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When was 377A introduced and why? Section 377A was introduced to Singapore’s Penal Code in the middle of 1938 when it was under British rule. It reads: “Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years.” The law was generally believed to have derived from the British government’s desire to "safeguard" public morality by prohibiting homosexual activity in the Straits Settlements. However, a legal team that sought to repeal the law in Singapore in 2019 argued that documents from the British National Archives suggest that Section 377A was originally intended ...

BANGKOK :Thailand's economy expanded at the fastest pace in a year in the second quarter as eased COVID-19 restrictions boosted activity and tourism, reinforcing views that more rate hikes will be needed to curb inflationary pressures. Southeast Asia's second-largest economy is making a steady recovery after the lifting of pandemic curbs but still faces headwinds ranging from inflation at 14-year highs to China's slowdown and weaker global demand. The government slightly revised its 2022 economic growth forecast to 2.7 per cent to 3.2 per cent from an earlier 2.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent range. Last year's 1.5 per cent growth was among the slowest in Southeast Asia. The Thai economy grew an annual 2.5 per cent in the June quarter, the fastest since the second quarter of 2021, data from ...

Traders on the floor of the NYSE, Aug. 11, 2022. Source: NYSE Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day: 1. Markets looking up U.S. stock futures pointed to a rally Friday morning, a day after the three major indexes posted mixed results. On Thursday, the Dow finished slightly positive, while the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped after another round of inflation data showed that price increases were slowing down somewhat. But one month of data does not make a trend, and inflation remains high even as gas prices are coming down from record highs in June. The Federal Reserve is still expected to take an aggressive tack against rising prices, and is projected to increase rates again in September. Next week, markets will get even more info...

:South Africa have made two changes to their starting line-up for the Rugby Championship clash with Australia at Adelaide Oval on Saturday as coach Jacques Nienaber also cut a member from their famous ‘Bomb Squad’ on the bench. Warrick Gelant will start on the right wing in the place of the injured Jesse Kriel, while the experienced Faf de Klerk returns to the scrumhalf position after he was concussed against New Zealand earlier this month. Gelant is the fourth right wing in as many tests for the Springboks after Cheslin Kolbe, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Kriel were all ruled out through either injury or suspension. Injuries to backline players early in their recent tests forced a change of thinking on the bench, with Nienaber moving away from the 6-2 split between forwards and backs to a more...

Between the second quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2020, the number of TikTok monthly active users experienced its biggest jump in Singapore, growing by 187 per cent from 334,000 to 961,000. Speaking to TODAY, Ms Lexi Sydow, the head of insights at data.ai, said that TikTok has grown phenomenally in Southeast Asia. Over the last five years, the number of monthly active users in Singapore has grown by more than eight times as of the second quarter of this year, in line with Malaysia and faster than Vietnam. Within the region, the rate of growth was the highest in Indonesia, where monthly active users grew 17 times between the second quarter of 2018 and the second quarter of 2022. She also noted that while TikTok ranks fourth for social media apps in Singapore by total time spen...

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Social and Family Development Eric Chua, who co-chairs the steering committee that put together the masterplan, said that the committee had conversations with more than 300 PWDs, caregivers and professionals in the disability sector to find out what else can be done to help PWDs in Singapore achieve their potential. These insights went into the eight-year plan, which is three years longer than earlier masterplans that were five years each in duration. Mr Chua said that this allows the stakeholders to take a longer-term approach to the initiatives proposed. “It doesn't mean that the plan that we have announced today is going to be set in stone … In fact, we do see quite a bit of scope for us to evolve,” he said at the launch of the masterplan at social ...

NEW YORK :Oil futures edged up less than 1 per cent on Tuesday ahead of a meeting of OPEC+ producers this week that may not lead to a further boost in crude supply amid concerns a possible global recession could limit energy demand. Brent futures rose 51 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to settle at $100.54 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 53 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to settle at $94.42. Also giving oil prices a slight lift were analyst expectations nL4N2ZE3PY that U.S. crude inventories declined by around 600,000 barrels last week. [EIA/S] The American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group, will issue its U.S. inventory report at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT). The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on Wednesday. The O...

21 July 2022, Bavaria, Essenbach: Water vapor rises behind sunflowers from the cooling system of the nuclear power plant (NPP) Isar 2. Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images Nuclear energy is at an inflection point. Early exuberance about its potential was undercut by a series of devastating and dangerous accidents: Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979; Chornobyl in Ukraine in 1986; and Fukushima Daiichi in Japan in 2011. But now, thanks to new technology and the increasingly urgent need to fight climate change, nuclear energy is getting a second shot at becoming a prominent part of the global energy grid. That's because nuclear energy generation does not create any of the dangerous greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. In a panel discussion at the United Na...

Thailand's economy likely grew at its fastest pace in a year last quarter, thanks to increased tourism as pandemic curbs eased, but the high cost of living and a slowdown in China pose threats to the outlook, a Reuters poll showed. Growth in the tourism-dependent economy is estimated at 3.1 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter, according to the median forecast of 16 economists polled between Aug 8 and 11, up from 2.2 per cent growth in the previous quarter. However, on a quarterly basis, gross domestic product (GDP) grew a seasonally-adjusted 0.9 per cent, slowing slightly from 1.1 per cent in the preceding quarter, the median forecast from a smaller sample of 12 economists showed. Forecasts ranged from 0.1 per cent to 1.3 per cent, highlighting uncertainties surrounding the reco...

In this article NCLH It's one of the most basic laws of economics: When prices rise, demand falls. But despite rising travel costs and inflation, vacationers aren't showing much interest in canceling their summer plans. Yet, they certainly appear open to changing them. Nearly 70% of those planning summer vacations said they anticipated making changes to their itineraries because of inflation, according to a survey by the financial services company Bankrate. Even more (74%) are actively searching for ways to save on travel, according to a survey by the marketing tech company Zeta Global. Here are some tips from industry insiders and savvy travelers. 1. Finding cheaper flights Those who are strategic about saving spend 23% less on flights than those who aren't, according to a survey of...