PARIS (Reuters) - Orange's Stephane Richard said he wants a fourth term as chief executive of France's biggest telecoms operator after his mandate ends next May, he was quoted as saying in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche (JDD) on Saturday. Speaking to the JDD, he said recent changes in the governance of top French firms had led to the separation of the functions of chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer, opening the door for dual leadership. "That's my wish because I am very attached to this company." Richard came under political pressure earlier this year after a network outage at the firm, which is 23% owned by the government, prevented emergency calls for several hours. A French court will also rule in October over his alleged involvement in a disputed compensation payment made by the state in 2008.

PETALING JAYA: A total of 100 people died due to Covid-19 on Saturday (Sept 11), bringing the cumulative number of fatalities to 20,419. Another 492 were recorded from the backlog of cases and from the total, 88 deaths were classified as "Brought in Dead (BID)" and of the 20,419 cumulative Covid-19 deaths, 3,676 were classified as BID. The figures were reported on the Health Ministry's CovidNow website. The previous high in the number of deaths was 393 on Aug 26, while the highest BID figure was on Sept 5 at 107. Saturday also saw a change in how the Ministry announced the number of deaths and active cases.

The war was supposed to be a forever war; the Authorisation for Use of Military Force Act had permitted just that. In the United States, stay-at-home orders were issued for much of the country, and with businesses affected, millions lost their jobs. We can say that this was the mindset that determined the manner in which the United States quit Afghanistan. The extension of American influence all over the globe, the leaders of the United States have figured out, no longer requires military outposts. The post-9/11 world and hence post-9/11 conflict are all likely to be remote.

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 12): It has been a challenging year for Malaysia. Many businesses have closed down, unemployment has risen sharply and wages have been cut due to the pandemic. In City & Country's cover story this week, property entrepreneurs talk about their entrepreneurial journey as well as offer advice and encouragement to a new generation of business owners. Read more about it in The Edge Malaysia weekly’s Sept 13 edition. P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.

Inevitably, implementation of strict SOPs aimed to mitigate the health crisis has slowed down business activities, and ultimately the labour market. This calls for immediate and appropriate assistance; efforts to improve the income inequality and socio-economic of everyday Malaysians must be centred on the labour market interventions. In this context, the Government had taken a significant move by introducing the Employment Insurance System (EIS) in January 2018. As a unique function of employment insurance, the programme mandates that those receiving employment insurance benefits must be able and willing to seek, train and accept offers via Socso’s ecosystem – a complete 360 employment assistance and services to workers. Hence, this is an impetus to expand the coverage and functions of employment insurance in Malaysia.

My irrational fear of being suspected of cheating escalated because all online exams were screen-recorded. And when it was time to celebrate Hari Raya, albeit from home, Puan Anizah had no plans to stop the fun. Making a difference: Puan Noor Anizah thought out of the box to make PdPR more enjoyable for her teachers and students. To keep both teachers’ and students’ spirits up, Puan Anizah came up with ideas such as the Teachers’ PdPR Corner and the Students’ PdPR Appearance Challenge. And on the last day before the start of the SPM, Puan Anizah surprised us with several cakes and gave us much-needed motivation.

Sadly, this is not the case in Malaysia where family members were not always involved with children’s home-based teaching and learning (PdPR). “So the sudden shift in educational responsibility from school to family may have overwhelmed parents.”The study was conducted on Instagram with over 6,800 bumiputra secondary school students giving their take on the efficacy of PdPR. The study also revealed that 24% of students attended PdPR irregularly, while 22% did not even show up for lessons. Only 8% of poor children were studying online regularly and 37% were not studying at all. Of the few who were studying online, 24% were in cities, and just 8% in villages.

PETALING JAYA: Oxygen supplementation should only be given under strict medical advice and supervision, says the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA). Its immediate past president Datuk Dr Subramaniam Muniandy said the unregulated sale and purchase of oxygen supplementation canisters should stop as it was not beneficial and might instead cause harm. He cited comments from Universiti Malaya Professor of Occupational and Public Health Dr Victor Hoe, who said many are attempting to supplement atmospheric oxygen with either oxygen concentrators or oxygen canisters during the pandemic. “Home use oxygen supplementation is only prescribed for patients with chronically low PaO2 levels due to chronic lung or heart conditions. He said oxygen canisters also posed a fire hazard and users should ensure that their surroundings were free from sparks, flammable liquid and objects before use.

Russia was the first to approve a vaccine and the most enthusiastic marketer, but has fallen far short of its hyperbolic delivery promises. A strategically vital region of 670 million on China’s doorstep, it has from the beginning been a crucial vaccine battleground, with all sides jostling for influence. That’s because vaccine diplomacy doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Japan, a major donor and investor in the region, has punched below its weight, perhaps because it is not a significant vaccine producer and has been struggling with its own inoculation drive. It’s too soon to call the winners or losers when it comes to vaccine diplomacy.

Cuba became the first country in the world to vaccinate children from the age of two against Covid-19 on Sept 6 (2021), using homegrown jabs not recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO). The new school year started on Sept 6 (2021), but from home via television programmes, as most Cuban homes do not have internet access. Having completed clinical trials on minors with its Abdala and Soberana vaccines, Cuba kicked off its inoculation campaign for children on Sept 3 (2021), starting with those 12 and older. On Sept 6 (2021), it started distributing jabs in the two to 11 age group in the central province of Cienfuegos. Countries such as China, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela have announced they plan to vaccinate younger children, but Cuba is the first to do so.

GEORGE TOWN: Some three million teenagers below 18 years old will be fully vaccinated before the new school term starts in January 2022, says Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. Khairy said for the time being, several states would commence the vaccination programme for teenagers before it is implemented simultaneously to ensure that all three million teenagers in the country are vaccinated by January. As for Penang, Khairy said some 130,000 students would be among the first in the country to be included in the vaccination programme for teenagers over the next fortnight. “Although infection among children is not severe, there are also cases where children were infected and ended up in critical condition. Last week, Khairy said the country will start its vaccination programme for eligible teenagers, starting with Sarawak, which has reached its benchmark of 80% vaccinated adults.

He finished with a 21-under total at East Lake to pip Rahm by a single stroke. Korean-American Kevin Na surprised many when he finished third in the Tour Championship, his best outing at the season-ending tournament yet. To put things in perspective, Cantlay’s first prize payout is equal to the Players Championship’s total prize money of US$15mil. There was some good cheer for Asia at East Lake when Sung-jae Im set a new PGA Tour record of 498 birdies in a season. Im, who the 2020 Honda Classic for his only PGA Tour victory to date, finished joint 20th at the Tour Championship last weekend, for which he was rewarded with US$497,500.

PUTRAJAYA: The public now has access to more granular data on Covid-19 thanks to the launch of the Health Ministry’s CovidNow website. For example, as at Sept 9, 83.5% of the 242,805 active cases were home quarantining, 10.5% were at PKRCs, 5.5% were in hospital, while 0.5% were in ICU and 0.3% on ventilator support. The focus on active Covid-19 cases moves away from new case numbers and state figures. “This is also in line with our aim to shape behavioural change,” he added. The CovidNow website was designed by several web developers who were also behind the @MYVaccineCount Twitter account.

LANGKAWI: The beautiful beaches and duty-free shops here will be under the spotlight come Malaysia Day when some 3,000 fully vaccinated holidaymakers make their way to this island resort under the new tourism bubble plan. Nasaruddin said the first batch of 3,000 visitors were expected to arrive on the first day by flight and some by sea from the Kuala Perlis ferry terminal. “Comply with the tourism bubble SOP that will be issued in the near future, including obtaining travel permits from the police. Raja Sa’adi said the company was positive about the response to Langkawi in line with the travel bubble programme. However, those who come from enhanced MCO areas would not be entitled to the pioneer travel bubble project relaxation.

Although PNB had a 25% stake in Guthrie, Guthrie did not consult nor give due respect to its Malaysian shareholder when making major corporate decisions, she says. Former finance minister Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was also a key personality behind the Dawn Raid. It wasn’t long after securing the purchase when Dr Mahathir was told of the news – “I was elated,” he tells Sunday Star. Dr Mahathir: Acquiring Guthrie was a way to get some of Malaysia's wealth back from our former colonial masters. In retaliation, and barely a month after the Dawn Raid, Dr Mahathir imposed the Buy British Last Campaign.