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21/08/2022 ---- 22/08/2022

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22.08.2022
THEME: POLITICS

Singapore to make LGBT relationships legal

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Sunday that Singapore will decriminalise sex between men but has no plans to change the legal definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman. A small but important step for LGBT rights in a nation where homosexual relationships are still "de facto" illegal. LGBTQ groups welcomed Lee's decision to repeal Section 377A of the penal code, but also expressed concern that ruling out same-sex marriage would help to perpetuate discrimination. Singapore is the latest place in Asia to move on LGBT rights, after India, Taiwan and Thailand. In recent years, other parts of Asia have also moved to legalise gay marriage. Taiwan became the first place to do so in 2019, and in June Thailand approved draft legislation allowing same-sex unions. Curiously enough, anti-homosexual laws were inherited from the English legislation during colonialism. While nowadays in the UK homosexual families are free and equal to heterosexual ones, many Asian governments are still struggling to accept such societal changes.

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21.08.2022
THEME: TECHNOLOGY

Uncrewed surface vessel maps Pacific underwater volcano after historical eruption

On January 15 the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai (HTHH) volcano erupted with a record global impact: it sent a tsunami racing around the world, set off a sonic boom that circled the globe twice, and it released into the atmosphere a record amount of hot vapor. Experts hypothesized that such event could impact the global ozone layer and provoke an average raise in the Earth’s surface temperature. The eruption was the largest since Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines blew in 1991, and the biggest explosion ever recorded by instruments. For this reason an international mission led by New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) and funded by the Nippon Foundation of Japan is now in place to monitor and understand the volcanic activity. The Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) Maxlimer is part-way through mapping the opening of the underwater HTHH volcano. The data collected so far has confirmed earlier reports of continuing volcanic activity from HTHH. Sharon Walker, Oceanographer at NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory said: “Early data shows ongoing activity within the caldera, though it is too early to tell if it is due to continuing eruption but at a reduced intensity, or hydrothermal venting driven by cooling lava, or both.” Robotic, remotely controlled boats are likely to be the future of maritime operations. When surveying a dangerous area such as the active HTHH volcano, remote control ensures no crew are put in harm's way.

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