(Sept 2): A European Union panel called on the bloc to strengthen ties with Taiwan, the latest show of support from an expanding united front of democracies against an increasingly assertive China. The European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday adopted a report that urged the EU to begin work on a bilateral investment agreement with Taiwan. It also suggested the bloc rename its trade office in Taipei the “European Union Office in Taiwan,” according to a June version of the document on the parliament’s website. On Wednesday, the Chinese Mission to the European Union said in a statement that the move seriously violated the one-China principle. The European representatives also expressed concern over Chinese military pressure on Taiwan in the report.

The interview was facilitated by the police and comes after figures they released on Monday showed that victims of Chinese officials impersonation scams had lost S$49.5mil (RM153.06mil) in the first six months of this year. He also received calls and text messages from multiple individuals claiming to be Chinese officials, sometimes five per day. The scammers also provided him with various excuses to use in asking his parents for money. But his parents grew suspicious with his repeated requests and told their son’s roommate to notify the police in Singapore. It includes Chinese officials impersonation scams.

PUTRAJAYA: The government has set a ceiling price of RM16 (wholesale) and RM19.90 (retail) for Covid-19 self-test kits. At present, there are 11 brands of Covid-19 self-test kits that have been approved by the ministry for public use. Those selling these self-test kits above the ceiling price can be penalised under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011. In The Star's report on Aug 25, consumer and health groups called on the government to make Covid-19 self-test kits more affordable. The groups, while lauding the government's efforts to encourage the public to self-test for Covid-19, said self-test kits should cost less.

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan is investigating an Amazon Web Services outage that caused disruptions at major online brokerages, a leading mobile phone carrier and the country's biggest airline, a government spokesperson said on Thursday. An Amazon spokesperson said that the six hour disruption in the Tokyo region was caused by the "loss of several core networking devices" and had "been resolved". Amazon declined to comment on how many customers were affected by the glitch, but monitoring website Downdetector showed no other outages, suggesting it was confined to Japan. SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities were among the online brokerages that reported delays in price data feeds and other system glitches. NTT Docomo, the mobile phone arm of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, said some of its services were also hit.

The US markets watchdog on Wednesday sued an online cryptocurrency lending company and its top executives over allegations of fraudulently raising US$2bil (RM8.32bil) in investments. The complaint says the defendants claimed the company's "proprietary 'volatility software trading bot'" would "generate exorbitantly high returns" on investors' money. But the SEC has charged that, in fact, investors' funds were siphoned off and transferred into digital wallets controlled by the defendants. Arcaro, the leading promoter of the lending program in the United States, has been accused of establishing the firm Future Money to "lure investors." The SEC filed a related civil suit in May against five other BitConnect promoters and has settled with two of the defendants.

In many cases, this is a situation that democracies commonly end up in; a hole that its internal dynamics spiral into over time. Malaysia before 2018 had been a country ruled by a coalition led by a hegemon party since 1957. Governments at the state level began falling as well, culminating with the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government in the East Malaysian state of Sabah. Divided and unrulyMalaysian history has shown that dividing in order to rule is an indomitable dogma to follow. To be sure, the country is far from ungovernable, Malaysian society being basically a peaceful one despite the divisive sermons of its leaders.

(The number of tests by state should increase until the positive rate is around 5%, as recommended by the WHO). To build public confidence that even if the # of cases increase in states with high vaccination rates e.g. Testing and positive rate by state over time To adjust the number of tests according to the positive rate and to increase the number of randomised testing areas when the positive rate is above 5%. To build public confidence that there is a proper system to quarantine and support those who are Covid-19 positive and that economic activity is safe to continue. Faster processing for MySejahtera Vaccination Certificates and for the Covid-19 recovery status (for individuals) To have up to date information on the vaccination rate in the country e.g.

MANILA (Sept 2): Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's daughter said late Wednesday that politicians, including her father's closest aide and preferred successor, have offered to run with her in next year's election. Sara Duterte-Carpio, mayor of the southern Davao City, is leading opinion polls but has yet to disclose her political plans ahead of the deadline to file for candidacy in October. Duterte-Carpio, 43, has been quoted in media as saying she was open to running for president. "Whether or not she has already decided on her plans of running, there really is clamour from many sectors," political analyst and professor Edmund Tayao told Reuters. Duterte has declared he will seek the vice presidency, if daughter Duterte-Carpio does not run for president.

TOKYO: Oil prices fell on Thursday after OPEC+ agreed to keep its policy of gradually returning supply to the market at a time when coronavirus cases around the world are surging and many U.S. refiners, a key source of crude demand, remained offline. Brent crude was down by 15 cents, or 0.2%, at $71.44 a barrel by 0650 GMT, after dropping 4 cents on Wednesday. U.S. oil fell 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $68.39 a barrel, after rising 9 cents in the previous session. In the U.S., oil refineries in Louisiana may take weeks to restart after Hurricane Ida swept through the region, with operators facing power and water shortages, which is likely to crimp demand for oil. Energy companies were scrambling to restart platforms and pipelines in the Gulf, with about 1.4 million bpd of oil production still offline, the U.S. offshore regulator said.

MIRI (Bernama): A man was burnt to death when the car he was driving burst into flames after crashing into a tree at Jalan Taman Awam on Wednesday (Sept 1). A statement issued by the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department’s operations centre, identified the victim as Tan Kaw Tee, 61. It said the department received a distress call on the crash at about 10.50pm and a a team of nine firemen from the Miri fire and rescue station rushed to the scene. On arrival the fire team found the car in flames and after dousing the fire, found a charred body, which was then handed over to the police for further action, it said.- Bernama

Digital banking eraAs with other countries in the Asia-Pacific, there has been promising progress on the digital banking front in the country, with Bank Negara set to issue up to five licences to conduct digital banking business or Islamic digital banking business by first-quarter (Q1) 2022, following the release of the digital banking framework on Dec 31, 2020. On the consumer end, when it comes to market readiness and digital maturity, Malaysians are more ready than ever to embrace digital banking. Interestingly, among the possible contenders for the Malaysian digital banking licence, aside from familiar names such as Axiata and Grab, is e-commerce platform Shopee’s parent company Sea. Dr Goy comments, “This indicates that the digital economy has a profound influence on societal well-being, from resource allocation to income distribution and growth. This digital push will be a win for the country’s digital economy,” he adds.

GEORGE TOWN: Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) participants hope the government will consider exempting them from having to meet stricter new conditions in the programme. This is good news,” said Hong Kong citizen Ginny So (pic), who spent 10 years in Penang before returning to Hong Kong last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Zeon Properties business development director Ronaldo Lim, who is involved in the MM2H programme, said it would be a waste if MM2H participants decide to leave due to terms and requirements they cannot meet. Yesterday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin announced that MM2H participants might be exempted from having to comply with some parts of the new conditions. Between 2002 and 2019, the MM2H programme generated a cumulative income of RM11.89bil through fees and visa charges, purchase of properties and vehicles, fixed deposits and monthly household expenditures.

SAN FRANCISCO/TOKYO (Reuters) - Apple Inc further loosened App Store rules on Wednesday, allowing some content companies like Netflix Inc to provide links to their websites so customers can sign up for paid accounts. The music streaming company is pursuing an antitrust complaint https://www.reuters.com/technology/eu-antitrust-regulators-charge-apple-over-app-store-restrictions-2021-04-30 against Apple with European Union competition authorities. Apple's App Store forms the core of its $53.8 billion services segment, and it collects commissions between 15% and 30% from in-app purchases. Responding to Apple's latest announcement on its App Store, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney accused Apple of trying to appease with insufficient piecemeal measures. The iPhone maker's latest concession is the second in as many weeks.

Brightly painted wooden huts like hers line England’s coastline and have enjoyed a boom during the pandemic, as people rediscover seaside breaks close to home. In the resort of Walton-on-the-Naze in Essex, eastern England, beach huts run along the shore for miles, in some places rising up in five tiers. More people are buying up or renting these brightly painted wooden beach huts. Many owners live far away and can’t keep an eye on their huts, Whitehead said. Sarah Stimson, who runs a rental business called Walton-on-the-Naze Beach Huts, says this has been her best year yet.

After Twitter, it’s the professional social network’s turn to say goodbye to its Stories format. Indeed, the platform has decided to put an end to these short-form ephemeral videos, which failed to meet user expectations. While LinkedIn may have shelved ephemeral videos for now, the experience was nonetheless helpful for identifying tools that the platform’s users might like. According to the professional social network, users are looking for more creative tools to make videos more engaging on the platform, with features such as stickers. After TikTok launched a “TikTok Resumes” initiative for sharing video CVs, LinkedIn also highlights a desire among users to make professional videos for the platform.