How Budget 2021 could help jobless youth in Sabah

Representing the majority of semi-skilled and low-skilled jobs, youth unemployment has been a prominent problem especially in Sabah, known as the poorest state in Malaysia with a poverty rate of 19.5% and the country’s highest unemployment rate of 5.8% in 2019.Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, Sabah had recorded a youth unemployment rate of 14% in 2019. The daily three-digit Covid-19 infections and tightening of movement restrictions across the state will lead to more than 284,000 Sabahan youths becoming unemployed, according to the statistic department.With the second wave of job retrenchments and closures of local businesses, the estimated youth unemployment rate in Sabah could rise to at least 20%.The Covid-19 pandemic also reveals the vulnerability of the service sector as well as the mining and quarrying sector. The closure of international borders and interstate travel ban has resulted in a drastic drop in international and domestic tourists in Sabah.Many shopping centres and F&B outlets are relatively empty as only takeaway and grocery services are allowed during the conditional movement control order (CMCO).A sharp fall in the global oil price also negatively affected the economic performance of the mining and quarrying sector. The negative effects that resulted from all these have painted a bleak future for the youth of Sabah.Instead of purely relying on the service sector (46.1% of Sabah’s GDP in 2019) and the mining and quarrying sector (26.4% of Sabah’s GDP in 2019), the state government should realign its focus by developing the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. As of 2019, the contribution of the agriculture sector was 16.1% of the state’s GDP, and 7.6% for the manufacturing sector.To diversify its revenue stream, Sabah could reduce its dependence on palm oil by focusing on the development of large-scale agricultural activities. With the help of green and modern agricultural technology, it would enhance the value of production while providing opportunities for Sabahan youths to work in renewable sectors.In addition, the Sabah government could increase crop diversification and produce high quality agricultural products. Such efforts could develop Sabah as an Asian food hub to fulfil the huge demand of major markets such as China, Singapore and Brunei.To ensure sufficient timber supply, the Sabah government could also increase the planting of suitable tree species on a large scale by extending Budget 2021’s allocation of RM500 million for the Forest Development Loan (PPLH) programme for the timber industry. With increasing demand for agricultural and wood-based products would come job opportunities for Sabahan youths.As the industrial sector becomes a catalyst in generating more employment opportunities for the people, especially during the implementation of the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021-2025), Sabah could increase investment in Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) in Sandakan and Lahad Datu, Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) and Sabah Development Corridor.This would generate higher value-added downstream processing activities in the state and see Sabahan youths employed in such mega infrastructure projects.The exploration of the downstream industry based on biomass resources from oil palm waste and forestry could be another potential source of income to help Sabah become an agriculturally-based industrial state by 2030, on top of creating new job opportunities for Sabahan youths.Aside from the federal government’s Penjana and Prihatin stimulus packages, the Sabah government should continue the initiatives from the previous Warisan administration by:1. Emphasising and prioritising youth development in line with the Sabah Youth Development Strategic Plan, 2016-2030;2. Increasing youth involvement in high-impact economic sectors such as the agricultural, digital and cultural sectors;3. Organising programmes on agricultural entrepreneurship development through the establishment of farming entrepreneurs, recognition of outstanding agriculture entrepreneurs throughout Sabah and implementation of Integrated Agricultural Skills Courses for youth; and4. Continuing the Youth Entrepreneurship Aspiration Programme (YEAP) to enable young people to start business with a low start-up capital.Although Budget 2021 revealed that Skim Jaminan Penjanaan Pekerjaan (JanaKerja), MySTEP (Short-term Employment Programme) and the apprenticeship programme would provide opportunities for thousands of Malaysian youths to be hired or upgraded with relevant skillsets, it is still unclear how many Sabahan youths will benefit from the federal schemes.Therefore, EMIR Research has several policy suggestions for the Sabah government to consider:1. The Sabah youth and sports ministry could modify the National Apprenticeship Scheme (SPN) launched by the federal government on July 22 by partnering with the private sector in Sabah, giving its youths the opportunity to reskill, upskill and cross-skill besides securing a job after completion of the apprenticeship.2. The ministry could also modify the MyBelia System launched by the federal government which could indicate job opportunities, skills training, funds and facilities provided by the state government, with the Sabah Youth Council leading the initiative by mobilising local youth organisations to inform Sabahan youths.3. The same ministry in Sabah could also provide vehicles for unemployed Sabahan youths to venture into mobile truck business, thereby sustaining their livelihood and boosting youth entrepreneurship in Sabah.4. The Sabah rural development ministry could continue implementing the Mesej (Mini Estet Sejahtera) Project, creating more sustainable agricultural development projects such as one kampung, one industry to generate income among Sabahan youths based in rural areas.5. The ministries of industrial development, rural development, tourism, culture and environment, and agriculture and fisheries could organise a joint meeting and utilise natural resources to the advantage of the state to create more green jobs for the benefits of its youths. These ministries also could collaborate with industry players so that the skillsets among Sabahan youths would match current industry needs.If the state government is attentive to the long-standing issue of youth unemployment, more job opportunities could be created thereby empowering more than half of the youth population in the state. They would not be marginalised but would in turn generate socio-economic development for Sabah.Amanda Yeo is a research analyst at independent think tank EMIR Research.The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


28 families evacuated after landslide in Kemensah Heights

A total of 19 double-storey terrace houses and 28 families were affected by a landslide along Jalan Kemensah Heights in Kuala Lumpur last night.Selangor Fire and Rescue Department director Norazam Khamis said they received a distress call at 9.33pm and arrived at the scene 11 minutes later to begin rescue operations.The firefighters were able to evacuate all of the victims.“No injuries were reported,” he said when contacted.Meanwhile, Ampang Jaya police chief ACP Muhammad Farouk Eshak said the victims were housed at two halls in Ampang.He said the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council had provided the locations as a temporary shelter.“If they do not want to move to the places provided, they have the choice of putting up in the homes of relatives.“So far, the fire and rescue department is monitoring the landslide location for further earth movements,” he said.One of the victims, Muhd Zulfaqar Jamaludin, 20, said he was shocked to hear a loud crash followed by tremors.“After that, I rushed out to see what had happened behind my house and found several trees had fallen followed a landslide.“I quickly took my parents safely out of the house,” he said.Nurhafizah Zolkifli, 28, said she felt a strong tremor and saw tree branches crashing into the windows at the back of the house at 9.30pm.“My parents immediately called the fire and rescue department and I grabbed my child to safety.“I also saw several houses falling from the slope,” she said.


Covid cases hit new high as numbers soar past 3,000 again

Another 3,309 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 141,533.Selangor recorded 1,007 cases of which 825 or 81.9% were from clusters and close contact screening.This was followed by Johor (442), Sabah (409), Kuala Lumpur (326), Penang (317), Perak (241) and Sarawak (146).Pahang recorded 96 cases, Kelantan 86, Negeri Sembilan 85, Kedah 62, Putrajaya 36, Melaka 21, Terengganu 20 and Labuan 15.Active cases stand at 30,390 with 190 in the ICU and 83 in need of respiratory assistance.Eleven new clusters were detected:1. Jalan Manan (Klang in Selangor; 83 cases)2. Persiaran Kuala (Petaling, Klang and Sabak Bernam in Selangor; 44 cases)3. Udarama (Lembah Pantai in Kuala Lumpur; 21 cases)4. Iris (Lembah Pantai in Kuala Lumpur; 11 cases)5. Jalan Kiara (Kepong and Cheras in Kuala Lumpur; 22 cases)6. Dialisis Batu (Titiwangsa, Cheras and Kepong in Kuala Lumpur; six cases)7. Bukit Sekubong (Bintulu in Sarawak; 21 cases)8. Kampung Badak (Bachok and Kota Bharu in Kelantan; 39 cases)9. Taman Kesedar (Gua Musang in Kelantan; 14 cases)10. Dialisis Putra (Presint 9 in Putrajaya; 10 cases)11. Permint Harmoni (Kuala Terengganu in Terengganu; eight cases)Eight others ended, leaving 261 active clusters across the country.Another 1,469 patients were discharged, bringing total recoveries to 110,584.However, four more deaths were reported, pushing the virus toll to 559.


Israel mainly to blame for conflict, says UN report

Israel’s occupation and discrimination against Palestinians are the main causes of the endless cycles of violence, UN investigators said Tuesday, prompting angry Israeli protests.A high-level team of investigators, appointed last year by the United Nations Human Rights Council to probe “all underlying root causes” in the decades-long conflict, pointed the finger squarely at Israel.“Ending the occupation of lands by Israel… remains essential in ending the persistent cycles of violence,” they said in a report, decrying ample evidence that Israel has “no intention” of doing so.The 18-page report mainly focuses on evaluating a long line of past UN investigations, reports and rulings on the situation, and how and if those findings were implemented.Recommendations in past reports were “overwhelmingly directed towards Israel,” lead investigator Navi Pillay, a former UN rights chief from South Africa, said in a statement.This, she said, was “an indicator of the asymmetrical nature of the conflict and the reality of one state occupying the other”.The investigators also determined that those recommendations “have overwhelmingly not been implemented”, she said, pointing to calls to ensure accountability for Israel’s violations of international law but also “indiscriminate firing of rockets” by Palestinian armed groups into Israel.“It is this lack of implementation coupled with a sense of impunity, clear evidence that Israel has no intention of ending the occupation, and the persistent discrimination against Palestinians that lies at the heart of the systematic recurrence of violations in both the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.”‘Witch hunt’Israel has refused to cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry (COI) created last year following the 11-day Hamas-Israel war in May 2021, which killed 260 Palestinians and 13 people on the Israeli side.Israel has in the past loudly criticised Pillay for “championing an anti-Israel agenda”, and on Tuesday the foreign ministry slammed the entire investigation as “a witch hunt”.The report, it said, was “one-sided” and “tainted with hatred for the State of Israel and based on a long series of previous one-sided and biased reports.”It had been published, it said, as “the result of the Human Rights Council’s extreme anti-Israel bias.”The US, a staunch ally of Israel – which rejoined the council under President Joe Biden, after Donald Trump withdrew from the body – reiterated that it “firmly” opposes the “open-ended and vaguely defined nature” of the COI.“The existence of this COI in its current form is a continuation of a long-standing pattern of unfairly singling out Israel,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.In Geneva, dozens of Israeli reserve soldiers and students – some of them dressed like Palestinian Hamas militants – marched Tuesday outside the UN headquarters in protest.Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who heads the Israeli NGO Shurat Hadin that organised the protest, slammed the rights council as “the most anti-Semitic body in the world.”Israel and its allies have long accused the top UN rights body of anti-Israel bias, pointing among other things to the fact that Israel is the only country that is systematically discussed at every regular council session, with a dedicated special agenda item.The COI, which is the highest-level investigation that can be ordered by the council, is the ninth probe it has ordered into rights violations in Palestinian territories.It is the first, however, tasked with looking at systematic abuses committed within Israel, the first open-ended probe, and the first to examine “root causes” in the drawn-out conflict.


Asking for some kindness

Here is an update on some of the things faced by sexual minority communities over the past few weeks.Sajat was arrested and faces trial because apparently dressing as she should at a kenduri held in her own private space for people whom she privately invited offends religion.A young trans woman was cyberbullied and outed to her mother after her post on social media asking for support during this time of pandemic went viral. It seems Malaysians do not enjoy seeing an online crowdfunding effort for transwomen.PAS’ Ahmad Marzuk Shaary urged for a heavier sentence on sexual minorities because the punishments already available for the community are just a walk in the park for them.Meanwhile, a medical doctor condemned the transgender community after being unable to sleep at night as the condition of a transpatient defied his logic and adjusting his understanding of biology to fit the need of his patient was a no go.Have I mentioned that politicians want the community to be punished even harder?It is safe to say that sexual minorities will not have a lot of kindness in which to put their hopes any time soon.Pleas for the community to be left alone and not treated as a reserve for unkind oral discharge have been as effective as telling the government to do better – it will never materialise, not in anyone’s lifetime.I am not sure when we stopped doing good for the sake of others. I always tell people to do good, to berbakti, because that is the simplest act we can all do. It’s so simple that it is open to interpretation as to how to show it.My interpretation has always been to defend the underprivileged, to extend our reach to them when they are in need, and to let everyone be if they are not disruptive.I wonder if these “righteous” people subscribe to the same interpretation, though I am sure they strive to do good as well. It’s just that from my perspective, it’s striving for strife.What is the worst that could happen if we left the sexual minorities be? Why is there so much fear of them that then turns into pure hatred?There was a statement in support of Shaary’s stance on tightening legislation implicating sexual minorities, mentioning concern of future generations turning into younglings asking for gender reassignment therapy before they become aware of mathematical symbols.Where did this concern even come from?In a country where the major religion has never been threatened and the people of the status quo live in prosperity, why is so much of their time spent suppressing a source of fear that never had any chance whatsoever of taking their place and dominating their position?Adni, a kampung boy from one of my previous articles, told me once: “Buat apa aku jadi baik kalau semua orang jahat dengan aku?”If you ever think your life is hard, chances are you have never met him. He went through so many harsh moments that cannot be detailed in this article, but he now feels like he has been given a chance to become a better person than he was before.But even so, his struggles appear neverending as people continue to be unkind to him.It breaks my heart to know that I have nothing to offer in consolation. And it makes me realise that his frustration is universal within his community.Where is the virtue in deliberately being short of kindness? Why do we spend so much of our freedom doing good and being kind and then do the exact opposite when it comes to this community?It is still a long way from the bleak greyscale of our discriminatory reality towards the promising technicolour utopia of kindness for all. But I am not giving up on hope.


Messi's Argentina go through on penalties after Dutch comeback

Argentina beat the Netherlands 4-3 in a penalty shootout to keep Lionel Messi's World Cup dream alive on Friday after the Dutch had snatched a 2-2 draw from the jaws of defeat in an extraordinary quarter-final.
Emiliano Martinez saved the first two Dutch penalties to give Argentina a huge advantage and Lautaro Martinez sent Andries Noppert the wrong way to set up a date for the South Americans with Croatia in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
Messi celebrated with arms aloft in front of the massed ranks of Argentina fans, his hopes of securing football's biggest prize at the fifth attempt intact for a few more days.
"Argentina are among the four best in the world because they show that they know how to play every game with the same desire and the same intensity," said the seven-times Ballon D'or winner.
"A lot of joy, a lot of happiness. We didn't have to go to extra time or penalties, we had to suffer. But we got through and it's impressive."
A third bench-clearing brawl of the match was the backdrop to Messi's celebrations as some of the Dutch players, distraught after coming so close to one of the greatest comebacks in World Cup history, clashed with their Argentine rivals.
A total of 16 yellow cards were shown throughout the contest by Spanish referee Antonio Mateu and Dutch wingback Denzel Dumfries was sent off after the final whistle for his part in the final brawl.
Apparently on their way home at 2-0 down with only seven minutes of normal time remaining, the Dutch had scored twice through substitute Wout Weghorst to send the match to two scoreless periods of extra time.
Messi, almost inevitably, had played a major role in giving Argentina their lead.
While it was Nahuel Molina's goal that put Argentina ahead in the 35th minute, it was Messi who unlocked a suffocating Dutch defence that had snuffed out any previous chances.
Taking the ball 40 metres out, the 35-year-old ghosted to his left in front of a wall of markers before sliding a pass back to the right to Molina on the edge of the box.
The wingback took a touch and poked the ball past onrushing goalkeeper Andries Noppert to send the vast majority of the 88,235 crowd at Lusail Stadium into paroxysms of delight.
There was more delirium for the Albiceleste faithful in the 73rd minute when Messi slapped a penalty kick in the right midriff of the net after Dumfries had fouled Marcos Acuna on the edge of the box.
High balls
With tactics more reminiscent of Sunday park football than Total Football, the Dutch got back into the contest by bombarding the Argentine area with high balls aimed at their tall target men.
They were rewarded with a goal in the 83rd minute when Steven Berghuis crossed from the right and his fellow substitute Weghorst headed the ball past Martinez's dive.
The Argentines held onto their lead until 11 minutes into stoppage time when Teun Koopmeiners cleverly reversed a free kick and found Weghorst free to put the ball past Martinez and level up the match.
The Argentines were still shell-shocked by the turnaround in the first period of extra time but recovered their composure to pepper the Dutch goal with shots, Enzo Hernandez coming closest to scoring with a rasping effort that hit the post.
The late surge gave Argentina the momentum going into the shootout, and Martinez added to it when he stopped spot kicks from Van Dijk and Berghuis.
The defeat was the first for the Dutch in 20 matches going back to last year's European Championship and brought an end to 71-year-old Louis van Gaal's third spell as coach.
It was the second time a Van Gaal team had lost to Argentina via a shootout in the knockout stages of the World Cup after a 4-2 defeat following a 0-0 draw in 2014 semi-finals.
"We practised on penalties all year and then you screw it up," said Van Gaal.
"That's a pity. As a coach, I want to have everything under control. That is why I asked the players to take a penalty at their club, they all did. If you miss two, you won't win anymore."


Several cities in China add Covid curbs as millions still under lockdown

Several Covid-hit Chinese cities from the country's east to west imposed fresh restrictions and lockdowns on their populations on Thursday to contain flare-ups that are again threatening to disrupt local economies.
Reducing people's unnecessary movement for a few days - a softer type of lockdown - as soon as dozens of new cases emerge is a key practice of China's "dynamic Covid-zero" strategy. The aim is to avoid turning efforts to halt an outbreak into the extended nightmares seen in Shanghai and Wuhan.
The uncertainty over how long such smaller lockdowns may last - because Omicron's high transmissibility makes it harder to clear infections - has hurt business confidence and made people less willing to travel.
The eastern export and manufacturing hub Yiwu said on Thursday it would enter three days of "silent management", with most of its residents banned from leaving designated areas and some confined to their homes.
Yiwu's 1.9 million people joined millions of others across several cities whose movements are restricted largely to their residential compounds, unless they have to go out for matters such as Covid tests, grocery shopping or hospital visits.
Companies whose employees can work on closed campuses are still allowed to operate, while all public venues in Yiwu were to be closed during the three days, excluding hospitals and other places offering essential services.
In China's western region of Xinjiang, three cities in the Aksu area from Thursday allowed employees to leave their homes for work while restricting everyone else to necessary movements only. It is not clear when the measures will be lifted.
Key districts in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi, meanwhile, have been in a five-day lockdown starting on Wednesday.
Clusters in the tourism hotspots Hainan and Tibet continued to expand, with affected cities under lockdowns.
Mainland China reported 1,993 domestically transmitted new coronavirus cases for Aug 10 - 614 symptomatic and 1,379 asymptomatic - the National Health Commission said on Thursday.
There were no new deaths, keeping fatalities at 5,226. China has confirmed 232,809 cases with symptoms as of Aug 10, including local transmitted ones and those among arrivals.
China's capital Beijing reported two local cases for the previous day, while financial hub Shanghai and southern technology hub Shenzhen reported zero new local infections.


NZ bans future generations from buying tobacco under new laws

Future generations of New Zealanders will be banned from purchasing tobacco as part of a package of new anti-smoking laws that passed parliament on Tuesday and are among the most strict in the world.
The suite of new laws include bans on selling tobacco to anyone born on or after Jan 1, 2009, punishable by fines up to NZ$150,000 (about RM424,881). The ban will remain in place for a person's whole life.
The legislation will also reduce the amount of nicotine allowed in smoked tobacco products and cut the number of retailers able to sell tobacco by 90%.
“This legislation accelerates progress towards a smokefree future,” Associate Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall said in a statement.
“Thousands of people will live longer, healthier lives and the health system will be US$5 billion better off from not needing to treat the illnesses caused by smoking, such as numerous types of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, amputations."
Retailers licensed to sell tobacco will be cut to 600 by the end of 2023 from 6,000.
Already boasting one of the lowest adult smoking rates among the 38 countries of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, New Zealand is further tightening anti-smoking laws as part of a government push to make the country "smokefree" by 2025.
Only Bhutan, which banned cigarette sales in 2010, will have stricter anti-smoking laws.
The number of adult New Zealanders smoking fell by half over the past decade to 8%, with 56,000 quitting in the past year. OECD data shows 25% of French adults smoked in 2021.
Verrall said the legislation would help close the life expectancy gap between Maori and non-Maori citizens, which can range as high as 25% for women.
ACT New Zealand, which holds ten out 120 seats in parliament, condemned the law, saying it would kill off small shops and force people onto the black market.
“No one wants to see people smoke, but the reality is, some will. And Labour’s nanny state prohibition is going to cause problems,” said Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden.


UK's Boris Johnson quits as MP, claiming witch-hunt

Britain's former prime minister Boris Johnson angrily quit as a member of parliament on Friday, claiming he had been forced out in a stitch-up by his political opponents.
The 58-year-old populist politician has been under investigation by a cross-party committee about whether he repeatedly lied to Parliament over Covid lockdown-breaking parties when he was in office.
In evidence earlier this year, he angrily insisted he had not.
But as the committee prepares to make public its findings, he said they had contacted him "making it clear... they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of Parliament".
The Privileges Committee, which has a majority of MPs from his own Conservative party, has powers to impose sanctions for misleading parliament, including suspension.
Ordinarily, suspension of more than 10 working days leads to a by-election in the MP's constituency.
Johnson, though, pre-empted any finding – or the consequences of a humiliating fight to remain an MP in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency in northwest London where he holds a slim majority of just over 7,000 – by quitting.
He denounced the committee, chaired by veteran opposition Labour MP Harriet Harman, as a "kangaroo court".
"It is very sad to be leaving Parliament – at least for now – but above all I am bewildered and appalled that I can be forced out, anti-democratically... with such egregious bias," he said.
The committee's report, which has not been published, was "riddled with inaccuracies and reeks of prejudice", he said, complaining he had "no formal ability to challenge anything they say".
Their "purpose from the beginning has been to find me guilty, regardless of the facts", he added.
Responding to the resignation, the Privileges Committee said Johnson "impugned the integrity of the House by his statement".
The committee said it would meet on Monday to conclude its inquiry and would publish its report "promptly".
Sunak attack
The announcement came just hours after Johnson controversially rewarded his closest Brexit allies – and officials implicated in the "Partygate" saga – in his prime ministerial resignation honours list.
At the same time, his former culture secretary Nadine Dorries announced that she was quitting as an MP with immediate effect.
Johnson led the Tories to a thumping 80-seat majority in the December 2019 general election on a promise to "get Brexit done".
That allowed him to railroad through parliament his divorce deal with the European Union, unblocking years of political paralysis.
But he was undone by his handling of the Covid pandemic, "Partygate" and a succession of other scandals that led to a ministerial rebellion in July last year.
He quit as prime minister and left office in September last year, although rumours persisted that he wanted another shot at the top job.
Rishi Sunak, who was one of Johnson's top team who quit, has been trying to steady the ship since becoming prime minister in October last year, after the turbulent tenure of his former boss and the short-lived premier Liz Truss.
Johnson's resignation will likely be seen as his revenge on Sunak, whose Tories are well down in the polls to the main opposition Labour party after 13 years in power and with a general election looming next year.
"When I left office last year the government was only a handful of points behind in the polls. That gap has now massively widened," said Johnson in his letter lashing out at Sunak.
"Just a few years after winning the biggest majority in almost half a century, that majority is now clearly at risk.
"Our party needs urgently to recapture its sense of momentum and its belief in what this country can do."
'Good riddance'
Johnson's supporters rallied behind him, lauding his achievements on Brexit, and galvanising support for Ukraine.
But Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner said the public – battling a cost-of-living crisis – had had enough of the "never-ending Tory soap opera".
Her opposite number with the smaller Liberal Democrats, Daisy Cooper, said it was "good riddance" while the Scottish National Party's deputy UK parliament leader Mhairi Black, said Johnson "jumped before he was pushed".
Johnson, who was sacked from his first job at The Times newspaper for making up a quote, made his name as Brussels correspondent of the Daily Telegraph peddling euromyths.
He first became an MP in 2001 until 2008, then quit to serve two four-year terms as London's mayor. He became an MP again in 2015, going on to be foreign secretary under Theresa May.


Charges against me politically motivated, Zahid tells court

Former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the Kuala Lumpur High Court today that the corruption, criminal breach of trust (CBT) and money laundering charges against him were politically motivated.He said this was something that he and several other politicians in the country had to face.Zahid said this during cross-examination by deputy public prosecutor Raja Rozela Raja Toran in his defence trial on 47 charges: 12 of CBT, eight of corruption and 27 of money laundering involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.Raja Rozela: Throughout the trial, there was no evidence submitted by the prosecution that could be tied to political motives other than the fact that you are a politician.Zahid: Not on paper, but in hindsight, I know for sure that it is politically motivated.Raja Rozela: Yesterday, you mentioned about the misappropriation of funds or CBT and you named three MPs in that context. When I heard that, I couldn’t help but think that politics and money seem to be inseparable, is it reasonable for me to say that?Zahid: Every politician of any party needs money to carry out political activities. Money isn’t everything, but everything needs money.The Bagan Datuk MP however disagreed with Raja Rozela’s suggestion that cases of corruption, graft and fraud were becoming rampant in the country.Raja Rozela: So you haven’t read the recent article in The Wall Street Journal saying that Malaysia has been ranked the number one most corrupt country in the world? It’s sad. Have you read it, Datuk Seri?Zahid: At a glance.When asked whether there was any truth to the article, Zahid said: “The article was based on two elements, namely corruption and corruption perception, where I think perception was given more priority than the actual index.”However, he agreed with Raja Rozela’s suggestion that corruption was still a concern.Zahid also agreed with Raja Rozela’s suggestion that the country upholds the “rule of law” principle and that everyone, rich or poor, is equal before the law.However, not for selected charges, he added.Raja Rozela: I give an example, if a politician is accused of accepting bribes, among the defence given would be that the charge was a political conspiracy, but if the accused is a school gardener, there is no way the same defence can be used, do you agree?Zahid: If the gardener is the division head or an office-bearer in a political party, the same thing will happen to him.The trial before justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues.


New cases inch down to 5,218 as death toll passes 5,000

Another 5,218 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 739,266.Selangor recorded 1,989 cases, Negeri Sembilan 629, Kuala Lumpur 469, Sarawak 409, Perak 400, Sabah 258, Johor 243, Kedah 194, Melaka 183, Pahang 111, Labuan 108 and Kelantan 101.Penang recorded 88 cases, Terengganu 23, Putrajaya eight and Perlis five.Active cases stand at 61,812 with 899 in the ICU and 451 in need of respiratory assistance.Another 4,744 patients were discharged, bringing total recoveries to 672,453.However, 57 more deaths were reported, pushing the virus toll to 5,001.


Anwar leaves after ‘less than 30-minute’ royal audience

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim’s highly publicised audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong today turned out to be a less than half-hour affair.He arrived at Istana Negara at about 10.30am amid hordes of photographers and reporters and left about an hour later.Anwar had been gunning for today’s meeting since his statement on Sept 23, where he said he had secured a “formidable majority” to topple Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s seven-month-old government.Last week, he said he was ready to provide details of his claim to having the support of MPs to Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah today.A source told MalaysiaNow that the meeting today was “nothing unusual”.“It was an ordinary audience between Anwar as the opposition leader and the king,” the source, who is close to the PKR leader’s inner circle, said.The short duration of his meeting with Sultan Abdullah today – “less than 30 minutes”, according to a source – is a far cry from the hours of interviews the Agong had in February this year, days after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.


It’s not a procession, govt clarifies on allowing Thaipusam ritual

The government has clarified that its green light for Lord Murugan’s chariot to be brought to the Batu Caves temple on Thaipusam does not amount to a procession.This follows Federal Territories Minister Annuar Musa’s announcement that the National Security Council had given approval for the deity to be brought from the Maha Mariamman temple in the city centre to the temple in Batu Caves, where the annual Thaipusam gathering normally attracts hundreds of thousands of devotees and tourists.The green light was subject to several conditions, including one limiting the number of people involved to 10, with no accompanying music in a bid to deter crowds.“No procession is allowed. It is only for bringing the deity to and from Batu Caves. During the journey, no celebration will be allowed,” Annuar said, correcting several news report headlines which used the word “procession”.The move however drew a mixed response from the public.“It’s good news to hear, but look at rise in cases too. Celebrations can be done at home with family. Just pray so this pandemic will be over soon.“Thaipusam is not complete without kavadis and the beating of drums. Let’s make it grand in 2022, not 2021 [quotes edited],” Erajaganthasharma Raju said in a tweet.Others said it would be difficult to prevent people from following the chariot as it moves to the temple.“I don’t think this is a good idea to allow the chariot procession at this time. We know this will definitely bring the crowds to go see the chariot,” said Anandharaj.


Worrying trend of virus cases in Shah Alam as Selangor battles reputation as hardest hit state

Statistics captured on Putrajaya’s contact tracing app MySejahtera are showing a worrying situation in Shah Alam, Selangor, the state hardest hit by Covid-19 and where the bulk of daily cases nationwide has been reported.As of today, a total of 941 cases in the last two weeks had originated from 27 sections spread over the state capital.The heavily populated areas of Section 19 and 23, a major industrial and commercial backbone in the city with fairly crowded residential areas, recorded a combined total of 212 cases in the last two weeks.Other areas with worrying statistics include Section 10 with 66 cases, Section 11 (55 cases) and Section 12 (52).The spike in Shah Alam is reflective of the overall Covid-19 situation in Selangor, which has been dominating daily numbers across the country.The state recorded more than two-thirds of today’s 4,140 new cases.The spike in Selangor has led to criticism of the state government’s Covid-19 task force helmed by former health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad, who has taken to social media to blame the high number of cases on federal authorities.While Dzulkefly has cited a failure of the movement control order (MCO) as well as mass testing, exco member in charge of health Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud defended the state government from claims that its contact tracing measures had failed.“Contact tracing is the job of the health ministry, not the Selangor government,” she said on Twitter amid a barrage of criticism from the public.In February, MalaysiaNow revealed weaknesses in Selangor’s SELangkah, its own contact tracing app which it promoted vigorously in the early stage of the pandemic.The app came under scrutiny following a spike in Covid-19 cases in the state, proportionately much higher than neighbouring Kuala Lumpur which dwarfs Selangor in terms of population density.Suggestions that SELangkah was inferior drew angry reactions from Dzulkefly, who also claimed that Putrajaya had lagged behind the state in automatic contact tracing.When contacted, meanwhile, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah was hopeful that the current MCO would be able to bring the case numbers down.“We hope the MCO 3.0 intervention will control the spike and bring down the cases,” he told MalaysiaNow.Farhira Farudin contributed to this report.


Daily caseload drops to 12,300 as another 30 deaths reported

Another 12,380 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 4,246,467.Of the total number of cases recorded, 85 were in Category Three and above.There were 20,635 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 4,018,421.A total of 562 cases were admitted to hospital, with 220 (39.1%) in Category Three and above and 342 (60.9%) in Category One and Two.Of the 85 cases in Category Three and above reported yesterday:* 24 (28.24%) were not vaccinated or had not completed their vaccination;* 33 (38.82%) had received two doses of vaccine;* 28 (32.94%) had received a booster jab;* 57 (67.06%) were aged 60 and above; and* 49 (57.65%) had comorbidities.There are now 192,947 active cases, of which 188,534 or 97.7% are undergoing home quarantine.Meanwhile, 478 (0.2%) are at quarantine centres while 3,682 (1.9%) have been hospitalised.A total of 253 are in ICU with 157 in need of respiratory assistance. ICU utilisation throughout the country stands at 55.3%, with Covid ICU utilisation at 28.7%.Another 30 deaths were reported, including 11 who were brought in dead. Total deaths now stand at 35,099.The country’s infectivity rate as of April 3 was 0.85.


China’s treatment of Uighurs is genocide, says Canadian parliament

Canada’s parliament passed a motion on Monday saying China’s treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region does constitute genocide.Conservative lawmaker Michael Chong said: “We can no longer ignore this. We must call it for what it is – a genocide.”This will pressure Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government to follow suit.The motion was brought by the opposition Conservative Party. Trudeau and his Cabinet abstained from the vote.The motion also calls on the International Olympic Committee to move the 2022 Winter Olympics from Beijing if the treatment continues.Lingering diplomatic tensions between the two countries flared up after Canada arrested Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou in 2018 on a US warrant, and in a tit-for-tat move China detained two Canadians on spying charges.China has been widely condemned for setting up complexes in Xinjiang that it describes as “vocational training centres” to stamp out extremism and give people new skills, and which others have called concentration camps. Beijing denies accusations of abuses in Xinjiang.Trudeau has been reluctant to use the word genocide, suggesting that seeking broad consensus among Western allies on Chinese human rights issues would be the best approach.He said on Friday, after speaking to fellow G7 leaders, “Moving forward multilaterally will be the best way to demonstrate the solidarity of Western democracies that are extremely concerned by reports of what’s going on in Xinjiang.”Trudeau and US President Joe Biden will hold a virtual bilateral meeting on Tuesday afternoon, and relations with China are likely to be discussed, Reuters reports.Former president Donald Trump – on his last full day in office last month – said China had committed “genocide and crimes against humanity” by repressing Uighur Muslims.The Biden administration is trying to ensure that the genocide declaration is upheld, according to his pick to be ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield.Cong Peiwu, the Chinese ambassador to Ottawa, denied accusations of genocide.“Western countries are in no position to say what the human rights situation in China looks like,” Cong said in an interview before the vote. “There is no so-called genocide in Xinjiang at all.”


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WHO slams critics of Covid-19 origins probe

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday blasted critics of its investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic and challenged those claiming to know better to come forward with the smoking gun.A WHO investigative team is in Wuhan, China – where the first cases were discovered in December 2019 – trying to piece together how the virus jumped from animals to humans before going on to kill more than two million people.The UN agency’s emergencies director Michael Ryan hit out at those sniping at the mission, and said people claiming they have information on how the pandemic broke out should emerge from the shadows.Ryan said many critics were saying they “won’t accept the report when it comes out”, or that there is “other intelligence available that may show different findings” on how the virus broke out.“If you have the answers… please let us know,” Ryan told a press conference from the WHO’s headquarters in Geneva.He asked how responsible it was “to say you won’t accept a report before it’s even written? To say that you have intelligence that has not been provided?”The WHO mission comes with heavy political baggage – China refused the team access until mid-January and there are question marks over what the experts can hope to find, one year on.Beijing is keen to put the focus on its recovery from the outbreak. The team toured a propaganda exhibition celebrating China’s recovery from the pandemic in Wuhan on Saturday.Ryan was responding to a question which referenced new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who earlier Monday told NBC that China was falling “far short of the mark”.“China has to step up and make sure that it is being transparent, that it is providing information and sharing information, that it is giving access to international experts and inspectors,” Blinken said.“Its failure to do that is a real problem.”Ryan said the team in the field deserved international support, and in the meantime, “it’s time for people who say and think they have information to start providing it”.He added that all infectious disease investigations find information that then throws up further questions.“It’s a detective story,” he said.Virology lab visitThe expert team in Wuhan has now started investigations on the ground, notably visiting the Huanan seafood market where one of the first reported clusters of infections emerged, and the hospital where early patients were treated.Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead on Covid-19, said the team would be visiting the Wuhan Institute of Virology.Former US president Donald Trump pushed an unsubstantiated theory that the virus escaped from the facility.The team are having “very productive discussions with Chinese counterparts, visiting different hospitals around Wuhan”, Van Kerkhove said.“They had a very good visit to the market, seeing first-hand the stalls and walking through.”Van Kerkhove said they had also met with counterparts from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.“They will visit the Institute of Virology. That is being planned,” she added.Meanwhile WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was “encouraging” that the global number of new coronavirus cases had fallen for the third week in a row.“It shows this virus can be controlled, even with the new variants in circulation,” he said.However, “we have been here before”, he warned.“Over the past year, there have been moments in almost all countries when cases declined, and governments opened up too quickly and individuals let down their guard, only for the virus to come roaring back.”


Groups slam Selangor's move to 'cover cost' of free bus on the back of poor migrants

Human rights groups have questioned a new move by the authorities in Selangor to impose a 90-sen fare on foreigners who use the free bus service in Petaling Jaya, with Human Rights Watch (HRW) describing it as a "heartless" move which would burden foreign workers who are already earning less than Malaysians.
"Trying to build cost recovery solutions on the back of the poorest and least empowered of customers is really a heartless move by the PJ City Council, so it’s imperative that this measure be rescinded immediately.
"If the bus is free for Malaysians, the bus should be free for everyone," HRW's deputy director for Asia, Phil Robertson, told MalaysiaNow.
Under the new rule, foreigners using the PJ City Bus service will be charged 90 sen for each ride.
Selangor government leaders have defended the move, saying the free commuter service is meant for Malaysians, just as schools and public hospitals are to cater for citizens.
But Robertson said that those using the free service are not "well-heeled expatriates".
"They are not ones typically riding the PJ City Bus.
"Rather, it’s foreign migrant workers from South Asia, Myanmar, Cambodia and elsewhere who make a pittance compared to Malaysians who will get hit with this discriminatory fee, and they are precisely the ones who can least afford it," he added.
The move was also slammed by Kuala Lumpur-based Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), which labelled it as part of "a larger problem of discrimination" against migrant workers.
"Xenophobia must not be a part of any government policy, at either the state or federal level, especially by the Pakatan Harapan-led Selangor government, a coalition whose political platform promises reform," LFL director Zaid Malek said.
He also slammed the defence by Jay Jay Denis, the special officer to the Selangor menteri besar, that the fare was not for profit as it did not even cover the cost of the service.
"This begs the question of why such a discriminatory fare would need to be imposed in the first place on the poorest users such as migrant workers," he said.
"There is no good reason why they should not be able to benefit from the free bus service offered."
The Selangor government first mooted the fee rule in 2021, with the exco in charge of local government, Ng Sze Han, saying it was to cover costs incurred by the state and local authorities.
Zaid however said that the imposition of the fare on foreigners was "irrational and arbitrary".
"This act is tantamount to bigotry, plain and simple. This is also implicit in the remarks by the Selangor MB’s aide, in which he stressed that the priority for the PJ City Bus is Malaysians, as if the migrants are mooching off the Malaysian taxpayers – a narrative often used to justify discriminatory policies against migrants."
Describing migrant workers as "the backbone" of Malaysia, he said they were an essential part of many critical industries.
"A significant portion of the migrant community do jobs that Malaysian will not take up, for less pay and under harsh conditions, to the point that they often fall victim to labour exploitation.
"The fare discrimination is emblematic of a larger problem of discrimination suffered by this vulnerable group at the hands of the authorities."


New infections at 189 as death toll stays unchanged

Another 189 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 5,038,543.
There were 279 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 4,991,705.
There are now 9,892 active cases, of which 9,530 or 96.3% are undergoing home quarantine.
Meanwhile, 0 (0%) are at quarantine centres while 355 (3.6%) have been hospitalised.
A total of seven are in ICU with four in need of respiratory assistance.
No new deaths were reported, leaving the death toll unchanged at 36,946.


Waiting for the day that top BN leaders stand in urban seats and PH in rural ones

Why is it that, come general elections, top Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders almost always stand in rural or semi-rural seats while their Pakatan Harapan (PH) counterparts contest in urban ones?
This perception is so ingrained that when Khairy Jamaluddin was fielded in urban Sungai Buloh for the upcoming general election, some pundits felt that the health minister was sent there to meet his political Waterloo.
This has been the trend for the longest time now, and not a particularly healthy one. This election, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is defending his Bagan Datuk seat; Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Bera; MCA president Wee Ka Siong, Ayer Hitam; and MIC president SA Vigneswaran, Sungai Siput. These are all non-urban seats.
On the other end of the spectrum, Anwar Ibrahim is standing in Tambun, just outside Ipoh city, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke is in Seremban, and Amanah president Mohamed Sabu is in Kota Raja, which is adjacent to Shah Alam and Klang.
This is why Khairy deserves the utmost respect for his courage to move from his rural Rembau where he was the MP for two terms to Sungai Buloh, located just outside Kuala Lumpur.
But why does it matter where top leaders stand? It does because it affects policy decisions and political leanings that can have a far-reaching impact on our country's future.
If top leaders of a political bloc represent largely rural seats, they will tend to play to that gallery at the expense of urban sentiments. For example, they may give disproportionate weightage to rural infrastructural development while paying much less attention to issues like judiciary independence which resonate with urban voters.
Similarly, a political coalition which relies heavily on urban voters may be detached from the plight of folks in the interior, whose top concern is livelihood issues, not lofty ideals like media freedom or curbing China's growing influence in the South China Sea.
Understandably, these are all a matter of political expediency. Leaders want to win in elections. Period.
But when two major opposing political blocs hold sway over voters along the rural-urban divide, it only makes this country even more polarised. This is made worse given how rural seats are largely Malay-dominated while urban ones have more non-Malay voters.
I think politicians from across the aisle should start getting out of their comfort zones. For a start, BN can start to field more mid-level leaders in urban seats while PH does the same in rural ones. They can start as early as next year when several states will go to the polls.
I hope that in my lifetime, I will see an Umno president winning in seats like Bukit Bintang and Cheras and the DAP secretary-general winning in constituencies like Gerik or Pengkalan Chepa.
We need more Khairy Jamaluddins who have the courage to step into unfamiliar territories. But voters must also play their part and reward these leaders by voting them in. Only then can we hope to have more holistic development and to bring down the political temperature which has unnecessarily dragged this country down longer than it should.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


Zahid’s ouster not impossible, says analyst

The absence of a set of clear directions for Umno will mean more pressure on its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to quit, an analyst warns in the wake of an internal rebellion led by youth leaders calling for his removal.Hisommudin Bakar, who heads public opinion pollster Ilham Centre, said Zahid was now on defensive footing and unable to adequately address the issues raised.“If this situation continues, it is not impossible that the movement to overthrow him will succeed as he has failed to refute those who now openly oppose him,” Hisommudin told MalaysiaNow.He said Zahid has to answer critics who believe that Umno cannot face an election without the support of PAS and Bersatu.“This group also believes Umno needs to accept that the era of leadership under Zahid and Najib Razak is not enough to restore the confidence of the people, to return Umno to power as the ruling party.“For them, Umno needs to acknowledge this shortcoming. It is no longer the dominant force that made it the largest ruling party. All that disappeared in the storm of the 2018 election,” he said.Zahid and Najib lead a group of Umno leaders who say the party has been forced to play second fiddle to Bersatu in the Perikatan Nasional government.“It is no longer the dominant force that made it the largest ruling party.”The duo has been demanding more senior positions for Umno.But there have also been confusing signals from Umno under Zahid about the party’s future in the ruling bloc.Most recently, it said it had accepted the Agong’s consent for the declaration of the Covid-19 emergency, but is also requesting that the Agong call for parliamentary sessions.Zahid has been under attack from senior party leaders and veterans.At least three senior Umno Youth leaders have openly called for a shake-up of the party’s leadership, in an apparent move to back the protests against Zahid in what is seen as a growing disenchantment with their president’s move to support Anwar Ibrahim.Federal Territories Umno Youth chief Mohamed Nizham Abdullah Hamidi said Umno’s top leadership must be revamped, while the wing’s leaders from Pontian and Seremban, Helmi Buang and Zool Amali Hussin openly called for Zahid’s removal.“Some come, some go, from Dr Mahathir Mohamad before this, Anwar, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Musa Hitam – but Umno has remained strong.”A party old-timer meanwhile warned that Umno members were now better at observing the behaviour of their leaders thanks to technological advances.“It was not like that before,” Othman Desa, who heads the Umno Veterans Club, told MalaysiaNow.“People used to respect ministers and leaders but with technology, members are better at judging. Their thoughts are sharper, not like before.”Othman, who once served as political secretary to former prime minister Abdullah Badawi, said Umno is more than the individuals in the party.“Some come, some go, from Dr Mahathir Mohamad before this, Anwar, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Musa Hitam – but Umno has remained strong,” he said.Hisommuddin said Zahid’s detractors who also oppose any form of cooperation with Anwar and DAP had become increasingly aggresive after Annuar Musa was sacked as secretary-general of Barisan Nasional.He said a rebellion is brewing in Umno, citing websites and online documents against Zahid, adding that Annuar is seen as the man behind the movement against Zahid.He said Zahid’s move to cut ties with Muhyiddin Yassin’s Bersatu was also problematic, as it could not afford to lose PAS, which has said it is committed to working with the prime minister.Hisommudin said the split in Umno was now serious and difficult to restore in the short term.“Umno is facing the emergency in its own way,” he added.Fazreen Kamal contributed to this report.


Malay government has failed, says ex-AG Thomas

Former attorney-general Tommy Thomas has hit out at the two administrations that followed the collapse of Pakatan Harapan (PH) in 2020, saying they symbolise the failure of Malay-dominated governments.
Speaking at a recent forum in Kuala Lumpur, Thomas said the current government was an illustration of "Malay ketuanan (lordship)".
"The last two and a half years, you have had a Cabinet that is absolutely dominated by the Malays.
"Two and a half years later, you have objective grounds to ask the question: Is a Malay government more efficient and better?
"Are you kidding? They have just done such a bad job in governance," Thomas told an audience of about 100 at a forum titled “Dark Forces Towards GE15” at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall on Saturday.
DAP’s Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang and former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan also spoke at the event.
Thomas, who served as attorney-general for some 20 months during PH's rule, said he believed the Malays themselves would agree with his statement.
"The Malay government has failed," he said, adding that this was a narrative that oppostion forces should promote in the coming general election.
The PH government became embroiled in the question of succession for the top office, and collapsed soon after the resignation of Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Component partner Bersatu later quit the coalition.
In March 2020, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin, backed by MPs from Barisan Nasional, PAS and GPS, formed the Perikatan Nasional government. Muhyiddin ruled for 17 months before resigning after several Umno MPs aligned with former leader Najib Razak revoked their support for him.
He was replaced by Umno's Ismail Sabri Yaakob in August last year.
Thomas said both governments were "totally engulfed in corrupt activities", adding that making corruption the central election theme for the opposition would help it return to power.
He expressed confidence that PH would return to power at the next general election if there was a good turnout.
"If you can get 60% of them (young voters) and 80% of the national average, I assure you there will be a repeat in GE15 and we will have a new government."


US 'set to lift' Covid-19 testing requirements for travellers from China

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to end on Friday mandatory Covid-19 tests for travellers from China, joining other countries in dropping the requirements, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters.
Last week, Japan dropped a requirement that everyone take a test for the virus upon arrival from China. The source told Reuters the US would continue to monitor cases in China and around the world. The US decision was reported earlier by the Washington Post.
The CDC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The US in early January joined India, Canada, Italy, Japan and other countries in taking new measures after Beijing's decision to lift stringent zero-Covid policies. It required new air passengers two and older to get a negative result from a test no more than two days before departure from China, Hong Kong or Macao.
China was battered with a surge in Covid-19 cases after it abruptly abandoned its zero-Covid policy in early December, unleashing the virus on its 1.4 billion population. In February, China's top leaders declared a "major victory" over Covid, claiming the world's lowest fatality rate, although experts have questioned that data.
The US in December expanded its voluntary genomic sequencing programme at airports, adding Seattle and Los Angeles.
The source told Reuters Tuesday the CDC would keep that programme, known as the Traveler-based Genomic Surveillance Program (TGS), which asks travellers to volunteer to help with early detection of new variants.
TGS will continue to monitor flights from the China and regional transportation hubs, as well as flights from more than 30 other countries, the source said.


Stop dilly-dallying, home minister told on granting stateless girl citizenship

Lawyers group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) today questioned the home minister’s recent statement that a thorough investigation is needed before Rohana Abdullah can be declared a citizen, saying she is one by right and should not have been categorised as stateless by his ministry to begin with.In a statement, LFL also accused Hamzah Zainudin of “dilly-dallying” and prolonging Rohana’s statelessness “under the excuse of a lack of documents”.“It is undisputed that Rohana was born in this country, has lived here all her life and has never even been to another country in her entire life,” it said.“It is thus absurd for Hamzah to raise the issue of her father’s status which becomes irrelevant under the constitution because she is a foundling and is currently stateless.”LFL had earlier this week called for a revamp of policies on stateless people in the wake of news on Rohana, who was abandoned as a baby and raised by kindergarten teacher Chee Hoi Lan.Rohana had applied for citizenship in 2016 but received no response.Hamzah later said in a Facebook post that he was “touched” by her story and was looking into her case.LFL coordinator Zaid Malek however panned Hamzah’s statement that more documents would be needed before Rohana could be granted citizenship.“The fact is, Rohana is by right a citizen and should have not been rendered stateless by the home ministry to begin with.“The Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution unambiguously states that foundlings are citizens by operation of law. It is a constitutional right and not a discretion to be exercised at the whims of the home ministry.“Further, any child like Rohana who is not born a citizen of any other country is automatically a citizen by virtue of Paragraph 1(e) of the 2nd Schedule,” he said.In a statement, Zaid said that the burden to disprove her claim to citizenship lay with the authorities, adding that those like Rohana should not be left in “legal limbo” while a “supposed investigation” is underway.Citing a recent case in the Federal Court, CCH & Anor v Pendaftar Besar bagi Kelahiran dan Kematian, Malaysia, he said Hamzah should be mindful of the rebuke delivered by the judge regarding “this kind of dilly-dallying in stateless cases”.“There is no need to prolong Rohana’s plight any longer,” he said.“Doing so would mean that the government is actively going against the clear letter of the constitution and the decision of the Federal Court on this matter.”If Hamzah was truly “touched” by Rohana’s case, he said, the minister would simply have to ensure that the administrative machinery of the home ministry and National Registration Department follows the law.“The home minister can resolve Rohana’s case with the stroke of a pen,” he said.“There is no need for this empty bombast of an investigation, which seems geared to cover the home ministry’s own failures which caused Rohana’s statelessness.”


South Korea president to skip Olympics after ‘masturbating’ remark by Japanese diplomat

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has scrapped plans to attend the Tokyo Summer Olympics and meet Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, his office said on Monday.The reason is apparently that a rather undiplomatic senior Japanese diplomat said Moon was “masturbating” if he thought he’d get a summit with Suga.The two countries had been in talks about holding a top-level encounter during the Games to improve relations that have plunged to their worst level in years over unburied historical disputes.But things went sour after a Japanese diplomat at the embassy in Seoul reportedly likened the South Korean president’s efforts to pleasuring himself.“President Moon is masturbating himself,” deputy ambassador Hirohisa Soma told a reporter at a South Korean cable news station on Friday, according to the London Times.“Japan does not have the time to care so much about the relationship between the two countries as South Korea thinks.”The Japanese ambassador reprimanded his deputy for his “highly inappropriate” comments, but a Seoul government official on Monday said the comment was “difficult to tolerate”.In Tokyo, Suga voiced “regret” over the comments, telling reporters: “They are extremely inappropriate remarks.”He added: “Regardless, we want to firmly communicate with the South Korean side, to bring the Japan-South Korean relationship to a sound place.”Kyodo News, quoting an unnamed government source, reported that Tokyo plans to “remove” Soma from his role because of his controversial remarks.Relations between Japan and South Korea, both major US allies, are strained by ongoing disputes over compensation for Japan’s early-20th-century colonial rule over the Korean peninsula.Although Seoul and Tokyo have managed to have “meaningful discussions” on some sensitive historical issues, the progress was deemed “still insufficient,” the Blue House said.The AP is reporting that at the weekend South Korea’s Olympic Committee removed banners at the Olympic athletes’ village in Tokyo that referred to a 16th-century Korean naval admiral who fought off an invading Japanese fleet.They did so after the International Olympic Committee ruled the banners were provocative.In agreeing to take down the banners, the South Koreans said they had received a promise from the IOC that displays of the Japanese “rising sun” flag will be banned at stadiums and other Olympic venues.The flag, portraying a red sun with 16 rays extending outward, is resented by many people in South Korea and other parts of Asia who see it as a symbol of Japan’s wartime past.


Jho Low wouldn’t dare deceive Najib, prosecution tells appeals court

Fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low would not have dared to deceive Najib Razak because of their good relationship, the Court of Appeal was told today.Ad hoc prosecutor V Sithambaram said it was too far-fetched that Jho Low, being in a position subordinate to Najib, would have had the audacity to orchestrate fraudulent transactions that would directly implicate the former prime minister.Sithambaram submitted this before a three-member bench led by judge Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil in the hearing of Najib’s appeal against his conviction and jail sentence for the misappropriation of RM42 million in SRC International funds.The other two judges on the bench were Has Zanah Mehat and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.“Jho Low was instrumental in the remittance of RM42 million out of SRC into the appellant’s accounts and could not have affected the transfer without the appellant’s knowledge,” Sithambaram said.He added that the close relationship between Jho Low and Najib was further confirmed by the 50th prosecution witness, former AmBank group managing director Cheah Tek Kuang.In fact, Jho Low was the one who introduced Cheah to Najib at the appellant’s private residence when he wanted to open the AmBank accounts, he said.On Jho Low’s efforts to ensure the sufficiency of funds in Najib’s accounts, Sithambaram said Najib even explained that Jho Low had worked hard to ensure that all his cheques were honoured or he would have been prompted to enquire into the status of his accounts, thus exposing the true transactions of the accounts.“Now, the appellant claims to be a victim of manipulation by gaining funds (instead of losing them) through Jho Low’s actions.“The appellant said that Jho Low had made a lot of money from his involvement in Terengganu Investment Authority Bhd, 1MDB and SRC.“That was actually the reason Jho Low was ensuring that the funds (in the accounts) were available… so that his relationship with the appellant would not be affected, thereby arousing the suspicion of the appellant,” Sithambaram said.He said evidence from the BlackBerry Messenger chats between the 54th prosecution witness, AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu Ging Ping, and Jho Low confirmed that the latter was in communication with Najib in relation to his bank balances and the issuance of cheques.“Jho Low was not taking any steps in a reactionary manner to ensure the appellant’s cheques would not be dishonoured,” Sithambaram insisted.He added that the RM42 million from SRC International was said to be bait to continue the relationship between Jho Low and the appellant.The Kuala Lumpur High Court on July 28 last year sentenced Najib to 12 years’ jail and fined him RM210 million after finding him guilty on seven charges of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of position involving RM42 million in SRC International funds.The hearing of the appeal continues.


Unite in battle against Covid-19, PM tells Malaysians on Merdeka eve

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob today called on the Malaysian Family to join hands in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic and to free the country of economic turmoil and political instability.In his address in conjunction with National Day tomorrow, Ismail said the double challenge of having to deal with a pandemic and an economic downturn, which has impacted political stability globally, was unprecedented.“In conjunction with the National Day spirit, we must continue battling Covid-19 as our main foe. Our success in doing this will pave the way to economic recovery in the new normal.“The economy must be healed, the people’s well-being must be enhanced and investor confidence must return,” he said.He said one way the Malaysian Family could help in the nation’s recovery was to get vaccinated as quickly as possible, as vaccines had been proven to have a positive effect against Covid-19.Based on data and facts, he voiced confidence that through full cooperation from all parties, the war against Covid-19 would end in victory.Ismail said the country’s independence movement after the end of World War II had united people across the political divide to reject the Malayan Union.He said this was a clear manifestation of the people’s struggle to achieve independence at the expense of the lives of many national heroes.“The nation hails their struggles and sacrifices, especially the armed forces and the police from then until now,” he said.Ismail also invited the people to be filled with a sense of togetherness, as shown by former leaders Tunku Abdul Rahman, Abdul Razak Hussein, Hussein Onn, Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, Tan Cheng Lock, HS Lee and VT Sambanthan.“This also includes leaders from Sabah and Sarawak such as Mustapha Harun, Muhammad Fuad Stephens, Abdul Rahman Ya’kub and Temenggong Jugah, during the formation of Malaysia. This sense of togetherness should be emulated to heal and rebuild the nation,” he said.


SolarWinds hack required massive, sophisticated effort, says Microsoft head

The stunning SolarWinds hack that cybersecurity experts blame on Russia likely took a massive, disciplined effort by more than 1,000 software engineers, Microsoft president Brad Smith said Tuesday.Smith told a hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee that no other body but Russian intelligence has the ability to muster such an effort, which he branded “reckless” in the breadth of its threat to the globe.Microsoft, one of more than 100 companies attacked and 18,000 left vulnerable by the hack, analysed the work it took to insert malware into widely used security software created by SolarWinds.“We asked ourselves how many engineers do we believe had worked on this collective effort. And the answer we came to was… at least 1,000, very skilled, capable engineers.“We haven’t seen this kind of sophistication matched with this kind of scale,” he said.Smith compared previous hacks from Russian- and other government-backed groups to a burglar breaking into a single apartment.The SolarWinds incident was different, he said: it was like a burglar who “manages to turn off the alarm system for every home and every building in the entire city”.“Everybody’s safety is put at risk. And that is what we’re grappling with here,” he said.The hack was discovered by computer security firm FireEye in December after it had sat on computers around the world.Among US government agencies penetrated were the National Security Agency, the State Department, Commerce Department and the Treasury.The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the Biden administration was studying options to punish Moscow for the hack and for other “malign” activity.Last week Anne Neuberger, the senior White House cybersecurity adviser, said her team was looking “holistically” at retaliation.“This isn’t the only case of malicious cyber activity of likely Russian origin, either for us or for our allies and partners,” she said.In the Senate hearing, FireEye chief executive Kevin Mandia described the hack as the culmination of a “multi-decade” effort by the attackers.He said it took thousands of hours for his staff to discover the bug, and only after tearing apart and decompiling thousands of files on a SolarWinds server.“This was not the first place you look, this was the last place you look for an insertion,” he said.Sudhakar Ramakrishna, the chief executive of SolarWinds, said that after months the company still has not found how the hackers managed to implant malware in the middle of the software supply chain – at the point when completed code is being tailored to downstream users’ configurations.“We understand the gravity of the situation,” he said.In the hearing, both tech company officials and lawmakers said the breadth of the SolarWinds hack showed there needs to be a mandatory reporting system for companies discovering they have been penetrated by hackers.While currently companies can voluntarily report to the cybersecurity officials of the Department of Homeland Security, some suggested a legal requirement that they do so, to catch future threats early.“It seems to me that there should be an obligation of some sort on the part of a victim of a cyber attack like this to share what they know, what they’ve learned, with the appropriate authorities,” said Senator John Cornyn.“There’s got to be a way for folks who are responding to breaches to share data quickly to protect the nation, protect industries,” said Mandia.


Thomas says Najib’s suit against him, govt politically motivated

Former attorney-general Tommy Thomas claims that the suit filed by former prime minister Najib Razak against him and the government for power abuse was politically motivated.In a supporting affidavit to strike out the former leader’s suit, Thomas said he believed that Najib had filed the suit for use in the campaign leading up to the recent Melaka state election and also for the coming general election, which must be held by the middle of 2023.Thomas, 69, said this was evidenced by the fact that the allegation was only being raised by Najib for the first time although he was charged in 1MDB-related cases in September 2018, as well as the money laundering case in 2019.He claimed that Najib had never raised any allegation of “malicious prosecution” as part of the defence in his SRC International case and the ongoing 1MDB cases.Thomas, who was the AG from June 4, 2018 to Feb 28, 2020, said four criminal cases against Najib were still pending in the High Court and he therefore remained an accused person.Thomas also claimed that as public prosecutor at the time, he did not owe a duty of care to persons charged like Najib, inter alia because of the adversarial system under the Malaysian law.He said if the suit was not struck out, but had proceeded to trial on a civil balance of proof, it would have resulted in Najib’s charges being re-tried.“This is not sustainable in law. It is also against public interest,” he said.To Najib’s claim that Thomas had prejudged his cases before making a decision to charge him, as well as interfered in the investigations, Thomas said:“When each investigation paper (IP) in respect of Najib was submitted to me, I was satisfied that there was a strong case against him. I studied the IPs to the best of my ability, discussed them with the relevant officers in the public prosecutor’s (PP) office and then honestly decided to charge Najib.“Accordingly, the allegations in the statement of claim that I decided to prosecute him despite the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) having found no wrongdoings are denied.“Neither I, nor any staff from the PP’s office, interfered in the MACC’s investigations against Najib which resulted in the prosecutions. The investigations were carried out independently by MACC,” said Thomas.He said the plaintiff’s claim was meant to harass and intimidate him for upholding his duty as attorney-general and public prosecutor and for having exercised his discretion under Article 145 (3) of Federal Constitution to charge Najib.On Oct 22, Najib filed the suit claiming that he had been wrongly prosecuted in the case of 1MDB, International Petroleum Investment Company, abuse of power and money laundering. He sought RM1.9 million in damages as well as a declaration that Thomas had committed misfeasance in public office.The Pekan MP claimed that the charges against him were part of a move that had been planned in advance by Thomas and that it was in line with the Pakatan Harapan government’s plan at the time.Najib claimed that in 2015, Thomas had met Dr Mahathir Mohamad to discuss wrongdoings and mismanagement allegedly over the 1MDB funds and advised Mahathir to take civil and criminal action against Najib over his involvement in 1MDB.The High Court has set Jan 19, 2022 for case management.


A call for humanity and the planet’s future

Humanity has reached a tipping point. It is time for governments, international institutions and people everywhere to take stock and act with renewed urgency.
The Ukraine conflict is inflicting death, injury, displacement and destruction, exacerbating a global food crisis, driving Europe into recession, and creating shock waves across the world economy.
The Taiwan conflict is threatening to escalate into outright war that would devastate Taiwan and turn East Asia into a powder keg.
More troubling still is the toxic relationship between the US on the one hand and China and Russia on the other. Here lies the key to both conflicts.
What we are seeing is the culmination of decades of gross mismanagement of global security. The US has been unwilling to accept, let alone adapt to, the rise of China and the re-emergence of Russia. It remains unwilling to break with outdated notions of global dominance – a legacy of the Cold War and the triumphalism that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.
A global power shift is taking place. The West-centric world, in which first Europe and then the US held sway, is giving way to a multicentric, multi-civilisational world in which other centres of power and influence are demanding to be heard.
Failure to accept this new reality spells immense danger. A new Cold War is now in full swing, which can at any moment mutate into a hot war. In the words of UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres, “humanity is one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation”.
Even if nuclear apocalypse is averted, discord between nuclear armed states inhibits cooperative problem-solving, the provision of global public goods and an effective and independent UN system.
To rise to the challenge we need a coherent, sustained and multifaceted response by governments and international institutions, inspired and driven by an ever watchful and engaged civil society. Several steps suggest themselves, some immediate, others longer term.
The first steps must aim to end the conflict in Ukraine and defuse the tensions over Taiwan. More substantial efforts are needed to foster a framework of cooperative coexistence between the United States, Russia and China – an essential building block for peace across both Europe and Asia.
To this end, we believe the UN secretary-general or a group of middle powers acting – ideally the two acting in concert – could set in train a multi-pronged initiative aimed at securing an effective and durable ceasefire in Ukraine and the relaxation of tensions over Taiwan.
In the case of Ukraine, the aim must be to secure the cessation of all combat by Russian and Ukrainian forces and separatist groups based in the Donbas region. This would be a ceasefire monitored by a United Nations team reporting regularly and directly to the UN secretary-general.
A ceasefire, however, is unlikely to hold for long without a durable settlement of the Ukraine-Russian conflict. This will in turn depend on bringing to an end the cynical use of the Ukraine war by great powers intent on pursing their geopolitical ambitions. Only then will it be possible to achieve:
- the phased withdrawal of Russian military forces;
- an end to the delivery of lethal military aid to Ukraine;
- a constitutionally enshrined policy of neutrality for Ukraine;
- the resolution of jurisdictional issues, notably Crimea and the Donbas region, coupled with a process aimed at healing regional, ethnic and religious animosities within Ukraine.
All prisoners of war, refugees, and civilians in captivity to be returned to their respective countries and all their rights respected as provided by the Geneva Conventions.
These arrangements will need to be complemented by a wider agreement involving other interested parties, with a view to securing: an adequately funded international program to address the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine; international guarantees to safeguard Ukraine’s independence, neutrality and territorial integrity; and the removal of all sanctions placed against Russia and the restoration of normal trade relations.
In the case of the Taiwan conflict, the first step must be to defuse the current level of tension. To this end, the international community should reaffirm the principles set out in the Shanghai communiqué of 1972, notably the "one China" principle which now commands widespread international support.
In line with this principle, the international community must use all means at its disposal to dissuade Taiwan from making any unilateral declaration of independence. The UN secretary-general in tandem with Asean is well placed to spearhead such a course of action.
These relatively short-term initiatives must pave the way for a series of interlinked consultations, culminating in an international conference, whose primary purpose would be to frame a new global security architecture, sustained by appropriate reforms in global governance and designed to:
1. Stop the march to nuclear oblivion, and set in motion an ambitious programme for nuclear disarmament, beginning with a series of arms control and disarmament agreements and leading within a specified timeframe to universal membership of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons;
2. Reflect the reality of a multi-centric, multi-civilisational world which respects the independence and legitimate rights of all sovereign nations, and in which no actor seeks to exercise imperial or hegemonic ambitions.
3. Enshrine the principles of common, cooperative and comprehensive security, and translate these into effective regional arrangements, especially in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region;
4. Initiate a series of measures that can reverse the militarisation of the international system, including limitations on the reach and scope of military alliances and overseas deployments of military forces, as well as a progressive reduction of national military budgets, thereby redirecting resources to areas of pressing social, economic and environmental need;
5. Set in motion the far-reaching reform of international institutions, especially the UN system, so that they can more effectively mount the necessarily cooperative response to existential threats, notably climate change, biodiversity loss, and present and future pandemics.
None of this will happen without a massive global awakening of human wisdom and energy.
Important as governments and international institutions are, the initiative for a coherent response to the challenges we face lies largely with the people, with civil society.
Leadership of various kinds is needed. Which is why this message is also addressed to intellectuals, artists, scientists, journalists, religious leaders, advocates and other engaged citizens.
Equally, we have in mind groups working on the rights of indigenous peoples, aid and development, conflict resolution, civil liberties and human rights, violence against women, refugees and asylum seekers, climate change and other threats to our environment, public health (not least Covid), justice for the poor and marginalised, and ethnic, religious and cultural diversity.
All are adversely affected by great power confrontation, oppressive security laws, rising military budgets and destructive military activities, not to mention the prospect of nuclear catastrophe. All have a crucial part to play.
Trade unions, professional networks (in education, law, medicine, nursing, media, communications), farmer organisations, religious bodies, human-centred think tanks and research centres have also much to contribute to the conversation for a habitable future.
It is time for people everywhere to take the initiative personally and collectively – to set in motion conversations, small and large, formal and informal, online and in person, using the written and spoken word, as well as the visual and performing arts. This is a moment for collective reflection on where we’re at, where we should be heading and the steps needed to get us there.
The stakes are high. We need bold thinking that connects people and issues within and between countries. We must revive and reframe the global security conversation. There is not a moment to lose.
A petition to endorse this call is underway here.
This article was jointly prepared by Richard Falk, emeritus professor of international law at Princeton University; Joseph Camilleri, professor emeritus at La Trobe University, Melbourne; and Chandra Muzaffar, president of the International Movement for a Just World.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


Supporters gather at home of Pakistan's former PM Khan, aiming to foil arrest

Hundreds of supporters of Pakistan's former prime minister, Imran Khan, gathered on Monday outside his hilltop mansion in the capital, Islamabad, vowing to prevent his arrest on anti-terrorism accusations, officials of his political party said.
The move follows a police case filed against Khan on Saturday for threatening government officials in a public speech about the alleged police torture of one of his aides, who faces sedition charges for inciting mutiny in the powerful military.
The protesters chanted slogans against the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which took over after Khan's ouster in a confidence vote in April.
"If Imran Khan is arrested... we will take over Islamabad," a former minister in his cabinet, Ali Amin Gandapur, said on Twitter, as some party leaders urged supporters to prepare for mass mobilisation.
Another former ministerial colleague, Murad Saeed, told domestic television channels that the police had issued orders for Khan's arrest.
Islamabad police declined to confirm this, however.
The use of anti-terrorism laws as the basis of cases against political leaders is not uncommon in Pakistan, where Khan's government also used them against opponents and critics.
Saturday's police report, seen by Reuters, cited Khan's comments that he "would not spare" Islamabad's police chief and a female judge for the arrest of his aide.
"The purpose of the speech was to spread terror amongst the police and the judiciary and prevent them from doing their duty," police said in the report.
Legal experts say the public threats put the officials' lives at stake, and actually amounted to threatening the state, so that the anti-terrorism charges apply.
The military has also become a target for Khan, who has said it did not help him ward off a US conspiracy that toppled him, a charge Washington has denied.
The military, which has ruled directly for over three decades of Pakistan's 75-year history, has rebuffed Khan's claim. It also denies meddling in politics.
Pakistan's electronic media regulator has banned the live transmission of Khan's speeches as being inflammatory.


I want justice, Zahid tells court in graft trial

Former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the Kuala Lumpur High Court today that Yayasan Akalbudi had contributed more than RM109 million for charity, denying allegations by the prosecution that not a single sen of the foundation’s funds was used to help the poor.Zahid, 69, said the RM109 million was only part of the charitable contributions given by the foundation, adding that there were others that were not listed because of his belief in the principle of “what the right hand gives, the left hand does not need to know”.He said this in his defence when questioned by his lawyer Ahmad Zaidi Zainal on the prosecution’s statement.Zahid is defending himself on 47 charges of breach of trust, corruption and money laundering.On Nov 18, 2019, the prosecution, in its opening statement, said it would prove that Zahid had misappropriated RM31 million in Akalbudi Foundation funds and that not a single sen of the money had been used for the benefit of the poor.The Bagan Datuk MP also said he wanted justice to be given to him as he had acted for good.“The money (in Akalbudi Foundation) is from my own sources, my own income, my own allowances, my own business. It was with good intention that the money was placed in a foundation which I set up, myself.“Is this something that should be subjected to humiliation, embarrassment and oppression?” he said.Zahid however admitted that there had been technical errors due to the weaknesses of several parties, especially the company secretary of the foundation.“There were technical weaknesses, but in terms of purpose and practice, it was only for the good because of Allah alone,” he added.According to Zahid, he had appointed Idris Kechek and Mahinder Kaur as the company secretaries for Yayasan Akalbudi. He said Idris, who had held the post for 10 years since 1997, had never updated or submitted the account report for the foundation to the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM).“Only in 2012 after the change of the members of the board of trustees did I find out that Idris Kechek never sent any documents to SSM or prepared an account for the Akalbudi Foundation.“In 2012, Mahinder Kaur was appointed as company secretary for Yayasan Akalbudi to replace Idris Kechek. However, it was only in this court that I found out that she had prepared the documents for the change of trustees, the accounting documents and others, but did not send them to SSM,” he said.He also said Samsuri Tun, Zulkifli Senteri, Muhammad Nabil Saleh and Khairuddin Tarmizi had been appointed as Yayasan Akalbudi trustees.When questioned by Zaidi about whether the four trustees had ever contributed to the foundation’s funds, Zahid replied that 100% of the money was from his own pocket.“It’s my own contribution to the foundation and not a single sen from any of the trustees that I appointed,” he added.Zahid faces 47 charges – 12 of CBT, eight of corruption and 27 of money laundering – involving tens of millions of ringgit of Yayasan Akalbudi funds.On Jan 24, the court ordered Zahid to enter his defence against all of the charges after the prosecution succeeded in proving a prima facie against him.The trial before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues on May 23.


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Sarawak to be first to give booster shots

Sarawak will start administering Covid-19 booster shots in October, becoming the first state to do so, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said today.He said the health ministry was drawing up clinical guidelines on administering the booster shots, with the focus on those in the high-risk group aged 60 and above and those with serious comorbidities.“Sarawak will be the first state to start the booster dose programme because it was the first to complete the vaccination programme.“One of the matters to be dealt with in the clinical guidelines is the type of vaccine to be given. We are still contemplating whether to give the same type of vaccine or a different one,” he said at a news conference at Wisma Bapa Malaysia in Kuching today.Khairy had earlier attended a special meeting on immunisation and the management of the Covid-19 pandemic with representatives of the Sarawak government.He said for Sarawak, the health ministry believed that the RTK-Antigen test, whether done in a laboratory or individually, would be sufficient for those detected as positive via the test to be separated from others under the home surveillance order.“Hence, it is important for the public to be informed including in Sarawak that when having symptoms, they should quickly do an RTK-Antigen test and, if found to be positive, undergo quarantine at home or at the Covid-19 low-risk quarantine and treatment centre,” he added.Khairy said the health ministry would also send 118 ventilators and 1,008 cylinders of oxygen to Sarawak to boost its capacity to counter a rise in serious cases should one occur.The supplies are expected to arrive on Tuesday.“The health ministry will also increase the number of modular ICUs with an additional 20 beds. Currently, 10 beds are being readied for Sibu Hospital and we leave it to the state government to decide on placing the other additional beds,” he added.He said the ministry had also received a request from the Sarawak government to set up a field hospital in Sibu and that on principle, it had agreed to this with the matter to be discussed with the armed forces.He also said that 64 additional medical officers would be sent to Sarawak next week to help manage the Covid-19 cases there.“The ministry will also speed up the opening of Sri Aman Hospital to reduce the burden at the Sarawak General Hospital in Kuching,” he added.


UK declares drought in parts of England amid heatwave

Britain officially declared a drought in parts of England on Friday as households faced new water usage restrictions during a period of prolonged hot and dry weather that has already severely tested the nation's infrastructure.
Parts of southern, central and eastern England are now in drought status, meaning that water companies will step up efforts to manage the impact of dry weather on farmers and the environment, the Environment Agency said in a statement.
"All water companies have reassured us that essential supplies are still safe, and we have made it clear it is their duty to maintain those supplies," Water Minister Steve Double said, following a meeting of the National Drought Group.
"We are better prepared than ever before for periods of dry weather, but we will continue to closely monitor the situation, including impacts on farmers and the environment, and take further action as needed."
The meeting followed what was the driest July in England since 1935. Only 35% of the average rainfall for the month fell, and parts of England and Wales are now in the middle of a four-day "extreme heat" alert. The last drought in England was 2018.
When the dry weather breaks early next week, rain and thunderstorms mean there is a small chance of flooding in some parts of the country, the Met Office national forecaster said on Friday, issuing a warning for Monday.
Much of Europe has faced weeks of baking temperatures that have triggered large wildfires, drained water levels of the Rhine River in Germany and seen the source of Britain's River Thames dry up further downstream than in previous years.
Earlier on Friday, Yorkshire water announced a hosepipe ban would begin on Aug 26, forbidding customers from using hoses to water gardens, wash cars or fill up paddling pools.
"The hot, dry, weather means that Yorkshire's rivers are running low and our reservoirs are around 20% lower than we would expect for this time of year," Yorkshire Water's director of water, Neil Dewis, said.
The company, which services about 2.3 million households and 130,000 business customers across northern England and parts of the Midlands, is the latest regional water firm to announce usage restrictions.
A ban on hoses and sprinklers for South East Water customers came into effect on Friday. Thames Water, which supplies 15 million people around London, has said it is also planning restrictions.