News Headlines - 23 December 2018
▽China Mulls Law to Curb Forced Tech Transfers: People's Daily - Bloomberg
A draft law aiming at protecting foreign investment and preventing the forced transfer of technology has been submitted for review at a Chinese legislators’ meeting starting Sunday, People’s Daily reported.
The country will protect the intellectual property rights of overseas investors, encourage voluntary technology transfers but forbid forced transfers using administrative measures, Minister of Justice Fu Zhenghua told lawmakers, according to the newspaper.
The transport ministry issued a business improvement order to Japan Airlines Co. on Friday over a pilot who was convicted in the U.K. for heavy drinking that delayed the start of a London-Tokyo flight.
The order, the third most serious reprimand after business license revocation and business suspension orders, was issued after a JAL co-pilot was given a 10-month sentence in the U.K. for having a blood-alcohol level about 10 times higher than the legal limit before boarding the flight in October. He has since been dismissed.
A man and a woman arrested over the drone activity that prompted days of chaos at Gatwick Airport have been released without charge, Sussex Police have said.
Their release comes after several sightings of a drone around the airport caused around 1,000 flights to be cancelled, affecting 140,000 passengers ahead of the year’s busiest weekend of travel... The police have also found a damaged drone on the airfield which will now be forensically examined.
▽'Stealthing' trial: German man sentenced in landmark case - CNN
A German police officer has been found guilty of sexual assault for removing a condom during sexual intercourse without the consent of his partner, an act known as "stealthing," in what is believed to be the first case of its kind to be prosecuted in Germany... He received an eight-month suspended jail sentence from the court and was fined €3,000 ($3,400) in damages, along with a €96 fine to pay for a sexual health test for the female victim.
▽Italy's 2019 budget wins Senate approval amid outcry | Reuters
The Italian government won a grueling vote of confidence on its 2019 budget in the upper house in the early hours of Sunday, as it races to get the package approved before a year-end deadline.
The budget now has to be approved by the lower house of parliament by Dec 31 so it can take effect from the start of the new year.
The government of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the right-wing League won the vote 167-78, with three abstentions.
