A | Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has announced that his government plans to repeal a colonial-era ‘anti-homosexuality’ law, with LGBT activists hailing the move as "a win for humanity".,Section 377A of the penal code criminalizes “any act of gross indecency” by a male person “with another male person.” While rarely applied, nevertheless, the law carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison.,The PM said that abolishing the law was “the right thing to do, and something that most Singaporeans will accept".,Fascinating speech by Singapore’s Prime Minister on why the city-state is finally decriminalising homosexuality. https://t.co/3dMM4XLTkM— John Zerilli (@JohnZerilli) August 21, 2022,In his annual national day rally speech on Sunday, the politician noted that "gay people are now better accepted.",According to Lee Hsien Loong, the "controlled, carefully considered way" to repeal Section 377A (S377A) of the Penal Code would bring the laws of the country that was a British colony until 1959 in line with "current social mores, and I hope, provide some relief to gay Singaporeans".,Nevertheless, there are no plans to change the legal definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, contained in the Interpretation Act and the Women’s Charter, Lee Hsien Loong said.,“But it will also keep what I believe most Singaporeans still want, and that is to retain the basic family structure of marriage between a man and a woman, within which we have and raise our children," the PM told the gathering at the Institute of Technical Education headquarters at Ang Mo Kio.,As the law currently stands, this definition can be challenged in the courts, according to Lee. So Singapore plans to amend its Constitution to enshrine the definition of marriage, Lee Hsien Loong said on August 21.,“I do not think that for Singapore, the courts are the right forum to decide such issues," he added.,After the speech, the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) underscored in a statement that media content will continue to warrant higher age ratings, referencing prevailing societal norms and values.,"(MCI) reaffirms the government’s position that the repeal of S377A does not mean that we are changing the tone of society," it said in the statement.,Colonial-Era Legislation,Singapore’s law, which technically criminalizes sex between men but is seen as, effectively, a ban on homosexuality, dates to 1938 and was retained after independence.,While there have been no known convictions for sex between consenting adult males for decades, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and LGBTQ groups have brought multiple legal challenges against the law, but failed.,Singapore’s High Court first ruled to uphold the anti-homosexuality law in 2014, but a decision by India’s High Court in 2018 to ditch the provision prompted Singaporean activists to issue a new challenge.,WorldIndia Decriminalizes Gay Sex6 September 2018, 09:34 GMT,Nevertheless, in March 2020, the High Court upheld Section 377A of the penal code.,“In declining to strike out this archaic and discriminatory law, the Court has reaffirmed that all gay men in Singapore are effectively un-apprehended criminals,” Téa Braun, director of international LGBT legal support group Human Dignity Trust (HDT), said at the time.,Accordingly, the announcement by the Prime Minister was haled buy a coalition of LGBT rights groups as a "hard-won victory and a triumph of love over fear".,A global financial hub and home to multinational companies, Singapore is known for conservative values. The multi-racial and multi-religious society of 5.5 million has a predominantly ethnic Chinese population, as well as sizeable Malay and Indian minorities, according to the 2020 census.,About approximately 33.2 % of the population are Buddhist, 18.8 % Christian, 14 % Muslim.,Over the past few years it has developed a visible LGBT scene. LGBT activists annually hold the island's biggest civil society rally, known as Pink Dot. LGBT activists had long demanded that 377A, which continues to exist in many parts of Asia, Africa and Oceania,be scrapped.。 A South Korean company has begun production at a huge new solar panel factory in Georgia even as industry leaders say surging Asian imports could dampen efforts to make more solar components in the United States.Qcells, a unit of South Korea’s Hanwha Group, said Wednesday that it can now turn out enough solar panels to generate 5.1 gigawatts of power yearly at a two-factory complex in the northwest Georgia city of Dalton. That's almost 40% of U.S. solar panel capacity, according to figures from the Solar Energy Industries Association. Qcells' opened its first factory in 2019 and an even larger plant in phases since, what the company describes as the largest solar investment in American history. “It’s another milestone as we as a company really strive to become a global leader and a U.S. leader in solar manufacturing," said Scott Moskowitz, Qcells head of market strategy and public affairs, speaking with The Associated Press after a plant tour Monday.The company says its new plant is the first solar module factory in the U.S. to begin production since passage of President Joe Biden’s signature climate legislation. Qcells' $208 million investment again shows how federal incentives are spurring a nationwide boom in renewable energy and electric vehicles.Industry jitters about a flood of cheap solar panels from overseas show how dependent on federal policy the solar industry remains. That's a threat in part because former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, is hostile to renewable energy.Qcells leaders say the new plant showcases more efficient equipment and processes, part of a much larger investment intended to bring key steps in solar manufacturing to the U.S. A solar panel, or module, is assembled from solar cells most commonly made from wafers cut from ingots of polysilicon. Today, the company's solar cells are imported from Asia. But 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Dalton in Cartersville, Qcells is building a $2.3 billion complex to take polysilicon refined in Washington state and make ingots, wafers and solar cells — in addition to 3.3 gigawatts of solar modules. That plant is scheduled to open in phases starting next year.Currently, no silicon ingots or wafers are made in the U.S. But Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, besides offering a extra tax credit on American-made solar equipment, lets manufacturers earn incentives for every unit of polysilicon they refine and every wafer, cell and module they make. For example, Qcells earns a tax credit of 7 cents per watt for every panel it makes in Dalton, or $34.30 for every 490-watt residential panel made.Even with that boost, solar industry leaders warn, factories will struggle to compete with a new spike in cheap Asian imports. They're again urging federal officials to investigate whether solar panels are being dumped at unfairly low prices. Previous investigations have led to anti-dumping tariffs on panels made in China and Taiwan.U.S. officials shouldn't regard the spike as a normal market fluctuation, said Mike Carr, executive director of the Solar Energy Manufacturers for America Coalition, a group that includes Qcells. He argues Chinese component makers are pushing out cheap modules from southeast Asian factories, tanking panel prices to ensure Chinese dominance and smother U.S. manufacturing.“This is likely to be the No. 1 new energy source in the 21st century," Carr said. "It’s already cheaper than pretty much anything else to install. It is the path to meeting our climate goals. So I think it becomes a real national security kind of concern. The way OPEC is in oil markets, we don’t want to allow China to become that same controller of supply in solar.”Qcells sees current low prices as a “near-term challenge" in achieving economies of scale and serving a long-term market, Moskowitz said. Beyond trade policy, he said, requiring federal agencies to buy American-made products and promoting panels produced with fewer carbon emissions could bolster Qcells.Politics envelops the solar industry. Vice President Kamala Harris visited the plant earlier this year. At the state level, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has wrestled with Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff over political credit for electric vehicle and renewable energy investments flowing to Georgia. “Out of all the places Qcells could have gone, they chose to operate and expand here in Georgia because of our unrivaled assets and the competitive package we put together,” Kemp said in a statement.Ossoff and fellow Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock note they authored the component incentives that benefit Qcells, emphasizing federal policy. “Our state is emerging as the advanced energy capital of the nation, thanks to federal infrastructure and manufacturing policies that are benefiting Georgia more than any other state,” Ossoff said in a statement.Qcells, for its part, praises both state and federal assistance.“To build these markets up and to have them work, you need a whole government approach," Moskowitz said.。
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