KUCHING: Police will step up enforcement of Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP) in Sarawak to improve compliance, starting with Kuching. Sarawak police commissioner Comm Datuk Aidi Ismail said 950 personnel from the military, Rela, Civil Defence Force, state security unit and local authorities would join 241 police personnel to conduct patrols and monitor SOP compliance
JOHOR BARU: Seven Road Transport Department (JPJ) personnel under investigation for corruption have been remanded for seven days by a magistrate’s court here. Johor Baru magistrate’s court Assistant Registrar Nurmadiana Mamat issued the remand order against the suspects on Monday (Feb 22). The case is being investigated under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A leader of the far-right “Oath Keepers” group charged in the deadly U.S. Capitol riots said she was in Washington on Jan. 6 to provide security for legislators and meet with Secret Service agents, according to a court filing. Jessica Watkins, 38, is one of nine associates of the anti-government group charged
ABUJA (Reuters) – A small passenger plane belonging to the Nigerian military crashed while approaching the Abuja airport runway due to engine failure on Sunday, Nigeria’s aviation minister said. Hadi Sirika said on his Twitter account that “a military aircraft King Air 350 has just crashed short of our Abuja runway after reporting engine failure
KUANTAN (Bernama): Kuantan, the capital of Pahang, is now a city. Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah proclaimed the status in a historic event here on Sunday (Feb 21). His Majesty, who is the Sultan of Pahang, decreed the appointment of Kuantan Municipal Council president Datuk Hamdan Hussin as the first Datuk
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is “deeply concerned” by reports that Myanmar security forces have fired on protesters and continue to detain and harass demonstrators and others, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said in tweet on Saturday. “We stand with the people of Burma,” Price tweeted. Myanmar is also known as Burma. Two
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis has accepted the resignation from a top Vatican post of Cardinal Robert Sarah, a hero to many conservatives who often clashed with the pontiff on theological matters. The African cardinal, who is from Guinea, held various Vatican positions in the last 20 years, the latest as head of the
PETALING JAYA: An enhanced MCO will be enacted in several housing areas along Jalan Telok Ira, Temerloh, Pahang. “The Health Ministry has confirmed that there is a drastic increase in cases there, with 72 cases reported positive from inhabitants from those in the housing areas. “After a risk analysis was conducted and with the advice
PETALING JAYA: Teacher Rafidah Rahmat will not be disheartened by negative comments online directed at her over a lesson delivered during an educational programme broadcast on television. Despite the criticism she received for the video of her giving a lesson on the human reproductive system in apparently poor English, Rafidah said she remained proud to
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Moscow residents are to be asked to resolve a politically sensitive riddle that has frustrated Russian authorities for three decades – what statue to erect on an empty spot where the likeness of an infamous Soviet secret policeman once stood. Voters will be asked if they want to reinstate the original statue
BELGRADE (Reuters) – Hundreds of worshippers including top officials and clergy gathered in Belgrade on Friday to mark the enthronement of Porfirije, the new Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, a day after his election. Porfirije, 59, Serbia’s 46th Patriarch is seen as a modernist inside the conservative church. He is the successor to Patriarch
KUANTAN: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong will be declaring Kuantan as the country’s latest city on Sunday (Feb 21). Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail announced that Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah had agreed to attend the proclamation ceremony together with Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah. Also attending the ceremony
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government issued interim guidance on Thursday sharply limiting who can be arrested and deported by immigration agents, a move that comes as the Biden administration faces growing pressure from activists to scale back deportations. The guidelines instruct Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to focus on immigrants deemed national security
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A night-time curfew to fight the coronavirus looks set to remain in place in the Netherlands as most parties in parliament voiced support on Thursday for an emergency government bill which would circumvent a court order that the measure be dropped. The district court of The Hague on Tuesday had ruled that
SHAH ALAM: Bukit Aman will step up security in assisting relevant authorities in managing the supply of Covid-19 vaccines in the country. Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said the police will assist in the aspect of transporting, storing and distribution of the first batch of vaccines, which is expected to
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Facebook was “wrong” to block news content from Australian users’ news feeds in response to planned laws which would make the social media company pay for content, Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Thursday. Overnight, the social media giant cleared out the news feeds of dozens of Australian media and public information
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Roberto Manuel wore two shirts, three jackets and four pairs of pants to brace himself for subzero temperatures in Matamoros, the Mexican city opposite Texas, where he lives in a flimsy tent while waiting to resolve an asylum claim in the United States. “It was cold last year, but not like
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Pfizer has not yet delivered to the European Union about 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses that were due in December, EU officials said, leaving it about one-third short of the supplies it had expected by now from the U.S. company. The delay is another blow to the EU, which has also been
KUCHING: Nursing homes in Sarawak have been told to step up their compliance with Covid-19 standard operating procedure following outbreaks in two homes in Sibu. State Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah (pic) said this included ensuring their staff remain vigilant when they were off duty outside the
LUBBOCK, Texas (Reuters) – A historic winter storm has brought lower temperatures to Houston than in parts of Alaska, left millions of Texans without power and spun killer tornadoes into the U.S. Southeast on Tuesday. The brutal cold that has engulfed vast swaths of the United States has shuttered COVID-19 inoculation centers and threatened to
KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa says he has given his statement to the police over allegations that he failed to comply with the movement control order (MCO) standard operating procedures (SOP) while attending an event recently. “Alhamdulillah I gave my statement to the police from 12.30pm to 2.30pm today over
DHAKA (Reuters) – A court in Bangladesh sentenced to death five members of an Islamist militant group on Tuesday for killing a U.S. blogger critical of religious extremism six years ago. Avijit Roy, a U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi origin, was hacked to death by machete-wielding assailants in February 2015 while returning home with his wife
KUALA TERENGGANU (Bernama): PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang is warded in hospital after experiencing shortness of breath and is in a stable condition, says his son Muhammad Khalil. “I have just spoken to my father. His condition is stable and he needs rest. He must have been very tired due to his hectic
WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – President Joe Biden’s administration will use a NATO defense gathering this week to begin what is expected to be a years-long effort to rebuild trust with European allies shaken by Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy. U.S. officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity ahead of the event, said Defense Secretary
GENEVA (Reuters) – The trial in Switzerland of a Liberian rebel commander facing allegations of rape, executions and cannibalism resumed on Monday, with Liberian victims set to begin testifying this week in a landmark case under Swiss law. Alieu Kosiah, 45, a former commander of the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy rebel group,
Death threats. Racist abuse. Sexist slurs. And social media accounts allowed to stay active even after spreading bile. English football has reached breaking point with players, coaches, referees and officials aghast at the ongoing proliferation of hate aimed at them on Instagram and Twitter. A week that began with the Premier League’s most high profile
PARIS (Reuters) – France reported 16,546 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday, down from 21,231 on Saturday and 20,701 on Friday. The number of people in France who have died from COVID-19 infections rose by 167 to 81,814 – the seventh-highest death toll globally – versus 199 on Saturday. There have been 9,921 new patients
DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladesh is moving 3,000-4,000 more Rohingya Muslim refugees to a remote Bay of Bengal island over the next two days, two officials said on Sunday, despite concerns about the risk of storms and floods lashing the site. Dhaka has relocated around 7,000 to Bhasan Char island since early December from border camps
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – New Zealand Prime Minsiter Jacinda Ardern on Sunday announced a three-day lockdown in the country’s biggest city Auckland, after three new local COVID-19 cases were reported. Ardern said the level 3 restrictions, which require everyone to stay home except for essential shopping and essential work, repeating the super cautious approach the country
BARCELONA (Reuters) – Catalan voters head to the polls on Sunday for an election that will test the strength of the Spanish region’s pro-independence movement in an era now dominated by the coronavirus pandemic. Whether the election is won by the separatist parties now in power in the region or the Socialists who lead Spain’s
