SINGAPORE
Leaders review gay sex law
The government is considering how to safeguard its legal position on marriage between a man and a woman, as the government reviews a colonial-era section of the country’s penal code that criminalizes gay sex, the Straits Times reported on Saturday, citing a top official. Many Singaporeans agree that gay sex should not be criminalized, Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam said. Changing Section 377A of the Penal Code, which has not been enforced for more than a decade, should be discussed and decided in parliament, and not in the courts, he added. He said the government “understands” that many Singaporeans do not want the legal definition of marriage changed, and called for moderation in the debate of gay rights or “the ruptures will tear our social fabric apart,” the newspaper reported.
UNITED STATES
Biden tests positive again
President Joe Biden on Saturday again tested positive for COVID-19, slightly more than three days after he was cleared to exit isolation, the White House said, in a rare case of “rebound” following treatment with the anti-viral drug Paxlovid. White House physician Kevin O’Connor wrote in a letter that Biden “has experienced no re-emergence of symptoms, and continues to feel quite well,” adding that “there is no reason to reinitiate treatment at this time.” In accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, Biden is to re-enter isolation for at least five days.
UNITED STATES
US$1.3bn lottery ticket sold
A single ticket bought in a Chicago suburb beat the odds and won a US$1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot. Megamillions.com said that there was one jackpot-winning ticket in the draw Friday night, and it was bought at a Speedway fuel station and convenience store in Des Plaines, Illinois. The winning numbers were: 13-36-45-57-67, Mega Ball: 14. The jackpot was the nation’s third-largest lottery prize. It grew so large because no one had matched the game’s six selected numbers in 29 consecutive draws since April 15. Lottery officials had estimated the winning take at US$1.28 billion, but on Saturday revised the number up to US$1.337 billion. The total prize is for winners who choose the annuity option, paid annually over 29 years. Most winners opt for the cash option, which for Friday night’s drawing was an estimated US$780.5 million.
SPAIN
Body positive poster edited
A government campaign encouraging women of all shapes and sizes to hit the beach has backfired, after one of the models featured said her prosthetic leg had been edited out. The likeness of Briton Sian Green-Lord features on the far left of the promotional poster, in a white swimsuit with floral patterns. Compared with an image on her Instagram account, the color of her swimsuit has been changed, and a left leg added where her prosthetic limb should be. “I don’t even know how to even explain the amount of anger that I’m feeling right now. I’m literally shaking, I’m so angry,” said the motivational speaker and model, who lost a leg when she was hit by a taxi in New York in 2013. “There’s one thing using my image without my permission, but there’s another thing editing my body, my body with my prosthetic leg. I don’t even know what to say but it’s beyond wrong.” The artist behind the body positive campaign poster, Arte Mapache, has apologized for using the models’ likenesses without their permission, and for using a typeface that she had understood to be free.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
As evening falls in Fiji’s capital, a steady stream of people approaches a makeshift clinic that is a first line of defense against one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. In the South Pacific nation — a popular tourist destination of just under a million people — more than 2,000 new HIV cases were recorded last year, a 26 percent increase from 2024. The government has declared an HIV outbreak and described it as a national crisis. “It’s spreading like wildfire,” said Siteri Dinawai, 46, who came to be tested. The Moonlight Clinic, a converted minibus parked in a suburban cul-de-sac in Suva, is
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
A South Korean judge who last week more than doubled former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee’s prison sentence was found dead yesterday, police said. Shin Jong-o was found unconscious at about 1am at the Seoul High Court building, an investigator at the Seocho District Police Station in Seoul said. Shin was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, he said. “There is no sign of foul play in the death,” the investigator added. Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none. On Tuesday last week, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim’s appeal trial, finding her guilty
RSS