The UK government plans to introduce a legal framework for the Early Access to Medicine Scheme (EAMS) and has launched a consultation on it.
Indonesia’s Joko Widodo seeks to balance health and economy during coronavirus pandemic
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Monday in his annual state-of-the-nation speech that there was a need to strike a balance between health and economic interests amid a surge in Covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia’s biggest country.“The pandemic has indeed significantly slowed down our economic growth, but it must not hinder the process of structural reforms of our economy,” the president told parliament.Struggling with a jump in infections driven by the Delta variant, Indonesia has become…
Malaysia’s political crisis: PM Muhyiddin Yassin finally quits, but question mark over successor remains
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin resigned on Monday after weeks of turmoil in his government, ending a 17-month stint in power during which his legitimacy came under constant scrutiny and amid seething public anger over his handling of the Covid-19 crisis.The 74-year-old’s departure was expected, after a key minister revealed over the weekend that the prime minister would meet the country’s king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, to tender his resignation and end an impasse triggered…
Japanese PM Suga vows to ‘never again repeat the devastation of war’ but cabinet members visit Yasukuni Shrine
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga pledged on Sunday that the country would not wage war again, making the vow on the anniversary of the end of World War II as members of his cabinet visited a controversial shrine.Nearly eight decades since the end of the war, the conflict remains a source of tension between Japan and its neighbours, particularly China and North and South Korea.“Since the end of the war, Japan has consistently walked the path of a country that values peace,” Suga said in a…
Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin poised to resign on Monday, ending political crisis, minister says
Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will resign on Monday and pave the way for the country’s protracted political crisis to be resolved, a minister has said.“We just finished the meeting. Tomorrow, there will be a special cabinet meeting. After that, he will head to Istana Negara [National Palace] to submit his resignation,” Redzuan Yusof, a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, told the Malaysiakini news portal.Muhyiddin, 74, announced the decision to lawmakers during a meeting in…
As South Korea marks 30 years since first ‘comfort woman’ testified in public, President Moon promises ‘historical truth’
South Korea on Saturday marked the 30th anniversary of the day the first South Korean woman publicly spoke out about her experiences as a “comfort woman” during World War II as it commemorated those who were forced to work in the Japanese military’s wartime brothels.The government-sponsored Japanese Military Comfort Women Victims Memorial Day ceremony was held online due to the coronavirus pandemic this year, with President Moon Jae-in delivering a video message. The memorial day was…
US military, China’s economy: Philippines plays it both ways with Duterte’s VFA U-turn
It was an anticlimactic and – to many minds – entirely predictable outcome: on July 30 the Philippines announced it would, after all, retain a long-standing military pact with the United States.During a meeting in Manila with his American counterpart Lloyd Austin, Philippine defence secretary Delfin Lorenzana said President Rodrigo Duterte had decided to renew, not scrap, the 23-year-old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).It was a 180-degree turn for Duterte, who in an outburst in February last…
ICO consults on new agreement for data transfers outside the UK
Multinational businesses will welcome a UK regulator’s move to draft a UK-specific contractual addendum that they will be able bolt on to EU standard contractual clauses (SCCs) concerning the international transfer of personal data, a data protection law expert has said.
Vietnam signs contract for third PPP section of north-south expressway
Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport (MoT) has signed a build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract for the third section of the north-south expressway under a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
Australia updates its electricity rules to support investment in transmission infrastructure
The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has issued a new rule which is intended to attract more developers and investors to invest in transmission infrastructure by making it easier to share transmission assets and connection costs.