Expert warns of renewed push by vape industry amid concern over 'child-friendly' products

The local vape industry, once on the wane after a fatwa against the activity in 2015, appears to be on the rise again with a health expert warning of an intensified push following the government's move to delist liquid nicotine as a poisonous substance.
The vape industry was worth an estimated RM2.49 billion as of February this year, and is expected to continue growing after Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa announced the exemption of nicotine from the Poisons Act 1952 despite widespread criticism from health experts.
Vape is currently available online and in boutiques at commercial premises, some of which specialise in the substance. Others meanwhile combine the sale of vape with other businesses such as hair salons and delivery hubs.
Critics have accused operators of targeting teenagers and children with attractive packaging and a wide range of flavours, while this year's Hari Raya Aidilfitri season also saw several shops issuing the green envelopes traditionally used for the giving of "duit Raya".
Reports have also been circulating on the introduction of self-service or vending machines that sell vape products, which would make them publicly accessible including to schoolchildren, unlike tobacco products like cigarettes, the sale of which is restricted to those over 18.
Dr Rafidah Hanim Mokhtar said the vape industry was seizing the opportunity to market its products to new customers following the government's move to remove nicotine from the Poisons Act.
"Some vape products are being sold for as low as RM5, in the form of disposable pods," Rafidah, of Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, told MalaysiaNow.
Such pods, according to a vape user who asked to remain anonymous, are gaining in popularity.
Rafidah said it was also difficult for the authorities to monitor the ingredients of the flavours which make vape popular, even among non-smokers.
"Cigarette manufacturers have to comply with the nicotine content standards, and enforcement officers can check their packs batch by batch," she said.
"But who knows what is mixed in the flavouring for vape? This is all an introduction to the use of drugs."
Self-regulation
The health ministry announced on June 13 that the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2022 had recorded an increase in vaping or the use of e-cigarettes among teenagers aged 13 to 17, from 9.8% in 2017 to 14.9% in 2022.
It said a significant increase was also recorded among teenage girls, from 2.8% in 2017 to 6.2% in 2022.
The ministry's statement came a day after Zaliha recommended in the Dewan Rakyat that the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill 2023, aimed at creating a generation free from smoking, be referred to the parliamentary special select committee on health for further scrutiny.
The bill, known as the "generational endgame" bill, includes a ban on the use and purchase of tobacco by those born after 2007.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the finance minister, previously announced an excise duty on liquid or gel products containing nicotine, with half of the proceeds to be allocated to the health ministry.
The duty came into force on April 1, at a rate of RM0.40 for every millilitre of liquid or gel containing nicotine in the vape product.
Malaysia is currently the largest exporter of vape liquid.
Speaking to MalaysiaNow, pharmacist Fahmi Hassan questioned the industry's promise of self-regulation.
"For example, they are free to use any method they like to promote their products, including in forms that appeal to teenagers, using attractive flavours and colours, and advertisements that show vaping as a way of life," he said.
"This is against their pledge that they would only sell vape to existing smokers."
He added that the availability of vape online, complete with delivery services, made it easily accessible to anyone, including schoolchildren.
Rafidah meanwhile said that the generational endgame bill, if passed, would be able to curb the smoking habit.
She said Singapore had witnessed a decline in smoking among teenagers after passing a law in 2018 prohibiting the import and sale of vape in the city-state.
"We need to press on," she said. "Now the industry is playing tug-of-war.
"But the law exists to protect segments of society, and to ensure that the industry does not determine national policy."


Worldwide vaccine hesitancy dashing hopes of rapid global herd immunity

More than five million Americans who have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine are ducking out of appointments for their second shot.Some mistakenly think they are sufficiently protected with a single shot, while others fear unknown side effects. Either way, it dashes any hope of the country quickly achieving herd immunity.Such vaccine hesitation is common around the world, according to a new Gallup poll which surveyed 300,000 people across 117 countries, reports the Economist.It found that only 68% of adults would agree to be vaccinated if a free jab were available to them. 29% said they would refuse outright.People’s willingness to take a Covid-19 vaccine varied from country to country in 2020, with the percentages saying they would take a vaccine ranging from a high of 96% in Myanmar to a low of 25% in Kazakhstan.Populations of countries which experienced particularly deadly waves seem more likely to accept vaccines.In India, which is currently dealing with a second catastrophic wave and where less than 10% of the population has received one dose, the percentage willing to take a coronavirus vaccine was between 80% and 89%.And in the UK, Germany and Brazil, all of which have experienced severe outbreaks, 70% to 79% were inclined to be vaccinated.In Europe, 53% of respondents say they would take the shot, though west Europeans are generally keener than easterners.Elsewhere, people are more eager. In Africa 64% and Latin America 68% said they would agree to be vaccinated.Asia showed the most confidence in the jab with as many as 76% reckoning vaccines are safe.Myanmar is the keenest country in the world, with around 96% ready to roll up their sleeves. The country has historically enjoyed high vaccination coverage. In 2017, for example, almost all parents in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, got their children vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis, a lethal mosquito-borne illness.Some countries are particularly hostile to vaccines. In France 40% of respondents said they would not agree to a jab. Past public-health scares, such as a scandal involving HIV-infected blood and a troubled vaccine rollout during the swine-flu pandemic have soured French attitudes to inoculation.Russia and Hungary are even less likely to trust a vaccine, with below 40% prepared to say yes to a jab.Over all, the poll results do not bode well for herd immunity which most authorities say requires 70-90% of a population to be immune.However, responding to a question about herd immunity last month, Dr Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, urged people to stop focusing on an elusive, magic number.Instead, he said, “Let’s get as many people vaccinated as quickly as we possibly can.”For, even if the virus continues to circulate for years to come, vaccinations can turn it into a more manageable threat.


Analyst moots three-in-one attack to take on Umno-BN

An analyst has suggested that PAS, Bersatu and Pejuang combine forces to face Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno in the 15th general election (GE15), giving rise to a face-off between the country's biggest Malay parties from both sides of the political divide.
Ahmad Atory Hussain, a veteran observer of Malay politics, said it would be impossible to defeat BN if PAS and Bersatu, fellow components of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) pact, are not in sync with Gerakan Tanah Air, led by Pejuang chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
"These three parties, along with Pakatan Harapan (PH), see BN as a common threat and enemy," he said.
"So, for the time being, they might as well put aside their political differences for the sake of national interests."
Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin previously said that his party was ready to consider cooperating with Pejuang in GE15 if Mahathir was serious about such a scenario.
However, he added that Pejuang had yet to initiate contact to discuss this possibility.
Muhyiddin and Mahathir, both one-time Umno members, joined hands to form Bersatu at the height of the 1MDB scandal in 2016.
Bersatu became a PH component later that year, with Mahathir chosen as the coalition's prime minister candidate for the 14th general election in 2018.
While Mahathir became prime minister for the second time following PH's historic victory at the polls, he resigned in February 2020, triggering the collapse of the PH government.
Bersatu subsequently exited PH, with Mahathir and Muhyiddin also parting ways.
Mahathir, who was removed as Bersatu chairman, went on to form Pejuang while Muhyiddin was appointed as prime minister, a position he held until his own resignation in 2021.
Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said Mahathir was unlikely to work with Muhyiddin again.
In any case, he said, Umno was expected to bag the lion's share of votes from the Malay community.
Speaking to MalaysiaNow, he said most conservative Malays would fall back to Umno if they felt that their special position or privileges were under threat.
"We saw in Johor and Melaka that most of the Malay vote went to Umno," he added.
In Johor, which held state-level polls in March this year, BN won 40 of the 56 seats in the legislative assembly.
PN won three while Pejuang, which contested 42 seats, won none.
At the Melaka election in November last year, meanwhile, BN won 21 of the 28 state seats while PH won five and PN two.
Oh acknowledged the support for Muhyiddin's image as a fatherly figure which had earned him the nickname "abah", but said even this had played a smaller role in both Melaka and Johor.
Atory however said Muhyiddin had established a track record for himself through his administration of the country during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"He was toppled not because of his failures or incompetency, but because of a political conspiracy against him," he said, referring to the move by a group of Umno politicians aligned with their president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to withdraw their support for Muhyiddin, resulting in the loss of his fragile majority.
He was replaced by Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who led the country for a little over a year before announcing the dissolution of Parliament on Oct 10, following heavy pressure from Umno.


Spending splurge will make UK ‘European naval superpower again’, vows British PM

History books say the British Royal Navy once ruled the waves and built the largest empire the world has ever seen.Those days will never come back but British PM Boris Johnson announced on Thursday a huge £24 billion (RM130 billion) war chest to make Britain Europe’s naval superpower once more, leaving continental navies trailing in its wake.He was addressing Parliament by video link from Downing Street where he is self-isolating.Johnson’s vision of what he calls a “freer and more independent global Britain” follows the UK’s protracted divorce from the European Union via Brexit.It’s a radical rethink of how taxpayers’ money is spent and Johnson blasted former governments for reducing British armed forces to dangerously low levels, according to media sources.“The era of cheese-paring our defence budget ends now,” he promised. “I have done this in the teeth of the pandemic because the international situation is now more perilous than at any time since the Cold War.”He told Parliament that new warships will be built, spurring a renaissance of shipbuilding across the British Isles and bringing prosperity back to impoverished communities.Johnson stressed that UK defence needs to operate at all times with cutting-edge technology. For example, ammunition will soon be redundant, meaning future warships will be able to destroy targets with inexhaustible lasers.It’s not just the Royal Navy that will get a boost. The biggest investment in defence since the Cold War will also be used to create a new space command, a cyber force and an artificial intelligence agency.He warned that threats to the country will in future no longer be confined to the battlefield as enemies can now attack people “through the mobile phones in their pockets”, so billions have also been earmarked for a National Cyber Force to tackle online threats.Johnson’s vision is that the increased military budget will cement the UK’s position as the largest defence spender in Europe, and the second largest in Nato after the US.The way the PM sees it, while Britannia may no longer rule the waves, the tide of defence cutbacks is finally turning and the Royal Navy is setting sail for a new era of sea-power.


Hamzah's son to file representation to AG over cooking oil charges

The son of a former minister will file a representation to the attorney-general regarding the cooking oil subsidy violation charges he was faces.
Lawyer Nasuha Badrul Din representing Muhammad Faisal Hamzah, 39, the son of former home minister Hamzah Zainudin, said this before the Sessions Court Judge Mazni Nawi when the case was brought for mention today.
The court then set July 12 for next mention.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Syazwani Zawawi told the court that the prosecution had submitted their documents to the defence for further action.
On April 5, Muhammad Faisal and his business partner Azizul Abdul Halim, 55, pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court to nine counts of submitting fake invoices and possessing more than the permitted amount of subsidised cooking oil. In today's proceedings, Muhammad Faisal was not present as he was on sick leave.
According to the charge sheet, the duo, who were both directors of Rimba Merpati Sdn Bhd, a licenced wholesaler of subsidised cooking oil, were charged with giving false information on documents or invoices for the sale of the controlled item to two retail stores here.
The offences allegedly committed at the domestic trade and cost of living ministry state office at 5 pm on Aug 12 last year, were framed under Section 8(4) of the Control of Supplies Act 1961.
The company was also charged with submitting false invoices and possession of cooking oil exceeding the 50-tonne limit, in accordance with Regulation 9(1) of the Control of Supplies Regulations 1974.
The offences were allegedly committed at the ministry office and Rimba Merpati business premises at Sinar Andalas Industrial Area, Senawang at 11.15 pm on Aug 11 and at 5 pm on Aug 12, 2022.


Bank manager says in the dark over Najib’s account until 1MDB probe began

A senior bank manager told the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday she only knew that the personal account with the code name AmPrivate Banking-MR belonged to former prime minister Najib Razak when the 1MDB investigation began.Former Ambank FX sales department senior manager Rosliza Ishak, 48, said when she took over the customer portfolio of “AM Private Banking Division” from a superior officer, she was not told the details of the account holders.“I knew some customers from the AM Private Banking Division would prefer not to have their identities revealed, not even to the bank officer.“They (the superior officers) did not mention that the account was owned by Najib. I was only given the code name and no further information was disclosed,” she said when cross-examined by counsel Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed at Najib’s corruption and money laundering trial on RM2.3 billion belonging to 1MDB.Rosliza, when reading out her witness statement, earlier said she had changed £8.7 million (RM45,837,485.70) in six transactions between June 23 and Dec 19, 2014 after receiving orders from a former Ambank relationship manager Joanna Yu.“Yu would give the order to my department after the client agreed with the exchange rate given. My department later would execute the foreign exchange order given by Yu, after the customer confirmed the exchange,” the 25th witness said.However, Rosliza said Yu would not mention the identity of the customer for the account she was handling as all of the transactions used code names.Najib, 68, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3 billion 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering for the same amount.The trial before justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues today.


Saudi health expert says vaccines a necessity, not a luxury

Saudi Arabia’s coronavirus vaccine rollout has inoculated more than 25% of the kingdom’s population, and health experts have said that in a bid to return to normal life in the fight against Covid, vaccines are a necessity not a luxury.“Many have come to realise that life is somewhat back to normal with prayers resumed at mosques and people returning to coffee shops. They felt the sense of urgency and rushed to take the vaccine. We can’t afford another hit,” infectious disease consultant Dr Nezar Bahabri told Arab News.“The vaccines are the only way to return to our normal lives.”After the World Health Organization declared a pandemic in March 2020, Saudi Arabia protected its health system and prevented the spread of the virus by imposing flight bans, lockdowns, curfews and making social distancing and the wearing of masks mandatory. The case count never made it past 5,000 cases per day.The numbers declined, restrictions were loosened, and people began to get a grasp of their new reality, but to return to the old normal, vaccines were critical.The first batch of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccines arrived in early December, shortly followed by the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, and according to the Saudi Health Council, by the beginning of March, one million people had been inoculated.But one million was not enough. Late last month, a series of recommendations were put into place by several ministries, including the Ministry of Haj and Umrah, making it mandatory for employees of certain sensitive sectors to be inoculated or provide weekly negative PCR test results.By the end of March, four million had received at least one vaccine dose. The inoculation program picked up speed soon after. Vaccines were administered at a rate of one million doses every five to seven days.Bahabri said that many people refusing to take the vaccine would start a series of unfortunate events that could lead to a possible collapse in the healthcare system.Vaccine hesitancy has been hardened by false claims spreading on social media. Efforts were made to prevent false rumors being shared, such as fines and imprisonment when a perpetrator was caught.“It’s not so much hesitancy anymore, it’s negligence,” said Bahabri, adding: “It’s unfortunate to see this happening. It’s un-Islamic, but fortunately people are listening and heeding the call.”Abu-Talal, a retired businessman in Jeddah, told Arab News that the past year was difficult with the absence of his children and grandchildren. Having lost his wife nearly five years ago, he blamed his fear of the vaccine on conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccine activists that flooded his social media feeds.“I trust the experts, I trust the government but I did not know what to expect if I took it.”He told Arab News that posts by skeptics claiming to have hard evidence that the pandemic is a hoax and that the inoculation would damage his genetics put him in a bubble he said was hard to get out of.“It’s a scary time and though I resisted, my son eventually made the appointment for me and the decision was a fait accompli.“My children wanted me safe. This has gone long enough and we all need to live normally again,” he said.


Ahmad Maslan agreed to be nominated as deputy speaker, says Umno man

Pontian MP Ahmad Maslan has agreed to be nominated as deputy Dewan Rakyat speaker to replace Azalina Othman Said, according to Umno veteran Nazri Aziz.Nazri, the Padang Rengas MP, told Malay daily Utusan Malaysia that Ahmad had conveyed his agreement during a recent meeting.“Yes, it is true that Ahmad is the candidate of the government bloc for the post of deputy speaker,” he said.“We have met with him, and he agreed.”MalaysiaNow previously reported that Umno leaders aligned with Najib Razak were pushing for Ahmad to be given the post of deputy speaker following the resignation of Azalina last month.Party sources said Ahmad’s name had been suggested and was awaiting approval from other members of the current government.But concern was voiced over the prospect of obtaining the support of government MPs, especially from the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.Ahmad is among a group of former leaders from the previous Barisan Nasional government known as the “court cluster”, who are facing court charges related to corruption and money laundering.PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin had made it clear that his coalition would not back individuals facing criminal charges for any role in the administration.


No need for mega PPVs to stay open, says Khairy

There is no need for mega vaccination centres (PPV) to continue operations as the majority of people are now fully vaccinated, says Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.He said PPVs that had achieved good vaccination coverage would be wound down and closed in stages.“As most of the vaccine recipients have received their jabs, we no longer need to have large PPVs operating as this involves costs and so on.“Tomorrow, I will discuss with the health ministry and the science, technology and innovation ministry about some PPVs which are still open for those who have been left out, as well as foreigners,” he told reporters after observing the final day of PPV operations at the World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur last night.The WTC PPV was officially closed yesterday after being in operation for 150 days, since May 5.Khairy said several PPVs remain open for the adolescent vaccination programme, while government and private clinics will be made into PPVs for third doses and booster shots.On the false alarms over vaccine side effects among teenagers, he said no reports of serious side effects had been received so far.On Sept 22, Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said a total of 410,489 teenagers had received a first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, with no reports of serious side effects experienced by those who received the injection.


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Malaysia to call off Singapore-KL high-speed rail as clock ticks?

Malaysia is unlikely to restart the stalled high-speed rail (HSR) project to connect Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, with the two-year suspension period set to expire at midnight today, MalaysiaNow has learnt.A source familiar with negotiations between the two countries said Malaysia had its own plan for the HSR, a move which would almost certainly upset its southern neighbour.“It would be one that benefits Malaysia more in the long run, even if we have to pay compensation,” the source said.In May, both countries reached an agreement to defer construction of the 350km project until the end of 2020, following a request from Putrajaya.Malaysia made the request to study the implication of the project on the economy.The project, which was to take off in 2026, was first postponed four months after the fall of the Barisan Nasional government in 2018, as the incoming Pakatan Harapan government undertook a review of several large-scale projects over financial concerns.The move drew strong criticism from Najib Razak, who had promoted the HSR as beneficial to Malaysia.But critics of the project, who included former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, pointed out that the HSR would benefit Singapore more.It is understood that the two-year suspension of the project would mean Malaysia paying some RM45 million in compensation to Singapore.But the same source told MalaysiaNow that the new version of the HSR would connect to strategic domestic destinations which would benefit Malaysia.“I doubt that Singapore would agree to that because it could adversely affect its airport,” the source said, referring to Singapore’s Changi airport which acts as one of the main hubs in the Asia Pacific.


Zeti knew Najib would receive US$100 million from Saudi Arabia, ex-banker tells court

The Kuala Lumpur High Court was yesterday told that former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz knew that Najib Razak would receive a contribution of US$100 million from Saudi Arabia through his personal account in 2011.
Former AmBank non-executive director Cheah Tek Kuang, 75, said he informed Zeti of the matter in a meeting shortly after Najib opened an account at the bank.
"I made the appointment to meet with Zeti. The purpose of the meeting was to inform her of the opening of Najib's account and the receipt of US$100 million from Saudi Arabia.
"During the meeting, only the two of us discussed it since the matter was confidential and involved the interests of the prime minister.
"It was important for me to inform Zeti about this because it involved the term 'politically exposed person', meaning it involved national interests. Zeti took note of the matter and requested that it be done in accordance with the existing bank and BNM regulations," he said.
The 39th prosecution witness said this when reading out his witness statement during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib at Najib’s corruption and money laundering trial on RM2.3 billion belonging to 1MDB. On the meeting with Najib on the opening of an account and the entry of US$100 million at the accused's residence in Bukit Tunku, Cheah said Najib himself told him about the entry of money from Saudi Arabia.
"I met Najib in the living room and introduced myself to him. At that time, only the two of us were in the meeting. I informed him that I had brought a chequebook with an acknowledgment slip, a passbook and a credit card application form. He (Najib) took the document and signed where required.
"Then he informed me that there would be an entry of money from Saudi Arabia. A large amount in US dollars, namely US$100 million. I did not ask for what purpose the money would be received, but he himself stated that the money was a contribution to him from the government of Saudi Arabia for 'Islamic activities'.
"I heard this myself and was informed verbally by Najib. Five minutes later, I left because he (Najib) was quite busy and we didn't talk about anything other than matters related to the account and the transaction that would happen," he said. The witness added that after meeting with Zeti, he handed over all operational matters to AmBank relationship manager, Joanna Yu, and the operations division led by Ross Foden.
He said that Foden and his team had planned to regulate Najib's account by providing a special code name.
Cheah said they suggested that a code name be given to the account since the account was sensitive, and to avoid an information leak as in the case of the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) with another bank.
"I agreed with the code name which was 'AmPrivate Banking-MR' for Najib's account to avoid the misuse of personal information. I was given a letter to send to Zeti stating the code name 'AmPrivate Banking-MR'.
"I don't know whether he (Najib) was informed about the code name or not, but it involved the internal policy and operations of the bank, as it was the operations’ responsibility to choose the code name," he said. According to Cheah, after receiving the letter from the operations team, he signed the letter and sent it to Zeti on Feb 9, 2011.
"The purpose of the letter was to inform her of the code name 'AmPrivate Banking-MR' and to make it easier for BNM to monitor and supervise the ringgit operations monitoring system (ROMS).
"I am not very skilled with regards to ROMS, but as far as I know, it is a system supervised by BNM," he said while adding that his contract at AmBank ended on April 1, 2012.
Najib, 69, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3 billion belonging to 1MDB and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.


Other ways to pay Astro bills without 50 sen service fee, says Annuar

Astro customers have other options to pay their bills without having to incur a service charge, including through the auto debit method that can be activated through the Astro Self-Service Portal or by visiting any Astro customer service centre branch, Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa said today.He said customers can also pay their bills through Astro Quick Pay, My Astro application, the JomPAY platform or by tuning into the Astro 200 channel.“Since January this year, a 50 sen service charge for Astro bill payments has been implemented by collection agents, while Pos Malaysia imposed the same charge on those who pay their bills at counters, beginning Sept 1, 2021,” he said at the ministers’ question time session at the Dewan Rakyat today.He was responding to a question from Kasthuriraani Patto (PH-Batu Kawan) who wanted to know why the 50 sen charge is imposed on Astro customers who pay their bills manually at post offices.Annuar explained that the charge was also a commercial arrangement between Astro and Pos Malaysia.He said Pos Malaysia, which was corporatised in 1992 and listed on Bursa Malaysia in 2001, is now a subsidiary of DRB-Hicom Bhd Group.Apart from providing basic postal services, Pos Malaysia has also expanded its business activities and become a leading integrated logistics and e-Commerce service provider in Malaysia, he said.


Dr M joins delegation as Anwar skips memo delivery to Agong

A joint appearance by Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim to protest the emergency proclamation today did not materialise as the PKR leader was attending an event in his constituency of Port Dickson.The attendance of Anwar and Mahathir had been promoted by the organiser, a committee led by Amanah’s Khalid Samad, to press for an end to the emergency or Tamat Darurat.Anwar’s attendance today would have been the first time he was seen together with Mahathir in public since the pair fell out again following the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government last year.The Tamat Darurat committee had invited both leaders to join a delegation presenting a petition to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong calling for an end to the emergency period, alongside other top PH leaders Mohamad Sabu and Lim Guan Eng.Among the PH MPs who were present today were PKR’s Maria Chin Abdullah, Fahmi Fadzil and Tian Chua, DAP’s Hannah Yeoh and Teresa Kok, as well as Mukhriz Mahathir of the Pejuang bloc.This is the second petition on the matter presented to the king by the committee.The first letter was handed over on March 26 but Khalid later said it had received no response.Speaking to reporters today, Mahathir accused the government of not giving the Agong enough information before the emergency was declared.He also claimed that Malays were “angry” with the rulers, saying this could be seen through their social media posts.“But it is quite clear that large numbers of Malays are angry because they are suffering due to this emergency,” the former prime minister said.When asked what they would do if they were not granted an audience with the Agong to personally present their concerns, Mahathir said they were not allowed to meet with the king.“We can only see the (private) secretary, but of course before, even when I was not prime minister, I came by the front door, but now I have to come by the back door,” he added.Khalid meanwhile said the memorandum was delivered to palace officials to be handed over to the Agong.“We are confident that this time, the Agong will consent to receive a delegation from the committee so that we can directly present what we feel needs to be done for the well-being of the country and the institution of the Malay rulers,” he said at a press conference outside the palace.The state of emergency was declared in January amid a sharp spike in Covid-19 infections across the country.It coincided with the second declaration of movement control order, known as MCO 2.0.Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said then that the civilian government would continue to function and pledged no interruptions to economic activities or the judicial system.He also said Parliament would not convene throughout the emergency period, and no elections would be held, adding that a general election would be held once the special committee gives the green light that it is safe.


African swine fever detected in over 3,000 pigs in Perak

More than 3,000 pigs from three commercial farms in two districts in Perak have contracted the African swine fever (ASF) virus.Perak Plantation, Agriculture and Food Industry Committee chairman Razman Zakaria said the disease was detected in a commercial pig farm in Hilir Perak on March 27 and two more commercial farms in Batang Padang on April 4 through RT-PCR tests at the Veterinary Research Institute’s laboratory in Ipoh.“A quarantine notice under Section 18(3) of the Animals Act 1953 (Revised 2006) (Act 647) has been issued to the owners of the affected pig farms. They are not allowed to move the pigs or carcasses in and out of the infected areas.“A total of six pig farms within a 5km radius of the farms that were confirmed positive have also been quarantined for further inspections and sampling,” he told a press conference today.He said the affected pigs were immediately disposed of under Section 19 of the Animals Act 1953 (Revised 2006) to control the spread. To date, 990 pigs have been culled.Razman added that monitoring, examination and sampling at all pig farms in the two districts are underway to control the spread of the virus.“Commercial pig farmers are advised to enhance strict biosecurity controls in their respective farms to curb the spread of ASF,” he said.Pig farmers as well as members of the public are required to report all wild boar, pig, or commercially-reared pig deaths to the district Veterinary Services Office or Perak Veterinary Services Office at 05-545 9111.Meanwhile, Perak Veterinary Services Department director Ahmad Shafri Hassan said the ASF infection would not affect the supply of pork in the state as it only involved a small percentage of the total of 555,705 pigs at farms in several districts.


US adds 1 million Covid-19 cases in under a week

The US surpassed 11 million coronavirus cases Sunday, adding one million new cases in less than a week, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.The dizzying rise came as cities and states across the US were implementing new restrictions to try to halt the spread of the virus, with stay-at-home orders set to be imposed on Chicago Monday.The US had crossed the 10 million case threshold on Monday, Nov 9.As of 8.30pm Sunday (0130 GMT Monday) – just six days later – the Johns Hopkins University real-time tracker showed that the confirmed US caseload stood at 11,025,046.There have been 246,108 deaths in the country. Both are the highest tolls in absolute terms in the world.The US has seen a worrying surge in coronavirus cases since the start of November, forcing local and state officials from coast to coast to take more drastic steps to reduce the disease’s spread, with many hospitals already warning that they are running out of resources.In addition to the stay-at-home orders in Chicago, the country’s third biggest city, its biggest – New York, the epicentre of the country’s spring outbreak – is also rushing to fend off a second wave with new restrictions on bars and restaurants.New York schools will remain open Monday, even though New York City mayor Bill de Blasio had warned that they could switch to fully remote learning by then.President Donald Trump promised Friday that the first Americans would start receiving a vaccine in “a matter of weeks”, but said he remained firmly against new lockdowns – a measure taken in Europe, where cases are also on the upswing.Further complicating matters is Trump’s refusal to cooperate in the shift to president-elect Joe Biden’s administration, denying the Democrat both federal funding for transition work and vital briefings by outgoing officials.Democrats and Biden’s chief of staff say this could have a damaging impact on his ability to face the grave and mounting challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic once he assumes office.Biden and his team currently are not even allowed to consult with experts like top government immunologist Anthony Fauci, who is still a part of the White House Covid-19 task force.“Of course it would be better” if such talks could begin, Fauci told CNN on Sunday, noting that the virus could kill tens of thousands more Americans by the time Biden takes office on Jan 20.


Not like riding a bike: Flying errors abound as pandemic leaves pilots rusty

In September, an Indonesian Lion Air A330 momentarily veered off the runway after landing at Medan, breaking two runway lights. No passengers or crew were injured but the incident sparked an investigation by the country’s transport safety regulator.It found that the pilot and first officer were both in their late forties with around 17,000 hours flying experience, much of it on the A330.However, the pilot had flown less than three hours in the previous 90 days and the first officer had not flown at all since Feb 1.The incident brings to light a risk emerging from the pandemic, reports the Washington Post.Pilots are not flying enough to maintain their proficiency.Domestic flying is slowly recovering but international traffic is hovering at its lowest in recent history. Thousands of pilots have been laid off or furloughed, and those still in work are flying a lot less.“Regular flying keeps your mind in the cockpit,” said Mohan Ranganathan, an aviation safety consultant. “Also, stress reduces proficiency, and uncertainty about the future of your airline and your job creates stress.”Flight simulators help to keep pilots current, so long as they have access to them.Ian Cheng, senior vice-president of flight operations at Scoot, Singapore Airlines’ low-cost carrier, said its grounded pilots are being kept active with simulator sessions. “Because of the low amount of flying, simulators are essential to keep proficiency levels up,” he said.Lion Air has 10 A330s in its fleet but no A330 flight simulator, so its pilots are normally trained on simulators elsewhere in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. However, travel restrictions mean this is difficult during the pandemic.Pilot rustiness was also a possible factor in the crash of a Pakistan International Airlines plane in Karachi in May that killed all but two of the 99 people on board.“The pilots did not seem to be as fluent in the way they were conducting their flight as they should have been,” EU Aviation Safety Agency executive director Patrick Ky said. “If you haven’t flown for several months, you need to be retrained in order to come back.”International Air Transport Association vice-president for Asia Pacific, Conrad Clifford, told Bloomberg last week that they are looking at creating special travel bubbles so pilots can access simulators and ensure they maintain certifications and proficiency.The International Civil Aviation Organization has called for flight crew to be recognised as key workers so they can use travel bubbles and access training facilities, including simulators.According to Ranganathan, it will take at least a month of regular flying for pilots to get their confidence and skill levels back, along with lots of training.“When you are not focused, decisions can get delayed,” he said. “Just a few seconds can make a difference between a safe flight or an accident.”


Najib’s 1MDB trial to resume after lockdown delay

Former prime minister Najib Razak’s 1MDB trial will resume at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on July 5.Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib said the case was initially scheduled to resume on June 29 before justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah, but was postponed due to Phase One of the movement control order under the National Recovery Plan.“We received an email from the court yesterday afternoon informing us that the trial of the 1MDB case has been postponed. According to the schedule set earlier, the next trial date will start from July 5 to 8,” he said when contacted on WhatsApp today.The case was last heard on May 27.Najib’s lawyer Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed is expected to continue cross-examining the 10th prosecution witness, former 1MDB CEO Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman, 49, when the trial resumes.Najib, 67, is facing four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.


Labour shortages set up Malaysia for third year of palm oil losses

Malaysian palm oil planters are letting thousands of tonnes of fruits rot as the third year of a worker shortage has left companies unable to increase their harvesting during the peak production season.
Palm oil output in Malaysia, the world's second-largest producer, is forecast to decline, or at best remain unchanged, from last year's 18.1 million tonnes, according to planters and analysts.
Plantations across the nation are facing their worst labour crisis since the industry began in 1917, with the arrival of migrant workers that are the core of the industry's labour force at a "snail's pace," the Malaysian Palm Oil Association's (MPOA) chief executive Joseph Tek, told Reuters, despite the lifting of coronavirus-related hiring restrictions.
A lack of skilled harvesters means companies cannot fully capitalise on the peak harvest season that spans from August to November, forgoing a boost of growth from recent rains.
"The plantation industry is no longer at the breaking point, it has been pushed beyond the breaking point," Tek said.
Production shortfalls in Malaysia will support prices for benchmark crude palm oil futures, the most-traded vegetable oil in the world, which have lost half their value after hitting a record in March.
Travel restrictions enacted in 2020 to fight the Covid-19 pandemic left the Malaysian palm oil industry short of 120,000 foreign workers needed to maintain trees and harvest fruit bunches.
After that, oil palm yields plummeted to near 40-year lows in the 2020/21 marketing year, adding to a broader global edible oil shortage triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war. That pushed palm oil prices to record highs in March, inflating prices of foodstuffs, detergent and other palm oil-based products.
Since then though, palm oil prices have slid lower following the resumption of exports from rival Indonesia, the world's biggest palm oil producer, and a rebound in world oilseed production, with estimates of all-time high soybean output in the US and Brazil.
Chicago soybean oil has fallen 25% since hitting its all-time peak in April.
Malaysia's palm industry expected their labour woes to ease after the government lifted the Covid-19 freeze on recruitment in February, with the MPOA expecting the entry of 52,000 migrant workers. However, only several hundred workers have arrived, largely because of slow government approvals and concerns over worker protections.
The MPOA estimates only 12% of approvals for migrant workers granted to companies across all industry sectors in Malaysia have successfully translated into boots on the ground. Migrants, mainly from Indonesia and Bangladesh, make up around 80% of the workforce in Malaysian estates.
The human resources ministry, which is responsible for approving the intake of foreign workers, did not immediately respond to Reuters queries for a comment on the labour crunch. Messages sent to minister M Saravanan were not replied to as well.
FGV Holdings, the world's largest crude palm oil producing firm, said it has received 647 migrant workers this year and it has only filled 62% of its required workforce.
The firm is optimistic it will receive 7,000 workers by the end of the year, FGV said in a stock exchange filing on Aug 30. However, any incoming workers will miss the crucial high crop season.
As harvesting time at some plantations extends to as much as 90 days from the usual 10 to 15, producers are losing up to a quarter of their crops, the MPOA said. It estimates opportunity losses from unrealised crop and palm products could exceed RM20 billion by the end of the year.


China's Xi urges private firms to 'be rich and loving' in pursuit of prosperity for all

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday private companies should be "rich and loving" by shouldering a responsibility along with state-own firms to achieve prosperity for all.
Private Chinese and foreign firms have been waiting for Beijing to flesh out details on how it intends to pursue "common prosperity", Xi's signature initiative to narrow China's wealth gap, and how it expects private firms to contribute.
Speaking in a closed-door meeting with government advisers representing the business sector during the annual session of parliament, Xi urged private firms and entrepreneurs to be "patriotic" and participate actively in charity undertakings, state radio reported on Monday.
Xi also said that private firms should share the fruits of their growth with employees more equitably, in what he called a "community of shared interests".
"Be rich and responsible, be rich and benefit others, be rich and loving," state radio cited Xi as saying.
Some analysts say private firms are concerned that Xi's call for "common prosperity" could translate into a de facto tax as debt-ridden local governments struggle to boost fiscal revenue.
"The problem with 'common prosperity' is it can lead to a very uncertain tax burden, unlike the official corporate tax rate as stated by law," Alfred Wu, associate professor at the Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, told Reuters.
He said it is unfair to expect private firms to share the social responsibility for "common prosperity" with state-owned firms, which enjoy privileged access to markets and preferential loans not always available to private firms.
Xi said on Monday that China would always treat private firms and entrepreneurs as "family" and promised to remove institutional obstacles that prevent private companies from being able to compete fairly, according to state radio.
Beijing has pledged to support a private sector reeling from a regulatory crackdown in the property, technology and private education industries and recovering from state-imposed Covid restrictions that were lifted in December.
Xi blamed the West for the difficulties faced by China's economy. "Led by the US, the West has implemented all-round containment to suppress China, bringing unprecedented challenges to China's development," state radio quoted Xi as saying.


Crowds of parents forced to queue for school transfers despite online process

The lack of a wholly online system for parents seeking to apply for a change in assigned school for children who will be starting secondary school this year saw hundreds forced to visit district education offices (PPD) in person, causing long queues that spilled onto the roads outside.Parents said they were told to come in order to obtain a validation stamp from the PPD, ahead of the deadline this month to transfer their children to the school of their choice.Many parents met by MalaysiaNow said the process had become more tedious this year.Not only must they acquire confirmation from the school at which they are trying to enrol their children – which, alone, could take up to two days – they must also bring along copies of personal documents to be validated at the PPD.A check by MalaysiaNow of those who turned up at the Petaling Perdana PPD in Shah Alam on Thursday found that many had been waiting for hours just to get their documents validated.“The same form we submitted online, we have to give them by hand as well.”Malathi Palaniappan arrived at 9am to collect her queue number only to be told at noon that the office had run out of numbers for the morning session.“They issued queue numbers up to 250, and at 12.30pm we were told to come back at 2pm,” the 40-year-old mother, who is seeking to transfer her child from a school in Section 24 to Section 2 in Shah Alam, told MalaysiaNow.She said it was strange that parents were told to bring the same form they had filled up and submitted online.“Before we came, we were told to apply online but they still asked us to come here in person. The same form we submitted online, we have to give them by hand as well.”The line of parents seeking to transfer their children to the school of their choice stretches far down the road outside the Petaling Perdana district education office in Shah Alam.Another parent, Cheong Kong Chen, 43, said he could not understand why the documents must be validated when the school had already accepted the transfer.“Even for that simple stamp, it is taking so long,” he said.Students moving from primary to secondary school are assigned the school of their choice, taking into account the distance from their homes as well as the availability of slots.However, it is common for students to find themselves assigned to schools too far from where they live.This year, nearly half of some 50 secondary schools in the Petaling Perdana district, which covers areas such as Subang Jaya, Serdang, Puchong and Shah Alam, have been listed as full.In previous years, transfer requests could be made online. These were processed by the school, with parents and guardians only required to submit documents after having them validated by a commissioner for oaths or the local community head.These documents included the student’s Form One placement letter, birth certificate and UPSR results slip as well as the identification cards of child and parents.Photos of the long queues outside the PPDs this week were forwarded by MalaysiaNow to the education ministry’s Corporate Communications Unit and the minister’s press secretary, neither of which has responded.However, Education Minister Radzi Jidin made a surprise visit to a PPD in Klang where the situation appeared under control, with parents given chairs and shelter while they waited outside.“The Ministry of Education is committed to improving the quality of its service delivery to all. Be assured that we will do our best to empower the nation’s education system,” Radzi said on Twitter.Some parents who had been waiting since morning ask the security guard at the district education office when the afternoon session will begin.But answers have not been forthcoming on why school transfer applications still need parents and guardians to be present in person.Some parents who spoke to MalaysiaNow voiced concern over Covid-19 SOPs such as physical distancing, which in some cases was clearly difficult to observe.“Just look around, there is no physical distancing,” said one parent.Mimi Ismail, 39, said she had no choice but to join the crowd of applicants outside the PPD in Shah Alam.She said even though applications are open until Jan 20, many schools have run out of spots.“If we are late, there’s no way our child can attend the school of our choice,” she said.Primary school students, as well as those in Form One, Four, Five and Six, will return to the classroom on Jan 20, about two and a half months after schools nationwide were shut down on Nov 9 following a fresh spike of Covid-19 cases.Meanwhile, Form Two and Three students will begin physical classes on March 8.


It’s not just about patent rights, expert says on ways to make Covid jabs cheaper

Any move to suspend intellectual property (IP) rights for medical innovations to fight Covid-19 could be a double-edged sword, an expert says in the wake of a global debate on ways to bring down the cost of battling the pandemic.Sri Sarguna Raj, a lawyer who specialises in IP, said while suspending or removing protection for IP rights could lighten a major financial burden in the war against the virus, it would also mean taking away a proven method of incentivising new inventions, especially in today’s critical area of vaccines and medical equipment.Then again, Sri said, medical equipment such as vaccines are complex products and suspending or removing IP rights might not be the best approach to address the issue of making it accessible to the poorer parts of the world.“The main obstacle in the production of these vaccines and therapeutics is the adequacy of the production facilities, infrastructure, and know-how,” Sri told MalaysiaNow.Recent data quoted by The Economist said half of the world’s supply has been reserved for just 15% of its population.Last year, India and South Africa mooted a proposal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to temporarily suspend some parts of its Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The move subsequently obtained support from some 100 developing and less wealthy nations as well as from eminent individuals.The call has gathered support again as wealthy countries begin to take delivery of much-needed Covid-19 vaccines.It has also led to a growing trend of what is known as “vaccine nationalism” where governments, mostly from the developed world, hoard vaccines for their own populations.Recent data quoted by The Economist said half of the world’s supply has been reserved for just 15% of its population.“The 54 richest countries account for 18% of adults on Earth but 40% of vaccine orders – enough to give each of their adults 2.5 two-dose regimens,” the magazine said.IP laws ensure that the person who registers a claim to exclusive rights for an invention has the right to prevent others from copying or replicating it without permission.Early this month, 28 organisations urged Putrajaya to suspend the enforcement of such laws to help make vaccines cheaper and to benefit the developing world.Recently, WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala urged members as well as the European Union to end export restrictions on vaccines and other medical products needed to combat the Covid-19 pandemic worldwide.IP laws ensure that the person who registers a claim to exclusive rights for an invention has the right to prevent others from copying or replicating it without  permission.But Sri said there are other ways to address the concerns of those calling for a suspension of IP rights for Covid-19 innovations.“The supply and demand issue can be achieved through voluntary licensing, non-exclusive licences and technology transfer agreements instead of suspending IP rights,” he added.Compulsory licensing is permitted under the Malaysian Patents Act 1983.This helps deal with instances where the patentee registers a patent in Malaysia but does not manufacture the product in the country, preventing others from doing so or manufacturing limited quantities in order to command a higher price.Sri said a compulsory licence would allow parties other than the patentee to exploit the patent in a number of situations without the consent of the patent owner.The current public health emergency offers a good argument for this.Sri said the possible threat of the compulsory licensing regime could pressure patentee companies to allow non-exclusive licences or technology transfer agreements.This is similar to what drug giants AstraZeneca and Novavax have established with the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines for common diseases in the developing world such as hepatitis B, measles, mumps and rubella.The company is now said to be producing one billion AstraZeneca doses for low and middle-income countries, and has pledged to deliver 240 million doses in the first half of this year through the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access, or Covax.Sri said Article 31bis of TRIPS allows countries producing generic medicine under a compulsory licence to export medication to countries with limited domestic capacity.TRIPS is a global agreement on intellectual property between WTO member states.“TRIPS lays down minimum standards in patent law which all WTO member states are required to comply and harmonise with their respective local laws,” said Sri.


Total deaths top 18,000 as daily cases creep past 20,000

Another 20,396 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 1,844,835.Selangor recorded 3,886 cases, Sarawak 3,747, Johor 2,165, Sabah 2,136, Penang 1,961, Kedah 1,587, Kelantan 1,078 and Perak 1,057.Terengganu recorded 861 cases, Kuala Lumpur 597, Pahang 486, Melaka 459 and Negeri Sembilan 269.Perlis recorded 78 cases, Putrajaya 25 and Labuan four.Active cases stand at 255,789 with 959 in the ICU and 436 in need of respiratory assistance.Another 20,573 patients recovered, bringing total recoveries to 1,570,827.However, 336 more deaths were reported, pushing the virus toll to 18,219.


More BN leaders to contest on PN ticket, says Hadi

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang claims that more Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders have expressed interest in becoming Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidates in the 15th general election (GE15).
Hadi said PN was still processing their applications and would announce them on nomination day on Nov 5.
"Can't say how many seats. Most importantly, the seats are in the north, central, and south," he said at a press conference after the Terengganu PAS candidate announcement ceremony in Rusila, Marang, last night.
On the announcement by Federal Territories Minister and Arau incumbent Shahidan Kassim who wished to defend his seat on a PN ticket, Hadi said Shahidan had been with PAS since he was in Parliament and was brave enough to criticise the Umno leadership.
Besides Shahidan, Housing and Local Government deputy minister Ismail Abdul Mutalib will defend the Maran parliamentary seat as a PN candidate. Shahidan and Ismail are among the ministers and deputy ministers in the BN Cabinet under the administration of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob who were dropped from contesting in GE15.
Hadi said the PAS and PN leaderships had unanimously agreed with the decision to field candidates from BN on a PN ticket, adding that PN candidates who were initially listed had also stepped back voluntarily to make way for the new candidates.


Mystery illness strikes India, 150 hospitalised

Authorities in India are trying to find the cause of an unidentified illness which has led to around 150 people being admitted to hospital over the weekend.Doctors said the patients, from Eluru in Andhra Pradesh, had a wide range of symptoms from nausea to fits and falling unconscious.The illness struck as India continues to battle its coronavirus pandemic which is keeping it near the top of the list of most infected countries in the world.Local media said the patients have all now had coronavirus tests, all of which were negative.A medical officer at Eluru Government Hospital told The Indian Express, “The people who fell sick, especially the children, suddenly started vomiting after complaining of burning eyes. Some of them fainted or suffered bouts of seizures”.Andhra Pradesh Health Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas said that blood samples did not find any evidence of a viral infection. “We ruled out water contamination or air pollution as the cause after officials visited the areas where people fell sick,” he said. “It is some mystery illness and only lab analysis will reveal what it is.”The opposition Telugu Desam party, has called for an enquiry into the incident, insisting that contamination was the cause of the mystery illness.


Baltimore gun battle highlights surge in US mass shootings

A shooting at a holiday block party in Baltimore over the weekend that left two people dead and 28 injured highlights a sustained surge in mass shootings in the US since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
As of Monday, 340 mass shootings have taken place across the country so far this year. At that pace, the US will experience 679 mass shootings in 2023, the second most in a calendar year since 2014, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
In 2019, the year before the pandemic caused far-reaching changes in the way Americans work, play and interact with one another, the number of mass shootings reached 417, or about 61% fewer than the projected total for 2023.
Just after midnight on Sunday, gunfire erupted at the scene of an outdoor neighborhood block party in South Baltimore's Brooklyn Homes community. Fifteen of the injured victims were between the ages of 13 and 17, and the rest were over 17, Baltimore's acting police commissioner Richard Worley told reporters on Monday. The two people killed were 18 and 20.
Seven people were still hospitalised on Monday, four of whom were in critical condition, officials said. Investigators have asked for the public's help in tracking down multiple suspects. Police said they were concerned about retaliation for the shootings.
The rise in mass shootings over the last three years is partly due to the impact the pandemic has had on Americans, according to James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University.
"Lots of people are struggling, financially and emotionally, from the pandemic," Fox said, adding that gun sales have increased since the beginning of Covid-19. "Then you also have the tremendous divisions now and polarisation in our country."
Gun ownership, guaranteed under the second amendment of the Constitution, is widespread in the US, and it is a contentious political issue that heats up after particularly shocking shootings such the one that took place in Baltimore.
Mayor calls for more gun control
"This is the US of America. This is our longest standing public health challenge," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said at a Monday news conference, urging more gun control at the national level.
"We pride ourselves on being the leaders of the free world, but we cannot seem to get to a point where we're going to have the lives of American citizens meaning more than American citizens' ability to have guns," he said.
At the pace of the first half of this year, mass shootings over the 2023 calendar year would reach 679 or about double the 336 recorded in 2018. That would mark the second highest annual total over the last nine years, behind only the 690 recorded in 2021, according to data collected by the nonprofit group that tracks shootings.
The past weekend alone saw five other mass shootings, including one that wounded eight at a Wichita, Kansas, nightclub early on Sunday, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as any in which four or more people are wounded or killed, not including the shooter.
Among the deadliest mass shootings in 2023 was an attack in a Monterey Park, California, ballroom that left 11 people dead on Jan 21 and another in Allen, Texas, where eight people were killed at a mall on May 6.
The definition of a mass shooting differs among organisations and media outlets that track gun violence.
For example, the online database Mass Shooting Tracker defines a mass shooting as any in which four or more are shot, including the shooter or shooters. The FBI defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are murdered with a gun.


China eyes its rich in drive to reduce inequality

China’s top leaders plan to redistribute wealth, “adjust excessive incomes” and crack down on illicit gains in a bid to tackle inequality that could dent the fortunes of its richest, state media reported Wednesday.The policy goal, announced in the readout from an economic planning meeting attended on Tuesday by President Xi Jinping, comes amid a sweeping push by Beijing to rein in the country’s largest private firms in industries ranging from tech to education.It also follows a wider effort to alleviate poverty – a central pillar of Xi’s leadership – and as rumblings from the state crescendo on the type of capitalism China wants to have.The meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs agreed that China should “make basic institutional arrangements on income distribution,” raise incomes for people down the economic pyramid and “adjust excessive incomes and prohibit illicit income”, the official Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday.Xinhua said this was intended to “promote social fairness and justice”.The wealth gap in China is massive, with the top 10% of the population accounting for around 40% of national income in the last decade, according to a 2019 study in the American Economic Review.China does not currently have nationwide direct property taxes, and does not levy an inheritance tax.The number of billionaires in China nearly doubled to more than 1,000 in the past five years, according to the Hurun Report.Meanwhile, the country’s super wealthy became a record US$1.5 trillion richer in 2020, including bottled water magnate Zhong Shanshan and Alibaba founder Jack Ma, even as ordinary people struggled to find jobs amid Covid lockdowns last year.The country’s largest private firms have in recent months been hit with new regulations and antitrust probes aimed at curbing their outsized influence on nearly every aspect of life in China, wiping out billions of dollars in shares.China’s tax authorities have also in recent years cracked down on rampant tax evasion in the country, with film star Fan Bingbing’s disappearance in a tax evasion probe in 2018 sparking national outrage on under-the-table payments received by the rich.


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Sharp rise in Sabah Covid cases due to boarding school cluster

Daily Covid-19 cases in Sabah yesterday rose sharply to 172 cases compared to 82 cases the day before due to cases from the Khidmat cluster involving a boarding school in Kota Kinabalu, state Local Government and Housing Minister Masidi Manjun said.Masidi, without naming the school involved, said of the 82 new cases detected in Kota Kinabalu, 72 were from the Khidmat cluster. He added that the school was already under enhanced movement control order (EMCO).“Besides Kota Kinabalu, there were new cases in Tawau, Lahad Datu and Putatan,” he said in a Twitter post.Meanwhile in a statement, Masidi, who is also the state government spokesman for Covid-19, said 52,050 people had received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine as of yesterday while 42,191 people had completed the second dose in the first phase of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.“For the second phase of the programme, 3,173 people had received the first dose as of today (Wednesday),” he added.He said 4,120 had registered mainly through MySejahtera and its website for Covid-19 vaccination, bringing the total to 437,432 people registered in Sabah so far.


Israel tells its citizens to avoid Istanbul, warns Iran not to harm them

Israel raised its Istanbul travel advisory to the highest level on Monday because of what it said was a threat of Iranian attempts to kill or abduct Israelis vacationing in Turkey.Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said a “huge effort” by Israel’s security forces had saved “Israeli lives in recent weeks”, and thanked the Turkish government for its contribution.He did not give further details. An Israeli security official told Reuters Turkey had arrested several suspected “operatives” of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.Turkish officials and the Iranian embassy in Ankara did not immediately respond to requests for comment.“We are calling on Israelis not to fly to Istanbul – and if you don’t have a vital reason, don’t fly to Turkey. If you are already in Istanbul, return to Israel as soon as possible,” Lapid said in a televised statement.“These terrorist threats are aimed at vacationing Israelis. They are selecting, in a random but deliberate manner, Israeli citizens with a view to kidnapping or murdering them,” he said.“I want, from here, to relay a message to the Iranians as well. Whoever harms Israelis will not get away with it. Israel’s long arm will get them, no matter where they are.”Tehran has vowed to retaliate against Israel, which it blames for the May 22 killing of Hassan Sayad Khodai, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps colonel who was shot dead at the wheel of his car by two people on a motorcycle.Israel neither confirmed nor denied responsibility, its standard policy over accusations of assassinations. It accused Khodai of having plotted attacks against its citizens worldwide.Turkey is a popular tourist destination for Israelis. The two countries have been mending their ties after more than a decade of strained relations.The upgraded advisory does not apply to Israelis on flights with layovers in Istanbul “as long as they do not leave the airport”, Israel’s National Security Council said in a statement.


A decade after getting autonomy, are Malaysian varsities better off?

While efforts have been underway for a number of years now to grant autonomy to institutions of higher education in the country, questions remain about the extent to which universities can boost their self-governance given their financial struggles, issues with administrative transparency, and the apparent dumping of corporate culture seen as incompatible with the academic world.
The autonomy implementation programme was introduced in 2012 under the National Higher Education Strategic Plan.
It granted all 20 public universities the authority to manage their resources without referring to central agencies in a bid to allow more flexibility in decision-making, including in terms of financial and human resources management.
But today, it appears that other effects have also taken hold.
For instance, academics with research and teaching backgrounds have had to turn businessmen to obtain their own financial resources to cover the expenses of their research work.
Similar problems can be seen in the management and procurement departments, to the point where facilities such as lecture halls, student residences and even faculty buildings are suffering from a lack of maintenance.
The granting of autonomy has also resulted in academics being retained on a contract or part-time basis due to financial constraints or austerity measures.
"This is the problem when we evaluate work from the outside," a senior lecturer from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) said on condition of anonymity.
"Autonomy appears to benefit the university, but there is no concrete strategy for implementation.
"In the end, it becomes chaotic. You have to cover all sorts of costs yourself. Some of my academic friends at other universities have even had to find sponsors for faculty photocopiers. Is this a good post-autonomy paradigm?"
At the initial stage of the programme, the lecturer added, the financial sector had announced that there were only enough resources and funds for nine months at the most.
"Many came up with proposals such as selling university vehicle registration numbers in order to raise funds," the lecturer said.
"These were mainly targeted at prestigious and high-ranking alumni who would bid more."

Now, USM's registration numbers are open for bidding to members of the public as the management continues efforts to increase the university's income.
The lecturer said there was still a lot of confusion and overlaps in jurisdiction which had a negative impact on the university's development.
"For example, international students apply to be PhD candidates at the university. We, as lecturers, have no autonomy to make a decision about who should be accepted and who should be rejected.
"If we have no autonomy even in such small matters, what are we actually trying to achieve?"
The lecturer added that a lack of funds had made the university "obsessed" with receiving international students who would pay higher fees.
"There are students who are accepted who can't speak English at all. They use translators to the point where it makes things difficult for the lecturers.
"These are all the effects of autonomy in the university, and it's very challenging."
Autonomy, not business
The former vice-chancellor of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) however maintained that autonomy was good for the future of higher education institutions in the country.
Speaking to MalaysiaNow, Noor Azlan Ghazali said while the idea of autonomy began around 2012, it was only partial autonomy.
"For example, autonomy in HR matters," he added. "But the issue that is always the concern is the financial side."
In the long run, Azlan said, any good and reputable university should be able to stand on its own.
"Universities should not be overdependent on the government," he said. "Just that in Malaysia, that's how we started."
In other developed countries, he said, the importance of higher education is understood.
"Ivy League institutions like Harvard, for example – their enrolment can reach US$40 billion. And you see funds pouring in from societies as so on.
"They feel that more for the university is better for everyone. But Malaysia is not yet at that level, so we began with government support as so on."
Azlan, who led the UKM administration for five years before retiring in 2018, said autonomy presented a positive challenge in terms of how to seriously generate income for universities.
"When we talk about generating income, it's not about universities being in business per say," he added.
"There are many ways that income can be generated."
He said it would depend on the leadership of the university, adding that issues normally arise when faculty members begin feeling as though the requests from above are instructions to "go into business".
"They get confused and they say, I am not here to be involved in income generation and profit," he added.
"But to me, I will tell them, whatever it is, generating income does not mean that you are in a profit-oriented institution. There are many institutions that are rich but which are not about profit.
"It's not about turning it into a business," he added. "You must just have a good financial understanding that everything requires funding."


Home to roost after 24-year adventure in the skies over New Zealand

A New Zealand pigeon has reappeared where it was raised by humans, more than two decades after flying off to freedom.The question being asked is, does that make him the best or the worst homing pigeon ever?The 29-year-old wood pigeon, known as a kereru in Maori, flew into Rainbow Springs, a wildlife park in Rotorua on the North Island in late August but his arrival was kept secret until now.The bird, named Pidge, was born and hand-reared there in March 1991. He flew off into the wild at age five, according to the New Zealand Herald.Several weeks ago, staff noticed a bedraggled old bird pecking at weeds. Pidge’s identity was revealed after he was examined and his ankle band was revealed.Emma Bean, the kiwi hatchery manager at the wildlife park, said that he could be the oldest  kereru alive today, as they usually live for less than 25 years.“To have Pidge back again at almost 30, older than most of us keeping staff, is really exciting,” Bean said, “We’ll be really pleased to give him the extra care and support he needs in his senior years.”The kereru species was crowned New Zealand’s Bird of the Year in 2018, beating the flightless kakapo to the top prize.One mystery remains: kereru are usually seen in pairs and no-one knows if he left a girlfriend out in the wild. Park staff say if she arrives, they will do everything they can to make the old couple happy in their old age.Kereru are green, bronze and white in colour. It is the only bird left in New Zealand that can eat and disperse seeds from the country’s biggest native trees.It has a reputation as a glutton, and is easily recognisable from its drunken style of walking and occasionally falling out of trees after an over-consumption of berries.


Mafia fugitive’s cooking videos land him in the soup

A fugitive Italian gangster’s urge to show off his cooking skills has landed him in jail after seven years on the run.Italian police tracked down Marc Feren Claude Biart, 53, through cooking videos he uploaded to YouTube.In the videos, he carefully hid his face, but forgot to cover his arm and hand tattoos as he sliced and diced.The alleged member of the ‘Ndrangheta crime gang was arrested in the Caribbean last Wednesday and has now been extradited back to Italy.Biart had reportedly been leading a quiet life in the town of Boca Chica, in the Dominican Republic, police said in a statement.He had been on the run since 2014, when he was wanted by police for allegedly trafficking cocaine into the Netherlands on behalf of the Cacciola clan of the ‘Ndrangheta mafia.The ‘Ndrangheta is considered one of the world’s most powerful organised crime groups because it controls most of the cocaine entering Europe. It is based in Calabria, the region that forms the tip of Italy’s “boot”.The alleged clan boss, Luigi Mancuso, 66, is known as “The Uncle”. Other members go by nicknames such as “The Wolf”, “Fatty” and “Blondie”.They are all now facing justice in the biggest mafia trial Italy has seen in decades. There are 355 alleged mobsters and corrupt officials who have been charged after a long investigation into the ‘Ndrangheta group.During a pre-trial hearing it took more than three hours to read the names of the defendants, Reuters news agency reported at the time. The charge sheet includes murder, drug trafficking, extortion, and money laundering.More than 900 witnesses are expected to give evidence at the trial, which opened in January and will last two years.A high security 3,000 square metre courtroom, with cages for defendants, has been built for the occasion in Calabria.‘Ndrangheta is said to be the world’s richest criminal organisation due to its international drug trade.The investigation targeted the Mancuso family, which forms a powerful section of the sprawling mafia. The son of one of the mob bosses is set to testify for the prosecution.“I think it’s the first time that the son of a boss has decided to turn against his father in ‘Ndrangheta and he’s the pivotal testimony for this trial,” said University of Oxford professor Federico Varese.


Bill Gates meets Xi Jinping in Beijing

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates met President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, after his foundation pledged US$50 million (RM231 million) to help Chinese efforts to battle disease.
Gates – one of the world's richest men – is among a number of Western business leaders to visit China since the country ended strict Covid controls that saw it largely closed off from the world for almost three years.
The visit is Gates' first to the country in four years.
Chinese state media said Friday the visit included a rare sit-down between the Chinese head of state and a foreign business leader.
"On June 16, President Xi Jinping met the American Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation co-chairperson Bill Gates in Beijing," state broadcaster CCTV said.
The meeting comes ahead of an expected visit to China by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday.
It also follows a Thursday announcement by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that it would give US$50 million to support Chinese efforts to fight malaria and tuberculosis.
The foundation announced it would renew a collaboration with the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI) – a Beijing-based group set up by Gates, the Beijing municipal government and Tsinghua University.
The US$50 million will support "efforts to improve health outcomes worldwide through lifesaving therapies for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria, which disproportionately affect the world's poorest", the Gates Foundation said in a statement.
On Thursday, Gates gave a speech at GHDDI, the Gates Foundation said, hailing China's efforts in eradicating malaria and poverty reduction.
"China has made significant gains reducing poverty and improving health outcomes within China," Gates said.
"I'm hopeful China can play an even bigger role in addressing the current challenges, particularly those facing African countries."
Gates last visited China in 2019, where he met with first lady Peng Liyuan to discuss his foundation's work in HIV/AIDS prevention.
During a visit to the country the previous year, he brandished a jar of human waste at a forum in Beijing in a bid to draw attention to the shortage of toilets in the developing world.
A string of American business leaders have visited China this year, talking up their optimism about its vast market and trade ties between the two economic powerhouses.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon visited China in recent weeks, as did Tesla CEO Elon Musk, his first visit in more than three years.
Musk, who has extensive business interests in China, met with senior officials in Beijing and visited Tesla's Gigafactory on the outskirts of Shanghai for a late-night meeting with staff.
In March, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Beijing, saying his company enjoyed a "symbiotic" relationship with China.


McDonald’s says its beef sourced directly from halal abattoirs

Popular fast food franchise McDonald’s has assured that its beef products are sourced from abattoirs abroad which are certified halal by Jakim, in the wake of the recent revelation that a meat cartel had been repackaging imported meat by using the halal logo.The company said its raw beef was purchased directly from halal-certified abattoirs in Australia, New Zealand and Brazil by MacFood Services without going through any third party distributor.It said the abattoirs were also compliant with animal welfare and food safety programmes before they could qualify as approved suppliers for McDonald’s.“Since 2017, MacFood Services had been accepted and placed under Jakim’s whitelist, which is a recognition of MacFood Services’ compliance with Jakim’s halal requirements,” said a statement issued by the popular burger franchise in response to queries from MalaysiaNow.It added that MacFood Services meets requirements of several global standards including its inhouse food safety tool, Supplier Quality Management System.“These audits are inclusive of traceability and food fraud, which will review raw material used and compliance.”Jakim, or the Department of Islamic Development, is legally authorised to certify products as halal.It recently said it would issue a list of licensed meat importers in the country, following public outrage over the meat-fraud scandal.It was claimed that imported non-certified meat had been mixed with non-halal meat, bypassing checks and costs involved in the halal certification process, before being sold on the domestic market.


Govt announces RM332.1 billion in biggest budget ever

The government today announced its largest ever budget of RM332.1 billion for the year 2022.Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz, who tabled the budget in the Dewan Rakyat, spoke of three main goals: strengthening recovery, building up resilience and driving reform.Of the total, RM233.5 billion is intended for operating expenditure, RM75.6 billion for development, and RM23 billion for the Covid-19 fund.RM2 billion meanwhile has been allocated for contingency savings.“Although this is an expansionary budget, the fiscal deficit of 2022 is projected to shrink to 6% of GDP from 6.5% in 2021,” Zafrul said.Zafrul said initiatives for direct cash assistance would be enhanced next year, adding that the government will introduce a reformed version of the Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia (BKM) assistance to ensure that the affected groups receive the necessary focus.For 2022, he said, RM2,000 would be channelled to households with three children or more with a monthly income of less than RM2,500 – an increase from the maximum RM1,800 given under the Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR) assistance.The government will also give additional aid of RM500 to single parents with a monthly income of RM5,000.This means that single parents with three children or more will be eligible for a maximum of RM2,500 in BKM aid.Meanwhile, RM300 in aid will be given to households with senior citizens.As a whole, the BKM aid is expected to benefit more than 9.6 million recipients with an allocation of RM8.2 billion – an increase from the RM7 billion allocated under BPR.In terms of assistance channelled by the social welfare department, the conditions for eligibility will be raised to the 2019 Food Poverty Line, that is RM1,169 compared to RM980 previously.A total of RM2.4 billion has been allocated for welfare assistance, which is expected to benefit more than 440,000 households in need.Another RM25 million meanwhile will go to the Malaysian Family Foundation to lead efforts to protect the welfare, education and future of those orphaned by Covid-19.Meanwhile, RM16 billion has been set aside for the defence ministry and RM17 billion for the home ministry.In terms of helping businesses recover, RM40 billion has been set aside under the Semarak Niaga Keluarga Malaysia Programme (SemarakNiaga) for direct loans, financing guarantees and equity injections to help entrepreneurs.This is Putrajaya’s second pandemic-era budget and the first tabled by Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration, which came to power after the resignation of Muhyiddin Yassin in late August.The 2021 budget, also tabled by Zafrul, had involved a total allocation of RM322.5 billion – RM10 billion (8.59%) more than the revised budget for 2020.


Sisters in Islam, state-owned Perak agency among recipients of multi-million ringgit grants from EU

A massive fund with a total allocation of €79.5 billion (RM366 billion) to promote "Global Europe", the European Union's (EU) multilateral agenda around the world, has distributed some RM20 million to several Malaysian NGOs, MalaysiaNow has learnt.
The Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) was launched two years ago, consolidating several of the EU's funding arms to give financial assistance to civil society organisations outside Europe with the aim, among others, of promoting "human rights and democracy".
A list sighted by MalaysiaNow shows a total of nine entities including lesser known NGOs involved in campaigning for "gender and sexual rights" as beneficiaries of a total of €4.5 million (RM20.7 million).
The grants were distributed in December 2022, and range between three and five years for various activities and projects.
The recipients include Sisters In Islam (SIS), a group championing Muslim women's rights, who together with another NGO, Kryss Network, were awarded €761,442 (about RM3.5 million), covering a period of three years.
Founded in 1988, SIS says it promotes Muslim women's rights based on "equality, justice and freedom enjoined by the Quran". The group has faced off with local Muslim bodies over the interpretation of Islamic texts, as well as with state Islamic authorities over the jurisdiction of Islamic laws.
Kryss Network meanwhile describes itself as an organisation working for "especially women, young women, and gender non-conforming persons".
According to the NDICI document, the fund is to help the two groups in efforts to strengthen gender equality advocacy "in shrinking civic spaces and conservative environments".
Two other NGOs, the Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (ARROW) and Seed Foundation, were allocated €750,000, or about RM3.45 million, for activities to "strengthen capacities towards inclusive development pathways".
The bulk of the EU funding, some €3 million (RM13.8 million), was allocated to three sets of entities.
It includes €1 million for Semporna Islands Project Society and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF Malaysia) to carry out "community action for fish-bomb-free Semporna seas" in Sabah.
Another €1 million is for Universiti Kelantan Malaysia and the Perak State Parks Corp (PSPC), for "activities to preserve the Royal Belum forest against the impact of climate change".
PSPC, which is owned by the Perak government, has also been listed as a recipient of a separate grant of about €990,000 (about RM4.5 million), alongside WWF Malaysia and Persatuan Pelindung Harimau, to "support indigenous forest communities as advocates and guardians of biodiversity in the Royal Belum state park".


Time running short as search for Titanic sub focuses on undersea sounds

Rescuers searching for a missing submersible near the wreck of the Titanic on Wednesday concentrated their efforts on a remote area of the North Atlantic where undersea noises have been detected, though officials cautioned the sounds may not have originated from the vessel.
With estimates suggesting the air supply on board could run out in a matter of hours, an international coalition of rescue teams was sweeping a vast expanse of the ocean for the Titan, which vanished on Sunday while carrying five people on a deep-sea voyage to the century-old shipwreck as part of a tourist expedition.
The US Coast Guard said remotely operated vehicles were deployed underwater near where Canadian aircraft recorded the noises using sonar buoys on Tuesday and Wednesday but have not found any sign of the Titan yet.
Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick said at a press conference that analysis of the noises has been "inconclusive."
"When you're in the middle of a search-and-rescue case, you always have hope," he said. "With respect to the noises specifically, we don't know what they are, to be frank with you." Officials did not offer a detailed description of the sounds.
Even if the submersible is located, retrieving it presents huge logistical challenges, given the extreme conditions thousands of metres below the surface.
Teams from the US, Canada and France using airplanes and ships have searched more than 25,900 square km of open sea, roughly twice the land mass of the US state of Connecticut.
The 22-foot (6.7m) submersible Titan, operated by US-based OceanGate Expeditions, began its descent at 8am (1200 GMT) on Sunday. It lost contact with its surface support ship near the end of what should have been a two-hour dive to the Titanic.
Sean Leet, who heads a company that jointly owns the support ship, the Polar Prince, told reporters on Wednesday that "all protocols were followed" but declined to give a detailed account of how communication ceased.
"There's still life support available on the submersible, and we'll continue to hold out hope until the very end, Leet, CEO of Miawpukek Horizon Maritime Services, told reporters in St John's Newfoundland.
The Titan set off with 96 hours of air, according to the company, which would mean the oxygen could run out by Thursday morning. But experts say the air supply depends on a range of factors, including whether the submersible still has power and how calm the people aboard have remained.
The wreck of the Titanic, a British ocean liner that struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in 1912, killing more than 1,500 people, lies on the seabed at a depth of about 3,810m. It is about 1,450km east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and 400 miles south of St John's, Newfoundland.
Those aboard the submersible, the highlight of a tourist adventure that costs US$250,000 per person, included British billionaire and adventurer Hamish Harding, 58, and Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, with his 19-year-old son Suleman, who are both British citizens.
French explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, and Stockton Rush, founder and chief executive of OceanGate, were also reported to be on board.
A friend of Harding, Jannicke Mikkelsen, who has accompanied the British entrepreneur on other expeditions, told Reuters she was hoping for good news but was not optimistic. "It would be a miracle if they are recovered alive," she said.
Safety concerns
Questions about the Titan's safety were raised in a 2018 lawsuit filed by OceanGate's former director of marine operations, David Lochridge, who claimed he was fired for voicing concerns that the hull could not withstand extreme depths.
In its own court claim against Lochridge, OceanGate said he refused to accept the lead engineer's assurances and accused Lochridge of improperly sharing confidential information.
The two sides settled the case in November 2018. Neither the company nor Lochridge's attorney has commented on the details of the dispute.
Months prior to the lawsuit, a group of submersible industry leaders wrote to OceanGate warning that the "experimental" approach" to the sub's development could result in "minor to catastrophic" problems.
Aaron Newman, a former Titan passenger who knows some of the missing people, told NBC on Wednesday he felt safe during his dive.
"This is not a Disney ride," he said. "We're going places that very few people have been."
If the Titan managed to return to the surface, it could still be difficult to spot it in the open water, experts said. The submersible is sealed shut with bolts from the outside, making it impossible for those inside to escape without assistance.
If the Titan is on the ocean floor, a rescue effort would be even more challenging because of the massive pressures and total darkness at a depth of more than two miles. Titanic expert Tim Maltin said it would be "almost impossible to effect a sub-to-sub rescue" on the seabed.
A French research ship carrying a deep-sea diving robot submersible was expected to arrive later on Wednesday.
The remote-controlled vessel is capable of diving as deep as the Titanic wreck and could help free the submersible if it is stuck, though the robot cannot lift the 21,000-pound (9,525kg) Titan on its own. The robot could also help hook the sub to a surface ship that is able to lift it, the operator said.


Germany breathe life into World Cup campaign in battling draw with Spain

Germany gave themselves hope of avoiding another embarrassing early World Cup exit when they snatched a 1-1 draw with Spain on Sunday with Niclas Fuellkrug firing home an 83rd minute equaliser on only his third appearance for his country.
The result leaves the four-time world champions facing a must-win match against Costa Rica on Thursday, and also means Spain have yet to book their passage out of Group E. Japan and Costa Rica could yet qualify too.
Germany looked to be in severe danger of repeating their group stage failure of 2018 in Russia when Alvato Morata, eight minutes after coming on from the bench, handed Spain the lead by neatly flicking in a cross from Jordi Alba in the 62nd minute.
A defeat against Spain after Germany's shock 2-1 opening loss to Japan would have left Hansi Flick's men facing a huge challenge to get into the knockout phase.
But in the 83rd minute they battled back into contention as Leroy Sane took advantage of a poor defensive clearance to feed Jamal Musiala who turned between two Spain defenders, with the ball falling to Fuellkrug who fired high into the net.
The Werder Bremen forward, who won his first cap earlier this month after a string of goals in the Bundesliga, had replaced Thomas Mueller 13 minutes earlier as Germany desperately sought an equaliser.
"We knew what the situation was, what was at stake," Flick told reporters, and he said Fuellkrug's equaliser might prove to be a turning point for Germany in Qatar.
"Things start to happen when you start to win, so maybe this will give us a boost and give us the self confidence to get goals," he said.
Spain coach Luis Enrique said he was left ruing his side's failure to hold on to their lead. "But after two matches we are in the top of the classification of the death group and I think that we have to be positive," he said.
The Spaniards had looked more relaxed from the start, cutting through Germany with their angled passing in the Al Bayt Stadium, about 50km north of Doha. Dani Olmo almost created an early breakthrough in the seventh minute but his shot was palmed onto the bar by Manuel Neuer.
Germany thought they had taken an unlikely lead in the 39th minute when defender Antonio Rudiger powered in a header from a Joshua Kimmich free kick, but the German celebrations were cut short as VAR quickly ruled that he was offside.
Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon was forced into his first save in the 56th minute when the 2010 champions got into trouble trying to play out of defence, allowing Kimmich to shoot from just inside the penalty area but Simon saved impressively.
Spain top the standings with four points and now need only a draw in their final Group E game against Japan to progress. A win would send them through to the knockout round in first place.
Germany, are bottom of the table on one point. They need to win against Costa Rica on Thursday and their hopes then depend on Japan losing. If Japan draw it would come down to goal difference or goals scored by Germany and Japan.


Personal loans top reason for bankruptcy

Personal loans are the main cause of bankruptcy cases in this country, with 49.22% compared with other types of financial loans, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said.
She said personal loans include secured or unsecured loans from banking institutions, personal loans from money lenders other than banking institutions and friendly loans from individuals.
Apart from that, she said that bankruptcy cases involving business loans are 17.05%, housing loans are 8.28% and credit card debt is 6.35%.
"The data, in terms of age, from 2019 to 2023, show that the 35-44-year-old age group was found to have the highest number of bankruptcy cases, at 13,073 people, compared with only 107 individuals under the age of 25, while those aged 55 and over were 5,297 people.
"Based on gender, there are more bankrupt cases among men at 25,104, compared with 8,912 women. Also, Malays recorded the most bankrupt cases with 19,791 people," she said. Azalina said this when winding up the debate on the Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2023 before it was passed by the Dewan Rakyat today after being debated by 18 MPs from the government and the opposition.
Earlier, during the debate session, Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-Kota Melaka) wanted an explanation of the types of personal loans which have caused many individuals to go bankrupt and suggested that the payment rate of 5 to 7% to the Malaysian Department of Insolvency be reviewed.
Meanwhile, Muhyiddin Yassin (PN-Pagoh), during the debate session, raised bankruptcy statistics involving racial breakdowns, stating that for the year 2019-2023, Malays recorded the highest number of bankruptcy cases at 58.28%, followed by Chinese at 24.96%. Indians recorded 7.91%, while others is at 8.67%.
Muhyiddin also proposed that the government put emphasis on efforts to help bankrupt individuals to rise and rebuild their economy, besides not letting their bankruptcy status remain for life.
The Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2023, among other things, provides that bankrupt individuals aged 70 and above and those mentally ill are eligible for automatic discharge through the issuance of the insolvency director-general’s certificate of discharge, in addition to improving the provisions of automatic discharge.
In the meantime, Azalina said that bankrupt individuals should be given a second chance to rebuild their lives and contribute to the country's economic development.