12MP and group-targeted policies: Can we start new conversations?

Based on the prime minister’s 12th Malaysia Plan speech and the debates it has spawned, you might think that the 12MP offers nothing for other groups besides the Bumiputeras. In fact, it does – and its coverage of group-targeted policies is both a mark of progress and proof that things must change.Following on the 11MP, the 12MP outlines Bumiputera-targeted policies on six pages, and programmes for the Orang Asli, low-income Indians, new village Chinese, women and persons with disabilities on about three pages. Previous Malaysia Plans had not presented this domain of policies as methodically, but now we have a clearer idea of the government’s efforts to foster an “inclusive society”.The planning document also reflects how group-targeted policies – especially for ethnic minorities and women – have become more mainstreamed in recent years. At the same time, omission of key policies and overall tokenism to non-Bumiputeras embody old habits and show that Keluarga Malaysia has a long way to go.Above all, the debate continues to revolve around Bumiputera policies, and tends to be reduced to the provocative, emotive and dead-end question: continue or terminate? Malaysia really needs to find different ways to hold this conversation.Here are four steps that might help.1. Clarify the scopeWe should start by comprehensively and systematically outlining all the relevant policies. The 12MP’s presentation of Bumiputera policies is wide and looks thorough, but this current planning template confines the “Bumiputera agenda” to programmes under the jurisdiction of “Bumiputera mandated agencies” (Teraju, Mara, PNB, etc). A host of important and massive institutions, which maintain Bumiputera exclusive access, ethnic quotas or other forms of preference, are omitted, including matriculation colleges and pre-university programmes, public university enrolment, public procurement, and employment in the public sector and GLCs.Importantly, many of these excluded policy spheres also involve a significant extent of balancing access for different groups. Matriculation colleges, for instance, maintain a 90% Bumiputera quota. The efficacy of the matriculation system in preparing students for university, and issues surrounding ethnic quotas and access for disadvantaged students, ought to be a subject of serious policy deliberation. Alas, the 12MP – and responses to it – are silent.The need for clarity also comes across in the form of stray arrows, most glaringly the 12MP’s suggestion that “[i]nitiatives will be introduced to encourage equitable employment for Bumiputera in the private sector to promote fair opportunities.” This is a definite no-no; those words do not belong in a Malaysia Plan. Promoting fair opportunity is a matter of labour market conduct that must cover all groups, and should apply across private and public sectors. It is wrong to single out a particular group as a beneficiary. The sentence rankles all the more in light of studies showing Indian job applicants facing unfair discrimination.2. Be consistent about the prioritiesThe 12MP recognises that the main shortfalls in Bumiputera economic empowerment are in skills and knowledge acquisition, high-skilled occupations, and SME growth and development. I have addressed the problematic fixation with 30% Bumiputera equity ownership in a previous article, but the point is relevant here as well. Prioritisation of skills and capacity building applies to all group-targeted programmes.Higher education, including technical and professional certification, and SME support should take precedence for all communities that lack participation in these areas. The 12MP presents initiatives for Orang Asli microenterprise, but on the whole, neglects a methodical and purposeful plan for all communities, and women, for whom the 12MP adds new commitments to legal protection but treads timidly on socioeconomic development.3. Shift to identity-based, group-targeted policiesA range of group-targeted policies is already firmly established in Malaysia’s policy regime. It is time to acknowledge that these special measures – focused on promoting participation, achievement and diversity – are part of the same policy domain, whether designated for Bumiputeras, East Malaysian indigenous groups (officially conferred Bumiputera status), Orang Asli, Indians, other minorities, women, or people with disabilities.The prevailing debate which revolves around retaining vs abolishing Bumiputera policies fuels polarisation and stalemate. Adversaries draw lines in the sand and talk past each other. The reality is, group-targeted measures have arrived and are here to stay. Undeniably, implementation can become politicised or hijacked; the ongoing controversy surrounding Mitra (Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit) comes to mind. However, Malaysia has already joined the company of many advancing economies and maturing societies in which the rakyat value and expect fair representation of gender, ethnicity, religion, language and culture in higher education, decision-making positions, business, and so on. The pressing issue is how to execute group-targeted policies effectively and equitably.4. Foster inclusiveness by balancing identity, need and meritThe popular – certainly the most loudly propagated – alternative to “race-based”, pro-Bumiputera policies proposes replacing them with fuzzy notions of “need-based” policies. This stance faces two major problems. First, the logical inconsistency and double standard of (typically) accepting pro-Orang Asli, pro-Indian, and pro-women policies while rejecting pro-Bumiputera policies. Second, confusion over the purpose and instruments of need-based policies, which primarily provide basic needs through cash transfers, universal primary schooling, minimum wage and social protection, whereas the existing programmes that target Bumiputeras, Orang Asli, low-income Indians, and even Chinese new villagers pertain to participation in business, higher education attainment, and upward mobility in general.Desire to dispense with Bumiputera policies often springs from a principled upholding of inclusiveness and a moral unease with race-based policies. However, to reinforce the point earlier, the shift that Malaysia should make is not toward elimination of race-based policies, but integration of identity-based policies.Of course, pursuing inclusiveness must also take into account need and merit – that is, giving consideration to the disadvantaged, and developing talent and self-reliance.Bumiputera policies must urgently and effectively focus on developing capability and competitiveness, to find ways of graduating out of receiving overt quotas and preferences. The 12MP meekly hints at “exit plans” to avert prolonged dependency. There is also great need, and more scope that we may realise, for broadening access in line with the overarching objective of inclusiveness.Opening up hitherto Bumiputera-only domains benefits all sides, by signalling to the majority that they can progress without depending on exclusive access, and assuring the minorities that Malaysia is tangibly moving in the direction of greater inclusion.More recently founded and less baggage-laden institutions possibly offer better prospects for change. Yayasan Peneraju Pendidikan Bumiputera started in 2012, offering scholarships for technical and professional programmes for not just Bumiputeras in general, but specifically those from disadvantaged and difficult family backgrounds. This abiding principle surely provides grounds for Yayasan Peneraju to offer spaces to disadvantaged non-Bumiputeras as well, especially Indian and Orang Asli youth.Tekun and Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bumiputera (PUNB), under the auspices of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), extend loans and advisory services for micro, small and medium enterprises. Tekun maintains one scheme for Indians. There is ample reason and noted precedent for PUNB to follow in the footsteps of Tekun and its parent PNB, both of which started out exclusively for Bumiputeras but later became accessible to more Malaysians.These institutions receive public funding, of which some disparities might spur thought. Based on budget speeches, Yayasan Peneraju was allocated RM590 million between 2017 and 2020, while PUNB received at least RM750 million. For 2021, PUNB, together with microfinance institution Tekun, were slated to get RM510 million – while only RM20 million was designated for Tekun’s scheme for the Indian community.Are we interested in probing specific possibilities? Do we even want to start new conversations?Lee Hwok Aun is senior fellow at the Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute.The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


North Korea’s Kim vows to build ties with outside world while keeping ‘socialist culture’

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he is exploring ways to renew ties with South Korea and has vowed to expand relations with foreign countries, state media said on Friday, as he hosted a rare party congress.On its third day on Thursday, Kim raised the issue of reshaping South Korean relations “as required by the prevailing situation and the changed times” and discussed foreign policy, the official KCNA news agency reported.He “declared the general orientation and the policy stand of our party for comprehensively expanding and developing the external relations”, KCNA said.President-elect Joe Biden will come into office in two weeks, facing the thorny task of engineering a breakthrough in the stalemate, after historic summits between Kim and outgoing US President Donald Trump failed to reach agreement.Inter-Korean relations made some headway around the summits but have soured as the nuclear talks made little headway.Despite talking of improving ties with the outside world, Kim also discussed ways to open “a fresh golden age” in North Korea’s campaign for socialist culture, as Pyongyang is stepping up its crackdown on outside information, enacting a new law last month banning foreign materials that could promote “reactionary thought”.He called for “establishing our own wholesome and revolutionary lifestyle in all spheres of social life and thoroughly eliminating non-socialist elements”, KCNA said.The eighth congress of the ruling Workers’ Party has come amid a prolonged gridlock in negotiations aimed at dismantling North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes in return for US sanction relief.The gathering is aimed at reviewing the party’s work since its last meeting in 2016 and outlining a new blueprint.


Russians pull back from river bank opposite Kherson

Russia pulled back troops and civilian administrators from towns on the bank of the Dnipro River opposite Kherson on Tuesday, signs that Russia might be retreating further after surrendering its biggest Ukrainian prize last week.
Moscow followed its losses on the battlefield with apparent long range strikes on the capital Kyiv, where air raid sirens blared, two explosions were heard and columns of smoke could be seen rising from the ground.
Moscow had said last week it was pulling its troops across the wide Dnipro to positions that were easier to defend on the opposite bank, abandoning the only regional capital captured since its invasion in February.
But video images filmed in the town of Oleshky, across a collapsed bridge from Kherson, appeared to show Russian forces had abandoned bunkers there too. Further east, Russian-installed administrators said they were pulling out civil servants from Nova Kakhovka on the river bank next to a huge, strategic dam.
Natalya Humenyuk, a Ukrainian military spokesman, said Moscow appeared to be repositioning its artillery 15-20km further from the river, to protect its guns from Ukrainian counter strikes.
"There is a certain activity of enemy troops on the left bank of the Dnipro in terms of moving 15-20km away from the bank," she said. Russia had artillery still capable of striking Kherson from those new positions, but "we also have something to answer with", she said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky told world leaders there would be no let-up in Ukraine's military campaign to drive Russian troops out of his country.
"We will not allow Russia to wait it out, build up its forces, and then start a new series of terror and global destabilisation," he said in an address by video link to a summit of the G20 big economies in Indonesia.
"I am convinced now is the time when the Russian destructive war must and can be stopped."
Ukrainian forces mobbed by joyous residents swept into Kherson in recent days to claim the biggest prize of the war so far, a city that Russian President Vladimir Putin had proclaimed six weeks ago would be Russian forever.
Empty road
Russia had said it was pulling its forces across the Dnipro to the opposite bank, where they could better defend captured territory including the approaches to the strategic Crimea peninsula, which Russia has held since 2014.
But in video filmed in Oleshky, across the river from Kherson on the main highway two hours' drive to Crimea, there was no sign of any Russian presence.
A driver raced down the deserted main road for miles at high speed without encountering a single Russian checkpoint or flag. Several bunkers set up along the road appeared to have been abandoned. The location of the video was confirmed by Reuters based on visible landmarks.
In Nova Kakhovka, site of a huge hydro-electric dam on the Dnipro that supplies Crimea's water, the Russian-installed administration said on Tuesday civil servants had left to escape shelling, "and were relocated to safe areas in the region".
There were no confirmed reports that Ukrainian troops had crossed the river to pursue the Russians. But some analysts said Ukraine might attempt to press its advantage on the battlefield, rather than take a so-called "operational pause" following the advances of recent days.
Momentum
"Ukraine has the initiative and momentum and is dictating to the Russians where and when the next fight will be," said Philip Ingram, a former senior British military intelligence officer.
On Monday, Zelensky visited Kherson to celebrate the victory there, shaking hands with soldiers and waving to civilians. He said Ukraine had already gathered evidence of at least 400 war crimes committed by Russian troops during their eight month occupation, including killings and abductions.
Russia, for its part, has lately said it is focusing on eastern Ukraine, where it claimed to have captured Pavlivka, a frontline village in Donetsk region. Kyiv says Russia has endured huge losses in assaults in the east with few gains.
The war was a central focus of the G20 summit, at which Western leaders denounced Moscow. Russia is a member and Ukraine is not, but Russian President Vladimir Putin stayed home.
In his speech to the world leaders on the Indonesian island of Bali, Zelensky described a peace proposal under which Russia would withdraw all its forces from Ukraine, free all prisoners and reaffirm Ukraine's territorial integrity.
He would indefinitely extend a programme to safeguard Ukrainian grain exports, and expand it to the port of Mykolaiv, beyond reach of Russian guns after the Kherson advance.
"Please choose your path for leadership - and together we will surely implement the peace formula," he said.
The US expects the G20 to condemn Russia's war in Ukraine and its impact on the global economy, a senior US official said. Russia's membership makes consensus on Ukraine unlikely, and the official declined to say what form the condemnation would take.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, heading Russia's delegation in Putin's absence, accused the West of trying to politicise a declaration from the summit by including language condemning Russia's actions in a draft declaration.


North Korea launches missiles as Tokyo Olympics torch relay begins

North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the sea near Japan on Thursday, Japan’s prime minister said, fuelling tensions ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.UN Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from testing ballistic missiles and if the launch is confirmed it would represent a new challenge to President Joe Biden’s efforts to engage with Pyongyang.The missile launches highlight the threat North Korea’s illicit weapons programme poses to its neighbours and the international community, the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement on Thursday.The Japanese government said one missile flew about 450km and landed outside the Japanese exclusive economic zone, indicating it was a short-range missile.“The first launch in just less than a year represents a threat to peace and stability in Japan and the region,” Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told public broadcaster NHK.The launches coincided with the start of the Olympic torch relay in Japan on Thursday, beginning a four-month countdown to the summer Games in Tokyo which were delayed from 2020 due to the pandemic.Suga said he would ensure a safe and secure Olympics and “thoroughly discuss” North Korea issues including the launches with Biden during his visit to Washington next month.South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff earlier reported at least two “unidentified projectiles” were fired into the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan from North Korea.“Every day that passes without a deal that tries to reduce the risks posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile arsenal is a day that it gets bigger and badder,” Vipin Narang, a nuclear affairs expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology told Reuters.Biden’s diplomatic overtures to North Korea have gone unanswered, and Pyongyang says it will not engage until Washington drops hostile policies, including carrying out military drills with South Korea.In early 2018, North Korea announced a moratorium on testing nuclear weapons and ICBMs, though it says it no longer feels bound by that after negotiations with the Trump administration faltered.According to independent UN sanctions monitors, Pyongyang has continued to develop its nuclear and missile programmes throughout 2020, helping fund them with about US$300 million stolen through cyber hacks.


Daily caseload drops to 4,500 as 10 more deaths logged

Another 4,587 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 4,640,235.
There were 2,652 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 4,556,938.
There are now 47,409 active cases, of which 45,856 or 96.7% are undergoing home quarantine.
Meanwhile, 39 (0.1%) are at quarantine centres while 1,451 (3.1%) have been hospitalised.
A total of 63 are in ICU with 32 in need of respiratory assistance. ICU utilisation throughout the country stands at 62.8%, with Covid ICU utilisation at 15.6%.
Another 10 deaths were reported, including five who were brought in dead. Total deaths now stand at 35,888.


Zahid's graft trial postponed again as witness still down with Covid

The hearing of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s corruption case over the foreign visa system (VLN) at the Shah Alam High Court, fixed for today, has been postponed to Aug 10 as the last prosecution witness is still testing positive for Covid-19.
At the proceedings today, deputy public prosecutor Abdul Malik Ayob told judge Mohd Yazid Mustafa that the witness, who is a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigating officer, was still positive for Covid-19 and would remain in quarantine until July 31.
"With your permission, we would like to request for the trial to be continued on the dates that have been set, which is Aug 10 to 12," he said.
Since there was no objection from Zahid's lawyer Hamidi Mohd Noh, the court postponed today's trial and fixed Aug 10 to 12 to continue the hearing.
Zahid faces 33 charges of receiving bribes amounting to S$13.56 million (RM42 million) from UKSB as an inducement for himself in his capacity as a civil servant and home minister at the time to extend the contract of the company as the operator of the one-stop centre in China and the VLN system, as well as to maintain the agreement to supply VLN integrated system paraphernalia to the same company by the home ministry.
On another seven counts, Zahid was charged as home minister with obtaining for himself S$1,150,000, RM3 million, 15,000 Swiss francs and US$15,000 in cash from the same company in connection with his official work.
He was charged with committing these offences at Seri Satria, Presint 16, Putrajaya, and Country Heights, Kajang, between October 2014 and March 2018.


Twitter fate in doubt as employees defy Musk ultimatum

The future of Twitter seemed to hang in the balance Friday after its offices were locked down and key employees announced their departures in defiance of an ultimatum from new owner Elon Musk.
Fears grew that a fresh exodus would threaten the very existence of one of the world's most influential internet platforms, which serves as a key communication tool for the world's media, politicians, companies and celebrities.
According to ex-employees and US media, hundreds of employees chose "no" to Musk's demand that they either be "extremely hardcore" or leave the company.
"So my friends are gone, the vision is murky, there is a storm coming and no financial upside. What would you do?" tweeted Peter Clowes, who refused Musk's final warning.
Musk, also the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has come under fire for radical changes at the California-based firm, which he bought less than a month ago for US$44 billion.
He had already fired half of Twitter's 7,500 staff, scrapped a work-from-home policy and imposed long hours, all while his attempts to overhaul the company face backlash and delays.
His stumbling attempts to revamp user verification with a controversial subscription service led to a slew of fake accounts and pranks, and prompted major advertisers to step away from the platform.
On Friday, Musk appeared to be pressing on with his plans and reinstated previously banned accounts, including that of comedian Kathy Griffin, which had been taken down after she impersonated him on the site.
Musk however did not welcome back former US president Donald Trump, banned for inciting last year's attack on the Capitol by a mob seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
"(The) Trump decision has not yet been made," he said.
'Not super worried'
Fevered talk of the site's imminent demise was driving record high engagement on Twitter, according to Musk.
In a tweet, the South African-born billionaire said: "Record numbers of users are logging in to see if Twitter is dead, ironically making it more alive than ever!"
Musk added that the "best people are staying, so I'm not super worried."
Despite Musk's assurances, entry to Twitter's offices were temporarily closed until Monday, even with a badge, according to an internal message seen on US media.
In leaked emails reported in The New York Times, Musk asked engineers critical to the site's functioning to make their way to Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco on Friday to meet him in person.
Twitter did not respond to AFP requests for comment on the new measure.
In the ultimatum sent Wednesday, Musk had asked staff to follow a link to affirm their commitment to "the new Twitter" by 5pm New York time (2200 GMT) on Thursday.
If they did not do so, they would have lost their jobs, receiving three months of severance pay.
Signs that government regulators were becoming impatient with Musk's handling of Twitter also grew on Friday, especially over the platform's ability to moderate content with a severely reduced headcount.
A group of US senators on Thursday said Musk's plans for the site "undermined the integrity and safety of the platform... despite clear warnings those changes would be abused for fraud, scams, and dangerous impersonation."
A top regulator for the European Union meanwhile said that Musk should be increasing the number of moderators in Europe, not reducing them.
Musk "knows perfectly well what the conditions are for Twitter to continue operating in Europe," EU commissioner Thierry Breton told French radio.
A spokesman for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the government was watching developments at Twitter "with growing concern" and reviewing its presence on the platform.


May 17 hearing for single mum’s bid to challenge registration of children as Muslim converts

The High Court has set May 17 to hear an application for leave for judicial review by single mother Loh Siew Hong to challenge her ex-husband’s act of registering their three children as Muslim converts without her consent.Loh’s lawyer, A Srimurugan, when contacted by reporters, said the application would be heard in an online proceeding before judge Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh.Loh, 34, filed the application on March 25, naming the Perlis State Registrar of Converts, Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council, Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin and the Perlis state government as the first to the fourth respondents.She is seeking a declaration that her three children are Hindus and that her ex-husband, M Nagahswaran, did not have the legal capacity to allow the Perlis State Registrar of Converts to register their children as converts without her consent.She is also seeking a declaration that her three children, as children, do not have the legal capacity to convert to Islam without her consent. She also wants a certiorari order to revoke the declaration of conversion to Islam, dated July 7, 2020, issued by the Registrar of Converts of Perlis in the name of her three children, as well as other cards on their conversion to Islam issued by other parties, and to prevent any party from issuing such cards.Loh is also applying for a mandamus order to compel the Perlis State Registrar of Converts to delete or cancel the names of her three children or their Muslim names in the Perlis State Register of Converts and a prohibition order to prevent Asri, through officers, employees or the Perlis State Mufti Department from issuing statements that could mean that her children are converts or Muslims.She is also seeking a declaration that Section 117 (b) of the Administration of the Religion of Islam Enactment 2006,  which empowers the Registrar of Converts of Perlis to register a child as a convert only with the consent of the mother or father, even if both of them are still alive, is unconstitutional and invalid.The three children, who were then under the care of the Social Welfare Department, were released to Loh on Feb 21 after the High Court allowed her habeas corpus application.In a notice of motion filed through Messrs SS Thind on Feb 13, Loh named Nazirah Nanthakumari Abdullah as the first respondent and an unnamed party whom she claimed had been taking care of her three children as the second respondent.Loh applied for a writ of habeas corpus or other appropriate orders by the court for her children to be immediately released from the respondent’s right of private custody and returned to her.


7 enforcement officers among 9 arrested over RM500,000 bribes

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has arrested seven enforcement officers and two others including a foreigner on suspicion of receiving bribes amounting to over RM500,000 from 2019 to 2021.A source said six of the officers including several in senior positions were arrested in Sarawak while another was detained in Selangor.At one of the locations, a senior officer in his 50s was arrested alongside a foreigner in his 30s, believed to have solicited and received bribes of more than RM300,000 from several individuals hiring foreign workers in return for facilitating the application of passes.The duo are expected to be brought for remand at 9am tomorrow.Meanwhile, four officers including one in a senior position were arrested at the Sibu MACC branch at 4pm yesterday.The source said the senior officer was believed to have solicited and received bribes of more than RM8,000 for the same offence.The four will be brought for remand at the Sibu Magistrate’s Court.In Selangor, meanwhile, an officer was detained along with a local woman who is also the owner of a company, at the state MACC office at 7pm.The officer was believed to have solicited and received bribes of about RM200,000 for the same offence while the woman and an officer arrested in Sarawak were arrested for abetting.The officer and the woman will be brought for remand at the Shah Alam Magistrate’s Court while the officer in Sarawak will be brought for remand at the Kuching Magistrate’s Court.When contacted, Sarawak MACC chief Mohd Zaki Hassan confirmed the arrests, adding that they were made under Section 17 (a) of the MACC Act 2009.


Massive rockslide just misses Swiss village

A Swiss village came within a hair's breadth of being wiped off the map when a mountain towering above it collapsed overnight, officials said Friday.
The massive rockslide missed Brienz in the east of the country, "by a hair", they said.
The rockslide had been expected. The village was emptied of its 84 inhabitants on May 12 after the authorities said the Insel peak had become unstable.
A large part of the Insel finally collapsed before midnight Thursday, sending more than 1.5 million tonnes of rock crashing down in the darkness.
Early Friday morning, the local authorities inspected the damage, and let out a sigh of relief.
"There is no indication of damage in the village, with the rock mass having stopped just in front of the village," they said in a statement.
A metre-high wall of mud and rock came to a halt just in front of the village school.
Some 1.5-1.9 million cubic metres of rock came loose, according to Stefan Schneider, a geologist who heads the early warning service in Graubunden canton.
He told journalists Friday that the rocks had felled trees as if they were matches, and had destroyed a small cabin in a field above the village.
But there was no longer a major risk that a major rockslide could destroy the village, he said.
'Security not guaranteed'
After the rockslide, authorities lifted the highest alert level around midday Friday, making it once again possible to reach villages neighbouring Brienz by train or road.
But Brienz's own inhabitants, who have been in temporary accommodation, will need to wait a bit longer before returning home.
"The village's security is not guaranteed," Andreas Huwiler, the Graubunden cantonal geologist, told reporters.
"We have to monitor the movement of the collapsed rock mass in the coming days. It could still shift, for instance in the case of rain," he said.
But, he added, there is a "very, very big chance" that all the inhabitants will be able to return home.
"This is one of the best days since the evacuation of the villagers," said Daniel Albertin, mayor of the Albula municipality that includes Brienz.
While the inhabitants were spared, the slide forced the Tour de Suisse cycling race to shorten Friday's leg of the race, which had been due to run below the village.
The stage was in the end declared void after news that Swiss rider Gino Maeder had died from the injuries he sustained when he plunged into a ravine a day earlier.


Azmin says Guan Eng stopped allocations for Malay economic empowerment, Felda road works

Cutbacks as well as a refusal to release allocations meant for Malay economic empowerment, including for a major project to improve infrastructure at Felda settlements, were among the decisions by the finance ministry under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government that led to the start of a major rift, says Bersatu's Mohamed Azmin Ali.
Azmin, who was economic affairs minister during the PH rule and whose jurisdiction included Felda, said some RM400 million allocated for Teraju, the unit under the Prime Minister's Department set up to empower the Bumiputera economy, was also blocked by then finance minister Lim Guan Eng.
He said his claim could be proven as the decision was made known in writing.
The RM400 million for Teraju was an annual allocation under the five-year 10th Malaysia Plan, which allocated a total of RM2 billion to assist small Bumiputera businesses.
Azmin said before the 2018 election which saw PH taking over the administration, some RM700 million had been channelled to Teraju.
"But once PH took over, the finance minister from DAP, starting from 2018, stopped altogether the allocations for the Malays and Bumiputeras," Azmin said last night at the launch of Perikatan Nasional's (PN) election machinery in Gombak, where he will be defending his seat for a fourth term at the Nov 19 polls.
In 2020, following the resignation of Dr Mahathir Mohamad which caused the collapse of the 22-month PH administration, Azmin and a group of MPs from PKR joined hands with Bersatu to form a new government headed by Muhyiddin Yassin, after the latter received support from Umno, GPS and PAS.
Azmin and about a dozen PKR MPs were sacked by the party after their fallout with Anwar Ibrahim in the wake of demands by the president's supporters that he be appointed as prime minister to replace Mahathir.
Azmin said he wrote to Mahathir to protest the move by the finance ministry but that it was ignored by the PH government.
He said instead of the annual RM400 million allocation for Teraju, Lim set aside only RM100 million for it under the 2020 budget.
"This is an insult to an agency that is given a huge mandate," Azmin told reporters last night when asked to explain his claim.
"With RM400 million, we could have helped 200 Bumiputera companies and benefited 10,000 for Malays in various fields."
He said Teraju was just one among many agencies that were not given fair allocations by PH.
He cited another case involving a major road improvement project for Felda settlements spanning 1,000km, saying only allocations for 300km were approved.
"The same went for Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas), a government agency that injects capital into Bumiputera businesses to take over strategic companies.
"Unfortunately, the finance ministry also wanted to take over Ekuinas' revolving fund and requested that the agency be shut down," he added.
Azmin said he had gone to the Prime Minister's Office to protest the move to Mahathir.
"Alhamdulillah, the prime minister agreed with my suggestion and we were able to retain RM2.4 billion for the capital."


Sorry.


Syria revokes BBC accreditation over 'misleading reports'

Syria on Saturday announced it was cancelling the BBC's accreditation over what it called "misleading reports", a rare move against an international media outlet in the war-torn country.
"Due to the broadcaster's failure to adhere to professional standards and its insistence on providing biased and misleading reports", the information ministry has decided to "cancel the accreditation" of the BBC's "correspondent and cameraman", it said in a statement.
Accreditation of the BBC Radio correspondent in Syria was also revoked, the ministry added.
A spokesman for the British broadcaster, without directly commenting on the Syrian move, said that "BBC News Arabic provides impartial independent journalism" and speaks "to people across the political spectrum to establish the facts".
"We will continue to provide impartial news and information to our audiences across the Arabic-speaking world," the spokesperson added in a statement.
The information ministry said that since Syria's war broke out in 2011, the BBC had "from time to time provided subjective and fake information and reports about the reality" in the country.
The conflict has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and devastated much of the country's infrastructure and industry.
The BBC was warned "more than once" but "continued to broadcast its misleading reports based on statements... from terrorist entities and those hostile to Syria", the ministry added.
Revoking the accreditation of international media representatives is rare for Damascus, where the few remaining foreign media outlets have locally based correspondents.
Many foreign journalists quit the country as the war spiralled, pulling in foreign powers and global jihadists.


Bung Moktar offers to be first person to receive Covid vaccine

Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin has volunteered to be the first person in Malaysia to receive the Covid-19 vaccine to clear the public’s doubts.“I offer myself to be the first person to be tested with this vaccine when it’s available.“I am not afraid because I want to be healthy. The commander of the war must be on the frontline,” he told the Dewan Rakyat during a debate on the health ministry’s budget today.Bung was responding to DAP’s Sarikei MP Wong Ling Biu, who related his first-hand experience being infected by the virus.Wong was admitted to Sibu Hospital in March and spent more than a month in a coma.Wong, who today detailed weaknesses in the treatment of Covid-19 patients, had asked if health authorities are prepared to manage the vaccination drive including the logistic issues of the Pfizer vaccine which need to be stored at -71 degrees Celcius.Wong also asked if there have been tests on the side effects of the vaccine, as well as on the preparedness of public health facilities in rural areas such as his constituency of Sarikei.Wong said he had doubts when the doctor at the Sarikei health clinic told him that he was only experiencing normal fever symptoms.He said a week later, he consulted a private specialist who also told him he was having a normal fever.He said when he went to Sarikei Hospital for a Covid-19 test, he was told that it did not have such a facility.He said his insistence on taking the test was rejected, including at Sibu Hospital, where he was told he had not been in contact with any Covid-19 patient.“On the night that I was admitted to Sibu Hospital, I was in a coma. Imagine, if I had not insisted on a Covid-19 test, I would have died because they kept telling me I was only experiencing a normal fever.”He said the government hospitals in Sarawak appeared to be in a state of confusion, and recalled how Kuching Hospital had refused to conduct a test on his wife after he tested positive for Covid-19.“My son Jackie Wong, who is also a national athlete, also underwent a Covid-19 test. He was initially tested postive, but later he tested negative,” he said.He said his son’s quarantine was extended to 73 days before he was allowed to go home.“I feel that my family members and I were made into guinea pigs when we were confirmed positive for Covid-19.“If we already have the vaccine, who else will be guinea pigs? The people want the vaccine to be tested first on politicians and government leaders before it is administered to the people. Are we ready?” asked Wong.Two agreements inked by the government will ensure that millions of Malaysians are vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus.The agreement with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is expected to cover 6.4 million Malaysians, or 20% of the population.Another vaccine, under the Covax global collaboration to fight Covid-19, aims to inoculate 3.2 million Malaysians, or 10% of the population.Combined, the two vaccines, to arrive on Malaysian shores early next year, will cover 9.6 million Malaysians.


Argentine president pays ‘fine’ for birthday dinner during Covid lockdown

Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez and the first lady on Monday paid a fine of three million pesos (about US$24,000), in the form of a charitable donation, in return for legal proceedings against them being dropped over a birthday dinner during the pandemic lockdown that caused a scandal.A federal judge approved the president’s “economic compensation” proposal, in which he will pay 1.6 million pesos to a prestigious vaccine research institute, the Malbran Institute.His partner, Fabiola Yanez, offered a donation of 1.4 million, which was also approved.Prosecutors opened an investigation last year over suspected breaches of health protocols by the centre-left leader, after leaked photos showed a birthday dinner for the first lady being hosted in July 2020 at the Quinta de Olivos, an official residence of the president in the Buenos Aires suburbs.At that time, the capital was subject to a strict Covid-19 lockdown, with a ban on all gatherings – even for funerals.A contrite Fernandez, himself a professor of criminal law, had pleaded that it was “not a malicious act, but recklessness and negligence,” calling it an “error, a slippage” in the context of a “pandemic management maelstrom.”The prosecutors symbolically fixed the reparations at the cost of a respiratory machine and a stay in intensive care.According to some local media, the 63-year-old head of state will have to take out a bank loan in order to be able to pay the fine.The publication of a photo of the dinner, with a dozen guests, had triggered a deluge of criticism in the pandemic-hit country, and elicited rebukes from both Fernandez’s own party as well as the opposition.


Heavy vehicles banned from KL city centre at peak hours

The federal territories ministry through the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has banned heavy vehicles exceeding 7.5 tonnes from entering the city centre with immediate effect.Deputy minister Jalaluddin Alias said the enforcement measure was decided today by a special committee looking into solutions regarding the methods and actions to disperse traffic congestion in the capital city.He said any heavy vehicle found entering the capital at peak hours would be subject to action under Section 79 of The Road Transport Act 1987 by the police and the Road Transport Department (JPJ).“Those who violate this ban will be subject to mandatory compounds and we will take a tough stance by not considering any appeals they might submit,” he said at a press conference also attended by KL Mayor Mahadi Che Ngah after chairing the first meeting of the special committee today.Congestion in the city has also been attributed to a 45% increase in the number of vehicles after the easing of the movement control order since August last year, with 46.76 million recorded in December 2021 compared to 26.51 million in December 2019.The committee has also decided to ban vehicles from parking on the curb during peak hours and will be phasing out parking spots at major roads in stages.“We also are banning traders from conducting business on pavements during peak hours and will phase out trading spots in stages on pavements of major roads,” Jalaluddin added.


China, Cambodia sign free trade deal to go into effect early 2021

China and Cambodia have signed a free trade agreement which will reduce tariffs and boost market access between Beijing and one of its most important Asian allies.The deal was sealed on Monday in Phnom Penh at the end of a two-day visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi who had lengthy discussions with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.The agreement, which was put together in under a year, covers trade, tourism and agriculture. Both countries will cut duties on their products early in 2021.The two countries also signed an aid package from China worth US$140 million for priority infrastructure projects in Cambodia this year, official media Fresh News reported Monday.The deal will be a much-needed boost for Cambodia, which lost part of its special trade preferences with the European Union in August over human rights concerns. The loss of this key market for its exports convinced the Cambodian government to focus its economic attention on China, the largest investor in the country, accounting for over 40% of foreign investment.Monday’s agreement is one of the first fruits of that decision.Wang also promised that Cambodia would be one of the first countries to receive Covid-19 vaccines developed by China.Wang Yi’s visit to Cambodia is part of a five-day tour of several Southeast Asian countries that will also take him to Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, and Singapore.


Over 700 in ICU as daily deaths shoot to new high

Another 6,509 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 518,600.Selangor recorded 2,049 cases, Sarawak 530, Johor and Kuala Lumpur 468 each, Kelantan 451, Penang 384, Kedah 348, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka 329 each, Terengganu 263, Pahang 257, Perak 231, Sabah 184 and Labuan 171.Putrajaya recorded 40 cases and Perlis seven.Active cases stand at 60,018 with 711 in the ICU and 369 in need of respiratory assistance.Another 3,452 patients were discharged, bringing total recoveries to 456,273.However, 61 more deaths were reported, pushing the virus toll to 2,309.


Israeli army mounts rare raid into Palestinian city of Ramallah, clashes ensue

Clashes erupted after Israeli forces mounted a rare raid into the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank early on Thursday, in what the military said was an operation to demolish the house of an assailant.
A Reuters witness said a large military convoy arrived in downtown Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian government, leading hundreds of Palestinians to gather in the area.
Some Palestinian youth hurled stones at the Israeli forces, who fired live bullets, stun grenades and tear gas at the crowd, the witness said. Trash bins that were set on fire blocked roads as ambulance sirens wailed.
The Palestinian health ministry said at least six people were transferred to hospital for treatment, including three who sustained gunshot wounds.
The Israeli military said its forces were operating in Ramallah "to demolish the residence of the terrorist who carried out the bombing attack in Jerusalem last November".
The twin blasts killed two people, including an Israeli-Canadian teenager, and wounded at least 14 others in what police said were explosions of improvised bombs that were planted at bus stops near the city exit and in a junction leading to a settlement.
"The demolition of the homes of fighters is a collective punishment that falls under the war crimes committed by the occupation against our people," said Abdel Fattah Dola of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party.
Israel has said the policy of demolishing homes of perpetrators is both punitive and a deterrence to potential attackers.
Hours earlier the US envoy to Palestinians, Hady Amr, met with senior Palestinian official Hussein Al-Sheikh.
Violence in the West Bank, among territories where Palestinians seek statehood, has risen during the past year. Israel has intensified its military raids amid a spate of street attacks carried out by Palestinians in its cities.
The Palestinian health ministry said at least 158 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since January. Israel's foreign ministry said 20 Israelis and two foreign nationals have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the same period.


More than 1.3 million fully vaccinated

A total of 1,331,262 people in the country had completed both doses of Covid-19 vaccine under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme as of June 12, Health Minister Dr Adham Baba says.In a Twitter post, he said 3,030,096 individuals had received a first dose, taking the total number of Covid-19 shots administered in the country to 4,361,358 doses.The five states with the highest number of completed double doses are Selangor (174,302) followed by Sarawak (141,972), Perak (126,876) Johor (126,673) and Kuala Lumpur (122,797).Meanwhile, according to the daily report on the total daily vaccine doses administered provided by the Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force and shared by Adham, 133,804 doses were given yesterday involving 100,360 first doses and 33,444 second doses.


Nagaenthran having delusions of coming home as new date set in fight to stay alive

Concerns have been raised about the mental deterioration of Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, a Malaysian prisoner on death row in Singapore, as a new date for appeal is set in his fight to stay alive which has so far included efforts by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the Agong and business tycoon Richard Branson.UK-based legal group Reprieve said the appeal had been scheduled for Nov 30 following the stay of execution granted after Nagaenthran’s Covid-19 diagnosis just before a last-ditch attempt in court to stop his execution on Nov 10.It said Nagaenthran’s brother, Navinkumar, had visited him in prison and discovered that his mental state had “severely deteriorated”.“I don’t think he has any idea that he’s going to be executed. He doesn’t seem to understand it at all,” Navinkumar said in a statement.“When I visited him he talked about coming home and eating home-cooked food with our family. It broke my heart that he seemed to think he’s coming home.”Navinkumar said Nagaenthran had also suffered “other delusions” about taking “three-hour baths and sitting in a garden”.“He often can’t remember the most basic things and some of what he says is completely incoherent.”Nagaenthran was arrested in 2009 for carrying 43g of heroin into Singapore, which has some of the world’s toughest anti-drugs laws.A diagnosis of his mental capability found among other that he has an IQ of 69 – below the threshold of 70 for declaring a person as intellectually disabled.He was nonetheless sentenced to death the following year and was due to be hanged on Nov 10 after losing several appeals, despite supporters’ claims that his intellectual disability means he can’t make rational decisions.Rights groups had mounted a campaign seeking to save his life, with dozens of civil society activists gathering outside the Malaysian Parliament on Nov 3 to highlight his case to MPs.Critics also remind the Singapore government of its obligation to abide by international treaties prohibiting capital punishment for mentally disabled persons.But the city-state dismissed the protests, saying Nagaenthran was fully aware of his actions and suggesting that he was fabricating his mental state by altering his academic qualifications to show he has inferior IQ.This drew immediate condemnation from Lawyers for Liberty, a vocal critic of Singapore’s human rights record, in particular its handling of death row inmates convicted of drug trafficking.“In no way does the excuse of having a tough anti-drug policy ameliorate or justify the hanging of a mentally disabled person. Nothing can make this execution right or palatable to any decent right-minded person,” the group said.Ismail wrote to his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong in early November, asking for leniency to be shown towards Nagaenthran.He said he understood the Singapore government’s refusal to halt the execution based on the assertion that all legal processes have been exhausted, adding however that he hoped Nagaenthran’s appeal could be considered “purely on humanitarian grounds”.British aviation magnate Branson meanwhile urged the Singapore president to grant Nagaenthran a pardon, saying Nagaenthran’s case was just one example of others around the world where poor people forced to courier drugs to make a living had to bear “fatal consequences” while the real culprits continued to thrive with their lucrative illicit business.It was recently revealed in the Dewan Rakyat that Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah had also written to Singapore on Nagaenthran’s behalf, asking the president to reduce his sentence or to release him.A petition calling for a halt to his execution has been signed by over 90,000 people.Reprieve said Nagaenthran’s execution had only been stayed pending his appeal, which put him at risk of imminent hanging which could take place “very quickly” if his appeal is dismissed.“The heart-wrenching fact that Nagaenthran believes he is going home to his family further demonstrates that he does not fully understand he faces execution, adding to the already overwhelming evidence that he does not have the mental competency to be executed,” its director Maya Foa said.“Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has made clear his commitment to champion the rights of persons with disabilities. Allowing this travesty of justice to take place would fly in the face of those promises.”


Reduce role of middlemen to control prices, says Anwar

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says dependence on middlemen should be reduced in an effort to control the price of goods in the country.
Met at the Agro Rahmah sales programme at the Precinct 3 Ramadan bazaar in Putrajaya yesterday, he said the price of goods could also be controlled if middlemen took only reasonable profits.
Citing the Agro Rahmah sales as an example, he said vegetables and wet goods sold at the programme were cheaper because middlemen were not involved.
"We can see that the vegetables are cheaper without going through middlemen who take excessive profits… prices are far lower than at ordinary markets.
"It is the same with the price of other goods like fruits, fish and prawns. If we can reduce the role of middlemen or middlemen take only reasonable profits, prices can be controlled," said Anwar, who is also the finance minister.
Asked about government initiatives to check the problem of middlemen, he said the establishment of pasar tani and the Agro Rahmah programme were among the approaches taken to control the prices of goods.
"If we take the produce straight from farm to market, prices will be much lower. We can control the price of local produce but not imported goods," he said.


Google co-founder Brin opens family office in Singapore

Google co-founder Sergey Brin has opened a family office in Singapore to help manage his fortune, making him the latest tycoon to establish a private investment company in the financial hub.The company overseeing the assets of Brin, the world’s ninth-richest person with wealth of US$86.5 billion, set up its Singapore branch late last year, according to documents filed with the corporate regulator.The ultra-wealthy have increasingly chosen the city-state in recent years to open so-called “family offices” focused on handling their fortunes and lives, among them British billionaire inventor James Dyson.They are attracted by the city-state’s low tax rates, political stability, and incentives such as a scheme giving investors a pathway to permanent residency.The city-state of 5.7 million, which has a large expatriate population, is home to about 200 single-family offices overseeing assets worth some US$20 billion, according to the government.Singapore is also widely seen as having received a boost from long-running turbulence in rival financial hub Hong Kong.According to the documents filed with the regulator, the Singapore office of Brin’s US-based Bayshore Global Management will mainly focus on managing family investments.The office of Brin, 47, is named after North Bayshore, the area of Mountain View, California where Google has its headquarters.Brin and Larry Page co-founded the internet search engine – now a unit of parent company Alphabet – in 1998. They stepped down from their roles at the helm of Alphabet in 2019.Google has its Asian headquarters in Singapore.


The married ‘dream team’ behind the vaccine that gave the world hope

In late January 2020, an unassuming billionaire couple were having breakfast in their home in Mainz, Germany while reading the latest edition of distinguished British medical journal The Lancet, when an article caught their eye.It was a preliminary analysis of a mysterious illness circulating in Wuhan, China.The pair of boffins had already made their fortune as biotech entrepreneurs and soon concluded the new disease had the potential to become a global pandemic.Their company, BioNTech, specialised in developing just the kind of vaccine technology the world was going to need. They agreed it was their duty to leap into action.Born in Turkey, Ugur Sahin had emigrated to Germany with his parents. He studied medicine at Cologne University where he fell in love with Ozlem Tureci an equally brilliant medical student, also the child of a Turkish immigrant.Ozlem Tureci and her husband Ugur Sahin. Photo: ZyrtareTheir first company, Ganymed Pharmaceuticals, explored whether modified genetic code, or Messenger RNA (mRNA), could be used to fool the body into mobilising against invading tumours and viruses.They formed BioNTech in 2008 and eventually sold Ganymed for US$1.4 billion in 2016.Despite now being worth a fortune, the “husband and wife dream team” lived modestly with their teenage daughter and always rode to work on pushbikes.In 2018, they started to explore a broader range of cancer fighting tools. Their research work began to attract attention and in 2019, Bill and Melinda Gates invested US$55 million to develop HIV and tuberculosis vaccine programmes.Until last year, BioNTech, was best known for building cancer “vaccines” using mRNA technology which had never been approved for use with humans, but in 2020 the couple immediately saw how their technique could be adapted to fight Covid-19.BioNTech was already working with US drug giant Pfizer on a flu vaccine and as coronavirus spread around the world, the two companies agreed to collaborate on developing a Covid-19 vaccine with the research funded by Pfizer, and the science primarily developed by BioNTech.In November, Pfizer announced, to worldwide acclaim, that the final results of late-stage trials showed their vaccine to be 95% effective.Sahin and Tureci celebrated at home with glasses of Turkish tea.On Wednesday, British regulators granted the vaccine the Western world’s first approval for emergency use, heralding the beginning of the end of the pandemic and catapulting the couple to international admiration.“We believe it is really the start of the end of the pandemic,” Sahin told CNN. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla hailed the authorisation as “a historic moment in the fight against Covid-19”.Developing, trialing, seeking regulatory approval and being granted it within the space of a year is unheard of in the history of vaccines.“Our trust-based relationship with Pfizer is the key to why we have been so fast,” Sahin told the Associated Press. “It allowed us to share data and avoid any delay.”At a press conference on Wednesday, BioNTech’s chief commercial officer Sean Marett said on behalf of Sahin and Tureci, “I don’t think we’ve had time to think about it yet because we’re all too busy packing vials for shipping to the UK.”There is talk of a possible Nobel Prize in 2021 for the couple the Times of London calls, “the most celebrated marriage in science since Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radioactivity”.Their extraordinary achievement has seen the market valuation of BioNTech swell to US$29 billion.BioNTech’s laboratories are on a Mainz street appropriately named An der Goldgrube or At the Gold Mine.


312,390 doses of Covid-19 vaccine to arrive in first shipment

A total of 312,390 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine will be flown in as the first shipment to Malaysia.Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the vaccine will be flown by MASKargo flight to KLIA where it will be sorted and sent to various vaccine storage sites around the country.“As announced by [email protected], we will receive our first shipment of Pfizer vaccine on Feb 21.“We will have the army and police escorting and securing the vaccine from end to end,” he said in a series of Twitter posts today.He said other vaccines are also going through the regulatory process with the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency.“Hopefully we can add other vaccines in Phase 1,” he added.Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today said he would receive the vaccine on the first day of the programme implementation, together with the frontliners.The first phase of the programme, which will run until April, will involve the frontliners, followed by the second phase from April to August for the high-risk groups, and the third phase, from May this year until February next year, for those aged 18 and above.


Health ministry to consider full-scale MCO for Selangor if cases remain high

Health Minister Dr Adham Baba says his ministry is considering tightening health SOPs in Selangor or enforcing a full-scale movement control order (MCO) in the state if Covid-19 cases remain high.“I agree that we need to suggest stricter SOPs and MCO to the government in view of the inability to curb (infections), so a proposal for us to implement a full MCO can be considered,” he said at a joint press conference with Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin today.The current MCO, enforced in the majority of districts in Selangor early this month, was extended across the country on May 12 although Sarawak later said it would remain under conditional MCO.Under the so-called MCO 3.0, SOPs were tightened and travel across state and district lines was prohibited.The stricter SOPs will remain in place until June 7.Yesterday, Selangor recorded 1,275 new cases of the 3,780 infections reported nationwide.Of the 36 new deaths recorded across the country, eight were in Selangor.


China urges Japan to halt export restrictions on chips

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao urged Japan to halt semiconductor export controls, calling it a "wrongdoing" that "seriously violated" international economic and trade rules, a statement from his ministry said on Monday.
China's latest condemnation of the export restrictions was made during Wang's talks with Japanese Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura on May 26 at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) conference in Detroit.
Japan, along with the Netherlands, in January agreed to match US export controls that will limit the sale of some chipmaking tools to China, and has placed restrictions on the export of 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to its neighbour.
The US imposed the restrictions last year aiming to slow China's work on supercomputers that can be used to develop nuclear weapons systems and artificial intelligence systems.
Japan has not singled out China in its statements about the export controls, saying only that it is fulfilling its duty to contribute to international peace and stability.
Monday's statement from the Chinese commerce ministry also said, however, that China "is willing to work with Japan to promote practical cooperation in key economic and trade areas."
On Friday, Nishimura met with US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and the two agreed to deepen cooperation in the research and development of advanced chips and technologies such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence.
Wang also met Raimondo and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai while at the summit, criticising US economic and trade policies towards China, including the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework that excludes China and aims to provide a US-centred alternative to its influence.
The US, Japan and other members of the Group of Seven advanced nations this month agreed to "de-risk" but not decouple from China, reducing their exposure to the world's second-largest economy in everything from chips to minerals.


Ex-DoJ lawyer tells jury he met with Chinese to further illegal lobbying campaign

A former US Department of Justice attorney told a jury on Thursday that he simultaneously worked on behalf of hip-hop artist Pras Michel, as part of an illegal foreign influence campaign to persuade the Trump administration to return a dissident to China.
George Higginbotham testified that he made money on the side while working at the Justice Department by offering legal advice to Michel, a long-time friend. His duties included facilitating some of Michel's dealings with Jho Low, a businessman whom prosecutors say embezzled billions of dollars from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
Higginbotham is the latest witness to testify for the government in the criminal trial against Michel, who is accused of accepting millions of dollars to carry out three different illegal lobbying campaigns on Low's behalf.
Other witnesses so far have included actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former Republican National Committee official Elliott Broidy.
Higginbotham said he felt uncomfortable when Michel asked him to pass along a message to the Chinese embassy in 2017 that the Trump administration was working on their request to extradite dissident Guo Wengui. But he did so anyway, telling the jury he let his friendship with Michel cloud his judgment.
"This could get me in a lot of trouble," he told the jury he recalled thinking, adding that his actions were "definitely outside of official lines."
Higginbotham, who pleaded guilty in 2018 for his role in the foreign influence campaign, testified that Justice Department investigators later found out about his meeting and questioned him.
A few months later, he agreed to fly to Hong Kong for a follow-up meeting with Low, after Michel assured him he "would never have to worry about DoJ again."
"Unfortunately, that is clearly not the case," Higginbotham added.
Higginbotham's conduct has since been highlighted in the Department of Defense's Encyclopedia of Ethical Failure.


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Lynas appeal to drop 4 licence conditions rejected

Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd's appeal to drop the four licence conditions set by the Atomic Energy Licencing Board (AELB) has been rejected, says Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang.
Chang in a statement yesterday said that after consideration, Lynas' appeal was rejected after an appeal hearing session on April 28 following AELB's decision.
However, he agreed to extend the period for the plant’s cracking and leaching (C&L) activities until Dec 31 after taking into account the impact of the decision on the rare earth supply chain at the global level.
"As such, effective Jan 1, 2024, Lynas needs to ensure that its overseas C&L plants start operations as Lynas will no longer be allowed to import raw materials containing natural radioactive materials into Malaysia," he said.
AELB had rejected Lynas' application to drop four conditions related to water leach purification (WLP) residue management after July 2023, C&L activities at the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant, and import of lanthanide concentrate from Australia. With the decision, Lynas can no longer produce additional radioactive waste after July 2023.
Chang said the decision by the minister was final based on Section 32(5), Atomic Energy Licensing Act.
"This decision was made after taking into account economic interests, environmental protection and public health," he said.
He said the government understood the importance of the rare earth industry and was committed to ensuring that any business dealings related to the industry would not have a negative impact on the environment and the local population.
"Therefore, the decision was taken after careful evaluation, based on the principles of sustainable development and safety," he said.
Chang said the ministry would continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure that the rare earth industry in Malaysia grows responsibly and complies with the regulations and standards set.


Taiwan airline says 8 pilots and cabin crew sacked since March for breaching Covid rules

Taiwan’s Eva Airways said on Tuesday it had sacked four pilots and four cabin crew since March for breaching rules designed to prevent Covid-19 transmission.The airline made the admission following the revelation that a New Zealand pilot broke a 250-day Covid-19-free streak in the country when he brought the virus back from an international layover and infected a local woman.The case ignited public anger after the government said he had not reported all his contacts and the places he had been, nor worn a face mask in the cockpit when he should have.“Eva Air always attaches great importance to discipline, and the vast majority of crew members on the front line of duty face transportation and epidemic prevention tasks with a cautious and serious attitude,” said an official airline statement.In the statement, Eva Air did not give details of the other sackings.The government has since tightened its rules for airline crew, including on quarantines when they return to Taiwan, and has also fined Eva Air US$35,000 for the New Zealand pilot incident.As a result, Eva Air said it would now clamp down even further on international aircrew in an attempt to avoid a repeat occurrence.A spokesperson said flight attendants and pilots would now be required to wear face masks, goggles and gloves whenever they leave their hotel room on an international layover, although crew would be encouraged to shelter in place during their layovers.In fact, the airline said it was now working with hotels in certain destinations to record the movements of its crew to ensure they don’t leave their hotel rooms or have visitors stay over.Eva Air believes the New Zealand pilot was infected during a layover and then failed to comply with strict self-isolation rules on his return to Taipei. The pilot is now known to have visited crowded public spaces while infectious but lied to contract tracers in what is believed to have been an attempt to cover up for the fact that he broke quarantine rules.Since that incident, the airline will now require crew to take a Covid-19 test before being released from home quarantine. Aircrew are already only permitted to operate a maximum of two international flights that require a layover per month because of the strict quarantine rules.In addition, Eva pilots will be required to wear a face mask at all times during a flight unless they are actively eating or drinking. Only one pilot at a time will be permitted to remove their face mask to eat or drink.In contrast, many airlines permit pilots to remove their face masks on the flight deck.


Forget the returns, just give us back our money, investors say on failed project in Thailand

After an eight-year wait for returns that never materialised from an agarwood investment project in northern Thailand, investors are demanding that the company responsible pays back the money they put in.But while they insist that the company returns their money, they no longer expect to turn a profit, saying their contracts have been breached with no sign that the project will succeed.MalaysiaNow previously reported that 180 individuals had suffered losses of RM22.6 million due to the failed agarwood investment in Thailand.The project had been handled by an international company, Asia Plantation Capital (APC).The investors, represented by a group of lawyers, had applied to the Kuala Lumpur Criminal Magistrates Court for an order for the police to investigate the case which had been classified as no further action or NFA.Other investors not included in the group later came forth to share their experiences with MalaysiaNow.In their interviews, they confirmed the report on the investment scheme run by APC.They said they were invited to join the scheme as early as 2011, when the company held an expo at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur to introduce the project.They said they made their first transaction at the expo itself. Payments were made per plot, with each plot containing 100 trees.Some of them were also brought to Sakon Nakhon in northern Thailand to see for themselves the plots of land. They were then offered a chance to sink their money into more plots at a promotional price.All in, the investors made a series of transactions apart from their initial payments at the expo in the hope of raking in as much profit as possible.“In 2011, they promised they would inform us of developments through annual reports, and that returns would be given within seven years,” one of them told MalaysiaNow.“But as we approached the date of maturity for the plants, I was invited along with several other investors to attend a session with APC where they told us that our trees had all died.”They were then told that the company would be unable to pay up the money as promised.Another investor, Dr P Mahendran, said no amount of explaining could be accepted as the company had given its guarantee in black and white.“Every investment has its risks, but this company promised that no matter what, they would pay us,” Mahendran, a dentist in Kuala Lumpur, told MalaysiaNow.“Suddenly they told us that our plants hadn’t made it due to weather conditions, even though the contract stated that such a situation would not jeopardise our payments.”Mahendran said he was upset as he had used savings meant for his children’s education as investment capital, hoping to make a profit from the project that could be used for their future.Another investor who called himself Guru said he had put in RM520,000 in three transactions between 2013 and 2014, using money he had initially meant to leave to his wife.But like Mahendran, he received nothing in return. The last time he had contact with APC was early last year.“APC only told me that my plants had died. They told me not to worry as they would plant everything again from scratch.“But I’m already 73 years old – how can I want another seven years for the trees to mature?”Guru made a police report in January after failing to receive a response from APC.“It’s all right if I don’t get the returns they promised,” he said. “What is important is that the company returns the money I put in.”MalaysiaNow’s attempts to reach APC for comment have so far failed.


US backs Malaysia’s count of aircraft in Chinese military flight

The US has backed Malaysia’s claim of 16 Chinese aircraft performing an exercise off of Sarawak last week, voicing support for the count despite protest by a Chinese military source who was quoted as saying that only two planes were involved in the incident.The South China Morning Post (SCMP) had quoted a Chinese military source who said that China only dispatched two transport aircraft to the South China Sea, to deliver essential supplies to soldiers in Chinese-held territory.But the US Pacific Air Forces said in a report by SCMP that the number of aircraft involved in the incident was “closer to what the Royal Malaysian Air Force is tracking” although the spokesman declined to reveal further details on collection methods.Pacific Air Forces Commander General Ken Wilsbach meanwhile was reported as saying in a teleconference last Friday that the number of Chinese planes was likely “not as close to the Chinese number as what the Chinese said it was”.The Chinese aircraft had flown over hotly contested waters off of Sarawak on May 31, prompting the air force to scramble its jets in response.Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein criticised the flight as an “intrusion” and said the government would lodge a protest with Beijing and summon the Chinese ambassador.A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur however said the “activities are routine flight training of the Chinese air force and do not target any country”.“According to relevant international law, Chinese military aircraft enjoy the freedom of overflight in the relevant airspace,” he said. He also denied that the planes had entered the territorial airspace of any other country.The aircraft came within 60 nautical miles (110km) of the Malaysian part of Borneo, and did not respond to attempts to contact them. They turned back before entering Malaysian airspace over its territorial waters.However, Hishammuddin said they had entered the country’s “maritime zone” – an area that extends much further from the coast.Wilsbach previously condemned the Chinese military flight activity, describing it as “escalatory” and “destabilising”.“We set ourselves up for miscalculations around the region when we have some of these activities when we’re getting into people’s airspace that we shouldn’t,” he said.


No talks yet on 20 sen fee for online purchases, ministry says

The communications and multimedia ministry says no discussions have been held yet on the proposal to impose a service charge of 20 sen for online purchases.In a statement, it said an explanation was needed following the announcement by its deputy minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin in Kelantan on Tuesday.Zahidi had said that the ministry was planning to impose a service charge of 20 sen for online purchases of between RM200 and RM1,000.He also said the money collected would be used to improve the communication security system to prevent cyber intrusions.“The ministry would like to clarify that there has been no discussion on the imposition of a 20 sen service charge on users for online purchases below RM1,000 or an additional 20 sen for the next RM1,000 worth of purchases,” it said.


Swiss woman found murdered near waterfall in ‘sandbox’ Phuket

A Swiss woman has been found dead in Thailand on the resort island of Phuket, near a waterfall tourist attraction which has remained mostly unvisited during the pandemic.The southern island resort is currently sealed off from the rest of the country as the government tries to revive the tourist industry. Most locals have been vaccinated as part of the drive to provide a Covid-free holiday for foreign visitors but not many have arrived yet.Local officials have identified the victim as 57-year-old Nicole Sauvain-Weisskopf.Police found her face down in the water, covered by a black sheet, with her phone, shorts and trainers nearby.As yet it is unclear what happened to the Swiss national. Results of an autopsy are expected later on Friday.Local officials however have suggested she was raped and murdered.A spokesman for Thailand’s foreign minister Don Pramudwinai said on Twitter he had sent his condolences to the Swiss ambassador for the “murder of a Swiss woman in Phuket”.Government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha had ordered police “to expedite the investigation to identify and arrest the culprit”.He also ordered officials to increase security in Phuket.Switzerland’s foreign ministry meanwhile released a statement on Thursday saying Thai authorities had contacted them about the death of an “apparent Swiss citizen” but gave no more details, citing privacy concerns.The death comes just weeks after Thailand launched its so-called “Phuket Sandbox” scheme. Sauvain-Weisskopf reportedly arrived in Thailand on July 13.Under the programme, vaccinated tourists can come to the island without the need to quarantine, but cannot travel to the mainland within 14 days.On Friday, Police Gen Suwat arrived with a large team of experienced detectives and forensic experts from Bangkok to head the investigation.In the afternoon they reported the victim had been dead for about two days, but they had no suspect yet.The Bangkok Post reported late on Friday that the victim was deputy protocol chief of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland.Suwat said surveillance camera footage showed the victim went alone to the crime scene.He said there were “traces” in the body and he is now awaiting the official autopsy report from Bangkok.Police on Friday released the victim’s timeline since her arrival in Phuket, ending with her 18-minute walk, alone from her hotel near Ao Yon beach to the waterfall, about 1.4km away, on Tuesday.They are appealing for anyone who may have seen her in the area to come forward.


New Covid-19 cases down nearly 17% last week

The number of new Covid-19 cases decreased by 16.9% to 15,549 in the 35th epidemiological week (ME 35/2022) from Aug 28 to Sept 3 compared to 18,715 in ME 34/2022.
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 47 deaths were recorded during the same period, a decrease of 21.7% from the previous week.
"The number of recoveries in ME 35/2022 also dropped by 20.9%, from 25,037 cases to 19,813 cases.
"The average number of active cases per day for ME 35/2022 was 31,333, a decrease of 13.4% compared to the week before," he said in a statement today on the Covid-19 situation in the country.
Admissions to hospitals and public low-risk Covid-19 quarantine and treatment centres (PKRC) per 100,000 residents meanwhile saw a decrease of 9.4% for patients in Category One and Two and 3.6% for those in Category Three and above.
The occupancy of ICU beds in ME 35/2022 increased by 1% while non-critical beds decreased by 1% and PKRC beds decreased by 2% compared to ME 34/2022.
The percentage of Covid-19 patients requiring respiratory assistance increased by 0.2% in ME 35/2022 compared to ME 34/2022.
Positive cases monitored by Covid-19 assessment centres (CACs) across the country also showed a decrease.
"The number of patient arrivals to CACs decreased by 21.4%, new cases that required monitoring at home decreased by 18.7% while cases referred by CACs to hospitals decreased by 24.9%," Noor Hisham said.


Focus shifts to exclusive KL hotel as Zahid skips BN-PN meeting

Attention has switched to the five-star St Regis Hotel in Kuala Lumpur where more than a dozen Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs are meeting Perikatan Nasional (PN) leaders, as the outcome of their audiences with the Agong looks set for further delays following a meeting scheduled with the Malay rulers tomorrow.
MalaysiaNow understands that BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, along with several MPs aligned with him who have thrown their support behind Anwar Ibrahim, are not present at the meeting.
The Umno leaders present include caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and party deputy president Mohamad Hasan.
The meeting is believed to be the first formal discussion between both coalitions, following an earlier one held with Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders led by Anwar at the Seri Pacific Hotel next to the Umno headquarters.
"We have decided to meet at a neutral venue, not at Umno or Bersatu's backyard," a party source told MalaysiaNow.
Earlier today, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah met all 30 BN MPs individually amid conflicting signals on who they support as prime minister. Several representatives from GPS also had audiences with the king.
Zahid and a group of Umno leaders allied with him have been pushing for Anwar to form the government, while a majority of BN MPs have publicly stated their opposition to any form of cooperation with the PH chairman.
At least 10 of them are understood to have signed statutory declarations (SDs) in support of PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin.
Yesterday, Muhyiddin said he was curious about why 115 SDs submitted to the palace were ignored, showing proof of receipt by an official of Istana Negara.
Muhyiddin also revealed that he had rejected a suggestion by Sultan Abdullah for PN and PH to form a "unity government", adding that his stance on the matter had long been made clear.


After outcry, Israel police to probe actions at journalist’s funeral

Israel’s police chief on Saturday ordered an investigation into the actions of officers at the funeral of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, after they charged the procession and beat pallbearers, sparking global outrage.Thousands of mourners packed Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday for the burial of the 51-year-old Al Jazeera reporter. The Palestinian-American was killed two days earlier during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank.Television footage showed pallbearers struggling to stop Abu Akleh’s casket from falling to the ground as baton-wielding police charged towards them, grabbing Palestinian flags.“The Israel police commissioner in coordination with the minister of public security has instructed that an investigation be conducted into the incident,” the police said in a statement.They had coordinated funeral arrangements with the journalist’s family but “rioters tried to sabotage the ceremony and harm the police,” it said.“As with any operational incident, and certainly an incident in which police officers were exposed to violence by rioters and in which force was subsequently used by the police, the Israel police will be looking into the events that ensued during the funeral,” it added.The latest condemnation came Saturday when Spain’s foreign ministry, in a tweet, called “totally unacceptable” the scenes showing “disproportionate use of violence by the Israeli police” at the funeral.German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed deep shock “that the funeral ceremony could not be held in peace and dignity.”The foundation of late South African archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, said the police “attacking pallbearers” was “chillingly reminiscent of the brutality” during funerals of anti-apartheid activists.On Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was “deeply troubled to see the images of Israeli police intruding into her funeral procession”.The European Union condemned what it said was “unnecessary force” by the officers.Abu Akleh, a highly respected reporter, was shot in the head on Wednesday near Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank. She was wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest marked “Press”.On Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas awarded her a posthumous medal at a ceremony in Ramallah.Israel’s army said an interim investigation could not determine who fired the fatal bullet, noting stray Palestinian gunfire or Israeli sniper fire aimed at militants were both possible causes.The Palestinian public prosecution said an initial probe showed “the only origin of the shooting was the Israeli occupation forces”.‘Transparent, impartial’While the two sides traded blame, the UN Security Council in a rare, unanimous statement, condemned the killing and called for “an immediate, thorough, transparent, and impartial investigation,” diplomats said.Qatar-based Al Jazeera said Israel killed its reporter “deliberately” and “in cold blood”.Friday’s violence came as the body of Abu Akleh, a Christian, left St Joseph’s hospital in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.Thirty-three people were injured, of whom six were hospitalised, according to the Jerusalem Red Crescent. Police said they arrested six people.The US, the European Union, the United Nations and others have backed calls for a full investigation into her killing.Israel has called for a joint probe, which the Palestinian Authority has rejected.A PA official said on Saturday that the authority would welcome the “participation of all international bodies in the investigation”.“What happened in her funeral yesterday by the #occupation forces reinforces our position that rejects #Israel’s participation in this investigation,” Hussein al-Sheikh added on Twitter.Fresh violence erupted Friday in the West Bank, including a raid and clashes around Jenin refugee camp that claimed the life of an Israeli officer.Tensions were already high after a wave of anti-Israeli attacks that have killed at least 19 people since March 22, including an Arab-Israeli police officer and two Ukrainians.A total of 32 Palestinians and three Israeli Arabs have died during the same period, according to an AFP tally, among them perpetrators of attacks and those killed by Israeli security forces in West Bank operations.


Western nations warn of terror threat at Kabul airport

Western nations warned their citizens Thursday to immediately leave the surrounds of Kabul airport over a terrorist threat, as thousands of people try to reach a dwindling number of evacuation flights.Nearly 90,000 Afghans and foreigners have fled Afghanistan via the US-led airlift since the hardline Islamist Taliban movement took control of the country on Aug 15.Huge crowds are gathered in and around the airport, becoming increasingly desperate as some foreign nations cease flights ahead of Tuesday’s deadline by President Joe Biden to end the evacuations and withdraw the US troops overseeing it.One reason for the hard deadline cited by Biden and his aides this week was an “acute” terrorist threat from the regional chapter of the Islamic State (IS) group.The US government and its allies raised the alarm further on Thursday with a series of coordinated and specific advisories warnings for their citizens to avoid the airport.“Those at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately,” said the US State Department, citing unspecified “security threats”.Australia’s department of foreign affairs said there was an “ongoing and very high threat of terrorist attack”.“Do not travel to Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport. If you’re in the area of the airport, move to a safe location and await further advice.”London issued a similar warning, adding “if you can leave Afghanistan safely by other means, you should do so immediately”.Islamic State threatThe IS’ Afghanistan-Pakistan chapter has been responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in those countries recent years.It has massacred civilians in both countries, at mosques, shrines, public squares and even hospitals.The group has especially targeted Muslims from sects it considers heretical, including Shias.But while IS and the Taliban are both hardline Sunni Islamist militants, they are rivals and oppose each other.The Taliban have promised a softer brand of rule from their first stint, which ended in 2001 when the US invaded because they gave sanctuary to Al-Qaeda.But many Afghans fear a repeat of the Taliban’s brutal interpretation of shariah law, as well as violent retribution for working with foreign militaries, Western missions or the previous US-backed government.There are particular concerns for women, who were largely banned from education and employment and could only leave the house with a male chaperone during the group’s 1996-2001 rule.“They have not only saved our lives, but they have also saved our dreams,” one member of a girls robotics team said of the Mexican government after fleeing Afghanistan and landing in Mexico City.“Under this (Taliban) regime, we women will face difficulties… that is why we are grateful to be here,” she told reporters.The crowds at the airport have led to chaos throughout the airlift operations, with thousands of US troops trying to maintain a secure perimeter for evacuation flights.Some of the Afghans massed outside the airport have foreign passports, visas or eligibility to travel, but most do not.At least eight people have died in the chaos.Despite the harrowing scenes, the Taliban have ruled out any extension to next Tuesday’s deadline to pull out foreign troops, describing it as “a red line”.“They have planes, they have the airport, they should get their citizens and contractors out of here,” said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.Turkey, which had more than 500 non-combat troops stationed in Afghanistan, said Wednesday it had started pulling out its forces.The withdrawal signalled an apparent abandonment of the plans it had been negotiating to help secure Kabul’s strategic airport after the American departure.Belgium said Wednesday it was ending evacuations after its military planes airlifted around 1,100 people – including Europeans and Afghans – in recent days.France has said it will end its flights on Thursday.The Pentagon, which is managing all Kabul airport operations, has said it has to wind down evacuations several days before Aug 31.This is to allow time for the US military to remove its own 6,000-plus troops, plus hundreds of US officials and Afghan security forces, as well as equipment.


Shanghai to gradually reopen schools in June as lockdown eases

Schoolchildren in Shanghai will gradually resume some in-person classes in June with daily Covid-19 tests, the local government said Thursday, as the Chinese metropolis gradually emerges from a lengthy lockdown that brought it to a standstill.The country has been fighting its worst coronavirus outbreak since the start of the pandemic, with the epicentre Shanghai banning its 25 million residents from leaving their homes for weeks.Some of the city’s restrictions have recently eased as cases dwindle, though much of the population is still not allowed to venture outside for more than a few hours a day at most.Children attending the last two years of high school – who must prepare for the all-important college entrance examinations – will return to schools across the city on June 6, Shanghai education official Yang Zhenfeng said at a press conference on Thursday.They will be joined a week later by students in the final grade of middle school, while all other students are to remain at home attending online classes, Yang said.“We will ensure that students get swabbed on campus after school every day,” with results from their PCR tests available by the next morning, Yang said.Shanghai’s lockdown has taken a heavy toll on business and morale in the economic and cultural hub, pushing city authorities to allow some factories and public transport lines to resume operation in a patchy reopening.China is hewing to a zero-Covid policy with mass lockdowns, routine tests and movement restrictions whenever infection clusters emerge – the last major economy to do so in a world now living with the coronavirus.Beijing’s strict approach has been severely challenged by the rise of the Omicron variant, which has caused hundreds of thousands of infections in China this year.Authorities have turned their attention to the low vaccination rate among China’s elderly population, long a weak point in the country’s defense against the virus.Officials have ramped up incentives for older people to get jabbed, including one neighbourhood near Beijing’s Temple of Heaven which is dangling as much as 1000 yuan (US$149) in gift cards for residents over 80 who get their first shot.


No deaths directly linked to Covid-19 vaccines, says deputy health minister

There are no death cases that can be directly linked to the Covid-19 vaccines administered during the implementation period of the National Covid-19 Vaccination Programme (PICK) from Feb 24 until Nov 20, Deputy Health Minister II Aaron Ago Dagang said today.He said this was the outcome of a casualty assessment through the post-mortems although there were 535 reported deaths among vaccine recipients during that period.“All of the cases that were categorised as serious including deaths will be thoroughly investigated by the relevant health facilities.“An investigation report will then be submitted to the Covid-19 Vaccine Special Pharmacovigilance Committee (JFK) for casualty assessment or the vaccines’ link to the side effects,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat.He was responding to an oral question from R Sivarasa (PH-Sungai Buloh) on the outcome of the health ministry’s monitoring of Covid-19 vaccine recipients, including deaths and negative effects linked to the vaccines given.Aaron said during this period, the reporting system of the National Centre for Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring, National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency had received 23,163 reports of adverse effects following vaccination, or 0.45 for every 1,000 doses administered.He said of the total, only 1,549 reports were categorised as serious which was equivalent to 0.03 reports for every 1,000 doses given.“These were admitted to hospital for observation and treatment for several days,” he said.Aaron also said that during the same period, 51,842,386 doses of Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, CanSino and Sinopharm vaccines were administered.


Russia takes Ukraine to European court over MH17, civilian deaths

Russia said on Thursday it had filed a complaint at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) accusing Ukraine over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 and civilian deaths in Russia and Ukraine.Prosecutors said Ukraine was to blame for deaths during a 2014 uprising in Kiev and in an ongoing conflict with pro-Moscow separatists in the country’s east that has claimed more than 13,000 lives.Russia also alleged that Ukrainian shelling had killed and wounded people in southern Russia.Ukrainian Justice Minister Denys Malyuska mocked the case, saying Moscow had confused the Strasbourg-based court with a Russian talk show.“In the complaint to the court they laid out all the myths of Russian propaganda,” he said on Facebook.“From a legal point of view, inevitable defeat is awaiting them.”In the complaint, Moscow blamed Ukrainian authorities for the deaths of 298 people aboard MH17, which was taken out of the sky by a ground-air missile system in July 2014, saying Kiev refused to close airspace over war-torn eastern Ukraine.Russia’s claim contradicts the findings of an international investigation.The missile was said to have come from a Russian army brigade and four people linked with pro-Russia separatists are on trial for murder over the deaths.‘Real threat’The prosecutor general’s office in Moscow said in a statement that the court papers also accused Kiev of discriminating against Russian speakers and companies as well as cutting fresh water supplies to Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014.“Ukraine’s armed forces are carrying out hostilities that pose a real threat to the life and health of Russian citizens who live in border regions, and force thousands of Ukrainian citizens to seek refuge in Russia,” the statement added.Officials said it was the first time Russia had complained about another country at the court in Strasbourg, and the Kremlin’s spokesman said Moscow expected the EHCR to act.“Of course, Russia has the right to expect the ECHR to respond to these negative processes,” Dmitry Peskov said, referring to grievances in the complaint.The Russian foreign ministry said the court should carefully study case materials and handle the complaint in an “impartial” manner.Ties between Ukraine and Russia collapsed after a pro-Western uprising in Ukraine in 2014 ousted Kremlin-backed leadership.Kiev and its Western allies accuse Moscow of sending troops and weapons to support the separatists. Russia denies the claims.After a largely respected truce in the second half of 2020, tensions have risen again this year, especially after Moscow deployed around 100,000 troops to Ukraine’s borders in the spring.