Only those who can contribute will be appointed, Zahid defends 'political appointments'

The coalition government will not appoint any individual who is unable to contribute to the government organisation or agency they lead, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said yesterday.
Zahid, who is also rural and regional development minister, said all appointments are based on Cabinet guidelines and the advice of the prime minister.
"Don’t view it as just because someone has a political position, especially MPs or assemblymen… their background, credentials and experience are also taken into account.
"This is something that has been done before, but we will not appoint any individual who cannot contribute to the organisation they lead," he told reporters after paying an official visit to the Penang Regional Development Authority (Perda) in Butterworth.
On the appointment of Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki as Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) chairman, he said this was based on the Umno secretary-general’s expertise, experience and credentials.
Zahid said Asyraf was not only a politician but also a banker with expertise in Islamic banking.
"It's a waste to have such experience and credentials, but we don't use it to develop Mara together. With the appointment, we hope that he will, together with my ministry’s staff, be able to develop Mara," he said.
Zahid also confirmed the appointment of Parit Sulong MP Noraini Ahmad as Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda) chairman and Shaik Hussein Mydin as Perda chairman.
Political appointments at government agencies became an issue following a number of recent appointments, including Asyraf as Mara chairman, Jazlan Yaakub as Felcra chairman and Husam Musa as Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd (SPNB) chairman.


Spotlight on quartet in search for ‘runner-up’ to replace Singapore’s PM Lee

The decision by Heng Swee Keat to take himself out of the running to succeed Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has turned the spotlight on the so-called “4G” team which forms the top leadership of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).At least four members of the 4G, whose name comes from their position as the fourth generation of the city-state’s political leaders, are said to be the favourites according to Singapore’s The Straits Times which often reflects the official views of the government.The four are Chan Chun Sing, Ong Ye Kung, Lawrence Wong and Desmond Lee, who range in age from their mid-40s to early 50s.At 51, Chan, a former chief of army, is the trade minister who is also in charge of public service. He is considered the most senior in rank.Next comes his contemporary Ong, a former education minister and currently the transport minister.Ong also served as an aide to PM Lee.Wong, 48, is also a former aide to PM Lee and the current education minister who doubles as the second finance minister.Having held positions in the defence, communications, national development and youth portfolios, he is also at the forefront of the government’s battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.At 44, Lee is the youngest. He is currently the national development minister and in charge of a task force for post-pandemic economic recovery.


Can Singapore-style HDB homes work in Malaysia?

Putrajaya's move to invite experts from Singapore's public housing agency to review Malaysia's housing policy has given rise to debate about the extent to which the island-state's strategies can be successfully applied in the country.
One researcher said there was no need for the housing and local government to refer to experts from Singapore's Housing and Development Board (HDB), as recently announced by the minister in charge of housing, Nga Kor Ming.
"Right now, the need is to overcome the housing problems in densely populated areas like the Klang Valley," Fahmi Bahrudin from think tank Iris Institute told MalaysiaNow.
"The HDB itself is facing problems in terms of ideas and framework as it was only meant to solve short-term issues in Singapore during the 1960s."
The HDB, Singapore's public housing agency, is responsible for developing affordable homes for people in the republic.
But Fahmi said that low-cost flats in Singapore had come at the cost of land and areas mostly inhabited by the Malays.
"Malay enclaves like Geylang Serai and Kampung Glam were taken by the Singapore government for HDB housing due to land limitations," he said.
"The Singaporean Malays were forced to move into HDB flats under a quota system where the majority are Chinese."
Urban planning expert Nikmatul Adha Nordin said the housing and local government should meet with local experts before turning to those from Singapore.
"Local experts would have a better grasp of the issues and problems in Malaysia,"  Nikmatul, of Universiti Malaya, said.
"The climate in Malaysia and Singapore is the same, but the context and urbanisation patterns are different."  Noor Rosly Hanif, of the International University of Malaya-Wales, said Singapore did not have a problem with homelessness as the HDB possessed complete and integrated data on matters such as households and individual affordability.
"These are things that we could learn from them," Rosly, from the university's property management and auction programme, added.
"Until today, we have not succeeded in establishing an integrated database at any level, whether district, state or national."
In Malaysia, population data is generally divided along income lines into the T20, M40 and B40 categories.
But Rosly said that such groupings were vague and did not contribute to tackling real needs.
He also said that HDB's role in regulating the housing market, measuring changes in ownership according to individual needs, had helped turn homes into residences instead of merely business commodities.
Nevertheless, he said concerns remained in matters such as national security as data on residents would be exposed to foreign countries.
"There is some weight to this line of reasoning, but if we still lack a comprehensive database, what is there to worry about?" he added.
Secondly, he said, housing developers might feel threatened by the prospect of agencies such as the HDB providing homes, especially for those in the B40 and M40 income brackets.
"Their role might shrink to providing homes only for the T20," he said.


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Indonesia cathedral rocked by Palm Sunday suicide bombing

An Indonesian cathedral was rocked by a suicide bombing on Sunday with body parts littering the chaotic scene as Christians inside celebrated the start of Holy Week.The powerful blast at the church in Makassar city on Sulawesi island happened around 10.30am local time and left at least 14 church officials and congregants injured by debris, police said.It was not clear if their wounds were life threatening.“There were two people riding on a motorbike when the explosion happened at the main gate of the church – the perpetrators were trying to enter the compound,” national police spokesman Argo Yuwono said.“The bike was destroyed and there are body parts… We’re still collecting parts and trying to identify the sex of the perpetrators.”Earlier, local police had said at least one bomber died at the scene. They have not confirmed if both attackers were killed.Makassar Mayor Mohammad Ramdhan said: “There are many body parts here at the church compound as well as in the street.”A witness at the scene described the explosion as “very strong”.Police said a church security guard tried to prevent the motorbike from entering the compound when the blast occurred.The explosion at the main Catholic cathedral in Makassar – a port city of about 1.5 million – happened just after congregants finished celebrating Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week, which commemorates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.It comes a week before Easter.“We were finishing the service and people were going home when it happened,” Pastor Wilhelmus Tulak told reporters.Churches have been targeted in the past by extremists in Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation.In 2018, a dozen people were killed when a family of suicide bombers blew themselves up at churches during Sunday services in Indonesia’s second-biggest city Surabaya.The family – including two daughters aged nine and 12 – and another family of five, which carried out a suicide bombing on a police headquarters, all belonged to the same Koran study group and were linked to local extremist network Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS)JAD, which has not claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack, gained notoriety in 2016 for a gun and suicide bomb attack in the capital Jakarta that killed four civilians and four attackers – including one who blew himself up at a Starbucks outlet.It was the first attack claimed by IS in Southeast Asia.Indonesia has long struggled with Islamist militancy and has suffered a series of attacks in the past two decades, including the 2002 Bali bombings which killed more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists. The bombings were Indonesia’s deadliest terror attack.


The abortion debate in Malaysia

When discussing abortion reform in Malaysia, the rhetoric is far from the “pro-choice” or “pro-life” dichotomy. The crux of the abortion debate – or the lack of it – is usually said to be religion, the belief that there is sanctity in all life, that a higher power gives life and is the only one that takes it away. The abortion debate instead, as in most of Southeast Asia, is usually approached through the consequences of not being able to obtain safe abortion services, seen in the emergence of underground abortion clinics and the baby dumping problem.Abortion is technically legal under civil law to save a woman’s life or to preserve her physical and mental health, although regulated under the Penal Code, Section 312-316, originating from the British Empire’s Indian 1871 Penal Code criminalising abortion. Under shariah law, abortion is allowed to be carried out for a foetus under 120 days of gestation if the mother’s life is under threat or if the foetus is abnormal. With these restrictions, access to such services remain limited and voluntary abortions remain illegal. Even if the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest, this is sometimes not enough grounds to terminate the pregnancy as it does not threaten the mother’s life.Nirmala Thapa, a factory worker from Nepal who was 24 years old at that time, became the first woman to be sentenced for abortion on Nov 12, 2014. Her case received significant media attention in Malaysia and Nepal, causing considerable controversy as she was tried under Section 315 of the Penal Code for an act done with the intent to prevent a child from being born alive or to cause it to die after birth. She was later exonerated of her conviction, and the charges against her physician were also dropped. In fact, medical practitioners in Malaysia have rarely been criminalised since the 1990s for carrying out termination services.Nirmala is but one of the many migrant workers whose work permits would be revoked in the event of a pregnancy. An Indonesian domestic worker who could not obtain access to abortion services was sentenced to eight years in prison for baby dumping in hopes of retaining her job. The judge who ordered her to jail said, “Killing your own child will not solve your problems. Let this punishment be a lesson to you.” Hence, although abortion may not be as talked about, baby dumping cases often make headlines and there is little sympathy for infanticide, usually with extremely dismissive reactions online and little to no leeway given in court.It is common for desperate college students wanting to conceal their pregnancies to be unaware of the harsh penalties that come with infanticide. A 19-year-old was charged for baby dumping with 12 years imprisonment after throwing her baby out of the window. Meanwhile, another 19-year-old whose baby was born prematurely and who buried it also received a punishment of 12 years’ imprisonment.Abortion services are available in the private sector – clandestinely, of course – but at high cost. Due to socio-economic reasons, the online sale of illegal abortion pills has skyrocketed as a cheaper option for terminating pregnancies. As these pills are unregulated, there are significant health risks that come with misoprostol and mifepristone, which can also lead to offences under Section 312-316 of the Penal Code.A woman in Kudat, Sabah, who was rushed to the hospital for allegedly taking 20 abortion pills, was immediately investigated under Section 315 of the Penal Code. A similar case took place with an Indonesian and Bangladeshi factory worker couple where the woman had a miscarriage after consuming the pills. She was rushed to hospital and the baby was stillborn. The couple was subsequently investigated under Section 312 of the Penal Code.Some have called for the sale of abortion pills offering supervision for intake to be legalised as a way to prevent online sales, but this is seen as an instant fix for unwanted pregnancies, and abortions should only be handled by a medical practitioner.Another popular way of indirectly approaching the abortion topic is through educating people about the “consequences”. Hence, abortion is the result of poor choices that the individual will have to bear.Blaming women for a lack of knowledge about preventing pregnancies is how sex education continues to be taught. There is little said about their partners when they are criminalised for abortion. Partners are only held equally liable under Section 309 of the Penal Code as far as baby dumping is concerned, with the possibility of up to 20 years’ imprisonment.It is safe to say that most mentions of abortions are only reports on the degree of punishment that accompanies the act. This finds support on national television, where every so often, images are shown of police raids of underground abortion clinics – unassuming shop lots filled with girls sitting around in shame. At other times, buried foetuses are featured as well, marking the spot as a crime scene. These regular displays of law enforcement provide effective proof that the girls have committed a crime in seeking an abortion.There was a programme by Harian Metro, accompanied by ominous-sounding music, in which they went “undercover” to find out how easy it was to get an abortion, and how much it would cost. At one point, there was an exchange on how the clinics dealt with the illegal nature of abortions.A: Jadi saya boleh ambil mayat bayi tu bawa balik?B: Awak mana boleh bawa balik? Kita tanam. Kalau awak ambil bawa balik awak mesti buat laporan polis.A: Jadi pihak awak yang akan tanam kan? Habis tu mayat bayi siapa yang aka tanam?B: Ada orang dari hospital buatkan.Medical practitioners are portrayed as having to deal with bodies – “mayat bayi” – that need to be buried in order to hide evidence of what is seen as inhumane because it is prohibited.At the end of the interview, the video cuts to the title “Mudah gugur janin”, showing the model of a skeleton and a screen displaying an ultrasound of a baby. Family planning and national development go hand in hand in discussions of matters to do with contraception, fertility and abortion, thus immediately making it a sore spot, politically.Decriminalising abortion and reducing restrictive legislation remains within NGOs and CSOs and far from the mainstream debate on the matter. Moving away from seeing abortion through the lense of law enforcement through the media might be a step in normalising discussions on the matter. However, as abortion is governed by the Penal Code, we will only be able to get a glimpse of the trauma and distress of dealing with unwanted pregnancies.Yvonne Tan is part of Projek Dialog where this article first appeared.


New infections cross 2,600 as another 6 deaths logged

Another 2,605 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 4,463,740.There were 2,014 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 4,405,197.There are now 22,953 active cases, of which 21,612 or 94.2% are undergoing home quarantine.Meanwhile, 24 (0.1%) are at quarantine centres while 1,250 (5.4%) have been hospitalised.A total of 67 are in ICU with 38 in need of respiratory assistance. ICU utilisation throughout the country stands at 54.6%, with Covid ICU utilisation at 9.0%.Another six deaths were reported, including three who were brought in dead. Total deaths now stand at 35,590.


Chinese dam engineers killed in Pakistan bus blast near hydro project

At least 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals, have been killed in an explosion that sent a bus hurtling down a mountainside in Pakistan.Beijing says it was a deliberate bombing, but Pakistani officials are blaming a mechanical failure.The bus was carrying more than 30 people to a hydropower plant site in the remote upper Kohistan region.Two soldiers were among the dead and a number of others were injured. Rescuers airlifted the injured to hospital.The Dasu hydropower project is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor – a US$65 billion investment plan that includes a network of roads, railway and pipelines between the two countries.Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported that the bus had picked up workers and Chinese engineers from a camp in Barseen and was near the Dasu plant, in the north of the country, when it went off the road.Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian urged Pakistan to punish those responsible and protect the safety of Chinese citizens in the country.“China has asked Pakistan to thoroughly investigate the truth as soon as possible, capture the perpetrators, punish them severely, and effectively protect the safety of Chinese personnel, institutions and projects in Pakistan,” he said.A number of media reports also pointed to an attack, with local officials quoted as saying they were unclear whether a device had been planted by the roadside or on the vehicle itself.“Looks like sabotage,” the top provincial police official, Moazzam Jah Ansari, said as he left by helicopter for the crash site, according to Reuters.The news agency said at least three other officials had confirmed that the bus was hit by a blast.An adviser to Pakistan’s prime minister described it as a cowardly attack.But Pakistan’s foreign ministry said later the bus went off the road “after a mechanical failure resulting in leakage of gas that caused a blast”.China’s huge investment projects are mistrusted by some in Pakistan who say locals don’t see the benefits.Chinese-funded projects have been attacked, most recently in April when the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a luxury hotel in south-west Balochistan province.China’s ambassador was in the hotel but emerged unscathed.


Australia sanctions 3 involved in downing of MH17

Australia on Saturday announced financial sanctions and travel bans on two Russians and a Ukrainian involved in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014.
Canberra officials said the sanctions target Russian national Sergey Dubinsky and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko, who were found guilty in absentia of murder and other charges by a Dutch court last year, after 298 passengers and crew died in the MH17 disaster.
Sergey Muchkaev, a colonel with the Russian Armed Forces, is also included in the sanctions by Australia.
He commanded the anti-aircraft brigade that supplied the weapons system which downed flight MH17, Canberra said.
There were 30 Australians on board when the Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur went down over eastern Ukraine in July 2014.
"As either separatist leaders... at the time of the downing of flight MH17, or a member of the Russian Armed Forces, the three people sanctioned today actively supported actions and policies that threatened the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," said Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
She added that the sanctions against Dubinsky, Kharchenko and Muchkaev demonstrated Australia's "ongoing commitment to hold to account those responsible for the downing of flight MH17".
The third person convicted in The Hague last November, Russian Igor Girkin, had already been sanctioned by Australia in 2014 for supporting separatist activity in eastern Ukraine, Wong said.


Najib to remain in jail as apex court throws out bid for SRC review

The Federal Court today dismissed Najib Razak's application for a review of its decision upholding his conviction, 12-year jail sentence and fine for the misappropriation of RM42 million in SRC International funds, dashing the former prime minister's last hope of legal recourse in the case.
A five-man bench delivered its decision in a 4-1 majority verdict, read out by Federal Court judge Vernon Ong Lam Kiat.
Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abdul Rahman Sebli, who chaired the bench, dissented.
The others on the bench were Federal Court judges Rhodzariah Bujang and Nordin Hassan and Court of Appeal judge Abu Bakar Jais.
Najib, who is currently serving a 12-year jail term at Kajang Prison, had sought to overturn the decision by a five-member Federal Court bench led by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat on Aug 23 last year.
His lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah argued that the earlier bench had errer by not allowing an adjournment of the trial.
He also cited its decision not to allow Najib's ex-counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik to discharge himself, as well as a 2018 Facebook post on Najib made by Tengku Maimun's husband.
He said the top judge should have known about it and asked if she should recuse herself from the panel.
The prosecution meanwhile argued that there had been no breach of natural justice, miscarriage of justice or abuse of the court process.
Ad hoc prosecutor V Sithambaram said the defence was given every opportunity to submit during the final appeal, and that Najib had taken on new lawyers in the hope of postponing the hearing of the appeal.
Najib, the former prime minister, was convicted by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on July 28, 2020 of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power related to RM42 million in SRC International funds.
He was sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million, a decision upheld by the Court of Appeal on Dec 8, 2021.


Canadian state health officials investigate 17 cases of suspected monkeypox

Montreal public health officials said on Thursday they are investigating 17 suspected cases of monkeypox virus infections, adding to the growing number of cases of the rare virus reported globally.Several countries including Portugal and Spain have reported cases of monkeypox in recent weeks, with a US case identified by Massachusetts public health officials on Wednesday in a man who had recently traveled to the Canadian province of Quebec.Health officials in Quebec’s largest city told reporters there was a link between the US case of monkeypox in Massachusetts and a few of the suspected cases in the Montreal region.Dr Mylene Drouin, public health director of Montreal, said the cases are not considered severe and are mainly among men who have had sexual relations with men, between 30 to 55 years old.While public health officials hope to have laboratory confirmation by the weekend, Drouin said there is a good chance cases are due to monkeypox.“The more that we see the evolution of what’s happening around the world, and the link that we have with the case in the US, we suspect that it’s a strong possibility,” she said.Dr. Genevieve Bergeron, a medical officer for health emergencies and infectious diseases, said the first suspected case was reported on May 12.Monkeypox, which mostly occurs in west and central Africa, is a rare viral infection similar to human smallpox, though milder. It was first recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1970s. The number of cases in West Africa has increased in the last decade.Symptoms include fever, headaches and skin rashes starting on the face and spreading to the rest of the body.


Dutch consider new partial lockdown as virus cases hit record

The Dutch government on Thursday was considering whether to impose Western Europe’s first partial lockdown since the summer, as new coronavirus cases jumped to the highest level since the start of the pandemic.A surge in infections that started when social distancing measures were lifted late September has put pressure on hospitals throughout the country, forcing them to scale back regular care to treat Covid-19 patients.New coronavirus infections in the country of 17.5 million have roughly doubled in the last week and hit a record of around 16,300 in 24 hours on Thursday.To contain the outbreak, the government’s pandemic advisory panel on Thursday recommended imposing a partial lockdown, shutting down theatres and cinemas, scrapping large events and closing cafes and restaurants earlier, broadcaster NOS reported.Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s cabinet will discuss the advice during an emergency meeting on Thursday night, and will announce its decisions during a televised press conference scheduled for Friday 1800 GMT.The government often follows the expert panel’s recommendations.After a partial lockdown of around two weeks, during which schools would remain open, entrance to public places should be limited to people who have been fully vaccinated or have recently recovered from a coronavirus infection, according to the advice.Even as infections spike to record levels, many developed countries have taken the view vaccine rollouts mean lockdowns are unnecessary.Britain is relying on booster shots to increase immunity and to try to avoid overwhelming its healthcare system.The Netherlands has so far provided booster shots to a small group of people with weak immune systems. It will start offering them to people aged 80 years and older in December, while extra shots will eventually be available for anyone older than 60.Around 85% of the adult population in the Netherlands has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.Last month, roughly 56% of Dutch Covid-19 patients in hospitals and 70% of those in intensive care were unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated.Unvaccinated Covid-19 patients in Dutch hospitals had a median age of 59, compared to 77 years for vaccinated patients, data provided by the Netherlands’ Institute for Health showed.Last week, the Netherlands re-introduced masks and expanded the list of venues that require a “corona pass” that demonstrates vaccination or a negative test result, to gain access.


Cops deny roughing up suspects in crowded courthouse corridor

Police have denied roughing up a group of detainees awaiting their remand hearing outside a courtroom after a video of the incident was shared on social media.The video shows a group of men in orange lock-up suits pleading their case with the public, saying they had been wrongfully arrested.They were among 29 men arrested in connection with a shooting incident in Banting, Selangor.In the video, the men were seen huddled together while being handcuffed as several policemen urged them to stand up.There was no social distancing in the crowded corridor as required by the health ministry’s SOPs.In the two-minute video of the incident shared by Twitter user @apizzahoe, a man in casual clothing was also seen using his foot on the head of one of the detainees who had fallen to the ground.tw: POLICE BRUTALITYThis happened JUST TODAY29 men were wrongfully captured by police who claimed that they were suspects to a shooting in front of a school in Banting. The men were brought to court and the court ruled that ALL of them were- pic.twitter.com/mzoqFw1uIa— bimbo rights! (@lilizzahvert) November 12, 2020It is believed that the men refused to stand up when told to by police, as they did not want to be sent back to the lock-up.The Twitter user said the men were afraid of being forced to confess to their involvement in a gang-related shooting incident outside a school in Banting in September, which saw three students injured.It was also claimed that the men “don’t even know each other”.When contacted, Selangor police chief Noor Azam Jamaludin denied police had roughed up the detainees.“I did not see any detainees being beaten,” he told MalaysiaNow.He refused to comment when asked about the failure to heed health SOPs while awaiting the hearing.


Weekly Covid patient admissions up 26%

Covid-19 patient admissions per 100,000 population to health facilities throughout the country increased by 26.1% in the 44th epidemiological week (ME44) from the week before, the health ministry announced today.
In a statement, it said patient admissions to public hospitals per 100,000 population rose 39.4% for those in Category One and Two, and 37.4% for those in Category Three and above.
Bed usage at Covid-19 facilities meanwhile rose 8% for non-critical cases and 4% for ICUs.
The percentage of Covid-19 patients in need of respiratory assistance likewise increased by 0.9%.
The number of patient arrivals at Covid-19 assessment centres (CACs) increased by 56.4% while the number of new Covid-19 cases undergoing home monitoring rose by 60.4%.
The number of Covid-19 cases referred to low-risk treatment centres and hospitals meanwhile stood at 48.7%.
Recoveries rose by 53.5% in ME 44, from 13,495 to 20,718, while the number of new infections likewise increased by 57.3% from 16,917 to 26,616.
The number of Covid-related deaths also rose, by 45.0% from 20 to 29.
The average number of active cases per day for ME 44 increased 18.4% from 28,252 to 33,449.
Malaysia's infectivity rate as of ME 44 stood at 1.20.


More than 21,000 evacuated as floods worsen

More than 21,000 people had been evacuated from their homes as of noon today, with Perak joining the list of states that have been affected by the floods brought about by continuous heavy rain.Reports also say floods are worsening in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka.A total of 6,242 people are being housed at 80 relief centres in the districts of Klang, Kuala Langat, Petaling, Sepang, Kuala Selangor and Hulu Langat in Selangor, according to a statement issued by the Office of the Selangor Menteri Besar.The Meteorological Department (MET Malaysia) has issued a red alert, forecasting heavy rain in eight Selangor districts.In Pahang, the disaster info application of the Social Welfare Department reported that the number of flood evacuees had risen to 9,851 from 2,758 families, housed at 155 relief centres.The drastic rise in the number of evacuees, from 5,189 this morning, was attributed to the increase in evacuees in Temerloh where 20 relief centres were opened by noon, up from just two in the morning.Meanwhile, Bentong district police chief Zaiham Mohd Kahar confirmed that no deaths or injuries were reported in the landslide yesterday along the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway.An inspection today found six vehicles, two of them lorries, at the landslide area. These were in the process of being towed away by the expressway concessionaire Anih Bhd, he said.“We were informed that the work to clear the landslide debris may take some time because it is still raining today,” he said.In Kelantan, the number of evacuees had increased to 3,877 from 903 families, all of whom are being housed at 43 relief centres.State civil defence force disaster management and operations division officer Mohd Hanif Omar said 22 of the centres were in the Kuala Krai district, 15 in Gua Musang and two each in Jeli, Tanah Merah and Pasir Mas.The Kelantan eBanjir official portal reported that five major rivers in the state had swollen to the danger level, namely Sungai Lebir in Tualang, Kuala Krai, at 36.57m; Sungai Kelantan at Tangga Krai (27.07m); Sungai Kelantan at the Guillemard Bridge (17.09m); Sungai Golok at Jenob, Tanah Merah (23.66m) and Sungai Golok at Rantau Panjang, Pasir Mas (10.04m).In Terengganu, the number of evacuees had risen to 326 from 101 families in the Dungun and Kemaman districts.The Terengganu disaster management committee secretariat, in a statement, said the Kemaman district had been hit by floods again and that two relief centres had been opened there.In Perak, a relief centre was opened at SM Abdul Rahman Talib, Batu 4 Changkat Jong, Teluk Intan, this morning to house 26 evacuees from eight families.A spokesman for the Civil Defence Force said the evacuees were moved in stages from their homes after Sungai Bidor overflowed its banks.In Negeri Sembilan, the number of evacuees rose to 465 from 110 families while in Melaka, the number rose to 595 from 121 families.


Remand of factory bosses linked to river pollution extended 5 days

The remand of four factory managers suspected of involvement in the water pollution incident at Sungai Gong, Rawang was today extended by another five days.The order to further remand the men, aged 50 to 60, was issued by magistrate Nik Mohd Fadli Nik Azlan.The suspects, who are also brothers, were initially remanded for six days from Saturday. They were brought to the Selayang Magistrate’s Court at 9.15am.At the same court, a factory worker in his 30s was remanded for six days from today in connection with a similar incident after being arrested in Gombak, yesterday.All of them were remanded for the investigation under Section 430 of the Penal Code.The oil pollution said to have come from the factory caused four water treatment plants in Sungai Selangor to suspend operations, disrupting the supply of water to 1,292 areas in the Klang Valley.


WHO eyes end to Covid emergency in 2023

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday it hoped that Covid-19 would no longer be a public health emergency in 2023, as it urged China to share information that could pinpoint how the pandemic started.
As the third anniversary of the original outbreak rolls around, WHO said the virus was here to stay but would need managing alongside other respiratory illnesses.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the weekly Covid death toll was now around a fifth of what it was a year ago – but was still far too high.
"Last week, less than 10,000 people lost their lives. That's still 10,000 too many and there is still a lot that all countries can do to save lives," he told a press conference.
"But we have come a long way. We are hopeful that at some point next year, we will be able to say that Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency."
WHO's emergency committee on Covid-19, which advises Tedros on whether the virus constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), will discuss the criteria for declaring an end to the emergency phase when they next meet in January.
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's Covid-19 technical lead, said the committee would look at the epidemiology, variants like Omicron, and the impact of the virus.
While waves of infection are still expected, the pandemic "is not what it was in the beginning", with cases resulting in fewer hospitalisations and deaths, she said.
"These deaths are largely happening among people who are not vaccinated," or have not received their full course of jabs, Van Kerkhove said.
While WHO says more than 13 billion vaccine doses have been administered, around 30% of the world has not received a single dose, she added.
Covid origins
Nearly 650 million confirmed Covid cases and more than 6.6 million deaths have been reported to WHO, though the UN health agency acknowledges this will be a vast undercount.
Tedros said that as the world looks to end the Covid emergency, which has upended economies and left millions suffering ongoing symptoms, it needs to understand how the pandemic began.
The first cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.
"We continue to call on China to share the data and conduct the studies that we have requested, to better understand the origins of this virus," Tedros said.
"All hypotheses remain on the table," he said, adding that this includes the theory that the virus escaped from Wuhan's virology laboratories.
WHO emergencies chief Michael Ryan said the organisation could not simply stop engaging with Beijing "because you're not cooperating with us on the origins", as a huge chunk of the world's population live in China.
New vaccines hope
Tedros said the virus had been around so long, it was almost part of the family.
"This virus will not go away. It's here to stay and all countries will need to learn to manage it alongside other respiratory illnesses," he said.
WHO's vaccines chief Kate O'Brien said that the current crop of Covid jabs do not prevent people from catching the virus to the level that had been hoped for.
"We would love to have vaccines that are more effective against infection and transmission and have greater duration of protection," O'Brien said, calling for more ongoing investment in research and development.
Mpox declining
On Mpox – formerly known as monkeypox – Tedros said the global outbreak this year had taken the world by surprise.
But like Covid, the emergency phase should be over within 12 months, he said.
More than 82,000 cases have been reported from 110 countries, although the mortality rate has remained low, with 65 deaths.
"Thankfully, the number of weekly reported cases has declined more than 90% since I declared a PHEIC in July," said Tedros.
"If the current trend continues, we're hopeful that next year we'll also be able to declare an end to this emergency."


63.8% of adults boosted, 28.9% of children given first vaccine jab

A total of 15,017,166 adults or 63.8% had received a Covid-19 booster dose as of yesterday.According to the CovidNow website, a total of 22,927,624 or 97.4% have completed their vaccination while 23,204,433 or 98.6% have received at least one dose of vaccine.A total of 1,026,732 or 28.9% of children aged five to 11 have received a first dose of vaccine under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids).As for adolescents aged 12 to 17, a total of 2,831,197 or 91% have completed their vaccination while 2,931,709 or 94.2% have received at least one dose of vaccine.Yesterday, a total of 57,106 vaccine doses were dispensed, with 24,342 as first doses, 882 as second shots and 31,882 as booster jabs,This brings the cumulative number of vaccine doses administered under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme to 67,731,132.


North Korea Covid outbreak is ‘worrying’ for new variants, WHO says

A senior World Health Organization official said on Tuesday that high levels of transmission of the coronavirus among unvaccinated people, such as in North Korea, creates a higher risk of new variants.The isolated country, a WHO member, is grappling with its first acknowledged Covid-19 outbreak, fuelling concerns over a major crisis due to a lack of vaccines and medical infrastructure.“Certainly it’s worrying if countries… are not using the tools that are now available,” said WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan in response to a question about the outbreak in North Korea.“WHO has repeatedly said that where you have unchecked transmission, there is always a higher risk of new variants emerging,” he said.At the same press briefing, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said he was “deeply concerned” about the spreading virus among an unvaccinated population with many underlying conditions.The UN health agency has previously said Pyongyang has yet to inform it officially of the outbreak in an apparent violation of the country’s legal obligations under the WHO’s International Health Regulations.Asked about how the WHO would respond, Ryan said that the body was ready to help but had no power to interfere in a sovereign country.


Bikinis now fine for beach volleyball tourney in Doha after Qatar reconsiders

There will be “no restrictions” against female beach volleyball players wearing bikinis during an upcoming tournament in Qatar, the sport’s governing body said this week after players threatened to boycott the competition.The conservative Muslim Arab country is hosting the Beach Volleyball World Tour for the first time from March 8 to 12.Doha at first asked female players to wear long shirts and trousers instead of bikinis for the event, out of respect for the culture and traditions of the host country, according to The Guardian.German players Karla Borger and Julia Sude then told radio station Deutschlandfunk they would boycott the Doha event after being told they can’t wear bikinis, the normal attire for beach volleyball.They both told Germany’s Der Spiegel they would “not go along” with the Qatari rules.“We are there to do our job, but are being prevented from wearing our work clothes,” Borger said. “This is really the only country and the only tournament where a government tells us how to do our job – we are criticising that.”She added that given the extreme Doha heat, “We are asking whether it’s necessary to hold the tournament there at all.”Other players of the popular spectator sport had also raised concerns about the restrictions.In a statement on Tuesday, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) said it had consulted with the Qatar Volleyball Association (QVA).“Following further discussions, the QVA has confirmed that there are now no restrictions on female players wearing standard uniforms during the event in Doha, should they so wish,” it said in a statement.“The FIVB believes strongly that women’s beach volleyball, as all sport, should be judged on performance and effort, and not on uniform,” it said. “Therefore, during the competition in Doha, should players request to wear the standard uniform, they will be free to do so.”


Premier League has ‘no plans’ to pause season as virus wreaks fresh havoc

The Premier League said on Wednesday it had “no plans” to pause the season and had confidence in its protocols after a third English top-flight match was postponed due to coronavirus outbreaks.Tottenham’s home match against Fulham was scrapped just three hours before the scheduled kick-off after a number of Covid-19 cases at the visiting club.It is the third top-flight game to be wiped out by the virus, following Newcastle’s match with Aston Villa earlier this month and Monday’s game between Everton and Manchester City.The Premier League announced on Tuesday there had been a season-high 18 positive tests in its latest round of testing across the competition, already compressed due to the late start to the season.Britain is struggling with another surge in the virus, with an overall death toll of more than 72,500 – one of the worst in the world.But league chiefs issued a statement late Wednesday expressing their determination to fulfil their fixtures.“The Premier League has not discussed pausing the season and has no plans to do so,” it said.“The league continues to have confidence in its Covid-19 protocols to enable fixtures to be played as scheduled, and these protocols continue to have the full backing of government.“With the health of players and staff the priority, the league is also fully supportive of how clubs are implementing the protocols and rules.”Further down the English football pyramid, postponements are mounting, with seven of the 12 games scheduled for Tuesday in the third-tier League One called off due to coronavirus infections.After Manchester City’s trip to Everton on Monday was postponed due to a Covid outbreak in Pep Guardiola’s squad, all five matches scheduled for Tuesday went ahead.But Scott Parker’s Fulham asked for their game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to be called off, which the Premier League board sanctioned on Wednesday.Mourinho frustrationIt is understood Spurs are unhappy about the decision and the timing of it.There had been speculation throughout the day that the game might be called off and manager Jose Mourinho indicated his frustration in an Instagram post shortly after 1400 GMT.Mourinho posted a video on his account of his staff waiting for news with a message which read: “We still don’t know if we play. Best league in the world.”The Premier League confirmed the decision to postpone the game was taken following a meeting on Wednesday.“Fulham lodged a request with the Premier League board to rearrange the fixture following a significant rise in positive Covid-19 cases, as well as a number of players showing symptoms today,” it said.Press reports said representatives of some Premier League clubs had discussed a two-week “cooling off” period next month, and West Brom boss Sam Allardyce backed the so-called “circuit-breaker”.But Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti said he had confidence in the rules in place.“I think the protocol the Premier League put in place is really good,” he said. “We feel safe in our bubble. But outside, I have to pay attention, like all the normal people have to pay attention.”League officials are desperate to avoid suspending the season with broadcast contracts to honour and the postponed European Championship looming in June.Manchester City were due to return to training on Wednesday after no new positive cases of coronavirus were reported following the latest round of testing.More tests will take place later in the week, the results of which will determine whether Sunday’s trip to Chelsea and next week’s League Cup semi-final at Manchester United can go ahead.Premier League leaders Liverpool were in action at Newcastle’s in Wednesday’s late match.Sports fans will be barred across England after the government placed almost the entire country under tougher restrictions.Until the rules were tightened, 10 clubs in the Premier League and English Football League, including Liverpool and Everton, had been able to admit supporters.


New cases drop below 6,000

Another 5,854 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 2,466,663.Another 6,715 patients recovered, bringing total recoveries to 2,368,634.Meanwhile 570 are in the ICU, including 503 confirmed Covid-19 patients.A total of 293 are in need of respiratory assistance including 216 confirmed Covid-19 cases.Of the 5,854 cases reported today, 79 (1.3%) are in Category Three and above. The remaining 5,775 (98.7%) are in Category One and Two.


Bersatu, PAS may swap seats for GE15, says PN sec-gen

Bersatu and PAS will not hesitate to swap seats in the 15th general election (GE15) to ensure victory for Perikatan Nasional (PN), says PN secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin.
"During discussions with the component parties in facing GE15, we emphasised the importance of ensuring that the leaders of all the component parties can win the seats they are contesting.
"The swapping of seats is necessary. For seats won by Bersatu before, PAS may need them now to win in GE15," Hamzah, who is home minister, said at a special press conference on flood operations at Bukit Aman today.
When asked if PAS was committed to remaining with PN or whether it was still negotiating with Barisan Nasional, Hamzah said PAS was with PN.
Besides Bersatu and PAS, the other parties in PN are Gerakan, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) and the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced the dissolution of the 14th Parliament effective Oct 10 to make way for GE15 after obtaining the consent of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.


Global virus deaths hit record high as EU approves second vaccine

The European Union (EU) cleared a second coronavirus vaccine for use on Wednesday bringing relief to European countries struggling with spiralling infections, as the world clocked up a record number of deaths in a single day.The Moderna vaccine is now set to join Pfizer-BioNTech’s jab for use in the 27-nation EU, where governments have been criticised for slow rollouts of the doses already available.“We’ll have more than enough safe and effective vaccines for protecting all Europeans,” promised European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.The breakthrough came as a record 15,769 Covid-19 deaths around the world were registered in 24 hours.The US, the world’s worst-hit country, logged a record 3,936 deaths and Britain recorded its own record of more than 1,000 new deaths, leapfrogging Italy to become the fifth worst affected nation in the world.‘Dark January’While experts see mass vaccinations as the best route back to normality, the first rollouts have coincided with alarming spikes in deaths and caseloads.Lebanon broke its daily high with more than 4,000 cases and Portugal reporting a record 10,000 new infections.And policymakers have not been able to capitalise on the good news from vaccines as quickly as they may have liked.Several European governments have been harshly criticised for slow rollouts – the Netherlands delivered its first jab on Wednesday, 10 days after the EU first approved the drug.The EU as a whole has shifted more than one million doses, but this is fewer than Britain has managed.And the vaccines have not yet relieved weary populations from the burden of stay-at-home orders, curfews, closed shops and shuttered schools.A new lockdown came into force in the UK on Wednesday and Ireland followed suit shortly after.“We simply have to suppress this surge,” prime minister Micheal Martin told reporters in Dublin, announcing a host of new restrictions as Irish officials warned of a “really dark January”.‘Defiant’ BulgariansThere is scant relief on offer from the arts or sport, with large-scale events spluttering back to life after being largely closed down earlier in the pandemic.Thousands of cricket fans who attended Australia’s Boxing Day Test match against India have been told to get tested and isolate after a spectator tested positive.The Grammy music awards have been postponed from January to March and the world’s biggest film festival in Cannes said it may be pushed back from May to later in the summer.And hundreds who took part in an illegal New Year rave in France earlier this week were given a stiff lesson in virus rule breaches when the party’s organiser was charged and remanded in custody.“It is inconceivable for someone to go to prison for letting women and men dance,” said a group of the man’s supporters.With little culture on offer, Christians across central and eastern Europe took solace in religious celebrations on Wednesday, marking the Epiphany despite virus warnings.The Greek Orthodox Church held ceremonies including the communion against the wishes of the government, and in Bulgaria dozens of undaunted men took their annual dip in icy water seeking a cross thrown by a priest.“Nobody is in a position to stop this celebration,” said Rumen Stoyanov, mayor of the riverside town of Kalofer, acknowledging that the swim broke virus rules on large gatherings.“It’s a sign of how defiant Kalofer residents are.”


Najib behind Anwar’s confident march to Putrajaya?

Former prime minister Najib Razak has been instrumental in Anwar Ibrahim’s latest plan to topple the government, MalaysiaNow can now reveal, in a development that could see the two former Umno poster boys coming together to dismantle a common hurdle to their personal and political futures.A highly placed source in PKR familiar with the relationship between the two leaders said Najib, whose family’s political influence in Pahang ensured the state’s resistance to the tsunami against him in 2018, had fully backed Anwar’s move to seek an audience with Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.The source said the duo had been in contact “for some time”.“But the discussions became more active at the end of July,” the source told MalaysiaNow.This was about the same time that Najib was convicted of all charges related to some RM42 million from a 1MDB-linked firm in his personal bank accounts, the first of several corruption cases faced by the former leader.The revelation comes as Anwar prepares to meet the Agong on Tuesday, where he said he would furnish proof of having a “formidable” majority to bring down Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government.Muhyiddin was sworn in by Sultan Abdullah after a series of interviews with the 222 MPs following the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition in February.The king later declared that Muhyiddin, with Umno’s en bloc backing as well as that of GPS and PAS, had secured the confidence of the majority to form the government.But Muhyiddin has since been attacked by PH leaders as a traitor to the people’s mandate, with many accusing him of forming a backdoor government of “kleptocrats”, a reference to Najib and several Umno leaders slapped with dozens of corruption charges.Najib’s conviction on July 28 of all charges related to SRC International, the source said, was the “clearest proof” that his decision to give his former deputy Muhyiddin the numbers for the Perikatan Nasional alliance “had not been reciprocated”.“So what we have here is friends with benefits.”“When Muhyiddin is seen as steering clear of Najib’s case, the latter is left with no choice but to find someone who has a history of seeking alliances,” the source said.That someone is Anwar, who said he once rejected Najib’s gesture of joining hands with him to form the government following Barisan Nasional’s (BN) loss of majority to PH.“What Anwar could offer Najib now, assuming through a rare stroke of luck that he becomes the prime minister, is to ensure that Najib remains out of prison,” the source told MalaysiaNow.“So what we have here is friends with benefits,” the source quipped. “Najib is fighting to stay out of prison, Anwar is fighting to become PM. They need each other, and that explains Anwar’s confidence.“Remember, politicians are united more by a common hatred than a common vision. In this case, both Anwar and Najib hate Mahathir, the man responsible for crippling their political fortunes,” the source added.Najib, who has been sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million for the seven charges of abuse of power, breach of trust and money laundering, is appealing against his conviction.He had several times confirmed contacting Anwar on the night of the 2018 general election, when his BN government could not obtain a majority to remain in power.“All this while, I have been communicating with him. Mostly to ask how he was personally, among others,” he said in November 2018.Anwar Ibrahim and Najib Razak, seen in this widely shared photograph taken in 2009, were once allies in Umno.Anwar meanwhile said he had rejected Najib’s overtures on May 9 to join hands against Mahathir. Several days later, Anwar, who was serving a five-year sentence for sodomy, was released from prison after receiving a royal pardon backed by Mahathir.‘PR work before royal audience’Meanwhile, a source in Umno said Najib was out to ensure that Anwar had enough numbers before his audience with the Agong on Oct 13.“And it does not necessarily need for Najib to be on Anwar’s list,” it added.The source added that Anwar had been told “to act with caution in the run-up to his palace appointment”, with close advisers counselling him on “the correct statements”.“So when Anwar released a message to commemorate World Mental Health Day yesterday, it was a PR stunt at work to score points on an issue that is close to the royal household,” the source said.Mental health is an issue championed by none other than Tengku Puteri Iman, the daughter of Sultan Abdullah, who was named the international patron for World Mental Health Day by the World Federation for Mental Health.But Sultan Abdullah’s scrutiny of MPs during the February crisis showed that the monarch might not be swayed by politicians’ PR gestures.“It was perhaps the first time that lengthy and in-depth interviews were held by a ruler, despite the urgency to form a government,” said one observer.Reunion of the ‘Wawasan trio’Meanwhile, none other than Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is facing 47 corruption charges, has been seen as supportive of the collaboration between the two politicians.“Zahid is just a henchman, once to Anwar, then to Najib. And both leaders are still his boss,” the same Umno source told MalaysiaNow.Najib and Zahid were part of the so-called Team Wawasan, which sought to propel Anwar into power when the trio were together in Umno in the mid-1990s.The source said Najib and Zahid would arrange for support from “a group of Umno MPs” facing a fate similar to theirs in court.“Muhyiddin has either refused, or was unable, to help secure their freedom. So they are left with no choice.”Umno MPs such as Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, Ahmad Maslan and Bung Moktar Radin are all facing corruption charges.On Friday, MalaysiaNow reported that DAP leaders had made it clear that they would shun any coalition with Umno MPs involved in corruption cases.Analysts said that by doing so, DAP could continue playing its role as a strong opposition without risking its support from Chinese voters whose overwhelming vote against BN in 2018 caused Najib’s fall from power.


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Neelofa, husband send representation to AGC over SOP breach charges

Celebrity Noor Neelofa Mohd Noor and her husband, Muhammad Haris Mohd Ismail, have sent a representation to the Attorney-General’s Chambers over charges made against them for breaching the SOPs of the conditional movement control order (CMCO) at a carpet shop in Nilai, in May this year.Lawyer Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohamed, representing the couple, said the letter of representation to the AGC was sent yesterday.He told reporters this after the couple’s case came up for mention before magistrate Mohd Firdaus Saleh today.He added that the court set Dec 1 for mention.On May 20, Neelofa and her husband pleaded not guilty to violating Regulation 19 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures Within Infected Local Area) (Conditional Movement Control) (No.4) (Amendment) (No.12) Regulations 2021 which carries a fine not exceeding RM50,000 or imprisonment for up to six months, or both, upon conviction.Haris, 26, was charged with two counts of failing to comply with the CMCO SOPs by failing to wear a face mask and to scan the MySejahtera application or write his name in the registration book to check in at Kedai Naeem Carpet Sdn Bhd, Kawasan Perindustrian Nilai 3, Nilai, at 4pm on May 2.Neelofa, 32, was charged with failing to scan the MySejahtera application or write her name in the registration book to check in at the same place and time.


Dutch court tracks BUK missile that downed MH17

People charged with being involved in shooting down flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 moved the BUK missile battery back to Russia, a Dutch court heard Thursday.Judges have been examining the route taken by a ground-air missile system that destroyed a Boeing 777 on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board, including 196 Dutch citizens.Investigators say the missile battery was deployed near the town of Pervomayski, which was controlled by Ukrainian separatists.Intercepted communications suggest a defence strategy was quickly drafted after the plane was shot down, according to which it was said to have been hit by a Ukrainian combat jet, which was then downed by the Russian missile battery.Russian nationals Oleg Pulatov, Igor Girkin and Sergei Dubinsky, and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko were charged with murder after the airliner was blown from the sky on a routine flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.The missiles are believed to have come from the Russian army’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade based in Kursk, not far from the border with Ukraine.Pulatov, the only defendant to be represented at the trial, told his lawyers that references to a “BUK” system in the intercepted conversations was intended to fool enemy forces.Judges on Monday said the court will look this week at evidence concerning three key questions: whether the Boeing 777 was shot down by a Russian-made missile; the location the missile was fired from, and the role of the four suspects in the crash.Prosecutors and defence lawyers will have the chance to present their cases during hearings that are to last until July 9.Relatives of the victims will be able to address the court in September.


MCO states to come under CMCO

The movement control order (MCO) imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19 will end as scheduled on March 4 in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Penang.Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob said these states will then come under conditional MCO until March 18.Kedah, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Sarawak and Perak will remain under CMCO as well.Melaka, Pahang, Terengganu, Sabah, Putrajaya and Labuan meanwhile will join Perlis under recovery MCO.In an update on the MCO situation, Ismail said inter-district travel will also be allowed in all states except for Sabah. However, the ban on interstate travel remains in place.The tourism sector will be allowed to operate at 50% capacity. Likewise, other sectors which were previously barred from operating will be allowed to reopen subject to conditions to be set by the local authorities.“But operating hours will still end at midnight,” Ismail said, adding that other SOPs set by the National Security Council remain in force as well.Social gatherings including wedding ceremonies will also be allowed for all communities, with attendance capped at 50% of venue capacity.


Macron’s majority in doubt after first-round of parliament vote

French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance was in danger of falling short of a majority after a first round of parliamentary elections on Sunday that saw a surge in support for a new leftwing coalition.Macron’s “Ensemble” (Together) alliance ran neck-and-neck with the leftwing NUPES grouping in Sunday’s first round, with both scoring around 25-26 percent of the popular vote.Extrapolating from these figures, four polling firms projected that Ensemble would win 225-295 seats in the decisive second round of voting next Sunday, possibly short of a majority of 289 but comfortably the biggest group.“We have a week ahead of us to mobilise,” Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne told reporters. “One week to convince, one week to obtain a powerful and clear majority.”Ensemble was “the only political grouping capable of getting a majority”, she aid.NUPES, a newly unified leftwing alliance of leftists, Socialists, Greens and Communists, was seen winning 150-220 seats, a major breakthrough that would make them the biggest opposition force in the National Assembly.“It’s a very serious warning that has been sent to Emmanuel Macron,” political scientist Brice Teinturier told France 2 television, noting how support for the president’s party had fallen since the last election in 2017.“A majority is far from certain,” he added.If Macron’s coalition does fall short, it is expected to lead to messy bill-by-bill deals with right-wing parties in parliament, or he would have to try to poach opposition or independent MPs to his side.Under France’s constitution, the president has exclusive control over foreign and defence policy, but needs a majority in parliament to pass domestic legislation.‘First test’Sunday’s vote followed presidential elections in April in which Macron secured a second term, beating far-right leader Marine Le Pen with pledges to cut taxes, reform welfare and raise the retirement age.Putting behind their divisions, the French left has united behind Jean-Luc Melenchon, a hard-left veteran who has a radically different programme, including lowering the retirement age, hiking the minimum wage by 15 percent and creating wealth taxes.“NUPES has passed the first test it faced in magnificent fashion,” Melenchon told reporters in a statement afterwards, calling on supporters to “pour out” next Sunday.He called for the support in particular from the working classes and young people, adding that Macron’s allies were “beaten and defeated”.Overall turnout was projected to be a record low of 46.8-47.9% on Sunday, according to polling firms, with abstentionism particularly high in working-class areas.Le Pen looked certain to be re-elected as an MP representing a former mining town of northern France, Henin-Beaumont, with her National Rally party appearing on course to increase their representation.After winning 18.5-19.7% of the popular vote on Sunday, it was on track to secure 5-45 seats in the new parliament next weekend, compared with eight currently.More than 15 MPs would give the far-right a formal group in parliament, giving it more time to speak and put issues on the agenda as well as extra resources.Defeated far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour was eliminated on Sunday after standing in a constituency around Saint-Tropez in southern France.No honeymoonWhile Macron and his European Union allies were relieved by Macron’s victory against Le Pen in April, the last weeks have offered no honeymoon for the 44-year-old head of state.Energy and food prices are soaring, while disorder and the tear-gassing of English fans at the Champions League final in Paris on May 28 have led to recriminations.His new Disabilities Minister Damien Abad has also faced two rape accusations – which he has vehemently denied – while new Prime Minister Borne has yet to make an impact.Macron is set to make a public appearance at an arms fair in Paris on Monday morning, kicking off what promises to be an intense week of campaigning from all sides.He and allies have sought to portray Melenchon as an old-style tax-and-spend leftist whose anti-EU and anti-Nato policies pose a danger to the country.Melenchon accuses Macron of planning to undermine France’s cherished public services and is promising strong environmental policies and “harmony with nature”.Jerome Jaffre, a political scientist, said many voters appeared to be motivated by a desire to deprive Macron of an absolute majority.“It means that they’re hoping to force him to work more with others, share power and really change his method (of governing) which he promised during his presidential campaign,” he told the LCI channel.Official figures from Sunday’s voting are expected Monday morning.


What unity, Muhyiddin asks after DAP man calls Umno-BN corrupt

Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin today hit out at the federal administration, questioning its "unity government" label in the wake of criticism by former DAP publicity secretary Tony Pua of Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno as corrupt parties.
"Tony Pua called BN corrupt and asked his party to leave the government.
"How are we to call this government a unity government? This is a different definition of unity," he said at the launch of PN's election machinery for the Selangor polls in Shah Alam.
Muhyiddin said the situation was proof of a lack of agreement within the government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
He said the ministers and MPs from the government block also appeared downcast whenever they attended Parliament.
"Because their spirit is not there," he added.
Pua had said at a DAP fundraising dinner in Petaling Jaya yesterday that Pakatan Harapan (PH) could form the government on its own without involving Umno and BN if the coalition won the 16th general election.
Speaking at the event today, Muhyiddin also urged party leaders to be ready for action ahead of the election in the state.
He said PN's manifesto for Selangor would likely be ready within the next week or two.
He also called on party members to accept the candidates chosen for the election with an open heart.
"When the leadership makes a decision, it should be accepted," he said.
"Accept whichever candidate has been chosen by the party leaders."


Lynch mob stones mentally ill man to death in Pakistan

An angry mob stoned to death a mentally ill man in Pakistan, authorities said Sunday, in the country’s latest case of blasphemy-related violence.Dozens of people have been arrested over the lynching, which happened on Saturday evening in a remote village in Punjab province, after it was alleged that the victim had burned some pages of the Quran, according to Tahir Ashrafi, the prime minister’s special representative on religious harmony.Law-enforcement agencies are also monitoring hundreds of other suspects, he said.The killing came just over two months after a Sri Lankan factory manager was beaten to death and set ablaze by a mob over blasphemy in Sialkot city, also in Punjab.“Who could possibly justify the barbaric act of stoning to death a mentally ill person?” Ashrafi told a televised press conference in Khanewal district, where the lynching happened.“The man’s family say that he was mentally ill and his mental health wasn’t right for the past 10 to 15 years.”“This is not the religion of my Prophet, to kill people under your own interpretation of religion,” he added.On Twitter, Prime Minister Imran Khan said his government had “zero tolerance for anyone taking the law into their own hands”, adding that “mob lynchings will be dealt with full severity of the law”.He said he had asked Punjab officials for a “report on action taken against perpetrators of the lynching… & against the police who failed in their duty”.Few issues are as galvanising in Pakistan as blasphemy, and even the slightest suggestion of an insult to Islam can supercharge protests and incite lynchings.Rights groups say accusations of blasphemy can often be wielded to settle personal vendettas, with minorities largely the target.In April 2017 an angry mob killed university student Mashal Khan when he was accused of posting blasphemous content online.And a Christian couple were lynched then burned in a kiln in Punjab in 2014, after being falsely accused of desecrating the Koran.


Brazil’s Covid death toll tops 450,000

Brazil’s Covid-19 death toll surpassed 450,000 on Tuesday, as delays plague the hard-hit country’s vaccine rollout and epidemiologists warned a brutal new surge of the virus could be coming.The health ministry reported 2,173 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the official number of lives lost to the coronavirus in Brazil to 452,031, second only to the US.The situation has stabilized somewhat, with an average of 1,854 Covid-19 deaths per day over the past week – down from more than 3,000 in mid-April.But the number of infections has been rising steadily since early May, to an average of 66,000 per day over the past week, making epidemiologists fear the death toll is about to start rising again, too.With 215 Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, Brazil is the hardest-hit country in the Americas, and among the worst affected in the world.Experts say the latest increase in infections is partly caused by state and local authorities lifting pandemic restrictions a month ago when the curve showed a slight decline.The slow pace of vaccination is not helping. Around 20% of Brazil’s 212 million people have received a first vaccine dose, and 9.9% a second – still too few to meaningfully slow the virus.In a worrying development, Brazil registered its first cases of the so-called Indian variant last week, in six crew members of a Hong Kong-flagged ship.The World Health Organization has declared that mutation a “variant of concern”, like another that emerged in Brazil. Both are feared to be more dangerous than the original strain.The Indian variant has not been confirmed to be spreading locally in Brazil.But “I think it’s only a matter of time,” said researcher Margareth Dalcolmo, of leading public health institute Fiocruz.“The Indian variant is very difficult to contain,” she told CNN.Brazil’s Senate has opened an inquiry into why the country’s Covid-19 death toll is so high, casting a spotlight on far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s unorthodox pandemic response.Bolsonaro has controversially fought stay-at-home measures, spurned face masks, refused offers of vaccines and touted ineffective medications such as chloroquine.


More than 24 hours after audio exposé, cops yet to receive reports

Police have not received any report from either Ahmad Zahid Hamidi or Anwar Ibrahim, more than 24 hours after an audio recording of them in an explosive phone conversation was made public, sparking anger within Umno.A spokesman for the Bukit Aman police headquarters confirmed to MalaysiaNow that no police report had been lodged as of press time despite denials from both Zahid and Anwar.Both politicians had said they would instruct their officers to lodge police reports to investigate the clip.Zahid and Anwar, the Umno and PKR presidents, claim that the audio recording is a fabrication of their voices.In the four-minute clip revealed by MalaysiaNow yesterday, Anwar is heard congratulating and giving instructions to Zahid in the aftermath of the latter’s speech at the Umno general assembly, calling on delegates to cut ties with the Perikatan Nasional government.Zahid in return thanked Anwar for his moral support.‘Bersatu politics’ to attack Umno leaders, Anwar says on leaked call with ZahidShocked by leaked audio, Nazri urges Zahid to stop dragging Umno into his problems‘It’s genuine’: Annuar convinced of Anwar-Zahid phone call, suggests mosque oath to clear namesVile attack against me, says Zahid after leaked phone call with AnwarRevealed: Explosive telephone conversation between Anwar and ZahidDespite their denials, MalaysiaNow has been able to verify that the clip is authentic, and that the voices belong to Anwar and Zahid.Meanwhile, questions have been raised on why the two leaders decided to use third parties to lodge reports about a clip which involves them.When contacted, a senior lawyer told MalaysiaNow that it could be due to legal ramifications.Mohd Haniff Khatri Abdulla said there was a risk that they could be accused of lodging a false police report, in the event that an investigation concluded that the recording was genuine.“If it turns out that one or both of them are involved, and it is they themselves who lodged the report, it can be said that they gave false reports,” he told MalaysiaNow.“It is possible that they are resorting to a legal tactic in which their officers would lodge the reports, so that they themselves would not be accused of making false reports.”


Govt to stick with plans for single, state-run 5G network

Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz today said the government has decided to stick with plans to have a state-run agency deploy the country’s sole 5G network infrastructure, rejecting telcos’ recommendations for a second network.The government will retain a 30% equity stake in the agency, Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB), and will offer an up to 70% equity stake to telecommunications firms.“Maintaining the single wholesale network model demonstrates the government’s firm stance on policy continuity,” Zafrul told a news conference.The decision comes after the matter was raised in the Cabinet last week following objections from industry stakeholders which said a shared fifth-generation (5G) wireless network could hamper competition.Mobile phone service providers had recommended a second 5G provider in an impasse with DNB over pricing and other issues, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters in December.


'No country for poor people': Mahathir hits out at govt again

Former leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad today hit out at the authorities whom he said had blocked him multiple times from speaking out about the troubles of the Malays, days after accusing Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of trying to silence dissent.
In a statement laced with his trademark sarcasm, Mahathir said he had become afraid as he was now unable to speak about the plight of the Malays in his own country.
"We can't even meet," he added. "There is no place. Everywhere has rejected us. Four times we were rejected 'on the instructions of the higher-ups'.
"We wanted to launch the Malay Proclamation without talking about other races, and it was called sedition.
"I am afraid. Can I even use social media like this? Or will I be accused of sedition?"
Mahathir's statement today came more than a week after he said Anwar had been behind the sudden cancellation of the Malay Proclamation event meant to be held in Kuala Lumpur.
He said among others that the media was being "filtered", and that anything negative about the government had been disallowed.
Anwar had responded by launching a thinly veiled attack on his one-time mentor at the recent PKR congress.
"Some people, after 22 years plus 22 months in power, talk about the Malays having lost everything – property, shares. How would they not if you monopolised them for yourself, your family and your children? Now that you've lost power, you talk about the masses," Anwar had said.
Mahathir however said that the Malays fell into a state of poverty after he stepped down as prime minister, adding that he had tried to correct the situation when he assumed the top office for a second tenure under the Pakatan Harapan government.
Speaking today, he said he apologised if his claim was off-track.
"If it is wrong for me to complain about the plight of the Malays, never mind," he said.
"I won't complain anymore. Okaylah. Poor people don't need a country. Don't do anything. That is sedition."


Adib’s family withdraws appeal for committal proceedings against ex-AG Thomas

The family of late firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim have filed a notice to withdraw their appeal for committal proceedings against former attorney-general Tommy Thomas.Adib’s father, Mohd Kassim Abdul Hamid, had filed two appeals at the Court of Appeal, one of which was against a High Court decision allowing Thomas’ application to set aside the committal proceedings against him.Messrs Mohd Zubir Embong & Associates, the legal firm representing Adib’s family, in a statement today said they were ordered to withdraw the appeal as Adib’s family no longer wanted to prolong the matter.According to the statement, the firm filed the notice to withdraw the appeal on May 31, following which the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) withdrew the application for leave to appeal to the Federal Court.The AGC, representing Thomas, had appealed against the decision of the Court of Appeal on Feb 8 ruling that the coroner hearing the inquest into Adib’s death had the jurisdiction to issue leave to commence committal proceedings against Thomas.“In this regard, the family of the late Adib considers that the process of the contempt of court proceedings against Thomas and the Attorney-General’s Chambers has been disposed of and is over, and hopes that society will allow the family start a new life.“At the same time, it should be noted that the settlement at this appeal stage did not in any way tamper with or alter the decision and findings by the Coroner’s Court on Sept 27, 2019, which confirmed that Adib was beaten to death (although the killer had yet to be found) and that his death was also contributed by the failure of the Royal Malaysia Police and the Federal Reserve Unit to control the riot,” the statement said.It also said that the grounds of the 52-page judgment by the coroner had never been overruled by any higher court and thus remained an authoritative finding of fact.The law firm said the decision by Adib’s family to withdraw the appeal for committal proceeding did not mean that the search for his killer could not be continued by the police as there is no legal time limit for criminal investigation.“The fight to seek justice for a government employee killed while on duty to maintain peace can also be continued by any concerned civil society, the public, as well as NGOs,” it said.On Nov 29, 2021, Adib’s family received RM1.5 million in compensation from the government for the tragedy that befell the firefighter, who was a member of the Emergency Medical Rescue Services unit from the Subang Jaya Fire and Rescue Station.He sustained serious injuries during a commotion at the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ 25, Subang Jaya, on Nov 27, 2018 and died on Dec 17 after 21 days at the National Heart Institute.On Sept 27, 2019, the Coroner’s Court established that Adib had died after he was assaulted by two or three unidentified people during the riot.Meanwhile, lawyer Aidil Khalid, representing Kassim, when contacted by Bernama, said the AGC withdrew its appeal at the Federal Court yesterday.


PSM tells how taxing nation’s richest men can replenish lost GST revenue

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) has proposed that the government tax the country’s “super rich” instead of bringing back the goods and services tax (GST) as recently broached by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.Outlining its proposal by listing a who’s who of Malaysian billionaires divided into five wealth brackets, the party said the government could rake in RM20.52 billion in revenue by taxing them between 2% and 10% of their assets.“Wealth tax is a tax levied on the value of held assets,” it said.“Tax on wealth of RM1 billion and above, starting from 2% and progressively increasing to 10%. This would be calculated proportionately according to the tax bracket in which they fall.”It also included an estimated breakdown of tax revenue per billionaire in a list topped by Malaysia’s richest man, business magnate Robert Kuok, whose net worth as of 2022 was placed at US$11.1 billion or just under RM50 billion.Ismail had said in an interview with Nikkei that the government was keen on reintroducing the tax despite its unpopularity.He said Putrajaya had limited options, and that it had lost RM20 billion in annual revenue after the tax was abolished.He also said that the government would target a GST rate that did not burden the people, but was not so low that it “defeats the purpose of expanding tax revenue”.This sparked a strong response from opposition pact Pakatan Harapan (PH), which said yesterday that any move to this effect would cause a drastic spike in the price of goods.It also said that the people were already struggling with the rising cost of living and declining household incomes amid high inflation.Malaysia’s 6% GST was introduced in 2015 but scrapped three years later after PH, led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, took over Putrajaya.


Dip in new cases but daily death toll over 100 again

Another 7,452 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 610,574.Selangor recorded 2,509 cases, Negeri Sembilan 843, Kuala Lumpur 678, Sarawak 651, Johor 412, Penang 370, Kelantan 312, Pahang 286, Kedah 263, Sabah 259, Perak 252, Melaka 206, Labuan 205 and Terengganu 190.Putrajaya recorded 12 cases and Perlis four.Active cases stand at 85,607 with 886 in the ICU and 446 in need of respiratory assistance.Another 6,105 patients were discharged, bringing total recoveries to 521,676.However, 109 more deaths were reported, pushing the virus toll to 3,291.


From parades and music to dancing alone in pandemic-season Gawai

In any normal year, Maria Assim would be busy overseeing preparations for the Gawai Dayak festival, from preparing traditional dishes to monitoring activities throughout her home village of Kampung Tabuan Dayak in the capital city of Kuching.As village chief, her responsibilities are manifold but she would always find time to focus on her family’s arrangements as well, including the preparation of kuih jala, a traditional dessert, and the production of a rice wine known as tuak.Normally this is a task that she performs every year. With Covid-19 on the loose, though, it has been two years since she last made the wine, produced from glutinous rice mixed with homemade yeast and a staple at most Gawai celebrations.“What the old people say is there should be the aura of Gawai and the smell of cake and tuak.“But this year I didn’t make tuak as we still have stock from the previous year because people were not allowed to visit, just like this year,” she said.“People would take turns to sing, and the floor would be filled with people dancing.”“It is a merry time where family members and friends from all races, including foreigners, come together from far and wide,” Maria said.There would also be live bands to entertain the crowd.“People would take turns to sing, and the floor would be filled with people dancing.“It is also a chance for the younger generation, especially those from the cultural troupes, to showcase our traditional dancing skills.”But as with so much else, Covid-19 has changed everything.With infections spreading across the state, there are no longer communal celebrations of any sort.Instead, Maria said, the villagers will perform the “poco-poco” dance alone in their homes.This is a far cry from the noise and colour of normal Gawai celebrations, but Maria and her family are just glad for any chance to communicate with their relatives during the festival period.Maria Assim uses a pair of tongs to lift a piece of kuih jala from the wok of piping hot oil.“I am so glad that communications technology has improved so much,” the 53-year-old said. “We will do a video call in the morning for our Gawai wishes.”Before Covid-19, she said the excitement of Gawai would centre on the arrival of her family members from Miri and Kuala Lumpur who would fly back to Kuching for the celebration.“On Gawai day, we would invite ministers to join us,” she recalled.Now, though, things are very different.“What is important is that we celebrate this Gawai safely and follow all the SOPs so that we can celebrate many more Gawai days to come,” she said.But while communal celebrations are a no-no this year, she must continue overseeing her villagers as she has always done – this time for a different reason.There must be no visiting whatsoever in the settlement.“There will be police patrolling the area, so I told them if they are caught for defying the SOPs, they are responsible for their actions,” she said.


Ukraine war zone villagers flee after massive dam destroyed

A torrent of water burst through a massive dam on the Dnipro River that separates Russian and Ukrainian forces in southern Ukraine on Tuesday, flooding a swathe of the war zone, forcing villagers to flee and prompting finger-pointing from both sides.
Ukraine said Russia had committed a deliberate war crime in blowing up the Soviet-era Nova Kakhovka dam. The Kremlin blamed Ukraine, saying it was trying to distract from the launch of a major counteroffensive Moscow says is faltering. Some Russian-installed officials said the dam had collapsed on its own.
Neither side offered immediate public evidence of who was to blame. The Geneva Conventions explicitly ban targeting dams in war because of the danger to civilians.
US intelligence pointed to Russia being behind the destruction, NBC News said.
Hundreds of people were evacuated from settlements along the southern stretch of Ukraine's Dnipro river as flood waters submerged streets, town squares and homes.
Lidia Zubova, 67, waiting for a train out of the city of Kherson in Ukrainian government-controlled territory after abandoning her inundated village of Antonivka, told Reuters: "Our local school and stadium downtown were flooded... The road was completely flooded, our bus got stuck."
Ukrainian police released video of an officer carrying an elderly woman to safety and others rescuing dogs in villages being evacuated as the waters rose. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko accused Russia of shelling areas from where people were being evacuated and said two police officers were wounded.
On the Russian-controlled bank of the Dnipro, the Moscow-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka said water levels had risen to 11m. He did not say how high water levels were before the dam burst.
Residents reached by telephone there told Reuters that some had decided to stay despite being ordered out.
"They say they are ready to shoot without warning," said one man, Hlib, describing encounters with Russian troops. "If you come a metre closer than allowed, they immediately start yelling obscenities."
Yevheniya, a female resident, said the water was up to the knees of the Russian soldiers walking the main street in high rubber boots. "If you try to go somewhere they don't allow, they immediately point their machine guns at you," she said. "More and more water is coming every hour. It's very dirty."
The Kazkova Dibrova zoo on the Russian-held riverbank was completely flooded and all 300 animals were dead, a representative said via the zoo's Facebook account.
The small town of Oleshky, on the Russian-controlled bank of the Dnipro, was almost completely flooded, a Russian-appointed official said.
"Evacuation... is possible only using special equipment," Andrei Alexeyenko, chairman of the Russian-appointed government of Ukraine's Kherson province, said on Telegram.
The dam supplies water to a wide area of southern Ukrainian farmland, including the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula, as well as cooling the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
The vast reservoir behind the dam is one of the main geographic features of southern Ukraine, 240km long and up to 23km wide.
An expanse of countryside fans out in the flood plain below, with low-lying villages on the Russian-held southern bank particularly vulnerable.
Poised for counteroffensive
The dam's destruction threatened a new humanitarian disaster in the centre of the war zone and transformed front lines just as Ukraine prepares a long-awaited counteroffensive to drive Russian troops from its territory.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said his forces had thwarted the first three days of the offensive in battles that had left more than 3,700 Ukrainian soldiers dead or wounded.
Ukraine dismissed the Russian statements as lies but gave no details on the attacks. President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview published on Saturday that Ukraine was poised to unleash its much-heralded major counteroffensive, using newly supplied Western battle tanks and armoured vehicles.
Russia has controlled the dam since early in its 15-month-old invasion, although Ukrainian forces recaptured the Dnipro's northern bank last year. Both sides had long accused the other of plotting to destroy the dam.
"Russian terrorists. The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam only confirms for the whole world that they must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian land," Zelensky wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine also called Russia a "terrorist state" at the top UN court as hearings began in a case over Moscow's backing of pro-Russian separatists blamed for shooting down Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the dam's destruction "an outrageous act, which demonstrates once again the brutality of Russia's war in Ukraine".
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the United Nations had no independent information on how the dam was breached, describing it as "another devastating consequence" of Russia's invasion.
The UN Security Council will meet later on Tuesday to discuss the dam at the request of both Russia and Ukraine.
Ukraine accused Russia of an "ecological and technological act of terrorism" while Russia cast it as an "act of sabotage carried out by Ukraine", according to the requests seen by Reuters.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also blamed "deliberate sabotage by the Ukrainian side".
Russian-installed officials had earlier given conflicting accounts, some saying the dam had been hit by Ukrainian missiles overnight, others that it had collapsed on its own due to earlier damage.
The UN nuclear watchdog said the Zaporizhzhia power plant, upriver on the reservoir's Russian-held bank, should have enough water to cool its reactors for "some months" from a separate pond, even as the huge reservoir drains out.
Video showed water surging through the remains of the dam - which is 30m tall and 3.2km long.
Some 22,000 people living across 14 settlements in the Kherson region are at risk of flooding, Russia's RIA news agency quoted the Moscow-installed head of the region as saying.


With haj around the corner, still no word on quota increase for Malaysia

With less than two months to go before the haj season, Malaysia has yet to receive a conclusive response on its second appeal over the issue of 10,000 additional spots which should have been announced in May.
Malaysia previously succeeded in regaining its original quota of 31,600 pilgrims with a first addition of 350.
This was announced by Lembaga Tabung Haji chairman Azman Mokhtar in April.
MalaysiaNow understands that there is still no final word from Saudi Arabia on the second appeal.
The estimated time frame for a decision is also unknown.
The quota of pilgrims for each country is set at the rate of 0.1% of the total population.
Malaysia applied for additional slots due to an increase in population, which now numbers 31.95 million people.
The haj quota is among the issues frequently raised in meetings between Malaysian and Saudi Arabian leaders.
Saudi Arabia allowed an additional 10,000 slots after the Covid-19 pandemic following a meeting between former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
The first flight of haj pilgrims left on May 20.
The haj, an annual event, is expected to begin on June 26 and continue until July.


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Guan Eng says willing to serve 'in any capacity'

DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng today said he was ready to serve "in any capacity" as speculation mounts over the Cabinet line-up of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
In a Facebook post, the Bagan MP who was the finance minister under Dr Mahathir Mohamad's government from 2018 to 2020 said Cabinet appointments were the prerogative of the prime minister.
"Whether I am in the Cabinet or not is secondary to the importance that the future of our country must not be stolen," he said.
"Let me state my willingness to serve in any capacity so long as it serves the larger national interest that the current unity government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim can continue to function and remain stable against extremist forces seeking to undermine and topple it."
Anwar, who said yesterday that discussions on his Cabinet line-up were nearly complete, has said that he will announce the list this afternoon.
Lim meanwhile said that PH deserved to be in the government after winning the most seats and the largest popular vote in the recent election.
"Together with Barisan Nasional and parties from Sabah and Sarawak, this unity government has a clear-cut majority that represents the will of the people, representing not just a single group but every Malaysian in our diverse society. This is a Malaysian unity government," he said.


Selangor ICUs running at 42% capacity, says state health director

There are now 86 Covid-19 patients, both suspected and confirmed cases, at ICUs in Selangor hospitals, with capacity use so far at 42%.State health director Dr Sha’ari Ngadiman said as of 8am today, there were 1,286 beds for non-critical Covid-19 cases at the ICUs with usage at 92%.“Meanwhile, there are 203 beds at ICUs and repurposed ICUs in Selangor (including for Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 cases), with the usage rate at 80%,” he said in a statement.He was responding to a report yesterday saying that a new wave of Covid-19 is expected in December, with hospital wards and ICUs to be filled again with patients in Category Four and Five.Sha’ari said over the last two weeks, daily new cases in Selangor had ranged from 1,300 to 1,500 with 1.5% to 2% of the cases in Category Three, Four and Five.He said the increasing number of new cases at the ICU at Hospital Sungai Buloh was due to it being a fully Covid-19 hospital and a reference hospital on the viral disease for all hospitals in Selangor and the Klang Valley.He said Hospital Sungai Buloh’s ICU also receives Covid-19 cases from other hospitals so that their ICUs can accommodate more non-Covid-19 cases.Sha’ari also said that as of 8am today, 54 beds (96%) were being used at the Hospital Sungai Buloh ICU.“In preparing for a situation of an increased number of Covid-19 cases for admission at Hospital Sungai Buloh, the oxygen gas system at the National Leprosy Control Centre has been upgraded to cater for the Covid-19 cases so as to reduce the burden of this hospital.“Hospital Sungai Buloh will also be supported by other hospitals in the Klang Valley, if needed, to cater for Covid-19 cases,” he added.


2 inspection and quarantine services officers detained over meat cartel scandal

Two officers of the Johor Malaysian Inspection and Quarantine Services Department (Maqis) have been detained over the smuggling of non-halal meat.The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) detained them on suspicion of being involved in corruption over the smuggling of frozen non-halal raw meat from banned source countries.According to sources, the two men, aged 27 and 31, were detained at the Johor MACC office at 11pm last night.Johor MACC director Azmi Alias, when contacted, confirmed the arrests but declined to comment further as the case is under investigation.He said the officers were taken to the Johor Bahru Magistrate’s Court this morning for a remand order.


Aid, incentives for flood victims under previous govt to continue, says Zahid

All aid and incentives given to flood victims by the previous government will be continued, including the RM1,000 Bantuan Wang Ihsan for households, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.
He said the aid would only be given to registered and eligible flood victims.
"This payment will be made soon, before the flood recedes and (before) the victims return to their homes.
"Based on past experience, we found that the number of registered flood victims is not the same as the number of applications," he said after visiting flood victims at SK Gual Tok Deh in Pasir Mas.
Also present were Kelantan Menteri Besar Ahmad Yakob, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Wilson Ugak Kumbong and Rantau Panjang MP Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff.
Zahid, who is also rural and regional development minister, said the government, together with the implementing agencies, would continue to take proactive measures to ensure that aid is channelled smoothly and in an orderly manner.
The previous government under then prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had announced RM10,000 for every household affected by the floods in Terengganu and Kelantan.
He said the aid would include RM2,500 for the purchase of essential goods, a discount for vehicle repair discount, RM500 rebate for the purchase of electrical appliances and the repair of houses damaged in the floods.
Zahid said the government was also committed to continuing any project approved by the previous administration such as for flood mitigation purposes, adding that these would be implemented as soon as possible.
"During the special Parliament session on Dec 19, the government will table the emoluments and expenses for ongoing projects," he said.
On a related matter, Zahid said the government would also continue long-term flood management efforts to overcome the country’s flood problems until 2100.
He said these would be carried out in phases over a 78-year period.
"These flood mitigation projects, which involve huge allocation, will be carried out in phases in areas that often experience floods," he said, adding that the projects would include the deepening of river estuaries to facilitate the flow of water to the sea.