EU lawmakers to back world's first AI rules

European Parliament lawmakers will vote Wednesday to kickstart talks to approve the world's first sweeping rules on artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT, aiming to curb potential harms while nurturing innovation.
Although the EU's plans date back to 2021, the draft rules took on greater urgency when ChatGPT exploded onto the scene last year, showing off AI's dizzying development and the possible risks.
There is also growing clamour to regulate AI across the Atlantic, as pressure grows on Western governments to act fast in what some describe as a battle to protect humanity.
While AI proponents hail the technology for how it will transform society, including work, healthcare and creative pursuits, others are terrified by its potential to undermine democracy.
Once adopted by the EU parliament, officials say negotiations for a final law with the bloc's 27 member states will begin almost immediately, starting later Wednesday.
The race is on to strike an agreement on final legislation by the end of the year.
Even if that ambitious target is achieved, the law would not come into force until 2026 at the earliest, forcing the EU to push for a voluntary interim pact with tech companies.
Brussels and the US agreed last month to release a common code of conduct on AI to develop standards among democracies.
Lawmakers have hailed the draft law as "historic" and pushed back against critics who say the EU's plans could harm rather than encourage innovation.
"Is this the right time for Europe to regulate AI? My answer is resolutely yes – it is the right time because of the profound impact AI has," MEP Dragos Tudorache said during Tuesday's parliamentary debate in Strasbourg.
"What we can do here is to create trust, legal certainty, to enable AI to develop in a positive manner," European Commission vice-president Margrethe Vestager said.
'Common' approach
The law will regulate AI according to the level of risk: the higher the risk to individuals' rights or health, for example, the greater the systems' obligations.
The EU's proposed high-risk list includes AI in critical infrastructure, education, human resources, public order and migration management.
The parliament has added extra conditions before the high-risk classification would be met, including the potential to harm people's health, safety, rights or the environment.
There are also special requirements for generative AI systems – those such as ChatGPT and DALL-E capable of producing text, images, code, audio and other media – that include informing users that a machine, not a human, produced the content.
Another MEP spearheading the law in parliament, Brando Benifei, called for a "common approach" to tackle AI risks.
"We need to compare notes with lawmakers all around the world," he said.
Tudorache added that the law was needed "because hoping that companies will self-regulate is not enough to safeguard our citizens".
Risks versus rights
Throughout the parliament's scramble to reach an agreement that began last year, rights defenders have urged the EU to protect rights.
Under the parliamentary committee text approved last month, lawmakers propose bans on AU systems that use biometric surveillance, emotion recognition and so-called predictive policing.
But Mher Hakobyan of Amnesty International warned this was at risk because "parliament may upend considerable human rights protections" that were agreed on by parliamentary committees last month.
There are still fears that, even if lawmakers agree on those bans, they may not make it into the final law after negotiations with EU member states.
"There's a real risk that when the state representatives get involved, a lot of these protections could be removed or significantly watered down," Griff Ferris, senior legal and policy officer at the non-governmental group Fair Trials, told AFP.


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MCA says in the dark over Annuar’s removal as BN sec-gen

MCA today said it was caught off guard by Annuar Musa’s replacement as Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general, hours after the federal territories minister was sacked by the coalition.In a statement, it said the matter had not been discussed with BN component parties or decided by the coalition’s Supreme Council, adding that it had only learnt of the matter through media reports.“Any appointment in BN should be done according to the coalition’s constitution, and by convention the candidacy should be discussed and agreed on by consensus at the BN Supreme Council.“The same goes for the sacking of any individual from positions such as secretary-general and treasurer-general,” it said.Annuar was sacked as BN secretary-general earlier today and replaced by Ahmad Maslan.Ahmad said he would take over as secretary-general with immediate effect although he maintained that Annuar had been “replaced”, not sacked.But MCA said it had yet to receive any notification of the move.“Until now, MCA has been unable to confirm the news of Annuar’s sacking as BN secretary-general,” it said.


Flood losses estimated at up to RM6.5 billion

The floods which struck 50 districts in the country last month have caused an estimated loss of between RM5.3 billion and RM6.5 billion, according to the Statistics Department (DOSM).Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economic Affairs) Mustapa Mohamed said of the total, losses involving public assets and infrastructure such as roads and bridges were the highest at RM2 billion.Others include damage caused to houses, with estimated losses of between RM1.2 billion and RM1.4 billion; vehicles (RM1 billion to RM1.3 billion); manufacturing sector (RM800 million to RM1 billion); business premises (RM500 million to RM600 million); and agriculture sector (RM40.9 million to RM49.9 million).Mustapa said this to reporters after launching the Household Income Expenditure and Basic Amenities Survey (HIES/BA) 2022 in Sepang today.On the HIES/BA 2022, Mustapa said the survey would be conducted through face-to-face interviews involving about 93,000 households or 500,000 residents nationwide, from January to December.Mustapa said among the objectives of the survey were to study and analyse household income and expenditure patterns as well as provide poverty statistics, especially the poverty rate, up to the administrative district level.“It helps the government plan and monitor the effectiveness of the implementation of the national development plans, especially to improve the well-being of the people,” he said.Meanwhile, chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the findings of the HIES/BA 2022 survey would provide comprehensive input towards the implementation of existing policies such as the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals and the 12th Malaysia Plan.


Ex-Samsung Elec executive indicted over alleged data theft for China factory

South Korean prosecutors said they indicted a former Samsung Electronics executive on Monday on suspicion of stealing the company's technology to build a chip factory in China.
The defendant, who also formerly worked at SK Hynix as a vice president, is accused of illegally acquiring Samsung data to build a factory in the northwestern Chinese city of Xian between 2018 and 2019, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office said in a statement.
The trial date was yet to be confirmed by the local court where the indictment has been filed.
The defendant, arrested last month, is denying the allegations, a prosecutor said.
He worked a combined 28 years at the South Korean chipmakers, prosecutors said. The officials did not identify the accused.
Reuters was not immediately able to reach him for comment.
The former Samsung executive allegedly tried to build the factory 1.5km away from Samsung's chip manufacturing facility in Xian after setting up a semiconductor company, prosecutors said.
The attempt to build the new plant using Samsung data, however, ended in failure due to funding issues, a prosecutor said.
Prosecutors said they have also indicted six other people for their involvement in the alleged crime, including an inspection company employee who is accused of leaking the architectural plan of Samsung's semiconductor factory.
Prosecutors said they estimated the theft of the data to have inflicted at least US$233 million (about RM1 billion) worth of losses on Samsung Electronics.
"It's a grave crime that could deal a heavy blow to our economic security by shaking the foundation of the domestic chip industry at a time of intensifying competition in chip manufacturing," the prosecutors' office said.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix declined to comment.
The indictment comes as South Korea has vowed to step up support for its chip sector.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has described competition in the industry as an "all-out war" amid heightened Sino-US tensions.
South Korea's Samsung and SK Hynix, the world's top two makers of memory chips, have invested billions of dollars in chip factories in China.


Vaccination will begin earlier, PM and health DG to get first jabs

The massive Covid-19 inoculation programme for Malaysia will begin two days earlier than the initial date of Feb 27, as authorities took delivery of the first batch of vaccines this morning.A Malaysia Airlines flight carrying more than 300,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines landed at KLIA in Sepang.Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah would be the first individuals to be given the vaccine jabs, alongside frontliners and Cabinet members.Malaysia has ordered close to 13 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, a two-dose regime which can cover 20% of the population.It is among five Covid-19 vaccines purchased by Putrajaya ahead of a massive free vaccination programme to include millions of migrant workers.Khairy said the decision to start the vaccination programme earlier was made as they were convinced of the procedures in handling the Pfizer vaccine.


Covid-19 infections in Lagos alone ‘may top Africa’s official total’

A Covid-19 antibodies survey in Nigeria suggests that four million people in Lagos state alone have had the virus – a number higher than has been officially recorded for the whole of Africa.The official Covid-19 figure for Africa’s most populous nation is 153,000 cases with 1,862 deaths but the study found that the numbers are actually much higher.The study was carried out on 10,000 people from four Nigerian states to estimate the extent of coronavirus in the nation. It was conducted before a second wave began in early December.The findings of the seroprevalence survey, carried out in September and October by Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Institute for Medical Research (IMR), are staggering, reports the BBC from Lagos.The results indicate that 20% of those tested in the state of Lagos, and two other states had been infected. More men were infected than women and people living in urban areas were particularly vulnerable to contracting the virus, the study said.As high as the estimated percentages are, the head of the NCDC interprets the numbers as showing that a large proportion of Nigeria’s 186 million inhabitants are still at risk from the virus.“At least 80% of the population are still susceptible to the virus which makes the vaccination efforts we are about to start in Nigeria even more important,” said Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general of the NCDC.Experts say having an accurate picture of who is dying, from what and where, is crucial when it comes to allocating resources and funding.The number of positive cases and fatalities from coronavirus in Africa could be higher than reported because of low testing and poor registration of deaths.Nigeria is among countries on the continent that do not have a compulsory system to register deaths, a BBC investigation found.Only Egypt, South Africa, Tunisia, Algeria, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Príncipe, Seychelles and Mauritius have a universal death registration system.


5 killed, including children, in machete attack at Brazil nursery

Five people have died after a teenager launched a machete attack at a nursery school in southern Brazil, police say.The victims include three children all reported to be under two years old and two staff members. A fourth child is said to have suffered minor injuries.The attacker then turned the weapon on himself and is in critical condition in hospital, a police statement said.It is not clear what was behind the attack in the small town of Saudades, in Santa Catarina state.Several dozen children were in the building at the time of the incident and staff tried to hide them, officials said.Military police say they received several calls from neighbours who reported that a man armed with a machete had entered the nursery and was attacking staff and children.Police say the man first attacked a teacher who was at the entrance to the nursery. He reportedly followed her into one of the rooms, where he also turned on the children.At a news conference later on Tuesday, one police officer described the attacker’s weapon as “samurai-style” and displayed it to reporters.According to the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S Paulo, the suspect was later identified as 18-year-old Fabiano Kipper Mai.Police chief Jeronimo Marcal Ferreira told the paper that Mai arrived at the Aquarela preschool on his bike around mid-morning.Once he got in, he reportedly began stabbing a 30-year-old teacher who managed to run to a room to alert other staff members. The suspect followed her and then attacked the four children who were in the room at the time, as well as one other employee.Two girls – both under the age of two – and the teacher died at the scene. One other child, and the employee died at the hospital.According to the Brazilian news portal G1, the suspect was arrested and taken to a hospital, after he began attacking himself.Social media accounts in Brazil have identified the slain teacher as 30-year-old Keli Adriane Aniecevski, who had worked at the school for 10 years, G1 reported.While there have been deadly attacks in schools before in Brazil, they have mainly targeted older pupils and been carried out with firearms.


Foreign teachers in Hong Kong govt schools ordered to swear allegiance

Foreign English-language teachers working in Hong Kong government schools will need to swear allegiance to the city, officials told AFP on Saturday, as fears grow about the territory’s ability to retain educators in the face of increasing restrictions.Hong Kong’s education bureau said that native-speaking English teachers (NETs) and advisors working in government-run schools must sign a declaration by June 21 in order to continue working in the coming school year.Since 2020, Hong Kong has applied oath-taking requirements to an increasing number of jobs, mainly those in the public sector, as a way to fulfil Chinese government demands of loyalty.NETs must declare they will bear allegiance to Hong Kong and uphold the Basic Law – the city’s constitutional text – as well as be responsible to the government.“Neglect, refusal or failure” to sign the declaration will lead to contract termination, authorities said.The new declaration will “further safeguard and promote the core values that should be upheld by all government employees” and ensure effective governance, a government spokesman said.NETs are normally hired on renewable two-year contracts, with monthly salaries that begin at around HK$32,000 (US$4,100) and can go as high as HK$74,000 (US$9,400).Hong Kong introduced the NET programme in 1997 to improve students’ language skills, and has gradually made NETs a standard feature in primary and secondary schools.Retention issuesIn addition to market-beating salaries, NETs enjoy government allowances and other incentives to ensure retention, which has been a growing problem in recent years.In April, the government reported that 13% of NETs in secondary schools left in the 2020/21 school year, the highest figure in five years.Officials, however, said retention and attrition rates of NETs have been “largely stable”.City education chief Kevin Yeung has also denied that growing numbers of NETs had left due to Hong Kong’s strict zero-Covid strategy.“There are no substantial grounds for attributing the departure of NETs or their decision to or not to come to teach in Hong Kong to our compulsory quarantine measure,” he told lawmakers in April.Some teachers have expressed fears about the city’s political climate, as Beijing remoulds Hong Kong in its authoritarian image.The loyalty requirement was first imposed on civil servants in October 2020, and then extended to government staff hired on contract seven months later.“National security education” has been made a priority in schools and some teachers have said they now avoid sensitive topics such as the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.


High Court was rewriting the law, judge says in appeals court ruling on equal citizenship

Only children born overseas to Malaysian fathers who are married to foreign spouses are entitled to citizenship by operation of law, the Court of Appeal held.
Court of Appeal judge Kamaludin Md Said, in his written grounds of judgment for last Friday's 2-1 majority decision disallowing citizenship for children born overseas to Malaysian mothers and foreign fathers, said the word "father" in Section 1(b), Part II of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution refers to father only and is not intended to include the mother.
This means it precludes Malaysian mothers who are married to non-Malaysian citizens from passing on their citizenship status to their children who are born outside of Malaysia.
In his grounds of judgment released yesterday, Kamaludin said it was intended by the framers of the Federal Constitution that citizenship by operation of the law for children born on or after Malaysia Day must follow the status of the father.
"In my view, the court should not question why the law was enacted or whether Parliament had addressed its mind in enacting the law. The court's duty is to interpret the enacted law accordingly," he said. He said the remedy for Malaysian mothers married to foreign spouses to obtain Malaysian citizenship for their children who are born overseas is provided under Article 15 (2) of the Federal Constitution.
Kamaludin said the mothers' grievances were not against the existing law of Article 15 (2) which provides the remedy for them to apply for citizenship for their children, but against the approving authority or system currently in place.
"The system can be improved or changed. I agree this issue needs to be addressed by the relevant authority," he said.
He said it was his view that the High Court was rewriting the law in relation to the granting of citizenship to children born outside Malaysia when it applied the existing law and policy already in force in a manner to find a remedy for the grievances of the mothers by interpreting the word "father" to be read as "mother".
On Friday, the Court of Appeal's 2-1 majority decision by Kamaludin and justice Azizah Nawawi allowed the appeal by the government, home ministry and National Registration Department (JPN) director-general to reverse the High Court's decision declaring that children born overseas to Malaysian mothers married to foreigners are entitled to citizenship by operation of law. Justice S Nantha Balan dissented. The appeal involved the Association of Family Support & Welfare Selangor & Kuala Lumpur (Family Frontiers) and six Malaysian women who are married to foreigners who sought a court order for all relevant government agencies, including the JPN, immigration department and Malaysian embassies, to issue documents relating to citizenship (including passports and identity cards) to children born abroad to Malaysian mothers with foreign spouses.
On the same day, the appellate court panel also dismissed an appeal by a 24-year-old woman, Mahisha Sulaiha Abdul Majeed, against the High Court's decision in 2020 rejecting her suit for a declaration that she is entitled to be a Malaysian citizen.
In his grounds of judgment, Kamaludin said the parliamentary process is a better way of resolving issues involving controversial and complex questions arising out of moral and social dilemma.
He also said Article 14 (1)(b) of the Federal Constitution and Section 1 (b) of Part II of the Federal Constitution did not constitute gender discrimination against women.
Article 14 (1)(b) states every person born on or after Malaysia Day, fulfilling any of the conditions in Part II of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution, is a citizen by operation of law, while Section 1 (b) of Part II of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution states that every person born outside the federation whose father is at the time of the birth of a citizen, is a citizen by operation of law.
In the minority judgment ruling in favour of the mothers, Nantha Balan said it was untenable for the government to say that there was no discrimination against Malaysian mothers who are unable to pass on their citizenship to their children born overseas.
"There is no doubt that Article 14 (1)(b), read together with Section 1 (b) of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution, is totally and inherently discriminatory of the rights of Malaysian mothers whose children are deprived of citizenship by operation of law solely because their spouses are foreigners and because the children were born overseas," he said.
He said the word "father" in Section 1 (b) Part II of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution should be read in a non-discriminatory way to include "mother", as by virtue of Article 8 (2) of the Federal Constitution, it would be unconstitutional to practise gender discrimination by recognising the blood descent of the father but not that of the mother for the purposes of according citizenship to children born overseas.
On Friday, the Court of Appeal panel also ruled that the status quo should be maintained for the overseas-born children of the six Malaysian mothers who had obtained citizenship, pending the disposal of their appeal at the Federal Court.


Anwar's govt warned against 'recycling' Najib-era initiatives

An analyst has cautioned the government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim against "recycling" the initiatives implemented by the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration, warning that this would be akin to self-sabotage.
Speaking to MalaysiaNow, Jeniri Amir said it would also raise questions about the narrative of Pakatan Harapan's (PH) criticism of the government under Najib Razak.
Jeniri, a senior fellow at the National Council of Professors, gave the example of Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli who recently said that the goods and services tax (GST) might be brought back at some point in the future.
He said the consumption tax had been a focal point of PH's campaign against the government amid anger over the rising cost of living.
"One hundred and sixty countries around the world use the GST," he added.
"Surely the government at the time would have done its research before introducing the tax system.
"And now, with talk of a possible return of the GST, even if this doesn't happen immediately, it shows that the government now is admitting that abolishing the tax was a mistake."
The GST was introduced on April 1, 2015, to replace the sales and services tax under the administration of Najib who was also the finance minister.
It was a crucial rallying point for PH in the run-up to the 2018 election which eventually saw the downfall of Najib and BN.
Jeniri also referred to the government's announcement about the second phase of the MRT, expected to begin operations on March 16, as well as efforts to strengthen the Rakan Muda programme, both of which he said were the ideas of previous administrations.
"Any opposition anywhere should bring up ideas based on facts, not play on sentiments in order to win an election," he said.
Political analyst Oh Ei Sun meanwhile said that the government should continue the initiatives introduced by its predecessors if this was done in the right way.
Oh, of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said PH's criticism during its time in the opposition was more focused on the method of implementation which only benefited certain parties.
On the government's performance during its first 100 days in Putrajaya, Oh said it had yet to implement any significant changes.
He said this might be partly due to its concentration on meeting the challenges of Perikatan Nasional (PN), particularly with elections looming in six states.
"If they announce anything major, it might require reforms," he said.
"This could affect their support, part of which might shift over to PN."


Worried over varsity delays, govt mulls back-to-school plan for some students

The education ministry is urging the government to allow Form Five and pre-university students to attend school for regular classroom sessions despite the conditional movement control order (CMCO) imposed in Sabah, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, and Putrajaya in response to sharp spikes in case numbers.It is learnt that Education Minister Radzi Jidin had voiced concern during a recent high-level meeting on Covid-19 that the SPM examination would be delayed yet again, affecting the exam system and university admissions for at least two years.“The prime minister asked the ministry to decide (whether to allow students to attend school or postpone examinations), but the health director-general said there was no need as he was confident the number of cases in these states would go down within a few weeks,” a source told MalaysiaNow.The meeting in question was chaired by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and attended by Cabinet members, heads of agencies, and top government advisors.The source said during the meeting, Radzi had voiced concern that the exam system would be affected in the long run if the Covid-19 situation is not controlled.“He said the teachers are under pressure and even Form Four students have had enough trouble with class sessions during the pandemic.”However, the source said there is no official decision yet on the matter.The worry is that SPM candidates might have to take their exams next year, while those sitting for papers next year will have to take them in 2022.The delay would affect university enrolment.“If more delays occur, the application period for entrance to university will also be affected,” the source said.This year’s SPM students were supposed to sit for their exams from Nov 16 to Dec 7, but the dates were pushed forward to allow them more time for their studies after the first lockdown, implemented on March 18.The education ministry shifted the dates to between Jan 6 and Feb 9 next year, while the UPSR and PT3 exams were cancelled.STPM candidates, meanwhile, took their second semester papers in August, while the third semester exams will be held in March 2021.The CMCO in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Selangor saw most schools in the states shut down as authorities struggled to contain a new wave of Covid-19 infections.The conditional lockdown was initially slated to end last month but was extended another two weeks until Nov 9.


Biden to extend US national emergency due to Covid-19 health risk

President Joe Biden said on Friday the US national emergency declared in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic will be extended beyond March 1 due to the ongoing risk to public health posed by the coronavirus.Biden said the deaths of more than 900,000 Americans from Covid-19 emphasised the need to respond to the pandemic with “the full capacity” of the federal government.Former president Donald Trump had declared a national emergency almost two years ago to free up US$50 billion in federal aid.“There remains a need to continue this national emergency,” Biden said in a letter on Friday to the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the Senate.The letter was released by the White House.The emergency would have been automatically terminated unless, within 90 days prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the president sent a notice to the Congress stating it is to continue beyond the anniversary date.Biden’s step to extend the emergency comes even as a slew of local leaders in the US are dialing back pandemic restrictions as the Omicron wave ebbs.The governors of New York and Massachusetts announced last week that they would end certain mask mandates in their states, following similar moves by New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Delaware and Oregon.US health officials said earlier this week they were preparing for the next phase of the pandemic as Omicron-related cases decline.


Zahid admitted to hospital, graft trial likely postponed yet again

The corruption trial of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will likely be postponed for the third time as the Umno president has been admitted to a private hospital in Shah Alam.A source at the hospital said Zahid was admitted on Sunday, but had no details of his illness.When contacted, Zahid’s lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik confirmed that his client would not be attending court tomorrow.“I will inform the court later,” he told MalaysiaNow.Zahid is facing 40 corruption charges in connection with the foreign visa system.His trial, postponed twice due to the movement control order, was to resume tomorrow at the Shah Alam High Court.Zahid, who was deputy prime minister and home minister under Najib Razak’s administration, faces 20 years’ imprisonment on 33 charges of receiving bribes amounting to some RM42 million from a company to extend its contract as operator of the foreign visa system.He is also accused of accepting bribes in various currencies – S$1,150,000, RM3,000,000, €15,000 and US$15,000 – from the same company.


Teachers who reject vaccination won’t be allowed to teach, says Radzi

The education ministry has determined that teachers who refuse to be vaccinated will not be allowed to interact with students face-to-face when schools reopen on Oct 3.Education Minister Radzi Jidin said the measure was to ensure that the school ecosystem would be safe for students.“We are taking this step to ensure that parents are confident that the school environment is safe for their children,” he told reporters in Kangar today.Radzi had earlier held an engagement session with parents, teachers and school administrators in Perlis to get their input regarding the reopening of schools on Oct 3.He said there are still 2,500 teachers who have not been vaccinated, although 96.7% have received at least one shot while 85.26% have completed both shots.He said the ministry would issue assignment guidelines for unvaccinated teachers.“We are also discussing with the Public Service Department regarding action against teachers who do not want to be vaccinated,” he added.Radzi said that besides teachers, school support staff including canteen workers, cleaning staff and security guards at schools must also be vaccinated.“Currently, 73.71% of school support staff have been fully vaccinated and 89.43% have received at least one dose of vaccine,” he said.


Girl marries in Punjab, Amanah leader hits out at govt

A senior Amanah leader is unhappy that the government is not taking action against a Malay-Muslim woman who wedded in Punjab according to Sikh customs.Terengganu Amanah chief Raja Bahrin Shah said the minister in charge of religious affairs, Zulkifli Al-Bakri, should launch an official probe into the religious status of Illi Najwa Saddique after a video of her wedding went viral.Illi Najwa, the niece of Barisan Nasional’s Kota Tinggi MP Halimah Mohamed Sadique, later explained that her husband, Indian hockey skipper Manpreet Singh Parwarwas, had already converted to Islam last year.Islamic marriage laws in Malaysia prohibit Muslims from marrying non-Muslims.But Raja Bahrin said the government and the relevant Islamic authorities owe an explanation.“Explain how the ‘Malay-Muslim’ Perikatan Nasional government and the relevant Islamic department could grant permission to Illi Saddique to fly to India during Covid-19 and hold a ceremony in such a form,” he said.Adding that the issue involves Muslim religious sensitivities, he said the authorities must take “firm action”.A video clip shared on social media shows Manpreet and Illi Najwa exchanging their marriage vows in a traditional Punjabi marriage ceremony.It is learnt that authorities in Malaysia and India had granted them special travel permission to attend the wedding ceremony.Illi Najwa, whose mother is also a professional hockey player, recently said that she had been under a lot of stress following condemnation targeted at her aunt, Halimah.“I have never changed my name or religion as what they are saying, my name will always be Illi Najwa Anuar Hussin Saddique. His family has been calling me Navpreet since 2012 since it’s difficult for them to call me by name,” she said in a response shared by an aide to Halimah.


Daily caseload drops to 4,900

Another 4,915 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 2,865,984.Another 3,056 patients recovered, bringing total recoveries to 2,780,771.Meanwhile 120 are in the ICU, including 103 confirmed Covid-19 patients.A total of 65 are in need of respiratory assistance including 50 confirmed Covid-19 cases.Of the 4,915 cases reported today, 39 (0.8%) are in Category Three and above. The remaining 4,876 (99.2%) are in Category One and Two.


Ali Biju withdraws from Krian contest after advice from Muhyiddin

Saratok MP Ali Biju has withdrawn from the race for the Krian state seat in the upcoming Sarawak election, following unhappiness in the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) which had accused his party Bersatu of going back on its agreement not to contest the state polls.In a statement, Ali who had intended to contest the election as an independent, said he was aware that the decision would affect ties between Bersatu and GPS.“I have received advice from the party’s top leadership as well as assurance from Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin on the understanding of the national political framework agreed on between PN and GPS chairman Abang Johari Openg,” he said.“I humbly and sincerely withdraw as a candidate for the state seat of Krian and will give my wholehearted support to the GPS candidate, Friday Belik.”Ali, who won the Krian state seat on a PKR ticket in 2011 and 2016, had aimed to defend it for a third term in a four-way fight against Friday, Musa Dinggat of Parti Sarawak Bersatu and Danny Kuan from Parti Bumi Kenyalang.However, Abang Johari had expressed disappointment in the decision, saying it went against Bersatu’s promise that none of its party members would contest in the Sarawak election.Muhyiddin, who is president of Bersatu, had said on Nov 27 that his party would sit out the election out of respect for the wishes of the GPS leadership.He also said Bersatu had chosen to stay out of the contest because it believed GPS had the ability to win and that GPS had supported the PN-led federal government when he was the prime minister.


Norwegian student recalls dark days in Malaysia after meeting ‘Rolls Royce’ Datuk

A Norwegian citizen has recalled an unpleasant experience during her student days in Malaysia after befriending a man more than twice her age with a “Datuk” title who convinced her to part with tens of thousands of ringgit in savings, telling her it was for an “investment” in his company and promising lucrative returns.Lisa Lopez, who is now 25, said she had enrolled as a student at a prominent private university in Kuala Lumpur some five years ago, hoping to complete a business management degree in three years.She had just turned 21 when she met the man, an outgoing businessman who is close to several high-profile politicians in Malaysia.MalaysiaNow is withholding the identity of the businessman pending further confirmation of the documents it has secured.A photo taken by Lisa Lopez showing the stash of cash she had withdrawn from her bank, as part of an ‘investment’ with the businessman.Lopez said she was immediately taken in by the businessman who praised her for her “potential and intelligence”, adding that this struck her as meaningful as she was seldom praised for her intellectual abilities.Adding that she was naive, Lopez said the sight of the man being driven in his Rolls Royce further convinced her that he was a successful businessman, although some months later she discovered that he had been renting the car.She said the man offered her an internship with his company which she gladly accepted, thinking it was an opportunity to work in major projects involving politicians and large companies.“I was quite naive, I saw the best in people and I wanted to see the best in people that sometimes I ignored my intuitions,” Lopez said in a recent interview which she gave for a motivational video on self-empowerment on social media.Lopez said she soon began travelling with the businessman, including to the US where they met with powerful politicians and businessmen.“They included the then governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, as well as companies we were supposed to work with in North Carolina,” she told MalaysiaNow.She said apart from “recycling” and “real estate” projects, she was even made to believe that the businessman was working on a joint movie production involving Netflix.“At least that’s what he told me. He said that his daughter and I would have roles in this movie that was to be made in cooperation with a big Australian producer and Netflix,” said Lopez.RM70,000 ‘gone’It was then that he suggested that she invest in his company.In one meeting, he dropped the name of a Hollywood celebrity whom he said had also invested, and phoned the actor in front of her to prove that he was telling the truth.She said she had withdrawn about RM70,000 from her savings.But even more puzzling was that the businessman told her to hand over some of the money in cash.“Later I found out that he used my ‘investment money’ to charter a private jet,” said Lopez, adding that the businessman had promised her a 40% return on investment.She said after parting with her money, she received an email from one “Tom” of the same company, who assured her that her money had been deposited into “our investment account”.“I don’t know if this Tom exists or if this was just the same guy sending it from a fake email,” she said.Lopez said she heard shocking news one day from another person who had also invested money with the businessman, informing her that all of the money she invested had “gone”.Safety fearsThe person also advised her to leave the country as her life could be in danger from those associated with the businessman.He claimed that she could be his next victim for knowing “too much” about his activities.Lopez said she was at a loss, feeling ashamed and angry, and that she had sought an escape through unhealthy activities including drugs.She said it was some time before she was able to get her life under control.“I was a student at this time, but I invested all my savings that I had been working for since I was 15. The amount was still small compared to other people he scammed, but tens of thousands of ringgit,” she told MalaysiaNow.Lopez said she got back her money after several exchanges with the businessman.But even after she left, she said, he still tried to lure her back to the country, this time promising her a full scholarship with Nottingham University Malaysia by transferring her credits from her previous college.“I felt unsafe going back, so I never returned to Malaysia,” said Lopez.


India permanently banning 59 Chinese apps as new border skirmishes erupt

India’s electronics and information technology ministry has issued fresh instructions to make permanent a ban temporarily imposed on the video app TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps in June, Indian media reported late on Monday.When it first imposed the ban, the Indian government gave the 59 apps a chance to explain their position on compliance with privacy and security requirements, the Times of India reported on Monday.The apps include ByteDance’s popular TikTok, Tencent Holdings’ WeChat and Alibaba’s UC Browser.“The government is not satisfied with the response given by these companies. Hence, the ban for these 59 apps is permanent now,” business newspaper Livemint quoted a source familiar with the notices as saying.The ministry’s June order stated that the apps were “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”.That order, which India referred to as a “digital strike”, followed a skirmish with Chinese troops at a disputed Himalayan border site which resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers, according to Reuters.On Monday, the same day the ban was made permanent, Indian and Chinese troops brawled once again on their contested Himalayan border, causing injuries on both sides.In September, India banned another 118 mobile apps, including Tencent’s popular videogame PUBG, as it stepped up the pressure on Chinese technology companies following the standoff at the border.


Nothing to speculate about, Azmin says on Ismail Sabri’s ‘closed door’ picture

International Trade and Industry Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali today sought to discourage speculation over a picture uploaded to social media by Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob last night of the latter leaving his office in Kuala Lumpur.“Who is speculating? Don’t speculate,” Azmin told reporters in the capital city.He also said that Ismail and health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah were the government’s spokesmen during the Covid-19 crisis.“As Cabinet members, we give them full support as they have a huge responsibility in the fight against Covid-19.“We are a team, we always make collective decisions,” he said.The picture posted by Ismail last night of him leaving his office was accompanied by the caption: “Saya dah tutup pintu depan tapi…” (I have closed the front door but…)It sparked talk that Ismail, an Umno vice-president, might be handing in his resignation from the government.At a press conference this morning, though, he rubbished such conjecture.“I wanted to go home (after finishing work), that’s why I closed the door,” he said.


New infections just over 600, no deaths reported

Another 609 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 5,023,519.
There were 737 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 4,972,691.
There are now 13,997 active cases, of which 13,229 or 94.5% are undergoing home quarantine.
Meanwhile, 0 (0%) are at quarantine centres while 725 (5.2%) have been hospitalised.
A total of 43 are in ICU with 19 in need of respiratory assistance.
No new deaths were reported, leaving the death toll unchanged at 36,831.


Canada reports first death linked to AstraZeneca jab

A 54-year woman has died in Canada after receiving the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, the first fatality linked to the drug in the country, provincial authorities announced Tuesday.“I’m sad to know that a healthy 54-year-old woman… died because she was vaccinated. It’s hard to take,” Francois Legault, the premier of Quebec, told a news conference.The French-speaking province’s chief public health officer Horacio Arruda said life-saving treatments did not work and the unidentified patient died of cerebral thrombosis after being vaccinated.But he cautioned that the death should not change the government’s recommendations to use the vaccine for those over 45 years old.“We knew about serious complications, there was one in 100,000 (doses administered). But we must remember that, to date, we have had more than 400,000 people who have been vaccinated with AstraZeneca,” Quebec health minister Christian Dube added.As of last Friday, just over 1.1 million AstraZeneca doses had been administered nationwide.Only four other cases of blood clots associated with low platelets have been reported in the country, and each patient recovered.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau received an AstraZeneca shot on Friday.On Tuesday, the Canadian leader said about 60 soldiers had been deployed to overwhelmed hospitals in Nova Scotia to help care for critical patients.The day before about 30 army nurses and health technicians were sent to reinforce hospital staff in Ontario, which is struggling with a new wave of infections led by variants.In Quebec, which has suffered the most Covid deaths of any region in the country, the latest data showed rates of infections were slowing, allowing the government to announce it was pushing the start of a nightly curfew in Montreal from 8pm to 9.30pm starting next Monday.


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New infections dip to 3,200 as 4 more deaths reported

Another 3,245 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 4,943,701.
There were 4,208 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 4,874,177.
There are now 32,987 active cases, of which 31,108 or 94.3% are undergoing home quarantine.
Meanwhile, 0 (0.0%) are at quarantine centres while 1,792 (5.4%) have been hospitalised.
A total of 87 are in ICU with 63 in need of respiratory assistance.
Another four deaths were reported, including one who was brought in dead. Total deaths now stand at 36,537.


German travel industry sees 2023 rebound to pre-pandemic highs

The war in Ukraine and a cost-of-living crisis are not spoiling German consumers' appetite for a holiday, travel industry body DRV said on Monday, forecasting a return this year to the record sales seen before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The year got off to a strong start, with revenue for travel agents and online booking platforms doubling year-on-year in January and up 12% compared with the same month in 2019, the DRV said.
"Overall, vacationing has a high priority for people. This gives us optimism despite the known uncertainties of geopolitical and economic developments," DRV President Norbert Fiebig said in comments to mark the opening of the ITB travel fair in Berlin.
Fiebig said he expects revenue this year to return to the record high seen in 2019, when consumers spent US$104.29 billion (about RM467 billion) on vacations - €69.5 billion of which on booked trips and the rest on excursions and other items at their destination.
The German travel industry already came close to that level in 2021, when sales totalled €84 billion, almost double that of 2020, according to the DRV.
The ITB, one of the world's leading tourism fairs, is itself staging a comeback this year as an in-person event after a three-year break due to the pandemic.
Some 5,500 exhibitors are attending the event from 161 countries.
Russia will not be attending this year's ITB due to sanctions imposed by the West over its invasion of Ukraine. Iran is also not present.


‘Got to work on that landing’: SpaceX rocket in fiery crash, again

A prototype of a SpaceX rocket the company hopes will one day journey to Mars crashed in a fireball as it tried to land upright after a test flight Tuesday.It was the second such accident after the last prototype of Starship met a similar fate in December.“We had again another great flight,” said SpaceX announcer John Insprucker on an online broadcast.“We’ve just got to work on that landing a little bit,” he added.The company’s founder Elon Musk was uncharacteristically quiet on social media, having announced the night before he was “Off Twitter for a while.”The stainless steel rocket, dubbed SN9 or “Serial Number 9”, was cleared for lift-off from Boca Chica, Texas by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) less than a day earlier.The rocket launched smoothly around 2.35pm local time and progressively shut down its engines as it reached a height of 10km, then performed a series of test manoeuvres in a horizontal “belly flop” position.It was when the rocket attempted to return to a vertical position for landing that the problems began, with the footage showing it came in too fast and at a bad angle.It landed with a deafening crash, and exploded into bright orange flames and a dust cloud, but the fire did not spread.The company’s next prototype rocket, SN10, appeared to be undamaged on a nearby launchpad.Insprucker put a positive spin on the crash.“We demonstrated the ability to transition the engines to the landing propellant tanks,” he said. “The subsonic reentry looked very good and stable like we saw last December, so we’ve got a lot of good data on flap control.”The company intends to proceed with its next launch “in the near future”, he added.Waiver dramaTuesday’s launch was delayed by several days over problems stemming from SpaceX’s last Starship test on Dec 9, which also went up in flames.SpaceX had sought a waiver to exceed the maximum allowable risk to the public of Starship SN8.The FAA denied the request, but SpaceX went ahead anyway, landing the company in hot water.The regulator denied SpaceX the opportunity to launch last week and asked them to carry out corrective actions, finally granting its approval Monday night.The company hopes the reusable, 120m rocket system will one day carry crew and cargo to fly to the Moon, Mars and beyond.


PH considering new logo for GE15

Pakatan Harapan (PH) has decided that its component parties will use the same logo to contest the 15th general election (GE15).
The PH Presidential Council in a statement today said the matter was agreed on during their monthly meeting yesterday.
"A new design of the logo is being considered to give a new image and breathe new life into (our) GE15 campaign," it said.
The statement was jointly issued by PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook and Upko president Wilfred Madius Tangau.
Anwar, who is also PH chairman, said in Sabah and Sarawak, it would be up to the state PH  leaderships to decide whether to use the same PH logo or their own when contesting GE15.
He said the decision to use a single logo in GE15 was because the coalition did not want to be seen as being separated as had happened in the Johor election in March, which he said had caused some confusion among the voters.
In the Johor state election, DAP and Amanah contested under the PH logo while PKR used its own logo.


China's Xi demands officials step up flood prevention measures during rain deluge

China's President Xi Jinping demanded government authorities at all levels give top priority to ensuring people's safety and property as torrential rains cause devastating floods, deadly mudslides and geological disasters in the country.
Over the past few weeks, heavy downpours in southern, central and northern provinces and regions have displaced thousands, destroyed bridges and washed away cars and homes.
Xi's comments, reported by state media on Wednesday, came after heavy rainfall hit several areas including southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, causing casualties and property losses.
Videos on social media showed raging rivers in towns and cities, and people being evacuated in waist-deep water.
Xi required the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the ministries of emergency management and water resources to enhance coordination, strengthen consultation and research, and improve early warnings and forecasts, Xinhua reported.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Water Resources launched flood defence level IV emergency responses for Inner Mongolia region, and Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, according to CCTV.
Heavy rain is expected in those areas on Wednesday, according to a circular issued by the department, state media reported.


The scent of a rose and the anguish of post-Covid-19 loss of smell

For many who have recovered from Covid-19, one of the most depressing and debilitating longterm effects is the loss of the sense of smell and taste.Being deprived of the pleasures of food and the scents of familiar things are tough on the body and mind, and without odours both good and bad, many people lose weight and self-confidence.A year into the pandemic, doctors and researchers are still striving to better understand and treat the accompanying epidemic of Covid-19-related anosmia – loss of smell – which drains much of the joy of life from an increasing number of sensorially frustrated longer-term sufferers.There is much about the condition doctors still don’t know and they are learning as they go along, the Associated Press reports.Loss and alteration of smell have become so common with Covid-19 that some researchers suggest that simple odour tests could be used to track infections in countries with few laboratories.For most people, the olfactory problems are temporary, often improving on their own in weeks. But a small minority complain of persistent dysfunction long after other symptoms have disappeared. Some have reported continued total or partial loss of smell six months to a year after infection.Some doctors are concerned that growing numbers of smell-deprived patients could be more prone to depression.“They are losing colour in their lives,” said Thomas Hummel, who heads the smell and taste outpatients clinic at University Hospital in Dresden, Germany. “They will survive and perhaps be successful, but their lives will be much poorer.”Losing the sense of smell can be more than a mere inconvenience. Smoke from a spreading fire, a gas leak, or the stink of rotten food can all pass dangerously unnoticed. Fumes from a used diaper, dog dirt on a shoe or sweaty armpits can go untreated.“Eating no longer has any purpose for me,” said one sufferer. “It’s just a waste of time.”“Sometimes I ask myself, ’Do I stink?’” said another. “Normally, I wear perfume and like things to smell nice. Not being able to smell bothers me greatly.”“The sense of smell is a sense that is fundamentally forgotten. We don’t realise the effect it has on our lives except, obviously, when we no longer have it,” a researcher said.“One might think that it is not important to be able to smell nature, trees, forests,” he said. “But when you lose the ability to do so, you realise how truly lucky we are to be able to smell these things.”Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Millions of recovered Covid-19 patients wish it were that easy.


Top doc says US heading in wrong direction as cases rise in unjabbed

The US is heading “in the wrong direction” on the pandemic as infections surge among the unvaccinated, the top US health expert has warned.Dr Anthony Fauci said the Delta variant is driving the spike in areas with low vaccination rates.Covid-19 in the US is becoming “a pandemic among the unvaccinated”, Fauci, the chief medical adviser to US President Joe Biden, told broadcaster CNN on Sunday.More than 160 million people – or nearly 50% of the population – have been fully vaccinated in the US, which was a world leader in jab uptake until April, when vaccination rates started to drop.In southern states, fewer than half of residents have received their first dose and infections are on the rise again after numbers fell in May and June.The resurgence has added to the more than 34 million cases and 610,000 deaths recorded so far.The sharpest increases in Covid cases are in states with lower vaccination rates, such as Florida, Texas and Missouri.Earlier this week, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said 99.5% of Covid deaths are occurring among unvaccinated people.In his interview with CNN, Fauci said local leaders in areas with low vaccination rates need to do more to encourage people to get jabbed.He said he was “very heartened to hear” the governors of Arkansas and Florida promoting vaccinations in their states. Both leaders have been critical of his advice in the past.Fauci said he was involved in discussions to change mask guidance issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).As it stands, the CDC says people who are fully vaccinated can “resume activities that you did before the pandemic without wearing a mask”.Fauci said local governments could issue their own rules under the current CDC guidance, and he noted that some local governments had reinstated indoor and public mask requirements to curb rising infections.In Los Angeles county, California, masks are now required indoors for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people once more.Vaccine scepticism is still strong in many states, particularly among the religious.Last week, a California man who mocked Covid-19 vaccines on social media died after a month-long battle with the virus.Stephen Harmon, a member of the Hillsong Megachurch, was a vocal opponent of vaccines.He was treated for Covid-19 in a hospital outside Los Angeles, where he died after documenting his fight to stay alive, posting pictures of himself in his hospital bed.Despite his struggle with the virus, Harmon still said he would reject all vaccines, saying his religious faith would protect him.Shortly before his death, he joked about the pandemic and vaccines, saying he trusted the Bible over Fauci.Megachurch founder Brian Houston said after Harmon’s death that the church encourages its members “to follow the guidance of their doctors”.


Concern deepens for Chinese tennis star’s safety after email

The boss of women’s tennis has cast doubt on an email posted on China’s media purportedly from tennis star Peng Shuai, saying it “only raises my concerns as to her safety.”Steve Simon, chairman of the WTA, said in a statement that he had a “hard time believing” the email was written by Peng, who has not been heard from since alleging two weeks ago that a powerful Chinese politician had sexually assaulted her.Peng, a former Wimbledon and French Open doubles champion, alleged on the Twitter-like Weibo earlier this month that former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli had “forced” her into sex during a long-term on-off relationship.The claims were quickly scrubbed from social media and she has not been seen since, drawing mounting concern over her wellbeing.However, state-run CGTN published a screenshot on Twitter of what it said was an email written by Peng to Simon and other WTA officials.In the email, Peng purportedly claims that her earlier accusations of sexual abuse are “not true” and says she is “resting at home and everything is fine.”But doubts were quickly flagged about the language used in the purported email from Peng, which Twitter users noted had a cursor visible in the screenshot posted by CGTN.Simon said he was struggling to believe it was authentic.“The statement released today by Chinese state media concerning Peng Shuai only raises my concerns as to her safety and whereabouts,” Simon wrote in a statement.“I have a hard time believing that Peng Shuai actually wrote the email we received or believes what is being attributed to her,” he added.He said he had been repeatedly trying to reach her via numerous forms of communication, to no avail.He called for “independent and verifiable proof that she is safe”.‘Incredible courage’“Peng Shuai displayed incredible courage in describing an allegation of sexual assault against a former top official in the Chinese government,” said Simon.“Her allegation of sexual assault must be respected, investigated with full transparency and without censorship.“The voices of women need to be heard and respected, not censored nor dictated to.”China has kept silent over growing concern for the tennis star, whose claims marked the first time its fledgling #MeToo movement has struck at the top echelons of the ruling Communist Party.But Beijing has previously faced allegations of using forced confessions on state media, with British regulators revoking CGTN’s licence for failing to comply with fairness and privacy rules.William Nee of advocacy group Chinese Human Rights Defenders said Peng’s statement “should not be taken at face value”.“The Chinese government has a long history of arbitrarily detaining people involved in controversial cases, controlling their ability to speak freely, and making them give forced statements,” he said in a statement.Nee called for Beijing to prove that she has not been detained.‘Power of the state’Mareike Ohlberg of the German Marshall Fund wrote on Twitter that these types of messages are “not meant to convince people but to intimidate and demonstrate the power of the state.”The message from Beijing is clearly: “‘We are telling you that she is fine, and who are you to say otherwise?'”, she wrote.Details of Peng’s allegations remain scrubbed from China’s internet.On Nov 2, Peng wrote on social media that Zhang – who is in his seventies – “forced” her into sex and said they had an on-off relationship lasting several years.The post appeared to have been deleted quickly, however, sparking swift accusations from critics of Beijing of online censorship.Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka said Wednesday that she was in “shock” about the case, with Novak Djokovic and numerous other players in recent days saying they were deeply worried about her.American player Jessica Pegula tweeted Thursday that she hoped the WTA “continues to show what we stand for as players.”“I hope more people, not just tennis players, shed some light on this deeply concerning situation,” she wrote.China’s national tennis association has not responded to AFP requests for comment.


Interstate travel allowed for the fully vaccinated from Oct 11

Interstate travel will be permitted from tomorrow onwards, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has announced.In a live address today, he said those who are fully vaccinated will no longer require approval from the police to cross state borders.However, permission to cross state lines will not apply to areas under enhanced movement control order.Ismail also urged the public not to be complacent about the flexibility given for interstate travel.“If this matter is taken lightly, it is not impossible that Covid-19 infections will begin to increase once more,” he said.“You are all frontliners now who will protect your families and communities from the transmission of Covid-19.”He said those who wish to return to their hometowns to visit their parents should test themselves for the virus before beginning their journey.“Those who experience symptoms such as fever, cough, and difficulty breathing are advised to put off their trip for the time being,” he said.Ismail also said no roadblocks would be mounted to monitor interstate travel although checkpoints for security purposes and to deter crime will continue.“Random checks will be made by the authorities under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act (Act 342).”Ismail also said the government had agreed to allow Malaysians who are fully vaccinated to travel overseas without applying for entry or exit permits through the immigration department’s MyTravelPass system.However, travellers will still be required to undergo mandatory quarantine upon their return to the country.


US state bans transgender girls from competing in female school sports

Florida today became the largest state in the US to ban transgender women and girls from participating in school female sports, claiming an unfair advantage to those born male.Reuters reports the legislation is the result of a campaign in states nationwide this year that equal rights activists condemn as discriminatory.Governor Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law after it had been rushed through the state legislature.“In Florida, girls are going to play girls sports and boys are going to play boys sports,” DeSantis said at a Christian academy in Jacksonville. “We’re going to make sure that that’s the reality.”Supporters of the bill say it is needed to preserve fairness, asserting that women and girls would be at a disadvantage against transgender female athletes who were designated male at birth but have since transitioned.The legislation passed over the objection of Democrats and civil rights advocates who call the banning of transgender girls and women from sports unnecessary and discriminatory.The measure takes effect July 1. It says a transgender student athlete can’t participate without first showing a birth certificate saying she was assigned female at birth.The law is likely to face multiple court challenges.The law advances an underlying principle that biological differences between males and females make it unfair for athletes assigned male at birth to compete on teams for girls and women. The law would not bar transgender girls and women from playing on boys’ or men’s teams.Human Rights Campaign president Alphonso David said the new law would not only harm transgender girls. “All Floridians will have to face the consequences of this anti-transgender legislation – including economic harm, expensive taxpayer-funded legal battles, and a tarnished reputation.”


Virus cases hit new high as 13 more clusters detected

Another 2,593 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 125,438.Selangor recorded 965 cases, of which 894 or 92.6% were from clusters and close contact screening. Johor followed with 571 cases and Sabah with 405.Kuala Lumpur recorded 265 cases, Negeri Sembilan 125, Penang 77, Kelantan 43, Kedah 42, Perak 34, Terengganu 19, Melaka 13, Pahang 11, Labuan and Putrajaya nine each and Sarawak five.Active cases stand at 24,347 with 141 in the ICU and 67 in need of respiratory assistance.Another 13 clusters were detected:1. Dataran Utas (Petaling in Selangor; 66 cases)2. Casa Permai (Petaling in Selangor; 109 cases)3. Medan Jasa (Petaling in Selangor, Kuala Kangsar in Perak and Lembah Pantai in Kuala Lumpur; 64 cases)4. Tasik Utama (Seremban in Negeri Sembilan and Hulu Langat in Selangor; 49 cases)5. Firma (Johor Bahru in Johor; 45 cases)6. Persiaran Teknologi (Kulai in Johor; 25 cases)7. Bersepadu (Kota Tinggi in Johor; 21 cases)8. Jalan Padu (Johor Bahru in Johor; 17 cases)9. Kampung Pitas (Kalabakan and Tawau in Sabah; 72 cases)10. Ikan Emas (Cheras in Kuala Lumpur; 35 cases)11. Kayuh (Titiwangsa, Kepong and Lembah Pantai in Kuala Lumpur; 11 cases)12. Jalan Seputeh (Lembah Pantai in Kuala Lumpur; 18 cases)13. Anak Air (Melaka Tengah and Jason in Melaka; 14 cases)Three others ended, leaving 252 active clusters across the country.Another 1,129 patients were discharged, bringing total recoveries to 100,578.However, four more deaths were reported, pushing the virus toll to 513.


In letter to Ku Li, speaker says powerless to speed up no-confidence motion

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Harun today reiterated that he is powerless to speed up any motion of no confidence in Parliament to be tabled ahead of other matters according to the order papers.In a letter to Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, he said he was merely carrying out his duty in line with the authority given to him under the present legal framework.“To prioritise a motion of no confidence, according to UK parliamentary convention, passage must be given by the government.“This is in line with the assumption that the government’s administrative time is an asset,” he said in the letter.In the Malaysian Parliament, he said, council rules state that only the council can decide to deviate from the order set.He also denied Razaleigh’s claim that he had contradicted his oath as the Dewan Rakyat speaker.“I accept all your criticism with an open heart,” he said.“But with all due respect, I must deny that I have violated the oath of my office and failed to fulfil my duty according to the Federal Constitution, or according to my duties as Dewan Rakyat speaker, or the democratic system of our country.”In October last year, Razaleigh had called for a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat.In a letter dated Sept 25, Razaleigh claimed Muhyiddin’s government had rejected the same motion twice.“This motion of no confidence is very important for several constitutional reasons including the legitimacy of the present government under the leadership of the prime minister,” he said.“If the motion is supported by the majority of MPs in the Dewan Rakyat, the constitutional result should be presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.”Razaleigh wrote to the speaker again on June 25, claiming among others that Azhar had ignored and broken his oath of office, and bringing up the issue of party-hopping in the country.


A way forward to forming the govt

Malaysian political parties are at an impasse. The leadership of the various political parties are unable to come to an agreement among themselves to nominate a candidate for prime minister.
The problem arises because Barisan Nasional (BN) with its 30 MPs is clearly divided. As a political coalition, its Supreme Council has voted to stay out of government and its MPs have indicated that they intend to comply with that directive.
Secondly, the chairman of the coalition, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, has openly lied to the Istana. This was made clear when the leaders of its component parties unequivocally stated that the chairman of BN had taken a position inconsistent with the decision of its Supreme Council.
The Supreme Council has said that it does not intend to work with either Pakatan Harapan (PH) or Perikatan Nasional (PN). The individual MPs agreed to this position.
This means that the 30 members from BN cannot be included in any count for the majority support in the House.
As a result, no one party can form a simple majority.
There have been several calls to allow one candidate to form the government and then to allow that candidate to attempt to build a coalition.
This argument rests on a UK parliamentary convention that suggests that the leader of the party with the most seats should be given the right to form the government.
The convention should not be applied in Malaysia wholesale. There are serious difficulties with the application of this convention.
First, in the UK, part of the convention in a hung parliament is that the incumbent prime minister is usually given the first opportunity to form the government.
This is because the UK is primarily a two-party system (Labour and Conservative) with several smaller parties (Unionist Democratic Party/Liberal Democrats).
Malaysia, on the other hand, has several coalitions of political parties – BN comprising Umno/MCA/MIC/PBRS, or PN (Bersatu/PAS/Gerakan), or PH (PKR/DAP/Amanah/Upko). These coalition parties have previously and usually formed further coalitions with smaller parties.
It would be pointless to ask the incumbent prime minister to form the government because it is not likely that he will be able to do so as his party only has 30 seats in Parliament. There is therefore no chance that he could form the government.
Second, the manner in which this convention is applied in the UK is not consistent with the practice in Malaysia since 2018. In the UK, it is assumed that all of the members of the two largest coalition parties will vote consistently and the invitation is extended to the leader of the party with the most seats, remembering that it is primarily a two-party system.
This is not the convention in Malaysia. In times of doubt, the palace has asked individual MPs to provide signed statutory declarations to determine their intent and conducted interviews with the individual MPs.
In Malaysia, there is a written constitution. The requirement is for the candidate to convince the Yang di-Pertuan Agong that he is someone who "is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House." That is a specific test.
This test cannot be met simply by selecting the party with the largest number of seats. There are two reasons for this.
First, the test requires someone who is "likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House". It does not envisage an assumption that the party with the largest number of seats is likely to command the majority of the members of the house. That is only applicable in a primarily two-party system like the UK.
It is entirely possible in Malaysian coalition politics that one party (or coalition) may individually have the largest number of seats but that a coalition of smaller parties (with individually smaller numbers of seats) may collectively outnumber one party and have the majority.
Second, simply selecting the party with the largest number of seats is inconsistent with the Malaysian convention of testing the will of the individual MPs through statutory declarations and interview.
The Malaysian convention is consistent with the requirement of the Federal Constitution to determine who would "likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House".
It must be remembered that the two principal contenders for the position themselves derive their numbers from a coalition of component parties.
The way forward is to give the candidate who can demonstrate that he is most likely to have the support of the largest number of members of the house the first right to the form the government and to let that candidate attempt to secure the support of the majority of the members of the House.
That is a modification of the UK convention, which would be consistent with the Federal Constitution and the Malaysian convention.
With this in mind, it is clear that Muhyiddin Yassin should be given the first opportunity to form the government and not Anwar Ibrahim.
This is because he has the support of at least 105 members of the House, comprising 73 from PN, 23 from GPS, six from GRS, two independents and one from KDM.
Anwar has the support of a total of 86 seats, consisting of 81 from PH, one from Muda, three from Warisan and one from PBM.
In order to achieve the result of the test as to who is more likely to be able to command the majority of the members of the House, the first opportunity should be given to Muhyiddin as he commands the support of the most number of MPs.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


New cases top 3,000 again

Another 3,297 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 283,569.Perak recorded 1,215 cases, of which 1,046 were from the Jalan Changkat Jong workplace cluster.This was followed by Selangor (868), Johor (431), Sarawak (185), Penang (127), Kuala Lumpur (123) and Negeri Sembilan (122).Sabah recorded 85 cases, Melaka 65, Kelantan 30, Kedah 15, Terengganu 12, Pahang nine, Putrajaya seven and Labuan three.Active cases stand at 33,304 with 209 in the ICU and 91 in need of respiratory assistance.Six new clusters were detected:1. Jalan Kota Kulai (Kulai in Johor; 89 screened, 31 positive)2. Jalan Cemerlang Besi (Johor Bahru in Johor; 83 screened, 31 positive)3. Jalan Kelapa Mawar (Batu Pahat in Johor; 91 screened, 16 positive)4. Jalan Pandan Ria (Johor Bahru in Johor; 43 screened, 13 positive)5. Jalan Persiaran Cemerlang (131 screened, 12 positive)6. Perusahaan Baru (Seberang Perai Tengah in Penang; 213 screened, 24 positive)Six more ended, leaving 510 active clusters across the country.Another 4,456 patients were discharged, bringing total recoveries to 249,209.However, five more deaths were reported, pushing the virus toll to 1,056.


Birthday cake helps Indian brothers escape leopard

Two brothers pulled off a sweet escape from a leopard in India by throwing a birthday cake at the animal as it chased them while they rode a motorbike, officials said Thursday.“Your first instinct when you sense danger is to do whatever you can to save yourself. That’s what they did,” a forest official told AFP.“They had a cake with them and they threw it at the leopard.”According to the Times of India, Firoz and Sabir Mansuri were heading at dusk to a birthday party for Firoz’s son in Madhya Pradesh state when the leopard burst out of a sugarcane field.They accelerated but the big cat gained on them on the muddy path, leaving Sabir, riding pillion, no other option than to lob the box containing the cake at the predator.Hit by the “weapon of sweet distraction”, the flummoxed feline gave up its chase and darted back into the fields – and without even trying the cake, the paper said.“The leopard followed us for over 500m. We narrowly escaped death,” it quoted Sabir as saying.Leopard numbers in India grew more than 60% between 2014 and 2018 to almost 13,000, according to the government, with the highest numbers in Madhya Pradesh.They are less scared than tigers of people and often enter villages and even towns.Attacks on adults are rare but children are more at risk. Last month a leopard snatched a four-year-old girl from her garden in Kashmir. Her mutilated body was found the next day.


Daily caseload at 405 as one more death logged

Another 405 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 5,030,313.
There were 441 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 4,982,044.
There are now 11,394 active cases, of which 10,763 or 94.5% are undergoing home quarantine.
Meanwhile, 0 (0%) are at quarantine centres while 599 (5.3%) have been hospitalised.
A total of 32 are in ICU with 12 in need of respiratory assistance.
One more death was reported, taking total deaths to 36,875.


Why resort to unconstitutional means, Muhyiddin asks Anwar after MoU compelling MPs

Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin has slammed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by party chiefs to ensure the continuity of Anwar Ibrahim's coalition government, describing it as unconstitutional and proof that the prime minister is not confident of the support he claims to have among MPs.
"If he is confident, there is no need for him to resort to this unconstitutional measure," he said, referring to a controversial clause in the MoU compelling the MPs of the signatory parties not to vote against the government.
Yesterday, Anwar led leaders from Pakatan Harapan, Barisan Nasional, Gabungan Parti Sarawak, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah and Warisan in signing an MoU designed to ensure that his coalition government remains in power.
It includes among others a clause that any MP who does not support government motions will be deemed as disqualified, and their seat declared vacant for a by-election.
The MoU, which came ahead of a confidence vote on Anwar next week, also states that the onus is on the parties to expel any MP who votes outside of party lines.
The clause has been met with criticism for usurping MPs' right to vote according to conscience, as well as over concerns that it is in violation of the anti-hopping law which clearly states that an MP will not lose his seat if expelled from his party.
Muhyiddin said there was nothing in the constitutional amendment of Article 49 related to the anti-hopping law that prevents MPs from voting individually.
"There is nothing in Article 49A of the Federal Constitution that requires an MP to vacate his seat if he does not comply with party instructions in voting on any motion or bill," he added.
He cited a parliamentary select committee report on the anti-hopping law which states that MPs who diverge from their party line cannot be regarded as having switched sides.
"The committee agrees that the action of an MP in the Dewan Rakyat of voting contrary to the instructions of his political party (crossing the floor) is not considered as party hopping and he does not cease to be an MP," the report by the committee had said.
Muhyiddin said going by Anwar's claim that his govermment has a two-thirds majority, MPs affected by the MoU would be forced to support any amendments to the constitution.
"If this dictatorial MoU is considered valid, it is not impossible that constitutional amendments that are against the conscience of MPs and the values of society in this country will be passed by the Dewan Rakyat by force.
"Malaysians certainly do not want elections that were held in a free, fair and democratic manner ending up with an undemocratic government," he added.


South African govt asks for 25,000 troops to curb unrest

The South African government on Wednesday sought to deploy around 25,000 troops to curb unrest, now in its sixth straight day, amid fears of food and fuel shortages as disruption to farming, manufacturing and oil refining began to bite.Seventy-two people have died and more than 1,200 people arrested, according to official figures, since former president Jacob Zuma began a 15-month jail term, sparking protests that swiftly turned violent.Looting has hit supply chains and transport links especially in the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal, impacting goods and services around the country.The government said 208 incidents of looting and vandalism were recorded Wednesday, as the number of troops deployed doubled to 5,000.But Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula later told parliament she had “submitted a request for deployment of plus-minus 25,000” soldiers. Troop deployments are authorised by the president.She did not say when the extra troops would be on the streets.Government had been under pressure to increase boots on the ground to quickly put a lid on the violence pummelling an already struggling economy.The country’s consumer goods regulatory body estimated that more than 800 retail shops had been looted.President Cyril Ramaphosa met leaders of political parties and cautioned that parts of the country “may soon be running short of basic provisions following the extensive disruption of food, fuel and medicine supply chains”.State-owned logistics operator Transnet declared a “force majeure” on Wednesday – an emergency beyond its control – on a key rail line that links Johannesburg to the coast because of the unrest.In the port city of Durban, hundreds of people queued outside food stores hours before they opened, as lines of cars also formed outside fuel stations, an AFP photographer saw.On Tuesday, the country’s largest refinery Sapref shuttered its plant in Durban, responsible for a third of South Africa’s fuel supply.“It’s inevitable that we will have fuel shortages in the next couple of days or weeks,” the Automobile Association’s Layton Beard said.‘Massive humanitarian crisis’In Johannesburg’s Soweto township, bread was being sold from a delivery truck outside a major shopping mall as stores have either been looted or shut due to fears of vandalism.The lootings have “seriously compromised our energy security and food security,” said Bonang Mohale, chancellor of University of the Free State.The violence has also disrupted the coronavirus vaccine rollout and medicines deliveries to hospitals, said Mohale, echoing similar reports from hospitals.The country, which has recorded more than 2.2 million infections, is in the midst of a brutal virus third wave.Christo van der Rheede, executive director of the largest farmers’ organisation, AgriSA, said producers were struggling to get crops to market because of the logistical “shambles”.He warned that if law and order were not restored soon, “we are going to have a massive humanitarian crisis”.Sugarcane fields were torched in KwaZulu-Natal, the main cane-growing region, while elsewhere cattle were stolen.Troop deploymentRamaphosa had initially deployed just 2,500 troops at the start of the week to help the overwhelmed police force, before plans quickly changed to scale up the numbers to 25,000.But locals have started forming vigilante groups to protect infrastructure in their neighbourhoods.A group of commuter minibus operators armed themselves with sticks and firearms on Wednesday and violently beat up suspected looters Vosloorus township, southeastern Johannesburg.Images of crowds of looters hauling away refrigerators, large televisions, microwave ovens and crates of food and alcohol have been a visceral shock for many South Africans.The new king of the Zulu community, Misuzulu Zulu, said violence had brought “great shame” on his people.“This chaos is destroying the economy, and it is the poor who will suffer the most,” warned the monarch, who has moral influence over Zulus but no executive powers.“This is unprecedented economic damage that is taking place,” Mohale agreed.The pillaging swiftly followed protests over the jailing of the ex-president, who is viewed by some grassroots members of the ruling ANC as a defender of the poor.Once dubbed the “Teflon president”, Zuma was handed the jail term on June 29 by the Constitutional Court for bucking an order to appear before a commission probing the graft that proliferated under his administration.


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Thailand welcomes over a million Malaysian tourists from January to October

Thailand has welcomed more than a million Malaysian tourists since the reopening of borders between the two countries this year.
Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)’s executive director of Asean, South Asia and the South Pacific Region, Sukanya Sirikanjanakul, said Malaysians led the return of holidaymakers to the kingdom for the first 10 months of the year.
"Statistics show that many Malaysians travel via land borders either by bus, trains, or private vehicles to Thailand," she told Bernama.
Meanwhile, TAT Kuala Lumpur office director Nongyao Jirundorn said the number of Malaysian tourists heading to Thailand is expected to hit the 1.8 million mark by the end of this year.
"Malaysia is one of the important sources of foreign tourists to Thailand with high purchasing power," she said.


No plans to introduce menstrual leave, says deputy minister

There are no plans to introduce menstrual leave for women at this point given that the data at hand shows no demand for it, Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Siti Zailah Yusoff said today.
She said her ministry had found that women employees do not request for menstrual-related leave due to embarrassment and a fear of being seen as unproductive.
"I would strongly agree that this should be recommended to the government if a study is done on whether there is interest," she said in response to an oral question by Charles Santiago (PH-Klang) on the ministry's plans to introduce menstrual leave as part of the country's social protection for women.  This followed calls by some for the government to enact a law allowing special leave for women suffering from severe menstrual cramps, as recently implemented by Spain.
Siti Zailah said while countries such as Japan and South Korea as well as Indonesia had already introduced such leave, Malaysia had yet to show much demand for it.
She attributed this to the provision of medical and other leave facilities already provided by employers in both the public and private sectors.
"The ministry is of the view that any introduction of menstrual leave would require further study and discussions with the relevant parties such as the Public Service Department, the human resources and finance ministries, trade unions and employers' organisations," she said.
"It's not just about the well-being of women workers. It will also have implications on productivity and the economy."


Forest City project turned into PH propaganda to topple BN, says Najib

Former prime minister Najib Razak today claimed that the Forest City development project launched in Johor Bahru in 2006 was turned into a propaganda tool by Pakatan Harapan (PH) to topple his Barisan Nasional (BN) government in the 2018 general election.Speaking at the World Chinese Economic Forum in Petaling Jaya today, the Pekan MP also accused PH of changing its stand on the project.He said before GE14 in 2018, Dr Mahathir Mohamad had accused BN of selling out the country’s assets to China, claiming that 700,000 Chinese nationals would be brought to Forest City and given Malaysian citizenship.“This was clearly an outrageous, racist lie,” he said. “He even promised to cancel the project should they win power at the upcoming election.“However, soon after the 2018 election which they won on the back of this and other outrageous claims, he began switching his stance.“Lo and behold, they said the Forest City project had contributed immensely to the government, created employment opportunities, promoted technology transfer and benefited Malaysia’s economic growth.”Former prime minister Najib Razak at the World Chinese Economic Forum in Petaling Jaya today. Photo: FacebookThis was Najib’s first appearance at an open forum since the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s verdict on him in the SRC International case earlier this month.In a unanimous decision, the appeals court had rejected Najib’s appeal against the verdict and sentence for seven counts of money laundering, criminal breach of trust and abuse of power involving RM42 million from the former 1MDB unit.Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil who led the three-man bench comprising himself, Has Zanah Mehat and Vazeer Alam Mydin also labelled the transfer of money into Najib’s accounts as “a national embarrassment”.Speaking today, Najib voiced disappointment in Mahathir for attending a ceremony to present certificates of appreciation to the companies involved in the Forest City development.“Imagine, from selling sovereignty to certificates of appreciation, all within the space of a year,” he added.The former prime minister also claimed that the transfer of federal power to PH had shaken the confidence of Chinese investors, especially when the ECRL project and two others related to oil and gas were put on hold.He said this could be seen through the inflow of foreign direct investments (FDI) which declined to RM30.7 billion in 2018 from RM40.4 billion in 2017, BN’s last year in Putrajaya.“In 2019, FDI inflows into Malaysia expanded relatively higher to RM32.4 billion – much lower than 2017,” he said.“The trend once again went downwards in 2020 with a net inflow of a dismal RM14 billion – 55% lower than 2019 and the lowest since 2009.”He also said that while the ECRL project was resumed under new terms, the PH government had again taken a different stance in admitting that the investments and technological capabilities from China offered opportunities for the country’s economic development.


PM urged to back calls to suspend global IP laws on Covid vaccines, equipment

Twenty-eight organisations are urging Putrajaya to temporarily suspend the enforcement of intellectual property laws to help make medical products such as Covid-19 vaccines available to the developing world.In a letter to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, the groups said suspension of the IP laws would encourage more research and production of crucial medical equipment in the battle against the pandemic, including diagnostic kits, personal protective gear, medicine and vaccines.“A major reason for the shortages of crucial Covid-19 medical products is insufficient production capacity, and intellectual property is a big factor because of the monopolies created that end up limiting the number of manufacturers,” said Consumers Association of Penang president Mohideen Abdul Kader, in a statement endorsed by more than 20 consumer bodies, environmentalists, support groups and religious organisations.Last year, India and South Africa mooted a proposal to the World Trade Organization to temporarily suspend some parts of its Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The move has since obtained support from some 100 developing and less wealthy nations as well as from eminent individuals.This comes amid a growing trend of what is called “vaccine nationalism” where governments, mostly from the developed world, hoard vaccines for their own populations.Last week, the European Union slapped export controls on vaccines produced in the bloc after blaming its slow vaccination process on an under-supply for member-states.The World Health Organization has condemned the restrictions on vaccines especially to poorer countries.“I need to be blunt: the world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure – and the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world’s poorest countries,” WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last month.The 28 groups in their statement said that Malaysia was not in a favourable position as its vaccine supply depends totally on imports.“The ongoing vaccine scramble and potential future conflicts over medicines that can treat Covid-19 and even PPE show the urgent need for the TRIPS Waiver to overcome the problems of shortages and to ramp up production across countries to provide medical products equitably to small and big countries,” they added.


Asian garment makers stitch together united front to pressure Western brands

Early in the pandemic, cancelled orders from struggling Western fashion brands devastated Asian garment factories and their workers.On Monday, manufacturers from the six nations that make most of the world’s clothes announced a united front to negotiate better terms with Western buyers.The group brings together the world’s largest garment producers: China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Pakistan, Myanmar and Cambodia.Collectively, they represent 60% of the world’s clothing exports and employ around 60 million workers.“We are banding together to create standard conditions,” said Ken Loo, spokesman at a Cambodia-based garment association. “No one is under any obligations but we hope it will be a guideline for all buyers and suppliers.”Miran Ali, spokesman for the STAR Network of Asian Suppliers, said on Wednesday, “We want to come together to tackle the common problems we face. This is not about setting a minimum price for orders. This is about ethical business practice,”He said that the initiative will give Asian manufacturers a stronger voice in setting payment and delivery terms with Western high-street brands.Early last year, Western fashion companies cancelled billions of dollars’ worth of orders as the pandemic shuttered stores worldwide, leading to garment workers’ wage losses of up to US$6 billion, according to the Netherlands-based pressure group Clean Clothes Campaign.Orders picked up in the second half of the year, but Western brands demanded price cuts and delayed payments to suppliers desperate for any orders to survive.STAR Network’s Ali told Reuters that the new alliance will help firms hold out against such pressure. “For instance, a buyer can’t just place an order in South Asia, leave us with the liability and then decide to place its orders in another region. That’s unethical.”Campaigners are urging manufacturers to use the new initiative to improve workers’ conditions, not just boost their own profits.


Daily cases back over 2,000, death toll up by 11

Another 2,253 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 295,951.Selangor recorded 633 cases, followed by Perak (545), Johor (276), Sarawak (250), Sabah (129) and Kuala Lumpur (122).Penang recorded 93 cases, Kelantan 73, Negeri Sembilan 68, Kedah 25, Pahang 21, Melaka 13, Perlis four and Terengganu one.Active cases stand at 27,994 with 201 in the ICU and 93 in need of respiratory assistance.Another 3,085 patients were discharged, bringing total recoveries to 266,846.However, 11 more deaths were reported, pushing the virus toll to 1,111.


Indonesian prosecutors name 3 palm oil groups suspects in corruption case

Indonesia's attorney general's office has named three palm oil companies as suspects in a corruption investigation, alleging misconduct in obtaining export permits at a time when shipments were being restricted.
The investigation comes after Indonesia's Supreme Court last month upheld a lower court's jailing of executives at those companies for manipulating documents or submitting false data to obtain export permits.
Indonesia, which accounts for about 60% of the global palm oil supply, imposed tight export measures last year, including a three-week ban on shipments, to try to secure domestic supply to rein in soaring local cooking oil prices.
Prosecutors said the executives' actions were on behalf of their companies, Singapore-based Wilmar Group WLIL.SI and Musim Mas Group and Medan-based Permata Hijau Group and an investigation into the firms sought to recover state losses.
"Those three companies must be held responsible," said Ketut Sumedana, spokesperson for the attorney general's office said in a statement issued on Thursday.
The companies did not immediately respond to request for comment.
A senior Indonesian trade ministry official has also been jailed in the case for abuse of power.
Last month, Indonesia's anti-monopoly agency fined seven cooking oil companies for restricting sales during the cooking oil scarcity period.


Analyst agrees with Ismail's view on more space for PAS in PN

A political analyst has agreed that Perikatan Nasional (PN) should give more space to its component party PAS, which wields a strong influence over the Malay community.
Hisommudin Bakar of think tank Ilham Centre said PAS had impact and influence among PN components in addition to a formidable party machinery.
"It is the biggest Malay party after Umno. It should be given the opportunity although the leadership factor might cause its president Abdul Hadi Awang to favour Muhyiddin Yassin more," he said, referring to the Bersatu leader.
PN consists of Bersatu, PAS, Gerakan, Parti Maju Sabah (SAPP) and Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR).
Last night, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the Islamist party should be more dominant within PN, amid differences in opinion between the PAS and Bersatu leaderships on cooperation with Barisan Nasional.
While Bersatu holds 30 seats in Parliament, only 13 of these were won at the last general election in 2018. The rest were due to the migration of MPs from Umno and PKR.
PAS, meanwhile won 18 seats at the 14th general election and went on to form the state governments of Kelantan and Terengganu.
It took over Kedah as well after the collapse of the state government led by Mukhriz Mahathir.
Hisommudin said although PAS was the stronger party, it appeared to favour giving chances to other components as it had done during its time in Pakatan Rakyat.
"Even though they are strong and PKR is less so at the moment, PAS is still giving an opportunity for Anwar Ibrahim to become a candidate for prime minister," he said.
"Maybe that is PAS' way."