Latest news with #ofSeven
The Star
3 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Streamlined alert systems could improve disaster and emergency response
BlackBerry's AtHoc platform sends notifications to relevant personnel in the field via email, SMS, or mobile app, doing away with having to individually contact key stakeholders or manually identify who is closest and available to respond to incidents like widespread fires or sudden floods. — BlackBerry Picture this: a natural disaster or major emergency strikes, and emergency services – police, fire, medical, and so on – need to be mobilised at the drop of a hat. In times like these, every second counts. Wading through call trees to find the right person in charge, who then has to repeat the process down the chain before the message is finally filtered to first responders on the ground, who then need to race to the scene to make up for lost time. According to Chris Ullah, BlackBerry's emergency services global business development lead, this has been a major bugbear when it comes to getting rapid mobilisation whenever there's a major incident. Ullah, a former police superintendent with Greater Manchester police in the UK, draws from his experience in the field, saying that it comes down to getting the right information to the right people as quickly as possible. "In all my service, whenever I've been involved in a major or critical incident, in debriefs and reviews afterwards, communication has always been at the top as being criticised or being a challenge," he says, adding that the police then considered a better solution than just picking up the phone and manually calling personnel one by one. This is where a solution like BlackBerry's AtHoc enters the picture, which serves as a secure critical event management platform to share information during major incidents, which Ullah says can cut down response times from over an hour down to just two minutes. Such a platform, which sends notifications to relevant personnel in the field via email, SMS, or mobile app, would do away with having to individually contact key stakeholders or manually identify who is closest and available to respond to incidents like widespread fires or sudden floods. "The old way of doing it would actually be: start picking up the phone, going down a phone tree, ringing people up one after the other. "Now, you can just send out an alert to all officers, maybe of a particular skill set or by location, asking 'are you able to return back to duty?', with a yes or no as a response," he says. For instance, an alert for 50 officers with a specific skill set might be sent out, and the first 50 who respond as available can be designated to report in. Once that quota is filled, the system will automatically send a cancellation notice to everyone else. BlackBerry's AtHoc solution has already seen widespread use in the UK for crisis communication, with over 2,000 organisations having deployed it. It has also seen use during major international forums with world leaders in attendance, such as the Group of Seven (G7) summit. It also includes geofencing, which is the ability to designate an area of interest on a map. This could be used to indicate a disaster has occurred at a particular location, which would then send a notification to the device belonging to law enforcement, emergency services, or rescue personnel near the geofenced area. A system like this also would not be limited to emergency response, but also act as support for day-to-day operations, such as managing which officers are on duty in specific areas. Officers can also receive notifications when entering burglary-prone neighbourhoods, geofenced zones for welfare checks on domestic abuse victims with protection orders, or areas where individuals under court-imposed curfews are being monitored.
Straits Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Married couples still excluded under Japan's transgender law
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Japan is the only Group of Seven country that has not legalised same-sex marriage or civil unions. TOKYO - Miki confessed to Chiro that he sometimes liked to 'transform' early in their relationship. Miki (a pseudonym) was born male and lived and worked as a man but liked to go out in skirts and other feminine clothes from time to time. Chiro (also a pseudonym) was amused. They were attracted to each other and married a year later. Miki continued living as a man for a while. But after a few years, he decided on a new lifestyle and appearance and adopted a female name. Today, 10 years later, Miki is in her 50s and living as a woman. But since her appearance differs from her birth gender, it can be difficult to prove her identity. Although the couple say that gender is not central to their married life, Miki is concerned about the need to identify herself because she is listed as a man on her family register. 'They don't recognise me for who I am,' said Miki. 'That's the hardest part.' Miki wants to legally change her gender, but she cannot do so under Japan's law for people with gender dysphoria while she is married. It states that a diagnosis must be made by at least two doctors, and anyone who wants to legally change their gender must fulfill certain conditions. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Tanjong Katong Road South closed for repairs after car fell into sinkhole Asia Trump says Thailand and Cambodia agree to hold immediate ceasefire talks Singapore Mum at 15: More teens in Singapore gave birth in 2024 Singapore HSA will not trace vape users who throw away e-vaporisers in disposal bins at 23 CCs World Israel resumes airdrop aid to Gaza, military says World Turkey marks 50.5 deg C heat record in south-east Business Already owning 5 properties, woman wanted elderly dad's 4 homes Opinion Metallurgy degree for IT job in Singapore? Why not, says Tata Consultancy's growth markets chief As it was enacted in 2004, Japan's Act on Special Cases in Handling Gender Status for Persons with Gender Identity Disorder required that people changing their gender be at least 18 years old, unmarried, without minor children, sterile, and have genitalia resembling those of the target gender. In 2023, the Supreme Court struck down the sterilisation requirement as unconstitutional. Miki meets all the conditions except for being married. In July 2024, she filed a petition for a domestic relations hearing at the Kyoto Family Court to obtain a legal sex change while married. However, in March this year, Presiding Judge Akiko Nakamura rejected the request. She ruled that the requirement of being unmarried 'cannot immediately be interpreted as unconstitutional and invalid'. But Ms Nakamura acknowledged that it forces people to choose between divorcing and changing their gender or accepting the disadvantages of having different social and legal genders while being married. According to the judgment, the requirement is in place to avoid same-sex marriage, which is not recognised under current Japanese law. 'Although everyone's idea of happiness is different, the court's decision seems out of touch with the times,' said Chiro, who is in her 40s. 'I really can't understand it.' Ms Nakamura's ruling follows precedent from 2020, when the Supreme Court refused to grant a petition for gender reassignment to a married couple. It decided the requirement was constitutional and based on 'considerations such as the potential for disrupting the current marriage order, in which marriage is recognised only between heterosexuals'. That decision has not been overturned. Japan is the only Group of Seven country that has not legalised same-sex marriage or civil unions. The Kyoto Family Court ruling was a setback after several legal victories by those trying to change the law on gender dysphoria and the legality of same-sex marriage. Since the 2023 Supreme Court decision, family courts have permitted gender reassignment even when a person has not undergone surgical sterilisation. According to the top court, there were at least 54 such cases in 2024. As for the requirement about the appearance of genital organs, the Hiroshima High Court ruled in July 2024 that there is 'suspicion of unconstitutionality'. Lawsuits demanding the legalisation of same-sex marriage have been filed by people in Sapporo, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and Fukuoka. In March 2021, the Sapporo District Court ruled that the current law not recognising same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. Following the Sapporo ruling, the district court decisions on the constitutionality of the law were divided, but by March of this year, all five high courts had ruled it unconstitutional. Mr Yasuhiko Watanabe, a professor of family law at Meiji University's School of Law, pointed out that Germany abolished its unmarried requirement for gender change in 2008 and passed same-sex marriage legislation in 2017. 'Japan should move forward with eliminating the requirements of the special law,' said Prof Watanabe. 'However, we must expand the counseling system in schools, workplaces, and specialized institutions and establish a framework to support those involved.' On April 1, Miki filed an appeal with the Osaka High Court against the Kyoto Family Court's decision. Chiro, who is attracted to men and has not changed her sexual orientation from heterosexual to homosexual, says she will cherish her life with Miki, even if Miki's gender transition is eventually recognised by law. Miki and Chiro said the concepts of family and happiness are different for each person, and they will continue to fight what they regard as an unjust law. KYODO NEWS
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
18-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
EU targets Russia's energy revenue, shadow fleet with new sanctions
The European Union approved on Friday a new raft of sanctions against Russia over its war on Ukraine, including a lower oil price cap, a ban on transactions with Nord Stream gas pipelines, and the targeting of more shadow fleet ships, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. The message is clear: Europe will not back down in its support for Ukraine. The EU will keep raising the pressure until Russia ends its war, Kallas said in a statement. Kallas said the EU move amounts to one of its strongest sanctions packages against Russia to date, linked to the war, which is now in its fourth year. It comes as European countries start to buy US weapons for Ukraine to help the country better defend itself. The European Commission, the EU's executive branch, had proposed to lower the oil price cap from $60 to $45, which is lower than the market price, to target Russia's vast energy revenues. The EU had hoped to get major international powers in the Group of Seven countries involved in the price cap to broaden the impact, but conflict in the Middle East pushed up oil prices, and the Trump administration could not be brought on board. In 2023, Ukraine's Western allies limited sales of Russian oil to $60 per barrel, but the price cap was largely symbolic as most of Moscow's crude its main moneymaker cost less than that. Still, the cap was there in case oil prices rose. Oil income is the linchpin of Russia's economy, allowing President Vladimir Putin to pour money into the armed forces without worsening inflation for everyday people and avoiding a currency collapse. The EU has also targeted the Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany to prevent Putin from generating any revenue from them in future, notably by discouraging would-be investors. Russian energy giant Rosneft's refinery in India was hit as well. The pipelines were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany but are not in operation. They were targeted by sabotage in 2022, but the source of the underwater explosions has remained a major international mystery. On top of that, the new EU sanctions targeted Russia's banking sector, with the aim of limiting the Kremlin's ability to raise funds or carry out financial transactions. Two Chinese banks were added to the list. The EU has slapped several rounds of sanctions on Russia since Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022. More than 2,400 officials and entities often government agencies, banks, companies or organisations have been hit with asset freezes and travel bans. But each round of sanctions is getting harder to agree on, as measures targeting Russia bite the economies of the 27 member nations. Slovakia held up the latest package over concerns about proposals to stop Russian gas supplies, which it relies on. The last raft of EU sanctions, imposed on May 20, targeted almost 200 ships in Russia's sanction-busting shadow fleet of tankers. Friday's measures added more than 100 ships to the list.
Reuters
16-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Breakingviews - Guest view: The City of London requires a strategy
LONDON, July 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - A coherent strategy to foster the growth and competitiveness of the United Kingdom's financial services sector is long overdue. Britain is the second-largest exporter of financial services in the Group of Seven rich economies. The industry, as the Chancellor Rachel Reeves has observed, is the crown jewel in the UK economy. Yet output in financial services has declined since the millennium, particularly since Britain left the European Union, while other services sectors in the UK have powered ahead. Although not the implosion some predicted, the City of London has been suffering a slow puncture as business and jobs in wholesale finance gravitate to the EU and other global financial centres like Singapore, Dubai, and New York. Brexit cost the City some 40,000 jobs according to former Lord Mayor Michael Mainelli, but that is only part of the story. One of the legacies of leaving the EU is that many of the new jobs in wholesale finance are now created in other capitals. One big U.S. investment bank expects the proportion of jobs based in London relative to EU financial centres to shift over time from 90% to more like 60%. Mending the City's puncture demands a comprehensive top-down strategy based on both its strengths as well as the headwinds it faces. So far attempts to address the City's problems have been sticking plaster solutions, involving a half dozen uncoordinated reviews. Some, such as the UK Listings Review conducted by former EU commissioner Jonathan Hill, came up with sensible recommendations. But an overarching strategy has been sadly lacking. Reeves has the chance to change this when she unveils her plan for financial services on Tuesday. There is much at stake. Financial and professional services account for more than 12% of total UK tax receipts – more than the whole education budget. There is also significant opportunity. Trust is a critical commodity that helped the City achieve its position as the leading global intermediary in wholesale finance, managing international capital flows, international investment, and dispensing advice. The uncertainty engendered both by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and geopolitical tensions makes London's reputation more valuable. However, the chancellor needs to tackle challenges and weaknesses. For starters, the regulatory burden on the City is unnecessarily high. Politicians and watchdogs need to draw a sharper distinction between safeguards for domestic consumers and rules governing wholesale and international activity. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the compliance burden in the UK is higher and more expensive than needed, and lead times for authorisation of new entrants unduly long. The Financial Conduct Authority recognises this difficulty and is now on a mission, opens new tab to reduce regulatory complexity and the administrative burden in wholesale markets. It is also providing extra support for wholesale, payments and crypto assets firms seeking approval to set up in the UK. Then there is the much-debated issue of how much society should be protected from financial failures. Reeves needs to set the tone by clarifying that the public should not expect 100% protection when things go wrong, and by providing unambiguous guidance to regulators about the degree of risk appetite acceptable in international and wholesale finance. There is no point blaming regulators for being too cautious when politicians' expectations and the legislation they have passed drives those bodies to be risk averse. Britain also needs to encourage a move more towards a standards-based regulatory approach to international and wholesale finance, based on outputs rather than binary 'blackline' rules. Such regulations are necessary in areas such as authorisation and capital adequacy. But writing specific rules to cover new, complex, and fast-changing areas of financial activity can be both stultifying and inhibiting. Standards of good practice developed by practitioners have proved an effective complement to FCA regulation in the fixed income markets through the work of the Financial Markets Standards Board, which was set up with official endorsement in the wake of the Libor and foreign exchange scandals. The Standards Board for Alternative Investments has also been effective at promoting good practice in the hedge fund industry. Standards can also be much more effective in new areas such as artificial intelligence, green finance, and cryptocurrencies, where the required outputs can be defined but the means of delivery are fluid. Moving further in this direction should be part of the government's strategy. The UK must also ensure it shows a welcoming face to the talented individuals required in a leading international financial centre, at a time when technology and AI are reaping huge changes. It is unfortunate that many highly paid, wealthy individuals have been leaving the UK, in part because of the abolition of tax breaks for 'non-domiciled' residents. It is welcome that the government appears to be reconsidering its decision to make these individuals' worldwide assets subject to inheritance tax. Finally, there is the EU. With the relationship between the two undergoing a reset, the government should take a hard look at where they can benefit from working more closely together in financial services. Both sides want to strengthen their capital markets and encourage productive investment by life insurance companies and pension funds. As the governor of the Bank of England suggested recently there can be benefits to both sides in closer alignment in financial services. Of course, any dynamic alignment with EU rules will provoke accusations of squandering the opportunities of Brexit. But Britain must face up to the inevitable tradeoffs. Would greater access to the EU financial services market in return for a degree of rule-taking be better than the position the UK is now in? The government has already accepted that dynamic alignment with EU standards on food safety and animal welfare will benefit farmers and the public. So far, the government's main regulatory preoccupation has been to encourage more investment in infrastructure by pension funds. Whatever the merits of this idea, the emphasis should be on developing a strategy for the UK's entire wholesale financial activity. The City's great strength is as an international intermediary. The issues are complex, which is why they have not been tackled before. But there is too much at stake, both fiscally and in terms of influence, to miss this opportunity to preserve and strengthen the City's position.
24-06-2025
- Business
Akazawa Plans to Visit U.S. Soon for Next Round of Tariff Talks
News from Japan Economy Jun 24, 2025 15:16 (JST) Tokyo, June 24 (Jiji Press)--Japanese economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa is planning to visit the United States from Thursday at the earliest for the next round of tariff negotiations, it was learned Tuesday. The possible U.S. visit, which would be the seventh for Akazawa since taking office, comes as the July 9 expiration of the suspension of additional U.S. reciprocal tariffs approaches. Initially, the Japanese and U.S. governments had aimed to conclude the tariff negotiations when Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump met at the the Group of Seven summit in Canada last week. However, the two leaders failed to reach a deal and decided to continue the negotiations. Ishiba said that there were still issues on which the two sides had not yet agreed. Akazawa has said that no deadline would be set for the tariff negotiations, but that he keeps July 9 in mind as a key date. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
