As the recent Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro showed us, bringing the world together is seldom smooth sailing. Making sure everyone is playing within the rules is one headache, and the fear that visitors may pick up more than they bargained for is another - with a number of golfers and tennis stars citing fears of the Zika virus in their decision to stay away.
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The World Health Organisation has now advised men and women returning from any country where the virus is actively spreading to practise safer sex or even abstain for six months. That is a more stringent standard than it recommended only a few months ago, when only men were advised to abstain and then only for eight weeks. But with the number of countries reporting cases now at 11, including the city-state of Singapore, the WHO is concerned about how everyone connects.
Australia's Trade Minister Steve Ciobo is also thinking about connections in an international landscape that altered abruptly with Britain's June 23 vote to leave the European Union. "The best deal is the deal that's done most quickly," he said on Tuesday when asked about a free trade agreement with Britain. But even though the United Kingdom has signalled its desire to split from a market of 500 million to become a stand-alone about one-tenth of the size, it isn't disconnected from the EU yet. And so Canberra will have to temper its enthusiasm for a good while longer, until the precise rules of the divorce between London and Brussels are worked out.
It's not you, it's us ... The United Kingdom's decision to split from a market of 500 million comes with its own implications for Australia. Photo: AP
From global trade to local justice, the devil is often in the detail, as Queensland University lecturer Beng Beng Ong has discovered in Indonesia. His testimony that Wayan Mirna Salihin, allegedly murdered by a spiked coffee, was unlikely to have been a victim of cyanide poisoning certainly seemed to undermine the case against Ms Salihin's friend, Australian permanent resident Jessica Wongso. But now the professor himself has fallen foul of the law, having entered the country on a visa which did not allow him to undertake work - such as testifying in court.
Jessica Wongso is accused of murdering her friend by poisoning her with cyanide. Photo: AP
What his mistake will cost Ms Wongso is unclear. But she will no doubt hope that the rules allow her and her lawyers a second chance to get things right.
