The Australian government has announced plans to award carbon credits to ‘carbon capture and storage’ (CCS) projects, in what it has described as a global first.
When IP is in the wrong place in M&A deal making
Failing to properly record ownership of intellectual property (IP) can hold up mergers and acquisitions, spur litigation, limit the scope of businesses to assert their rights over that IP, and lead to greater cost and complexity to address the position. Despite this, it happens regularly.
Twin panda cubs at Tokyo zoo named Xiao Xiao, Lei Lei
Giant panda twins born at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo in June got their names on Friday – Lei Lei for the female cub, and Xiao Xiao for her brother. They were chosen from hundreds of thousands of suggestions sent from fans around Japan.The twin cubs, which were palm-size pink creatures when born on June 23, have grown and now have their unique black-and-white blocks, with black fur around their eyes, ears and limbs.Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike announced their names during her weekly news conference. She…
Coronavirus: Singapore and South Korea to launch quarantine-free travel lane from November 15
Singapore and South Korea are to launch a quarantine-free travel lane for people who are fully vaccinated from November 15.The travel lane will be Singapore’s third such arrangement, following the launches last month of similar schemes with Germany and Brunei. It also follows an announcement on Thursday by Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong that Singapore was working with the United States to create a quarantine-free travel lane for vaccinated people before the end of the year.Under…
Hybrid work poses proximity bias challenge for managers
Companies around the world are in the middle of a revolution in working practices. While offices are reopening in the wake of the pandemic, many businesses are adopting hybrid working and giving employees significantly more flexibility in how, when and where they work.
Singapore hopes Aukus pact contributes to regional peace and stability amid US-China rivalry
Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Thursday said the Aukus defence alliance highlights Australia’s decision to align closer with its traditional ally the United States, and the pact could have potential benefits for peace and stability in the region.“Australia has done its own calculation and decided it needs to tack far more closely with America at a strategic level,” he said.Speaking at a forum organised by think tank Asia Society Australia and Bloomberg, he added that…
How Southeast Asia’s factory disruptions are hurting Apple, Toyota, other global brands
Fresh coronavirus outbreaks in Southeast Asia have hurt factory activity across industries, threatening the region’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and disrupting global supplies of goods such as apparels, cars and electronics.Coronavirus curbs have led companies to shut factories and suspend or reduce operations at a time when Asia’s manufacturing sector is already grappling with rising raw material costs and signs of a slowing Chinese economy.Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand are three of…
UK Patent Box ‘not providing effective incentive’ to life sciences SMEs
The lack of take-up of the UK’s ‘patent box’ by small and medium sized companies (SMEs) suggests that the beneficial tax regime is not effectively incentivising innovation by that group of businesses, a tax expert has said.
First Japan-UK submarine warfare exercise held with China in its sights
Japan and Britain put each other’s navies through their paces recently with a first-of-its-kind joint submarine warfare exercise that analysts said was carried out with China in mind.The two-day drill, held in Japanese waters last month, is thought to have featured HMS Artful, a state-of-the-art nuclear-powered British submarine on its maiden operational deployment to the Asia-Pacific as part of a Royal Navy task force centred on the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.Neither government has…
Coronavirus: Merck says deal with Singapore signed; South Korea soon to inoculate pregnant women
Merck on Wednesday announced it had entered into an agreement with Singapore to provide molnupiravir, an investigational antiviral drug to treat Covid-19, once it is authorised or approved.Molnupiravir is designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the virus and would be the first oral antiviral medication for Covid-19. Merck is seeking approval by the US Food and Drug Administration for the pill.Singapore’s health ministry did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of…