China bans British MPs in tit-for-tat sanctions

China has imposed sanctions on nine UK citizens – including five MPs – for spreading what it called “lies and disinformation” about the country.All nine are vocal critics of Beijing.It comes in retaliation for measures taken by the UK government on Monday over human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslim minority group.Those targeted by China include former conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, two lords, a lawyer and an academic.The response by China follows similar sanctions imposed on the European Union, which was part of the co-ordinated Western action on Monday.The nine will all be banned from entering China, Hong Kong and Macau, any property they own in China will be frozen and Chinese citizens and institutions will be prohibited from doing business with them.Smith said: “It is our duty to call out the Chinese governments human rights abuses in Hong Kong and their genocide of the Uighur people.“Those of us who live free lives under the rule of law must speak for those who have no voice. If that brings the anger of China down upon me then I shall wear that as a badge of honour.”MP Nusrat Ghani told the BBC, “This is a wake-up call for all democratic countries and law makers that we will not be able to conduct our day-to-day business without China sanctioning us for attempting to expose what’s happening in Xinjiang and the abuse against the Uighurs.”Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “It speaks volumes that, while the UK joins the international community in sanctioning those responsible for human rights abuses, the Chinese government sanctions its critics.A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the UK’s decision to impose sanctions “flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs, and severely undermines China-UK relations”.He added that the Chinese foreign ministry had summoned the British ambassador to China to “lodge solemn representations, expressing firm opposition and strong condemnation”.A response from Beijing had been inevitable following the UK’s move to impose its first ever sanctions on Chinese officials earlier in the week. The tit-for-tat exchange of sanctions could see a further deterioration of the UK’s already poor relationship with China.


200 new infections as death toll up by one

Another 200 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 5,039,850.
There were 155 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 4,993,543.
There are now 9,354 active cases, of which 9,010 or 96.3% are undergoing home quarantine.
Meanwhile, 0 (0%) are at quarantine centres while 333 (3.6%) have been hospitalised.
A total of 11 are in ICU with five in need of respiratory assistance.
One more death was reported, taking total deaths to 36,953.


Ukraine says Russians pounding frontline positions with artillery

Russian forces are pounding Ukrainian positions with artillery fire and in the eastern region alone launched almost 400 strikes on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address.
Russia withdrew its forces from the southern city of Kherson this month and moved some of them to reinforce positions in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, an industrial area known as the Donbas.
"The fiercest battles, as before, are in the Donetsk region. Although there were fewer attacks today due to worsening weather, the amount of Russian shelling unfortunately remains extremely high," Zelensky said.
"In the Luhansk region, we are slowly moving forward while fighting. As of now, there have been almost 400 artillery attacks in the east since the start of the day," he continued.
Zelensky also said troops in the south were "consistently and very calculatedly destroying the potential of the occupiers" but gave no details.
Kyiv said on Saturday that about 60 Russian soldiers had been killed in a long-range artillery attack in the south, the second time in four days that Ukraine has claimed to have inflicted major casualties in a single incident.
Oleh Zhdanov, a military analyst based in Kyiv, said that according to his information, offensive battles were taking place on the Bakhmut and Avdiivka frontline in the Donetsk region, among others.
"The enemy is trying to break through our defenses, to no avail," Zhdanov said in a social media video. "We fight back - they suffer huge losses."
He said both armies are focused on regrouping. Ukrainian forces are being moved towards Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv, among others. Russian troops are regrouping to the Zaporizhzhia direction and Donetsk and Luhansk.
Russia's defense ministry said on Sunday that up to 50 Ukrainian servicemen were killed in the previous day along the southern Donetsk frontline and 50 others elsewhere. In total, 153 areas of concentration of Ukraine's manpower and military equipment were destroyed on Saturday.
Reuters was not able to immediately verify neither the Ukrainian nor the Russian reports.
Russia calls its invasion in Ukraine a "special operation" to demilitarise and "denazify" its neighbor, not a war. Kyiv and its allies say the invasion is an unprovoked war of aggression.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Zelensky's administration, said late on Sunday that Russian forces fired at a residential building in the Kherson region, in southern Ukraine.
"There may be people under the rubble. Emergency services are working at the scene," Tymoshenko said on the Telegram messaging app.
The region's recently retaken capital, the Kherson city, remains without electricity, running water or heating.


LHDN warns of fake taxmen after over RM600,000 lost in scams

The Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) today sounded a warning over scammers from syndicates posing as officials from the tax agency, revealing that losses of over RM600,000 have been reported since the beginning of the year.In a statement, it said 18 reports involving a total of RM636,311 in losses had been lodged from Jan 1 until Feb 9.“They use the cruel tactics of striking fear in their victims, causing them to panic and to take hasty action in handing over their personal and banking details.“Some even voluntarily make cash payments to these syndicate members,” it said.It advised the public to be wary and not to fall prey to scammers, and to confirm any suspicious calls, emails or letters by calling the LHDN hotline or officials, or visiting the nearest branch.“Members of the public must be more aware and always advise family members and those around them about this matter to prevent becoming victims of these scams,” it said.


Over 70,000 evacuated as floods continue

The total number of flood evacuees in five states increased to 71,208 people last night compared to 66,718 in the evening, with Terengganu and Kelantan still the hardest hit.
In Kelantan, the state disaster management committee (JPBN) secretariat said there were 31,311 victims recorded last night, up from 26,630 in the evening, with 139 relief centres operating in the districts of Kota Bharu, Pasir Mas, Bachok, Tanah Merah, Pasir Puteh, Kuala Krai, Machang and Jeli.
In Terengganu, the number of flood victims increased slightly to 39,311 from 10,937 families compared to 39,108 from 10,735 families in the evening.
A total of 304 relief centres are operating in all eight districts in the state, with Besut recording a total of 9,225, Kemaman 8,573, Hulu Terengganu 6,375, Setiu 4,988, Dungun 4,005, Kuala Terengganu 2,545, Kuala Nerus 1,839 and Marang 1,761.
The number decreased slightly in Pahang, where 484 people from 113 families remained at five relief centres compared to 873 from 214 families in the evening.
In Johor, the number of victims also decreased from 53 to 48, with one relief centre in Segamat closed at 6pm, leaving two still operating in the district.
In Perak, a spokesman for the JPBN secretariat said that 54 people from 17 families remained at two relief centres last night in the districts of Bagan Datuk and Hilir Perak.


Schools to delay reopening until Oct 3

The reopening of schools for face-to-face classes, initially scheduled for Sept 1, will be pushed back to Oct 3 in stages, Education Minister Radzi Jidin said today.He said the reopening of schools, which takes into account the Covid-19 situation in the country, would begin with students sitting for examinations.“Details according to the phases of the National Recovery Plan will be announced as soon as possible,” he said in a video.“But according to the SOPs of the National Security Council, schools in states under Phase One of the recovery plan will remain closed.“I hope this explanation will ease the concerns of parents.”He said the education ministry had not made any updated announcement about the reopening of schools due to the changes needed to manage Covid-19.“All these issues are in the ministry’s plans. We have studied and arranged things carefully, but we need to look at the current situation before deciding what plan to put in place,” he said.He also said the vaccination rate of staff who will be involved in the reopening of schools was at an encouraging level.“As of today, 92.4% of teachers had received at least a first dose compared to 61.3% on July 17 while 72% of support staff had been given a first jab.”Radzi assured that schools would not reopen until the entire education ecosystem is prepared to receive students for face-to-face classes.Explaining the ministry’s statement on July 17, he said it was to ensure that the school ecosystem was ready for this purpose, contingent on risk assessments by the health ministry.He said the reopening of schools would involve the movement of more than five million pupils and 500,000 teachers.He added that the matter could not be looked at as a whole as the Covid-19 situation differs from state to state.


Pakistan floods kill 1,100, including 380 children amid 'monsoon on steroids'

Torrential rains and flooding have submerged a third of Pakistan and killed more than 1,100 people, including 380 children as the United Nations appealed for aid on Tuesday for what it described as an "unprecedented climate catastrophe."
Army helicopters plucked stranded families and dropped food packages to inaccessible areas as the historic deluge, triggered by unusually heavy monsoon rains, destroyed homes, businesses, infrastructure and crops, impacting 33 million people, 15% of the 220 million-strong South Asian nation.
The country has received nearly 190% more rain than the 30-year average in the quarter through August this year, totalling 390.7mm (15.38 inches). Sindh province, with a population of 50 million, was hardest hit, getting 466% more rain than the 30-year average.
"One third of the country is literally under water," Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman told Reuters, describing the scale of the disaster as "a catastrophe of unknown precedent".
She said the water was not going to recede anytime soon.
At least 380 children were among the dead, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told reporters during a briefing at his office in Islamabad.
"Pakistan is awash in suffering," UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said in a video message, as the United Nations launched an appeal for US$160 million to help the South Asian nation. "The Pakistani people are facing a monsoon on steroids – the relentless impact of epochal levels of rain and flooding."
Guterres will head to Pakistan next week to see the effects of the "unprecedented climate catastrophe," a UN spokesman said.
He said the scale of the climate disaster commanded the world's collective attention.
Nearly 300 stranded people, including some tourists, were airlifted in northern Pakistan on Tuesday, a state-run disaster management agency said in a statement, while over 50,000 people were moved to two government shelters in the northwest.
"Life is very painful here," 63-year-old villager Hussain Sadiq, who was at one of the shelters with his parents and five children, told Reuters, adding that his family had "lost everything."
Hussain said medical assistance was insufficient, and diarrhoea and fever common at the shelter.
Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited the northern valley of Swat and reviewed rescue and relief operations, saying that "rehabilitation will take a long, long time."
The US will provide US$30 million in support for Pakistan's flood response through Usaid, its embassy in Islamabad said in a statement, saying the country was "deeply saddened by the devastating loss of life, livelihoods, and homes throughout Pakistan."
'Obligation to help'
Early estimates put the damage from the floods at more than US$10 billion, the government said, adding the world had an obligation to help Pakistan cope with the effects of man-made climate change.
The losses are likely to be much higher, said the prime minister.
Torrential rain has triggered flash floods that have crashed down from northern mountains, destroying buildings and bridges, and washing away roads and standing and stored crops.
Colossal volumes of water are pouring into the Indus river, which flows down the middle of the country from its northern peaks to southern plains, bringing flooding along its length.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said hundreds of thousands of people were living outdoors without access to food, clean water, shelter or basic healthcare.
Guterres said the US$160 million he hoped to raise with the appeal would provide 5.2 million people with food, water, sanitation, emergency education and health support.
'Not enough aid'
Prime Minister Sharif said that amount of aid would need "to be multiplied rapidly," pledging that "every penny will reach the needy, there will be no waste at all."
Sharif feared the devastation would further derail an economy that has already been in turmoil, possibly leading to an acute food shortage and adding to skyrocketing inflation, which stood at 24.9% in July.
Wheat sowing could also be delayed, he said, and to mitigate the impact of that, Pakistan was already in talks with Russia over wheat imports.
General Akhtar Nawaz, chief of the national disaster agency, said at least 72 of Pakistan's 160 districts had been declared calamity-hit.
More than two million acres (809,371 hectares) of agricultural land were flooded, he said.
Bhutto-Zardari said Pakistan had become ground zero for global warming.
"The situation is likely to deteriorate even further as heavy rains continue over areas already inundated by more than two months of storms and flooding," he said.
Guterres appealed for a speedy response to Pakistan's request to the international community for help, and called for an end to "sleepwalking towards the destruction of our planet by climate change."
"The extreme monsoon flooding tells us that there is no time to waste, the climate tipping point is here," said Rehman, the climate change minister, adding Pakistan is looking for the developed world to not let it pay for other countries' carbon-backed development.


Analysts tell who will gain if Pejuang, Muda join the fray in Johor

Any arrival on the scene of newer opposition groups like Muda and Pejuang at the Johor state polls will likely cause more split votes for Pakatan Harapan (PH), ultimately benefiting Barisan Nasional (BN), several analysts say.They said such a situation would also complicate the goal of toppling BN in the state, given that Johor is the birthplace of Umno and still considered its stronghold.Ahmad Martadha Mohamed of Universiti Utara Malaysia said it would make it more difficult for PH to gain the support of young voters if Muda decides to contest the Johor election.“Bear in mind that the 700,000 voters registered in Johor also include young voters who in the end may wind up the kingmakers,” he said.“Not many of the youth support BN, especially in urban areas.”But while Muda might have a significant impact in the polls, James Chin of the University of Tasmania said many other new parties would also be eager to try their luck.He said this would only cause more uncertainty for parties looking to defeat BN.“Having said that, it is still too early to predict what will happen as none of the parties have announced their candidates yet,” he added.PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim previously said that his pact was open to working with other opposition blocs such as Pejuang, Warisan and Muda.At the 14th general election in 2018, PH won 36 of the seats in the Johor state assembly.However, it lost control of the state government after Bersatu’s exit from the PH coalition.Since the dissolution of the Johor assembly last week, several newer parties have stated their interest in contesting the election to come, with Pejuang saying it would field candidates in 42 of the 56 seats available.PN, BN’s main contenderOh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said BN’s main competition would come from Perikatan Nasional (PN) as its chairman Muhyiddin Yassin is a recognised figure in the state.But he said it would be difficult for Muhyiddin’s Bersatu to pull off a repeat of its achievements in 2018 as Umno still held sway in Johor.Speaking to MalaysiaNow, he said a “people’s tsunami” would not likely take place.“This will also make it hard for PH to match its achievements in 2018, what more pull off a victory in Johor,” he said.Chin meanwhile said Pejuang might be on shaky footing given that its leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad would be unlikely to participate in the campaign due to health issues.“Even if Pejuang runs in the election, its election machinery is very limited in Johor.“So it will be interesting to see who they field. With Mahathir in hospital, the focus will definitely be on the party’s achievements,” he said, adding that in any event, the veteran leader is not particularly popular in Johor.The Johor legislative assembly was dissolved on Jan 22, paving the way for the fourth state election since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, after the Sabah, Melaka and Sarawak polls.


Motion on election of deputy speaker tops Dewan Rakyat list

The election of a new deputy speaker will be one of the focuses at today’s Parliament meeting.The election, to fill the vacancy left by Azalina Othman Said, tops the list of motions in the Dewan Rakyat Order Paper at the fourth session of the 14th Parliament scheduled for 17 days beginning yesterday.The motion was made following the resignation of the Pengerang MP as a Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker on Aug 23.Last Sunday, Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Mohd Rashid Hasnon confirmed receiving the names of candidates from the opposition bloc and the government, and that if there was more than one candidate, the matter would be put to a vote.So far, two names have been mentioned for nomination. They are Pontian MP Ahmad Maslan, the candidate from the government bloc, and Teluk Intan MP Nga Kor Ming, the Pakatan Harapan candidate.According to the Order Paper, the Dewan Rakyat meeting will begin at 10am with the ministers’ question time followed by the questions for oral answers session before continuing with the motion of thanks and debate on the royal address by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.The question of whether the government will review its policy on the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme is also expected to be a focus during the ministers’ question time.The meeting of the fourth session of the 14th Parliament is the first under the government led by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.


Malaysia's move to Tier 2 Watch List of US human trafficking report will positively impact trade sector, says DPM

Malaysia's listing on the Tier 2 Watch List of the US State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2023 has a positive impact on the country's trade sector and counters negative perceptions related to the issue of forced labour in the country.
Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof said it reflected the cooperation and efforts of all parties in ensuring that Malaysia implements good practices to tackle issues of human trafficking, migrant smuggling and forced labour as well as the implementation of enforcement.
"Also in foreign countries, farming activities are part of the family business, so when they go down (to the farm), sometimes the children are brought along, so it's quite common... as long as we don't abuse and force small children (to work). These are the things that we need to explain to them," he told reporters after attending the dialogue session on energy use in agricommodity in Kuching, today.
The minister of plantation and commodities said to ensure that allegations regarding labour issues are resolved bilaterally, Malaysia is establishing cooperation and engagement sessions, especially with the US.
According to him, in 2021 and 2022, Malaysia was on the Tier 3 Watch List with the assessment of the report covering aspects of prevention, prosecution and protection of workers in relation to labour matters.
On June 16, Home Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, when announcing the TIP report, said the government would increase efforts in prosecuting and convicting civil servants found involved in human trafficking or forced labour activities.
He said that the matter was a priority for the government as it was part of the 15 recommended improvements submitted in the TIP report.


Bed Bath & Beyond CFO's death ruled a suicide

The death of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc's chief financial officer, who fell from New York's Tribeca skyscraper known as the "Jenga" tower on Friday afternoon, has been ruled a suicide, the New York City Medical Examiner's Office said on Monday.
Gustavo Arnal, 52, died from "multiple" blunt force trauma, the office said.
The suicide came days after the struggling retailer announced it was closing stores and laying off workers.
It also comes after Arnal as well as the company were sued on Aug 23 over accusations of artificially inflating the firm's stock price in a "pump and dump" scheme, with the lawsuit alleging Arnal sold off his shares at a higher price after the scheme.
The company said it was "in the early stages of evaluating the complaint, but based on current knowledge the company believes the claims are without merit."
Arnal joined Bed Bath & Beyond in 2020. He previously worked as CFO for cosmetics brand Avon in London and had a 20-year stint with Procter & Gamble Co, according to his LinkedIn profile.
On Friday at 12.30pm ET (1630 GMT), police responded to a 911 call and found a 52-year-old man dead near the building who suffered injuries from a fall. Police identified the man as Arnal. Bed Bath & Beyond confirmed his death in a press statement on Sunday but gave no details.
The big-box chain - once considered a so-called "category killer" in home and bath goods - has seen its fortunes falter after an attempt to sell more of its own-brand goods.
Last week, Bed Bath & Beyond said it would close 150 stores, cut jobs and overhaul its merchandising strategy in an attempt to turn around its money-losing business.
It forecast a bigger-than-expected 26% slump in same-store sales for the second quarter and said it would retain its buybuy Baby business, which it had put up for sale.


Parliament session on Dec 19, motion of confidence in PM to be tabled

The 15th Parliament session – the first under the government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim – will be held on Dec 19.
Anwar, who was sworn in as the 10th prime minister yesterday, said a motion of confidence would be tabled at the sitting to end the question of his legitimacy as prime minister.
"The first motion, other than the swearing in (of MPs), will be a motion from the government, which is a vote of confidence. So we are not worried about legitimacy," he said at his first press conference as prime minister at the Sungai Long Golf & Country Club, Kajang, yesterday.
Apart from Pakatan Harapan (PH), he has also received the support of MPs from Barisan Nasional (BN), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Warisan, Muda, Parti Bangsa Malaysia, as well as independents.
"The question of stability should not arise," he said.
Anwar said during the session, the government would also table and approve emoluments for civil servants, before the 2023 Budget is tabled again.
"The budget, of course we have to clear the emolument (for civil servants) first on Dec 19, so that our public servants don't need to worry.
"And then give us another month or so, then we will table a new budget or a revised budget," he said.
The 2023 budget was tabled on Oct 7 by then finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz with a total allocation of RM372.3 billion. Three days later, on Oct 10, Parliament was dissolved to make way for the 15th general election.
Anwar, 75, took his oath of office as the 10th prime minister before Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah at Istana Negara yesterday.


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Genuine activists vs ‘native informants’ in Afghanistan

Scenes of thousands of Afghans flooding the Kabul International Airport to flee the country as Taliban fighters were quickly consolidating their control over the capital, raised many questions, leading among them: who are these people and why are they running away?In the US and other Western media, answers were readily available: they were mostly “translators”, Afghans who “collaborated” with the US and other Nato countries; “activists” who were escaping from the brutality awaiting them once the Americans and their allies left the country, and so on.Actually, the answer is far more complex than that offered by Western officials and media, which ultimately – although inaccurately – conveyed the impression that Nato armies were in Afghanistan to safeguard human rights, to educate women and to bring civilisation to a seemingly barbaric culture.Though political dissent is a basic human right, there is a clear and definitive line between the legitimate right to challenge one’s government/regime and willingly collaborating with another – especially when that collaboration can have dire consequences on one’s own people.In the US and Europe, there are thousands of political dissidents from many parts of the world – from South America, the Middle East, East Asia, and others– who are, sadly, used as cheerleaders for political and military interventions, either directly by certain governments, or indirectly, through lobby and pressure groups, academic circles and mainstream media.These individuals, often promoted as “experts”, appear and disappear whenever they are useful and when their usefulness expires. Some might even be sincere and well-intentioned when they speak out against, for example, human rights violations committed by certain regimes in their own home countries, but the outcome of their testimonies is almost always translated to self-serving policies.Thousands of Afghans – political dissidents, Nato collaborators, students, athletes and workers seeking opportunities – have already arrived in various western capitals. Expectedly, many are being used by the media and various pressure groups to retrospectively justify the war on Afghanistan, as if it was a moral war. Desperate to live up to the expectations, Afghan “activists” are already popping up on western political platforms, speaking about the Taliban’s dismal record of human rights and, especially, women’s rights.But what is the point of appealing to the western moral consciousness after 20 years of a Nto-led deadly invasion that has cost Afghanistan hundreds of thousands of innocent people?In Afghanistan, an alternative narrative is evolving.On Sept 11, hundreds of Afghan women protested in Kabul University, not against the Taliban, but against other Afghan women who purport to speak from western capitals about all Afghan women.“We are against those women who are protesting on the streets, claiming they are representative of women,” one of the speakers said, AFP reported.While AFP made a point of repeating that the women protesters have “pledged” their commitment to “all Taliban’s hardline policies on gender segregation”, emphasising how they were all covered “head to toe,” the event was significant. Among many issues, it raises the question: who represents Afghan women, those who left or those who stayed?A large banner held by the protesters in Kabul read: “Women who left Afghanistan cannot represent us.”The truth is no one represents Afghan women except those who are democratically elected by Afghan society to represent all sectors of that society, women included. Until real democracy is practised in Afghanistan, the struggle will continue for real freedom, human rights, equality and, obviously, representation.This fight can only take place within an organic, grassroots Afghan context – whether in Afghanistan or outside of the country – but certainly not through Fox News, the BBC or US Senate hearings.The late Palestinian-American scholar, Edward Said, had repeatedly warned of the pseudo reality painted by the “native informants” – supposed political dissidents recruited by western governments to provide a convenient depiction of the reality in the Middle East and elsewhere, as a moral justification for war. The consequences, as the 2003 Iraq war and invasion have demonstrated, can be horrific.Said challenged a particular “native informant”, the late Fouad Ajami, a Lebanese academic, whose ideas about the Iraqi enthusiasm for the US war, though proved disastrously wrong, were used by George W Bush and others as proof that the impending war was destined to be a “cakewalk”.Ajami’s ideas were long discredited, but the political machinations that still prefer “native informants” to genuine human rights defenders and good scholarship remain in place. Many of the Afghan escapees are sure to be strategically placed through the same channels, which continue to promote interventions and sanctions as sound policies.The war in Afghanistan has ended, hopefully for good, but the conflict on who represents the people of that war-torn country remains unresolved. It behooves the Taliban to deliver on its promises regarding equal representation and political plurality, otherwise there are many others abroad who will be ready to claim the role of legitimate representation.In the Middle East, in particular, we have already witnessed this phenomenon of the west-based “legitimate” democratic representations. Ultimately, these “governments-in-exile” wrought nothing but further political deception, division, corruption, and continued war.War-torn Afghanistan – exhausted, wounded and badly needing a respite – deserves better.Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and editor of The Palestine Chronicle.The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


Airfares cut by over 30% after Mavcom efforts, says transport ministry

Prices of flight tickets have been reduced by over 30% since the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) agreed to cooperate in lowering the rates during the festive season.Transport ministry secretary-general Isham Ishak however said the commission would issue a detailed statement on its efforts to look into the reduced fares.“Some people say that the price (of flight tickets) has increased by 70% but we have managed to reduce the rate and prices have already gone down as of this morning.“This is because we have managed to increase flight frequency by having the planes redeployed to focus on this sector,” he told reporters after an event at KL Sentral today.Yesterday, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob reminded airline operators not to make excessive profits by raising the price of flight tickets to Sabah and Sarawak exorbitantly during the festive season.The issue had been a hot topic of late after the price displayed on an airline’s website wa said to have increased to RM2,000 for return flights to Sabah or Sarawak, compared to the usual price of RM300 for the same trip.


In Myanmar city, civilians forced to dismantle barricades at gunpoint

Makeshift barricades of bamboo, brick and burning rubber tyres have lent the streets of Myanmar’s largest city the look of an urban warzone, and now the military are forcing civilians to dismantle them, piece by piece – at gunpoint.Constructed using any material to hand, the barriers that have sprung up across Yangon offer scant protection against the live rounds the security forces have resorted to with increasing frequency and lethal effect to crush mass opposition to the Feb 1 coup that ousted elected civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.The protesters have the numbers, but no real means of fighting the tear gas, rubber bullets and rifle fire of the army and police.The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group suggests around 230 people have been killed in the unrest, and the actual toll across the country is believed to be far higher.The barricades have become something of a protester trademark, blocking main roads and employing everything from sand-filled cement bags and bamboo screens to large, wheely garbage bins and housing bricks.They have been partially successful in slowing down the movement of the security forces, who are now intent on forcing local residents – including those not involved in the protests – to dismantle and remove them.Tun Hla, 60, was at home when armed personnel banged on his door and demanded he work on clearing a barrier erected in his neighbourhood.“I have experienced this kind of situation before and it shouldn’t happen again,” Tun Hla, not his real name, told AFP.The February coup brought an abrupt end to a 10-year experiment with democracy in Myanmar, which had previously been under strict military rule for five decades. During that period under the junta, it was typical for military personnel across the country to order families to provide one able-bodied person to perform backbreaking work.“This use of forced labour is nothing new in Myanmar,” said John Quinley of Fortify Rights, adding that it was a “brutal tactic used to create an environment of fear and intimidation”.Despite being afflicted with chronic back pain, Tun Hla had no option but to follow the orders of the armed guards and – hiding his children at home – joined his neighbours in removing the sandbags and bamboo poles piled up in the street.“I was worried for my children since… there are young people dying,” he said.Yangon, Myanmar’s former capital and commercial hub, has been a focus of resistance to the coup, and the city has witnessed some of the most violent scenes, with security forces patrolling and opening fire indiscriminately in residential areas.Martial law has been imposed in six Yangon districts, effectively placing nearly two million people under the direct control of military commanders.Sabel, 20, said she and her widowed mother were forced at gunpoint to dismantle one street barricade in their neighbourhood.“I have never done this before in my life,” she said, declining – like Tun Hla – to give her real name for fear of repercussions.Sabel and her mother were forced to remove five rows of heavy bags filled with marble sand.“I got bruises on my hands, it really hurt me,” she said, adding how she saw security personnel pointing guns at two young boys as they struggled to hoist sandbags and untie bamboo fences.One Yangon resident who grew up in northern Chin state – an area of long-standing conflict between the military and armed ethnic groups – recalled how, aged just 10 under the previous military regime, he had been forced to dig trenches and cut down trees around his hometown.“I don’t want my sons to experience those nightmares like me,” he told AFP.


Najib asked Zahid to continue UKSB’s contract for foreign visa system, court told

The High Court was told today that Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was requested twice by Najib Razak to continue the contract of Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) as the sole operator of the foreign visa (VLN) system to Malaysia in China.Former principal assistant secretary at the Immigration Affairs Division of the home ministry, Azman Azra Abdul Rahman @ Md Salleh, said the request was based on minutes made by the former prime minister in two letters, dated May 23, 2013 and Jan 20, 2014, sent to Zahid.He said the letters and minutes received by Zahid, who was then home minister, were from UKSB to Najib to request the Pekan MP’s consideration to retain the company as the sole operator of the visa management to Malaysia in China.“On May 23, 2013, the prime minister sent a minute (in writing) to Zahid that UKSB’s application needed to be approved.“The minute, dated Jan 20, 2014, stated: ‘YB Datuk Sri Zahid, please assist in this matter. This contract should be continued’,” he said when reading out his witness statement during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Lim Wai Keong on the second day of trial of Zahid’s corruption case involving millions of ringgit regarding the VLN contract.Azman Azra, who is the second prosecution witness, said that on Feb 28, 2014, an agreement was signed between UKSB and the government to supply the VLN system.“The agreement was for six years from Nov 1, 2013 to Oct 31, 2019. Under the agreement, UKSB was required to develop, integrate and maintain the VLN system at its own cost without charging any cost to the government.“The government also allowed UKSB to collect charges at a rate that did not exceed the ceiling rate of RM105 for every application for a MalaysianvVisa,” he said.When cross-examined by lawyer Ahmad Zaidi Zainal, representing Zahid, the witness said the minutes sent by Najib to Zahid were directives.During re-examination by deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin of the first prosecution witness, assistant registrar of companies and businesses of the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), Muhamad Akmaludin Abdullah, 38, the court was told that the information recorded on SSM’s certificate did not necessarily reflect the actual financial position of UKSB.Zahid was charged with 33 counts of receiving bribes amounting to S$13.56 million from UKSB as an inducement for himself in his capacity as a civil servant, then as home minister, to extend the contract of the company as the operator of a one-stop centre service in China and the VLN system, as well as to maintain the contract to supply the VLN integrated system paraphernalia to the same company by the home ministry.He allegedly committed the offences at Seri Satria, Precinct 16, Putrajaya and in Country Heights, Kajang, between October 2014 and March 2018.The charges framed under Section 16 (a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 can be punished under Section 24(1) of the same act, which provides for a maximum of 20 years in jail and a fine of not less than five times of the value of the gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.On seven other charges, Zahid was charged, in his capacity as home minister, with accepting S$1,150,000, RM3,000,000, €15,000 and US$15,000 without consideration from the same company which he knew had connection with his function.He was charged with committing the offences at a house in Country Heights, between June 2015 and October 2017.The charges were framed under Section 165 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum jail term of two years, a fine or both upon conviction.The hearing before judge Mohd Yazid Mustafa continues on Thursday.


Malaysia’s Covid-related death toll may hit 26,000 by September, study shows

A study has found that the Covid-19 death toll in the country may reach a staggering 26,000 by September based on the current trajectory, says World Health Organization (WHO) Science Council member Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman.The estimated number will be at least nine times the current cumulative death toll, which stood at 2,993 yesterday.Adeeba said the study, conducted by the Institute for Health Metric and Evaluation (IHME) of the University of Washington in the US, also estimated that the daily death rate would go as high as 200 cases towards the end of August.“Covid-19 is set to be the second-highest cause of death in Malaysia after heart attack,” the infectious diseases expert said in a Sinar Harian programme aired live yesterday.IHME, on its website, said the estimation took into account six drivers of change in mortality that have happened since the onset of the pandemic.These include the total number of all deaths directly related to Covid-19 infection, the increase in mortality due to healthcare being delayed or deferred, the increase in mortality due to increases in mental health disorders and the reduction in mortality due to decreases in injuries because of general reductions in mobility associated with social distancing mandates.Other factors are the reduction in mortality due to reduced transmission of other viruses and the reduction in mortality due to chronic conditions such as cardiovascular diseases that occur when frail individuals, who would have succumbed to these conditions, die earlier from Covid-19.Adeeba, who is also chairman of the Malaysian AIDS Foundation, said all Malaysians should be involved in the fight against Covid-19, and that the current lockdown was the most important battlefield.“We should take this MCO (movement control order) to really reflect, strategise and reset. Make plans that we can carry forward while awaiting the complete vaccine rollout. I don’t think we can afford to have MCO 5.0.“The leadership must also be responsible to restore the public’s trust because, in terms of health, trust is the currency of public health. Like it or not, the government must regain the (public’s) trust, which we had during the earlier MCO,” she said.


‘Don’t be afraid of Covid,’ says Trump as he walks unaided out of hospital

“Feeling really good!” President Donald Trump had tweeted as he prepared to leave hospital for the White House. “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.”His doctors allowed him to leave three days after being admitted with Covid-19.He walked without assistance to the presidential helicopter for the short flight home.For the president, of course home is not like where the rest of us live. The White House has extensive medical facilities, probably better than most hospitals, and he and first lady Melania will be monitored and treated around the clock.Trump later made an appearance alone on the Truman Balcony of the White House. He removed his protective face mask, before giving a thumbs-up and a salute to onlookers. He was not with Melania, who has been isolating in the White House since she was diagnosed.The president’s discharge comes as more new cases have been reported among his close staff. The latest to succumb was White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.Unsubstantiated rumours are circulating that the vector for the presidential cluster of infections may have been Hope Hicks, one of Trump’s closest aides.


Neymar 'pyschologically destroyed' by World Cup exit

Neymar said Saturday he was "psychologically destroyed" by Brazil's elimination from the World Cup in a penalty shootout defeat to Croatia and admitted it hurt more than any other loss in his career.
The 30-year-old scored a superb individual effort to equal Pele's record goalscoring haul of 77 goals for the Selecao in Friday's match that finished 1-1 after extra time.
But he never got to take a spot kick in the shootout that Croatia won 4-2 to move into the semi-finals.
Pre-tournament favourites Brazil must now wait at least another four years to win their sixth World Cup – their last dates back to 2002.
"I am psychologically destroyed. It is definitely the defeat which has hurt me the most, which left me paralysed for ten minutes after the match, after which I burst into tears without being able to stop," Neymar said in an Instagram message.
"It is going to hurt for a very long time, unfortunately," he added.
Neymar said immediately after Brazil crashed out that he might have played his last match for his country – but Pele urged him to "keep inspiring us".
The 82-year-old said on Instagram he hoped the superstar forward would carry on playing, adding that goalscoring achievements were no match for the honour of representing Brazil.
"You know, as I do, that no number is greater than the joy of representing our country," Pele wrote.
"I'm 82 years old, and after all this time, I hope I've inspired you in some way to get this far... Your legacy is far from over.
"Keep inspiring us. I will continue punching the air with happiness with every goal you score, as I have done in every game I've seen you on the pitch."
Pele, who was hospitalised earlier this month during treatment for colon cancer, congratulated Neymar for equalling his goalscoring record.
"I learned that the more time passes, the more our legacy grows," Pele wrote.
"My record was set almost 50 years ago, and no one has been able to get close to it until now. You made it, my boy. That adds to the greatness of your achievement."


June 30 hearing for Azmin’s bid to strike out suit by Gombak voters

The Kuala Lumpur High Court today set June 30 to hear Mohamed Azmin Ali’s application to strike out a suit filed against him by 10 Gombak voters for alleged deceit and breach of fiduciary duty as MP for the constituency.His lawyer Nizamuddin Hamid, when contacted, said justice Akhtar Tahir will hear on the same day the voters’ application to strike out several paragraphs from Azmin’s statement of defence.According to Nizamuddin, the paragraphs in question contain Azmin’s reasons for leaving PKR.“Both parties are to file their affidavits in reply in respect of the two applications on April 30 while the hearing on June 30 will be conducted via Zoom,” he said after case management which was conducted through e-review before deputy registrar Maslinda Selamat today.On March 12, Azmin filed the application on grounds that the suit did not disclose a reasonable cause of action, and was instead defamatory, frivolous, vexatious or led to an abuse of the court process as well as ultra vires the Federal Constitution.The application was made on grounds that the suit violated the defendant’s fundamental right to freedom of association as provided for under Article 10 Clause (1) (c) of the Federal Constitution.On Nov 27 last year, the 10 voters, registered in the Gombak constituency, filed the suit against Azmin for alleged deceit and breach of fiduciary duty through the “Sheraton Move” which caused the Pakatan Harapan government to collapse in February last year.In their statement of claim, the plaintiffs, aged between 37 and 65, sought among others a declaration that Azmin, as Gombak MP, had breached his fiduciary obligations, deceived them during the elections in the constituency and breached the representation made to them.The voters claimed that by breaching these representations, the defendant had violated their constitutional rights, especially the principles of parliamentary democracy and representative democracy, which form part of the basic structure of the constitution.The plaintiffs are seeking damages, including aggravated or exemplary damages, interests, costs and other orders deemed fit by the court.


4,471 children reported missing since 2017

A total of 4,471 cases of missing children aged 18 and under were reported from 2017 to Sept 1 this year, says Deputy Home Minister I Ismail Mohamed Said.He said based on police statistics, of the total, 4,399 children had been found while 72 are still missing.As for cases of missing persons aged 18 and above, he said a total of 6,074 cases were reported in the same period with 4,871 found while 1,203 are still missing.“Among the measures taken by the government to address this problem is to create a Missing Children Portal. The information is displayed on the portal https://knk2hilang.rmp.gov.my which can be accessed by the public.“This portal provides an opportunity for the community to work together to track down missing children more quickly and effectively by channelling the latest information via the internet,” he said during the question-and-answer session at Dewan Negara today.Ismail was responding to a question from senator Koh Nai Kwong who had asked for the statistics involving missing persons reported in the last five years, and steps taken by the government to address the problem.Ismail said the police have also collaborated with 40 other agencies through the NUR Alert, which is an early warning system for missing children cases to assist law enforcement agencies in conducting investigations leading to speedy arrests.“The police also collaborate with various parties in organising awareness programmes to prevent cases like these from recurring. The Child Awareness Campaign aims to provide awareness to the community that children are vulnerable and why it is important to ensure their safety,” he said.Ismail said based on police investigations, some of the reasons for them going missing were that they had family problems or received less family attention; seeking more freedom to be friends or lovers; depression; senility; mental health issues or being involved in crime.He said some also go missing after family misunderstandings, debts, and due to physical or mental abuse.


EU sues AstraZeneca over vaccine delivery shortfalls

The European Union has launched legal action against pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca over delivery shortfalls of its coronavirus vaccine, the European Commission said Monday.“The commission has started last Friday a legal action against the company AstraZeneca on the basis of breaches of the advanced purchase agreement,” EU spokesman Stefan De Keersmaecker said.“Some terms of the contract have not been respected and the company has not been in a position to come up with a reliable strategy to ensure the timely delivery of doses.”De Keersmaecker said the action was launched “on behalf of the 27 member states that are fully aligned in their support of this procedure”.“What matters to us in this case is that we want to make sure that there’s a speedy delivery of a sufficient number of doses that European citizens are entitled to, and which have been promised on the basis of the contract,” he said.The EU executive and AstraZeneca have been at loggerheads as the British-Swedish company’s alleged shortfall of deliveries to the bloc hobbled the early efforts to roll out jabs.The commission – which has been responsible for procuring vaccines for all of the bloc – informed member states last week of its plans to take the company to court and pressed for support from national governments.Diplomats said any lawsuit against AstraZeneca would begin in a Belgian court – the jurisdiction agreed under the commission’s contract with the AstraZeneca.AstraZeneca has so far delivered just 31 million of the 120 million doses it had promised to the EU. It has warned it will likewise provide just 70 million of the 180 million more meant to be delivered over the rest of this year.AstraZeneca’s French-Australian boss Pascal Soriot has argued that his company’s contract with the EU binds it only to a “best reasonable efforts” clause.But the commission says the rest of the contract shows greater legal responsibility than that, and EU diplomats and lawmakers have pointed out that the company has largely delivered promised doses to Britain, where it is headquartered.AstraZeneca later said the legal action was “without merit”.“We believe any litigation is without merit and we welcome this opportunity to resolve this dispute as soon as possible,” the company said in a statement after the European Commission launched proceedings.AstraZeneca also said it had “fully complied with the advance purchase agreement with the European Commission”.It added that in line with AstraZeneca’s forecast, the company is set to deliver almost 50 million doses to European nations by the end of April.“AstraZeneca regrets the European Commission’s decision to take legal action over the supply of Covid-19 vaccines,” the statement said.“We look forward to working constructively with the EU Commission to vaccinate as many people as possible.”Prime Minister Boris Johnson’ spokesman said he was unaware of the specifics around the legal action.“What I will say is that AstraZeneca has been a hugely strong partner for the UK and in fact, globally, for the work they’re doing,” he told reporters.“They’ve been a vital part of our vaccine rollout programme, and we continue to look forward to working with them.”


Army, civil service vote in the spotlight ahead of state polls

Sudin used to serve as a senior officer at the Border Security Agency (Aksem), the government body responsible for guarding the entry and exit routes at the country's frontier.
He spent time at the entry points in Perlis and Kelantan, and served in Thailand for several years before his mandatory retirement in 2019.
For 30 years, he carried out his duties including overseeing his officers and members to ensure that they were on top of their own responsibilities.
Speaking to MalaysiaNow, he recalled how he had ordered the transfer of one of his men who was being investigated for corruption.
He also appeared as a court witness in Perlis once, to testify about the corrupt practices of one of his members who was involved in smuggling illegal goods across the border.
"I gave my full cooperation," he said. "But I had to guard the reputation of my team.
"One or two of my men might have been involved in trouble, but I could not allow my entire team to be called corrupt. That wouldn't be fair, because the rest of them were honest in carrying out their duties."
Aksem has since been disbanded with border control duties now under the jurisdiction of the police, but Sudin remains firm in his stand on corruption in the civil service – a longstanding issue which reignited after a minister's claim of graft at the country's entry points.
Tiong King Sing, the tourism, arts and culture minister, became embroiled in controversy following reports of his intervention in the detention of a Chinese national at KLIA.
He also hit out at immigration officers at the airport, accusing them of corruption and power abuse.
Veteran political analyst Ahmad Atory Hussain said corruption in the civil service had been a known issue for a long time.
He said talk had swirled on the matter even during the administration of previous governments.
But he also warned that the recent uproar would continue to tarnish the government's image in the public eye.
"This is why the prime minister will be careful when issuing statements on this, because he doesn't want to damage the image of the government or the immigration department," he said, referring to Anwar Ibrahim's surprise visit to KLIA after the incident with Tiong.
"Here, it is the court that will decide who is right and wrong."
Civil service vote bank?
The civil service has long been seen as a government vote bank, with Defence Minister Mohamad Hasan expressing confidence earlier this year that the military would back Barisan Nasional (BN), a component of the coalition government, at the upcoming state elections.
Elections are due in the states of Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu, where voters will head to the polling booth on Aug 12.
Atory said it was a norm for defence ministers to announce the support of uniformed bodies such as the military and police for the government.
"This has more to do with psychological warfare," he said.
"Of course he wouldn't announce that they support the opposition."
Still, upsets happen such as in the Sungai Udang constituency in Melaka where the army vote was credited with a swing in support away from BN and towards Perikatan Nasional at the state election in 2021.
Acknowledging such shifts, Atory said the question now was where Mohamad had obtained the data predicting that the army would support BN and its partner in government, Pakatan Harapan.
"I don't recall any studies that have said this," he added.


Govt to spend RM1.2 billion to extend contracts of 14,000 medical workers

The government has agreed to extend the contracts of about 14,000 medical doctors, dentists and pharmacists for a period of two years (or 7,000 per cohort/year) which will involve a financial implication of RM1.2 billion, says Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul AzizThis is a follow-up to the government’s decision for contract-appointed medical officers, dental officers and pharmacists to be offered contractual appointments for a period of two years after completing the compulsory service period to ensure the continuity of service and preparation for specialist studies.“The government is very concerned about the demands of the contract-status health workers group and is aware of their contribution and role as the front line of health in providing the best health services to the people, especially in the Covid-19 pandemic situation,” he said in Parliament today.Zafrul said the government had also agreed to extend the appointments on a contract basis for a maximum period of four years for medical officers and dental officers who are accepted to pursue specialist studies during the first two-year contract period.He said the move was to ensure that the officers concerned successfully complete their respective specialist studies.He also said the prime minister had instructed the health ministry and relevant agencies to draw up a comprehensive and inclusive plan comprising immediate action, short-term, medium and long-term plans to enable the direction for the medical services to be drawn up.


Vaccination, SOPs enough for now to tackle Omicron, say health experts

The Omicron variant of Covid-19 which set off alarm bells across the globe following its detection in more than 23 countries can still be kept in check in the country if vaccination efforts are stepped up and SOPs are followed, health experts say.Clinical biochemist Dr Salvatore Chirumbolo added that so far, the variant does not seem significantly more dangerous in terms of morbidity.“It is highly contagious but only causes mild forms of Covid-19, usually addressed by home therapy without the need for hospitalisation,” Chirumbolo, from the University of Verona in Italy, told MalaysiaNow.The Omicron variant was first spotted by South African scientists a week ago. Since then, a number of countries including Malaysia have suspended or limited travel from the region in a bid to limit the spread of infection.Even so, Malaysia recorded its first Omicron case in an international student at a private university in Ipoh, Perak, who was confirmed to have the variant after arriving from South Africa through Singapore on Nov 19.Health experts have voiced concern over the strain whose many mutations have given rise to theories that it could be more transmissible or resistant to vaccines.In Malaysia, plans to transition to the endemic phase of so-called living with Covid-19 were put on hold pending further details on the new variant.End-year celebrations and travel plans have added to concern about the risk of Omicron spreading to the country, especially with the Sarawak state election just around the corner.Zainal Ariffin Omar, president of the Malaysian Public Health Physicians’ Association, said more information is needed on the clinical characteristics of the variant.However, he said the ban imposed on travellers from high-risk countries was a proactive step which showed caution on the part of the government.“I see no need for another lockdown in the near future,” he told MalaysiaNow.“For now, the SOPs and vaccinations are still enough to deal with the matter.”However, he advised people to avoid congested areas and overseas travel, and to take their booster shots.Virologist Dr Yahya Mat Arip said Omicron possesses 50 mutations, making it more dangerous than the predominant Delta strain.“The number of mutations in itself does not mean it is more dangerous,” he said. “It is the mutations in the spike protein structure that are of concern.”For Delta, he said, there are about 10 mutations in the spike protein.“But it is not necessarily the case that such mutations will cause the strain to be more dangerous,” he added.“Right now we have no data yet showing that Omicron can cause more severe illness or evade the existing vaccines.”He, too, agreed that the time for full lockdowns had passed as the country could no longer withstand the economic impact of another closure.“We must depend on preventive SOPs and vaccines,” he said. “Unfortunately, though, SOP compliance is declining by the day.”The same goes for booster shots, Yahya said.“Again, it is unfortunate that more than 40% of appointments are not kept.”Chirumbolo, who is also against another lockdown, said the government’s approach should change from checking all contacts to those who are symptomatic.Dr Lam Sai Kit, a senior fellow at the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, previously urged Malaysia to join global efforts to share the genome sequencing of new variants with public databases like Gisaid, and to report the detection of new strains to the World Health Organization.“We do not know the disease severity of Omicron, and whether the current diagnostic procedures using PCR and rapid antigen tests will still work well,” the prominent virologist said.“In the next few weeks, more will be known about the Omicron variant, and we can then adjust our response accordingly.”In the meantime, he added, Malaysia and the rest of the world should prepare for a worst-case scenario.


Dr M’s advice to Noor Hisham after family member infected with Covid-19

Dr Mahathir Mohamad today revealed that one of his family members had been infected with Covid-19.Without giving names, the former prime minister said the person was initially told to observe home quarantine, but was warded upon worsening in condition.“The problem is that when the person is at home, the infection will spread to everyone at home.“So more people will be infected. The infected person should have been separated, to undergo quarantine separately from the rest of the family,” he said.He said the pressure on quarantine and hospital facilities called for health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah to seek help from other experts.“There are many methods and practices to minimise infections,” Mahathir, a former medical doctor, said in a blog post.“The services of the health director are appreciated. But this pandemic is too big to be handled by a single person,” he added.


Two killed in Kashmir in wave of assassinations

A Hindu bank manager and a labourer were shot and killed in Kashmir on Thursday, police said, as a wave of targeted killings drove more Hindu families to flee India’s only Muslim-majority federal territory.Bank manager Vijay Kumar was attacked by a suspected militant inside a branch of the Ellaquai Dehati Bank in southern Kashmir’s Kulgam, where a schoolteacher was shot dead on Tuesday, local police said.“He received grievous gunshot injuries in this terror incident,” Kashmir police said in a tweet, later adding that Kumar, originally from western Rajasthan state, had succumbed to his wounds.In a separate incident militants shot at two non-Kashmiri labourers in Budgam district on Thursday, a police official said.“Militants shot at two outside labourers working in a brick kiln in Chadoora area of Budgam. They were shifted to a nearby medical facility for treatment where one of them succumbed,” he said.At least 16 people – both Hindu and Muslims – have been killed in targeted attacks this year in Kashmir, where India has been fighting an armed insurgency since the late 1980s.A little-known militant group called “Kashmir Freedom Fighters” claimed Thursday’s attack on the bank manager on social media, telling non-locals not to settle in the Kashmir valley.“Anyone involved in the demographic change of Kashmir will meet the same fate,” said its statement, the authenticity of which could not be immediately verified by Reuters.Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in 2019 split Jammu and Kashmir, then India’s only Muslim-majority state, into two federally administered territories, promising to improve development and security in the restive region.Both India and neighbouring Pakistan claim the Himalayan territory in full, but control only parts of it.But New Delhi’s reorganisation raised concerns among some local communities that the federal government may use it to alter Kashmir’s demographic by bringing in more outsiders.‘We are now scared’Rattled by the recent spate of assassinations, scores of Hindu families, including those from the minority Kashmiri Pandit communities, have begun fleeing Kashmir in recent days. More than 100 Hindu families have left after the schoolteacher’s killing, a community leader said on Wednesday.A rebellion by Muslim militants in 1989 led to some 250,000 Kashmiri Pandits fleeing the Kashmir valley because of killings of Hindus and attacks on their homes.But many, like schoolteacher Sanjay Kaul, were lured back to Kashmir by the previous federal administration with the promise of government jobs and better security.“After recent killings we are now scared and fear for our lives,” said Kaul, who left a government-built Kashmiri Pandit colony along with his family on Wednesday. “We demand re-location outside Kashmir till the situation normalises.”


Moscow announces ‘non-working week’ as virus surges

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Saturday announced a “non-working” week in the Russian capital, with non-essential workers told to stay home, as Covid-19 cases hit a six-month high.The decision marks a change of tone for Russian authorities, with President Vladimir Putin repeatedly insisting that Russia has handled the pandemic better than most countries.“During the past week the situation with the spread of the coronavirus infection has sharply deteriorated,” Sobyanin said on his website as the city registered 6,701 daily infections, the highest number since December last year.Sobyanin added that “thousands” of hospital beds have been repurposed for coronavirus patients.“We cannot not react to such a situation,” he said. “To stop the growth of infections and to save people’s lives, today I signed a decree providing for non-working days between June 15-19.”The order affects all employees in the Russian capital, a city of 12 million, except for essential workers.Non-essential workers are not required to work from home during the period, but will still retain their salaries.Together with the weekends and a public holiday on June 14, it means most Moscow workers will not return to their offices until June 20.More young patientsThe mayor also announced the closure of food courts and playgrounds while restaurants, bars and clubs will be banned from serving customers between 11pm and 6am.Sobyanin also called on employers to transfer at least 30% of non-vaccinated employees to working from home after the week-long shutdown.Cases have been on the rise across the country in recent weeks as Russia struggles to inoculate its citizens despite domestic vaccines being widely available to the public.A spike in infections has also been reported in Russia’s second city Saint Petersburg, which is co-hosting the Euro 2020 football championship.Moscow deputy mayor Anastasia Rakova said Saturday that 78% of the 14,000 hospital beds for virus patients in the city were currently occupied.“In Moscow hospitals working with coronavirus patients there are currently 498 people on ventilators, that’s almost 30 percent more than a week ago,” Rakova said.She said over the past two months there had been a “significant” increase in the number of young patients aged between 18 and 35.Earlier this week, Sobyanin said Moscow would be opening several field hospitals to accommodate the influx of patients.Slow vaccinationRussia has been among the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, with the sixth-highest number of cases in the world, according to an AFP tally.Kremlin critics have accused authorities of downplaying the severity of the pandemic by only counting fatalities where the coronavirus was found to be the primary cause of death after autopsy.On Saturday, Russia registered 13,510 new coronavirus cases and 399 deaths, according to a government tally.Russia imposed a strict lockdown when the pandemic first swept across the country last spring.But within months authorities had lifted most measures, opting to protect the struggling economy and pinning their hopes on curbing the outbreak with vaccines.Officials have registered four homegrown vaccines – Sputnik V, its single-dose version Sputnik Light, EpiVacCorona and CoviVac.Russia’s domestic vaccination campaign started in early December, ahead of most countries, but Russians have been hesitant to sign up.Polls show that more than half of respondents do not intend to get vaccinated.So far 18 million Russians – or 12% of the population – have received at least one dose of a vaccine.Putin – who the Kremlin said was vaccinated in private with one of Russia’s jabs – has repeatedly called on Russians to get immunised.


Israel holds ‘war drill’ in case of new Covid strain

In what it called a world first, Israel on Thursday held a “war game drill” in case of an outbreak of a new lethal variant of Covid-19.Civilian and military officials took part in the exercises, named “Omega” after the supposed strain, held at Jerusalem’s nuclear blast-proof National Management Center.The simulation covered different aspects of a crisis, including mass inoculation, ordering curfews and imposing a flight ban, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office said.“The state of Israel is in an excellent situation. We beat the fourth wave and we are on our way toward exiting the Delta variant. However, at the same time, we are always looking ahead… We are not ‘closing up shop’,” it said.Bennett, on a visit to the centre, said the biggest threat was “what we do not know yet, more dangerous and more contagious variants of Delta that are resistant to the vaccine that can crop up all of a sudden”.“In order to simulate a real situation”, the drill – a “first of its kind in the world” – was organised in three sessions to reflect the passage of time between various scenarios.Israel was the first country to launch a mass booster campaign during the Covid-19 pandemic, with more than 3.9 million people getting a third dose since the summer.In late August and early September, however, cases of Covid infection rose to more than 10,000 a day, a number that has since fallen to just a few hundred.About 80% of Israel’s nine-million population have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.


Trump Buddha statue maker tells former president: Be at peace, meditate

Chinese furniture maker Hong Jinshi first created a couple of pint-sized statues of former US president Donald Trump meditating in a Buddhist pose as a fun project for himself last year.Six months on, Hong’s hobby has turned into a small business in Dehua in Fujian province with an inaugural batch of 250 statues of Trump dressed in Buddhist robes meditating with his legs crossed, reports Reuters.Hong was inspired by the contrast between the two extremes of Buddhism and a former leader of the free world known for his sharp outbursts.“Our tradition is that a person who is so old and successful should start to enjoy his old age and be more relaxed, but he was still tormented and fretting over various desires and uncertainties,” said the artist.The furniture maker has received orders from China and abroad for 200 of the statues, which take 10 days to make and sell for US$150 and up depending on size.Sales would be higher, he said, if not for the scores of “fake, copycat and lower quality” imitations that have popped up on popular Chinese online marketplace Taobao at lower prices.He has no idea if Trump has seen the statues, but said he was prepared to offer one to the former president to help him “cheer up a bit”.The artist said the project has brought him a lot of happiness, and recommended Trump attempt a similar search for fulfilment.“Meditation is a look within, where you let go, and stop fighting for fame and fortune,” he said. “In Trump’s current state, to be honest, he is really well-suited to do some meditation in this way.”It is not known if Trump intends to follow Hong’s advice, but he may find it difficult to relax and meditate for a while as two Capitol Police officers are suing him for allegedly inciting the Washington Capitol riot and causing them physical and emotional injuries.The veteran cops allege that Trump “inflamed, encouraged, incited, directed, and aided and abetted” the mob that violently breached the Capitol building on January 6, according to Newsweek.The officers both say that they continue to suffer physical pain and emotional trauma from the assault nearly three months after it happened.The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, is seeking compensatory damages in excess of $75,000 for each officer and unspecified punitive damages.The complaint claims that Trump is responsible for the injuries to the officers because those who took part in the storming of the Capitol “were spurred on by Trump’s conduct over many months”.


French ex-president Sarkozy convicted of corruption but likely to avoid jail

In a spectacular fall from grace, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was found guilty of corruption on Monday and sentenced to three years in prison.A Paris court found that Sarkozy, 66, had tried to bribe a judge after leaving office, and offered inducements in exchange for confidential information about an investigation into his 2007 campaign finances, Reuters reports.“He took advantage of his status and the relationships he had formed,” presiding judge Christine Mee said.Sarkozy served as president from 2007 to 2012 and retains influence among conservatives. He is the second head of state in modern-day France to be convicted of corruption.He may not spend any time in prison, however. Two years of his sentence were suspended, and Mee said she was open to him staying out of prison tagged with an electronic bracelet for the remaining year, although that decision rests with another judge.The court found that Sarkozy had offered to secure a prestigious job in Monaco for a judge, Gilbert Azibert, in return for inside information about an inquiry into allegations that he had accepted illegal payments from L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt for his 2007 presidential campaign.“Such behaviour can only seriously undermine the legitimate trust that the public must have in the justice system,” Mee said.Sarkozy left the court without speaking, but his lawyer said he would appeal, and prove his innocence.“This ruling is extremely severe and wholly unjustified,” Jacqueline Laffont told reporters.Sarkozy and his centre-right party Les Republicains have long said the investigations against him are politically motivated.The only other president of the Fifth Republic to be convicted by a court was Sarkozy’s conservative predecessor, the late Jacques Chirac, who was found guilty of corruption in 2011.Sarkozy is due in court again later this month, on charges of violating campaign financing rules during his failed 2012 re-election bid.Prosecutors are also investigating allegations that Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi provided Sarkozy’s 2007 campaign with millions of euros shipped to Paris in suitcases.Sarkozy denies both allegations.


Three-way split for Umno after plot to topple Zahid revealed?

Umno may find itself split into three camps instead of two, following the revelation of former Supreme Council member Tajuddin Abdul Rahman of a web of plots and back-stabbing involving the top leaders of the country’s largest Malay party.Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Tajuddin revealed that there had been efforts in May 2020 by party strongmen Mohamad Hasan and Najib Razak to topple their president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.Commenting on the disclosure, analyst Mujibu Abd Muis said Tajuddin’s tell-all session had confirmed the ongoing civil war within the party and would see the formation of a new group.“Could Zahid’s camp merge with that of Ismail Sabri Yaakob to stop Najib’s group?“Previously, Zahid’s camp had worked with Najib to up the pressure on Ismail,” Mujibu, of Universiti Teknologi Mara, told MalaysiaNow.Regardless, he added, the situation did not bode well for Umno in the eyes of the general voters and would be fully exploited by the opposition.Umno has long been seen as divided into two, between the court cluster led by Zahid and Najib and the Putrajaya camp behind the leadership of Ismail.The court cluster had recently pushed Ismail to dissolve Parliament, to pave the way for an early election – a move which Tajuddin said was to save Zahid from the slew of criminal charges against him.Even so, Mujibu said, Umno’s grassroots strength, formidable to begin with, would probably not be swayed.Analyst Oh Ei Sun meanwhile said news of the plot to remove Zahid came as no particular surprise.“When Tok Mat found an opportunity and tried to topple Zahid, I was not surprised – just like when Muhyiddin Yassin tried to topple Dr Mahathir Mohamad, he did not hesitate,” Oh, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of Foreign Affairs, said.“These are ambitious fellows,” he added.At the same press conference, Tajuddin also confirmed efforts by Zahid to rally support among Umno MPs for PKR president Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister, even though Ismail, who came from the same party, was nominated.But James Chin of Australia’s University of Tasmania said Tajuddin’s revelations would not affect Zahid’s number one position in Umno.Despite the initial shock of Tajuddin’s announcement, he said, the Pasir Salak MP had not really mentioned anything new.“Many Malaysians regard his press conference as a form of revenge, and see him as venting his anger for being sacked from the Supreme Council.“Will it affect the Umno members who do not support Zahid? No,” he added. “They are preparing for the general election. They don’t really care, they just want Umno to win big so that they can form the next government without Perikatan Nasional.”And while there had been calls for Zahid to step down, Mujibu said, this was not the only option open to Umno members.“They could press Zahid to hold party elections as quickly as possible.“The mandate is over and the election that should be held has been postponed,” he said, referring to the recent special general assembly at which Umno agreed to amend its constitution to allow party polls to be delayed to six months after the general election.“It would be better and more dignified if Umno held an election as Zahid could then place his fate in the hands of the grassroots,” Mujibu added.“Then those who disagree can speak out through the proper channels.”


What about Kenya, PN asks after Hannah's response to SEA Games

Perikatan Nasional (PN) today challenged the explanation of Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh for the country's lacklustre performance at the recent SEA Games, saying other countries embroiled in political instability could still succeed in sporting events.
Pasir MAS MP Ahmad Fadhli Shaari asked why countries such as Kenya, Cuba, and Serbia where he said the political situation was worse than Malaysia's could perform better in sports.
"I think that many people do not understand this statement," he said, referring to Yeoh's explanation at a press conference on May 19.
"If we look at some countries like Kenya, Cuba, and Serbia, their political situation is not as stable as ours, but in terms of sports, they do well," Fadhli, the PN Youth chief, added.
Yeoh earlier defended her statement that political instability was to blame for the athletes' failure to achieve their gold-medal target at the SEA Games in Cambodia.
Speaking during the Minister's Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat, she added that this was only one of the factors at play.
Fadhli however interjected, saying there were countries at war which still performed well in sports.
"The Palestinian football team is ranked higher than Malaysia's," he said.
"So the question is, if the minister says political instability affected our performance in sports, what will she do in the future to make sure that whatever happens in the political arena does not affect sports, which belongs to everyone?"
Yeoh, the Segambut MP, responded by saying that the countries listed had not participated in the SEA Games.
"Over the past four years, we have changed prime ministers three times, and we have had three youth and sports ministers," she said to an additional question from Fadhli.
"There was also a change of board members, budget, and focus. Since May 2013, the minister at the time, Khairy Jamaluddin, had 61 months to prepare.
"In July 2018, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman had only 20 months to prepare before the Sheraton Move.
"After that, Reezal Merican (Naina Merican) had 18 months and Peja (Ahmad Faizal Azumu) had 16 months.
"We have to acknowledge that after the Sheraton Move, all efforts to help the economy and education were interrupted due to political instability."
Yeoh also said that Malaysia, which participated in 41% of the events, had managed to achieve its target of bringing home 141 medals in total.
She said the country's athletes had bagged 175 medals in all, only failing to reach their target of 40 gold medals by a margin of six.
"This time around, Cambodia decided not to hold several events that were expected to have given Malaysia 18 gold medals, and to introduce traditional sports which contributed 91 gold medals to the country," she added.
"As host, it also listed imported athletes and changed some rules regarding age levels, which narrowed Malaysia's chances of reaching its medal target."


Elon Musk sells US$6.9 billion in Tesla shares after Twitter poll

Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold more than US$6.9 billion worth of shares in the electric carmaker this week, according to regulatory filings released Friday.The 50-year-old South African billionaire sold more than 5.1 million Tesla shares, of which about 4.2 million were held in a trust.His massive disposal hit Tesla’s share price, which slumped 15.4% over the week.Tesla last month became the latest US tech giant to hit US$1 trillion in market value.Musk’s selloff came days after he created a Twitter poll – in which millions voted – asking whether he should sell 10% of his huge stake in the electric carmaker.On Saturday, Musk tweeted: “Much is made lately of unrealised gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock. Do you support this?”In the poll, almost 58% of the 3.5 million votes cast were in favour of him proceeding with the sale.Tesla shares had plummeted at the Wall Street opening on Monday and have fallen further since.The stock Musk disposed of this week was sold at a significantly lower share price than if he had sold before his tweet.Regulatory filings showed the tech entrepreneur had initiated the sale of at least some of these shares ahead of the Twitter poll.According to the latest filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Musk still holds about 167 million Tesla shares.Musk’s stock sale will be liable for capital gains tax of at least US$1.4 billion.His tweets followed a proposal by US Congressional Democrats to tax the super wealthy more heavily by targeting stocks, which are usually only taxed when sold.Musk is the world’s richest person, worth US$294 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.


England scraps Covid jab requirement for health staff

Health and social care workers in England will no longer have to have a Covid jab as a condition of employment from later this month, the government said Tuesday.The UK government announced on Jan 31 that it intended to revoke the regulations that made vaccination compulsory, subject to the results of a public consultation.The decision was taken because the Omicron strain of the virus was less severe than the Delta variant, and due to high rates of vaccination of people in the UK.Health Secretary Sajid Javid told parliament in a written statement that more than 90,000 health and social care workers and members of the public responded to the consultation.“The vast majority of the feedback received supported revocation, with 90% of respondents agreeing that the requirement for Covid-19 vaccination as a condition of deployment in health and social care settings should be revoked,” he added.As a result, Javid said the requirement will be lifted on March 15, although he cautioned that frontline staff still had a “professional responsibility” to get jabbed.The move has the backing of professional health regulators, he added.The UK has been one of the hardest hit countries in the world by the coronavirus pandemic, registering more than 161,000 deaths within 28 days of a positive test since 2020.Case numbers are still high: the latest seven-day rolling average is nearly 232,000 positive tests per day.But 91.5% of people aged 12 and older have had at least one jab; 85.2% have had two; and more than two-thirds (66.5%) have had a third “booster” jab.Vaccination rates are higher among the workforce of the state-run National Health Service (NHS) and social care staff working in places such as care homes.Javid said vaccination, as well as new anti-virals coming on stream, remain the best line of defence to fight the spread of coronavirus.The government lifted most coronavirus restrictions last month, assessing the time was right to end government curbs on public freedoms and move to personal responsibility.The three other UK nations, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which have responsibility for healthcare policy, are also lifting their restrictions.


Executing dissent in Myanmar

The execution of four well-known democracy activists by the military junta in Myanmar in June has angered and incensed those who cherish freedom and justice all over the world.
The four – Phyo Zeyar Thaw, Kyaw Min Yu, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw – have become immortalised in the noble struggle of the Myanmar people for their dignity and humanity. By killing these peaceful dissenters, the junta has in fact signed its own death warrant.
Since staging a coup against the democratically elected government of the day, the National League for Democracy (NLD), on Feb 1, 2021, the Myanmar military, the Tatmadaw, has become increasingly brutal and desperate. It has killed more than 1,500 protesters including at least 44 children. It has detained thousands more. Torture of detainees is rife and rampant. Scores of people have disappeared.
Both the president, Min Nyint and state counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi, are in jail. So are the ministers, deputy ministers and NLD members of Parliament. Some civil servants, leaders of civil society, a number of Buddhist monks and scores of men and women from all walks of life are also behind bars.
The media is shackled. The judiciary is totally subservient to the junta. The universities are mere appendages of the bureaucracy. All formal religious institutions are under the dictates of the military elite.
Though Myanmar in the course of the last 60 years has known brief periods of freedom, it has been in the grip of the military most of the time since General Ne Win conducted a coup against the civilian government in 1962. It is against this backdrop that one should view the Feb 1, 2021 coup and the more recent execution of dissenters.
Given this tragic history of suppression and oppression, it is remarkable that the flame of dissent has been kept alive for so long in Myanmar. Even in the last two years since Feb 1, a lot of ordinary people have openly defied the junta through actions such as the striking of pots and pans in unison – a symbolic attempt to drive away evil – and organising a silent strike on the first anniversary of the coup this year which saw the closing of shops and the halting of all outdoor activities as men, women and children stayed at home. There have been even signs of a civil disobedience movement developing in protest against the excesses of the junta.
Even before the 2021 coup, in a situation where the military was already flexing its muscles, it is remarkable that millions of voters came out to support the NLD in the November 2020 election, handing it a huge victory – 396 out of 476 parliamentary seats while the military backed party won only 33 seats. That was a dramatic expression of dissent within an environment where military dominance was overwhelmingly evident.
Indeed, it is so obvious that it was because of the NLD’s performance that the military elite conducted the coup a few months later. The military elite knew that the people had repudiated its rule, had rejected its ruthless power.
When a people have demonstrated so much courage, shown such tenacity in the face of great odds, how should we as their neighbours respond? Some Asean governments have expressed unhappiness over the junta’s use of force against peaceful protesters but on the whole, the regional grouping has refrained from advocating any punitive measures against the junta in Myanmar.
The time has come for Asean to change its stand. As a collective, it should now state explicitly that executing dissenters is the ultimate act of violence and that it expects Myanmar to desist from such behaviour immediately. If it does not, then Asean will suspend all military, economic and educational ties with Myanmar. The same message should go out to all other countries that currently interact with Myanmar in these and other related spheres. Within Asia, China and India are cases in point.
It will not be easy for a number of Asean states or for China and India to act against Myanmar. They have often argued that such action will only drive a wedge between them and the ruling elite in Myanmar and it will become even more difficult to persuade the latter to change its behaviour. They forget that their present "soft" stance has only encouraged the Myanmar military elite to become harsher and even more callous and cruel.
In this situation, civil society groups within Asean and Asia and citizens in general in the continent should pressure their governments to act on the basis of fundamental moral principles. To do otherwise is not only a betrayal of their conscience but also a repudiation of those sacred values that lie at the heart of the illustrious civilisations that constitute our heritage.                    Chandra Muzaffar is president of the International Movement for a Just World.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


UEM Sunrise-Eco World merger proposed

UEM Group Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Bhd, has proposed a merger between UEM Sunrise Bhd and Eco World Development Group Bhd.If the merger goes through, UEM Sunrise, which is 66.1% owned by UEM, stands to become one of Malaysia’s largest property companies, UEM said in a statement.It would also see UEM Sunrise retaining its listing in Bursa Malaysia, led by a chairman from its current board with Eco World as its subsidiary.“An integration committee will be set up comprising representatives from both UEM Sunrise and Eco World and co-chaired by respective chairmen, to discuss integration-related matters including the composition of the boards as well as key management teams,” the statement said.UEM said the group would remain the single largest shareholder with 43% equity, while shareholders of Eco World would hold a 24.2% equity.The merger is also an opportunity for an existing government-linked company to be in partnership with the private sector, with a projected gross development value of RM173.2 billion and a total land bank of more than 17,000 acres locally.UEM said the government-linked investment companies, which include UEM, would hold more than 50% of the stake.The merged group would focus on property developments within Malaysia and planned developments on land owned by UEM Sunrise outside the country, which would allow UEM Sunrise to stay focused on local property developments.


US Coast Guard ship transited Taiwan Strait after Blinken's China visit

A US Coast Guard ship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday in a transit that China described as "public hype", after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken having wrapped up a high-profile, widely watched visit to Beijing a day earlier.
The national security cutter Stratton made a "routine" Taiwan Strait transit on Tuesday "through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law", the US Navy's 7th Fleet said on Thursday.
The politically sensitive strait, which separates China from the democratically governed island of Taiwan, is a frequent source of tension as Beijing steps up its political and military pressure to try to force Taipei to accept Chinese sovereignty.
"Stratton's transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The US military flies, sails and operates anywhere international law allows," the 7th Fleet added in its statement.
The mission happened the day after Blinken ended a visit to Beijing, in which the two countries agreed to stabilise their intense rivalry so it does not veer into conflict, but failed to produce any major breakthrough.
Taiwan's defence ministry said the ship sailed in a northerly direction, and its forces monitored the situation which it described as "normal".
The Chinese coast guard described the ship's transit as "public hype".
Chinese vessels tailed the US ship "all the way", a spokesman at China's coast guard said in a statement, adding that China will "resolutely" safeguard its sovereignty and security and maritime rights and interests.
US military vessels, and on occasion those of its allies, have routinely sailed through the strait in recent years, to the anger of China, which views such missions as provocation.
This month the US Navy released a video of an "unsafe interaction" in the strait, in which a Chinese warship crossed in front of a US destroyer operating with a Canadian warship.
Taiwan's military reports almost daily Chinese incursions in the strait, mostly warplanes that cross the waterway's median line, which once served as an unofficial barrier between the two.
On Wednesday, Taiwan said Chinese warships led by the aircraft carrier Shandong sailed through the strait.


Snap national lockdown in NZ over single virus case

New Zealand moved into a snap three-day lockdown Tuesday after identifying a single case of locally transmitted Covid-19 suspected to be the Delta variant, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.Ardern said New Zealand, which had not recorded any infections in the community for six months, could not take any chances with the “game changer” Delta strain.“We have seen what can happen elsewhere if we fail to get on top of it. We only get one chance,” Ardern said in a televised national address.The New Zealand leader cited Australia’s struggles to contain the highly transmissible Delta variant for her “short, sharp” reaction to the case, which was found in a 58-year-old Auckland man.“We are better to start high and be cautious, then move out as soon as we are comfortable doing so, than to start low and be in that phase (lockdown) for much, much longer,” she said.“You only need to look at Australia to see the alternative. In New Zealand, ‘go hard, go early’ has served us well.”The initial plan is for New Zealand to remain in lockdown for three days from Tuesday night, with Auckland and the nearby Coromandel area facing the restrictions for a week.Officials said a major factor behind the strong response is the fact that the Auckland case has no obvious connection to the border or managed isolation.New Zealand has won widespread praise for its coronavirus response, recording just 26 deaths in a population of five million.It has meant there were no national stay-at-home orders for more than a year and domestic life remained close to normal, with no limits on social gatherings and limited mask use.But the country’s vaccine rollout has been less stellar, with only around 20% of the population fully inoculated.Ardern said New Zealand was one of the last places in the world to record Delta in the community but it had to be assumed the strain was now present, even though laboratory tests would not offer confirmation until Wednesday.“Every case we’ve had at MIQ (border quarantine) recently has been the Delta variant and Delta is surging around the world,” she said.“We need to assume this will be too and this has shaped all the decisions we have made.”


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India hits 400,000 virus deaths as vaccinations slow

India became the third country to pass 400,000 Covid-19 deaths, official data showed Friday, as the country’s vast vaccination drive slows.Total deaths are 400,312, according to the health ministry – behind only the US and Brazil – with total cases almost 30.5 million.Many experts suspect India’s true death toll is more than a million, after a devastating spike in cases in April and May that overwhelmed hospitals.The surge was blamed on the Delta variant and government complacency after Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared victory over the virus in January.Daily case numbers have since decreased significantly and many restrictions on activity have been lifted, raising fears of a new spike in coming months.The government aims to vaccinate all of the country’s 1.1 billion adults this year. But because of shortages, administrative confusion and hesitancy, only around 5% have had two doses so far.On June 21 the government tried to jumpstart the drive by making vaccines free for all adults, leading to a surge in demand with more than nine million shots being given in a day.Daily inoculation rates have since slowed again, however, averaging just over four million per day over the past week, according to government figures.A government affidavit filed with the Supreme Court this week slashed the number of doses the government expects to be available between August and December to 1.35 billion, from a previous projection of 2.16 billion, according to media reports.The filing mentioned five kinds of vaccine, down from eight in its forecast in May, the reports said, and cut the number of predicted AstraZeneca doses to 500 million from 750 million previously.On Tuesday India approved the Moderna vaccine for domestic use, taking to four the number available along with AstraZeneca, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Russia’s Sputnik V.Indian drugmaker Zydus Cadila on Thursday said it had applied for approval for its plasmid DNA-based vaccine after trials showed an efficacy rate of 67%.Cadila chief Sharvil Patel told a news conference the firm hoped to produce 50 million doses by the end of the year with monthly output of 10 million.