Bill urging same-sex marriage in Japan

TOKYO • Japan's major opposition parties submitted a Bill yesterday calling for same-sex marriage in the world's third-biggest economy, a move that comes weeks after Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalise gay marriage.

The Bill is unlikely to go far in Parliament, where the conservative ruling Liberal Democratic Party has barely budged to advance civil rights for LGBT people - even though business leaders have demanded change, saying current policies are hurting their ability to attract top global talent.

The measure tabled by the Constitutional Democratic Party, Japanese Communist Party and others states that marriage will be established on the basis of marriage equality.

BLOOMBERG

Delhi's women to get free public transport

NEW DELHI • More than 800,000 women will enjoy free public transport as part of an attempt to make the Indian capital safer, New Delhi's government said yesterday.

The city has been notorious for lack of safety for women since the 2012 gang rape and murder of a female student on a Delhi bus that sparked major protests. The measure will be rolled out in the next two to three months for around 850,000 women.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said it would cost about US$115 million (S$158 million) a year, but would improve security and cut traffic pollution.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Simmering resistance, Cambodia style

PHNOM PENH • Cambodia's outlawed opposition party is aiming to reinvigorate grassroots support by having local party members continue to meet over noodles nationwide this week as a means of "passive resistance" to the government, an exiled party leader said.

Some 1,500 members of the banned Cambodian National Rescue Party plan to gather in groups across the country over "num banh chok", or Khmer noodle soup, the whole of this week in an effort to rally support and prepare for the return of exiled former leader Sam Rainsy later this year, a CNRP leader said on Sunday.

DPA