Asia

    When Hagoda Gamage Shalika Perera, a small Sri Lankan businesswoman, got a deposit of $20 million in her account last month, she said the funds were expected but had no idea they were stolen from Bangladesh's central bank in one of the largest cyber heists in history. Unknown hackers breached Bangladesh Bank's systems between February 4 and February 5 and tried to steal nearly $1 billion from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Many of the payments were blocked. But $20 million made its way to Perera's Shalika Foundation before the transfer was reversed. Bangladesh central bank officers said they acted after a routing bank, Deutsche Bank, sought clarification on the transfer because hackers misspelled the company's name as "Fundation." Another $81 million ...

    At least 14 people have been killed and 150 are feared trapped after a partially built flyover collapsed in the Indian city of Kolkata, according to police. Witnesses say rescuers are using their bare hands to try to save those caught under the rubble. One witness has told the New Delhi Television news channel (NDTV): "We heard a loud rumble and then saw a lot of dust in the sky." A general view of the collapsed flyover in Kolkata Another added: "The area was very, very crowded. Motorized rickshaws, taxis ... there was a lot of traffic." According to local media reports, large concrete slabs from the construction site fell onto traffic below. Heavy duty cranes have reportedly been brought in to try to move the wreckage, but attempts have so far been unsuccessful. Television...

    Businessman Kim Wong admitted during a Senate hearing today that US$21.6 million of the funds allegedly stolen from the Bank of Bangladesh went to his company but said he is willing to return half of the amount. “Yung P1 billion, nasa Eastern Hawaii casino, nandoon po, at may P550 million natitira po,” Wong said when he testified at the Senate blue ribbon committee’s ongoing investigation into the alleged $81 million or about P4 billion money laundering scheme. Wong was referring to his company, Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co. Ltd., which operates a hotel-casino complex at the Cagayan Special Economic Zone. He said P550 million was already converted into chips and played in the casino, and only more than P40 million of the amount was left. “Na-freeze na po ‘yung P40 million,” W...

    In the name of ‘scientific research’, Japan has killed 333 minke whales, including over 200 pregnant females, in the Antarctic in 2015-16 whaling season, according to the country’s Institute for Cetacean Research. A fleet of four ships returned on March 23, from their 115-day expedition to conduct ‘scientific’ whaling activities which is a blatant disregard of the ruling by the International Court of Justice in 2014 that challenged the scientific legitimacy of the program, reports National Geographic. Commercial whaling has been banned by the International Whaling Commission since 1986. However, an exemption for scientific research still remains, which Japan has long been accused of using as a cover for commercial whaling activities. When a Japanese ship lands a whale, the...

    An explosion in the Pakistani city of Lahore has killed at least 38 people and injured dozens more, officials say. The blast was in a large park in the south-west of the city, where many people had gathered late on Sunday. Police told the BBC it appeared to be a suicide bomb. No group has said it was behind the blast. There is speculation that Christian families out for the Easter weekend may have been the target. All the major hospitals in the area have been put on an emergency footing to deal with casualties, local media report. The explosion appears to have been at the main gate to the Gulshan-e-Iqbal park in an area where cars are usually left. Lahore is the capital of Punjab, Pakistan's largest and wealthiest province and the political powerbase of Prime Minister Nawa...

    A Chinese pensioner was caught on camera demanding compensation after apparently being knocked down by a tiny plastic toy car. Captured in Changde, in China's Hunan Province, the footage shows the woman refusing to stand up until she is paid for the accident. She remains sat on the pavement surrounded by curious passers-by, as well as the toddler who was driving the red toy car at the time and her parents. It is unclear from the video as to how severe the impact was between the toy car and the woman, but the pensioner is adamant that she is the victim. Woman demands compensation after toy car accident It is reported that the woman told the young driver that they were speeding on the pavement without a licence – although the child's mother is heard shouting: "I was walking ...

    Myanmar democracy veteran Aung San Suu Kyi angrily complained about being interviewed by a Muslim BBC presenter who pressed her about violence against Rohingya Muslims, a biographer claimed on Friday. "No one told me I was going to be interviewed by a Muslim," the Nobel laureate reportedly said off air after a tense exchange with British-Pakistani news presenter Mishal Husain broadcast in October 2013. The claim was made by Peter Popham, a journalist with The Independent newspaper and author of newly published book "The Lady and The Generals -- Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's Struggle for Freedom". In the BBC interview, seasoned journalist Husain had pressed Suu Kyi about the plight of the persecuted Rohingya minority, who have been hardest hit by deadly bouts of communal vio...

    Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. fired its Jupiter branch manager Maia Santos-Deguito and her deputy Angela Torres on Tuesday, citing violations of bank policies and procedures as well as falsification of commercial documents. Other branch and bank officials are expected to be meted out various sanctions ranging from termination to suspension in the coming days when the internal investigation is expected to be completed, RCBC said in a statement on Tuesday. The termination was effective Tuesday, March 22. The bank claimed that Deguito and Torres had breached the rules and facilitated the alleged laundering of $81 million of remittance now being investigated by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and other government agencies like the Anti-Money Laundering Council....

    Though efforts are on to get back the stolen $81 million from the Bangladesh Bank, Philippines now finds ‘very low’ chance to retrieve it because the money is now likely outside the Southeast Asian country, reports UNB. “There is a very low chances that the government will be able to retrieve the $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh central bank,” Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Philippine Senator Sergio Osmeña III as saying on Wednesday. Still, Osmeña said tracking the money from Bangladesh Bank would depend on the cooperation of casinos at the resumption today of the Senate inquiry into the money-laundering scheme. The stolen money found its way into casinos after being withdrawn from a branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) in Makati City. Sen. Teofisto Guin...

    There is a very low chance that the government will be able to retrieve the $81 million stolen from the Bangladesh central bank because the money is now likely outside the country, Senator Sergio Osmeña III said Wednesday. Still, Osmeña said tracking the money from Bangladesh Bank would depend on the cooperation of casinos at the resumption today of the Senate inquiry into the money-laundering scheme. The stolen money found its way into casinos after being withdrawn from a branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) in Makati City. Senator Teofisto Guingona III, chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee, said it would be very difficult to retrieve the money “given that it has entered the blackhole.” At the resumption of its hearing today, the Senate blue ribbon c...