implementation,...

Politics

7 d. ago Hong Kong court suspends jail term for Belarusian model who assaulted 2 officers

A Belarusian model fighting against his deportation from Hong Kong has been handed a suspended jail sentence for the drunken assault of two police officers following a domestic dispute. Eastern Court on Tuesday sentenced Aliaksandr Buka to six weeks’ imprisonment, but suspended the term for 18 months after the 25-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting a police officer. The court heard police officers were dispatched to a high-rise residential flat in the Mid-Levels on the evening of...

Events

7 d. ago Hong Kong authorities reviewing strategy in search for 2 missing Filipinas

Hong Kong authorities are reviewing their strategy for finding two missing Filipino domestic helpers after calling off a search along the hiking trail where the women were last seen about 10 days ago, the Post has learned. Two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday that the Fire Services Department had stopped searching along the Lung Mun Country Trail near Tsuen Wan at around 10.15am that day. Department officers and police began their search for Imee Mahilum Pabuaya, 24, and Aleli...

Events

9 d. ago Man arrested at Hong Kong station after 13kg of cocaine found in suitcase

Police have arrested a man at a railway station in northern Hong Kong after discovering 13kg of suspected cocaine worth HK$9.5 million (US$1.2 million) in a suitcase he was dragging along. A police spokesman said on Sunday that officers from the New Territories North Quick Reaction Force were patrolling Yuen Long station at around 11pm the previous night when they noticed the man behaving suspiciously. They stopped him for an inspection and found multiple foil-wrapped packages in his...

Events

1 week ago Drone terror plot foiled in Belgium, prime minister among targets

Belgian police on Thursday detained three people over a suspected plot to attack the country’s politicians including Prime Minister Bart De Wever with a drone carrying explosives. The three were taken into custody after an anti-terrorism judge ordered searches of their homes in the port city of Antwerp by police officers working with explosives sniffer dogs, federal prosecutors said in a statement. An “improvised device” was found at the home of one of the suspects but it was not operational at...

Events

1 week ago Police officers, solicitor among 6 charged over HK$3 million insurance scam

Hong Kong’s anti-graft agency has charged six individuals, including two police officers and a solicitor, on suspicion of deceiving two insurers out of HK$3 million in payments. Police sergeant Lam Hin-ho, 36, allegedly recruited family members, friends and colleagues to pose as insurance agents and policyholders and take out 20 bogus policies using false information to deceive the insurers into releasing payments of commissions, bonuses and allowances. The five co-defendants were aged between...

Events

1 week ago Hong Kong police officers, solicitor among 6 charged over insurance scam

Hong Kong’s anti-graft agency has charged six individuals, including two police officers and a solicitor, on suspicion of deceiving two insurers out of HK$3 million (US$385,400) in payments. Police sergeant Lam Hin-ho, 36, allegedly recruited family members, friends and colleagues to pose as insurance agents and policyholders and take out 20 bogus policies using false information to deceive the insurers into releasing payments of commissions, bonuses and allowances, the Independent Commission...

Events

2 w. ago Gunman in Australia fires up to 100 bullets, wounds 20 in ‘terrifying’ shooting

A man is in custody after allegedly shooting up to a hundred bullets into a busy Sydney street, wounding 20 people, with Australian police on Monday ruling out links to terrorism or gang activity. Police were called on Sunday evening to a street in the city’s Inner West, where the alleged gunman was firing at random at passing cars and police. Office worker Joe Azar said he was working across the road when he heard what he thought were fireworks or rocks being thrown at the windows. “Some guy’s...

Events

2 w. ago Hong Kong steps up patrols after ‘golden week’ tourists overrun Sai Kung island

Hong Kong will step up patrols at a Unesco Global Geopark for the rest of the National Day “golden week” break after hordes of tourists flooded the place, with some trampling on corals and starting fires. The Environment and Ecology Bureau on Sunday said that staff from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) together with officers from the police force and Marine Department launched a joint operation on Sharp Island, also known as Kiu Tsui Chau, in Sai Kung. It said that...

Politics

2 w. ago Manchester synagogue attacker was UK citizen of Syrian descent, police say

British police say they believe the man responsible for the deadly attack at a synagogue in Manchester on Thursday was a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent. In a statement, Greater Manchester Police identified the man as Jihad Al-Shamie, who was shot and killed by officers. Police also said that three people have been arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism. They are two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s. The assailant drove a car...

Events

2 w. ago Hong Kong man arrested over HK$140 million of suspected cocaine found in truck

Hong Kong police have arrested a 31-year-old man after discovering more than HK$140 million (US$17.9 million) worth of suspected cocaine in a truck. Police said on Thursday that officers from the narcotics bureau intercepted a suspicious light goods vehicle at a metered car park near Kau Sai San Tsuen in Sai Kung the morning before. A search of the vehicle’s rear compartment uncovered 10 nylon-wrapped packages containing 200 bricks of suspected cocaine, each weighing about 1kg (2.2lbs), the...

Economics

2 w. ago French navy arrests Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker crew near Copenhagen

French police have arrested the captain and first officer of a sanctioned tanker suspected of operating for Russia’s “shadow fleet”, authorities said on Thursday, after the navy boarded the vessel, which may have been involved in recent drone incidents around Denmark. The vessel, the Boracay, was around 50 nautical miles (90km) south of Copenhagen on September 22, when drone activity forced the closure of the city’s airport, according to data from MarineTraffic. It was also observed heading...

Events