Anwar told me he couldn’t rein in his ‘naughty boys’, says Mahathir

Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said Anwar Ibrahim had failed to openly show support for him as prime minister following the PKR leader’s release from jail in the aftermath of the 2018 general election.“Instead, he was more busy meeting with the rulers, and this was not seen as being supportive of me,” the former prime minister, whose resignation triggered the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government last year, said in a live interview with Malay daily Sinar Harian.He said in contrast, Anwar would express his support in private when the two met.“He would say that his ‘boys’ were naughty, he could not control them. That’s his excuse,” Mahathir said, referring to Anwar’s loyal followers who had called for a power transition at the tail end of the PH administration.Mahathir was made prime minister following PH’s victory in the 2018 general election, under a deal between the top leadership in which it was agreed that he would hand over power to Anwar, who was serving jail time for a sodomy conviction.Mahathir, who had previously defended his move to delay handing over the top post to Anwar, said it was always his intention to keep the promise.“PH’s promise was that I would become the prime minister for a certain unspecified period, after which Anwar (would take over).“I realised that there was so much work left to be done, so I could not tell when I would resign, although I wanted to resign. I wouldn’t break my promise and remain as prime minister till the 15th general election.“But Anwar’s followers went around saying a lot of things about me, condemning me and telling me to quit, they were extremists,” Mahathir said.Mahathir said he decided to let the pro-Anwar loyalists say what they wanted as he had work to do, adding that he had carefully planned a series of programmes for developing the economy and improving the education system.“I had not wanted to remain as prime minister until I died. I would have stepped down, but they should have waited,” he said.Mahathir also repeated his denial of a claim by former attorney-general Tommy Thomas.Thomas, in his autobiography “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”, claimed that Mahathir, after resigning as prime minister, had told him that the Agong wanted to appoint Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to replace him.“He said that I told him. I would never have said that because it was not true at all.“It’s illogical. When I asked him, he said I was the one who told him. I couldn’t have said something that did not take place.”Mahathir had assumed the role of interim prime minister on the Agong’s request, until Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn into office on March 1, 2020.Meanwhile, Mahathir said Muhyiddin was able to remain in power despite possessing a razor-thin majority as those against him would be politically vulnerable if they revoked their support for the government.He gave examples of former prime minister and Pekan MP, Najib Razak and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who have been at the forefront of criticism against Muhyiddin’s government.“Muhyiddin rules only with a majority of two or three (MPs). If these three revoke their support, the government will fall.“But these three would also fall if they stop (supporting the government).“Say if Najib or Zahid is not happy with Muhyiddin. If they quit, not only Muhyiddin, they too would fall.”‘My greatest regret’Mahathir in the interview said one of his greatest regrets during his long political career was stepping down from power after 22 years in 2003, during his first term as prime minister.But when asked if he similarly regretted resigining again in 2020, he said it was because he was left with no choice.“I was forced to resign. My party had collapsed,” he said.He said he was not bothered by how he would be judged.“Even before I die, people have been telling all sorts of things. To me, that’s all part of politics.”In an emotional conclusion to the interview, Mahathir, his voice breaking, said he had managed to continue his work despite the heavy criticism.“(It’s due to) love of my race,” said Mahathir.


Bereft by floods and failed by system, ‘small people’ struggle alone

For 17 years, Zariah Shamsuddin lived with her family in a small house at Batu 18 in Hulu Langat, near Sungai Lui.While life was not always easy, they never experienced tragedy or disaster – not until three weeks ago, when the area was hit by massive floods after days of continuous rain.The family of three lost everything, from personal items kept for their sentimental value to the very house in which they lived.Recalling the water that came gushing into the house that night in December last year, Zariah said it was the most terrifying thing she had ever seen.“I can’t describe how scared I was at the time,” she said.“The floodwater was so fast and high. It moved in circles, and it carried away so many things including household items, motorcycles and even logs.“It was dark and raining heavily, and we could hear the loud sounds of things being crushed and destroyed.”Zariah and her son look at the wreckage left at their village in Jalan Sungai Lui.As the water level continued to rise, Zariah, her husband and their eight-year-old son climbed into a small boat. They tried to cling on to anything within reach, but the strong currents tore everything from their grasp and carried them further and further away from their house.They ended up caught in a grove of bamboo trees where they waited for more than nine hours, bracing themselves against the gushing water until the level began to recede the next day.Three weeks later, their situation has not improved by much.For the first week after the flood destroyed their home, Zariah and her family lived in a tent. There they stayed until help began to arrive.“When the water level began to go down, I took my son to my sister-in-law’s house,” she said. “After that, a friend’s family offered us their homestay.”Zariah would spend the nights at the homestay but every morning she would return to what remained of her house, to salvage and clean up what she could.“My husband meanwhile never left,” she said. “He set up a tent, and we would stay there doing what we could.”Sitting in their temporary cabin, Zariah sorts through the clothes donated to her family by well wishers who heard about their plight.While some might question their reluctance to leave the destruction and ruin of what was once a happy home, Zariah said there are still things there that they need to take care of.Her husband had a small motorcycle workshop behind their house, where some motorcycles which had yet to be collected by their owners remain.“He said people gave him their trust, so he needs to keep it. He always keeps his eyes open and is very alert for anything,” she said.Now, she and her family stay in a small temporary cabin. An anonymous donor meanwhile gave them enough money to begin rebuilding at least some of their house. But it is slow going.When the government first announced a slew of initiatives to help those affected by the floods, Zariah and her husband were filled with hope. But after waiting in line for hours with hundreds of others, their application was rejected.Flood victims at Jalan Sungai Lui live in temporary cabins as they try to piece back their lives.“They said this land is reserved land, so we could not get government assistance to build a house,” she said.“We might also need to vacate this place if they ask us to. When I heard that, I didn’t know how to react anymore.“We have been living here for years, some of us an entire lifetime. We pay our taxes and fulfil our responsibilities as citizens, but we can’t even get the assistance that we need when we are hit by a disaster.”Zariah said many other villagers faced similar rejections for a number of reasons. Some were rejected as the names on the land grant were those of their parents who had passed away. Others meanwhile were rejected because they were not married.She said there is just too much bureaucracy involved which only adds to the people’s burdens.“The system doesn’t make it easier for us. It just burdens us even more and it makes us so stressed.“Why can’t they just give some of the assistance that they promised? We are villagers. We are not aiming to be rich, we just want some kind of shelter.”Unsure of what the future holds, Zariah nevertheless intends to remain strong. She said she and her husband would try to rebuild their home little by little with what they have.As a citizen, though, she cannot deny her disappointment.“But what can we do? We are just small people.”


Israelis protest judicial reform for ninth week

Thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv Saturday for a ninth consecutive week to protest government legal reforms critics see as threatening democracy.
Protests also occurred in Jerusalem and Karmiel near Haifa.
The latest rally in Tel Aviv came after a similar demonstration on Wednesday when police employed stun grenades and water cannon in a rare use of force that led to about 39 arrests and 11 injuries in the coastal city.
Judicial reform is a cornerstone of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's latest administration, an alliance with ultra-Orthodox and extreme-right parties which took office in late December.
Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, presents the overhaul as key to restoring balance between the branches of government in a system he believes gives judges too much power over elected officials.
"Crime Minister," said a large banner among the Tel Aviv protesters, who carried Israeli flags.
"Democracy! Democracy!" and "Shame!" they shouted.
The legislation would give more weight to the government in the committee that selects judges, and would deny the Supreme Court the right to strike down any amendments to so-called Basic Laws, Israel's quasi-constitution.
These previsions have already received first-reading endorsement from legislators.
Another element of the reforms would give the 120-member parliament power to overrule Supreme Court decisions with a simple majority of 61 votes.
Analysts say such a derogation clause could allow lawmakers to uphold any annulment of the corruption charges Netanyahu is being tried on, should parliament vote to absolve him and the Supreme Court then rule against it.
Netanyahu denies the charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, and rejects any link between the reforms and his own court case.
The proposals could deal a "severe blow to the economy", former Bank of Israel governors have warned in the country that dubs itself the "start-up nation".


UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting on Myanmar

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday on the situation in Myanmar, following the coup by the country’s military, according to an official calendar of events.The meeting, to be held by videoconference, will take place behind closed doors, says the calendar – which was approved Monday by council members.The UN special envoy for Myanmar, Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener, is expected to brief the council on the latest developments at the meeting.Myanmar’s military seized power on Monday in a bloodless coup, detaining democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other top politicians – sparking an international outcry.Britain, which holds the rotating council presidency for the month of February, had long planned to hold a meeting on Myanmar this week, but moved it up given the circumstances.The country’s UN envoy, Barbara Woodward, told reporters that she hoped to have “as constructive a discussion as possible on Myanmar and look at a range of measures, with the idea of respecting the people’s will expressed in the vote and releasing civil society leaders.”“We’ll want to consider measures that will move us towards that end,” Woodward said, while noting there were no specific measures in mind at the current time.Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won November elections in a landslide, but the military now claims those polls were tainted by fraud.Earlier, at his daily press conference, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: “What is important is that the international community speak with one voice.”


'Walk the talk': Lawyers group tells Anwar to remove PM's power in judges' appointments

Rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has welcomed a proposal by the Malay rulers to clip the prime minister's powers in the appointment of judges, but says the move to ensure judicial independence will only be effective if the current government supports a constitutional amendment to completely remove the executive's say in the matter.
LFL said that under Article 122B of the constitution, the prime minister still retains the ultimate power to advise the Agong on whom to appoint to the Federal Court, Court of Appeal and High Courts, despite the existence of the Judicial Appointment Commission (JAC) to propose candidates for senior judges.
"In short, the prime minister need not accept the recommendations of the JAC. This great influence of the executive over the judiciary must be entirely removed to ensure judicial independence and integrity," said LFL director Zaid Malek.
The Conference of Rulers yesterday proposed that the prime minister should not have the authority to appoint five of the nine members of the JAC, a commission set up in 2009 to address allegations of bias in the appointment of senior judges.
The remaining four members of the commission are senior judges.
Negeri Sembilan's Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, who chaired a two-day meeting of the Malay rulers at Istana Negara, said there was a need for more balanced membership in JAC to ensure that appointments are not biased towards any party.
He said instead of the prime minister, the power to appoint the five members should be given to institutions such as the Bar Council, the Sabah Law Society, the Sarawak Bar Association and the Parliamentary Select Committee.
"When all this is implemented, I am confident JAC will be able to carry out its responsibilities more effectively, and choose and appoint only those individuals who have a noble character, and are transparent and fair, to become judges in Malaysia," he added.
LFL, referring to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's claim of having two-thirds support among MPs, said the new government should use its position to amend Article 122B of the constitution to entirely remove his role in appointing judges and allow JAC to advise the Agong directly.
"New PM Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Harapan have long promised to uphold democracy and rule of law, and institute wide-ranging reform if they capture federal power.
"Now is the time to walk the talk," he said.


Brazil risks losing control of Amazon to drug traffickers, judge warns

Brazil runs the risk of losing control over its vast Amazon rainforest region to organised crime and traffickers who use the lawless region to smuggle drugs, a Supreme Court judge warned on Wednesday.
Justice Luis Roberto Barroso urged the international community to contribute funding and ideas to foster sustainable development that would preserve the Amazon rainforest, the world's largest, and help the 25 million people who live there.
The Amazon absorbs vast amounts of greenhouse gas responsible for global warming and its preservation is seen as essential to the fight against climate change.
"There is a real risk of losing the sovereignty of the Amazon not to any other country, but to organised crime," he said in an interview.
Barroso, who attended Cop27 United Nations climate talks in Egypt in November, said international funding did not impinge on Brazilian sovereignty over the Amazon as Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has stated.
On the contrary, foreign support is needed to stop the degradation of the rainforest and help the Brazilian state restore law and order in the Amazon.
"Brazilian authorities will have to be very committed to confronting environmental crimes such as illegal logging and mining, deforestation, land grabs and the murder of defenders of the forest," Barroso said.
Under Bolsonaro, illegal activities have surged in the Amazon, encouraged by the easing of environmental protections and reduced funding for enforcement agencies.
Bolsonaro's government has also paralysed the Amazon Fund, to which Norway and Germany contributed more than US$1 billion (about RM4.4 billion) for the support of sustainable projects in the region.
The fund will restart when President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in the October elections, takes office in January. Lula has pledged to end the criminal impunity in the Amazon.
"The preservation of the Amazon is essential for the world. I defend that the world contributes to the preservation of the Amazon," Barroso said.


Sarawak, Selangor still on top as cases stay above 2,000

Another 2,341 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 379,473.Sarawak recorded 600 cases, Selangor 539, Kelantan 429, Kuala Lumpur 344 and Johor 102.Penang recorded 92 cases followed by Sabah (82), Kedah (44), Perak (34), Melaka (19), Negeri Sembilan and Pahang (17 each), Terengganu (15), Putrajaya and Perlis (three each) and Labuan (one).Active cases stand at 21,268 with 249 in the ICU and 95 in need of respiratory assistance.Seven more clusters were detected:1. Kampung Tengah Betong (Betong in Sarawak; 381 screened, 15 positive)2. Sungai Rian (Meradong in Sarawak; 119 screened, 48 positive)3. Jalan Meranti (Hulu Selangor and Gombak in Selangor; 50 screened, nine positive)4. Taman Dato Senu (Kepong and Titiwangsa in Kuala Lumpur; 55 screened, 12 positive)5. Jalan Pasir Mas-Pohon Tanjung (Pasir Mas and Tanah Merah in Kelantan; 46 screened, 28 positive)6. Jalan Padang Lallang (Seberang Perai Tengah in Penang; 39 screened, nine positive)7. Hala Kampung Jawa (Timur Laut, Barat Daya and Seberang Perai Utara in Penang; 286 screened, 23 positive)Seven others ended, leaving 340 active clusters across the country.Another 1,592 patients were discharged, bringing total recoveries to 356,816.However, three more deaths were reported, pushing the virus toll to 1,389.


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Nov 23 verdict on appeal against smoking ban

The Court of Appeal has fixed Nov 23 to give its verdict on the appeal by seven individuals seeking to quash the health ministry's decision to ban smoking at all eateries.
Justice Yaacob Md Sam, leading a three-member panel, said they needed more time to deliberate the issues raised by counsel in the appeal which were important and of public interest.
The two other judges presiding on the panel were Court of Appeal judge M Gunalan and High Court judge Lim Chong Fong.
The seven individuals are appealing against the Oct 29, 2019 decision of the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissing their judicial review application for a certiorari order to quash the health ministry's decision to ban smoking at eateries.
The seven are Mohd Hanizam Yunus, 55; Zulkifli Mohamad, 60; Mohd Laisani Dollah, 49; Mohd Sufian Awaludin, 38; Ridzuan Muhammad Noor, 56; Mohd Yazid Mohd Yunus, 51; and Yuri Azhar Abdollah, 43.
At the court proceedings conducted online, lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla, representing the seven, argued that the smoking ban at eateries was unconstitutional, illegal and unreasonable as it was made without proper and thorough research.
He said before the enforcement of the smoking ban at eateries in 2019, smokers in Malaysia could smoke in a special zone provided by the owners of air-conditioned and non-air conditioned eateries.
"We submit that this situation is more balanced to the rights of smokers as well as non-smokers where non-smoking patrons at the eateries could choose to sit at a designated place that prohibits smoking and smokers could smoke in places with the open-air concept," he added.
Haniff Khatri said the High Court judge had erred in law and in fact in deciding that his clients' rights under Article 5 of the Federal Constitution had not been violated and that smokers had not been discriminated against under Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, following the enforcement of the smoking ban at eateries.
Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan, representing the health ministry, submitted that a ban on smoking in eateries was neither unreasonable nor illegal.
"The right to smoke is not a fundamental right to livelihood and if individuals choose to smoke, they have to respect the rights of non-smokers and move three metres away from the eateries to smoke.
"The law was enacted to ban smoking at eateries, taking into consideration public health and quality of life," he added.
In their judicial review filed on Dec 31, 2018, naming the health ministry as the respondent, the seven men who had set up a society called Persatuan Pertahankan Perokok sought a declaration that the health ministry's decision to ban smoking at eateries was unconstitutional.
They claimed that smokers had equal rights with non-smokers to visit and spend their time at food premises for as long as they wished, and that the government did not provide adequate facilities such as smoking areas or include provisions under the smoking ban for eatery operators to prepare their own non-smoking areas.
On Jan 1, 2019, the health ministry imposed a ban on smoking at all restaurants and food premises.


German panel advises against AstraZeneca jab for over-65s

Germany’s vaccine commission said Thursday it could not recommend the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for older people, the latest twist in a row over the jab that has put Britain and the EU on a collision course.The panel of scientific experts, called Stiko, said the vaccine should only be given to people aged 18 to 65 years old as “there is currently insufficient data to assess the efficacy of the vaccine for persons aged 65 years and older”.AstraZeneca and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson immediately defended the jabs, which have already been widely used in Britain on older people.A spokesman for the British-Swedish company said the latest clinical trial data for its vaccine, developed with Oxford University, “supports efficacy in the over 65 years age group”.Johnson told reporters the UK’s own regulator had established “that they think the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is very good and efficacious, gives a high degree of protection”.AstraZeneca’s vaccine has not been granted approval yet for general use in the European Union.But the bloc’s medicines regulator EMA is poised to authorise it on Friday.The latest doubt over the vaccine came as AstraZeneca was already locked in a increasingly bitter spat with the EU over delivery problems.Citing issues with its European factories, the company has informed the EU that it could only supply a quarter of the doses it had promised for the first quarter of 2021.The huge delivery delay adds a further stumbling block to the EU’s already sluggish rollout of the vaccine compared to Britain or the US.With tempers flaring, Chancellor Angela Merkel called a high-level meeting for Feb 1 with her cabinet, Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers and leaders of Germany’s 16 states.‘Best effort’Countries around the world are scrambling to get hold of the life-saving jabs to inoculate their populations against the virus that has claimed more than 2.1 million lives and infected more than 100 million people.The emergence of more contagious variants first seen in Britain, South Africa and Brazil is putting further pressure on governments to speed up their immunisation programmes.The EU-AstraZeneca dispute escalated Tuesday when the company’s chief executive Pascal Soriot said in an interview that it was prioritising supplies to Britain, which signed its contract three months before Brussels.He argued that his company was only required to make a “best effort” to supply the bloc.The European Commission erupted in fury, demanding on Wednesday that AstraZeneca make up for the delays by supplying doses from its UK factories.But Britain insists it must receive all of the vaccines it ordered – and there are simply not enough to go round.The EU said it would now require companies to declare any export of vaccines made in the bloc, a sign of growing distrust in AstraZeneca.“The EU needs to take robust action to secure its supply of vaccines and demonstrate concretely that the protection of its citizens remains our absolute priority,” said European Council President Charles Michel.‘Limited information’Germany’s Stiko did not detail the data from clinical trials on the vaccine on older people.However, prominent German media outlets Handelsblatt economic newspaper and Bild had reported that the efficacy on over-65s was below 10% – claims rejected by Germany’s health ministry and AstraZeneca.A ministry spokesman said Wednesday: “A false claim does not become true just because it is repeated.”He said however that AstraZeneca trials involved fewer older people than other manufacturers.Around 8% of the volunteers in AstraZeneca’s studies were around 56 and 69 years old and 3-4% were above 70, according to the ministry.But “that the efficacy is only 8% is incomprehensible and in our view, wrong,” the spokesman added.In comparison, 41% of participants in BioNTech-Pfizer’s vaccine trials have been aged 56-85.Britain’s MHRA regulator said in its consideration of the vaccine that “there is limited information available on efficacy in participants aged 65 or over, although there is nothing to suggest lack of protection”.Mary Ramsay, head of immunisations at government agency Public Health England, also backed the AstraZeneca vaccine for older recipients.“There were too few cases in older people in the AstraZeneca trials to observe precise levels of protection in this group, but data on immune responses were very reassuring.“The risk of severe disease and death increase exponentially with age – the priority is to vaccinate as many vulnerable people as possible with either vaccine, to protect more people and save more lives.”


55% of population, 76.8% of adults fully vaccinated

A total of 17,973,545 individuals or 55% of the population had been fully vaccinated as of yesterday, according to data from the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force.Meanwhile, 21,783,871 or 66.7% have received at least one dose, including of the single-shot CanSino vaccine.In terms of adult population, 76.8% are now fully jabbed while 92.7% have received at least one dose.A total of 39,685,414 doses of vaccine have been administered so far under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.Of these, 202,298 were given yesterday.


Court awards 7 times more in revised damages to families of 2010 police shooting victims

The families of three young men gunned down by the police in the infamous Glenmarie shooting in Shah Alam nearly 11 years ago have received revised damages of more than seven times the original amount granted by the court in 2019.High Court judge Khadijah Idris awarded the families RM1,519,200 at the Shah Alam court yesterday.Muhammad Shamil Hafiz Shapiei, 15; Mohd Hairul Nizam Tuah, 22; and Muhammad Hanafi Omar, 21 were shot dead by the police after a car chase in the Glenmarie industrial area on Nov 13, 2010.The police reportedly claimed they had acted in self-defence, and that the trio were suspected of involvement in a string of alleged petrol station robberies.Their families filed a suit at the High Court in August 2014, naming seven police officers, the Shah Alam district police chief, the Selangor police chief, the inspector-general of police and the federal government, and seeking relief in general, aggravated and exemplary damages.In September 2016, the Court of Appeal ruled that the youth were illegally shot down by the police.The matter was then remitted to the registrar of the Shah Alam High Court for assessment of damages, which awarded only RM207,000.The families appealed to the Shah Alam High Court for a reassessment of damages, resulting in today’s decision.The families were represented by Zaid Malek while federal counsel Natrah Mazman represented the defendants.


Top drug regulator says not true it’s slowing down vaccine rollout

The National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) today denied that the slow pace of the vaccination rollout in the country was due to delays in approval for Covid-19 vaccines.In a statement, it said it had in fact implemented a conditional fast-track registration route for Covid-19 vaccines since Dec 14 last year, through the Drug Control Authority (DCA).It also said the evaluation period for complete registration applications had been shortened from 245 to 120 working days, starting from the date of approval for priority review applications and conditional registration status.“This is to expedite approval and in turn provide immediate access to the use of Covid-19 vaccines in the country, without neglecting the aspects of quality, safety and efficacy using a risk-based approach,” it said.NPRA also said it refers to standards provided by national regulatory authoritues from other countries including guidelines issued by the World Health Organization, European Medicines Agency, US Food and Drug Administration, International Council for Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use to evaluate Covid-19 vaccines dossiers.“NPRA works closely with companies and manufacturers to ensure they promptly submit complete information for each application.“Indeed, without complete data and information, the quality status, efficacy and safety of a Covid-19 vaccine cannot be determined, which is why the conditional registration approval has not been given by the DCA,” it said today.As of today, there are six Covid-19 vaccines products which have been fully evaluated by the NPRA within the stipulated time.The vaccine manufacturers approved by the NDRA are Pfizer’s BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH and Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium NV, AstraZeneca’s Medimmune Pharma BV and AstraZeneca AB Sweden and PharmaNiaga’s Sinovac Life Sciences Co Ltd and PharmaNiaga Life Sciences Sdn Bhd.


Indonesian farmers stage protests against palm oil export ban

Hundreds of Indonesian smallholder farmers on Tuesday staged a protest in the capital Jakarta and in other parts of the world’s fourth most populous country, demanding the government end a palm oil export ban that has slashed their income.Indonesia, the world’s top palm oil exporter, has since April 28 halted shipments of crude palm oil and some of its derivative products in a bid to control soaring prices of domestic cooking oil, rattling global vegetable oil markets.Marching alongside a truck filled with palm oil fruit, farmers held a rally outside the offices of the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is leading the government policy.“Malaysian farmers are wearing full smiles, Indonesian farmers suffer,” one of the signs held up by protesters read. Malaysia is the second-largest producer of palm oil and has said it aims to supply markets left open by Indonesia’s export ban.In a statement, the smallholder farmer’s group Apkasindo said since the announcement of the export ban the price of palm fruit had dropped 70% below the floor price set by regional authorities.Meanwhile, Apkasindo estimated that at least 25% of palm oil mills has stopped buying palm fruit from independent farmers.The protesters also planned to march to the presidential palace, the group said. Similar protests were also being held in 22 other provinces, it said.Indonesian President Joko Widodo imposed the export ban on palm oil and its derivative products used in the making of cooking oil after a series of policies failed to control the price of the basic household food item.A survey this week showed the approval ratings for Jokowi, as the president is popularly known, hit the lowest level since December 2015 due to rising prices.Figures released by pollster Indikator Politik Indonesia showed that satisfaction with Jokowi fell to 58.1% in May to the lowest since December 2015 when the president’s approval rating had slumped to 53%. Read full storyChief Economics Minister Airlangga Hartarto has said the ban would stay in place until bulk cooking oil prices drop to 14,000 rupiah (US$0.9563) per litre across Indonesia.Trade ministry data showed as of Friday, bulk cooking oil was priced on average at 17,300 rupiah per litre as of Friday.


Transport minister says won't rule out sabotage in LRT service disruption

Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong today said he was not ruling out the possibility of sabotage in the ongoing disruption to the LRT service.
He said he had spoken with Prasarana Malaysia Bhd on Nov 9, to look into the cause of the problem in a comprehensive manner instead of limiting the investigation to technical aspets.
"So far, it is due to system and signalling problems. However, the government and Prasarana have decided to appoint an internationally recognised independent consulting company, WSP, to be a consultant to look at all aspects including what was stated (elements of sabotage)," he said at a press conference in Petaling Jaya today.
He said this when asked to comment on a report that former Prasarana CEO Ridza Abdoh Salleh had said that the service disruption along the Kelana Jaya LRT line could be due to elements of sabotage.
On Nov 8, Rapid Rail announced that the LRT service on the Kelana Jaya route had been disrupted and would have to be halted due to the automatic train control system which caused a loss of signal between the control centre and the trains. The next day, Prasarana announced that part of the LRT service on the Kelana Jaya route would be suspended for seven days until Nov 15, involving 16 stations from the Kelana Jaya to the Ampang Park stations.
The disruption affected about 200,000 users who had to switch to other means of transport for daily trips. This in turn saw an increase of traffic in the capital, especially during peak hours.
Wee said the identified cause of the disruption was the vehicle control centre (VCC) and the signalling management centre.
He said the modems and devices for power supply had been changed, while the use of original manufacturer diagnostic equipment from Thales Group had proven that the system was so far stable.
In the meantime, Wee said the Prasarana board of directors had approved an allocation of RM150 million to replace the automatic train control system after the LRT collision incident on the Kelana Jaya line on May 24.
He said the procurement process was ongoing and would take 30 months according to the plan, which aims to improve the quality of service as well as guarantee the safety of commuters.


223 new infections as death toll stays unchanged

Another 223 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 5,045,192.
There were 193 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 4,998,845.
There are now 9,380 active cases, of which 9,077 or 96.8% are undergoing home quarantine.
Meanwhile, 0 (0%) are at quarantine centres while 298 (3.2%) have been hospitalised.
A total of five are in ICU with four in need of respiratory assistance.
No new deaths were reported, leaving the death toll unchanged at 36,967.


Amazon boss auctioning space sightseeing seat blasting off in July

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos is now ready to take one paying passenger into space.The US billionaire entrepreneur’s Blue Origin company says it will launch a crew aboard its New Shepard rocket and capsule system on July 20.One window seat is being auctioned online.18m tall and 4m wide, New Shepard is a fully reusable, vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) space vehicle.New Shepard’s flights are sub-orbital. They’re designed to take passengers on a straight up-and-down trip that briefly goes above the 100km-high Karman Line, designated by broad international agreement as the beginning of space.“Only 569 people have ever been over the Karman Line. With our New Shepard vehicle, we’re about to change that and change it dramatically,” said Ariane Cornell, Blue Origin’s director of astronaut sales.She declined to comment on whether Bezos himself might be on the July 20 flight.Blue Origin’s announcement is further evidence of a resurgence in space tourism after a gap of almost 12 years when wealthy visitors visited the international space station.The flight will blast off from Blue Origin’s desert base in Van Horn in West Texas.During flight, the booster unit lifts the pressurised passenger vessel to about 76km in altitude, where the pair then separate.Momentum carries the capsule on upwards into space, where passengers will experience about three minutes of weightlessness at the top of the climb. They’ll also get to see the blackness of space and Earth’s curved horizon.They’ll then glide back down to the ground under three parachutes. The booster will also come back home under control.The company is not discussing future fares but once fully operational, the company could expect to earn perhaps US$200,000 per seat.Blue Origin says the cash raised from this particular sale will go to its foundation that promotes science and technology education.A seat on the flight is just one of several soon to be open to the super wealthy.Rival businessman Elon Musk is expected to launch one of his SpaceX Dragonships in the autumn with an all-civilian crew aboard. It will go orbital with the capsule staying in space for several days.As well as Bezos and Musk, British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson continues to push his Virgin Galactic rocket plane concept.Blue Origin’s announcement was timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the first spaceflight made by an American astronaut, Alan Shepard, in whose honour the new tourist vehicle is named.He flew a 15-minute sub-orbital flight in his Project Mercury Freedom-7 capsule on May 5, 1961.


Businesses call for stricter lockdown

The Federation of Malaysian Business Associations (FMBA) today urged the government to impose a complete lockdown across the country to break the chain of Covid-19 infection, adding however that this should be accompanied by a post-Covid economic recovery stimulus package.Its protem chairman Abdul Malik Abdullah said case numbers and mortality figures had been at an unprecedented high for the past few days, adding that the country was “on the verge of a catastrophic health crisis”.“Extreme moments like this call for extreme actions,” he said in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.“We can rebuild our economy, our financial institutions, our social standing – but we cannot afford to lose our lives.”He said the FMBA, which represents over 260 business associations with a total membership strength of over 950,000 businesses and a workforce of over seven million, was “ready to bite the bullet” but acknowledged the possibility that a nationwide lockdown would not have the desired outcome.“Then our economy will be in free fall, and the nation’s health resources exhausted – landing us in a perfect economic and health catastrophe like that seen in India.”He proposed several measures to mitigate the economic risk of another lockdown, including a moratorium with an opt-out programme for businesses and individuals, financial support, a wage subsidy programme, statutory exemptions, utility subsidies, as well as proactive and inclusive actions on SOPs.He suggested a zero-interest moratorium period until the end of the year that applies to anyone who got the facility before March last year and businesses, excluding sectors that were fully operational during the past year. This time, he said, the moratorium should also include credit and leasing companies.“The effective restructured financing rate must be lowered. The central bank has maintained the overnight policy rate at 1.75%, the lowest level since it was implemented in 2004.“However, the base lending rate and base financing rate and the effective rates to the consumer and business loans do not seem to reflect the prevailing low interest rate environment.“We seek for the banks to lower the effective financing rate to the consumer, as the cost of funds has dropped so much for the government,” he said.He added that another moratorium would likely cost RM6.4 billion, which he said is only 7% of the three-year annual profits for the country’s top eight local banks.For financial support, he urged that an special-purpose vehicle for all financial relief packages be formed.“It should be run as a public-private partnership model, following the same successful Danajamin Danaharta model,” he added.For the wage subsidy programme, he said there should be 70% support for those earning below RM4,000 and 30% for those earning above RM4,000, with a maximum subsidy amount of RM3,000 until the end of the year.He also urged the government to maximise the use of MySejahtera and Hotspots Identification for Dynamic Engagement or HIDE, adding however that the latter should be made more transparent.Muhyiddin said on May 10 that the movement control order enforced in parts of Selangor and other states would be extended across the country with tighter SOPs in place until June 7.The economic sector was allowed to remain open, although the ban on inter-district and interstate travel was maintained.


Thailand legalises growing, consumption of marijuana

Thailand legalised the growing of marijuana and its consumption in food and drinks on Thursday, the first Asian country to do so, with the aim of boosting its agriculture and tourism sectors, but smoking pot is still against the law.Shoppers queued up at outlets selling cannabis-infused drinks, sweets and other items as advocates of the plant welcomed the reform in a country that has long had a reputation for strict anti-drug laws.“After Covid, the economy going down the drain, we really do need this,” said Chokwan Kitty Chopaka, who owns a store selling cannabis gum sweets.Thailand, which has a tradition of using cannabis to relieve pain and fatigue, legalised medicinal marijuana in 2018.The government, banking on the plant as a cash crop, plans to give away a million plants to encourage farmers to take up its cultivation.But authorities aim to head off an explosion of recreational use by limiting the strength of the cannabis products that are legal.The possession and sale of cannabis extracts containing more than 0.2% of its psychoactive ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol, is not allowed, which will rule out smokers of the drug known as “pot”, “weed” and a host of other names, from getting “high”.Those who break the law can still face jail and fines.Cannabis growers have to register on a government app called PlookGanja, or grow ganja, another nickname for the spikey-leafed plant. Nearly 100,000 people have signed up to the app, said health ministry official Paisan Dankhum.


IS recruiting British youth in pandemic, says foreign minister

The Islamic State (IS) group and other terror organisations are recruiting young people in the UK in “worrying numbers”, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab warned on Thursday.Speaking in the UK parliament, Raab said the country’s counter-terrorism referral unit saw a 7% rise in the volume of terrorist content found online in the year to December 2020.He added that British police were seeing “a worrying rise in the proportion of children and teenagers that are now being arrested for terrorism offences”.Britain has grappled to contain the threat posed by IS after hundreds of UK nationals travelled to the Middle East and joined the terror group after 2014.The country has been rocked in recent years by a series of deadly attacks perpetrated by those either with links to Islamist groups or radicalised by propaganda disseminated online.Raab warned IS was “still able to carry out lethal attacks” even though its power has steadily weakened since an international military campaign against it began in 2014.He added the group still represented the “most significant terrorist threat” both in Britain and abroad.Raab said Britain had “carried out a range of targeted and effective cyber operations” on behalf of the global coalition against IS and was tackling its propaganda “head on”.He called the “accessibility of terrorist content online” during lockdown “a perfect storm” because it gave terrorists “digital access to those who are probably the most susceptible to extremist narratives”.Figures from Britain’s interior ministry have shown the number of arrests for terrorism-related activity fell by 34% in 2020, the lowest level in nine years.Despite this, the number of terror plots prevented by authorities has risen to 28 since March 2017, according to police.


EU Covid jab crisis happened because we didn’t ‘shoot for the stars’, says Macron

European leaders failed to anticipate that Covid-19 vaccines would be developed as soon as they were, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday.He blamed the slow pace of rollouts in the EU on that lack of foresight.“Everybody, all the EU experts said: Never in the history of mankind was a vaccine developed in less than a year,” Macron told Greek television channel ERT.“We didn’t shoot for the stars. We were wrong to lack ambition, to lack the madness to say: It’s possible, let’s do it,” Macron said, in a rare admission of failure.EU leaders are still struggling to speed up vaccinations, trailing countries like Britain and the US and facing supply delays.Macron himself has been criticised at home for a faltering rollout which has been slowed by bureaucracy and French public mistrust of vaccines.“You can give that to the Americans: as early as the summer of 2020 they said let’s pull out all the stops and do it,” Macron said. “We didn’t go fast enough, strong enough on this. We thought the vaccines would take time to take off.”The EU tightened its oversight of coronavirus vaccine exports on Wednesday, giving it greater scope to block shipments to countries with higher inoculation rates such as Britain, or which are not sharing the doses they produce.Meanwhile, Hungary’s hospitals are under “extraordinary” pressure from rising coronavirus infections, its surgeon general said on Wednesday, as the country became a hotspot in the third wave of a pandemic that has hit Central Europe especially hard.A new wave of infections that has swept through the region has seen Hungary this week overtake the Czech Republic as the country with the world’s highest daily Covid-19 deaths per capita, according to figures from Our World in Data.While new infections in the Czech Republic and Slovakia have started to decline, Poland has reported a record 30,000 new cases.Sociologist Daniel Prokop, who has been tracking behaviour through the pandemic told Reuters, “For some reason most of eastern Europe has failed in the fight against the pandemic.”


Ex-MP questions DAP silence over Lynas

A former DAP MP who strongly opposed Lynas' rare earth activities in the past has expressed disappointment with the decision by the coalition government led by Anwar Ibrahim to grant the company an extension to fulfil the conditions of its operating licence in the country.
Environmental activist Wong Tack, a former MP for Bentong, also questioned the position of DAP representatives on the issue, particularly those who had previously spoken out against the company's operations.
Speaking to MalaysiaNow, he said the development indirectly proved that the party's struggle in this regard was only a strategy to win votes.
"It is very disappointing because, during Dr Mahathir Mohamad's administration, we had eight ministers from the rocket (DAP)," he said.
"At that time, the minister with power was from DAP, Yeo Bee Yin. But everyone only blamed Mahathir."
Anwar confirmed on May 8 that the government had given Lynas Malaysia a six-month extension, subject to strict conditions.
Lawmakers from PKR and DAP had opposed Lynas' activities since 2012, claiming that the company's operations disturbed the peace of the local residents and affected the environment.
Wong had then organised the anti-Lynas green campaign, marching 300km from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur for 12 days with about 200 participants to express their objections and urge the government to shut down the factory in the capital of Pahang.
Commenting further, Wong said he had brought up the issue with Anwar, who was then the MP for Port Dickson and had no position in the government.
Since Anwar did not have the power to make decisions, Wong was asked to be patient and told that the issue would be resolved when the PKR president became the prime minister.
"That was his promise. I waited. All the ministers with me at that time were anti-Lynas and championed the people's issues.
"After that, they forgot. It was nothing more than a gimmick. They did nothing.
"Just as long as they win (the election). It wasn't for the people. It's not that they can't sleep at night because the people are suffering – they only care about the votes," he said.
Meanwhile, Wong said he had been asked to continue fighting the cause, but that he was increasingly reluctant to do so as he had tried various ways to highlight the problem to no avail.
"I've done what I can," he said.
"I've raised this issue many times, including when I was the MP for Bentong.
"What else can I do?"
MalaysiaNow has contacted Bentong MP Young Syefura Othman for comment but has yet to receive a response.


India denies Moscow claims Ukraine holding students as ‘human shield’

New Delhi denied on Thursday Russian claims that Ukraine was holding Indian students hostage in Kharkiv, instead thanking Ukraine for its help in evacuations from the embattled city.“We note that with the cooperation of the Ukrainian authorities, many students have left Kharkiv yesterday,” said Indian foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi.“We have not received any reports of any hostage situation regarding any student,” he added in a statement.New Delhi’s declaration came after Moscow said Indian students in Kharkiv were being used as a “human shield” by Ukrainian security forces.“These students have already been, in effect, taken hostage by the Ukrainian power agencies that are using them as a human shield and are doing everything to prevent their leaving for Russia,” the Kremlin said in a statement following a video call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.“The Kyiv authorities are fully responsible for this,” it added, saying Putin told Modi that Moscow was trying to organise the evacuation of Indian students from Kharkiv via a humanitarian corridor.Russia’s defence ministry also said Ukrainian authorities were holding a group of Indian students by force in Kharkiv, with ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov telling a televised briefing: “They have practically been taken hostage.”A brief statement from Modi’s office after his call with Putin said only that “many Indian students are stuck” in the city, and that the two men discussed their evacuation.Bagchi noted Thursday: “A large number of Indian nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine in the last few days.“We appreciate the help extended by the Ukrainian authorities to make this possible,” he added.Before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine last week, there were more than 20,000 Indians in Ukraine. Around 3,000 remain, mostly in Kharkiv.The country’s second city has come under intense shelling by Russian forces, with police and university buildings bombarded and government offices reduced to rubble.Among those killed there was an Indian student on Tuesday.India has urged Russia and Ukraine to cease hostilities but has stopped short of condemning Moscow’s invasion. On Wednesday, it again abstained in a UN resolution deploring Russia’s actions.


Europe begins vaccine rollout as new virus strain spreads fears

A swath of EU nations begin vaccinating their most vulnerable groups Sunday as a reputedly more contagious coronavirus variant spread internationally and the WHO warned that the current pandemic would not be the last.First doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine arrived in EU countries including hard-hit Italy, Spain and France on Saturday, ready for distribution to retirement homes and care staff.The approval and rollout of vaccines has boosted hopes that 2021 could bring a respite from the pandemic, which has killed more than 1.7 million people since emerging in China late last year.However, in a video message ahead of the first International Day of Epidemic Preparedness on Sunday, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was time to learn the lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic.“History tells us that this will not be the last pandemic, and epidemics are a fact of life,” said Tedros.“Any efforts to improve human health are doomed unless they address the critical interface between humans and animals, and the existential threat of climate change that’s making our earth less habitable,” he added.101-year-old woman vaccinatedVaccinations in all 27 European Union countries had been set to begin from Sunday, after regulators approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Dec 21.But some countries began on Saturday: a 101-year-old woman in a care home became the first person in Germany to be inoculated, and the first jabs were also handed out in Hungary and Slovakia.The three EU countries joined China, Russia and Britain, Canada, the US, Switzerland, Serbia, Singapore and Saudi Arabia, which have also begun their vaccination campaigns.“We’ll get our freedom back, we’ll be able to embrace again,” Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said as he urged his countrymen to get the shot.But polls show only 57% of Italians intend to get the jab, whereas scientists estimate herd immunity can only be reached if 75 to 80% have it.Flare-ups of the virus continue to force nations to toughen restrictions, with Austria beginning a third national lockdown on Saturday and millions waking to tougher restrictions in Britain.France’s health minister Olivier Veran would not rule out a third lockdown if authorities decide it’s necessary to tamp down infections.New variantJitters also remained over a new strain that has emerged in Britain and reached several other European countries such as France and Sweden, as well as Japan.Four cases were confirmed in Madrid on Saturday, though the patients were not seriously ill, according to the Madrid regional government’s deputy health chief Antonio Zapatero, who said “there is no need for alarm”.Canada reported Saturday that it had detected two variant cases in the province of Ontario – a couple who had not travelled recently nor had high risk contacts with other people.The new strain, which experts fear is more contagious, prompted more than 50 countries to impose travel restrictions on the UK.In Asia, China’s communist leadership issued a statement hailing the “extremely extraordinary glory” of its handling of the virus, state news agency Xinhua reported.Japanese capital Tokyo reported a record 949 new daily cases, while Thailand has seen a new outbreak linked to a seafood market near Bangkok infect almost 1,500 people.In Australia, there was little sign of the usual rush to the Boxing Day sales in Sydney, with residents largely heeding the state premier’s request they stay home in the face of a new virus cluster.“Even when we entered the store there were less than 10 people,” shopper Lia Gunawan told The Sydney Morning Herald.Australian golf great Greg Norman became the latest well-known name to quarantine, saying on Saturday he was isolating at home after spending Christmas Day in the hospital with Covid-19 symptoms.Licorice cure claimAcross the world, people were still being urged to respect social distancing guidelines.Switzerland’s health minister Alain Berset noted Saturday his country had put the emphasis on personal responsibility.But he admitted that had not worked and that the government blundered in easing restrictions too far, resulting in some of Europe’s fiercest infection rates during the pandemic’s second wave.In authoritarian post-Soviet Turkmenistan, where the government says no coronavirus cases have been detected, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov claimed that licorice root could cure Covid-19.Without citing any scientific evidence, former dentist Berdymukhamedov claimed that “licorice stops the coronavirus from developing”.


Taliban turn back Afghan govt employees returning to work

Afghan government employees in Kabul were blocked by Taliban militants from returning to work on Saturday, the first day of the working week.Since the hardline Islamist group seized power six days ago, government buildings, banks, passport offices, schools and universities have remained largely closed.Only a few private telecommunication companies have been operating in the past few days.“I went to the office this morning, but the Taliban who were at the gate told us they have not received any orders to reopen government offices,” said Hamdullah, a government employee.“They told us to watch TV or listen to the radio for an announcement about when to resume work.”The Taliban have yet to form a government after sweeping to power at a speed that stunned the world.In the chaos of a collapsed government, one of the top concerns among Afghans is continuing to earn a salary.Most roads in the capital were largely deserted save for Taliban checkpoints and patrolling militants.Roads leading to the foreign ministry in central Kabul were also closed, an employee of the ministry told AFP.“They aren’t allowing anyone to enter the ministry building,” he said on condition of anonymity.“One of them even told me to wait until the new minister and directors are appointed.”The foreign exchange market was also shut as it awaited instructions from the central bank, traders said.Another employee at the Kabul municipality said he was disappointed that the Taliban were not reopening offices.“I came with a lot of hope but left disappointed,” said an employee at the Kabul municipality, which also did not reopen offices.Workers at the offices of the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation in Kabul were, however, allowed to enter after showing their ID cards, an employee said.


DAP risks losing vote bank by supporting Anwar, analysts say

DAP risks losing its traditional support base of non-Malay voters if it backs the “Malay-Muslim” government that Anwar Ibrahim claims he will be forming, analysts say.They also said DAP would not take the risk with Anwar and lose the support of non-Malay voters in the 15th general election by joining hands with Umno leaders facing corruption charges in court.Shamsul Amri Baharuddin said DAP could expect a “negative impact” if it backed Anwar’s plan, as the PKR leader’s supporters are said to include Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and several Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs facing graft charges in court.“DAP is strong because of the Chinese vote. They will not join Anwar, and will not want to risk losing the support of the Chinese,” the political analyst from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia told MalaysiaNow.He said DAP’s Chinese base would also help the party retain its grip on state assemblies such as Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Johor.Yesterday, MalaysiaNow reported that DAP leaders had made it clear that they would shun any coalition with Umno MPs, “especially those involved in corruption cases”.Zahid, who said he would not stop Umno MPs from crossing over to Anwar’s bloc, is currently facing 47 charges of corruption, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.Shamsul said if Anwar enlisted Umno leaders involved in corruption in his “formidable and convincing” majority, there would be a split in Pakatan Harapan (PH).He added that all scenarios point to Anwar not becoming the prime minister.“If PH splits before Anwar’s royal audience with the Agong, or if Anwar loses a vote of no confidence in Parliament after the audience, or if Parliament is dissolved to give way for GE15, I still don’t see him becoming the ninth prime minister,” he said.When asked about Amanah, the smallest PH component, Shamsul said the party would follow anyone who uses the power of “money”.“DAP has the money to ensure Amanah continues supporting them.”“All scenarios point to Anwar not becoming the prime minister.”Another analyst, Hisommudin Bakar, said DAP had always maintained the principle of no cooperation with leaders tainted with corruption and kleptocracy.Hisommuddin, who heads pollster Ilham Center, said DAP and Amanah were now in a dilemma.“Under such a principle, DAP cannot accept individuals such as Najib Razak, Zahid Hamidi, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and others whose cases are still being heard in court.“How would DAP explain to voters their political stance in order to support Anwar’s move?“For me, DAP is in a dilemma over whether it wants to support, remain neutral or leave the PH political coalition. All these have different scenarios and will affect Anwar’s chances of forming a government,” he told MalaysiaNow.But Hisommudin did not rule out DAP still being willing to work with Anwar because it could not stand the harassment of its leadership.This includes the “political harassment” by the Perikatan Nasional government against Lim Guan Eng, who has been slapped with corruption charges.Hisommudin also said DAP might prefer to be in the government together with “tainted” Umno leaders instead of being in the opposition.“All this will put DAP in a difficult position. Whatever it does will have different implications on its supporters, especially the Chinese voters.”He said yet another option was DAP being friendly to the government without holding any Cabinet positions.“But it would still be difficult to explain to their voters.”Sivamurugan Pandian of Universiti Sains Malaysia agreed, saying DAP and Umno cannot work together.He said each party would have to answer to their supporters who have been trained to consider the other as the enemy.“The level of hatred grew during GE14 and has not decreased.“DAP will lose the backing of its own supporters, who will probably cast protest votes even though for Anwar, it is important to form a government.”On Thursday, Anwar said Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah had agreed to meet him on Tuesday, Oct 13, at which time he would present the details of his claim to having a “formidable” majority from MPs to form the government.


India gives coal-fired plants extra two years to install emissions equipment

India extended a deadline for coal-fired power plants to install equipment to cut sulphur emissions by two years, the government said in a notification on Tuesday, marking the third push back on a commitment to clean up dirty air.
Indian cities have some of the world's most polluted air. Thermal utilities, which produce 75% of the country's power, account for some 80% of industrial emissions of sulphur- and nitrous-oxides, which cause lung diseases, acid rain and smog.
India had initially set a 2017 deadline for thermal power plants to install flue gas desuphurisation (FGD) units to cut sulphur emissions. That was later changed to varying deadlines for different regions, ending in 2022, and further extended last year to a period ending 2025.
The order on Tuesday said power plants will be forcibly retired if they do not comply to norms on sulphur emissions by end-2027.
Plants near populous regions and the capital New Delhi will have to pay penalties to operate from end-2024, while utilities in less polluting areas will be penalized after end-2026, the order said.
The federal power ministry had pushed for an extension, citing higher costs, lack of funds, Covid 19-related delays and geopolitical tension with neighbouring China, which has restricted trade.
The delay will be welcomed by operators of coal-fired utilities including private companies, like Tata Power and Adani Power, which have long lobbied for less severe requirements.


At Sarawak temple, Malay father and son serve up vegetarian meals for CNY

Every Chinese New Year, Buddhist residents at the primarily Malay fishing village of Kampung Muara Tebas along Sungai Sarawak make their way to the Ching San Yen Temple to perform their prayers for the year ahead.The temple, a majestic building located on a hilltop 120 feet above sea level, normally draws visitors and tourists from near and far.After performing their prayers, they enjoy a delicious vegetarian meal which is also in keeping with the Chinese tradition of going meatless on the first day of the New Year.Behind the scenes in the temple kitchen, villagers are busy at work chopping vegetables and preparing the food to be served to those outside.Among them are Firdaus and his father, Sapiee, who have spent 20 years now making vegetarian food at the temple alongside their Chinese friends.Throughout the two weeks of festivities, they spend long hours each day preparing the food and packing it in containers to be given to the devotees who come to pray. Firdaus works at the back while Sapiee handles the cooking.From dumplings to dessert, he takes care of the entire menu with help from the other villagers on particularly busy days.A devotee prays at the Ching San Yen Temple in Kampung Muara Tebas.For father and son, work begins before sunrise and ends late in the day. They usually earn about RM1,200 from the temple for each occasion.This is a huge amount of money for Sapiee, one of many low-income parents who live in the fishing village.Before the onset of Covid-19, the temple itself would make up to RM50,000 in parking fees, charging RM5 per car which would be given back to the village committee.“On the first and 15th days, the worshippers hold a lot of prayers,” Joli Kadir, another villager, told MalaysiaNow.“So we, the Malay folks, help carry the joss sticks and the food from the temple to the foothills.”Devotees leave the Ching San Yen Temple in Kampung Muara Tebas after performing their prayers for the new year.Two days a month, every month, meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of devotees, some from other countries, would come to the temple to pray.On such occasions, the village committee would work with the temple management to streamline arrangements to welcome them in.But while Covid-19 has changed many things for the village community, others remain the same. For as long as they can remember, they have lived side by side in peace and harmony despite their differences in race and religion.The temple itself is seen as a symbol of this harmony, perched on top of the hill, flanked on the left by the Muslim cemetery and on the right at the foot of the hill by the mosque. Not too far away lies the Chinese cemetery.To facilitate access to the Muslim cemetery, the temple committee built a footpath and opened part of its fencing to make a gateway for the villagers.“To go to the Muslim cemetery, we have to pass through the temple,” Joli said.“For us, there is no issue.”


Umno to name Ismail as PM candidate for GE15

The Umno Supreme Council has unanimously agreed to nominate Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the party’s candidate for prime minister at the 15th general election.Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan said this was one of several decisions made at a meeting of the Supreme Council chaired by party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today.In a statement, he said the council had also agreed that the memorandum of understanding with Pakatan Harapan will not be extended beyond its expiration on July 31. It likewise agreed on the need to continue debating the anti-party hopping bill and supporting it “without compromise” until it is passed.“The anti-party hopping act must continue to be debated and supported for approval without compromising with any quarters who try to thwart it or change its meaning to another legal form,” Maslan said.  He added that a special general assembly would be held on May 14 to amend the Umno constitution regarding the period for party elections.MalaysiaNow reported on April 9 that the anti-hopping bill could benefit the Umno court cluster due to a separate law giving political parties a blanket right when it comes to the expulsion of members.The bill in its present form, aside from causing elected representatives to lose their seats if they switch party loyalties after being elected, could see those sacked from their parties losing their seats as well, even if the sackings were wrongful, unfair or done under controversial circumstances.Law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar however assured that the government would take into account all relevant and related provisions including Section 18C of the Societies Act 1966 when drafting the anti-party hopping bill to stop MPs from jumping ship.Speaking to MalaysiaNow, he also repeated assurances that the amendment to Article 10 of the Federal Constitution would be subject to it specifically addressing MPs who switch parties, the proposal to repeal Article 48(6) of the constitution, and the enactment of legislation related to the ban on MPs switching camps.“The select committee will look at what needs to be done,” he said when asked if the next draft would consider Section 18C of the Societies Act.


Malaysian jailed 36 years for Singapore penny stock crash

The mastermind of Singapore's "most serious case" of market manipulation which wiped out some US$5.8 billion (RM25.71 billion) in penny stock scams almost a decade ago has been sentenced to 36 years in jail, The Straits Times reported today.
Prosecutors had sought a 40-year jail term for Malaysian John Soh Chee Wen, who was convicted in May alongside Singaporean Quah Su-Ling.
Soh's lawyer, N Sreenivasan, however asked for jail of between seven and 13 years, arguing that his client and Soh were not the only ones involved in the scheme in which the duo were convicted of using more than 180 trading accounts to inflate the share prices of three companies.
"Their sentences cannot be such that they are the scapegoats for the wrongs of others," Sreenivasan was quoted as saying.
But High Court judge Hoo Sheau Peng, citing "the large number of controlled accounts and intermediaries and financial institutions involved", said the duo were to be "held responsible for most of the trades".
Quah meanwhile was sentenced to 20 years in jail. Both she and Soh are appealing against their sentences.
In the case which prosecutors had called "the most serious case" of stock market manipulation in Singapore's history, Soh and Quah were accused of planning "a complex and elaborate fraud" to manipulate the share prices of Blumont Group, Asiasons Capital and LionGold Corp.
AFP reported that Soh and Quah used the shares as collateral, convincing several banks – including Goldman Sachs – to extend more than S$170 million (US$123 million, RM559.38 million) in credit to finance their scheme.
They then used this cash to create demand for penny stocks, reportedly managing to push up some prices by around 800% in 2013.
But on Oct 4, prices crashed, wiping an estimated S$8.0 billion from the Singapore Exchange.
In May, Hoo convicted Soh of 180 out of 188 charges and Quah of 169 of 177 charges.
He said he was "satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that there existed a conspiracy between the two accused persons to manipulate the market" .
Soh has been under remand since the duo were first charged in 2016, while Quah is out on bail.


7 years and waiting for Sabah villagers made homeless by flames

In 2013, a huge fire razed nearly 500 houses in a village in Sepanggar, Kota Kinabalu.Seven years and two state governments later, the villagers are still waiting for the help promised when they lost their homes.Pusiana Utukmani, 65, is just one of many whose house in Kampung Sabong was burnt down. She and her family were forced to use their own money to rebuild.“It’s difficult for us,” she told MalaysiaNow. “We don’t have a fixed income as we do odd jobs around the village to earn an income.“We had to forage in the forest for enough wood to rebuild our home.”Pusiana Utukmani remains cheerful despite the difficulties her family has faced since their home burnt down.Cases of such fires are common in Sabah, with the fire and rescue department estimating at least 1,543 reported last year alone in the city centre as well as the districts of Tuaran and Penampang.In the case of the 2013 blaze, firefighters had trouble containing the spread of the flames as the houses were built in close proximity with one another.By the time the fire was brought under control, 433 homes had been destroyed.Other villagers from Kampung Sabong told MalaysiaNow that they were only given tents to live in after they lost their homes.At that point, the state was under Barisan Nasional (BN).But even after Warisan took over in 2018, the villagers were still waiting.Satria Sudi, 43, is upset at BN and Warisan alike. She told MalaysiaNow that the promised aid should be given if either side wants a chance in the Sept 26 state election.Another villager who lost his home in the 2013 fire stands outside a makeshift house in Kampung Sabong.“They only know how to take care of themselves,” she said. “None of their promises were kept. We have been forced to board with others.“I am angry because we have families and it is very uncomfortable having to live with other people.“If we had to wait six months for aid, that would be all right. But we have been waiting seven years and have received nothing. What has happened to their promises?”Across the state in Kampung Gas, Sandakan, the villagers had a similar story.There, 90 houses burnt down in 2018, forcing them to live in narrow, stuffy container homes.Their village is seen as a BN stronghold, but they say Warisan, led by Chief Minister Shafie Apdal, should resolve their situation without taking into account their political differences.“I’m not saying that BN is good, but we believed that Warisan would help us and until now, there has been nothing,” Patimang Sudan said.“It seems as though no one wants to help us.”They are not looking for a life of luxury, he added – just enough to live comfortably together with their families.


Indonesia passes one million Covid-19 cases

Indonesia passed more than one million Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, as the archipelago launches one of the world’s biggest vaccine drives to clamp down on a soaring infection rate.The Southeast Asian nation of nearly 270 million has recorded 1,012,350 virus cases and almost 29,000 deaths, according to official data. But low testing rates mean the crisis is believed to be much bigger than those figures suggest.Some hospitals are on the brink of collapse as they are overwhelmed with patients in one of Asia’s worst-hit nations, public health experts warn.“I think we hit one million cases of Covid-19 a long time ago,” said Pandu Riono, a University of Indonesia epidemiologist.“We are still climbing a mountain and we don’t even know where the peak is. This is a neverending climb.”There are reports of patients being unable to access intensive care units and isolation rooms due to high demand – a shortage underscored by an East Java city’s move to outfit a train carriage to accommodate the sick.The virus has killed more than 600 doctors, nurses and other medical workers, many outfitted with limited protection equipment, according to independent researchers.“Hospitals are already collapsing,” Riono said, adding that the government had “no management, no plan, no priorities, just trial and error”.Indonesia’s government has been widely criticised for initially downplaying the pandemic and, later, for lacking a coherent crisis strategy.The country of some 17,000 islands is now rolling out a huge vaccination drive with front-line workers and other high-risk groups among the first to get the jab, produced by China’s Sinovac.Officials had earlier said they would focus on inoculating the 18-59 year old working population instead of prioritising the elderly, like many countries are doing.But the health ministry later said some 25 million seniors would be targeted after doctors and other front-line workers if testing shows the Sinovac jab is safe for older people.This month, Indonesian President Joko Widodo received the country’s first Covid-19 jab on live television along with his health minister, several senior officials, as well as business and religious leaders.Tests in hard-hit Brazil showed the Sinovac jab was highly effective in staving off moderate to serious virus cases. But overall, it was only about 50% effective in preventing patients from contracting the disease.Muslim-majority Indonesia’s top religious body also approved the vaccine as halal – meaning permissible under Islam – in a move that could help convince wary citizens.Previous vaccination drives have been met with resistance by some segments of the country’s huge population, the world’s fourth-largest.Indonesia is aiming to inoculate nearly 182 million people over the next 15 months.The country has also signed deals for about 330 million vaccine doses from a string of pharmaceutical companies including AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Chinese suppliers.


Daily cases surge to 6,200

Another 6,288 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 2,563,153.Another 4,743 patients recovered, bringing total recoveries to 2,466,523.Meanwhile 536 are in the ICU, including 440 confirmed Covid-19 patients.A total of 251 are in need of respiratory assistance including 172 confirmed Covid-19 cases.Of the 6,288 cases reported today, 125 (2.0%) are in Category Three and above. The remaining 6,163 (98.0%) are in Category One and Two.


Kuwait murder prompts renewed cries for greater safety for women

The murder last week of a young Kuwaiti woman by a harasser has unleashed a wave of outrage across the tiny oil-rich Persian Gulf sheikhdom.Farah Hamza Akbar was murdered last week despite earlier pleas from her family to the authorities to protect her from her harasser who reportedly abducted her in front of her daughter and niece.A statement from the interior ministry said a man seized Farah from her car and took her to an unknown location before leaving her outside a hospital where she was found and pronounced dead.The man was arrested shortly afterwards and confessed to stabbing her in the chest. He has been charged with first degree murder, which in Kuwait may be punishable by death.Farah’s family told local media that the man was not known to them but that they had previously reported him for harassment.The incident has amplified already growing calls for greater protection for women from violence and harassment in Kuwait.Earlier this year, the social media campaign #Lan_Asket, meaning “I will not be silent”, was launched to spotlight the issue of harassment, prompting countless accounts of incidents from women.Reports in recent years of the number of women killed at the hands of family members have also underlined the need for legislation and social change in order for women to feel safer at home.A domestic violence law passed last September includes plans to set up shelters for women and allows for restraining orders to prevent abusers from contacting victims.Last week, following Farah’s murder, women and men gathered to express their condemnation at the National Assembly building where an all-male parliament was elected in December.That same month a female security guard in the building was murdered, allegedly by her brother.Few details emerged about her killing, as is often the case when it comes to women being murdered by family members.In Kuwait, men who kill a female relative for alleged adultery may receive lenient sentences due to an article that remains in the country’s penal code despite years of campaigning by activists to have it abolished.A conservative state with a Sunni Muslim majority, and a US ally, Kuwait stands out from the other Gulf monarchies for having the most open political system.But achieving lasting change for women in the patriarchal state is proving to be a long process.Women were given the right to vote in Kuwait 15 years ago.In last December’s election, Kuwait’s only female MP, Safa al-Hashem, lost her seat.There were 29 female candidates, but none won a seat.


Ismail Sabri sworn in as PM

Bera MP Ismail Sabri Yaakob has been sworn in as the country’s ninth prime minister, a day after Istana Negara confirmed that he had received the support of 114 out of 220 MPs.Ismail took his oath of office before the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at Istana Negara, witnessed by former leader Muhyiddin Yassin whose resignation had triggered the search for the next prime minister.Ismail Sabri Yaakob takes his oath of office before Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah at Istana Negara.Ismail, 61, was appointed to the country’s top office following a rigorous process by Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah to determine which of the MPs commanded the majority support.The 114 MPs who stated their support for him comprised those from Perikatan Nasional, Umno and GPS, as well as four independents.Ismail had been among the Umno leaders and Cabinet members who refused to join their party bosses Najib Razak and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in campaigning for Muhyiddin’s ouster by revoking their support for him.He was accompanied at the ceremony today by his wife Muhaini Zainal Abidin.His signing of his oath of office was witnessed by Chief Secretary to the Government Mohd Zuki Ali and Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat.Also present were Zahid, Dewan Negara president Rais Yatim, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Harun, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, Parti Bersatu Sabah president Maximus Ongkili and Gabungan Parti Sarawak chairman Abang Johari Openg.


Energy price crisis exposes Britain's 'leaky' homes

Sitting in his cool front room in Worcester Park, a suburb of sprawling south London, John Butler explains how it used to feel living in his 1930s home.
The damp caused cupboards to go mouldy and the wallpaper to peel. The interior walls could be cold to the touch in the winter, and opening windows in the summer would give him a sore throat from the pollution outside while doing little to cool down the house.
"It would be excruciatingly hot," said Butler, 60, who has lived in the house for nearly three decades.
But this summer he and his partner, Dawn Mulvaney, have been comfortable for the first time, after their home was one of 13 chosen for a local social-housing retrofit, to pilot a new approach from the Netherlands called "Energiesprong".
Instead of boosting a home's energy efficiency one improvement at a time - updating the heating system, replacing windows, insulating wall cavities - the building is fully updated within a few months, or even a few days.
Under the Energiesprong system - the name means "energy leap" in Dutch - insulated pre-made roof and wall panels are installed to fully envelope the original house, like a tea cosy.
That, combined with rooftop solar panels, new doors, triple-glazed windows and a low-carbon heat pump and ventilation system, brings the house close to achieving net-zero emissions, with the power it generates mostly covering what it uses.
After Butler's retrofit, "the bills went down straight away, the air was cleaner, the rooms were cooler," he said.
In the six days after the work was completed in July, the couple's energy bill came to 4 pounds (US$4.84), one-fifth of what they used to pay per week in the summer.
As homes across Britain brace for soaring energy costs this winter due to a global surge in fuel prices driven by the war in Ukraine, investing in more such retrofits could ease the burden for the poor - and set up Britain to meet its climate goals.
UK household energy costs are expected to surge 230% this winter compared to last year, according to analysts at Cornwall Insights - a meteoric hike many families will struggle to afford.
The financial squeeze facing millions of Britons spotlights the government's sluggish progress on upgrading homes to improve energy efficiency, a move climate experts and housing groups see as vital to reaching net-zero goals and lowering energy bills.
A June report from the independent Climate Change Committee said Britain had made headway in boosting its use of renewable energy and electric vehicles, but a lack of housing retrofits is one thing hampering progress towards its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The report said government schemes supported energy efficiency projects in more than 150,000 homes last year, but that needs to increase to 1 million per year by 2030.
Britain has approximately 29 million households.
"The first thing we should do isn't subsidise everyone's Teslas, but make sure those in the most vulnerable housing are able to affordably keep warm," said Alastair Harper, head of public affairs at housing charity Shelter.
"People are stuck in old, leaky buildings that weren't designed for the world we're in now," he said.
Social housing focus
As a way to get homes to net zero, whole-house upgrades can be prohibitively expensive.
But Emmelie Brownlee, head of communications at Energiesprong UK, the nonprofit company working to expand the approach, said the cost would come down as the supply chain develops.
The organisation aims for a cost of about 75,000 pounds (US$90,720) per retrofit, with Brownlee saying its method is still cheaper and more climate-efficient than single measures over the long term.
With the help of government grants, Butler's retrofit was paid for by Sutton Housing Partnership, which manages the council's housing. Now the retrofit is complete, Butler will pay them a weekly 10-pound fee to contribute to the cost.
In search of other options, many local governments have applied for the government's 3.8 billion-pound Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF), which launched last year.
The SHDF takes a "fabric first" view that prioritises loft and wall insulation before replacing energy systems, a method some experts back as quick and affordable, estimating an uninsulated home loses about a quarter of its heat through its roof.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan aims to accelerate retrofit efforts in the capital by mobilising about 500 million pounds through green bonds.
"Social (housing) is the way to go because we can ramp up quite quickly," Khan said in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"Rather than going door to door... if you do social homes, you get an entire block," Khan said.
Insulating against fuel poverty
But social housing makes up less than one-fifth of homes in Britain.
Fuel poverty can be an even bigger problem in private rentals and owner-occupied properties where there have generally been fewer efforts to upgrade energy efficiency.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) launched the Green Homes Grant in 2020 to kick-start energy efficiency retrofits for private homes and rental units.
But a report from the Public Accounts Committee found the scheme, which spent only 20% of its original budget after many applications were rejected, will have helped upgrade only about 47,500 homes out of the 600,000 planned.
The report added that the department's "fragmented, stop-go" approach to retrofitting homes in general "has hindered stable, long-term progress".
A BEIS spokesperson said the department is taking these lessons into account when designing new policies, and has a commitment to "go further and faster" in investing 6.6 billion pounds in energy efficiency measures over this parliamentary term.
Nick Mabey, director of the E3G climate change think-tank, said the best way to scale up successful retrofit projects is to give more control to local governments.
"We're the most centralised country in the G20 for infrastructure investment and financing, and that means we struggle when it comes to things that require detailed, place-based investment and engagement," he said.
Over in Sutton, Butler worries there could be social unrest in the winter when many people are forced to choose between heating their homes and paying their rent, or feeding their children.
"Things just can't go on the way they have been," he said.


UAE to develop US$500 million tourism resort in Indonesia

The United Arab Emirates is to develop several major infrastructure projects in Indonesia, including a multimillion-dollar tourism resort in its westernmost Aceh province, top Emirati and Indonesian ministers have confirmed.A series of business agreements were signed by the two nations during a visit to Jakarta by UAE Energy and Infrastructure Minister Suhail Al-Mazroui on Friday, Al Arabiya English is reporting.The agreements are part of an almost US$23 billion deal signed during Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s Abu Dhabi visit in January last year. The investment deal, also covering energy, infrastructure and mining, is seen as the biggest in Indonesia’s history.The tourism resort development project, which according to Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan is valued at between US$300 million and US$500 million, is expected to start in Aceh Singkil district in May.Aceh, a semi-autonomous province on the northwest tip of Sumatra island, is the only region in Muslim-majority Indonesia that strictly imposes shariah law.“I think within two months’ time, we can see the progress of this project in the Singkil area,” Pandjaitan said during a joint conference with Al-Mazroui.While authorities have not revealed more details, in response to a question by Arab News, Al-Mazroui said that some islands off the main coast of Aceh have been identified for the resort.The project agreement was signed by Aceh Governor Nova Iriansyah and Amine Abide, executive director of Murban Energy, a UAE company whose investment portfolio includes the development of luxury resorts in the Maldives and Seychelles.According to a statement by the Indonesian ambassador to the UAE, Husin Bagis, one of the favourable considerations for developing the project in Aceh is that it is only a five-hour flight away from the UAE.Among the agreements inked in Jakarta, which Al-Mazroui said are follow-ups to those signed in Abu Dhabi last year, is a US$1.2 billion deal between UAE’s logistics company Dubai Port World and Indonesia’s Maspion group to develop a port and an industrial zone in Gresik, East Java.Other deals signed on Friday, Panjaitan said, included an agreement between Indonesia’s state-owned weapons manufacturer Pindad and UAE’s small-arms manufacturer Caracal to develop assault rifles, drones and defence technologies.Al-Mazroui hinted that other deals may also follow in the wake of the newly forged economic ties between the UAE and Indonesia.


South Korea's luck runs out at World Cup as Brazil expose gulf in class

Any dreams of South Korea replicating their historic World Cup run from 20 years ago came crashing down with a last 16 humiliation at the hands of five-times champions Brazil as the Asian side's luck finally ran out in Qatar.
Korea had qualified for the knockout stages by the skin of their teeth after beating Portugal at the death, watching the end of the other group game on mobile phones with frayed nerves as they waited for Ghana to deny Uruguay a decisive goal.
Much to their relief, Uruguay were denied second place in the group as Ghana held on. The Koreans cried tears of joy when qualification was sealed, but three days later their fans would weep in despair.
Korea's reward for reaching the last 16 for the first time since 2010 was a showdown with pre-tournament favourites Brazil, who not so much waltzed into the quarter-finals but oozed class as they literally danced the samba in a 4-1 win at Stadium 974.
"I believe our participation at the World Cup has ended in a very fair manner," Korea's Portuguese coach Paulo Bento said, also confirming he was leaving his role after their exit.
The result is one the grinning Brazilians will remember for years to come and one the shattered Koreans will want to forget in a hurry as they failed to reach the heights of their 2002 predecessors who beat European giants Italy and Spain.
As co-hosts in 2002, Korea reached the semi-finals under Dutch coach Guus Hiddink to go down in football folklore as the first team from outside Europe and the Americas to reach the last four.
But a realistic Bento had tempered expectations even before the first game, not wanting to burden his side with the pressure of having to qualify for the knockouts after three group stage exits in the years that followed.
For a team that disappointingly exited the 2019 Asian Cup in the quarter-finals, Korea came into the World Cup with big question marks about their midfield and a noticeable lack of depth in the squad.
They still managed to create more opportunities in their group games than other last 16 teams such as Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands. The one thing they lacked, however, was the finishing touch in the final third.
Over-reliance
Korea were led by Son Heung-min – a global superstar from the Premier League and the best Asian player in the world – who recovered in time from an eye socket fracture to feature in Qatar, wearing a black mask to protect his face.
But an over-reliance on the Tottenham Hotspur forward saw them draw 0-0 with a dogged Uruguay side who did well to mark him out of the game while the 30-year-old did not seem 100% in his first match after more than three weeks on the sidelines.
Against Ghana, Bento switched tactics and adopted a more direct approach as crosses into the box became the order of the day. But having out-shot their opponents, Korea lost 3-2, a result described as "totally unfair" by Bento's assistant coach.
Things only got worse when Bento was sent off to deny him a chance to stand on the touchline against his own country in their final group game against Portugal.
With just one point and their backs against the wall, Korea delivered when it mattered most as Son stepped up to pull strings and send his team through with a moment of magic while delivering the game-winning assist against Portugal.
But Son now leaves Qatar without a single goal to show for his efforts, denied the honour of scoring at three consecutive World Cups.
Only six Koreans in the squad play in top European leagues and despite their brave efforts and toil until the final whistle, it was just a matter of time before their defence was exposed and Brazil shone a harsh spotlight on the gulf in class.
Just hours after their neighbours Japan went out on penalties to Croatia, a vastly superior Brazilian team hammered the final nail in the coffin for Asian teams at the World Cup.


Cops arrest ‘sugar daddy’ website boss

Police have arrested the founder of a controversial “sugar daddy” dating website under anti-prostitution laws after it boasted thousands of young students were using the service, officials said Thursday.Sugarbook bills itself as a site “where romance meets finance” and aims to link up older men with younger women, with the men expected to provide financial support for their companions.But it sparked an uproar last week after releasing statistics purportedly showing that thousands of students were using it to make money in the country, leading one university to condemn the claims.Police said they had arrested the 34-year-old founder of the site at a condominium in Kuala Lumpur and he would appear in court.They have launched an investigation under laws aimed at combating prostitution, which is illegal, and misusing the internet.They did not name him but he is believed to be Darren Chan, whose social media profile describes him as the founder and CEO of Sugarbook.Regulators had warned against using Sugarbook, with local media reporting that it had been blocked, although the site can still be accessed on some internet providers in Malaysia and downloaded as an Android app.After this, Chan released a statement saying he believed “our Malaysian government knows what’s best for the people”.But he added the site was taking “measures to ensure the ban does not happen in other countries”.Founded in 2016, Sugarbook says it has expanded to countries including Singapore, Thailand and the US.More than half of Malaysia’s 32 million population are Muslims, and they are banned under Islamic law from having sex outside marriage.The multi-ethnic country has a dual-track legal system with Muslims subject to shariah laws in certain areas.


Daily cases tumble below 3,500

Another 3,490 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 2,691,639.Another 5,399 patients recovered, bringing total recoveries to 2,601,908.Meanwhile 407 are in the ICU, including 341 confirmed Covid-19 patients.A total of 216 are in need of respiratory assistance including 135 confirmed Covid-19 cases.Of the 3,490 cases reported today, 69 (2.0%) are in Category Three and above. The remaining 3,421 (98.0%) are in Category One and Two.


New infections dip to 423 as 6 more deaths reported

Another 423 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 5,024,422.
There were 834 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 4,974,180.
There are now 13,401 active cases, of which 12,672 or 94.6% are undergoing home quarantine.
Meanwhile, 0 (0%) are at quarantine centres while 686 (5.1%) have been hospitalised.
A total of 43 are in ICU with 19 in need of respiratory assistance.
Another six deaths were reported, including one who was brought in dead. Total deaths now stand at 36,841.