HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s shopping districts are well known for their fierce competition. Now, a new battleground is forming as digital payments firms fight for retailers and shoppers. Chinese tech giants like Tencent and Alibaba are bringing their payment platforms to a city that has long thrived on cash and credit cards, putting them into competition with the likes …

KUTUPALONG REFUGEE CAMP, Bangladesh – Mohib Bullah is not your typical human rights investigator. He chews betel and he lives in a rickety hut made of plastic and bamboo. Sometimes, he can be found standing in a line for rations at the Rohingya refugee camp where he lives in Bangladesh. Yet Mohib Bullah is among a group of refugees who …

NEW YORK — Hundreds of Google employees, upset at the company’s decision to secretly build a censored version of its search engine for China, have signed a letter demanding more transparency to understand the ethical consequences of their work. In the letter, which was obtained by The New York Times, employees wrote that the project and Google’s apparent willingness to …

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia believes that fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, is currently living freely in China, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has reported. The report said that the extradition of Low, a central figure in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, would be high on the agenda of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s …

WASHINGTON / LONDON — Hackers operating from an elite Chinese university probed American companies and government departments for espionage opportunities following a United States trade delegation visit to China earlier this year, security researchers told Reuters. Cybersecurity firm Recorded Future said the group used computers at China’s Tsinghua University to target US energy and communications companies, as well as the …

SINGAPORE — A 47-year-old man who allegedly cheated 80 pilgrims of nearly S$100,000 in a Haj tour scam was charged with one count of cheating on Friday (Aug 17). Court documents showed that Fahrorazi Sohoi allegedly cheated one Mohammad Farehan Mohammad Hussein of S$1,550, by duping the latter into believing that he was able to perform a VIP Haj tour …