“If we were to open the country’s borders to foreign travellers, every development (related to Covid-19) in their countries of origin will be taken into consideration. “We will not arbitrarily open the borders,” Bernama quoted him as saying during question time at the Dewan Negara yesterday. Ismail Sabri said there were six factors to be considered before foreign travellers could be granted entry to Malaysia. “If the numbers are spiking in their countries, we will probably change our policy from allowing (entry) to not allowing entry. What’s important is to negotiate to enable Malaysians who received vaccines other than those allowed in the countries to be granted entry,” he said.

PETALING JAYA: Moody’s Investors Service has revised upwards its medium-term oil price range outlook to US$50 to US$70 (RM209 to RM292) per barrel to reflect its expectation of a continued increase in the cost of production in step with recovery in demand. “We are now returning to the medium-term price range we had before the coronavirus pandemic,” senior vice-president Elena Nadtotchi said in a statement yesterday. She said the credit rating agency also expected restricted supply to continue supporting strong momentum in oil prices. Nadtotchi said the upstream energy sector continued to invest well below pre-pandemic levels despite the sharp turnaround in oil and natural gas prices in 2021.

According to Socio-Economic Research Centre (SERC) executive director Lee Heng Guie, Malaysia’s potential gross domestic product (GDP) growth is only about 3% to 4%, and the country is likely to record a growth of just 4% this year. He expects Malaysia to see a cautious recovery in the second half of 2021, following an economic growth of 7.1% year-on-year (y-o-y) in the first six months of the year. “The uptick in unemployment rate to 4.8% in July also weighed on consumer sentiment,” he said. Based on available data, he noted that discretionary consumer spending was off to a weak start in Q3. Amid the soft consumer spending, Lee added that cash handouts, the Employees Provident Fund or EPF withdrawal schemes and loan moratorium have continued to provide temporary relief.

TURIN (Reuters) - Belgium coach Roberto Martinez believes the weight of responsibility his players felt in their quest for silverware was to blame for their second-half collapse against France in their Nations League semi-final on Thursday. “The second half was a question of emotion, feeling the responsibility of getting to the final,” Martinez told a news conference. “What you have to upload is the commitment and desire of wanting to be there. We all feel as a nation that we are all together hurting, but 12 months from now we have a major tournament. "It is a good moment for us to show resilience, that we want to grow even through this cruel experience.”(Reporting by Alasdair Mackenzie; Editing by Ken Ferris)

TOKYO (AFP): A 6.1-magnitude earthquake shook the Japanese capital Tokyo and surrounding areas on Thursday evening (Oct 7), but no tsunami warning was issued, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. Initial information from the JMA put the epicentre of the quake in Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, and said it struck at 10.41pm (1341 GMT) with a depth of 80km. The quake was comparatively strong compared to recent quakes in Tokyo, which like much of Japan regularly experiences seismic activity. Last week, a 6.1-magnitude quake struck off Japan's northwestern coast, also causing no damage. - AFPArticle type: metered User Type: anonymous web User Status: Campaign ID: 46 Cxense type: free User access status: 3Join our Telegram channel to get our Evening Alerts and breaking news highlights

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah's daily Covid-19 cases are expected to be in an “up and down” trend in coming days as it will depend on the compliance with protocols. Sabah Covid-19 spokesperson Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said this was expected when the virus is already within the community and sporadic infections are easier to happen. "The daily cases will therefore be influenced by the people's attitude and how the standard operating procedures (SOP) are observed," he said on Thursday (Oct 7). Sabah recorded 820 cases today, higher than 790 infections on Wednesday (Oct 6). He said the state would have to have its own rules for interstate travel, since the vaccination rate for the adult population is currently below 70%.

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 7): Covid-19 claims worth RM115.19 million have been approved for the recipients of the national insurance protection scheme for the lower income group (MySalam) since the beginning of the pandemic, said Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz. The MySalam National Health Protection Scheme is an insurance protection scheme targeting the below 40% income (B40) group through the MySalam Trust Fund. This scheme provides protection for eligible members of the B40 community worth RM8,000 for 36 critical illnesses. As of Sept 10, 2021, a total of 50,501 employees have successfully secured employment through the MySTEP programme. This amount includes Special Relief Facility (SRF), Automation and Digitalisation Facility (ADF), All-Economic Sector Facility (AES) and Agrofood Facility (AF) funds.

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 7): The Ministry of Human Resources (MoHR) through the Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) is supplying Covid-19 self-test kits to employers to facilitate the Covid-19 screening programme during the recovery phase. “Beginning on Wednesday, SOCSO has been distributing RTK Antigen test kits to employers to carry out the Covid-19 screening process for their employees. To date, SOCSO has received 230,000 applications from employers to obtain the test kits (RTK Antigen). “Both types of test kits will be distributed to employers based on the number of employees who actively contribute to SOCSO," he said in a statement on Thursday. Saravanan said the initiative is aimed at assisting employers in carrying out Covid-19 screening tests in an easier and faster manner.

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 7): Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is facing 47 charges of money laundering, criminal breach of trust (CBT), and corruption, today applied for a temporary return of his impounded passport to seek medical treatment in Munich, Germany. The pain intervention in Malaysia (is) not sufficient for Ahmad Zahid," he said. Hamidi, when met after the proceedings, said Ahmad Zahid applied for his passport to be released on Oct 26, to be returned on Nov 21. "We will make the same application (to obtain the passport) in the Shah Alam High Court this Monday," he said. Ahmad Zahid, 68, is facing 47 charges — 12 for CBT, eight for corruption, and 27 for money laundering — involving tens of millions of ringgit belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.

Since the First Malaysia Plan in 1966, a lot of attention has been on strengthening the country’s economic competitiveness. And so, as we think of Malaysia’s medium-term economic strategy, we should ask — what is our economic structure? Are we still in an outdated, yet entrenched, economic strategy based on low-cost labour as a competitive advantage, or are we innovating? At the heart of these questions is, ultimately, the economic competitiveness of not just Malaysia, but also companies in the country, where all economic activity is organised. In considering whether Malaysia can continue to increase its economic competitiveness, we need to therefore think about whether our firms can increase their own competitiveness.

(Reuters) - Tammy Abraham said his decision to swap Chelsea for Roma was sealed by a conversation with the Italian side's manager Jose Mourinho and that working with the Portuguese has already improved his tactical awareness. The Chelsea youth academy graduate left the Premier League team in August to join Roma on a five-year deal worth 40 million euros ($46.20 million) and has scored four goals in 10 games in all competitions. The 24-year-old said he had been leaning towards remaining in the English top flight but changed his mind after hearing Mourinho's plans for the team. I could see where he wanted Roma to go and I wanted to be part of the process," Abraham told The Times in an interview https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tammy-abraham-ive-shown-english-players-not-to-be-scared-of-moving-abroad-jose-mourinho-has-taught-me-so-much-7rgbxdl6g. Abraham's form has earned him a call-up to the England squad for World Cup qualifiers at Andorra on Saturday and Hungary at Wembley Stadium three days later.

Sri Ram: Their (past prime ministers') wives were not known as First Ladies of Malaysia? Rosmah said the setting up of the FLOM division when her husband was the prime minister was for administrative purposes, adding that the wives of previous prime ministers were allegedly not active in welfare and other projects like her. When asked by Sri Ram how she knew there were attacks against her, Rosmah said it was through her friends. Rosmah then got into an argument with Sri Ram, when she disagreed with the former senior judge's line of questioning that unlike previous prime ministers’ wives, she played a much more active role. Sri Ram: Madam witness, do you agree that it was your habit to ask someone to do it for you?

A day after damning testimony to US lawmakers from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, the long-established barriers to regulation – stalled legislation, free speech protections and tech's rapid advances – were still in place. "How are we going to make smart policy solutions if we don't have insight into what's going on (inside Facebook)?" Facebook is famously insular, with whistleblower Haugen describing the internal belief that "if information is shared with the public, it will just be misunderstood." But the coming forward of Haugen, who worked as a product manager at Facebook, could help further lift the lid off the company's secrets. For her part, Nora Benavidez, a Facebook accountability expert, said she saw in the hearing a catalyzing moment that was broader than the impact on children.

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): The government will not arbitrarily open the country’s borders to foreign travelers as permission for entry will depend on the Covid-19 situation in their country of origin, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. Right now, he said the government only allowed those who were fully vaccinated to enter the country, but the borders are still closed for tourists. "If we were to open the country’s borders to foreign travelers, every development (related to Covid-19) in their countries of origin will be taken into consideration. We will not arbitrarily open the borders,” he said during question time at the Dewan Negara sitting on Thursday (Oct 7). "If the numbers are spiking in their countries, we will probably change our policy from allowing (entry) to not allowing entry.

MANILA (Oct 7): Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo said on Thursday she will run for the presidency in a 2022 election. Vice presidents are elected separately from presidents in the Philippines and Robredo has been at loggerheads with Duterte on a range of issues. He had said he would run for vice president but announced on Saturday he would retire from politics. Under Duterte, Robredo served as a housing minister but quit after being excluded from cabinet meetings. After criticising what she called "senseless killings" in his war on drugs, Duterte appointed her "drugs tsar", but sacked her after 18 days.