NEW YORK: U.S.-based medical technology company Baxter International Inc is in advanced talks to buy medical equipment maker Hill-Rom Holdings Inc for about US$10 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter. A takeover deal could value Hill-Rom at around $150 per share, the report https://on.wsj.com/2WEA44h said, adding the deal could be reached by midweek if the talks do not fall apart. Hill-Rom, founded in 1915, offers services including smart beds for patients, diagnostics and monitoring technologies, according to the company's website. Baxter and Hill-Rom did not immediately respond when contacted by Reuters for comment.- Reuters

I APPRECIATE the comments made in the letter “Good governance the best way to fight corruption” (The Star; online at bit.ly/star_govern). I would like to add two further steps to strengthen the case for tighter corporate governance in Malaysia. > The approving committees within the government should comprise individuals who are independent of each other. To uphold independence and ensure efficiency, the Auditor-General should be a qualified accountant from outside the civil administration. I strongly believe changing these practices will strengthen corporate governance in Malaysia’s government administration.

LONDON (Reuters) - The Taliban will allow all foreign nationals and Afghan citizens with travel authorisation from another country to leave Afghanistan, according to a joint statement issued by Britain, the United States and other countries. "We have received assurances from the Taliban that all foreign nationals and any Afghan citizen with travel authorization from our countries will be allowed to proceed in a safe and orderly manner to points of departure and travel outside the country," they said in the statement. The statement said the countries, which also included Australia, Japan, France, Spain and many others, would continue to issue travel documents to designated Afghans. (Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

ATHENS (Reuters) -Greek police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse a group of people who threw flares and other objects during a protest in central Athens on Sunday against mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations. More than 7,000 people, some holding crosses, rallied outside the Greek parliament to protest against the inoculations. However, hundreds of Greek frontline workers protested on Thursday against a plan to make inoculations mandatory for the care sector on Sept. 1. Cases remain high in Greece, which has reported a total of 581,315 cases since the start of the pandemic last year and 13,636 deaths. (Reporting by Costas Baltas; Writing by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Barbara Lewis)

(Reuters) - Former International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge has died at the age of 79, the IOC said on Sunday. Rogge served as the IOC's eighth president from 2001 to 2013 and went on to become the organisation's honorary president. His joy in sport was infectious," IOC President Thomas Bach said https://olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-announces-passing-of-former-ioc-president-jacques-rogge. He will be remembered particularly for championing youth sport and for inaugurating the Youth Olympic Games. He went on to become President of the Belgian and European Olympic Committees before being elected IOC president, and served as a Special Envoy for Youth, Refugees and Sport to the United Nations after his IOC presidency.

(Source)Recognising the dire situation, Maybank took the initiative to assist MSMEs in April 2020 by developing Sama-Sama Lokal, a zero-commission platform. Affordability is something that Maybank emphasises, since its main mission is to help local businesses stay afloat or grow their operations amidst tough times. Extending a helping hand in time of needMany of the merchants are thankful that Sama-Sama Lokal has allowed them to carry on with their business during these tough times. Now, other than running our routine business, our delivery orders have increased by roughly 10%. OrTo find out more about Maybank Sama-Sama Lokal, visit https://maybank.my/SehatiSelokal

JAKARTA, Aug. 29 (Xinhua): The number of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia rose by 7,427 within one day to 4,073,831, with the death toll adding by 551 to 131,923, the country's Health Ministry said on Sunday. According to the ministry, 16,468 more people were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of patients recovering from COVID-19 to 3,724,318. Indonesia is planning to carry out paid booster vaccination of Covid-19 for the general public early 2022 when the program on the second doses of vaccines has been accomplished, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said. Currently only health workers are given priority to get booster vaccines of Covid-19. The latest data from the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) showed that of the 1.4 million health workers in Indonesia, 36 percent have been injected with booster vaccines.

“Indonesia is the fastest-growing IT market in Asia Pacific, Japan and China,” said Cisco's Asean president Naveen Menon. The Covid-19 pandemic has boosted demand for cloud services in Indonesia as mobility restrictions have compelled companies to accommodate a remote workforce and serve greater online demand. The country’s cloud market potential has attracted several tech giants, including Google Cloud, Microsoft, Alibaba and Amazon Web Services (AWS), which are building data centers in the country. However, IBM Indonesia and Google Cloud Indonesia representatives said in early February that cybersecurity issues and the high cost and limited availability of human capital prevented many companies from migrating to cloud-based infrastructure. However, the latest PP still requires providers to report cross-border data transfers to the Communication and Information Ministry.

(Reuters) - Ethiopia's Yalemzerf Yehualaw smashed the half marathon world record on Sunday, finishing in one hour, three minutes, 43 seconds at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon in Larne, Northern Ireland, to shave 19 seconds of the previous mark. The previous record was set by Kenya's Ruth Chepngetich in Istanbul on April 4. Yehualaw, who is the first woman to break 64 minutes for the half marathon, finished just over six minutes ahead of Kenya's Jane Nyaboke, with Britain's Rose Harvey completing the podium. "I have tried twice before to break the world record but it didn't happen, but I'm so happy it happened today in Larne." Ethiopia's national record holder Jemal Yimer won the men's race, finishing one second ahead of his compatriot Tesfahun Akalnew, with Kenya's Shadrack Kimining coming third.

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Sunday (Aug 29) stressed that all factory owners who employ foreign workers should set up their own vaccination centre (PPV) at their premises. Factories should contribute to economic growth and not be the centre for the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak, he said in a post on his Facebook page today. "I have also discussed with Health Ministry’s secretary-general and Health director-general to ensure that foreign workers no longer have to queue and cause congestion at vaccination centres instead just get vaccinated at their workplace," he said. He also stressed that the government’s stand was clear in only allowing factories to reopen after 80% of their employees had been vaccinated. He said the drive-through vaccination initiative would be expanded soon so that the people would not have to wait longer than 15 minutes in their vehicles to get their Covid-19 jabs.

Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh may have been absent from the world premiere of the Marvel superhero film, Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, in Hollywood last week. However, she is still actively promoting the upcoming movie, which features a predominantly Asian cast, on her social media account. In the last few days, she has posted several photos of herself with the cast and crew. Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai plays the villain Wenwu, or The Mandarin, who is Shang-Chi's father and the leader of the shadowy Ten Rings organisation. Cretton had sparked speculation in early August when he posted on social media two photos of Yuen.

The Prime Minister said that the Cabinet and the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access (JKJAV) will discuss the matter. He said this is because 89.5% of the adult population in the Klang Valley have received their second dose of vaccine, which is more than the target rate of 80%. The Prime Minister was at the WTC in Kuala Lumpur to witness the one millionth vaccine dose administered at the mega vaccination centre. "They only told me when I arrived at Station 2 of the vaccination centre," he said. Article 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

KUCHING (Bernama): The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) came to aid of the Sabah National Security Council (NSC) when it flew 99,400 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from Sarawak to Tawau, Sabah. In a statement today, RMAF said the Comirnaty (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccine doses were loaned from the Sarawak government from three locations namely Kuching, Sibu and Bintulu. The transfer was one of the Sabah government’s efforts to accelerate the vaccination of Sabahans to achieve its 80% herd immunity target by October. "A C130 aircraft left the Labuan air base and arrived at about 11.30 am at the Kuching air base. "The aircraft then took off from Kuching at 12.30 pm to Sibu and Bintulu airports before landing at Tawau Airport at 4.30 pm," it said.

TOKYO: National boccia player Chew Wei Lun sent world number two Witsanu Huad-pradit of Thailand packing en route to maintaining his unbeaten run in Pool B of the mixed individual BC1 (physical impairment) category. Wei Lun began the day in stunning fashion by ousting Witsanu 1-0 in a tie-break after both players were level at 3-3 in regulation play at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre yesterday. World number 11 Wei Lun continued to show his fighting spirit later in the day when he bounced back from 0-3 down to oust another higher-ranked player, world number eight Jung Sung-joon of South Korea 9-3. The 25-year-old Wei Lun had marked his Paralympic debut with a 5-2 over Brazilian Andreza Vitoria de Oliveira in the opening group match on Saturday. Wei Lun, who now leads Pool B, will face Katerina Curinova of the Czech Republic in the final group match today.

I was locked inside my in-laws' rented house (that's right, my wife locked me inside the house and took the house keys with her and left for her parents' house. Four of her family members were with her. As the letters were written, they also forced me to read them out loud, and I was audio-recorded using one of the family member's handphone. But I noticed from my wife's silent expression that she did not agree with how her family members were treating me then. Next, her family come in a group and use the threat of violence to coerce you into signing documents.