Drinking and droning? It could soon cost you up to a year in jail in Japan, where an amendment to the country’s civil aeronautics law being debated in the Diet would make it illegal to operate unmanned aerial vehicles while under the influence of alcohol.According to the transport ministry, there were 79 incidents involving drones in the last financial year. None of them involved a drunk operator but tighter restrictions were nonetheless regarded as a necessary pre-emptive move.“There are lots…
Philippine election: vote counting ‘glitch’ as Rodrigo Duterte clinches Senate race
The battle for the last four of 12 Senate seats contested in the Philippine midterm elections has come down to the wire, with just 6 per cent of votes – about 2.5 million nationwide – still to be counted.Unofficial counts on Tuesday suggested allies of President Rodrigo Duterte were clear winners in seven of the first eight seats, while in the remaining four, Senator Paulo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV appeared to be the only candidate from the main opposition Liberal Party in with a chance of…
Court of Appeal judgment gives guidance on meaning of ‘practical completion’
A Court of Appeal ruling clarifies the meaning of “practical completion”, a common source of dispute between construction contractors and employers.
Can Bollywood strongman Sunny Deol win Modi’s BJP votes along the Pakistan border?
Bollywood actor Sunny Deol is the perfect fit for the type of hypermasculine patriotism that India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) likes to project.Heavy-set and barrel-chested with a rich baritone voice, the 62-year-old is known for portraying soldiers, spies and police officers on the silver screen.Such associations made him the ideal candidate for the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as it looked for someone to represent it in the sensitive border constituency of Gurdaspur in…
Cyprus ‘serial killings’ of Filipino women spark horror, anger at police over racism
Seven foreign women and girls murdered, some dumped in a toxic lake – the “first serial killings” in Cyprus have provoked horror and sparked accusations of police racism.Since mid-April, the Mediterranean island’s press has slammed official failings over the murders, which 35-year-old army officer Nicos Metaxas has allegedly confessed to carrying out.Andreas Kapardis, a criminologist and emeritus professor at the University of Cyprus, said the killings were first such case since the island won…
Can China become the wine world’s next California?
Teng Bo operates a boutique hotel in Hangzhou for mainland Chinese travellers. A fan of California red wine, he makes sure the wine cellar is stocked with top-quality cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir from Napa and Sonoma.In the 10 years since opening his hotel in the capital of Zhejiang province, 180km from Shanghai, Teng says more Chinese wine drinkers than ever are asking for California wines.“California wine has a richness that really suits Chinese drinkers’ palates,” he said.Teng prefers…
Sri Lanka’s Saudi connections revealed in latest arrest over Easter bombings
Sri Lankan authorities have arrested a Saudi-educated scholar for what they claim are links with Zahran Hashim, the suspected ringleader of the Easter Sunday bombings, throwing a spotlight on the rising influence of Salafi-Wahhabi Islam on the island’s Muslims.Mohamed Aliyar, 60, is the founder of the Centre for Islamic Guidance, which boasts a mosque, a religious school and a library in Zahran’s hometown of Kattankudy, a Muslim-dominated city on Sri Lanka’s eastern shores.“Information has been…
More than 100 inmates escape Indonesian jail in mass prison break after rioting
More than 100 inmates escaped from jail in Indonesia on Saturday, in the latest breakout to hit the country’s creaking prison system.The prisoners fled the jail in Siak district on Sumatra island early in the morning after rioting and a fire broke out at the detention centre, police said.Footage on local TV stations showed the facility engulfed in flames.Authorities launched a massive manhunt and 115 prisoners had been recaptured by late morning, said Riau province police chief Widodo Eko…
Asia’s oldest architecture firm practises its art along belt and road
A slowdown in China and price pressure in Greater China is forcing P&T Group, Hong Kong’s oldest architecture firm, to look to emerging markets along the belt and road.P&T directors Remo Riva and Janette Chan estimate that total revenue from China is now less than 30 per cent, down from more than 50 per cent. As a result the firm has had to cut staff, which at its peak was more than 2,000 to around 1,600 today.The company earns about US$130 million in fees annually, according to the directors…
Japan enacts legislation making preschool education free in US$7 billion bid to expand child care support
Japan enacted legislation Friday making preschool education free as part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s drive to expand child care support and stem the country’s falling birth rate.The government will use revenue from the planned consumption tax hike in October to run the free education program that is expected to cost 776 billion yen (US$7.1 billion) per year.The bill, which secured lower house approval in April, was passed by the House of Councillors on Friday, amid criticism from some…