Indonesia’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic will now be spearheaded by a new health minister who comes from the banking sector and has an educational background in nuclear physics.Budi Gunadi Sadikin was appointed to the position by President Joko Widodo as part of a cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday, replacing Terawan Agus Putranto, a controversial military radiologist and former personal doctor to Widodo’s late mother, who has been heavily criticised for his mishandling of the pandemic…
Ireland introduces new fund partnership structure to target “real asset” managers
Ireland is poised to become a leading international fund domicile for managers looking to invest in “real assets”, such as real estate, private equity, energy, infrastructure, sustainable finance, credit and loan origination, following the approval last week by the Irish government of new legislation, experts have said.
Grace Millane’s Tinder killer attacked at least two other women, New Zealand police reveal
The New Zealand man who murdered British backpacker Grace Millane committed violent sex crimes against at least two other women, a court revealed on Tuesday, as police urged any more victims to come forward.The Supreme Court overturned orders banning Jesse Shane Kempson being identified as the predator who strangled Millane in December 2018 after the pair met through the online dating app Tinder.The murder shocked New Zealand, which is usually regarded as a safe place to travel, prompting a…
Coronavirus latest: Malaysia buys 6.4 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses; South Korea shuts down tourism hotspots
Malaysia has signed a deal to procure 6.4 million doses of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine, and is in final talks with Chinese and Russian manufacturers to secure more, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Tuesday.The Southeast Asian country has already secured 12.8 million doses from its deal with Pfizer-BioNTech signed last month, as well as from its participation in the global Covax facility, backed by the World Health Organization (WHO).“This means that we have secured vaccine supplies…
Employee right to disconnect consulted on in Ireland
Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission has launched a consultation on a new code of practice which will give employees the right to disconnect outside normal working hours.
Malaysia: Muhyiddin’s razor-thin parliamentary majority in spotlight after MP found guilty of corruption
Malaysian politician Tengku Adnan Mansor has been found guilty of graft, two weeks after a separate corruption trial involving the member of parliament was halted following a prosecutor’s call for a discharge not amounting to acquittal.The Monday verdict came just days after Malaysia’s hotly debated 2021 budget was narrowly passed, raising questions as to whether Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s slim two-vote parliamentary majority will now be further weakened.Tengku Adnan was on Monday…
Philippines poised to lift age of consent for sex from 12 to 16 after decades of lobbying from children’s rights activists
Manila teenager Rose Alvarez was 13 when she started having sex with a man who was more than twice her age. That would be statutory rape in most countries, but not in the Philippines.The Catholic-majority country has one of the lowest ages of consent in the world, allowing adults to legally have sex with children as young as 12. Congress now looks set to approve a bill to raise the age to 16.Children’s rights activists have lobbied for decades to increase the age – enshrined in the penal code…
Detective, ambulance driver, aviation firefighter: Indian women are breaking gender stereotypes
It’s another day at work for M. Veeralakshmi, whose name means “the brave girl”. Siren and red lights flashing, the 29-year-old expertly navigates her ambulance through the crowded streets of Chennai, India, to pick up a patient. She is the state of Tamil Nadu’s first female ambulance driver. Veeralakshmi, a commerce graduate, learned by observing her husband, who is a driver, and was given vocational training by ANEW, a women’s welfare association in Chennai which trains and helps…
Coronavirus: global rush to stockpile medicines gives boost to Singapore’s pandemic-hit economy
Scientists in protective clothing work in a hi-tech laboratory at a pharmaceutical plant in Singapore, whose coronavirus-hit economy has received a shot in the arm from robust global drug demand.The city state is on course for its worst ever recession this year but factory activity has held up, thanks partly to countries rushing to stockpile medicines during the pandemic.The nation just half the size of Los Angeles has become a centre for drug makers and is home to more than 50 factories, owned…
Singapore podcaster aims to break Asian taboos, from cancer to self-pleasure
From genital warts to masturbation, taboo-breaking Singaporean podcaster Nicole Lim tackles topics that may make some squirm but has won a following in socially conservative Asian societies.With her series Something Private, she has tapped into a growing appetite for more open discussion about sensitive issues affecting women in the city state and beyond.It has featured interviews on subjects ranging from domestic violence to disabled women’s dating experiences and intimate relationships…