The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) is developing a cloud-based connections simulation tool which it hopes will reduce the time it takes for developers to connect projects to the National Electricity Market (NEM).
‘Circumcision season’ returns to the Philippines after pandemic delays
For more than a year, Caspien Gruta has been teased because his circumcision – a rite of passage for boys in the Philippines – was delayed, first by a volcanic eruption and then the coronavirus pandemic. “I worry if I don’t get circumcised now, I will be shamed,” said Gruta, 12. The Philippines has one of the highest rates of circumcision in the world, with many seeing the centuries-old practice as key for boys to enter manhood. Even as circumcision comes under increasing scrutiny…
Police in India charge priest, three others with rape, murder of Dalit girl, 9
A priest and three other men have been charged with the gang-rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl, Indian police said, in a case that sparked days of protests in New Delhi.The low-caste girl was allegedly assaulted by the priest, 53, and three workers on August 1 after she had gone to a crematorium to fetch water.The four men, who have been in custody since they were detained in early August, face the death penalty.The girl’s mother earlier told police the men called her to the crematorium…
China is knocking on Southeast Asia’s door, and Hong Kong’s trade council is offering to help open it
Positioning Hong Kong as a dealmaking hub and capitalising on a surge of interest from mainland Chinese investors and Southeast Asian companies could deliver a boost to the city’s professional services industry, according to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).Since 2019, the HKTDC has accelerated its efforts to facilitate deals, organising about 3,000 “matchmaking” meetings in the past two years.“In our trade events, we ask our overseas stakeholders to bring along their projects…
Fukushima nuclear disaster: IAEA unsure if clean-up will be complete by 2051 as planned
Too little is known about melted fuel inside damaged reactors at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant to be able to tell if its decommissioning can be finished by 2051 as planned, a UN nuclear agency official said on Friday.“Honestly speaking, I don’t know, and I don’t know if anybody knows,” said Christophe Xerri, head of an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team reviewing progress in the plant’s clean-up.He urged Japan to speed up studies of the reactors to achieve a better long…
As Asean’s foot-dragging fuels anger in Myanmar, what next for ‘special envoy’ Erywan Yusof?
It took the Association of Southeast Asian Nations nearly three months to convene a special meeting to discuss Myanmar’s February 1 coup. Then, a further three months elapsed before the bloc agreed on appointing Brunei’s senior diplomat Erywan Yusof as the special envoy to the violence-wracked nation. Now, some three weeks have passed since that August 4 appointment, and the bloc has still offered little indication of what is to come. This week, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian…
Telecoms, tech and a changing relationship with tax
Agreement has been reached on changes to the international tax system to deal with the digitisation of the economy. These changes will have significant implications for telecoms and technology multinationals.
Chinese workers in Indonesia face five years in jail after killing, eating protected crocodile
Five Chinese workers at a nickel smelter on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island are facing up to five years in prison after they killed a crocodile and prepared it as soup, according to a local conservation authority.Their acts were captured in photographs and a video that later went viral, prompting the Southeast Sulawesi Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) to take legal action against the miners, who were deemed to have violated Indonesian law as crocodiles are a protected animal.The…
DNA from 7,000-year-old skeleton of girl in Indonesia found remarkably preserved
A group of scientists have uncovered a new chapter of the “human story” in Southeast Asia thanks to a partially preserved skeleton found in Indonesia that dates back some 7,200 years.A new peer-reviewed study published in the journal Nature analyses the first ancient human genome from Wallacea, an island region between the Sunda Shelf (which includes mainland Southeast Asia and the islands of western Indonesia) and the Australia-New Guinea region.Scientists found and excavated the partially…
Court of Appeal: film partnerships were trading with a view to profit
Two film partnerships were carrying on a trade with a view to profit, meaning that loss relief was available to individual investors, the Court of Appeal has decided, restoring a decision of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT).