AmInvestment Bank Research also noted that Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Brunei are moving towards a “living with Covid” strategy instead of a “zero Covid” strategy favoured previously. “For Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), it should translate into higher passenger volume,” it said. “The discount in our valuation reflects the recovery towards normalisation though not fully to the pre-pandemic level in the near term,” it said. It also expects brewers to benefit from a pick-up in tourism activities (top picks: Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd and Heineken Malaysia Bhd ) and favours retail players (top picks: Bonia Corp Bhd and 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd ). “Investors should seize on opportunities to re-weight into recovery plays at lower levels including looking out for ‘bombed-out’ stocks.

GEORGE TOWN: Having been away from his family for more than a year, Yean Tsen Lung is thrilled to be able to return to his hometown for a reunion. In Seremban, relationship manager Gan Shu Ting, 27, hoped to visit her sister in Penang. Checks at major highways and roads in and out of Penang yesterday found that traffic had increased. Penang Traffic and Public Order Department chief Supt Zafri Zolkapli said despite the slight increase in traffic around the state, the situation was under control. “Although we have removed all the roadblocks, enforcement will continue, especially in terms of ensuring that the people comply with the Covid-19 SOP,” he said.

Ismail Sabri said the matter would be the stand of the country, which would be tabled at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP 26 in Glasgow, Scotland, from Oct 31 to Nov 12. “For the first time, the country’s stand which would be tabled during UNFCCC COP 26 had been deliberated at the highest level in the country through the Malaysia Climate Change Action Council (MyCAC). He also said the government would be strengthening climate change governance in the country, among them through the creation of the National GHG Centre under Kasa. He said considering the climate change issue is across all sectors and is now linked to international trade, it is important for Kasa to lead the agenda. He also stressed that the climate change and green technology agenda is a national priority, and the commitment is contained in the third theme of the 12th Malaysia Plan to spur sustainability.

PETALING JAYA: If there are fans who think Malaysia can just power through minnows Canada 5-0 in their Thomas Cup Finals opener today, they better think again. The Pan-American champions will be out to steal a point in the first singles as their teen prodigy Brian Yang appears to be on a roll since the Tokyo Olympics. “Against Canada I think Brian Yang will be a challenge, he had good performances recently,” Zii Jia told the Badminton World Federation’s official website. “I’ve been trying to simulate that in the training sessions with the Canadian team here and I think it’s been good. “I’ve been keeping my fitness level up, without dropping, and it’s kind of the key to keep this form.”

(Clarifies sentence in seventh paragraph)ISTANBUL (Reuters) -President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Turkey was determined to eliminate threats originating in northern Syria, adding an attack by Kurdish YPG militants that killed two Turkish police was "the final straw." Two Turkish police were killed on Sunday in a guided missile attack in northern Syria's Azaz region, which Turkey said was launched by the YPG, according to the Interior Ministry. The attack was launched from the Tal Rifaat region, it said. "The latest attack on our police and the harassment that targets our soil are the final straw," Erdogan said. Ankara has launched two other cross-border operations in Syria against the YPG, one of which targeted the Afrin region.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's party swept an Iraqi election on Monday, coming first and increasing the number of seats he holds in parliament, according to initial results, officials and a spokesperson for the Sadrist Movement. A count based on initial results from several Iraqi provinces plus the capital Baghdad, verified by local government officials, suggested Sadr had won more than 70 of the 329 seats in parliament. A spokesperson for Sadr's office said the number was 73 seats. An official at Iraq's electoral commission said Sadr had come first but could not immediately confirm how many seats his party had won. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed and John Davison, Editing by William Maclean)

(Adds details on organiser in paragraph three)DOHA (Reuters) -Afghanistan's foreign minister appealed to the world for good relations on Monday but avoided making firm commitments on girls' education despite international demands to allow all Afghan children to go back to school. "The international community need to start cooperating with us," acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said at an event organized by Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. "With this we will be able to stop insecurity and at the same time with this we will be able to engage positively with the world." U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the Taliban had broken promises on guaranteeing rights for women and girls and there was no way the economy could be fixed if women were barred from work. (Reporting by Alexander Cornwell, Andrew Mills, James Mackenzie; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Giles Elgood)

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian nationalists ransacked a makeshift memorial to slain Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov in central Moscow early on Monday to protest against the start of a visit by a senior U.S. official, an act of vandalism condemned by opposition activists. Opposition activists began guarding a makeshift memorial on the bridge when municipal authorities turned down a request to put up a plaque there in his honour. It has become a gathering place for opposition activists who regularly lay flowers, light candles or visit the memorial to pay tribute. Some Western diplomats and officials also visit the memorial on the anniversary of Nemtsov's death or when in Moscow for talks with Russian officials. Everything is clean near the Kremlin," SERB said in its statement.

Siti Samirah Sundar Nandagopal, 40, a security guard at a private company, when met at the bus terminal said that she used the flexibility given by the government to return to see her family in Sitiawan, Perak. In Selangor, a similar situation was encountered at the bus terminal in Section 17, Shah Alam and Terminal A Klang Sentral, Klang. Centralised ticket sales manager (CTS) Mohd Muzammil Mohd Alias ​​when met expected bus ticket sales this week to be slow as people are still working. In Penang, a bus ticket counter employee in Butterworth, Rusliana Mohd Pirus said they had started accepting express bus ticket bookings and expects ticket sales to increase by up to 50% this weekend. In Johor, the Larkin Sentral Bus Terminal, which was previously the focus of travellers returning home, is expected to receive 3,000 express bus passengers a day by this weekend, following the interstate travel clearance starting on Monday.

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 11): Bangi member of Parliament (MP) Dr Ong Kian Ming has tested positive for Covid-19. In a series of tweets, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) representative shared the news upon getting his Covid-19 self-test result at 3.30pm on Monday. Took my Covid-19 self-test at 330. According to Ong, he tested negative for the virus in Parliament last Wednesday. At the time, Azhar confirmed that no one in Parliament grounds had tested positive for Covid-19 in the current session.

A social media post by Singaporean singer JJ Lin led to some friendly banter between him and some of his celebrity pals. On Saturday (Oct 9), the Taiwan-based singer, who is back in Singapore, posted a photo with his father. Now that I have grown up, I still play badminton with my dad on Friday." Malaysian badminton star Lee Chong Wei responded to Chen: "You beat me first before playing with @jjlin". Lin then suggested to Lee: "You teach me to play, while I teach you to sing?"

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 11): Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was the “boss” of his family-run charitable foundation and “what the boss wants, the boss gets”, the High Court heard on Monday. He decides who stays and who goes,” lead prosecutor Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran submitted in Zahid’s criminal breach of trust (CBT) trial. “During my time as director, Yayasan Akalbudi had never conducted an annual general meeting. “They were trustees but he (Zahid) was still the boss, and what the boss wants the boss gets,” she said. Raja Rozela contended that Zahid committed CBT because he was not legally entitled to use the Yayasan Akalbuudi funds for himself.

JOHOR BARU: The Johor government is committed towards making the Johor Sultan's suggestion for China to set up a consulate office here a reality. Dr Chong said in April 2018, Johor's Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar proposed a China mission to be set up in Johor to strengthen the relationship between the state and the republic. Sultan Ibrahim also said the consulate office could also provide value-added services to China nationals already working or doing business here. "In February this year, China Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing said that the China government is studying His Majesty's suggestion. "This suggestion is timely at this juncture as it would indirectly help the trade relations of Johor and China as well as benefit other sectors such as tourism and culture," he added

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 11): The Dewan Rakyat on Monday maintained its decision to disallow a motion to debate the leaked Pandora Papers claimed to contain also confidential financial files of several prominent figures of the country. Anwar on Monday once again questioned Azhar’s decision to reject the motion, saying it is important for the Pandora Papers to be debated in Parliament. Elaborating, Azhar said the Pandora Papers exposure did not touch on the hoarding or transfer of money to offshore companies but rather shareholdings in the companies. It is up to Yang Berhormat to refer the decision under Standing Order 43.”For more Parliament stories, click here. Read also:Anwar Ibrahim’s Pandora Papers debate proposal rejected in Parliament

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah continues to play catch-up to the rest of the country in vaccinating its adult population. Asked why urban areas like Sandakan and Tawau were unable to reach their targets, he said that there were several reasons. He also said that the state Health Department recently went to a settlement village in Sandakan with an estimated adult population of 5,000 under an outreach program. "They only vaccinated 152 people with Pfizer and another 98 with CanSino as most of the adult population had already been vaccinated," he added. In Sabah, 69.4% of the adult population has been fully vaccinated as at Oct 9.