China's Taiwan military drills offer spying opportunity for US

While China's expanded drills surrounding Taiwan have marked an unprecedented military and political warning against outside interference over the island, they opened a window to gather intelligence for the US and its allies.
The four days of intense drills last week - and extended manoeuvres this week - provide an opportunity to scrutinise the missiles China would use to drive off foreign militaries intervening in any future invasion as well as its command, control and communications systems, regional diplomats and security analysts say.
And on the strategic intelligence front, the exercises have given a clue to China's ability to blockade the island as a prelude or alternative to any invasion, showcasing the firing of ballistic missiles over Taiwan for the first time as well as simulated air and sea attacks on ships on its east coast.
While acknowledging ongoing data gathering, two US military officials have cautioned that the drills are unlikely to offer the type of in-depth intelligence opportunity provided by other manoeuvres beyond the headlines.
China is unlikely to display its best tactics and strategies during drills that it knows are being watched closely, said one of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The officials said that most of the systems and missiles used by China appear to be known to the US and allies, so it was unclear how much more could be gleaned on their capabilities over the past few weeks.
Singapore-based security analyst Collin Koh said rather than weaponry, the drills offered a prime chance to monitor key Chinese elements - China's reformed Eastern Theatre Command, its Rocket Force and Strategic Support Force - operating together in a fully coordinated and integrated way.
"I fully expect the US to be collecting from a full spectrum - signals, communications and electronic intelligence - it is just a too good opportunity to miss."
"When you collect this kind of data from the other side, it means you can figure out where the vulnerabilities are, and it helps you create your own counter and jamming systems," Koh told Reuters.
Ships, submarines, drones
The US has kept at least four warships east of Taiwan, centred on the USS Reagan aircraft carrier, during the exercises. And while those ships wield a powerful strike threat, they also operate a vast surveillance capability above, across and under vast swathes of ocean.
Reuters confirmed the presence of the ships last week, and they remain around the Philippines Sea east of Taiwan, according to official Twitter feeds.
Less visibly, US, Japanese and Taiwanese submarines and advanced surveillance aircraft are likely to be involved in the intelligence operation as well, analysts and retired intelligence officers say.
For example, submarines can collect a warship's individual acoustic "signature" - vital data if a conflict is to ever break out.
Online trackers of aircraft and ships have also reported the presence of specialist electromagnetic intelligence gathering assets in the area, including powerful US RC-135S Cobra Ball aircraft and a missile monitoring ship. Taiwan also launched its locally produced Albatross reconnaissance drones during the Chinese drills, according to video footage reviewed by Reuters.
The US Indo-Pacific Command did not respond to Reuters questions on the deployment of intelligence gathering assets in the area.
The Chinese and Taiwanese defence ministries did not respond to Reuters' questions.
No active adversary
The two US military officials said it would take time to digest any intelligence harvested.
While the drills appeared to show that Beijing was able to coordinate its military forces from air, land and sea, the exercises could only reveal so much since there wasn't an active adversary, they said.
"Things are easy when you're not being shot at," one of the officials said.
The officers pointed to Russia's actions in Crimea in 2014 and in Syria over the past few years, which allowed the US to try and understand Moscow's military capabilities. The US believed that Russian forces would be able to take Kyiv within two to three days, but their estimates were wrong.
So far, the Pentagon has not changed its assessment that China would be not be militarily capable of staging a successful invasion of Taiwan for five years. And the Pentagon's number three official said on Monday that despite Chinese exercises, the US had not changed its view that China was unlikely to try and militarily seize Taiwan in the next two years.
Trevor Hollingsbee, a former naval intelligence analyst with the British Defence Ministry, said that a key signals intelligence target would be the role of political commissars on ships - an unusual system of Communist Party control compared to Western militaries.
"They will be looking for any evidence that the double-headed command system of employing a political officer on Chinese warships has a detrimental and exploitable effect upon combat efficiency," Hollingsbee told Reuters.
A statement from China's Eastern Theatre Command on Tuesday highlighted precautions. It described early warning and jamming aircraft operating "under a complex electromagnetic environment to refine joint containment and control capabilities."
On another level, however, China's military chiefs might be unafraid of displaying their expertise in conducting such complex, integrated drills, some analysts believe.
"We got to observe and monitor a least a glimpse of how they look at doing that sort of thing," said Carl Schuster, a Hawaii-based military analyst and a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's joint intelligence centre.
"I think they wanted us to see it... I think they wanted us to know that this is not the PLA... of even 10 years ago, they wanted us to know how far they had progressed."


Singapore to halt Batu Puteh development plans, reclamation activities, says deputy minister

Singapore has agreed to halt all development plans and reclamation activities in the Batu Puteh area.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mohamad Alamin said this followed Malaysia's stance and objections on the matter, both verbal and in writing.
"Malaysia has been firm in its position that Singapore has no right and it is inappropriate to continue planning development works and reclamation activities until the two countries finalise the maritime borders in those waters," he said in his winding-up speech for the foreign ministry during the debate on the royal address at the Dewan Rakyat today.
Mohamad said besides the delimitation of maritime borders, negotiations on Singapore's unilateral development plan in Batu Puteh had also been initiated by the two countries. "The foreign ministry, along with the related core government agencies, are examining the current developments and studying the actions that can be taken from various aspects, including international law and bilateral diplomatic relations," he said.
Mohamad said Malaysia remained firm in its stand that the Batu Puteh issue must be handled diplomatically and in good faith.
He said the government hoped that Singapore would act similarly by respecting and not implementing any decision that reflects bad faith and which is against the spirit of the ongoing negotiation process.
On May 23, 2008, the International Court of Justice ruled that Singapore had sovereignty over Batu Puteh (Pedra Branca) while Malaysia had sovereignty over Batuan Tengah (Middle Rocks).
Mohamad said both the Malaysian and Singaporean governments had formed a specific mechanism to implement the judgment as well as to deal with other related issues, through the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Technical Committee on the Implementation of the International Court of Justice Judgment on Pedra Branca, Middle Rocks and South Ledge.


Health experts expect jump in Covid-19 cases after Melaka polls

Health experts are expecting a new wave of Covid-19 infections following the Melaka state election slated to be held on Nov 20.However, they said the situation is different from that of the Sabah election last year as no vaccines for Covid-19 were available at the time.Dr Sazaly Abu Bakar, director of the Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre, said while the Melaka polls might trigger a new cluster, it would not be as widespread as the ones before.“The level of vaccination and the SOP awareness are higher for the Melaka election than they were for the Sabah polls,” he told MalaysiaNow.The election in Melaka was triggered after four state assemblymen withdrew their support for the chief minister.The campaign period will run for 12 days from Nov 8.“The level of vaccination and the SOP awareness are higher for the Melaka election than they were for the Sabah polls.”Dr Yahya Mat Arip, a virologist from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), said the Melaka election would be the first field test in the post-vaccination era.He said it would test the level of public awareness about Covid-19 preventive measures.“I would not be surprised if there is an increase in cases after the Melaka polls, as happened with the previous state election,” he said.“Perhaps the number of cases in Category Three, Four and Five will not be as many as before given the high vaccination rate in the country.“But we need to remember that there are some who have yet to be vaccinated, including children below the age of 12 and a number of teenagers and adults who are still refusing to be jabbed. These are the groups of concern.”Dr Muhammad Amir Yunus, a virologist at USM’s Advanced Medical and Dental Institute, believes that Malaysia’s experience in dealing with previous Covid-19 spikes will have prepared the authorities ahead of the Melaka polls.However, he suggested that the election be postponed as allowed under the Federal Constitution.“If we want to hold an election, we can take into account the maximum period of time for the postponement of polls,” he said.“Otherwise, look at the data and number of cases in the polls location. I am sure that the National Security Council will look into all these details before arriving at a decision.”He also urged the authorities to take into consideration the capacity of hospitals as part of preparations for a possible increase in number of cases.Likewise, he said thought should be given to the legal action to be taken against political parties which fail to adhere to the SOPs for campaigning.On the implementation of SOPs, former Electoral Reform Committee chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said there is no need to follow the example of Singapore which held its general election last year.Speaking to MalaysiaNow, he said the SOPs for voting used at the Sabah polls would be enough.He said the spread of Covid-19 during the Sabah election appeared to have been sparked by a lack of attention to SOPs, including by politicians and especially during the campaign period.“Campaigning is an important element in a democracy to help ensure that the people know the candidate looking to represent them.”“I was there for the Sabah election,” he said. “The SOPs on voting day were good enough and most people followed the rules that were put in place.“The problem was campaigning. They gathered in cramped and enclosed areas such as coffee shops and this caused the spread of Covid-19.”He said the best approach for political parties would be a hybrid strategy in which candidates or parties campaign on digital platforms as well as face-to-face with a cap on attendance.“Campaigning is an important element in a democracy to help ensure that the people know the candidate looking to represent them.“The difference with Singapore is, Malaysia has a lot of areas in the interior. I’m afraid that if campaigning is done on a purely digital platform, voters will not really know who their candidates are, especially if new faces are involved,” he said.Rashid said he saw no issue if candidates or political parties visit voters from house to house, adding however that this should be done in small groups and in line with strict SOPs.“There’s no point if the authorities are on-site as they wouldn’t be able to control the situation either if too many people are there.”


Umno can sack leaders who support outsiders, Ku Li warns after president’s pro-Anwar letter

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has called for a purge of Umno leaders who put the interest of other political parties above their own, in a sign of growing discomfort within party ranks over a revelation that its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had unilaterally backed Anwar Ibrahim’s plan to become the prime minister.Razaleigh, Umno’s elderly adviser who still commands respect among the grassroots, said no leaders including those at the top echelon were immune to disciplinary action.“To me, as echoed by the Umno grassroot members, the behaviour of these Umno leaders amounts to a disrespect of Umno’s struggle,” the Gua Musang MP, the longest serving Umno elected representative, told Astro Awani.“(They) prioritise the leaders of other parties, why is that so? This is their true colour, action should be taken against them, to the point of expelling them if they do not fight for the party’s interest.”His comments come ahead of a meeting by the Umno Supreme Council tomorrow to discuss the recent revelation involving Zahid.On Friday, MalaysiaNow reported that Zahid, the Umno president, and his predecessor Najib Razak had written to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong expressing support for Anwar in the PKR leader’s plan to topple Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional government, of which Umno is a part.In their joint letter, the duo also claimed that “a number of Umno MPs” would back them, without providing specific names.Earlier today, MalaysiaNow quoted a source in Umno as saying that the revelation had further worsened factionalism in Umno, with Zahid leading one faction demanding more senior Cabinet posts for Umno including that of the deputy prime minister.“There are worries that any backdoor negotiations by leaders embroiled in corruption cases could lead to Umno losing everything they currently have,” the source added.


Umno to seek audience with Agong for Najib's pardon

The top Umno leadership will seek an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to plead for a pardon for Najib Razak following the Federal Court's ruling denying the former prime minister's review application in the SRC International case.
The decision was made at the Umno Supreme Council meeting today.
A statement by secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki also criticised the decision last week by the five-man panel headed by judge Abdul Rahman Sebli, the only one among them who dissented from the majority judgement.
Abdul Rahman opined among others that it was wrong for the Federal Court panel headed by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat in August last year not to allow an adjournment to give more time for Najib's newly appointed counsel to prepare for the final appeal.
His view was today repeated by Umno, which said the "unfair" decision had led to "extreme grief and anxiety among the Umno grassroots members".
Asyraf also said that a total of 191 Umno divisions nationwide had submitted memorandums urging the leadership to come to the defence of the former party president "who has contributed so much to the people and country".
"As such, the Supreme Council has unanimously agreed to seek an audience to present a letter of appeal to His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, along with a memorandum signed by the Umno leadership from 191 divisions including the Women, Youth and Puteri wings," he added.
Najib, whose administration was toppled at the 14th general election, was slapped with a string of criminal charges after stepping down from the top office.
The SRC International case saw him charged with criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power related to the misappropriation of RM42 million.
On July 28, 2020, the Kuala Lumpur High Court convicted him of all seven charges, fining him RM210 million and sentencing him to 12 years in jail.
The decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal on Dec 8, 2021, and the Federal Court on March 31 dismissed his application for a review of the appeals court's judgment.


Cases rise in Selangor as 2,331 more infections recorded

Another 2,331 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 372,859.Selangor recorded 751 cases followed by Sarawak (512), Kuala Lumpur (252), Kelantan (225), Sabah (163), Penang (116) and Johor (100).Negeri Sembilan recorded 89 cases, Kedah 45, Perak 42, Pahang 20, Melaka nine, Putrajaya four, Labuan two and Perlis one.Active cases stand at 19,094 with 225 in the ICU and 92 in need of respiratory assistance.Another 1,832 patients were discharged, bringing total recoveries to 352,395.However, five more deaths were reported, pushing the virus toll to 1,370.


US VP Harris vows ‘enduring engagement’ in Asia

Vice-President Kamala Harris vowed “enduring engagement” in Asia on Monday, offering reassurances of Washington’s commitment to the region following the US’ withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover.The hardline Islamists’ swift return to power a week ago, and desperate scenes of thousands trying to flee, have cast a shadow over the US’ status as a global superpower.But on a visit to Singapore, her first stop on a trip that will also include Vietnam, Harris repeatedly insisted that Washington could be depended on.“Our administration is committed to enduring engagement in Singapore, into Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific,” Harris told a press conference alongside Singapore’s leader.“The reason I am here is because the United States is a global leader, and we take that role seriously.”But she dodged questions about whether US credibility had been damaged by the Afghan debacle, saying only her government’s focus was on “evacuating American citizens, Afghans who worked with us and vulnerable Afghans, including women and children”.Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong welcomed the vice president’s reassurances and said Singapore was offering a military aircraft to help in the chaotic evacuation from Kabul airport overseen by the US army.But he also expressed hopes that “Afghanistan does not become an epicentre for terrorism again”.US President Joe Biden’s administration is seeking to reset relationships in Asia after the turbulent Trump era, and project Washington as a stabilising force in the face of growing Chinese aggression.But analysts say the seizure of power by the Taliban, notorious for their brutal 1996-2001 rule, and rapid collapse of US-trained Afghan forces have caused fresh concerns about US dependability.‘Rules-based international order’ Harris is also facing criticism for being tone-deaf in going ahead with a visit to Vietnam as US forces struggle to evacuate tens of thousands of people.The crisis has prompted comparisons with the trauma of 1975 in Saigon, when US helicopters ferried final evacuees from the embassy roof, as Viet Cong troops advanced.But US officials insist the trip was planned long before the Afghan crisis and is focused on Washington’s broader strategic goals in Asia.Southeast Asia is seen as critically important at a time China is challenging US political sway and naval dominance in the region.Washington has repeatedly criticised Beijing’s expansive claims to almost the entire flashpoint South China Sea, which overlap with claims of several Southeast Asian states and Taiwan.At Monday’s press conference, Harris reiterated US commitment to “uphold the rules-based international order and freedom of navigation, including in the South China Sea”.After arriving at the weekend, Harris began her official engagements Monday by holding talks with Lee as the US and Singapore signed agreements on combating cyber threats, climate change, and the coronavirus pandemic.She was also formally welcomed at the president’s official residence, inspected a guard of honour and was presented with an orchid named after her, a typical honour for a visiting dignitary.Later, she will visit Changi Naval Base and address US sailors aboard the visiting USS Tulsa.On Tuesday, she will give a speech laying out Washington’s vision for the region and meet with business leaders to discuss supply chain issues, particularly a microchip shortage that has hit the auto industry.She departs for Hanoi on Tuesday evening.


Hong Kong leader ‘deeply sorry’ for long queues amid Covid surge

Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, has said she is deeply sorry and anxious about long queues at coronavirus testing centres and isolation facilities after a record number of new cases left authorities scrambling.Hong Kong’s daily Covid-19 infections nearly doubled to a record 1,161 cases on Wednesday as the global financial hub battles a surge that is proving to be the biggest test of its “dynamic zero” policy of virus suppression.The city is due to report 986 new infections on Thursday, broadcaster TVB reported, citing an unidentified source.Writing on her official Facebook page on Wednesday night, Lam said the government was working hard to enhance capacity and that the fast-spreading infections, hitting places like elderly care homes, were the last thing she wanted to see.“Citizens have to wait for a long time to receive testing and a large number of people who have tested positive have been waiting for a long time for isolation facilities,” she said.“I am deeply sorry and anxious.”Hong Kong has adopted a “zero-Covid” strategy, as has mainland China, which entails suppressing all outbreaks as soon as possible, in contrast with many other places that are trying to “live with Covid”, relying on high vaccination rates to bring protection while easing restrictions.The fast-spreading Omicron variant is testing both approaches though experts have said Hong Kong’s strategy looks unceasingly unsustainable with cases ballooning.Hong Kong has reported nearly 4,000 infections over the past two weeks, up from just two in December, taking its tally to more than 17,000 since the outbreak began in 2020, with 215 deaths, figures that are much are lower than those seen in other major cities around the world.Authorities have responded to the latest surge with the toughest suppression measures yet, despite an increasing social and economic toll on the city’s 7.5 million residents.Public gatherings of more than two people are banned from Thursday while gatherings in homes have also been restricted. The rules add to already strict measures that have forced restaurants to close from 6pm and shut most venues from churches to schools, gyms and cinemas.About 200,000 people in the Discovery Bay residential area, where many foreigners live, have been ordered to get tested after the government said it detected coronavirus in sewage samples.Typically, people are mandated to test if they have been in an area where infections are detected, and big crowds have thronged testing centres across the city in recent days.Lam said the city was not able to try to live with the virus because more than 50% of the elderly have not been vaccinated.About 80% of the city’s residents have had at least one vaccine shot but many elderly people have been hesitant.Two people in their 70s died were the latest to die from coronavirus, authorities said on Wednesday.


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Govt told to curb racial politics to prevent animosity, violence

The government has been told to put effort into curbing and preventing elements of racial politics in the country from spreading.Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said this was because elements such as hate speech would lead to animosity and cause violence to erupt.“I consider racial politics as the source of other ‘diseases’… if a government allows racial discrimination to occur, then there lies the problem.“This is because… racial discrimination can occur everywhere such as in terms of the provision of laws, policies, in public institutions as well as government programmes which are merely efforts to win elections and remain in power,” he said at a webinar organised by the Southeast-Asia Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism today.Saifuddin said to tackle the matter, tolerance, understanding and embracing cultural and racial diversity should be the foundation in creating an environment of peaceful coexistence.He said the concept of wasatiyah or moderation in practising one’s culture should also be applied so that the people could celebrate pluralism and be kind to all groups without discrimination.


Kobe Bryant widow awarded US$16 million over crash site photos

The widow of the late basketball star Kobe Bryant was awarded US$16 million by a jury on Wednesday over the sharing of photos of human remains at the helicopter crash site where her husband, their 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in 2020, according to multiple media reports.
Vanessa Bryant had sued Los Angeles County, alleging invasion of privacy, after accusing members of the Los Angeles County sheriff's and fire departments of sharing gruesome images of the crash in unofficial settings, including to patrons in a bar.
Chris Chester, whose wife Sarah, 45, and daughter, Payton, 13, were among those killed in the crash and who joined Bryant's lawsuit, was awarded US$15 million, bringing the total jury award to US$31 million.
Bryant, who was in the Los Angeles federal courtroom when the verdict was read out after an 11-day trial, clasped her face in her hands and wept. She and her attorney declined to speak to reporters as they left the courthouse.
Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people died in the crash in Calabasas, California, on Jan 26, 2020.
Vanessa Bryant has also filed lawsuits against the helicopter charter company and the deceased pilot's estate.
The county already agreed to pay US$2.5 million to settle a similar case brought by families of others who died in the crash.
Kobe Bryant was 41 when he died. The Los Angeles Lakers great and 18-time All-Star won five NBA championships and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2020.


Long break sees Sarawak village youths drifting away from school

Three days a week, every week, Sahli works on his father’s sago farm, chopping down trees and hauling the logs from the plantation to the roadside for collection.He joins the crowd of villagers from Kampung Senau in Oya who head to their farms early in the morning to prune the trees and cut down those marked for this purpose.Once the logs have been hauled to the road, Sahli waits for the middleman who comes with his lorry to transport them to the sago mills.It’s hard work for the 15-year-old boy, but by now he is used to it.This has been his routine for most days since schools in the area were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic early last year.His school, like many others, shifted from the physical to the digital classroom in an attempt to keep lessons going for students.His parents managed to scrape together enough to buy him a mobile phone so that he could continue attending his classes.Still, his education has been suffering and he has been spending more and more time on the land.Sago farming is a way of life for the Melanau who live in the central part of Sarawak’s coastal villages. Their livelihoods depend on the sago palm trees that grow in abundance in the swampy land along the banks of the Batang Oya river.Sahli, like many other Melanau youths in the area, has been working on the farm since he was a boy, participating in tasks that have been passed down in his family through many generations.Speaking to MalaysiaNow, Sahli’s mother, Jemaah, said she and her husband do their best to ensure that their children get a good education despite having to work on the farm.But this is not an easy task, and the pandemic which caused most of the economic and social sector to shut down for long periods throughout the past two years has made it harder.“For small farmers like us, we have to be careful with our spending because Covid-19 requires us to buy things like hand sanitiser and face masks for daily use,” Jemaah said.“I just have to make sure my children go back to school,” she added.This, to her, is crucial. While her son has a phone, he still struggles to follow his classes online.Those who can afford it have turned to private lessons throughout the various lockdowns. But for low-income families like Sahli’s which depend on daily wages, just covering the cost of internet bills puts a huge strain on household expenses.Weekends and public holidays see teenagers still attending school going out to help their parents on the farm and taking up odd jobs at oil palm plantations to earn a little extra on the side.The longer schools stayed closed during the pandemic, the more time Sahli and his peers spent doing such work.Jemaah is worried that even with schools reopening, her children may be losing the drive to learn.“Even when Sahli is at home, he cannot access the internet because we can’t afford to pay for extra data connection,” she said.And if, by some chance, her children manage to catch one of their classes, they rarely understand what they are being told to study.“It’s useless,” Jemaah said. “Sahli often tells me that he feels exhausted.”Her biggest desire is to help her children understand what they are studying. But this, too, is an impossible dream as both she and her husband are illiterate.Yet this does not stop her from building this particular castle in the sky.“I wish I could help teach my children,” she said.


Hundreds of Rohingya missing from Indonesian refugee camp

Hundreds of Rohingya are missing from a refugee camp in Indonesia and are believed to have been trafficked to neighbouring Malaysia, officials and sources said Thursday.Just 112 refugees remain at the makeshift camp in Lhokseumawe on Indonesia’s northern coast this week, well down from the almost 400 that arrived between June and September last year.Neither local authorities nor the UN could account for the whereabouts of the refugees from the stateless Muslim minority from Myanmar, who are feared to have enlisted traffickers to help them cross the Malacca strait into Malaysia.“We don’t know yet where they went,” said Ridwan Jalil, head of the Rohingya taskforce in Lhokseumawe. “But they’ll escape if they can find any hole to leave because that is their goal.”A Myanmar military crackdown in 2017, which UN investigators said amounted to genocide, forced 750,000 Rohingya to flee across the border into Bangladesh’s southeast coastal district of Cox’s Bazar, where many ended up in sprawling refugee camps.Thousands have since paid smugglers to get them out of Bangladesh, enduring harrowing, months-long sea journeys punctuated by illness, beatings by traffickers and near starvation rations to reach Indonesia and Malaysia.At least 18 Rohingya from the Lhokseumawe camp and over a dozen suspected traffickers were recently apprehended by police several hundred kilometres south in Medan city, a frequent staging point for illegal crossings into Malaysia, authorities said.The refugees have been asked not to leave the camp, the UN’s refugee agency said, given the risks involved in making the journey.“But (they) left despite our constant efforts to remind them about the danger and risks they could face by leaving, including if they used the services of smugglers,” said UNHCR spokeswoman Mitra Suryono.“But we have to remember that many of (them) have relatives in other countries such as Malaysia. That may be one of the reasons why they continued their journey,” she added.Rights groups blamed the Indonesian government, which drastically reduced security at the settlement when the Rohingya were placed under the supervision of UNHCR last month.While Indonesia is not a signatory to an international convention on refugees, the move was a breach of its obligations to protect them, said Usman Hamid, director of Amnesty International’s Indonesia office.


US life expectancy fell by a year as Covid-19 hit, data shows

Life expectancy in the US fell by a whole year in the first half of 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic started to grip the country, official figures showed Thursday.Life expectancy at birth for the total US population was 77.8 years, declining by a year from 78.8 in 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.Minorities were the hardest hit, with life expectancy decreasing three years for non-Hispanic blacks and nearly two years for the Hispanic population.Life expectancy at birth in the first half of last year was the lowest level since 2006, the report said, though it said the figures were provisional as the US continues to count the cost of the pandemic.The figures “do not reflect the entirety of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, or other changes in causes of death, such as the increases in provisional drug overdose deaths”, it said.Minorities have suffered high Covid fatalities partly due to employees who cannot work from home, larger households and poorer access to health care including testing.The country has so far registered 490,000 coronavirus deaths, by far the highest national death toll anywhere in the world.


Economy is tough, no birthday ads needed, Sarawak premier says

Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg has called on friends and well-wishers not to spend on newspapers advertisements for his 72nd birthday today.
A statement from the Office of the Premier of Sarawak said that while Abang Johari appreciated the good intentions, he did not want his friends and well-wishers to spend on such advertisements in view of the current economic situation and the need to contain inflationary pressure.
"Nevertheless, he would like to thank all well-wishers for their kind thoughts on his 72nd birthday," it said.
Abang Johari made a similar request last year, telling those who planned to place advertisements to congratulate him to instead channel the funds to the state Covid-19 disaster trust fund.
Abang Johari was born on Aug 4, 1950 in Limbang, Sarawak. He is the son of the state’s first governor, Abang Openg Abang Sapiee.


Challenges for food supply chain on the agenda in Dewan Rakyat

Issues and challenges for the agro-food sector in ensuring that the country's food supply chain remains stable and adequate are expected to be part of the focus at the Dewan Rakyat sitting today.
According to the order paper uploaded on the official Parliament portal, the topic will be raised by Ahmad Nazlan Idris (BN-Jerantut) to the agriculture and food industries minister during the oral question and answer session.
The focus is also expected to be on how far Islamic tourism has been highlighted in developing the tourism sector in Malaysia, when the question is posed by Shaharizukirnain Abd Kadir (PAS-Setiu) to the tourism, arts and culture minister.
Charles Santiago (PH-Klang) will ask the women, family and community development minister if the ministry plans to introduce menstrual leave and a sanitary napkin subsidy as part of the social protection programme for women from B40 families.
The common occurrence of bank scams, where unauthorised withdrawals and transfers are made from depositors’ accounts, will also be raised by Chong Chieng Jen (PH-Stampin) through a question to the finance minister. Chong is expected to ask about the policies and measures to be taken by the government and Bank Negara Malaysia to address the matter and restore public confidence in the banking system.
A total of 10 bills will be tabled for first reading, including the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Amendment) Bill 2022, the Renewable Energy (Amendment) Bill 2022, and the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (Amendment) Bill 2022.
After the session, the sitting will continue the debate on the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill 2021.
The current Dewan Rakyat sitting will run for 12 days until Aug 4.


SVB shockwaves rattle global banks in grip of contagion fears

Shockwaves from Silicon Valley Bank's collapse triggered big moves in bank shares on Tuesday as investors fretted over the financial health of some lenders, in spite of assurances from US President Joe Biden and other global policymakers.
An indicator of credit risk in the euro zone banking system leapt to its highest since mid-July, as worries about contagion risks from the collapse of two US banks compounded investor concerns about the impact on lenders of rising interest rates.
The VIX volatility index, Wall Street's "fear gauge", neared six-month highs overnight, although futures pointed to a higher Wall Street open and European bank stocks recovered from falls earlier on Tuesday.
US regional banks bounced in pre-market trading after recent brutal losses, with shares in First Republic Bank up 58%, a day after hitting an intraday record low of US$17.53 (about RM80).
"If we do not see any high-profile failures in the near future, then the fears would subside," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital.
Banking giants Citi, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan were also higher in the pre-market.
However, credit ratings agency Moody's said it was reviewing six lenders for a downgrade including First Republic, Zions Bancorp, Western Alliance Bancorp and Comerica.
Europe's banking index initially fell on Tuesday but recovered to rise 2.7%, with some saying that banks in the region were less vulnerable, after the index posted its biggest percentage loss in more than a year on Monday.
"A critical difference between the European and US systems, which will limit the impact across the Atlantic, is that European banks' bond holdings are lower and their deposits more stable," Moody's said in a note.
Shares of embattled Credit Suisse initially fell as much as 4.5% after it said customer "outflows stabilised to much lower levels but had not yet reversed" in its 2022 annual report. But the bank's shares were up 1.2% in the afternoon.
Asian banking stocks had earlier extended their declines, with Japanese banks hit particularly hard. The Bank of Japan said financial institutions there have sufficient capital buffers to absorb losses caused by external factors.
Investor worries about potential contagion to other lenders worldwide have not been entirely dispelled by Biden's efforts to reassure markets and depositors or emergency US measures to shore up banks by giving them access to additional funding.
"This is part of the process of the knob being turned to tighten financial conditions to make sure that we are on our way to normalising a higher interest rate world," Morgan Stanley co-president Edward Pick said on Tuesday. "But there might well be surprises, there might well be reactions."
Rates rethink
A furious race to reprice interest rate expectations also buffeted markets as investors bet the US Federal Reserve will be reluctant to hike next week.
Traders currently see a 50% chance of no rate hike at that meeting, with rate cuts priced in for the second half of the year. Early last week, a 25 basis point hike was fully priced in, with a 70% chance seen of 50 basis points.
Short-end yields in the euro zone tumbled again as investors bet the European Central Bank would moderate its policy tightening at Thursday's meeting, with chances of a Bank of England hike next week also seen receding.
Italian Banking Association head Antonio Patuelli told Il Corriere della Sera he hoped that in the wake of the SVB collapse "the ECB will do more thinking than the already announced decision to raise rates further".
Yunosuke Ikeda, chief equity strategist at Nomura Securities, said the shift to much less aggressive Fed hike expectations has also tempered the outlook for an eventual pivot in Japan away from ultra-low interest rates.
The prospect of higher rates had been "the reason investors have been really excited about Japan bank stocks", Ikeda added.
Analysts say uncertainty continues to dog the financial sector, with investors extremely worried about the health of smaller global banks, the prospect of tighter regulation and a preference to protect depositors at the expense of shareholders.
A wave of customers have applied to shift their accounts to large US banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup from smaller lenders after SVB's collapse, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Major US banks have lost nearly US$190 billion since the sell-off began, with regional lenders like First Republic Bank, which plunged more than 60% on Monday, hit hardest.
Biden said on Monday that his administration's emergency measures meant Americans could be confident the US banking system is "safe", while also promising stiffer regulation after the biggest US bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis.
Regulator FDIC had moved swiftly to close New York's Signature Bank SBNY.O as well as taking control of SVB.
The Republican head of the US House Financial Services Committee also sought to shore up support for the banking system, saying on Tuesday that both the FDIC and the Fed had acted within the law. He said he still planned to hold a hearing and review documents, although no date was announced.
Open for business
In a letter to clients, SVB's new CEO Tim Mayopoulos said it was conducting business as usual within the US and expected to resume cross-border transactions in coming days.
"I recognise the past few days have been an extremely challenging time for our clients and our employees," said Mayopoulos, a former CEO of federal mortgage finance firm Fannie Mae who was appointed by the FDIC to run SVB.
US bank regulators sought to reassure nervous customers who lined up outside SVB's Santa Clara, California, headquarters on Monday, offering coffee and donuts.
"Feel free to transact business as usual. We just ask for a little bit of time because of the volume," FDIC employee Luis Mayorga told waiting customers.


Federal Court judge Zabidin made acting chief judge of Malaya

Federal Court judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah has been appointed as the acting chief judge of Malaya, according to the Office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court.
Its corporate communications division director Suzarika Sahak confirmed Zabidin's appointment when contacted by Bernama.
The post of chief judge of Malaya became vacant following the retirement of Azahar Mohamed on Oct 27.
Zabidin, 65, was appointed as a Federal Court judge on Feb 4 this year.
He was appointed as a judicial commissioner on Aug 1, 2004 and elevated to a High Court judge on July 28, 2006.
Zabidin was appointed as a Court of Appeal judge on Nov 26, 2018.


2 cops among 14 nabbed over wild party at luxury condominium in KL

Two policemen – a lance corporal and an auxiliary police constable – were among 14 people detained by the police after they were believed to have attended a wild party at a luxury condominium in Changkat Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur, on Saturday.Kuala Lumpur Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department chief ACP Sahar Abd Latif said the seven men and seven women aged between 20 and 40 arrested in the 9.30pm operation also tested positive for ketamine.He said the police also found ketamine drugs weighing about 5.56g estimated to be worth RM834.“The organiser of the party was a 39-year-old man, and visitors were invited to attend via phone call by the organiser at a luxury condominium rented for RM220 a day,” he said in a statement.Sahar said the partygoers were issued compounds of RM4,000 each for violating the SOPs of the National Recovery Plan.“They are also being investigated under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 involving Sections 12 (2) and 15 (1)(a) for possession of drugs,” he said.“The management of hotels, serviced apartments and condominiums are urged to channel information related to such activities to the authorities. Those with information can contact the Kuala Lumpur police hotline at 03-2115 9999 or the nearest police station,” he said.


PN repeats call for targeted EPF withdrawals

Perikatan Nasional (PN) has again urged the government to allow targeted withdrawals from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) through a suitable mechanism.
Opposition leader and Larut MP Hamzah Zainudin said this was to ensure that only those who were truly eligible would be able to make withdrawals.
"There are contributors who save in the EPF voluntarily… for example, before the pandemic, they had a successful business. They contributed (to EPF) and bought a house, but three years since the pandemic hit, their income differs compared to the time when they were contributing.
"And now they are asking for withdrawals to be made because they have defaulted on their housing loans for six months and their homes are up for auction. If we do not help people like these, what is going to happen?
"Their homes are about to be auctioned and to purchase another asset in a year or two, I think, is very challenging. That is why I am urging the government to look for a mechanism for this purpose," he said when debating the Supply Bill 2023 at the policy level at the Dewan Rakyat today.  Hamzah also asked the government to give more attention to the welfare of ex-servicemen whom he said risked their lives to defend the country's sovereignty, but only received a RM500 pension before salary adjustments were implemented in 2013.
"We can still include them as part of the workforce. Remuneration-wise, we do not have to follow the minimum wage, but perhaps based on a new model," he said.


Malaysian contingent continues to shine in Hanoi SEA Games

The national contingent in Hanoi continued to deliver, bagging three more gold medals yesterday ahead of the official opening ceremony of the 31st SEA Games today.Malaysia have now picked up nine golds, two silvers and six bronzes, putting them in second position in the medal tally behind hosts Vietnam, whose haul is 10-7-9.Malaysia made good on their name as a regional powerhouse in diving yesterday, adding two more gold medals while pencak silat contributed one gold medal.In yesterday’s final diving event, national diving queen Pandelela Rinong and Nur Dhabitah Sabri, the country’s first gold medallist in Hanoi, wrapped up the proceedings for Malaysia to complete a clean sweep of all eight gold medals on offer.The Pandelela-Nur Dhabitah combination came out tops in the women’s 10m platform synchronised event at the Aquatic Sports Palace.Earlier, national divers Muhammad Syafiq Puteh and Gabriel Gilbert Daim completed a 1-2 finish in the men’s 3m springboard individual event.Syafiq accumulated an overall score of 381.35 points from six dives for his first individual triumph after winning the 3m springboard synchronised mixed gold with Jasmine Lai at the 2017 KL Games.Meanwhile, Gabriel took silver with 375.30 points.At the Bac Tu Liem Sporting Centre, national pencak silat exponents did not disappoint either with Mohd Taqiyuddin Hamid and Sazzlan Yuga defending the gold medal in the men’s ganda (doubles) event.The pair came out tops in the final after earning 9.950 points to beat Singaporean siblings Muhammad Hazim Mohammad Zaque and Muhammad Haziq Mohammad Zaque, who accumulated 9.905 points.The pencak silat squad also presented Malaysia with three bronze medals through Luqman Laji in the men’s tunggal (singles); Nur Syazreena Malik-Nor Hamizah Abu Hassan in women’s ganda; and Merrywati Manuil-Siti Nur Khairunnisa Hail-Fatin Ardani Zamri in women’s regu.Malaysia are set to bag two bronze medals in kickboxing after the country’s two exponents lost their semi-finals at the Bacninh Gymnasium .Mohamad Rifdean Masdor missed a chance to challenge for a top-two finish after losing 3-0 to Vietnam’s Huynh Van Tuan in the men’s full contact 51kg category.Hayatun Najihin Radzuan also bowed out in the semi-finals of the women’s low kick below 60kg category after going down 3-0 to Filipina Gina Iniong Araos.The losing semi-finalists stand to get the bronze medal but this will only be officially added to the medal tally after the prize-giving ceremony.Meanwhile, the Harimau Muda squad notched their second straight win in men’s football after downing Laos 3-1 at the Thien Truong Stadium in Nam Dinh last night.The success of the squad, under the guidance of head coach Brad Maloney, saw them top Group B with six points following their 2-1 victory over Thailand in their first match last Saturday.


Unlike you, I’m retiring here, Penang exco snaps back at Nurul Izzah’s call to stop PSI

The Penang state government has fought off allegations by PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar that its reclamation project known as the Penang South Islands (PSI) will burden the people in the state, saying it is in fact more needed now to revive the economy following the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.Penang exco for infrastructure and transport Zairil Khir Johari also shot back at the Permatang Pauh MP for saying the project would not benefit Penangites.“Unlike Nurul Izzah, I grew up in Penang, I now work in Penang and I plan to one day retire in Penang.“As such, I for one certainly want Penang to be able to provide great opportunities not only for me and my contemporaries, but more importantly for our children and their children to come,” Zairil, DAP’s Tanjong Bunga assemblyman, said in response to Nurul Izzah’s call to halt the PSI.Yesterday, Nurul Izzah, the eldest daughter of Pakatan Harapan chairman Anwar Ibrahim, said the PSI, meant to finance the controversial mega project Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), should be cancelled as it was not financially viable with lingering concerns over its impact on the environment.She said the reclamation of land would destroy the livelihoods of fishermen and increase poverty.“As such I have no choice but to voice this objection publicly in the hope that the reclamation project is terminated and replaced with a truly sustainable economic rejuvenation plan – more in line with the need to build back better and greener in a globally recovering post-pandemic world,” she wrote on her blog yesterday.Zairil said the allegations were not true, adding that the prolonged pandemic showed the PSI was needed “now more than ever”.He said the project would attract RM70 billion in foreign direct investment and create over 300,000 jobs in the next 30 years.He also dismissed concerns over the environment, saying the project had taken into account such matters.“Rest assured, the three islands are designed to have plenty of public green spaces, with 20% of the land reserved for parks, mangroves, water canals, and wetlands to achieve temperature,” he said.Zairil said fishermen would also stand to benefit from the project, as besides receiving ex-gratia payments, full-time fishermen would be sent for a “re-skilling programme” in order to be employed during the course of the project.“With this extra employment, they will have more stable income and financial security through EPF contributions which they currently don’t enjoy,” he said.


Polling ends, counting of ballots begins

Polling for the 15th general election (GE15) has ended, and the counting of ballots has begun.
Polling centres opened at 7.30am in Sabah and Sarawak and 8am in the peninsula. They closed in stages between 11am and 5.30pm in Sabah and Sarawak and at 6pm in the peninsula.
The results of the contest for 220 of the 222 parliamentary seats and 116 of the 117 state seats will be announced tonight as and when they are declared.
Polling in the Padang Serai parliamentary constituency in Kedah and the Tioman state constituency in Pahang was postponed to Dec 7 following the death of a candidate in each of the two constituencies.
The new date for the nomination of candidates is Nov 24.
The Pakatan Harapan (PH-PKR) candidate for Padang Serai, incumbent M Karupaiya, died on Wednesday, while the Perikatan Nasional (PN-PAS) candidate for Tioman died early today.
According to the Election Commission, voter turnout was 70% as of 4pm.


PAS elders want 1-on-1 fights to defeat PH in Melaka polls

PAS’ powerful Shura Council has called for straight fights in the upcoming Melaka election, as a clash between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN), of which the Islamist party is a part, appears imminent at the Nov 20 polls.The call by the Shura Council, the party’s influential body made up of its senior religious scholars, came even as leaders of Umno and Bersatu, the lynchpins of the BN and PN coalitions respectively, said their candidates were prepared to enter into three-cornered contests which analysts say would benefit the opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH).Following a meeting today, the council said it was up to the party’s central committee to decide on an election strategy based on the principle of denying victory to PH.“It needs to be adjusted to the party’s tactics and strategies,” it said. “The council leaves it to the central working committee to make a decision on the best strategy to win, in line with Clause 84 of the PAS constitution.”PAS is part of the PN coalition headed by Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin. It also signed a charter of cooperation with Umno when both parties were part of the opposition under PH rule.The charter called Muafakat Nasional however took a back seat in the wake of Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s declaration of war against Bersatu, which led to the collapse of Muhyiddin’s government in August.The election in Melaka was triggered after four state assemblymen withdrew their support for the chief minister – former chief minister Idris Haron (Sungai Udang), Nor Azman Hassan (Pantai Kundor), Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Pengkalan Batu) and Noor Effandi Ahmad (Telok Mas).Umno said on Oct 29 that it would continue its cooperation with PAS for the state polls.Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan said this was in line with the resolutions of the party’s general assembly last year, including to strengthen Muafakat Nasional.Bersatu meanwhile said on Oct 30 that it took note of this decision.Melaka is among the Umno strongholds that BN lost in the last general election.


New infections top 1,800 as 5 more deaths logged

Another 1,847 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 4,806,954.
There were 2,148 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 4,744,636.
There are now 26,033 active cases, of which 24,752 or 95.1% are undergoing home quarantine.
Meanwhile, 10 (0.0%) are at quarantine centres while 1,204 (4.6%) have been hospitalised.
A total of 67 are in ICU with 45 in need of respiratory assistance. ICU utilisation throughout the country stands at 60.6%, with Covid ICU utilisation at 18.3%.
Another five deaths were reported, including one who was brought in dead. Total deaths now stand at 36,285.


PN pledges childcare centres throughout Selangor if it wins in state polls

Perikatan Nasional (PN) will establish childcare centres throughout Selangor if it succeeds in seizing the state in the upcoming elections, the coalition's Selangor chairman Mohamed Azmin Ali said.
He said it was one of PN's manifestos to ensure that mothers can continue working in an effort to increase their household incomes.
The former Selangor menteri besar said the proposal came after discovering that 80% of women had to quit their jobs simply to look after their children and parents at home.
"I will tell all women in Selangor not to quit their jobs," he said at the Selangor Baharu Perikatan Nasional Gempur Kuala Langat event.
"Let us take care of your children at childcare centres that will be established throughout Selangor and equipped with professional staff."
Azmin also said that PN aims to transform the state into an agricultural hub by utilising idle land through smart farming.
He added that this initiative would provide higher-quality job opportunities for Selangor's youth in an effort to further develop the state.
Meanwhile, Azmin expressed disappointment in Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari's leadership, citing Johor surpassing Selangor in investment figures in the country in the first three months of 2023.
"Aren't we ashamed? Selangor used to record the highest in investments.
"When I was the MB (menteri besar), we contributed 24% of the total national investment to the federal government, the highest in the country, surpassing other states.
"Now, in the first three months, the Federal Territory recorded RM22 billion, Johor was in second place with RM11 billion, followed by Selangor with only RM7 billion," he said.
Azmin said that PN's success in governing a state could be seen through Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor's performance, who brought in investments worth RM68 billion to the state in 2021.
Azmin added that higher investment inflows would ensure better job opportunities for Selangor residents.
"Kedah has been an agricultural state for decades. Now, under PN's administration, with Sanusi as its MB, it has secured RM68 billion.
"We have the potential, capability and skills. Selangor's youth must be given opportunities so that children of all races can progress," he added.


LHDN withdraws income tax appeal against Najib's daughter

The Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) has withdrawn its appeal at the Court of Appeal over a suit filed against Nooryana Najwa, the daughter of former prime minister Najib Razak, to recover RM10.3 million in unpaid income tax.
Nooryana Najwa's lawyer Wee Yeong Kang, when contacted, said LHDN filed a notice of discontinuance for the appeal on Monday.
"Our client settled her tax case after her tax agent and LHDN went through her case," he said.
Wee said LHDN's appeal had been scheduled to be heard today.
LHDN was appealing against the Aug 26, 2020 decision of the Shah Alam High Court dismissing its application to obtain a summary judgment against Nooryana to recover RM10.3 million in unpaid income tax.
On July 24, 2019, the government, through LHDN, filed a writ of summons in the High Court naming Nooryana as the defendant.
According to LHDN's statement of claim, Nooryana failed to submit the individual income tax return forms to the tax authority under Section 77 of the Income Tax Act 1967 for the assessment year from 2011 to 2017.
LHDN said she had not paid income tax, including the increase, totalling RM10,335,292.36.


Philippines complains of Chinese fishing ban and ‘harassment’ at sea

The Philippines on Tuesday said it had filed a diplomatic protest with China for unilaterally declaring a South China Sea fishing ban, and complained also of harassment and violations of its jurisdiction by Beijing’s coast guard.The foreign ministry in a statement accused the Chinese vessels of disrupting a joint marine scientific research mission as well as energy exploration activities at two sites in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).In another statement, it denounced China’s imposition of a fishing moratorium aimed at regenerating fish stocks, an annual ban that includes waters inside the EEZs of Vietnam and the Philippines.China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Philippine statements, which referred to developments in March and April.The foreign ministry said the coast guard’s actions were “not consistent with innocent passage and are clear violations of the Philippine maritime jurisdiction.”It did not say why it waited more than a month to comment on the incidents.The protest demonstrates the challenges ahead for president-elect Ferdinand Marcos, who will have a delicate balancing act in pursuing stronger economic ties with China while not appearing to capitulate over what the military sees as Beijing’s unlawful provocations at sea.Marcos, whose May 9 election win analysts see as more favourable to Beijing than Washington, last week said he would defend sovereign territory and stand up to Chinese encroachment, in his strongest comments yet on foreign policy.That followed a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping during which he said he would elevate bilateral ties to a new level.The Philippines and China have historically had a rocky relationship over Beijing’s vast territorial claims and conduct of its coast guard and fishing fleet in the South China Sea, through which at least US$2.4 million of sea-borne trade passes each year.


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Thai court orders removal of clips claiming king’s company ‘favoured’ in Covid-19 vaccine manufacture

A Thai court has ordered a leading government critic to remove allegations on social media that the state’s coronavirus vaccine policy unfairly favours a company owned by the king, the government said on Sunday.Opposition politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit’s Progressive Movement denied the videos were illegal and urged YouTube and Facebook to preserve freedom of expression.Thailand’s digital ministry said the Criminal Court ruled that Thanathorn’s posts on social media and his movement’s website could breach national security.The videos accuse Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government of lack of transparency in allowing Siam Bioscience, which is owned by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, to supply the majority of doses despite an alleged lack of vaccine experience.Siam Bioscience received a 600-million-baht (US$20 million) subsidy to develop capacity to manufacture AstraZeneca vaccines domestically and across Southeast Asia.Thanathorn’s movement said it had not yet received the ruling.“We continue to stress that the content is not false or a threat to national security,” tweeted Pannika Wanich, a prominent Progressive Movement member. “We hope YouTube and Facebook will stand by the rights and freedom of expression.”Thanathorn was banned from politics for 10 years after a court dissolved his previous Future Forward Party last year over loans judged to be illegal. He denied those charges.Now the government has lodged a case against him over the videos, accusing him of insulting royalty, a charge punishable by up to 15 years’ prison.The government said Siam Bioscience manufacturing is on track to deliver the first batch of 61 million doses to the Thai public by June.There was no immediate comment from Thanathorn or Siam Bioscience on the court ruling. The palace traditionally does not comment on political disputes.The court did not comment when contacted by Reuters and the clips could still be viewed late on Sunday.


Vaccine sign-ups reach a quarter of targeted Malaysians

Some 25% of Malaysians targeted in the government’s Covid-19 vaccination programme have signed up for the jabs as of today.Khairy Jamaluddin, the minister in charge of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, said a total of 6.1 million people have registered to receive the vaccines so far.He also announced a new campaign by the authorities to ensure that those in rural areas are not left out in the vaccination drive.Under the initiative to be coordinated by the National Disaster Management Agency, officers will be sent to rural areas and villages without internet access to manually register recipients.Health Minister Dr Adham Baba meanwhile said financial aid would be given to those who suffer serious side effects due to the vaccine, both Malaysians and foreigners alike.He said an initial fund of RM10 million would be allocated for such payments.In a joint press conference with Khairy, he said RM500,000 would be given if recipients die or suffer permanent disability from the jabs, in order to ease the burden of families whose livelihoods are jeopardised.Those who experience side effects that could require prolonged hospital treatment meanwhile could be compensated up to RM50,000.The fund will be initiated under the National Disaster Relief Fund, managed by the National Disaster Management Agency.“This is a proactive step taken by the government to tackle the possibility of side effects from the vaccines,” Adham said.


Over 40 million vaccine doses given, 78.2% of adults fully jabbed

More than 40 million doses of vaccine have been administered throughout the country with 18,295,014 individuals or 56% of the population fully vaccinated as of yesterday.Some 67.2% of people have received at least one dose including of the single-dose CanSino vaccine.In terms of adult population, 78.2% are fully vaccinated with 93.1% having received at least one dose.A total of 232,559 doses were administered yesterday, taking the cumulative number of doses administered under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme so far to 40,155,975.


95.4% of adults, 81% of teens fully jabbed

A total of 22,332,571 individuals or 95.4% of adults had completed their Covid-19 vaccination as of yesterday.Based on the health ministry’s CovidNow portal, 22,882,504 individuals or 97.7% of the adult population have received at least one dose of vaccine.As for adolescents, 81% or 2,549,437 individuals have completed their vaccination while 87.2% or 2,743,176 individuals have received at least one dose of vaccine.A total of 121,232 vaccine doses were administered yesterday, with 25,439 doses as second doses, 6,707 to first-dose recipients and 89,086 as booster shots.This brings the cumulative number of vaccine doses administered under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme to 51,455,404.


Indonesia parliament approves extradition treaty with Singapore

Indonesia's parliament passed into law a bilateral extradition agreement with Singapore on Thursday, in a move Jakarta expects to help authorities bring to justice people accused of stashing offshore billions of dollars of state money in the city-state.
The absence of an extradition treaty has been a sensitive issue for Indonesia, which has complained about the difficulty of going aftersome fugitives accused of embezzling large sums during the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis.
Under the extradition treaty, signed by the countries' leaders in January, people who had committed 31 types of crime will be liable to be extradited and it will apply to offences committed up to 18 years ago, Indonesia has said.
The agreement would also mean that people would not be able to escape justice by changing their citizenship, it said.
Speaking after parliament's approval, Indonesia's law and human rights minister Yasonna Laoly said that the law "would give legal certainty for the two countries in the process of extraditing fugitives."
Singapore has said the agreement "will also be helpful to Indonesia's own efforts to prevent suspected criminals from fleeing overseas, and for them to be apprehended in Indonesia."
Indonesia has set up a so-called "BLBI" task force that is going after US$8 billion (RM35.26 billion) of bailout funds given to bank owners and borrowers after the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s that were never repaid.
Indonesia has long attempted to pass the law.
In 2007, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong oversaw the signing of an extradition treaty and defence cooperation agreement, but it was never ratified by Indonesia's parliament.


Social media security regulations being studied to protect govt secrets, says Fahmi

Regulations or guidelines are being studied to ensure the security of social media applications and devices used by civil servants, especially among administrative officers, to protect government secrets, according to Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil.
He said Cyber Security Malaysia (CSM) had been asked to scrutinise several aspects related to security issues involving the use of social media applications at government offices and agencies.
He said this was because the use of social media applications such as TikTok and Facebook at government offices would indirectly reveal some secrets or sensitive matters to the public.
"I have asked the CSM to scrutinise all social media applications because we don’t want any violations of the Official Secrets Act, especially when the administrative officers are handling classified documents. So the security aspect is really important.
"Secondly, in terms of filming (social media content), we have to determine whether filming can be allowed at certain places. That is among the aspects to be looked into," he told reporters after attending his ministry’s monthly assembly in Putrajaya yesterday.
Noting that some countries had already advanced in security aspects, Fahmi said his ministry would study the basis, as well as decisions made, to ensure that everything can be easily understood and adopted in the Malaysian context or suitable options provided.
He said agencies such as the information department, broadcasting department and Bernama should intensify efforts to educate people about the dangers of scammers.
He said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission had also been asked to call up social media platforms that are being used by scammers to commit crimes.
Fahmi also advised communications and digital ministry personnel to change their computer passwords regularly to avoid data theft.


Malay Mail editor-in-chief dies at 59

Malay Mail editor-in-chief Wong Sai Wan died at the Subang Jaya Medical Centre early today.He was 59.His son Wong Chee Mun confirmed news of Sai Wan’s passing when contacted by Bernama.Chee Mun said his father had had a history of heart problems and stroke.He was pronounced dead at about 6am, according to Chee Mun.Apart from Chee Mun, Sai Wan leaves behind his wife Loo Poh Ling and daughter Wong Yik Pen, 25.Sai Wan began his journalism career at The Star in the early 1980s, where among others he served as its Hong Kong correspondent and executive editor, before moving to the Malay Mail as editor-in-chief in 2014.Malay Mail deputy editor-in-chief Joseph Raj said the Malay Mail family would deeply miss Sai Wan.“He was not only our editor-in-chief but a friend who always was there for us if we needed his guidance and help, not only professionally but also personally,” he said.


A year on, WHO says Covid-19 early alarm fell on some deaf ears

Nearly a year after first describing Covid-19 as a pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) complained Monday that some failed to listen to its earlier urgent warnings.WHO sounded its highest available level of alarm on Jan 30, 2020 by declaring a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).But it was not until it used the word “pandemic” – which does not feature in the official international health alert system – on March 11 that many countries jumped into action.WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said some countries were slow to wake up to the risks of the novel coronavirus after the PHEIC declaration, when, outside China, there were fewer than 100 cases of Covid-19 and no deaths.“One of the things we still need to understand is why some countries acted on those warnings, while others were slower to react,” he told a press conference.“We continued to warn that the world had a narrow window of opportunity to prepare for and prevent a potential pandemic,” he insisted, adding that the description was finally deployed on March 11 after the number of affected countries and cases soared.“But we must be clear that that was not the moment at which we sounded the highest level of alarm.”Need for ‘hearing aids’Reflecting on why some states did not jolt into action before the pandemic categorisation, WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said too many countries thought the problem would simply pass them by.Ryan said he fully understood that the public might not necessarily have reacted to the PHEIC declaration, but stressed that all 194 WHO member countries had agreed on that as the “trigger to collective action in response for containment.“We have to ask ourselves, yes, maybe we need to shout louder – but maybe some people need hearing aids.”Ryan said people living in a valley when a dam bursts know their level of risk and take action while those further up the hillside do not feel the urgency until the waters rise.“Many people did hear, many countries did hear and took action,” he told the briefing.However, he added: “I fear too many countries thought they were on a mountain top watching the waters rise to consume and overwhelm others.“But what everyone didn’t realise was that the waters rose to consume them.”‘Don’t squander progress’Nearly 2.6 million people are known to have been killed by Covid-19 since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, while more than 116 million cases have been registered, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.Tedros said WHO’s focus was on supporting countries to end the pandemic, including with vaccines being rolled out around the world.“We have come so far, we have suffered so much, and we have lost so many. We cannot – we must not – squander the progress we have made,” he stressed.Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead on Covid-19, said the organisation had done all it could to work with governments after the virus was detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan.“We were doing our best to inform every day on the situation,” she said, on what was known about the virus and its dangers in the weeks before terming it a pandemic.“We followed that up with a full preparedness and response plan that was published four days after the alarm,” she said.


Amazon to use smart cameras to watch over delivery drivers

Amazon on Thursday confirmed plans to install artificial intelligence-imbued cameras in delivery vehicles, describing it as part of an initiative to keep drivers safe.The cameras are designed to watch the road and the driver, noting concerns as well as good practices, according to a tutorial video.“We are investing in safety across our operations and recently started rolling out industry leading camera-based safety technology across our delivery fleet,” the e-commerce colossus said in response to an AFP inquiry.“This technology will provide drivers real-time alerts to help them stay safe when they are on the road.”Word of Amazon watching over delivery drives with smart cameras was met with concerns about privacy and the potential for unfairly harsh scrutiny by the company.“This amounts to the largest expansion of corporate surveillance in human history,” Fight for the Future deputy directory Evan Green said in a released statement from the digital rights group.“We’re demanding that Amazon immediately stop the roll out of this unsafe programme, and we call on Congress to launch a full investigation into Amazon’s surveillance empire.”The Seattle-based company has faced criticism over work conditions at its vast logistics network, which includes using contractors for deliveries.Amazon said the sophisticated camera systems were by Netradyne, a California firm which uses video monitored by artificial intelligence to improve safety.The camera system uses machine learning “to recognise distracted driving behaviours and risky situations”, according to the Netradyne website.Amazon cited research showing these systems can reduced accidents through in-cab warnings and by improving driver behavior.The video presentation indicated the cameras included no live feeds to monitor the drivers in real time.


Prominent academic Kamal Hassan dies

Malaysian academic Mohd Kamal Hassan died today following complications from a recent surgical procedure. He was 80.
The Kelantan-born professor was the first Malaysian rector of the International Islamic University, where he served from 1998 to 2006.
Within Malaysian academic circles, he was known as an expert in contemporary Islam in the Malay world and was appointed as chairman of government think tank Institute of Islamic Understanding.
He was also behind the "Encyclopedia of Malaysia: Religions and Beliefs", which details each religion practised in Malaysia since World War II.
Kamal received the title of Professor Ulung for his contributions, and wrote more than 70 papers related to contemporary issues in Malaysia and the challenges facing Muslims.
Last year, he lashed out at the "hypocrisy and moral decay" of politicians in Malaysia in a book titled "Corruption and Hypocrisy in Malay Muslim Politics: The Urgency of Moral-Ethical Transformation", in which he described many local politicians as being alien to the Malay concept of "malu" (modesty).
He also spoke on the problem of blind loyalty to political parties.
"Blind loyalty can be erased if politicians realise that they should devote themselves not to their party, but to God," he told Astro Awani in an interview last year.


Busy as a bee on Bintulu honey farm

It’s 5am in Bintulu and the sun is barely up, but Martina Anak Wong is already on the road, sitting behind the wheel of her trusty pickup truck on her way to Jalan Samalaju.There, deep in the shade of palm oil trees, lies her bee farm.It is a small farm by most standards, containing 250 to 300 hives. Each month, she is able to produce about 60kg of honey.Every day, she treks into the forest land, collecting honey from the hives scattered throughout. It takes a long time but the sweet harvest is well worth her efforts.Martina stands beside her trusty pickup truck, a must-have for navigating the rough terrain around her farm.For the most part, beekeeping in Sarawak is still considered a man’s job, but Martina is out to shatter that image. Four days a week, every week, she toils at her farm, collecting the honey from her so-called stingless bees.This honey is known locally as madu kelulut.Each hive can produce about half a kg of honey per month.“I learnt how to be a beekeeper when I first moved to Bintulu town, working with my uncle at his bee farm,” she told MalaysiaNow.She has been running her own farm for more than a decade now, working with her stingless bees.Unlike the Western honeybee or Apis Mellifera, stingless bees do not require requeening since each colony has several ready to take over if the current laying queen begins to fail.Beekeeping is usually seen as a man’s job, but Martina is out to change this.Operating her own farm was a dream come true for Martina.But like many other small businesses throughout the country, hers suffered badly after the onset of Covid-19 and the closure of business activities.From 60kg of honey a month, production dipped drastically as she was unable to work on her farm.“Harvest season came just as the lockdown began,” she recalled.“I couldn’t distribute my stock to other places, either, due to the travel restrictions.”During normal times, she would make anywhere from RM6,000 to RM8,000 a month. During the movement control order period, though, this dwindled to nearly nothing.Now, though, things are beginning to look up again. With the country looking to transition towards the endemic phase of Covid-19 next month, Martina has been able to start up operations once again.These days, Martina is back where she belongs, tending to her bees and churning out enough honey to keep her customers happy and satisfied.Looking back not just at the Covid-19 crisis but her entire career as a beekeeper, she says she owes much to her bees.“Thanks to them, many women are now able to generate an income by themselves without having to rely on other people,” she said.


Pakistani society or banned TikTok to blame for popular sex videos?

Pakistan has banned the highly popular video-sharing app TikTok after receiving “a number of complaints from different segments of society about immoral and indecent content shared on the app”.The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said TikTok had “failed to fully comply” with its instructions to deal more harshly with offensive videos.Arslan Khalid, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s expert on digital media, backed the ban, tweeting, “The objectification and sexualisation of young girls on TikTok was causing huge pain to parents and proving detrimental for our society.”However, the ban was criticised by former premier Benazir Bhutto’s daughter Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari, who tweeted, ” Immoral content is not on tiktok, it’s embedded in our sexist society where women cannot wear yoga pants on tv or drive at night, & children are picked up & assaulted. Look what’s happening in madrassas, in open public spaces – the problem is NOT tiktok.”The video-sharing app, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, has been downloaded almost 40 million times in Pakistan.According to TikTok, Pakistan is one of the top five markets where the most videos are removed over violations of its community guidelines.On Sept 26, a report by The News reported information minister Shibli Faraz as saying that Imran is of the opinion that social media apps like TikTok are badly harming Pakistani society’s values and should be blocked.Faraz said, “PM Imran is extremely concerned about the growing obscenity and vulgarity in society and has directed all the relevant sections to stop the trend before it destroys the socio-religious values of Pakistani society.”TikTok responded to the ban saying that it is “committed to following the law” wherever the app is available. The company said, “Our top priority is “maintaining a safe and positive in-app environment”.


Zahid to take the stand over 47 charges related to charity foundation

Former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will answer his 47 charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT), corruption and money laundering in relation to Yayasan Akalbudi (YAB) funds tomorrow.When contacted, his counsel Hamidi Mohd Noh said Zahid would be the first witness to take the stand when the defence trial begins at 9am before High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.The judge had previously fixed 39 days to hear the case by the defence: April 13 and 15, May 23 to 26, June 27 to 30, July 1 and 4 to 7, Aug 22, 23, 29, 30, Sept 19 to 22 and 26-29, Oct 17 to 20 and 31 and Nov 1 to 3 and 7 to 10.The Bagan Datuk MP chose to testify under oath from the witness stand with the prosecution given the opportunity to question him during cross-examination.On Jan 24, Sequerah ordered Zahid to enter his defence for 12 charges of CBT, eight of corruption and 27 of money laundering involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to YAB.The judge ruled that the prosecution had proven all the elements of all the charges and successfully made out a prima facie case against the accused.On March 19, 2021, the prosecution closed its case after calling 99 witnesses including Zahid’s former special officer Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, legal firm Lewis & Co partner B Muralidharan, money changer Omar Ali Abdullah and Zahid’s former executive secretary Major Mazlina Mazlan @ Ramly.The trial began on Nov 18, 2019.For the CBT charges, Zahid was alleged to have used the funds to make six payments for his personal credit cards, insurance policy and licences for his personal vehicles, remittances to a law firm and contributions to the Royal Malaysia Police Football Association.The offences were allegedly committed at Affin Bank in Jalan Bunus off Jalan Masjid India, Kuala Lumpur, between Jan 13, 2014 and Dec 23, 2016.The charges, under Section 409 of the Penal Code, provide for a jail term of between two and 20 years, with whipping and a fine, upon conviction.Zahid was also charged with eight counts of bribery, where he was alleged to have accepted bribes from three companies – Mastoro Kenny IT Consultant & Services, Data Sonic Group Bhd and Profound Radiance Sdn Bhd – as an inducement for him, in his capacity as home minister then, to help the companies obtain MyEG projects, supply passport chips and be appointed the operator of the migrant visa one-stop centres in Pakistan and Nepal, respectively.He was charged with committing the offences, framed under Section 16(a)(B) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, at the Maybank branch at Dataran Maybank in Jalan Maarof, Bangsar, between July 15, 2016 and March 15, 2018.Zahid, who is also Umno president, also faces 27 charges of money laundering where he is accused of engaging in direct transactions involving income from illegal activities between March 29, 2016 and April 11, 2018.The offences were allegedly committed at Malayan Banking, Dataran Maybank branch, Level 1, Tower A, No. 1 Jalan Maarof, Bangsar and Marhaba Enterprise Sdn Bhd, LG 1.15, Fahrenheit88, 179 Jalan Bukit Bintang, between March 29, 2016 and April 11, 2018.


Geneva places 2,000 people in quarantine after two Omicron cases

The Swiss cantons of Geneva and Vaud have placed 2,000 people, most of them children, into quarantine after two cases of the Omicron variant were detected at an international school.Geneva, a hub for international diplomats and home to the World Health Organization (WHO) which last week classified Omicron as a SARS-CoV-2 “variant of concern”, had previously confirmed one case in an individual who had returned from South Africa and another suspected case linked to the same individual.“Following two confirmed cases of the Omicron variant which attended the Châtaigneraie campus of the International School of Geneva this week, the cantonal medical services of the cantons of Vaud and Geneva have jointly taken the decision to quarantine all of the students and campus staff for ten days,” Geneva health authorities said in a statement late on Thursday.Switzerland has identified a handful of cases of the new variant spread across five cantons and imposed travel bans from southern Africa and quarantine requirements on arrivals from 23 countries including Japan, Britain and Canada.Authorities said 1,600 of those quarantined in Vaud and Geneva were children. Alongside students, parents and siblings would also need to take a test to check for the variant.The health authority did not say whether the new quarantine measures were related to the previously confirmed case, but said the two confirmed cases were “closely related within the family to a positive person returning from a trip to South Africa.”


PKR’s ‘shadow cabinet’ topped by Anwar, wife

PKR has announced a line-up of MPs from the party tasked as the parliamentary spokesmen for specific ministerial portfolios, with president Anwar Ibrahim and his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail at the top of the hierarchy.Anwar is the opposition leader, while Wan Azizah is named as the chairman of PKR’s advisory council in a list seen as the party’s shadow cabinet announced by organising secretary Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad today.Their daughter Nurul Izzah meanwhile is assigned to women, family and community development, a portfolio under the Pakatan Harapan cabinet once led by her mother.Other notable party leaders in the line-up include Johari Abdul who doubles for defence and home affairs, Saifuddin Nasution for finance and consumer affairs, and Nik Nazmi for education.Padang Serai MP Karuppaiya Muthusamy has been named as Johari’s deputy, among a list of prominent MPs from the party who have been given the role of “assistant spokesmen”.Other assistant spokesmen include Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah, Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim, Wangsa Maju MP Tan Yee Kew, and Tawau MP and former Sabah deputy chief minister Christina Liew.Nik Nazmi said the tasks of the spokesmen in Parliament had been reorganised from a similar list announced in July last year.“We are aware that this new system needed improvements as PKR is committed to empowering Parliament.“This is in line with the resolve of Pakatan Harapan parties in stressing parliamentary reforms as contained in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the federal government and PH,” he added.PKR won 48 seats at the 14th general election in May 2018. It currently holds 35 seats in Parliament.About a dozen MPs from PKR quit the party last year following the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government after Dr Mahathir Mohamad resigned as prime minister, including senior leaders such as Mohamed Azmin Ali and Zuraida Kamaruddin.In March this year, another three left the party as well: Julau MP Larry Sng, Tebrau MP Steven Choong and Kuala Langat MP Xavier Jayakumar.


Several Beijing districts shut schools as China Covid cases rise

Students in schools across several Beijing districts buckled down for online classes on Monday after officials called for residents in some of its hardest-hit areas to stay home, as Covid cases in China's capital and nationally ticked higher.
China is fighting numerous Covid-19 flare ups, from Zhengzhou in central Henan province to Chongqing in the southwest and for Sunday reported 26,824 new local cases, nearing April's peaks. It also recorded two deaths in Beijing, up from one on Saturday, which was China's first since late May.
Guangzhou, a southern city of nearly 19 million people that is battling the largest of China's recent outbreaks, ordered a five-day lockdown for its Baiyun district, its most populous. It also suspended dine-in services and shut night clubs and theatres in Tianhe, home to the city's main business district.
Asian share markets and oil prices slipped on Monday as investors fretted about the economic fallout from the intensifying Covid situation in China, with the risk aversion benefiting bonds and the dollar.
The latest wave is testing China's resolve to stick to adjustments it has made to its zero-Covid policy, which calls for cities to be more targeted in their clampdown measures and steer away from catch-all lockdowns and testing that have strangled the economy and frustrated residents.
Several Chinese cities began cutting routine community Covid-19 testing last week, including the northern city of Shijiazhuang, which became the subject of fervent speculation that it could be a test bed for policy relaxation. This sparked worry among some local residents.
But late on Sunday, Shijiazhuang announced it would conduct mass testing in six of its eight districts over the next five days after new daily local cases hit 641. It also encouraged residents to shop online and ordered some schools to suspend in-person teaching.
"They lasted a week," said one popular comment on Weibo on Shijiazhuang's curbs, which was among the most viewed topics on the social media platform.
The capital Beijing reported 962 new infections, up from 621 a day earlier. Its sprawling Chaoyang district, home to 3.5 million people, urged residents to stay home, with school going online. Some schools in Haidian, Dongcheng and Xicheng also halted in-person teaching.
China's recent efforts to make its Covid-19 curbs more targeted have sparked investor hopes of a more significant easing even as China faces its first winter battling the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
Many analysts expect such a shift to begin only in March or April, however, with the government arguing that President Xi Jinping's signature zero-Covid policy saves lives.
Experts warn that full reopening requires a massive vaccination booster effort and a change in messaging in a country where the disease remains widely feared.
Oxford Economics wrote in a Monday note that it only expects and exit from zero-Covid in the second half of 2023.
"From an epidemiological and political perspective, we do not think the country is ready yet to open up," it said.


Show some respect for High Court judge, Najib’s lawyer told in SRC appeal

Court of Appeal judge Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil today advised lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to use courteous words in criticising High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali who convicted his client, Najib Razak, on charges of misappropriating RM42 million of SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.Karim, who is leading a three-member bench, told Najib’s counsel Shafee that he could use phrases like “erred in law” and “misdirected himself” to show the weakness in Nazlan’s judgment.“I think if we can use a better word with due respect to the learned judge… find a better adjective to describe him. Other than you saying ‘poisoned his judgment’, ‘hopelessly incompetent’, can you find another word? Give respect to the judge.“Use words like ‘grossly erred’, he had ‘erred and flawed’, he ‘misdirected himself’. Don’t just say ‘hopelessly incompetent’,” said Karim, who presided over the appeal with Has Zanah Mehat and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.Shafee: Can I just say the learned judge demonstrated incompetence?Karim: Yes.Shafee: Clearly he demonstrated incompetence. That I could say. (Otherwise) I can’t pull punches, as Yang Arif can appreciate. If these things happened, I have to say.Karim: Just say it (respectfully).Shafee: … with a bit more decorum. All right.At the outset, Shafee, in his submissions at the hearing of Najib’s appeal against his conviction and jail sentence for the misappropriation of RM42 million in SRC International funds, said the trial judge had shown incompetence when making the ruling against his client.“Can we say with the greatest respect, that the learned judge was either hopelessly incompetent in this case, and that is the only explanation I can make as to how a blunder of this sort can happen. That goes to the root of whether or not we have got a fair trial in this case,” the lawyer said.“Now, I want to add one more ground, namely this: that by incorporating what was not supposed to be there in the grounds of judgment and in the record of proceedings, as in the finding of prima facie has got elements previously not there as though it has always been there, has the judge poisoned his grounds of judgment?“Has the poison occurred in his grounds of judgment that Yang Arif (this court) would have to re-looked into the grounds fresh, all of us. That is another question I would like to pose,” Shafee said.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 of seven charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT), money laundering and abuse of position involving RM42 million in SRC International funds.Nazlan sentenced Najib to 10 years’ jail for each of the three counts of CBT and each of the three counts of money laundering and 12 years’ jail and a RM210 million fine, in default of five years’ jail in the case of abuse of position.The hearing of the appeal continues.


Police say ready for GE

The police today said they are ready for the 15th general election (GE15) if it is called in the near future.
Detailed preparations with regards to manpower and assets are constantly carried out to ensure the smooth running of the election, Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah said.
"Insha Allah, with these preparations, the election will run in a smooth and peaceful manner. We are ready if GE15 is held any time soon," hetold reporters at an event in George Town.
Speculation that GE15 will be held soon grew stronger after Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was reported to have held discussions for almost five hours with Acryl Sani as well as the attorney-general and the Election Commission on Sunday.


Penang to dissolve state assembly on June 28

Penang will dissolve its state legislative assembly on June 28 to pave the way for a state election, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said today.
Chow said he would seek an audience with the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Penang Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak to get consent for the proposed date of the dissolution of the state assembly soon.
Meantime, Chow, who is also Penang Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman said seat allocation among PH and Barisan Nasional (BN) in Penang is now 95 resolved.
"Any negotiation between PH and BN is now done at the national level, and the final decision will also be made at the national level.
"We believe there will be more negotiations," he told a press conference in Georgetown. Prior to this, Chow reportedly said that the negotiation which began last month, was running smoothly but the decision has yet to be made for several seats due to overlapping claims.
Penang has 40 state seats and in the 14th general election, PH won 37, including two by Bersatu candidates, while BN won two, and PAS, one.
Kedah, Penang, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan and Terengganu did not dissolve their respective state assemblies by the time the country held the 15th general election.
Leaders of the states, however, agreed to do so within the last two weeks of June to enable state elections to be held simultaneously in the six states.


Battle underway for airbase on Kyiv outskirts

Russian and Ukrainian forces were on Thursday battling for an airbase on the northern outskirts of Kyiv after dozens of attack helicopters swooped south from Belarus towards the capital.Russian airborne troops seized control of the Gostomel airfield, but Ukraine’s leader President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed that they would be encircled and crushed.“The enemy paratroopers in Gostomel have been blocked, and troops have received an order to destroy them,” Zelensky said, in a video address.Earlier AFP reporters had seen helicopters flying low over the city from the north and Ukraine’s commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Valeriy Zaluzhny, had confirmed: “Fighting is underway for Gostomel airfield.”The Gostomel airfield, which is alongside the Antonov airport, is immediately on the northern edge of Kiev, and the fighting there is the closest that Russian forces had got to the Ukrainian capital on the first day of their invasion.Lyudmila Klimova, a 58-year-old who lives nearby, said: “The base is smoking over there, it was bombed, our houses are nearby. We don’t know where to run, my parents are here, my sister.“Russian troops are there, a friend of mine lives there, and the Russians have already approached his mother with a machine gun.”Alexander Kovtonenko, a 30-year-old civilian also living nearby, said that two fighter jets had fired missiles at Ukrainian ground units as the assault got underway.“Then there was shooting, it lasted three hours,” he told AFP. “Then three more jets flew in and they started shooting again.”Smoke was rising from the scene and social media images appeared to show an assault by helicopter-borne troops. CNN showed footage of Russian troops at the airport and a reporter said he had spoken to them.Earlier, Ukrainian border guards had confirmed that Russian ground forces equipped with tanks had also crossed south over the Belarus-Ukraine border into the Kyiv administrative region, headed towards the capital.The main Russian advance on the first day of the operation also came from the occupied region of Crimea, from where armoured columns pressed quickly towards the southern city of Kherson.The Kherson regional government said 13 civilians had been killed, including two children, and nine Ukrainian soldiers have died during the fighting in the area.