King and Queen on special visit to the United Kingdom until Sept 27
KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and the Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, are making a special visit to the United Kingdom from Friday (Sept 17) until Sept 27. Their Majesties will also visit the Malaysian High Commission in London on Sept 24 for a meeting with Malaysians including entrepreneurs, academics, students and community leaders. His Majesty will receive a courtesy call by Chief of Defence Staff General Nicholas Carter and the meeting will touch on the defence cooperation between Malaysia and the United Kingdom. According to Wisma Putra, the special visit symbolises the importance of the close relationship between Malaysia and the United Kingdom manifested at the highest level of government. The visit signifies Their Majesties' concern for the well-being of Malaysians as well as the investment performance and the country's interests in the United Kingdom, especially during this challenging pandemic period.
Source:The Star
September 17, 2021 02:26 UTC
JKJAV: Nearly 40 million doses of vaccines given as of Thursday (Sept 16)
PETALING JAYA: A total of 39,685,414 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Malaysia as of Thursday (Sept 16). According to figures put out by the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV) on its Twitter account on Friday (Sept 17), a total of people 21,783,871 (or 92.7% of the adult population) have received their first dose while 17,973,545 (or 76.8% of the adult population) had both doses. It also said that a total of 202,298 doses of Covid-19 vaccines were administered on Thursday where 62,108 individuals had received their first doses while another 140,190 people completed their second dose.
Source:The Star
September 17, 2021 02:15 UTC
Research on beards, wads of gum, wins 2021 Ig Nobel prizes
That's the conclusion of a trio of scientists from the University of Utah who are among the winners of this year's Ig Nobel prizes, the Nobel Prize spoofs that honour - or maybe dishonour, depending on your point of view – strange scientific discoveries. This file photo shows Shigeru Watanabe of Japan receiving the Ig Nobel award in chemistry for estimating the total saliva volume produced per day by a typical five-year-old at the 29th annual Ig Nobel awards ceremony at Harvard University. In this file photo, audience members toss paper airplanes at the 29th annual Ig Nobel awards ceremony at Harvard University. The spoof prizes for weird and sometimes head-scratching scientific achievement will be presented online in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Far-reaching implicationsIt's obvious that those wads of discarded chewing gum found on sidewalks around the world are pretty revolting.
Source:The Star
September 17, 2021 00:56 UTC
Covid-19: Death toll reaches 22,355 with 346 total fatalities reported on Thursday (Sept 16)
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia's Covid-19 death toll has reached 22,355 after the Health Ministry reported 346 fatalities on Thursday (Sept 16). The actual number of deaths is dynamic as Covid-19 fatalities take time to confirm and verify. This continues a declining trend of Covid-19 deaths from early August, when the average was around 300 fatalities a day. Kedah, which saw ICU utilisation rate at overcapacity for the past few days is currently at 93.9%. Kelantan, whose ICU rate was at 103.3% on Monday, saw its figure go down to 69.8% on Thursday.
Source:The Star
September 17, 2021 00:56 UTC
Mee Fen hopes Jin Wei will rethink about her decision to quit
And she hopes that the 21-year-old Goh Jin Wei will rethink her call to quit as she may live to regret it too. The 39-year-old Mee Fen has been following the two-time world junior champion Jin Wei’s rapid rise from a junior to the country’s top women’s player. Mee Fen bemoaned a call she had made in the past – and hoped Jin Wei was not making the same mistake. “I’ve had wished for a better environment, support, system and opportunity too.”Mee Fen hopes Jin Wei will settle down and rethink her decision. “Right now, Jin Wei just want to hang up her racquet, looks like there is no fire in her.
Source:The Star
September 16, 2021 23:15 UTC
Malaysians unite to create Covid-19 memorial website
Aidila took to Twitter, seeking out people willing to collaborate on a website to commemorate the lives lost. This led to a group of Malaysians banding together to share their expertise towards developing a Covid-19 memorial website dedicated to the lives lost to the pandemic. “The stories here speak for themselves and show that the 21,000 and more lives lost are not just numbers,” they said. In honour of loved ones lost to Covid-19, the team selected the 19th of each month as a day of remembrance. Covid-19 Memorial Malaysia saw more than a dozen professionals from different fields such as web design, graphic design, data and content management coming together with the common goal of building the memorial.
Source:The Star
September 16, 2021 23:06 UTC
Langkawi tourism test begins
LANGKAWI: After more than a year with hardly any tourists, Langkawi was brimming with domestic travellers on Malaysia Day yesterday. Entry into Langkawi is only by sea and air, and authorities are ensuring only fully vaccinated tourists who have been screened for Covid-19 can set foot on the island. Langkawi Tourism Industry Organisation president Ahmad Phisol Ishak said the arrival of almost 3,000 tourists was a welcome sight and gave hope to the tourism industry. A holidaymaker from Shah Alam, Ahmad Farid Hanif, 49, said he was thrilled and delighted to be visiting Langkawi again. “My family and I are fully vaccinated and we are looking forward to enjoying the tourist attractions on the island,” he added.
Source:The Star
September 16, 2021 22:30 UTC
Floods leave a trail of destruction
KOTA KINABALU: The floods and landslides which hit Papar, Penampang, Putatan and Kota Kinabalu on Wednesday have left a trail of mud, overturned cars and collapsed houses among the damages. Social media was swamped with pictures showing muddy homes inundated with flood waters, and partially submerged roads still inaccessible by vehicles. A flood victim who only wanted to be known as Elizabeth said she did not expect the flood waters to rise within one to two hours. A cashier who lives in Bundusan for over the past 20 years, said she had never seen the flood water rise to the main roads in her area. “It just doesn’t make sense, the rains were not any heavier than what we’ve experienced but the flood waters were coming on so fast,” said the mother of one.
Source:The Star
September 16, 2021 22:07 UTC
Time for teens to get jabbed
“I can’t wait to go back to school and meet my friends,” he said. But after a short rest, I felt better,” said the boy, who hopes to meet his friends and teachers soon. “Although our children are mostly at home, we parents do have to go out for work and other matters. “With school reopening soon, vaccination for teens is timely and necessary,” she added. Sabah Health Department director Dr Rose Nani Mudin said the latest update by vaccination centres in the state showed that many parents brought their children in for vaccination.
Source:The Star
September 16, 2021 21:56 UTC
Bad attitude a blot on the civil service
She was lucky to be able to go to Singapore to start her job without the pass. The issue of poor working attitudes in our civil service is endemic and we will have to live with it unless someone can find a cure. Many of our civil servants just don’t show any concern at all to the plight of the very people they are paid to serve. The “tidak apa” attitude seems to be their hallmark instead of serving the people wholeheartedly and diligently. This attitude goes all the way to the top, and naturally cascades down to the bottom level.
Source:The Star
September 16, 2021 21:56 UTC
Episode 1: Too Little Too Late?
After many months of hiatus, the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme is finally resuming next month. Is there a pent-up demand for sign-ups? Or is there no reason to celebrate? Hear what those on the ground have to say.
Source:The Edge Markets
September 16, 2021 21:56 UTC
World shares slide on China investment worries
NEW YORK: Global share markets edged lower globally on Thursday as concerns about investments in China and a mixed day on Wall Street outweighed positive economic data in the United States. International investors who have been piling into China in recent years are now bracing for one of its great falls as the troubles of over-indebted property giant China Evergrande come to a head. However, the U.S. labor market remains under pressure, with initial jobless claims rising by slightly more than expected last week. The MSCI world equity index was last down by 0.25%, off an all-time high on Sept. 7. Markets remain focused on next week's Federal Reserve meeting for clues as to when the U.S. central bank will start to taper stimulus, especially after the flurry of U.S. economic data out this week.
Source:The Star
September 16, 2021 21:00 UTC
Will of Queen Elizabeth's late husband will be sealed, court decides
LONDON (Reuters) - The will of Prince Philip, the late husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, will be sealed and remain private for at least 90 years to preserve the monarch's dignity, a judge at London's High Court has ruled. He also ruled in favour of the request "to exclude the value of the estate from the grant of probate". He said the first royal whose will was sealed was Prince Francis of Teck, who was the younger brother of George V's wife Queen Mary. He said he was the custodian of a safe containing more than 30 envelopes with the wills of dead royals. The most recent additions were made in 2002 following the deaths of Queen Elizabeth's mother, Elizabeth, and her sister Princess Margaret, he said.
Source:The Star
September 16, 2021 17:37 UTC
Facebook rolls out new messaging, business tools for brands
(Reuters) - Facebook Inc is rolling out new ways for businesses to find and chat with potential customers on its apps, the social media company said Thursday, as it seeks to become an online shopping destination. The new features will help Facebook, already a leader in digital advertising, offer personalized shopping experiences to its users, said Karandeep Anand, vice president of business products at Facebook. Businesses will now be able to add a button on their Instagram profiles to let people send a WhatsApp message to the company with one click. Facebook said it will begin testing the ability for brands to send emails through Facebook Business Suite, a feature that lets businesses manage their presence across the social media site's apps, in order to simplify how companies reach customers. It will also test new work accounts to let employees manage business pages without needing to log in with their personal accounts.
Source:The Star
September 16, 2021 15:56 UTC
As China Evergrande's debt crisis deepens, unpaid small business owners speak of despair
Wu, 35, was one of around a hundred protesters who descended on the headquarters of the country's No. "We were working for Evergrande, so our suppliers trusted us with the materials without us paying upfront. The plight of Wu and many others like him has thrown a spotlight on the extensive use of commercial paper in China's property sector. It's not clear just how much commercial paper Evergrande as a group has issued, but its flagship unit Hengda Real Estate Group Co Ltd disclosed some US$32 billion worth as of end-2020. Despite its massive debt load, Evergrande's name had been held in high regard in ordinary business circles until late last year and its commercial paper was even traded in industries not related to construction.
Source:The Edge Markets
September 16, 2021 12:11 UTC