Covid-19 catastrophe could have been prevented, says expert panel

The catastrophic scale of the Covid-19 pandemic could have been prevented, an independent global panel concluded Wednesday, but a “toxic cocktail” of dithering and poor coordination meant the warning signs went unheeded.The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPPR) said a series of bad decisions meant Covid-19 went on to kill at least 3.3 million people so far and devastate the global economy.Institutions “failed to protect people” and science-denying leaders eroded public trust in health interventions, the IPPPR said in its long-awaited final report.Early responses to the outbreak detected in Wuhan, China in December 2019 “lacked urgency”, with February 2020 a costly “lost month” as countries failed to heed the alarm, said the panel.To tackle the current pandemic, it called on the richest countries to donate a billion vaccine doses to the poorest.And the panel also called on the world’s wealthiest nations to fund new organisations dedicated to preparing for the next pandemic.‘Delay, hesitation and denial’The report was requested by World Health Organization (WHO) member states last May.The panel was jointly chaired by former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark and former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.The report, “Covid-19: Make it the Last Pandemic”, argued that the global alarm system needed overhauling to prevent a similar catastrophe.“The situation we find ourselves in today could have been prevented,” Sirleaf told reporters.“It is due to a myriad of failures, gaps and delays in preparedness and response.”The report said the emergence of Covid-19 was characterised by a mixture of “some early and rapid action, but also by delay, hesitation, and denial.“Poor strategic choices, unwillingness to tackle inequalities and an uncoordinated system created a toxic cocktail which allowed the pandemic to turn into a catastrophic human crisis.”The threat of a pandemic had been overlooked and countries were woefully unprepared to deal with one, the report found.Vaccine ultimatumThe panel did not spare WHO, saying it could have declared the situation a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) – its highest level of alarm – on Jan 22, 2020.Instead, it waited eight more days before doing so.Nevertheless, given countries’ relative inaction, “we might still have ended up in the same place”, said Clark.It was only in March after WHO described it as a pandemic – a term that is not officially part of its alert system – that countries were jolted into action.As for the initial outbreak, “there were clearly delays in China – but there were delays everywhere”, she added.Without the lag between the first identification in Wuhan and the PHEIC declaration – and then the “lost month” of February 2020 – “we believe we wouldn’t be looking at an accelerating pandemic, as we have for the last 15 or 16 months or so. As simple as that”, said Clark.The panel made several recommendations on how to address the current pandemic.Rich, well-vaccinated countries should provide the 92 poorest territories in the Covax scheme with at least one billion vaccine doses by Sept 1, and more than two billion by mid-2022, it said.The G7 industrialised nations should pay 60% of the US$19 billion required to fund vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics via WHO’s Access to Covid Tools Accelerator programme in 2021, it added.Fellow G20 nations and others should provide the rest.WHO and the World Trade Organization should also get major vaccine-producing countries and manufacturers to agree voluntary licensing and technology transfers for Covid-19 vaccines, the panel said.“If actions do not occur within three months, a waiver of… intellectual property rights should come into force immediately.”Invest billions, save trillionsTo tackle future outbreaks and pandemics, the panel called for a Global Health Threats Council made up of world leaders, plus a pandemic convention.The G20 should also create an International Pandemic Financing Facility, able to spend US$5 to 10 billion a year on preparedness, with US$50 to US$100 billion ready to roll in the event of a crisis.“Ultimately, investing billions in preparedness now will save trillions in the future, as the current pandemic has so clearly illustrated,” Clark told reporters.The panel also proposed an overhaul of the WHO to give it greater control over its funding and more authority for its leadership.Its alert system needed to be faster and it should have the authority to send expert missions to countries immediately without waiting for their green light, it added.The panel believe their recommendations would have stopped Covid-19 from becoming a pandemic, had they been in place before the outbreak.


Shopee helps parents to get school textbooks

Publishers and booksellers have joined hands with online shopping platform Shopee to provide textbooks and workbooks to meet the needs of parents across the country whose children began a new school year last month amid continued measures to stem the spread of Covid-19.Noting frustrations reported among parents in Selangor, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan who had been unable to source the books needed for their children, the Malaysian Book Publishers Association (Mabopa) and Malaysian Booksellers Association (MBA) said they had consolidated their stock into a single portal called “Kedai Buku Shopee”.They have also urged their members with official distribution rights to increase stock allocations on their Shopee stores to address the issue.“The movement control order should not be the reason why teaching and learning activities are halted,” Mabopa president Arief Hakim Sani Rahmat said in a statement.“As publishers, we always strive to publish the highest quality textbooks and ensure availability nationwide. That is why we have gathered all our members and told them to increase their stocks for online sale, while simultaneously reaching out to our partner distributors and booksellers to discuss a way for us to help facilitate sales through Shopee.”Tens of thousands of students began their school year on Jan 20 although only those in Form 5 and 6 are attending physical classes. The rest are following home-based teaching and learning, also known as PdPR.MBA president Keith Thong said in this “technological age”, booksellers were “ready and prepared to serve”.“In order to serve a digitally savvy generation, the speed of ‘on demand’ is very crucial and booksellers are on a continuing professional development agenda and adapting to serve better each day,” he added.Shopee regional managing director Ian Ho meanwhile said the move “goes hand in hand with our promise to serve local communities”.The Shopee portal which caters to students from Standard 1 to Form 6, can be accessed at https://shopee.com.my/kedaibukushopee.Parents can use the voucher code “KEDAIBUKU10” to earn 20% Coin Cashback with a value of up to RM10.


Cops investigate Hadi for insulting PM in first post-GE15 probe against opposition

Police have opened an investigation into Abdul Hadi Awang over remarks by the PAS leader against Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, under laws pertaining to criminal insult as well as online content that were once used against Pakatan Harapan (PH) critics of the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
Bukit Aman police confirmed receiving police reports on accusations of Anwar's alleged links to Israeli agents.
They said Hadi was being investigated under Section 504 and Section 500 of the Penal Code for intentional insult to defame a person, as well as Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 which deals with online content that is "obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character".
This comes a day after Anwar directed the police to act against those spreading "slanderous" statements against him, including a claim that he is an Israeli agent, as said by PKR information chief Fahmi Fadzil.
Hadi had earlier stated his willingness to be investigated by the police following repeated warnings by Fahmi and other PH leaders.
"Go on and lodge a police report. I am willing to go to Bukit Aman, it's alright," Hadi was quoted by Malaysiakini as saying.
The investigation against Hadi came on the same day that Perikatan Nasional's candidate for the upcoming Padang Serai polls, Azman Nasrudin, was questioned by police.
Azman had earlier made remarks mocking BN and PH's cooperation to form the new federal government.


Umno MP calls out party sec-gen over ignorance on constitution

Umno’s Ketereh MP Annuar Musa has hit out at his party’s secretary-general for invoking the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s emergency powers to call for a parliamentary sitting, saying it not only shows an ignorance of the constitution, but is also an attempt to back efforts by opposition leaders to challenge the emergency declaration.This follows Ahmad Maslan’s circular to Umno MPs telling them to state their support in urging the king to call for a sitting, citing Article 150(3) of the constitution.But Annuar said Ahmad had misunderstood the provision, adding that such a parliamentary proceeding was only to confirm ordinances enacted outside the Parliament throughout the emergency.“You should have been aware that following the proclamation of emergency under Article 150(1) of the constitution, Parliament no longer convenes. Parliament will only convene upon the expiry of the emergency (Aug 1) as stated in Section 14 of the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 2021,” Annuar said in a letter replying to Ahmad.Annuar, who is the federal territories minister, said the proceedings and operations of the state of emergency are clearly spelt out in the constitution.“Umno/BN MPs and other MPs cannot petition the King to undo what is constitutionally done. There is no legal provision for us to do so. There is no legal leg for us to stand on. Our actions are doomed to fail,” he added.He said Ahmad’s call for an urgent parliamentary sitting also goes against the party’s stance accepting the decision of the Agong in consenting to a state of emergency last week.“Your letter is a breach of organisational ethics, an insult to the party’s decision and can be interpreted as treason of the Agong,” he said.The state of emergency was announced on Jan 12 after weeks of spikes in daily Covid-19 cases, ahead of the return of the movement control order in large parts of the country.PKR president Anwar Ibrahim however launched a petition campaign urging MPs to write to the palace to rescind the state of emergency, adding that he has prepared a legal team to challenge the proclamation in court.Annuar, who earlier fell out with party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi over the latter’s persistent call for Umno to quit the Perikatan Nasional ruling bloc, urged Ahmad to revoke his letter, saying it is against the constitution as well as the party’s stance.“It’s better that the secretary-general refers to constitutional experts to display more intelligence on legal matters,” Annuar said.


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LG Electronics to close down smartphone business

LG Electronics, South Korea’s second-largest appliance firm after Samsung, is closing down its mobile phone business, the company said Monday, after the division lost billions in recent years.The firm was once considered a pioneer of the Android operating system, collaborating with Google on the Nexus series in the early 2010s.But it has long struggled to increase sales, entering the market late and facing tough competition from emerging cheaper Chinese rivals such as Huawei.It was regularly listed among the world’s top 10 smartphone manufacturers but according to tracker Counterpoint the last time it recorded a global market share of 3% or more was in the second quarter of 2018.The unit has recorded losses for 23 consecutive quarters since 2015, with the cumulative deficit reaching about five trillion won (US$4.4 billion) by the end of last year.The division has “failed to produce results” amid “intensifying price competition among major competitors in the entry-level mobile phone market”, the company said in a statement.The decision will enable the firm to “focus resources in growth areas such as electric vehicle components”, robotics and smart homes, it added.LG reportedly held talks with Vietnam’s Vingroup over a potential sale, but it broke down over price differences, according to local reports.


The difference between domestic workers and servants

The current campaign to call women (and men, too) domestic workers – those who provide domestic labour in our homes to make our lives better – is in tandem with the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) Convention 189's call to recognise domestic work as work.
Why are migrant domestic workers in Malaysia pushing this agenda?
Since institutionalising the entry of foreign women workers as domestic workers in Malaysia in the early 1980s, the word "maid", "servant" or "helper" has been a popular label to refer to women (and men) who are placed in individual private households doing menial and dull work that our women have vacated since the shift to productive labour market began.
The popularity of calling a woman a "servant", "maid" or "helper" can be traced to the feudal system of relationships based fundamentally on land possession – an important resource to establish economic and political power in colonial times. This landlord-tenant/master-slave relationship continues to morph, recreating different types of relationships that amplify power hierarchy.
In class societies like Malaysia, the socialisation process takes you to how people working or providing service within the households are named, labelled and identified to represent different class positions, power, gender and even political affiliation.
Our laws, policies and normative practices are in fact reflective of our historical past. Take, for example, the Employment Act 1955, and how occupations and work categories are identified and have become normalised in the current work and employment context.
One of these is how we name women (and men) who work in our private homes. Despite the benefits we accrued from employing domestic labour, nowhere is this categorisation recognised legally. What remained, until recently, was the category of "domestic servant".
Linking the archaic and colonial practices of slavery with the label of servants for women providing domestic service is a view that must be abhorred. Hence, the ILO, via Convention 189, declared that, domestic work must be recognised as work. Domestic workers are not slaves, maids or helpers. They are domestic workers – in form and substance – with labour rights as well as obligations towards their employers.
This means that Malaysia needs to acknowledge that domestic labour is visible work, and ensure workers are compensated for the work they do. The basic right to food, rest and working in a safe environment must take precedence over our own demented, biased and judgemental tendencies.
Domestic work is a category of work. An honourable, decent work, in fact. When we recognise domestic work, we do not see strangers at home, we do not see them as servants or maids. They are workers who have basic rights and responsibilities – like you and me. It is not only because the contract states that you provide them food, shelter, accommodation and rest days.
It is impossible, or dancing quite close to it, for a domestic worker to continue working for a good number of hours without the employer providing decent food and adequate rest in between. I cannot possibly survive that despite years of practicing intermittent fasting. You cannot possibly survive, too. You and I will raise our claim that we be given adequate rest, sufficient food, and decent pay.
In my years of closely working with migrant domestic workers in Malaysia, ridiculous yet funny fits of impressions have been abundantly thrown around. The whole gamut of negativity pertaining to why domestic workers needing a day off, holding on to their passports and smart devices, stalking them on their social media accounts and depriving them of decent food, because they are servants, maids or helpers, are some of the common stories that workers have learnt from others.
This dehumanising conditioning of the mind overwhelms employers in a manner that flows out in their everyday interactions with domestic workers. It comes out in their daily conversations with family members and friends such as these: "My maid is..." or" My servant is...".
Migrant domestic workers in the country press for the professionalisation of work situated in private homes. This means that, firstly, there must be a category of work under the Employment Act 1955, although the Parliament has approved the bill recognising a worker in domestic service as an "employee". Still, only half of the battle has been won. With legal protection in place, domestic "employees" are able to pursue other basic rights.
Secondly, like any of us who are gainfully employed, domestic workers must get to claim a weekly day off, not as a matter of sympathy, luck or gratitude, but as a claimable right. A violation of such a right needs to be met with punishment.
Thirdly, domestic workers have civil, cultural and political rights, especially at this juncture of globalisation, digital transformation and social movements. This means that as employees, they also have the freedom to assembly, form unions and participate in political discussions, as part of their contribution to social transformation.
Still, many of us hold a taken-for-granted assumption that labels and names do not matter, in the scheme of things. But, honestly, when I hear my co-humans mention the word "maid", "helper" or "servant" as a prefix or suffix in a sentence, my blood boils.
What is more disappointing is that they are also educated on human rights, inequality, and gender sensitivity. While domestic workers' legal conditions may have been addressed, our everyday social rituals of name-calling should be changed, first and foremost.
Linda Lumayag is a Research Fellow at the Ungku Aziz Centre for Development Studies, Universiti Malaya.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


Corruption, earthquake blamed for deadly Mexico City train crash

Residents in Mexico City reported a huge crack in the Metro line years before it collapsed killing 24 people and injuring up to 100 more, local media reports are saying.Residents warned of faults in the structure following an earthquake in 2017, it emerged today. That earthquake killed over 200 people.According to the El Universal newspaper, transport authorities had made repairs to the line after the reports.The train derailed late on Monday after the elevated section it was travelling on collapsed onto a busy road below.People described a night of chaos and fear while desperately trying to contact friends and family who had been travelling on the train. Some were still missing on Tuesday afternoon.Many of those Reuters spoke to blamed shoddy construction and political corruption for the collapse.The overpass was part of Linea 12, an addition to the metro network finished less than a decade ago, and long plagued by allegations of structural weakness.“We are used to it, sadly. Politicians are used to investing 35% and stealing 65%. It is sad to see how they steal money,” one local told Reuters.Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said a support beam had given way, causing the carriages to fall – but declined to give a reason for the accident.“At this moment, we can’t speculate about what happened,” she told reporters. “There has to be a deep investigation, and whoever is responsible has to be held responsible.”Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who was city mayor when the overpass was built, said it was the most “terrible” accident to have hit the local transport system, and that he was ready to cooperate with authorities in any investigation.At a news conference on Tuesday with officials involved in the construction and maintenance of the metro line that collapsed, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Mexico will punish those responsible for the crash and an investigation should be carried out quickly and transparently, hiding nothing from the public.“There will be no impunity for anyone,” he said.The Mexico City subway system is the second-largest in the Americas, after New York City, and carries more than four million passengers a day.


Hajiji to remain as chief minister, says Anwar

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has given his blessings to Hajiji Noor to remain as Sabah chief minister.
Anwar also said that he wanted the Sabah government to remain strong under Hajiji’s leadership.
"We will give room to the chief minister (Hajiji) to hold discussions and find the best formula for the good of Sabah," he told reporters after meeting with Hajiji and representatives of the state government bloc at the chief minister’s official residence in Sri Gaya, Kota Kinabalu, last night.
Also present was Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Anwar thanked Hajiji and the Sabah elected representatives present at the meeting for their views, which he said were for the good of the state.
On Friday, Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) chief Bung Moktar Radin announced that Sabah Umno and BN were withdrawing their support for Hajiji as they had lost confidence in his position as chief minister. He also referred to a breach in an agreement between BN and Perikatan Nasional.
Anwar said the Sabah government had an important agenda to pursue, namely the bill to hand over the power to regulate the gas supply in the Sabah legislative assembly, in an effort to restore the state's rights.
"An important bill (will be tabled) to restore Sabah’s rights, which I presented to the Cabinet. This is a big change and, to me, a priority," he said.
On Dec 21, Anwar announced that the federal government had agreed to hand over the gas supply regulatory power in Sabah to the state government, and that the matter was agreed on as part of the federal government’s effort to honour the Malaysia Agreement 1963.


Over 300,000 senior citizens infected with Covid-19, says health DG

A total of 336,848 or 11.5% of senior citizens in the country had tested positive for Covid-19 as of Feb 7 this year, says health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.In a Facebook post today, he said 16,646 or 61.3% of 32,034 deaths due to Covid-19 in the country were also senior citizens.“In terms of vaccination, 2,258,521 or 67.7% of senior citizens have received a booster dose, while 3,335,309 or 96% of the population are fully vaccinated.“Protect the senior citizens from Covid-19, let’s complete our vaccination and get our booster dose,” he said.


Sarawak tourism industry desperate for herd immunity

Sarawak’s faltering hospitality sector is urging the government to pick up the pace of vaccination as tourist arrivals, the life blood of the industry, remain choked off due to travel restrictions and border closures enforced to keep the spread of Covid-19 at bay.Industry leaders also questioned the extent to which lockdowns alone would contain virus transmissions even as reports grow of the more transmissible Delta variant sweeping across countries around the globe.Sharzede Salleh Askor of the Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) said it was crucial to achieve herd immunity to ensure the safety of tourism destinations before operations resume.“Before we can consider issuing vaccine passports and lifting the 14-day quarantine measures, the very first issue is to achieve herd immunity at a faster rate, especially given the alarming numbers right now,” she said.“Once it is safe, then we can ease travel restrictions for those who are vaccinated.”The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme or PICK, launched in late February, is structured according to phases: Phase One for frontliners; Phase Two for senior citizens, the disabled and those in high-risk groups; and Phase Three for those above 18.Phase Four, meanwhile, centres on Pikas, a public-private partnership immunisation programme aimed at vaccinating private sector employees.“The very first issue is to achieve herd immunity at a faster rate, especially given the alarming numbers right now.”The concern for those in the tourism industry is that waiting for each phase to transition to the next will cost hoteliers time that they do not have.John Teo of the Malaysian Association of Hotels Sarawak Chapter said hotel operators must also deal with the impact of border closures and ever-changing regulations for travel entry.“There are so many businesses being closed down, with no income or very minimum income since the start of the pandemic,” he said.“For star-rated hotels, more than 120 have closed down for good. Only those involved in the government quarantine programme can survive, but just barely with no other income from foreign tourists.”He questioned the fate of smaller outfits such as motels, inns and homestays which he said had “no chance”.“Tourism-related businesses like travel agencies, bus and taxi drivers, Grab drivers, people manning all places of interests, shopping malls doing tourist businesses, shopkeepers, coffee houses, eateries, bars, bistros, karaoke joints, night clubs and so many others – they cannot survive after months of no foreign tourists entering the country,” he said.Even if they still clung to life, he said, they would have to continue forking out money for costs such as utilities bills and employees’ salaries. Given these circumstances, he added, some small hoteliers preferred to close down.Speaking to MalaysiaNow, he agreed that containing the spread of the virus was necessary for public safety.However, he said many of those struggling to make ends meet would rather face the pandemic than grapple with sustaining a livelihood.“We understand that the government is trying its best to keep this virus down,” he said. “There is no choice but to apply stricter measures in the hope of slowing down the infection rate.“But they need to consider the requests from groups other than the healthcare side. They need to listen to these business operators and find ways to assist. These business operators are crying for assistance from the government, hoping that business can resume with strict SOPs in place.”Sharzede said STB too had felt the pinch from the pandemic, citing Sarawak’s decision to call off the annual Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) for the second year in a row.The RWMF usually sees an influx of more than 25,000 festival-goers who flock to Sarawak for the three-day event. In 2019 alone, 23,650 came, 60% of whom were Malaysians. The economic spinoff helped Sarawak generate RM46 million with profit revenue valued at RM7.9 million.Sharzede said the Sarawak Borneo Jazz Festival (BJF), too, had brought in some RM7 million in economic spinoffs and media mileage of RM6 million.“Even though we have rolled out the 2020 playlists of the RWMF and BJF, the revenue that should have been gained from both events was significantly lower,” she said.She said while bigger players like STB might be able to survive, without help, small travel and tour companies could fall through the cracks in the fight against Covid-19.And regardless of size, when it comes to generating revenue, all organisations must eventually rely on visitor arrivals, which will remain in short supply as long as pandemic measures are needed.


2 new Covid-19 cases reported in White House

Two more people close to US President Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, media reports said Monday.Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, 69, has contracted the virus, his deputy chief of staff Coalter Baker told NPR.“He is in good spirits and feels fortunate to have access to effective therapeutics which aid and markedly speed his recovery,” Baker said in a statement.According to ABC television, Carson was briefly treated at Walter Reid military hospital outside Washington DC, where Trump himself was treated for the virus.Carson had spent Tuesday evening at the White House watching the election results come in.Another top aide to the president, David Bossie, was also at the White House event and tested positive on Sunday and has been self-isolating at home, NBC news said.Bossie, 55, was tapped a few days ago to lead the president’s legal challenges to the election results.On Friday, media reported that Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows had tested positive for the disease after the election. It was not clear when he contracted the virus.The Washington Post said Meadows was in the crowd in the White House when Trump addressed around 150 of his staff and supporters on Wednesday.Several leading members of the administration have contracted the virus in recent weeks, including Trump and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump.The US had recorded 238,000 deaths by Monday night and more than 10 million people have been infected.The pandemic was one of the main issues in the battle for the White House between Trump and former vice-president Joe Biden, whom media projected to have won on Saturday.


Blasts at Russian base in Crimea suggest Ukrainians fighting back

Moscow denounced sabotage and Kyiv hinted at responsibility for explosions on Tuesday at a military base in Russian-annexed Crimea that is an important supply line for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The blasts engulfed an ammunition depot at a military base in the north of the Crimean peninsula, disrupting trains and forcing the evacuation of 2,000 people from a nearby village, according to Russian officials and news agencies.
Plumes of smoke were later seen at a second Russian military base in central Crimea, Russia's Kommersant newspaper said, while blasts hit another facility in the west last week.
The explosions raised the prospect of new dynamics in the six-month-old war if Ukraine now has capability to strike deeper in Russian-occupied territory or pro-Kyiv groups are having success with guerrilla-style attacks.
Russia has used Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014, to reinforce its troops fighting in other parts of Ukraine with military hardware, a process Ukraine is keen to disrupt ahead of a potential counter-offensive in the south.
Crimea is the base of Russia's Black Sea Fleet and also popular in the summer as a holiday resort.
In Tuesday's blasts, an electricity substation also caught fire, according to footage on Russian state TV. Seven trains were delayed and rail traffic on part of the line in northern Crimea had been suspended, Russia's RIA news agency said.
'Creating chaos'
Ukraine has not officially confirmed or denied responsibility for explosions in Crimea, though its officials openly cheered setbacks for Russia there.
President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Ukrainians to steer clear of Russian military bases and ammunition stores and said the explosions could have a number of causes, including incompetence.
"But they all mean the same thing - the destruction of the occupiers' logistics, their ammunition, military and other equipment, and command posts, saves the lives of our people," he said in an evening address.
Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak and chief of staff Andriy Yermak both exulted on social media at "demilitarisation": an apparent mocking reference to the word Russia uses to justify its invasion.
Podolyak told Britain's Guardian newspaper later that Ukraine's strategy was to destroy Russian "logistics, supply lines and ammunition depots and other objects of military infrastructure. It's creating a chaos within their own forces."
Russia's defence ministry said the explosions at the ammunition depot were "a result of sabotage".
Nuclear power plants
With the war raging since Feb 24, attention has also focused in recent days on shelling in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor complex, Europe's largest, in a Russian-occupied area of southeastern Ukraine.
Russian-installed officials there, quoted by Interfax news agency, said on Tuesday Ukrainian forces shelled the city of Enerhodar where the plant is located. They accused Ukraine of doing so to provoke Russia into returning fire.
Later on Tuesday, 20 Russian rockets and 10 artillery rounds hit the city of Nikopol on the Ukrainian government-controlled bank of the Dnipro river across from Enerhodar, the Ukrainian regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on Telegram.
He said four people were wounded.
Reuters could not immediately verify either side's accounts.
Each side has blamed the other for heightened risks to the Zaporizhzhia plant, which Russia seized in March though Ukrainian technicians continue to operate it.
Meanwhile, Russia's FSB security service accused Ukrainian "saboteurs" of repeatedly blowing up electricity pylons running from a nuclear power station in the Kursk region, some 90km (55 miles) north of the Ukraine border, disrupting plant operations.
Reuters could not substantiate the report. Ukraine's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Ukraine conflict has caused millions to flee, killed thousands and deepened a geopolitical rift between the West and Moscow, which calls its invasion a "special military operation" to demilitarise its neighbour and protect Russian-speaking communities. Ukraine, which was part of the Russian-dominated Soviet Union until its 1991 break-up, accuses Russia of waging an imperial-style war of conquest.
Grain export progress
There was further progress on a UN-brokered deal for Ukrainian grain exports to resume, after a Russian blockade of Black Sea ports had worsened a global food crisis.
With ports unblocked, the ship Brave Commander left the Ukrainian port of Pivdennyi carrying the first cargo of food aid bound for Africa from Ukraine since Russia's invasion. And the first ship to leave under the July deal, the Sierra Leone-flagged Razoni, docked in the Syrian port city of Tartous.
Ukraine can export 3 million tonnes of grain from its ports in September and may eventually be able to export 4 million tonnes monthly, a government official said.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will visit Odesa, Ukraine's main Black Sea port, on Friday while on a trip to the country. He will meet Zelensky and President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, which helped engineer the grain accord, a UN spokesman said.


Interstate travel not part of simplified SOPs, says Hishammuddin

Permission for interstate travel is not part of the trimmed-down SOPs for the National Recovery Plan (NRP), Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said today.He said decisions on matters related to interstate travel need to be scrutinised by the Special Committee on Pandemic Management chaired by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.“Interstate travel is related to the phases of the NRP. However, recommendations will come from ministers responsible for specific sectors which will then be considered at various levels including the Special Committee on Pandemic Management as well as the Covid-19 Ministerial Quartet Meeting,” he said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.On Sept 14, Hishammuddin announced that the government was in the midst of reducing the SOPs for the NRP from 181 to 10 to make them easier for the public to understand.Speaking today, he said the second Covid-19 Ministerial Quartet Meeting involving himself, Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz will be held tomorrow.“The meeting will focus on efforts to simplify the 181 SOPs to 10 as well as the narrative in gearing towards the endemic phase which will begin at the end of October,” he said.He added that Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Nancy Shukri had been invited to attend tomorrow’s meeting to give a briefing on the status of the Langkawi tourism bubble pilot project and the potential for other travel bubbles.Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu meanwhile would brief them on possible relaxations of SOPs in the sports sector, he said.


Zahid used almost RM1.5 million from charity foundation for personal expenses, witness tells court

The last prosecution witness in the trial of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the High Court yesterday that the former deputy prime minister had used RM1,469,547.36 in funds from Yayasan Akalbudi to pay for credit card bills, insurance and road tax for 20 vehicles.Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer Khairudin Kilau, 44, said based on his investigations, Zahid had settled bills for nine credit cards belonging to him and his wife, Hamidah Khamis, for personal use amounting to RM1,362,037.81, while RM107,509.55 was for insurance and road tax payments for 20 vehicles belonging to them.He said the credit card payments comprised RM1,296,715.98 to AmBank Islamic, RM34,686.03 to Maybank and RM30,635.80 to American Express.“The AmBank Islamic and Maybank credit cards had supplementary cards issued in the name of Hamidah Khamis. A review and examination of the statements for all the credit cards found that many expenses were made abroad, and paid using Affin Bank Bhd cheques belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi between 2014 to 2016,” he said, reading from his witness statement during examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Lee Keng Fatt.Khairudin. the 99th prosecution witness, said this on the 51st day of the trial against Zahid, who faces charges of corruption, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving millions of ringgit from Yayasan Akalbudi.Khairudin said Zahid also used the foundation’s money to pay for insurance as well as road tax for 20 vehicles, including 18 luxury vehicles, including a BMW X5, Mini Cooper S, Mercedes Benz CLS350, BMW 320i (A), Toyota Land Cruiser and BMW R1200 GS motorcycle.“The first payment of RM17,335.54 was used for insurance policy and RM7,625.01 for road tax payments involving six vehicles belonging to Zahid and his wife, whereby the payment was made through three Affin Bank Bhd cheques on Jan 22, 2015.“The second payment, amounting to RM27,246.90, was to pay for insurance policy and RM16,368.10 for road tax payments paid through an Affin Bank Bhd cheque on April 15, 2015, which involved four vehicles belonging to Zahid, one vehicle belonging to BZ Motors Sdn Bhd and a vehicle belonging to Juhari Janan.“The third payment, a total of RM27,607.11, was used to pay for insurance policy while RM11,276.89 was to pay road tax payments involving eight vehicles belonging to Zahid. The payment was made through an Affin Bank Bhd cheque on Sept 22, 2015,” he said.Khairudin said based on information obtained from the Companies Commission of Malaysia and the trustees of Yayasan Akalbudi, the foundation had never held an annual general meeting since its establishment, from 1997 to 2018.“There are no official meetings and discussions recorded by the secretary of the foundation related to the activities and financial reports of Yayasan Akalbudi.“The finances and activities were managed by Zahid himself. The trustees also did not know who the contributors were and how much donations were received by Yayasan Akalbudi.“Other trustees only knew that Yayasan Akalbudi was carrying out welfare matters, especially for residents in the Bagan Datuk area, which involved donations to mosques and tahfiz centres,” he said.The trial before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah will continue on March 18, when the witness will continue his testimony.Khairudin is the 10th MACC investigating officer called by the prosecution to testify in the case.Zahid, 68, is facing 47 charges – 12 for criminal breach of trust, eight for corruption and 27 for money laundering involving millions of ringgit of Yayasan Akalbudi funds.


US lawyer sorry after ChatGPT creates 'bogus' cases

What happened when a US lawyer used ChatGPT to prepare a court filing? The artificial intelligence programme invented fake cases and rulings, leaving the attorney rather red-faced.
New York-based lawyer Steven Schwartz apologised to a judge this week for submitting a brief full of falsehoods generated by the OpenAI chatbot.
"I simply had no idea that ChatGPT was capable of fabricating entire case citations or judicial opinions, especially in a manner that appeared authentic," Schwartz wrote in a court filing.
The blunder occurred in a civil case being heard by Manhattan federal court involving a man who is suing the Colombian airline Avianca.
Roberto Mata claims he was injured when a metal serving plate hit his leg during a flight in August 2019 from El Salvador to New York.
After the airline's lawyers asked the court to dismiss the case, Schwartz filed a response that claimed to cite more than half a dozen decisions to support why the litigation should proceed.
They included Petersen v Iran Air, Varghese v China Southern Airlines and Shaboon v Egyptair. The Varghese case even included dated internal citations and quotes.
There was one major problem, however: neither Avianca's attorneys nor the presiding judge, P Kevin Castel, could find the cases.
Schwartz was forced to admit that ChatGPT had made up everything.
"The court is presented with an unprecedented circumstance," judge Castel wrote last month.
"Six of the submitted cases appear to be bogus judicial decisions with bogus quotes and bogus internal citations," he added.
The judge ordered Schwartz and his law partner to appear before him to face possible sanctions.
'Ridiculed'
In a filing on Tuesday, ahead of the hearing, Schwartz said that he wanted to "deeply apologise" to the court for his "deeply regrettable mistake."
He said his college-educated children had introduced him to ChatGPT and it was the first time he had ever used it in his professional work.
"At the time that I performed the legal research in this case, I believed that ChatGPT was a reliable search engine. I now know that was incorrect," he wrote.
Schwartz added that it "was never my intention to mislead the court."
ChatGPT has become a global sensation since it was launched late last year for its ability to produce human-like content, including essays, poems and conversations from simple prompts.
It has sparked a mushrooming of generative AI content, leaving lawmakers scrambling to try to figure out how to regulate such bots.
A spokesman for OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Schwartz's snafu.
The story was first reported by The New York Times.
Schwartz said he and his firm, Levidow, Levidow & Oberman, had been "publicly ridiculed" in the media coverage.
"This has been deeply embarrassing on both a personal and professional level as these articles will be available for years to come," he wrote.
Schwartz added: "This matter has been an eye-opening experience for me and I can assure the court that I will never commit an error like this again."


US regulators rush to contain SVB fallout, as second bank fails

US authorities unveiled sweeping measures Sunday to rescue depositors' money in full from failed Silicon Valley Bank and to promise other institutions help in meeting customers' needs, as they announced a second tech-friendly bank had been closed by regulators.
In a joint statement, financial agencies including the US Treasury said SVB depositors would have access to "all of their money" starting Monday, March 13, and that American taxpayers will not have to foot the bill.
The US Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Treasury said depositors in Signature Bank, a New York-based regional-size lender with significant cryptocurrency exposure which was shuttered on Sunday after its stock price tanked, would also be "made whole."
And in a potentially major development, the Fed announced it would make extra funding available to banks to help them meet the needs of depositors, which would include withdrawals.
"We are taking decisive actions to protect the US economy by strengthening public confidence in our banking system," the agencies said in their joint statement.
"The US banking system remains resilient and on a solid foundation," due in large part due to reforms undertaken after the financial crisis of 2008 that introduced new safeguards for the banking industry.
"Those reforms combined with today's actions demonstrate our commitment to take the necessary steps to ensure that depositors' savings remain safe."
Avoiding 'contagion'
The FDIC guarantees deposits – but only up to US$250,000 (RM1.12 million) per client and per bank.
Federal banking law, however, would allow the FDIC to protect uninsured deposits if a failure to do so would pose systemic risks, the Washington Post reported.
Regulators on Friday took control of SVB – a key lender to startups across the US since the 1980s – after a huge run on deposits left the medium-sized bank unable to stay afloat on its own.
Hours before Sunday's joint statement, treasury secretary Janet Yellen said the government wants to avoid financial "contagion" from the SVB implosion, as it ruled out a bailout.
With the bank's future, and its billions in deposits, up in the air, officials from the three agencies raced to craft a solution just hours before financial markets opened in Asia, and to avert a potential financial panic.
Yellen told CBS that the US government wanted "to make sure that the troubles that exist at one bank don't create contagion to others that are sound."
She added that the government was working with the FDIC on a "resolution" of the situation at SVB, where some 96% of deposits are not covered by the FDIC's reimbursement guarantee.
Investors punished the banking sector in total on Thursday after SVB disclosed the extent of its troubles the day before, but by Friday, shares in some larger banks posted gains.
Despite attempts by US officials to assure the financial markets, regional lenders remained under pressure.
They included the First Republic Bank, which slumped nearly 30% in two sessions on Thursday and Friday, and Signature Bank, which lost a third of its value since Wednesday evening – and which was shuttered on Sunday.
Amid concerns overseas, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Monday, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 index down 0.92%.
No bailout
Since Friday, there have been calls from the tech and finance sectors for a bailout.
Yellen said reforms made after the 2008 financial crisis meant the government was not considering this option for SVB.
"During the financial crisis, there were investors and owners of systemic large banks that were bailed out... and the reforms that have been put in place means that we're not going to do that again," she said.
In their joint statement on the latest bank woes and efforts to protect depositors of SBV and Signature, the agencies stressed shareholders and certain unsecured debtholders will not be protected and that senior management has been removed.
Following the 2008 failure of Lehman Brothers and the ensuing financial meltdown, US regulators required major banks to hold additional capital in case of trouble.
US and European authorities also organize regular "stress tests" designed to uncover vulnerabilities at the largest banks.
SVB's implosion represents not only the largest bank failure since Washington Mutual in 2008, but also the second largest failure ever for a US retail bank.
Little known to the general public, SVB specialised in financing startups and had become the 16th largest US bank by assets: at the end of 2022, it had US$209 billion in assets and approximately US$175.4 billion in deposits.
The company previously boasted that "nearly half" of technology and life science companies that had US funding banked with them, leading many to worry about the possible ripple effects of its collapse.


Ukraine dismisses 'strange' Indonesian peace plan

Ukraine's defence minister on Saturday dismissed a plan proposed by his Indonesian counterpart to end the war between Kyiv and Moscow, calling it a "strange" proposal.
Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto pitched the idea at the Shangri-La Dialogue defence summit in Singapore where he was a speaker.
The plan included an "immediate cessation of hostilities", a ceasefire "at present positions", and demilitarised zones that would be guaranteed by observers and United Nations peacekeeping forces.
He also suggested an eventual "referendum in the disputed areas" organised by the UN.
But Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, who was attending the two-day summit, flatly rejected the proposal.
"It sounds like a Russian plan, not Indonesian plan," he said. "We don't need this mediator coming to us (with) this strange plan."
China has presented its own peace plan to end the war – a vague list of proposals to which European Union politicians have reacted with scepticism.
While Beijing says it is a neutral party to the conflict, it has been criticised for refusing to condemn Moscow's invasion.
In contrast, the US and Western allies have delivered billions of dollars in weapons and other aid to Ukraine since Russia's invasion.
Jakarta, which favours non-aligned diplomacy, had previously attempted to mediate peace.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo travelled to Kyiv and Moscow and met the nations' leaders last year, while his country chaired the G20 bloc of major economies.
Subianto's proposal was also criticised at the summit on Saturday by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
"We need to bring peace to Ukraine", but it must be a "just peace, not a peace of surrender," Borrell said, commenting on the Indonesian proposal.
Indonesia voted in favour of a UN resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but it has not applied economic sanctions against Moscow.


No rush to buy Covid-19 vaccine, says health minister

Health Minister Dr Adham Baba says Malaysia is in no hurry to get the Covid-19 vaccine as it is more important to ensure that it is effective and safe for use.For the moment, he said, the government was still waiting for vaccine-producing countries to conduct clinical trials involving three phases, the last phase being human tests.“We are waiting for the countries to do the clinical trials.“China has begun the trials in the United Arab Emirates and Brazil. Russia has not started the third phase of the clinical trials,” he said when asked about reports that some countries had begun negotiations for the purchase of the vaccine.Speaking to reporters after launching the 2020 World Food Safety Day celebration in Putrajaya today, Adham said the health ministry was always in touch with vaccine-producing countries.On the Covid-19 screening at public markets, he said the ministry had conducted screening at 464 markets nationwide with 36,919 samples taken.“From the total, 287 (0.87%) tested positive for Covid-19,” he said, adding that inspections at public markets would be continuously carried out.


The pandemic conundrum of childcare

Moon Leong, 33, was very satisfied with the childcare centre of her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Li Lee. But when the conditional movement control order (CMCO) forced the centre to close in early October, she soon discovered some serious issues.The centre not only insisted that Leong and her husband pay 90% of the monthly RM1,300 fees throughout the CMCO even though Li Lee is at home, they also began sending them a video each morning with the instruction, “Let your daughter watch this and teach her from this video.”Leong understands that the centre needs to survive financially, but she has still asked them for a 50% reduction of the fees.Recently, the centre sent her a letter saying they would open next week but before they can accept Li Lee back, Leong must provide a letter from her employer stating that she is required to work at the office, not from home.Leong is now at a loss as to whether she wants to continue paying or if she should give up her job to stay home and look after her daughter herself.Azlan Malik, 49, a divorced, single father of children aged 4 and 7, cannot work from home because his banking job requires him to be at the bank’s treasury operations centre to monitor market movements in real-time.For parents, finding childcare in the pandemic is a struggle.His ex-wife is remarried to a foreigner and lives abroad. His female relatives are too old or live too far away to help. He leaves for work at 7am sharp. Trying to solve the logistics of childcare is exasperating. He has been forced to employ an informal worker from the neighbouring flats to be with his children from 7am till 7pm. He pays her RM500 a week.Such situations are found in households throughout Malaysia, with some differences in lower-income households where the head may be a single working mother who earns less than RM3,000 a month.For parents, finding childcare in the pandemic is a struggle, but at the heart of the immediate impact of the closure of childcare centres or the ending of services by qualified childcare providers is the well-being of the child.Longer-term issues unfold, too. There is a negative impact on the participation of women in the labour force, and there are child developmental growth concerns. If the latter is left unchecked, the nation may see disparities in its labour force generations from now.Yesterday, the women, family and community development ministry said that childcare centres and nurseries, previously closed under the CMCO, would be allowed to operate contingent on approval from the respective state social welfare departments.Minister Rina Harun said the ministry understood that the economic sector must continue functioning, with parents leaving the house for work.But with many employees now told to work from home, and parents concerned about the health of their children, the future of childcare centres is perhaps uncertain.Importance of proper childcareA Khazanah Research Institute report in October 2019 highlighted the importance of issues stemming from inadequate access to proper childcare even before the pandemic.“Time to Care: Gender Inequality, Unpaid Care Work and Time Use Survey” says that unpaid domestic care work is a pressing issue for the nation as it is a burden predominantly shouldered by women.The report highlights that “formal childcare services may be inaccessible and unaffordable in places, with some households in Kuala Lumpur spending 15% of their income on childcare fees alone”.The 2021 budget proposed allocating RM50 million for the provision and upgrading of childcare and preschool centres in government premises, hospitals and private sector offices. Experts say this is a welcome step up from previous budget provisions that were limited to tax relief for employers who provided childcare facilities on their premises.“This socialisation of children is an important investment for the future.”Shanthi Thambiah, a professor at Universiti Malaya, has conducted research for the United Nations Development Programme on the participation of women in the Malaysian labour force. A national strategy for childcare was one of the study’s recommendations.She urges everyone to focus on how being cooped up at home during the CMCO impacts children.“The benefits for children of being in professional and certified childcare centres include learning how to socialise, which helps build their language skills,” she tells MalaysiaNow.“The way that the day is structured between learning time, play time and rest time is also important for the child.”A Unicef report backs up this assertion, Shanthi adds. Its findings convinced full-time housewives and mothers in Europe to send their children to childcare centres for several hours a day simply for the exposure to a social setting with other children.“This socialisation of children is an important investment for the future,” she says.Learning how to collaborate, being part of groups, learning respect for teachers and others in authority and other behaviours are learnt in schools and help children to develop better. Shanthi says, “In childcare centres, the sharing of toys, books and food begins these lessons at an early age.”Being stuck at home with one parent for prolonged periods during the CMCO, such as in the case of many lower-income families with few options, may lead to the child having diminished social skills, Shanthi warns.Relying on informal childcare arrangements where the child is confined to a small apartment with insufficient space for play, she says, may impair a child’s physical, cognitive and emotional development. “We need to have professional childcare centres,” she insists.Ideally, Shanthi says, childcare burdens at home should be shared if both father and mother are working full-time, but she understands the reality.“Many female staff attend to work matters only after the cooking, cleaning, and washing up are all done, and the husband and children are asleep. This means bosses will receive emails from their female staff late at night, and also because shared laptops are used during the day by the children for online classes.”As more employees work from home during the CMCO, the need for childcare centres at work is reduced. This creates the danger that employers may not see the need for such facilities if remote working becomes an entrenched practice long after the pandemic is over.Shanthi tells MalaysiaNow, “As the government has pledged its support for childcare facilities at work, employers should also pledge support for this initiative because if we get professionals working at these centres, there is job creation, too.”


New infections below 1,800 as 3 more deaths logged

Another 1,737 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 4,883,796.
There were 2,118 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 4,820,355.
There are now 26,994 active cases, of which 25,900 or 95.9% are undergoing home quarantine.
Meanwhile, 0 (0.0%) are at quarantine centres while 1,042 (3.9%) have been hospitalised.
A total of 52 are in ICU with 19 in need of respiratory assistance.
Another three deaths were reported, including one who was brought in dead. Total deaths now stand at 36,447.


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Saudi ends Qatar blockade after ‘pressure from Trump White House’

Kuwait has said that Saudi Arabia is reopening its land and sea borders to Qatar in a breakthrough in a long-running dispute that has pitted Qatar against several of its Gulf neighbours.Over three years ago, the gulf states imposed an embargo accusing Doha, the Qatari capital, of supporting terrorism.Qatar, a tiny but immensely wealthy Gulf state, has always denied supporting jihadist militancy.The move to reopen borders comes ahead of a summit of the Gulf Co-operation Council being held in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, reports the BBC.The UAE, Bahrain and Egypt joined the Saudis in maintaining the diplomatic, trade and travel embargo.The lifting of the embargo on Qatar has taken months of patient, painstaking diplomacy, mostly by Kuwait, but with increasingly urgent pressure from the White House as the Trump presidency draws to a close.The three-and-a-half year blockade has been immensely costly not only to Qatar’s economy but also the idea of Gulf Arab unity. Qataris will not forgive or forget what they see as a stab in the back by their neighbours.The embargo has, if anything, pushed Qatar closer to Saudi Arabia’s ideological enemies: Turkey and Iran.Beyond the diplomatic rhetoric one country in particular – the UAE – has grave doubts that Qatar is actually going to change its ways.While Qatar denies supporting terrorism it has supported political Islamist movements in Gaza, Libya and elsewhere, notably the transnational Muslim Brotherhood which the UAE views as a threat to its monarchy.Mediation efforts led by Kuwait had achieved little until recently, but in the past few months there were growing signs of a face-saving resolution to a row that has harmed all of those involved.The US administration has taken a more visible role and the senior US official said President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, would attend the signing of the agreement on Tuesday.The Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has accepted an invitation from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to attend the summit.A source told the BBC that the Saudi decision to open its air space and land and sea borders was the confidence-building step needed to ensure the emir’s attendance.“This is the biggest breakthrough we’ve had to date,” a senior Trump administration official was quoted as saying by the Wall Street Journal.“It doesn’t mean they will love each other and be best friends, but it does mean they will be able to work together.”


2-year contract extension for 2,600 teachers

The contracts of some 2,600 teachers appointed in the June 2020 intake are expected to be extended for another two years, Education Minister Radzi Jidin said today.However, he said the details would be announced later, after the education ministry and Education Service Commission (SPP) finish discussing the matter.“We saw many raising issues related to contracts of service and conveyed the problem to the ministry. Appropriate action will be taken based on existing rules and procedures,” he told reporters at an event near Ketereh.On claims by some that they had not received their salary for May, he said these were not true.“We will ensure that the welfare of teachers is protected,” he added.Yesterday, Radzi said in a post on his social media accounts that the matter should be given due attention and immediately resolved.In a separate development, he said the ministry would study case by case the action that could be taken on the issue of teachers opting to retire early.“We are studying in more depth by taking into account the data from 2017 again. This is because any other services would have also decided to opt for early retirement as it is their choice,” he added.


Rights group slams Singapore over fine on lawyer for mentally ill death row inmate

Rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) today hit out at the Singapore government for its treatment of M Ravi, the lawyer known for defending Malaysian death row prisoners in the city-state, over his comments in a press conference last year on the planned execution of a mentally ill inmate.LFL adviser N Surendran said Ravi had spoken out against the plan as the prisoner, N Dharmalingam, was mentally ill and had an IQ of only 69.He said Dharmalingam, who was convicted and sentenced to death on Nov 22, 2010 for allegedly smuggling 42.72g of diamorphine into Singapore, had also been certified by an independent psychiatrist as suffering from mental illness. Nevertheless, he was sent to death row.M Ravi.For his criticism of the plan, voiced in a joint press conference with LFL on July 23 last year, Ravi was fined S$10,000 in addition to S$3,000 in costs by the Disciplinary Tribunal of Singapore’s Law Society.Calling this “shocking and unacceptable”, Surendran said it also constituted “a serious interference” by Singapore authorities with the right of Dharmalingam and his family to legal advice and assistance.He added that the punishment handed down to Ravi was in breach of international norms as well as the constitution of Singapore.“Article 9 of the Singapore constitution enshrines the right to a fair trial. Punishing Dharmalingam’s family lawyer for carrying out his duties jeopardises this right,” he said in a statement.He urged Singapore to retract the fine and nullify the finding of guilt against Ravi, and to cease any attempts to intimidate or silence the lawyer.He also called on the republic to respect the right of Malaysian prisoners on death row to legal advice and advocacy, adding that Putrajaya should make the necessary objections or representations to Singapore on the matter.


Muafakat Nasional on brink of rupture as Umno lays claim to PAS seats for GE15

Cracks are becoming apparent in Muafakat Nasional, the charter signed in September last year by Umno and PAS when the parties, the country’s largest Malay-Islamic political blocs, were still in the opposition.“There were clear signs of discomfort during informal conversations on the distribution of seats for the 15th general election,” a source who was central to the signing of the charter 14 months ago told MalaysiaNow.It is learnt that several federal seats have caused “less than polite” talks between leaders of the two parties, as they attempt to build on what used to be a silent electoral pact between them since the 2018 polls.In that election, Umno and PAS faced a common enemy, Pakatan Harapan (PH), but failed to avoid three-way fights, resulting in electoral gains for PH on the back of public sentiments against the Barisan Nasional government led by Najib Razak.Once Umno and PAS were relegated to the opposition, party leaders who had already taken common stands on many issues during the Najib administration ensured that they would not clash in the ensuing string of by-elections.This resulted in PH’s defeat in Semenyih, Rantau, Cameron Highlands, Kimanis and Tanjung Piai.Their ties peaked with their historic charter in September 2019 which ended their historic rivalry for the Malay-Muslim vote.“If Umno remains adamant and puts its candidates in PAS-held constituencies, it will be the end of Muafakat Nasional.”They also came to an understanding that they would not claim seats which they contested in the 2018 polls.But early talks on seat distribution in recent weeks involving at least two states show that this understanding has become fragile.“In Kedah and Terengganu, there have been disagreements over seats,” the source, who is familiar with the talks, told MalaysiaNow.“Several Umno Supreme Council leaders have been insisting that their party should contest in some seats that PAS won in GE14.“If Umno remains adamant and puts its candidates in PAS-held constituencies, it will be the end of Muafakat Nasional.”Some already view the Muafakat Nasional charter as irrelevant given PAS’ historic return to the federal government this year.The party has also scoffed at repeated calls by some Umno leaders aligned with Najib to turn its back on Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.A Kedah PAS source told MalaysiaNow that the aggressive claims to the Islamist party’s seats were made by a group of Umno leaders who hold no position in the current government.It is understood that Umno has despatched its election director, Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, to negotiate with PAS, with several meetings already underway on the distribution of seats for the 15th general election.MalaysiaNow is also made to understand that the seats in question had been traditionally won by either Umno or PAS.In previous general elections, voters in Kedah and Terengganu had switched loyalties between Umno and PAS, which hold nearly equal influence in the Malay heartlands.The collapse of PH, which led to the creation of Perikatan Nasional in March this year, saw a change of political fortunes for PAS and Umno, both of which became critical to ensuring continued support for Muhyiddin.PAS, which has a reputation for being a partner that is “easy to deal with”, won 18 of the 158 federal seats it contested in 2018.This time, it will not easily surrender its territory, especially if faced with a party that depends on the same vote bank.“Right now, we will wait and see,” said a source in Kedah PAS, which is currently leading the state government.“If it’s true that Umno is bent on violating the agreement by contesting in PAS areas, we will fight them.”


Another Indonesian minister arrested for taking bribes

Indonesia’s social affairs minister has been arrested for taking bribes while organising food aid for people in need.Juliari Batubara is accused of taking cash from contractors supplying food aid parcels to people affected by the coronavirus pandemic.Anti-corruption agents discovered more than 14.5 billion rupiah (RM4 million) stuffed into suitcases and bags and arrested four suspects during a raid on Saturday. Agents said two of the suspects arrested were officials and the other two were civilians.Juliari turned himself in on Sunday, according to the BBC.“The money was in seven suitcases, three backpacks, and in envelopes,” Firli Bahuri, chief of the Corruption Eradication Commission, said in a news conference.Agents said Juliari was allegedly offered thousands of rupiah in kickbacks per food parcel provided by two of the contractors, according to AFP news agency.If found guilty, he could face up to 20 years in prison.President Joko Widodo said on Sunday that he has repeatedly warned ministers to avoid corruption and that he would not protect those who gave in to greed.“That’s the people’s money. It’s aid urgently needed to help during Covid-19 and for the economic recovery,” he said.Bahuri said, “We will not stop here. We will closely watch how the government’s social assistance is being procured and channelled during the Covid-19 pandemic.”Batubara is the second cabinet member arrested for corruption in less than two weeks, reports the South China Morning Post.Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Edhy Prabowo, who has since resigned, was arrested on suspicion of taking bribes in connection with exports of lobster larvae, and allegedly used the money for a luxury shopping spree in the US.Indonesia has been hit hard by the pandemic. The government has rolled out aid programmes such as food packages to help those in need.Authorities in the country have predicted that 3.5 million people could lose their jobs due to the coronavirus downturn. Last month, the country fell into its first recession in 22 years.


Trump heard on tape urging state official to ‘find’ votes for him

President Donald Trump pressured Georgia’s top election official, a fellow Republican, in an extraordinary phone conversation to “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the Southern state, US media reported Sunday.In the conversation with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Saturday, a recording of which was first obtained by The Washington Post, Trump warns Raffensperger that he and his general counsel could face “a big risk” if they failed to pursue his request.“The people of Georgia are angry, the people in the country are angry,” Trump is heard saying on the tape, which was also aired by other media.“And there’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you’ve recalculated,” the president says. “You’re off by hundreds of thousands of votes.”Raffensperger is heard responding: “Well, Mr President, the challenge that you have is, the data you have is wrong.”Biden won the traditionally conservative state by fewer than 12,000 votes – a margin unchanged after recounts and audits.Even a hypothetical reversal there would not be enough to deprive Biden of victory.Word of the recording came at an extraordinary juncture, two days before special runoff elections in Georgia that will decide control of the US Senate, and three days before Congress is to certify the results of the Nov 3 election.That certification, normally routine, is now being challenged by scores of lawmakers at Trump’s behest – though Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger urged them to reconsider in light of the tape.“This is absolutely appalling. To every member of Congress considering objecting to the election results, you cannot – in light of this – do so with a clean conscience,” he tweeted.‘Contempt for democracy’Ahead of the release of the audio, Trump tweeted about the call, saying that Raffensperger “was unwilling, or unable, to answer questions such as the ‘ballots under table’ scam, ballot destruction, out of state ‘voters’, dead voters, and more”.Raffensperger tweeted back, also ahead of the release of the audio, saying: “Respectfully, President Trump: What you’re saying is not true. The truth will come out.”After the release, the White House declined to comment.Democrats were quick to condemn the call.“Trump’s contempt for democracy is laid bare. Once again. On tape,” Representative Adam Schiff said on Twitter.“Pressuring an election official to ‘find’ the votes so he can win is potentially criminal, and another flagrant abuse of power by a corrupt man who would be a despot, if we allowed him. We will not.”Some political commentators compared the call to the Watergate tapes that led to the fall of past US president Richard Nixon.Carl Bernstein, one of the reporters who helped bring down Nixon’s presidency, called it “the ultimate smoking gun tape.”Trump has waged an all-out fight against the election results. But scores of recounts and lawsuits, as well as a review by his own Department of Justice, have failed to substantiate the claims.At one point, he invited Republican election officials from Michigan to the White House in an apparent effort to pressure them over their vote certification.He also pressed Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, in a separate phone call.Raffensperger and other election officials who have rejected Trump’s entreaties, in Georgia and other states, have received death threats from his supporters.It was not clear who released the tape, but under Georgia law, Raffensperger could legally have taped it without Trump’s consent.


International economists ask Biden to release Afghan central bank funds

More than 70 economists and experts, including Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, called for Washington and other nations to release Afghanistan's central bank assets in a letter sent to US President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
The letter said foreign capitals needed to return the roughly US$9 billion in Afghan central bank assets to Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) to allow the economy to function, despite criticism of behaviour by the ruling Taliban towards women and minorities.
"The people of Afghanistan have been made to suffer doubly for a government they did not choose," the letter said. "In order to mitigate the humanitarian crisis and set the Afghan economy on a path toward recovery, we urge you to allow DAB to reclaim its international reserves."
The letter, also addressed to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, was signed by 71 economists and academic experts, many based in the US as well as Germany, India and the United Kingdom.
Among them was former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis and Stiglitz, a Columbia University professor who received the Nobel Prize in economics in 2001 and is on the advisory board to the Washington-based think tank the Center for Economic and Policy Research, which organised the letter.
Afghanistan's economy has plunged deep into crisis since the Taliban took over almost a year ago as foreign forces withdrew. The sudden cut in aid and other factors including inflation driven by conflict in Ukraine have contributed, but economists say the country is severely hampered by the inability of its central bank to function without access to its reserves.
This has resulted in a sharp depreciation of the Afghan currency, pushing up import prices, and led to a near collapse of the banking system with citizens facing problems accessing their savings and receiving salaries.
"Without access to its foreign reserves, the central bank of Afghanistan cannot carry out its normal, essential functions... the economy of Afghanistan has, predictably, collapsed," the letter said.
Washington and other capitals say they want to find a way to release the funds for the benefit of the Afghan people while not benefiting the Taliban, whom they have condemned for imposing severe restrictions on women's freedoms in the last year and allegedly carrying out human rights abuses including vendettas against former enemies.
The Taliban say they respect rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and that individual abuses would be investigated.
Despite their widely differing stances, both sides are engaged in detailed discussions over plans to possibly release the central bank assets, around US$7 billion of which is held in the US. Roughly half of that is currently set aside as it is the subject of a court battle related to the 9/11 attacks.
Key sticking points remain in the banking talks, in particular over US objections to the Taliban's appointment of a deputy governor of the central bank who is subject to US sanctions.


How a secret software change allowed FTX to use client money

In mid-2020, FTX's chief engineer made a secret change to the cryptocurrency exchange’s software.
He tweaked the code to exempt Alameda Research, a hedge fund owned by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, from a feature on the trading platform that would have automatically sold off Alameda's assets if it was losing too much borrowed money.
In a note explaining the change, the engineer, Nishad Singh, emphasised that FTX should never sell Alameda's positions. "Be extra careful not to liquidate,” Singh wrote in the comment in the platform's code, which it showed he helped author. Reuters reviewed the code base, which has not been previously reported.
The exemption allowed Alameda to keep borrowing funds from FTX irrespective of the value of the collateral securing those loans. That tweak in the code got the attention of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which charged Bankman-Fried with fraud on Tuesday. The SEC said the tweak meant Alameda had a “virtually unlimited line of credit.” Furthermore, the billions of dollars that FTX secretly lent to Alameda over the next two years didn't come from its own reserves, but rather were other FTX customers' deposits, the SEC said.
The SEC and a spokesperson for Bankman-Fried declined to comment for this story. Singh did not respond to several requests for comment.
The regulator, which called the exchange “a house of cards,” alleged Bankman-Fried concealed that FTX diverted customer funds to Alameda in order to make undisclosed venture investments, luxury real estate purchases, and political donations. US prosecutors and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also filed separate criminal and civil charges, respectively.
The complaints – along with previously unreported FTX documents seen by Reuters and three people familiar with the crypto exchange – provide new insights into how Bankman-Fried dipped into customer funds and spent billions more than FTX was making without the knowledge of investors, its customers and most employees.
Police in the Bahamas, where FTX was based, arrested Bankman-Fried on Monday evening, capping a stunning fall from grace for the 30-year-old former billionaire. His company collapsed in November after users rushed to withdraw deposits and investors shunned his requests for more financing. FTX declared bankruptcy on Nov 11 and Bankman-Fried resigned as chief executive.
Bankman-Fried has apologised to customers, but said he didn't personally think he had any criminal liability.
The auto-liquidation exemption written into FTX code allowed Alameda to continually increase its line of credit until it “grew to tens of billions of dollars and effectively became limitless,” the SEC complaint said. It was one of two ways that Bankman-Fried diverted customer funds to Alameda.
The other was a mechanism whereby FTX customers deposited over US$8 billion (about RM35 billion) in traditional currency into bank accounts secretly controlled by Alameda. These deposits were reflected in an internal account on FTX that was not tied to Alameda, which concealed its liability, the complaint said.
“Safe, tested and conservative”
As Bankman-Fried grew FTX into one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, consumer protection was a central tenet of his pitch for crypto regulation in the US. Bankman-Fried stressed this theme in countless statements to customers, investors, regulators and lawmakers. FTX’s auto-liquidation software would protect everyone, he explained.
In congressional testimony on May 12, he called FTX’s software “safe, tested and conservative.”
“By quickly unwinding the riskiest, most undercollateralized positions, the risk engine prevents build-up of credit risk that could otherwise cascade beyond the platform, resulting in contagion,” Bankman-Fried testified.
He did not tell lawmakers about the software change to exempt Alameda. Indeed, he told investors that Alameda received no preferential treatment from FTX, the SEC complaint said.
Bankman-Fried had directed subordinates to update the software in mid-2020 to enable Alameda to maintain a negative balance on its account, the SEC complaint said. No other customer account at Alameda was allowed to do so, the complaint added. This would allow Alameda to keep borrowing more FTX funds without the need to provide more collateral.
In software tweaks made in August 2020, Alameda was designated as the “Primary Market Maker” or “PMM,” according to a Reuters review of its codebase. Market makers are dealers who enable trading in an asset by standing ready to buy and sell it.
To explain the change, Singh, the chief engineer, inserted a comment into the code: “Alameda would be liquidating, prevented.” He included a warning “not to liquidate the PMM."
Only Singh, Bankman-Fried and a few other top FTX and Alameda executives knew about the exemption in the code, according to three former executives briefed on the matter. A digital dashboard used by staff to track FTX customer assets and liabilities was programmed so it would not take into account that Alameda had withdrawn the client funds, according to two of the people and a screenshot of the portal that Reuters has previously reported.
Bankman-Fried's house of cards "began to crumble" in May 2022, the SEC complaint said.
As the value of crypto tokens plummeted that month, several of Alameda's lenders demanded repayment. Since Alameda didn't have the funds to meet these requests, Bankman-Fried directed Alameda to tap its "line of credit" with FTX to obtain billions of dollars in financing, the complaint said.
Ultimately, when FTX customers dashed to withdraw their money this November, spooked by media reports about the company's financial health, many discovered that their funds were no longer there.


Early voting kicks off in Melaka

Early voting for the Melaka state election began at 8am today, involving 11,557 police and military personnel and their spouses.The early voting process will be conducted at 31 early voting centres (PPA) in 24 state constituencies until 5.30pm.Among the PPA are the Melaka contingent police headquarters, Sekolah Kebangsaan Kem Terendak I and II, Dewan Sri Beruang Kem Askar Wataniah, the Alor Gajah, Melaka Tengah and Jasin district police headquarters and several police stations.Agents of candidates and election observers appointed by the Election Commission (EC) are allowed to witness the early voting process, which will also be streamed live on the EC’s Facebook.The voting process will be conducted in accordance with the tight SOPs set by the EC to prevent the spread of Covid-19.Voters are required to wear a face mask, have their temperature checked, practise physical distancing, use hand sanitiser and scan their MySejahtera QR code before entering the PPA.The SOPs also include using a disposable brush to mark with ink the fingers of symptomatic voters who have a temperature exceeding 37.5 degrees Celsius, a cough and a runny nose.To prevent crowding at the voting centres, four time slots have been drawn up for voters to cast their ballots.The voting time slots are 8am to 10am, 10am to noon, noon to 2pm and 2pm to 4.30pm.The state polls were called following the dissolution of the 28-seat Melaka state legislative assembly on Oct 4 after four state assemblymen withdrew their support for Chief Minister Sulaiman Md Ali.Polling is on Nov 20.


Bosses group hopes for better days after Cabinet announcement

The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) today welcomed the announcement of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s Cabinet line-up, in particular the decision to retain those heading the portfolios of finance and human resources.MEF president Syed Hussain Syed Husman said it was important for the prime minister to have a “good working team” to support him and help him overcome current issues.“The economy, the Covid-19 situation and the coming national budget are among some of the important matters before us, and we should not risk making any major changes as it may disrupt plans that are already in place,” he said in a statement.Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz and Human Resources Minister M Saravanan had been among a number ministers from the previous administration retained in Ismail’s Cabinet line-up.Syed Hussain said the ministers and their deputies should provide continuity and consistency to ensure that efforts to restore the economy and resolve the Covid-19 crisis are effective.“Employers are faced with increasing Covid-19 issues amid a very weak economy with businesses suffering and the new budget on the horizon,” he said.“The business community and the people are very tired and stressed out. We hope there will be political stability so that those in ministerial positions can focus on these critical issues.”


Number of children in Malaysia drops to 9.24 million in 2020

Children comprised 28.3% of Malaysia’s population of 32.7 million in 2020, a drop of 78,100 to 9.24 million from 9.32 million in the previous year, according to the Children Statistics for Malaysia 2020 released today.Of these, 4.77 million are boys and 4.47 million are girls.“This decrease is significant in the age groups zero to four years and 13 to 17 years. For the age group of zero to four years, the decline is 1.5% (37,800),” chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said when commenting on the children statistics publication.“This is due to the decrease in number of live births to 488,000 in 2019 compared to 502,000 in the previous year. Meanwhile, children in the age group of 13 to 17 years decreased by 1.5% (41,600),” he said in a statement today.In terms of health, Uzir said immunisation coverage for infants in 2019 – BCG, polio, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, haemophilus influenza type B and Hepatitis B – exceeded 95%, reaching the national immunisation coverage target.To meet the needs of childcare, he said, the number of registered childcare centres increased 11.2% to 4,903 in 2019, with the highest increase recorded in Selangor (19.7%), followed by Perlis (19%) and Penang (16.5%).“This was in line with the incline in number of women employees to 5.87 million in 2019,” he said.In 2020, he said, the operation of childcare centres had been affected because caregivers found it difficult to send children to childcare centres due to the spread of Covid-19.Uzir said enrolment in government and government-aided schools grew by 9,500 from 4.84 million to 4.85 million in 2019, with the increase aided by pre-school (0.7%) and primary school (1.3%) levels of education.“For private schools, the increase in enrolment can be seen at kindergartens and primary schools at 3,000 and 200 respectively in 2019 as compared to the previous year,” he said.Based on the Department of Social Welfare record, Uzir said the number of new cases of persons with disabilities for children in 2019 was 20,321, with the age group of six to 12 comprising the biggest group at 50.5%.Uzir said the number of children under 18 involved in crime decreased by 8.7% from 5,294 cases in 2018 to 4,833 cases in 2019.


Second-hand condoms for sale in Vietnam – NOT as good as new

Vietnamese police have seized more than 300,000 used condoms that were about to be washed, reshaped and resold in local markets, VN Express International reports.Besides the buckets of unwashed condoms, inspectors also found thousands that had already been cleaned and packaged without brand names and were ready for sale.The 32-year-old woman at the heart of the business said that around once a month, “somebody” delivered thousands of used condoms to her.Where he got them from, she did not know.Her job was to clean, dry and sort the condoms before making them look fresh again for new customers.More details about the illegal operation were not released and authorities are investigating the case further.It is unclear how many recycled condoms have already been sold or how well they performed.Police said the condoms have been confiscated to use as evidence but will be disposed of immediately after because they are considered hazardous medical waste.Medical authorities have previously warned about the dangers of washing and reusing condoms saying it was hazardous to health.


Malaysia's financial situation still strong, says Zafrul

Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz today said that the country's fiscal position remains strong and that the government's debt is still under control.
He said the government remained highly disciplined and had never failed to pay the interest and mature debts despite having gone through a series of economic and financial recession crises.
"This proves Malaysia's reputation and ability as a debtor with a good repayment record," he said in a statement today.
He said this in reference to several reports on social media which he said were aimed at confusing the people about the country’s financial position and debt situation.
Tengku Zafrul said prudent debt management was also implemented through existing laws, including Article 98(1)(b) of the Federal Constitution which stipulates that the government should always prioritise debt charges over other operating expenses.
He said the External Loans Act 1963 provided for offshore borrowings not exceeding RM35 billion and the Interim Measures for Government Financing (Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19)) (Amendment) Act 2021 stipulated that the statutory limit of government debt should not be more than 65% of the GDP.
As of end-June, offshore loans amounted to RM29.4 billion while statutory debt accounted for 60.4% of GDP, he said.
He added that 97% of the total federal government debt was in ringgit denomination, thus reflecting prudent debt management with minimal exposure to foreign exchange risk.
"A high level of debt does not mean that the country is at risk of bankruptcy," he added.
"Various international rating agencies such as S&P Global, Fitch and Moody’s constantly assess a country’s debt levels along with other factors such as a prudent fiscal framework, sound governance and good external position as well as economic strength."
Tengku Zafrul said the International Monetary Fund had also acknowledged that Malaysia’s debt position was still at a manageable level.
Recently, S&P forecast that government policy planning would support the strengthening of the country’s fiscal position, he said.
He said the finance ministry also denied allegations by some that Malaysia would go bankrupt like a certain country in South Asia.
"The finance ministry has lodged a formal complaint with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission on several false reports on social media about the country’s debt position which apparently are aimed at misleading the people and potentially undermining investor confidence in Malaysia," he added.


Malaysia sees worst slide in journalism freedom index

The annual report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Tuesday that journalism was at least partly blocked in nearly three-quarters of the 180 countries surveyed.Its World Press Freedom Index found 73 countries “totally blocked or seriously impeded” journalism, while it was “constrained” in 59 others, adding that many governments had used the pandemic to worsen repression.“Journalism is the best vaccine against disinformation,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said in a statement.“Unfortunately, its production and distribution are too often blocked by political, economic, technological and, sometimes, even cultural factors.”Eritrea, North Korea, Turkmenistan, China and Djibouti fared worst overall in this year’s RSF ranking.Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Costa Rica were ranked highest.The Middle East and North Africa region continues to be the most repressive for journalists, the report found, highlighting the worsening situation in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria over the past year.“In this region, still the toughest and most dangerous for journalists, the pandemic has exacerbated the problems that have long plagued the press, which was already in its death throes,” it said.Malaysia recorded the worst deterioration, down 18 places in the ranking to 119, due in part to a recent “anti-fake news” law “allowing the government to impose its own version of the truth”.RSF said the global level of media freedom remained largely stable overall for the past year, but noted that the figures had deteriorated by 12% since the ranking was first launched in 2013.Part of the problem is falling trust in journalists, fuelled by political polarisation and online misinformation.RSF noted a recent survey by the Edelman Trust that found 59% of respondents across 28 countries believed journalists deliberately misled the public.The World Press Freedom Index is based on questionnaires sent to experts around the world, combined with data on abuse and acts of violence against journalists to form a picture that includes pluralism, media independence, self-censorship and other factors.


Daily vaccine jabs hit new high of 376,909

A total of 376,909 doses of Covid-19 vaccine were administered yesterday, the highest daily number so far compared to 375,842 the day before.Health Minister Dr Adham Baba, in a Twitter post today, said of the total doses administered yesterday, 153,982 were second doses.He said the five states with the most fully vaccinated people are Selangor (88,376), Sarawak (70,447), Kuala Lumpur (52,515), Johor (23,589) and Negeri Sembilan (22,686).As of yesterday, 10,413,270 doses of Covid-19 vaccine had been administered, of which 3,190,789 were second doses.


UKSB gave Muhyiddin RM1.3 million, ex-admin tells Zahid trial

A witness told the Shah Alam High Court today that Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd (UKSB) gave RM1.3 million in funds to Muhyiddin Yassin in 2018.David Tan Siong Sun, 47, the former administrative manager of the company, said this when the company’s ledger was shown to him at the corruption trial of former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi involving the foreign visa system (VLN) today.When asked by Zahid’s lawyer Ahmad Zaidi Zainal who the “TSM” recorded in the ledger was, Tan said: “Tan Sri Muhyiddin.”He told the court that the funds were given to Muhyiddin in cash payments on June 4, July 4 and Aug 23, 2018.“On June 4, 2018, it was RM300,000; on July 4, it was RM500,000; and on Aug 23, it was RM500,000,” he said.Tan also confirmed that in 2018, Muhyiddin was the home minister (after Zahid) and that the UKSB-VLN project was still under the home ministry’s purview.Zaidi: Regarding TSM, I suggest to you that the payments were made in relation to the VLN for the government of the day?Tan: Yes, for the government of the day.Other names mentioned in today’s proceedings were Khairy Jamaluddin, Reezal Merican Naina Merican, Hishammuddin Hussein, Shafie Apdal and Anifah Aman, who were also stated in the UKSB ledger as well as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s forensic report.Tan confirmed that based on the ledger, UKSB had given Khairy a total of RM3.7 million while Reezal Merican, based on MACC’s forensic report, had received between RM200,000 and RM300,000 from the company.When asked if Reezal Merican was the deputy foreign minister at that time, Tan said: “I’m not sure.”He however agreed with the lawyer’s suggestion that the “MOR” and “FM” stated in the ledger referred to the then “minister of rural”, Shafie, and “foreign minister” Anifah.Zaidi: Most of the payments were political donations?Tan: That’s correct.Zaidi: Of course, (the payments) to Zahid were political donations, too?Tan: That’s correct.Meanwhile, Tan disagreed with a suggestion by Zahid’s other lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik that he had abetted two former UKSB directors, Harry Lee Vui Khiun and Wan Quoris Shah Wan Abdul Ghani, in committing corruption, money laundering, criminal breach of trust.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 the then home minister to extend the contract of the company as the operator of the one-stop centre (OSC) 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 is charged with committing all of the offences at Seri Satria, Presint 16, Putrajaya, and Country Heights, Kajang, between October 2014 and March 2018.The trial before judge Mohd Yazid Mustafa continues on July 25.


Japan replaces ‘sexist’ Olympics president with female athlete

Accomplished Japanese athlete-turned-politician Seiko Hashimoto has been chosen as president of the Tokyo Olympics Organizing committee.She is replacing a man who resigned after setting off a furore with his sexist remarks.Hashimoto, who competed in seven Summer and Winter Olympics as a cyclist and skater, now faces difficult questions with only a few months to go before the Olympics’ delayed start.She must ensure athletes and officials are kept safe from the coronavirus, while also facing strong public opposition to the Games being held during the pandemic, Reuters reports.Hashimoto announced her selection shortly after submitting her resignation as Olympics minister to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who encouraged her to make the Games successful.“As someone with an athletic background, I will carry out a safe Games for both athletes and citizens,” she told a news conference.She replaces Yoshiro Mori, an 83-year-old former prime minister, who resigned as Tokyo 2020 president last week after saying women talk too much, comments that a Tokyo 2020 executive said on Thursday had caused “indescribable damage”.Her appointment was welcomed by the International Olympic Committee which had not demanded Mori’s resignation and had initially considered the case closed after his first apology and refusal to step down.“With her great Olympic experience and having led Japan’s delegation to the Olympic Games multiple times, she is the perfect choice for this position,” IOC president Thomas Bach said in a statement.Opinion polls have repeatedly shown that more than 80% of Japanese do not believe the Games should be held this year due to the pandemic.“I can imagine how tough it is for athletes with so many questions about whether they should even aim for the Olympics and Paralympics amid the pandemic,” she said.Japan is ranked 121st out of 153 countries on the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Gender Gap Index – the worst ranking gap among advanced countries – scoring poorly on women’s economic participation and political empowerment.