The recent announcement that 10 of the world’s largest palm oil producers and buyers are supporting the development of a “new, publicly available radar-based forest monitoring system” may be nothing more than a publicity stunt.After all, technology is not the answer to solving one of Southeast Asia’s most pressing environmental problems – the effective implementation and enforcement of policies is.The slash-and-burn method is the cheapest and fastest way to clear land for farming, and over th

Malaysia’s ex-leader Najib Razak’s first trial linked to the 1MDB scandal will proceed after a judge ruled Monday prosecutors had made a sufficient case, boosting efforts to bring him to justice over the mammoth fraud.Vast sums were plundered from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB in a multi-billion-dollar scam allegedly involving former prime minister Najib and his cronies, which has triggered investigations around the world.His coalition was ousted at the polls last year after six decades in power

The Malaysian financier at the heart of the massive 1MDB graft scandal has struck a settlement to forfeit assets worth US$700 million including a Beverly Hills hotel and a private jet, the US Justice Department said Wednesday.Jho Low will relinquish the assets under the largest ever US civil forfeiture, intended to recover cash allegedly stolen in the 1MDB scandal which helped topple Malaysia's corruption-plagued former regime."A staggering amount of money embezzled from 1MDB at the

The heir to the Samsung empire appeared in court Friday for a retrial over a sprawling corruption scandal that threatens to disrupt management at the world's biggest smartphone and memory chip maker.Lee Jae-yong is vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics – where profits have been falling for months – and was jailed for five years in 2017 for bribery, embezzlement and other offences in connection with the scandal that brought down South Korean president Park Geun-hye.The 51-year-old was rele

In June 2017, a video of a policeman accepting a bribe in Indonesia went viral. The video was especially intriguing because the bribe came in the form of a durian which the police officers had tried to haggle for from an initially reluctant driver.In 2016, the United States (US) Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor noted that the Indonesian police force was plagued by corruption, and bribery is widespread, presenting companies with higher risks.

A controversial law critics say would weaken Indonesia's anti-corruption agency came into effect Thursday after it sparked nationwide protests that left at least three students dead and scores injured.The new bill was introduced as the Southeast Asian nation is on high alert ahead of President Joko Widodo's second-term inauguration Sunday, after Islamic State-linked militants tried to assassinate a government minister.Under tight security in the capital Jakarta on Thursday, about a

Malaysia held talks with Goldman Sachs about dropping charges against three units of the Wall Street bank that prosecutors brought over the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal, a report said Thursday.Huge sums were stolen from Malaysian state fund 1MDB in a fraud allegedly involving former leader Najib Razak and his cronies, and spent on everything from high-end real estate to a luxury super-yacht.Goldman's role has been under scrutiny as it helped arrange bond issues worth US$6.5 billion

The Philippines' top policeman, who leads the nation's deadly drugs crackdown, quit on Monday as he faces allegations of protecting officers accused of selling a huge haul of seized narcotics.Though the scandal dates from before Oscar Albayalde's time as national police chief, it has raised fresh criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte's signature anti-narcotics campaign, which is key to his massive popularity among Filipinos.As part of Duterte's internationally condem

A Philippine court said Tuesday it has thrown out a decades-old civil case against the widow of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, dealing a fresh blow to a protracted effort to recover alleged ill-gotten wealth.In ruling for Imelda Marcos, the special anti-graft court chastised government lawyers for their "unjustified" absence at court hearings and for submitting "mere photocopies" of documentary evidence that the judge rejected.Filed shortly after Marcos fled to the US in

Malaysian ex-leader Najib Razak's most significant 1MDB trial begins Wednesday, centring on allegations that hundreds of millions of dollars linked to the state fund ended up in his bank account.Claims that Najib and his cronies pilfered massive sums from the fund and spent it on everything from real estate to artwork contributed to the defeat of his long-ruling coalition to a reformist alliance.After losing power last year, Najib was arrested and hit with dozens of charges related to 1M