A South Korean court on Thursday rejected a lawsuit by dozens of Tesla owners ‌seeking full refunds for money paid for Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver-assistance software, ruling that the carmaker had not breached its contractual obligations. The Seoul Central District Court ruled against the 88 plaintiffs, finding that the FSD option did not promise fully autonomous driving without human intervention and that Tesla had already provided some of the functions included in the package. The court...

European industry has bristled at EU plans to force businesses to diversify their supply chains away from China, as the bloc gears up for a new package of de-risking measures later this year. In December, the European Commission will present a trio of new instruments, none of which will name China, but the overall aim is to wind down dependencies on Beijing and allow the EU to punch back in a trade war scenario. One tool – DiversifyEU – could compel businesses in key sectors to expand their...

With Halloween approaching, Japanese municipalities are stepping up measures against disruptive celebrations in major entertainment districts as larger crowds are expected this year, with the event falling on a Saturday. Halloween is not a traditional festivity in Japan, but has evolved into a major urban event in recent years, particularly in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, where revellers in costumes gather for street celebrations. The festivities have increasingly become associated with public...

The tightening of Hong Kong’s securities regulations – in the wake of property developer Evergrande’s liquidation and unrelated IPO frauds – has resulted in more delistings than resumptions for the first time in three years, according to a report by accountants Grant Thornton. Hong Kong saw 35 delistings in the 12 months to August this year but only 21 resumptions, the report said. “Regulators have comprehensively tightened resumption requirements,” said Barry Tong, national leader of forensic...

Thai authorities have vowed to seize more than US$1 billion in assets from a group accused of laundering proceeds from Southeast Asia-based scam syndicates. A criminal court issued arrest warrants on Tuesday for the alleged ringleader, South African Benjamin Mauerberger, his Thai wife Cattaliya Beevor, Cambodian businessman Yim Leak and four others, police said. Media reports have previously linked Smith, also known as Ben Smith, to transnational scam operations in Cambodia, part of a...

A boy in central China who donated 10 yuan (US$1.5) to the Three Gorges Dam project in the 1990s now works for the power grid, helping transmit the electricity it generates across the country. Wang Yu, 47, works for the State Grid Corporation of China in his hometown of Zigui county, Hubei province, according to Hubei Daily. In 1991, 12-year-old Wang received a daily allowance of just one yuan – barely enough to buy breakfast – at a time when his parents earned a combined monthly salary of less...

A former CIA official has called for Washington to spy on foreign companies to help US firms stay ahead in the technology race, in what would represent a break from long-standing US policy amid intensifying competition with China. “The US lead in many crucial advanced technologies is being contested or even erased by China,” wrote David Cohen, who served as deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, in an article published by Foreign Affairs...