Fairy tale ending for new princess after legal battle with her reluctant father, the king

Some princesses are discovered by slipping their dainty foot into a glass slipper, like Cinderella, but Belgium’s latest princess has been legitimised at the age of 52 through a Belgian court decision.From yesterday, Delphine Boël, the illegitimate daughter of King Albert II, is officially a princess of Belgium, and will be known as Her Royal Highness Delphine de Saxe-Cobourg.Her children, Joséphine and Oscar, are now princess and prince of Belgium.For years, the king refused to take a DNA test but a court-ordered test this year showed that he fathered Delphine Boel, in an extramarital affair, reports the Brussels Times.Boël’s “hell” began in 1999, when she became world-famous as a possible illegitimate daughter of Albert, she said.“I did not want it. I became famous and I was a disgrace. I was King Albert’s dirty laundry.”Boël’s decision to bring the matter to the courts prompted Albert II to abdicate in favour of his son, current ruler King Philippe, whom the DNA test also established as Boël’s half-brother.After living in London from the age of eight with her mother Baroness Sybille de Selys Longchamps, Boel considers herself Anglo-Belgian and speaks English with almost no trace of an accent.“A judicial victory will never replace a father’s love,” said her lawyer.It’s not such a fairy tale ending for ex-King Albert though. In a recent opinion poll one in two Belgians now thinks that their former monarch is “very dishonest”.


Kuwait court sentences Jho Low to 10 years in jail

Kuwait’s criminal court has sentenced businessman Low Taek Jho, a "sheikh", his partner and one other foreigner, Bashar Kiwan, to 10 years in jail over the embezzlement of funds from 1MDB – the country's biggest money laundering case so far.
The court, led by counselor Faisal Al-Harbi, also sentenced a lawyer to seven years in prison for the same offence.
According to Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas, the court ordered them to pay a fee of 145 million Kuwaiti dinars (RM2.9 billion) and a refund US$1 billion (RM4.42 billion). Investigations in the case revealed that almost US$1 billion was depositd into the account of an influential Kuwaiti "sheikh", and that the money was then transferred abroad.
The names of the sheikh, the partner and the lawyer were not disclosed.
The public prosecutor said the men were an "organised criminal group" which laundered money in Chinese currency totalling 343 million renminbi (RM4.95 billion) despite being aware that the funds were obtained through theft, crime, and transactions in Malaysian state funds.
The "sheikh", according to the prosecution, claimed that the funds were acquired from a Hong Kong-based business as a commission for contract advising work performed in 2017 for the execution of China's Maritime New Silk Road project.
The contract was in fact falsely prepared by the second and third defendents – the partner and the lawyer – without any project stated.
The public prosecutor revived the 1MDB case after failing to receive information from foreign parties for two years. However, the case was not filed earlier.
Jho Low, who is currently on the run, has been identified as the main person in the 1MDB scandal which resulted in the loss of billions of ringgit.
Muhammad Bashar Kiwan, also known as Bachar Kiwan, is a French-Syrian citizen who has served time in jail for fraud.


Up to two-thirds of Indians have Covid antibodies, study says

Up to two-thirds of India’s population may have been infected with Covid-19, a government study suggested on Tuesday.The blood serum survey of about 29,000 people in June and July showed 67.6% of those tested had antibodies.The results of the study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) show the impact of a devastating surge of cases in April and May, when India reported about 400,000 cases and 4,000 deaths per day.In December and January, less than 25% of those in a similar study had positive antibody tests.ICMR chief Balram Bhargava said that the study shows “there is a ray of hope”.“But there is no room for complacency. We must maintain Covid-appropriate behaviour,” he said in New Delhi on Tuesday.The hundreds of millions in India without antibodies are more susceptible to severe infection.Only 13% of the adults in the study were fully vaccinated.India, home to 1.3 billion people, has only vaccinated about 8% of eligible adults, triggering fears of an imminent wave of cases as it eases Covid curbs.India’s official Covid death toll of 418,480 is the world’s third-highest after the US’ 609,000 fatalities and Brazil’s 544,000.But a US research group report, also released on Tuesday, estimated that the actual death toll could be up to 10 times higher, citing the number of extra people who died compared with pre-crisis figures.


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Govt files WTO complaint over EU palm oil restrictions

Malaysia has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over European Union rules affecting the consumption of palm oil-based biofuels, according to a document published Tuesday.In the complaint, dated Jan 15, Malaysia charges that the EU, and in particular its member states France and Lithuania, had imposed restrictive measures on the use of palm oil that violate international trade agreements.Malaysia, the world’s second largest producer of palm oil, balked at EU efforts to phase out the use of palm oil as a biofuel, and has requested consultations to help resolve the dispute.The EU has embarked on an major plan committing member states to build a carbon neutral economy by 2050, including by promoting the use of biofuels.But it has deemed that palm oil production is not sustainable, and palm oil-based biofuels cannot be counted towards EU renewable targets.By doing so, the bloc and its member states “confer unfair benefits to EU domestic producers of certain biofuel feedstocks, such as rapeseed oil and soy, and the biofuels produced therefrom, at the expense of palm oil and oil palm crop-based biofuels from Malaysia”, according to the complaint.Palm oil is a key ingredient in a wide range of products from food to cosmetics but it has long been controversial.Environmentalists say it drives deforestation, with huge swathes of rainforest logged in recent decades to make way for plantations.Its use in food and cosmetics has already dropped in Europe, partly due to pressure from green groups on major corporations, but has been increasing in biofuels.Malaysia is the second country to take the EU to task over palm oil use restrictions, after the world’s largest producer of the oil filed a complaint in December 2019.Malaysia’s complaint marks the 600th trade dispute brought before the WTO since the organisation was created in 1995.The request for consultations marks the first step in the WTO dispute system, and is aimed at giving the parties a chance to talk things through and resolve their differences without moving forward with litigation.If the consultations fail to resolve the dispute within 60 days, the WTO can create a panel of experts to review the case.


High value, not high tech, will refresh investments

The announcement that International Trade and Industry Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali will table a Cabinet paper on Malaysia’s new investment policy this week is welcome news. Less welcome are the reports that it focuses on innovation, technology and digital investments which raises concerns that it might miss the target in creating wider value in the economy.The announcement comes hard on the heels of Microsoft’s US$1 billion (RM4.1 billion) five-year investment in Malaysia which is expected to generate US$4.6 billion (RM19 billion) in revenue and create around 19,000 jobs for Malaysians, including 4,000 related to information technology.While this investment signals foreign investor confidence in Malaysia, we must also clarify whether the RM19 billion in revenue will benefit Malaysians more widely or whether it will just be absorbed into Microsoft’s global revenue stream.When businesses evaluate investments they do so in financial terms, using risk-adjusted return on investment for example. Policymakers must evaluate the wider economic impact not just the private financial impact on Microsoft nor the high-tech nature of the investment. Neither of these measure total value added.For example, the 4,000 technology-related jobs are welcome but what about the remaining 15,000? Are they high-tech, high-value added jobs too? What will be the spillover to the local economy? Will Malaysian firms benefit in the Microsoft supply chain and if so, what will the benefit be?We had a similar narrative welcoming high-tech foreign investors when Volkswagen announced its new, high-tech, 50,000 square-foot supply-chain and logistics hub, otherwise called a warehouse, in Johor.This is certainly a high-tech investment by a world-class company but the technology used automates the warehouse processes and reduces the need for employees. This lowers costs, improves productivity and raises profits which will be absorbed outside of Malaysia into the global profit of the Volkswagen group.It is an example of a high-tech, low-cost and low value-added investment to Malaysia which boosts the profitability of global mega brands but adds relatively little locally. Relatively few Malaysians will be employed for example and, as in the Microsoft case, a large number will not be high-tech, high-paid jobs.Take another example from home-grown tech-driven investments such as Grab, the e-hailing app that has now expanded into a wide range of product segments. The e-hailing app itself is novel, if not very high-tech and even the business model is innovative while drawing on similar models such as its erstwhile competitor, Uber.The “success” of this company is demonstrated to many people not just by its growth and market capture but also by the US$39.6 billion (RM163 billion) valuation placed on its upcoming public listing. What fewer people notice is that it had cumulated losses of US$10 billion (RM41 billion) and net losses of more than US$2 billion (RM8.2 billion) for at least three consecutive years up to 2020, according to documents released prior to its listing announcement.Also, while many people point to the creation of much needed employment, especially during the pandemic, we are beginning to recognise that these are very low-paid and precarious jobs with few, if any, social protections such as insurance, medical or pension cover. Indeed just as these jobs have boomed during the lockdown, there are signs that they will bomb after the lockdowns when demand is expected to plummet.In addition, we all know that although Grab originated in Malaysia it is now a Singapore-based company so most of the revenue and profits will accrue outside of Malaysia. The value added here, such as it is, will be measured in low-paid, precarious jobs driven by high-tech, multinational investments. The costs of social protection will fall either on the drivers and riders or on the Malaysian taxpayer.For the avoidance of doubt, none of the companies have done anything wrong and we hope that the investments will be successful. Nonetheless, they are examples of a fundamental error in the presentation of policy that equates high-tech with high value.It does not follow that innovation will lead to net economic value added if those innovations replace people through automation. Technology and especially the technology of the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0 can and does have the effect of creating profits for company owners at the expense of their employees. Automation, digitalisation and robotisation at the heart of the Industry 4.0 is specifically designed to reduce costs by replacing people.This does not mean that we should resist such technology like 19th century Luddites, who destroyed weaving looms to save jobs. Rather it means that we must anticipate the economic and social effects of such innovations and provide a plan within the new investment policy to mitigate the worst effects.In the language of the social market economy we must not privatise the profits and socialise the costs but combine a market-friendly investment environment with social policies that establish both fair competition and social equity.The government’s new investment policy must recognise that left to its own devises a market driven approach to high-tech investments may lead to the low-cost development model that they are trying to avoid.They should adopt the idea of ordoliberalism, or ordered liberal markets, which emphasises the need for the state to create policies that ensure that the free market produces results as close to its theoretical potential as possible. There must a sense of social justice and solidarity so that the economic growth from high-tech investments facilitates poverty reduction and prevents widening income disparities to the disadvantage of certain sections of the population.For this reason the new investment policy must focus on high-value investment not just high-tech investment otherwise we will face a post-Covid environment of low-cost jobs, precarious employment and displaced workers with no real prospect of high-value, high-salary work.Geoffrey Williams is an economist at Malaysia University of Science and Technology in Kuala Lumpur.The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


799 new cases, 3 more deaths

Another 799 infections were recorded today, 466 of which were reported in Sabah.This takes total confirmed cases in the country to 30,889.Selangor recorded the second highest number of new cases after Sabah, with 150.Active cases stand at 10,392 with 90 in the ICU and 20 in need of respiratory assistance.Another 491 patients were discharged, pushing recoveries to 20,248 or 65.6%.However, three new deaths were reported, all in Sabah, bringing the virus toll to 249.


17 going on 16: South Koreans to get younger on paper

Where in the world can you shave a year or two off your age? South Korea – which has just passed a set of bills to abandon its traditional system of calculating ages.
The current system, widely known as "the Korean age", recognises people as a year old at birth and also adds a year to their age every Jan 1 – rather than on their birth date.
But on Thursday, Seoul's National Assembly passed bills requiring the use of the international age-counting system for official documents. It will be implemented by June next year.
The decision was made to "resolve the social confusion caused by the mixed use of age calculations and the resulting side effects", the National Assembly said in a statement.
Besides the Korean age system, the country also has another method mostly used to determine the legal drinking and smoking age – it counts one's age from zero at birth and a year is added on Jan 1.
And it also uses the worldwide standard for some medical and legal records since the 1960s.
This means that, for example, as of Dec 9, 2022, a person born on Dec 31, 1992 is 29 under the international standard, 30 under the South's system of calculating the age to drink, and 31 under the "Korean age" method.
President Yoon Suk-yeol has been campaigning on the change, citing the administrative and social expenses resulting from having multiple ways of counting people's age.
Some South Koreans were delighted by the news.
"I'm getting two years younger – I'm so happy," one wrote on Twitter.
"I turned two years old so soon after I was born as I was born in December. Finally, I'm about to get my real age back!"


Taliban militants in Pakistan end ceasefire with govt

Taliban militants in Pakistan will no longer abide by a months-long ceasefire with the Pakistani government, a spokesman for the militant group said on Monday.
The Afghan Taliban have been facilitating peace talks between local militants and the government since late last year.
The end of the ceasefire comes ahead of a visit by a Pakistani delegation, led by state minister for foreign affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, to Kabul on Tuesday.
Mohammad Khurasani, a spokesman for the militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) told Reuters in a text message that its leadership had decided to end the ceasefire with Pakistan.
A TTP statement urged its fighters to resume attacks in retaliation towards a continuous military campaign against them. The Pakistani military has carried out several offensives against the militants in their strongholds in remote lawless districts bordering Afghanistan.
The TTP is an umbrella group of several Sunni militant groups who have been attacking the state for years, with the aim of overthrowing the government and governing the South Asian nation of 220 million with the Taliban's strict brand of Islamic laws.
There was no immediate response from the government.
The TTP has carried out some of the bloodiest attacks inside Pakistan since 2007. It is not directly affiliated with the Afghan Taliban, but pledges allegiance to them.


Speaker rubbishes claim that limit on MPs designed to stop them from voting

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Harun today rubbished suggestions that a new rule limiting the number of MPs in the house was designed to ensure victory for the government’s bloc ahead of the 2021 budget, saying he had made it clear that all MPs could participate in the voting process.Azhar was commenting on reactions from some politicians over his announcement that only 80 MPs would be allowed to attend each sitting during the current session, which will run from 10am to 2pm from Nov 9 to Dec 15.He had said 41 ruling MPs and 39 from the opposition would be allowed to attend at any one time.The move was based on the advice of the health ministry and the National Security Council, who are spearheading efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19.Azhar said it was a “blatant lie” to claim that the move was to outnumber the opposition during voting, especially in view of the much-awaited 2021 Budget.“It is a blatant lie and they are designed to bring Parliament into disrepute,” he told MalaysiaNow, when asked about a claim by a pro-opposition blogger that the move was designed to ensure the government could easily pass bills by a margin of one vote.Azhar, in announcing the move, had said that all MPs would still be allowed to attend Dewan Rakyat with ample notice before voting.“I have said it very, very clearly in my announcement that in division voting, the bell will be sounded twice for a duration of two minutes each,” he said.He said MPs would have a total of 14 minutes to make themselves available for voting.“The bell will be rung for two minutes. Then we wait for 10 minutes. After that the bell will be rung for another two minutes.“Everyone is allowed to come to the Dewan,” Azhar added.Meanwhile, Takiyuddin Hassan, the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department who is also tasked with parliamentary affairs, said the government MPs who are allowed to attend Dewan Rakyat would consist of 15 ministers.Takiyuddin also said that no MP would be stopped from voting on the budget.“So there’s no question of the government being biased,” he told MalaysiaNow.The 2021 budget will be tabled tomorrow on the back of reminders from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for MPs across the divide to come together to ensure financial allocations for frontliners and other sectors affected by the Covid-19 crisis.


Why Nato’s battleground in Ukraine should matter to Malaysia

The effects of the ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine have understandably touched the hearts of billions around the world.The current dominant narrative has placed the blame squarely on Vladimir Putin but one needs to take a deeper look at the Ukrainian conflict. Is it as simplistic as a “Russian invasion” or has it been caused and provoked by Western powers?It must be remembered that Nato is not an economic grouping but a military alliance.In the days preceding the actual armed conflict, Putin had one principal demand which was that Nato should give a guarantee not to allow Ukraine into the military alliance.The Western alliance refused to provide that guarantee. Instead, it engaged in posturing as the guardian of “the will of the Ukraine people” and continued to provoke Russia into taking action for its own self-preservation. Putin did not wake up one morning and decide to amass troops at the Ukraine border. The move was a reaction to Western plans to admit Ukraine into Nato.Malaysia should not be swayed by the Western narrative that Russia was “unprovoked” or that it had no “genuine security concerns” and its thrust into Ukraine was “naked aggression”.Juxtapose the current situation with the highly unlikely scenario of a democratically elected government of Mexico striking up a military alliance with Russia, allowing weapons and personnel to be stationed in Mexico. Would the US stand idly by and allow that to happen? Quite apart from the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the answer is so obvious that it needs no ventilation here.Malaysians have to look at the causes of the current conflict objectively. We need to appreciate how major powers could use our landmass as a battleground for their domineering ambitions. Every superpower has its finger in the pie of provocation in such places and events that serve its own expansionist ambitions, however it chooses to colour them. A proxy war is the current model preferred by world powers.There is a continual suggestion that China is the biggest threat to the independence of our region. If indeed that is so, Asean or some parts of Asean that are like-minded must engage China in constant dialogue and not allow itself to be pushed into the arms (pun intended) of China’s adversaries. We must learn to tip-toe around the minefields laid by the superpowers. We must be determined to prevent our lands from being made the battleground of others. We may need to galvanise the dormant non-aligned movement and take the path of independence and neutrality.It is noteworthy that the two most populous nations, China and India, both nuclear powers, chose to abstain from supporting the recent US-sponsored resolution at the UN Security Council. Both nations, however, did appeal to the better values of humankind to cease armed conflict and to end the sufferings of the Ukrainian people.Unsurprisingly, the most current Western narrative is that it would have been highly unlikely that Ukraine would have been allowed into Nato. The question then is why this was not unequivocally stated before the conflict began.It is not too late, though. If indeed the Western powers genuinely empathise with the suffering Ukrainians, they could give Russia a clear guarantee that Ukraine would not be allowed into Nato and Russia would then have no cause or reason to remain in Ukraine.Remember, the blood of innocent Ukrainians is not only on Russian hands; it is on Nato’s too.The ball is in your court, Nato.The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


No Umno general assembly this year

Umno has postponed its general assembly late this year by six months, citing the Covid-19 pandemic as grounds for the delay.Its secretary-general Ahmad Maslan said the party would hold its divisional meetings some time in March or April next year, with the general assembly in May or June.“A specific date will be announced later,” he said in a statement, adding that the decision had received majority support from the Umno Supreme Council.Ahmad said the decision was in line with the party constitution, which states that Umno’s annual general assembly must be held within 18 months of its last meeting.Umno last held its meeting in December.The decision will affect 191 Umno divisions nationwide, where more than 760 meetings would have been held.“As there will be many gatherings involving thousands of people, there is a risk that it could spread Covid-19,” said Ahmad.


PN finalises seat allocations for component parties

Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin says the party has finalised the allocation of seats to its component parties in West Malaysia for the 15th general election (GE15).
Muhyiddin, who is also the president of Bersatu, said the allocation of seats were made through a friendly consensus, with mutual respect, tolerence and in a cordial manner with the interest of all parties taken into account.
The former prime minister said the election machineries of Bersatu, PAS and Gerakan had been directed to take initiatives to strengthen PN, so as to be ready to face GE15.
"In a few days, we will finalise dates for every state under PN to annouce the seats to be contested and the names of the candidates for the respective seats," he told reporters after chairing a PN meeting at the Bersatu headquarters at Yayasan Selangor in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The meeting was attended by PN leaders, namely PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man and PN information chief Mohamed Azmin Ali. Meanwhile, Muhyddin said PN had never held any official discussions with Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) regarding the possibility of working together for GE15.
GTA chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad was earlier reported as saying that discussions were ongoing although there were issues that had yet to be resolved.
He also issued a two-day period for PN to decide on the prospect of working together with GTA during GE15.


Protests mark stringent new Madrid lockdown

Protesters have taken to the streets of Madrid, Spain’s capital, to demonstrate against strict new lockdown measures.From today, they will not be allowed to leave the areas they live in, except to go to work and for emergency medical treatment.The lockdown measures mostly affect low-income areas with high immigrant populations.Peaceful protests were held on Sunday in many of the city districts about to bear the brunt of the new restrictions.“We need to protest because of what they’re doing right now in our neighbourhoods. They are taking us and confining us,” one demonstrator told Sky News.At one point it looked like the protest might turn violent when riot police blocked access to a government building, but the demonstrations ended peacefully.Some people are in favour of even tougher restrictions, with churchgoers at a Sunday mass in Madrid more sympathetic to the government’s measures.One said: “It is necessary because the people are very irresponsible.“If it was in my hands, I would confine all of Spain to end this. This is because the people do not collaborate with the government safety measures. There are many who just don’t care.”Madrid is the worst-affected city in Europe’s worst-affected country.


3,391 new cases as 19 more deaths take toll to 845

Another 3,391 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 234,874.Selangor recorded 1,228 cases followed by Johor (598), Kuala Lumpur (395), Sabah (196), Sarawak (178), Penang (149), Melaka (141) and Negeri Sembilan (116).Perak recorded 92 cases, Kedah 91, Terengganu 84, Kelantan 58, Pahang 51, Labuan seven, Putrajaya six and Perlis one.Active cases stand at 48,751 with 310 in the ICU and 134 in need of respiratory assistance.Fifteen new clusters were detected:1. Jalan Mokhtar (Klang in Selangor; 46 screened, 26 positive)2. Jalan Enam Belas (Petaling in Selangor; 98 screened, 41 positive)3. Bandar Teknologi (Hulu Langat in Selangor; 61 screened, 30 positive)4. Persiaran Jaya (Hulu Langat in Selangor; 57 screened, 17 positive)5. Jalan Lima (Sepang and Hulu Langat in Selangor; 434 screened, 24 positive)6. Jalan Rumbia Dua (Johor Bahru in Johor; 183 screened, 133 positive)7. Sri Sengkang (Kulai in Johor; 694 screened, 126 positive)8. Jalan Jubilee (Cheras in Kuala Lumpur; 39 screened, 25 positive)9. Jalan Jun Heng (Bintulu in Sarawak; 102 screened, 19 positive)10. Tapak Bina Jalan Valdor (Seberang Perai Selatan in Penang; 806 screened, 53 positive)11. Industri TTJ (Seremban, Tampin, Port Dickson and Rembau in Negeri Sembilan; 416 screened, 61 positive)12. Santong Paka (Dungun and Kemaman in Terengganu; 127 screened, 26 positive)13. Taman Murni (Kuantan in Pahang; 44 screened, 13 positive)14. Hikmah Muadzam (Rompin in Pahang; 30 screened, seven positive)15. Industri Bentong Sebelas (Bentong in Pahang; 43 screened, seven positive)Another two ended, leaving 434 active clusters across the country.Another 3,392 patients were discharged, bringing total recoveries to 185,278.However, 19 more deaths were reported, pushing the virus toll to 845.


Hari Raya SOPs, decision on inter-district travel to be announced next week

A special National Security Council (NSC) meeting scheduled for Monday next week will decide on several matters related to Aidilfitri celebrations this year, including SOPs and permission for inter-district travel.Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Aidilfitri SOPs will be issued based on the advice and recommendations from the health ministry to curb the spread of Covid-19.“Today, the technical committee will discuss these matters before presenting them at the special NSC meeting on Monday, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.“We will also listen to a health ministry presentation, advice and recommendations before making any decision,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today.Earlier, Ismail had witnessed the signing of an agreement on the e-Bakat programme between the Malaysian Armed Forces Family Welfare Body (Bakat), Mgate Emerging Technologies Sdn Bhd abd HRD Corp at the defence ministry.Defence forces chief Affendi Buang said the agreement was an initiative by Bakat to give the housewives of military personnel the opportunity to learn new skills that would help them earn an income.He said it aimed to see the participation of 12,000 housewives of military personnel nationwide.“They will be trained to produce, market and sell a product. This will not only help increase their family’s income but may also become a part-time job for the military personnel upon retirement,” he said.


Israeli forces strike West Bank city, Palestinians say one killed

Israel's military said it hit a command centre for militant fighters in the West Bank city of Jenin in a strike early on Monday that local residents said killed at least one person and involved a missile fired from the air.
The Israeli military said it struck a "joint operations centre" which served as a command centre for fighters from the Jenin Brigades, an armed unit comprised of fighters from different militant group.
Last month, Israel killed three militant gunmen near Jenin, in the first drone strike in the West Bank since 2006 as violence across the region has surged. It declined to specify whether Monday's strike also involved a drone.
The Palestinian health ministry said one person had been killed and another wounded in the attack. Local residents said a missile fired from the air had hit a house and smoke was coming out of the wreckage.
The military said the target functioned as an "advanced observation and reconnaissance centre" and a weapons and explosives site as well as a coordination and communications hub for the militant fighters.
It provided an aerial photograph showing what it said was the target and which indicated the building hit was located near two schools and a medical centre.
Israeli forces have conducted regular raids in Jenin, in the northern West Bank, where Palestinian militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad have hundreds of armed fighters.
Only days before last month's drone strike, the army used helicopter gunships to help extract troops and vehicles from a raid on the city, after fighters used explosives against a force sent in to arrest two militant suspects.


Hong Kong leader says fifth Covid wave has ‘overwhelmed’ city’s capacity

Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam said on Monday that the “onslaught” of coronavirus infections in the global financial hub has dealt a heavy blow and overwhelmed its capacity to deal with the epidemic as daily cases surge to record highs.Daily infections have multiplied 13 times over the past two weeks, from about 100 cases at the start of February to over 1,300 on Feb 13, with authorities scrambling to control the deepening outbreak.Lam said her government would coordinate with Chinese officials to tackle the “aggravating situation” after China said it would help the city with testing, treatment and quarantine.“The onslaught of the fifth wave of the epidemic has dealt a heavy blow to Hong Kong and overwhelmed the city’s capacity of handling,” she said, adding that the surge had lengthened the amount of time before infected patients could access isolation facilities.“The situation is highly undesirable and the government feels worried and sorry about it,” she said.Her top officials would coordinate with the central government to enhance Hong Kong’s testing and isolation facilities, and secure resources from rapid antigen kits and protective gear to fresh vegetables, she said.The Chinese territory reported 1,347 new infections on Sunday, down from Saturday’s record, but the spread with 2,000 more suspected cases threatens its overstretched healthcare system, authorities said.Medical experts warn the city could see 28,000 daily infections by the end of March, with the unvaccinated elderly a particular worry.Hospital beds for Covid-19 patients in the global financial hub are already at 90% occupancy, data from the city’s Hospital Authority showed, while isolation facilities are also near full capacity.Hong Kong is prioritising elderly, children and those in serious conditions in hospitals, said Larry Lee, chief manager at the city’s Hospital Authority.Lam said authorities would “spare no effort” to implement the “dynamic zero” coronavirus infection strategy in Hong Kong, which, like mainland China, seeks to curb outbreaks as soon as they occur, in contrast with many other places that are trying to live with Covid.Hong Kong has recorded about 24,000 infections and more than 200 deaths, less than other similar major cities.


Surge in Selangor cases due to detection and screening activities, says health minister

The recent surge in daily Covid-19 cases in Selangor is due to active detection and screening activities in areas under enhanced movement control order (EMCO), says Health Minister Dr Adham Baba.He said 25,005 screenings were conducted on July 6 compared to 19,614 on July 5, and that tests were further increased in the following days.“Yesterday, Selangor recorded 4,400 cases and 4,152 on July 8. From this data, we see more contact tracing activities and screenings in EMCO areas. Public health activities are expected in EMCO areas, hence the increased screenings,” he said at a press conference on the health ministry’s strategies to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic in the Klang Valley today.He said detection and screening activities must be actively implemented in EMCO areas to prevent and stop the spread of Covid-19.Those who test positive are isolated and treated according to infection category, with patients in Category Four and Five – those with pneumonia and in need of oxygen and respiratory assistance – sent to hospital for intensive care.Adham said contact tracing must be carried out to detect asymptomatic individuals so that they can be isolated from the community, and to prevent continuous transmission.“The virus incubation period is 14 days but with the new variant it can be up to 21 days. So in the 14 days we will see an increase in activities to detect, trace and screen,” he said.As the screenings are also to detect asymptomatic cases, he said, there would be an upward trend before any drop, as positive cases are isolated and treated.Apart from monitoring daily case numbers, he said, the rate of vaccination was also important as it could reduce hospital admissions and fatalities.He said the health ministry had decided to implement vaccination in areas placed under EMCO nationwide, after those who test positive have been isolated.“The EMCO period is 14 days, so during this time health workers will conduct screenings. Those who test negative will be given their vaccination appointment date. They must get vaccinated as soon as possible after the EMCO is over,” he said.He also said that the outsourcing of non-Covid patients to private or district hospitals is underway, in a bid to increase hospital bed capacity in the Klang Valley for Covid-19 treatment.


6 weeks behind bars for British man in Singapore who went maskless on MRT

A British man who was caught on video going maskless on an MRT train in Singapore earlier this year was sentenced to six weeks in jail after a court today convicted him of several charges including one of harassment and another of being a public nuisance.In the incident said to have taken place before May 8, Benjamin Glynn, 40, reportedly told others on the train with him that he would “never wear a mask”.According to The Straits Times, police officers who went to his home on May 9 to determine if he was the man in the clip said Glynn had told them that Covid-19 was a hoax and that the vaccine “was bad for human health”.They also said that he had resisted arrest and warned them that he was a boxer who could “take them on”.Glynn, who had argued that the charges against him did not apply as he was a “sovereign”, was slapped with two counts under Singapore’s Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act in addition to the charges of harassment and being a public nuisance.The court convicted him of all four counts.Singapore has adopted a hard stance against those who violate Covid-19 health measures, including jail terms and fines.In May, it banned nine Britons from working in the city-state after they broke virus rules by partying on a yacht.In June last year, meanwhile, it banned four British men from working there after going on a pub crawl in a breach of curbs.Singapore had reported more than 65,000 cases and 42 deaths as of Aug 11.


Umno's Lokman acquitted of Covid-19 fake news charges

The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today discharged and acquitted Umno Supreme Council member Lokman Noor Adam of two charges of spreading false news on his Facebook page regarding the entry of Indian nationals spreading Covid-19 virus and the death of a police officer due to vaccination, in April and May 2021.
Judge Nor Hasniah Ab Razak made the decision after finding that the defence had succeeded in raising reasonable doubts about the case against Lokman, 50, under Section 4 (1) of the Emergency (Essential Powers) (No. 2) Ordinance 2021, at the end of the case prosecution.
"The prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the accused. The court hereby orders that the accused be acquitted and discharged of the charges he faced. The security deposit (RM20,000) is returned," she said.
On Oct 1, 2021, Lokman pleaded not guilty to two charges of spreading false news through audio-visual recordings about the entry of Indian nationals into Malaysia which was the cause of the spread of the Covid-19 virus and the death of a police officer linked to the vaccine.
The information which was disseminated through Facebook under the profile name "Lokman Adam" with the intention of causing public uneasiness, was allegedly carried out at 10.38 pm, April 9 and 10.55 pm, May 3, 2021.
The two recordings were then seen at the office of the Cyber and Multimedia Crime Investigation Division, Commercial Crime Investigation Department, Bukit Aman police headquarters, floor 27, Menara KPJ, Kuala Lumpur at 8.55 pm, April 11 and 4.40 pm, May 9, 2021.
Both offences are charged under Section 4 (1) of the Emergency (Essential Powers) (No.2) Ordinance 2021 which provides for a maximum fine of RM100,000 or a maximum imprisonment of three years or both if convicted.
The prosecution was handled by deputy public prosecutor Kalmizah Salleh while Lokman was represented by lawyer Logen Eskander.
When met by the media outside the court after the proceedings, Lokman who attended the court wearing a blue baju Melayu thanked the judge and the court that heard his case as well as the lawyer who represented him.
"With my acquittal from this charge, it means as my lawyer argued, none of my testimony contradicts the facts or as people say, is not true," said Lokman.


Sorry.


Daily caseload shoots past 5,400 amid warning over Omicron wave

Another 5,439 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 2,850,408.Another 4,409 patients recovered, bringing total recoveries to 2,770,663.Meanwhile 124 are in the ICU, including 101 confirmed Covid-19 patients.A total of 70 are in need of respiratory assistance including 47 confirmed Covid-19 cases.


60.8% drop for domestic tourism spending in 2020

Domestic tourism expenditure last year fell 60.8% to RM40.4 billion compared to RM103.2 billion in 2019, according to the Domestic Tourism Survey 2020 Report issued by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) today.The Chief Statistician’s Office in a statement said this was the first decline since 2008 when DOSM started collating statistics from the Domestic Tourism Survey.The statement also quoted Chief Statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin as saying the measures carried out to curb movements due to the spread of Covid-19 had affected domestic tourism activities in 2020.“Overall, domestic visitor arrivals were down 44.6% with 131.7 million visitors compared with 239.1 million visitors in 2019, resulting in a fall of 60.8% in total spending to RM40.4 billion compared to 103.2 billion the year before,” he said.Uzir said the poorer performance in domestic tourism in 2020 was driven by a fall in daily tourists and visitors spending by -65.9% and -51.1% respectively.On the number of trips, Uzir said domestic visitors only carried out 147 million trips in the country in 2020, a decline of 55.8% compared to 2019.On spending, he said shopping recorded the highest contribution at 52.6% (37.8% in 2019) from the overall expenditure of domestic visitors.This was followed by food and beverages at 18.6% (14.3% in 2019) while vehicle fuel was 9% (15% in 2019)“This is the first time that expenditure on food and beverages was higher than for vehicle fuel,” he added.For the first time since 2008, he said, the contribution of travelling for shopping recorded 42.3% (35.4% in 2019) to surpass trip contributions to visit relatives and friends which was 32.0% (42.3% in 2019).This was followed by contributions for holidays and leisure at 16.9% (9% in 2019).Uzir said last year, Selangor was the most visited state by domestic visitors with 19.7 million followed by Perak (13.2 million), Kuala Lumpur (12.4 million), Sabah (10.3 million) and Kedah (10.1 million).


RM70 billion in frozen Muslim family assets, a casualty of Malaysia's complex inheritance laws?

Some RM70 billion in assets had been frozen in the country as of two years ago due to what has been described as the inefficient management of faraid, or the Muslim inheritance system.
Faraid is a concept in shariah law which determines the distribution of property to heirs.
Data from 2020 shows that billions in inheritance property remained suspended as of that year instead of being claimed by heirs.
There is also concern about a lack of understanding regarding the division of property which has victimised many single mothers and children following the death of husbands and fathers.
This has given rise to the perception of injustice in the faraid system.
But lawyers specialising in Islamic law say the problem is mostly due to ignorance on the part of heirs regarding matters of estate management.
There is also the issue of weaknesses in the administration system itself.
Irfan Shafie of the Muslim Lawyers Association of Malaysia, said for many Malay-Muslims, the issue of inheritance is a sensitive matter.
"Sometimes, people who own property also keep their assets a secret, to the point that their heirs are unaware of it after their death.
"This is a factor in the dumping of unclaimed properties as well," he said.
But the living also play a role in the inefficient distribution of property, he added.
Wasiat and hibah
The way that property is managed is a matter recorded in both conventional and shariah law.
Muslims who want to divide their property during their lifetime can do so through wills and grants (hibah), two instruments that can be made with either civil or shariah lawyers.
But according to lawyer Nur Hidayah A Bakar, companies managing family estate are more interested in the pursuit of profits through these two instruments.
"All matters come at a cost but lower costs can be obtained through discussions with lawyers," she added, commenting on the challenges faced by Muslims who wish to chart out the division of their property.
The agencies involved in the management of the estates of both Muslims and non-Muslims include the High Court, the Small Estates Distribution Unit at the Department of Lands and Mines, Amanah Raya Bhd and the Shariah Court.
Each agency has its own jurisdiction and responsibilities in the division of estates.
In Malaysia, there are three categories of inheritance – small, medium and large – the distribution of which is subject to the value of the property and whether or not a will is left.
The claims process for the inheritance of Muslims and non-Muslims involves the same procedure, but the distribution of Muslim property is subject to faraid.
Lawyer Muhammad Nazmi Kamis said while it was necessary to undergo the faraid system, it was not mandatory for the recipients to take their share.
"The heirs need to be attentive and ready to give and take to release the faraid rights," he said.
In his experience, many heirs are willing to donate their rights to the wife and children of the deceased.
Shariah-civil clash
For him, the biggest challenge is in harmonising the existing laws to facilitate the management of the issue.
In some cases, for example, there is a clash of civil and shariah law.
"Say a child wants to take out a loan but has no property to pledge," he said.
"He might borrow his father's land grant so that the loan will be approved. From the point of view of civil law, the land belongs to the child but according to Islamic law, it is only borrowed."
Family enactments, the laws governing wills and the implementation of grants also differ from state to state, which further complicates the process of property division.
The freezing of property might also contribute to the trend of parents buying houses for their children even before they are grown.
Companies that develop grant-related products have also emerged in recent years, in what could be a sign that society is becoming more aware of the issue at hand.
For Irfan, such efforts are a good initiative on the part of the parents although the matter remains whether or not the grant meets the necessary principles.
"If there is no grant confirmation order from the Shariah Court, the legality of the grant instrument agreement will likely be challenged by other heirs after the grantor's death," he said.
Even so, Nazmi added, the issue of faraid will still arise if the grant recipient dies first.
"Faraid serves as a guideline but we consider it as pressuring the wife when in actuality, the wife and children will be the recipients of the majority of the property."


North Korean leader slams officials over spiralling Covid outbreak

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the negligence and laziness of state officials worsened the country’s Covid outbreak, state media reported Wednesday, as the number of known cases crossed 1.7 million.The nuclear-armed country reported its first coronavirus cases last week, and the Omicron variant-fuelled outbreak has since ballooned – marking the failure of a two-year blockade maintained since the start of the pandemic.Chairing a meeting of the ruling party’s Politburo on Tuesday, Kim said there was “immaturity in the state capacity for coping with the crisis” and slammed the “non-positive attitude, slackness and non-activity of state leading officials”, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.North Korea recorded 232,880 new cases of “fever” as of Tuesday evening, bringing the total number to 1.72 million with 62 deaths, KCNA said.State media reports do not specify how many of the cases and deaths have tested positive for the coronavirus, but experts say the country would struggle to test and diagnose on this scale.At the Tuesday meeting, Kim promised to “arouse the whole Party like an active volcano” to counter the spread of the virus.North Korea’s leader has put himself front and centre of his country’s Covid response, saying the outbreak is causing “great upheaval” nationwide.Medicines donated by the Kim family were distributed to North Koreans in South Hwanghae province, state media said, in a bid to highlight his personal role in fighting the outbreak.Nearly 3,000 military medics are taking part in a “24-hour service system to carry out the delivery and supply of medicines”, state media said Wednesday.North Korea has one of the world’s worst healthcare systems, with poorly equipped hospitals, few intensive care units, and no Covid treatment drugs or mass testing ability, experts say.The World Health Organization is “deeply concerned at the risk of further spread of Covid-19 in the country particularly because the population is unvaccinated and many have underlying conditions putting them at risk of severe disease and death,” the UN body’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.


Pakistan's armed forces rescue 2,000 marooned by catastrophic floods

Pakistan's armed forces have rescued a further 2,000 people stranded by rising floodwaters, they said on Friday, in a disaster blamed on climate change that has swamped about a third of the South Asian nation and is still growing.
Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in northern mountains brought floods that have killed at least 1,208 people, including 416 children, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has said.
The United Nations has appealed for $160 million in aid to help tackle what it said was an "unprecedented climate catastrophe" as Pakistan's navy has fanned out inland to carry out relief operations in areas that resemble a sea.
In the Dadu district of Sindh, one of the worst-affected provinces, several villages were under as much as 11 feet (3.35m) of water, according to Bashir Khan, a local resident who is in contact with people remaining in the area.
“My house is under water, I had left my place four days ago with my family," he told Reuters.
In neighbouring Mehar, residents were constructing a dike in an attempt to prevent floodwaters from entering the town, he said.
The navy airlifted more than 150 people from villages in Dadu on Thursday, it said in a statement.
On Friday, the military said it had evacuated about 50,000 people, including 1,000 by air, since rescue efforts began.
"During the last 24 hours, 1,991 stranded individuals have been evacuated," the armed forces said in a statement, adding that nearly 163 tonnes of relief supplies had also been delivered to the flood-affected.
Several humanitarian relief flights are set to arrive on Friday from Middle Eastern nations such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan's foreign office said.
Weather officials predict more rains and flash flooding in the month of September, with southern regions bracing for a surge of water from the Indus river.
Sindh has asked relief camps to deploy additional female doctors and medical officers, to ensure adequate care as more pregnant women and young mothers are displaced by the waters.
Pakistan received nearly 190% more rain than its 30-year average in the quarter from June to August, totalling 390.7mm (15.38 inches).


Some Malaysians purposely go overseas to become scammers, says home minister

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail today said that some Malaysians went overseas on purpose in order to become scammers or become involved in online fraud.
He said the authorities' success in bringing back those who had fallen victim to such scams had found several different categories of fraud.
Firstly, he said, there were those who were given job offers and who were deceived upon their arrival at the country in question.
Others knew from the outset that they would become involved in fraud the minute they set foot in the country.
Those who succeeded in running cryptocurrency and love scams would then refuse to go home, choosing instead to continue running the scams.
"Then there are those who arrived but did not achieve their KPI and became victims instead," he said.
"So they reach out to us, asking to be rescued."
Ismail said others would go overseas to gamble, and then find themselves in debt to loan sharks.
"They cannot return home, so they ask the police to help them," he said in an oral response in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Still others had been rescued before but would then call the police, asking to be saved once more.
Saifuddin said such cases made the authorities feel that their efforts had been in vain.
As of Jan 26, the police had received 262 reports on 330 Malaysians caught in job scams who became stranded in other countries.
Of these, 218 were rescued with efforts underway to bring the others home as well.


Microsoft to establish first datacentre region in Malaysia

Microsoft Corp today announced that it would establish its first datacentre region in Malaysia as part of its “Together with Malaysia” initiative to empower the country’s inclusive digital economy and advance digital transformation across the private and public sectors.The region, to be established in the greater Kuala Lumpur area, will see Microsoft delivering access to the full Microsoft Cloud including Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform.It also announced plans to skill an additional one million Malaysians by the end of 2023 to help create economic opportunities for people and businesses in the digital era.“We share the government’s commitment that digital transformation must be inclusive and responsible. As such, we pledge to empower one million Malaysians with digital skills, helping them to take advantage of the opportunities this new investment will bring.“The upcoming datacentre region will be a game-changer for Malaysia, enabling the government and businesses to reimagine and transform their operations to the benefit of all citizens,” Jean-Philippe Courtois, executive vice-president and president of Microsoft Global Sales, Marketing and Operations, said in a statement.Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin meanwhile welcomed Microsoft’s commitment to empowering the digital economy, saying the “Together with Malaysia” initiative would amount to at least US$1 billion or RM4 billion over the next five years.“As I understand it, according to the International Data Corporation, the ripple effects of the data centre region investment today could translate into US$6.9 (RM28.3) of revenue generated in the local cloud ecosystem for every US$1 (RM4.2) of Microfsoft Malaysia’s cloud revenue by 2024,” he said in his speech at the launch of the initiative today.He added that the regional data centres are expected to create 19,000 jobs, including 4,000 IT-related jobs among its cloud users.“Malaysia fully intends to remain at the forefront of technology by using data to deliver improved services for businesses, increase economic productivity and boost competitiveness,” he said.


Malaysia takes gold in first Paralympic badminton men’s singles

Six-time world champion Cheah Liek Hou made history today by becoming the first Paralympic badminton men’s singles champion.The 33-year-old world number two was in top form as he crushed his nemesis and Games favourite Anrimusthi Dheva of Indonesia 21-17, 21-15 in the men’s singles SU5 (physical impairment) final at the Yoyogi National Stadium today.Badminton is making its debut at the Tokyo Paralympics.In the first game, world number one Anrimusthi made a series of errors to hand Cheah a comfortable 5-0 before the Indonesian closed the gap to 5-8.After taking a commanding lead of 11-5 at the interval, Cheah’s performance took a dip, allowing the Indonesian to pull level at 15-15. Cheah then regained his composure before a powerful smash earned him the final point to win the first game 21-17.The second game was a much closer battle, with both shuttlers fighting neck-and-neck before Cheah took a slim 11-10 lead at the interval.Cheah showed great resilience to absorb the Indonesian’s attacks before sealing a 21-15 win and bag the coveted gold medal.His victory saw Cheah stretch his winning streak at the Tokyo Paralympics Games to five straight matches, including three wins in Group B earlier.Earlier today, the 33-year-old staged a great fightback to upset Fang Jen-yu of Chinese Taipei 15-21, 21-10, 21-16 in the semi-finals.The Kuala Lumpur-born Cheah’s win means that Malaysia has now won two gold medals, following powerlifting ace Bonnie Bunyau Gustin’s heroics in the men’s 72kg event on Aug 28.The national contingent had set a three-gold target for the Tokyo Paralympics.Malaysia has also bagged two silver medals so far, through Bonnie’s teammate Jong Yee Khie in the 107kg event on Aug 30 and national boccia player Chew Wei Lun, who lost 4-2 to defending champion David Smith of Great Britain in the mixed individual BC1 (physical impairment) category on Sept 1.Meanwhile, Fang’s hopes of a bronze medal were dashed when he lost 16-21, 9-21 to Indonesian Suryo Nugroho in 41 minutes.


Khashoggi fiancee sues Saudi prince in US over murder

The fiancee of journalist Jamal Khashoggi sued Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and other officials Tuesday in a US court, seeking damages for his brutal murder in Istanbul two years ago.Turkish citizen Hatice Cengiz and the human rights group Khashoggi formed before his death, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), is pursuing Mohammed bin Salman and 28 others for damages over the Oct 2, 2018 killing of the US-based writer.Cengiz claims personal injury and financial losses over Khashoggi’s death, while DAWN said its operations and objectives were hampered by the loss of its founder and central figure.“The ruthless torture and murder of Khashoggi shocked the conscience of people throughout the world,” the suit said.“The objective of the murder was clear – to halt Khashoggi’s advocacy in the US, principally as the executive director of plaintiff DAWN, for democratic reform in the Arab world.”Khashoggi was killed inside Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate and his body dismembered and disposed of by a team of Saudis allegedly directed by right-hand men of the crown prince.After global expressions of outrage over the case and pressure from the United States and Turkey, 13 Saudis were tried in Riyadh and sentenced to stiff prison terms.But two top royal aides, deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri and the royal court’s media chief Saud al-Qahtani, were exonerated, despite links to the murder.Both of the aides, those convicted in Saudi Arabia for the murder, and others tied to the plot were named in the lawsuit.Cengiz and DAWN said they filed the suit in Washington federal court because they saw no chance for justice in Saudi Arabia, known for its opaque courts, and Turkish legal experts said the civil case would not go forward while Ankara pursues a criminal case over the murder.A prominent critic of the Riyadh regime, Khashoggi had been living near Washington and working in part for the Washington Post when he was killed.Cengiz said the two had wed under Islamic traditions and were preparing a civil marriage.The suit alleges that the plot against him involved the Saudi embassy in Washington, which directed him to travel to Istanbul to obtain the documents needed for their marriage.It also says his murder damaged the operations of DAWN, which is based in Washington.The defendants were “aware of Khashoggi’s US ties and brutally killed Mr Khashoggi to silence him and prevent him from continuing in the US his advocacy for democracy in the Arab world”, the suit said.


The ups and downs of the OPR

The anticipation of a further increase in overnight policy rate (OPR) by the central bank at the end of the month has triggered concern among many who fear for the state of their household finances.
The OPR was lowered to a record 1.75% after the onset of Covid-19 in Malaysia in early 2020.
Last year, it was raised a total of four times by a cumulative 100 basis points to 2.75% – still below the pre-Covid rate of 3.25% seen in March 2019.
Economists expect Bank Negara to continue increasing the OPR rate to at least 3.00% this year, in line with the strengthening economic performance.
What is the OPR?
The OPR is the basic interest rate which influences the lending, financing and deposit rates of banks.
It determines the cost of bank loans and deposit returns for conventional financial products as well as Islamic finance.
Simply put, when the OPR goes up, so does the cost of loans, with borrowers forced to pay a higher amount according to the new figure.
For example, a 0.25% increase in OPR for a home loan amounting to RM500,000 with a term of 30 years will mean a RM71 increase in monthly instalment payments.
Over a course of 30 years, the borrower will have to pay an additional RM25,560 for the total interest.
"If the OPR increases by 0.75%, many individuals and households will be affected in terms of managing their expenses for food, utilities and education," Amanda Yeo, a research analyst at Emir Research, said.
But on the upside, an increase in interest rate will also encourage more people to invest in fixed deposits, to take advantage of the higher interest returns.
Who determines OPR movements?
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim recently said that any decision to raise the OPR lay with Bank Negara, and not with the finance ministry.
His remarks were criticised by some who said they were not in line with what he had said in July last year, when he reminded then prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob of the risk of bankruptcy cases following the increase in OPR at the time.
According to the Bank Negara website, it is up to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to raise or lower the OPR depending on the economic situation.
"To achieve monetary stability, the MPC sets monetary policy to ensure that inflation remains low and stable which supports economic growth," it says.
Yeo meanwhile said Bank Negara did not need to increase the OPR any more but should be prepared to lower it amid talk of a looming recession.
"Delaying the OPR increase and lowering it can help households better manage their debt," she said.


From 'dedak' to death wishes, elderly woman turns target of Twitter attacks for criticising Nurul Izzah

An elderly voter in Permatang Pauh has found herself at the receiving end of vile personal attacks from Pakatan Harapan (PH) supporters and cybertroopers after criticising PKR incumbent Nurul Izzah Anwar for failing to bring any change to the constituency.
Noorasiah Saad, 72, a resident of Kampung Tanjung Putus in Permatang Pauh, who was interviewed by news portal Malaysia Gazzette, had expressed disappointment that MPs for the northern constituency "had not been doing anything".
"When elections approach, they'll come to snap pictures with us but they have not been doing anything here.
"We senior citizens who reside in Tanjung Putus would like to see change in Permatang Pauh. The MP lives in Kuala Lumpur but is elected here, how is that?
"If the current state of affairs continues, we are embarrassed to say we are from Permatang Pauh. It looks like they are taking us for idiots. This time, we want to choose someone who is really passionate about being our representative and do work," she said.
Noorasiah also hit out at Nurul Izzah, saying she had not performed as a good MP in Parliament, and was "a good actor".
Nurul Izzah is vying to defend the seat for a second term at the Nov 19 polls.
The seat changed hands from her father Anwar to her mother Wan Azizah, before their daughter was fielded there in 2018 when the PKR chief was serving a jail sentence for sodomy.
'When are you going to die?'
Footage of Noorasiah's interview posted on Malaysia Gazette's Twitter account was soon flooded with condemnation from PKR supporters and cybertroopers, many of whom mocked the woman while defending Nurul Izzah's track record.
"Should you be paid RM50 so that you can say (Nurul Izzah) is doing her work?" said a party-linked Twitter account, Setia Keadilan.
Some also accused her of being an Umno supporter, with one going as far as to say that she had received "dedak" (crumbs), a reference to petty bribes thrown at voters during elections.
"One bag of rice and she just follows the script," said a Twitter user by the name of Kebenaran.
Many were also quick to assume that Noorasiah was uneducated, while one said she appeared to have never ventured out of her house.
"Mak Cik wants multi-storey highways, KPJ specialist hospital, IOI mall, Tesla car factory, Legoland and a branch of Stanford University in Permatang Pauh. Even the kingdom of heaven can't give these to you," said yet another comment.
One Twitter user with the handle Norhisyam Hasim even said: "Makcik, when are you going to die?!"
The reaction to Noorasiah appears to be one of many examples of cancel culture in the run-up to polling day, as political parties turn social media into a propaganda battleground to show the extent of their support.
Most of the Twitter accounts condemning Noorasiah appeared to be managed by cybertroopers, a potent weapon used by political parties.
Earlier this month, PH supporters were told to flood social media with comments in support of the coalition. They were also urged to follow the live ceramah feeds of leaders and to share and like their content.

#PRU15 : Mak Cik Geram Betul Nurul Izzah Ni Pelakon Handalan! - Luahan Pengundi Permatang Pauh#malaysiagazette #rakyatmemilih #MGPRU15 #PRU15 #GE15 pic.twitter.com/NMAiyBRJ3R
— Malaysia Gazette (@MalaysiaGazette) November 13, 2022


WHO identifies issues at Russian vaccine plant

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday it had uncovered problems at a Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine production site that Moscow insisted had been resolved.WHO approval has been sought for the Sputnik V jab created by Russia’s Gamaleya research institute, which is already being used in 40 countries.The UN health agency inspected four Sputnik V manufacturing sites.On Wednesday, it released a summary report of its preliminary findings, detailing six issues found during its May 31 to June 4 visit to the Pharmstandard Ufa Vitamin Plant in Ufa, southern Russia.The inspectors had concerns with the data integrity and testing results from monitoring during manufacturing and quality control, and with the monitoring and control of aseptic operation and filling.The inspection identified issues with the traceability and identification of vaccine batches.There were also concerns over the filling lines, sterility assurance, sterile filtration validation and the risks of cross-contamination.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were “some shortcomings identified by the inspection group, and from what we know, they were taken into account and all that needed to be changed was changed.“Of course the necessary controls by the control bodies are in place. It is obvious that this is the strictest control possible”, he added.The WHO said the plant had been informed of its findings.“Communications have been initiated with the relevant manufacturer, the applicant and the respective national regulatory authority with the view that the preliminary findings outlined in this report are investigated and addressed as quickly as possible,” the organisation told AFP.WHO approval processWHO’s emergency use listing (EUL) is the green light that gives countries, funders, procuring agencies and communities assurance that a vaccine has met international standards.EUL paves the way for countries to approve and import a vaccine for distribution quickly, especially those states without an international-class regulator of their own.It also opens the door for the jabs to enter the Covax global vaccine distribution facility, which aims to provide equitable access to doses in poorer countries.WHO has so far given EUL status to vaccines created by AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Sinopharm and Sinovac.The Sputnik V vaccine is already being used in 40 countries, according to an AFP count.Besides Russia, those nations include Argentina, India, Iran, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates.


Over 70% of 1MDB assets recovered so far, says MACC

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Azam Baki today said that more than 70% of 1MDB's assets and funds, equivalent to about RM28.93 billion, has been successfully recovered so far.
"As for the 30% balance, we want to recover as much as possible of this. Tracing these assets is still ongoing, including in several places abroad," he said, adding that the commission was one of the main agencies involved in recovering 1MDB's assets and funds.
Azam said MACC also played a role in the successful recovery of RM8.06 billion involving the International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic).
On Feb 27, it was reported that the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc) and 1MDB had reached a settlement on their dispute with Ipic and Aabar Investments PJS (Aabar PJS) pertaining to legal proceedings at the London Court of International Arbitration and the London High Court.
Ipic and Aabar PJS from Abu Dhabi agreed to pay US$1.8 billion (RM8.06 billion) to MoF Inc and 1MDB. In another development, Azam said MACC had established a forensics unit to study elements of suspected corruption and embezzlement linked to the RM157 million losses suffered by Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Holdings Sdn Bhd.
He said the matter was still under investigation, and that all aspects would be taken into account in the interest of fairness.
"We will announce the findings of the investigation once they are ready," he said.
A news report entitled "UiTM Holdings loses RM157 million" had claimed that the total loss was based on the calculation of accumulated pretax losses for four years – 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
UiTM Holdings is an investment holding company wholly owned by UiTM which manages eight energy, healthcare, technology and creative-related companies


Temperature checks officially scrapped from Friday

Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein today said that the requirement for temperature checks as part of Covid-19 preventive measures will be abolished from Friday onwards.In a statement issued after a Covid-19 Quartet Ministers Meeting, he said the same would apply for check-in record books at premises.“With this, premise owners are no longer required to provide themometers and check-in record books at entrances,” he said, adding however that check-ins using the MySejahtera application would remain compulsory.He said premise owners who wished to continue with these measures were welcome to do so.In a separate matter, he said permission for Malaysians to go on the umrah pilgrimage would resume today after being suspended over concerns about the Omicron variant.However, he said new SOPs would take effect beginning Feb 14, including the requirement for all pilgrims to receive a booster jab.He said those who had already left for Saudi Arabia or who would be leaving between now and Feb 13 would be bound by the existing SOPs.“Nevertheless, when they return to the country, they will have to follow the new SOPs,” he said.On Malaysia’s transition to the endemic phase which was also put on hold due to the Omicron variant, Hishammuddin said there was no avoiding the move.“After nearly two years of being hit by the pandemic, the country must continue moving ahead,” he said.At the quartet level, he said, plans for the transition were already complete.“But the decision on when the phase will begin depends on the Special Committee on Covid-19 Pandemic Management, chaired by the prime minister and including members of the opposition as well as health experts.”He reiterated the government’s assurance that there would be no return of a widespread movement control order.“If there is a spike in infections in a particular area, only an enhanced movement control order will be implemented,” he said.“Returning to the restrictions imposed before this is no longer a good decision.”


Ringgit slump due to external factors, economists say

The recent drop in ringgit value against the US dollar is mostly due to external factors such as the threat of an interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve, and not necessarily because Malaysia has weak economic fundamentals, economists say.Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff said the situation had affected the performance of other currencies as well, not just the ringgit.Razman, of the Putra Business School, said the market had previously expected an interest rate hike by the Fed to 1.75% due to inflation in the US which was at 8.3% – the highest in the last 40 years.“When there is speculation of a significant increase in US interest rates, the US dollar will strengthen against other currencies, including the ringgit,” he told MalaysiaNow.Amanda Yeo of think tank Emir Research meanwhile said that the ringgit performance had also been hit by inflation in larger economies such as the US and China.Given Malaysia’s over-reliance on food imports, she said, the country was now facing a situation marked by a drastic increase in the price of food and goods.In 2020, Malaysia imported RM55.5 billion in food products compared to its exports of RM33.8 billion, leaving it with a deficit of RM21.7 billion.“Such a large outflow continues to put pressure on the local currency,” Yeo said.“If the inflation rate continues to rise, Malaysians are likely to cut down their spending. This could contribute to a lower GDP growth, thus also affecting the ringgit value.”But Razman said the ringgit depreciation could also benefit the country as it could contribute to increased exports and the recovery of foreign direct investments.Judging by the trade balance, Malaysia’s positive current account and the decline in unemployment rate, he said there was no reason to expect an economic recession.“In fact, since the Fed has already announced an interest rate hike of between 1.50% and 1.75%, all uncertainties have been laid to rest,” he said.“I do not see the ringgit continuing to weaken.”According to Yeo, meanwhile, the weaker ringgit would spur the arrival of foreign tourists which in turn would contribute to growth in the tourism, hotel and airline sectors.“For example, the drop in ringgit value compared to the Singapore dollar will attract visitors from Singapore, which would provide a boost to the local economy,” she said.She added however that if revenue from foreign tourist arrivals was less than the total expenditure among Malaysians, more time would be needed for economic recovery.Razman, on the other hand, said Malaysia’s economic performance also depended on the perceptions of industry players and investors.He said proof of this could be seen in Malaysia’s drop from 25th place to 32nd in the 2022 World Competitiveness Ranking by the International Institute for Management Development. He said the country had been embroiled in a political crisis which affected investor confidence.“Economic recovery doesn’t just depend on the movement of goods and services,” he said. “It also depends on perception.“Malaysia might not actually be facing any issues, but if investors believe we are, they will pull up stakes and move elsewhere.”Yeo agreed that the country’s political situation had a strong effect on investor confidence.If Malaysia continued with its frequent changes at the top, she added, it could jeopardise economic recovery.“If Malaysia gets a stable government again after the 15th general election, investor confidence will return,” she said.“And once we succeed in reviving our FDIs, it will boost the country’s economic growth as well as demand for the ringgit.”


Asian and European countries, alarmed by new Covid variant, tighten curbs

Asian and European countries tightened travel restrictions on Friday after a new and possibly vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant was detected in South Africa, with the EU and India announcing stricter border controls.Britain banned flights from South Africa and neighbouring countries and asked British travellers returning from there to quarantine, while European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU also aimed to halt air travel from the region.The variant has a spike protein that is dramatically different to the one in the original coronavirus that Covid-19 vaccines are based on, the UK Health Security Agency said.The World Health Organization (WHO) is to hold an experts’ meeting in Geneva at 1100 GMT to discuss the variant and the risks it presents.“WHO is convening a meeting… to better understand the timeline for studies that are under way and to determine if this variant should be designated as a variant of interest or variant of concern,” WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said.Nearly 100 sequences of the variant have been reported, and early analysis shows it has “a large number of mutations” requiring further study, Lindmeier said.Scientists are still learning about the variant, first identified at the start of this week, but the news pummelled financial markets, with stocks in Asia on Friday suffering their sharpest drop in three months and oil plunging more than 3%.The variant, called B.1.1.529, has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong, according to the UK Health Security Agency.Singapore’s health ministry said it would also restrict arrivals from South Africa and countries nearby as a precaution.Italy imposed an entry ban on people who have visited a group of southern African states, including South Africa, in the last 14 days.Berlin will also declare South Africa a virus variant area after the detection of the new variant there, a health ministry source said.Christmas concernsEuropean countries had already been expanding booster vaccinations and tightening curbs as the continent battles a fourth wave of the coronavirus, led by the more familiar delta variant, with many reporting record daily rises in cases.The new wave comes as Europe and the US enter winter, with more people gathering indoors in the runup to Christmas, providing a perfect breeding ground for the virus.Germany reported a record of more than 76,000 Covid-19 infections in a day as its air force got ready for the first time in the pandemic to fly severely ill patients to other parts of the country to unburden struggling hospitals.The coronavirus has swept the world in the two years since it was first identified in central China, infecting almost 260 million people and killing 5.4 million.Japan also tightened border controls for visitors from South Africa and five other African countries, the Jiji news service reported. Its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.After easing some of its travel restrictions earlier this month, India’s central government issued an advisory to all states to rigorously test and screen international travellers from South Africa and other “at risk” countries.Asian countries have fared better than other regions in containing the pandemic by enforcing strict preventive measures, rigorous testing and strict border controls.Taiwan said travellers from “high-risk” southern African countries will have to go into government-run quarantine facilities for 14 days.New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the country was well prepared for the new variant. Earlier this week, New Zealand said it would reopen its borders to fully vaccinated international travellers from April 30.Asked whether those plans would have to be delayed due to the new variant, Ardern said the country had “a number of inbuilt measures to act as a layer of protection”.“All of our planning around Covid, we have built into it the possibility of variants in the future,” Ardern said in an interview for the upcoming Reuters Next conference.


Facebook working on smartwatch

Facebook on Wednesday confirmed it is working on a smartwatch that might one day connect with augmented reality glasses being developed by the leading social network.Facebook Reality Labs is investing in ways to make AR glasses more useful, unit head Andrew “Boz” Bosworth said in a tweet responding to a Verge report that the social network is aiming to unveil a smartwatch next year.Smartwatch features will include cameras, and it will integrate with Facebook apps such as image-centric social network Instagram, according to the Verge.“We’ve said we want AR glasses to be truly useful – we’re investing in technologies across the board that will make that interaction feel more natural and intuitive,” Bosworth tweeted.He cautioned that research doesn’t always result in a finished product.“We’ll share more when we’re ready,” Bosworth said.“And just like with our glasses work, we will consult third party experts to help us get these right.”Facebook went public a while ago with plans for a launch this year of smart glasses which connect to smartphones as part of an alliance with eyewear titan EssilorLuxottica.The Ray-Ban branded eyewear, a move by Facebook into wearable tech, is an early step in a project to create futuristic eyewear that augments real-world views with data or graphics from the internet, according to chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.


US could slow Afghanistan exit, says Pentagon

The US military could slow down its withdrawal from Afghanistan due to the gains made by the Taliban insurgents, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday.Kirby stressed that President Joe Biden’s deadline of a full withdrawal by September remains in place, but added that the pace could be adjusted based on conditions.“The situation in Afghanistan changes as the Taliban continue to conduct these attacks and to raid district centres as well as the violence, which is still too high,” he told reporters.“If there needs to be changes made to the pace, or to the scope and scale of the retrograde, on any given day or in any given week, we want to maintain the flexibility to do that,” he said.“We’re constantly taking a look at this, every single day: what’s the situation on the ground, what capabilities do we have, what additional resources do we need to move out of Afghanistan and at what pace.”“All of these decisions are literally being made in real time,” he added.Pentagon officials said last week that the withdrawal, ordered by Biden in April after nearly two decades fighting Al-Qaeda and helping government forces battle the Taliban, is around half completed.At the time of Biden’s order around 2,500 US troops and 16,000 contractors, mostly US citizens, were in the country. The Pentagon has already turned over several of its key bases to government security forces, and has removed hundreds of cargo plane-loads of equipment.Kirby said US forces continue to support Afghan troops in fighting the Taliban.“So long as we have the capability in Afghanistan, we will continue to provide assistance to Afghan forces,” he said.“But as the retrograde gets closer to completion, those capabilities will wane and will no longer be available.”


Selangor logs over 700 cases again as 2,776 new infections recorded

Another 2,776 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 395,718.Selangor recorded 762 cases, Sarawak 615, Kelantan 343, Johor 309, Kuala Lumpur 254, Penang 123 and Negeri Sembilan 112.Sabah recorded 88 cases, Perak 45, Kedah 39, Melaka and Pahang 34 each, Terengganu nine, Putrajaya seven and Labuan two.Active cases stand at 24,713 with 300 in the ICU and 133 in need of respiratory assistance.Twelve new clusters were detected:1. Pondok Belaga (Belaga in Sarawak; 255 screened, nine positive)2. Kampung Batu Sembilan (Kuala Langat in Selangor; 166 screened, 52 positive)3. Tapak Bina Tanjung Kupang (Johor Bahru in Johor; 145 screened, 44 positive)4. Jalan Raja Bukit Pasir (Muar in Johor; 306 screened, 151 positive)5. Jalan Sebauh-Bintulu (Sebauh and Bintulu in Sarawak; 318 screened, 67 positive)6. Jalan Arumugam Pillai (Seberang Perai Tengah in Penang; 61 screened, 13 positive)7. Kota Syahbandar (Melaka Tengah in Melaka; 25 screened, 12 positive)8. Jalan Kesidang (Melaka Tengah and Alor Gajah in Melaka; 68 screened, 22 positive)9. Sungai Senibung (Julau in Sarawak; 290 screened, 14 positive)10. Kampung Pangkal Chuit (Machang in Kelantan; 180 screened, 27 positive)11. Jalan Impian Emas 17 (Johor Bahru in Johor; 125 screened, seven positive)12. Kampung Selamat (Seberang Perai Utara in Penang and Kulim in Kedah; 365 screened, 22 positive)Five others ended, leaving 358 active clusters across the country.Another 1,803 patients were discharged, bringing total recoveries to 369,556.However, 13 more deaths were reported, pushing the virus toll to 1,449.


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No indication that PM has lost majority support, says law minister

There is no indication that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has lost the support of the majority of MPs in the Dewan Rakyat, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Takiyuddin Hassan said today.He added that the 25 motions of no-confidence and two motions of confidence listed as the 26th and 27th items in today’s Order Paper are not matters that need to be expedited.“I would like to clarify that we are subject to Standing Orders 14 and 15 (1) that clearly state that government business should take precedence over other businesses as there is no indication that Yang Berhormat Pagoh has lost the support.“The government is of the view that these motions of no-confidence and confidence are specific in nature and in the public interest, I believe the Dewan is of the view that there is no urgency in this,” he said.He was responding to Hassan Abdul Karim (PH-Pasir Gudang) who asked when the motions of no-confidence and confidence would be tabled, debated and voted on.However, Takiyuddin said there should be no issue for any party to show support for any of the members of the Dewan Rakyat as prime minister.


Dad charged with endangering kids after letting them stick heads out of moving car

An insurance agent was charged at the Ipoh Sessions Court today with three counts of endangering his children by allowing them to stick their heads out of the window of a moving car in Jalan Tambun in March.T Vengadasalabathi, 37, pleaded not guilty to the charges, read separately before judge Ainun Shahrin Mohamad, of exposing his three children, aged four to eight, to danger in a moving car that could likely cause physical injuries.The offence was committed at Jalan Tambun between 6.20pm and 6.45pm on March 22 and framed under Section 31 (1)(A) of the Child Act. It is punishable under Section 31 (1) of the same law, which provides for a maximum fine of RM50,000, a jail term of 20 years, or both upon conviction.Deputy public prosecutor Evangelin Simon Silvaraj asked the court to set bail at RM15,000 for each charge, adding that the accused should not be anywhere near the victims.However, lawyer K Nahtan, representing the accused, asked for a lower bail of RM2,500 for each charge, saying that his client has three children, a wife, and his parents to care for.He also said that there was no element of sexual abuse involved and therefore no need to separate his client from his children.The court fixed bail at RM9,000 with one surety for all three charges and set July 1 for mention.Vengadasalabathi was detained on March 24, after a video clip of the three children sticking their heads out of the window of a moving care in Jalan Tambun went viral on social media.


Sudan war death toll surges past 2,000 as fighting enters third month

Sudan's devastating war raged on into a third month Thursday as the reported death toll topped 2,000 and after a state governor was killed in the remote Darfur region.
Since April 15, the regular army headed by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has been locked in fighting with paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
The fighting has driven 2.2 million people from their homes, including 528,000 who have fled to neighbouring countries, according to the International Organization for Migration.
"In our worst expectations, we didn't see this war dragging on for this long," said Mohamad al-Hassan Othman, one of more than a million civilians who have fled heavy fighting in the capital Khartoum.
Everything in "our life has changed", he told AFP. "We don't know whether we'll be back home or need to start a new life."
The death toll has risen above 2,000, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project's latest figures, which cover fighting until June 9.
In long-troubled West Darfur state, the violence claimed the life of Governor Khamis Abdullah Abakar, hours after he made remarks critical of the paramilitaries in a telephone interview with a Saudi TV channel.
The United Nations said "compelling eyewitness accounts attribute this act to Arab militias and the RSF", while the Darfur Lawyers Association condemned the act of "barbarism, brutality and cruelty".
Burhan accused his paramilitary foes of the "treacherous attack". The RSF denied responsibility and said it condemned Abakar's "assassination in cold blood".
Sudan analyst Kholood Khair of the Khartoum-based think tank Confluence Advisory said the "heinous assassination" was meant "to silence his highlighting of genocide... in Darfur".
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths, meanwhile, warned that the situation in Darfur was "rapidly spiraling into a humanitarian calamity".
"The world cannot allow this to happen. Not again," he said in a statement, describing the reality there as a "living nightmare".
The US State Department also decried the violence in Darfur, calling it "an ominous reminder" of the bloodshed there 20 years ago that left hundreds of thousands of people dead.
"The US condemns in the strongest terms the ongoing human rights violations and abuses and horrific violence in Sudan, especially reports of widespread sexual violence and killings based on ethnicity in West Darfur by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias," spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Daglo's RSF has its origins in the Janjaweed militias that former strongman Omar al-Bashir unleashed on ethnic minorities in the region in 2003, drawing charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Miller said up to 1,100 civilians have been killed in West Darfur's capital, El Geneina, alone, while the United Nations is reporting more than 273,000 have been displaced from the region.
'Completely devastated'
US and Saudi mediation efforts are at a standstill after the collapse of multiple ceasefires in the face of flagrant violations by both sides.
The East African Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has attempted to restart discussions, announcing this week that Kenya would chair a quartet including Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan tasked with resolving the crisis.
In a statement Thursday, the foreign ministry, loyal to Burhan, "objected to Kenya's chairmanship", alleging that Nairobi had "adopted the positions of the RSF militia, sheltered its people and offered them various forms of support".
The office of Kenyan President William Ruto – who has met both RSF and army senior officials in recent weeks – had released a draft communique stating the intention to "arrange (a) face-to-face meeting between (Burhan and Daglo)... in one of the regional capitals".
A Sudanese official told AFP, on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, that Burhan "will not sit at the same table" as Daglo, as fighting shows no signs of abating.
A record 25 million people – more than half the population – are in need of aid, according to the UN, which says it has received only a fraction of the necessary funding.
Saudi Arabia has announced an international pledging conference for next week.
"We have nothing left," said another person living in the capital, Ahmed Taha. "The entire country has been completely devastated... Every inch of Sudan is a disaster area."
Many of the displaced have lost loved ones, as well as "all their belongings and livelihoods", said Anja Wolz of aid group Doctors Without Borders.
Darfur, meanwhile, has emerged as one of the war's main battlegrounds.
Homes and markets have been burned to the ground, hospitals and aid facilities looted and more than 149,000 people sent fleeing into neighbouring Chad.


Is Malaysia about to lose its lost civilisation again?

Malaysia is dangerously close to losing what may be its most important ancient site unless somebody with influence comes to its defence.The Sungai Batu Archaeological Complex in Kedah has seen generations come and go but the current one will be the one that seals its fate.The four-square-kilometre site is buried under an oil palm plantation near Sungai Petani, in which since 2009 researchers have discovered astounding relics that are more than 2,000 years old: the handiwork of a mysterious, unrecorded civilisation.Older than both Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Borobudur in Indonesia, which were built in the ninth and 12th centuries respectively,the site was declared the oldest civilisation in Southeast Asia by five archaeological bodies representing the world’s five major civilisations, namely Mesopotamia, Indus, Mesoamerica, China, and Greece-Rome.Whoever lived there disappeared centuries ago and as more contemporary peoples came and went, forest grew over the structures, obscuring them from view.Closer to the modern day, the land was cleared for a rubber estate, and later converted to the oil palm plantation under which it lies.The site contains the remains of an iron smelting industry in ancient Kedah. Photo: Sungai Batu Tamadun Terawal Asia Tenggara FacebookUSM Global Archaeology Centre’s director and associate professor Mokhtar Saidin, said that the unearthed artefacts are giving up their secrets to modern science.“We have proof of civilisation existing there as early as 50 BC, but we do not rule out an earlier time period. Therefore, the Sungai Batu site, based on the estimated timeline, appears to be the oldest civilisation in Southeast Asia.”Mokhtar noted that archaeologists have discovered remnants of iron smelting activities and a jetty on the river, which indicated trading activities.It is obviously a site of immense historical significance.However, instead of being protected, since 2008 a squatter settlement has grown up next to the site, separated only by a flimsy fence.One of the problems preventing a solution being found is that the squatters live on land belonging to the state government while the archaeological site belongs to the federal government.“The settlement consists of 20 houses and is less than 10 metres from the area where archaeological work is being carried out,” said Nur Dini, a local activist.The first thing visitors to the site see is the squatters’ “maahad tahfiz” or Quran school.In 2014, the Kedah government asked the school to relocate, and its officials demanded compensation of RM1 million to do so,” Nur told MalaysiaNow.“This means the settlement will stay where it is, and the researchers will have to move their research containers and all their equipment elsewhere,” she said.Recently the state government approved a plan to construct a road in the settlement over parts of the dig.Nur Dini said researchers will be allowed to survey the land on which the road will be built to ensure there are no ancient artifacts buried there.“The problem is, researchers cannot survey the land thoroughly because of the houses and the tahfiz building,” she said. “They are located opposite the archaeological site which we know contains invaluable historical remains.”She posted on social media about the road construction issue and the threat of losing valuable artefacts and it soon became a hot topic for history enthusiasts.In response, Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said in a recent statement that the state government is working to find a solution to this issue.However, he has said most of the squatters are poor and cannot relocate immediately.MalaysiaNow attempted to contact Mokhtar to comment on this matter but got no response.Illegal settlements and development projects are among threats to the archaeological site. Photo: Sungai Batu Tamadun Terawal Asia Tenggara FacebookIn the past, Mokhtar has pointed to the tragic loss of many artefacts in Sungai Batu over time, due to pillaging and removal of topsoil for plantations.“There should have been many more remains, like beads and implements. For sure people have stolen these,” he has said. “In fact, almost one metre of topsoil, along with any artefacts in that layer, has been removed.”He said the dig was started just in time. “If we had arrived any later, all these discoveries here would also have been gone.”The settlement is not the only threat facing the ancient site. Nur Dini said that a substantial portion of the site belongs to a company which wants to build on it.“There was a plan to build a housing project on the site. A developer owned the land when the excavations began,” she said.“The developer’s machinery was ready to roll, but after a meeting with a state Exco, the developer deferred its project. They are waiting for the state government to buy up their land,” she said.One incident has already highlighted how lack of awareness can destroy historical structures on the site. The remains of a building called Temple No. 11 were levelled and lost in 2013 during a construction job.Ahmad Murad Merican, a professor at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation, says the government needs to get serious about defending the history of the country.“A comprehensive archaeological act is needed to administer work there and organise research, excavations, preservation, conservation, promotion, facilities, as well as necessary finance,” he told MalaysiaNow.“All should fall under a single authority. The act should be administered by a commission and their jurisdiction should overrule local and state government.”He added that the government must see this as a permanent investment that would be more than just a tourist attraction and that what needs to be done is a grand narrative of the age of the nation.“We have to promote the fact that Malaysia is not 60 plus years old, but more than 2,500 years old,” he said.“But we have to start now.”