BUDAPEST: Hungary coach Marco Rossi said that despite exiting the European Championship after the group stage his team could hold their heads up high for playing a remarkable three games against some of the top teams in the world. Hungary drew 1-1 with world champions France and 2-2 with Germany, their only loss a 3-0 defeat by Portugal in a very tough group. “I would challenge anyone to say they knew that coming up against these teams we would get any points,” Rossi told a news conference. “Tactically, helping each other out, digging in, sacrificing...“I am very proud to coach this side. I congratulated all lads, told them, they need to keep their heads up, because two months from now World Cup qualifying resumes.” — Reuters

THE World Engineering, Science and Technology Congress (ESTCON) is back and will be held virtually for the first time. The congress will set the stage for industry, academia, government and the public to participate in global discussions. Dubbed the largest congress globally, nine international conferences will be held simultaneously, said Prof Mohamed Ibrahim who is also UTP vice-chancellor. Senior fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Zakri Abdul Hamid will deliver his address on Society 5.0. ESTCON2020 is also HRDF claimable and offers points of up to 20 hours from the Board of Engineers Malaysia, Malaysia Board of Technologists and the Construction Industry Development Board.

This is proven after an annual worldwide study of news trends ranked The Star as the top English-language news portal in brand trust scores in Malaysia among surveyed brands. The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2021, its 10th annual edition, found when it comes to brand trust scores in Malaysia, news channel Astro Awani and The Star scored 70% and 65% respectively. Apart from The Star, TV9 News and Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) also earned a 65% trust score. “The gap between the ‘best and the rest’ has grown, as has the trust gap between the news media and social media,” he said. The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is a research centre at the University of Oxford that tracks media trends.

SHAH ALAM - RichWorks International Sdn Bhd (RichWorks International) is targeting 10,000 entrepreneurs to achieve their RM1 million in annual sales within the next 3 years. He added that RichWorks has succeeded in proving that many entrepreneurs can earn millions of ringgit in sales over the past 13 years, although some do not start from wealthy backgrounds. However, who would have thought that with his record, public opinion and confidence also changed when many tried to break the record until thousands of athletes have proven their ability to surpass this record benchmark," he said. "This is the benchmark I've been trying to set all these time," he said. For more information and to get knowledge and guidance in business, join RichWorks Business Success Bootcamp 102 program and Workshop Kuasai Social Media for free via Telegram Azizan Osman Official.

(June 24): How do you get into a good public school in China? If all goes right, Wang’s bet will ensure her offspring enroll in one of Beijing’s most sought-after public schools, a path to staying in the middle class. While US families have spent the pandemic fleeing cities and spreading out in suburban houses, their Chinese counterparts are racing to bid up densely packed flats near good public schools. In the US, property near good public schools command higher prices, but parents can chose to rent to secure a slot. She swapped her large Shanghai apartment for a smaller, million-dollar fixer-upper for her 3-year-old son.

London (AFP): A 72-year-old British man tested positive for coronavirus for 10 months in what is thought to be the longest recorded case of continuous infection, researchers said on Thursday (June 24). Dave Smith, a retired driving instructor from Bristol in western England, said he tested positive 43 times, was hospitalised seven times and had made plans for his funeral. "I'd resigned myself, I'd called the family in, made my peace with everybody, said goodbye,", he told BBC television. Ed Moran, a consultant in infectious diseases at the University of Bristol and North Bristol NHS Trust, said Smith "had active virus in his body" throughout. "It's like you've been given your life back", Smith told the BBC.

KUALA LUMPUR (June 24): The FBM KLCI fell 0.58% today as domestic political infighting, a slow vaccination rate and high daily Covid-19 cases continued to drag market sentiment. MIDF research head Imran Yassin Md Yusof said the market lacked catalysts and sentiment was bearish on domestic political risk. Across Bursa Malaysia, 5.21 billion securities were traded for RM3.03 billion today, compared with 5.22 billion securities worth RM2.78 billion yesterday. This resulted in index-linked Top Glove Corp Bhd falling 10 sen or 2.25% to RM4.35 and Hartalega Holdings Bhd dropping 33 sen or 4.13% to RM7.67. On the other hand, Kobay Technology Bhd was the day's top gainer, surging 38 sen or 16.31% to RM2.71.

Stricter conditions will be imposed on telcos awarded spectrum licences to ensure they help develop the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure, says Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). He said spectrum allocation was also related to a company’s usage to ensure quality of service for customers, like how telcos with more subscribers required more spectrum. Asked whether the MO was justified given the number of Altel’s subscribers, Dr Fadhlullah Suhaimi said spectrum allocation was also dependent on the market size. He said companies could file an appeal for a remedial plan if they failed to deliver due to market conditions, but if no progress was made at all, MCMC would not let the matter slide. He said the commission would not change the goalposts on previous agreements, with stricter conditions to apply only to the new spectrum allocated and on renewed spectrum tenure.

IPOH: A family of five have their pet puppy “Anandaveli” to thank for saving their lives when its constant pulling of its owner's hair and clothes alerted her to a fire at her house in Teluk Intan. During the incident on Wednesday (June 23) at 5am, the eight-month-old puppy saved the lives of A. Vimala, 53, her 58-year-old semi paralysed husband and three children, aged between 18 and 23. “I realised that it was my female puppy and thought she was thirsty. She said as the fire started to rage, she realised that her husband was still inside. Vimala’s husband N. Marimuthu said he was grateful that their puppy saved all of them in the nick of time.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Union must seek to speak directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin to try and improve relations, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday. "In my opinion, we as the European Union must also seek direct contact with Russia and the Russian president," Merkel said in what was expected to be her last speech to the Bundestag lower house of parliament. "It is not enough for the U.S. president to talk to the Russian president. I very much welcome that, but the EU must also create forums for dialogue," she added. Merkel is not running for a fifth term in a September election.

If you look at the EPF, we’ve always been guided by our strategic asset allocation (SAA). So, we will see, because there is still some flexibility in terms of members’ savings that would still allow them to take out for i-Sinar. But going back to the first point, 6.3 million of EPF members have less than RM10,000 in their Account 1. You mentioned that there is pressure on the EPF to perform better to help boost members’ savings. When I first started working 30 years ago, we could only access our EPF account every five years.

The largest rich countries, home to most major transnational corporations (TNCs), have agreed to a global minimum corporate income tax (GMCIT) rate. The tax counter-revolution of recent decades cut not only public spending but also tax revenue. Declining tax revenue in earlier decades and its sharp decline during the Great Recession compelled related policy rethinking. Unsurprisingly, about 75% of the additional tax revenue envisaged would go to its rich member states. As home countries have the right to tax the “residual”, or balance untaxed by host countries, developing countries will have no more reason to offer tax incentives to attract foreign direct investment.

(June 23): Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk will list SpaceX's space internet venture, Starlink, when its cash flow is reasonably predictable, the billionaire entrepreneur said late on Wednesday. "Going public sooner than that would be very painful," Musk said in a tweet. He was responding to a question on Twitter, where a user asked: "Any thoughts on Starlink IPO we would love to invest in the future. Last year, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell floated the idea of spinning off Starlink for an initial public offering. Starlink, a planned network of tens of thousands of satellites in low-earth orbit, aims to offer fast internet speeds globally.

Compiled by C. ARUNO and JO TIMBUONGA FOOD fight broke out between a keropok lekor trader and a laksa seller in Kajang, Selangor, costing the latter a whole lot of ingredients, Kosmo! The clash started with the owner of the keropok lekor stall being unhappy with the laksa trader opening a stall too close to hers. The keropok lekor trader then tipped over several containers of laksa ingredients to the ground, according to the report. Many wondered why the keropok lekor seller was upset with the laksa trader’s presence as they sold different foods. It is understood that the keropok lekor seller has since apologised to the laksa seller, who had lodged a police report on the incident.

PETALING JAYA: A specific policy and a circular economy roadmap is underway to address plastic waste management and marine litter challenges, says the Environment and Water Ministry. “The aim of this project is to come out with a policy that will guide the management of marine litter, including plastic waste, that will be reflected in the upcoming National Marine Litter Policy,” it said. The ministry said the project would be a broad-based plan to address marine litter and will be guided by a multi-stakeholder approach. The ministry said it recognises the threat of marine waste, especially plastic pollutants, to ecosystems, food security and the sustainable livelihood of communities. On the Klang River being one of the top contributors to plastic waste, the Irrigation and Drainage Department (DID) said there is lack of data to show actual reductions or changes in terms of plastic waste discarded into Malaysian rivers.