Relief centres opened in Kedah, Negeri Sembilan after flash floods

Three temporary relief centres (PPS) have been opened in two states to accommodate 138 flood victims from 48 families.In Kedah, 28 flood evacuees from six families in Baling were taking shelter at SK Tawar as of 9am today.Baling Civil Defence Force (APM) chief Rasidah Kassim said the evacuees were villagers from Mukim Tawar.“This morning, the weather is sunny in Baling. The water level has receded and the victims will return to their respective homes,” she said in a statement today.She added that the Baling APM is always ready and will continue to monitor the situation.In Negeri Sembilan, according to the latest data on the Social Welfare Department’s (JKM) InfoBencana application, two PPS had been opened at SK Undang Johol and Dewan Desa Dangi, Johol, Kuala Pilah, to house 110 individuals from 42 families as of 8am today.Negeri Sembilan APM director Mohd Syukri Md Nor meanwhile said that a landslide had occurred at N14 Jalan Inas-Kg Batu due to heavy rain in the hilly area, completely blocking the road.“Motorists are advised to use alternative roads such as Route FT051 (Jalan Kuala Pilah-Seremban) or Route FT009 (Jalan Kuala Pilah-Tampin),” he added.In the meantime, he said the Darul Widad centre in Port Dickson was also flooded, but that no evacuations had been made so far.The continuous heavy rain since noon yesterday triggered flash floods in several locations in three states, namely Kuala Kubu Bharu in Selangor, Nilai and Kuala Pilah in Negeri Sembilan, and Baling in Kedah.


Jabs for votes as Lebanon’s oligarchs turn to Covid bribery

Lebanon’s cash-strapped leaders are bribing their base with free Covid-19 jabs ahead of next year’s elections, in what observers say is the latest variant on an old corruption trick.The “vaccine for vote” system builds on decades-old patronage practices that have seen leaders buy their way into office by offering voters money or public sector employment.But with state resources stretched to their limit by a severe economic crisis and international aid dwindling due to a failure to deliver promised reforms, politicians are turning to Covid jabs to stock up on political capital.“Political forces are trying to directly or indirectly make themselves a part of the equation with regards to the vaccine campaign, primarily because it is a profitable investment,” said a member of the state-run National Vaccination Committee who spoke on condition of anonymity.Prime minister-designate Saad Hariri, a leading figure in Lebanon’s Sunni community, organised a countrywide vaccination campaign with the help of his Future Movement in early May.More than 7,000 people received at least one dose of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, said spokesman Abdel Salam Moussa. Tens of thousands of new jabs are expected to arrive in the coming weeks, he told AFP.The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), founded by President Michel Aoun, and its Christian rival the Lebanese Forces, have also distributed jabs through private initiatives organised by members or affiliates.Elias Bou Saab, a lawmaker close to the FPM, rented out a private hospital outside Beirut until March next year for vaccination purposes.Last month, he said he would provide “20,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to be distributed free of charge”.Antoine Habchi, from the Lebanese Forces party, is one of several lawmakers who have launched private vaccination drives in their constituencies.“We have registered 1,600 people” in the eastern region of Baalbek, he told AFP.He insisted that the vaccination was open to all and not an electoral ploy, simply an initiative to complement a government campaign struggling to cover nationwide needs.“This is a health emergency,” he said.Vax pactThe Lebanese government, with the help of international agencies, provides free jabs of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine on a priority basis.It started its vaccination campaign in February, but the rollout was initially slow, forcing many, including political leaders, to turn to private suppliers providing Sputnik doses.With more than half the population living below the poverty line and the Lebanese pound sliding rapidly against the dollar on the black market, vaccines are a luxury for many.Two Sputnik doses are sold to companies and associations for US$38, which amounts to 500,000 Lebanese pounds at the black market rate, or around three quarters of the minimum wage.Firas, a former insurance broker, had registered along with his wife for state-sponsored vaccination.But when a political party offered him free jabs, he chose not to wait for the government.“I have been unemployed for six months. How would I have afforded vaccines for two people?” said the 52-year-old, who declined to name the party that sponsored his Sputnik dose.Out of nearly 900,000 people who have received vaccines in Lebanon, nearly 60,000 benefited from party handouts, said Mohamad Haidar, a health ministry adviser.The powerful Hezbollah movement, an Iran-backed party that boasts major welfare institutions, including several hospitals, says it is not distributing vaccines.With health minister Hamad Hassan hailing from its ranks, Hezbollah can rely solely on the state, said political scientist Hilal Khashan of the American University of Beirut.‘Impoverished followers’According to a 2019 report by Transparency International, nearly one in two people in Lebanon is offered a bribe in return for their vote, while more than one in four receives threats if they do not comply.With traditional party leaders going up against a revitalised opposition in elections next year, vaccine handouts could be “exploited for political ends,” said Julien Courson, the director of the Lebanese Transparency Association.But vaccines aren’t the only honey pot.Food prices in Lebanon have soared by up to 400% as of December and medicines are fast disappearing from pharmacy shelves.Political patrons are stepping in to ease the blow.The FPM will launch a platform for medicine exchange that will primarily benefit party supporters, said Marwan Zoghbi of the party’s coronavirus committee.People with a surplus of a certain medicine will be matched with those who are in need, he said.Hezbollah, which has long offered a wide array of social services, said in April that it is boosting the number of supporters who benefit from assistance.Services include a shopping card for discounted food items sold at select discount stores.But with Lebanon’s woes piling up quickly, political parties across the board will struggle to keep up.“Lebanese clientelism is failing because the political system does not have material resources to dispense to sectarian leaders,” said Khashan.“The pervasive poverty attests to the failure of the system and the inability of confessional leaders to provide for their impoverished followers.”


Appeals court to go ahead with D-day proceeding despite delay bid by Najib’s lawyers

The Court of Appeal’s hearing of Najib Razak’s bid to cite more evidence in his SRC International appeal will continue as scheduled today despite a request by the former prime minister’s legal team for a delay after one of his lawyers tested positive for Covid-19.According to Utusan Online, Najib’s lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah requested late last night that today’s proceeding be postponed along with the court’s decision tomorrow on Najib’s appeal in the case.A court official however said today that the proceeding would continue, with the three judges and the prosecution team in the court and the lawyers to participate through Zoom from their homes.Judge Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil who led the three-man bench told Najib’s lawyer Harvinder Singh Sidhu that there were two possible options.“We cancel the bail and he (Najib) will be issued a warrant of arrest immediately and be brought to the court today (Tuesday) itself.“The second choice – we direct that this is heard online, and this is the court direction. We don’t need consent by parties; we go online. This is more than safe. We have had cases online when people were in the US, France and Japan. This is in Malaysia. We have online facilities. We have this application for fresh evidence. When you make an application, you should have the facilities to prove them,” he said in a report by The Edge.He was joined on the bench by Has Zanah Mehat and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.Najib had applied to allow new evidence to be adduced in his appeal against his 12-year jail sentence and fine of RM210 million for misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International funds.The hearing was set a day before the Court of Appeal was due to deliver its verdict.But Shafee said in a letter to the court last night that one of the lawyers had tested positive for Covid-19 after attending a celebration with his family and friends last Saturday.“In addition, our client was present at the office to check and attest to the affidavit filed yesterday,” he was quoted as saying in the Utusan report.“Therefore the MySejahtera status of everyone involved has changed, whether to close contact or casual contact, and everyone is waiting for an appropriate time to take an RT PCR test.”Najib was convicted in July last year of seven counts of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power involving RM42 million in SRC International funds.He was allowed a stay of execution pending his appeal.


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PM confident of MPs' support for budget

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has voiced confidence that Budget 2023, set to be tabled this Friday, will receive the support of MPs.
"I believe the budget will be well received because this budget is for the people... if the opposition does not agree with the budget, it means the opposition does not agree with what the government has allocated for the benefit of the people.
"If the budget is not passed, in terms of emoluments, even the salaries for government employees cannot be paid. So the budget must be approved," he told Bernama when met after chairing the pre-council meeting for the Third Meeting of the Fifth Session of the 14th Parliament in Putrajaya last night.
Ismail said the government was always open to receiving the opposition's views on Budget 2023.
"However, we also expect negative comments and so on from the opposition as usual. "Every time the budget is tabled, they will air their views, be it positive or negative, and we accept them. Usually, those views will be taken into account by the government," he said.
Asked whether the meeting had discussed the dissolution of Parliament, Ismail said only matters related to Parliament were discussed.
The hour-and-a-half-long meeting chaired by Ismail was also attended by Public Works Minister Fadillah Yusof, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Mustapa Mohamed, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Takiyuddin Hassan and Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi.
Among the MPs present were Ahmad Maslan (Pontian), Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz (Bachok) and Mohd Salim Mohd Sharif (Jempol).
The pre-council meeting was to prepare for the Dewan Rakyat sitting, which will be held from today until Nov 29.


Zafrul appointed as Selangor BN treasurer

Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz has been announced as the new Selangor Barisan Nasional (BN) treasurer, replacing Umno Sungai Besar division chief Jamal Md Yunos.
Jamal, meanwhile, has been appointed as Selangor BN communications chief. The announcement was made by state BN chairman Noh Omar during his speech at the Selangor BN convention closing ceremony and dinner in Shah Alam last night.
Noh, in his speech, said the appointment of Zafrul was part of the coalition’s efforts to wrest back Selangor.
"As part of the empowerment (process), I had to do some reshuffling, firstly by appointing Zafrul as the new treasurer.
"With the reshuffle, it will be a motivation for us in the fight to ensure that Selangor BN rises again in the general election," he added.


Ukraine war, pandemic push colour WHO international meet

The Ukraine war, with disease and destruction following in its wake, loomed large Sunday as the World Health Organization (WHO) convened countries to address a still raging pandemic and a vast array of other global health challenges.“Where war goes, hunger and disease follow shortly behind,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on the opening day of the UN agency’s main annual assembly.The assembly, due to run through Saturday, marks the first time WHO is convening its 194 member states for their first largely in-person gathering since Covid-19 surfaced in late 2019.Tedros warned important work at the assembly to address a long line of global health emergencies and challenges, including the Covid-19 crisis, could not succeed “in a divided world”.“We face a formidable convergence of disease, drought, famine and war, fuelled by climate change, inequity and geopolitical rivalry,” he warned.The former Ethiopian health minister said he was viewing the ravages in Ukraine through a personal lens: “I am a child of war”.In Ukraine and elsewhere, he said, it is clear peace “is a prerequisite for health”.“We must choose health for peace, and peace, peace, peace.”Healthcare under attackBut it was war that dominated the high-level speeches on the first day of the assembly.“The consequences of this war are devastating, to health, to populations, to health facilities and to health personnel,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a video address.He called on all member states to support a resolution to be presented by Ukraine and discussed by the assembly Tuesday, which harshly condemns Russia’s invasion, especially its more than 200 attacks on healthcare, including hospitals and ambulances, in Ukraine.The resolution will also voice alarm at the “health emergency in Ukraine”, and highlight the dire impacts beyond its borders, including how disrupted grain exports are deepening a global food security crisis.But while Russia has been shunned and pushed out of other international bodies over its invasion, no such sanctions are foreseen at the World Health Assembly.“There’s not a call to kick them out,” a Western diplomat told AFP, acknowledging the sanctions permitted under WHO rules are “very weak”.The Ukraine conflict is far from the only health emergency up for discussion this week, with decisions expected on a range of important issues, including on reforms towards strengthening pandemic preparedness.“This meeting is a historic opportunity to strengthen universal architecture for security and health,” Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader Corona told the assembly.Second term for TedrosAmong the decisions expected at the assembly is Tedros’s reappointment to a second five-year term.His first term was turbulent, as he helped steer the global response to the pandemic and grappled with other crises, including a sexual abuse scandal involving WHO staff in the Democratic Republic of Congo.But while he has faced his share of criticism, he has received broad backing and is running unopposed, guaranteeing him a second term.There will be no shortage of challenges going forward, with the Covid-19 pandemic still raging and demands for dramatic reforms of the entire global health system to help avert similar threats going forward.And new health menaces already loom, including hepatitis of mysterious origin that has made children in many countries ill, and swelling numbers of monkeypox cases far from Central and West Africa where the disease is normally concentrated.Money makeoverOne of the major reforms up for discussion involves the WHO budget, with countries expected to greenlight a plan to boost secure and flexible funding to ensure the organisation can respond quickly to global health threats.WHO’s two-year budget for 2020-21 ticked in at US$5.8 billion, but only 16% of that came from regular membership fees.The idea is to gradually raise the membership fee portion to 50% over nearly a decade, while WHO will be expected to implement reforms, including towards more transparency on its financing and hiring.The remainder came from voluntary contributions that are heavily earmarked by countries for particular projects.“There is no greater return on investment than health,” UN chief Antonio Guterres told the assembly in a video address.Too slowThe Covid pandemic laid bare major deficiencies in the global health system, and countries last year agreed numerous changes were needed to better prepare the world to face future pandemic threats.Amendments are being considered to the International Health Regulations – a set of legally binding international laws governing how countries respond to acute public health risks.And negotiations are underway towards a new “legal instrument” – possibly a treaty – aimed at streamlining the global approach to pandemic preparedness and response.But experts warn the reform process is moving too slowly.Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, who co-chaired an expert panel on pandemic preparedness, warned reporters last week little had yet changed.“At its current pace, an effective system is still years away, when a pandemic threat could occur at any time.”


Fresh from the lab to your table – Singapore aims to lead the world in animal-free meat

The first company in the world to have a cultured meat product approved for sale is in Singapore, says Fortune magazine, and that’s a remarkable first.Certified by the Singapore Food Agency last December, Eat Just’s chicken grown in a vat is now available to Singaporeans via delivery from Madame Fan, a Chinese restaurant at the Marriott hotel.Earlier this month, Eat Just raised US$170 million in new funding, much of which it is investing in a larger factory in Singapore to produce “meat” for the Asian market.Over the last couple of years, around 20 companies developing lab-grown meat and plant-based protein have set themselves up in Singapore.This tiny island with virtually no livestock and hardly any agricultural land hopes in time to become a meat producer.The country currently imports more than 90% of its food from more than 160 countries and the pandemic has disrupted vital global supply chains.The government wants 30% of Singapore’s nutrition to come from domestic sources by 2030.It has poured millions into the food-technology industry in the last two years, and is providing incentives and tax breaks for enterprises that take it.Private investment in “alternative protein” is flooding in too.Importantly, Singapore is the first country in the world to develop a regulatory framework to bring cultured meat to market. The Future Ready Food Safety Hub opened last month to help companies navigate the approval process to speed their products onto plates.“Singapore provides a path to commercialisation,” says Carrie Chan, founder and CEO of Avant Meats, a company developing cultured fish in the city. “It is the only place in the world where that’s possible.”However, there are two major obstacles standing in the way of Singapore’s dreams of “meat” self-sufficiency.The first is cost.Shiok Meats already makes a “shrimp” paste. The trouble is that it costs the company about US$5,000 to produce one kilogram of the paste, still far from commercially viable.Most lab-grown cells are nourished with a substance called fetal bovine serum (FBS), extracted from aborted calves.Used widely in the biotech industry, its production is highly regulated all over the world. Its supply is limited, and its cost is astronomical: 500 millilitres typically costs around US$500.Also, an industry based on making meat without animal suffering really needs an option that doesn’t come from slaughterhouses.The second big question for Singapore is whether more domestic production will actually reduce its reliance on foreign supply.Substances like FBS have to be imported, as do the ingredients needed for Singapore’s other booming market, plant-based protein.Singapore’s new Protein Innovation Centre opened last month. It’s an R&D facility for plant-based protein companies that want to develop new recipes and figure out how to industrialise them, but yet again most ingredients have to be shipped in.Food waste is one possible solution to Singapore’s reliance on foreign ingredients.One way of making protein in a factory is through fermentation. Ordinarily the microbes or fungus that produce such protein would be nourished with imported glucose, but scientists are studying whether they are partial to coffee grounds from Singapore’s cafes or old yeast from its breweries. That would at least give imported food a second life.The future of Singapore’s nascent protein industry may be a combination of animal and vegetable.“The trend we see right now is a mix of cultured meat and plant-based protein,” Adrien Beauvisage, Buhler’s president for southeast Asia says. “Full cultured meat in the market is far away, but animal proteins help enhance the texture of plant-based products.”Even if Singapore fails in its goal to produce 30% of its own nutrition by 2030, the effort should bring other economic benefits.Beauvisage says, “This goes beyond producing food for Singapore. It’s about being a brain for the region and developing services for other countries.”


1,304 new cases, majority in Klang Valley

Another 1,304 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, the majority of them in the Klang Valley.A total of 567 cases were reported in the Klang Valley: 364 in Selangor, 202 in Kuala Lumpur, and one in Putrajaya.This was followed by Sabah (556) and Negeri Sembilan (83).Penang recorded 42 cases while Perak, Melaka and Sarawak reported 13 each.Kelantan and Kedah recorded five new cases each, Labuan four and Johor three.Active cases stand at 11,822 with 96 in the ICU and 39 in need of respiratory assistance.Another 900 patients were discharged, pushing total recoveries to 32,969 or 73.1%.However, one more death was reported, bringing the virus toll to 304.


UN expert concludes 'forced labour' in Xinjiang

It is "reasonable to conclude" that forced labour of members of minority groups has taken place in China's western Xinjiang region, the UN's top expert on slavery said in a report released this week, prompting a fierce response from Beijing.
The findings were "based on an independent assessment of available information", the United Nations special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Tomoya Obokata, said in a report that he shared on his Twitter account on Tuesday.
"The special rapporteur regards it as reasonable to conclude that forced labour among Uighur, Kazakh and other ethnic minorities in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing has been occurring in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China," it said.
China rejects all accusations of abuse of Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.
The report, dated July 19, is publicly available in a UN documents library.
Two distinct "state-mandated" systems exist in Xinjiang, it said: a vocational skills education and training centre system, where minorities are "detained and subjected" to work placements, and a poverty alleviation through labour transfer system involving rural workers.
"While these programmes may create employment opportunities for minorities and enhance their incomes, as claimed by the government, the special rapporteur considers that indicators of forced labour pointing to the involuntary nature of work rendered by affected communities have been present in many cases," said the 20-page report, which also covered contemporary slavery-related issues and concerns in other countries.
China's foreign ministry on Wednesday reiterated Beijing's denial that there had ever been forced labour in Xinjiang, defended China's record on protecting workers' rights and heavily criticised the report's findings.
"A certain special rapporteur chooses to believe in lies and disinformation about Xinjiang spread by the US and some other Western countries and anti-China forces," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a daily briefing in Beijing.
Obokata's report is separate from a highly anticipated report on human rights in Xinjiang being prepared by United Nations high vommissioner Michelle Bachelet, who has pledged to publish it before leaving office at the end of this month.
Reuters reported last month that China has sought to stop Bachelet form releasing her report, citing a Chinese letter reviewed by Reuters and diplomats who received it.


‘Terrified’ Dubai princesses’ phone numbers found ‘among Pegasus spyware’

Phone numbers used by two Dubai princesses have reportedly been found as part of an investigation into the phone hacking spyware known as Pegasus.In mid-February, BBC Panorama broadcast a secret video from Princess Latifa in which she said she was being held as a hostage by her father and feared for her life.Her father is Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, 71, the vice-president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, and ruler of Dubai.Princess Haya Bint al-Hussain is his former wife who, fled Dubai in 2019 saying she feared for her life.The UAE denies both women’s allegations.Their phone numbers are apparently on a list of some 50,000 phone numbers of people believed to be of interest to clients of Israeli-based firm NSO Group and which was leaked to major news outlets.The discovery of the princesses’ numbers on the list – and those of several acquaintances – has raised questions about whether they could have been the possible target of a government client of NSO group.Human rights organisation Amnesty International has issued a statement alleging that the discovery implicates the group “in the catalogue of human rights violations” allegedly inflicted on the two women, and calls for regulation to rein in “an unchecked surveillance industry”.NSO denies any wrongdoing and says the software is intended for use against criminals and terrorists, and is made available only to military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies with good human rights records.The original investigation which led to the reports – by Paris-based NGO Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International – was “full of wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories”, the Israel-based group said.The reports are part of a series of news articles suggesting thousands of prominent people have been targeted.A senior Israeli official confirmed to the BBC that the Israeli government had set up a team to examine allegations about the Pegasus software.Latifa told the BBC earlier this year that she had been kidnapped and imprisoned after trying to escape Dubai on a boat across the Indian Ocean in 2018. She alleged she was seized from a yacht and taken back to Dubai and imprisoned in a villa converted into a jail.The story prompted an international outcry. After the UN demanded proof of life, Dubai’s royal family said she was “being cared for at home”.Although she has not been heard from in months, photos allegedly showing her in public and even travelling have appeared on an acquaintance’s Instagram profile in recent months.Haya has accused her ex-husband of abduction, torture and a campaign of intimidation. A London court published the allegations in a series of judgements last year.According to the documents, her marriage fell apart after she became suspicious about what happened to Latifa, as well as another of her ex-husband’s children, Sheikha Shamsa.She fled to the UK in April 2019 with her two children. The court heard last year that veiled threats from Sheikh Mohammed had left her terrified for her own safety, as well as fears that her children could be abducted and forcibly returned to Dubai.


Umno debates ‘sanitised’ to ensure president spared

Speeches at the Umno general assembly in support of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi were not the natural result of delegates voicing support for their top leaders, MalaysiaNow can now reveal, on the back of an intense campaign by the party president for Umno to quit the Perikatan Nasional (PN) bloc led by Muhyiddin Yassin.It is learnt that several moves were put in place to ensure that no speaker behind the Umno general assembly rostrum levels criticism against party leaders.One way to ensure that is to stop state Umno chiefs from being given a slot to speak, amid fears that many are unhappy with Zahid.Veteran Umno leader Shahrir Samad, who also heads the Johor Bahru division, admits as much.He said a move to allow all state chiefs to speak at the ongoing general assembly was abandoned at the eleventh hour.“There was in fact a discussion to allow the state liaison chief to speak. It is not something out of the ordinary, and who else more qualified to talk about the situation in the state?” Shahrir told MalaysiaNow when met on the sideline of the general assembly yesterday.But he said the current situation warranted the change.Veteran Umno leader Shahrir Samad speaks to MalaysiaNow on the sidelines of the party’s general assembly in Kuala Lumpur.“The situation today is quite different,” said Shahrir, once seen as a maverick Umno leader who held the Johor Bahru parliamentary seat for four decades before being defeated in 2018.He said Umno’s strength lies with its grassroots, whose sentiments are carried by the state chief.“Since each state holds different views, it could influence the delegates.“So when we allow the state liaison chief to speak, it could paint a true picture of the varying strengths among the states.”The remarks confirm a claim by Ketereh Umno chief Annuar Musa, who said the list of speakers and the contents of their speeches had been vetted by the Supreme Council.“The spokesman was replaced. Only those appointed by the president can speak,” said Annuar, who recently fell out with Zahid over the latter’s plans to work with PKR.Perlis and Sabah Umno have so far broken ranks with the Supreme Council’s decision to cut ties with Bersatu.In a recent interview on MalaysiaNow’s online programme Talk, Now, Perlis Umno chief Shahidan Kassim questioned the move by Umno not to work with PN, and threatened to take the state chapter on its own if such a decision is reached at the current general assembly.Zahid and former president Najib Razak have been at the forefront of attacks against the PN government.At the heart of their grievances is that Muhyiddin, who formed the splinter party Bersatu after his fallout with Najib in 2015 over the 1MDB scandal, had sidelined Umno for key government posts.Yesterday, Shahidan questioned the claim by Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan that Umno had been relegated to playing second fiddle in the current administration.“That is the deputy president’s view but the fact is that is Umno has nine ministers, almost 20 deputy ministers, more than Bersatu, PAS and GPS.“PAS has three (ministers), GPS has three, Bersatu has eight, BN (including Umno) has 11,” Shahidan had said.


PH never dissolved Jasa, appointments stall as politicians jostle for posts

Pakatan Harapan (PH) never abolished Jasa, Putrajaya’s Special Affairs Department which came under renewed scrutiny following its allocation of some RM81 million in the 2021 budget, MalaysiaNow can reveal.A reliable source familiar with the once-critical unit nestled under the Prime Minister’s Office said Jasa, often seen as the government’s propaganda arm, was officially “kept alive” even as the PH government was crumbling in February.“I am surprised that some politicians who formed part of the previous government are now questioning the allocation for Jasa,” the source, who revealed details of the politicking within the department, told MalaysiaNow under condition of anonymity.PH announced that it was dissolving Jasa five months after coming to power in 2018.But the source said the department’s warrant of establishment had never been deactivated and remained valid even after the collapse of PH following Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation on Feb 24 this year.An establishment warrant is an official document issued by the treasury to authorise changes to officers’ salary scale as well as the number of positions in government departments.Jasa, which has since been placed under the communications and multimedia commission, entered the spotlight after Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz announced its allocation of RM81 million in the budget last Friday.Critics called the allocation huge for a department that acts as the government’s propaganda arm.Politicians clamouring for postsOne month after Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn into office, Chief Secretary to the Government Mohd Zuki Ali announced the appointment of 52 officers to Jasa.The appointment letters were handed over to the communications ministry in April.What followed, though, was a collision of political interests within Perikatan Nasional (PN).The source said the department’s warrant of establishment had never been deactivated and remained valid even after the collapse of PH.“Due to this, only 13 officers were appointed in the first batch,” the source said, adding that another 22 posts remained vacant as there was no allocation despite the existing establishment warrant.As soon as the allocation was given the green light, he said, there was an increased interest in positions within Jasa.“A list of names comprising Umno division chiefs was given for the posts in Jasa,” he said.“This was despite the fact that during the Barisan Nasional (BN) era, these politicians damaged Jasa’s image in the eyes of the public.”He added that Jasa’s role includes meeting people in rural areas where its officers are expected to compile daily reports.He also said that appointments in Jasa are subject to conditions including a successful interview process and minimum academic qualifications.No proper burialMeanwhile, another source told MalaysiaNow that there had been calls from among PH politicians for the revival of Jasa as far back as early 2019, when the coalition was reeling from its first by-election defeat to BN in Cameron Highlands.“They pointed out the weaknesses in the government’s communication strategy and in the dissemination of its policies to the public,” the source added.He said the current government had taken advantage of the fact that its predecessors did not give Jasa a “proper burial”.PH’s defeat in Cameron Highlands was the first in a series of major by-election losses suffered during its tenure in power.It also lost the by-elections in Semenyih, Rantau, Tanjung Piai and Kimanis.


Govt considering hybrid system for parliamentary sitting

The government is looking into a hybrid system for Parliament proceedings involving a combination of physical and virtual attendance by lawmakers, law minister Takiyuddin Hassan said today.In a statement, he said he had held a meeting with the speakers of the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, as well as their deputies, in order to discuss the issue.“Today’s meeting agreed on a basic level with the plan for a hybrid parliament,” he said.“The meeting also agreed that more detailed studies should be done at once to prepare a report to be presented as soon as possible for the deliberation and approval of the Cabinet.”He added that the step had been taken to ensure that Parliament could play its role despite the country facing the Covid-19 crisis.The possibility of a virtual parliament sitting was recently raised by Azalina Othman Said, the deputy speaker of the Dewan Rakyat.In a statement on May 27, she had questioned the prolonged suspension of parliamentary sittings due to the state of emergency declared in January and made several recommendations to facilitate the virtual convening of Dewan Rakyat, saying the pandemic was for the long run.Opposition politicians from Pakatan Harapan have initiated legal proceedings against the government, seeking declarations that the emergency was unconstitutional.In April meanwhile, several opposition MPs joined hands with six NGOs to seek a court declaration on the roles of Parliament and the judiciary, including to state whether the cancellation of parliamentary meetings could be challenged in court.


Malaysian activists make legal bid to halt Myanmar deportation

Activists made a last-ditch legal bid to halt the deportation Tuesday of 1,200 Myanmar detainees to their homeland weeks after a coup, following a storm of criticism.The migrants, including members of vulnerable minorities, were arriving at a military base on the west coast, to be loaded onto three vessels sent by the Myanmar navy.The US and the UN have criticised the plan, and are calling for the UN refugee agency to be granted access to the detainees to assess whether any are asylum seekers.The UN says it knows of at least six who are registered with them and in need of international protection.Rights groups Amnesty International and Asylum Access said they had lodged a challenge Monday at the Kuala Lumpur High Court to stop the deportation.“This effort to halt the deportation is based on information from refugee groups evidently indicating that asylum seekers and refugees are among the individuals being sent to Myanmar,” said Katrina Jorene Maliamauv, executive director of Amnesty International Malaysia.“The Myanmar military’s human rights violations against protestors and dissidents have been widely documented. If Malaysia insists on sending back the 1,200 individuals, it would be responsible for putting them at risk of further persecution, violence and even death.”But with the migrants already arriving at the base in Lumut in trucks and buses escorted by police cars, it was unclear what difference the court bid would make.The Myanmar military seized power at the start of February and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, triggering a series of massive protests.Malaysia initially expressed “serious concern” at the coup – but just days later, news emerged it had accepted an offer from the Myanmar junta to send warships to repatriate the detainees.Officials insist those being sent back have committed offences such as overstaying their visas and no members of the persecuted Rohingya minority – not recognised as citizens in Myanmar – are among them.But among the detainees are members of the Christian Chin minority and people from conflict-riven Kachin and Shan states, according to Lilianne Fan, international director of the Geutanyoe Foundation, which works with refugees.Malaysia is home to millions of migrants from poorer parts of Asia who work in low-pay jobs such as construction. As well as Myanmar, they come from countries including Bangladesh and Indonesia.


Deadly India rail crash caused by faulty signal connections made during repair

Workers repairing a rail-road barrier in India made faulty connections in the automated signalling system on the network, leading to the country's worst rail disaster in two decades, an official probe has found.
The June 2 crash at Bahanaga Bazar station, in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, killed 288 people and injured more than 1,000.
The disaster struck when a passenger train hit a stationary freight train, jumped off the tracks and hit another passenger train coming from the opposite direction.
In the probe report, seen by Reuters, the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) investigators said the first collision occurred due to modifications done to the signalling circuit to fix frequent problems at a nearby rail-road barrier.
Local railway staff did not have a standard circuit diagram which led to a faulty connection in the signalling system when they tried to take the boom-barrier circuit offline for repair, it said. The malfunctioning system directed the passenger train onto the path of the freight train, it said.
Reuters last month reported for the first time that investigators were focusing on the repair work on the rail-road barrier and its possible connection to a manual bypass of the signalling system.
Indian Railways, the fourth largest train network in the world, is a state monopoly run by the Railway Board. The board reports to the Railways Ministry.
The rail network is undergoing a US$30 billion (about RM140 billion) transformation with gleaming new trains and modern stations under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push to boost infrastructure and connectivity but the crash raised questions about whether safety was getting enough attention.
The CRS probe report said there were lapses at multiple levels in the signal and telecom department and standard operating procedures were not followed during the repair work.


Dissolve Parliament, BN supporters call with victory inches away

Calls for the dissolution of Parliament echoed through the Barisan Nasional operations room tonight where a crowd is awaiting the Election Commission’s announcement of the official results for the Johor state election.The shouts, which continued for long minutes, were repeated each time an unofficial result was announced.They are seen as part of the pressure on the federal government to hold the 15th general election as soon as possible.Unofficial results so far put Barisan Nasional (BN) in the lead, far ahead of its closest competitors, Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional.Voting began at 8am and ended at 6pm. As of 4pm, only 50% of voters had gone to cast their ballots.A total of 2.5 million regular voters had been eligible to cast their ballots, including for the first time youth aged 18 and above.MalaysiaNow reported in January that the Umno faction led by party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was planning at least three more state elections in the hope of returning Umno to stronger footing in legislative assemblies, before ending things with a “grand finale” in the form of a general election in July.A source close to Zahid’s faction said the plan would see elections being held in Perlis, Kedah and Perak.“After Johor, there are intense efforts to effect a statewide election in Perak,” the Umno leader who wished to remain unnamed told MalaysiaNow.The source also said the main objective of the plan was not only to show that “Umno is back”, but also to set the tone for “full-fledged” federal power.“When it controls many states, it will be easier for Umno to return to power at the federal level and restore its control of Putrajaya without having to share power with people who put us in the dock,” said a Pahang Umno insider, in an apparent reference to the role played by Bersatu in bringing down the Umno-led government in 2018.


New Zealand lifts almost all pandemic restrictions

New Zealand has lifted almost all pandemic restrictions from midnight Wednesday, thanks to falling Covid-19 cases.After seven days of no recorded new infections, people are now free to go about their lives as before.The only exception is in the country’s biggest city, Auckland, where face masks are still required on public transport.The virus briefly reappeared in August, in an Auckland cluster which caused authorities to put the city back into lockdown.Most of the country, including its capital, Wellington, recorded no new cases.The government says face coverings aren’t necessary for the general public when there is no evidence of community transmission.Passengers on planes flying in or out of Auckland, as well on all Air New Zealand flights, are still required to wear masks.This means life will return to normal for almost everyone, says the BBC.There will be no more social distancing or caps on gatherings such as weddings, funerals or sporting events. Everyone can return to work without restriction.New Zealand has been praised for its swift and effective response to Covid-19.The country has recorded a total of 1,468 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 25 deaths.


Govt stands firm on restrictions for anti-vaxxers

Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein today said the government would not budge from the restrictions put in place for those who refuse to be vaccinated, adding that the measures are to protect the lives of many.Speaking at a press conference, he said he agreed with the recent statements on the matter by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.“The government is not being cruel towards anyone,” he said. “However the efforts to battle Covid-19 are key to preventing greater harm.“For those in the anti-vaccine group, it is up to them. But they should not think that their right to refuse the jabs means that the flexibility given to those who are vaccinated will also apply to them.“We will not compromise on that.”Khairy previously said that the government would pursue a vigorous approach towards those who refuse to be vaccinated, whom he warned would find life difficult as more and more sectors are reopened to those who have been fully inoculated.“Sorry to say, if you are not vaccinated because you choose not to be vaccinated, then we will make life very difficult for you and continue to make life difficult for you,” he said.However, he said those who cannot be vaccinated due to health reasons will be fine as they will be provided with digital exemption on MySejahtera.Ismail meanwhile said those who do not take the vaccines “are making life difficult for themselves”.“That is why I urge those who have not yet received the vaccine to do so, so that they can also get to enjoy the facilities,” he said.Health restrictions have been gradually eased for the fully vaccinated, with interstate travel allowed since Oct 11 for those who have completed their inoculations.Other activities in the social and economic sectors have also been allowed for the fully vaccinated, including tourism and dining in.


Umno suspends Putrajaya division deputy chairman

The Umno Supreme Council today decided to suspend the deputy chairman of the party’s Putrajaya division, amid rumours of a purge of dissident leaders, MalaysiaNow has learnt.Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz, who has been under disciplinary proceedings by the party, was suspended over comments critical of its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.When contacted, Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, the Umno election director who is also a Supreme Council member, confirmed the decision.He also dismissed rumours that two senior Umno leaders would be sacked.“Yes, only one,” he told the press at the Umno headquarters after a Supreme Council meeting tonight ahead of the general assembly’s conclusion.Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan was coy when urged to confirm Tun Faisal’s suspension.However, he confirmed that a member had been suspended for six years, or two cycles of the Umno elections.He said a letter had been sent informing the individual of the suspension.When contacted, Tun Faisal said he would wait for the letter.Tun Faisal, who is the press secretary for another vocal Umno leader, Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa, has been in a bitter row with the Putrajaya Umno chairman Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.MalaysiaNow earlier reported that Tengku Adnan has been trying to block any chance of Tun Faisal taking over the division.This is because Tengku Adnan is required to step down as the division head following his recent conviction of corruption.


No record of payments from company to Hishammuddin, Zahid graft trial told

A Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer told the Shah Alam High Court yesterday that there was no record of payments made by Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) to Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
V Mahendran, 38, said this was based on the statements taken from prosecution witnesses and checks carried out of the company’s ledger, prepared by its former administrative manager David Tan Siong Sun.
He said this during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Zander Lim Wai Keong at the trial of former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi over the foreign visa system (VLN) project.
Lim: Who were the witnesses?
Mahendran: Tan, Harry Lee (former director of UKSB Harry Lee Vui Khiun) and Wan Quoris (former director of UKSB Wan Quoris Shah Wan Abdul Ghani).
Lim: Based on the ledger, was Hishammuddin’s name written there?
Mahendran: No.
Zahid, 69, faces 33 charges of receiving bribes amounting to S$13.56 million from UKSB for himself as home minister to extend the contract of the company as the operator of the OSC service in China and the VLN system, as well as to maintain the contract agreement to supply the VLN integrated system to the same company by the home ministry.
On another seven counts, he is charged with obtaining for himself S$1,150,000, RM3 million, 15,000 euros and US$15,000 from the same company which had official links with his official duty.
He was charged with committing the offences at Seri Satria, Precinct 16, Putrajaya, and Country Heights Kajang between October 2014 and March 2018.
The trial before judge Mohd Yazid Mustafa continues today.


Follow me or lose your seats, embattled Zahid warns BN MPs

Embattled Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has warned Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs that he has the final say in any decision on forming alliances to establish the next government.
This comes after Sarawak's GPS announced that the coalition has agreed to be part of Perikatan Nasional (PN) and BN in order to reach the numbers needed to form the federal government.
Zahid denied that BN had held negotiations with PN to enter into any understanding to form the government.
"All BN MPs who won in GE15 have signed an undertaking to give me the mandate as the president to determine any political coalition in the formation of the government," said Zahid, who is facing intense pressure from Umno leaders to quit following the party's devastating performance at the election yesterday.
Referring to the recently introduced anti-hopping law, Zahid also reminded them that defying party orders would result in them being sacked as well as losing their seats.
There has been a chorus of calls for Zahid to step down as Umno president and chairman of BN, after the coalition was trashed by PN, leaving it with just 30 seats.
Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan and Selangor Umno chief Noh Omar have both quit their posts and urged Zahid to do the same, while MCA slammed his decision to postpone a top-level meeting of BN leaders tonight and warned against the making of any arbitrary decisions.
This afternoon, Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg announced that his GPS coalition with 22 seats would back PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister, alongside MPs from Sabah's GRS coalition.
Even in the run-up to the polls, there was intense speculation that Zahid would eventually throw his support behind Pakatan Harapan in the event of a hung parliament, in order to make its chairman Anwar Ibrahim prime minister.
Zahid is a long-time associate of Anwar, from their days in Umno, and both leaders have maintained close ties despite leading rival parties.
Last year, a telephone conversation between them exposed a plot to get Umno to cut ties with Bersatu, just weeks before Zahid and former leader Najib Razak engineered the defection of MPs from Muhyiddin's government, forcing him to resign in August 2021.


Recognising the impact nurses have in diabetes management

In Malaysia, where the number of people with type 2 diabetes mellitus is on a sharp upward trajectory, the role of the nursing profession has never been more important. The National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019 found that one in five adults in Malaysia suffers from diabetes. This means that approximately 3.9 million people aged 18 years and above have diabetes.Diabetes, in turn, leads to a high morbidity and mortality as its complications include cardiovascular diseases i.e. strokes, heart attacks, limb amputations. It is also the leading cause of kidney failure. This causes a great deal of pain, distress and disability, not only to the patients but their families and society at large.It is essential that those who have diabetes be identified, educated about their condition, and treated. There is another troubling entity, however: pre-diabetes. Pre-diabetes is when one has consistently high blood glucose levels which have not yet reached the diabetes threshold. They can be identified because of their abnormal or impaired fasting blood glucose and impaired glucose tolerance.Approximately 70% of this group of people will go on to develop diabetes. Many studies have shown that even those with pre-diabetes have already got evidence of early cardiovascular complications because of risk factors like obesity, hypertension and high cholesterol levels. This is worse if they are smokers.Here, the importance of the nurses’ role cannot be overstated. They are usually the first point of contact for patients who engage with the medical profession. Simple nursing protocols put in place to screen, record and convey a patient’s glucose status make this an effective avenue to pick up and diagnose those with pre-diabetes or diabetes. This is a key step in identifying those who have the condition.In addition, the nature of this noble profession makes nurses the ideal healthcare professionals to begin and oversee the life-long journey of caring for patients with pre-diabetes and diabetes. Those in the nursing profession, in essence, have an eye for detail and their training in establishing protocols ensures that the multiple aspects of managing a patient with diabetes is addressed in a comprehensive manner. This includes details of diabetes education and awareness, self-care, nutritional needs, healthy lifestyle changes, and compliance and management of oral and injectable therapies.The role of nurses, specifically the diabetes nurse, is vital from the beginning to the end; starting with screening, identifying and documenting patients; continuing on to patient education, self-care, guidance on modifying lifestyles and managing their medical treatment. They are the key to ensuring a holistic management of patients with pre-diabetes and diabetes.This year, let us recognise the vital role and the selfless work of our nurses in caring for patients with pre-diabetes and diabetes.Dr Anuar Zaini Md Zain is a fellow at the Academy of Sciences Malaysia.The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


Neelofa, husband to consider filing representation in SOP breach case

The defence in the case involving celebrity Noor Neelofa Mohd Noor and her husband, Muhammad Haris Mohd Ismail, will consider filing a representation to the Attorney-General’s Chambers for the charge of breaching the SOPs of the conditional movement control order (CMCO) at a carpet shop in Nilai in early May.The matter was made known by the lawyer representing the couple, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, during re-mention of the case before magistrate Mahyun Yusuf today.“I just got the documents, so we will study them to prepare for the defence or perhaps file a representation so as not to waste time.“It is a small matter,” he told reporters after case proceedings today.The re-mention today involved the prosecution’s submission of documents to the defence team comprising Ramzani Idris, Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee and Syahirah Hanapiah led by Shafee while deputy public prosecutors Nor Azizah Aling and Iznina Hanim appeared for the prosecution.The court set Oct 21 for the next mention of the case.On May 20, the couple pleaded not guilty to violating Regulation 19 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures Within Infected Local Area) (Conditional Movement Control) (No.4) (Amendment) (No.12) Regulations 2021 which carries a fine not exceeding RM50,000, imprisonment for up to six months, or both, upon conviction.Haris, 26 was charged with two counts of failing to comply with the CMCO SOPs by failing to wear a face mask and scan the MySejahtera application or write his name in the registration book to check in at Kedai Naeem Carpet Sdn Bhd, Kawasan Perindustrian Nilai 3, Nilai, at 4pm on May 2.Noor Neelofa, 32, was charged with failing to scan the MySejahtera application or write her name in the registration book to check in at the same place and time.


US steps up crypto crackdown with Coinbase suit

In their second major action against a big crypto player in two days, US regulators sued Coinbase on Tuesday, alleging its failure to register as a securities exchange venue exposed investors to risk.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged that the largest digital currency trading platform in the US had made billions of dollars by "unlawfully facilitating the buying and selling of crypto asset securities".
Shares of Coinbase tumbled on news of the lawsuit, which comes on the heels of charges unveiled Monday against cryptocurrency exchange Binance and founder Changpeng Zhao for numerous alleged securities law violations.
Coinbase slammed the SEC for turning the screws on a market that is still largely unregulated, a criticism that was levied by Binance the day before.
"The SEC's reliance on an enforcement-only approach in the absence of clear rules for the digital asset industry is hurting America's economic competitiveness and companies like Coinbase that have a demonstrated commitment to compliance," said Paul Grewal, general counsel of Coinbase.
At a congressional hearing later Tuesday, Grewal called for "legislation that allows fair rules for the road to be developed transparently" without litigation.
But more than six months after the spectacular failure of crypto exchange giant FTX and its boss Sam Bankman-Fried, Washington is still grappling with how to tighten oversight of a market that has been likened to the "Wild West".
Need for oversight
The largest crypto asset trading platform in the United States, Coinbase had 110 million users and US$80 billion (RM368.60 billion) in assets at the end of 2022.
Filing a complaint in federal court, the SEC said Coinbase's failure to register as a securities exchange "has deprived investors of significant protections, including inspection by the SEC, record-keeping requirements, and safeguards against conflicts of interest, among others."
The suit follows Monday's move against Binance and Zhao for operating what the SEC called "an extensive web of deception" and "calculated evasion of the law."
On Tuesday, the SEC asked the federal court to freeze assets affiliated with Binance and Zhao.
SEC chair Gary Gensler told CNBC the crackdown was needed to protect US financial markets, the world's biggest.
"We punch above our weight class in the capital markets in part because of robust oversight in the markets," said Gensler.
Oversight "builds trust in the investing public, you become the destination of choice," Gensler said. "The crypto markets are undermining that trust."
But Gensler's approach to cryptocurrency has come under fire from House Republicans, in part over criticism that his agency has overstepped its domain.
Under the US system, securities are regulated by the SEC, while commodities are overseen by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Ahead of its hearing Tuesday, the Republican-led House Agriculture Committee, while declining to comment on the specifics of the Coinbase case, tweeted that "regulation by enforcement is not an appropriate way to govern a market, adequately protect customers, or promote innovation."
At Tuesday's hearing, CFTC chair Rostin Behnam highlighted key problems at the center of recent failures of crypto entities, including undisclosed conflicts of interest and the comingling of funds among entities.
"This is the reason we're here. There is confusion and uncertainty," he said. "Hopefully we can clear that up."
These issues are at the heart of the US criminal case against Bankman-Fried, who is scheduled to be tried in October in New York.
James Angel, a Georgetown University professor specialising in financial markets and fintech, said the SEC's suits – while protective of investors – fall short of the comprehensive regulatory design needed for an evolving market.
"This Johnny-come-lately action is not the sign of a healthy regulatory apparatus, but it's sort of the best we can do at this time," said Angel, who sees little chance for congressional passage of legislation on digital oversight given the current political polarisation.
Coinbase shares fell 12.1% to US$51.61.


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RM336 million in 1MDB-related settlement received from Deloitte

The finance ministry today announced that it had received RM336 million (US$80 million) in 1MDB-related funds from Deloitte PLT which has been deposited into the country’s Assets Recovery Trust Account.This takes the total of seized and repatriated 1MDB funds in the trust account so far to RM16.386 billion.“Any balance in the trust account will be utilised to primarily repay and service 1MDB and SRC’s remaining debts,” the ministry said in a statement.“This balance excludes the settlement amount of RM2.83 billion that will be received from AmBank Group soon.”It added that negotiations are ongoing with KPMG.The government has to date repaid RM12.54 billion of 1MDB’s debt and RM3.1 billion of SRC’s.The outstanding balance comprising the principal and coupon/profit/interest of bonds, sukuk and term loans, stands at RM39.66 billion for 1MDB and RM2.57 billion for SRC.Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said the current balance is only enough to service 1MDB’s debt obligations for 2021 and 2022.“Once all recovered funds in the trust account have been utilised, the government will still have to continue bearing the burden of servicing 1MDB’s debt obligations, which were backed by the government’s guarantee and letter of support when these debts were created.”


Daily vaccine jabs hit new high

Daily vaccine shots administered under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) hit a new record of 340,043 yesterday compared to 313,761 the day before.Of these, 206,757 were first doses while 133,286 were second doses.Sarawak recorded the most second doses given at 31,289, followed by Selangor (22,525), Kuala Lumpur (14,124), Johor (10,167) and Sabah (10,056).A total of 9,660,519 vaccine doses have been administered so far under PICK.


Govt gets stay order against US$15 billion award to Sulu sultan's heirs

The government said yesterday it had obtained a stay order against the enforcement of a French arbitration court ruling ordering the government to pay US$14.9 billion to the descendents of a late sultan over a colonial-era land deal.
A British law firm representing the heirs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Paris Court of Appeal on Tuesday allowed an application by the government for the stay after finding that enforcement of the award could infringe the country's sovereignty, law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said in a statement.
Malaysia is also preparing to have the ruling set aside, he said.
The stay order comes a day after lawyers representing the heirs of the late sultan moved to seize two Luxembourg-based units of state oil firm Petronas. Petronas described the seizure as "baseless" and said it would vigorously defend its legal position.
The heirs claim to be successors-in-interest to the last sultan of Sulu, who entered a deal in 1878 with a British trading company over the use of his territory, now known as Sabah.
Malaysia took over the arrangement after independence from Britain, paying a token sum to the heirs annually. But the payments were stopped in 2013, with Malaysia arguing that no one else had a right over Sabah, which was part of its territory.
A French court issued the US$14.9 billion award in favour of the heirs in February, with Malaysia refusing to participate in the arbitration.
Wan Junaidi said Malaysia did not recognise the heirs' claim and would take all steps to uphold the country's sovereignty.


Volvo, Geely abandon merger plans

Swedish automaker Volvo Cars and China’s Geely Auto said Wednesday they were abandoning merger plans but said they would reinforce their collaboration on electric vehicles.“Volvo Cars and Geely Auto have agreed on a wide-ranging collaboration that will maximise the strengths of the Swedish and Chinese automotive groups” but will preserve “their existing separate corporate structures”, the two carmakers said in a joint statement.In February 2020, Volvo and Geely had announced plans to merge their activities to create an “international group” on the car market.“Having evaluated different options… we concluded jointly that a collaboration model between two standalone companies is the best way to secure continued growth and at the same time achieve technological synergies in many areas,” Volvo Cars chief executive Hakan Samuelsson said in the statement.The collaboration will focus, among other things, on the sharing of electric vehicle architecture and autonomous drive technologies.The two will also combine their existing powertrain operations into a new standalone company that provides internal combustion engines, transmissions, and next-generation dual-motor hybrid systems to be used by both companies and other automobile manufacturers.Geely Holding bought Volvo Cars in 2010 from Ford which hadn’t been able to turn around the Swedish automaker. But under the Chinese firm Volvo has rebounded and smashed its sales records.The Swedish carmaker aims to stop making fuel-driven cars and sell only electric cars by 2030.


Ismail, former Bersatu Wanita chief settle defamation suit

Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Anina Saadudin recorded a settlement today over the prime minister’s defamation suit against the former Bersatu women’s chief.On March 5, Ismail, who was then a senior minister, sued Anina, 46, for allegedly defaming him on Facebook and accusing him of being incompetent in discharging his duties as senior minister for security and defence minister during the implementation of the movement control order (MCO).Lawyer Ragunath Kesavan, who represented Ismail, said the parties had entered into a consent judgment based on the terms of the earlier injunction order.“The consent judgment was entered this afternoon before High Court judge Mohd Firuz Jaffril. No order was made as to costs or damages,” the lawyer said, adding that today’s outcome amounted to a full and final settlement of the legal action.On March 11, Ismail obtained an interim injunction order from the court to compel Anina to remove all defamatory statements about him from her Facebook page.The court had previously set Oct 1 for the trial of the suit.Ismail, 61, as the plaintiff, filed the suit in his personal capacity claiming that Anina had published 13 defamatory words against him, as well as uploaded a video on her Facebook page alleging, among others, that the minister was incompetent in carrying out his duties while implementing strict regulations to combat the spread of the Covid-19 through the MCO.Ismail said his reputation had been tarnished due to the remarks, which he claimed were made with ill intention to hurt and tarnish his good reputation and image.He had sought general, exemplary and additional damages, with interest, costs and other reliefs deemed fit by the court.


On Selangor outskirts, Malay voters assess options ahead of polls

At Taman Medan in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, the morning atmosphere is punctuated by the calls and shouts of traders setting up their stalls for the day.
Lorries move to and fro on the roads, weaving between the buses and cars while pedestrians and foreign workers rush to work.
At a coffee shop behind a block of low-cost apartment units, Adnan watches the hustle and bustle.
The 59-year-old works as a contract labourer but only goes to the construction site when called by his employer.
Speaking to MalaysiaNow, he said he was a true local as his parents had lived in the Taman Medan area for more than seven decades.
He recalls casting his vote for the first time at the eighth general election in 1990, but says nothing much has changed since then.
"Whether it's Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) or PKR and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) or Pakatan Harapan (PH), it's all the same," he said. "We live as we always have."
Among the changes that Adnan does recall is the construction of bus stops and stations, and the implementation of a free bus service.
The free bus service began under Mohamed Azmin Ali who was menteri besar from 2014 to 2018.
Adnan said the service was a good development.
"Children use it to come back from school and tuition, and the senior citizens have a way to get to the clinic.
"I use it too, in order to get to work."
Taman Medan, a Malay-majority area, is located on the outskirts of Petaling Jaya. Most of its residents are from the working class.
It was contested for the first time in a state election in 1994, and will be one of the state seats closely watched when Selangor goes to the polls in the months to come.
In Taman Datuk Harun, drinks seller Norizah Ahmad Daod said she would support whichever coalition favours those in the lower class bracket.
Norizah, 68, said she would also take the cost of living into account when casting her vote.
She has lived in Taman Medan since 1990, when she moved to the area from Banting.
"We don't care if the same old person becomes our representative," she said. "As long as his ideas are always new."
She, too, spoke well of the free bus service, as well as the special contributions for single mothers and the state welfare assistance.
Selangor is one of six states that will head to the polls in the coming months, alongside Penang, Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan, Kedah, and Terengganu.
For decades, it was considered a BN stronghold. However, it fell to the opposition at the 12th general election in 2008, when PR won a total of 36 seats against BN's 20.
But ahead of this year's state election, Adnan said that Perikatan Nasional had been active on the ground as well as on social media, where TikTok videos have been making the rounds on how Selangor might benefit from a change of government.
"It's not necessarily true that the people in Taman Medan or Selangor have never thought of voting for someone else," he said.
Having experienced life under both BN and PH, he said, voters in Selangor were well placed to evaluate the coalitions' performance.
"There will be those who switch camps.
"But it's hard to say if someone else could win," he added.


Biden says US would defend Taiwan militarily from invasion

President Joe Biden said Monday the US would defend Taiwan militarily if Beijing invaded the self-ruled island, warning China was “flirting with danger”.“That’s the commitment we made,” he said when asked if Washington would intervene militarily against a Chinese attempt to forcibly take control of Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province to be unified with the mainland.“We agreed with the One China policy, we signed on to it… but the idea that (Taiwan) can be taken by force is just not appropriate.“It will dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine.”In his strongest comments to date on the issue, Biden directly linked the outcome of Western attempts to help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion with lessons likely to be learned in Beijing regarding Taiwan.It’s “important that Putin pay a price for his barbarism in Ukraine”, Biden said. “Russia has to pay a long-term price.”This is “not just about Ukraine”, Biden said, because China is watching to see if Western pressure on Russia slacks off.“What signal does that send to China about the cost of… attempting to take Taiwan by force?” he asked.Biden said China does not have “jurisdiction to take Taiwan by force”.Signalling that he expects an invasion “will not happen”, Biden said however that this “depends… how strong the world makes clear” there would be a price for an invasion.


More ways to solve traffic issues than building elevated highways, MPs say on controversial project

PKR’s Maria Chin Abdullah and William Leong Jee Keen today joined Petaling Jaya residents in urging authorities to call off a massive elevated highway project in the city, saying traffic issues should be addressed by taking into account sustainability and developing public transport.In a discussion at her office with members of the Coalition Against Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link (PJD Link) Highway, Maria said developers of the proposed highway project should find other ways to overcome traffic problems.“We need to take into consideration how people are feeling about the elevated highway. I’m not convinced that it will reduce traffic,” Maria, who is MP for Petaling Jaya, said, adding that it would also have a “big social cost”.“In Section 14, most of them are retired senior citizens. For me, I have always felt we can improve our public transport so that we have fewer cars. We can work out better public transportation instead of building highways.”Leong, the Selayang MP, cited urban planning in developed countries like the US and Europe where he said highways are being taken down to create cities conducive to pedestrians and cyclists as well as motorists.“I think we miss the point when people talk about economic growth,” he said.“We are talking about people flourishing and living a good life, and PJ has been a place where we show the rest of the country that we can live happily and peacefully in a sustainable way.The planned PJD Link is a 34km highway seen as a variation of the controversial Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex) that was cancelled in 2015 amid strong public opposition.It is planned as a four-lane dual expressway to commence after the NKVE toll plaza on the Sprint Highway, ending at Bukit Jalil Highway Interchange, linking Petaling Jaya North, Bandar Utama, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, the Petaling Jaya city centre, Taman Dato Harun, Taman Medan Baru, Taman Sri Manja, Bandar Kinrara and Bukit Jalil Technology Park.Residents from 11 sections of Petaling Jaya today joined representatives from the business community in solidarity with the Concerned Residents Section 14 PJ Action Committee to object to the tolled highway, saying it would cause heavy traffic along with carbon emissions, particulate emissions and noise pollution among others.The developer, PJD Link (M) Sdn Bhd, is a family-controlled construction company headed by Hari Narayanan Govindasamy, a businessman who also holds directorships in several private companies.The residents said in a statement that the company has yet to submit a traffic impact assessment, economic impact assessment and social impact assessment for the proposed highway plan which is expected to commence construction towards the end of the year.Speaking today, Maria acknowledged that the Pakatan Harapan manifesto from the previous general election had said there would be no more tolled highways.“We should be phasing out tolls, not building an elevated highway with two more tolls,” she said, adding that the elevated highway goes against Petaling Jaya’s development plan which focuses on reducing carbon emissions.


After 4 years, repair works begin again at Batu Pahat bus station

Repair work on the Batu Pahat bus station in Johor which had been at a standstill for years began making headway several days ago, to the relief of tenants and traders at the three-story complex in Jalan Rugayah.MalaysiaNow previously reported that the station, once a hive of activity and a tourist hotspot, had fallen into disrepair. Restoration works initially expected to be completed within a year or two had dragged on for four, with little if any progress to be seen.Several traders who spoke to MalaysiaNow however said that work had resumed at a consistent pace following the report.“They have started work again,” a trader who asked to be known as Saiful said, adding however that it remained to be seen whether they would complete the project this time.In its heyday, the bus station saw thousands of travellers passing through on a daily basis.But MalaysiaNow’s visit several weeks ago found the complex essentially abandoned with most of the shops closed and garbage strewn about.Many traders, giving up hope of the refurbishment project ever finishing, had chosen to move to greener pastures.Now, though, they say that things are beginning to look up.A guard at the ticket counter for express buses who introduced himself as Mira said he had been heartened by the sight of workers going about their tasks each day.“I see people coming in to do their work,” he said. “For a long time now I have sat here feeling very lonely.“But over the past few days, I have been hearing the sound of drills and hammers. It’s noisy but it’s a welcome noise.“It lets me know that the work that was abandoned for so long has finally started again.”


Zahid given exemption to dine with Najib in prison, says home minister

Putrajaya today defended a prison visit by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi during which he dined with jailed former leader Najib Razak, who is serving a 12-year sentence for corruption.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the meeting was made possible due to special permission granted by the prison authorities.
He cited Prisons Regulations 2000 which allows visitations from relatives and friends of inmates subject to restrictions "except by special authority".
"The 'special authority' used all this while is from the prisons director-general or the minister," he told the media at the Parliament building today.
He said Zahid was allowed to bring special meals for Najib based on the same powers granted for special exemptions.
Zahid, who is also deputy prime minister, recently said he had spent almost two hours with Najib at Kajang Prison along with members of the Umno Supreme Council.
He also said that he had brought along some of Najib's favourite food and enjoyed it together with the former prime minister.
"We were able to eat together. After meeting for half an hour, it was only the both of us for an hour and a half," he said when wrapping up the 2023 Umno general assembly last weekend.
Second exemption for Zahid
This is the second time that Saifuddin has been involved in using his ministerial power to grant exemptions to Zahid.
In March, Saifuddin invoked his ministerial power to exempt Umno from a clause in the Societies Act, allowing the party to forego elections for the posts of president and deputy president.
Saifuddin said he used the power vested in him under Section 70 of the Societies Act, exempting the party from abiding by a provision under Section 13 of the same act.
Section 13 states that the Registrar of Societies may cancel the registration of any society if it is found to have contravened any provision of the Societies Act.
But Section 70 of the same act gives the home minister the power to exempt any society from these provisions.


94.5% of adults, 72.4% of population fully vaccinated

A total of 23,660,153 people or 94.5% of the adult population had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of yesterday.Meanwhile, 25,355,653 or 97.4% of adults have received at least one shot, including of the single-dose CanSino vaccine.In terms of total population, 72.4% have been fully vaccinated while 77.6% have received at least one dose.Kelantan and Sabah remain below the 80% full vaccination level for adults at 77.3% and 72% respectively.Yesterday, 113,547 doses were administered, taking the cumulative number of vaccine jabs given under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme to 48,944,761.


37 reported deaths take Covid toll to 31,026

Another 37 Covid-related deaths were reported on Dec 16, taking the cumulative death toll in the country to 31,026.According to the health ministry’s Github data repository, four or 10.8% of these were brought-in-dead (BID) cases.Penang had the highest number of reported deaths at six or 16.2%.Johor, Kedah, Perak and Terengganu reported four deaths each while Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Selangor reported three deaths each.Sabah and Kuala Lumpur reported two deaths each while Kelantan and Melaka reported one death each.No deaths were reported in Perlis, Sarawak, Labuan and Putrajaya.A total of 4,262 new cases were reported yesterday, taking the overall total to 2,707,402.As of yesterday, there were 56,229 active Covid-19 cases reported and 4,985 recoveries.


Major floods in Manila as typhoon batters Philippines

The third typhoon to hit the storm-battered Philippines in as many weeks caused major flooding in Manila on Thursday, trapping people on rooftops and claiming at least one life in another part of the country.Typhoon Vamco packed winds of up to 155kmh as it swept across the country’s largest island of Luzon after making landfall overnight.Authorities warned of landslides and potentially deadly storm surges along the coast.Heavy rain effectively shut down Manila, the sprawling capital of 12 million people, and surrounding areas.“A lot of places are submerged. Many people are crying for help,” said Rouel Santos, 53, a retired disaster officer in Rizal province, next to the capital.Santos said the flooding caused by Vamco brought back memories of the devastating typhoon Ketsana, known in the Philippines as tropical storm Ondoy, that hit in 2009 and claimed hundreds of lives.An official from the country’s Office of Civil Defense said rainfall dumped by Vamco so far was “near the volume” during Ondoy, warning flooding could worsen as runoff from nearby mountains flowed into already swollen waterways.Philippine Red Cross personnel used boats to rescue people stranded in their homes in Marikina city, one of the hardest-hit areas of the capital, where the water in some streets was up to shoulder height.Photos shared on Twitter by Red Cross chief Richard Gordon showed people being lowered through a hole in a roof while others were helped to climb over a balcony railing into a boat.“The magnitude of what we’re experiencing now is comparable to Ondoy,” Marikina city mayor Marcelino Teodoro told CNN Philippines.“We have so many people who until now are stranded on their rooftops or trapped on the second floor of their houses. Some areas that were historically not flooded, such as the city hall, are submerged.”At least one person died and three others were missing in Camarines Norte province, Civil Defense said late Wednesday.Requests for help were “pouring in”, said Casiano Monilla, Civil Defense deputy administrator for operations.He said many people had not heeded warnings to evacuate ahead of the typhoon, urging them to do so “while there’s still time”.“I didn’t expect it to be like this,” said Rosalinda Opsima, who fled her home with her husband after the fast-rising water caught them by surprise.Schools, which have been empty since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March, are being used as emergency shelters along with gymnasiums.The weather service has warned of life-threatening storm surges along parts of the coast, including in Manila, that could inundate low-lying areas.The Bicol region, which Vamco grazed before making landfall, was hit by powerful winds and heavy rain on Wednesday as the eye of the typhoon neared the disaster-prone archipelago.The area is still reeling from deadly typhoons Molave and Goni, which killed dozens of people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes.Swathes of Bicol remain without power and with only limited or no telecommunication services after Goni – the most powerful typhoon so far this year – toppled power lines, flattened houses and flooded roads.The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons every year, which typically wipe out harvests, homes and infrastructure in already impoverished areas.


Remembering my father

My dad passed away peacefully at home yesterday, surrounded by his family.
We will miss him more than we can express right now. We are feeling grief but also gratitude. My dad’s passing was not unexpected – he was 94 years old and his health had been declining – so we have all had a long time to reflect on just how lucky we are to have had this amazing man in our lives for so many years. And we are not alone in these feelings. My dad’s wisdom, generosity, empathy, and humility had a huge influence on people around the world.
My sisters, Kristi and Libby, and I are very lucky to have been raised by our mum and dad. They gave us constant encouragement and were always patient with us. I knew their love and support were unconditional, even when we clashed in my teenage years. I am sure that’s one of the reasons why I felt comfortable taking some big risks when I was young, like leaving college to start Microsoft with Paul Allen. I knew they would be in my corner even if I failed.
As I got older, I came to appreciate my dad’s quiet influence on almost everything I have done in life. In Microsoft’s early years, I turned to him at key moments to seek his legal counsel. (Incidentally, my dad played a similar role for Howard Schultz of Starbucks, helping him out at a key juncture in his business life. I suspect there are many others who have similar stories.)
My dad also had a profound influence on my drive. When I was a kid, he wasn’t prescriptive or domineering, and yet he never let me coast along at things I was good at, and he always pushed me to try things I hated or didn’t think I could do (swimming and football, for example). And he modelled an amazing work ethic. He was one of the hardest-working and most respected lawyers in Seattle, as well as a major civic leader in our region.
My dad’s influence on our philanthropy was just as big. Throughout my childhood, he and my mum taught me by example what generosity looked like in how they used their time and resources. One night in the 1990s, before we started our foundation, Melinda, Dad, and I were standing in line at the movies. Melinda and I were talking about how we had been getting more requests for donations in the mail. Dad simply said, “Maybe I can help.”
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation would not be what it is today without my dad. More than anyone else, he shaped the values of the foundation. He was collaborative, judicious, and serious about learning. He was dignified but hated anything that seemed pretentious. (Dad’s given name was William H Gates II, but he never used the “II” – he thought it sounded stuffy.) He was great at stepping back and seeing the big picture. He was quick to tear up when he saw people suffering in the world. And he would not let any of us forget the people behind the strategies we were discussing.
People who came through the doors of the Gates Foundation felt honoured to work with my dad. He saw the best in everyone and made everyone feel special.
We worked together at the foundation not so much as father and son but as friends and colleagues. He and I had always wanted to do something concrete together. When we started doing so in a big way at the foundation, we had no idea how much fun we would have. We only grew closer during more than two decades of working together.
Finally, my dad had a profoundly positive influence on my most important roles – husband and father. When I am at my best, I know it is because of what I learned from my dad about respecting women, honouring individuality, and guiding children’s choices with love and respect.
Dad wrote me a letter on my 50th birthday. It is one of my most prized possessions. In it, he encouraged me to stay curious. He said some very touching things about how much he loved being a father to my sisters and me. “Over time,” he wrote, “I have cautioned you and others about the overuse of the adjective ‘incredible’ to apply to facts that were short of meeting its high standard. This is a word with huge meaning to be used only in extraordinary settings. What I want to say, here, is simply that the experience of being your father has been… incredible.”
I know he would not want me to overuse the word, but there is no danger of doing that now. The experience of being the son of Bill Gates was incredible. People used to ask my dad if he was the real Bill Gates. The truth is, he was everything I try to be. I will miss him every day.
This writing first appeared on Bill Gates’ blog, GatesNotes (gatesnotes.com).


Nato assures Ukraine open-ended military support against Russia

Nato on Sunday pledged open-ended military support for Ukraine, as Finland hailed its “historic” bid to join the alliance and Sweden’s ruling party said it backed a joint membership application.The promise came after Finland jettisoned decades of military non-alignment, redrawing the balance of power in Europe and angering the Kremlin.On the ground in Ukraine, Russia announced air strikes in the east and in Lviv in the west as Western intelligence predicted its campaign in eastern Ukraine would stall amid heavy losses and fierce resistance.At a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Berlin, Germany’s Annalena Baerbock said it would provide military assistance “for as long as Ukraine needs this support for the self-defence of its country”.“Ukraine can win this war. Ukrainians are bravely defending their homeland,” Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg added.Sweden’s ruling party said it was in favour of joining Nato just hours after Finland’s announcement, in a remarkable turnaround in political and public opinion following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.“The best thing for Sweden’s security is that we apply for membership now, and that we do it with Finland,” Social Democratic Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said.Stoltenberg said the alliance would look to provide both with interim security guarantees while the applications are processed, including possibly by increasing troops in the region.In Berlin, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he heard “almost across-the-board, very strong support” for the bids, despite misgivings from Turkey.Ankara has accused both Sweden and Finland of harbouring Kurdish extremists, but Stoltenberg said it was not blocking their membership and was confident of finding common ground.The Kremlin insists the Nordic nations have nothing to fear. In apparent retaliation, it has pulled the plug on electricity supplies to Finland, with which it shares a 1,300km border.‘Lost momentum’On the battlefield, Russia’s defence ministry claimed it had struck four artillery munitions depots in the Donetsk area in eastern Ukraine.Air strikes had also destroyed two missile-launching systems and radar, while 15 Ukrainian drones were downed around Donetsk and Lugansk, it added.In Lviv near the Polish border, regional governor Maksym Kozytsky said four Russian missiles hit military infrastructure near the border with Poland.No casualties were reported and Ukrainian armed forces said they destroyed two cruise missiles over the region.Lviv was last hit by Russian missiles on May 3.UK defence chiefs said Russia’s offensive in the eastern Donbas region had “lost momentum”.Demoralised Russian troops had failed to make substantial gains and Moscow’s battle plan was “significantly behind schedule”, UK Defence Intelligence said.It added that Russia may have lost one-third of the ground combat forces it committed in February and was “unlikely to dramatically accelerate” its advance in the next 30 days.Reliable casualty figures have been hard to come by, with Ukraine and Russia regularly publishing claims of enemy dead.Kyiv says its troops have killed nearly 20,000 Russian troops. Moscow on March 25 said its forces had killed at least 14,000 Ukrainian military personnel.But both figures are widely suspected to be inflated and have not been verified by AFP or independent conflict monitors.The Kremlin said in late March that some 1,351 of its troops had been killed.A senior Nato military official estimated at the same time that between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers could have been killed in the fighting up to that point.Eastern pushRussia has increasingly turned its attentions to eastern Ukraine after failing to capture the capital Kyiv.Western leaders have predicted a drawn-out war of attrition stretching into next year.But Ukrainian commanders have been more upbeat and expect a turning point by August.Russia has been trying to cross a river and encircle the city of Severodonetsk but have been repelled, with heavy losses of equipment, according to Lugansk governor Sergiy Gaiday.Gaiday added that two civilians in Severodonetsk were killed overnight in bombing.Local officials in Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv in the north have said Russian troops were withdrawing from the surrounding region amid Ukrainian counter-attacks.Interior ministry adviser Vadim Denisenko told Ukrainian television that Kyiv’s troops in the Kharkiv region had almost reached the border with Russia.Ukrainian troops have been fighting a rear-guard battle from underground tunnels and bunkers under a steelworks in the devastated southern port city of Mariupol.Families of the estimated 600 troops still holed up at the vast Azovstal plant have appealed to China to intervene to secure the release of the dead and wounded.The United Nations and Red Cross helped to evacuate women, children and the elderly from the plant where they were sheltering earlier this month.Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to Mariupol’s mayor, said on Telegram that a “huge convoy” of 500 to 1,000 cars had arrived in the city of Zaporizhzhia.


BN to go solo at GE15, says Tok Mat

The Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) remains firm in its decision to go solo in the 15th general election without being tied to any other party, Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan said today.He said this was because the government which would be formed after GE15 must be the government which garners the biggest majority and ensure political stability apart from holding to the resolutions of 2020 Umno annual general assembly not to cooperate with other parties.“It is clear that Umno is taking the path to go alone (in GE15) and will not be tied to any other party. We do not want any alliance which could be binding, although any negotiations or alliances will be after GE15.“If the party is unable, then it would be appropriate to think of tying with other parties as partners to build a strong government, and these were among the proposals raised in the Rembau Umno division delegates meeting,” he told reporters in Seremban today.Asked if the question of the position of the prime minister was discussed at the meeting, Mohamad who is also Rantau assemblyman said there were no motions on the position raised apart from putting the matter to the party’s top leadership.“There were no discussions, no question of supporting or not supporting the prime minister. We adhere to the decision of the Supreme Council.“We have given the mandate to five top party leaders but it is up to the respective divisions (on the prime minister’s position). We did not give any guidelines,” he said.On whether the party election would be held before or after GE15, he said this would be decided after discussions with members of the Supreme Council.


Key attorney in 1MDB settlement to depart Goldman Sachs, report says

Goldman Sachs’ top attorney is stepping down, US media reported Tuesday, the latest senior executive to depart the storied investment bank.Karen Seymour, general counsel for Goldman Sachs and a key figure in settling a US probe over the 1MDB scandal, will be succeeded by Kathy Ruemmler, who currently heads Goldman’s regulatory affairs, Bloomberg reported.Seymour played a central role in negotiating a US$2.9 billion criminal settlement with the US Department of Justice that saw Goldman announce it “accepted responsibility” over the scandal involving the disgraced sovereign fund.But the 1MDB settlement was structured in a way that did not significantly limit Goldman’s ability to do business.Before her time at Goldman, Seymour worked for the US Attorney’s office in New York, where she led the prosecution of Martha Stewart for obstruction of justice connected to a probe of stock trades.Goldman declined comment to AFP.Seymour’s exit follows the departure of Goldman partner Omer Ismail, who had been heading the Marcus consumer banking unit.Ismail will join retail giant Walmart to work on a financial technology startup, the Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend. The company did not respond to a request for comment.Another Goldman executive, asset management co-head Eric Lane, is leaving for Tiger Global, Bloomberg reported.Lane will join Tiger as president and chief operating officer, according to a person familiar with Tiger’s thinking.


Sorry.


Telcos come together for free Raya calls

Telco giants in Malaysia have come together to offer free calls for Hari Raya across all networks in the country.In a statement, the communications and multimedia ministry said the free calls would be offered from 10pm on May 12 until 10am on May 13, which is the first day of Hari Raya.The telcos involved are Celcom, Digi, Maxis, REDtone, TM Unifi, TIME dotCom, Tune Talk, U Mobile, Yoodo and YES.“Each service provider will give this offer of free calls contingent on its own terms and conditions,” the ministry said.“Users are advised to contact their respective service providers for any questions about this offer.”Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said he hoped the move would help Malaysians maintain their ties with their families and friends despite the ban on Hari Raya visits undr the movement control order.“We hope that this pandemic can be overcome through the sacrifices and efforts of all,” he said in the statement.


Malaysian on death row in Singapore acquitted after appeal with new evidence

The Singapore Court of Appeal has acquitted Malaysian G Punithan, who was sentenced to death for trafficking 28.5g of diamorphine to the republic, after taking into consideration new evidence.
Punithan was sentenced to death in May 2020, the first to be handed the penalty during the Covid-19 pandemic via remote hearing.
During the course of investigation, he was identified by one of two drug couriers as the mastermind behind the drug transaction that took place on Oct 28, 2011.
Punithan had, on Oct 12, 2011, introduced the two couriers to facilitate an impending drug transaction, at the West Coast McDonald’s carpark.
"In this appeal, we were not concerned about the events that took place on Oct 28, 2011 in relation to the couriers," said justice Tay Yong Kwang who delivered the grounds of the court's decision.
The full judgment was released on the court’s website on Oct 31.
Besides Tay, the case was heard before Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and justice Andrew Phang.
"The central question in this appeal was whether there was such a tripartite meeting on Oct 12, 2011, because that was the link alleged between the appellant and the drug transaction involving the couriers that took place on Oct 28, 2011.
"The prosecution alleged that it was 'pursuant to this meeting' that the couriers carried out the said drug transaction.
"It was therefore incumbent on the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the 'alleged introductory meeting' did take place in order to prove the common intention of the appellant and the couriers to traffic in the drugs," said the judge.
According to the judge, there were discrepancies in evidence as to the date and the time of day of the alleged introductory meeting at the previous 2014 trial and the 2018 trial.
Punithan adduced fresh evidence, including investigation statements from the couriers, a telco call trace report for one of the courier's phone, and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority travel movement records of one of the couriers.
Punithan was represented by a team of lawyers from K&L Gates Straits Law LLC, led by senior counsel Narayanan Sreenivasan.