No more free food, no more last-minute voting, after controversial law change
No more free food, no more last-minute voting, after controversial law change The Government has locked in controversial election law changes, which will ban last-minute voter enrolment and free food near polling stations. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith shepherded through his electoral law changes on Tuesday night, which passed Parliament’s final hurdle. The Government used urgency to speed up the process last week, and required MPs stay late into the night to consider the l
Japan lifts quake advisory but urges continued caution
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) lifted a special advisory for further earthquakes and tsunamis in the Hokkaido and Sanriku coastal areas at the end of Monday, one week after it was initially issued. On Dec. 8, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck off the east coast of Aomori Prefecture, causing severe shaking with a maximum seismic intensity of upper 6 on the Japanese shindo scale in the city of Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture. Tsunami warnings and advisories were issued fro
