Asia’s largest plastic producers, from China to India, Saudi Arabia and Japan were among the 175 United Nations member states that last week indicated their approval of a plan to create the world’s first global plastics treaty by 2024.Environmentalists and bureaucrats working on plastics policy around the region have cheered the accord struck at the UN Environment Assembly as a “historic” moment, but some insiders say it is too early to pop the champagne.Much of the conversation surrounding the…
Thailand fears ‘population crisis’ as birth rate crashes to lowest level in decades
Thailand is scrambling to encourage its people to have more babies to arrest a slumping birth rate, offering parents childcare and fertility centres, while also tapping social media influencers to showcase the joys of family life.The campaign comes as the number of births has dropped by nearly one-third since 2013, when they started declining. Last year saw 544,000 births, the lowest in at least six decades and below the 563,000 deaths, which were also swollen by coronavirus-related fatalities…
Shane Warne’s body prepared for autopsy, as global tributes flow in from Imran Khan and Virat Kohli to Russell Crowe and Ed Sheeran
Thai authorities were on Sunday preparing to conduct an autopsy on the body of Australian cricket superstar Shane Warne, who died of a suspected heart attack, before flying him home where he will receive a state funeral.Police said there was no foul play suspected in the 52-year-old’s death after he was found unresponsive in a luxury villa on Thai holiday island Koh Samui late on Friday.The “King” of spin’s unexpected passing sparked a global outpouring of grief from prime ministers, rock stars…
Philippine election: why is front runner Bongbong Marcos Jnr so hands-off, wary of debates and pressing the public’s flesh?
With only two months left before the May 9 presidential elections, the candidate leading the polls continues to avoid debating his opponents and doing hard interviews with the press.On February 27, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jnr, 64, refused to join nine other presidential candidates in a debate sponsored by CNN Philippines. He said he had a “busy schedule”.On January 22 he was a no-show in a three-hour interview featuring four other candidates with the GMA Network TV station. Marcos’…
Malaysian electric utility goes after illegal bitcoin miners who steal power
Power theft in Malaysia for cryptocurrency mining is a problem that’s growing quickly. But the national utility has a few ideas of how to tamp down the practice.Tenaga Nasional has proposed a special tariff for bitcoin mining operators in a move to fight electricity theft, its top executive said on Thursday. It has also proposed that the Energy Commission encourage bitcoin mining operators to apply for legal electricity supply.Tenaga, which counts Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah…
Ukraine war: Singapore slaps sanctions on Russian banks, cryptocurrency transactions
Singapore will impose unilateral sanctions against Russia, a move a former diplomat said was the first time in decades that the city state was censuring a foreign nation without backing from the United Nations Security Council.Sanctions include the imposition of export controls on items that can be used as weapons, targeted financial measures on designated Russian banks and restrictions on cryptocurrency transactions that may be used to circumvent financial sanctions, according to a statement…
North Korea fires suspected ballistic missile days before South’s presidential election
North Korea fired at least one suspected ballistic missile toward the sea to the east of the Korean peninsula on Saturday, militaries in the region said, an apparent test just days before the South’s presidential election.South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the launch of one suspected ballistic missile, while the office of Japan’s Prime Minister also said it was a suspected ballistic missile.The launch would be the ninth this year. The last was on February 27 when North Korea…
New rules boost Dubai’s international arbitration credentials
The modernisation of arbitration rules for the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) can help Dubai become a leading hub for international arbitration, an expert has said.
Some differences identified in draft EU and UK vertical agreement rules
The proposed texts of the UK’s Vertical Agreement Block Exemption Order (VABEO) and corresponding EU legislation contain certain noteworthy differences for suppliers active in the UK and EU, according to one legal expert.
More rains to drench flood-battered Australia as scores still missing
Australian authorities on Friday warned of more rains over the weekend in several flooded regions in the country’s east, likely hampering relief efforts as defence personnel try to reach worst-hit towns cut off by days of downpours.A wild weather system that dumped more than a year’s worth of rainfall over a week in several places in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales brought widespread destruction, leaving thousands of people displaced and sweeping away property, livestock and…