Stuttering Uruguay held by South Korea in entertaining stalemate

Uruguay faltered in their World Cup opener against a lively and energetic South Korea after they were held to a 0-0 draw on Thursday in a contest where both teams struggled to find the clinical edge despite plenty of attacking quality on show.
Clear-cut chances were rare for either side in the Group H clash at the Education City Stadium and although Uruguay created more opportunities, neither team managed a shot on target.
Uruguay captain Diego Godin was denied by the woodwork while South Korea forward Hwang Ui-jo blasted over the bar with the goal at his mercy, leaving both teams to rue missed chances before group rivals Portugal and Ghana meet later on Thursday.
There were only a few hundred South Korean supporters in attendance but they made enough noise to drown out Al Rayyan and were chanting away throughout the contest, the beat of their drums matching the fast and frenetic pace of play.
"We're a very brave team, we're not afraid of our opponents," South Korea coach Paulo Bento told reporters.
"The bottom line is we need to control all moments of the game, knowing we're in a different competition to our qualifiers. But this won't hold us back from what we intend to do. And we showed today we're capable."
Uruguay's first sight of goal came in the 19th minute through Federico Valverde, who connected with Jose Maria Gimenez's pass and took a touch before firing a half-volley towards goal, but his ambitious attempt went just over the bar.
The South Americans had begun to find their footing when South Korea, having been patiently controlling the first half so far, disrupted their rhythm and launched a counter-attack from a Uruguay corner before the half-hour mark.
Son Heung-min picked up the ball on the left flank and cut inside, skipping past two Uruguay defenders before curling a right-footed effort towards goal, but left back Mathias Olivera was able to clear it away.
Hwang miss
South Korea should have taken the lead in the 34th minute when Moon-hwan Kim fizzed the ball into the penalty area and into the path of Hwang in front of goal, but the forward could not keep his composure and sent it over the bar.
Hwang's team mates fell to their knees after his miss and they were almost made to pay for it just before the break when centre back Godin rose highest to power a header from Valverde's corner but it bounced off the left post and away from goal.
Gimenez made a crucial tackle to deny Son five minutes after the restart following a flowing move from South Korea, while Jung Woo-young blocked midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur's powerful strike at the other end.
Uruguay saw more of the ball and looked dangerous as the game wore on but found few chances to break through an organised Korean defence. Forward Darwin Nunez was a threat on the counter with his pace but endured a frustrating afternoon.
Uruguay manager Diego Alonso swapped one stalwart for another when he replaced Luis Suarez with Edinson Cavani after 64 minutes and the striker was a lively presence, almost connecting with Nunez's fizzing shot which flew wide.
Valverde unleashed a thunderbolt in the final minute of regulation time that struck the top of the post and Son had one final chance in the closing stages but dragged his shot wide.
Uruguay have won the opening match at only one of their last seven World Cups, having drawn and lost three each but still progressed from the group stage in five of those tournaments and have a track record of deep runs in the competition.
They were semi-finalists in 2010 and reached the quarter-finals four years ago in Russia, after winning all three of their group games without conceding a goal.
Thursday's result left Group H wide open for both teams before their second group games on Monday, with Uruguay taking on Portugal and South Korea facing Ghana.


Philippine troops kill Abu Sayyaf commander, rescue last known hostages

Philippine marines have killed a leader of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group and rescued four Indonesian hostages held since last year, the military announced on Sunday.Majan Sahidjuan, alias Apo Mike, was severely wounded in a gunbattle with the marines on Saturday night in southern Tawi-Tawi province, and later died, said Lieutenant General Corleto Vinluan Jr.He described Sahidjuan as the mastermind in several kidnappings by Abu Sayyaf, or Father of the Sword, which is based in Sulu and has carried out bomb attacks and piracy for decades. Since 2014, it has proclaimed allegiance to the Islamic State group.“We are happy that all the hostages are safe now and we were also able to neutralise the notorious ‘Apo Mike’ and two of his comrades,” said Vinluan, commander of the military’s Western Mindanao Command.Another military officer said the militants were attempting to cross the sea border to Tambisan Island in neighbouring Malaysia’s Sabah state to release the captives in exchange for a ransom of at least five million pesos (US$104,000), but the Philippine military got wind of the plan and launched covert assaults.The officer, who has a keen knowledge of anti-Abu Sayyaf operations, spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to speak publicly.Sahidjuan was among five Abu Sayyaf militants who went to Tawi-Tawi by boat from Sulu, with their four Indonesian kidnap victims last Thursday.Their boat capsized after it was battered by big waves, giving government troops the chance to rescue three of the four hostages. The fourth was found in the same village where the gunbattle took place.The four were among five Indonesians kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf on Jan 17 last year off Tambisan in Malaysia. One of the five was killed while trying to escape.Abu Sayyaf is a small but violent group that has been blacklisted by the Philippines and the US as a terrorist organisation. Officially known by the IS as the Islamic State – East Asia Province, it is a jihadist militant group that follows the Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam.The militants have been considerably weakened by years of military offensives but remain a national security threat.In recent years, they started venturing away from their jungle encampments in Sulu, a poverty wracked Muslim province in the largely Roman Catholic nation, and staged kidnappings in Malaysian coastal towns and targeted crews of cargo ships.


New cases dip again to 5,271 but over 900 in ICU

Another 5,271 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 622,086.Selangor recorded 1,374 new cases, Sarawak 703, Negeri Sembilan 571, Kuala Lumpur 455, Johor 355, Kelantan 341, Sabah 336, Labuan 209, Kedah 194, Melaka 178, Perak 177, Penang 153 and Terengganu 117.Pahang recorded 99 cases, Putrajaya eight and Perlis one.Active cases stand at 84,269 with 902 in the ICU and 447 in need of respiratory assistance.Another 7,548 patients were discharged, bringing total recoveries to 534,357.However, 82 more deaths were reported, pushing the virus toll to 3,460.


New dates for 2021 STPM exams

The Malaysian Examinations Council (MPM) today announced that the exam dates for Semester 3 STPM 2021 and Repeat Semester 2 STPM 2021 students have been pushed down.The Semester 3 STPM 2021 examination will now be held on May 25 and 26 and June 13, 14 and 15, instead of May 18, 19, 24, 25 and 26 as originally scheduled.The Repeat Semester 2 STPM 2021 examination meanwhile will be held on June 16, 20, 21 and 22 instead of June 13 to 16.The updated examination calendars can be accessed at the MPM portal, www.mpm.edu.my.


Late sultan's heirs press US$15 billion claim, target Malaysian assets in Netherlands

Heirs of a late Southeast Asian sultan on Thursday asked a Dutch court for permission to seize Malaysian assets in the Netherlands, their lawyer said, seeking enforcement of a US$15 billion arbitration award granted to them against Malaysia's government.
The petition in The Hague Court of Appeal is an escalation of a long running dispute over a colonial-era land deal that threatens global assets of the Malaysian government and state-owned companies.
Putrajaya, which has said it does not recognise the heirs' claim, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Dutch petition.
A French arbitration court in February ordered Malaysia to pay the US$15 billion sum – the second largest arbitration award on record – to the descendents of the last sultan of Sulu.
Malaysia obtained a stay on the ruling pending an appeal, but the award remains enforceable outside France under a United Nations treaty on international arbitration.
The heirs of the sultan, who once controlled a territory spanning rainforest-covered islands in the southern Philippines and parts of Borneo island, asked the Dutch court to recognise and enforce the arbitration award.
The heirs wish to take "recourse against assets of Malaysia, which are located in the Netherlands", according to a copy of the court petition shared by their lawyer.
Reuters was unable to immediately verify the filing with Dutch court authorities.
"This filing in the Netherlands will soon be followed by other enforcement actions, of varying types, in multiple jurisdictions," said lawyer Paul Cohen, a lead co-counsel for the sultan's heirs from British law firm 4-5 Gray's Inn Square.
"This may include immediate, direct attachment of specific Malaysian assets in the Netherlands and elsewhere," Cohen told Reuters in an emailed statement.
The petition did not specify which assets.
Some of Malaysia's biggest companies have operations in the Netherlands, including state oil firm Petronas and palm oil producer Sime Darby Plantations.
The companies had no immediate comment on the Dutch petition when contacted by Reuters.
In July, two Luxembourg-based subsidiaries of Petronas were seized by court bailiffs as part of the heirs' effort to claim the award.
Petronas, which has described the Luxembourg seizure as "baseless", has said it would take legal measures to stave off future seizure attempts in 44 countries where it had assets and limit the company's funds kept abroad.
The dispute is over a deal signed in 1878 between two European colonists and the sultan for the use of his territory in present-day Malaysia – an agreement that independent Malaysia honoured until 2013, paying the monarch's descendants about US$1,000 a year.
Putrajaya stopped the payments after a bloody incursion by supporters of the former sultanate who wanted to reclaim land from Malaysia.
The heirs went to an arbitration court over the suspension of payments. Malaysia did not participate in nor recognise the arbitration.


Canada fears second wave, blames wild parties

In the coronavirus battle, Canada has been doing much better than its southern neighbour.The nightmare still engulfing the US has not been shared north of the 49th parallel.But now the country is experiencing a spike which authorities worry could turn into a second wave as children return to schools across the country after a nearly five-month forced shutdown.Last week, the nation’s top medical officer warned that authorities could lose the ability to control the pandemic if tough action is not quickly taken to slow the spread.“This week is a really critical week,” Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said.An average of 545 new cases were reported daily over the past week, up from about 300 in July.“This is concerning,” Tam told a briefing. “When cases occur, including in schools, it is a reflection on what’s happening in the community.”Ontario, the country’s most populous province, is cracking down on social gatherings, province Premier Doug Ford said in a surprise news conference called on Saturday.He said the government is immediately cracking down on social gatherings in every region of the province, a day after stricter measures came into effect in the Covid-19 hot spots of Toronto, Ontario’s capital city, Ottawa the nation’s capital, also situated in Ontario, and Peel, west of Toronto, the Globe and Mail reported.“The alarm bells are ringing. And too much of it is being tied to people who aren’t following the rules,” Ford said. “People who think it’s ok to hold parties, to carry on as if things are back to normal. They aren’t.“Folks, we can’t have these wild parties right now. It’s just way, way too risky. We have to come down hard on the rule breakers.”Ontario’s health minister Christine Elliott said that large private parties are a “significant contributor” to the recent rise.From Saturday and for the next 28 days, indoor social events can now include no more than 10 people, down from the previous limit of 50. Outdoor events will be limited to 25, down from 100. Large fines will be levied on people who flout the new rules.Quebec, Canada’s largest province, has declared police will target more than 1,000 bars and restaurants to enforce social distancing and hygiene rules.Canada’s most westerly province, British Columbia, has told restaurants, pubs and bars to end the sale of alcohol at 10pm and close by 11pm.Across the country, Covid-19 has killed over 9,000 people, according to the latest government data. New cases jumped by 1,606 in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 133,748.


China reports world’s first human case of rare bird flu strain

A 41-year-old man in China’s eastern province of Jiangsu has been confirmed as the first human case of infection with the H10N3 strain of bird flu, China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said on Tuesday.The man, a resident of the city of Zhenjiang, was hospitalised on April 28 after developing a fever and other symptoms, the NHC said in a statement.He was diagnosed as having the H10N3 avian influenza virus on May 28, it said, but did not give details on how the man had been infected with the virus. Medical observation of his close contacts had not found any other cases.It added that the man was now stable and ready to be discharged from hospital.H10N3 is a low pathogenic, or relatively less severe, strain of the virus in poultry and the risk of it spreading on a large scale was very low, the NHC added.Many different strains of avian influenza are present in China and some sporadically infect people, usually those working with poultry.There have been no significant numbers of human infections with bird flu since the H7N9 strain killed around 300 people in China during 2016-2017.No other cases of human infection with H10N3 have previously been reported globally, the NHC said.Bird flu is similar to swine flu, dog flu, horse flu and human flu as an illness caused by strains of influenza viruses that have adapted to a specific host.Avian influenza, known informally as avian flu or bird flu, is a variety caused by viruses adapted to birds.The type with the greatest risk is highly pathogenic avian influenza, a serious disease which requires a rapid response because it is highly contagious and often fatal to chickens.The A virus causes influenza in birds and some mammals, and outbreaks occur in poultry from time to time.Outbreaks of some avian influenza A viruses in poultry have been associated with illness and death in people in Asia, Africa, and Europe.


PN made inroads despite election loss, says Muhyiddin

Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin says the coalition has succeeded in making inroads in Melaka despite losing the state election today, winning two seats and proving its mettle as a contender to Barisan Nasional (BN).He said many of PN’s candidates had succeeded in gaining more votes than their competitors.“This shows that PN has made inroads in Melaka,” he said at a press conference tonight.“The winds of change are coming, but they are not yet strong enough for us to form the government.”Muhyiddin also congratulated BN on its win, voicing hope that the coalition would be able to fulfil the pledges made during its campaign.PN through Bersatu succeeded in winning two seats in the state legislative assembly – Bemban and Sungai Udang – maintaining the number won at the 14th general election three years ago.Muhyiddin said his bloc would conduct an in-depth study on the results of the Melaka election to determine the cause of its loss.“Whether it was because of the voter turnout, our machinery, or other problems – this will provide us with many lessons,” the former prime minister said.Muhyiddin also said that PN is ready for the possibility that GE15 will be held earlier than expected.“We are already here, and we will continue to be BN’s main contender,” he said.


Free caged minds and stop building more zoos

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) would like to voice its concerns over a new zoo being built on a 20.2-hectare plot of land in Iskandar Puteri, Johor.
The objective of having a zoo is generally as a crowd puller. The idea of zoos as tourist attractions should be discarded as many of these animal establishments are totally ignorant about the proper care of wildlife, leaving the animals to suffer immensely. Also in question is the frequency of visitors to new zoos.
Contrary to the belief that zoos attract tourists, newly established zoos attract more than 80% of their visitors from within their surrounding community, and more than half are people who make frequent return visits. Those return visitors stop coming over time,  resulting in poor gate collections, and the zoo conditions deteriorate further.
In reality, most people only spend a few seconds at each display, waiting for the animals to do something “exciting”. They gain little, if any, true understanding of the animals.
Despite their professed concern for animals, zoos can more accurately be described as “collectors” of interesting animals than actual havens or homes. Zoos pride themselves on their collection of exotic species without any thought for space, which is often inadequate. Even under the best of circumstances at the best of zoos, captivity cannot begin to replicate the habitat of wild animals.
Politicians and proponents of zoos should not view zoos as places to amuse and entertain but rather address the question of whether or not zoos should exist, and if their existence would serve any purpose.
The point that needs to be emphasised is that in zoos and all zoological establishments like mini zoos, snake parks, aviaries, snake farms and butterfly parks, animal welfare standards are hardly met, often drawing public criticism. Zoos are built mainly for the convenience of visitors rather than for the comfort of the animals.
Placing an animal in an environment not suited for the species can cause stress and behavioural problems. Captive animals in zoos have been observed to suffer from zoochosis syndrome due to their removal from their natural habitat, frustration, boredom, lack of life in normal social groups and other stereotypic behaviours. CAP believes that wildlife should not be kept at all if their needs cannot be met.
Zoos are not breeding animals with the intent of replenishing threatened populations.  Babies are a crowd puller, bringing visitors through the gates. Yet they are also what zoos deem as "surplus animals". When questioned about what zoos do with their "surplus", the answer is always the same: "Exchange with other zoos."
This is highly questionable as many among the zoo fraternity have similar wildlife species. So do surplus animals really end up in our local zoos or are they exchanged with other worse zoos abroad? As a matter of fact, captive breeding gives the public a false sense of security about a species’ survival.
For wildlife to survive, the zoo community must shift its focus from keeping and breeding animals behind bars to directing attention to the root causes of why wildlife worldwide is in peril: habitat destruction, poaching, and the exotic animal trade. So long as there is no conservation of wildlife in the wild, captive breeding will not make any difference.
Serious conservation efforts begin with humans' commitment to stop encroaching on wildlife habitats and collecting charismatic megafauna to be put behind bars as living trophies.
All too often, MPs, state excos and elected representatives seem fixated on the idea that these animal facilities in districts and small towns are the only form of major tourist draw. Such establishments run either by the municipal council, district council, state government or private operators reveal many bird and animal exhibits in cramped and barren enclosures where inhabitants are often exploited to perform tricks or used for photography sessions.
There are over 14 zoos and 20 permanent wildlife exhibition centres in Peninsular Malaysia and another one coming up – enough is enough!
Malaysia needs to stop building more zoos. Instead, we should focus on improving sub-standard zoos to ensure that they meet the exacting standards of housing, husbandry, welfare and health for all of their captive inmates.
Mohideen Abdul Kader is president of the Consumers Association of Penang.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


Most of Australia’s Covid deaths due to slack hotel quarantine security in Melbourne

Victoria State Premier Dan Andrews has apologised for a bungled hotel quarantine programme that led to most of Australia’s Covid-19 deaths.He explained the quarantine system had been implemented quickly and without a pandemic rule book.A retired judge who investigated Victoria state’s quarantine programme for returned travellers criticised the use of private security guards to enforce isolation in Melbourne hotels in May and June, in his report.“I want to apologise to the Victoria community for the very clear errors that were made in this programme,” Andrews said after the report’s release.The slipshod infection controls at two Melbourne quarantine hotels set off a wave of infections while the rest of the country had been largely virus-free.Of Australia’s total 908 deaths from Covid-19, over 800 died in Victoria.Police now provide security at Melbourne quarantine hotels, reports the Associated Press.Meanwhile, an ongoing outbreak in Sydney’s northern beaches appears to be slowing.Only 15 cases were added in the past 24 hours, half the previous day’s total. All 15 new cases were linked to two live music venues.New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian cautioned against assuming those numbers will continue to decline, saying: “In a pandemic, there is a level of volatility, so we’ll closely monitor what happens.”The current virus is an American strain suspected to have leaked from Sydney hotel quarantine.More than 250,000 Sydney residents in the northern beaches area are under a four-day lockdown until Wednesday.All Australian states have imposed restrictions on travellers from Sydney and other parts of New South Wales because of the outbreak there.


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Najib fails in bid to disqualify Sri Ram as prosecutor in 1MDB cases

The Court of Appeal today dismissed the appeal by former prime minister Najib Razak to remove Gopal Sri Ram as prosecutor in his 1MDB-linked cases.A three-man bench led by justice Yaacob Md Sam upheld the Feb 15 High Court decision, saying there was no appealable error.High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan had said Najib’s claim that Sri Ram had been involved in the investigation against him was unmeritorious.He also said that Najib had, among others, relied on communications that took place between former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali and Sri Ram as proof of the latter’s bias towards him and that the applicant’s apprehension of Sri Ram’s bias was without basis and misplaced.That was Najib’s third attempt to recuse Sri Ram from prosecuting in the 1MDB audit report trial.The first was filed in another 1MDB case before a different judge and the second was through a civil proceeding.Sri Ram, one of Malaysia’s most prominent lawyers, once served as a judge in both the Court of Appeal and Federal Court, during which time he delivered more than 800 judgments considered as leading legal authorities and precedents in Malaysian and commonwealth courts.His appointment as the ad hoc prosecutor for high-profile graft cases was announced by former attorney-general (AG) Tommy Thomas, who had cited Section 376 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code.The appointment was confirmed by Idrus Harun who replaced Thomas as AG.In the audit report case, Najib and former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy are on trial for charges of tampering with the final 1MDB audit report.Najib was charged with using his position to order amendments to the report before it was presented to the Public Accounts Committee to prevent any action taken against him, while Arul Kanda was charged with abetting Najib in making the amendments to the report to protect Najib from being subjected to action.


Wisma Putra summons Chinese envoy to protest South China Sea incursion

The foreign ministry late Monday summoned Beijings’s envoy to Malaysia in protest after Chinese vessels entered its maritime economic zone in the disputed South China Sea.Chinese ambassador Ouyang Yujing was summoned “to convey Malaysia’s position and protest against the presence and activities of Chinese vessels, including a survey vessel, in Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone”, the ministry said in a statement.The ministry accused China of going against local and international law with the presence of its ships off the coast of Sabah and Sarawak, on the Malaysian part of Borneo island.Monday’s move was the second time this year the government has summoned Beijing’s envoy to protest Chinese activity related to the hotly contested waters.In June, Putrajaya scrambled fighter jets to intercept 16 Chinese military aircraft that appeared off Borneo over the South China Sea, where it has overlapping territorial claims with Beijing.It accused China of breaching its sovereignty, while Beijing said the flight was routine training.Malaysia-China relations are usually warm but have been ruffled by recent tension-raising incidents over the sea, which is home to key shipping lanes and is believed to harbour rich oil and gas deposits.“Malaysia’s consistent position and actions are based on international law, in defence of our sovereignty and sovereign rights in our waters,” the foreign ministry statement said Monday, adding the country had “also protested against the previous encroachments by other foreign vessels not our waters”.China has laid claim to nearly all of the South China Sea and has built numerous military outposts on small islands and atolls, angering others with competing claims to the waters, including Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan.The US has also sent warships through the waters to assert international rights to freedom of navigation, angering China.


Delta variant reignites US mask debate

The recent surge of Covid-19, driven by the Delta variant, has reignited political controversy around mask-wearing in the US, with some governors opposing all measures to make masks mandatory despite advice from health authorities.The dispute feels familiar, harkening back to the early days of the pandemic when masks became a symbol of political affiliation in the US – the clash led by then-president Donald Trump, who made it a point of pride to be seen without a face covering.More than a year later, the subject has again become particularly sensitive as another school year approaches.“This should be something that a parent is ultimately making the decision on,” Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida reiterated on Tuesday, having banned his state’s schools from requiring students to wear masks.“We’re going to do whatever we can to vindicate the rights of parents,” he said.Several Florida school districts have announced plans to defy the governor’s order and require masks anyway.In response, DeSantis threatened to cut their funding or even suspend the salaries of school officials.“That a governor has the authority to say, ‘You can’t do that’ – I find that totally counter intuitive and quite frankly disingenuous,” President Joe Biden, a Democrat, said Tuesday.High viral spreadThe US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention told vaccinated Americans in May that their risk of contracting or spreading Covid-19 was low enough that they no longer needed to wear masks.And in early July, the CDC assured parents that the stance would also apply to vaccinated kids starting the new school year, which usually begins in August or September.But those recommendations did not account for the highly contagious Delta variant.Nor did it account for the fact that only about half of all Americans have now been fully vaccinated, and children under 12 aren’t eligible yet.By the end of July, an about-face: mask-wearing was once again recommended in indoor spaces, even for vaccinated people, in areas with high rates of Covid spread. That currently covers about 90% of the country.The health authority is basing their recommendation on data that shows that vaccinated people infected with the Delta variant can spread the virus more easily than those infected with earlier variants.Now, many businesses have also reverted back to requiring masks.Walmart, the biggest retailer in the United States, has re-imposed mask mandates on employees, two and a half months after telling vaccinated workers they didn’t have to wear them.‘Two countries’The pandemic is currently especially severe in the southeastern US, which is also the region with the lowest percentage of vaccinated residents.“The people that are unvaccinated are much less likely to wear masks,” Northwell Health public health expert Eric Cioe-Pena told AFP.“We don’t have the buy-in from the very people that we need the buy-in for.”In Arkansas, Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson imposed a mask mandate during the peak of the pandemic last winter.But he lifted it as cases fell, and, under pressure from deeply conservative local governments, signed a law banning mandates from being imposed again.“In hindsight, I wish that had not become law,” Hutchinson said earlier this month.On Twitter Monday, he alerted followers about his state’s record number of Covid hospitalisations, warning there were only eight open ICU beds left.While Republican governors in Texas and Arizona have followed Florida’s lead, Democratic-run states like New York and Illinois have imposed mask mandates for all students.“We’re behaving like they’re two countries,” Nahid Bhadelia, director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy and Research at Boston University, told AFP.“And the sad part is they’re not. Because what happens in the South is going to affect the North.”With unvaccinated children in a classroom “if you take the politics out… the way you make it safer is you vaccinate everybody around them who’s eligible,” Bhadelia said. “And you require masks.”


Cost of treatment for heart disease to increase without effective action, health DG warns

The burden of treatment costs for heart disease in the country is expected to continue increasing if no effective action is taken by stakeholders to control and prevent the disease, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.
Citing this year’s "Direct Healthcare Cost of Non-communicable Diseases in Malaysia" report, he said an estimated RM3.93 billion of the total RM9.65 billion in healthcare costs in 2017 went to treating heart patients.
"Therefore, collaboration between the health ministry and other agencies, including government departments, statutory bodies, private sectors and NGOs, is vital to strengthening the governance of heart disease care and prevention in Malaysia more comprehensively.
"More importantly, the role of the community is critical in ensuring the success of this effort," he said in his welcoming speech at the launch of the World Heart Day celebration in Kuala Lumpur.
Noor Hisham said heart disease or cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally, causing over 18.6 million deaths each year.
He said of the total, 85% were caused by coronary heart diseases such as heart attacks and strokes, mostly in low- and middle-income countries.
"In Malaysia, ischemic heart disease remains the main cause of death with 18,515 deaths or 17% recorded in 2020, an increase from 11.6% in 2000," he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali, in his speech, urged parents to set a good example for their children in adopting a healthy lifestyle to control and prevent illnesses such as heart disease.
He said unhealthy lifestyles such as eating food that is high in fat, salt and sugar, smoking, not exercising and high levels of stress would increase a person’s risk of disease.
"If we want healthy and fit children, we as parents must first adopt a healthy lifestyle. Parents must create an environment to encourage a healthy lifestyle," he said.


Lack of information slows vaccine push among the urban poor and homeless

For a decade, Rubi and her family have lived in a small rented room in Lorong Haji Taib in Chow Kit Road, one of Kuala Lumpur’s most notorious red-light districts.At one point, she was living rough in Semenyih, Selangor, sleeping on a piece of cardboard at night. The room in Lorong Haji Taib, while far from luxurious, is a step up from living on the streets – though not by much.There are four of them squeezed into the room: herself, her husband and their two children. Her husband works as a security guard while Rubi takes care of the children.Apart from themselves, the room also houses their belongings which are stacked high in piles against the walls, taking up precious space and threatening an avalanche at any time.An unpleasant fishy smell wafts in from outside but there is little they can do about it.The living area, meanwhile, has been partitioned off and rented out to other tenants.Rubi prepares to go out while her sons eat instant noodles from the rice pot, the family’s sole kitchen appliance.Surrounded by drug addict neighbours, even the children are aware of how easy it is to slip into the habit although under their mother’s watchful eye they have steered well clear of it.There is no kitchen in the cramped space – Rubi makes do with a rice cooker which, like everything else, is placed on the floor.The family lives mostly on instant noodles which is the most they can afford, with any additional dishes bought from outside.Filled as it is with drug users and sex workers, Rubi knows that theirs is a dodgy part of town and she worries about how to keep her children safe.“They go to school at Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih,” she said when met by MalaysiaNow in their small room. “Every day, they walk to school. If you ask me, I’m dying to move out from here.”Another danger of living in such close quarters is the risk of contracting Covid-19. While the national immunisation programme is underway across the country, many of the homeless and hardcore poor in the capital city have yet to be jabbed.Rubi and her two sons carry home some rice and a tray of eggs given as food aid for the poor and homeless.Rubi has the MySejahtera app but only uses it to register before entering shops and other business premises.“My friends and I in Chow Kit have heard of vaccines for the homeless but we do not know how to get them,” she said, referring to the programme under the federal territories ministry.Other homeless people met by MalaysiaNow said they had heard of the national immunisation programme which they knew was underway.They were also aware of the vaccination programme for the homeless but did not know how to register and had not been approached by anyone in authority.Two Chinese men, when met in the Chow Kit area, said they wanted to be vaccinated but had no phone to enrol through MySejahtera.They knew of the massive vaccination centre at the nearby World Trade Centre but did not know how to register.Another homeless woman who called herself Cik Wan was more fortunate – not only did she possess a phone, she also knew how to register for the national vaccination programme through MySejahtera.Cik Wan holds up her phone, showing her vaccination appointment date on her MySejahtera application.“I registered through MySejahtera early this month,” she told MalaysiaNow, adding that she was still waiting for an appointment date.For now, Cik Wan is staying with her three children in a motel room for which she pays daily rates.She said she had heard of the programme for the homeless but did not know how to register for it.“None of my friends have gone for it either,” she said. “If they had, they would have told us about it.”Back in Lorong Haji Taib, when asked if she had any concerns about the vaccines, Rubi said she was confident in what the people had been told by the authorities.“I have heard from those who were vaccinated about how they suffered side effects such as fever, and were unwell.“But I trust in what the doctor has told me,” she said.


WHO chief slams ‘vaccine diplomacy’ in Covid fight

The WHO chief took on so-called “vaccine diplomacy” on Monday, slamming countries for using Covid-19 jabs to gain competitive advantage rather than engaging in true cooperation to end the pandemic.“Vaccine diplomacy is not cooperation,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters from the World Health Organization’s headquarters in Geneva.The UN health agency chief was responding to a question about allegations that countries such as Russia and China, which have donated large quantities of their home-grown Covid vaccines to nations desperate for the jabs, were doing so in exchange for market access and influence.Tedros decried “geopolitical manoeuvring” at a time when only “clear and clean cooperation… can help”.“We cannot defeat this pandemic through competition,” he said.“If you compete for resources, or if you compete for geopolitical advantages, then the virus gets advantage.”The pandemic has killed close to 3.3 million people since the new coronavirus first emerged in late 2019, upending normal life and causing global economic havoc.Tedros said the world was now seeing the number of new Covid cases levelling off, but stressed “it is an unacceptably high plateau”.He pointed out that there were more than 5.4 million new cases and nearly 90,000 deaths reported globally last week alone, with numbers still soaring in India especially.And while rapid vaccination programmes have allowed a number of wealthy nations to start taking steps towards normality, the virus is still surging in many countries and concerns are growing about global vaccine inequality.Tedros noted “low- and lower-middle-income countries account for 47% of the world’s population, but have received just 17% of the world’s vaccines.”“Redressing this global imbalance is an essential part of the solution,” he said.But he insisted that even countries with broad vaccine access and seemingly declining outbreaks needed to remain vigilant.“We have been here before. Over the past year, many countries have experienced a declining trend in cases and deaths, have relaxed public health and social measures too quickly, and individuals have let down their guard, only for those hard-won gains to be lost,” he said.


Overcrowding the problem, not SOPs, rights group says on prison spikes

Rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) today called on the government to address the problem of overcrowding in prisons following the recent spikes in Covid-19 infections recorded at facilities in Penang and Kedah.LFL coordinator Zaid Malek acknowledged the health ministry’s response recognising the need to relook Covid-19 SOPs in prisons but said this might have only a negligible effect in curbing the spread of infections.“The crux of the problem that needs to be addressed is the overcrowding of detainees in our prisons,” he said in a statement.He noted reports estimating that as many as 73,000 prisoners are housed in facilities meant to hold a maximum of 52,000, saying any SOPs in place are likely to fail without a significant reduction in number of inmates.Yesterday, daily Covid-19 numbers hit a new high of 869 new cases of which 186 were detected in the Penang Remand Prison, Seberang Perai Prison and Alor Setar Prison.Zaid said other countries had already addressed the risk of increased infections in overcrowded prisons by releasing inmates shortly after Covid-19 was recognised as a pandemic.“We therefore urge the government to take similar action and reduce the number of inmates to below maximum capacity in order for SOPs to be effective in curbing the spread of Covid-19 in prisons,” he added.“In order to do so, the government must not only immediately release prisoners who are detained for minor offences as previously announced, but also those detained under non-violent crimes; inmates who have served two-thirds of their sentence as well as at-risk prisoners.”Likewise, he said, foreigners or immigrants being held for remand or upon conviction for immigration or minor offences who are not categorised as asylum-seekers should be repatriated to their countries of origin.“Inmates’ right to life and liberty under Article 5 of the constitution remains intact despite their criminal charge or conviction,” he said.“The government must therefore ensure that their welfare is adequately protected while they remain in the custody of the state.”


Cops deny ‘balik kampung’ jam at KL toll plaza

Police have denied that the traffic congestion at the Jalan Duta toll plaza on May 31 was caused by motorists returning to their home towns as made viral on social media yesterday.Kuala Lumpur Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department (JSPT) chief ACP Zulkefly Yahya said the 3km crawl occurred between 12.30pm and 2.30pm on that date.“The main cause of congestion was the thorough inspection by police to ensure that members of the public followed the SOPs that had been set, and it was found that the vehicles had interstate travel permits,” he said in a statement today.Zulkefly said the congestion was also due to people rushing to complete errands before the start of the total lockdown.He added that police had inspected about 4,536 vehicles passing through the toll plaza on the said date and time.“The KL JSPT will continue to conduct detailed inspections to ensure there is no violation of SOPs under the movement control order 3.0,” he said.Meanwhile, Bukit Aman JSPT deputy director Mohd Nadzri Hussain said traffic at the toll plaza recorded a drop of 66% yesterday.“JSPT also found no congestion at any highway sectors or roadblocks after MCO 3.0 was implemented,” he said in a statement today.He urged the public to stop spreading unverified news and to always ensure the authenticity of news before uploading or sharing it on social media.


2022 'year of botched executions' in US, report says

One-third of the executions by lethal injection in the US this year were "botched," a capital punishment watchdog group said Friday.
The Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) said 18 executions were carried out in the country in 2022, the fewest in a non-pandemic year since 1991.
"2022 could be called 'the year of the botched execution' because of the high number of states with failed or bungled executions," the nonprofit DPIC said in its annual report.
"Seven of the 20 execution attempts were visibly problematic – an astonishing 35% – as a result of executioner incompetence, failures to follow protocols, or defects in the protocols themselves," it said.
In Alabama, for example, it took three hours to set an IV line for the July 28 execution by lethal injection of convicted murderer Joe James Jr, the DPIC said.
Two other execution attempts in Alabama were halted because of problems setting IV lines and the governor ordered a moratorium on executions while a review of procedures is carried out.
The DPIC said 37 of the 50 US states have abolished the death penalty or not carried out an execution in more than a decade.
The governor of Oregon this month commuted the sentences of all 17 inmates on the state's death row to life in prison.
This year there were five executions in Oklahoma, five in Texas, three in Arizona, two in Alabama, two in Missouri and one in Mississippi.
Among those executed in 2022 were "prisoners with serious mental illness, brain damage, intellectual disability, and strong claims of innocence," according to the DPIC.
It said the number of death sentences imposed was also on the decline with just 20 so far this year.
In perhaps the most notable case, the young man who carried out the 2018 mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, was given life in prison after a jury declined to sentence him to death.


Over RM1 billion allocated for senior citizens, Orang Asli

More than RM1 billion has been allocated under Budget 2023 for the agenda to empower senior citizens and Orang Asli, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said today.
He said almost RM1 billion had been provided especially for the welfare of senior citizens, a significant increase from RM580 million in 2020 following a boost in the rate of assistance for senior citizens and the widening of eligibility for recipients.
He said the government would continue to provide grants amounting to RM21 million to support the operation of private care institutions for senior citizen, children amd people with disabilities run by NGOs.
"The agenda to empower the community will focus on granting aid, infrastructure facilities and socioeconomic programmes," he said when tabling the 2023 Supply Bill at Dewan Rakyat today.
Zafrul said RM305 million had also been provided for the Orang Asli community next year compared to RM274 million this year. "The allocation will cover social assistance programmes, the cost of upgrading living standards and Orang Asli integrated village developments," he said.
He said next year, the government would implement the Orang Asli Plantation Replanting Project encompassing the replanting of rubber and oil palm to benefit more than 2,100 Orang Asli in Kemaman, Terengganu, Bera in Pahang and Gua Musang, Kelantan.
"The government is also stepping up Orang Asli Entrepreneur Development Programme to provide business facilities and entrepreneurship guidance for 550 Orang Asli," he said.
Zafrul said next year, foundations under government-linked companies (GLC) will also sponsor at least 10 Orang Asli children to further their education abroad.
"Majlis Amanah Rakyat is now sponsoring 10 Orang Asli children for further studies abroad," he said.
In this regard, he said RM10 million had been provided under the Agropenjara initiative to expand agricultural and plantation activities involving 70 hectares of prison land.
"The allocation is, among others, to expand the farming of stingless bees in the orchard of Dato’Murad Pre-Release Prison in Melaka and improve the supply freshwater fish at the Kamunting Correctional Centre in Perak," he said.
Zafrul said from next year, an additional tax deduction for employers employing ex-prisoners would be extended to former inmates of Henry Gurney Schools and government protection and rehabilitation institutions.
The additional tax deduction initiative will also be extended to non-government care centres registered with the Welfare Department (JKM) he said.
He said the government would also set up Transit-Anjung Sinar Centres as temporary centres for children under the care of JKM before they find work and begin a new life.
"GLCs will also assist them with appropriate job opportunities," he said.


Lawmakers slam US intent to invite sanctioned Hong Kong leader for Apec

Democratic and Republican US lawmakers on Wednesday urged the State Department to bar Hong Kong's chief executive, who faces US sanctions, from visiting San Francisco during November's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
The US is set to host this year's gathering of leaders of Apec, of which Hong Kong is a member economy. But Hong Kong's top official John Lee was placed under US sanctions in 2020 when he was the city's security secretary over his role in implementing what Washington deems a "draconian" Hong Kong national security law.
In its 2020 designation of Lee, the US Treasury Department said he had been involved in the "coercing, arresting, detaining, or imprisoning" of people in the Chinese city who had protested against the law.
"We are dismayed to learn that the Biden Administration plans to waive the sanctions on Chief Executive Lee and allow him into the US to attend the Apec meeting," Republican Senator Marco Rubio and the other lawmakers said in a copy of a letter seen by Reuters that was sent to the State Department.
The letter was co-signed by Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, Democratic Representative Jim McGovern and Republican Representative Chris Smith.
"Inviting a sanctioned human rights abuser is an affront to all those who have been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Republic of China (PRC), and its proxies in Hong Kong," the lawmakers wrote.
The letter cited comments from Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who in a written response to questions following Feb 9 testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told senators that the department intended to welcome Lee to the US for Apec.
"The US plans to invite Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee to attend Apec. As the host, we believe it is important to foster regional economic dialogue and for the US and the PRC to work together to maintain global macro-economic stability," Sherman wrote, according to a transcript of her response to the committee.
"However, an invitation to Apec does not absolve individuals of their role in undermining Hong Kong's autonomy and eroding protected rights and freedoms in Hong Kong," Sherman said.
The State Department told Reuters that the US looked forward to hosting Apec, but that the invitations for Apec Economic Leaders' Week "have not been finalised at this time."
US persons or entities are generally barred from dealing with people on Washington's Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, making entry into the US difficult unless a waiver is given. The State Department can also issue visa restrictions, but due to visa confidentiality does not normally disclose those who have been subject to the restrictions.
Lee told media in Hong Kong last month that the US had an obligation to invite the city to the 21-member Apec leaders meeting.
"Apec is an international organisation. It doesn't belong to any country or economy. According to Apec rules and conventions, the organiser has the responsibility to invite members to attend," Lee said, without saying whether he intended to travel to the meeting.
Frances Hui at the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation said on Wednesday allowing Lee to visit the US would send the wrong signal to Chinese officials and rights abusers around the world.
“It sends the terrible message that committing abuses comes at little or no cost,” Hui said.


Philippines reports record virus infections as lockdown eased

The Philippines reported Friday its highest daily number of coronavirus infections, as authorities eased a lockdown in the capital to allow more businesses to operate and reduce the financial pain of poor families.More than 13 million people in the national capital region went into lockdown on Aug 6 as the hyper-contagious Delta variant helped drive a resurgence in infections that has strained hospitals.A Covid-19 task force agreed Thursday to allow more businesses to open their doors from Saturday. But a stay-at-home order for non-essential workers would remain in place and restaurant dining banned.The decision to ease restrictions came as the number of new infections hit a record 17,231 on Friday, pushing the country’s caseload to more than 1.8 million since the start of the pandemic, health department figures show.“Over the coming days, the number of our Covid-19 cases may rise further,” it warned.Health officials, fearing the Delta strain could tear through the country like it has in neighbouring nations, have been ramping up vaccinations to try to head off the spread of the virus.About half of the targeted population in the national capital region was expected to be fully vaccinated by next week, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Thursday. Nationwide, the figure is just under 17%.Official data show hospitals in the capital are under growing pressure, with 74% of intensive care beds and 70% of ward beds allocated for Covid-19 cases occupied.But President Rodrigo Duterte said recently the country could not afford more lockdowns, after coronavirus measures shattered the economy and threw millions out of work.


Guan Eng ready to say sorry over vaccine row with Khairy

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng today said he was willing to apologise over a purported donation of Covid-19 vaccines to the Penang government which Khairy Jamaluddin recently dismissed as a scam if what the federal minister said is proven to be true.“If what Khairy said is true, then I am willing to apologise so that we can focus on the importance of securing vaccines for the people through a whole of government/country effort,” he said in a statement today, adding that the Penang government is attempting to verify Khairy’s assertion.Khairy, who is in charge of the national immunisation programme, said at a press conference yesterday that the offer by a private company of two million free doses of Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine for Penang was a scam job.He said an investigation with Sinovac China revealed no proof or documents received by the company, Xintai Development Enterprise Ltd.“I will categorically say again today. This donation or offer is bogus. Look at the offer, there’s not even a letterhead.“I am responsible for vaccine procurement in Malaysia, so I know where the supplies come from,” the science, technology and innovation minister said.Chow later urged the company to come forward and clear its name, saying Khairy’s allegation was “serious”.In a statement, he said the Penang government had received the vaccine offer in a letter dated Feb 1. He said it had sought the views of the Penang health department which asked that the letter be sent to the health ministry for advice.He said on March 12, the ministry’s secretary-general Mohd Shafiq Abdullah had replied that the contribution could not be considered as the federal government had implemented the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.“With this, the state government could not pursue the matter as it did not receive the ministry’s recommendation letter to enable them negotiate with the vaccine supplier,” Chow said.Lim, the former Penang chief minister who had earlier hit out at the federal government for “blocking” the donation, said “whether the company exists or not is a secondary issue”.“(It) should not distract from the two principal issues of the federal government granting immediate approval to all state governments to purchase vaccines or secure vaccine donations,” he added.“It is not wrong to seek vaccines at the earliest possible time for the people to protect them by every legal means possible.”


463 Covid cases related to interstate travel detected in Terengganu

A total of 463 Covid-19 cases caused by interstate activities (import B) were detected in Terengganu in May and June this year, resulting in the emergence of five large clusters in the community, says state health director Dr Nor Azimi Yunus.She said Kemaman recorded the highest number of cases, at 307, followed by Kuala Terengganu (36 cases).“This resulted in five large clusters, namely the Gong Badak cluster (226 cases), Langgar Hilir cluster (45 cases), Teluk Kalong Industrial cluster (109 cases), Pasar Kemunting cluster, Pahang (13 cases) and Kubang Jela cluster (131 cases).“The latest is the Gong Pasir cluster in Dungun, which is also caused by interstate travel, with 40 positive Covid-19 cases detected so far,” she said in a Facebook post last night.Nor Azimi said some of the B import cases detected involved individuals who underwent health screening before starting work in Terengganu.“This way, we can make early detection and prevent infection… what worries us is the people in Terengganu commuting to and from the state to high-risk areas to work and for other matters.“Interstate travel is not a problem, but they must be more responsible by taking care of themselves so as not pose a health risk to others. Upon knowing they are at risk, they should go for screening at a nearby health clinic immediately,” she said.


Witness says Syed Saddiq told him to ‘clear’ RM1 million due to MACC probe

The former assistant treasurer of Bersatu’s Youth wing told the Kuala Lumpur High Court today that Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman had instructed him to “clear” or dispose of RM1 million withdrawn from the party’s account as the Muar MP was being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).Rafiq Hakim Razali, 32, said he received a WhatsApp call from Syed Saddiq around March and the end of April saying that MACC had conducted an inspection and search at the politician’s residence.The 13th prosecution witness said Syed Saddiq also instructed him to distribute RM650,000 to Federal Territory Bersatu Youth information chief Muhammad Daniel Kusari and RM250,000 to Muhammad Naqib Ab Rahim, a Bersatu member at the time.“He (Syed Saddiq) instructed him to ‘clear’ the money which I was holding at that time, and because of this, I distributed it to Naqib and Daniel,” he said during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin at the trial of Syed Saddiq, who faces four charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT) and money laundering.When asked why Syed Saddiq had asked him to “clear” the money, Rafiq Hakim replied: “He (Syed Saddiq) was afraid the money would be confiscated.”He also said the RM1 million was kept in his house before being distributed to Daniel and Naqib.Wan Shaharuddin: Where was the RM250,000 and RM650,000 distributed from?Rafiq Hakim: In the area around my house.Wan Shaharuddin: Where did the RM250,000 and RM650,000 come from?Rafiq Hakim: The money came from the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Armada account (and) from a withdrawal of RM1 million.Wan Shahruddin: By right, it should have been RM900,000, (so) what happened to the (remaining) RM100,000?Rafiq Hakim: To my recollection, I used it for Armada programmes and those were all instructions from Syed Saddiq.Asked if he would have withdrawn the money if he had not received any instruction from Syed Saddiq to do so, Rafiq Hakim replied: “No.”He said prior to making the RM1 million withdrawal, Syed Saddiq had asked him about the account balance, to which he replied that there was about RM1.8 million.When asked by Wan Shaharuddin whether Rafiq Hakim understood what was meant by the MACC investigation, Rafiq Hakim replied: “At that time there was the case of the missing RM250,000 and the MACC had come to Syed Saddiq’s house to investigate.”Rafiq Hakim said he only knew that Syed Saddiq had lost RM250,000 from his house safe, adding that the politician had not said that the money belonged to his parents or was meant for house renovation payments, but only that it was from political donations.To another question, the witness said he was still friends with Syed Saddiq, and had met the politician during Ramadan where they discussed a baju Melayu project at Syed Saddiq’s house.“Syed Saddiq also agreed to carry out the baju Melayu project,” Rafiq Hakim added.Wan Shaharuddin: At that time, did he (Syed Saddiq) say anything about the order not to meet any (case) witnesses?Rafiq Hakim: No.Syed Saddiq was charged as Bersatu’s then Youth chief, entrusted with the control of the wing’s funds, with abetting Rafiq Hakim with CBT of RM1 million.He was accused of committing the offence at CIMB Bank, Menara CIMB KL Sentral, Jalan Stesen Sentral 2, on March 6, 2020, charged under Section 406 of the Penal Code which provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years and a whipping, with the possibility of a fine upon conviction.For the second charge, Syed Saddiq was accused of misusing property for himself, namely RM120,000 from the Maybank Islamic account belonging to Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise by causing Rafiq to dispose of the money.He was accused of committing the offence at Malayan Banking, Jalan Pandan 3/6A, Taman Pandan Jaya between April 8 and 21, 2018, and charged under Section 403 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of between six months and five years, with whipping and a fine upon conviction.He also faces two counts of engaging in money laundering activities, in two transactions of RM50,000 believed to be the proceeds of unlawful activities from his Maybank Islamic account into his Amanah Saham Bumiputera account.Syed Saddiq was accused of committing the offence at a bank in Jalan Persisiran Perling, Taman Perling, Johor Bahru, on June 16 and 19, 2018.


No work experience necessary – just a sad story

A new trend appears to have emerged on several social media platforms including corporate and professional networking sites such as LinkedIn where sob stories have displaced resumes for those seeking to gain the attention of would-be employers.
This development looks to have started after the country began moving towards a semblance of economic recovery in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
With sectors across the board seeking to jump-start their activity after months of restrictions, employers have been on the lookout for new recruits. Those who lost their jobs due to pandemic difficulties, meanwhile, have been eager to find work once more.
But instead of sending out resumes and cover letters in the manner of traditional job hunts, some have taken to sharing personal stories of depression, rejection and even family problems in order to land a position of employment.
One post sighted by MalaysiaNow was published by a user who said that his wife had recently suffered a miscarriage due to work-related stress, and that he wanted to “cheer her up” by helping her find a new job.
And while job hunts normally entail at least one round of interviews for applicants to meet with prospective bosses, the so-called new way of seeking employment sees individuals asking interested parties to contact them with work opportunities instead.
The Malaysian Employers Federation, the central organisation of private sector employers in the country, said this method of pleading and looking for sympathy was inappropriate in any search for work.
Its president Syed Hussain Syed Husman said the process of employment was based on employers’ needs as well as the qualifications and skills possessed by the jobseeker in question.
He added that workers were employed to fulfil the manpower needs of the company, and that they should be able to contribute to productivity and competitiveness.
He also cautioned employers against falling for the sympathy technique which he described as an unhealthy practice.
“It is important for applicants to show their true potential and to always strive to build a positive character,” he told MalaysiaNow.
“It’s not easy for someone to find a suitable job, especially with the economy the way it is today. This should drive jobseekers to continue trying, and to constantly work on improving their self-esteem.
“Yes, the journey to employment is full of challenges, but this does not mean that applicants should easily give up.”
Checks found that the trend has been ongoing in other countries for at least five years.
On Quora, a platform for professionals to exchange knowledge and experiences, some employers said they had come across such situations before.
“I was interviewing someone who gave me a very sad story about his family (medical issues) and how he needed the job,” one of them said.
“He wasn’t qualified, though – how should I deal with this?”
The post was flooded with hundreds of replies, most of which advised the employer to focus on the quality of jobseekers instead of their stories.
They also warned that taking on unqualified workers might end in them being sacked for incompetence.
Back home on LinkedIn, mechanical engineer Mohd Noor (not his real name) had posted a similar plea for work. He said he needed a job as soon as possible as he and his wife were expecting their first child.
When contacted, he said many had reached out to him and offered to help him find work after his post, published two weeks ago.
However, he has only received a verbal offer so far, with nothing down in black and white.
When asked what drove him to share such a personal experience on a professional networking site, Noor said it was a last-ditch attempt after meeting with failure on every other count.
He said he had tried everything, from scouring employment websites to going door-to-door at offices, asking if they needed workers.
“The competition is very stiff,” he said. “Chances are better if you can attract the attention of the hiring manager straight away.”


Seniors in rural Sarawak can walk in for Covid jabs as state govt ramps up vaccination efforts

The Sarawak government is upping its vaccination efforts, especially in rural areas, with Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg today saying that senior citizens in these parts will be allowed to walk in for Covid-19 jabs.Speaking at a press conference in Kuching, Abang Johari said this was necessary to ensure that the jabs are accessible to all, especially those in the rural areas who are not tech savvy.“The problem of people who are not tech savvy is not only among those in the rural areas,” he said.“In urban areas, too, there are significant numbers of people who have neither the knowledge nor the proper infrastructure to use the MySejahtera app.“So what we’ve done is to be more flexible. By using this hybrid system, I hope it can expedite the immunisation programme in Sarawak.”He said the move would also allow the state government to identify the data of those who have already been vaccinated.“They can go to the vaccination centre and get themselves registered after they have received the vaccine,” he said.“This would ease the burden of people coming from remote areas.”He said he had also instructed the representatives to help reach everyone in the state.“We hope we can achieve our target this month to administer one million doses of vaccine,” he said.


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‘Arab donation’ a scam, prosecution says in Najib’s SRC appeal

Ad hoc prosecutor V Sithambaram today told the Court of Appeal that Najib Razak’s act of returning a portion of the “Arab donation” to an alleged sender without any explanation or a thank-you letter showed that the so-called donation was a scam.He also questioned its return to a company called Tanore Finance Corp if it was indeed from the late King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al Saud.“The king never asked for the money back. In fact, the appellant (Najib) said the money was donated by the Saudi king to ensure Malaysia can become a model of a stable and modern Islamic country.“It is absolutely bizarre for Najib to return a contribution of RM2.6 billion (US$620 million) from the king to a company.“This was a desperate attempt to bolster the defence case. Najib, in his evidence, testified that it was fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho who asked him to remit the money to Tanore,” he said.Sithambaram said Najib had testified that there would be political connotations if the money remained in his personal accounts in Ambank.“There was no evidence that the king gave this money. It’s a desperate defence.“If I gave you a donation and you sent it back, I would take it as an insult because I gave you the donation for a good cause.“(You said it was returned) but the money was transferred to Tanore. I don’t know what the king has to do with the company,” he said, adding that even the Cabinet had not known about the donation.Sithambaram also said scrutiny of Najib’s evidence showed that there were doubts over whether the purported meeting with the king had actually taken place and whether the monarch had promised him financial support.“Najib merely stated that the king had promised support but explained he was only informed by Low in the middle of 2010 that the monarch had agreed to provide financial support,” he said.Sithambaram submitted this before a three-member bench led by judge Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil in the hearing of Najib’s appeal against his conviction and jail sentence for the misappropriation of RM42 million in SRC International funds.The other two judges on the bench were Has Zanah Mehat and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.The Kuala Lumpur High Court on July 28 last year sentenced Najib to 12 years’ jail and fined him RM210 million after finding him guilty on seven charges of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of position involving RM42 million in SRC International funds.The hearing of the appeal continues.


11 killed, thousands hurt during Iran fire festival

Eleven people were killed and more than 3,500 injured during celebrations for Iran's traditional fire festival ahead of the Persian New Year, state media reported Wednesday.
The fire festival, called Chaharshanbe Suri in Farsi, is celebrated every year on the night of the last Tuesday of the Iranian calendar year, which ends on March 20.
"Since Feb 20, 26 people have died in incidents related to Chaharchanbe Suri," including at least 11 on the day of the event along with more than 3,550 injured, emergency services chief Jafar Miadfar told state television.
During the festival, participants jump over bonfires to purify themselves and ward off evil spirits, while chanting "I give you my yellow colour" (indicator of disease) and "I take your red colour" (symbol of life).
The festival is part of Iran's pre-Islamic heritage and generally frowned upon by the Shiite clerical establishment.
But it is popular with young people, many of whom make their own fireworks for the event, a practice that sometimes results in injury or even death.


More evacuated as floods worsen in 3 states

The flood situation in Sabah, Johor and Pahang worsened this morning, sending more people to relief centres with Sarawak becoming the latest state to be affected.
The meteorological department has forecast continuous rain in Kudat, Tawau, Sandakan, west coast and the interior of Sabah, as well as Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Johor.
In Sabah, the number of flood evacuees increased sharply to 6,313 compared to 1,421 last night. A total of 26 relief centres were opened in five districts.
The state disaster management committee (JPBN) secretariat said in a statement that Kota Marudu had the most evacuees at 4,784 from 1,731 families at 11 relief centres, while 761 people from 203 families were moved to three relief centres in Kudat.
Some 406 people from 162 families were evacuated to four relief centres in Pitas, 344 from 88 families to seven centres in Paitan and 18 from three families to a centre at SMK Terusan in Lahad Datu – the latest district to be hit by floods.
According to the statement, 153 people from 50 families who were previously evacuated to Rumah Ketua Kampung Sinasak Batu and Surau Kampung Sibuang were ordered to move to SK Pekan 2 due to the flood risk.
In Johor, the number of flood evacuees in seven districts – Pontian, Kota Tinggi, Kluang, Segamat, Mersing, Batu Pahat and Muar – rose to 5,455 at 55 relief centres compared to 5,000 people last night.
Segamat still has the highest number of evacuees at 1,801 from 504 families at 21 relief centres, followed by Kluang at 1,256 (353 families) at 12 centres and Mersing at 1,153 (347 families) at seven centres.
The 738 evacuees (179 families) in Kota Tinggi are being housed at seven relief centres; 272 (74 families) in Batu Pahat are at four centres; 217 (47 families) in Muar are at three centres and 18 (four families) in Pontian are at one relief centre.
Meanwhile, the water levels at Sungai Muar (the river mouth of Sungai Gemas), Sungai Kahang (Kampung Contoh) and Sungai Endau are still above the danger mark with the readings at 19.29m, 15.99m and 2.62m respectively. In Pahang, the flood evacuees in Rompin at three relief centres increased to 164 people from 49 families this morning, compared to 138 from 42 families last night.
The JPBN secretariat reported that Kampung Setajam relief centre had the highest number of evacuees at 117, followed by the Bukit Lepas community hall at 40 and seven at the Bandar Perwira Jaya community hall.
The publicinfobanjir.water.gov.my website reported that Sungai Keratong in Rompin had exceeded the danger level at 24.75m while the Malaysian Meteorological Department predicted rain in Rompin throughout the day.
Sarawak became the latest state to be hit by floods with 53 people from 16 families evacuated to two relief centres following heavy rain in the Lundu and Sematan districts last night.
They are being housed at SK Sebat and the Kampung Sebat Dayak community hall.
MetMalaysia also predicted thunderstorms in several areas in Sarawak including Kuching, Sri Aman, Betong, Kapit, Bintulu, Miri and Limbang until tonight.


Twitter admits 'massive' outage as woes continue

Twitter on Monday suffered a brief but unprecedented outage with users worldwide reporting they could no longer read links to articles from outside websites.
"Some parts of Twitter may not be working as expected right now," the company's tech support account said in a tweet, blaming the problem on "unintended consequences" from an update to the platform.
The breakdown, which appeared fixed in less than an hour, comes as the Elon Musk-owned social media giant was trying hard to stabilise after several rounds of layoffs saw more than two thirds of staff let go.
Experts say Twitter is running on a skeleton staff, leaving the platform vulnerable to outages as well as disinformation and harmful content given the fewer numbers to keep the site up and running.
During the outage, users trying to click into links were greeted with an error message saying "your API plan does not include access to this endpoint."
An API, or application programming interface, refers to Twitter software that is made available to outside developers to make their own adaptations of the platform.
Twitter said last month that it will discontinue allowing free access to outside developers as the company seeks new ways to raise revenue.
Since Musk took ownership of Twitter, the platform has been riven by chaos, with major advertisers fleeing, threatening the site's main source of revenue.
"A small API change had massive ramifications," Musk said in a tweet about the disruption on Monday.
"The code stack is extremely brittle for no good reason. Will ultimately need a complete rewrite," the billionaire said in reference to the platform's programming and software.
The latest problems with the messaging platform came a week after reports of another round of layoffs including product managers, big data experts and engineers working on machine learning and platform reliability.
It also adds to a string of technical snafus, including an incident where tweets by Musk suddenly dominated the feeds of millions of users, even those not following the tycoon.
According to Insider Intelligence, Twitter's total monthly users will fall by some 32 million users between 2022 and 2024 from 368 million worldwide last year.
With many brands fleeing, the social network saw its revenue and adjusted profit fall by about 40% year-on-year in December, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing people close to the company.
Musk has tried to wean Twitter from advertising and promote subscriptions as a new way to bring in cash – an idea that Facebook-owner Meta is testing as well – but so far the results have been disappointing.


Daily caseload just over 2,000, no new deaths reported

Another 2,023 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 4,865,480.
There were 1,699 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 4,805,184.
There are now 23,881 active cases, of which 22,882 or 95.8% are undergoing home quarantine.
Meanwhile, 0 (0.0%) are at quarantine centres while 965 (4%) have been hospitalised.
A total of 34 are in ICU with 20 in need of respiratory assistance.
No new deaths were reported, leaving total deaths unchanged at 36,415.


Tuan Ibrahim, Wan Rosdy to continue talks on forming Pahang govt

PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man has held discussions with state Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail on the formation of the Pahang government.
The matter was confirmed by Pahang Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Saifuddin Abdullah in a statement uploaded on his Facebook page today.
"There will be further talks today," he said.
Saifuddin yesterday said that the PN Supreme Council had appointed Tuan Ibrahim to lead negotiations on the formation of the Pahang government.
The Pahang state assembly was left hung after the results of the general election showed that no single party had secured a simple majority to form the state government.  In the polls on Nov 19, PN won 17 state seats, BN won 16 while Pakatan Harapan (PH) secured eight.
There are 42 state constituencies in Pahang, although voting for the Tioman seat was postponed to Dec 7 after PN candidate Md Yunus Ramli, 61, died of a suspected heart attack early on polling day.
Wan Rosdy, who is also the menteri besar, has yet to issue a statement on the matter.
However, Pahang DAP chairman Leong Ngah Ngah said Pahang PH was willing to cooperate with BN to form the state government, adding however that it would wait for an official decision from the PH central leadership.


Daily cases dip to 3,900

Another 3,900 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 2,703,140.Another 4,552 patients recovered, bringing total recoveries to 2,615,162.Meanwhile 384 are in the ICU, including 304 confirmed Covid-19 patients.A total of 213 are in need of respiratory assistance including 142 confirmed Covid-19 cases.Of the 3,900 cases reported today, 86 (2.2%) are in Category Three and above. The remaining 3,814 (97.8%) are in Category One and Two.


Anwar turns to ex-AG over claims ruling MPs spared from 1MDB charges

Anwar Ibrahim today urged former attorney-general Tommy Thomas to explain why Umno MPs who jumped to Bersatu during the Pakatan Harapan administration were spared prosecution despite being accused of receiving 1MDB funds.This follows the PKR president’s meeting with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) today, where he said he was told by its chief commissioner Azam Baki that the agency had conducted a transparent investigation before the AG at that time decided not to press charges.Anwar said he was not satisfied with the answer, adding that both the former and current AGs must respond to his claim that those supporting the government were spared charges.“This was an open secret. Same case, same facts, those who remained in the opposition were charged, those who jumped were let off,” he told reporters after meeting Azam at the MACC headquarters.The meeting comes on the back of Anwar’s claims that MACC is among several government agencies being used to blackmail opposition MPs into crossing over.Anwar said he told Azam that a former minister had been given the assurance by a “senior minister” that he would be freed from any corruption investigation if he crossed over.“The chief commissioner and his officers gave the guarantee that they remain independent and transparent and would not cover up any case if there is indeeed corruption,” Anwar told reporters today.“MACC says it is not true, and that the probe is ongoing,” he said.Anwar is believed to be referring to former PKR vice-president and Kuala Langat MP Xavier Jayakumar, who recently quit the party to become an independent friendly to the government.MACC recently arrested Xavier’s political secretary and associates close to the former minister, in an operation which also saw more than RM70 million frozen in several company accounts.In a statement, Azam said Anwar had brought up several issues during their meeting today.“I gave my assurance that MACC as an agency monitored by five independent panels will act professionally according to the rule of law and the authority vested in the commission.“MACC also appreciates the support of Anwar in efforts to eradicate corruption in the country.”


Enforcement agencies should act regardless of position, ideology, says PM

Enforcement agencies should take immediate action over irregularities at various levels regardless of position or ideology, says Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said efforts to correct irregularities, such as the looting of finances, had always received extraordinary opposition from various quarters.
"There is the use of race in the name of Malays, there is the use of Islam, and without investigating, without listening to reports from the investigators of the enforcement agencies, they say this is political persecution and so on.
"We take action based on facts and laws... not to manipulate," he said at an assembly of finance ministry staff in Putrajaya today.
Anwar previously said that his government does not interfere in the affairs of investigative and enforcement bodies including the investigation conducted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission against Bersatu.
Investigative and enforcement bodies as well as the judiciary are free to conduct their investigations, said Anwar.
Meanwhile, Anwar said all parties need to be determined to bring about change to take the country in a better direction despite receiving strong objections from the wealthy and powerful with high titles.
"If we don't, it's a big risk because we're facing very rich and powerful persons with high titles, Datuk Seri, Tan Sri, and Tun... if there is determination to bring change, God willing, we can do it," he said.
Anwar said he did not want the country to become embroiled again in corruption or abuse of power, but to instead focus on practising good governance.
He said the Cabinet members in the coalition government were also determined not to allow unhealthy practices and cultures to continue. "Thus, approving contracts and projects that do not comply with the rules in terms of good governance is no longer applicable.
"Now it is up to the director-generals, department heads and ministry leadership to ensure that this does not happen at any level," he said.
Asked if the special advisory body to the finance minister had been given a specific task, Anwar said its chairman Mohd Hassan Marican would announce the measures to be taken to drive the country's economy.
"Hassan will announce... I discussed with him yesterday," he said when met by reporters after the assembly.
Yesterday, Anwar announced the appointment of Hassan, who is adviser to Petronas, to lead the special advisory body.
Anwar said the group consisting of professionals and economic experts would be responsible for helping to advise him as finance minister.
The other four members of the panel are FVSB Sdn Bhd executive chairman Ahmad Fuad Md Ali, Sunway University economics professor Yeah Kim Leng, Universiti Malaya economics professor Rajah Rasiah and Sarawak Energy Bhd chairman Amar Abdul Hamed Sepawi.


India considering curbs on fridge imports to boost local industry, sources say

India is considering restricting imports of refrigerators to promote local manufacturing, two industry sources told Reuters on Thursday, potentially freezing out shipments from Samsung Electronics Co and LG Electronics Inc in the US$5 billion market.The sources, who declined to be named as the talks were private, said the government was considering mandating that importers seek a licence from the authorities, replacing the existing free-import regime.That could be followed by a ban on imports of refrigerators with refrigerant already added, to create opportunities for value-added operations in India, said one of the sources, who has direct knowledge of the government’s discussions.The source said a decision could come within a month, adding: “The thrust is to support all those who are manufacturing in India rather than those bringing them into India.”The Indian trade ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Spokespeople for Samsung and LG also did not respond immediately.A licensing regime, the other source said, would raise the compliance burden and risk delaying imports.The government estimates India’s refrigerator market at more than US$5 billion, with foreign companies such as Samsung and LG competing with domestic majors including the Tata conglomerate’s Voltas Ltd.The first source said India’s annual fridge-making capacity was around 24 million units but demand was only some 15 million, a part of which is met by imports.The government does not release figures for refrigerator imports, although the second source said companies such as Samsung and LG import thousands of high-end refrigerators annually.A third industry source said sales of large, high-end refrigerators, many of which are imported, have been growing rapidly, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic as people stayed indoors. Those imports account for roughly 5-6% of total India sales.The move is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” programme to boost local manufacturing and discourage imports.India in 2020 banned the import of air conditioners with refrigerant already added. That same year it also placed restrictions on television imports, affecting Samsung and other global manufacturers.India imports refrigerators from countries with which it holds a free trade agreement, including Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea.Local manufacturers that could stand to benefit from import restrictions include Voltas, Godrej Appliances and Havells India Ltd.


Harry Potter park in Tokyo hopes to enchant Asian fans

Harry Potter fans will soon be able to take up their wands, put on their robes and immerse themselves in the boy wizard's world at a new theme park set to open in Tokyo on Friday.
Built on the western site of the beloved Toshimaen amusement park, which shut in 2020 after 94 years, the Warner Brothers Studio Tour Tokyo recreates a number of iconic film locations, such as Diagon Alley and the Ministry of Magic.
The location near the Japanese capital is ideal, especially as global tourism picks up after the Covid-19 pandemic, said Torben Jensen, vice president and general manager of Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo.
"Being the first tour in Asia and the increasing inbound visitors to Japan will also put us in the centre of the regional market," Jensen told media during a tour of the park, saying it offered Asian fans a new dimension in Harry Potter movie-making.
Tickets for adults cost US$45 (about RM208), and Jensen said they were sold out into August.


Australia to further ease international border restrictions

Australia will allow foreign visa holders to enter the country from the start of December, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday, as it takes further steps to restart international travel and support the economy.Australia shut its international border in May 2020 and allowed only restricted numbers of citizens and permanent residents to enter in a bid to curtail the spread of Covid-19.The rules were relaxed in recent weeks to allow foreign family members of citizens to enter, and Morrison said this will be scaled up from Dec 1 to allow vaccinated students, business visa holders and refugees to arrive.“The return of skilled workers and students to Australia is a major milestone in our pathway back,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra.Australia will also allow in vaccinated tourists from South Korea and Japan from Dec 1, he said.The return of foreign students, who are worth about A$35 billion (US$25 billion) a year to the Australian economy, will be a major boost for the education sector.Many Australian universities have come to rely on foreign students and the border closure led many higher education facilities to lay off hundreds of staff.A group of international students arrived in Australia from Singapore on Sunday after a travel bubble between the two countries came into effect.Border rules, swift lockdowns and tough social distancing rules helped Australia to keep its coronavirus numbers far lower than many other comparable countries, with around 200,000 cases and 1,948 deaths.Most new infections are being reported in Victoria state, which logged 1,029 cases on Monday. New South Wales, home to Sydney, reported 180 cases. Other states and territories are Covid-free or have very few cases.


Melbourne extends sixth virus lockdown

A lockdown of Australia’s second-biggest city Melbourne will be extended, authorities announced Sunday as they struggle to quash a stubborn coronavirus Delta variant outbreak.Almost seven million people in Melbourne and surrounding Victoria state were scheduled to exit a four-week lockdown on Thursday, but state premier Dan Andrews said it would no longer be possible with case numbers rising by 92 overnight.It is the city’s sixth lockdown of the pandemic, and includes a curfew, the closure of playgrounds and strict limits on exercise.“We still have too many cases in the community for too long for us to be able to open up and give back… those freedoms that we cherish and those freedoms that we desperately want back,” Andrews said.Andrews did not reveal how long stay-at-home orders would remain in place, saying officials would “look at all the different options”.Meanwhile neighbouring New South Wales state, which includes Australia’s most populous city of Sydney, posted 1,218 new cases on Sunday – pushing the country’s overall daily caseload to a fresh all-time high.Almost 19,000 cases have been detected in the state of about eight million people since the Delta variant outbreak began in mid-June.But with vaccination rates now surging in New South Wales and authorities predicting 70% of adults there will be fully vaccinated by October, residents weary of prolonged restrictions have been promised some modest freedoms.In non-hotspot areas, five fully vaccinated adults will be able to gather outside for up to an hour from mid-September while authorities have also signalled small weddings will soon be allowed.Australian leaders have agreed on a national roadmap for reopening the country once vaccination targets of 70% and 80% are reached in each state and territory.The nation has recorded more than 51,000 cases of Covid-19 and almost 1,000 deaths in a population of 25 million since the start of the pandemic.


DoJ against revealing evidence supporting search of Trump's home

The US Justice Department on Monday said it opposes unsealing the affidavit that prosecutors used to obtain a federal judge's approval to search former president Donald Trump's Florida home, where they seized classified documents.
"If disclosed, the affidavit would serve as a roadmap to the government's ongoing investigation, providing specific details about its direction and likely course, in a manner that is highly likely to compromise future investigative steps," prosecutors wrote in their filing.
Trump's Republican allies in recent days have ramped up their calls for Attorney-General Merrick Garland to unseal the document, which would reveal the evidence that prosecutors showed to demonstrate they had probable cause to believe crimes were committed at Trump's home – the standard they had to meet to secure the search warrant.
On Friday, at the Justice Department's request, a federal court in south Florida unsealed the search warrant and several accompanying legal documents that showed that FBI agents carted away 11 sets of classified records from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.
Some of the records seized were labelled as "top secret" – the highest level of classification reserved for the most closely held US national security information.
Such documents usually are typically kept in special government facilities because disclosure could damage national security
The Justice Department on Monday cited this as another reason to keep the affidavit sealed, saying the probe involves "highly classified materials."
The agency said it would not oppose the release of other sealed documents tied to the raid, such as cover sheets and the government's motion to seal.
The warrant released on Friday showed that the Justice Department is investigating violations of three laws, including a provision in the Espionage Act that prohibits the possession of national defense information and another statute that makes it a crime to knowingly destroy, conceal or falsify records with the intent to obstruct an investigation.
Trump has since claimed that he had a standing order to declassify all of the materials recovered at his home.
The decision by Garland to unseal the warrant was highly unusual, given the Justice Department's policy not to comment on pending investigations.
On the same day Garland announced his decision to seek to unseal the warrant, an armed man with right-wing views tried to breach an FBI office in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was later shot dead by police following a car chase.
Prosecutors on Monday cited the recent violence and increasing threats against the FBI as another reason not to release the affidavit.
"Information about witnesses is particularly sensitive given the high-profile nature of this matter and the risk that the revelation of witness identities would impact their willingness to cooperate with the investigation," they wrote.
Also on Monday the Justice Department said a Pennsylvania man was arrested on charges of making threats on the social media service Gab against FBI agents. Adam Bies, 46, was taken into custody on Friday in connection with the social media posts, the Justice Department said.


‘Lepak’, the great escape from the confines of low-cost housing units

Fifteen-year-old Haris lives with his family in an apartment unit at a low-cost housing flat in Kuala Lumpur.Unlike many others in his situation, he is fortunate enough to have his own room. But the walls of this small space are lined with cupboards containing household items such as pots and pans, and every available surface area is piled high with his father’s collection of used car accessories.For Haris and his family, this is just one of the realities of life in a People’s Housing Project (PPR) flat where money is tight and space is a premium.But the years of living in the cramped unit have set in Haris a strong desire for freedom and open areas.At night, he and his friends ride their bicycles to Dataran Merdeka in the heart of the capital city where they spend hours loafing about in the open air.For just a few hours, they forget the narrow space and crowded rooms that characterise their lives back home.A 2019 study by the UK’s University College London found that the majority of children spend their time at home, with roughly a third of this time spent in their rooms.The study also found that children who live in low-cost housing are more prone to developing mental health problems than those in more affordable areas.Common symptoms include anxiety, depression and a lack of emotional control.It also highlighted the strong link between home environments and the behaviour and emotions of children.In Malaysia, stories of children like Haris are a norm. The majority of those from low-income households lived jammed together in small rooms while their parents struggle each day to put food on the table and keep the roofs over their heads.Space is a luxury and privacy a distant dream.Those like Haris find relief in open spaces, flocking to hotspots like Dataran Merdeka especially on weekends and public holidays.Urban migrationPart of the underlying issue is Malaysia’s rapid development. As more and more leave their villages and home towns to find work in the big cities, demand for housing rises.This was one of the reasons that PPR housing units were established by the government in early 1998.While more affordably priced than most other houses available on the market, they are often criticised for their cramped space and undesirable locations.Lacking storage space, residents often leave their belongings along the corridors, obstructing the passageways and creating potential hazards in times of emergency.The average space allotted in PPR units is 130 sq feet per person. This is equivalent to 650 sq feet or 60.38 sq m for an average of five people in one unit.In terms of size, this is far bigger than the corresponding housing units constructed in Japan and the UK in the 1980s, which only allocated 50 and 62 sq feet per person.Still, the limited space is seen as a contributing factor to the culture of loafing about or “lepaking” prevalent in the cities.Architect Azari Mat Yasir described the issue of space in low-cost housing as a complex matter which requires in-depth discussion.Azari, of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, said from an architectural point of view, homes should be psychologically conducive, especially to childhood development.“But large spaces are normally out of the question for low-cost housing,” he said.Consequently, he said, it had become commonplace for architects to tackle this problem by providing more public spaces for use by the residents in a particular housing area – for example, playgrounds.He said if recreational areas cannot be provided for a single housing area, then shared space should be made available.The problem is that not many developers are willing to do so.“For one thing, no one wants to pay for this, and no one wants to be responsible for maintaining these areas,” Azari said.The other problem, he said, lies with Malaysians themselves.“The attitude of society is such that we don’t want to take care of shared public property.”


Singapore reports 60 new Covid cases in 10-month high

Singapore reported 60 new Covid-19 cases today, the highest number of daily cases on record since September last year.The latest numbers come just days after Singapore moved to ease restrictions such as allowing five people to dine in instead of two.Media reports say 56 of today’s cases were locally transmitted infections, of which 41 were linked to a KTV lounge cluster.This includes a passenger on board a Dream Cruises ship which was forced to turn back several hours ahead of schedule earlier today.The individual, who returned a positive PCR test, was believed to have been in close contact with another case before boarding although the Straits Times said the passenger was fully vaccinated and had tested negative for the virus before boarding.Today’s infections brought the number of cases linked to the KTV lounge cluster to 53, a huge jump from just 12 on Tuesday.According to Channel NewsAsia, this is the most daily cases reported since Sept 11 last year when 86 infections were logged, the bulk of which were workers living in dormitories.Singapore’s total caseload now stands at 62,804.About two-thirds of the population has received at least a first dose of vaccine, with the city-state’s task force on Covid-19 estimating that half of the population will be fully vaccinated by the end of the month.


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