Nomination looms for GE15

The nomination of candidates for the 15th general election (GE15) is scheduled for tomorrow for the 222 parliamentary seats nationwide and the state seats in Perak (59), Pahang (42) and Perlis (15).
The nomination of candidates for the Bugaya by-election in Sabah will also be held at the same time.
The period for the submission of nomination papers will be between 9am and 10am at 222 nomination centres located at district offices, community halls and school halls, among others.
The Election Commission has set Nov 19 for polling and Nov 15 for early voting.
The 14-day campaign period will start tomorrow after the announcement of the candidates contesting the polls, and continue until 11.59pm on Nov 18. Before the dissolution of the 14th Parliament on Oct 10, the composition of seats in the Dewan Rakyat saw Pakatan Harapan (PH) holding 90 seats, followed by Barisan Nasional (BN) (43), Bersatu (28), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) (19), PAS (17), Warisan (seven), Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) (six), Pejuang (four), independents (three), and Muda, Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) and STAR, one seat each.
Two seats remained vacant following the death of the incumbents, Hasbullah Osman (BN-Gerik) and Liew Vui Keong (Warisan-Batu Sapi).
At the state level, only Perak, Pahang and Perlis have dissolved their state assemblies to allow state elections to be held simultaneously with GE15.
The PH-controlled states of Penang, Negeri Sembilan and Selangor as well as the PAS-led states of Terengganu, Kelantan and Kedah have opted not to hold their state elections alongside the general election.
The remaining states held their polls separately over the last two years, with Sabah having its election on Sept 26, 2020; Melaka on Nov 20, 2021; Sarawak on Dec 18, 2021; and Johor on March 12, 2022.
The Bugaya seat fell vacant after the death of its assemblyman Manis Muka Mohd Darah on Nov 17, 2020. However, the by-election was postponed following the proclamation of emergency to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
Effective Oct 6 this year, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah had consented to the lifting of six ordinances and emergency proclamations declared in November and December 2020 to postpone the Batu Sapi and Gerik parliamentary by-elections and the Bugaya state by-election.
The electoral rolls to be used for GE15, the state polls and the Bugaya by-election will be the latest August 2022 additional electoral roll updated on Oct 9, 2022.
The GE15 electoral rolls contain 21,173,638 voters. Of these, 20,905,366 are ordinary voters, 146,737 are army personnel and their spouses, 118,794 are police personnel, including from the General Operations Force, and their spouses, and 2,741 are absentee voters abroad.
At GE14, a total of 2,333 candidates filed nomination papers to contest 222 parliamentary and 505 state seats. On nomination day, BN won the Rantau state seat in Negeri Sembilan unopposed.


‘Long Tiger’ recaptured in Kedah after escape from lock-up

Police today said that a 32-year-old Rohingya man known as “Long Tiger” who recently escaped from a court lock-up in Johor had been re-arrested in Kedah.“I can confirm that he was arrested at about 3pm today in Kedah,” Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani told Bernama.Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department director Abd Jalil Hassan said a media statement on the arrest would be issued by Johor police chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.Long Tiger, whose real name is Abdul Hamim Ab Hamid, fled from the Tangkak Magistrate’s Court at 11.55am on Dec 15 while waiting for his case under Section 388 of the Penal Code to begin.


Sorry.


TMJ eyeing Spanish football club Valencia?

Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has prompted speculation of a takeover bid for Spanish football club Valencia after posting about his ambitions for the La Liga outfit.Tunku Ismail said Valencia needs someone who is “hungry for success”, adding that he was motivated by “creating history”.Valencia are owned by Peter Lim, a billionaire businessman from Singapore, which neighbours Tunku Ismail’s southern state across the Straits of Johor.“I’m not a businessman, I’m a prince,” Tunku Ismail, 36, wrote in a series of Instagram stories, which are no longer available but were posted as screenshots by media.“I’m not someone who will change your club logo or tradition,” he added.“What does Valencia need? You need someone who knows about football, hungry for success, passionate, and understand how big Valencia is as a club,” wrote the prince.Tunku Ismail already owns Johor Darul Ta’zim, who last year won their seventh straight Malaysian league title and inaugurated the 40,000-capacity Sultan Ibraham Stadium.Lim’s Meriton Holdings bought Valencia FC for €420 million in 2014, including €200 million to clear the club’s debts.However, relations with fans have soured after a lack of success on the pitch and a revolving door of managerial appointments.Valencia, who in the early 2000s won two La Liga titles and the UEFA Cup, and reached two Champions League finals, are currently 14th in the league, five points clear of the relegation places.The club was valued at €408 million in a report by global accountancy firm KPMG last year.Lim’s representatives referred a request for comment to Valencia, who did not immediately respond. AFP is also attempting to contact representatives of Tunku Ismail.


Chinese military flights near Malaysia, ‘routine training’ or ‘routine warning’?

An incident involving more than a dozen Chinese aircraft which flew close to Malaysian territory this week appears more like a “routine warning” from Beijing to its foes in the region than a routine training, only this time with a key US military asset and a recently discovered Malaysian oil venture as the target, an investigation by MalaysiaNow can reveal.This came as the US military continued its Fonop programme, the acronym for the so-called Freedom of Navigation Operation where the US would make its presence felt to challenge any territorial claims on international oceans and airspace.The US Navy’s nuclear-armed super-carrier USS Ronald Reagan has been involved in Fonop in the South China Sea, in a bid to undermine China’s hegemonic ambitions in the region.The US presence has been largely welcome by the littoral states though this has not been explicitly expressed.Islands and strategic maritime reefs in the Spratly have been the subject of dispute by six claimant countries: Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and China which dwarfs the others both in size and firepower, and has been flexing its muscles by taking control of several reefs to convert them into launchpads.The potential of fishing stock as well as what is believed to be a huge deposit of crude oil and hydrocarbons have further fuelled the conflict, potentially making the South China Sea the world’s most dangerous flashpoint after the Persian Gulf.Malaysia has largely avoided direct confrontation with China unlike its more vocal Asean neighbours the Philippines and Indonesia.“The ‘routine training’ as they now claim appears to be a planned intimidation exercise.”MalaysiaNow understands that over the years, Chinese military activities in the disputed waters have created massive counter-military and counter-intelligence activities by its adversaries which include Malaysia.At the centre of the findings are three small rocky islands that have been converted into “military fortresses” for China, equipped with fighter aircraft shelters, air defence radars and communication systems as well as surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles.The three man-made islands are known as the Fiery Cross Reef, the Subi Reef and the Mischief Reef.But of even more concern is the matter of oil exploration activities in the South China Sea.As far back as 2019, tensions had been building between China and Malaysia after a drillship contracted by Petronas started oil and gas exploration near Malaysia’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone or EEZ.These turned into a stand-off in April last year with Chinese survey ships reportedly harassing the vessel.This took place in an area within China’s U-shaped “nine-dash line”, which marks Beijing’s sweeping claim of ownership over most of the South China Sea.The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, which gives regular updates on maritime security, said in a report last year that the incident involving Petronas’ oil exploration was neither the first nor the last.It warned that governments and commercial operators from countries in the region “will have to come to grips” with the likelihood that any new oil exploration in the South China Sea without China’s consent “will probably face the same level of high-risk intimidation”.Malaysia cannot afford such intimidation, which is why it has now given a strong signal to prevent any power vacuum in the South China Sea.The intimidating presence of the 16 Chinese aircraft was all that Malaysia needed to send such a message.


Financial implications for EPF FSA2 borrowers who cannot repay loans in focus at Dewan Rakyat

Financial implications for Employees Provident Fund contributors who have obtained personal financing under the EPF Account 2 Support Facility initiative but are unable to repay their loans are expected to be the focus of today’s Dewan Rakyat sitting.
According to the order paper on Parliament’s official website, Radzi Jidin (PN-Putrajaya) will raise the matter during the question-and-answer session.
Jimmy Puah Wee Tse (PH-Tebrau) meanwhile will ask the tourism, arts and culture minister to state the efforts to ensure that Malaysian traditional dishes such as nasi lemak, bak kut teh and laksa are recognised as national dishes and not claimed as national dishes of other countries.
Meanwhile, Mumtaz Md Nawi (PN-Tumpat) will ask the foreign minister about short- and long-term support and initiatives by Wisma Putra for the government of Afghanistan, particularly in empowering the potential and involvement of women and children in that country.
After the session, the Parliament sitting will continue with the debate on the Auditor-General’s Report 2021 Series 2 which was already debated by 13 MPs yesterday.
The Malaysian Cooperative Commission (Amendment) Bill 2023 is also expected to be tabled for a second reading.
This Dewan Rakyat sitting will continue until June 16.


'Nowhere to go': Villagers watch as bulldozers move in

It was the last day of class before the Aidilfitri break, and Wahidatul Ifa Daud was rushing to fetch her children from school.
In the midst of the hustle and bustle, the housewife was surprised by a call from her neighbour. A group of strangers had come to their village and put up a notice on each inhabited home.
The notice, which directed them to vacate their homes by May 2, marked the start of a nightmare for the 12 families who had lived in Kampung Koskan Tambahan for over 40 years.
And coming just days before the Hari Raya celebration, it dampened the spirits and festive feelings of the residents in the village.
"We won't celebrate this year. Everyone will gather at my mother's house. We'll celebrate there and discuss what to do," Wahidatul, a mother of four, told MalaysiaNow.

A villager watches as a house across the street is torn down in Kampung Koskan Tambahan.

For many of the villagers, Kampung Koskan Tambahan, located between a river and the North-South Expressway and accessible only by a small, one-lane road, was the only home they had ever known.
A piece of land adjacent to the village had been flattened for development purposes, and while residents had applied for a land grant as far back as 2006, they were told that the lot in question was a river reserve.
A statement by a Selangor government officer said that ownership could be traced back to 1890 before the land was sold to a private company in 1991.
In the days leading to the scheduled demolition, some of the residents agreed to the money offered to them in exchange for their homes.
However, others felt it was an under-the-table solution given the lack of official documentation, and resolved to stay.
A memorandum sent to Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari went unanswered.
The demolition notice was scheduled for enforcement on May 2. On that day, most of the residents took leave from work, ready with banners to express their dissatisfaction.
Their children also skipped the first day back at school as a precautionary measure in the event that the demolition proceeded as planned.
However, no court officer turned up, and many of the villagers began to suspect that any representative would only come once the attention on their homes had died down.

Signs and banners in protest of the planned demolition seen at the entrance of Kampung Koskan Tambahan.

The very next day, the bulldozers arrived.
The electricity supply was cut off and the machines began their work.
Wahidatul and her family members watched with the rest of the villagers as one by one, the homes that had been vacated were turned into heaps of rubble.
The remaining residents were given until May 11 to leave as well.
Wahidatul's husband, Mohd Saufi Md Kasim, had planned to renovate their house a little and even purchased the supplies and equipment needed.
Speaking to MalaysiaNow, though, he said it looked like his plans would not come to pass.
"We are not stubborn, but where are we supposed to go? If there is an agreement in black and white that we will receive state housing and our names are in the housing grant, then it would be okay," he said.
But with no official agreement and the May 11 deadline looming ever closer, it appears that there is little they can do, at least for now.


93.8% of adults fully vaccinated

A total of 21,960,911 individuals or 93.8% of the adult population in Malaysia had completed their Covid-19 vaccinations as of yesterday.Based on the health ministry’s data on the CovidNow portal, 97.2% of the adult population, or 22,745,310 individuals, have received at least one dose of vaccine.A total of 134,180 doses were given yesterday, involving both adults and adolescents.This brings the total number of doses administered under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme to 47,838,886.Meanwhile, a total of 2,662 booster doses were administered to target groups yesterday, taking the total number of booster doses given to 21,477.As for teenagers aged 12 to 17, 25.6% or 806,330 individuals have completed their vaccination while 78.2% or 2,463,207 others have received at least a first dose.


Light plane crashes in Ipoh

A light plane is believed to have crashed by the roadside near Sungai Rokam, Medan Gopeng in Ipoh tonight.
It is believed that the incident involves two victims but the details and identities of those involved are still unknown.
Perak police chief Mior Faridalathrash Wahid, when contacted by Bernama, said police were at the location to investigate.
Pictures and videos showing the blue and white aircraft diving have gone viral on social media. In the footage, several parts of the aircraft appear to be damaged.


PH embarks on ‘27-0’ strategy to redeem budget vote failure

Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders have embarked on a “27-0” strategy, a reference to their readiness to challenge all 27 ministerial budgets by bloc vote even if it means losing all of them.This follows its failure to force a vote on the budget at the policy stage last week, which drew it fire from its hardcore supporters.A PKR source told MalaysiaNow that PH MPs had been instructed to force bloc voting for each of the 27 ministerial budgets to prevent an easy pass at the committee stage, debates for which began yesterday.“The backlash from supporters was unexpected, and there is a growing feeling that PH is increasingly being seen as a toothless opposition,” the party insider who has access to top leaders said.The move is largely seen as an attempt to redeem the image of the former ruling coalition, whose leaders were widely criticised for following opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim’s last-minute directive to stand down from rejecting the 2021 budget, preventing the budget vote from becoming a confidence motion.Yesterday, PH and other opposition MPs forced a bloc vote on the budget’s allocations for the Prime Minister’s Department and the finance ministry, but failed to get the numbers needed.“The backlash from supporters was unexpected.”It is believed that the opposition was denied the numbers due to the absence of Sabah’s Warisan MPs.Several key Umno critics of the Perikatan Nasional government such as former prime minister Najib Razak, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and veteran leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah were also absent.There are 27 sets of allocations for the various ministries to be debated in the coming days.The first two debates, held yesterday, saw the budgets for the Prime Minister’s Department and the finance ministry approved based on individual voting by MPs.In the two bloc votes, PH got 95 votes against the ruling bloc’s 105 and 107.The resolve to force bloc voting was vocalised by Amanah president Mohamad Sabu in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, when he declared that MPs were ready for the remaining 25 bloc votes.“It’s not a problem even if we lose 27-0,” he said.Mohamad, popularly known as Mat Sabu, was among those who sat out a call for a bloc vote at the crucial policy stage of the budget although several MPs from his party stood in support of it.Former leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad later hit out at opposition MPs who did not stand up, saying they had wasted their only opportunity to bring down the “backdoor government”, a phrase he uses frequently on Muhyiddin’s administration.Former Sabah PKR leader Musli Oli however doubts that the opposition’s strategy will redeem its image.“I do not see the opposition bloc as relevant in this situation. It is divided into several factions, between Mahathir and Anwar,” he told MalaysiaNow.He said it was clear that Anwar had had no choice but to cancel a plan to scuttle the budget following the adjustments announced by Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz during his winding-up speech.“It is also a sign that any bloc voting at the committee stage would be futile,” he added.“I do not see the opposition bloc as relevant in this situation.”Yet, Musli said the nature of PH’s supporters would make it impossible for them to switch loyalties.“PKR and DAP have hardcore supporters. Only a small number are swayed by current issues,” he said.“This is unlike the supporters of Amanah and Mahathir, most of whom are affected by current issues.”Musli added that Anwar still wields influence in PH, citing the fact that his last-minute directive had been obeyed.Malay politics observer Kamarul Zaman Yusoff agreed that the “27-0” strategy is to redeem PH’s image, but he too is convinced of its futility.“Maybe their image will be improved a little due to the fighting spirit shown, but at the same time it could also put a damper on the spirit of the supporters, who will now find out that the opposition does not have enough numbers to defeat the government,” he said.He said the strategy to force bloc voting could also backfire on the opposition and undo whatever goodwill PH had created with the public and the palace, which had warned MPs against rejecting the budget.


PKR undermining Shafie’s bloc through back-door cooperation with Usno?

The decision by a once-powerful Sabah political party to contest more than half of the 73 seats in the coming state polls has been seen by some observers as the result of tension between PKR and Warisan, allies which have been at loggerheads over seat allocations within the Pakatan Harapan (PH) bloc.They say the return of the United Sabah National Organisation (Usno), which was resurrected in 2013 decades after its dissolution in the 1990s when Umno opened shop in Sabah, can be linked to PKR’s unhappiness over the “ultimatum” from its dominant state partner Warisan to contest only seven state seats.PKR is the only PH partner which has refused to contest under the Warisan banner, unlike DAP and Amanah, the two other peninsula-based parties vying for seats under the so-called Warisan Plus coalition.Its leader Anwar Ibrahim had lobbied for 14 candidates from PKR but failed to convince his Warisan counterpart, Shafie Apdal.A source in Warisan who spoke to MalaysiaNow said Shafie’s outright refusal was no surprise, and that the Sabah strongman had long believed that Anwar had no influence in the state.“In the last election, PKR only won two out of the eight seats it contested. So this time, Shafie is challenging PKR to prove its clout by winning seven seats,” the source said on condition of anonymity.The two seats won by PKR in the 2018 polls were Api-Api and Inaman.In the upcoming election on Sept 26, it is trying its luck in five more: Tempasuk, Tamparuli, Matunggong, Klias and Sook.The enmity between Anwar and Shafie, the latter of whom is seen as close to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, is no secret.Their relationship dipped further when Mahathir said he preferred Shafie as PH’s candidate for prime minister, a proposal mooted by DAP and backed by Amanah.A victory for the Warisan Plus coalition would boost Shafie’s image – a clear threat to Anwar at the federal level.Usno big gunsDespite being relegated to the backwaters of Sabah’s politics, Usno has brought forward prominent personalities to represent the party, including its leader Pandikar Amin Mulia, who was Dewan Rakyat speaker during the Najib Razak administration.Others include former Sabah Customs director Hamzah Sundang, former deputy chief of the state Special Branch Ahmad Kenajaan, former Sarawak cultural director Laliman Kemad @ Haji Ahmad, and former senior state attorney Mohd Salleh Lamsin.Usno was originally an ethnic Suluk-Bajau-based party. In its heyday, it governed Sabah under Mustapha Harun and Mohammad Said Keruak, icons who shaped Sabah’s politics in the 1960s and 1970s.Its decline followed the rise of PBS in the 1990s under Joseph Pairin Kitingan.It was dissolved in 1996, not long after Mustapha engineered Umno’s new chapter in Sabah. It made a comeback in 2013 under Usno Baru.But stripped of its former political influence, its candidates in the coming election are seen as at risk of losing their deposits.A former Usno member, Johari Aklee, 60, claims the party is bent on splitting support for all major parties.“Usno has deliberately entered the ring in order to split the votes of Sabahans in general, specifically the Bumiputeras,” he told MalaysiaNow.When questioned on the matter in a press conference held by the Usno leadership on Sept 16, Pandikar was livid and flatly rejected the suggestion that his party was in cahoots with PKR to undermine Warisan Plus.“There is no cooperation with PKR. This question is as if we are working together with PKR,” he said.Pandikar also said he enjoyed good ties with all politicians.“Remember, I was the Dewan Rakyat speaker for 10 years. I was the boss of all 222 MPs, including the prime minister. If indeed we are working with PKR, why did we place our candidates in areas where PKR is contesting, such as Tempasuk?”Collision in 3 seats onlyInterestingly, PKR and Usno candidates will be clashing in only three seats: Tempasuk, Inanam and Klias.But a senior PKR leader played down the issue.“I call upon supporters of Usno to vote for PKR candidates in seats where their candidates are not contesting.“We are pleading for people’s support – every vote counts, and whether one is a party member or not, they are free to choose,” said secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution.The former minister also said Anwar and Pandikar were close friends on a personal level.“But in the context of the state election, we remain an important ally of Warisan Plus,” he said.When met, state PKR chairman Christina Liew said she had no knowledge of any alliance between her party’s leadership and Usno.“My focus is on winning, and I’m only interested in my own seat,” the Api-Api candidate said.


Canada to mandate Covid jabs for govt workers

The Canadian government announced Friday that it will require all federal workers to get vaccinated against Covid-19, amid a surge in virus cases due to the Delta variant.“We know that vaccines are the best way to end this pandemic,” said Dominic LeBlanc, a government minister in charge of Canada’s federal bureaucracy.“We expect federal public servants to want to comply with this mandatory requirement,” he added.A deadline for inoculations for some 300,000 public servants will be announced in the coming weeks.LeBlanc said the vaccine mandate is “aimed at helping Canada reach a minimum level of coverage needed to fully reopen the economy, and keep it open as well as to protect thousands of workers”.As of Friday, 71% of Canada’s 38 million population has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, while nearly 62% were fully vaccinated.The announcement comes less than a month before the reopening of Canada’s borders to vaccinated foreign travellers, scheduled for Sept 7, a year and a half after their closure due to the pandemic.


Taliban capture first provincial capital in latest offensive

The Taliban on Friday captured their first provincial capital since launching an offensive to coincide with the departure of foreign troops, a major blow to an Afghan government desperately trying to push back the insurgents.“Zaranj, provincial capital of Nimroz, has fallen to the Taliban,” Roh Gul Khairzad, the deputy governor of Nimroz, told AFP.She said the city – in southwest Afghanistan near the Iranian border – had been taken “without a fight”, and social media showed clips of insurgents roaming the streets, being cheered by residents.The veracity of the videos could not immediately be confirmed.The fall of Zaranj came the same day as the head of the Afghan government’s media information department was shot dead in Kabul in an attack claimed by the Taliban.The insurgents warned this week they would target senior administration figures in retaliation for increased air strikes.As the UN Security Council met in New York to discuss the conflict, Deborah Lyons, head of the world body’s Afghan aid operation, painted a grim picture of the country’s deteriorating situation.“The Security Council must issue an unambiguous statement that attacks against cities must stop now,” Lyons said via video-link from Kabul.‘Cowardly act’In the Afghan capital, officials expressed shock at the assassination of Dawa Khan Menapal, one of the government’s leading voices.“Unfortunately, the savage terrorists have committed a cowardly act once again and martyred a patriotic Afghan,” said interior ministry spokesman Mirwais Stanikzai.Menapal was popular in Kabul’s tight-knit media community, and known for pillorying the Taliban on social media – even jokingly at times.Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Menapal “was killed in a special attack carried out by mujahideen”.The US condemned the killing, with White House spokesman Jen Psaki saying the insurgents “do not have to stay on this trajectory”.“They can choose to devote the same energy to the peace process as they are to their military campaign. We strongly urge them to do so.”Psaki added that President Joe Biden continued to believe it was right to pull US troops out after 20 years of war.The militants had warned Wednesday of more attacks targeting Afghan government leaders.The day before, defence minister Bismillah Mohammadi escaped an assassination attempt in a bomb-and-gun attack.The Afghan and US militaries have stepped up air strikes, and the Taliban said the attack on Mohammadi was their response.Fighting in Afghanistan’s long-running conflict has intensified since May, when foreign forces began the final stage of a withdrawal due to be completed later this month.The Taliban already control large portions of the countryside, and are now challenging government forces in provincial capitals including Herat, near the western border with Iran, and Laskhar Gah and Kandahar in the south.‘Nothing left’Government forces continue to hit Taliban positions with air strikes and commando raids, and the defence ministry boasted Friday of eliminating more than 400 insurgents in the past 24 hours.Both sides frequently exaggerate battlefield casualty figures, making independent verification virtually impossible.But even as Afghan officials claimed to be hitting the Taliban hard, security forces have yet to flush out the militants from cities they have already entered – with hundreds of thousands of civilians forced to flee in recent weeks.Social media was also filled with videos of the devastating toll the fighting has taken in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, with images showing a market area in flames.Aid group Action Against Hunger said its offices had been hit by an “aerial bomb” in the city earlier this week, according to a statement released by the organisation on Friday.“The building was marked from the street and roof as an NGO organisation, and the office location has been communicated often to the parties involved in the conflict,” said the group, adding that no staff had been harmed.In the key city of Herat, a steady stream of people were leaving their homes in anticipation of a government assault on positions recently won by the Taliban.“We completely evacuated,” resident Ahmad Zia told AFP. “We have nothing left and we do not know where to go.”


New Covid cases down 9.9%

The number of new Covid infections dropped by 9.9% to 5,801 cases in the 21st epidemiological week (ME 21/2023) from May 21 to 27, compared to 6,439 cases in the previous week.
Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said admissions of Covid-19 patients, including suspected cases, to health facilities also declined from 5.8 to 5.3 per 100,000 population during the week.
In a statement today, she said the utilisation rates of ICU and non-critical beds decreased by 4% respectively.
"In ME 21/2023, a total of 113 new variants were reported, which comprised 87 cases of Variant of Concern (VOC) and 26 Variant of Interest (VOI), all of them were Omicron variants," she said.
She also said that, to date, the cumulative number of cases of XBB.1.16 (Arcturus) and sublineages were 50 cases, all of which were local cases.
Meanwhile, as of May 27, only 50% or 16,335,353 Malaysians had received the first booster dose, while only 2.5% or 823,317 people had received the second booster shot. "The risk of hospitalisation and the severity of symptoms can be reduced by taking a booster dose. Until now, the Covid-19 situation in Malaysia is still under control, and health services in hospitals have not been affected," she said.
Regarding the hot weather situation in Malaysia, Zaliha said no new death cases due to heat stroke were reported in ME 21/2023.
A total of 34 cases of heat-related illness were recorded from ME 16/2023 to ME 21/2023, involving 20 cases of heat exhaustion, nine cases of heat cramps, and five cases of heat stroke.
She said 21 cases involved adults, teenagers (eight), children (three) and senior citizens (two), adding that all other cases are stable and have been discharged.
Zaliha advises the public to limit outdoor and extreme physical activities and to drink water regularly.
"If you experience symptoms of heat-related illness, seek immediate treatment at a nearby health facility," she said.


PKR youth leader slams DAP rep for telling Anwar to step down after Melaka defeat

PKR’s youth wing today hit out at a DAP assemblyman who had called for its president Anwar Ibrahim to step down as Pakatan Harapan (PH) chief following the coalition’s defeat in the Melaka state election, saying Anwar alone cannot be held responsible for the outcome of the polls.Bilut rep Lee Chin Chen had said in a Facebook post that PH should select a new leader, adding that the coalition should explore other options and reach a new consensus.In the post which he appeared to have later deleted, he said if there was no hope of PH “resetting”, the DAP leadership should consider leaving the coalition and seeking cooperation with others.PKR Youth vice-chief Thiban Subramaniam said it was unreasonable for anyone to point fingers at Anwar, saying many factors were to blame for PH’s defeat in Melaka.“The PH leadership including Anwar is ready to receive all criticism and views. But it would be extremely unfair if Anwar alone were blamed for PH’s loss,” he said.In a statement, he said Lee should allow space and time for the PH leadership to conduct a post-mortem to determine the factors leading to the coalition’s defeat in the election which saw Barisan Nasional reinstated as the Melaka government.“Lee must realise that every decision related to the Melaka election was made through consensus at the presidential council,” he added.“It was not up to Anwar alone. In fact, he was forced to accept several issues to which he disagreed due to calls by DAP and Amanah even though these were against the people’s wishes.”Asking if Lee had likewise called for DAP and Amanah leaders Lim Guan Eng and Mohamad Sabu to step down, he challenged him to put forth the name of any individual capable of replacing Anwar as opposition leader.He also said Lee’s statement showed that the spirit of camaraderie in PH was on the decline.“After losing one state election, he immediately threatens to leave PH as if there was a plan in place to form a new coalition without PKR,” he said.“If that is what the DAP leadership wants, they are free to remove PKR from PH,” he added.Saying PKR had contested in Malay-majority seats in the interior instead of “comfortable” seats that were easy to win, he said no one from the party had blamed any of the other components for the defeat.BN returned to form the state government in Melaka after winning 21 of the 28 seats it contested. PH meanwhile won five seats and Perikatan Nasional, two.PKR lost in all of the 11 seats which it contested.


Pakistani police serve arrest warrants to former PM Imran Khan

Pakistani police on Sunday served arrest warrants to former prime minister Imran Khan to ensure his appearance in court on charges of misusing his office to sell state gifts, authorities said, after Khan's supporters tried to prevent police entry into his home.
The election commission of Pakistan had in October found the 70-year-old cricket-hero-turned politician guilty of unlawfully selling gifts from foreign dignitaries.
The Federal Investigation Agency then filed charges against him in an anti-graft court, which last week issued the arrest warrants after Khan failed to appear in court despite repeated summons.
Khan has been demanding a snap election since his ouster from office in a parliamentary vote early last year, a demand that was rejected by his successor Shehbaz Sharif, who has said the vote would be held as scheduled later this year.
He led countrywide protest campaigns to press for an early vote last year and was shot at and wounded at one of the rallies.
Referring to his absence from court and the shooting incident, Khan said on Sunday: "They (the police) know there is a threat against my life," adding that the courts did not provide adequate security.
Khan's aide Fawad Chaudhry said he couldn't be arrested because he had secured a protective bail from a high court.
Chaudhry said the government wanted to sow political chaos and avoid an early election by arresting the former premier, who was still popular among the country's youth and urban voters.
Islamabad police said in a statement that when Khan wasn't found at his residence in Lahore, they served the arrest warrants.
Khan is required to appear in court on March 7. If he fails to do so, police will be required to arrest him and present him to court, according to Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah.


We tried to gazette Convent Bukit Nanas as a national heritage site, minister says

Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Nancy Shukri today said the National Heritage Department had been trying to gazette Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Convent Bukit Nanas (CBN) as a heritage site since 2008 but could not due to protest by the school’s trustees.She said the department had, in May 2008, initiated the process of gathering information and related documents for the purpose of gazetting the school under the National Heritage Act 2005 (Act 645) after taking into consideration the historical and architectural significance of the school.However, she said the school’s trustees on July 12, 2010, submitted a notice of protest to the heritage commissioner through their lawyers, with a hearing session held on April 8, 2011.“On July 21, 2011, the heritage commissioner, after careful consideration and deliberation, decided not to proceed with gazetting the school as a heritage site under Act 465,” she said in a statement.The statement was issued in reply to questions raised by the public regarding the alleged lack of efforts taken by the government to gazette CBN as a heritage site under Act 645, considering its contributions to the national education system since 1899.Nancy said her ministry welcomed the school’s trustees to consider and nominate CBN for gazettement as a heritage site under Act 645 for the purpose of conserving, preserving and protecting its heritage.She said this would not affect its ownership, custody and administration.“The gazetting will not take away the land ownership as it will remain with the official owner as stated in the Official Search,” she said.The minister also called on all quarters to work together to preserve and protect the country’s heritage, both gazetted and ungazetted.Yesterday, the government agreed to extend the land lease for CBN by 60 years upon its expiry on Sept 6 this year, following an application from the school’s board of governors.


Russia must be punished for Ukraine war, says Blinken

Russia cannot be allowed to wage war with impunity, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday after meeting his counterparts from India, Japan and Australia in New Delhi.
The so-called Quad group, in a statement issued after the meeting, also said that the use, or threat of use, of nuclear weapons in Ukraine was "inadmissible".
Late last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended a landmark nuclear arms control treaty and threatened to resume nuclear tests.
"If we allow with impunity Russia to do what it's doing in Ukraine, then that’s a message to would-be aggressors everywhere that they may be able to get away with it too," Blinken told a forum in India which was also attended by the Quad ministers.
Blinken met with counterparts from the Quad group on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in New Delhi, where ministers had traded blame over the conflict.
A day earlier in New Delhi, Blinken met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for the first time since the conflict in Ukraine began just over a year ago. During the brief encounter, Blinken urged Moscow to end the war and reverse its suspension of the New Start nuclear treaty, a senior US official said.
The Russian foreign ministry said Lavrov and Blinken spoke for less than 10 minutes and did not engage in any negotiations, Russian news agencies reported.
At the G20, the US and its allies called on member countries to keep pressuring Russia to end the conflict, but the G20 was unable to agree a joint statement on the war due to opposition from Russia, which calls its actions a "special military operation", and China.
On Friday, European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell urged the global community to work together. "Everybody who is abstaining in several different regions, they have to understand that we are facing something that breaks the possibility of having a world consensus," he said.
In their statement, the Quad ministers also took a barely disguised swipe at China by denouncing actions that increase tensions in the South China Sea, and the "militarisation" of disputed territories in the area.
China has denounced the Quad as a Cold War construct and a clique "targeting other countries". The group's title is the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, focused on strategic issues in the Indo-Pacific region.


Israeli and US envoys meet Morocco king to advance ties

Israeli envoys arrived in Morocco on Tuesday to meet the king and further the upgrade of relations forged by the Trump White House.Led by National Security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, the Israeli delegation was accompanied by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, Reuters reports.They flew on El Al, the Israeli airline, aboard the first direct commercial flight from Tel Aviv to Rabat.Both countries anticipate a surge in tourism on such connections, mainly among the hundreds of thousands of Israelis of Moroccan descent.Morocco has followed the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan in moving toward normal relations with Israel.Palestinians have declared such moves as a betrayal of long-standing agreements that Israel should first meet their statehood demands.Israel’s new partners have enjoyed bilateral benefits with Washington in the form of promises of business opportunities and economic aid. In Rabat’s case, one reward is US recognition of its sovereignty over the Western Sahara.Moroccan and Israeli officials also signed accords on linking up aviation and financial systems, visa waivers and water management.Morocco’s Royal Palace said the agreement is a “major development in favour of regional peace and stability”, following talks between King Mohammed VI, Ben-Shabbat and Kushner.The Palace also reiterated its support of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and highlighted its “close ties” with Morocco’s Jewish community.“There are no limits for cooperation in aviation, innovation, health and agriculture. As friends and partners, we will make a change in the region,” said Ben-Shabbat, speaking in Moroccan Arabic as he invited King Mohammed to visit Israel.The resumption of ties with Israel has been welcomed by the major Moroccan political parties but rejected by far left and Islamist groups.Meanwhile, Tunisia is not interested in establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, its foreign ministry said on Tuesday, ending speculation that it would be the next Arab country to do so.“As Tunisia respects the sovereign positions of other countries, it affirms that its stance is principled, and changes in the international scene will never affect it,” a foreign ministry statement said.


Sorry.


'Go all out': China prepares for infection spread after Covid policy U-turn

China put a priority on protecting rural communities from Covid-19 on Friday as millions of city-dwellers planned holidays for the first time in years after Beijing abandoned its stringent system of lockdowns and travel curbs.
China's move last week to start aligning with a world that has largely opened up to live with the virus, followed historic protests against President Xi Jinping's signature 'zero-Covid' policies designed to stamp out Covid.
But the excitement that met this dramatic u-turn has quickly given way to concerns that China is unprepared for the wave of infections to come, even though officials have been trying to downplay the dangers posed by the less severe new Covid strain.
China reported 2,157 new symptomatic Covid-19 infections for Dec 15 compared with 2,000 a day. The official figures, however, have become less reliable as testing has dropped. It also stopped reporting asymptomatic figures on Wednesday.
There is particular concern about China's hinterland in the run up to China's Lunar New Year holiday starting on Jan 22.
Rural areas are likely to be inundated with travellers returning to their hometowns and villages, which have had little exposure to the virus during the three years since the pandemic erupted.
China's National Health Commission on Friday said it was ramping up vaccinations, especially for the elderly, and building stocks of ventilators, essential drugs, and test kits in rural areas.
Mainland China's international borders remain largely shut, but recent decisions to abandon testing prior to domestic travel and disable apps that tracked people's journey history have freed up people to move around the country.
Multiple cities including the capital Beijing and those in the southwest Sichuan, central Hunan and eastern Zhejiang and Anhui provinces have also opened new vaccination sites to encourage the public to take booster shots, the state-run Global Times newspaper reported.
"Go all out" was the message from China's state asset regulator in a statement late Thursday that urged government-owned drugmakers to ensure supplies of Covid-related medicines.
On the streets, there are increasing signs of chaos during China's change of tack - including long queues outside fever clinics, runs on medicines and panic buying across the country.
SF Express, one of China's largest courier services, said on its official WeChat account that it sent in workers from across the country to keep deliveries going in Beijing amid staff shortages and soaring demand.
It also said it had started a "fast track" for emergency shipments such as medicines and daily necessities, with demand in the capital 300% above normal levels in recent days.
The Covid scare in China also led people in Hong Kong, Macau and in some neighbourhoods in Australia to go in search for fever medicines and test kits for family and friends on the mainland.
'Transitional pain'
For all its efforts to quell the virus since it erupted in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019, China may now pay a price for shielding a population that lacks "herd immunity" and has low vaccination rates among the elderly, analysts said.
That has dented the prospects for any near-term rebound in growth, even if the opening up should eventually revive the world's second largest economy.
JP Morgan on Friday revised down its expectations for China's 2022 growth to 2.8%, which is well below China's official target of 5.5% and would mark one of China's worst performances in almost half a century.
China is bracing for "a transitional pain period", analysts at the bank said, adding they expected infections to spike in the months after the Lunar New Year holidays before the economy starts to recover in the middle of 2023.
Investors are also waiting to hear about government plans to revive the ailing economy.
President Xi, his ruling Politburo and senior government officials are holding their annual Central Economic Work Conference this week, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
State media, however, have been unusually silent about the meeting and Bloomberg reported earlier this week that the start of the conference had been delayed due to surging infections in Beijing.


Indonesian volcano erupts, sending ash nearly 5km into the sky

A rumbling volcano on Indonesia’s Sumatra island shot billowing columns of hot ash kilometres into the sky, and released lava and rocks down its slopes on Wednesday.The eruption of Mount Sinabung lasted for more than 12 minutes, a local geological agency said.Villages near the volcano had already been relocated following previous eruptions, and there were no casualties, said Armen Putra, an official at the Sinabung monitoring post.The AP reports that the 2,600m mountain has been rumbling since last year.Villagers were warned to stay away while authorities were closely monitoring sensors that picked up increasing activity in recent weeks.Indonesia’s Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said: “The eruption column is thick grey, over 4,500m high above the peak and inclined to the east and south.”“Hot clouds” have reached as far as 1,000m south-east of the peak, it added.An image shared by the agency showed billowing, dark smoke coming from the crater.The volcano, one of two currently erupting in Indonesia, remains at alert level three, the second-highest level, where it has been since May 2019.Mount Sinabung was dormant for 400 years, before erupting in 2010 and killing two people. It erupted again in 2013 and has remained highly active ever since.Sixteen people were killed in 2014, while another seven died in an eruption in 2016.The last eruption was in early May when ash fell on nearby villages.Villagers have been advised to stay 5km from the crater’s mouth.More than 30,000 people have been forced to leave their homes around the mountain in the past few years.Sinabung is one of more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, with the country sitting on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” – an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.


Relative of NZ children found dead in suitcases believed to be in South Korea, police say

A woman believed to be a family member of the two children whose remains were found in suitcases in New Zealand is in South Korea, Seoul police said on Monday.
The woman, a Korean-born New Zealander, arrived in South Korea in 2018 and had no record of departure since then, a police officer told Reuters.
Her whereabouts and whether she had other relatives with her when she arrived in South Korea were not immediately known.
"New Zealand police had requested confirmation whether the person who might be related to a crime case was in South Korea," the police officer said, adding that given her past address and age, she could be the mother of the kids.
New Zealand police launched a homicide inquiry in Auckland this month after the remains of the children were found by a family going through the contents of a storage locker they had purchased unseen.
The children were aged between 5 and 10 years and had been dead for some time, New Zealand police have said.
The family who found the bodies were not connected to the deaths.


Wan Saiful sends letter to MACC on legal issues over graft charges

Former Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan has sent a letter to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission over legal issues on the two corruption charges made against him.
His lawyer, Amer Hamzah Arshad, informed Sessions Court judge Rozina Ayob that the letter was sent via email on May 2.
"We want the prosecution to examine the issues raised in the letter,” he said during the case management today.
Deputy public prosecutor Siti Amirah Muhammad Ali told the court that the prosecution received the letter on May 3 and was considering the issues raised.
"The letter will be referred to the director of prosecution, and we will give feedback on the matter within 14 days from the date the letter is received," she said.
Siti Amirah also told the court that the prosecution had yet to get some documents on the case from the bank to be handed to the defence team and requested a date for another case management.
Rozina then set May 22 for the case management.
Meanwhile, Amer Hamzah, when met by reporters, said the charges made against his client did not comply with Sections 152, 153 and 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Wan Saiful, 47, was charged with soliciting a bribe from one Lian Tan Chuan as an inducement for him to help a company, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, secure the “Central Spine Road: Sertik to East Coast Expressway Interchange” project, worth RM232 million, from the Malaysian government.
Wan Saiful was also charged with receiving RM6,962,694.54, which was transferred from a Maybank Islamic Bhd account owned by Nepturis Sdn Bhd into a CIMB Bank Bhd account owned by his company, WSA Advisory Group Sdn Bhd, as a reward for helping the company obtained a letter of acceptance for the project.
He is alleged to have committed both offences at the Royal Lake Club, Taman Tasik Perdana here, in April 2022 and at CIMB Bank Bhd Bukit Tunku branch, Taman Tunku, Bukit Tunku here between July 8, 2022, and Sept 30, 2022.


Be on your guard, health experts tell youth as age of Covid-19 patients dips

Health experts are warning young Malaysians to strictly follow Covid-19 SOPs and to avoid going to crowded places, in the wake of news that more and more youth are contracting the virus which has so far claimed well over 1,700 lives in the country.Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said last Saturday that the highest number of Covid-19 infections this year involved young adults aged 20 to 39.Speaking at his first press conference in some two months, he said there were now more young people in the ICU, with cases of higher severity and stronger resistance to treatment.He also revealed that Covid-19 variants from the UK, South Africa, Nigeria and India have been detected in the country.Experts who spoke to MalaysiaNow said it was too soon to say if the rising number of cases among young people was due to these variants, but they agreed on the need for those in this age bracket to take extra precautions.“We are seeing more and younger patients being admitted at more advanced stages.”Azrul Mohd Khalib, CEO of the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy, said there was insufficient data to determine a link between the variants and the rise in infections and deaths in the younger age group.But he said the current outbreak was “more severe and aggressive” than previous waves, and that the surge in cases was “remarkably different” from that of last year.He said ICUs in hospitals across the Klang Valley and in Kelantan, Sarawak, Johor and Penang are quickly filling up with patients at an advanced stage of the disease.“We are seeing more and younger patients being admitted at more advanced stages,” he said.“When we look at the 309 Covid-19 deaths from March 31 to May 4, about 21% came from those aged 25 to 54, exceeding 19% of total deaths reported in the age group of 55 to 64.”Dr Subramaniam Muniandy, president of the Malaysian Medical Association, agreed that the exact reason for the increase in cases involving young people remained unknown.However, he said lack of compliance with SOPs was “definitely a factor”.Young people aged 20 to 39 are considered the most active group in terms of social movement as many are working adults and college or university students.Many also spend time at malls, shopping complexes and restaurants where large gatherings are often found.Subramaniam pointed to the government’s Hotspot Identification for Dynamic Engagement or HIDE system, saying most of the places listed so far are places that attract crowds.Young people aged 20 to 39 are considered the most active group in terms of social movement.“Crowds are a main contributor to the spike in cases,” he added. “There are also many workplace clusters being reported daily. This, too, is contributing to the spike.”He urged the health ministry to confirm if any of the current cases are due to the newer variants of the virus which are feared to be more contagious.In the meantime, he advised young people to avoid non-essential travel and to remain at home to curb the spread of the virus.Azrul agreed that compliance with SOPs was needed to prevent infections. However, he said it was also impossible to keep people at home forever or even for long periods of time.“People need to work, earn a living, buy groceries, socialise and conduct business,” he said.“Keeping the most productive segments of society at home instead of participating in the economy is also harmful to the country, and will be detrimental to the development and rebuilding during this crisis and after it is over.”


‘Risk’ of dual citizenship for children of Malaysian men, too, rights group says

Rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) today hit out at the government for citing national security concerns in the debate over citizenship for children born abroad to Malaysian women with foreign spouses, calling as well for a constitutional amendment to provide such women with the same rights as men.LFL coordinator Zaid Malek said the primary consideration should be the rights of Malaysian women to have their children granted citizenship by operation of law.“This can be done by amending Part II of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution to substitute the word ‘father’ with ‘parent’.“Such an amendment would be consistent with the spirit of the constitution as Article 8(2) itself has already disallowed any discrimination based on gender,” he said in a statement.Under the Federal Constitution, children born overseas to Malaysian fathers are automatically granted citizenship.Those born to Malaysian mothers, meanwhile, need to apply for citizenship.Deputy Home Minister Ismail Mohamed Said had argued in the Dewan Rakyat that in other countries, children born overseas follow their father’s citizenship, and as such, there could be dual citizenship for children born abroad to Malaysian women with foreign husbands.He also cited concerns over national security.But Zaid said it was “ridiculous” to suggest that “newborns could in any way threaten Malaysia’s security and sovereignty simply because they could be granted dual citizenship”.“If that is truly the case, the government must also bar Malaysian men with foreign spouses from granting citizenship to their children over the same ‘security concerns’,” he added.“The same ‘risk’ that there may be dual citizenship also exists in relation to children of Malaysian men with foreign spouses. Why discriminate against women?”


AGC objects to NGOs’ bid to challenge deportation of Myanmar refugees

The Attorney-General’s Chambers today raised an objection to the application for judicial review by two NGOs to challenge the government’s decision to repatriate 1,200 Myanmar refugees to their country of origin.Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly said he informed the court that the objection was made on grounds that Section 59A of the Immigration Act 1959 stipulates that there shall be no judicial review of any act or decision except in regards to non-compliance with any procedural requirement of the law.“The applicants (NGOs) are also not the parties affected by the decision of the respondent (the Malaysian government) to send the Myanmar nationals back to their country of origin,” he said when contacted by reporters.Today’s online proceedings were set for the hearing of the application for judicial review before High Court judge Mariana Yahya, who was also joined by senior federal counsels S Narkunavathy and Mohd Sabri Othman. The lawyers representing the applicants meanwhile were Ambiga Sreenevasan and Gurdial Singh.Hanir said the interim stay order, granted by the court to halt the deportation yesterday, had been extended pending the decision on March 9.Yesterday, Mariana allowed the application by the two NGOs for an interim stay to stop the government from repatriating the Myanmar nationals to their country of origin.The two NGOs, Asylum Access Bhd and Aimal Sdn Bhd, in the application on Monday named the Malaysian government, the immigration director-general and the home ministry as respondents.The applicants said there were concerns that the group could be at risk if they were returned to military-ruled Myanmar.In a statement yesterday, immigration director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said a total of 1,086 illegal immigrants detained at immigration depots nationwide since last year had been deported from the navy base in Lumut.The repatriation programme was implemented by his department in collaboration with the armed forces, especially the navy, the National Task Force and the Myanmar embassy.


Over 76% of adults fully vaccinated

A total of 76.2% of the country’s adult population or 17,833,355 individuals had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of yesterday, according to the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee.Meanwhile 92.5% of the adult population or 21,719,553 individuals have received at least one dose of vaccine, including recipients of the single-dose CanSino jab.In terms of total population, 54.6% have been completely vaccinated while 66.5% have received at least one dose.A total of 39,234,306 vaccine doses had been dispensed as of yesterday, both single and double-dose vaccines.A total of 248,410 vaccine doses were administered under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme yesterday.


Doctors jailed for illegally harvesting organs in China

Six people, including several doctors, have been jailed in China for illegally harvesting organs from patients who died in hospital.According to local media, the trafficking ring included high-ranking doctors who worked in hospital organ procurement, the BBC reports.The group would target car crash victims or patients who died from strokes at the Huaiyuan County People’s Hospital in Anhui province in eastern China.The hospital’s intensive care unit director, Dr Yang Suxun, would approach family members and ask if they would consent to donating their loved one’s organs to official organ banks.The family members would sign consent forms and the body would then be wheeled out of the hospital in the middle of the night and put into a van made to look like an ambulance where doctors would remove the organs, according to local media reports.The organs would then be sold to private individuals or other hospitals.They were eventually unmasked when the son of one of the victims grew suspicious.Several months after his mother’s death in 2018, he rechecked the documents his family had signed when they agreed to donate her organs. He found several discrepancies and then discovered there were no records of his mother’s donation with provincial authorities or the China Organ Donation Administrative Centre in Beijing.When he asked Yang about this, he was offered a large sum of money to say nothing, he told local news outlet Dazhongwang. “That’s when I was sure that something very strange was going on,” he said. He promptly alerted the authorities.The six men in the organ trafficking ring were sentenced in July for “deliberately destroying corpses” and harvesting organs without authorisation. The case has only come to light now after the son spoke to local media.Until 2015, China harvested the organs of executed prisoners to help meet demand, a practice criticised worldwide.The country now relies on public donations to its national organ bank but donor rates in China are much lower than in other parts of the world so it struggles to keep pace with demand.


As cost of living goes up, Felda settlers say welfare spiralling down

The recent rise in cost of living coupled with low returns from uncertain harvests in the oil palm and rubber sectors over the past few years have upped the pressure on Felda settlers, the majority of whom live in rural areas far from city centres.
Those who spoke to MalaysiaNow also voiced disappointment at what they described as a deterioration of their relationship with the Felda management.
For them, their experience of late has been that of a community pushed to the margins.
Arifin Husin, the former village chief at Felda Palong Dua in Gemas, Negeri Sembilan, said the initiatives and assistance offered to the settlers appeared to have diminished, while efforts to maintain their facilities have been on the decline.
On top of that, the settlers are still smarting from the recent decision to increase the allowance of the Felda Global Ventures (FGV) chairman.
“Before this, whenever we had problems, Felda would always offer us assistance in the form of initiatives and so on,” Arifin said.
Now, though, even the Hari Raya aid which used to see each household receive RM1,000 is far less than it used to be.

An uncertain water supply is just one of the problems that the Felda settlers must deal with.

And for the past two or three years, he said, there have been zero efforts by Felda to meet with the settlers for an exchange of views or to offer an explanation of the drop in assistance.
Arifin said not many might realise that Felda settlers were having a tough time since palm oil prices had been doing well.
As for those who work on rubber plantations, he added, the situation has been even harder.
“There are two groups of Felda settlers — those who work on palm oil plantations and those who are rubber tappers.
“It’s the rubber tappers who are facing the most significant problems. The workforce is shrinking, harvests are not as good anymore, and the prices are going down,” he said.
At Felda Palong Dua itself, another big problem for the settlers is the water supply, especially during festive seasons when their relatives return to the area to celebrate.
It is understood that the trouble with their water supply began a few years ago. At that point, though, the settlers were promised that it would be taken care of through the construction of two giant water tanks.

A motorcyclist rides past a temporary water tank used to supply the residents with clean water.

According to Abdul Rahman Ahmad, the chairman of the federal village development and security committee for Felda Palong Dua, construction of the tanks began in 2019 and was supposed to end after two years.
But due to the movement control orders implemented during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the project was suspended and remains in limbo until today.
It is their unhappiness with problems such as this that has fuelled their discontent with the recent increase in allowance for the FGV chairman and board members.
On June 24, FGV passed 13 resolutions at its annual general meeting (AGM) which saw the allowance of its non-executive chairman increased from RM300,000 to RM480,000 per year.
This is equivalent to a boost of RM15,000 a month — a move that will continue until the next AGM.
Meanwhile, the remuneration of the non-executive director was raised from RM120,000 to RM150,000 a year — an increase of RM2,500 per month.
This was met with anger from the settlers who urged FGV — an entity owned by Felda by virtue of an 80% stake — to reconsider the decision.
Arifin and Rahman said the settlers were not completely against the increase, only that they believed it had come at an inappropriate time.

One of two unfinished water tanks waits to be completed in Felda Palong Dua.

They said Malaysians in general, especially the Felda settlers, were facing pressure due to the rising cost of living.
When FGV announced the decision to raise the allowances of the executives, they said, it had come across as a self-centred move.
Felda had on June 24 defended its decision, saying the board of directors had gone a long time without a review of their allowance.
The move was also linked to FGV’s positive performance which had brought in after-tax profits of RM1.175 billion.
“The price of palm oil doesn’t go up every day,” Arifin said. “But when the allowances go up, there is no way they will ever come back down.
“We have been affected not because of the drop in palm oil prices but because the cost of goods is going up. Chicken, cooking oil, flour — everything is more expensive now. What are we supposed to eat?”
He said Felda settlers were not interested in riches but only wanted an improvement in their quality of life. If they were given this, he said, Felda and FGV could do as they pleased in terms of allowances.
“Where else do we have to go?” he added. “This is our home.
“Don’t just think about profits. Think about the settlers — their harvests come from us.”
MalaysiaNow has contacted Felda and is awaiting a response.


PAC wants defence ministry's land swap report declassified

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has indicated that it wants the defence ministry's (Mindef) land swap project report to be declassified.
Its chairman Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said this was because two reports presented previously by the Government Governance, Procurement and Finance Investigation Committee (JKSTUPKK) together with the land swap report to the PAC during the 14th parliamentary session were declassified before the committee was dissolved.
Two more reports presented at that time were the Automated Enforcement System (AES) report on Nov 16, 2020, the Procurement of Six Second Generation Patrol Vessels (SGPV) report on Dec 1, 2020, while the land swap report was presented twice, first on April 2, 2019, and then again on Nov 16, 2020.
"Two out of three reports were declassified by the Prime Minister's Department, namely the AES report on July 8, 2022, and the procurement report on August 17, 2022.
"The land swap report has yet to be declassified and as the JKSTUPKK has been dissolved, I have written to Minister in Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said to declassify the report," she said, adding that it would enable the PAC to review the matter again.


Full MCO won’t be enough to bring down Covid numbers, health experts say

Health experts have cautioned that imposing a full-scale lockdown similar to the first movement control order (MCO) enforced across the country in March last year might have only limited effect in bringing down the number of infections, as Malaysia marks two consecutive days of more than 6,000 new cases nationwide.Dr Sanjay Rampal, an epidemiologist and public health expert at Universiti Malaya, said last year’s MCO had worked as the country was then facing the beginning of the pandemic, at a time of fewer daily cases.MCO 1.0, as it is now called, was imposed on March 18 last year. On March 18 itself, Malaysia recorded 117 new cases with a seven-day average of 92. When the MCO was lifted on June 10, only two new cases were recorded nationwide with a seven-day average of 53.Yesterday, a record 6,806 new cases were recorded. This came hard on the heels of 6,075 cases the day before, with a seven-day average of 4,611.Sanjay said it was possible that the country would continue to see an increase in cases, partly due to public movements during the recent festive season.However, he said a strict lockdown would not be a long-term solution, suggesting instead a mitigation approach which would include increasing capacity for contact tracing, focusing on mass testing and boosting healthcare resources for Covid-19 complications such as ICUs and ventilators.“A strict lockdown will not be a long-term solution.”He said such an approach was akin to preparing for a long haul against the virus as more large outbreaks are to be expected.“It is unlikely that we will reach herd immunity against Covid-19 within the next few years,” he said.“The virus is very easily transmitted and the high global incidence makes it likely for new strains to appear.”He also cautioned against playing the blame game although noting that much had been reported about issues with SOP compliance.“The likely reasons for the current large outbreaks are the high proportion of unvaccinated population and overwhelmed contact tracing, outbreak investigation and testing systems.”On Wednesday, the health ministry said there were no more green zones left in the peninsula while Penang, Selangor, Melaka, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya had only red zones.Sabah had eight green zones while Sarawak had five.“We cannot depend on the MCO alone, even if we were to do a total lockdown like MCO 1.0.”An area is considered a green zone if it has zero recorded Covid-19 cases. Yellow zones have 1-20 cases, orange 21-40 and red 41 and above.Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaiman from the International Medical University agreed that an MCO alone would not be enough to bring down the numbers.“The government seems to be focusing only on MCO and expecting the public to strictly observe SOPs so that transmission can be controlled and cases come down, which is certainly not enough,” he told MalaysiaNow.“Unless those who carry the virus are quickly identified and quarantined, it will be difficult to break the chain of transmission.”He suggested providing easier access to testing for those with symptoms through the subsidy of RTK-Antigen test kits which he said should be made available at healthcare facilities in major cities.He also called for an increase in number of frontliners to improve the efficiency in case investigation and detection, and enforcement of quarantine and SOPs, especially in red zone areas.Likewise, he said, the government should modify the national vaccination programme to allow a focus on immunising those in Covid-19 hotspots.“If the majority of Covid cases come from those areas, immunising the population there will dramatically reduce the risk of transmission as well as the number of cases, and also reduce the risk of exporting the virus to other areas through cross-border movement.“After all, most cases are among young adults between 18 and 40 years old who are the most socio-economically active. If we protect them after protecting the elderly, we will protect the others.”But he was adament that a full lockdown would not remedy the situation.“We cannot depend on the MCO alone, even if we were to do a total lockdown like MCO 1.0.”


Over 10,000 no-shows for vaccine appointments in Kedah

A total of 10,827 individuals who registered as Covid-19 vaccine recipients in Kedah failed to turn up for their vacination appointments between April 19 and May 22.Kedah health director Dr Mohd Fikri Ujang said this was 35% of the 30,100 individuals who had registered and were given appointments through the MySejahtera application under the second phase of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.“The number involves individuals who were supposed to come and receive the injections at public vaccination centres (PPVs), health ministry clinic PPVs, private clinic PPVs and private hospital PPVs.“However, the vaccines were then administered to a waiting list that met the criteria of phase two, namely the elderly and those suffering from chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart problems and so on,” he said when contacted today.He said among the reasons given for the no-shows included worry and not being prepared to receive the vaccine jab. There were others who cited being unwell, undergoing quarantine, being out of the area and not having transport to go to the PPV, as well as those who wanted to make a last-minute change of appointment date.Fikri said in order to increase the attendance of registered recipients, the state health department had taken the approach of making announcements on social media sites to raise community awareness about the importance and benefits of vaccination.He said until May 24, a total of 579,526 or 37.6% of the 1,541,160 who were eligible to receive Covid-19 vaccine shots had registered in the state.“The number of those who had received the first dose as of May 24 was 91,349 (15.76%) of the total number who registered.”


Brazil sets daily record for Covid cases as third wave breaks

Brazil set a new record for Covid-19 infections on Wednesday, with 115,228 new cases identified within 24 hours, the health ministry said, confirming the arrival of a third wave of the pandemic.During the same period 2,392 new deaths were recorded, bringing the total to 507,109.Brazil is the second worst-hit in the world in absolute numbers of fatalities, behind the US which has suffered more than 600,000 deaths.The largest country in Latin America, with 212 million inhabitants, Brazil has a total of 18,169,881 confirmed Covid cases, according to official figures, which many specialists considered an underestimate.The number of daily infections has been rising steadily for more than a month and the average death rate has been around 2,000 per day since last week.“With this continual acceleration in the number of cases, we are already in the third wave,” said Carlos Lula, president of the National Council of Health Secretaries, which brings together health authorities from the countries various states, told the daily O Globo.


No more delays, Khairy’s appeal in Anwar defamation suit must proceed, says judge

The Court of Appeal today cautioned that there would be no further adjournment in Khairy Jamaluddin’s appeal hearing over having to pay RM150,000 in damages to Anwar Ibrahim in a defamation suit 13 years ago.Justice Lee Swee Seng who led a three-member bench said today’s delay had to be the last adjournment as it was a 2017 appeal.He said this after Khairy’s co-counsel requested for a postponement as lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah was unable to attend today’s proceedings after calling in sick.“No matter what, we have to proceed with the case. We are sympathetic with respect to health issues, but this is a 2017 case (appeal) and this case should be disposed of as soon as possible this year. The legal team should have prepared another lawyer to submit, in the event that the lead lawyer is indisposed.“The adjournment (today) shall be the final adjournment date, and no further adjournment date will be allowed. The case – come rain or shine, rain or flood, pandemic or no pandemic – will proceed,” said Lee who presided over the case via Zoom with justices Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera and Darryl Goon Siew Chye.Co-counsel for Khairy, Sarah Abishegam, informed the panel that she had received a call from Shafee this morning.“He (Shafee) said he is unable to conduct today’s proceedings as he has developed a fever due to pain from rheumatoid arthritis, and is also suffering from pain in his wrists and right shoulder.“Therefore, he is requesting that this case be adjourned. We apologise, Yang Arif. We will submit the medical certificate to the court,” she said.Lee also directed for the matter to be fixed for case management before the court registry to set a new hearing date for Khairy’s appeal, as Anwar’s counsel J Leela did not raise any objection to the adjournment application.Leela later told the media that the court fixed Nov 2 for the hearing of the appeal.Anwar, who is PKR president, sued Khairy, who was then youth and sports minister and Umno Youth vice-chief, on March 7, 2008, alleging that Khairy had uttered defamatory words about him during a ceramah at Lembah Pantai on Feb 20 the same year which led to the posting of a video clip titled “Anwar and kin no threat” on news portals.In September 2017, High Court judge Azizul Azmi Adnan allowed Anwar’s suit against Khairy and found Khairy liable for defamation, ordering him to pay RM150,000 in general damages to Anwar.Azizul also dismissed Khairy’s application to amend his statement of defence to say that his remark was a fair comment.Khairy subsequently filed an appeal against the High Court ruling but in February 2018, the Court of Appeal struck it out after allowing an application by Anwar’s counsel to annul the notice of appeal.On Dec 15 last year, the Federal Court allowed Khairy’s appeal for his case to be reheard on its full merits at the Court of Appeal, which was set for hearing today.


Fierce Argentina abortion debate to end in Senate vote

Argentina may be on the brink of legalising abortion over the objections of the all-powerful and influential Roman Catholic Church, with the Senate preparing to vote on a measure backed by the ruling party that has already passed in the lower house.If the ground-breaking bill passes, it will make Argentina the first big country in predominantly Catholic Latin America to allow abortion on demand.Analysts are predicting the debate will be fierce and the vote close, reports Reuters.“Adopting a law that legalises abortion in a Catholic country as big as Argentina will energise the struggle to ensure women’s rights in Latin America,” said Juan Pappier, a senior Americas researcher at Human Rights Watch.“Although there will certainly be resistance, I think it’s fair to predict that, as occurred when Argentina legalised same-sex marriage in 2010, this new law could have a domino effect in the region,” he said.Demonstrators both for and against the bill flooded in from around the country to stand watch in front of the Senate building in the capital Buenos Aires.“Argentina is a pro-life country,” one woman, who said she was from Cordoba province, told local television as she sat under a parasol protecting her from the Southern Hemisphere summer sun. She and others who knelt in prayer nearby said they opposed changing the law.Argentina’s Congress has rejected the change before, but this is the first time such a bill has been presented to lawmakers with support from the ruling government.Maria Angela Guerrero of the Campaign for Legal Abortion group, told reporters in front of the Senate she was “cautiously optimistic” the bill would pass this time.Advocates say the measure is needed to protect women who would otherwise risk their lives in unregulated, illegal abortions.The Catholic Church is calling on senators to reject the proposal, which would allow women to end pregnancies up to the 14th week. Argentina is the birthplace of Pope Francis, who tweeted just hours before the debate that “every outcast is a child of God”.He is supported by many Argentines.Pastor Jorge Gomez, head of the Christian Alliance of Evangelical Churches of Argentina joined his Catholic counterparts in protesting the measure.“I know there are unexpected pregnancies, and I respect the rights of women. But I don’t recognise abortion as a right,” Gomez told reporters.Argentine law now allows abortion only when there is a serious risk to the health of the mother or in cases of rape.The bill under consideration is accompanied by side legislation aimed at assisting women who want to continue their pregnancies but face severe economic or social difficulties.Legal abortion is rare in Latin America because of the long history of opposition by the Church. Across the region, abortions are available on demand only in Communist Cuba, comparatively tiny Uruguay, and some parts of Mexico.


Six killed, 30 wounded in gas cylinder explosion in Iraq's north

Six people were killed and 30 injured on Thursday when a large gas cylinder exploded in a residential area in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaimaniya, police and health officials said.
Civil defence firefighters managed to contain the fire, which damaged several houses and destroyed at least five vehicles, the police added.
Police officers said at least three houses were completely destroyed by the explosion of a cooking gas cylinder that was installed on the rooftop of one of the houses.
Firefighters are still searching for people missing from the collapsed houses, and health officials said the death toll might rise.


As China loosens Covid restrictions, protesters fear retribution

Late last month, Shanghai resident Pei was one of many people who came out in support of historic protests against China's Covid-19 curbs, including filming several seconds of footage of a man being arrested on a street corner.
Almost immediately, Pei said, five or six plainclothes police grabbed him. He was taken to a police station and held for 20 hours, at times with his arms and legs tied to a chair, he told Reuters.
"The policeman who shoved me into the car tried to intimidate me by saying I should be worried if other people find out what I did. Feeling defiant, I told him, I will let the world know what you police are doing," said Pei, 27. He asked to be identified only by part of his name for fear of repercussions.
Now, as many Chinese residents welcome a relaxation of lockdown measures that have crippled businesses and stoked unemployment, some protesters scooped up by China's security apparatus face an anxious wait about their fate.
While Pei and other protesters were released with a warning, some rights lawyers and academics note President Xi Jinping's hard line on dissent over the past decade, and say risks remain of further harassment and prosecution.
"'Squaring the accounts after the autumn harvests' is the Party's way of dealing with people who have betrayed it," said Lynette Ong, a University of Toronto professor, referring to the practice of delaying score settling until the time is ripe.
China's Ministry of Public Security did not respond to a request for comment on the laws they might use against protesters. The Shanghai police also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Pei's description of how he was arrested or on what further actions they might take.
Last week, in a statement that did not refer to the protests, the Communist Party's top body in charge of law enforcement agencies said China would crack down on "the infiltration and sabotage activities of hostile forces" and would not tolerate any "illegal and criminal acts that disrupt social order".
Asked about the protests, China's foreign ministry has said rights and freedoms must be exercised lawfully.
Fines and jail time?
Reuters was unable to establish how many protesters are still in police custody. Social media appeals for details on the whereabouts of a handful of missing protesters remain online.
The protests, widely seen as a tipping point to an easing in tight Covid restrictions, largely petered out in several cities after police mounted a heavy presence on streets.
The repercussions of protesting in China have grown in recent years under Xi's tenure, with the Ministry of Public Security introducing guidelines two years ago that have been used by local authorities to ban protesters from taking up jobs such as tour guides or insurance agents, and also make it harder for their family members to obtain government-related jobs.
Zhang Dongshuo, a Beijing-based lawyer who has handled rights cases in the past, said the levels of punishment for protesting in China vary widely.
Those deemed to be bystanders could be let off with a small fine and up to 15 days' detention, while physical altercations with police could lead to jail terms for disrupting public order or "picking quarrels" and provoking trouble.
Those who shouted slogans calling for the ouster of Xi or the Communist Party - as seen in a number of protests across China - potentially face heavier charges of inciting or engaging in subversion of the state, Zhang said, which in the most extreme cases carry punishment of up to life in prison.
Eiro, another Shanghai protester who was detained after trying to stop police from taking away a fellow protestor, said that during her interrogation, police particularly wanted to know if anyone had distributed blank A4 sheets of paper that were a defining symbol of these protests, as well as the identities of protest organisers.
"The police said there'll be no punishment for all of us this time, but may call us back after further investigation," she told Reuters on an encrypted messaging app.
Pei, Eiro and other protesters Reuters spoke to said they were asked by police to sign letters of repentance, with some of them asked to read the letters aloud while being filmed.
During Hong Kong's protracted anti-China, pro-democracy protests in 2019, thousands were arrested but only charged much later with offences such as rioting and subversion, and many are still in legal proceedings.
"I probably won't go (protesting) again in the short term," Eiro said. "Everyone was impulsive this time and had no experience. We hadn't prepared well and there wasn't any mature organisation and communication platform that could unite and organise everyone."
"Worth it"
During a meeting in Beijing last week with European Council President Charles Michel, Xi attributed the dissent in part on youths frustrated by the pandemic, according to one senior EU official.
Alfred Wu, assistant professor at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, said a harsher crackdown was only more likely if authorities believed the protests to be organised and political in nature, rather than leaderless and spontaneous.
"They just sprang up organically because people were driven by a sense of hopelessness and desperation about the never-ending Covid restrictions," Wu said.
For some, however, the desire for broader political freedoms remains undiminished even with the Covid relaxation measures.
"I don't think this is good news or a victory in our struggle because what we are asking for is liberty," said Eiro.
Despite the looming shadow of future reprisals by authorities, Pei said he had no regrets.
"It was worth it. It allowed me to personally see the Communist Party's control over our speech, and to see how the freedom of the people under its rule is deeply restricted."


Sorry.


'Half my soul is dead': PKR MP speaks his mind after Anwar 'trades principles for power' in Cabinet line-up

Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim has urged Anwar Ibrahim to stick to his principles, in the first public sign of friction among newly elected Pakatan Harapan (PH) MPs over the prime minister's failure to fulfil his pledge not to include scandal-tainted leaders in his Cabinet.
Hassan, in a poem, recalled how Anwar had constantly assured voters that he would not "trade principles for power".
Hassan said armed with the full conviction of this assurance, he had spread the message "to every corner of this beloved land", urging people to support the call of reformasi.
"Yesterday I could still hear, you said we would not trade principles for power, so I believed," he wrote.
"But today, I am surprised by completely foreign phrases. I hear people talking about Machiavellianism and realpolitik."
Hassan said his stand could be interpreted as "naive", adding that he had now awakened from a "bad dream".
He said he felt ashamed that he decided to lock away pamphlets and texts of speeches of the past quarter of a century, in which he had promoted the call for reformasi, referring to Anwar's political battle cry in his two-decade fight against the Umno-led government.
"Now I'm ashamed of myself, I am ashamed to say those sacred words again," he added.
"Half of my soul is dead, I feel defeat in a victory such as this that is bereft of integrity."
He also urged Anwar to be truthful and forthright both "inside and outside".
Last Friday, Anwar announced Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as his deputy prime minister, despite the Umno president facing 47 corruption charges involving millions of ringgit.
The appointment also came despite Anwar's repeated pledge during the general election campaign that his government would not include scandal-tainted politicians.
The move sparked public outrage, with some PH politicians forced to defend the decision to include Zahid as necessary in order for Anwar to stay in power.
Zahid, who is also the Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman, was instrumental in getting his coalition to support Anwar en bloc, despite strong objection from his MPs as well as senior Umno leaders to the move to ignore a resolution at the party's assembly last year against forging any alliance with Anwar or DAP.
Prior to the Cabinet announcement, Hassan was among several MPs including newly appointed minister Nik Nazmi Nik Amad who had cautioned Anwar against appointing those embroiled in ongoing court cases.
In a Facebook post last week, he said he had campaigned based on PH's main policy on the fight against corruption, and urged Anwar to "form a Cabinet that is clean from the symptoms of corruption and breach of trust"
"This criteria should be used fairly for all MPs, whether from PH or BN, or from any other coalition parties in the unity government."


Ecuadoran woman wakes up inside coffin at her own wake

An elderly Ecuadoran woman who woke up inside a coffin at her own wake is being treated at the same state hospital that declared her dead two days earlier, her son said on Sunday.
A video posted on Twitter shows Bella Montoya, 76, in her open coffin breathing heavily while two men assist her.
Her son, Gilbert Balberán, said "she was hitting the box" with her left hand after the five-hour wake.
Balberán had to arrange for the donation of a coffin for the impoverished family after the Martin Icaza public hospital, in the coastal town of Babahoyo, declared Montoya dead on Friday.
"They even gave us a death certificate," he said in a video broadcast by local media.
Ecuadoran media reported the unusual incident, with headlines celebrating the woman's "resurrection".
"My mom is on oxygen. Her heart is stable. The doctor pinched her hand and she reacted," Balberán said in an El Universo newspaper report.
"They tell me that this is good, because it means that she is reacting little by little."
Montoya was admitted to hospital with a suspected stroke "and went into cardiorespiratory arrest without responding to resuscitation maneuvers, so the doctor on duty confirmed her death," Ecuador's health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
The ministry said it had established a committee to investigate the incident and that it would supervise Montoya's care.
Balberán said he had visited his mother in the hospital's intensive care unit on Sunday.
"Little by little I am grasping what has happened. Now I only pray for my mother's health to improve. I want her alive and by my side," he said.


Only 2,400 GPs have applied to join vaccination programme, says Khairy

Only 2,467 general practitioners (GPs) have applied to be involved in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, says coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin.He said although there were about 7,000 GPs in the country, not all were able to participate in the vaccination programme as some did not meet the requirements or were not able to provide special refrigerators for the storage of Covid-19 vaccines.In a joint press conference on the development of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme with Health Minister Dr Adham Baba today, Khairy said of the 2,467 who applied, 1,482 had been given letters of appointment to administer Covid-19 vaccine shots.“We have to give them (the GPs) basic training for storage and for administering the vaccine, which is slightly different as it uses a special syringe. Training is required for the vaccination. The GPs may say that vaccinations are routine for them but this is the Covid-19 vaccination and it is different,” he said.“We want more GPs to join in, but we have to understand that not all GPs are presently ready with the cold storage for the vaccine,” he added.Meanwhile, Khairy said the state health departments and district health offices were given the freedom to implement any initiatives to increase vaccination rates, as well as to overcome the problem of absenteeism at vaccination centres (PPVs).Among the initiatives that can be implemented is moving vaccine mobile units to residences to provide injections to the community, as implemented by the Terengganu health department, he said.Asked whether a compound would be imposed on those who failed to attend their appointments at PPVs, Khairy said for now, he would continue with the approach of contacting individuals given an appointment and encouraging them to attend and receive the Covid-19 vaccine. He said imposing a compound would only be a last resort.He also advised the public to check their addresses when registering to receive the Covid-19 vaccine injection through the MySejahtera application, to avoid being given an appointment far from their place of residence.He said there had been cases of vaccine recipients being given appointments in other states due to a failure to check back after providing residential details.Adham meanwhile said the health ministry had received several reports on harmful effects of the Covid-19 vaccine, which would be evaluated by three committees: the Special Pharmacovigilance Committee for Covid-19 Vaccine Monitoring; the Medical Technical Committee; and the Special Financial Assistance Steering Committee for Covid-19 Vaccine Exigencies.“The decision on the claim of the National Vaccination Exigencies Fund will be announced in the near future,” he said.


New cases shoot past 4,000

Another 4,498 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 432,425.Selangor recorded 1,424 cases followed by Sarawak (750), Kuala Lumpur (436), Johor (327), Penang (313), Kelantan (297), Kedah (209), Negeri Sembilan (188), Sabah (153) and Perak (148).Terengganu recorded 87 cases, Pahang 78, Melaka 74, Putrajaya eight, Perlis four and Labuan two.Active cases stand at 34,789 with 372 in the ICU and 211 in need of respiratory assistance.Nineteen new clusters were detected:1. Persiaran Perpaduan USJ (Petaling, Klang, Kuala Selangor and Kuala Langat in Selangor; 137 screened, 43 positive)2. Jalan Nouvelle (Hulu Langat and Petaling in Selangor; 43 screened, 21 positive)3. Jalan Manjalara Idaman (Kepong in Kuala Lumpur; 20 screened, eight positive)4. Udang Harimau (Kepong in Kuala Lumpur; 14 screened, six positive)5. Jalan Besar Pasir Mas (Pasir Mas in Kelantan; 75 screened, 29 positive)6. Blok D Jalan Pending (Kuching, Bau, Sibu and Samarahan in Sarawak; 579 screened, 54 positive)7. Jalan Kempas Pagoh (Muar in Johor; 972 screened, 77 positive)8. Ladang LSP (Kinabatangan and Sandakan in Sabah; 129 screened, 20 positive)9. Jalan Perusahaan Empat (Kerian, Larut, Matang and Selama in Perak; 85 screened, 26 positive)10. Jalan Pkak Ayer Keroh (Melaka Tengah in Melaka; 243 screened, 10 positive)11. Pulau Ketam (Klang, Petaling and Sabak Bernam in Selangor; 154 screened, 22 positive)12. Penurin (Betong and Kuching in Sarawak; 185 screened, 23 positive)13. Kampung Kochang (Pasir Mas in Kelantan; 64 screened, 24 positive)14. Dah Lengkuas (Kota Setar in Kedah; 28 screened, 16 positive)15. Jalan Limbang (Miri in Sarawak; 108 screened, 18 positive)16. Beladin (Pusa in Sarawak; 435 screened, 46 positive)17. Dah Utama (Kuala Muda in Kedah; 35 screened, 28 positive)18. Jalan Pahlawan Empat (Johor Bahru and Kulai in Johor; 336 screened, 13 positive)19. Jalan Midah Besar (Cheras in Kuala Lumpur; 59 screened, 11 positive)Twelve others ended, leaving 425 active clusters across the country.Another 3,449 patients were discharged, bringing total recoveries to 396,004.However, 22 more deaths were reported, pushing the virus toll to 1,632.


Omicron BA.5 wave in Malaysia under control, says Khairy

The Covid-19 wave in Malaysia due to the transmission of the Omicron BA.5 subvariant is small and under control, say Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
He said while certain countries had reported a large Omicron BA.5 wave, Malaysia was facing a small but prolonged wave.
"As I said before, (the movement from) 2,000 to 5,000 cases took quite some time. There was no sudden increase… it rose slowly and maintained at a new level. So this is a new, long wave," he told reporters after the launch of the National Institute of Health (NIH) Complex in Shah Alam today.
Commenting on the under-reporting of cases on the MySejahtera application, Khairy said this was common in any country.
"The number of reported cases is less than the actual number of infections because the testing protocols have been relaxed. Before this, everyone did the RT-PCR test. Now, most of the tests reported are RTK-Antigen tests," he said.
Khairy said some people also self-test for Covid-19 but do not report the results on MySejahtera.
"In this case, we look at proxy indicators. We don’t look so much at the number of cases but their severity, the number of deaths and hospital admissions.
"As long as the rates are under control, we can manage this problem well because if we look at the number of cases, it will fluctuate, and there will be waves from time to time," he said.
He also advised the public to report Covid-19 infections on MySejahtera to help the health ministry monitor the situation and the number of cases in the community.