World

At coffee shops, bakeries, large retail shops and ride-shares, customers are being asked to tip at every turn. “Tipflation” is increasingly common, as customers across the country and around the world report tipping percentages are creeping higher while retailers and small businesses struggle to recoup pandemic losses. So you’ve been handed the payment terminal and are now left to wonder if and how much you should tip. To help you know, here’s a look at what people are tipping locally and in other parts of the world: Europe Summary: It varies from country to country, but in general, tips aren’t really expected in most European countries. In the Netherlands, businesses are required by law to include tipping in prices at all restaurants, pubs, cafés, nightclubs, sightseeing companies,

Online rackets and human trafficking of 'cyber slaves' to Southeast Asia a growing scourge Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn, assistant national police chief, speaks to Thai victims rescued from scam call centres in Phnom Penh in April of this year. (Royal Thai Police/ Handout Photo via Reuters) Taiwanese prosecutors on Friday indicted nine suspects on human trafficking charges for allegedly luring 88 people to Cambodia to toil in online scam syndicates that have become a regional scourge. Online “boiler room” rackets have long had a presence across Southeast Asia but in recent months more details have emerged of people being trafficked and forced to work. Victims have reported travelling to Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos on false promises of romance or high-paying jobs. Those indict

This joint letter signed by 48 media organizations and outlets was sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, cabinet ministers and other political leaders to demand action on the growing harassment and abuse of journalists in Canada. Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, We are writing in relation to the increasing and alarming online hate and harassment targeting journalists and journalism as a profession. This is a global problem, which threatens not only the safety and well-being of journalists, but the proper functioning of democracy itself. Many countries are now working on plans to fight back. We are calling on Canadian police and policymakers to do the same. For the most part, these attacks are aimed at racialized and female journalists who are experiencing an increasing number of targeted, ...

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Legendary Vietnam War photographer, writer and counter-culture documenter Tim Page died Wednesday at his Australian home. He was 78 years old. The British-born, self-taught photographer died of liver cancer with friends at his bedside at his rural home at Fernmount in New South Wales state, friends posted on social media. Ben Bohane, an Australian friend and fellow photojournalist, described Page as one of the world’s great war photographers as well as a “real humanist.” “He always said that it was more important to be a decent human being than a great photographer. So his humanism, through his photojournalism, really shone through,” Bohane told Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Thursday. “One of his famous lines was, ‘the only good war photograph is an anti-w

US warships transit Taiwan Strait, first since Pelosi visit The AI Arleigh-burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd (DDG 100) transits the Taiwan Strait during a routine transit on Saturday, the first such transit since China staged unprecedented military drills around the island (Photo by US NAVY / AFP) WASHINGTON: Two US Navy warships sailed through international waters in the Taiwan Strait on Sunday, the first such operation since a visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi enraged China which regards the island as its territory. The US Navy, confirming a Reuters report, said cruisers Chancellorsville and Antietam were carrying out the ongoing operation. Such operations usually take eight to 12 hours to complete and are closely monitored by China's military. In recent ye...

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Bay Area Dragons have added three stars from the Chinese Basketball Association to complete a roster that already contains former NBA players Andrew Nicholson and Myles Powell and the aptly named Big Liu for the inaugural season of the revamped East Asia Super League. The Dragons on Wednesday confirmed Zhu Songwei, Ju Mingxin and Liu Xiaoyu have signed from the CBA, joining the new club which will be based in Manila for Season 1 of the EASL. The eight-team league will launch in October and feature the winners and runners-up from the Japanese, South Korean and Philippines leagues as well as the Taiwanese champions and the Bay Area Dragons, who will also be playing in the Philippines league. Zhu, a forward who played with Sichuan in the CBA and was the fourt

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The United Nations expert on human rights in Cambodia proposed on Friday a 10-point plan to improve rights in the Southeast Asian nation, describing it as ä country with a bright future but some severe challenges. U.N. Special Rapporteur Vitit Muntarbhorn spoke in the capital, Phnom Penh, at the end of an 11-day visit, his first in his official capacity. He said he met with government officials and members of civil society, U.N. agencies and concerned communities. Vitit said Cambodia, which in the 1990s began recovering from many years of war and brutal misrule by the communist Khmer Rouge, had achieved substantial progress in human rights, including ratification of most major rights treaties. “Yet Cambodia is faced with a pervasive paradox,” he said in a sta

SE Asia dabbles with change It may only be the end of August, but this year has seen some major announcements in Southeast Asia that signal a major shift is taking place in the deeply-conservative region. But do the changes affect reality on a deeper level, or merely cement the status quo? In June, Thailand made waves after parliament took the first step towards recognising same-sex unions, a move which LGBTQ activists hoped will ultimately lead to the legalisation of gay marriage in the kingdom. Last week, Malaysia's Supreme Court, upholding an appeal court ruling, ordered former prime minister Najib Razak to begin a 12-year prison sentence related to a multi-billion dollar graft scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Notably, Singapore also made headlines after Pr...

Asean customs transit system a boon Trucks wait at a border checkpoint in Sa Kaeo province to cross over to Cambodia on Friday. Bangkok Post photo Over three years ago, Mr Raj, the general manager of City Zone Express (CZE) Malaysia, a regional logistics company with branches in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, and China and a fleet of more than 260 vehicles, was proud of his GPS-equipped fleet. It had innovative security gadgets and an anti-hijacking system, and CZE looked destined to become one of the top logistics companies in the region. He, however, still struggled with the challenge of cutting down transit times at border customs checkpoints due to their slow manual customs procedures, resulting in a lengthy transit process. This time-consuming procedure makes sea ...

Trafficking in tiers and fears The government sighed with relief when the country's anti-trafficking performance moved up from the Tier 2 Watchlist to Tier 2 in the US Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, released on July 19. As its corruption fight has lagged, however, the country is still far from eliminating this heinous crime. Had Thailand's status dropped to Tier 3, it would have enhanced the country's reputation as one of the world's worst offenders in human trafficking. That happened in 2014 and 2015 when Thailand made international headlines for its brutality against the Rohingya boat people and the discovery of their mass graves in southern Thailand. The US issues the TIP Report annually to assess how well countries go after traffickers, protect survivors and prevent future c...