KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): The High Court here has fixed Oct 21 to decide on the legal action by 18 youths challenging the government's delay in implementing Undi18, a move to lower the voting age to 18 and enable automatic voter registration (AVR). "On March 25, the EC in a press statement mentioned that AVR and Undi18 would only be implemented after Sept 1, 2022. The AVR should have been completed last month (July) as the government made the announcement on Oct 10, 2019. On April 2, the youths, aged between 18 and 20, filed their legal action seeking several court orders arising from the respondents' delay in the implementation of Undi18. On June 17, they obtained leave from the High Court to challenge the government's action.

YAN: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob says he will not appoint members from the Opposition to be part of his Cabinet. The Prime Minister clarified that his Cabinet line-up will be announced later this week and denied every list that has been shared on social media. He added that the Cabinet line-up must get the nod from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong before it can be made public. Ismail Sabri said so far he had received encouraging feedback from opposition parties that wanted to join the National Recovery Council. Asked whether he would set the Cabinet line-up based on the representation percentage of political parties, he declined to comment.

JOHOR BARU: The meeting between Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim and the group of teachers that rejected Covid-19 vaccines will take place on Friday (Aug 27). On a Facebook post, Tunku Ismail said that the meeting would be held at the Sultan Ibrahim Building in Bukit Timbalan here. "I will meet with the Johor Education director and teachers at the Sultan Ibrahim Building, Bukit Timbalan along with the Johor Mufti and the state secretary this Friday (Aug 27). On Sunday, Tunku Ismail said in a tweet that he would be calling the state Education Department director for a meeting following news that more than 700 teachers declined to be vaccinated against Covid-19. State education, information, heritage and culture committee chairman Mazlan Bujang said that the state Education Department would reach out to this group and help change their views to accept the vaccines soon.

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI ended higher on Monday, driven by buying interest in Genting, Petronas-linked and banking counters. There were 567 gainers against 403 decliners while 440 counters closed unchanged. Among the KLCI component stocks, 16 counters closed higher while 12 counters fell. On the broader market, F&N jumped 74 sen to RM26.74, MPI rose 60 sen to RM44.14 and Sam Engineering added 52 sen to RM13.12. Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 1.78%, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.97%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.5% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed up 1.05%.

On July 12, Jakarta recorded more than 14,600 infections, but by Sunday the figure had fallen to 700. "Jakarta has entered the green zone and has reached herd immunity," deputy Jakarta governor Ahmad Rizia Patria told reporters on Sunday. Pandu Riono, an epidemiologist at the University of Indonesia said the deputy governor had misunderstood the concept of herd immunity. "Even if we reach 100% vaccine coverage, the immunity level is still below 80%," he said, adding that vaccine efficay levels were only about 55%. - ReutersArticle 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

The Safe Cities Index is a global, policy benchmarking tool developed to measure urban safety measured by 76 distinct factors across five broad pillars. Kuala Lumpur scored 81 for environmental security, infrastructure (69), health (64), personal (60.1) and digital security (59.1). It also came in ahead of cities such as Dubai, Beijing, Istanbul, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta and Manila. The Safe Cities Index was first launched in 2015 with 44 indicators and 50 cities. "It is still too early to draw detailed conclusions on the implications of Covid-19 for health security.

YAN (Bernama): The body of the sixth victim reported missing in the water surge incident in Gunung Jerai has been found in an area of Titi Hayun here at 1.30pm on Monday (Aug 23). "The body of the last victim was found under piles of logs,” he said at the search and rescue operation centre in Titi Hayun. DSP Shahnaz said the body has been sent to the Yan Hospital for a post-mortem. He said a total of 400 personnel from the Fire and Rescue Department, Civil Defence Force and the police were involved in the search and rescue (SAR) operation. Following the discovery of the last victim, he said the SAR operation for missing victims has ended.

TAIPEI (Reuters) -President Tsai Ing-wen got vaccinated with Taiwan's first domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, giving her personal stamp of approval as the island begins rolling out the shot whose approval critics say has been rushed. The health ministry last month approved the emergency use of Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp's COVID-19 vaccine, part of a broader plan for inoculation self-sufficiency as delays in vaccine deliveries from global drug companies have affected Taiwan and many other countries. CONCERNSThe recombinant protein vaccine has been developed in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health in the United States, and the government has ordered an initial 5 million doses. Taiwan has received more than 10 million vaccine doses to date, and in July ordered a further 36 million doses of Moderna's. People who spoke to Reuters in Taipei after getting the Medigen shot said they had no particular concerns about it.

The Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) president said private hospitals will now focus outside the Klang Valley both in terms of enhancing vaccination and decanting patients into private hospitals. "We in private hospitals will abide by all policies and directions given by the government in the process of vaccination and managing this pandemic. This led to its decision to reduce the number of vaccination centres in Klang Valley, including the participation of GPs. According to Dr Kuljit, private hospitals had successfully accepted close to 2,000 decanted patients in the Greater Klang Valley. "The importance of getting the economy back on its feet will be significant to the businesses of private hospitals.

Exhausted little Bella dozed off in my hands within a few minutes, that night. She was a short-haired tabby cat with black, white and orange stripes and spots, a black button nose and big black eyes with which she would look at us adoringly. Most nights, as my mother did some reading right before bed, Bella would keep her company on a small rug under the study table. Nine months went by with bright little Bella in our midst. Our sweet little Bella had been hit by a vehicle in front of our house and she left us immediately.

"The U.S. yield curve is at a one-year low, emerging markets are negative YTD and both copper and oil are down double digits from recent highs." He expects negative returns for stocks and credit in the rest of this year and suggests investors own defensive quality. Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures both rose 0.3%, while EUROSTOXX 50 futures added 0.7% and FTSE futures 0.5%. The single currency regained some ground on Monday to $1.1720, after losing 0.8% last week to touch 10-month lows at $1.1662. Global growth jitters took a heavy toll on commodities last week, with base metals, bulk resources and oil all falling.

KOTA BARU (Bernama): The Sultan of Kelantan Sultan Muhammad V has expressed his disappointment with the actions of those who spread negative news on Covid-19 as this hampered government efforts to control the pandemic. Sultan Muhammad V said from his observation, vaccination is the most appropriate preventive measure to protect the people from the coronavirus. “Stop action that can create a lot of conflicts, that can create more problems and make life difficult. Sultan Muhammad V said the state government had spent RM33.52mil last year and RM18.77mil so far this year to help those affected by the pandemic due to the closure of economic activities. Sultan Muhammad V also expressed his appreciation to all frontliners for their service in ensuring the Covid-19 situation in the state is always under control.

There is a new celebrity couple in the South Korean music scene. Joy of K-pop girl group Red Velvet and Korean R&B singer Crush are in a relationship. Korean news outlets reported that both the artistes’ agencies confirmed the two are dating. The agencies stated: “They had a senior-junior relationship, but they recently began dating with good feelings toward each other.”New outlet Sports Chosun broke the news about them dating on Aug 23, reporting that their relationship started after their collaboration on the track Mayday, which was released in May 2020. The song described as “lockdown single” by one publication, explores the frustrations that come with being stuck at home all day.

(Reuters) - Manchester City have not yet decided if they will sign a new striker to replace Sergio Aguero, manager Pep Guardiola said, with the summer transfer window set to close next week. British media have heavily linked Premier League champions City with Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane, but Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has said the England captain is not for sale. With the Premier League transfer window scheduled to shut on Aug. 31, time is running out for City to make new signings. "When we decided not to extend the contract of Sergio Aguero and people asked what we would do, I said many times it would depend on the market," Guardiola said. We are going to see what happens and it depends on that when we are going to take a decision.

PETALING JAYA: A total of 441,100 Covid-19 vaccine doses were administered nationwide on Sunday (Aug 22), says the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV). It said in a post on Twitter on Monday (Aug 23) that 137,555 people received their first dose while 303,545 individuals received their second dose. The JKJAV said that Johor had the largest number of people receiving their first dose at 31,417 followed by Sabah (17,167) and Selangor (14,428). It added that Selangor had the highest number of people receiving their second dose at 99,434, followed by Kuala Lumpur (48,761) and Johor (34,016). The JKJAV also said that 31,281,193 doses have been administered since the programme began earlier this year, adding that 78% of Malaysia's adult population has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 55.6% have received two doses.