MACC denies intimidation claims by Syed Saddiq's aide
PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has denied claims by a member of a non-governmental organisation that its officers had intimidated her during an investigation. MACC investigations director Datuk Norazlan Mohd Razali said claims by Youth Power Club honorary secretary Siti Nurul Hidayah Shaziman that she was verbally abused, threatened and forced to give a statement was baseless. The case which Norazlan is referring to is the MACC's investigations into the missing RM250,000 cash from former minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman's house. Siti alleged that MACC officers during a session to record her statement on June 4, had used intimidation tactics on her. She further claimed officers had kicked the chair which she sat on, switched off the lights during the interview and threatened to slap her.
Source:thestar
June 06, 2020 02:48 UTC
Drug user launches proposed class action lawsuit over methadone switch
A drug user "forced'' to switch to a reformulated methadone treatment introduced in British Columbia six years ago has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the provincial government, the college of pharmacists and a pharmaceutical company. Association of People on Methadone, said the withdrawal symptoms were so severe she took illicit drugs and overdosed eight times. The Health Ministry, which is named as a defendant in a civil claim filed in B.C. A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions said the province had not yet been served with the court document. The lawsuit also alleges the charter rights of Shaver and other proposed members of the class action were infringed as a result of the "forced switch'' to Methadose.
Source:CBC News
June 06, 2020 00:22 UTC
Shot in the arm for property sector
In George Town, Penang Rehda chairman Datuk Toh Chin Leong said banks needed to ease up on the conditions for housing loan approvals in line with the government’s efforts for the property sector to recover from the Covid-19 fallout. He said while the government’s short-term stimulus measures for the property sector would have a definite positive impact, the approval of housing loans remained a challenge. He lauded the removal of the 70% loan limit for purchases of a third property and above RM600,000 and urged banks to do the same. So we hope banks will take the cue from the government and encourage people to own homes.”Yesterday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced three measures to boost the property sector and reintroduce the HOC. In welcoming the move, Raine and Horne Malaysia director Michael Geh said these measures should have a positive impact on the property market.
Source:thestar
June 05, 2020 23:25 UTC
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Pay2day CEO resigns after sending an insensitive letter telling employees they should not support Black Lives Matter
Friday morning, the Star received an email from Pay2day, stating that Barker has resigned. Pay2day employee Alexis Morgan said she was stunned after reading the email. To Morgan, this allyship was performative and the same grace was not shown in the then CEO’s private letter to his employees. Smith said that Barker implied, through his letter, that the BLM mandate is unwelcome. Sign Up Now“The logic of the letter is flawed and can itself lead to allegations of racism, intimidation and bullying,” Selwyn said.
Source:thestar
June 05, 2020 21:52 UTC
Online rumours claiming bricks left out for Toronto protests are misleading
Rumours of bricks supposedly left out to encourage protesters to commit violence swirled on social media ahead of a planned march against anti-black racism Friday in Toronto. However, as Toronto prepared for two planned protests over the weekend, and stores downtown boarded up windows, rumours of placed bricks gained steam online. Two piles of bricks spotted on Toronto's Queen St. W. near Ossington Ave. were a source of misleading information. A photo of Queen St. W. near Ossington on Friday afternoon, showing no bricks. In this screenshot from Instagram, a misleading post claims these bricks were spotted at the University of Toronto campus in Toronto.
Source:CBC News
June 05, 2020 21:41 UTC
Hydroxychloroquine 'useless' on COVID-19 patients, researcher says
British scientists halted a major drug trial on Friday after it found that the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine, touted by U.S. President Donald Trump as a potential "game changer" in the pandemic, was "useless" at treating COVID-19 patients. It doesn't work," Martin Landray, an Oxford University professor who is co-leading the RECOVERY trial, told reporters. He said the preliminary results from RECOVERY, which was a randomized trial, were now quite clear: hydroxychloroquine does not reduce the risk of death among hospitalized patients with COVID-19. No difference in death ratesThe RECOVERY trial of hydroxychloroquine had randomly assigned 1,542 COVID-19 patients to hydroxychloroquine and compared them with 3,132 COVID-19 patients randomly assigned to standard care without the drug. (Hannah McKay/Reuters/Pool)The Oxford study is the largest so far to put hydroxychloroquine to a strict test.
Source:CBC News
June 05, 2020 21:11 UTC
The latest on the coronavirus outbreak for June 5
Ontario considering Stage 2 of reopening despite steady stream of new COVID-19 cases. "It's kind of like a stealth virus," Feld said of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Since that date, Ontario's daily number of reported new cases dipped below 300 only twice; the daily average in that period has been 371, while the average number of new cases daily has trended upward for the past week. Read the full story about the donation binsSend us your questionsStill looking for more information on the outbreak? If you have symptoms of the illness caused by the coronavirus, here's what to do in your part of the country .
Source:CBC News
June 05, 2020 20:48 UTC
Going it alone
It’s late May and Peter Dynov sits alone in a dark, empty waiting room in Toronto’s North York General Hospital. “If, God forbid, she gets an infection in her lungs, it’s not going to be really forgiving for her.”Was she worried? “The long-term outlook is really unknown right now and trying to get all those patients through efficiently — it’s going to be a challenge,” says Hameed. But like everyone else at North York General, she’s had to change the way she delivers that care. “There's some tactile therapy going on — for both of us.”You can barely make out what she looks like through her PPE, but her kind, bright eyes shine through.
Source:CBC News
June 05, 2020 20:15 UTC
Encouraging worker retention
Employers who are not allowed to operate during the conditional MCO are allowed to apply for the wage subsidy programme. “The government should (then) also consider allocating more funds for the wage subsidy programme, ” he added. “The RM5bil for Wage Subsidy Programme will help safeguard some 2.5 million jobs. “Also, the RM1.5bil employment subsidy programme is newly-created, encouraging firms to hire unemployed workers from all age groups, ” he said. “Unemployed workers can claim training allowances of up to RM4,000 from Socso even though they are not contributors under the Employment Insurance Scheme.
Source:thestar
June 05, 2020 20:15 UTC
/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/podcasts/thismatters/2020/06/05/the-death-of-leonard-rodriques-and-the-need-for-race-based-data/leonard_rodriques_.jpg)
The death of Leonard Rodriques and the need for race-based data
Trends show that in the US and the UK, the pandemic is disproportionately hitting Black and racialized communities, revealing that a Black person is twice as likely to get and die from COVID-19. This sounds an alarm for Canada, where claims of colour-blind health care and approaches to the COVID-19 pandemic are concerning. The death of Leonard Rodriques—a Black personal support worker who was sent home from the hospital despite debilitating COVID-19 symptoms—led to calls from health workers across Ontario asking for anti-Black racism to be declared a public health emergency and for the immediate collection of race-based data in the province and the country. In today’s episode, the Star’s science and technology reporter Kate Allen talks to Saba Eitizaz about why race-based data is necessary to find out how the virus is affecting racialized communities, and the impact of not having this information. Listen here or subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.
Source:thestar
June 05, 2020 19:52 UTC
March for racial justice fills downtown Ottawa
As they have across the United States and around the world, demonstrators in Ottawa are calling for an end to anti-black violence and police brutality. Ottawa's march began Friday at 3 p.m. on Parliament Hill and ends at the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights monument, near Ottawa City Hall. <a href="https://t.co/B6P5ra23Y9">pic.twitter.com/B6P5ra23Y9</a> —@idilmussaAmong the attendees were Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his bodyguards, encircled at one point by protestors chanting "Stand up to Trump." Ottawa police observe the No Peace Until Justice march on June 5, 2020 which began at Parliament Hill. The march is growing significantly <a href="https://t.co/Jk5yifQkzq">pic.twitter.com/Jk5yifQkzq</a> —@idilmussaSeveral hundred people have arrived at Parliament Hill for the rally against anti-Black violence and police brutality.
Source:CBC News
June 05, 2020 19:45 UTC
Some N.W.T. schools are helping students with homework outdoors
As the weather warms up and schools are wrapping up, some schools in the N.W.T. Moose Kerr School in Aklavik, N.W.T., is one of the latest schools to offer support to students outdoors who are finishing up their school packages. He said the education assistants and students sit in desks about two to three metres apart from each other. (Submitted by Moose Kerr School)Chief Julius School started its outdoor homework help at the end of May. Moose Kerr School will continue to set up outside for kids to get help from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., during the weekdays until that deadline.
Source:CBC News
June 05, 2020 19:18 UTC
Ottawa delays 5G spectrum auction because of COVID-19
The federal government says it is delaying a planned auction of 3500 MHz wireless spectrum for six months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. WATCH | What spectrum is and how it works:Ever wonder what wireless spectrum is, and why the government auctions it off from time to time? Then check out this, our helpful explainer 1:28Bidding in the last spectrum auction in April 2019, for the 600 MHz band, raised almost $3.5 billion. The 3,500 MHz auction has been officially delayed, and consultations about the auction of the next band of spectrum, 3800 MHz, will begin in August. Conspiracy theorists have claimed 5G technology helped caused the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is no scientific basis for those claims.
Source:CBC News
June 05, 2020 18:57 UTC
N.S. man fined more than $27K for workplace safety charges after mechanic's death
A provincial court judge has fined Elie Hoyeck $27,250. Hoyeck is a former auto repair shop owner in Westphal, N.S., who pleaded guilty to workplace safety charges following the death of a mechanic more than six years ago. "The penalty I impose has to cause some pain in order to bring home the gravity of the offence," Judge Elizabeth Buckle said. Hoyeck was investigated following the death of mechanic Peter Kempton in September 2013. Buckle said Hoyeck's conduct was not the direct or immediate cause of Kempton's death, but the safety violations showed Hoyeck had a "reckless disregard" or "deliberate indifference" to safety.
Source:CBC News
June 05, 2020 18:50 UTC
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Why summer camp may never be more valuable than it is now
When I was growing up in Saint John, N.B., the arrival of summer meant one thing and one thing only: more time for sports. What better place than summer camp, which typically provides the best of both worlds? That is what camp life was really all about. If your family can’t afford regular camp fees, look at the list of accredited ones and inquire whether the program offers subsidized rates. Camp life is not top of mind for anyone right now but as the old adage goes “This too shall pass” and when it does, the kids will be ready.
Source:thestar
June 05, 2020 18:22 UTC