KOTA KINABALU: Low lying areas across Sabah's west coast and interior were flooded due to continuous heavy rainfall on Friday (Sept 3). At least 65 villages in southwestern Beaufort and Sipitang were flooded with 68 people from 60 houses evacuated so far, while Kota Kinabalu has gone on alert amid continuing flooding in low lying areas including the Kolombong industrial estate. There have been no reports of any casualties or damage in the areas hit by the floods. He urged people to move out of their areas if instructed by the authorities monitoring the flood situation. "Many areas in Sabah like Beaufort are flood-prone and people must take precautions," he added.

Some mainstream economists have been busy fanning the inflation hysteria that’s supposedly upon us now and a sign of things to come because of the sustained low interest rate environment. There’s a difference though between low interest rate like 1.5% and zero interest rate. Or even a negative interest rate policy (NIRP), which Sweden’s Riksbank experimented for a while off and on – as the first central bank to do so. Only Japan is lower at 0.4% (as of July), and this is despite decades of zero interest rate policy (ZIRP). The same mainstream economists are also now shifting their argument towards asset bubbles caused by a low interest rate environment.

PUTRAJAYA: Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has called for patience from the public before interstate travel can be allowed. Khairy said the ministry has drawn up standard operating procedures (SOP) for interstate travel, but it cannot be implemented as there are many states that are still behind in their vaccination programme. Khairy hinted that interstate travel could be allowed after all states have completed vaccinating at least 60% of their adult population. Currently, the country’s Covid-19 SOP still does not allow non-essential travel between states. At present, only the Klang Valley, Labuan, Sarawak, Negri Sembilan, Perlis and Melaka have fully vaccinated 60% of their adults.

BEIJING: The Chinese government’s campaign to improve conditions for workers has spurred companies, particularly some of its hardest-driving tech giants, to cut down on long hours of compulsory overtime but not all employees are happy about it. “My workload hasn’t actually changed,” a product manager at ByteDance told Reuters, declining to be identified given the sensitivity of the topic. It was also a guarantee of high pay as Chinese law stipulates that employees are entitled to double pay for working overtime on weekends and triple pay for public holidays. Other tech companies such as short-video platform Kuaishou and food-delivery giant Meituan have also cut compulsory weekend overtime recently. “Won’t this restrict their earnings?” said one user on China's Twitter-like Weibo, citing how these drivers are paid per order.

He’s also chairman of the Singapore Cruise Centre and the Asian Civilisations Museum, among numerous other posts, giving him a vantage point on dining and tourism amid the coronavirus pandemic. Inevitably, restaurants are going to have to make some big changes. The typical restaurant would have one and a half to two months of cash flow in their accounts. I’m chairman of the Singapore Cruise Centre so we control all the ferry ports here. Les Amis, Odette and all these places are doing really well.

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 2): The announcement of the reopening of the tourism sector at several destinations under the tourism bubble based on set conditions will enable the Tourism Recovery Plan to be implemented as soon as possible. Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said she was confident that the reopening of domestic tourism in stages will bring cheers to tourism players in the country. “Coincidentally, my Deputy Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Santhara Kumar and I were briefed by the Ministry’s top officials, led by secretary-general Datuk Dr Noor Zari Hamat about the Tourism Recovery Plan based on the 2020-2030 National Tourism Policy and the National Cultural Policy. “Therefore, the Ministry and I welcome this great news as it will enable the National Tourism Plan to be implemented immediately to help restart our country’s tourism industry,” she said in a Facebook post today. “If the pioneer project is successful, I believe it will boost the confidence of Malaysians to travel because seeing is believing,” she added.

DUBLIN (Reuters) -Facebook's WhatsApp was fined a record 225 million euro ($266 million) by the Irish data protection regulator on Thursday after the EU privacy watchdog pressured Ireland to raise the penalty for the company's privacy breaches. Still, the Irish fine is significantly less than the record $886.6 million euro fine meted out to Amazon by the Luxembourg privacy agency in July. Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems, who has taken on Facebook in several privacy cases, said the initial fine was 50 million euros. Ireland's Data Privacy Commissioner (DPC), the lead data privacy regulator for Facebook within the European Union, said the issues related to whether WhatsApp conformed in 2018 with EU data rules about transparency. It said a WhatsApp fine should take into account Facebook's turnover and that the company should be given three months instead of six months to comply.

Turnover on Bursa was 4.05 billion shares valued at RM2.76bil. On Bursa Malaysia, Genetec fell 94 sen to RM29.48, Malaysian Pacific Industries shed 92 sen to RM44.08 and Dutch Lady lost 38 sen to RM34.62. Top Glove fell six sen to RM3.86 and Hartalega lost four sen to RM7.08. South Korea’s Kospi index ended down 31.17 points, or 0.97%, at 3,175.85. China’s Shanghai Composite index ended 0.84% higher at 3,597.04 while CSI300 index ended almost flat at 4,869.41.

SAN FRANCISCO: US officials are preparing a new antitrust lawsuit against Google over its power in the online advertising market, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. Bloomberg cited an unnamed person familiar with the matter as saying the Justice Department could file the litigation by the end of the year. The Internet titan reiterated its position on Wednesday, saying it competes fairly in an online market where people have many options. House Judiciary Committee members approved six bills that take aim at the business practices of Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook. Any bills would need passage through both the House and Senate and the president’s signature.

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein welcomes feedback from all parties, especially the rakyat, to improve Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP). "I am ready to receive feedback from all parties regarding the SOP for our mutual benefit," he told a press conference at the Defence Ministry on Thursday (Sept 2). Hishammuddin said the public can forward their suggestions and feedback to him personally via various platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. "I am ready to receive constructive suggestions and criticism regarding the SOP. I also hope the SOP that will be announced by the government will be all-encompassing, long-term and easy to understand," he added.

BERLIN (Reuters) -All-you-can-watch video products offered by Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom in Germany violated regional rules on roaming and net neutrality, the European Union's highest court ruled on Thursday. Germany's BNetzA network regulator ordered https://www.reuters.com/article/us-deutsche-telekom-regulator-idUKKBN1E91VM Deutsche Telekom in 2018 to offer such products on the same terms throughout the EU, triggering a court battle. Zero-tariff options "are contrary to the regulation on open internet access," the European Court of Justice said in a two-page ruling made after two German courts hearing the cases against Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom https://www.reuters.com/article/deutsche-telekom-regulator-idCNL8N24G2WX sought its opinion. EU rules require mobile operators to allow customers to "roam like at home" and to pay the same tariffs regardless of where they are located. Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, BNetzA and the VZBV have yet to respond to the court decision.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) is ready to assist efforts to combat Covid-19 in five states with high infection rates, says Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein (pic). On Wednesday (Sept 1), Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the Health Ministry will be shifting its Covid-19 focus towards five states that have seen a rapid rise in infections. "I believe the assistance of the MAF will lessen the burden of the Health Ministry in such states," he added. The MAF is also ready to deploy its vaccination team in efforts to boost vaccination at the five states, especially in rural areas, Hishammuddin said. "The MAF is also ready to render assistance in other states including establishing drive through vaccination.

Tesla Inc. temporarily halted some operations at its factory in Shanghai last month, according to people familiar with the matter, as the global shortage of semiconductors hit the electric car pioneer in one of its most important markets. That caused output delays mainly for Tesla’s Model Y sports utility vehicle crossover, the person said. Representatives for Tesla in China didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. With semiconductors now used in vehicle’s computers to sensors, automakers globally have lost revenue as shortages affected their output. In China, Tesla shipped around 33,000 electric cars locally and to overseas markets in July.

MELAKA: A social activist with a Datuk title has landed in hot water for allegedly helping a foreigner to get her Covid-19 vaccination at a private clinic in Cheng here. He said the social activist was initially arrested after investigators suspected him of being part of a syndicate providing unauthorised vaccinations for foreigners in the state. Supt Sundra said the social activist told police he helped the foreigner, who works at a restaurant here, after she asked for help. "He (social activist) helped in good faith without realising that she had no valid documents as well as having a fake work permit in her possession. Supt Sundra said police also confiscated several items from the foreigner, including her smartphone.

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 2): The government has set the maximum ceiling prices for Covid-19 self-test kits, with the wholesale price fixed at RM16 a unit and a retail price of RM19.90 a unit, which will take effect from Sept 5. The pricing was made to ensure the self-test kits are affordable for businesses as well as the public, according to a joint statement today by the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi and Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. They said the demand for Covid-19 antigen rapid test kits (self-testing) is expected to increase as more of the public will conduct self-testing to curb the spread of the virus. “KPDNHEP has engaged with all local industry players and importers in determining a reasonable control price for all parties. Any trader who commits an offence will be prosecuted under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 and may be subject to penalties if they sell self-test kits that exceed the maximum price.